“Alright, class. Today, we have a new student who just transferred here from the city. Please, introduce yourself.”
It’s my first day at Mizuhara High.
The place isn’t too far from my apartment, and honestly… one of the best parts about this school is—
“My name’s Hayashi Kaito. I moved here from the city and decided to transfer to Mizuhara High. I think this school looks really nice, so… I hope we can all get along. Please take care of me.”
“Alright, thank you for the introduction Hayashi-kun. You can sit next to Inohana Akane.”
“Whoa… a city boy.”
“Yeah, he’s kinda cute though…”
I could hear a few whispers here and there.
Seriously? I’m just a normal guy with zero talent. What’s there to whisper about?
Anyway, I walked to my seat.
It was a pretty nice spot—right by the window. The ideal position, honestly.
As soon as I sat down, the girl next to me—Inohana Akane—turned to me with a blank face.
“Don’t make noise. I’m trying to study,” she said coldly.
Before I could even reply—
grrrkkk—
My stomach growled.
Loudly.
And of course, it had to be… right in the middle of a dead-silent classroom.
Every single head turned toward me.
“Uh… that was… the chair,” I blurted out, quickly shifting in my seat just to make it sound believable.
Unfortunately—
grkkk—
It made the same sound again.
Inohana glanced at me, then whispered, “If that’s your chair, then I guess it’s hungry too, huh?”
…ouch. That stung.
The whole class started giggling. Even Sasaki-sensei had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.
After that humiliating moment, the class went back to normal… sort of.
Every time Sasaki-sensei said the word “digestion” during biology, the whole class started snickering again.
Great. Now I’m officially the “stomach guy.”
I noticed Inohana trying to hold back her laugh beside me. Her shoulders were trembling slightly.
“If you’re hungry, I still have some leftover bread,” she whispered without looking my way.
I blinked. “Eh? No, no, it’s fine, you don’t have to—”
plop!
A small piece of bread landed softly on my desk.
“Better eat that than make your stomach talk again,” she said flatly.
“But, i’m not even hungry!” I whispered back.
She smirked. “Oh? Are you really gonna refuse a girl’s offer?”
I sighed. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m only accepting it so you’ll stop talking.”
Just then, a breeze blew through the open window beside us. I turned my head and saw Inohana trying to hold her hair down so it wouldn’t fly everywhere.
“Good thing it’s just wind. If it were a typhoon, you’d probably get blown away,” I said, chuckling.
“Excuse me?! I’m not that light, you know!”
Her cheeks turned slightly red—either from embarrassment or irritation.
Our little argument caught the attention of a few classmates who snickered at us.
“Hayashi-kun, could you stop teasing Inohana? You’re distracting her—and the rest of the class too.”
“Y-yes, sensei…”
A few seconds of silence followed—then a small laugh escaped from Inohana’s lips.
…Damn it. Why does her smile look so annoying?!
In the end, I got scolded in front of everyone.
When I looked over at Inohana, she was turning her head away, trying to hide her laughter.
“See? I told you. Now you got in trouble,” she said, tilting her head with a smug tone.
“Just wait. Next time, you’ll be the one getting caught.”
“Oh? Bring it on, stupid city boy.”
“Hah? Who are you calling stupid?!”
My voice jumped an octave, making a few students glance back.
Inohana only smirked, leaning back with her arms crossed.
“If not you, then who else?”
“Tch! You’re such an annoying girl.”
“Heh, so you admit it then?”
She tilted her head, twirling her hair with that smug look again.
“Ugh… this girl is seriously getting on my nerves,” I muttered, trying to hide my face.
Inohana giggled softly, and the rest of the class followed suit.
“Alright everyone, quiet down! What’s all this noise?”
“Sensei! Hayashi keeps teasing me!”
She said that with a fake pout and a pleading look.
“What?! You started it!” I protested.
A short silence—then sensei chuckled.
“You two really sound like elementary school kids.”
The whole class burst into laughter.
…Great. Now I’m the clown.
“Alright, alright. Quiet down, everyone. Hayashi-kun, try not to get tempted again, okay?”
Sensei said, folding her arms.
“And you, Inohana-chan—stop teasing him.”
“Okay, sensei. Sorry,” she said, bowing her head slightly.
“Now, apologize to Hayashi-kun for making fun of him.”
“Eh?! W-wait—”
Her face turned bright red—like, tomato red. I could practically feel the heat radiating off her.
“Tch! I-It’s not like I’m admitting defeat or anything, okay, city boy!”
She turned away, puffing her cheeks.
Trying to stay calm, I simply nodded like the mature one here.
At least, that’s what I told myself.
I made a little victory gesture with my face.
She glanced at me once, then quickly looked away again.
“I win. Annoying girl,” I whispered, grinning.
Her cheeks puffed up even more—like a kid who just had her candy stolen.
The students around us started laughing again.
Sensei sighed deeply.
“You two really are like elementary school kids…”
The class filled with laughter once more.
And me?
For some reason…
even though it was embarrassing—
I kinda felt… happy.