Beep Beep
Clank
I clicked the button on my alarm clock and slowly got up in bed. It's 5:00 a.m. in the morning. I did my usual routine and went outside to jog. After I'm finished, I bump into my sister at our front door; she's also wearing an outfit for jogging and sweating buckets. I noticed she was looking at me, but I ignored her and walked to the kitchen.
"You're going to ignore me the whole time I'm here?" asked my sister.
Ayane Takahashi is 20 years old; she's my sister. Ever since we were kids, she's always been the number one in her class. Except for the time in high school when she met a guy much smarter than him. She obtained her beauty from my mother's genes, which is not something to be proud of. She obtained it by chance, not by effort, so I think it's not worth bragging about. She's in college right now and currently on vacation.
I didn't bother to turn my eyes on her and just took a seat at our dining table. Mom has prepared the food for us like always, and dad is also here.
"Good morning, dad," I said.
"Mhm," replied my dad.
My dad is a professional athlete. He's one of the pitchers on one of the strongest teams here in Japan. I don't usually brag about it because my classmates tend to ask me to get his autograph, which is a hassle.
"You should join a sport, Kei," said my dad.
"I'll pass," I said.
"That's right, Kei. You have the potential to be the greatest in your school when it comes to sports, yet you waste it studying instead," said my sister.
I ignored her and started to eat.
"Hm, are the two of you fighting again?" asked my dad.
"It's bad manners to pout when eating," said my mom.
I can't just let go of what my sister did last night. Even if it's just a prank, Mei Shimizu probably misunderstood it. For some reason, I hate it. I want to fix this as soon as possible. I tried messaging Mei Shimizu, but she didn't reply at all. This is all my sister's fault!
"You're still mad about last night?" asked my sister.
I quickly finished my food and stood up.
"Thanks for the food," I said.
I grabbed my plate and placed it in the sink. My sister has a worried look on her face; she's probably feeling guilty about what she did.
"Mom, I'll walk today," I said.
"Take care," said my mom.
"Hey, Kei!" yelled my sister.
I ignored her and went to my room to prepare my stuff.
.
.
.
My sister waited for me at the front door and tried to talk to me, but I ignored her. I'm on my way to school. I slowly tilted my head and gazed into the beautiful blue sky above me.
"I don't want to go to school," I muttered.
I hate it. I hate this feeling. I'm feeling uncomfortable, and I don't know why. She's not my girlfriend. She's not. I don't see any reason to explain what happened last night. Why should I?
"Yo, Takahashi," said a familiar male voice behind me.
I turned around and saw Tanaka waving his hand like an idiot. Tanaka... Oh, how I wish I could have your attitude of not caring about the world.
"What's with that look? I feel like you're insulting me in your head," said Tanaka.
I immediately smiled to assure him that I wasn't thinking any insulting things about him. Even though I am.
"No, I don't," I lied.
We walked together on our way to school. My thoughts are centered on the fact that Mei Shimizu misunderstood what happened last night. I can't seem to let it go; I tried.
"Hey, Tanaka," I said.
"Hm?" wondered Tanaka.
"Can I ask you a question?" I asked.
"Sure," said Tanaka.
"If you did something and the other party took it another way, you don't have to explain it, but, you know, like, what do you do?" I asked.
"Huh?" wondered Tanaka.
"I meant it exactly as I said," I said.
"Explain it in a way I'll understand!" screamed Tanaka.
Oh, it seems I explained it in a confusing way. It's hard to put it into words. It's complicated, and this is the first time I'm feeling this. I'm also the type of guy who doesn't care what others think about me. So why? Why am I so concerned about what she thinks?
"Okay, so, last night, someone called my phone. I answered it, and the girl I'm with suddenly moaned loudly. So now this girl—"
"Wait! You were with a girl last night?!" screamed Tanaka.
"Yeah, what of it?" I asked.
"Were you screwing her?" asked Tanaka.
Screwing? Like screwdriver? I don't keep screwdrivers in my room, so I'm not. Why would I even screw my sister?
"No, I'm not," I said.
"Then why is she moaning?!" screamed Tanaka.
"I don't know. She's crazy," I said.
"Why were you with a girl last night?!" screamed Tanaka.
"Shut it!" I screamed.
Tanaka shut his mouth once he heard my scream. It's my sister; it's not unusual for me to be with her. Why is he even focusing on that? I have something that's more serious than that.
"So, the girl on the phone heard the moans and immediately hung up," I said.
"I still have tons of questions for you, but let's focus on your problem," said Tanaka.
"So I'm wondering why I'm worried about her misunderstanding the situation," I said.
"Wait, you're wondering why you're worried about her misunderstanding your situation?" asked Tanaka.
"Yeah," I said.
"So you're not asking yourself if she actually misunderstood it?" asked Tanaka.
"It's obvious that she's misunderstanding it, so I'm not worried about that. I'm wondering why I want to fix this in the first place," I said.
Tanaka's eyes suddenly widen; he gives me a look like he's looking at an idiot. Come on, stop giving me that look. I asked because I'm actually having trouble with this, and this is what I got. The best thing to do to learn something you don't know is to ask. That's why I asked in the first place.
"You're smart, but you're also dumb at the same time," said Tanaka.
"Huh? How?" I asked.
"You like this girl. That's why you don't want her to misunderstand it," said Tanaka.
Huh? No way, absolutely no way! I don't like her! Not at all! She's just an arrogant little girl who somehow got lucky and became a young teacher! There's no way I will like someone like that! No way!
"Your thesis is rejected," I said.
"How, though?" asked Tanaka.
"Because there's no significant relationship between the two variables. The end," I said.
"How will you know that without doing any experiments?" asked Tanaka.
I didn't get to answer that because, somewhere in my mind, I think he's right. I also can't believe that he can maintain this kind of conversation with me. I actually thought he was stupid.
"Here's my hypothesis: you may or may not like her," said Tanaka.
"That's a pathetic hypothesis," I said.
"I'm going to list the things that might prove that you like her or not. So, what about it? Care to join my little research?" asked Tanaka.
"I refuse," I said.
I don't need to do any research to prove that I don't like her. I want to solve this misunderstanding first. There's also the thing about Ai Shimizu blackmailing us. There's so much I need to do.
First things first, I'll ace the quiz we have this morning.