CHAPTER SEVEN – The world only she known…

Listening to her thus far, I would feel awkward saying good luck and leaving her here.--Nothing stays that way forever... I remember those words. "...Well, it`s obvious. Time passes, after all."

"Yes?"

"Like I said yesterday."

"There`s nothing that never changes. All you need to do is find something else that you enjoy."

"You should find some friends; new ones that is."

"Given the time of year, not everyone is in that sort of mood. Especially third-year students..." That`s true...Since everyone is busy with exams, there`s no time to make friends.

"That`s right, you haven`t joined any clubs, have you?" I asked her as if I just remembered.

"I haven`t."

"I see..."

"But there`s one I want to join."

"Alright, so what club is it?"

"It`s the drama club."

"Drama huh... I wonder if there`s one here..."

"There was, a year ago."

"I see..."

"All right then, go see the clubroom after school. ... That`s what you want to do, right?"

"Yes, that`s what I want."

"You should do your best then."

"Yes, I`ll do my best!" She clenches her fist as if she`s decided. I wonder if it`s because of my encouragement. And then, I'm back to the class…

"I`m back..." Sunohara greet me.

"Are you crying?"

"I`m not crying!"

"Is that so." I look outside the window.

"Whew..." I remember the girl I met during lunch break.

"What a pitiful girl..." She said she felt like Urashima Tarou... I wonder what it feels like. If you think about it, you wouldn`t end up worrying about your junior if you didn`t have any clubs. If I were to think about people she knows from this school, there wouldn`t probably be anyone other than the teachers.

"After school, huh..." I wonder if they will cheerfully accept her.When you`re a third year, you`re close to leaving the clubs you`ve joined. And to work hard from then on... exactly how does that look to other people...?

"Hmm..." I notice the sound of the mechanical pencils everyone was using.--Given the time of year, not everyone is in that sort of mood.

"I feel the same way..." I wonder, what am I doing? I stare at the scenery outside, not listening to the lesson. Fifth period class ends. Only one more period of the boring lessons remain. Sunohara has his head lying on the back of the chair, sleeping in a comfortable position.

"I guess he`s not going to fall..." I don`t have anyone to talk to, so I return my gaze outside the window.

"... huh?" Now that`s something I haven`t seen before. There were two bikes on the slope I climbed this morning, stopped near the school gates. I could see the two riders were young men, wearing no helmets. From there, one of them waved their hands, making a sign. The two bikes started running wildly in the area within the school, making loud noises.I remembered something like this also happened before the end of last year. The offender that time was a student of some nearby engineering school. No one was pleased by it at all, despite it being the best school in town.

"Oh, what`s this?"Sunohara`s face suddenly appeared in front of me.

"You idiot, don`t suddenly step on someone`s desk."

"Just ignore it. Woah! What a loud noise!"I could even hear the loud noises coming fromthe other guys, who had begun gathering at the windows.... this is most depressing.

I wonder how the teachers handle this situation? I also look out the windows to see what`s going on. Suddenly, loud noises can be heard from the class beside us.

"So what`s next?" Sunohara said.Suddenly, one of the students leans towards the window and points below. I look down. There was a student there, calmly walking up, meeting the bikers just up ahead. Having long hair, and a slender body... it was a girl. A shrill voice started coming out.

"HUUUUUUU!" Geh... so it was you, Sunohara

"Is she going to lecture them?!" Sunohara getting excited.

"No way... there`s nothing to gain..." I wonder what the teachers are doing, they`re not coming out.

"Woah, it`s going to start!" The bikes stopped right in front of the girl.It appears as if they were talking about something. Don`t know what it`s all about though.

"Get `em, Tomoyo-san!" A cheer coming from below.

"Get them? That girl? Ahaha, as if she can." Sunohara laugh. At that moment, the girl suddenly smiles. She might be thinking, `interesting.` It was over in the blink of an eye. Before we realize it, we hear cheering from inside for the female student as she returns. She`s also dragging the delinquents in with both her hands.

"..." For a brief period, We were at a loss for words.

"Haha... what the hell was that?"This interests Sunohara…

I don`t know who that person is, but I don`t want to get involved with her followers....I stay seated. Sunohara takes off from his seat and walks toward the corridor.

"Where are you going?"Sunohara"I`m just going to check something..."He leaves with a half smile.

Then, as break time ends, he comes back.

"Hahaha!" His half smile suddenly changes to a smile of confidence.

"Hey listen, Okazaki."

"I don`t really want to listen."

"Ahahaha, that was an awful show." He starts a one sided conversation.

"Her companions were all fake. In short, it was a prearranged performance."

"She`s new to the school as of this spring, and some guys who weren`t related to her came from her old school. It`s just some dirty trick done to be popular. If you`re a man, you should be tough. Well, she was a girl, so they left her off the hook.But if more people notice it, you can`t help but not ignore it."

"Honestly, I don`t really care...." Homeroom ends, and it`s after school already.

"Huwaaa... I slept well...Well, shall we go somewhere, Okazaki?"

"You`re really optimistic."

"Well, we have to at least have some fun after school."

"Where are you going, Okazaki?"

"Like I said, I don`t have any money."

"I see. Well, I`m also broke! If we go to the cafeteria now, there might be someone there that will treat us to some juice."

"You really are that stupid, huh..."

"Well, let`s go then."I don`t have anything to do anyway, so I might as well accompany him.

"Hey, hey, treat us to some juice." He catches a junior and keeps on pestering him.

"Not those cheap ones, the two hundred yen ones. Buy one for him too, alright? Yeah, you`re a good boy. If something happens, you just tell us, alright? We`ll teach them a lesson outside of school. Just a while ago, I put a person down with just the flick of my index finger on his forehead. When I did that, his face blew to smithereens."...

Liar. Ignoring him, I look at the wall clock. Sixth period has already passed, and it`s already been twenty minutes since then.

"I wonder if she has the courage to go there..." I remember the girl I met this afternoon.