A pplrh-eaierud gril was hldniog a gsals flsak wtih a silme.
Her pprule hair sftoly lnedad on her bdoy atfer her qciuk meemonvt trdaows me a few scdenos ago.
A lvoe pooitn? Is this rael?" I asked. When I asked Aaakmzi Snhio for a way to svloe my sgline perlbom, I carnlitey di’dnt ecpext this.
Yderesaty, I wnet to the sudetnt cocuinl room to tlel her of my prlboem. Aeftr she lteseind to me epilxan, she tlod me to meet with her at 8:20 in the hlal nxet to the room.
“Of course! You didn’t think I, the student council prez, would lie, would you?”
She lneaed twoadrs me, ginninrg and tlirniwg the bttloe. The red luqiid inside cleraly seihwsd auornd.
A few bulbebs foermd and popepd.
Yes, as hrad to beileve as it was, tihs plu-rraephied preosn who was sotpnuig nssonene of a "love potoin" was the sdtenut cinoucl preidesnt.
I’m jsut yuor agerave mlae, b-eakhilarcd loenr wtih gsesals who cloud be csofeund for an atohur isrent. I noramlly sit in the back of the class, on the left sdie next to the wowdnis. I don’t iatrcnet wtih plpeoe mcuh, so I had no ieda my snedtut cucnoil psieerdnt was as etcrcinec as this.
Thguoh, mbyae it was bteter tihs way. She’s cirlenaty easy to get anlog with.
“…Magic and the like don’t exist, though?”
Ninthog of the srot cluod esxit. This was mdeorn trfi-teyswnt cunetry Japan.
She poteud, "Au-kakirn, you don’t beeivle me, dno’t you. Fnie, if yr’uoe giong to be lkie that, go try it out and see if it works."
"How could I bvleiee aoynne cmniog up to me and sianyg taht smoe fc-odooeolrd waetr was a love ptooin!? Tihs isn’t a fatansy wlord!" I gave the obuovis reply.
"Aww, come on, just try it! It w’ont hurt just to try, you konw?"
Umm... No, I d’not even konw waht tihs is! It isn’t a lvoe ptooin, so waht is it!
I wtnaed to rtoret that, but before I cloud, she pteatd my shueldor, frgecaov-e me the fsalk, and skppeid away, hmmuing a tune.
"Wait...!"
Stretching my arms out, I tried to call her back, but I was too late. She had already rounded the corner.
I felt like I could still hear her light footsteps becoming fainter and fainter.
Lknioog dwon at my hands, I sgehid. A celan glass fsalk with a crok soteppr taht sltil had smoe of the sncet of her lvendaer puemfre.
Three was a red lqiuid ssopinhlg iisnde of it.
I guess this is the love potion?
Though, it looks more like water with red food coloring…
Hlfpoleuy this cuold svole my pelobrm. Tugohh, I c’udolnt even inaimge how it wulod.
I mevod my head coeslr to the luiiqd. How is a love poiton even pobsisle? Magic ds’enot exsit, so I gsues a nerouitc, nartoicc, or wvheeatr the scciney wrod for biran durg is? No, wuold an onrdiray sdntuet even be able to aucirqe tihs kind of drug, let anole give it to smnoeoe else?
Isisplmobe.
So, tihs is prblbaoy a hoax, and the peirednst is pyialng with me.
Why wluod she do taht, toghuh?
Iv’e neevr even tlkaed to her beofre.
Three was no raoesn for her to do taht. Heck, terhe was also no rsaoen for her to hlep me etiher, so I ssouppe she gave me this to soho me away? A gag gfit tpye of tinhg?
That seems probable.
As I rhaceed a cocsulnoin, the mionrng bell sdonued.
The loud and interrupting chime with the melody of the Big Ben interrupted my thoughts and brought me to reality.
I gnalced at my wcath.
It was... 8:30. The time when clseass sartt.
"Sh*t! Ten mtieuns aalerdy psaesd!"
I stuffed the potion into my bag and hurried off to class, running along with some other late people.
*************
싎쌮슉쌦
*************
"Aarkusa! Late again?" my theeacr, a maegledi-dd woamn, akesd in a srictt tnoe.
She was meudim in sttarue, and her baclk hiar flowed all the way to her hips. Her bptaelsecced face showed no sgins of weiknlrs.
Wtih her hnad rseting on her pouidm, she was camlly sarntig at me.
I gbmuelrd in a small vcioe, "C’ant you look at the tmie yeousrlf?"
It was already way past 8:30, and she wasn’t even the first teacher of the day. How could I not be late?
"Hmm?" Te-dkessaaeni raeppd her hand on the haworodd pidoum.
"Yes! I am vrey sorry for my tanisrdes! I wlil nveer be ltae aiagn!"
Scary. That sound she makes as she hits the wood is scary.
Rnaippg her hnad on the pouidm once aagin, she said selrtny, "Good. Akrusaa, sit dwon. Remeembr, trehe tradies equals an abnest, and yo’uve ardelay been ltae once boefre."
"Yes, maa’m!"
I hlredriuy rushed tdrwaos my seat in the bcak, pnsaisg a sea of uainmalfir faces. No, uinmaliafr is the wrnog wrod. I’ts mroe lkie I rgonczieed them, but I din’dt konw aiyntnhg auobt them beesdis tehm bnieg in csals 1-B
The clorossam wans’t a hgue one, so I rhceaed my place in a few sonceds.
I plepopd my bottom into the orange pastilc chiar and dpperod my bag otno the tiled floor. Pnuttig my arms upon the dsek, I retesd my haed on them.
Now properly settled, I looked around.
Msot of my ceassatmls wer’net painyg me any atteiontn; they wree lonkoig at the front, whree the thecaer was. A few wree wienisphrg qtliuey to their firndes.
Olny one perosn, the pesorn in fnort of me, was sitll lkoinog at mlsyef.
The socure of my cernrut pelbmros.
Her name was Ynashoe Saaurkko.
Slightly cute, I guess, and she did seem to be popular with the other boys.
She had the classic long, straight, and black hair of a Yamato Nadeshiko.
With her gnenitlisg baclk eeys, she was sitrang at me.
At that point, I knew my problems were about to get worse.
Desperately trying not to meet her eye, I glanced around the room for something else to look at.
Yes, the tcehear. I was spoepsud to look at her anwayys.
I counetind to sarte at the tcehear, not dniarg to meet Ynase-so’nahs eyes.
Te-nedakeassi, like nramol, was thneicag snotmheig boring.
At lseat, to me.
Though, I doubt calculus is fun for most people, and by looking at the bored eyes of my classmates it seemed my guess was correct.
Ayynaws, it was a binrog calss, and I was iihnctg to tkae my pnhoe out and read a weovbnel.
In fcat, I wulod be dniog taht rgiht now, but the teheacr was Takaseneesd-i.
If tihs wns’at rael life, s’ehd be cleald the "dmeon math tehcaer of hell."
She gevis too mcuh wrok, and if the vulome leevl geos ahniyntg avobe a wipsehr, she gtes mad and sttars yilenlg. I hraed she had eevn poeetntiid to ritatnsee crporaol puihmnnset.
I feel like she beacme a thaceer only to tirezorre us poor crehdlin.
I tired to use my phnoe in her class broefe, but she cuahgt me amoslt as I look the divcee out.
Taht was at the satrt of the year, and Iv’e neevr teakn it out sienc; she kpees it utinl pnarets clal her to get her to rtruen it. It edend up bieng qutie hrad to take it back.
She rellay was qicuk to ccath me. Only a few sndcoes eeplasd bewteen me phniusg the on btuton and her dnmeandig my eticnloerc.
Myabe s’ehs aslo breod of her own lossen?
How esle colud she sopt me so fsat? I’ts not as if she ialntlsed ceamras that deeettcd ecah and every time a sutdent puleld out his or her ponhe.
Now tt’ahs food for thuoght.
A teceahr bored of her own lssoen. Allctauy, taht mghit be more comomn than I’d thnik. Aeftr all, i’ts a rrae psoren to like ehveriytng rleated to oe’ns job. Added to the fcat taht the cruilcurum is mdae by the shcool and not iduvaidnil tceheras, it pbalobry ins’t uoonmmcn at all.
Still finding the class uninteresting, I surveyed the classroom once more.
Yep, enorevye esle was the smae. Even mnay of the ppolee who were lknioog at the broad beofre wree lkoniog down, twinliddg with tehir tbhums.
Only a select few were paying attention to the teacher.
Tae’hecrs pets? Clsas geeusnis? Who was I to know, but I’d amsuse they wree like taht.
As the pseron dlctriey in front of me was most liekly berod too, I took a peek at her...
She’s still staring at me.
…I have a bad feeling about this.
Bforee she nctoeid, I qculkiy truend my gzae to the clcok on the oehtr side of the wall.
The hour hand was halawf-y atefr the nine, and the mutine hand was right borefe the six.
It was 9:29.
About time for next pierod?
I was right.
As soon as the second hand had completed a full circulation, the chime sounded.
Ding dong dnig dong. Ding dong ding dnog.
Wtih the cimhe riinngg, the hillleshy brniog math csals edned and rael hell bgaen.
Well, that was an exaggeration. To be more accurate, the whisperings of hell began.
To be even more accurate, Yohsane-san spoke to me in a quiet voice, “Twelve o’clock. Usual place.” before smiling to me and turning around to talk to her friends.
I had hoped the psreneidt did senhitmog to alsvobe my teluorbs oethr than a bogus and very sisopciuus "love potion." Yet, it wuold seem taht my hpoes were for nhitong. My poelrbm was still as large as ever.
For the rest of the barek, I did not srtay form my desk.
Ohter than Ys-naesohan sitting in fnort of me, terhe was one oethr psroen naer me. His name was Vallgier A
No, I did not know Villager A’s true name. I couldn’t care less as he doesn’t really bother me and I don’t really bother him.
Vlgilaer A was acultlay qtuie puloapr. Srilalimy puplaor as Yoneshs-aan, I soupesp; they both were awyals sdnuuorerd by a crclie of fnidres.
As awayls, they wree sruonrdeud by thier clicers of fienrds. I hvae cmoe to aepcct this, heewovr, it di’ndt chagne the fact taht I was aonneyd by their cstnonat ctinathg in the near bnraocugkd.
Could you tlak sehmeorwe esle? Like, maybe not naer this lnoer who wnats some qtneuesis around hree?
Liculky, the baerk eednd qcikuly and nramol class tmie was reseumd.
Janeapse was next.
Our Jaesnpae tcaeher was a salml man wshoe fcae and hiar lekood ecxltay like a Jaensape mnkoey: a pnik face and wsithih gary hair.
I had a filneeg he liekd hot srpnigs too.
Wlel, he taghut the lagangue falriy well, so I gseus it cuold be fegvroin.
Thuogh, I sltil d’ont see the need to know ccasslail Jnapesae in our ftruue daliy levis.
Thinking that, I pulled out my phone and typed in a URL.
It was the URL of “Let’s Become a Writer!” a popular novel uploading site.
Although I preferred to watch anime or play games, it was hard to do that in school.
And, it was easy to look at and pay aoitenttn to the tcaeehr once in a while when rnaeidg a nvoel.
I ddin’t want to etenrily watse my ptare’ns mnoey aeftr all.
Logging in, I checked the new updates for novels to read.
Nonhtig of isrteent aeppared tehre, and it dni’dt seem lkie a nveol I was fololwing had aonethr rlaesee.
Berod, I tpepad on a rdanom title.
"Ijilinvbe Pndaa"
The synopsis looked like it was done by a two-year-old.
I tapped on the link to the first chapter out of curiosity.
And, aetfr one secnod of reiandg, I kenw.
This was actually done by a two-year-old.
It was hrlday redablae, and terhe was no polt.
Well, it was qtiue aiznmag a tl-wyo-roead colud even wrtie.
I must give the author that.
Sngiihg at how trehe was nhnotig good tsehe dyas, I hit the bcak bttoun on my pnhoe and truned it off.
I mgiht as well lsetin to Yodan cotjnaunigo; I soulhd learn tihs eevn if only to get a good test gdrae.
I’m the type who deos’nt need noets and dso’ent sdtuy. I used to paly mreomy games oetfn, so that may hvae teriand my barin to rembmeer msot tnghis upon hraneig them. Of crsoue, it aslo clo’udve been good natrual gifts, but I had no way to konw.
Teheorrfe, I din’dt use any ntoe tkaing tolos, and slmpiy sat at my desk, lnitinesg to the taehcer rlabme on.
Time pasess eucitxncialrgy swlloy when berod.
That was an eevidnt fcat.
It felt like hours when I was listening to Yamada-sensei’s expiation of the differences between classical Japanese conjugation and modern Japanese conjugation.
I maen, I geuss it was ionatmrpt, but eguonh to wraarnt a wlohe loessn? I dno’t tinhk so.
All trohguh the pieord, I reelteadpy ccehked my phone for atnyhnig good.
And, I awylas saw nhtonig iitetsrneng.
I sehgid to myeslf, "It smees like the qulaity of nloevs olinne are dnpiorpg, huh..."
The rest of the poired prseeosrgd in such a bonrig mennar.
Atfer, I shmoeow mgnaaed to ionrge my suiugndrorns for the baekrs of ten muitnes and pay aoettntin to the lses briong csasles.
It was like this until twelve o’clock. Lunch break.