I was dressed in a jersey at the gym, holding my knees tightly as I trembled.
Gouda-sensei, our PE teacher, barked out his orders without any malicious intent in them. But to me, those words brought out nothing but hell.
I guess heâll never be able to understand the feelings of a loner.
âThere are 3 absences in both classes today, so the number of students should be even~! You and your partner are going to compete against other pairs in a badminton match, so choose your partners wisely~!â
Yep, todayâs PE class was a joint session between my class and another one.
Gouda-sensei laughed innocently with a manly voice.
This kind of blade, thrust without any ill intent, really stung at me.
Eventually, everyone in the class got into pairs with their close friends.
Which left me⌠all alone.
âAlright, has everyone gotten a partner? If you havenât gotten one yet, then please come up front! The remaining people will team up with each other so that everyone has a partner!â
Great, a full course including public shaming at the end.
I donât think Iâll be able to sleep well tonight.
Lightheadedly, I walked up to the front.
When I did, everyone around me started making a commotion.
Eh, what is it? Was it so unusual seeing a loner all by himself?
Thatâs what Iâd thought, but it looks like the commotion wasnât actually about me.
I was so self-conscious that it made me feel disgusted.
Even my inner self started cursing at me. At that moment, I, who had been staring down at the ground, finally looked up.
Then, I saw a small, silver-haired girl right before my eyes.
She looked like a junior year student⌠No, I couldnât see her being any older than an elementary student.
âAlright, then the leftovers of the class, Suda and Shiina, form a pair together~ Your pair is a mixed pair, so get along well, okay?~ Gahahaha!â
Again, Gouda-sensei said such unnecessary words.
But, no one made any jokes or teased us at all. They just continued their commotion as they talked noisily with each other.
âWait, Shiina-sanâŚ? I tried to form a pair with her, but she just said, âI already have a partnerâ.â
âYou too?! I-I tried that as well, but she told me the same thing.â
âMe too. So, she didnât have a partner all this timeâŚ?â
Their conversation made me understand why there was a commotion going on around me.
Even though this girl didnât have any friends, she tried to act pretentious.
She didnât tell anyone about how she actually didnât have a partner, and ultimately, she got left out.
She was a really cute girl, and she couldâve chosen any of the boys or girls here to be her partner. It was pretty sad looking at this situation.
While feeling something akin to pity, I grabbed my badminton racket along with Shiina-san.
âU-umm⌠Shiina-san. Letâs do our best.â
I greeted her in a friendly manner, trying to get along with her.
At first glance, she looks like a cool beauty. But if Iâm friendly to her, I think Iâll probably be able to get through this gym class.
When Shiina-san heard my greeting, she looked up at me and opened her mouth.
ââShion, what kind of horrible stage greeting was that?â
I hurriedly used my hand to cover her mouth.
Then, I looked around just to confirm that no one had heard her.
T-this girlâŚ!
âHey, you futuristic drummer prodigy. I told you not to call me by my stage name at school.â
âSorry, I just thought that if I did this, Shion would cover my mouth with his handâŚâ
âWhy are you getting into such weird tastesâŚâ
Thatâs right. This girl is a staff member.
She looked like a small girl who was still in elementary school. Though, she was a pretty eccentric girl, and a troublesome one too.