"What are you smiling for? You're creepy." I said, looking at Yuichi who smiled like a proud father.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you — when I volunteered to become the class rep, Ayame-san smiled at me…" he said, hugging himself and blushing.
"Isn't that normal?" I asked.
"Of course not. Her smile was so cute I could die. Haah… I feel like I met an angel!" He started kissing the air like an idiot.
What a weirdo!
My thoughts drifted back to Shiraki Emi. She didn't look happy at all — more like there was something missing in her eyes.
While I was thinking about Emi, I wasn't paying attention.
Bumped
"Oh, sorry," I apologized to the person I bumped into.
My eyes widened.
"Emi-san?" I muttered. I looked at the girl in front of me.
"Sorry," Emi said flatly. Her expression didn't change at all — it didn't look like she felt sorry.
"Oh no, it's my fault" I explained.
"Okay then..." She walked past me without looking back.
I turned to look at her. No one approached her. Instead, they kept their distance. They didn't even look at her like she was a real person.
And then, I saw myself in her position — back in middle school. The atmosphere was almost the same.
"Hey, Tamotsu, let's go. I'm hungry." Yuichi dragged me. "Okay okay" I replied calmly. But my eyes stayed fixed on her.
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"I wonder why everyone stays away from her" I muttered while walking back home. I couldn't stop thinking about Shiraki Emi.
"Tamotsu-kun!!" Ayame bumped into me on purpose.
"Walking home alone again?" she asked me cheerfully.
"Isn't it obvious?" I replied without looking at her.
"Don't you feel lonely?" She asked curiously.
"I thought I said I liked being alone when we had lunch together."I responded getting annoyed by her.
"Oh yeah… haha…" she laughed nervously. We walked together until we reached the traffic crossing.
"So, Tamotsu-kun. Where do you live actually?"
"Why? Are you planning something weird?" I said angrily.
"What! No, idiot!" She immediately reacted with a surprised expression. "I was thinking maybe I could come over sometime and borrow your novels or school books." She made that face again.
"I'm not telling you." I rejected her offer. "I'm going now." I crossed the street and left.
"Goodbye. See you tomorrow, Tamotsu-kun." Ayame said goodbye waving her hand at me happily.
I raised my right hand without looking back.
Before I went straight home, I went to a nearby grocery store to buy some snacks.
"Let's see..." I looked at a bunch of potato chips from different brands.
"This one will do" I picked the spicy one and went to get some soda.
But
Emi-san?
Emi was standing in front of a cashier. Maybe she came here to buy some snacks. But this grocery store was a bit far from school, and why would she come this far to buy snacks.
I watched how focused she was on paying.
She doesn't seem to notice me.
After taking a soda, I went to the cashier and paid for my snacks and went outside to go home.
"Hmm?" Emi was standing beside the road.
I guessed she was waiting for someone to pick her up.
It was around 6:30 pm and it's about to went dark. There weren't a lot of people.
Someone will pick her up soon anyway.
I was about to leave, but she was all alone.
What if something bad happened to her?
"It's not my problem" I would say something like that but
"Are you here alone?" In the end, I ended up standing next to her.
She didn't respond or react to my words. She had long black hair and was a little shorter than me.
"It's not okay to be alone around here at this time." I continued, she still didn't respond to me. Maybe I'm annoying her.
I got a little irritated.
"If you don't want me here, then I'll just go." I said calmly.
I decided to leave her here and go home. But
"Wait... "her quiet calm voice stopped me. "Can you please stand by my side a little longer? My taxi will arrive soon " I can hear her voice shaking and see that she's scared.
"Okay then," I accepted her request and stood next to her until the taxi arrived. we didn't talk at all. We just stood there like statues. Then her taxi finally arrived.
Before she got into the taxi, She looked at me. "Thank you. My name is Shiraki Emi. What's yours?" she thanked me and asked my name. I was shocked by this sudden introduction. it made me feel uneasy.
"My name is Hamasaki Tamotsu, we're in the same class 2-B" I introduced myself again, even though I hated doing it.
"Is that so" she paused for a second and smiled.
"Okey then. Goodnight" she got in the taxi and left.
"I guess it's time to go home," I muttered as I headed back.
At home I sat still in the bathtub thinking back about Emi. How lonely she was, and how she didn't seem to have any friends. If she was afraid of being alone, then why didn't she make friends?
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In the blink of an eye, several days passed.
It's been almost a week since Emi and I last talked.
I looked at Emi who sat in the back row. She was completely focused on her studies. Maybe she was pretending not to know me.
"Okay, everyone" Tsuruta-sensei said clapping his hands once. "Have you all decided to join a club?"
"Club?" I muttered.
"All students are required to join a club for better experience and better communication. It will be better to join a club where you can show your talent. But..." Tsuruta-sensei paused for a moment and suddenly looked serious. "If you don't join one, you'll be punished." his voice grew more serious.
Well that's new.
This was completely new to me — I'd finished my first year without joining any clubs.
I looked around the class.
"Hey what club are you joining?"
"I'm joining the Sport club"
"And me the art club"
The classroom filled with chatter.
"Hey Tamotsu, what club are you joining?" Yuichi asked me.
"None of them" I said calmly.
"Well that's fair. You didn't join any club last year either. But I guess you had no choice this year." Yuichi said.
He seemed like he'd already decided.
"Tamotsu-kun, why don't you join our club?" Ayame joined our conversation joyfully.
"Not happening." I rejected her invitation.
"You're always like that."Her cheeks puffed up like red cherries again.
"I'm going to see Tsuruta-sensei and talk about this." I stood up.
"That'll be a bad idea." Yuichi said while I was leaving the classroom.
"Well, not my problem" Tsuruta-sensei said calmly.
"As I said earlier, you had to join a club no matter what." He leaned back in his chair like a boss.
"I didn't join any club last year" I tried to convince him but.
"That's the past. You're in the present now. I will not let history repeat itself" Tsuruta-sensei said in a serous voice looking at my eyes.
"If you don't want to join any of them, then..." He paused for a second. "You'll have to come study here at night" he seemed more and more serious.
"Night? Who'll be in school at night?" I asked Tsuruta-sensei not wanting to accept defeat.
"I will" His words made me freeze.
I guess I have no choice.
In the end I stood in front of a drama club. Tsuruta-sensei recommended me to join.
"I don't know which club to join," I said. I've never been in a club before.
"I know the perfect one for you" Tsuruta-sensei said calmly.
"The Drama Club will be the best fit for you."
"Why?" I asked.
"Look at you. Your appearance, looks, personalities and the way you talk. They are all perfect." Tsuruta-sensei said looking at me seriously. I hesitated for a while.
"Okay... Then if you say so." I finally agreed — and immediately regretted it.
"Just don't try to quit" he warned me.
I'm so stupid to ever go to this school.
I stood still In front of the door.
Knock knock
I finally knocked the door.
"Come in,"
I opened the door and stepped inside with my eyes closed.
"Tamotsu?" A familiar voice — one I knew — called my name quietly.
I opened my eyes — and what I saw surprised me. There were six people in the room. Three of them were my classmates. They all looked at me.
I didn't expect to see them.
"Yuichi… Ayame-san… and… Emi-san?"