Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Pain of the lonely
Ayanokoji POV
After the introductions we all went on our merry way, some people were quite happy for the new companionships and it made me glad.
I made my way towards a convenience store, a normal place one can go to in Japan for services such as food, stationary and other such items available for convenience. It is a new experience for me, I hope my first encounter with a store like this will not be bad.
I made my way inside, taking a look of my surroundings, taking note of the chilled environment and a few people around.
"... What an unpleasant coincidence." I heard a voice from the side, Horikita again. What is she doing here?
"Oh, hello Horikita, you were shopping necessities?" I asked as I took note of Horikita taking a shampoo from the shelf, the cheapest kind
It seemed she noticed how Miss Chabashira's words had more meaning, I am glad that someone other than me noticed!
"hmm, you didn't introduce yourself in the class, may I ask why?" I asked Horikita, curious of why she chose to withhold her name from people who she will need to cooperate with for the next 3 years
"There are a lot of reasons I could give you, but should I give a simple explanation? Even if I introduced myself, it's not guaranteed that I would get along with everyone. Rather, it would've probably created problems instead. If I don't do the introduction, none of these problems occur. Right?" Horikita said as I was left confused
"Why would you want to be liked by everyone? It should be more than enough to have a few trustful people with you so you don't have to go through everything alone. After all, being alone isn't enjoyable if anything atleast in my opinion" I said as Horikita scoffed at my response
"Such a response with a voice like that? It's almost laughable. I prefer being alone, It is how I choose to live." she responded to my explanation as I felt something, I didn't like it.
Horikita didn't seem to understand that being alone is a pain that is so unbearable when you truly feel it. She likes alone time but doesn't understand that she has no people here to support her as family, and if she doesn't make any friends, then she might up completely alone with no one to interact and even rely on. But I can't let my personal feelings cloud my judgement here, It's her choice and not mine to say that she is wrong
"Alright, I understand. I respect your choice but I do recommend you talk to some people so you can atleast be cordial with them." I answered as she narrowed her eyes, my emotionless eyes and the distinction of my words with my face make her confused
"Why are you suggesting I make useless kinship with people like that? You seem like someone who doesn't associate with people either" she said as I looked at her for a second before replying
"It isn't that I don't want to make friendships, It is just that I don't know how to." I explained to her as she looked further confused at my reply
"What exactly do you mean? Have you never had any friends or people you talked to in the past?" she asked as I remembered everything, my sharp as ever memory trying to look back and remember the person I used to be, no the person I am
Even if I pretend to be kind and helpful, I am still the monster, the demon. But I want to change don't I? even I do not know my intentions anymore
"No, I was uh homeschooled. So I never had the chance to make friends until now" I said as I hoped it would help my case
"What about your parents? clearly they weren't the best bunch if there child can't even make a friend" she said as the rude comment of hers made me reevaluate her. Her social skills were as bad, no worse than mine. I can still talk to people without outright insulting them atleast
"My mother wasn't in the picture and my father wasn't around much, I don't think it is worth blaming them for it. I have a chance to turn my life around socially so I am atleast going to try" I explained to her as Horikita recoiled, a little guilty for touching a touchy subject
I didn't bother to look back at her after that and took hold of a cup noodles, it was 156 yen. I have no idea what anything has to cost and as I am in public and talking to someone, checking my phone isn't an option. So I looked to the black haired beauty beside me and asked the question I was curious to know about
"In your opinion, is this a fair price for this cup noodles?" I said as I gestured to the item in my hand, she looked at me confused as she responded
"Yes, I suppose it is. But i suggest you don't eat those often as they aren't good for your health" Horikita said as I felt some form of satisfaction as I recognized that Horikita worried for my health
"Do not worry, I don't plan on eating it often, I just wish to try it" I said as she looked at me, eying me down as she took her gaze away and we made our way to the checkout with a set of essentials and I saw something that was concrete proof that we aren't guaranteed an easy life
"Free items... Horikita, what do you think about this? the school giving you the chance to pick free items when they have given you 100 thousand points and also an allowance moving forward" I asked Horikita as she eyes the sign, recognizing the suspicions of such a school
"This school is quite lenient if anything...." Horikita said as I saw that she shared my suspicions
As I made my way into the line, I saw Sudo. He looked disappointed so I went ahead and asked him what was wrong
"Hello Sudo, What's wrong?" I asked with my usual monotone voice and he sighed as he said
"I forgot my card, My brain hasn't registered that I need that piece of plastic to pay for literally anything" Sudo said while looking sheepish as I wanted to help him in this predicament
"Here, use my card to pay. It would be a bother to go all the way back to the dorms and come back again, you can just pay me back tomorrow at class." I said as I offered him my student ID to pay for his cup noodles
"Hah! Really? Thanks a lot Ayanokoji!" Sudo said as he beamed with a smile, I felt nice due to the sheer amount of joy he felt at such a simple thing
"It's no problem Sudo, what flavor are you getting?" I asked, trying to go the simple conversation route again
"I am getting Spicy sea food! which one are you getting?" He said with a smile as I realized, Sudo was a really great guy on the inside with a hard exterior and emotional issues.
"I am trying them for the first time so I am getting the curry flavor." I said simply as both Sudo and Horikita gain a shocked look
Huh, what happened? did I say something wrong? Did I invoke a taboo?
"Ayanokoji..... what do you mean by never trying cup noodles before?" Horikita asked a little uneasy asking the question
"What's the issue? I just never got the chance, it isn't that abnormal." I said trying to play it off as Sudo and Horikita give weird looks to me as we finish paying for our stuff and make our way outside and sit at a table outside the convenience store as Sudo already cooks up and eats his noodles as me and Horikita watch
"... Are you actually trying to eat here?" Horikita asked Sudo, exasperated at the fact that he is eating a cup of noodles in public, is it that uncommon to eat outside a convenience store?
"Of course I am. It's common sense, where else would I eat?" Sudo replied as now I'm confused, is it weird or not to eat in a place like this?
When Sudou answered like that, I was surprised and Horikita let out an exasperated sigh.
"I'm going to go home. It feels like my dignity is slowly degrading away here." Horikita said as she gave the impression that she felt repulsed by even being there with him
"What dignity are you talking about? You're just a normal high school student. Or are you some kind of old lady?" Sudo said trying to provoke her
Even though Sudou snapped at Horikita, she didn't even bat an eye. Completely ignoring his outburst
Feeling irritated, Sudou put down his cup noodles and stood up.
"Ahー? Listen to people when they speak. Hey!" Sudo tried to get Horikita's attention, annoyed by her ignoring him
"What's up with him? Suddenly getting angry." Horikita turned to me as she provoked Sudo again.
Horikita continued to ignore Sudou and talked to me.
This isn't good, both of them are acting immature
"Come over here! I'll beat you up!" Sudo said, suddenly standing up. I stood up at the same time as him and firmly said
"Stop." I said as the both of them looked at me in surprise at my interference
"You both are acting like children. Horikita, it's his choice where he wants to eat and it isn't a good thing nor your right to mock and berate him for it." I said, chewing down on Horikita as she looks down, admitting that she was the one being rude
"See!? even he agre-" Sudo was saying as I stopped him
"Sudo. You aren't better than her. You let her comments get to you and chose to resort to screaming at her, not being able to control your emotions. And you threatening her with violence doesn't help. Both of you are immature and need to apologize, is that clear?" I said sternly as they both looked at me and then each other apprehensively
"Why should I apologize to this rabid dog!/bitch!" They both said at the same time as they glared at eachother
"It is the responsible thing as a highschooler to apologize when you are wrong, it would do neither of you good to be at eachother's throats. so let bygones be bygones and be better to eachother, is that clear?." i said sternly with cold eyes as they for some reason paled and decided to follow my advice
"I am sorry....." They both said at the same time as they looked away from eachother, still angry at eachother
"Hey, are you a first year? That's our spot." I suddenly heard around the back
a group of three boys walked out of the convenience store carrying similar bowls.
"Who are you guys? We're using this spot right now. Let us eat in peace" Sudo said as the seniors looked at him condescendingly
"Didn't you hear him? taking our own spot from us. Some cheeky first year brat." said one of the seniors as I remembered reading about this, this is ragging, something seniors do to juniors which is bullying between a senior and a junior
The three laughed at Sudo. Sudo stood up and threw his cup noodles on the ground. Soup and noodles splattered onto the ground.
"The first year's trying to fight, ha— what!?" a senior said as they backed a bit away, not wanting to be in the blast radius
... That's not it. Sudo has a low tolerance for anger. He's the type of person to try to intimidate the other party. It's not going to end well either way, I'll step in.
"Hello, I don't understand the problem, we are almost done here and we will be leaving right about now, you don't have to worry about us taking your spot" I said as I got up, Horikita following suite as Sudo looks at me
"But we didn't do anything wrong! these fuckers are the one's taking our spot!" Sudo argued with me in anger as the seniors laughed at him
"Sudo, come on. Let's go" I said as I started walking away and Horikita came with
"Yeah! follow your class D ass with your little Class A friend!" a senior said as I looked back at him, suspicious.
"We never introduced ourselves or our class, how did you guess Sudo's class?" I asked openly as the seniors suddenly looked pale and panicked, I immediately open my phone in my pocket and open the voice recording, having already memorized my phone's pattern for opening
"N-no particular reason, I just had a lucky guess with you both's class" he said as i gained more suspicion for the boy
"I am also from Class D, what lead you to make the distinction in guess with me and Sudo?" I said as the senior looked confused but still panicked
It would make more sense to guess that we both were from the same class instead of different one's yet they didn't. They had a criteria.
The seniors got uneasy at my questions as one of them suddenly said
"It's nothing serious, we are gonna be on our way, talking to you juniors is a pain" a senior that was more collected said as they walked away
All of this confrontation was suspicious, how they approached us, how they reacted to my question. Is there a secret agenda with the classes as well? could the Point system and the Class mystery be connected?
This school is honestly just a great pain.
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