Ahh! School.
A place where children are molded into adults
A place where you learn social skills and make friends.
A place that I had grown to loathe.
To think that I had just been in this school for only a week, yet I already hated school—talk about a horrible first impression.
Well, second impression but it was still the same thing to me.
Of course it was not for the reasons you would expect. I didn't hate the concept of school in and of itself, I hated the fact that I had not made a friend, and because of that I had to live a lonely life.
Naturally, you'd ask, "What about Hiro?"
Yeah, he was my friend, but the thing was I couldn't seem to find his account name or even social media accounts.
I tried his name, his surname, his parents' name, and many other things but I still couldn't get it.
Maybe I hadn't tried enough or was I just unable to? Was it a show of a lack of intelligence? I couldn't tell which it was.
Anyway, I'm sure again you'd ask another question.
"Why not meet him in person?"
But unfortunately, Hiro was always preoccupied by girls. It was to the point where he could be called a 'chick-magnet.'
I was more than sure that they knew I was trying to get close to Hiro, because they shielded him indefinitely.
Not that I could see him anywhere besides the hallway and the cafeteria considering I didn't know his class and didn't have any other friend to ask what class he was in.
All-in-all, I had no way of reaching my best friend so back to square one.
At any rate I started to get the hang of this school, and started to enjoy it except for the fact that there was an issue with Class Beta, and I couldn't do anything about it.
I could only hope that someone as wonderful as Ito would do something especially in contrast to me, because after all he didn't tell the class about the condition of Class Beta.
It was also probably up to Kagura. However, she didn't really fit the bill though.
At any rate, a week at school didn't reduce the tension in my class, in fact it made it worse, and I remained a wary spectator.
Alas I remained in my life of speculation. However, that wasn't the only thing I did, in my room trying to figure out a new hobby.
"So…It's now or never, I mean I've cooked every day till now since resumption but that was just Tamago Kake Gohan—the only thing I know how to cook," I sighed.
I gulped and tried to make something different, it was a self-made recipe though nothing special—steamed rice and made a special sauce (spices with carrots and onions) with fried fish except it didn't go according to plan.
I forgot to add oil when frying and the stove was on high so the fish almost burned down the apartment.
"Shit!"
There wasn't any fire safety equipment in my room, so I called dormitory staff through the landline.
"Hello—uegh," I coughed.
"He—are you coughing?"
"Yeah. So, there's like a fire and I need—"
"Don't worry I'll be there in seconds, so please remain calm."
The woman on the phone wasn't lying, she was there in less than a minute and she put out the fire.
"Why didn't you use your fire extinguisher?"
"I looked for it and didn't find it."
"Heugh," she sighed. "Please try to cook with caution next time, I also call the maintenance to bring a fire extinguisher in this room. Also, your room will be renovated as you're in class tomorrow. So bear with us for today."
I'm surprised this didn't cost Rp, actually I'm thankful.
"No problem and thank you, I really appreciate it," I bowed deeply.
"No biggie, it's my job."
After a while I got a fire extinguisher, then after lamenting for a while I accepted my lack of culinary genius and went to bed.
The next day went as usual, I woke up, took a bath, and dried my hair with a towel before putting on my uniform–though this time I tried to make my hair look as good as possible.
Maybe if I look better people will approach me.
As I combed my hair I paid extra attention to my features–I had plain black hair, just like my mom.
It was in a round mash hairstyle–the same hairstyle I had since birth.
It was the same hairstyle we all had. They said it was the most optimal.
Anyway, I made sure I had no eyebags and brushed the tips of my eyelashes with my finger though I mistakenly touched my eye.
"Oww!"
I looked teary eyed and my eyes grew a bit redder, luckily, I already had crimson-red eyes so it was all good.
With that done, I headed to the grocery store to buy a sandwich and a soda–a coffee-flavoured one this time.
"That'll be 1000 Rp," the salesperson said.
"Ok, thanks," I paid and promptly left.
I bought breakfast because of what happened yesterday, though after everything had been fixed I would switch back to my usual breakfast.
Hopefully I won't burn that too.
That thought changed my expression to a wry smile–which I carried to class before switching to a better expression then I continued observing until something unexpectedly happened.
"You know what, fuck this," Miyamura swore.
He was being antagonized by people, as usual, however, this time fought back—of course verbally.
"Don't even try to act innocent."
"Innocent? It isn't my fault that you all are spineless cowards."
"Yeah, freakin' buncha bitches," Inoue joined in.
"Bitches?! You literally lack self-restraint."
"Better than being a doormat."
This was very clearly going to happen. Miyamura got insulted every day, so he eventually lost his mind, I mean after all he's human.
However, I couldn't help but feel it's part of Class Beta's plan.
Who is the person who planned this?
A mastermind?
"A doormat, right? At least the only thing I'm good at isn't volleyball. You're stacking everything on a sport, not even your studies. Your parents must…"
"Shut the hell up. Talk again and I'll kill you."
"Like hell I'll—"
Miyamura was about to swing on the student, it was going to be a devastating punch.
Baam!!!
Luckily, Ito caught it in the nick of time.
This guy, he really is like a savior.
Every time Miyamura got insulted he always de-escalated the situation. Always making the situation better.
"Guys, calm down," he said with the same smile, like he didn't mind stepping in though his smile faltered slightly. Maybe he realized he couldn't keep this up forever.
"Everyone…" Ito took a deep breath then continued, he had an unreadable expression. "I have an announcement, and I need your opinion."
What? Is he going to tell the class what happened in the faculty room?
"I withheld some info when I came back from the faculty room, in fact I didn't say anything and I'm sure everyone avoided asking because of the tension, that is even the reason why I withheld info in the first place. But I must tell you all now," he took another deep breath and looked wary though he spoke again.
"We lost the case; we attacked first, and they had video footage."
It was an obvious outcome that isn't what anyone cared about, they only cared about the punishment.
For this reason, everyone was silent before the start of classes—a time when high schoolers were normally overly energetic even when it was early in the morning.
"The student council is supposed to be involved though I managed to propose a compromise."
Everyone shook at the word, "student council", though they calmed down when they heard compromise.
Some even became cheery while the observant noticed that Ito wasn't smiling.
He was not even seeming remotely happy, he was rather unhappy and discontent.
"So what's the compromise? Is it Rp? You don't look happy so it's quite concerning," Suzuki pointed out.
"You're right. I'm not happy and no it isn't Rp. It's much worse. It's the suspension of everyone in class."
"...!"
There was a silent panic that erupted–it rendered everyone speechless even those who knew, like I and Kagura, were rendered speechless when we faced the reality of the situation again.
"F-For how long?" someone managed to mutter.
"Indefinitely, for as long as they want."
"So, they want to expel an entire class at once?" someone murmured.
Huh? How do those things align together? Though we would get suspended that doesn't mean we will get expelled.
At most our attendance would get messed up, and we would miss some tests, but those things wouldn't lead to expulsion.
Especially in a school where student autonomy mattered more than anything.
So I couldn't help but be confused though I didn't ask Suzuki because I was focused on what happened in front of me.
"Ito what do we do?"
"Yeah, aren't we basically screwed?"
"Yeah, what do we do?"
"Ito answer us, dude!"
"Ito?"
Ito probably didn't have a plan or maybe he did, I couldn't say for sure.
Nonetheless, he had to say something to reassure everyone, because for some reason everyone in class trusted him.
Including me of course.
"I'll handle this," he said, his voice steady with a grin on his face. "Don't worry this case is as good as done, I just didn't want you to be in the dark. I'll convince Class Beta to leave us alone, even if I have to pay for it. I'll convince them even if it's the last thing I do, so trust in me and don't doubt."
And don't doubt, huh?
"…Ito-kun, you're our hero!"
"Yeah, it's cuz it's Ito."
"That's Ito for you."
Everyone slowly began to believe in Ito, he managed to convince everyone into believing in him completely.
Of course he was lying, we were screwed but because it was Ito that said it everyone agreed with it. I was also moved by his words.
Maybe he has a plan. Considering he used the experience in the faculty room to prove it was a planned action, he must have something under his sleeve.
After he finished his words of power, we had homeroom and went on to have class.
The day brushed up as I waited to see what Ito would do, so when the day ended you could say my curiosity got the best of me and kind of took over.
"So that's everyone right?"
Ito created a gang of people to help him as he planned to beg Class Beta—they were about 6.
Consisting of Ito, Kagura, and 3 girls that always stick to Ito and were friends of Kagura. With my interest piqued, I settled on joining them.
"Can I join you guys?" I asked.
***
Author's Note:
Ito, the savior of Class Epsilon, huh. Well, he really is amazing, isn't he? Though my Eiya is better, right? Right?
Oh, who am I kidding? I love them equally. (Satou's my favourite.)
Anyway, remember to comment, share, and leave a review. Thanks for reading the chapter and see you in the next one.