How We Met Again

Chapter 4: Operation Twintail

A few days later, I was running late for school (at least by my standards), having stayed up studying far too late into the night. The sunlight, which has been so comforting during my secret jaunt to the park earlier in the week, seemed harsh and unforgiving as it beat down on me from above. Its overwhelming presence, by which I meant existence, led to my simply craving somewhere dark to sleep. My head was pounding, and I almost felt like I was experiencing some type of sensory overload.

Is this what a hangover is like? I'm never going to drink.

I pulled up to my footlocker, and swung it open to change my footwear. Even that seemed to require an amount of energy that was approaching the limits of what I could provide. As I was putting my outdoor shoes away however, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and spun around to see Ichika standing behind me with her hand raised.

Ugh, it's the sweater monster. This is the last thing I need right now.

"Why do I feel like you just thought something really rude about me?" she asked me, her smile never wavering.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Can I help you, Ichika?"

"Hey, you remembered my name! Good, good. Yeah, I need to talk with you."

I made a 'go on' gesture.

"Not here. Also, I want Yotsuba involved too. Can I join you in the library after school today? I promise to not get in the way of the... academics."

This is going to be a pain.

I sighed. "Fine. We usually meet about fifteen minutes after classes let out."

"Gotcha. I'll be there, Fuutarou-kun."

She gave me a wink, and then sauntered away, her hands clasped behind her back as she walked. I watched her go, and then shook my head, trying to clear away the cobwebs induced by my lack of sleep.

Something must be up.

When I entered my classroom, I glanced at the chalkboard, and my heart sank. The people on cleaning duty today were...

Me and the volleyball demon. Great. I'm sure this will go fantastically well.

As I began to walk to my desk, I could hear my classmates whispering amongst themselves. I distinctly heard the phrases 'poor Nakano-san' and 'gloomy loner'. I was also pretty sure I heard somebody say something significantly less complimentary about me, the details of which I was thankful to be able to only partially hear.

I tried to block them out -- there wasn't much else I could do. This had been the norm for the last year and change, ever since I'd arrived at this high school. For some reason, my classmates had collectively decided that because I prioritized studying over inane socialization, I was someone to be despised, or at the very least begrudgingly ignored. Normally, I would simply ignore their words as the asinine blathering of the ignorant masses... but my sleep deprivation had weakened my normally iron-tight emotional control. Their words managed to slide through the narrow chinks in my armour, and stung significantly more than I would care to admit.

I sat down at my desk and pulled out my schedule. First period was math, and then we had physical education after that. I glanced up to see Itsuki enter the room, have essentially the same reaction I did at the chalkboard notice, and then mopily make her way to her desk. As she sat down, I was watching her, and so for the first time in a week, we made actual eye contact.

I gave her a nod, and then turned back to the front of the room. As I was turning, I saw her scowl in response.

Great. Even more negativity.