My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Silent, As I Expected

Chapter 4

"No no...if you swipe to the sides you just end up spreading it, do it like this"

'...'

"In circles, see?"

'...'

"Shouko..."

'...'

"Why are you doing this?"

-o-

Choir practice goes as usual, though I could tell that Shouko was getting better. Though 'better' is a subjective term, and I don't think our classmates share the same opinion as me.

"C'mon kids! One more time!"

It seems that Kita-sensei could read the atmosphere and tried to keep the kids from being on edge, even so...her efforts are in vain.

By the end of the class Shouko's mood is through the floor, her face fallen. I could tell that tears were bordering the corners of her eyes. These children, being the cruel existence that they are, start badmouthing her as soon as the teacher gets out of the room.

"We will lose at this rate" "It's all her fault" "She thinks that because she's deaf she has the right to ruin everything" "Teacher's pet"

They're really forthcoming with their opinion when they know their victim can't listen to them, though when Shouko interacts with them, they put on this fake smile and treat her with 'kindness'.

It makes me sick. So sick that I want to barf.

Yet, I can tell. Shouko knows. She may be deaf, but she has this ninja skill where she can read their lips, of course she doesn't get everything they say, but if she can get just a few words and by the look on their faces, she probably gets the idea of what is going on. It would not surprise me, considering what Ito-san told me about her previous experiences in other schools.

"Stay strong, Shouko" that's the only thing I could say as she put a smile that didn't reach her eyes when talking to the others in the classroom.

'Do you have today's lesson?'

The room was empty and we were the only ones left. As it's our routine, Shouko asks for my notebook and copies anything that she didn't get in class while I clean my 's this peace and quiet that develops around us. The only sounds in the room are the swiping on my side and Shouko's pencil scratching the paper on her side. We remain like that for a few minutes until I finish, then I get a chair and sit beside her. She's pretending she didn't feel me but, the slight jump from her shoulders gives her away, and that's when she can't take it anymore.

Her shoulders start shaking and muted subs come out of her lips, little salty droplets rain down the paper while her lips tremble. I'm not the best at this kind of situation, so I go for my brotherly instincts and pat her head. She doesn't recoil to my touch —which is something I was afraid would happen— and leans in to me. Her tiny hands make a fist while grabbing my shirt and head leans on my shoulder.

"Guh, uhh...fuh"

She's a mess, but I'm not one to judge. I can't do much for her either. To think that the only thing that this crying girl wanted was to be friends with everybody, yet this is the result of that effort. It's frustrating, it's unfair and it's heart wrenching...but such is life, and Shouko is learning.

I really didn't want her to learn.

The wetness of my shoulder thickens and the muffled mumbles of the tiny bundle of kindness resound and bounce around. I peer around her table and see what she has written until now. It was a math lesson, though in the middle of a paragraph the words start to become messy, wetted in parts from tears —I think— and little after begin to become a repetitive sentence that's displayed over and over.