"Man, this is getting more boring with each lesson." Nico Yazawa was sitting in the front row during chemistry class, and needless to say, she didn't enjoy it. Since she was sitting so close to the teacher's desk, she couldn't hide behind her textbook and play with her phone like everyone else in her class.

"A phospholipid is made up of glycerol, two hydrophobic fatty acids and one hydrophilic phosphate…" Nico sighed. She continued to scribble strange objects in her notebook. "Glycerol, a hydrophobic fatty acid and…great, I forgot again."

Nico really didn't like chemistry. The whole subject was as far away from her as Tokyo was from Jerusalem. She rarely ever said "oh boy this class was so interesting" and staying awake for 45 minutes was often a very hard task for her. It didn't help that the teacher was a total asshole who only said everything once and you had no chance to write down what she said.

"Think of it like a ball with two strings attached to it. The ball is the hydrophilic phosphate and the two strings are the hydrophobic fatty acids. It's really simple." Really simple yeah, Nico thought. If it was so simple she wouldn't have struggled with chemistry since the day she began high school.

"This lipid is a major component of cell membranes…" Nico struggled to keep her eyes open. Just one or two more minutes…

The teacher opened her mouth to speak again, but the ring of the bells stopped her. With a defeated sigh, she put down the chalk she was holding in her hands, the bell preventing her from writing another complex and "no way anyone will understand it" formula on the board.

"My prayers have been answered!" Nico rejoiced, perhaps a bit too loud since the teacher looked at her for some seconds with an ugly expression. Oops.

The students left the lecture room as fast as possible and headed towards the location of their next class. The next class was history, finally something Nico liked. Loved, even.

Nico sat down, and reminisced about her first classes with Mr. Takano. Takano Suda was the history teacher in Nico's class, and one of the coolest people she has ever met. In his classes there was no need to play on her phone, no urge to scribble in her notebook because Takano's classes were always interesting and entertaining. Contrary to what other teachers did (which was projecting a PowerPoint presentation they downloaded the previous night and telling them to write down everything from it while they sat at their desk and drank their coffee), Takano actually spent time organizing his lectures for the next day, always adding bonus info to entertain the students, and his tests were fair and not hard to get a good mark on if you actually took your time to study.

The bells rang once again, and it was time for the lecture to begin. The lecture was the usual, with Takano explaining this and that and telling some interesting history related story inbetween.

"There was a British sailor serving as the key advisor of Tokugawa Ieyasu. His name was William Adams, or as most Japanese know him, Miura Anjin. He was the inspiration for the main character of Shogun." Nico smiled. In her mind, this was how a lecture was supposed to be. No useless information, no difficult things to memorize, only what's needed and bonus material that entertained the students, not the teacher. If only others were like him. "Has any of you read Shogun?"

Nico raised her hand. Of course she did, it was one of her favourite novels. When she wasn't listening to Japanese pop music or studying for classes, she always found a good book to read. "Oh Nico, you have? Did you enjoy it?" Takano smiled. He cared about his students and was always happy to see kids who had a passion for history. "I enjoyed it very much, in fact it's one of my favourites."

"That's good to hear. If you like Clavell's style, you might also like his other works. Tai-pan is also a very good read." Takano turned around and picked up the chalk from his desk. "Anyways, let's continue where we left off. Kawashima, when did the emperor declare Yoritomo shogun?"

"In 1192." Nico also knew the answer. It felt good being able to answer the teacher's question. She wished answering questions was this easy in other subjects as well.

"Correct. And what were the vassals of the shogunate called during this period? Nico?" The teacher turned towards her with expectant eyes. She was the best student in class and knowing the answers to such trivial questions were a given. "The gokenin…"

Not this again.

It was time for PE class. It wasn't like Nico hated it, or she wasn't physically fit enough, but still, sometimes PE was too much for her. When she had to study a lot, she would barely get enough sleep and that always had an effect on her the next day. Today was one of those days, and she felt extremely tired. The brain melt during chemistry class only made things worse.

She was tired, and didn't fancy fooling around and doing exercises. It was like asking a 75 years old grandma to dance a tango.

She changed into her PE uniform groggily and entered the hall. Most of her classmates were already there, fresh and ready to go. She envied them. How can they be so energetic?!

When she wasn't dead tired, Nico actually liked PE. She only hated a couple of exercises like running, since she didn't have long legs and got tired quickly. She also despised high jumping, because she managed to get over the horizontal pole very rarely. On the other hand, she loved playing games like dodgeball or volleyball.

The teacher entered the hall and all students stood up, including Nico. "Good day, everyone. Let's line up so we could begin." The students did as told and lined up in descending order, tallest first, shortest last. Nico was closer to the shorter side, but thankfully she wasn't the shortest.

"Alright. Today it's a bit windy outside so we'll stay in. Those who want to play basketball will come with me, the others stay here to set up for volleyball." About half of the class left with the teacher, the others stayed behind for volleyball. Nico chose volleyball as well. She wasn't exactly the tallest person around, so basketball wasn't fitting for her.

She helped the others set up the equipment, then they started. In the end her team won, but just barely. Neither teams were very good, but they were only in their first year so the team cohesion wasn't the strongest. Nico certainly wasn't the most active player, she tried to let others hit the ball instead of her because she was sure even the smallest hit from the ball would knock her out in this state.

After the end of the class the students went back to the changing rooms. Nico changed back into her normal clothes just as groggily as before. The other girls even had the energy to talk and discuss while they were getting dressed. One girl was doing something on her phone, not bothering with changing. Must be texting her boyfriend, Nico thought.

"Did you hear what happened to Ueda-san?" Nico turned around at the mention of that name. Ueda Kana was another girl from Nico's class. She was a meek wallflower, always victim to the bullying of the "cool kids" of the class. About a week ago she got hit by a car and stopped attending school. Nico really felt sorry for this girl, perhaps because the two were familiar. Neither had many friends, if they had at all, and both were alone most of the time. It was only because of Nico's headstrong personality that she wasn't bullied like Ueda.

"She got hit by a car, right? I wonder what happened." The girl asking this question seemed concerned. Nico was surprised there was anyone who cared about her at all. "Don't tell this to others, but I heard she jumped in front of the car on purpose." The girl said this in a very low voice. "She tried to commit suicide?" The other girl was clearly disturbed about this revelation. "I heard she is staying in Nishikino Private Hospital right now."

Nishikino Private Hospital? Wasn't that a place for rich people who wanted the best care? To Nico's knowledge, Ueda came from a poor family. That was one of the reasons she was bullied. She couldn't afford fashionable clothes so the other girls made fun of her for it.

"Isn't that hospital a bit expensive? I thought Ueda was poor." Looks like Nico and this girl thought alike. How did Ueda have enough money? A rich relative perhaps? Unlikely. Was there a charity for her Nico didn't know of? Doubtful. Considering the indifferent attitude of her classmates towards Ueda, it was unlikely they cared enough to raise money for her. "I dunno, her parents saved up some money maybe?" Oh yeah, that was a possibility. Nico felt bad for Ueda's parents. Being poor wasn't only hard for Ueda herself, but for her parents as well. They must be blaming themselves for what happened to their daughter.

"I hope Ueda will be okay…" The girl with long auburn hair said, concerned. Nico was happy to see someone who was neither a jerk, nor a stoic bystander in her class. "Don't worry about it too much, Anju." The other girl put her hand on the auburn haired's shoulder. "I feel sorry for her, for not standing up for her. She didn't deserve what she got." The girl looked down sheepishly. "It wasn't our fault. We didn't bully her nor hit her with a car. Besides, I'm sure she'll be okay."

Okay after that? Everyone who cared enough about Ueda to ask what happened her after the accident knew her injuries were so severe she will most likely not be able to walk again. Bound to a wheelchair for the rest of your life is certainly not okay in Nico's book. "You know what happened to her. Her legs suffered too much damage and she needs a miracle if she wants to walk again." The other sighed. "Look, I know you are the worrying type, but try to not think much about it, okay? Moping around will not make things better." Perhaps the other girl wasn't a jerk either. That was Nico's initial impression of the girl, who casually brought up such a sad topic, but now it seems like this girl was kind as well, sort of. "It's just…I have a close friend who is also disabled, so this story with Ueda hits close to home for me."

A new girl approached the two. She had long, purple hair and a beauty mark under her left eye. "Anju, break ends in two minutes. We should get going." Anju quickly told her to 'wait a moment', which always meant "I don't know when I'll finish this conversation but don't go", and the girl sat down next to the two with a defeated sigh.

Nico thought about visiting Ueda in the hospital often. But in the end, she always chose not to. She was a selfish person after all. She had herself and her three siblings to take care of, no time for a girl who, although was very nice and was in dire need of a helping hand, was still not Nico's friend.

Nico knew she was selfish. She always excused herself with "I don't have enough time" or "I need to take care of my siblings" even though she always had a lot of free time. She knew that's why she had no friends and no one dared to get close to her, but she accepted this flaw of hers long ago.

The purple haired girl stood up and let out a sigh that was more like a warning sign. Anju turned around, noticing the frustration of her friend and quickly waved her talking partner goodbye. "Alright Elena, let's get going."

The last class for today was mathematics, another of Nico's favourites. In a sarcastical sense, of course. The students sat down at their desks and opened their notebooks. The teacher, a lady about 50-60 years old, began to write down all the tasks the students have to solve while she walks down to the principal's office for an "urgent discussion".

"Alright, you have to solve these five tasks while I'm away. Principal Minami told me to come to her office right before the class started, I'm really sorry for the inconvenience. I'll be back in 25 minutes." With that, the teacher exited the room, and the students were left alone.

Nico wondered what this 'urgent discussion' was about, or what was 'urgent' about it. She hoped the teacher wasn't getting fired or she was not going to take part in an exchange program, because that means Nico's class would get a new math teacher. And that is the worst. Having different teachers is always hard because each explains math differently and has different standards. Luckily for Nico, this teacher didn't have high standards.

Nico began solving the tasks. Usually she would take out her phone or read a book instead of doing anything related to math, but her grades were terrible and she really needed to practice if she ever wanted to advance to next grade. Sadly Nico could only solve one task. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do the others. Sigh. "Phone or book?" Nico checked her bag to found she didn't bring any books with her today. "The phone it is, then…"

Classes were finally over, and Nico began her walk home. She had to be quiet, because the other students were heading towards where their club activities were held. Nico however, was part of no club. It wasn't like she didn't have good options. There were many clubs fit for her tastes. A geography club, a history club, a literature club, etc. She was just too lazy and didn't want to be around random strangers. She hated the company of strangers. People who are either rude to her, or in the better case, act nice around her when neccessary but otherwise don't care about her and ignore her. Nico especially hated the latter. If someone didn't like her, don't pretend like they do, dammit!

Nico slowly walked towards the staircase, slow and quiet so she won't get anyone's attention. She made her way down to the ground floor and headed towards her locker. Nico promised that she would sleep when she gets home. It wasn't the first time Nico had promised that, but these promises were never fulfilled. No matter how worried her mother was, no matter how worried her teachers were, Nico just couldn't get enough sleep. Instead of sleeping, she read books, listened to pop songs on her outdated mp3, studied, or browsed random things on her computer.

She wasn't a computer addict by any means. She was simply addicted to everything that made her forget the next day. She read books, listened to music and used her computer because all these things made her forget reality. Maybe Nico was strong on the outside, but inside she was weak. She didn't sleep because she knew that if she slept, she'd wake up in the morning the next day. She hated going to school, she hated sitting next to strangers, she hated her annoying schoolmates and she hated those pretenders who acted friendly with her when it was beneficial for them.

She hated her classmates who were popular thanks to things they never worked for. Beauty, nice, fashionable clothes, expensive accessories. All things those girls and boys never worked for. Nico often wondered why those who worked hard were the least popular. Those who might be poor, might be average or ugly, but still valuable, smart, compassionate and hardworking. Like Ueda.

Nico hated self-pity. She belonged to the plebeians who weren't popular since she didn't have clothes of the latest fashion, didn't wear the best watches from Switzerland and wasn't physically attractive or sexy. Nico was average. Her only good quality was her clever mind, which let her be one of the best students in class even if she was lacking in the sciences. Nico knew she was part of the 'losers', people who might as well be dead in the 'cool' peoples eyes, but she never self-loathed. She never thought she should be part of the popular people. She was fine where she was, and wished others would accept this as well.

If she wanted to get in some extra sleep, she usually tried to escape club activities to buy herself extra hours. Sadly, her plan failed to succeed often, thanks to a very annoying teacher who always "looked after" Nico as she said, and always forced Nico to stay in school and do something instead of club activities. Looks like today will be a successful day…

"Leaving so early?" Came a voice from behind her. It was her. This annoying, pesky teacher who always made Nico's days even worse than they already were. Maybe today won't be successful after all.

Nico contemplated making a run for the school entrance but decided against it. She always has to return the next day after all, and she'd rather not face the wrath if this teacher. So, Nico slowly turned around, trying to look as calm as possible. "Um, yeah." The teacher looked at her triumphant, and walked closer to her. "Sorry, no 'going home club' today." Nico sighed, for the millionth time today. "What do you want this time?"

The teacher looked at her with a suspicious smile. Oh oh, just what is she planning to do? "I think I have finally found the perfect solution for you. Come with me." Without giving Nico a chance to reply, the teacher began walking up the stairs, and Nico had no choice but to follow.

They were standing in front of the teachers' longue. The teacher, eager as always, Nico, worried about what lies ahead of her. "You know, I'm really glad I finally found a solution to your problem." Nico scoffed. She had no problems and was perfectly fine with skipping club activities, but of course there is always that one teacher who has to know better. "Yeah? And when will you find a solution to your problem? Like, a boyfriend." The teacher's eager expression turned into a displeased frown. "You little-" Before the two could start arguing and mocking each other like they always did, another teacher opened the door and stepped outside. It was Uchinomiya Misako, the 'holier than thou' music teacher.

"Oh, Maeda, I thought you had literature class right now." Said Uchinomiya with a great dose of faked surprise. "The principal rearranged our schedules so Saito and I switched classes. I teach class 2B now." Uchinomiya turned towards Nico now and raised an eyebrow. She wasn't Nico's music teacher but she substituted her official teacher often, and the classes they shared weren't the most pleasant. Uchinomiya, as Nico always said, was too high up her own asshole to notice her subject isn't the most vital to the students, and when a student didn't know the answer to "such a simple question" (because said student studied something else instead of music), she got really angry. This situation happened with Nico as well, although not many times.

"Yazawa, what are you doing here? Do you wish to speak with one of the teachers?" Uchinomiya tried to ask as formally as possible, but Nico could feel a hint of venom in her tone. Perhaps it was just Nico's pessimism seeing things that weren't there. "She will be discussing an important matter with me." Maeda answered the question before Nico could open her mouth.

"Oh? I hope she didn't get into trouble again." Nico was getting a bit frustrated. Her bonus sleepy time was gone for sure now, and who knows for how long they will be having this awkward conversation with this unsympathetic teacher. "I didn't, Mrs. Uchinomiya." She gave Nico a weak smile. "That's good to hear. Now, I'd rather not keep you two up. See you this afternoon, Maeda." With that, she left.

"See you this afternoon? Going on a date?" Maeda didn't appreciate this joke and pulled Nico's nose instead. "Very funny, but no, nothing like that. Some teachers will be having an afternoon tea party in the longue at around 5PM."

"And Mrs. Uchinomiya will be there?" Maeda opened the door with a sigh. "Yeah."

"My condolences."

The teacher sat down at her desk while Nico sat in a chair in front of her. Nico wondered what amazing plan she came up with this time.

Maeda Junko was an interesting person. She was fairly young and has been teaching for only 4 years. She was Nico's literature teacher and 'guardian'. Nico didn't ask her to be a guardian of course, but she insisted. She was always looking out for Nico and checked her grades frequently. When Nico's grades got tragically worse, Junko insisted on Nico taking extra lessons to get better. She didn't understand why Nico wasn't part of a club (what's so difficult to understand?) and told her to join one on a daily basis. When she caught Nico trying to leave the school during the time of club activities, she brought her to her office to find her something to do. Sometimes she had to clean a classroom, sometimes she helped the staff put posters and advertisements on the boards, sometimes she had to take extra math or chemistry classes and sometimes she helped Maeda with her paperwork.

One time she heard Nico listening to classical music on her phone, and just based on that she thought it was a good idea to put her in the music club. Nico's music club carier lasted one week and in the end Maeda had to realize she made a mistake. Her decision to let Nico quit the club become even stronger when she saw that Mrs. Uchinomiya was the club representative.

"So, what wonderful idea did you come up with now?" Nico sat in her chair waiting for the whole discussion to end. She stared at the walls, the desk, at everything just to make time go by faster. "After discussing long and hard about your matter with the principal, I came to a final decision. Starting from tomorrow, you'll be given a permanent afterschool activity which will be equal to club activities."

Nico froze in her seat. A permanent activity? No one has the right to force her to do something she doesn't want, and she will have to do this for the whole year? For the rest of high school, even? "What the hell?! I don't want any of this! I'm perfectly fine not having any stupid club activities!"

The teacher stood up, anger evident in her expression. "Nico. At this point I can't even keep count on how many times you've skipped your activities. And it isn't like you spend your free time with studying, otherwise your grades in some of the subjects wouldn't be so disastrous."

It was Nico's turn to stand up. She walked closer to the teacher until less than an inch was between them. "Don't tell me what to do! Besides, my grades are fine! I'm one of the best students in class, it isn't my fault I know nothing about math, physics or chemistry!"

"Nico, how many times did I tell you? You never listened. Now, the decision has been made. Principal Minami accepted my idea. It's for your own sake." Nico was filled with anger. She hated many things, but she hated others forcing her to do things the most. "Own sake my ass! I never asked for this! I don't want to do any activities for this dumb school!"

Maeda walked back to her desk and sat down again. "You don't have to worry about that. The activity I've chosen for you will be held in another school." The statement took Nico by surprise. If she doesn't have to work in the school, then were? "What are you talking about?"

"Starting from tomorrow, you'll be doing volunteer work at Date Masamune High School for the Disabled. Your job will be to help the staff and the students of the school."

The story was inspired by Katawa Shoujo. It's a really good visual novel, so I recommend others to check it out!

The idea for this story popped up in my head yesterday and I decided to write it down. I hope others will enjoy it!

Reviews and criticism is welcome!