"Master, are you talking about who I think you are talking about?"

"I don't know now, Kuzan. You probably think that grass is red so I would have to question my intelligence if our thoughts intertwined."

Walking out of the superficial airy restaurant, Kuzan and Kawahara had an exchange of words.

In our class, there are only two red-headed individuals. Assuming that Kawahara is referring to their hair color, that is...

Akimiyashika and...

"I don't think the grass is red!"

Kuzan most likely missed the whole joke. If it was a joke, that is...

High-spirited as always, Kawahara was taking charge while guiding us to yet unknown boundaries.

Soon, that place became common knowledge to all of us. Regarding the place, Kawahara mentioned that it was the infirmary room, but he never mentioned which one.

For what I know, there is one located in each block.

I know this because there is one in block F, so it wouldn't be such a blunder to assume that there are more in each block. Besides, if a semi-haunted block like block F has the privilege of receiving an infirmary room, then I don't see the issue.

In the end, with a fast-paced walk, we four reached a certain infirmary room.

Far more prestigious and well taken care of, it could not be compared to block F's infirmary room.

The architecture structure was undoubtedly superior and the medical resources were far vaster in comparison.

And even though there were beds to allow the patients to rest and recover, only one of the beds was being occupied.

"Good afternoon."

Given that we four were already inside the infirmary room, the first person to speak to us was an extremely old man. Around his 70's, if I had to guess.

Furthermore, he had a really long white beard, truly fit of his age, essentially.

"Geezer, can you move out of the way? Because you're in it."

Rude Kawahara without any possible tact gladly said that with an overconfident smirk on his face.

Not that I have a superior attitude, but to trash-talk someone on your first encounter?

"Sir Silvestre, could we bother you for a while?"

With maximum formality, Rayazaki fixed Kawahara's previously rude-mannered sentence straight-up.

What the hell happened to this guy...

"Yes.....But..... What class are you four young ones from.....?"

This time around, he spoke extremely slow. Also, Rayazaki addressed the old man by 'Sir Silvestre' because it's the name that's allocated in his uniform.

Makes sense.

"Class 1-F."

I answered.

"Oh! Really?! Really?! Hey, Silvestre! Did I just hear that?! 1-F!?"

The voice that spoke out was completely partial until now. It's not as if we didn't know the voice but it had been a while since we had listened to it.

Though, I don't recall his voice being so high-pitched...

"Oh, is that...?"

Kuzan, doubting his own hearing threw that question to the air, dumbfounded.

"You bet your ass it is."

On the other hand, confident as always, Kawahara didn't hesitate on giving Kuzan the confirmation he was seeking all along.

As a matter of fact, it became apparent to all of us the moment a semi-tall teenager that had the same uniform as us came out of one of the beds that was being occupied.

Actually, as previously mentioned, it was the only bed being occupied.

"Yes, Akihiko... Also..."

In the presence of Akihiko, a teenager that possessed a considerable built for his age and a short crimson red hair, Silvestre took ahold of his cane that was right at his side.

Certainly, we had no idea what was about to happen.

To us, Silvestre was just this really nice old man. Someone who could not hurt us in any possible way.

Yet...

"Get out! Get out! My room! You've been free-loading here for weeks, you damn pest! Get yer ass back to class ya dork and don't come back!!"

Violently swinging his cane somehow, Silvestre struck us with a wave of surprise. Especially because we just didn't have that image of him.

"Crap. Run!!"

Out of all of us, Kuzan started to run immediately. Akihiko was ahead of Kuzan already though, as he had already exited the infirmary room.

Naturally, every single one of us ran until the exit of the block.

"W-What was that!?"

"Ahh.... Ahhh...! Mood swings. Don't question it. At first, Silvestre was really nice but I don't know why he just gets mad at me from time to time! He says I'm freeloading but he said that I could freeload! What's up with that?!"

On the exit of the block, we caught our breaths due to the sprint we had to give in order to escape the wrath of that long-ass cane.

To the outside students, it looked as if we did something we shouldn't have...

Nevertheless, Akihiko answered my question with a lot of details... It's been a while since we have talked.

"Also. Quick question to you four... But, who are you?"

This single question puzzled us as we allowed the wind gusts to hit the surface of our faces.

Akihiko had the expression of someone who was clueless about our identities. Frankly speaking, I had no clue what to say.

"We are your mates!"

"Kuzan, you stupid moron. We are not aussies. What kind of fucking answer is that?"

Lightly hitting the back of Kuzan's head with a small tap, Kawahara called out to him immediately.

I didn't get the joke that Kawahara was trying to insinuate though...

Is it that obvious?

"Akihiko, we are your best friends! Meet me, the greatest human being and sperm to ever be created! Rayazaki! Daniel! Kuzan! Oh, right. My name is Kawahara."

Why did he address himself so greatly but when it came down to address the rest of us he just called us out by our names?

Does it really hurt to compliment an individual that's not you that much?

"You guys even know my name! We must've been close then! Ahh, that's just weird, man! Really weird! I can't remember you guys... Nor anyone in general. Except the old man Silvestre, of course."

Now that's weird. Even though I hit him with a brachial stun, the side-effects did not show that he forgot who I was.

How come he doesn't remember anything? Man, this is just... First Rayazaki and now him?

What?

"That's really weird... I don't remember doing it to you for sure..."

Kawahara mumbled to himself those mysterious words.

Yet quickly, as he looked at his golden wrist-watch, he called us out with a loud voice.

"Holy shit! We're fucking late! Run!!"

After checking my phone and realizing that it was 2:03 pm, we quickly panicked.

Except Akihiko who was still wondering what was happening. Therefore, I just told him some simple words that he sure would understand.

"Akihiko, we gotta run or else the demon will eat us alive!"

"Huh?! The demon!?"

"Yeah, dude! Come on!"

"I don't really get it, but alright!"

Akihiko, you might not understand right now, but... There's a real demon inside our classroom right now!

We got too used to Yuka-sensei and we forgot what a real demon was like!

A draconian teacher who has no sense of tact nor morality is truly fit to rule the likes of us but damn it! That doesn't make me feel better about this!

2:10 pm. Block F.

Akihiko, while entering the block was observing the area with a high degree of curiosity. If I had to picture a guess, he was probably comparing the lack of structure that this block overall has in comparison with all of the other blocks.

Lastly, before arriving onto the main classroom, Akihiko, as soon as he looked into one of the windows pulled me behind.

"What the hell!?"

"Oh my god... Oh my god... Oh my god...!"

We hadn't even crossed the main hall that would make the classroom be visible to us yet as soon as Akihiko got a view of it, he freaked out.

Kawahara, Rayazaki, and Kuzan were already ahead of us for the record.

"Dude, what is it?!"

Akihiko kept on checking the classroom view from outside, in and out, slowly, while looking in one direction only.

Where is he looking at though...?

No, who is he looking at?

"W-Who is that blue-haired girl?!"

Since he pushed me all the way here where none of my classmates could see us, I put myself in his physical position and saw what he was seeing.

Besides, there are three blue-haired girls in our class...

I aimed my index finger at Tateyana, who seemed to be his target.

"Are you talking about Tateyana?"

"What!? No, no, no! That one! Thaaaaaatttt onneeeee! Ya see that really short girl with that cute looking face seating all alone!? Who is she?!"

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

This time, Akihiko literally guided my index finger and pointed at the blue-haired girl who he was aiming for all along.

Honestly, I realized who he was referring to the moment he said 'short girl' and 'seating all alone'. Sincerely speaking, the majority of the girls in our class are beautiful to an absurd level.

Some don't particularly stand out, but when they do, it becomes pretty obvious.

"Hinagiku?"

"Waaah, that's her name!? Dude, that's super cute, I'm telling you! Can I just call her Hina?!"

Why is he asking me this?

"Everyone remotely close to her calls her that, so I don't see the issue here..."

Does he seriously not remember Hinagiku? Hinagiku failed due to his absence.

And... We are losing time, damn it!

"Yo, Akihiko, we gotta---"

"Dude, dude. I'm gonna ask her out. Is she seeing someone right now?! Quick, answer me!"

Akihiko is overwhelmingly bursting with enthusiasm right now. His curious attitude in light of Hinagiku's existence is similar to a child that just found a new toy.

Did he fall in love with Hinagiku at first sight?

"No... I don't think so----"

"Then, it's settled! Watch me! I'll ask her out right now!"

......What?

No way he's serious. He'd have to endure a shameful amount of shaming if he publically just asked Hinagiku out right now.

Plus, doing it in front of the demon will bare its own morbid consequences.

"Forget it. You don't have the balls to do it."

"Wanna bet?"

He's smiling rather confidently... But, there's just no way you'd confess to a girl you haven't even talked to before, supposedly.

If it's true that he doesn't remember anything, then this should be impossible for Akihiko.

"No money. But I don't think you can do it."

"Watch me, then."

Without saying anything back, he lifted himself from the ground that we were hiding in and walked towards the classroom with a confident posture.

In my mind, he was still not going to commit.

However, as we both walked in, Akihiko did the unthinkable.

On his knees, with his right hand on his heart, Akihiko ignored all the possible looks that just about everyone in the classroom was transmitting back at him.

Certainly, his appearance came as odd because he's been absent for so long yet despite that, he didn't care and actually went straight to the point whilst basking in all this glorious attention.

"Oh hey, I know this is sudden and really awkward and I also know we just met each other so I'll get down to it. I fell in love with you at first sight and I want you to go out with me. I hope you are fine with it. You're really cute and pretty. More than that, if we were, to be honest with each oth---"

Akihiko's spontaneously embarrassing proposal was interrupted because a gigantic piece of white chalk was thrown at his head.

It was still hard to believe that actually just happened.

Needless to say, it was cringe as hell.

"Ouch! What the hell, old man!? Can't you see you're interrupting my proposal?! I just met the love of my life and now you do me like this!? Talk about unfair, man!"

....................

Akihiko, you...

You don't know who you are speaking to, do you...?

"Hahahaha!! The balls! I love this guy!"

Kawahara couldn't hold back and the majority of the class started to laugh at Akihiko for what he just did.

I don't think a single soul in this class didn't laugh at Akihiko, who was wondering why he was being laughed at.

Well...

There were a few people that didn't laugh though... Sana, Ikkiri, Rayazaki, Basara-sensei and the damsel herself, Hinagiku, who was with her eyes extremely wide open.

What?

Is she having trouble facing the reality of the situation?

"Old man? Say that again."

The mark of the white chalk was still on the back of his head throughout all of this. For the record, Kawahara, Kuzan, and Rayazaki, who could not advertise his eyes from his book, were still on the front door of the classroom observing the situation.

Our judgment was still waiting to be received.

"What?! Old man! Old maaaaaaan! You're so old! Hey, old man! Why aren't you in a reformatory yet? Too young for you?! Hahahaha!!"

Akihiko was expecting a few laughs as he looked to every single one of us. Little did he know, the majority of us, except Kawahara, Hyunda, and myself, looked away.

The only reason I was looking at him was just so he could possibly understand how dead he was.

Basara-sensei simply pulled out his phone and made a call.

That call was intercepted by an unknown person yet I had a clear idea of who it was as soon as Basara-sensei spoke to the voice.

"Yo. Yes. A rat. No, more like a sewer rat that doesn't know its place. No food until the morning. Ads? No, no. Feminist rants. You see, the rat here thinks he's good with women. We gotta let him know. Alright. Thank you."

F-Feminist rants?!

He's talking to King George, isn't he?! Well, was.

Basara-sensei ended the call immediately.

"Sagasuga, show him the way."

"Yes, sir."

For some reason, Sagasuga obeyed Basara-sensei's order and dragged Akihiko outside of the classroom in a flash.

The latter still had a saying before he ceased to exist at this moment.

"W-Wait! Don't forget what I said! It's really importa--"

Sagasuga slammed the door.

Best of luck, Akihiko.

Hinagiku was still perplexed for some reason.

As for the rest of us four...

"10 minutes late. Not only that but you four brought a clown along which coincidentally happens to be your classmate. Also, he called me an old man. Hey, you four. Look at me."

We refused to look though.

Not even Kawahara dared to act out of the line this time. Basara-sensei's lines were publicly shaming us in front of the rest.

Hella embarrassing....

"I said look at me! Kuzan! What do you have to say in your defense for being ten minutes late?!"

"I-I-I-I don't know! The food was too spicy!"

Kuzan came out of the closet with the worst excuse ever. Obviously, he was laughed at.

"Food too spicy?! That's no excuse! Rayazaki! What do you have to say?!"

"Um.. We went to pay Akihiko a visit and took a longer turn due to it. I think it's justifiable that w--"

"Like hell is it! Kawahara! What do you have to say?!"

Rayazaki was quickly shut down by Basara-sensei who was venting his emotions to us in front of the whole class.

Ahhh maaaannn. This is so embarrassing...

Why do teachers always do this....

I don't want my turn to come, I don't want it. Please, please.

"Funny you ask. You see, I went to the laundry shop and----"

"Daniel!"

He didn't even let Kawahara lie...

And now it was my turn...

"..........."

Adverting my eyes to the ground, without shaking, I admired the beauty of the cold looking ground.

Silence is the best weapon...

"Oh, I see. Too much of a pussy to even look at me. Very well. It's all shits and giggles for you retards, isn't it? My rules? A joke? That's probably what you four are thinking. Therefore, since you four took 10 minutes to get here, I will give you all one simple task. Enjoy!"

30 minutes later.

In my defense, if I knew that this was the end goal, then I wouldn't have done all of this in the first place.

No, seriously. What kind of teacher makes you do something like this?!

I like to think that there's a limit to being unreasonable but this demon...

"10 minutes is the equivalent of 100 sentences. You four will write 'I am a sorry pathetic excuse of a student and an oblivious retard.' Break more rules and it will only get worse. Oh, right. When you are done, come to my desk. Needless to say, before the class ends, I'll have you four speak out loud. What you'll be speaking to the public are those sentences, of course! Hahahahaha!!!"

Thus, right now, I'm firmly staring down at my notebook as I pounder my options to escape this embarrassing punishment.

Sincerely, I want to blame Akihiko. I think that we are receiving such a brutal punishment because he called Basara-sensei a boomer.

Basara-sensei isn't a boomer. In fact, he's probably not even a decade older than us...

"Aight, I'm done! Take a look! This took a lot of effort..."

Kawahara was apparently done already. Seriously...?

Would he actually write what Basara-sensei said down? Well, he's directing himself to his desk, so...

However, as soon as Basara-sensei received Kawahara's sheet, he ripped it in pieces, which attracted the attention of everyone undoubtedly.

"200 sentences this time. Repeat this again and I'll add it to 2000."

".........."

Kawahara's joke seems to have backfired.

No, it backfired way too much.

Just what the hell did he write!? This shit's giving me anxiety. No way, man.

I don't wanna endure the hellish embarrassment that is to speak all of this out loud! Especially to all of them!

"Pitiful."

And of course, cheery on top, the bitch had a saying about this. She's been trying to concentrate on her work but she ends up giggling in the most obnoxious way possible.

Every time I think to myself that there will be a moment of silence, her irritable giggle occupies my thoughts!

Damn it!!!

I refuse to do this shit.

And that is why...

I'll occupy my mind with something more interesting.

Kawahara's previous words didn't exactly leave my mind. Words regarding Arkalee. How supposedly she has a crush on Hyunda.

Henceforth, I'll procrastinate and focus on the scenario that's not so far away from me.

My desk is quite far away in comparison to Arkalee's desk.

Despite the laughable scenario that happened, Arkalee was focused on studying the festival's themes, from the looks of it.

It's seriously impressive how Hyunda is maintaining his posture in the presence of such beauty.

However... Kawahara... I can't believe you.

Was it always this obvious?

I'm feeling dumb just by only noticing it now.

The hints are everywhere....

The moment Hyunda looks at Arkalee, Arkalee can barely look at her. That's a physical embarrassment. She feels attracted just by eye-to-eye contact. It's not something that's rare, as a matter of fact, it's pretty natural, I suppose.

On the other hand, whenever Hyunda takes his eyes of Arkalee, she stares at him with such potency. It's as if her eyes are glued to his figure and his figure alone.

Usually, amidst this boring classroom, I like to observe my surroundings. Slowly and steady yet I get bored of doing so.

Arkalee contrasts this behavior of mine. She does not look elsewhere except Hyunda.

Furthermore, their physical closure is absurdly small. Her lips almost touch his lips whenever they are speaking....

Is Hyunda aware of this...? I can't tell... Could it be that he's not aware of this? What are the odds?

No, how would you not be aware of this...?

Distinctively, Arkalee, from time to time attempts to close the physical distance between her right hand and Hyunda's left hand down below their desk yet she never fully takes that opportunity.

Instead, she slowly backs off... Nevertheless, she repeats the whole process over and over.......

Plus, she's literally shoving her cleavage onto his chest. I mean this. It's as if she's doing this on purpose.

All of this aside, Arkalee's oddly happy. Yesterday, she wasn't this happy. Did something happen yesterday?

It's hard to deny it now. Arkalee's obviously physically attracted to Hyunda. They are even giggling to one another.

Arkalee's smile is undividedly charming in all aspects. There's nothing about her appearance that a man couldn't desire.

Even her measures are optimal.

Just a look at her black thighs makes m---

I'm getting side-tracked...

Anyways...

Why is she attracted to him? Physically speaking, Hyunda shouldn't be THAT attractive. Or do girls just dig silver hair that much? Why though...

Oh.

She looked elsewhere.

But...

Why there?

Tatsu?

No.

Ikkiri?

Why in her direction? What?

Ikkiri's facing depression per usual. She's sunk on her arms for some reason which is beyond my caring.

Therefore, why would Arkalee be bothered with Ikkiri at this point? She never looks elsewhere...

Yet somehow she decided to look into Ikkiri's direction. In addition to that, I could catch a glimpse of a small smile on Arkalee's face.

What......?

Why is Ikkiri somehow relevant?

That look towards Ikkiri didn't last long as Arkalee resumed her previous stance.

I suppose I'll ask Hyunda about this later...

For now, I'm stuck with this.

6:30 pm.

"Wow, you look devastated."

Hyunda's right. After being forced to speak in front of the whole class and saying those painful sentences out loud, a shard of my soul was discarded and tossed into the dark abyss...

None of my previous teachers ever gave me this hellish punishment...

How unjust!

As for the current location, we are just chilling on an outside bench while glancing upon the dusk.

Far away, in the middle of that dark crimson horizon, the sun keeps falling down and down.

At first, it looks like the sun will stay in the same position and truly speaking, the sun always stays in the same position. The Earth simply orbits...

No wait, the sun also moves, but...

Ahh, I don't care.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing really..."

There's so much stuff in my head recently. Kawahara's plan, the upcoming questionnaire, the upcoming special exam, the whole festival, what the principal said, the devilish grin of my obnoxious table partner...

"Mhm... You're not being honest. There's plenty of stuff in your mind, probably. Why not let it out?"

"Ahhh... It's just... It's my own problems. I'm not selfish to the point where I would involve others with my own problems..."

I'm still glad that he was down to have a conversation like this after class. Although I'm relaxing all the way back on this bench, I'm feeling incredibly exhausted.

...................

"Talk about them. It's worse if you keep it all to yourself. But I understand if you don't want to talk about them. Personal problems will be personal."

"No, Hyunda... It's not really personal problems... Well, it IS, but..."

"But you don't know where to begin, do you?"

Truly...

But my problems can come another time.

Right now...

"Yo... Have you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"Don't play dumb, Hyunda... I'm talking about Arkalee."

"What of her?"

Is this guy serious....?

As I thought he really doesn't notice...

"I think she has a crush on you, dude..."

"Wow, you think? Damn, I'm getting popular. Okay, but why would you think like that?"

Does he seriously mean that or is he messing with me...? His satire smile confuses me so much...

It's like I'm talking to some sort of reflection and not an actual person...

"Dude... You probably haven't noticed but the way she acts around you makes it so obvious... Have you seen how clingy she is towards you? That's an obvious sign!"

"Clingy? How so?"

"I'm talking about your physical distance! There's barely any!"

"I see, Daniel. So, you have a crush on me, then. Our physical distance is barely any. There's like ten centimeters separating our bodies right now."

.................

Is he....

"Hahaha! I'm kidding. I was just using your argument. But, if that's what you want to think, then why not? More importantly, what about you? Are you going to make an advancement onto a girl soon? Or do you plan on dying dry?"

By dying dry, he's referring to dying a virgin...

Well, to answer his question, it would be better if I answered it honestly.

Therefore, I told him about my relationship with Yulia.

"Keep this a secret please."

"Yeah, yeah, you got it. But wow, you and Yulia? Who would've thought! It's not as if all the hints are there! Yet you said that she's being a bother to you right now. Why not just break up with her?"

Just like Kawahara, Hyunda arrived at the same conclusion.

It wasn't something that I didn't expect, really.

"To be honest with you... I just don't know what to do. I want to just tell her that I don't actually love her and that it was all an act, but what if she reacts in a bad way?"

Hyunda pondered my words for a bit before speaking.

Do I just lack the courage to break up with her? Well... We aren't really in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. We never really established such things...

"I see. Your fear is her reaction. I get it now. But, this isn't a problem if you don't have to get involved with this consequence."

............?

"What are you talking about? I'm bound to suffer the consequences regardless of whether I like it or not, Hyunda..."

"No, I don't agree. I'm willing to exemplify to you how you can avoid her wrath while terminating your relationship swiftly if you so want."

....

Is Hyunda being optimistic or is he just being unrealistic...?

"Is there even such a way? And even if there is a way, I would be owning you something, wouldn't I?"

"Don't you remember what I told you yesterday? I owe you. This is my way to repay you. There's no catch here. Though, tell me. When do you want your relationship with her to terminate?"

He's actually serious.

I don't sense any hints of sarcasm nor any dark satire humor coming out of him.

His eyes tell no lies. And thus, in a leap of impulsive, I spoke in agreement.

"Before the end of this month... But, you seriously don't have to bot--"

"I see. When though? Any day in specific or do I get to choose by myself?"

A day....?

Well...

"When the festival ends, I guess."

Don't tell me he's actually serious...

Ultimately, against my doubt, Hyunda rose up from his seat, took ahold of his school bag and walked out to the dorm while leaving a few words to me.

"I'll seek to this matter personally. As mentioned, this is repayment, so don't feel unnecessarily charged for this. Also, before your relationship comes to an end, if there are important words you want to say to her, then you should say it."

Leaving me in more doubt, Hyunda left me all alone in this bench where I was drinking a pear juice whilst basking in the dusking scenery that my own two eyes over-glorified in my mind.