It’s been a week since the incident happened with Madoka. I had yet to talk to Takashi. I was scared to talk to him. He probably didn’t want to see me either.

Haruko simply said, “I give up” when I told her what had happened

Kurumi only shrugged her shoulders when she heard the story and eat a cookie.

I was currently writing my exams. The fate of my summer vacation deepened on me getting a good score but I was distracted.

In every question, I could see a trace of Takashi. His silly attempts to make them easy to understand.

It made me feel anxious.

I want to see him. I want to explain, but what am I going to say.

Such thoughts passed through my mind with every answer I wrote down. My trips back home, also became troublesome.

“Oi… where do you think your touching.” I glared at a salaryman on the train. He had done this type of thing before but it never really bothered me before. Having Takashi shield me from this type of harassment must have reduced my tolerance towards this kind of thing.

At home, my relationship with my sister was also heating up.

“Ara-Ara you look gloomy Hinata. Did you fight with your boyfriend?”

I ignored her attempts to provoke me.

“Don’t tell me you broke up already? What a shame and he looked like such a catch. Maybe I should take him under my wings.”

“Will you shut it! I am sick and tired of you always pestering me with your constant taunting. Takashi and I haven’t broken up. We are still very much dating.”

“But I haven’t seen him around…”

“And why would I bring him here? You will not stop until you ruin my relationship with him.”

“Of course. It's revenge for what you did to me.”

“Oh please. How long are going to hold that thing over my head Madoka? Had it not been me, he would have just found some other person to do it with. If anything you should be thanking me. I saved you the trouble of having your heart broken later on, when it would have been too late.”

“Thank you? Your saying I should be proud of the sister who is constantly spreading her legs to every man she met just because she was dumped by some loser sensei.”

“He is not a loser!”

“For him to have left my sister behind like that, then he must be loser. The biggest loser there is!”

I was taken aback by her outburst. Could it be that I misunderstood my sister’s feelings?

“Madoka…” I softly called out to her

“You changed Hinata. You were always so cheerful and happy. But then you changed after sensei left. Even when you got yourself a new boyfriend you were never looked cheerful. It made me sick to see that mask you wore all the time. I don’t like it…” she said before begging to sob

I reached out to her but…

“Don’t touch me…” she said before brushing me off and running to her room.

It had been 7 days since then and I haven’t talked to her since. We have gone back to the silent old days.

I couldn't think of anything to say to her.

A mask I wore… huh?

 

***

“The results have been posted Hinata. Let’s go and have a look.” Haruko called out to me as I was deep in thought.

“I am not brave enough to do such a thing. Please do it in my place.”

“Geez… You are really troublesome Hinata. Don’t worry if you are going to take makeup classes then we will…” she said before pausing for dramatic effect “cheer you on while on summer vacation.”

“Traitors!” I yelled as they ran off.

I was all alone in the classroom as everyone went off to see their scores.

I wonder if Takashi is also checking his own scores. If I went, maybe I will bump into him?

I sighed. Despite thinking that, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was too scared of what would happen if I did.

I could clearly see the result.

***

“Hinata. I think we should break up.”

“Is it because of what I said that time? You don’t need to pay any attention. My sister just has a way of pushing my buttons. That’s all.”

“Don’t try to put this on her. You have feelings for this sensei guy. Tell me; was the sex really that amazing?”

“What are you saying? I…”

“I was a fool to ever confess to someone like you. You’re just a slut and I hate you…”

“Wait Takashi. Don’t run away… Let me explain… I… I… I lov-”

***

“Hinata!”

Kurumi shook me while trying to grab my attention.

“What is it?”

“Haruko sent me. She wants you to come right away!”

“Huh? Why? Did something happen?”

“No time to explain. Let’s go!”

She grabbed my hand and dragged me along. We raced downstairs to the first floor.

With my keen hearing, I could hear people gossiping about me as we ran past. I also notice the stairs of people were on me.

This wasn’t anything new. but it felt different.

I have been dating Takashi for a while now. There shouldn’t be any new gossip about me.

We arrived at the school notice board. There were three notice boards. One for each year at the school. Haruko and Taniko were both standing at the second year’s notice board.

“Why did you call for me?” I asked Haruko

I swear I heard a creaking sound as she turned her head at me.

“Hinata-san… How did you get such a score?”

“Eh…” I said before looking at the notice board.

The scores were out of a total of 1000 points. The higher your score. the higher your ranking. The first ranking was your school ranking while the second was your district ranking.

The result was divided into three sections. The first was for the top 20 in school, the second were those who had a passing grade while the last was for a failing grade.

Because of the way she was asking I assumed I got a really bad grade. I instinctively checked the names of the failing students

Eh… I am not there? Does that mean I have a passing score?

I then turned my attention to the second column. I saw Haruko and Kurumi’s names there but mine wasn’t there.

I was confused at that point in time.

I turned my attention to the first section. I started reading the names bottom up. I saw Taniko’s name at number 8.

Eh… I knew she was smart but this is beyond my expectation… Wait a minute… What is that?...

As I approached the top of the list I found my name written there.

1st 6th rank Hinata ********

I was first in school and sixth in the district. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was so in shock I was blocking out everything around me.

“How did you get those scores Hinata? Have you been holding out on me?” Kurumi said while shaking my motionless body. Oi, you will break me if you continue doing that.

“Hinata is actually smart huh…” Haruko said in disbelief, Oi OI what was that supposed to mean my friend?

“Hinata beat me. Should I start calling her Hinata-sama?” Taniko said with a trembling body, I am not a kami-sama you know.

As my whole world crumbled all around me, I knew one thing was certain. Takashi was responsible.