Chapter 10:

Taji’s Breakthrough

I’m in love with a Chinese Nationalist


“Tomoko…? Tomoko…?” The strangely familiar voice called out from behind the curtains.

Since I didn’t want anyone to know the infirmary was in use I kept the lights turned off and most of the curtains closed, however, this is backfiring on me now as I can’t even tell who it is based on their silhouette.

“Tomoko…? Is that you in there?” the shaky voice asked.

Is that… no… why would it be her? She has no reason to be here… but she is looking for Tomoko…

“Ugh, yes I am here,” Tomoko replied. “However, don't come in, unless you want to get hurt.”

“What do you mean…?”

“I mean that you won’t like what you see”

“What are you doing?” Her tone shifted entirely.

This is definitely her.

“Hmmm, I’m doing the stuff you would most likely love to be doing currently, hehe~”

The curtains got ripped away leaving me and Tomoko exposed. Just as I thought. It was Sawa.

With a shivering voice, Sawa asked, “Tomoko… Why?”

“Your plan was pretty devious itself, so I thought, I might as well have a little fun along the way. I did complete my side of the deal in the end.” with a huge smile Tomoko looked at Sawa as she replied.

Even though Sawa was staring at us, Tomoko continued to touch me all over. This is really discomforting.

“Can you stop?” Sawa asked as tears began to cover her eyes.

“No can do. I’ll stop when I feel like it, I’ll take this as a reward for my hard work. Seeing you in such a state really gets me enjoying myself.”

Sawa fell to her knees in tears. This is an utter disaster. I’ve had enough. This won't be happening anymore.

Out of brute force, I sat up, throwing Tomoko off the bed.

“Sawa, I’m sorry. This is my fault.” I tried to comfort her but she only started to cry harder.

“This… isn’t your fault Taji,” Sawa replied as she tried to calm herself down.

“What do you mean?”

“Taji… I’m sorry… This all happened because of me.”

Sawa ran out in tears, she didn’t even explain what she was talking about. As I was about to run right after her, Tomoko grabbed onto my ankle.

“That hurt you know. Why did you do that to me?”

“Why did I do that to you? Honestly, because I am straight up sick of you. You’re a piece of worthless trash. I don’t want to deal with you anymore, keep spreading your petty lie around. I’ve stopped caring. Never thought someone could make someone cry like this.”

I kicked her hand off my ankle and left the infirmary.

I really need to find Sawa… but I have no idea where she could be. I guess the best bet will be to let her be for now and come by her house after school.

“TAJIIIII!” Kingo came running down the hallway yelling.

“What is it?”

“I can’t find her! She’s gone!”

“Who? What are you talking about?”

“I was meant to keep you know who out of the infirmary… but I have failed to find her, I couldn’t do it, I searched each corner of the school.”

“Oh, you mean Tomoko. Right. She was in the infirmary room the entire time.”

“DAMN IT! THE ONLY PLACE I DIDN’T CHECK. Taji… I am very sorry I should have checked in there first, oh my lord I am a failure of a friend.”

“Kingo, calm down what's with all this overreacting.”

“Oh nothing, I felt like being a bit more dramatic since so much is going on today, didn’t want to be left out.”

I really don’t understand Kingo sometimes. How does he come up with stuff like this?

“Hey, Kingo, do you want to go get some food?”

“Don’t we have class?”

“We only have class if we attend it, we can skip this class and get some ramen.”

“I like your way of thinking Taji. Food is good, class is no good.”

At least one thing that we will always agree on is food.

We made it back just in time for the next class, we did end up missing two classes without realising, however, it was worth sacrificing for the quality of food. Worth remembering, that if the food takes time to come then it’s a high chance that it’s fresh.

Lei Mei didn’t seem to care about anything that had been going on today, she carried on being her normal self, just sitting there in her own world. Once again I found myself staring at her as I dive deep into my imaginary place.

I wonder, what does Lei Mei spend her time thinking about?

Without a second thought I spoke out loud, “Hey, Lei Mei… what do you think about constantly?”

She turned around and looked at me.

“What kind of question is that? I am obviously thinking about what the teacher is saying, you should try it as well instead of asking pointlessly stupid questions like this.”

“Wow, that was an amazing speech.”

She stared at me with a blank expression. She wasn’t amused. My goodness, she’s so hard to entertain.

“Aguni, do you pretend to be stupid or just act like an idiot?”

“If I’m being honest with you, neither, I just wanted to try to get you to smile.”

“Being stupid isn’t funny, it's actually quite a serious issue which needs to be taken into account more. With the way that technology is advancing and how children rely more and more on technology we will end up being entirely reliant on technology and will struggle to do basic mathematics at this rate. Please don’t try to use stupidity as a way to entertain people, specifically me, as it is not entertaining.”

“What.” I’m so lost… what does this even mean?

“I guess you are clearly too naive to understand. Alas, thank you for your time, now if you don’t mind I shall get back to doing my work so that I don’t fall down to, well, your standards. Heh.”

Wait… she didn’t say what I think she did, did she?

“Wait no, you can’t say that. That goes against everything you just said.”

“Oh my, I am actually quite proud of you. I really did not expect you to understand what I said there. I thought you didn’t pay attention.”

“Well, listening to you is like listening to angels singing.”

“Aguni, please behave, inappropriate behaviour like this is not acceptable on school grounds.”

She is so annoyingly lovable. I never thought I could get scolded by someone and enjoy it. I’ve really got a few loose screws in my head if I have reached this level. Although, is it really a bad thing?

She turned back around and carried on with her work. I wish it was this easy to talk to Lei Mei.

Wait.

Did she laugh when she made the joke? First time I actually hear her make a joke and laugh at it as well. Bit weird laughing at her own joke though, however, I’ll take it, she made the joke thanks to me, so I half win here.

Now that I think about it, I could talk to Lei Mei more naturally, with a slight sprinkle of my own weirdness.

On the way home, I decided to tag along with Lei Mei. Although I said that I would keep my distance, I feel like just this short time I spent away, helped me improve, even if it was literally just a few days instead of the entire set time I gave myself.

“Aguni, can I ask, why are you following me?”

“I’m not following you, I’m walking with you.”

“Let me change the question, why are you `walking` with me?”

“Why not? Want to give you some company as you go home.”

“Thank you for your kind thought but fortunately enough I don’t need you, nor am I going home.”

“Oh, where are you going?”

“To my parent's restaurant, Sawa called in saying she won't be able to work so I’m supposed to fill in today.”

“Oh, why is Sawa not going, do you know?”

“No, I do not, nor is it of any importance for me. Now if you don’t mind, I really don’t have time for idle chatter.”

“If you say so, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Thank you. Goodbye Aguni.”

And just like that, she walked off, it would be far more majestic if there was a sunset but this is fine as well. Now that I know Sawa won't be at work, she is most likely at home. The next destination is there!