Water And Oil

The trip towards Akamine-sensei was hellish and silence-filled. This whole time, Megumi continued to stare daggers, or rather swords, at Hajime as if that would do anything aside from making him feel inferior. She had already killed him more than a hundred times in her mind with that devilish stare but Hajime didn't notice half of it. He was too focused on not leaning forward or veering sideways since his headache worsened. The last thing he wanted was for Megumi to see that pathetic side of him.

"What did you do this time?" She angrily blurted at Hajime while trying to hold herself back.

Hajime shrugged in response, wincing due to his throbbing headache. "How about you? It's unusual for the class representative to get in trouble."

She didn't answer, instead, she just kept on growling the rest of the way.

Once they reached the teacher's office, Akamine-sensei was already waiting for them. There was a few seconds pause before she beckoned for Megumi to come in. At first, she was indecisive but then saw it best to call Megumi in, and then Hajime after.

Click!

There were only muffled noises to be heard from the teacher's office so Hajime didn't bother listening in. Instead, he sat on one of the empty seats by the hallway and clenched his stomach agonizingly. He was more hungry than usual, probably since the heat drained most of his energy. And it's not like the hallways of the school was airconditioned either.

A short trip to the bathroom might have done the trick, but Hajime clearly remembered Akamine-sensei telling him to wait. He'd already given Akamine-sensei more trouble than most— adding to that ever-growing pile of trouble that gave Akamine-sensei headaches. It made Hajime feel guilty.

Akamine-sensei and Megumi's voices were still as indistinct but Hajime could hear them raise and lower their voices. It seemed that they were having a light squabble, which piqued his curiosity. The class representative and the homeroom teacher having a debate? Spicy.

"I'll be going now, Akamine-sensei." Megumi bowed upon exiting the office.

"Hajime, you may come in," Akamine-sensei called just as the door was about to close.

Without hesitation, Hajime walked inside the office, quietly berating himself for not thinking up a script before he entered. He knew that Akamine-sensei won't delve into personal topics in public but when there's just her in the room, she won't think twice about asking prying questions. Of course, all of those conclusions are based on Hajime's experience.

"You've missed the morning classes for quite a few days now. At the rate you're going, you might have to repeat the year." Akamine-sensei went straight to the point before Hajime could even seat himself.

'Please, anything but that!' Hajime thought, but he didn't dare say it.

"What exactly is more important than your morning classes?" The cheerful and vibrant Akamine-sensei no longer existed in front of Hajime. She frowned, causing Hajime to fidget. Even then, concern was still written all over her face. "Look, Hajime, if you don't tell me anything, I won't be able to help you. I don't know what you're doing during the morning classes... or why you choose to miss out on them in the first place. I don't know what your current situation is but as your homeroom teacher, I have to know all these things. Otherwise, I'm as helpless and as clueless as to what to do to fix this."

Gulp.

"Yes, sensei." Hajime began, nodding his head as he stared at the floor. "Actually I— "

He paused.

'Wait, what do I tell her? What do I tell her?!' Hajime asked. He couldn't bring up such a sensitive topic, not to their kindhearted teacher. Besides, he could slightly remember the unspoken rule that a student shouldn't have a part-time job. Gossip or not, he wasn't going to take his chances. "I... I'm sorry I can't tell you, sensei."

This time, it was Akamine-sensei who paused, clasped her hands, and heaved a sigh. "I guess I can't force you to say it. However, I can't just warn you forever. If you miss out on your morning classes, your precious summer class is at stake. And if by any chance you missed on that as well, then you'd have to repeat."

"If you ever feel like talking to me, don't hesitate. You can talk to me at any time, okay?"

Hajime nodded.

"And um... if you need any help, here's my cellphone number." She hurriedly wrote her phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Hajime. "Do you have your phone with you?"

"I don't have a phone," Hajime said.

Akamine-sensei brushed it off, thinking that what Hajime said was a joke. How could he not have a phone? Everyone has one, right? Or so that's what she assumed. But as it turned out, Hajime was actually telling the truth. He really didn't have a phone, he never did have.

"You're dismissed." Akamine-sensei then said after handing Hajime her phone number.

As soon as Hajime stood up, he felt as if his whole world turned upside down. He became so light-headed that he didn't even notice himself falling forward. There was nothing he could do to stop himself. One moment, he was falling down, the next moment he hit his shoulder on Akamine-sensei's desk and then rolled down until his body hit the floor. His consciousness was still intact, but he couldn't bring it upon himself to stand up. His headache aggravated and he could feel himself dipping into unconsciousness as the coldness of the floor enveloped his body.

After two seconds though, Hajime found the strength to support himself with his right arm. With great difficulty he managed to seat himself on the floor, panting. "Are you all right, Hajime? What's wrong? Are you sick?" Akamine-sensei rushed towards him, panicked. He quickly checked if Hajime had a fever but all she felt was cold sweat trickling on his forehead. For some odd reason, he was sweating although the air conditioning was in full blast.

"Just a headache, sensei," Hajime simply responded.

"Here, have some water," Akamine-sensei grabbed a thermos from her bag and poured cold water for Hajime.

The water didn't help with his headache, but it did refresh him a little. "I'd better be going now, sensei," Hajime continued, mustering all his strength so he could stand up.

"Are you sure you're okay? Where's your house, I can drive you."

"Thank you sensei, but I've caused you more than enough trouble already. Besides, my house's just a few minutes walk from here." Hajime forced himself to smile as he dragged himself out of Akamine-sensei's office. He then gently closed the door behind him and rushed out of there. 'That was close, I felt like dying back there.' Hajime told himself, leaning on the walls as he made his way to the school grounds. He wanted to exit the school as soon as possible.