Wrong Ideas

A Chance of Happiness Chapter 15: Wrong Ideas

The gloomy skies dispersed, signaling the start of a new day. The sun shined through the clouds that continued to blot out parts of the bright blue sky. A gentle spring breeze swept across the campus as students slowly began to arrive at the start of their 2nd day.

Jin walked to his physics class before school began in hopes of convincing his teacher to either move him or Mina. Upon reaching the classroom, he noticed the door was already wide open. Remembering the “welcome contraption” from yesterday, Jin checked above the door to find that it was no longer there.

“Did you need something, Jin-kun?” a voice called from behind him, slightly startling him.

Jin turned to find Okimi standing behind him, carrying a few boxes of equipment that she was clearly struggling to balance.

“Did you… need help?”

“Oh yes, thank you very much.” Okimi handed all the boxes to Jin and walked into the classroom as Jin attempted to balance them all before following her into the room. “Phew, thanks for that. You can put them down right over there.”

Jin walked over to the tables and placed the boxes down.

“Perfect.” Okimi took the lids off the boxes and began sorting through the equipment.

“Um…”

Okimi continued to sort through the equipment as if she were scavenging for parts.

“Hirata-sensei…”

Okimi quickly turned to Jin, still holding a couple pieces of equipment. “Oh right, sorry, you needed something from me? It completely slipped my mind.”

“That fast?” Jin thought.

“What did you need? And I thought I told you to just call me Okimi-san.”

Jin shrugged up awkwardly. “Um… Hirata–”

“Okimi.” Okimi smiled.

“Hir–”

“O-ki-mi.” she insisted.

“... Um… Okimi-san…” The second Jin said her name, Okimi appeared to be super happy. “Is something wrong?”

“Nono, of course not. It’s just that was the first time I got a student to call me by my first name. It’s so nice to be personable with my students. Anyways, what did you need, Jin-kun?”

“A seat change.”

Okimi tilted her head, slightly confused.

“I’d like to have me or Yuriko-san moved somewhere el–”

“No can do.” Okimi said cheerfully.

“B-But why?”

“Well, why do you want to move seats? Any particular reason?”

“Because… because…” Jin struggled to come up with the words.

“Regardless, the answer is still no. You two seemed to get along just fine yesterday.”

“That’s…” Jin continued to try to find a reason, but to no avail.

“Hm…” Okimi quickly examined Jin’s expression. “Well, how about this, I’ll keep an eye on you two today, and if something appears to be wrong, I’ll consider moving you.”

Jin sighed, still not finding any gaps in her logic.

“I’ll take your silence as a “yes” then. Now, you better get going, your homeroom class is going to be starting soon! See you later!”

Okimi quickly waved and went back to scavenging through the equipment and the rest of the classroom like a whirlwind. Jin left the class, heading towards his homeroom class.

Jin sat down as Vernon took the seat in front of him, sitting on his desk and facing Jin. Vernon tilted his head, noticing Jin’s mark from yesterday.

“What the hell happened?!” Vernon yelled as he grabbed Jin by the head, examining his wound.

“I fell.”

“I’m assuming that’s what you told the nurse, now tell me what actually happened.”

“Itou and Shinso.”

“Ugh! You’re kidding me! I thought we got lucky but I guess it was just me. I didn’t have a single class with them.”

“It’s not as bad as it looks, if anything, Tora–”

“You have them in P.E.?!” Vernon took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Well if that’s the case I might actually start to feel bad for them. At least you’ll be running circles around them.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Ugh, yeah yeah, I get it. Don’t use your strength or whatever to make others look worse. But you totally could though.”

Jin raised his eyebrow.

“Kidding. Anyways, didn’t you stop by Okimi-san’s room earlier? Was she there?”

“She was.”

“Well? How’d it go?”

“She said she wouldn’t change our seats.”

“Yes! I-I mean, ah gosh darnit. What a bummer. The bummest of bummers.”

“Mhm” Jin raised his eyebrow at Vernon’s sarcasm.

“Ah c’mon, what’s the big deal? Maybe it won’t be as bad as you’re imagining it.”

“She probably wants nothing to do with me after yesterday.”

“Assuming you’re wrong about her.”

“Even if I’m right, she’ll probably keep her distance anyways. If she hasn’t heard about the rumors, her friend will probably tell her. He’s clearly heard about me. That should be reason enough to stay away from me.”

Vernon placed his arm on his knees and propped his head up. “You’re a real pessimist sometimes, y’know?”

Across the room, Kazuto was having a one-sided conversation with Mina as she was focused elsewhere.

“Mina?”

She didn’t respond.

“Minaaaa?” Kazuto waved his hands, still not getting a reaction. “Mina!”

“Yes! Sure! Of course! I agree! What are we doing? Where and when are we going–” Mina stopped, noticing Kazuto’s blank expression.

“You weren’t even listening, were you?”

“Of course I… I wasn’t. Sorry.”

“What’s been going on with you lately? You’ve been so out of it since yesterday.”

“Really? That’s strange. I don’t–” Mina stopped again, seeing as Kazuto clearly didn’t believe her.

“You’re not fooling me. Clearly something’s going on. Y’know you can tell me right?”

“I know I know. I’m just… trying to figure some stuff out…”

Kazuto saw Mina’s eyes starting to wander again and followed them back to where she was originally focused.

“Him?”

The bell rang, interrupting his thoughts as the second day of school was finally underway.

Jin walked through the door of his physics class for the second time, seeing Mina was already back at their desks. Walking back to his desk, he noticed Kazuto’s eyes following him as he went to sit down.

“He probably doesn’t want me anywhere near her.” Jin thought as he sat down.

Jin glanced at Mina for a moment, who was focused on the worksheet in front of her, paying him no mind.

“And she definitely doesn’t want to speak to me.”

Jin focused on the lesson, finishing his work early, he fell asleep. He awoke to the sound of the bell, signaling the end of class. After everyone had left, Jin walked up to Okimi.

“Hirata-sensei.”

Okimi slouched a bit while she was reading the board. “I thought we were on a first name basis, Jin-kun.” Okimi sighed, almost sounding defeated.

“Yuriko-san clearly doesn’t like me. She wouldn’t speak, let alone look at me all period. I’d still like to move–”

“The answer is still no.” she smiled.

“But–”

“Clearly someone wasn’t paying attention.”

“What?”

“She seems to like you quite a bit. I’d even go as far as to say she seems quite interested in you.” Okimi sat down at her desk and propped her head up with her arms. “Since you two seem to be getting along just fine, I don’t see a reason to move you two… unless you have some other reason for wanting to move?”

“I…” Jin started, but couldn’t find a good enough reason.

“Alright, it’s settled then. Honestly, it seems like you have the wrong idea about her, though I’ve only known you two for a couple days so who’s to say.” Okimi looked up at the clock on the wall. “You should probably get going. Wouldn't want to be late now would you?” she smiled, clearly attempting to cut the conversation short.

Jin gave a defeated expression, understanding that there was no convincing her.

Jin and Vernon exited their math class and began to walk towards the quad.

“So no dice huh?”

“She said she needed a good enough reason.”

“Aw, and you couldn’t say, “It’s because she’d be better off without me” in your deep and brooding voice?” Vernon laughed.

Jin looked at him, not amused by his sarcastic remark. “She probably wouldn’t understand. If she knew anything about me she’d move me out of her class.”

“She probably knows plenty. The rumors are already out there, I’m sure even the faculty knows.”

“Told you.”

“You say that but so far the teacher’s haven’t treated you any differently. Back at our old school you’d probably already be in trouble with at least two teachers. Seems like things might be changing for the better. I don’t think the teachers will be as quick to judge you, maybe the students won’t be either.”

“That’s thinking optimistically.”

“Well someone has to.” Vernon laughed. “I’ll go grab our lunches from the cafeteria and meet you at the fitness center. Same thing as yesterday?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Vernon trotted off towards the cafeteria as Jin walked towards the fitness center.

“Hey!”

Jin heard a voice call, like always, he assumed it wasn’t for him. Suddenly, a hand grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him back. Jin found himself face to face with one of the boy’s he met yesterday, Kazuto Okamato.

“What the hell did you do to Mina?!”