Again?!

Okay, so these weren’t things you would only expect a couple to do! He had made it pretty clear the next day, giving me one more reason to hate lunch breaks. I couldn’t decide whether I was the really unlucky one or him and his hook-ups.

I hadn’t asked for much. I had felt uncomfortable with the way Matsuda’s friends were looking at me so I wanted to eat alone in peace and quiet without stealing anyone from other people. She had been really kind towards me and I was thankful for that but I wasn’t going to be thoughtless and greedy. I didn’t intend on monopolizing her attention and time. It was a given that she would have many people who would want her company, she was a nice person after all. I didn’t mind eating alone, I was used to it and being by myself comforted me many times. Everything should have been fine, except it wasn’t.

Unfortunately for me and him, lonely people would look for lonely places. That meant they were probably going to happen upon passionate couples who were trying to enjoy each other without being caught by the teachers. Since he had been almost found out the last time in the old library, he had chosen the roof as a more safe place but he didn’t have any more luck than the previous time. I came across them once again.

I opened the door silently and tried to find a place to sit comfortably when I almost jumped out of my skin by a sudden sound of satisfaction that escaped the girl who was with him. I had been surprised because I hadn’t noticed anyone else’s presence up there but when I turned around and saw the two of them hiding in one of the roof’s corners and pressing their bodies against the wall, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

At first I considered leaving them alone but then I changed my mind. They  were inconveniencing me, not the other way around. It wasn’t my fault or my problem that they couldn’t contain themselves and always happened to be where I was. Especially when I realized that the girl with him was a totally different one, there was nothing that could change my mind.

I sat down cross-legged with a little more force than needed that made my ankles and knees ache as they bent under my weight. I got my food out and started munching through it with zeal and passion trying to keep myself occupied and not pay attention to what was going on beside me. I was a little upset. Why did I have to be the one to always see such things and have to put up with them? It was a little unthoughtful and selfish on their part.

I couldn’t recall what I ate or what it tasted like. I had finished it before I realized and I almost chewed the paper that was previously wrapped around it. I had been so lost in thought that my movements were mechanical and the only indication that I had in fact eaten it was my full stomach which hurt a bit by the hasty and violent way with which I had gulped it all down.

My eyebrows twitched in a slightly painful expression and I let the gentle cool wind brush my face and relieve some of my discomfort. I took a deep breath but I almost choked on it when I heard the door of the roof opening with a screeching sound. I turned around wide-eyed in perfect timing to see that the boy and the girl were too caught up in their thing to notice the teacher that was coming. He was walking in a straight line and he wouldn’t see them if he didn’t turn around but still! I had to do something!

“H-hello, Takezou-san! How are you doing?!” I made sure to say it loud enough so that the other two would hear it and take the hint. It wasn’t like they could get away from there without passing by him but they could at least be more careful and hide better.

I didn’t know if they had heard me since I made sure to not look over there for even an instant so as not to attract his attention to that spot. I could only hope they did.

“Aihara? What are you doing here?” He asked in a strict and concerned way. His bushy eyebrows were met in a frown. The roof wasn’t exactly off-limits for the students but it was one of the unwritten rules that nobody should be up here without permission. I started sweating profusely. What’s more, he was still advancing towards me. A few more steps and he would merely have to look to the side and squint before he found them.

I hurriedly got up and dusted off my plaid red and black skirt. I reached him in quick steps, making him stop walking. I took a breath and decided that I was going to play the performance of my life, even if I was generally terrible at lying. My face broke into a sad expression and I tried to channel my most depressing emotions, managing to make my eyes water.

“I didn’t want to eat alone in class. Everyone kept staring at me and whispering about me and nobody wanted to be my friend!” I whined like a big baby and wiped my eyes with the back of my palms even though there were no tears. This was the best I could do. If it had been some other teacher, I would have had more luck but he was one of the most strict and rough ones. He was very perceptive and sharp.

When he finally touched me on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me, I had to thank my usual loneliness for managing to convince him that whatever I said was true.

“It’s okay. Everyone finds the right person to keep them company eventually” It was obvious in his voice that he didn’t believe a word he said. He looked like the lonely type as well. Maybe he had been up here to-

My thoughts were interrupted by the anxious movement of his fingers. My eyes quickly followed it spotting the small cigarette that he crashed in his fist trying to hide it from me. Oh ho! Didn’t know he could actually break some rules! Takezou, didn’t think you had it in ya! Now I had a bargaining chip if I ever needed to get away from trouble in the future. As it seemed, everyone had something they wanted to hide.

“Do you mind if I stay here for the rest of the lunch break? For the last time? I promise I won’t come up here ever again and I will search for this right person” I think that my mouth vomited inside of itself at this point. The words left a bitter taste on my tongue and I was disgusted at the person I was making myself to be. He looked hesitant. He didn’t want to give up on his chance of smoking after I left, not that he would if that really happened because he would have to take two students to the principal’s office. I clasped my hands together and looked at him pleadingly.

“Okay” He gave in thinking that after today, he could come back up and never be disturbed by me again. He let go of my shoulder, gave me a pitiful smile that was supposed to make me feel better and turned around to march towards the door. A pang ran through my stomach as his face passed from the spot where the two youngsters were desperately trying to hide. They had practically become one with the wall. He missed them by a few degrees.

He closed the door behind him, I approached it and looked through the glass to make sure that he really was gone for good. I slid my body against the wall and sat down letting out the longest sigh of relief I had ever breathed. My heart was racing like crazy and my eyes were still wet from my effort to play it actress. I didn’t expect any word of thanks but if they dared continue from where they left off like nothing happened, I was going to bring back the teacher myself.

Fortunately, seconds later the girl got out from the hiding spot and exited the roof without so much as casting a glance at me even though I was sitting next to the door. It wasn’t like I was surprised, I was just glad that they hadn’t been found out.

“Why did you cover for us, for me? Again?” I heard his voice from above my head and I could understand that he was leaning to the wall some meters away from my spot. I didn’t look up.

“Because I didn’t want to get in trouble along with you. You know, as a conspirator or something” That was a big fat lie.

“No, I don’t know. Because you wouldn’t. At least not if you were the one to tell on us.” I didn’t know him at all but still, it was weird listening to him talking so seriously. Something gave me the impression that this wasn’t his usual way of speaking.

“You gave me delicious bread” I really didn’t know why I had done it. I couldn’t explain it. I just didn’t want them to get in trouble. Wasn’t that explanation simple and good enough?

“I knew you were such a glutton!”

“If you tell anybody I will kill you!”

“I make no promises.”

“The whole school will know by tomorrow, right?”

“More or less”

I liked this atmosphere. It was light, it was fun, it was warm. I enjoyed it. Even the silence that followed after it when I ran out of words to say.

When I felt my energy being fully recharged and I saw what time it was, I finally got up from my spot.

“Be careful from now on. You heard the conversation right?”

“Yeah, you were talking about how you are going to end up dying alone with your nine cats.” He nodded with a fakely serious expression that made me want to mess with him.

“That and also Takezou-sensei is going to be coming back every day to smoke so don’t use this place again, okay? I won’t always be there to save your ass.” I stopped for a second but then added. “Now that I think about it, maybe I will. You have a terrible habit of bumping into me with your partners” I smiled at him teasingly. For a split second, his expression was terribly serious and shocked.

“Is that all you have to say?” He whispered weakly like he was expecting me to say something different. Before I could understand or ask for an explanation, the expression had vanished in the blink of an eye like it never existed. It was replaced by that smile that wasn’t too wide nor too short, not too bright but not too dark, not too deep but not too shallow but most importantly, it never reached his eyes. It was hollow. It was always there tattooed on his face, never-changing. I didn’t like it. “Now that I think about it, we haven’t introduced ourselves, have we?” He said in an almost flirtatious way.

“No, we haven't.” It was a name. It shouldn’t be a big deal but still it felt like it. “I’m Aihara Kaida. First-year, but you already knew that.”

“Kajiura Taijo. Third year and you didn’t know that” He teased. I rolled my eyes. Since that was over, I needed to go back to class. The lunch break was going to end soon. I turned towards the door and was about to leave when something unexpected and unforgivable happened.

I immediately jolted upwards and tried to make the distance between us as long as possible.

“Wh-wh-wh-whaaaaaat do you think you’re doing?!” I managed to shout while covering my behind with both hands and feeling my face grow so hot that it could melt off any minute now. He gave me an innocent expression and leaned his head to the side.

“What? I only wanted to help. Your skirt was dirty from touching the floor.”

“You pervert!” I screamed even though I knew that was the reaction he was looking for. His actions were so inappropriate that I couldn’t keep it in no matter how hard I tried. I rushed to the door and started running as far away from him as possible.

There was no way this person was my senpai!