*sigh* This again…
I go to school, I put those slippers, I cross the hallways, I get up the stairs, I cross more hallways, and I find a commotion outside my classroom.
There's a bunch of people talking and laughing and playing and patting at each other backs and muttering as usual.
Weirdos.
Most of them are my classmates. I think.
Well, whatever, I have to get in, so I approach them.
But they're so many there's no way to get in.
It seems I have two options now: to do everything I can to get in or to stay outside with a bunch of strangers who are probably my classmates.
"Let me get it," I ask the guy in front of me. I've seen him before. I think he's Yamazaki or Miyazaki or Yokozaki or whatever…
But of course he doesn't bait an eye. It seems he's too busy doing absolutely nothing.
I push him aside and whoever's in front of him and so on and so on.
While I get through, a bunch of whatevers stare at me and say things I don't really want to hear.
And finally I'm in front of the door.
Everyone's staring at me.
Silently.
Expectantly.
I feel like I'm about to fall into a trap.
I reach the door handle. (I hear some of them gasping, some of them laughing.)
I grab it.
Turn it.
Get in and:
"Hey, hey, you, you in a club ye… oh, it's you, Ino," Izumi's sitting in Sotoka-san's place for some reason. She has on her arms what it seems to be a bunch of the same flyers.
There's nobody else in the classroom.
And that makes a lot of sense, to be honest.
"And now what did you do?" I approach Izumi and sit on the desk that's closest to her.
Izumi's staring at the door.
"What are you doing?"
"I wait."
"Wait what?"
"Sotoka-chan or someone at least, but no one's coming. It's too early or what?"
"You know they're all outside, right?"
"And why don't they get in?"
"I wonder why."
"Well, whatever, they have to get in sometime."
Sure, yeah, but they'll surely get in when Horinomi-sensei arrives, and you'll have no time to ask them to ask them if they're on any club.
"And Sotoka-san?"
"I dunno. She left her stuff and told me she'll be right back, but she hasn't come yet. We were supposed to go ask together, and I had to do it all by myself, but Nagai-san
"Who?"
"The one from the disciplinary comittee," that doesn't ring a bell, but, anyway, continue. "She started chasing me, and I ran thoughout school and hid here, and I think she just got tired 'cause she hasn't come here yet."
Really? Damn, I hope I was here earlier to see it.
But if that was the case I'm pretty sure Izumi would have asked me to help her, and I would have rejected her, and she would insist and insist and oh, god, I'm glad I just got here.
The door opens and Horinomi-sensei gets in along everyone else. They go to their respective desk and sit down.
"Good morning, everyone," says Horinomi-sensei, "sit down so we can start.
In front of me there's… ¿Inoue? And she stays there and only stares at me.
I think she wants her desk back.
And I give it back: I get up from her desk and go back to mine.
"SOTOKA-CHAN, WHERE WERE YOU?! WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?! YOU'RE MEAN, SOTOKA-CHAN, AND I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU GO BECAUSE OF IT!"
Yeah, Izumi's hugs Sotoka-san as hard as she can, and Sotoka-san yells, and everyone stare at them and mock them, and I'm glad I'm not there.
"Izumi-san, let go; class is about to start."
But, obviosuly Izumi's not letting go.
"YOU'RE MEAN, YOU'RE MEAN, SOTOKA-CHAN!"
"Izumi-san, let go," and Sotoka-san tries to get rid of her, but it seems Izumi's too strong and stubborn for her.
"Natsumura-san, Hamano-san, sot down so we can start," tells them Horinomi-sensei.
"Izumi-san, let go."
.
.
.
.
.
"Izumi-san."
.
.
.
.
.
"¡Izumi-san!"
"Ok, ok."
Izumi squeezes Sotoka-san and lets go.
She goes back to her desk.
And collapses right there.
"Ok, give me your reports, please," says Horinomi-sensei.
I take out my report and give it to the boy sitting in front of me. I think his name is Yoshida or something. He takes it and passes it to whoever's sitting in front of him.
Izumi takes out her report too and gives it to whoever's sitting in front of her.
Her report's cover page looks exactly as Sotoka-san.
Maybe she just put her name on it and print it.
No, it's not like she's that dumb…
.
.
.
.
.
"Hey, Izumi, you did modify Sotoka-san's report a bit, right?"
"What?" Asks Izumi as she turns towards me.
"You did modify the report Sotoka-san send us yesterday, right?"
Izumi looks at me as if I asked the stupidest thing ever.
"Du'h, it's not like I'd print it like that."
"It's just that last night you were so sleepy…"
"Yeah, but I already had it on my to do list," Izumi shows me her hands; there's a lot of thing written there, like:
MAKE MORE FLYERS
BUY MORE SNACKS
BUY ESPRESSO CAPSULES
MODIFY SOTOKA-CHAN'S REPORT
SEND PACKAGES 8 7 3 2
There's also a lot of weird words and names. I think they are animes or mangas she wants to watch/read.
"Wow, those are disgusting. Don't you know wash your hands or what?"
"Couse not; if I wash 'em a lot I'm gonna lose whatever I write," says and stares at me like I am the fool.
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"Hey, Izumi, and why you were recruiting new members that early?"
Izumi has her head laying over her desk. Her hand are hanging aimlessly. She's clearly bored to death.
But she still answers me:
"'Cause I don't wanna stay at the entrance after class."
That's an excellent reason. After class there's going to be a lot of people, and it's going to be so hot out there, and we're not going to get anyone while Izumi's with us, and that's why…
"We should send Sotoka-san alone. She'll surely get us a lot of new members.
"Why you say so?" Asks Izumi like it isn't obvious.
"Because it's Sotoka-san, you dummy. Everyone love her."
"Sure, but I wanna be with my Sotoka-chan."
"But you'll scare them off, Izumi."
"But I wanna be with my Sotoka-chan! ¡She already left me alone!"
"Shut up; we're still in class."
"I wanna be with my Sotoka-chan!"
"Natsumura-san, Yamamoto-san," says Horinomi-sensei, "what's going on in there?"
"It's all Izumi's fault, Horinomi-sensei, but I'll get sure she shuts up. Sorry and, please, continue."
Horinomi-sensei resumes whatever she was teaching.
"I wanna be with my Sotoka-san," she crosses her arms and says stubbornly.
"Sure, whatever."
.
.
.
.
.
.
"I've told you we should have make a list," Izumi's still mad.
"A list of what?"
"A list of whoever's not in any club. We can start with the ones here."
"And how you'll do it? You don't know anyone."
"Neither do you. And, whatever, I can get more members than you."
"No, you can't," and I'm right; there's no one on this world who thinks: "being in a club with Izumi? Yeah, that sounds like a great idea."
And, for the record, I don't think that way; I'm only in this club to shut that bitch Fujimoto's mouth.
And Sotoka-san, well, she's weird.
"Ya-uh. Watch me," Izumi turns toward who knows who," hey, you, you, listen to me, hey, hey, the one with the weird pencil case."
"What?" Says some of the guys around us.
"I wasn't talking to you, but ok. Are you in any club?"
"Yeah."
"Ok. Hey, you, you, listen to me," Izumi tears off a piece of paper from her notebook, crumps it into a little ball and throws it at the guy sitting in front of me. "I'm talking to you, hey, Weird Pencil Case-kun, hey…
"What?!" Says Weird Pencil Case-kun.
"Are you in a club?"
"I am, leave me alone!"
"And you, Hair Bun-san," she says to the girl sitting in front of her, "are you in a club? Hair Bun-san? Hair Bun-san? Hair Bun-san? Hair Bun-san? Answer me! Or how about you, short hair? Are you in a club? And you, thin arms? And you, forehead? I'm talking to you! And you, crooked teeth?"
"Natsumura-san," says someone. Izumi and I turn forwards, and there's Horinomi-sensei. "What do you think you're doing? How can you say something like that? Those are some hurtful nicknames, and you know it. Would you like everyone to give you a nickname like that?" Ha, they already did, Horinomi-sensei. "No, right? So I hope you learn your lesson but, as a punishment you will stay here after class for cleaning duties," ha, you deserve it, Izumi. Who really thinks that can get people's attention by insulting them, well, I know you can, but that's not what I mean. "And, oh, I almost forgot, we haven't been able to contact your parents since the flyer incident. Do you know how we can get to them? It's urgent."
Izumi looks down and just nods with her head.
"Oh, I see. Anyway, you'll stay here after class. And the same goes to you, Yamamoto-san."
"What? Why? She was the one insulting everyone. I was just here."
"I saw both of you talking before."
"So what? I'm not—" wait. Our punishment is to stay here after class to clean and whatever, and if Izumi and I are here after class, then we wouldn't go to the school's entrance to try to recruit more members and fail, and if we don't go, then Sotoka-san will go alone, and if she goes alone, then she'll get a lot more members, and we would make our club officially, and I would shove it on Fujimoto bitchy's face and and… well, that's enough for now." I'm sorry, Horinomi-sensei, it was also my fault."
Horinomi-sensei's stares at me flabbergasted. I bet this is the first time one of her students apologizes to her.
And that's really, really sad.
"Uhm… Well, I'm glad you see it that way, Yamamoto-san, but still you'll stay here after class to help Natsumura-san."
"Of course, Hotinomi-sensei. I deserve it."
"Thanks, Yamamoto-san. Glad to hear it," Horinomi-sensei turns around and goes back to her desk. "Well, everyone, let's get back to class…"
Class continues.
And I die of boredom.
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"Ok, guys, enjoy your lunch," Horinomi-sensei gets up and leaves.
And almost everyone do the same
"Sotoka-chan!" Izumi yells while she gets up and goes to meet her.
But she's already gone.