Days leading to Dispair - Part 2

Before I could reach the classroom the door slides open and out comes Nakanishi and her less than friendly pair of followers, not letting them see me I dart back behind the corner to avoid being seen as they walk away from the classroom chatting and laughing about something. 'Nakanashi and her friends would never come to school this early, they're not the type(at least in my opinion) and why would they be leaving the class this close to the first bell?'

Deciding to sate my curiosity I quick step my way to the door and sneak my way into the classroom and I'm shocked by what I see. 'I thought she was just being ignored because of her shyness, but I didn't think it had gotten to this point,' I stand over the desk behind mine that Miyazawa was assigned to and go about reading all of the scratch marks and kanji scrapped into the desk.

Loser, Weakling, Ugly, Reject, Freak, Orphan. 'A week, it hasn't even been a week and they're bullying her, Like This. I knew the other girls in class made a point of not angering Nakanashi or at least staying on her good side but I never thought she'd be capable of this.' My rage seethes at the sight and I know this will hurt Miyazawa, looking around the class my first though is to swap out Nakanashi's desk for Miyazawa's but that wouldn't solve anything and Nakanashi would probably turn it around on Miyazawa anyway.

I pull out my phone and check the time again and see I only have a several minutes before the first bell rings and my other classmates could walk in at any moment, looking at the desks I make the only choice that can work in this scenario.

My classmates all walk in one after the other taking their seats, preparing their books and notes for homeroom and talking with each other before the morning bell rings while I lay my bag over my desk with my arms crossed over it and my head resting atop them, I listen intently to whats going on around me so much while pretending to be asleep that I pick up a number of conversations and even hear when Nakanashi and her friends walk in, then I hear the sound of someone taking a step towards me from behind before backing away and taking the seat at the desk behind me, 'that has to be Miyazawa'.

The morning bell rings and everyone quiets down waiting for Kaizawa sensei to enter the classroom, I keep my ear open listening for reactions from Nakanashi or her friends though they haven't made much noise yet or even noticed I think. Fainter than usual I can barely hear Miyazawa whispering my name in a pointless attempt to wake me up.

"Osada-kun, Osada-kun."

'Its not gonna work, but I appreciate the effort', while I continue holding my position Kaizawa sensei walks into the classroom.

"Everybody, stand."

"Bow!" I can hear everyone bowing, Miyazawa even tried to use her bow to whisper my name again trying to alert me. I can't help but smile at her attempts to wake me.

"Greetings Kaizawa Sensei."

"And, be seated."

I feel slightly panicked as everyone takes their seats but for the life of me I cant figure out why, 'Do I feel this way because I'm being disrespectful towards Kaizawa Sensei right now? Or am I anticipating the being called out for doing this?' My mind goes a mile a minute thinking up all kinds of reactions that might happen or what could happen here, 'I've faced down bandit groups, I defeated an all powerful witch and crushed all kinds of beasts in Other World and I never felt as panicked or anxious as I do now. What the Hell!'

The feeling only gets worse as Kaizawa begins the class, 'Oh crap, how long am I gonna have to keep up this act?' I feel like I'm sweating bullets but after several minutes the anxiety fades away and I'm barely registering Kaizawa Sensei's voice as he addresses the class and the bell rings to indicate first period. 'Well, here it comes?'

Before I can pretend to wake up Miyazawa is gently patting my back still trying to wake me up when Nakanashi walks over.

"How are you doing there Osada-kun, are you feeling okay there?" I know her concern for me is false, just from her condescending tone I can tell she's just here to observe her earlier handiwork and get a reaction out of Miyazawa. Then I hear a loud and genuine "Huh?" It serves as a good excuse which I can use to finally lift and turn my head.

"So whats up with your desk Miyazawa, you go around and pilfer someone else's?"

"What are you talking about, my desk is fine."

I see the confusion on Nakanashi's face and I can barely hold back a smirk as her attempt to shame and attack Miyazawa go awry. Opting to not delay the reveal any longer I stand up and remove my bag and give probably my worst reaction to seeing something.

Everyone takes an interest in my reaction a come over to see the defiled and desecrated desk. My classmates exclaim in equal parts horror, some in disgust and others laugh at the sight of the scrawls on 'my' desk. So much so that even Kaizawa Sensei came over to investigate, needless to say I got majorly chewed out for damaging the desk and that if I kept up my behavior I'd be looking at expulsion, at least in his opinion.

Even after returning to my regular classes the desk was the only thing everyone talked or thought about, especially Miyazawa. The lunch bell rings and everyone disperses throughout the school while I wait.

"Um, Osada-kun. Can I talk to you."

"Sure thing, whats up?"

"About your desk this morning. That was my desk, wasn't it?"

"What makes you think that?"

"On my first day I drew a sakurasou on the corner of it and when you moved I saw the spot where I drew it and it was scratched out." I look at Miyazawa and it almost looks like she's shrinking before me.

"All those mean words and Insults, the fact that your desk was debased and your only concern is a scratched out drawing of a flower. I don't mean to pry but, I'm guessing that it signifies something important to you?" I think back to all the things they wrote on the desk and as I do I remember reading the word Orphan. 'Aw, crap.'

"It, my mother loved sakurasou flowers and she..." Tears start to well up in Miyazawa's eyes but she tries to push through, "We were going on a trip in the car and something happened causing us to lose control and we crashed. I woke up in the hospital and my mother, she wasn't there."

I honestly don't know what to do, I want to embrace Miyazawa to comfort her but I don't know if she would let me or if I would be to forward with her in doing so, All I can do is stand there and listen to this girl relive the time she lost her mother.

"After that I, was sent to an orphanage where I spent a few years, then I went into foster care. The carer's I'm currently with have been taking care if me for nearly two years now." I thought my life went bad while i was still young but it turns out I've got nothing on her, now that I think about it this isn't the first time she's talked about this here, that's why she's become a target for Nakanashi.

"Do you want to maybe, get some lunch together and talk some more?" Miyazawa almost appears to light up at the sound of my offer.

"Yes, I'd like that."

We exit the classroom and make our way to the stairs and i feel it, 'The pull, now. I just asked a girl to join me for lunch and I have to abandon it!' I make a rush to get down the stairs which leaves Miyazawa a little confused at the top.

"I'm just going to check the cafeteria real quick to see if there's any seats avai..." Miyazawa moves to follow me down the stairs while I try to feed her an excuse for my eventual disappearance while the pull gets even stronger, then we hear it from across the hallway from a voice I know belongs to Nakanashi.

"HEY ORPHAN!" Miyazawa instinctively looks to where the voice came from as I watch from below as she misplaces her footing. Her foot slips and she loses her footing entirely and falls forward towards me. All though goes out the window and I position myself with my arms wide open to catch her, pull be damned. Everything seems to happen incredibly slowly as Miyazawa falls, panic written all over her face and with a hard thud she hits into me and we fall together but we never reach the floor.

'Oh Crap!'