I'd rather they hear my given name from the international space station.

After withstanding the brunt of his older sister's tongue lashing, Goda scampered out of the house and began his thirty-ish minute commute to school. A time he could realistically cut down on if he didn't enjoy meandering around stations so much. As for why he enjoyed it?

In his 15 years of life Goda had learned a few things about himself, one of which being he did his best thinking on the move. By extending his commute he was also extending the amount of time on his feet, maximizing his admittedly limited critical thinking skills. Not that a first year high school student had any dire problems that required solving. 

His greatest issue at the moment being how he'd spend the remainder of this suspension. Day 1 had taken an unexpected turn to be sure, but he'd gotten a Bagemon plush out of it. It was no Firemander, but at least he could brag about the fact he'd gotten it as a gift from a girl. Gift being a strong word considering the girl in question more or less dumped it on him after determining it wouldn't be of use to her. 

Now there was a prospective problem that needed solving. How should Goda go about interacting with Nakahara from now on? He'd never made any real female friends before, though he liked to believe he generally got along well with the other sex. Not like it would hurt to try right? Making each other laugh yesterday must count for something.      

"Oi, Aikawa!"

Goda broke away from his thoughts as one of his classmates waved him over from the school gate. Sakuma Taro, the rather spirited individual who sat in front of him in class.

"Shake anyone down on the way to school today Mr. Delinquent?!"

"Not today, I can only fit so much money in my wallet."

Sakuma let loose his trademark guffaw, "Is that so! Then how about treating me to lunch later!"

A grin found its way onto Goda's face, it was comforting to know at least one of his classmates didn't plan on treating him any differently. The same couldn't be said of the students they passed on the way to class. More than a few were speaking in hushed tones and casting sidelong glances their direction. He wasn't overly concerned about it, high schoolers weren't exactly known for sticking to their guns when it came to opinions derived from trivial gossip. Once a week or so passed half of the student body will have forgotten and the other half will have directed their energy elsewhere.

As he and Sakuma entered the classroom they were greeted by class B's homeroom teacher Oshiro sensei. As per usual the man was making marks on the attendance sheet ahead of class. As to the nature of these marks, at some point the man had turned student attendance into a game that involved predicting the order which students would arrive at their seats. He would also predict which students would arrive late or not at all. According to the man himself, this was all practice for betting on horse races during the weekends. 

"Aikawa, good to see you're as consistent as usual. Sakuma, turn down the volume will ya. I could hear that laugh of yours from the staff room."

"Yes,  Sensei!"

Goda leaned forward for a glance at the attendance sheet. "I'm surprised you didn't have me skipping today."

"What reason could a stand up kid like you possibly have for skipping. Or are you still trying to sell me on being a ne'er do well?" 

Goda bit his lip and shifted his gaze to the windows in the classroom. Disappointment, he could feel it emanating from those words just now. Why should he even care if Oshiro sensei was disappointed in him. He was just some gambling obsessed old man. 

"Okabe, put the social media away and take your seat already. I'm on a roll today, don't mess it up for me."

Goda took his seat as Okabe groaned at their teacher's antics in the background. Homeroom started shortly afterwards and centered on the results from the midterms. They'd be posted the following day in the hallway, any students who failed a subject would be required to attend makeups next week. 

If only Goda had been suspended prior to midterms, then he could have spent his extra free time hitting the books. Although...makeups would kill time, but Goda seriously doubted he failed any of the subjects as he tended to score just below the class average in every discipline. Not great, but still well above failing. Aside from history, he excelled at history for some reason.

Class progressed as usual from then on, as did lunch with Sakuma's loud banter. Right at home in the school's noisy cafeteria. Surprisingly they were also joined by Machida from class C, who was a member of the tennis club with Sakuma. He also seemed unaffected by the rumors of Goda's supposed fight with another school. Hard to tell honestly. Machida was a quiet kid, very much the opposite of Sakuma who talked enough for the both of them and then some.     

"Hey Machida." the boy in question had just finished his bento and was packing it up neatly. "What can you tell me about class C's Nakahara?" 

Machida looked at him warily, as if the question itself was a bother. 

"Ehhhh, Aikawa is interested in a girl!"

"Keep it down Sakuma, I don't think the guys in international space station heard you." He looked back to Machida. 

"Well? Anything helps."

After a moment of contemplation Machida answered, "I think if you want to know more about Nakahara-san, you should ask her yourself."

"What's with that mature response? We're high schoolers you know, that means going behind each other's back and overcomplicating things." Goda smacked his open palm against the cafeteria table to emphasize his point.  

"I agree with Aikawa! High school is about making mistakes and learning from them!"

"If you're gonna contribute to the conversation I'd prefer you act as the peanut gallery, not the shooting one!"

"My cousin in the countryside owns a shooting gallery!"

"Do you go there often?! Is that why you're like this?!"

Machida simply sat and watched as the two across from him got further and further off topic as he finished his iced tea from home. 

"Machida! Could you at least tell me whether she's in a club and if so which one?!"

"..."

"Are you thinking or ignoring me? I really can't tell."

"I don't think she's part of any club officially, although she's been known to hang around the horticulture club. Perhaps she's close with someone there."

Goda narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Machida who had begun to excuse himself from the table. "You know a lot more than you let on, huh."

"I'm the observant type, that's all. See you in club later Sakuma." 

The two watched him exit the cafeteria before standing as well. Depositing their trays, they chose to cross the courtyard for their return trip back to the classroom. Relishing in the relative silence outside, Goda noted that Sakuma had gone uncharacteristically quiet. He turned toward his classmate to see why when Sakuma finally spoke up.

"It's because he's observant that he knows you didn't do anything wrong you know."

"..."

"No need to read too much into it, he means well after all. Can't tell you how many times he's helped me with my form or strategy during practice matches. All unprompted."

So that's how club mates were supposed to be. Helpful. Who knew.

"So are you going to see her later?! Nakahara I mean!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll swing by. And don't you read too much into it either. Just a bit curious about her is all."

"Maybe you should read up on plants before visiting!"

"Hard pass, but thanks for the suggestion. Oh, and Sakuma..."

"Hm?"

"Call me Goda from now on. I'd rather they hear my given name from the international space station."