Vol 2. Friend... My First Friend? - Part 2

 It was the next day, and I was on my way to school. Someone called me from behind.

"Taichi!!" It was so loud that students around me also started looking at him. He was the same person and was continuously waving towards me.

'I don't know him; my name is not even Taichi.'

I acted like I didn't notice him and started to walk away. Observing that I was walking away, he quickly jogged towards me. When he caught up to me, he asked,

"Hey, are you ignoring me? That's rude, you know." I turned towards him, removed my earphones, and behaved as if I was listening to music.

"Oh, where did you come from? I didn't notice you. Did you say something?"

"Ah...um... Never mind."

"By the way, do you know why Youtskei didn't attend school yesterday?" I started the conversation.

"Oh, the milkman?"

'Milkman? Do they call Youtskei the milkman? What's the logic in that?'

"I thought you would probably know it."

"Know what?"

"He didn't make it."

'Is he dead?'

"I mean, he failed Class 5, so he didn't make it to Class 6. Weren't you two friends? How come you don't know it?"

"We weren't friends or anything. We were just seatmates. We never even talked with each other."

"I see..."

Soon we reached the school. We sat on our seats, and the day proceeded as always: boring lectures, monitor duties, and other stuff. As I decided yesterday, I would learn every student's name today. It was the P.E. period. Yamada was showing his skills as always. Everyone was playing football. I gave an excuse for not feeling well and was watching them from the sidelines. It was time for me to execute my plan to know everyone's name.

This was the first time I felt happy to be a loner. No one would notice me if I weren't there. I used my stealth mode and reached my classroom, avoiding everyone's gaze.

'As expected, no one is here.'

I went to the teacher's desk and started searching for something. While I was searching, someone came from behind and touched my shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" It was a familiar female voice. I froze in the position in which I was searching. I turned back, only to get even more shocked. It was Kushida.

'What is she doing here? Is P.E. period already over?'

She looked straight at me with eyes like a baby who got a new toy to play with.

'I need an excuse.'

"I wasn't feeling well. So I came to class."

"I see... Then what were you finding there?"

"....Rat."

My reply dumbfounded her. She was staring at me as if asking what I was saying.

"There was a rat."

"Rat!? Seriously!?"

"You don't need to worry. It's gone now."

"Ooh... So there was a rat." She wasn't convinced, though. "I thought you were looking for this."

She was hiding something behind her. I didn't notice it initially because I was too busy hiding the truth. She brought it in front. I was surprised to see what it was.

'How did she?...'

It was the student's attendance register. That's exactly what I was looking for. Seeing my expression, she understood it was what I was looking for.

"So, you were looking for this, after all."

"No, I wasn't."

"What do you want from this?"

She wasn't even listening to me. She was convinced that I was searching for this.

"I said I wasn't searching for anything!"

Saying that, I started walking towards the class exit. I let out a sigh.

'Damn, my plan failed. I have to come up with something else.'

"You can have it if you want. I won't tell anyone. I won't even ask why you want it." She said from behind. I looked back at her. She was giving a sly smile.

"Are you sure?"

"See, you were looking for this."

'Why did I even believe her?'

"Anyway, here. You should have told me from the very beginning." She placed the register in my hands. She closed one eye, tilted her head at around 30 degrees vertically, put her index finger on her lips, and said, "This is our secret. Okay?" She started to leave.

"Wait..." I called her from behind.

"Why do you have it?" I asked.

"Teacher told me to keep it."

"What?"

"She told me whenever the class is empty, I should keep the register so that someone like you won't take it."

"Then why give it to me?"

"As long as it's you, it's fine. I know you won't do anything bad, at least."

"How can you tell that?"

"I just know it."

"One last question."

"There's more?"

"How did you know I was here and was looking for it?"

She paused, but her smile wasn't gone. A student's attendance register has information about the students, from their name and address to their blood group. So, it's hard to get our hands on this register. The teacher must trust Kushida too much to allow her to take it. But the question is, how did she know that I was gone?

"The thing is, you weren't down there. So, I came here looking for you. When I arrived here. I saw you finding something at the teacher's desk. What else could you be finding there, if not this?"

'She noticed that I was gone? She's an even bigger bitch than I thought she would be.'

"I see..."

I sat on a bench and was about to open the register when I noticed Kushida was still standing there.

"Is there anything you need?" I asked.

"You asked me so many questions, at least show me what you're doing." Saying that, she sat next to me.

'There shouldn't be any problem if she saw what I'm doing. Right?'

I opened the register, and there was the list of students from our class and their details.

'If I remember correctly, the student sitting next to me has roll number 5.......... Kogen Oji.'

The student number 5 was Kogen Oji.

'So, Kogen Oji, what do you want from me?'