Ignorance 4

The heat’s killing me. I don’t think yesterday was this hot, so what gives? It’s not like I hate it, but I’d love it way more if I were at the beach, with sunscreen and swimsuits all around me.

Having to attend classes on top of this heat, then, becomes even more hellish than usual. Because it feels like the world is taunting me! The promised land is so close yet so far!

And… Well, things aren’t exactly going well either.

I couldn’t sleep that well. I’d usually laze around for a bit, go to school a little late, sometimes without even having breakfast first. But things haven’t exactly worked out recently. There is something strange going on, and I can’t help be bothered by it.

It’s not something cute like a disagreement between dudes, jealousy over a girl, or even getting in trouble with school. But something more… Abstract. A bigger problem. One that can’t be intimidated or talked out.

And yet people around me are chatting happily, unaware of things. It makes me a little jealous to be honest. To be this unaffected by things… It must be nice.

“How was Golden Week? Did you do anything fun?”

“Nah. My dad had me attend to costumers in his restaurant every day! I didn’t even do my homework!”

“Oh man, that was funny!”

“Did you catch up with the series I told you about?”

“Man, back to classes huh. I want more vacations!”

…

Those… Are not quite the conversations I expected to hear.

The strange sensation returns. But I can’t stand around like an idiot, reacting to what everyone is saying. I move forward. To the known and accounted for. And the schoolgrounds appear in my field of vision. It’d have been easier to just busy myself with my phone and stuff but… I forgot to charge it again. Guess I’ll be stuck to one of the school’s sockets during lunch again.

For one reason or another, I am actually looking forward to being made fun of for this for once. It’s… Normal. Something silly and unimportant. Nothing like what I’ve had on my plate recently.

The strange feeling in my stomach intensifies. I hate feeling like this, and have no one to talk about it with. I’ve told the guys that it feels like school is just repeating itself and they all say that it’s because it’s boring. I tried to look at the news and social media when I came back home, but nothing on Urara-chan had popped up.

Man… What a shitty last year…

And just when I thought that nothing could make my mood worse, I see Touya-kun… I mean Kamishiro, standing in front of the school gates with a dorky smile and a piece of paper in hand. Like nothing happened.

It pisses me off so much! No wonder Kazama got a bone to pick with Kamishiro! The guy can’t even stay worried for a single day!

…Or maybe he figured something out? Guess I should ask just to be sure.

“Hey.”

“Woah! G-Good morning! I’m how are you today, Kamishiro Touya!”

…Did he really trip over his words this badly?

Is this guy trying to prank me or something?

“Quit that, I’m not Kazama but I’ll seriously punch you if you keep clowning around, Kamishiro.”

“E-Eh? Eeeehhh?!” Man, this is just… I’m seriously regretting this now!

“Just tell me if you figured something out, man. I can’t deal with your nonsense this early in the morning.”

“Figured something out…? I-I’m sorry but I don’t understand…”

“What.” Seriously, what is wrong with this guy?! Even if he’s dense and stupid… There should be a limit to it. “Okay, enough. Let’s go to the back of the school. You’ve had this coming for a while now.”

I snatch the guy by placing an arm around his shoulders, just to keep him where I want. I’m not Kazama, but I’ll seriously beat him up now. I have the right to.

“W-Wait! What is going on?! I just arrived in town!”

“Yeah, yeah. And I’m schizophrenic. Let’s give you a little beating this time—”

“Please out of the way!” A girly voice rushed toward us. Quite literally to boot. First small, but almost right behind us by the end of the sentence, it makes me turn around to see raven black hair stampeding toward us.

“Gah!” I release Kamishiro, of course I do. I don’t want to be run over by a girl in a bike! And allow the guy to go through that on his own.

The girl is thrown out of the bike; the guy is pushed back a couple of meters. And one falls on top of the other like in one of those comedy anime that one of the guys likes.

I am speechless. What the hell is going on? It feels as if the world bends over backwards to make anything related to Kamishiro as moronic as possible!

“Ouch, ouch, ouch…” Kamishiro tries to stand up, but soon realizes that someone’s on top of him. And… “E-Eh?!”

Of course, he panics.

“Uuugghhh… I’m so sorry!” The girl’s tone is frail and light, and I can’t see her face but it still makes my skin crawl for a second.

I look back at the bike. It’s clearly too big for her, and she’s probably not used to riding one. But that’s not important either.

As I look back at them, I can see the girl lifting herself up and staring down at Kamishiro.

“Are… Are you alright…?”

“Y-Yeah! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?!”

“Yes. Oof… Quite a way to be greeted, huh.” Kamishiro laughs it off, but my stomach is turning.

I can do nothing but stare in complete confusion as the girl gets up and Kamishiro tries to stand up on his own.

“Again, I’m deeply sorry! I borrowed my dad’s bike and lost control over it…” Akamine clasps her hands cutely, but she sounds… Different. More youthful somehow.

“It’s okay! I’m glad you’re okay…” Kamishiro snaps back to attention and gets nervous once more. “A-Ah! I’m Kamishiro, by the way! I’m the new transfer student!”

“Kamishiro… Is it?” Akamine sounds mesmerized. I… I really want to puke now. “My name is Akamine. I’m sorry for this, Kamishiro-san. And… Nice to meet you.”

What the absolute hell is going on? ‘Nice to meet you’?

I flee the scene. Kamishiro seems to catch sight of me, but Akamine’s now the center of attention. Even the other students pay no mind to my escape.

“Hey, Saruya! How was…?”

“Shut the hell up! Give me your phone!” I snap at the poor guy and wrestle with him a bit.

He hasn’t done anything wrong, and he’s super confused by my attitude. But soon realizes that I’m not playing around and gives in to my demands.

“Chill, dude. What got into you…?” He asks in a half-muttered tone, but I’m too focused on unlocking his phone and look at the date.

Same year.

April.

The first day of school after Golden Week.

Apparently the day that Akamine and Kamishiro met. Months prior to Urara-chan going missing.

…

What?