Days pass by normally

It had been about two weeks since I had nursed her. My days were pretty much the same. Always getting up at the usual time and doing the usual things. It was just that I was spending some time with her in the balcony.

By her, of course I mean, my neighbor, Ichinose Kei. I felt quite comfortable when I was around her. Whenever possible, I always try to avoid speaking with people for long. But I seemed to forget that very notion of mine, when speaking with her. I had dwelled on that for a while now but couldn't get anywhere. So, I just decided to go with the flow.

However, I was a bit scared. At home we used to talk quite often, if you were to ask me. Although I didn't mind talking to her at home, it was a different matter at school.

After spending about more than two weeks at this school, I had realized that she was quite popular. She had looks, of course, but she also had talent. She was good at both academics and sports and was well liked by the teachers and students alike.

Because of that, many boys had already confessed to her and she had turned down every one of them. And if they were to see the girl they liked talk with another boy, they were sure to get angry. And they will make sure to have a one-on-one with me. That could have been troublesome for me.

I don't know if she understood my thought process or she herself didn't want to get involved with me in school that could affect her image, she didn't talk to me much. I would like to think it was the latter.

The only thing she did at most was greet me in the morning and even that earned me quite a number of glares from the boys especially that Koyanagi.

He was the same boy who was staring at one of the short-haired girls when she had snatched a once-in-a-life chance from him, that was to help her get back home when she had been sick.

It was just one of those regular days and I was having my lunch t the cafeteria. All alone, of course. In the short time I had spent here at this school I was already famous, in my own way.

I was always alone. I didn't have any friends. That was because I had no intention of doing so from the start. Due to my taciturn speech people didn't like to talk much with me. Because of all these reasons, I was already popular as 'the one you need to keep your distance from.'

They were already keeping their distance from me because of these petty reasons. I mused at the thought that what would happen if they knew about 'that'.

Suddenly a sweet feminine voice snapped me back to reality.

"Hey, Kobayashi-kun. Having your lunch all alone again."

"Yupp. I have got no friends and I have also got no problem with that."

I replied.

The one who was talking to me was the same strawberry blonde-haired girl that had dragged me to the rooftop on my very first day. Another girl was standing alongside her. She seemed to be the type of girl who had difficulty in holding proper conversation with others.

"You say some interesting things, you know."

I delibaretely replied in a curt tone so that she would not approach me again. But it seemed to have no effect on her. I had read in many novels where there always was a character who could befriend even the most unsociable character. When I looked at this girl, I often ended up thinking that such characters existed in real life as well.

The bell signaling the end of the lunch time rang.

"Ummm….."

"Hmm?"

When I stood up from my chair to go to the classroom, the girl who had stood silent all the while said in a small voice.

She just kept looking down and fidgeting. I looked towards her friend to ask what it was about, but she just shook her head to say that she had no idea as well.

"If you have something to say, say it fast otherwise we are both gonna be late for the classes."

I put some force behind my words. Upon hearing me, she jolted as if some unknown energy suddenly surged in her body.

"I'm really sorry for what had happened back then. It was all because I hadn't said anything to Honami-chan clearly which led to all the misunderstanding and you even got slapped by her. It's al because of me. I'm really sorry!"

The speed in which she said all that was amazing and she was bowing her head earnestly. I could also see her ears a bit red. She was probably embarrsssed. As I had thought, this girl was bad at talking with people.

I sighed, slightly annoyed and slightly at a loss of what to do.

"Okay. I get it. Please raise your head. You have already said sorry for countless times. It wasn't that big of a deal anyway."

I said what I could at the moment.

She slowly raised her head and had a puzzled expression on her face.

"Countless times? But isn't this the first time I had apologized to you?"

"Yeah. This is the first time that you have directly apologized to me. But she has already apologized to me countless times and I know most of them were because you wanted her to do so."

I pointed at the blonde-haired girl beside her. Upon that her eyes went wide. It seemed that I had hit the mark.

Those two were always together. Whenever the blonde-haired girl had apologized me, I had seen Ichika prodding her.

Also, the blonde-haired girl was of outgoing nature. She seemed like someone who didn't take things to her heart, unlike Ichika. So, she didn't seem like a person who would apologize for a small misunderstanding over and over again. From that I had surmised that it was probably Ichika who had forced her to apologize to me.

"Anyways you don't need to apologize anymore."

Since it was getting a bit late, I ended the conversation with that and made my way towards my classroom.

When I opened the door, Fujiki-sensei was there at the podium and she glared at me the moment I showed up at the door.

She looked at the watch on her wrist and said, "You're five minutes late."

"I'm sorry."

She was exuding an aura that spoke that she was a strict teacher.

"I will forgive you for this time. But make sure you don't repeat the same mistake again. Come in."

"Yes."

With that I made my way towards my seat and thought about why she was here because it should have been Makoto-sensei's class.

Soon she spoke.

"Makoto-sensei is absent today due to her illness so, I'm here in her stead. You are free to do whatever you want but make sure not to make any noises."

She sat down on her chair and started looking through the worksheets she had piled on the desk in front of her.

(Must be hard being a teacher.)

I had no experience in that field. But judging by the amount of work they had to do, I knew it was not an easy one. For example, they had to make worksheets, check them, make questions for exams, check one the improvements of each individuals on a regular basis, etc. It sure was a lot of work.

I had nothing to do. So, I just kept gazing outside the window till the period ended.