I Just Can't Win!

Volume 1: Chapter 5 - Information is Key

April 18th, Friday. 5:23 PM.

I've never really wondered if I had a better memory than others. 

Still, I'm pretty confident when it comes to remembering other people's names and personalities. Normally, one would complain about meeting too many new people in a span of a day or so because their memories would have a hard time keeping up. Not a lot of names or personalities would stick as a result. 

That's how it was for Hiro and Keisuke who were fairly social people like me, during the first day of school. They'd whine about forgetting about a classmate they'd just hung out with because they'd already talked to so many other new students.

The moment I realized all of this in middle school, I decided to take advantage of it. I decided to take advantage of my brain.

"And so? What else did you hear?" I asked.

"That's about it, I guess..." Hiro shrugged.

"So you're saying that guys who have a crush on Shirase-san are getting... bullied?" Keisuke raised an eyebrow in disgust.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say it's bullying. They're not doing anything serious besides slightly making fun of them during breaks or so. I talked to one of the guys who got made fun of, and he said Ishikawa's group stopped messing with him as soon as he started getting close to another girl."

"In other words, they won't look at you unless it's known to them that you're interested in Shirase-san at the moment," I pondered. "Hiro, how did it actually look? Did Ishikawa lead them in the bullying?"

"Oh, right, I'm glad you mentioned that. I actually couldn't help but notice how quiet Ishikawa was when stuff like that happened— or at least whenever I saw them in the classroom. He doesn't even look interested. Most of the ragging came from the two stooges that were often with him."

How did this conversation come to be, you ask? 

Well, the three of us were walking home when Hiro suddenly told us about a strange occurrence inside their class. That's when I heard a familiar name: Ishikawa Akito.

As it turns out, he was in the same class as Hiro. I had to pry for more information on him.

"Based on what you said, it's easy to assume that someone from that group's motive is jealousy, maybe because they have a crush on Shirase-san herself..." I said. "And then there's Ishikawa. Does he have a big influence on your class? Any normal guy with his own group of friends should be able to stand up to him."

"Yeah, that's the thing. Ishikawa may look like the leader of the trio, but he's not the one they're afraid of. One of the two stooges, Kaibara, has a troublesome older brother. Apparently, he's the leader of a dangerous group of friends rumored to have ties with the yakuza."

"Damn, seriously...?"

"Where did you hear about this, Hiro?" Keisuke asked.

"I had a conversation with a girl from my class about it. To be honest, I only got interested when I heard Shirase-san's name since she's friends with Kazu-chan," he sighed. "Anyway, that classmate of mine also said they have guys all over the second district of Miyagino. I couldn't help but feel uneasy hearing about it."

"So that's why they're afraid of taking the fight. Pretty nasty..." I heaved a sigh before shaking my head. "And I happen to know why Ishikawa seemed like the leader even though they're afraid of Kaibara. I think it's because of the connection between him and Shirase-san. Maybe that Kaibara guy wants to suck up to him to look good in front of her."

The two of them turned to me looking slightly confused.

"Oh, right. You guys never asked what I was up to on the first day, but that was when I got to meet Shirase."