Checkmate

14

Ah, the weekend.

In this cruel, wicked world of high expectations and corporate slavery, it is perhaps the average working man's only ray of light in their otherwise grey life. That is, of course, if your boss doesn't ask (force) you to stay overtime over the weekend because a recent project's deadline is coming up (in other words, someone has been slacking and you're paying the price) and you're desperately needed to finish it. My own parents have only been subjected to such cruelty once before, but just the dreadful prospect itself is enough to scare me away from the life of a corporate salaryman. I truly respect my parents for working so hard to ensure that myself and Komachi get to live comfortable lives, while also pitying them for being forced into this role by the cruel capitalist society we inhabit.

Of course, as a hard-working high school student, I am more than familiar with the bliss that is a free weekend after a long week – there is functionally very little difference between a student and a corporate slave, I've come to find. Both toil away seemingly endlessly for a hierarchical institution in order to keep their place in the world secured, and eventually their hard work is rewarded by either graduation or promotion. However, that victory is short-lived, as now they have even more work to worry about, either in further education or their new position. And even if graduation is the end for a student, without swift intervention, they'll soon transition into the life of a corporate slave, beginning the cycle anew.

Preventing myself from repeating the cycle is one of the many reasons as to why my true wish is to pursue a future of househusbandry. The only corporate I'll be a slave to will be my home and family! I'm sure this noble nature of mine will make my future wife proud! But, back to the topic at hand: the weekend.

For us loners, the weekend is an important time, for it is when we are least likely to be subjected to unwarranted social interaction. For this reason, we must seize the opportunity to seek solace and self-improvement in the best company possible – our own company. While the most experienced loners (such as myself) are capable of blending into their environment so well that they can be by themselves even when surrounded by other people, the true, sacred isolation that weekends can provide is far superior, as well as necessary for allowing us to recharge after all the social interaction one has to endure through daily life. For these reasons – and many more – I hold the weekend as the most sacred part of the week, and pity those students whose schools practice the six-day school week. That's yet another reason as to why Chiba is the greatest place in the world! Though, I suppose I can't really speak for any other school in the area apart from Soubu, but I have faith in Chiba. Believe in the Hachiman who believes in Chiba!

Putting the greatness of Chiba aside for now, weekends are truly the best. Nothing beats the relaxing confines of my own home. No pesky unmarried Japanese teachers punching me in the gut, or cheeky student council presidents making me perform manual labour, or annoying requests made to the club, or beautiful ice queens slinging a dictionary's worth of verbal jabs at me, or pretty blonde classmates wanting to take me somewhere as recompensation for a bit of advice. Just me, my comfortable bed, a good book, and Komachi's cooking.

Speaking of her cooking... I should probably get up and see if my darling imouto has made anything.

Leaving my monologuing behind, I sat up in my bed and stretched, before reaching for my phone and checking the time. It was a little past ten in the morning, though I had woken up already around half an hour ago – I just hadn't felt like getting up yet. Now that I had returned to reality, though, my rumbling stomach made me aware of my basic needs as a human being, so I got up from bed and did another round of stretches.Come to think of it, normally I'd probably just be waking up around this time on a weekend. Heh, at least this time I don't have anyone dragging me out to go shopping or anything... As my thoughts shifted to last weekend when Miura had taken me out with her and Ebina, I felt my face heating up all of a sudden. If Ebina hadn't been there with us, that would have basically been a date... Gah! Stop thinking like that! These newfound feelings of mine are dangerous... I shook my head as I finished stretching, pushing any thoughts of Miura away. I really need to think of something to do regarding my feelings, but not as the first thing in the morning.