「40th period」: confusion time

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I T O N A   H O R I B E
堀部 糸成
student no. 28

We had some sort of understanding. It was one of the things that made us friends. The thing was, Fujioka was the type of girl that was easy to understand, and at the same time, she understood me. There are just times wherein I couldn't help but be clear and blunt, and the greatest thing a person could do was understand what I really meant. Fujioka always seemed to know when to do just that.

Going home together also became quite a habit, after all, it was only then that we found out that we go down on the same stop. And when it happens, somehow you can't help but learn about the little things that make a person.

But, if I were to pinpoint our relationship, we were just friends. But there's kind of more to that though. It wasn't a kind of friendship wherein you feel like the other party is more like family; kind of like Class E, kind of like how I was with Iroha or Hazama. We weren't too distant either. We were like Iroha and Karma, minus the fights, there was this air that brought us close together as if we've known each other for years.

Fujioka was Fujioka. And I was glad about it.

"I-to-na-kun~" she called with that innocent smile on her face, cutting me out of my thoughts.

"Hm?" I averted my attention to the pinkette.

"You're mind was floating elsewhere, wasn't it?" She chuckled, quite often if I do say so myself.

"Well, school's got me brain dead" I made up some excuse.

"I know right" she giggled. Glad to say that she's doing so for awhile. Unlike how we used to be, Hotaru being the honest docile timid girl she was, she's been talking a lot more lately. She talks about relatively interesting stuff, and by relatively, I meant those things you'll count as unexpected if you didn't have that octopus for a teacher.

Well, I thought about telling her once. But we all knew it a state secret, and it had this connection with how I used to have tentacle cells, how I was obsessed with power. Therefore there was no way I admitting it to anyone, I guess. Or more like---

"She'll start seeing me differently" I accidentally said out loud.

"Eh? Who?" she noticed what I just said, tilting her head slightly as she asked the question.

Damn me and my blunt mouth, I cursed mentally.

"What?" I attepted to play dumb.

"You said someone would see you differently" she noted, smiling.

"I was talking to myself" I shrugged her off.

"I know. So, why don't you ever talk to me about anything?" she asked with curiosity, her smile gone.

"Dunno"

"You really are straightforward, when you want to be, huh, Itona-kun?" the girl sighed.

"Well, why do you do it?" I asked her back.

"Because you're the only person I get to talk to like this. And it gets awkward when we're silent" she answered me nonchalantly. "You know, even if it is comfortable, the silence is so thick, I can cut it with a knife".

"Well---" I trailed off, only to be interrupted.

"I have a few secrets of my own, but I don't want you to see me differently" she mumbled quietly. "That's why I'd like you to know that I'd never see you in the wrong".

"The feeling's mutual" I assured her, eager to wait for that smile of hers.

✖︎●✖︎

Things happened so fast, that I had no idea what was going on anymore. I didn't think that coming to school the next day, would be this chaotic. Almost all the guys were in a riot, and the girls were left with their surprised reactions.

Who would've thought, there was an ex-idol in our school?

As a certain red head accompanied Iroha as they entered the classroom, they were immediately bombarded by questions. Everyone was asking Iroha things like:

"You're friends with Fujioka Hotaru, right?"

"Is it true?"

"Was she really an idol?"

It was endless.

The blue haired girl, being her usual self though, just laughed it off. "Hah? What crazy things are you spouting?" She laughed. "If ever she really was an idol, everyone would've noticed a long time a go. She's just a girl".

I wanted to believe her as she said that.

She's just a girl.

"Yeah, right!" Maehara countered her. "I hear class A's featuring an idol and I'm pretty sure it must be her".

"It's not an obligation to tell you. And besides, Hotaru isn't even the type of girl to hide such things" Iroha waved them off, before Korosensei entered the class room to finally begin homeroom.

"There there, I'm sure no one would like to believe a baseless rumor, let's all settle down now" he told us, although what he told Iroha seemed to tell otherwise. "If she really is an idol though, don't forget to give me an autograph, okay, Iroha-chan?~".

"Rot in hell, you octopus" she spat back playfully, shaking her head.

What if she just didn't know anything, though? that thought entered my mind.

What if Iroha was clueless, or more like, what if she acted clueless?

Whatever it was, the fact that that girl was exposed to that many people, sent a sick feeling to my gut. If this rumor was really true, I can already imagine the number of guys trying to confess to her, and boy, it didn't do me any good.

 If this rumor was really true, I can already imagine the number of guys trying to confess to her, and boy, it didn't do me any good

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Somehow...Somehow it didn't feel right. Somehow I didn't like it.

I could recall that time when she talked about my company, about how she was didn't feel alone because of such a simple act such as going home together. She said that she felt safe. But now that I think about it, I felt safer.

Maybe the real reason, I couldn't stand the idea of having someone take her away from me, was because more than her, I didn't want her to leave me alone. If she's with someone else, we wouldn't be able to bond as much. Or was it really just that?

What the fuck am I thinking?

𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐅. karma akabaneWhere stories live. Discover now