Chapter 206. Ran Returns to School. (2/5)

“Pffthahahaha!” Rosa finally couldn’t hold back. Her head rose up from her desk and flew back in her chair as she burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

Everyone around me turned to her and looked on with pitiful eyes. They thought she broke and couldn’t bear the pain in her heart over her childhood friend’s chronic illness so she was trying to laugh away the pain.

She was crying tears in her maniacal laughter. Those were genuine tears from laughing too hard though. But to these blind idiots, they were tears mourning the cruel reality the world bestowed her with out of the blue.

Nobody could say a thing and they quietly vacated the area. At last, they’d gone.

Well, except for Jass. He was the only one who stayed back. He stared at Rosa with a pained expression for a moment before he placed his hand on my shoulder and dragged me out of my seat into the hallway away from the hysterically laughing and crying Rosa in the classroom.

When we passed by her, she noticed and it only served to intensify her laughter. Her head landed on her desk and she lightly hit it with the bottom of her fist with the side of her cheek flat on the desk.

It sure looked like she was having fun. How nice it must be to not be the one having all this trouble and being able to look on with schadenfreude at my misfortune. I wish we could switch places.

Out in the hallway, Jass confronted me and said, “Ran… Rosa definitely doesn’t think of you as a childhood friend like you seem to believe.”

“She does, I swear it’s the truth.”

“Maybe that’s how you see her, but I’m convinced of the truth now. I’m sure a lot of the class sees it as well. For the last month, everyone has noticed it. The way she’s occasionally looking out the window where your desk is. The way she sat at your desk with her head down during lunch and breaks sleeping with a peaceful look while you’ve been gone for the last month.”

“Huh? Uh… don’t you think you’re mistaken? She’s probably just a bit riled up after finding out about my chronic illness.” What the hell? That awful girl’s been plotting against me for my return to school for an entire month now? No wonder she’s laughing so much. Her diabolical plan had succeeded and she could let it all out like the true villain she was.

“No, I’m sure she’s held strong feelings for you from long before that. Ever since midterms when I tried to help her study, I’ve had this feeling I couldn’t shake off, but the last month has made me certain of it, Ran. Rosa is madly in love with you. You might not know this, but I asked her on a date one time and she accepted. But the entire time, though she said she was having fun, to be polite, it didn’t look that way at all. She was always in a daze with something always at the back of her mind. That was while you were out sick as well. I thought it might have just been a coincidence, but the only thing that had changed during that time as far as I was aware was the fact that you weren’t there.”

“Uh… even if you say that… I’ve got a chronic illness and all. It would be best if someone else-” I didn’t like the direction this conversation was headed at all.

“No, it has to be you. I’m sure of it. I’ve tried everything I could in the last month while you weren’t here to get her to look my way and make her genuinely smile. But… she never does. Even if I see a trace of a smile, it doesn’t feel like I made her smile or she’s smiling at me. It feels like she’s smiling because of something else entirely. Maybe she’s just trying to be nice. I don’t know. Ran... I… don’t want to see her end up unhappy. Even if I’m not the one to make her smile, as long as she’s happy, that’s all I care about anymore.”

What the hell Rosa! Go date this guy, isn’t he actually a great catch? What the hell is with this awful feeling? Is it a sense of guilt? I’m feeling guilty now? Damn it! Why does my first day back to school have to be such a hassle?

Somehow… I feel like I need to hook this guy up with a good girl to repent for being such a piece of shit. I’m already secretly dating the girl he likes. Hell, we’re long past the point of simply dating.

What do I do about this?

It’s not like this guy even needs help from me to get hooked up with a girl… he’d do just fine on his own. But I still feel like I’m obligated to now.

“Please, Ran, just go out with her so I can give up. If she’s at least with the guy that can make her happy I feel like I can move on.”

Ahhhhhhhh! He went and said it! This damn guy! Why! Why do you torture my conscience so!

I grit my teeth and shut my eyes, pained as I turned my head away and repressed the desire welling up in me to kick him down the stairs. I’m a devil. A devil you know. Why do I have to put up with this sort of nonsense? When did I acquire a useless thing like a conscience? I’d like to request a refund, the conscience I received is clearly defective.

“I get it’s hard for you to do such a thing with your chronic illness holding you back. You’re afraid Rosa will get hurt, but even if you are sick, I’m sure Rosa would still be happy together with you while she can. Rosa is actually a really good girl at heart despite how she appears to the other girls in class.” 

No, the other girls aren’t wrong to be wary of her, you’re the one who’s been deceived and become infatuated with her appearance. In truth, she’s a very bad girl. A bad girl who’d corrupt an innocent girl like Alicia. The time in the hot tub at the hotel made that much clear.

“...” In all honesty, I didn’t know what to say when I saw his eyes suddenly fill with conviction. This wasn’t my area of expertise. I was about this close to punching the guy in the face. At least, if he says what I think he’s going to say, I’ll definitely do it.

“Ran, stop being so afraid you’ll hurt her. Don’t think, act! Ack!”

Ah, I did it. I punched him. I really went and punched someone in the face. Shit. A lawsuit. I’m going to be sued, aren’t I? Oh, right, I’m a kid right now. I’m allowed to get away with a little thing like this with just a slap on the wrist. Phew. Thank god for youth.

Wait! Hell no, screw youth! This bastard living a life filled with youth is pushing me into an open relationship where all eyes will be on me!

Damn it, because I punched him I had to go on with the charade. A stereotypical scene I hated with every fiber of my existence.

“You idiot. You think it’s so easy?” Ew, I want to throw up. What idiot ever thought up this stupid corny scenario and why was I being forced to partake in this farce?

“You’re the idiot! Think about Rosa!”

I’m done.

“Okay. Fine. Whatever. I get it. I’ll do it, I’ll do it.” I couldn’t keep going. My skin crawled because of the intense levels of youth currently being generated in this hallway. The eyes this sort of embarrassing scene drew wasn’t good for my heart.

“Ran! She loves- huh? Wait, did you just… say you’ll do it?”

“Yeah. My chronic illness is going to flare up at this rate. I’m already starting to feel sick. Rather than needlessly expend the little energy I have trying to fight a losing battle I might as well just give up.” I rolled my eyes and gave a rather bland response.

“Oh, you’re not bad. I was convinced this would end up in us trading blows, and we’d have to exchange words with our fists or something. It seems the words I spoke aloud unexpectedly reached your heart.”

No, the uncomfortable crawling feeling rolling over my skin in waves was the only thing that reached my heart. And the eyes that were being drawn to us as well. That one punch I threw out was already filled with more youth than my body could withstand. Any more youth and I’d surely explode from bottled-up embarrassment.