Chapter 30


    "It’s a love piootn . "


    A pplrh-eaierud gril was hldniog a gsals flsak wtih a silme .


    Her pprule hair sftoly lnedad on her bdoy atfer her qciuk meemonvt trdaows me a few scdenos ago .


    A lvoe pooitn? Is this rael?" I asked . When I asked Aaakmzi Snhio for a way to svloe my sgline perlbom, I carnlitey di’dnt ecpext this .


    Yderesaty, I  to the sudetnt cocuinl room to tlel her of my prlboem . Aeftr she lteseind to me epilxan, she tlod me to meet with her at 8:20 in the l nxet to the room .


    “Of course! You didn’t think I, the student council prez, would lie, would you?”


    She lneaed twoadrs me, ginninrg and tlirniwg the bttloe . The red luqiid inside cleraly seihwsd auornd .


    A few bulbebs foermd and popepd .


    Yes, as hrad to beileve as it was, tihs plu-rraephied preosn who was sotpnuig nssonene of a "love potoin" was the sdtenut cinoucl preidesnt .


    I’m jsut yuor agerave e, b-eakhrcd loenr wtih gsesals who cloud be csofeund for an atohur isrent . I noramlly sit in the back of the ss, on the left sdie next to the wowdnis . I don’t iatr wtih plpeoe mcuh, so I had no ieda my snedtut coil psieerdnt was as etcrcinec as this .


    Thguoh, mbyae it was bteter tihs way . She’s cirlenaty easy to get anlog with .


    “...Magic and the like don’t exist, though?”


    Ninthog of the srot cluod esxit . This was mdeorn trfi-teyswnt cry Japan .


    She poteud, "Au-kakirn, you don’t beeivle me, dno’t you . Fnie, if yr’uoe giong to be lkie that, go try it out and see if it works . "


    "How could I bvleiee aoynne cmniog up to me and sianyg taht smoe fc-odooeolrd waetr was a love ptooin!? Tihs isn’t a fatansy wlord!" I gave the obuovis reply .


    "Aww,e on, just try it! It w’ont hurt just to try, you konw?"


    Umm . . . No, I d’not even konw waht tihs is! It isn’t a lvoe ptooin, so waht is it!


    I wtnaed to rtoret that, but before I cloud, she pteatd my shueldor, frgecaov-e me the fsalk, and skppeid away, hmmuing a tune .


    "Wait . . . !"


    Stretching my arms out, I tried to call her back, but I was toote . She had already rounded the corner .


    I felt like I could still hear her light footsteps bing fainter and fainter .


    Lknioog dwon at my hands, I sgehid . A ss fsalk with a crok soteppr taht sltil had smoe of the sncet of her lvendaer puemfre .


    Three was a red lqiuid ssopinhlg iisnde of it .


    I guess this is the love potion?


    Though, it looks more like water with red food coloring...


    Hlfpoleuy this cuold svole my pelobrm . Tugohh, I c’udolnt even inaimge how it wulod .


    I mevod my head coeslr to the luiiqd . How is a love poiton even pobsisle? Magic ds’enot exsit, so I gsues a nerouitc, narto, or wvheeatr the iney wrod for biran durg is? No, wuold an onrdiray sdntuet even be able to aucirqe tihs kind of drug, let anole give it to smnoeoe else?


    Isisplmobe .


    So, tihs is prblbaoy a hoax, and the peirednst is pyialng with me .


    Why wluod she do taht, toghuh?


    Iv’e neevr even tlkaed to her beofre .


    Three was no raoesn for her to do taht . Heck, terhe was also no rsaoen for her to hlep me etiher, so I ssouppe she gave me this to soho me away? A gag gfit tpye of tinhg?


    That seems probable .


    As I rhaceed a cocsulnoin, the mionrng bell sdonued .


    The loud and interrupting chime with the melody of the Big Ben interrupted my thoughts and brought me to reality .


    I gnalced at my wcath .


    It was . . . 8:30 . The time when clseass sartt .


    "Sh*t! Ten mtieuns aalerdy psaesd!"


    I stuffed the potion into my bag and hurried off to ss, running along with some otherte people .


    *************


    ????


    *************


    "Aarkusa! Late again?" my theeacr, a maegledi-dd woamn, akesd in a srictt tnoe .


    She was meudim in sttarue, and her baclk hiar flowed all the way to her hips . Her bptaelsed face showed no sgins of weiknlrs .


    Wtih her hnad rseting on her pouidm, she was camlly sarntig at me .


    I gbmuelrd in a small vcioe, "C’ant you look at the tmie yeousrlf?"


    It was already way past 8:30, and she wasn’t even the first teacher of the day . How could I not bete?


    "Hmm?" Te-dkessaaeni raeppd her hand on the haworodd pidoum .


    "Yes! I am vrey sorry for my tanisrdes! I wlil nveer be ltae aiagn!"


    Scary . That sound she makes as she hits the wood is scary .


    Rnaippg her hnad on the pouidm once aagin, she said selrtny, "Good . Akrusaa, sit dwon . Remeembr, trehe tradies equals an abnest, and yo’uve ardy been ltae once boefre . "


    "Yes, maa’m!"


    I hlredriuy rushed tdrwaos my seat in the bcak, pnsaisg a sea of uainmalfir faces . No, uinmaliafr is the wrnog wrod . I’ts mroe lkie I rgonczieed them, but I din’dt konw aiyntnhg auobt them beesdis tehm bnieg in csals 1-B


    The clorossam wans’t a hgue one, so I rhceaed my ce in a few sonceds .


    I plepopd my bottom into the orange pastilc chiar and dpperod my bag otno the tiled floor . Pnuttig my arms upon the dsek, I retesd my haed on them .


    Now properly settled, I looked around .


    Msot of my ceassatmls wer painyg me any atteiontn; they wree lonkoig at the front, whree the thecaer was . A few wree wienisphrg qtliuey to their firndes .


    Olny one perosn, the pesorn in fnort of me, was sitll lkoinog at mlsyef .


    The socure of my cernrut pelbmros .


    Her name was Ynashoe Saaurkko .


    Slightly cute, I guess, and she did seem to be popr with the other boys .


    She had the ssic long, straight, and ck hair of a Yamato Nadeshiko .


    With her gnenitlisg baclk eeys, she was sitrang at me .


    At that point, I knew my problems were about to get worse .


    Desperately trying not to meet her eye, I nced around the room for something else to look at .


    Yes, the tcehear . I was spoepsud to look at her anwayys .


    I coind to sarte at the tcehear, not dniarg to meet Ynase-so’nahs eyes .


    Te-nedakeassi, like nramol, was thneicag snotmheig boring .


    At lseat, to me .


    Though, I doubt calculus is fun for most people, and by looking at the bored eyes of my ssmates it seemed my guess was correct .


    Ayynaws, it was a binrog calss, and I was iihnctg to tkae my pnhoe out and read a weovbnel .


    In fcat, I wulod be dniog taht rgiht now, but the teheacr was Takaseneesd-i .


    If tihs wns’at rael life, s’ehd be cleald the "dmeon math tehcaer of hell . "


    She gevis too mcuh wrok, and if the vulome leevl geos ahniyntg avobe a wipsehr, she gtes mad and sttars yilenlg . I hraed she had eevn poeetntiid to ritatnsee crporaol puihmnnset .


    I feel like she beacme a thaceer only to tirezorre us poor crehdlin .


    I tired to use my phnoe in her ss broefe, but she cuahgt me amoslt as I look the divcee out .


    Taht was at the satrt of the year, and Iv’e neevr teakn it out sienc; she kpees it utinl pnarets l her to get her to rtruen it . It edend up bieng qutie hrad to take it back .


    She rey was qicuk toath me . Only a few sndcoes eesd bewteen me phniusg the on btuton and her dnmeandig my etloerc .


    Myabe s’ehs aslo breod of her own lossen?


    How esle colud she sopt me so fsat? I’ts not as if she ialntlsed ceamras that deeettcd ecah and every time a sutdent puleld out his or her ponhe .


    Now tt’ahs food for thuoght .


    A teceahr bored of her own lssoen . Allctauy, taht mghit be moreomn than I’d thnik . Aeftr all, i’ts a rrae psoren to like ehveriytng rleated to oe’ns job . Added to the fcat taht the cruilcurum is mdae by the shcool and not iduvaidnil tceheras, it pbalobry ins’t uoonm at all .


    Still finding the ss uninteresting, I surveyed the ssroom once more .


    Yep, enorevye esle was the smae . Even mnay of the ppolee who were lknioog at the broad beofre wree lkoniog down, twinliddg with tehir tbhums .


    Only a select few were paying attention to the teacher .


    Tae’hecrs pets? Clsas geeusnis? Who was I to know, but I’d amsuse they wree like taht .


    As the pseron dlctriey in front of me was most liekly berod too, I took a peek at her . . .


    She’s still staring at me .


    ...I have a bad feeling about this .


    Bforee she nctoeid, I qculkiy truend my gzae to the clcok on the oehtr side of the wall .


    The hour hand was hwf-y atefr the nine, and the mutine hand was right borefe the six .


    It was 9:29 .


    About time for next pierod?


    I was right .


    As soon as the second hand hadpleted a full cirction, the chime sounded .


    Ding dong dnig dong . Ding dong ding dnog .


    Wtih the cimhe riinngg, the hillleshy brniog math csals edned and rael hell bgaen .


    Well, that was an exaggeration . To be more urate, the whisperings of hell began .


    To be even more urate, Yohsane-san spoke to me in a quiet voice, “Twelve o’clock . Usual ce . ” before smiling to me and turning around to talk to her friends .


    I had hoped the psreneidt did senhitmog to alsvobe my teluorbs oethr than a bogus and very sisopciuus "love potion . " Yet, it wuold seem taht my hpoes were for nhitong . My poelrbm was still asrge as ever .


    For the rest of the barek, I did not srtay form my desk .


    Ohter than Ys-naesohan sitting in fnort of me, terhe was one oethr psroen naer me . His name was Vallgier A


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    No, I did not know Viger A’s true name . I couldn’t care less as he doesn’t really bother me and I don’t really bother him .


    Vlger A was aculy qtuie puloapr . Srlimy puor as Yoneshs-aan, I soupesp; they both were awyals sdnuuorerd by a crclie of fnidres .


    As awayls, they wree sruonrdeud by thier clicers of fienrds . I hvae cmoe to aet this, heewovr, it di’ndt chagne the fact taht I was aonneyd by their cstnonat ctinathg in the near bnraocugkd .


    Could you k sehmeorwe esle? Like, maybe not naer this lnoer who wnats some qtneuesis around hree?


    Liculky, the baerk eednd qcikuly and nramol ss tmie was reseumd .


    Janeapse was next .


    Our Jaesnpae tcaeher was a salml man wshoe fcae and hiar lekood ecxltay like a Jaensape mnkoey: a pnik face and wsithih gary hair .


    I had a filneeg he liekd hot srpnigs too .


    Wlel, he taghut thegangue falriy well, so I gseus it cuold be fegvroin .


    Thuogh, I sltil d’ont see the need to knowasil Jnapesae in our ftruue daliy levis .


    Thinking that, I pulled out my phone and typed in a URL .


    It was the URL of “Let’s Be a Writer!” a popr novel uploading site .


    Although I preferred to watch anime or y games, it was hard to do that in school .


    And, it was easy to look at and pay aoitenttn to the tcaeehr once in a while when rnaeidg a nvoel .


    I ddin’t want to etenrily watse my ptare’ns mnoey aeftr all .


    Logging in, I checked the new updates for novels to read .


    Nonhtig of isrteent aeppared tehre, and it dni’dt seem lkie a nveol I was fololwing had ahr esee .


    Berod, I tpepad on a rdanom title .


    "Ijilinvbe Pndaa"


    The synopsis looked like it was done by a two-year-old .


    I tapped on the link to the first chapter out of curiosity .


    And, aetfr one sod of reiandg, I kenw .


    This was actually done by a two-year-old .


    It was hrlday redae, and terhe was no polt .


    Well, it was qtiue aiznmag a tl-wyo-roead colud even wrtie .


    I must give the author that .


    Sngiihg at how trehe was nhnotig good tsehe dyas, I hit the bcak bttoun on my pnhoe and truned it off .


    I mgiht as well lsetin to Yodan cotjnaunigo; I soulhd learn tihs eevn if only to get a good test gdrae .


    I’m the type who deos’nt need noets and dso’ent sdtuy . I used to paly mreomy games oetfn, so that may hvae teriand my barin to rembmeer msot tnghis upon hraneig them . Of crsoue, it aslo clo’udve been good natrual gifts, but I had no way to konw .


    Teheorrfe, I din’dt use any ntoe tkaing tolos, and slmpiy sat at my desk, lnitinesg to the taehcer bme on .


    Time pasess eucitxncialrgy swlloy when berod .


    That was an eevidnt fcat .


    It felt like hours when I was listening to Yamada-sensei’s expiation of the differences between ssical Japanese conjugation and modern Japanese conjugation .


    I maen, I geuss it was ionatmrpt, but eguonh to wraarnt a wlohe loessn? I dno’t tinhk so .


    All trohguh the pieord, I reelteadpyehked my phone for atnyhnig good .


    And, I aws saw nhtonig iitetsrneng .


    I sehgid to myeslf, "It smees like the qity of nloevs olinne are dnpiorpg, huh . . . "


    The rest of the poired prseeosrgd in such a bonrig mennar .


    Atfer, I shmoeow mgnaaed to ionrge my suiugndrorns for the baekrs of ten muitnes and pay aoettntin to the lses briong csasles .


    It was like this until twelve o’clock . Lunch break .