Entrada Disruptiva

 The classroom was abuzz. This time, it wasn’t about the suicide or the curious relationship between Chinatsu and me. Whatever caused this, I paid my gratitude to it, because I had enough of both topics, especially the latter.

And the source was a person; a transfer student in Class Palladium.

Such transfers were quite common, but considering this academy’s stringency and over-formality, it was highly unlikely——close to impossible.

In the entire young history of the academy, a transfer never occurred, but requests were given. Allegedly, Chinatsu had asked to transfer into MONO Junior High but was rejected. But this rumor was not confirmed as per the academy’s strict protocols.

“Yo, bro, have you seen her?” one male in Ryuu’s group asked during lunch.

“No, I haven’t yet. Do you even know her name?”

“I don’t know, but I heard a little from Class Palladium. It was something with Mina…Miwa…Miya?”

“First name or last name?”

“I don’t know.”

“Man, you’re useless.”

“Come on, bro.”

The conversation continued until one of them had a brilliant idea.

“What if she’s eating lunch somewhere around here?”

“Oh, you’re right. Didn’t think of that.”

Most of us stretched our necks, surveying every person’s faces. We probably looked like a group of chicks looking for their mother bird, or stupid, or creepy.

“Everyone looks the same to me,” one shrugged and gave up.

“What is the Class Palladium saying?”

The group went silent, trying to catch a sliver of the tables nearby.

“They haven’t arrived yet. The teacher said they’ll arrive tomorrow because of delays.”

“Eh? What a shame. Whoever they are, they are making history.”

“Let’s bet: is she a male or a female?”

“Has to be female.”

“You heard that?” one boomed.

“No, I haven’t.”

“You should get your ears checked.”

“Come on, bro.”

That aside, there was something else that made this day special.

Since the academy provided most necessities, at least for Class Rhodium, and entertainment, I thought I should utilize the malapropos, fifteen-inch, CRT television. It was made more awkward that a wall bracket designed for flat screens held it up. This room might be the emulation of those cheap, technologically illiterate motels, but I couldn’t complain. There was network connectivity almost everywhere.

The more I used these internet services, the more I indulged in these trivial things; I found myself slowly consumed by the devices that I had to restrain myself from being addicted to them.

In any case, I felt my living space was too silent. I didn’t want my new environment to remind me of my silent, oppressive past. In the past, the silence was oppressive. I wanted to change silence’s meaning.

So, I randomly put on a program to fill the room with pointless, but comforting noise. Incidentally, on that day, which was a Sunday, a short drama played.

The drama was about a pathetic, young high school boy to whom I found myself relating too. That feature attracted me to engross in the program. The story was a fantasy of a lonely, socially-inept person who would imagine his lazy days. Because of that, it irked me, and I started to commentate and criticize the main character’s actions. In that program, I realized how different I handled and experienced things.

This person stayed in a corner, like me, studied alone, like me, but the similarities ended there. He had parents, he had a friend to who he could talk. They helped each other in various things illustrated. He had enviable luck in life: Whatever good it did, he reaped tenfold. For example, he saved a gal from pick-up artists in a sketchy alleyway, somehow——I emphasized, somehow. And she decided to be friends with him. With that pattern in the story, he ended up having a large group of friends. Oddly, all of them were women; not a single male. Truly it was a desperate fantasy of a lazy recluse.

All these things enraged me, but I conserved my energy, not wasting it on such a silly thing. Later, I realized how much time I’d wasted. I’ve only become jealous and impatient while I watched this. Was this what people called ‘entertainment?’ I started to regret my decisions. I had my finger on the remote button, vowing to never watch television again, but one thing struck me.

The main character went up on the rooftop, summoned by a letter in his shoebox. Yet again, there was something that related me to him. I was in a similar situation he was in.

I watched in anticipation. What would one do on the rooftop after school? I’ve seen my classmates receive letters in their shoebox and went off somewhere. Was this somewhere they went? What was the recipient supposed to do? What will they do? Who had summoned them? Why did they summon them?

This program coincidentally became my review before a test, so I watched carefully.

“I’ve liked you for a long time,” the main character’s first friend spoke, red in the face, bowing her head, and her body uncontrollably shaking. She looked up again, glancing a look into his eyes, and bowed again, “Please go out with me!”

I was sitting on the couch with my head ahead of my body. There was no doubt this program grabbed my full attention, but when I heard her lines, I recoiled into the sofa.

“There’s no way…”

Because of that unwanted coincidence, I experienced the most apprehension than I ever had in my life. I developed new gestures and mannerisms. People thought I became a different person, or something was wrong in my head.

“Are you sick?” Miyazono asked. Her speaking up was unusual, but she has been initiating our conversations recently. She was probably opening up to me——a thought that I missed because I was distracted.

“N—no, I—” I paused. I stood still and returned to my neutral pose. “I’m alright.”

“Your face has been red since this morning. Are you sure you’re not sick?” she approached me.

Her words alarmed me. Perhaps I was sick, so I placed my hand on my forehead. “I don’t have a fever.”

“You can’t check yourself if you have a fever or not. Your hand’s the same temperature as the rest of your body!”

“That depends, but I guess you’re—”

Suddenly, she replaced my hand with hers. “You’re a tad bit warm, but not so much.”

The program thought me some innuendos faced by many high school students. Knowledge could be a blessing or a curse but in this situation—

“Wah! W—what are you doing!?” I lightly pushed her away.

She was startled too. I knew she didn’t expect me to react this way, because I knew I wouldn’t either!

“Yajima, you’re not alright, aren’t you?”

“No—yes—wait, no…” Wait, how exactly should I answer that question?

“You’ve been acting weirdly too. Did something happen?”

“N—no, nothing happened. It’s all fine—it’s all normal. Don’t worry about me.”

She pondered for a bit, but I left her alone, planning to catch up with Ryuu’s group in the cafeteria.

When I was about to call the elevator, she shouted, “Chinako?”

Just how many times will her words freeze me? I should be more careful around Miyazono. She just knew what weakness to press.

“Hold on a second, could it be you’re—?”

“Lunchbreak is short!” I pressed the button. Luckily, the elevator was ready, making it convenient for me to escape.

As the doors slid close, she started a laugh that intensified.

“Y—you’re just a teenage boy after a—”

It was I alone on the rooftop. I calmed my nerves, breathing slowly toward the sky. If there were no other reason for me to be here, I’d sky gaze at the clouds——cloud gazing. The clouds calmed me most days. I liked the clouds white, voluminous, and spread out. Cirrus clouds were boring; cumulonimbus was annoying. I liked my skies cool and clear. The rain was annoying and depressing.

And this was the perfect kind of sky; the perfect amount of cirrus clouds in the higher background with the peaceful cumulus clouds hovering by, but not even these clouds could calm me.

Every time I looked down, I remembered that scene in the program. I could imagine myself in the shoes of the protagonist. Every time I thought so, I covered my face with my hand.

Something I’ve noted: rarely someone did utilize the exorbitant facilities on the rooftop. I wondered if they ever emptied the pools and the false beaches to conserve water, but I reckoned not.

Just when my thoughts were about to wander—escape from the delirium of the current situation, Chinatsu arrived.

“Hello!” comes her bright voice. I could have gotten used to her by now, but all things have been reset.

Or perhaps even worse because now I was, “O—oh, hi…,” very eager for something.

“I—I’m sorry I called and waited for you until now, so I won’t beat around the bush any further.” Just like the drama, Chinatsu was looking into my eyes; enthusiasm and excitement seemed to sparkle from within.

I was so fixated that I could perceive the clouds’ reflection in her eyes. I held my breath unconsciously and terminated all motions. It seemed to be just me and her. If she speaks, my feelings might come to fruition.

“I—I…” she paused. This was it. My feelings will soon transform into desire. “I want to be your—”

Everything was so silent, or rather, we have canceled all sound and music from our ears. We were in our formed atmosphere.

So, when the elevator suddenly dinged, that atmosphere shattered, followed by the raspy sliding of the doors.

From within, one stepped out. I recognized that aura. It was a strong, distinguished aura. I couldn’t be mistaken, even with all my five senses removed, I would still be able to identify.

“The weather’s pleasing today, isn’t it?”