After lunch break, I returned to the classroom and quietly sat on my chair, trying to get comfortable while waiting for Asamura. As usual, a lot of my classmates are milling about while waiting for the third period teacher to come. Ignorance really is bliss. I doubt they'll be as carefree if they know about all the nasty things that happen in the high school underbelly. All the bullying, coercion, and secret deals usually go unnoticed since our perception is limited only to what we're interested in. If it's something that makes us feel uncomfortable, we will tend to turn a blind eye and continue to act as if it doesn't exist.
And I get it. We're just teenagers afterall. You can't expect people our age to actively hunt down wrongdoers when we're too busy figuring ourselves out to know where to even start. So I say let them enjoy the bliss of youth. Sooner or later, they'll be exposed to the cruelties of the world and will only have their memories from high school to remind them what happiness felt like.
*ding ding ding dong*
The school bell has rung, signifying the end to the second best time of the day. But as all the other students start to pour into the classroom, Asamura is still nowhere to be seen. I take a quick look around the classroom in case I missed her for whatever reason. But sure enough, she's not here. Although, I do spot something unpleasant entering the classroom.
Even through just the simple act of walking into a room, Sakakibara Daiki manages to make the world temporarily revolve around him. Everyone stops what they're doing and immediately greets him. And of course, he greets them all in return. It really is like watching something straight out of a shoujo anime. What a disgusting scene to witness.
As he sits down at his seat by the corner window, his group quickly gathers around him. And yet, Asamura is noticeably absent. Did she get lost on her way back to the classroom?
…
Okay, she's not that hopeless. But the thought briefly grazed my mind and couldn't help but acknowledge the possibility of it. That being said though, I need her now to get this thing with Takamoto and Suzuki over with. And I won't know where she is by simply introspecting where she might be. I need to ask someone who might know.
With that thought, I begrudgingly walked over to Sakakibara Daiki to ask him. Though it might be more appropriate to say that I mousily made my way over to him, hoping that he sees me coming so I won't have to go through his friends to catch his attention. But I'm not so lucky for things to go the way I want them to. And as I came nearer and nearer to the pantheon of popularity, my mind started scrambling for what I should say.
"E-excuse me… S-Sakakibara Daiki, hello…! Err… Hello, over here."
It's no use. He's surrounded by his cronies from all sides. And they're all excitedly talking over each other. Guess I got no choice but to tap one of them on the shoulder and ask them to move over so I can talk to him. Luckily, the person directly in front of me is the jester of the group. Though I can't remember his name. What was it again? Takamatsu? Takaoka? Whatever, man. I tap his shoulder and hope for the best as he turns around.
"Oh! Hey! You're… Sugijama! What's up bro?"
Okay, I know I was trying hard to remember your name earlier, but you seem dead set on calling me Sugijama. Did you even try to remember my name when Asamura mentioned it?
"Uh… Hey. Can I talk to Sakakibara Daiki for a bit?"
"Daiki? Oh sure man! Hey Daiki bro, Sugijama wants to talk to you!"
Damn fool announced me to everyone in the group. Now the rest of them are all staring at me with blank expressions; like I just killed the vibe or something. I'm terribly sorry. If you could just let me speak to your ruler for a bit, I promise you'll quickly get back to whatever pointless discussion you were having.
"Oh, hey Sugiyama-kun. Excuse me guys, I'll be back in a bit."
Sakakibara Daiki stands up and begins to take a few steps towards me but he's suddenly interrupted by the bombastic looking girl sitting right beside him; Fujiwara Sumire, the most popular girl in class.
"Hang on! Who exactly are you to just come here all of a sudden and demand to talk to Daiki? You friends or something? Cause I don't remember you ever hanging out with us before."
Geez, why do the popular girls in this school act like a bunch of mafia members? And I didn't even demand to talk to him. I just asked like any normal person would do.
"Now now, Sumire. Sugiyama-kun just wants to talk. It'll be quick and I'll be right back."
"Mmm… Fine. But hurry back, okay?"
"Yep, I promise."
And with that, he finally separates himself from the group and we proceed back to my seat.
"I gotta say, Sugiyama-kun. I'm pleasantly surprised that you came to talk to me instead of having Asuka do it. Are you finally willing to be friends?"
"Not a chance. You already have tons of friends. Adding me to the list would just be plain greedy."
"Ahaha! Harsh as always. So, what'd you want to talk about?"
"I just wanted to ask where Asamura is.
"You miss her already, huh?"
"Hell no. I just need her for something. So, where is she?"
Having a more serious look on his face now as opposed to his confident smirk earlier, he leans in closer to me.
"I shouldn't be saying anything since only me and Sumire know. But all I can say is she went home to deal with some family stuff."
"That so? Okay, thanks."
"Hmm? You're not even curious about it? I thought for sure you were gonna at least ask me for more details."
"I'm not interested in whatever's going on with her. But since she's not here, I guess I'll have to do it myself."
"Oh? Do what exactly?"
"... Sorry. I didn't mean to say that out loud.
"Ahaha! What the heck does that mean? You really are interesting, Sugiyama-kun."
Did he get the words interesting and weird mixed up? Anyway, I was planning on having Asamura ask Sakakibara Daiki to send a text to Suzuki. But since I'm already talking to him now, I should just tell him myself. Though I don't like the thought of asking him for a favor or directly owing him anything.
"Yeah… So, I was wondering if you could send a message to Suzuki to meet up at the gymnasium later after school."
"Getting straight to it, huh? Can I ask what it's about?"
"... It'll take too long to explain."
"I see. Well, I don't mind shooting him a text later. But on one condition."
"Uh-huh. And what would that be?"
"I want to go with you when you meet with Suzuki-senpai later."
Huh. So, he wants to get involved yet again. What exactly is his agenda here? Is he really just that interested in what's happening? Or maybe he's helping out all for the sake of getting to Kurebayashi or something. I don't know but if that's what it takes to get all of this over with, then fine by me.
"Sure. But just to be clear, you want to go with me on my way to the gymnasium, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"... Okay then. We'll go together after the final period today."
Well, at least something good came out of my having to talk with him. It'll be great seeing Sakakibara Daiki with a look of utter confusion, fear, and shock on his face later.