In a certain middle school on the outskirts of the city, there was a classroom filled with 26 people currently undergoing a world history class. Among them, there was one prominent individual. Not only her bright, blonde hair stood out in the sea colored in shades of brown and black, but also the emplacement of her desk, which was one row behind the rest as if added in the last moment. On top of all that, one of her eyes was concealed under a black eyepatch she kept wearing even though that eye was fully functional. Despite the fact that it often inconvenienced her, she refused to take it off. The apparent reason for that was because she believed it to have a secret power of sucking one’s soul out, or at least that’s what she said.
The teacher was busy explaining a topic to all 26 students in the classroom, but that girl didn’t seem to be listening. With that one eye of hers, she was mindlessly staring at her notebook open on a white page containing only some incomprehensible doodles while inertly holding a pen in her left hand.
“In November of that year, it caused the local population to …"
It was a Friday in the first half of June. Outside, it was barely bearable thanks to the dazzling rays of sun that effectively attacked one’s body squeezing the sweat out of it. Unfortunately, the sweltering heat found its way inside which wasn’t air-conditioned, causing it to be just as arduous, or maybe even worse because of the lack of soothing wind.
All of a sudden, the sound of the school bell resounded through the classroom. In reaction to that, the teacher brought his current sentence to an end finely and announced to the entire class:
“We’ll continue next week.”
The moment teacher left the classroom, loads of harsh sounds of drawing a chair back filled the air and some students, having brought out their lunches from their bags, started gathering in groups. It was a little past noon, which meant that the current break was a longer one, and as its name stated, intended for eating one’s lunch.
Lumiya – which was the name of that peculiar girl – was quite different from others in that manner. Having pulled out a lunch box from her bag, she sluggishly rose from her seat and proceeded in the direction of the door, which had been opened by someone just a moment ago.
Walking down the hallway in a somewhat lagging pace, she made it to the staircase and chose to go downstairs. The floor below belonged to the second graders, which were one year younger than her and naturally, behaved in a more childish way than third graders… but not necessarily compared to that particular girl. As for her appearance, it could be said that she appeared to be more mature than she had actually been. Her chest might have been hardly noticeable, but her remarkable height, which was rather comparable with a boy’s, made up for that. Regardless of that, she wasn’t a good basketball player. In fact, she wasn’t remotely good at sports.
Despite the sweltering heat, the place she was heading to was outside. She left the building through the front exit and turned left. Usually there were some people spending recess outside the building, but hardly on a hot day like that.
The girl continued walking down the path sluggishly, as if she had just finished a tough workout. That wasn’t the case though, so maybe the heat had such an effect on her?
Suddenly, she strayed from the path to go behind an older building that served as the club building. She walked on a slightly trodden grass path before she reached a grove on an irregular land. The surprisingly tall trees cast shadows, which paired with a pleasant breeze made it one of the best places in school to spend free time at on hot days like that. It wasn’t a well-known location though, so most of the times it was completely empty, and the nearest place where other people could be found was the club building – which was mostly empty at this time of the day, and the basketball field, which was effectively hidden behind a green thicket.
The girl trudged through dense shrubs and settled herself down on a grassy, flat fragment of the terrain, which made her basically unnoticeable by anyone who hadn’t entered the grove.
“...”
Yawning silently, she lay down on the chilly ground placing the lunch box aside. With the trees effectively covering the dazzling sun, the thicket around her blocking most sounds from other people and the ground cooling her down, it must have been a really pleasant experience for her. It wasn’t surprising that Lumiya, having laid down kept staring at the bright, blue sky obstructed by green leaves with that one blue, although darker than the skies eye. She used her left arm to lethargically cover her forehead, after which she let out an indistinct, feeble sigh.
Her eyelid movements had been slowing down gradually before they entirely stopped. What reached her ears were muffled sounds of talking and the leaves rubbing against each other due to the wind.
The bell should wake me up if I accidentally fall asleep...
With her eyes closed entirely, her breath became calm, making her chest flutter ever so slightly. After a moment, she listlessly brought her both hands above her head, which would leave her armpits exposed if they weren’t covered by the sleeves of her uniform, and tilted her head lying on the ground slightly to the right. Altogether, it looked strange and somewhat funny.
Her breathing was so calm that it couldn’t have been heard even if there were no other sounds. If someone happened to see her in such circumstances, they would most likely think that she was sleeping – and that might have been right.
The expression on her face was almost devoid of emotions and filled with tranquility, but a little grain of melancholy could be seen. If someone looked carefully, they could notice a bit of water on her right cheek. Whether was it sweat or tears, perhaps even that girl wouldn’t be able to answer.
With her body lying on the chilly ground in a peculiar position, she gently drowsed away before she realized it.
•
Inside the classroom, another class had already started. The teacher, checking attendance, noticed one person missing.
“Nakamura.”
In response to that, no one answered. Some people turned around to look at the secluded desk in the last row next to the window, which was the only empty desk in that room. There still were books scattered on it, and a bag leaned against its leg.
“She was present an hour ago...” she muttered in an inaudible tone.
No one in that classroom was able to add anything. To them, that girl still was a kind of mystery. Sure, she was a transfer student, but it had already been two months since she moved to that school – in normal conditions, she should have already managed to become acquainted with someone. It wasn’t the case that time, though.
“Is that empty desk hers? There are still books on it... Uh, the class representative, go look for her.”
In response to that, the class representative seated more or less in the middle of the classroom, stood up and responded in a serious tone:
“Yes.”
The class representative of 3-A named Kiryuu Tsugumi was a level-headed girl and her hair was dark brown. Her grades were very good, placing her in the top three of the class. Being a normal middle school girl, she didn’t have any distinctive qualities – she had many friends she spent time with at and after school, she was a member of the light music club and was good at sports.
There was a reason she had been chosen as the class representative – she was deemed the most responsible person by her classmates, and was also the most liked person in that class. As one could guess, her relationship with Lumiya wasn’t exceptional – she knew about her about the same as every other person, meaning nothing, and she hadn’t even ever talked to her. Of course, she knew how Lumiya looked, so she wouldn’t have any trouble recognizing her.
Kiryuu walked out of the classroom through the front door and slid it softly behind her before setting off on a search.
•
Several minutes had passed. Kiryuu still hadn’t found that girl, even though she checked everywhere in the main building where it was possible – the rooftop, toilet, library, canteen and infirmary. She was quite exhausted and annoyed by that. She came up with an idea to look outside, so she headed for the exit and looked around standing at the schoolyard.
“Not here...?”
It was pretty much an open area, so she was able to scan it entirely with only a few glances. She went behind the school building to look on the playing field, but it was currently occupied by another class undergoing PE and there were no traces of a stray person anywhere.
“...”
Looking right, she caught sight of the dated club building. She had almost given up on the search since she had already checked every reasonable place, but she decided to check it out without getting her hopes up. She was prepared to head there, but in the last moment, she noticed a potential good hiding place she had overlooked. Behind that building, there was a dense grove. She strolled off there without thinking.
...
The class representative had entered the small forest. Her face was slightly red and drenched in sweat, and sounds of panting could be heard. Wading through the tall grass rubbing at her legs making a loud rustle, her face showed annoyance and heaved a sigh.
Suddenly, her expression changed a little when she noticed a blonde girl lying in the grass – she wanted to let out a chuckle because of her peculiar position.
“Here you are...”
The girl was lying peacefully with her eye closed and breathing quiet. In fact, she was so quiet that it was easy to mistake her for a dead person. With her hands placed above her head and tall figure clad in thin, white uniform, she appeared defenseless, innocent and cute. The class representative approached her closely.
“Nakamura-san...”
To start if off, she called out her name in a usual voice, but the lying body didn’t even flinch in reaction to that.
Is she sleeping? She looks so helpless that I don’t want to wake her up... Should I leave her like that and tell the teacher that I wasn’t able to find her?
Having thought that, the class representative turned back and took a few slow steps away from the girl lying on the ground. All of a sudden though, she stopped.
No, it may give her trouble. Who knows how long she’s gonna keep lying there, after all.
She turned back to her and called out to the lying girl again, this time in a louder voice.
“Nakamura-san.”
In spite of her voice being louder, there was no reaction whatsoever from the other side. Kiryuu remained silent for a while earnestly waiting for her to wake up, but it didn’t work in the end. She heaved a sigh, approached and bent down to her.
She hesitantly held out her hand to jolt her shoulder, but stopped herself just before she touched it.
Isn’t there a more gentle way to wake her up?
She got up and looked at the lying figure. For some reason, she thought about tickling her armpits since they were exposed, but rejected that idea when she put herself in that girl’s place – waking someone up by tickling them would have been alright if they were good friends, but they basically didn’t know each other.
Whatever.
Ultimately, she decided to jolt the shoulder since she couldn’t think of a better way. Bending down, she did so lightly, which finally made the lying body twitch and let out a weak sound.
“uh...”
Kiryuu backed down quietly with a slight grin on her face. Lumiya’s eye laggardly opened and saw nothing but the bright, blue sky and the trees in its way. Raising her arms sluggishly, she used one of her hands to rub her eye. Her head turned to the left almost inadvertently and noticed an unfamiliar figure standing close to her. It caused her to immediately tremble and shoot up to a sitting position, her left hand rose to cover her eyepatch as if protecting it from being taken off.
“W-who are you...!” she said in a low, but frightened voice.
“I’m Kiryuu Tsugumi, the class representative. Er, Nakamura-san, you overslept.”
Having heard that, Lumiya leaned her head forward, pointlessly staring at her legs. Her breathing had calmed down a little, but she didn’t seem to be standing up anytime soon.
Ugh... I overslept? Why didn’t the bell wake me up?
It had been less than 10 seconds before the class rep approached her and reached out a hand to her. Whether she had a reason or not, Lumiya felt resentment towards this particular action and only looked at the outstretched hand with disregard. She used her own limbs to gradually get up from the ground and heaved a silent yawn upon doing so.
“Don’t forget your lunch”, the class rep said as she pointed at the box lying next to the ground and turned back.
Lumiya sluggishly bent down her own body to pick it up. Undeniably, she hadn’t taken even the smallest bite of it during the lunch break since she had been sleeping. She then followed the other girl leading her back to the school.
How humiliating! A human found me lying down defenselessly... I thought that this place was enough to protect me from them, but I was wrong. They’re going to carry out a punishment on me by making me disgrace myself publicly, but I can’t do anything to avoid it!
What filled her mind at the moment was humiliation and anxiety. Her right hand was holding onto the lunchbox, whereas the other one had been restlessly pinching at her skirt. Her only eye was directed at the grassy ground. They continued moving towards the school building at a surprisingly unhurried pace. The class representative, Kiryuu, putting aside her slight exhaustion, felt rather relaxed, but for Lumiya the atmosphere at the moment was tense.
“Err, Nakamura-san.”
“...!”
When she heard a voice calling for her all of a sudden from her front, she slowed down her steps for a moment and inadvertently let out a silent sound. If that wasn’t enough, Kiryuu turned her head over to her, to which she directed her gaze even lower and her movement became distracted, irregular.
Why is that human looking at me now? Ugh, her stare is powerful...
"I think it’s my first time talking to you.”
When they made it to the school building, Kiryuu opened the door which let out a barely audible creak and entered through it, holding it open for Lumiya which was just behind her. They approached their respective shoe racks and changed their shoes.
“Even though it’s been two months since you transferred here, you still don’t quite feel like a part of our class...”
“...”
When they found themselves on the staircase, Lumiya followed two stairs behind the class rep, which set the pace surprisingly leisurely, as though deliberately intending to give herself more time to talk.
“I don't want to be rude or anything, but you seem strange... Like, you’re always among the first to come to school, and you always enter the classroom so apathetically with headphones on your head...”
Kaka, so what. I don’t care in the slightest about what you think about that...
Lumiya’s downhearted expression on her face looking down didn’t change in the slightest. She wasn’t even trying to reply. What she wanted to do at the moment was to run away and not return for the rest of the day, in order to avoid the humiliation that was awaiting her when she entered the classroom as the center of attention, but solely the presence of another person stopped her from attempting to do so.
“You also have that weird thing on your eye... I think it would be better for you if you took it off because I guess it’s bothering you in so many ways. Ah, don’t get me wrong, it’s alright if you don’t want to.”
In reaction to that statement, Lumiya’s quivering hand reached for the eyepatch on her left eye and pressed it firmly.
“I don’t know what you’re doing after school, but I’ve never seen you talking to someone in the classroom. You usually go outside so I thought that you might just be going to another classroom, but seeing how I found you sound asleep in a place no one comes to...”
Suddenly, Kiryuu’s legs stopped in the middle of the staircase and her head turned over to look at the figure behind her. Lumiya was once again startled by that unexpected action and having stopped, averted her gaze that was now directed at the wall.
W-why is she doing it again? I can hardly defend myself in this situation...!
“Nakamura-san, I might be delving too much into it, but is everything okay?”
There were numerous sounds coming from multiple classrooms in the school, but the hallway itself was empty. Having a blunt question shot at her, Lumiya stood still in one place with her head hung down leaving her expression unable to be perceived. Her legs and arms were slightly trembling, thinking about dashing out of there, but she somehow remained in that place incapable of making a single move.
W-why is she asking me about that? I know well that she’s not concerned about that, she’s just putting on a front to make me trust her and then utterly humiliate me... but I’m not going to give in, damn those mendacious humans!
Going through her mind were many things, but the answer itself was simple. For a reason even she wasn’t able to completely comprehend, the words coming out of her mouth were barely audible.
“y-yes.”
Due to the hallway being mostly deprived of distracting sounds, the class representative was able to hear that. She turned back and started going upstairs again, to which Lumiya followed suit.
“Alright. Just so you know... we’re not here to make fun of you, so you can feel free to talk to me whenever you want.”
Lumiya didn’t believe those words in the slightest – after all, they were coming from the class representative, which she deemed utterly dishonest.
Kaka, I won’t demean myself to your level, you lowly human.
They passed an entire floor in silence, before Kiryuu suddenly spoke up with an unexpected offer:
“Nakamura-san, if you want, you can hang out with us sometime.”
Huh? Does she really expect me to be so naive to accept that? Fufu, that’s funny.
“n-no...”
“You don’t have to be afraid of us, we won’t hurt you, really! We can go to karaoke... or maybe shopping. Since it’s finally Friday, we can do it even today. What would you say for that?”
Lumiya kept looking directly at the floor as she walked down the hallway on the third floor following the class rep. She used all courage left in her body to mumble out an assertive statement:
“I-I don’t want...”
“Sigh. Alright, I won’t insist any longer then. If you have a change of mind, feel free to approach me, okay?”
“...” Lumiya mumbled in response.
Finally, they found themselves before the front door of their classroom.
“Nakamura-san, when you enter the classroom, apologize to the teacher for being late. You can say that you feel asleep accidentally, okay?”
“...”
The class representative Kiryuu held out her hand and gradually slid the door open, trying to make as little sound as possible. Lumiya followed her through the door and closed it behind herself. The attention of the entire class was pinned on her, which easily made her incapable of uttering a word.
Ugh...
“I’m sorry for taking so much time, but I finally found her” Kiryuu announced to the teacher, and then headed for her desk leaving Lumiya alone facing the entire class. Everyone was taken aback for some reason, resulting in complete silence.
“I-I apologize for being late I fell asleep accidentally” she blurted to the teacher in a low voice as she lightly bowed.
“Whatever, night is for sleeping. Go back to your seat.”
At that moment, a few short and silent chuckles could be heard from the classroom. They were like thorns piercing at her already weakened heart. She rushed for her desk passing by the classmates shooting her cold glances. When she finally reached it and sat down at it, she hid her unconcealed eye with her hand. She felt so embarrassed that she wanted to just disappear from that place and be left alone. There was a desire to sob inside her, but she effectively held it back for later.
Tch, what are you laughing for? Damn those filthy humans... I will never give in to you!
This novel is a solid 3.5/5 so far. It is good but for 10 chapters there is little progress. Reading this in bulk gives me the feeling that you are constantly repeating scenarios in order to lengthen then chapters.