A Proper Life

I believe in following the rules, that is how I maintained my orderly lifestyle.

My goal was simple: to live a proper life.

Graduate, go to college, receive a degree, get a proper job, marry a beautiful woman with long black hair, raise children, grow old together.

That kind of life sounded perfectly fine for me; I did not desire anything more.

That is why I desperately tried to ignore anything that was going to stand in the way of this proper life.

I mean, it is only natural that such a perfect thing will be a little hard to acquire. In my way stood Amamiya Rinko. Or rather, a series of unusual events with Amamiya Rinko at the centre.

~~~

“So, you see them too!” She declared, slamming her hands onto my desk.

A lot of time had passed since school was over, so there was no one in the classroom to witness Amamiya Rinko acting so different than her usual self, that is except me.

“Excuse me? Them?” I closed the book I was reading, raised myself from my seat, and grabbed my schoolbag, slipping it on my shoulder, “Look, I’m not sure if this is some sort of punishment game or what, but if that’s all you have to say then I’m leaving, I’ve wasted enough time already.”

That’s right, I don’t usually stay at school this late, I go straight home to carry out my proper routine. Today was an exception, since a black-haired beauty slipped a note in my blazer’s pocket asking me to meet her in the classroom at 5pm.

Of course, I didn’t get my hopes up or anything.

Don’t you dare think I got my hopes up.

“It’s not a punishment game!” She was now looking up at me rather than down, but that didn’t make her sound any less threatening, “I know that you see them so just admit it, nothing good will come out of running away, Natsume Shun. Wait, why are you looking at me like that?”

Looks like the shock was becoming apparent on my face. Though anyone would react the same way if the usually quite beauty Amamiya Rinko started acting like…whatever this is. Something about the second year of middle school.

She sighed and turned around, the hem of her skirt fluttering and her long black hair flowing behind her. The light from the setting sun pouring into the classroom made this moment feel a lot more significant than it actually was.

“Listen, I’ll need you to think about it. If you decide to cooperate with us and join the Anti-Extraterrestrial Creatures Platoon, come see us at the Disciplinary Committee’s room whenever.” She looked at me for a little bit, her eyes full of compassion. She really is beautiful, even as she spouts all this nonsense, a Platoon? Seriously?

“You do not have to be afraid. When we work together, we will be strong enough to defeat them and carry out our duty. There is still hope for this world.”

She walked out of the classroom full of confidence, as if she just delivered an award-winning speech. To be fair, I’m sure she can with that strong voice of hers, which I always thought does not really fit her small frame. But the contents of today’s ‘speech’ were, to put it nicely, questionable. I stood there, dumbfounded. Today’s events will need a considerable amount of time to process.

I glanced at my watch; I’ll have to hurry if I want to catch the anime airing at 6pm.

Giving Amamiya a reply isn’t really on my priority list. To be honest, after what I saw today, I don’t think I’m interested in her as a woman anymore.

But I am interested in her as an example of how reading too many web novels can affect adolescents’ development.

I encountered my English teacher as I was putting my outside shoes on.

“Goodbye, Sensei.”

“See you tomorrow, Natsume-san.” He nodded as he replied.

Even now as my teacher waved his ‘hand’ at me, I was desperately trying to ignore anything that was going to stand in the way of this proper life.

Pretending not to see something is as good as not seeing it in the first place. There are many things that, despite being shown to us, aren’t meant to be acknowledged. That is yet another belief I firmly believe in.

I will continue to do what I believe in, there are many black-haired beauties around here anyways, I’ll be fine without Amamiya Rinko.