02-11- Beneath the balance I ride

The next morning.

“Oh …… good morning!”

“….. good morning.”

At the usual time, on the usual way to school, at the usual place, I ran into Reina Akari.

At the greeting I returned for the first time, Akari smiled and lined up next to me.

Long, soft black hair. Clearly defined double vision. An unpretentious but clear nose. Lips that look soft and pouty, as if she is wearing a thin lipstick.

“Oh, um, ……?”

“Oh, sorry.”

I didn’t mean to, but it seems that I had been looking at Akari’s face very closely. She blushed in an embarrassed, annoyed, or troubled way.

I wanted to know.

I wanted to know if I was the worst.

Is Akari the worst?.

…… One of the two of us is definitely the worst.

“You know, I’m glad we’ve been getting sunshine lately.”

“…… Yeah.”

Of course I think Akari is the worst. I think that her blushing that day was due to the sunset.

…….

But.

I wanted to believe it, and I did.

Akari who blushes and follows me closely

Kedoin, who gave me a carefree smile.

And Takagi, who seemed to be full of malice at first, but seemed to be enjoying collecting yesterday.

But believing in these guys means I’m an asshole for lashing at them.

Even if someone looked down on me as a bottom, I didn’t look down on them. I’m worthy. So I don’t believe it.

“You had music class today, right?”

“……Huh!　Uh, yeah!　　Yes, there was!　　Chorus!”

I don’t know if I should say so myself, but I think it was surprising that I initiated the conversation, and Akari turned her body to me as if she had been jumped.

“I don’t like that teacher. ……”

“What?  Why?  Isn’t he a nice and kind teacher?”

“He always warned me when I was lip-syncing. In junior high school, all the teachers pretended not to notice.”

“Why is that so terrible?  Come on, Fujima-kun, let’s sing!”

I just felt like I had to know.

I knew I had to decide who was the worst, me or Akari.

I don’t want to judge these guys based on past ties alone – or so I thought.

“It’s all about unity, you know.　　If Fujima-kun doesn’t sing, more and more people will think it’s okay if they don’t sing. ……”

“…… You’re more troublesome than I thought.”

“Listen to me!　You’re probably more troublesome  right now, Fujima-kun.”

And you’re louder than I thought.

The same place as usual. But closer than usual.

Which is right. To find out, you have to get this close.

“Well, thank you, for yesterday’s sand Collection. Tell Kedoin and Takagi, too.”

It was another sunny day in April as the cherry blossoms began to fall.

We walked together up the long slope leading to the school.

Perhaps she had overslept today, but Takagi, who would always call out to her around here, did not call out to Akari.

_________

“Come on, in twos, form a pair and do your flexibility exercises.”

On the tennis court in the sunshine.

I wonder why all PE teachers are so cruel.

I really wish they would do something about this trend of taking it for granted that people can form pairs, and work together. To me, it’s even worse than corporal punishment.

I should go to the infirmary.

When I was thinking about what kind of illness I should have, I was thinking that abdominal pain would be a safe choice …….

“Hey, Fujima-kun. If you haven’t decided yet, why don’t you join me?”

Kedoin, a handsome guy who even wears a jersey in a cool way, came over to me.

“Well, paripi should be teaming up with Paripi.”

“Pari……?　Haha, Shinya and Naoto will be paired together, so I was leftover. What do you think?”

Bullshit!  If they were  here, hot guys B and C, they’d be standing behind you, looking with a, “Hey, Yuma, where are you going?” “ook on their faces! I mean, all the boys want to pair with you! There’s no way that’s not the case!

But sadly, there’s no way anyone would be interested in teaming up with me, and I have no reason to refuse. I want to cry.

“Oh, ……, nice working with you.”

“Yes!　　Nice working with you, Fujima-kun!’

…….

Hey, Tohru Fujima.

I really can’t believe the smile on my face.

When I finished my flexibility exercises, handsome guys B and C approached me as I carried my tennis racket.

“Hey Yuma, are you really going to work with that guy?”

“Yuma is so nice to everyone.”

They’re amazing, aren’t they?

They weren’t talking to me, but they were saying bad things about me so that I could hear them.

Well, I’m used to it, “Shinya, Naoto. Don’t say that. I asked you to work with Fujima-kun.” he’ll say.

The clamor stopped.

Time stood still as everyone covered their mouths, engaged in back-to-back flexibility exercises.

“Why are you always so quarrelsome? Don’t you understand people’s pain?　　If you don’t like it when someone does it to you, you don’t do it to them. …… Isn’t that obvious?”

“Huh, hey, Yuma, what’s really going on?”

“That’s right. We’re worried about you as a friend. …… You’ll lose your reputation if you talk to someone like that.”

The silence that had been created was disturbed by Kedoin’s crisp words and the handsome BC’s mendacious words.

Handsome C’s words were the same ones that Takagi had said to Akari.

“That’s enough. I told you two and Asami that time. What do you mean by “rank”? What in the world makes us better than Fujima-kun? If there is such a thing as superiority and inferiority in human beings, then the two of you who hurt others unnecessarily are even more inferior.”

Physical education class.

The place froze.

All the boys were looking at us, wondering what was going on.

That’s right.

It was the first time that the top of the class caste, the top of the top of the top, the pinnacle of the class, Yuma Kedoin, had shown his anger.

Kedoin Yuma, always smiling, always fresh, always calm, was angry. It wasn’t me, or Kedoin, or the two people in front of me, or the gym teacher, that drowned out the silence.

“Kedoin-kun, are you mad at something?

“At Fujima?”

“It’s not Fujima, is it?”

“Why are you mad at them and not at Fujima?　Is this a family feud?”

It was the gallery of onlookers from the same class.

How?

…… Oh, hey, wait a minute.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, …….

There it is again.

The balance I’m riding on is down again.

I’m not sure if there’s a switch underneath that balance – the saucer I’m riding on.

A switch that makes my heart beat.

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