บท 9: Yui Yuigahama is perpetually glancing around furtively [2]
Yukinoshita was reading a book in the clubroom, as usual. We casually
exchanged hellos, and then I carried a chair over to a spot a little ways away
from her and sat down, pulling a few books from my bag. Now the Service
Club had entirely transformed into a Youth Reading Club.
So what were we actually supposed to do in this club, in the end? Where'd
all that talk about a competition go? The answer to my questions arrivedsuddenly in the form of a visitor's faint knock.
Yukinoshita's page-turning hand paused, and she precisely inserted a
bookmark into her paperback. She then turned to the door and called: "Come
in."
"P-pardon me!" squeaked a nervous voice. The door slid aside with a light
scrape, opening barely a few inches. A girl entered, almost squeezing through
sideways. The way she moved, it seemed as though she didn't want to be
seen. Her chestnut-brown hair flowed down to her shoulders in loose waves,
and with every step she took, they swayed. Her eyes darted about as if she
was scouting out the area, her gaze never stopping to rest, and when her eyes
met mine, she let out a tiny squeal.
Was I some kind of monster?
"Wh-why is Hikki here?"
"Uh, I'm in this club." And wait, does "Hikki" mean me? Who is this girl,
anyway? Quite frankly, I have no recollection of her at all.
I didn't remember her because she was such a stereotypically modern high
school girl. I saw her ilk all the time. Basically, she was one of those
fashionable teenage girls. All of her clothes flagrantly disregarded the school
dress code: the short skirt, the three buttons open on her blouse, the necklace
sparkling on the chest peeking out of said blouse, the heart charm, and the
tawny hair bleached bright.
I didn't associate with girls of that sort. Because I didn't associate with
girls of any sort.
It seemed like she knew me, though, and I didn't feel I could just ask,
Excuse me, who are you? But then I noticed the color of the ribbon on her
chest was red. In our school, each of the three grades were assigned different
ribbons, and that was how you could tell someone's year. Red meant she was
a second-year, like me. The reason I noticed her ribbon straightaway wasn't
because I was looking at her chest—it just happened to enter my field of
vision, okay? By the way, it was pretty big.
"Well, sit down." I casually pulled out a chair and motioned for her to sit.
I wasn't being all gentlemanly to disguise my impure intentions. I want to
emphasize that it was, naturally, all out of sincere kindness.
Really, I'm a super gentleman. I mean, I dress like one all the time.
"Th-thanks…" She looked a little flustered, but she nevertheless plopped
herself down in the seat I'd offered.
Yukinoshita, who was sitting opposite her, met her gaze. "Yui
Yuigahama, right?"
"Y-you know me?" Hearing her own name, Yui Yuigahama's expression
suddenly turned bright. It seemed she regarded Yukinoshita's recognition as a
mark of status.
"You know her name? Do you know all the students in this school or
what?"
"Not at all. I didn't know you."
"Oh…"
"It's nothing to get upset about. I should have. I only didn't because I was
disinterested in your stunted character. I had a strong, subconscious desire to
avert my eyes from you, but that was my weakness and my fault."
"Hey, was that supposed to make me feel better? That's a pretty terrible
way to comfort someone. That last part basically makes the whole thing my
fault!"
"I wasn't trying to make you feel better. I was just being sarcastic."
Without even giving me a glance, Yukinoshita flicked back the hair that had
fallen to her shoulders.
"This club seems…kinda fun." Yuigahama observed our interaction with
something of a sparkle in her eyes. Maybe she had a few screws loose.
"This experience isn't particularly pleasant for me… In fact, that
assumption of yours is incredibly unpleasant." Yukinoshita shot her a chilly
glare.
When the look hit Yuigahama, she became flustered, fidgeting and
shaking her hands wildly in front of her. "Oh! Well, um, like… I just thought
you guys seemed like you were really natural with each other. You know,
um… Hikki's acting totally different from how he usually does in class, so I
was like, Wow, he talks!"
"Of course I talk." Do I come off that lacking in communication skills?
"Oh, yes, I remember now. You're in Class F as well, Yuigahama?"
"Huh? Is she?"
"You were aware of that, weren't you?" Yukinoshita said, and Yuigahama
twitched in response.
Oh, crap.
I knew better than anyone else what if feels like when someone in your
own class doesn't remember you at all. So, in order to spare her that pain, Idecided to lie.
"O-of course I was!"
"So why'd you look away?" Yuigahama cross-examined me intently.
"Isn't that sort of thing why you don't have any friends in our class? You act
so weird, it's creepy."
Oh, that condescending gaze was so familiar. There was indeed a girl in
my class who sometimes looked at me the way you'd look at something dirty.
She was part of the clique that often hung out with the soccer club or
whoever. Oh, I see. She's my enemy, huh? My consideration had been wasted
on her.
"Slut," I muttered.
Yuigahama snapped back at me. "Huh? What do you mean, slut? I'm still
a vir—Uh… Ah-ha-ha! N-nothing!" Her face flushed bright red as she flailed
her hands in an attempt to erase the word that had almost escaped her lips.
What a dumbass.
Yukinoshita butted in to save Yuigahama from her fit of panic. "That's
not something you need to be embarrassed about. At your age, being a virg
—"
"Hey, hey, hey! What are you talking about?! Not having done it in your
second year is embarrassing! Yukinoshita, what does that say about my
hotness level?!"
"What a superficial system of values." Whoa, I don't know why, but
Yukinoshita's frigidity just turned up a notch.
"Hotness level? Sounds like something a slut would say."
"You said it again! I can't believe I'm being called a slut! You're such a
creep, Hikki!" Yuigahama moaned in frustration as she looked at me through
teary eyes.
"Me calling you a slut has nothing to do with my creepiness. And don't
call me Hikki." She was making me sound like a hikkikomori—one of those
shut-ins who never comes out of his room. Oh, so that was supposed to be an
insult. It was probably a derisive nickname the class had given me. What the
hell? That's kind of mean. It almost made me want to cry. Talking behind
people's backs is rude. So say it straight—right to my face. I can't get hurt if
I don't hear it myself. "You slut."
"You…you really are a pain in the butt! And you're seriously creepy!
Why don't you just die?!"
I'm a pretty mild guy, and I never snap at anyone. I'm like a safety razor.
But that was enough to make even me go quiet. There are a lot of things out
there you just shouldn't say to people. Words relating life and death, in
particular, can be particularly impactful. If you aren't prepared to takeSo after a brief silence, as a warning to her, I said gravely and with
palpable anger in my tone, "Don't use stuff like Die! or I'll kill you! as casual
insults. I'll kill you if you do that again."
"Oh…s-sorry. That's not what I…huh?! You just said it! You super-said
it!" As I'd noted earlier, Yuigahama is a dumbass. But surprisingly, she was
also capable of making a sincere apology.
I realized my initial impression of her hadn't been entirely accurate. I'd
thought her head was filled with nothing but partying, sex, and drugs—just
like everyone else in her clique, the soccer club crowd, and the people who
hung out with them. What was this, a Ryuu Murakami novel?
Apparently tired of bouncing around, Yuigahama breathed a short sigh.
"Hey, I heard from Ms. Hiratsuka that this place grants students' wishes?"
she asked, breaking the brief silence.
"Did she?" I'd been under the impression this club was for reading books
and wasting time.
Yukinoshita completely ignored my dubious expression and responded to
Yuigahama's question. "Not quite. The Service Club is really only for
helping people. Whether or not your wishes are granted depends on you."
"How is that 'not quite'?" Yuigahama asked, perplexed. That was exactly
what I'd wanted to ask, too.
"It's the difference between giving a starving person a fish and teaching
them how to fish. Volunteer efforts are, at their core, about putting that ideal
into practice, and not just about producing results. Perhaps the best way to
describe it is that we encourage self-reliance."
That sounded like something out of an ethics textbook. So it looked like
we were basically in agreement that the point of the club was putting self-
reliance and cooperation (the same bullcrap held up as virtuous in any
school) into practice. I guess the teacher had babbled on about labor or
whatever… So in other words, the club was about working to help other
students.
"Th-that's kind of amazing!" Yuigahama had this look in her eyes like
she'd just had a revelation, like Whoa, you just convinced me! It made me a
little worried that one day she might get suckered in by a cult.
There's absolutely no scientific basis for this idea, but there is this
common belief that girls with big boobs are a little…you know. I think this
example could be added to the list.
And then there was Yukinoshita with her flat-as-a-board chest, her clear
intellect, and her wisdom. As usual, she was smiling coldly. "I may not
actually grant your wish, but I will help you as best I can."
Apparently reminded of what she'd originally come here for, Yuigahama
piped up. "Oh! Um, um…listen, so…cookies…," she began, glancing at my
face.
I'm not empty carbs. People in class treat me like empty air, and though
those sound similar, they're different.
"Hikigaya." Yukinoshita jerked her chin, gesturing toward the hallway. It
was a sign telling me to get lost. She didn't have to signal me like that. She
could have kindly said, You're an eyesore, so would you be so kind as to
please leave that seat, though it would make me very happy if you never come
back.
If it was something they could only talk about between girls, then there
was nothing I could do about it. Stuff like that was a thing. The hints were
health and physical education, boys not included, and a class for girls only in
a different classroom. In other words, that was what they were going to talk
about.
I do wonder what they talk about during those classes. It still bothers me.
"…I'm gonna go get a Sportop." I'm too nice, if I do say so myself. I read
the room and casually took action. If I were a girl, I'd fall for me for sure.
When I got up, Yukinoshita apparently thought of something, so she
called after me as I put my hand on the door. "I'd like a Vegetable Lifestyle
100 Strawberry Yogurt Mix."
She doesn't even think twice before using me as her errand boy.
Yukinoshita, you're a piece of work
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