Two: Got your back

“Hello, I’m Fujimoto Mitsuo, the vice-president of the volleyball club!” A light-haired, enthusiastic guy chirped. Everybody clapped their hands in sync and Ms. Takana waved her hand, as if to gesture to move on with the next person already.

Everyone else continued with their introductions, while I quietly looked at them one by one. Some of them received praises and wows, and others got laughs as well. I thought to myself how nice it must be, and that I wished my greeting was somewhat cheerful also.

Before I knew it, the person seated in front of me was finished with her introduction, and it was finally my turn.

“Hey, It’s Ikeda Teruhiko. I’m not in any clubs though, but it would be nice to try out something new this second year.” I spoke out loud, receiving scattered applause in response.

“Thank you, Mr. Ikeda. Your opening speech today was lovely as well.” Ms. Takana commented, garnering some shocked reactions and more claps from the class. Thanks for that, Ms. Takana. At least I got a little of the wow-factor that I wanted.

A couple more people introduced themselves until we were finally down to the last person, the one person wearing her gym uniform sitting at the back of the class.

“Hello, again. It’s Takahashi Hana. I’m in the basketball club.” Takahashi said.

Ms. Takana asked, “Ms. Takahashi, why are you in your gym clothes? I’ll let you go with a warning for now, but please wear the appropriate uniform next time.”

“Umm… Honestly, I forgot it was back to school already. My uniform is still in the laundry.” Takahashi smiled, completely unbothered that Ms. Takana was already reprimanding her.

A few of my classmates snickered and chuckled in their seats, while I just watched her in confusion. Gosh, can’t she at least pretend to feel any remorse? I definitely do not have enough courage to respond back to the teacher like that, even if it was in a joking manner.

With Takahashi ending the introductions, Ms. Takana proceeded to announce some final reminders before moving on with the class election for a representative.

I made no haste and immediately raised my hand to volunteer.

“C-Can I be the class rep?” I stuttered. Great, just what I wanted.

Ms. Takana’s face lit up in joy and relief, perhaps happy to know that somebody is trying to take on a responsibility that most students would not bother to take.

“Great! Mr. Ikeda would like to volunteer. Any objections?” Ms. Takana asked. Obviously, nobody really wanted to be a teacher’s pet, so the others simply stayed quiet while others began clapping already.

“Thank you Mr. Ikeda for volunteering.” Ms. Takana added. “It would be nice to see more active participation from this class soon, other than Mr. Ikeda of course.”

Soon after, the class responded in scattered “yes” and others clapped as hard as they could. Most likely, these people were more than glad to know that a nerd like me is wanting to take up class representative.

Yosh, I guess I’ll commit to this now!

Not long after, the bell rang, indicating that it was time for dismissal. Normally, it would have been lunchtime, but the first day of class meant there’s no proper class yet and therefore going home is the best option due to it being half-day.

Ms. Takana left the room first and everyone else followed in suit. I, too, got up from my seat and walked straight to the door, ready to head over to Class 2-B where Rin is. I am more than confident that he is already sleeping in class, even though there’s only a 2-hour homeroom period for today.

Before I could even exit the room, Rin came to the classroom and blasted the sliding door open.

“Teruhiko! Darling, I’m here.” Rin yelled, his eyes looking all over the place.

My eyebrows automatically scrunched up. This boy is so obnoxious, I swear.

“Ah, found you.” Rin pointed at me and casually walked in the room, while greeting a few people who passed by him. “Let’s go eat! I’ll treat you as thanks for your volunteerism to be the year level representative.” He added.

“Oh? Thanks. I thought you forgot about that.”

“Hahaha, nah. Come on, I’ll only buy food from the school cafeteria.” Rin said, pushing my back and motioning me to get up already.

I mumbled, “Stingy.” I slinged my bag behind my shoulder and left the room with Rin walking behind me. We headed for the canteen, all while politely greeting some teachers in the hallways. Not long after, we’ve already arrived and I checked out for any bread or rice balls up for sale. Rin, on the other hand, went straight to look for rice bowls.

I grabbed two pieces of red bean-flavored bread and a bottle of green tea. Rin got himself miso soup with tofu and rice and took my food from my hands to pay for everything. We chose a seat outside the cafeteria and sat there for a bit while we talked about our usual happenings in life. Then, I went ahead and decided to tell him about how I volunteered to be the class representative for 2-A.

“What? I thought you said you’re scared of these things.” Rin said, opening the bottle of green tea that is supposedly meant for me.

I shrugged and took out my phone to mindlessly scroll the net again. “Yeah. But, I felt like I needed to do something different this year.” I told him.

“Um, Teruhiko, is this related to Ake—”

“Nope!” I interrupted him and stood up to stretch my arms. “I just decided this morning after giving that speech that I want to go for it and try it out, you know? I can’t keep inside a shell.”

Rin hunched forward to give me a pat on the back before leaning back on the bench and taking a sip of my tea.

“Rin…” I started.

“Hmm?”

“Do you think Akemi ever felt bad?”

“About what?” Rin asked.

I took a deep breath before deciding to just ignore whatever it was that I started to say again.

“Never mind.” I smiled, looking at the campus and seeing the students leaving already.

Rin squinted his eyes at me before pulling me by the arm, prompting me to sit down. “Look, man, Akemi was a real pain in the ass. And she still is, okay? If she will ever pull something like that again, you tell me right away.” Rin sternly said.

I grinned at him and lightly patted his shoulders. I opened my other bread and took a bite of it, while changing the topic of our conversation.

Watanabe Akemi, huh.

Well, either way, I’m just happy to have a friend like Rin who I know will always have my back.

“Ah! I forgot!” Rin shouted, interrupting my daydream. “Teruhiko, sorry, I promised my sister that I’m going to help her with her school project today.”

“It’s fine. Thanks for the lunch though.” I said, already standing up so that Rin wouldn’t feel awkward about leaving me to sit alone.

“Thanks! I’ll see you tomorrow. Later!” Rin hurriedly sprinted off and left the school in mere seconds.

“Later.” I whispered and sat back down.

Hmm, I guess I’m all alone again.

Not long after, my phone dinged, indicating I got a message.

[lets visit a net cafe after im done]

I chuckled at his concern. Seriously, I don’t know why he still bothered to stick with me after everything that has happened with me and Akemi during our first year. I softly laughed at myself, remembering the things Rin did.

Sigh. At least I have somebody like this, right? But a girlfriend would be nice, too.