In a large room, a three-way battle was commencing. Player one was a girl with long, black hair and an eyepatch covering her left eye. Player two was a boy, a little older than player one, with brown shaggy hair and a happy expression on his face. The boy was happy, so happy that it was idiotic. Player three was a middle-aged man who shared similar features with the boy, except for the age difference and the short stubble on his chin.
The players were sitting in a circle, with a pack of cards cluttered on the ground. The atmosphere in the room was tense. It was a battle of wits, pride, and dignity. Loosening your guard for a moment meant losing the whole battle.
The girl was Sia Analie. She was playing a round of Uno with the school’s principal and his son.
All Sia could think was...What kind of situation is this?
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A few hours earlier, 8:00 AM
“Sia-chan? Why are you wearing an eyepatch?” asked Honoka. I just arrived in my class, with Este coming a few minutes later than me.
We walked to school together, but once we were close enough so that people could see us she insisted that I head to class earlier, saying that I would get bullied along with her. I wasn’t about to start a useless debate, so I complied.
“No special reason,” I replied.
Miu who was with Kyoko and Honoka the moment I entered the class spoke up, “So you finally understand the beauty of eyepatches! Eyes are one of the first things you see in a person. A person’s eyes can be described as beautiful, mesmerizing, and even mysterious, but what about someone who wear eyepatches?”
Miu was saying things that should’ve been difficult for a five-year old to understand. I worry for her future.
“Are you okay? It would’ve been fine if you just stayed home,” said Kyoko.
Ah, Miu was ignored.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it,” I replied as I put my backpack in my cubby.
“That’s right! Eyepatches can make someone look different and memorable, but most importantly, it’s cute!” Miu interjected.
What is she even talking about...
“Okay, but if you need help with anything then you can ask me okay? We are friends after all,” said Honoka.
It happened again. Now I understand what Miu’s role in this group is. If Honoka is the friendly one, Kyoko is the mature one, and Miu is the retard.
“Yeah, thanks Honoka.”
“One example of an famous eyepatch wearer is Mei Misaki. She is a character who is singled out and mysterious, someone who doesn’t belong. Her eyepatch serves to strengthen this characteristic of hers. Ah, but there are also characters like Rikka Takanashi who wear them just for the sake of wearing them!”
“Miu.”
“Yes, Kyoko?”
“Shut up.”
“Okay…”
Just like that, we continued to talk about things such as why the sky is blue and played with dolls.
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Mother told me to apply eye drops at school, so I headed to the nurse's office sometime after lunch ended.
I opened the door to the nurse's office and saw a boy who looked a little older than me. Well, if I count my past life then he would just be a little chump.
When the boy saw me the first thing he said was, “Ah! It’s the bathroom girl!”
Is that seriously the first thing you say to a person? I may have missed 10 centuries of Japanese culture, but I don’t think that rude greetings were one of the changes.
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t remember me? On the day of the entrance ceremony, you asked me where the bathroom was and just ran off. You left quite the impression!”
Now that I think about it… that did happen. Since then I have made a reminder to myself to do my business before important events.
“So you’re that guy? Thanks for that time. I would’ve preferred it if you had a quicker reaction though.” I looked around for an adult. Where is the nurse? Unless this boy is the nurse. I don’t think a kid taking care of other kid’s injuries is very helpful though.
“So mean!” he said. Even though he was insulting me he was still smiling.
I don’t need to hear that from someone I just met for the first time. I wasn’t going to tell him that though. I’ll be the better person, just for today.
“So instead of the bathroom it’s an eyepatch fetish this time?” he continued.
Does everyone have to ask about my eyepatch? Can’t a girl live in peace without having the same question asked to her over and over?
“Yeah. It accentuates my beauty, doesn’t it?” I said with a fake smile.
“Uwah… Not only are you mean, but you’re narcissistic too. Talk about a one-two punch.”
Can you please stop talking to me? No, more like just shut up unless you’re asked to speak.
“One-two punch… well I didn't come here to chat. Where's the nurse?”
"The original nurse called in sick. The substitute nurse is probably flirting with the other teachers."
Please pick your substitutes more carefully, principal.
"I see." Since my issue wasn't a serious concern and I wasn't interested in staying any longer, I looked around for the eye drops myself. After I found them in a cabinet I moved my eyepatch and applied it to my eyes.
"Since I’m done here I’ll be leaving." At long last. I stayed here longer than needed.
"Ehhh? I don’t even know your name yet.” He grabbed my wrist. And he’s the one calling me mean?
Stolen story; please report.
“Then just keep calling me bathroom girl or eyepatch girl.”
Why is this guy stalling me? I just want to leave.
“That’s not what I mean! Don’t you want to know my name? Or maybe why I’m in the nurse's office?”
“Not really. We just happened to meet coincidentally. Twice. I might not even see you after this.” I tried to leave, but I couldn’t shake his grasp. He had the gender and age advantage.
“Can’t you at least stay here and talk to me until the nurse comes back? I'm so bored here."
Honoka, save me~
"The nurse will probably be back soon. It’s only, what, a thirty minute wait? Plus, there’s nothing to do here.”
“Hmm… Ah, I know! Follow me,” he said as he dragged my arm. Well, I’m finally out of the nurse's office. Not quite what I wanted though.
“Hey, where are you taking me? And is it okay for you to leave the nurse's office? Aren’t you sick or something?” I tried to resist his grasp again. I don’t know what made me think that trying for the second time would produce different results.
“It’s okay, I only got a minor bruise. I made it look worse than it actually felt so that I could skip class! The substitute didn’t care too much, so it wasn’t hard to convince her.”
You convinced the nurse to let you stay, and yet you can’t find anything to relieve your boredom once you received your wish. Logic.
“Here it is!” he said.
We came to a stop at a fancy looking double door. What are we doing here? It’s no use if we can’t get in, and I hardly think a kid’s lock-picking skills will be able to unlock anything past the level of a children’s mind game toy.
He took out a key from his pocket. “No, your house key won’t work on this fancy lock” was what I was thinking, but the door opened and he dragged me inside.
Why do you have a key to this room…
I guess there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve already come this far, after all.
The room was quite orderly. It looked like it was cleaned on a regular basis, the space was wide, there were some lilacs by the window, and there were anime figurines displayed on both ends of the room.
Yup. No doubt about it. Those are anime figures.
More specifically, anime figures of little girls.
“Where are we?” By this point I stopped resisting, but he still held onto my wrist.
“The principal’s office.”
Correction. Why do you have a key to the principal’s office...
“Isn’t this room nice? It’s spacey!” He let go of my wrist and sat in the revolving chair placed next to the desk.
This room is quite spacey… wait, I’m getting sucked into his pace.
“I don’t think… No, I’m absolutely sure that we’re not allowed to be in here, so I’ll be taking my leave now.” I walked towards the door to open it, but the door hugged me instead and I fell.
“Ow…”
No, it didn’t hug me. A man came inside the room. The door is the type that opens inside, so I got hit.
“Sorry, are you okay?” The man was surprised for a second, but shook it off and held out his hand.
“Yeah…” I accepted his hand. If I remember correctly, this guy is the principal of this school… Kazu Fuyukawa.
This isn’t good. I tried to stay out of trouble, but trouble came to me. Mother, I just want you to know that it wasn’t my fault.
“Dad!” The boy stood up from his seat and jumped into Fuyukawa-sensei’s arms.
Dad?
“Daichi! Skipping class again?”
“Again”? You mean he does that regularly? Aren’t you the principal… Please discipline your son. On the bright side, this means I won’t be getting in trouble.
“Yeah. Class was boring, but the nurses office was boring too. I met eyepatch girl along the way, so I brought her with me.”
“I see. What’s your name?” He asked me with a kind voice, but his eyes were telling me differently. If this man is the principal, and this is the principal's office, and there are anime figures of little girls in here..
Lolicon alert. Stay strong, me.
“Sia Analie,” I replied.
“Then Sia-chan, how about a game of Uno?”
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And that is how I got into this situation.
Fuyukawa-sensei had cold sweat from worrying, and Daichi was smiling like always.
Right now I was at an overwhelming victory. I won the last four games, and I had this round in the bag too. It was my turn. I threw the last card in my hand at the ground.
“It’s my win.”
Fuyukawa-sensei protested, “You haven’t won yet! One more round!”
That’s what you said the last four times...
“No, school is already over. I think it’s about time for me to head on home,” I said.
Fuyukawa-sensei muttered under his breath, “Tch, so not cute.”
I can still hear you, you know? Even though you thought I was cute just a few hours ago.
“See you later, Sia-chan!” said Daichi.
I sure hope not.