A/N:

Just a heads up, I followed the anime and never really read the LN

Chapter 3: …I called the police

The cultural festival, a great day to be a freeloader. Or a lazy bitch, depending on how you look at it. For students, it was a day to relax and do whatever while the festival was ongoing. But for the committee, it was a load of work. They were tasked with the festivals planning and the overall outcome of the festival rests on their hands.

I stood at the back of the crowd, not far from the doorway. I was waiting for the opening ceremony of the festival to begin. Apparently, they were gonna present the festival's slogan and present some performances along with it. Not a bad idea, could get the crowd worked up and immerse themselves into the actual festival.

"Hey, you guys!" A voice called out, over the microphone. I turned to look at the person screaming on the stage and found the student council president, Shiromeguri Meguri. I didn't know much about her, just that she's the student council president. The crowd went cray and started cheering.

"Are you ready for this festival?!" The council president asked, "Chiba's Specialities: Dancing and—" Her question was directed at the crowd. Well, not really a question, it was more like she was urging them to finish what she saying for her.

"Festivals!" The crowd answered back. Turns out they were already immersed.

"We're all fools, so let's dance and—"

"Sing a song!" The crowd went nuts at this point, and things got better when performers came out from behind the curtains and did their thing. The performances, however, didn't last long. It turns out they were gonna have the chairwoman say a few words.

"And now…" The student council president trailed off. As if on cue, another student walked out from behind the curtains and took center stage. "We'll have a few words from our festival's chairwoman!"

"Hello—" The chairwoman's words were interrupted by a wave of audio feedback that sent a ringing sound around the auditorium.

'Oh, ma lord' I covered both my ears in an attempt to save them from any kind of harm.

'I'm already half blind. I don't wanna lose my ears as well' Even the chairwoman herself looked surprised at sudden interruption. I'm not surprised, the audience didn't seem too happy to experience that. Neither am I.

"Okay! We're gonna do this over!" An enthusiastic voice interjected, no doubt the council president, "The floor's yours, chairwoman!"

Guess I'm headed out I exited the auditorium as I went through the doorway. With the opening ceremony done, I could pretty much do whatever I wanted to do. Well…saying the ceremony was done would be a lie, but I wanted to spare myself the feeling of empathy from watching the chairwoman struggle. It would do good for the chairwoman if there were less people witnessing someone else's embarrassment.

"I shall not leave you!"

The fuck, man?

I'm not quite sure how I got here, but somehow, I ended up back in my classroom. There were two actors at the front of the stage. The audience consisted of girls, and the genre of this play presumably fell under "romance". My guess was, the blonde guy, who happens to be my classmate, was a guy. The other actor, who had short light grey hair and a feminine appearance, was most likely a girl. I didn't quite recognize her though.

But in the back of my mind, I had the feeling I was wrong…

I did remember seeing the cast and their roles before walking in the room, though. The pilot was played by a person named Hayama Hayato? The Prince, on the other hand, was played by someone named Totsuka Saika.

Pilot, portrayed as male… The audience is consists of girls… The prince is definitely a role for a guy… Wait…

…

Does that mean..?

This is fucking yaoi, isn't it?

Despite the outward appearance of this festival, which presents a look of joy and fun, it no doubt looked successful. Maybe it would be true for the majority who went to the festival, but, of course, I had some questions in the back of my mind regarding this whole idea.

Like how the fuck they got this idea approved?

The crowd had erupted into cheers and the audience was clapping. Many of them had enjoyed the show and some of them had teary eyes. One of the girls had even passed out with blood running from her nose. Much to my dismay, I never knew there were this many girl that liked yaoi. I mean, if they like that stuff, that's fine. But you gotta wonder…

…What do they do in their free time?

Do I wanna know?

Hell no

The world is a scary place. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I walked over to the poor soul that passed out on the floor and picked her up. I grabbed her arm and pulled it over my shoulder. She was muttering something over and over again, but I couldn't make out anything she was saying. It was something about sheep, or whatever it was that she kept repeating. I looked at the girl and took note of her looks. She had brown hair, wore a pair of red half-framed glasses with green eyes behind them. Her current mental state wasn't exactly on the conscious side and her mind had wandered off somewhere. It was apparent with all the creepy giggling and smiling.

I let out an exhausted sigh as a question came into mind.

Just how much did you enjoy the show..?

I turned back to the spot she collapsed at. There were traces of blood littered on the floor. There wasn't much blood, only a few drops of it. I sat the girl who had passed out on a chair and kept her leaning on the back rest of the chair to stop her from falling over. After I safely position her on the seat, I turned back to the floor.

The floor isn't gonna clean itself

I walked out the doorway and headed for the washroom. It wasn't far from the class. I just needed a few sheets of tissue, or something. My mind wandered back to what I've learned of the class, so far. It housed a loner with lifeless eyes, a noisy, but dominant circle of friends, a girl who seemed to enjoy yaoi, a blonde guy who was apparently popular among the girls, and one guy who had one hell of a feminine appearance.

A few of the listed people were pretty much expected in a typical high school environment, except for the yaoi part of the list, and the feminine-looking guy. It's a rather rare occurrence to find a girl who doesn't bat an eye about liking yaoi, same goes for the dude as well. In every school, there are weirdos, the popular ones or the cool kids, loners, and so on. But there were some new things I've seen so far. This was probably my first time meeting, or more like, seeing, a girl who openly expressed her love for yaoi. Additionally, I don't recall any guy who sported an outward appearance that closely resembled that of the opposite gender…

But I guess there's a first time for everything…

As I entered the washroom, I looked at the mirror and saw my own outward appearance. A young high school boy with short spiky black hair with a cotton roller bandage covering both of his eyes. Didn't look too bad, or at least, that's what I thought. The bandages probably made it look like I lost both my eyes, but I only really lost one of them.

I look like a delinquent in this getup

I reached for the bandages covering my eyes and gently pulled them off. The person in the mirror looked different. Both his eyes were visible but only one of them looked functional. His right eye was colored black and his left eye had a few small scars littered on his eyelids and areas surrounding his eye. The eye itself was sealed shut from its previous injury, rendering it useless.

"Hmm…" I was a bit lost in thought whilst eyeing my overall appearance without the bandages.

Doesn't look too bad, but nobody's gonna wanna see that…

I snapped out of my thoughts and suddenly remembered why I went to the washroom. I pulled out a sheet of paper towel from the dispenser. A single sheet of paper could handle it, but I'd need a second one in case she needed to wipe her nose. Thank god she didn't bleed out longer than she did, it would've taken a bit more work if there was a pool of blood lying about. I didn't wanna use up anymore energy than what was necessary.

Better not keep her waiting

Third Person POV

"Hey, Hikki," Yuigahama called out. She was seated beside Sobu High's anti-social loner, Hikigaya Hachiman.

"What?" Hikigaya replied, turning to face his club mate.

"You've seen the new student, right?" She asked, looking at the direction he was previously walking to.

"What about him?" He asked, turning away and looking at the ongoing festival instead.

"How does he see with that thing covering his eyes?" She asked, curios of their new classmates ability to navigate through his surroundings. To an outsiders perspective, he would appear to be blind, but that's only the superficial opinion. There's no guarantee that he was actually blind to begin with, or at least, logically, he wouldn't be.

"He might not be completely blind," Hikigaya suggested, "if he can move around that well, then he probably just lost one of his eyes. Or worse, he could be…" He trailed off as he continued observing the environment.

"Could be what?" She asked curiously, urging him to continue. Yuigahama looked at him intently, waiting for his suggestion.

Like Zaimokuza He thought.

"…Never mind, it's nothing," he said coolly. Yuigahama was slightly disappointed by his response, but she didn't pry.

"We should try talking to him. I haven't seen him talk to anyone," The coral-haired girl suggested, "It doesn't seem like he's going around the festival with anyone either," she concluded with a sad tone present in her voice.

Yuigahama, loners are loners for a reason Hikigaya thought. He knew the qualities and characteristics of loners well, and he is a rather perceptive individual. An individual who keep see through the masks and façades of people.

Loners aren't used to attention. Therefore, attention is the last thing we want

"I'm sure he doesn't mind being alone," Hikigaya stated. He was trying to dissuade her from intruding on the said persons solitude, "If he did want friends, he probably would've done it on his first day. Some people look at him in pity. So, they're willing to offer their sympathy," he reasoned in an ambiguous proposition. Yuigahama looked at him with a surprised look on her face as she processed the words coming from her classmate.

"Therefore, it wouldn't be difficult for him to get along with others, but…" He trailed off, in thought of a different scenario.

"There's a possibility he knows of it and refuses to form relationships based off of pity." He concluded in his usual monotone voice. His reasoning behind the dissuasion proved logical and plausible, but Yuigahama persisted in her planned course of action.

"Even so, wouldn't it be better if, he, like, had someone to talk to?" The airhead countered, trying to prove the point of her action, "It's better than nothing, right?"

Hikigaya let out a mildly irritated sigh and faced his classmate.

"If you're so persistent about it, why don't you try talking to him?" He asked, "No one's stopping you, but if you're gonna talk to him, I'm staying here," He inquired in his usual monotonous voice. Yuigahama pouted and continued trying to persuade her stubborn classmate into socializing.

"Come on, Hikki! Can't we at least try?" She asked. His resolve was starting to slip the more she persisted. Despite his strong personality, and his ability to brush off getting the short end of the stick, he was rather susceptible to peer pressure. But before he could attempt to resist, his action was interrupted by the same person pressuring him into doing her bidding.

"Oh, there he is," Yuigahama interjected. Hikigaya turned his gaze towards the same direction she was looking at and saw the said person walking down the corridor with two sheets of paper towel in his hands. Yuigahama took notice and decided to inquire the poor soul seated beside her.

"What's he gonna do with those?" She asked curiously.

"He was helping Ebina up from the floor a while ago," Hikigaya explained, "He's probably gonna clean the blood Ebina littered on the floor." He recalled Ebina collapsing beside him from excitement after watching the play she directed. She, no doubt, placed a tremendous amount of effort on directing the play. Mainly because it was aligned with her personal interests. Though, she may have put a little too much passion since she did try to pair Hayama and Hikigaya together for the play. Hikigaya was able to escape the role, but Hayama…he was a different story…

Didn't think I'd ever be grateful for being forced to work… Hikigaya thought, recalling the feeling of dread that threatened to reign over him when he discovered his name on the plays cast.

"If you wanna talk to him, now's a great time," Hikigaya suggested, watching the new student walk into the classroom. Yuigahama's eyes followed the students figure, as soon as the said student was out of sight, she realized her club mate had said something.

"Come on, Hikki, at least come with me!" She whined. Hikigaya let out an exasperated sigh and decided to give in to her demands. He knew talking his way out would only prolong his struggle. So, he took the only path out.

"Fine."

First Person POV

I extended my hand to offer the yaoi fan a sheet of paper towel to wipe her nose. As soon as she accepted my offering, I turned to the floor and knelt in front of the blood spilled on the floor and started cleaning. It wasn't gonna take long, nothing I can't handle, anyway.

"Thanks," a voice interjected. I turned to the source of the voice and saw the bespectacled girl smiling at me. I nodded in acknowledgement and stood up. I walked over to her and extended my hand, gesturing to the crumpled sheet she used to wipe her nose. She looked confused at first, but soon realized what I was asking for. She handed the crumpled object over to me and I took it from her hands.

"Thanks, um…" She trailed off, it sounded like she wanted me to say something. Probably wanted a name.

"Tagawa Taichi," I said, introducing myself.

"Ebina Hina," she replied in kind. She smiled as she introduced herself, "Pleased to meet you!" She added, a cheerful tone laced to her voice.

"Likewise," I replied nonchalantly and carried on with my business. After a few steps, I stopped in my tracks and recalled her name.

"Ebina-san, were you the one who directed the play?" I asked, turning to face her. I saw her name somewhere before, she held the position of director for the class play. I probably saw it on the board some days ago. An awkward chuckle escaped her lips before she replied.

"Ah, yes. That would be me." She had a sheepish grin on her. It's probably an expected reaction. To have a stranger find out you directed a yaoi play wasn't something that happened everyday. Not for me, at least. "You did a good job, Ebina-san." I added.

My compliment managed to elicit a smile from her. Fine by me, might as well try to get along with everyone. Never know when they could be of use to me… Not that I treat acquaintances like tools.

"Thanks." I nodded in acknowledgement of her gratitude and carried on my business.

That should suffice. Not a lot to talk about, anyway I thought. I turned around and walked towards the doorway. I needed to throw away the used paper towels and wash my hands. But before I could grab the handle and slide the door open, it seemed like someone from the other side beat me to it and the door slid open rather abruptly. Two people stood in front of me. I recognized one of them, but the other was an unknown.

Eyyyy, it's you again! It was that guy! The one with the lifeless pair of eyes. The other one had pink hair, or was it coral? I wasn't sure, but either way, it's close enough.

The three of us just stood there, looking at each other. The two unknowns seemed to have a stronger effect on me though since there were two of them. So, it made it a bit unnerving to see them stare at me. It'd probably be better if one of us tried to clear the tension in the atmosphere…

Well, this is awkward…

The lifeless one, who I recalled was named Hikigaya, turned to the person beside him. But the girl only looked at him expectantly, as if urging him on. He sighed in annoyance and turned to face me. The lifeless heap of flesh cleared his throat and attempted a conversation.

"You're the new student, right?" He asked. It seemed like he wasn't really into this kind of stuff. He sounded a bit bored and disinterested. Maybe the girl forced him into this. I wasn't quite sure, but judging by their nonverbal communication a while ago, it may be the case. Well, he did give off a vibe similar to that of a loner, or rather, a solitary person. I could imagine the difficulty he experiences in socializing, given his exterior or looks.

I nodded, confirming their question.

"Tagawa Taichi," I repeated the same introduction I presented to Ebina-san and informed them of my name.

"Hikigaya Hachiman," Hikigaya replied in a monotonous voice. I turned to his…friend, perhaps? I wasn't quite sure what their relationship was. Though, it'd probably be safe to assume she was a friend of his. She seemed to have noticed my gaze and caught on to my gesture. After snapping back to reality, she began to introduce herself.

"Ah, Yuigahama Yui!" She had a rather cheerful voice that was accompanied by a smile. That tone and the smile she had on her face were obvious indications that she was the friendly type. Probably the kind of student that gets along with everyone—they're found somewhere in schools. There's always gotta be that one person under that category. I'm rather surprised these two got along; they were complete opposites.

Now that I think about it, she's probably the reason why he seems disinterested in all this.

"Hey, Tagawa-kun, wanna join us? We're gonna check out the festival!" Yuigahama asked in a cheerful tone. Hikigaya suddenly turned to face his companion, surprised at her sudden invitation. It didn't seem like he was expecting her to say that. Was this something she thought of on a whim? Because it sure as hell seemed like it.f

Spare the bugger the trouble

"I wouldn't mind, but I have things to do." I replied, putting on an apologetic tone. I didn't wanna hurt her, she probably means well, but her friend doesn't seem to be into the idea of walking around the festival with other people against his will. Her facial expressions quickly changed. She looked disappointed, but who wouldn't be? I'd feel the same way if someone I just met declined an invitation.

"Sorry, Yuigahama-san."

"Ah… I see…" Yuigahama brushed it off with an awkward chuckle and smiled. I felt bad for doing that, but I did it to spare two of the three of us any trouble. You can't exactly enjoy anything you're forced to do. If there are any exceptions, then those people might be fucking masochists. But, I ain't judging, to each his own, I guess. I gave her a small bow to convey my apology and walked out of the classroom with the intent to dispose of the trash, or rather, myself.

Over there

I spotted a bin and approached it. It didn't have any labels on it to indicate segregation, so I decided it was safe to just toss it in there. Just when I was about to leave, I heard a whistle being blow behind me. I turned to look at the rising commotion and saw Shiromeguri-san and three other bespectacled nerds, or rather, the student council. But that was just my guess, it didn't seem like a stretch though. They looked pretty professional, it looked like they were trying to disperse what looked like a growing commotion that was brewing from a line outside a classroom.

But one person caught me off guard…

There was no doubt about it, that waist-length black hair, those blue eyes, and that look of formality and sophistication that she gave off.

It was Yukinoshita Yukino. The client Arakaki and I handled a few days ago.

Nooo fucking way, man…

I did not expect that. Turns out the weirdo who kept staring at my superficially non-existent eyes went to the same high school I did. She also wore an armband, indicating her affiliation with the committee. With fear starting to bite my ass, I turned my gaze towards anything useful around me—I saw a small group of people that could obscure my figure from anyones vision, should they look my way.

Ah, there

I turned back to see her talking to a person with a clipboard on her hands. I also spotted the two people I recently met looking at the ongoing commotion, but the said commotion was quickly dealt with thanks to the student council. I never saw the student council in action before, so it was pretty amazing watching the president execute a solution smoothly.

Impressive, Shiromeguri-san

Right after I complimented the student council president inwardly, Yukinoshita's gaze turned this way. Thus, my escape plan came into play. I carefully walked to the side and turned my gaze towards the floor, burying my presence behind a group of people to avoid any possible chance of being spotted. Though, I wasn't quite sure if she was looking at my general direction or looking at someone or something else. But one thing's for sure…

I ain't having any of that

I pulled my phone out and started fidgeting with it to make myself look busy. If I pulled this off, then I'd disappear from the background. But if I screwed up, I'd have to deal with that creep for a second time. Hopefully, the latter wouldn't be the case.

I stayed in this position for a while, hoping she wouldn't look this way for too long. Any reasonable person wouldn't stare off into the distance for long, unless they were spacing out or seeing something spooky, but what could possibly be spooky about a cultural festival?

After what seemed like tens of minutes of standing around like a doofus, I peeked my head out from behind the crowd and looked at the direction I last saw Yukinoshita— nothing, she probably left shortly after looking around. Fine by me.

I walked out from behind the crowd of people and made my way down the corridor. It'd probably be better to go out and take in some fresh air. These hallways were too crowded for my liking, and it would decrease the chances of running into her.

I stepped out the doorway and took a whiff of fresh air. It was just like snorting in some cocaine—except fresh air doesn't quite get you tripping.

I should get something to eat

And maybe get a drink.

I bought some Kasuteras from a stall outside the school. Except they were a miniature version of the actual Kasutera (A/N: SPONGE CAKES). While I stood idling around and munching on my food, I heard someone speak up from behind me.

"Ah, you must be the new student!" A voice exclaimed, like they had found a rare Pokémon.

WHY DO YOU PEOPLE KEEP BOTHERING ME?

I turned around to face the said person and came face to face with a student who had grayish eyes, and shoulder-length brown hair which was worn in twin braids. It was the student council president.

I stared at her while munching on my food, which didn't take long, but I probably looked like an asswipe for doing that. After swallowing the food that occupied my mouth, I nodded in response.

"Ah! I'm Shiromeguri Meguri!" She chirped.

Honestly, I only half expected the voice to belong to a girl. I'm not very sure why. If I turned around to come face to face with a dude who owned a voice like that, I would've been terrified.

"I'm—" I replied but I was cut off midway.

"Tagawa Taichi." She interrupted in a peppy tone.

This girl was oddly cheerful, it sort of reminded me of Yuigahama-san. Girls like this tend to get along well with other people, but I'm sure these people are only doing this cause I stick out so much. If I didn't have these bandages on my damn eyes, they probably wouldn't have bothered. Not like I have the right to complain, outcasts usually want to be accepted and I'm probably seen as one. But there are exceptions.

"Ah, yeah…" I replied nonchalantly, but I was a bit surprised. She smiled at my fragmented response, but it quickly morphed into a curios expression, like she was thinking. She wasn't looking directly at me, but she was inspecting something. From the looks of it, it seemed she had something to say.

"Need something?" I asked. She was a bit surprised at my sudden question and recoiled a bit—surprising.

Really?

Startled over that? This person gave off the impression an airhead would, and I was close to considering it, but I didn't wanna draw any conclusions before I even got to know this girl.

"Ah, I was just wondering what happened to your eyes."

No wonder

Yeah…these things are definitely getting me some attention. Unwanted ones, to be exact. But that didn't matter at the moment. I wasn't even sure I wanted to answer the question; I didn't really feel like answering it. Not because it was a touchy subject or anything, but because I tend to be a lazy fuck from time to time. Maybe a plausible answer will keep her at bay, something vague but sensible.

"Won a game of Jenga with a few friends."

Shiromeguri-san looked at me with a confused expression plastered on her face, but it changed into a smile and she started giggling. I reciprocated the feeling of confusion over her course of action after witnessing her laugh at my excuse. I wasn't quite sure if it was something I said that caused her to laugh.

"What are you saying?"

"Was it that bad?" I asked, but she didn't answer. I didn't quite understand this girl. She was a weirdo. I decided to change the subject before it got awkward.

"Would you like something to eat? I'd feel bad leaving you standing there." I offered. I didn't wanna eat in front of her and leave her watching when she sort of went out of her way just to introduce herself to me. It would be such a dick move if I did. Even though my dad firmly believes I'm a jackass, I have some redeeming qualities.

"Ah. No, it's okay, thank you, though!" She must be declining out of politeness.

"I insist." She seemed a bit surprised at my response, but brushed it off with another smile. I could tell she was hesitant about it, but didn't want to turn down my offer. Especially not after I said I insisted.

"Well, I guess I could take you up on your offer." She replied with a reluctant smile.

Works for me

We roamed around the festival in search of anything that interested her and had some small talks here and there, but when we finally came to something that appealed to her, she settled for a candy apple. Heh, cliché. For some reason, girls tend to love candy apples. While I was in the process of buying her the said item, I settled on purchasing a couple of drinks as well. Wouldn't hurt to go a little further. I didn't know what she liked, so, I just settled for iced tea.

"I wasn't quite sure if you had any particular preference, but I just bought iced tea." She looked at me in surprise but soon brushed it off and took the drink on my hand.

"You're too kind, Tagawa-kun."

Guess that means she'll take it

"I try to be."

Though, I wasn't sure if she was being socially dishonest. But even if she was, I could probably understand. Not like I have the right to complain. Everyone's socially dishonest at some point. Sayings like 'it's the thought that counts' could count as being socially dishonest. People won't always know what you want, but when they offer you a gift, you accept it out of courtesy. If you don't, you come off as someone rude and disrespectful. Compliments and encouragement could fall under the same category as well. When someone's feeling down, a reasonable person would comfort them and encourage them, even if a person doesn't stand a chance at anything. No one's truly honest. I wasn't against working with a romanticist idea despite my realist preference. It would be better to go down the path of least resistance.

All these realist thoughts are gonna kill me, one day

I popped my own drink open to chill out, it wasn't very different from what I gave her. The only difference was the flavor I bought; it was red tea. As I took a sip of my own drink, I observed her from the corner of my eye. She seemed fairly happy with the drink I bought her, so preference shouldn't be a problem the next time I buy her something. A rather comfortable silence had enveloped our atmosphere after we settled down, and I was content with it. I don't mind the silence, but it may be a stranger to someone like her.

From what I could tell, Shiromeguri Meguri could be considered a social type. She exudes an aura of comfortability, she could probably make other people feel at ease with her presence alone. She's friendly and optimistic, the kind of person that gets along with everyone, and in turn, everyone gets along with her.

Then she broke the silence.

"Tell me about yourself, Tagawa-kun." She started, looking at me with curios eyes. Should've expected it, I didn't quite reveal anything about myself during our conversations that occurred while we were roaming around.

"There's not a lot that's interesting about me." I replied.

"Then there must be a little bit that's interesting." She countered.

"Well, I guess the only interesting thing about me is: I'm bilingual." I started. My response seemed to have caught her interest.

"What other language do you know?"

"English. Moved to America and started my middle school years there. Also spent my first year of high school there." I replied.

"Did you spend your elementary years here?" She asked.

"Yeah, don't remember much though. Vaguely remember one possible friend, but that's about it." I said, "Pain in the ass, too. Once you get good at English, they make you take a foreign language class." She seemed surprised at my sudden use of foul language, but hey, who wouldn't be? I was on school grounds to begin with.

"What foreign language class did you take?" Shiromeguri-san asked, brushing off my use of foul language. But can you really weigh "ass" as something heavy if you had to rate it as a curse word? I could think of a delightful F word that outweighs its overall emphasis.

"Spanish." I replied. She seemed rather intrigued at my choice and prodded further.

"Interesting choice, Tagawa-kun. Say something in Spanish!" She demanded in an excited tone.

I decided to humor her.

"Mi no habla español."

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"'I don't speak Spanish.'" I replied.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…what?" I asked. I was a bit confused. She did ask me to speak in Spanish right? And I did, I don't know what I did wrong.

The student council president burst out laughing, it wasn't the hysterical kind, but it was one hell of a fit. Thankfully, not a lot of people seemed to have turned their attention our way after the sudden increase in volume from our general direction.

"Is that all you know, Tagawa-kun?" She asked as she wiped a tear coming from her eye.

"Like I said, pain in the ass. Didn't bother trying to remember all of it," I replied, "and I'm sure it's gonna bite me in the ass sooner or later."

"How about you? Learn any foreign language?" I asked, turning to her.

"Not really. I don't have any interest in a particular language." She replied

"Good, keep it that way. If it isn't something you're interested in, you won't enjoy doing it." I said, giving out some common advice.

"I guess that's true."

After that conversation died down, silence enveloped the atmosphere around us as we took a sip of our drinks. From what I could gather, she wasn't a bad person. She was friendly, she actually bothered trying to talk to me, so, that's a plus. She's also kinda cute…

"I don't mean to be rude, but aren't you needed somewhere? You're the student council president, correct?" I asked.

She checked the time on her phone after receiving my inquiry and a look of realization dawned on her face. She must have remembered something important just now. The student council president turned to face me with another smile on her face.

I was close to considering her to be the epitome of enthusiasm at this point.

"How much did it cost you?" Shiromeguri-san asked. I guess she had to go.

"Don't worry about it, my treat." I replied casually whilst taking a swig of my drink. She seemed a bit surprised at my reply.

"Thanks, Tagawa-kun." I could tell she was trying to be sincere.

"Hm, I'll see you around." I said. She turned and waved goodbye while she walked off. I returned the gesture and waved back. As I watched her figure disappear in the sea of people, I couldn't help but think I'd seen her before. I wasn't sure why I had this vat of familiarity swirling in my head, but I concluded that it was my just my mind fucking with me.

I banished the mind games from my head and walked towards a random direction, hoping to find something interesting in this festival. I took a swig of my tea and lost myself within the festival and my own thoughts.

The school has been fairly enjoyable, despite getting unwanted attention and a couple people going out of their way to introduce themselves to me because I stuck out too much, it wasn't that bad. Had to make up for some missed works, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Still had some assignments to finish though.

Sobu High has some high school stereotypes hanging around, but really, what school doesn't? I was present long enough to witness a rather large, bespectacled person screaming a bunch of weird shit. From that sight alone, I concluded he was a chuuni. I can back it up with all the things he's been saying, it sounded like he was referencing a bunch of different animes or something from a manga. Not that I would know.

I doubt I'd bother with the chuuni, not like I'll ever get the chance to talk to the guy. But delusions aside, one person caught my interest. He seemed very different from the rest of the students in this school; he was an odd one out.

Hikigaya Hachiman

Superficially, he looked like the kind of person who didn't bother socializing with anyone in the school. His slouched posture, his bored eyes, and his monotone voice didn't quite radiate a friendly aura. Quite the opposite. Despite his looks, it seemed like he was pressured into interacting with me. Perhaps his personality betrayed his looks? Those were only assumptions pieced by loose evidence. Of course, all this doesn't apply till I have more proof and is subject to chang—

"Hey, you!" A voice cried out, breaking me out of my thoughts. But it wasn't directed at me, rather at someone else. It looked like a scene was about play out somewhere close to my location.

Additionally, if I could describe some of my findings and experiences in this school of mine, it would only take about five words. These five words I had in mind hold some parallelism to my entire life as well. It best described what I saw, felt, and experienced in life.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

"You're Miura Yumiko, aren't you?!" A girl shouted. From what I was looking at, there were two displeased high school girls interrogating another girl. The subject of interrogation was a teenage girl with blonde hair that was separated into two segments forming drills, her facial features could be described as attractive and her eyes were green in color.

It was that same girl that was acting bitchy the other day.

Five minutes haven't even passed, and now something else unfolds

I couldn't take note of the details of the other two since their backs were facing me, but it's not like I had to anyway. The only detail I could pick up was their clothing, they wore the Sobu High uniform. I doubt I'd bother trying to remember them. Remembering was the least of my concerns right now, I had other things to worry about.

Like resolving the dilemma of intervening or not.

The Bystander effect: A psychological phenomenon in which a person is less likely to assist a victim when others are present.

This effect was sure as hell making its presence known at the moment. There weren't a lot of other people in the area, but those who noticed decided to turn a blind eye and pretend they saw nothing.

"The guys in our group have done nothing but talk about ever since they saw you!" One of the girls shouted.

"Stay away from them, you hear me?!" The other followed.

Really? You're fussing about that? Was this what they meant when parents and elders talked about youth?

"Hah?" Miura-san looked dumbfounded.

"What makes you think I'd care about them?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips. Despite giving such a bitchy comeback, she had a point. Neither of them claimed to have seen her interact with these guys and only stated that they saw her.

Right. So, what do I do?

There were two ways I could do: One, I could turn around and pretend I saw nothing; two, I could intervene and help this Miura person out. If I picked the first option, then I could relieve myself of this psychological effect that dumped itself on my shoulders, but then the guilt of walking away is gonna eat me alive.

On the other hand, if I picked the second option, then I could improve my standing with one person and possibly make a friend? As sappy as that sounds, it wasn't an unattractive outcome, but it would mean I'd have to scratch my ass for any bits of courage I dumped on the toilet this morning.

It's a disgusting-ass (hah…) analogy, but if it makes sense, then why the hell not, right?

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" One of the girls shrieked.

Oh, shit. What do I do?

There were multiple ways I could deal with this. I could step in and stand on neutral ground, it will definitely keep me in the middle. But the girls interrogating her are a bit flawed in their logic…so, if I stay on neutral ground, wouldn't it be a bit unfair towards Miura-san?

If I defended Miura-san, it might help me out in the long run since she's my classmate. I don't really know the other two, so, it shouldn't matter to me that much. But then that would make it a bit unfair to them since Miura-san didn't even bother trying to apologize or at least act nice…

Fuck it, I know who I should call

I pulled out my phone fumbled a bit before I finally got a good grip on it. After fidgeting with it for a good bit, I noticed one of the girls turn around and narrowed her eyes after setting her sights on me.

Oh, joy

Third Person POV

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" The girl shrieked. Miura crossed her arms and clicked her tongue in annoyance. She was about to retort but stopped her next course of action after spotting a person in the background. The said person wore the Sobu High uniform, had short spiky black hair and wore a layer of bandages on his eyes.

Tagawa Taichi…was it? She thought. He was watching the two girls bitching at an unexpected and undesired outcome. Shortly after, the new student pulled out his phone and messed with it before pressing the screen into his ear—he was calling someone.

What are you doing? Go away She didn't want to get any more irritated than she already was and having someone staring from a small distance away surely wasn't helping her mood either.

One of the girls took notice of her staring and turned her gaze to match the direction Miura was facing. After spotting a high school boy in the background staring at the commotion, Girl A clicked her tongue in annoyance and nudged her friend.

"Tch, say somethi—" Girl B stopped midway after being nudged by her pal.

"Someone's watching us." Her companion turned around and saw the same high school boy holding the phone against the side of his head.

"Hey, you." The girl snarled. Tagawa was a bit startled by her voice, which was made apparent when he jumped a bit from the sudden callout.

"Wait, he's got nothing to do with this!" Miura interjected. Her interjection stemmed from annoyance rather than concern. She wasn't expecting things to involve someone who didn't even know any of them, and she didn't really know him either.

"You didn't call for a teacher, did you?" She asked in a threatening tone as she slowly approached the high school boy.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Miura asked, growing frustrated at the situation.

"W-what? No, I didn't…" Tagawa replied, releasing the phone from the side of his head and throwing his hands up in the air.

"You sure about that?" The other asked, skeptical of his response. He was cornered at this point. Talking himself out wasn't an option seeing as the girls wouldn't let him leave.

"No, of course not!"

"Then who'd you call?"

"…I called the police." Tagawa replied, showing them his call history. The three women stared at him with a horrified and shocked expression littered all over their faces. The two girls had an expression that screamed "We done fucked up", and Miura was straight up flabbergasted at his decision to call the cops.

Did I do something wrong?

A/N:

I hate school

I took French, so don't take the Spanish part seriously

By the way, please don't hesitate leaving a review. Helps me with the direction of this story and a bunch of other stuff I don't know about. Like the character? Hate the character? I'll also be balancing scenes between main cast and OC, mainly because focusing the spotlight on the OC wouldn't be very appealing or interesting, and do point out if anyone is OOC

See you next chapter