The next day.
Since that heartbreaking day, I slept comfortably for the first time in a while, and as I cheerfully headed to school, Haruka was already engaging in a lively conversation with her classmates (I think they were, but I don’t remember much from yesterday).
And that was in the seat just before mine.
Though it may seem obvious, “Haruka Hasuike” and “Kohhei Hirose” are quite close in alphabetical order, so it’s not surprising that our seats are close to each other.
“Was I really so unenergetic that I didn’t even recognize the girl right in front of me yesterday?”
Upon reconsideration, I must have been in a terrible state. Well, with me exuding such a gloomy aura on my first day of high school, it’s no wonder Haruka might have thought, “Is this guy alright?”
As I pondered over such thoughts,
“Ah, it’s Kohhei! Good morning!”
Haruka noticed me and waved with a smile.
“Yeah, good morning, Haruka.”
I responded nonchalantly, but I immediately noticed something.
The classroom buzzed with excitement.
“Huh? Are they together?”
“They barely talked yesterday, right? Did something happen after school? Did they confess?”
As Haruka and I chatted, her classmates (I think they were, but I don’t remember well) started to get excited.
“So much for being a real charger from the morning… I feel like dying.”
“So, this is what they call the baptism of high school, huh?”
“Wait, was there such a guy before?”
“What are you talking about? Look―oh, right, was he there?”
“Seriously? Haruka was the one I was targeting.”
“Idiot, there’s no way you had a chance from the beginning.”
The boys in the class were the ones getting noisy.
Looking at their reactions, I took another look at Haruka Hasuike, the girl who was making me feel at ease.
Her shoulder-length, loosely wavy brown hair was fashionable and cute, perfectly matching her blazer uniform.
Her face was adorable, around the level of being ranked third or fourth in the class’s cuteness ranking—in other words, cute enough that an average guy might stand a chance, maybe. That was how cute she was.
This adorable Haruka was,
“Hey, Kohhei. I’m a bit worried if I can keep up with the classes from today. I’ve always been bad at math since middle school.”
“I’m more worried about English.”
“Oh, I’m good at English, so I might be able to help you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”
or,
“Kohhei, your tie is crooked. Let me fix it for you.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“You should check in front of the mirror before coming.”
or,
“Kohhei, do you watch dramas? Did you see last night’s Monday 9 p.m. drama?”
“I don’t really watch dramas. I watch TV, but it’s mostly baseball or soccer.”
“Oh, I like baseball too! I’m a Giants fan. Go Giants! What about you?”
“Unfortunately, I’m a Hanshin Tigers fan. Sorry, Haruka, it looks like we can’t connect on this.”
or something like that.
She would casually strike up various conversations with me.
I was also having fun chatting with Haruka thanks to the slight refreshment from yesterday’s incident. However, from an outsider’s perspective, this might look like a different kind of relationship, like they’re dating or something.
Well, it can’t be helped; we’re addressing each other by our names.
―Well, that’s fine.
Ahem.
Boys are truly pitiful creatures.
Just being spoken to by a cute girl is enough to make them elated.
If only I could spend time like this with Chika… Nevermind.
Meeting Haruka has probably helped me switch my feelings a bit.
So, I should forget about Chika as a bittersweet memory… I should forget… I’ll forget… Sigh…
If it were that easy, I wouldn’t be struggling so much.