"Just answer this Nakamura. Who are you?"
Why is he asking this already? He was probably told something about me, if not he wouldn't come to this conclusion yet.
Did he learn it from Hayashi? No, she probably won't do this yet either, especially after she just sent Yumeiko.
It's probably because of Jackson-sensei. I suspected she might know something since she's my homeroom teacher.
That woman is dangerous, I need to meet her maybe today or tomorrow.
She might know my past and that will affect my normal life, but what does she want?
I'm sure she at least told Ito what her goal was, though not all this is from Jackson-sensei.
People don't just believe anything they hear—meaning he must have had some sort of preconceived notion.
He seems like he even managed to figure out my plans, maybe I can probe him later.
No no no no, what am I talking about?
I absolutely cannot do that. I mean after all I'm just an ordinary student so the only way I can react is by doing nothing.
"Are you not going to answer that too?"
"…Who am I? Well, I don't know either, maybe I'm a shadow, a memory, or a phantom," I lied.
"What does that even mean? You just said a whole lot of nothing."
"Well, I am just in my first year of high school so there's no way I've figured myself out already."
Of course that was a lie, and I was sure even he didn't believe for a second.
Even though I might not understand everyone, I can say without a doubt, I completely understand myself—no mistakes there.
"That's true but—" he said.
"Anyway, I'm someone who's not important so don't pay much attention to what I do. Well, see ya."
"Wait—" he urged.
"Ito, this conversation is over. Stop dragging it out to see if you can get more information," I walked off because I had no intention of continuing the conversation, after all I would gain nothing.
I left him there and when the next day rolled, Ito told the class about what happened—leaving my parts out of course.
However, that was expected. I doubted he would gain anything from ratting me out, moreover, there was his savior complex.
"…So that's what happened," Ito said.
"That's Ito for you, always dependable."
"Yeah, never doubted him."
"Hey, Miyamura, you should learn a thing or two."
"Grr…" Miyamura growled at anyone who dared to reprimand him but quickly calmed down.
I sat quietly until my neighbor spoke to me about something.
"Didn't you also do the case with Ito? I didn't hear about you, like at all, even those that didn't do much I heard about them but why not you?" Suzuki asked.
"Well, the thing is I was more of an observer."
"Uh huh…Well, it's fine I guess."
"You guess?"
"I just expected you to do something."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, anything would have been fine."
"So you're discontent that I did nothing."
"Yeah."
"I'm not really good at all that so I think it's good that I did nothing."
"I see."
I supposed that was sufficient for her so I silently nodded and faced Ito.
With Ito drawing the curtain on the case, the day went uneventful until when I was about to leave for the dormitory—
{Nakamura Eiya, you're called to your homeroom teacher's faculty room.}
I heard a voice through the microphone, it sounded similar to Jackson-sensei's voice.
"Huh? Why's she calling you?" Suzuki asked.
"Dunno."
"Well, anyway, see ya tomorrow, Suzuki," I added.
"Yeah, see ya."
I left the class and headed to Jackson-sensei's faculty room.
I was expecting this development though not today, I expected she would reach out more inconspicuously especially since Ito met me just yesterday.
Damn, she's way too impatient. Anyway, today I need to shut down this operation.
I took a deep breath and entered into the faculty romm. On entering, I saw Jackson-sensei in her kitchenette, making something.
The faculty room was big enough to house a kitchen and a parlor, it was more of a lounge.
It was the perfect place to laze around as it even lacked cameras.
"Do you know how to cook?" She emerged out of the kitchenette in an apron.
(There should be an illustration here, she's holding a knife while wearing an apron that hugs her cleavage nicely. Also, here's a reminder she's a loli (I mean in height not age, she's in her late 20s) but with an abundant cleavage think to characters like Nene Fujinoki (google her) though not as much as that, her cleavage is more relativistic to her height and more believable.)
Cute. I've got to burn this into my memory.
"Uh…Not really."
"I see, why don't you eat this meal I just made?"
"Uhh…"
"Just eat it," she grinned.
I suppose I can have some.
I sat on a couch, and she sat opposite me, on another couch. She put the dish on the table and slid it to me.
"I can eat it all?"
She nodded in affirmation, hands on her chin, grinning from ear-to-ear.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," she smiled.
I took a bite and—
It tasted amazing, nothing like I tasted before. A totally revolutionary meal.
"Do you like it?"
"Yeah, it's so—"
"Now to cut to the chase, I want you to help the class," she cut me off.
Of course, and this is why you should always despise the free lunch, literally. I can't believe I fell for it.
"You know why I called you here, right?"
"Nope," I took another bite. "This is really delicious, you know."
"You like the dish, right? Then don't lie."
"I respect authority, so I will never lie to a teacher," I lied.
"Yeah right. You're lying through your teeth."
"It's the truth."
I continued eating till I finished the meal.
"Thanks, so are we done?" I asked.
"Why intentionally fail your entrance exams?"
"…"
"If you don't answer, I will frame you for a crime."
"A crime? Which one?"
"A crime that even a child can face punishment for."
There are many such crimes like murder and arson, but those take immense preparation to do.
Not to talk of hiding the evidence and even the amount of effort needed to frame someone for it, so it also had to be something easily believable.
It's probably only one thing—
"Rape, right?" I guessed.
"…Just talk, my patience grows thin."
"…"
"Why do all this for a useless person?"
"Useless? Do you still try to deny it? I know of your abilities."
"Well, I doubt that. If you did, you would know how useless I am and won't even involve me in anything."
I suppose you won't know what it means to be useless, or rather defective.
"To be defective or useless, is to be unwilling to work", or so he said.
I sighed before I went forward and grabbed her collar, keeping my expression unreadable.
"H-How did you move so fast? I didn't even see you move an inch, did you even move?"
That's an overestimation, I did move. Though maybe I overdid it. 0.5 seconds might be too much for her.
"…"
"Can't you just attempt helping the class? Just try to help them reach Class Alpha, to make them surpass it even. Or at least tell me what your plan in this case was."
She's more polite and a bit shy, what happened? All I did was grab her collar, she isn't acting the same at all. This isn't the Jackson-sensei I know, what changed?
I mean after all I'm a student and holding your teacher like this can lead to unforeseen consequences.
"Fine, I'll indulge you, I'll tell you my plan."
"Really? Please go on."
There was no use pretending, in fact I felt like indulging her a little bit.
"I provoked Shimizu after figuring out that he values intelligence way too much and sees us in Class Epsilon as beneath him mentally."
"Yes, I noticed this when you and Ito came for the case on the first day. So how does Arai give up?" she asked, regaining some of her composure.
"Relax, I'm getting there. After provoking Shimizu, I went to the dorms and did some thinking then I realized something."
"What?"
"I had always thought it was Class Beta's mastermind that planned this, but it was actually just Arai."
"How did you know?"
"The plan was too sloppy, especially for someone leading a Class like Class Beta—50 students that were quite intelligent."
"Yeah, but that isn't all, right?"
"Yes, it isn't. After I figured out that this was Arai's plan, I made sure Shimizu would know our plan—rather Ito's plan by making Ito tell me in Class Beta's pathway."
"How did you know Shimizu would come there? What if he didn't—"
"He wouldn't do that, I knew he would use his class pathway because he probably wouldn't like dealing with us in Class Epsilon."
"How did you know such a place existed? This is still your second week?"
You're glossing over the fact that it's in the school map.
"A little birdy told me."
"Just say it please. Can't you at least tell me that?," she pleaded.
"Fine, since you begged I will."
Her expression darkened but quickly lightened as she remembered that I was still holding her collar.
"I checked the school map," I lied.
Of course, I've already memorized the map, I did it when I reached the dorms on the first day, but she shouldn't know that.
"So, then you provoked Arai, too."
"Yes, however, for the entire day I had to not meet with Ito."
"Huh? Why? Wait, were you being spied on."
"Exactly, so you can be smart," I snickered. "Anyway, it was Shimizu who was spying on me."
"How'd you know?"
"I just guessed as much, he would like to have seen if there were altercations. Anyway, I have decided that I will help the class."
"Huh? Really?"
"That is, if you tell me how you realized I held back my intelligence. The real reason."
It would be a real pain in the ass if she learnt it from Hayashi.
"I, uh, heard from some co-workers."
"That's a lie," I doubted she would say the real answer immediately.
"It was from a co-worker, I swear."
"You're not lying right?"
"Yes, I'm not."
Of course just saying that you're not lying doesn't mean you're not but there was no point in just doubting her.
Moreover, it explained why the dorm knew who I was, she probably heard my name from a co-worker too.
She probably isn't lying, if she learnt it from Hayashi, she would ask more questions and know how useless I am.
But this Hayashi girl, who is she? I can't remember her no matter how long I think, so that means we haven't met before this school but then how does she know me?
Did they send her?
No, they can't even if they want to.
"Hmm…I suppose that's enough," I let go of her shirt collar, and sat on my seat in a relaxed posture–spreading my legs and hands as I looked at the ceiling.
"Nakamura Eiya," her voice went back to normal.
"Yes? "
"How dare you hold your teacher like—"
I suddenly glared at her and she went mute. I couldn't think of why she acted so strangely; it made no sense.
Why would a teacher be afraid of a student? One that was even a first year student, and didn't have any violent tendencies and even looked quite innocent–and there I say, non-threatening.
"I'll be on my way, also do not try to dig into me and just let me live peacefully. If you do that then we will surely surpass Class Alpha. Trust me."
Of course, that depends on what you define as surpassing. I mean, I don't really care after all, however, what does she mean by surpassing?
Maybe she means academically or athletically.
But it's not like you will gain anything or is there a hidden benefit that I haven't considered?
"Nakamura!"
"Hmm? What?"
"Oh uh," she shyly said.
She looks really cute like this; can't believe she's the same robotic teacher that teaches my class.
"Thank you, for working for the class—" she continued.
"When did I say I will work for the class?"
"But you just said you'll help the class."
"I will help not work for the class. Don't worry if you don't get it."
I meant that I would follow someone's plan, but I wouldn't make one myself—that I would perform a role given to me, but I wouldn't create one for myself.
Basically, I meant that I wouldn't do what I did with Class Beta, I wouldn't act on my own.
However, that help would only come if I felt like it and I won't be forced to do it.
I'm not going to work for anyone ever again. I suppose that's wishful thinking but I'm fine with that fantasy.
I left the room and walked back to the dormitory with a slight grin, of course, I donned on said grin when I left Jackson-sensei's office.
I donned it on for one simple reason—I managed to fool Jackson-sensei.
I'm sure now, she'll think I'm just some cocky student with his head far up his ass and that I'm not actually that intelligent though she still sees me as a usable instrument.
With that being said, she really is quite an actor.
During our conversation there were only two instances that Jackson-sensei was actually scared, that was when I first grabbed her collar and when I glared at her—though she quickly rubbed it off.
She faked her fear through her conversation to try and figure out my true personality.
While I won a battle there was still a war that I lost—the fight for my peace.
I suppose there's nothing to be done.
I was lost in reverie; the situation I was in, frankly, made me a little angry.
Especially after I had done to get this so-called peace. Now I find out that even here that peace is non-existent.
So even here I can't have peace here, huh?
I suppose I should have seen that coming, no, I suppose it's still too premature to complain.
It's still the second week of school. I can't give up, but won't a normal person give up on something hard?
But if I give up, I won't be normal, but I must have the qualities of a normal person to be normal.
Shit, what a paradox.
Anyway, I learnt something substantial today—Jackson-sensei is hell bent on surpassing Class Alpha; I wonder why.
Anyway, from now on, I will just have to be more normal, even boring, I don't care as long as I can just be normal.
And fade into the shadow.
***
Author's Note:
Huh? The chapter wasn't as boring as expected, wonder why? Didn't the writer say that 4.3 was the end of important chapters?
(Forgetting that I'm the writer)
Anyway, that's a wrap for the first volume. Finally, we are done with the first part of the second term Arc.
Yeah, there was supposed to be a Q and A but not really much of questions so yeah, anyway, thanks for reading volume 1 and don't worry volume 2 is coming on October 3rd so stay tuned.
Also remember to comment, leave a review, and share. Thanks for reading the chapter and see you in the next one.