Crowds can either be good or bad depending on the situation.
On the positive side, crowds help in identifying the general good. Morals, ideas, even the newest light novel titles, you can identify all of them because of the crowd. Many people tend to agree towards the objectively good thing. And thus, you can most likely trust that a thing or an idea is good if a lot of people deem it as such.
However, crowds can also be the main antagonist of people who live in peace as the minority. Yes, this really affects us loners. You see, people like to consider one thing as good then treat everything else as bad. For example: Unless you're open-minded, you tend to have a favorite genre of fiction and treat everything else as either just okay or total shit. And this is where the bad thing comes in action. Because most people favor the same thing, they also tend to dislike the same thing.
Why am I having this internal monologue right now? Well, it's because the gossip about Kuronuma became worse, at they now include being teenage whore. Their reason being Kuronuma's gloominess as a result of working late at night selling her body for middle-aged guys.
Now that's what you call unfortunate. At least in my case, it's just plain hate and disinterest. Kuronuma is now experiencing a severe mistaken identity because most people actually believed in her being a whore.
Well, someone is currently passing the gossip to me actually. The culprit goes by the name of Master General Swordsman (Zaimokuza). I'm in the gym class and this fat chunni decided to have a bothersome small talk because he feels lonely, not that he'll admit it though.
"You know honored comrade Hachiman, I heard there's a student here in Sobu who is a member of some sort of a sex club."
As he uttered those words, only two people who could be the unfortunate target of the gossip is. First is my classmate Kawa- you know, that girl with a motorcycle brand as her surname. She could easily be a subject of that rumor because she's working late at night as a bartender. Anyone who has seen her can easily mistake her job as some sort of a sexual job. Second person is Kuronuma. Well, it's because many people just like to make rude comments about her.
"That's probably just a made up story by the famous kids because they have nothing better to do."
"No seriously! This time they have a very specific physical description of the said girl!" I guess he didn't understand what I've just said.
"Ho, fill me with the details." I just want to know who are they referring to.
"They say she has a long black hair and a fair white skin."
"You want me to tell Yukinoshita your exact words just now?"
As expected, just a mere mention of the yuki onna will make Zaimokuza shiver in fear.
"N-no, it's not Mistress Yukinoshita! It's someone from my class named Sadako!" Then say that from the very beginning! I bet you just wanted to indirectly say it at first to make it more mysterious.
So my guess was correct, huh? Not like I will get anything by guessing correctly.
"My point still stands. I thought you're not someone to believe the rumors spread by the filthy riajuus."
"Mwahaha! Like this honorable warrior will ever bend his ways to the whim of the common folk, impossible! To see is to believe!" Ugh, this guy sure is noisy.
...
Now at my lunch spot with my lonesome, I stared at the sky as I've just finished eating my lunch. Feeling the relaxing sea breeze, I'm here to relax for about half an hour before lunch break ends.
However, my lonesome was short-lived as my most recent acquaintance decided to come here, bringing her lunch box with her. I guess her usual lunch spot, which is still unknown to me, became uncomfortable to her because of the recent rumors about her.
"Um, Hikigaya-kun, can I sit here with you?" kun? Getting comfortable, aren't we?
"Go ahead."
She sat at the opposite side of the stair. I just stared at her eating her own lunch without any worry about being bullied and such. Well, she kinda deserved this peacefulness after all those false rumors going around. However, I still have mixed feelings about her stealing my lunch spot.
While she's occupied with her food, I am here just wondering how is she doing despite all these rumors about her. Sure it's easy to just shrug them off if you're mentally strong enough to do so, but there are also people who can't endure all of it. And from what I've noticed so far, Kuronuma is not the type to not care. She's the type of girl who cares for others. Why I could say all of this? It's because now that I'm acquainted with her, I sometimes notice her trying help anyone. I saw her pick up the pen of a random student and tried to return it to them. I also saw her put an umbrella to the box with a puppy inside so that it won't be soaked from the rain. I swear I'm not a stalker, I just happened to see her that time.
Okay, so back to what I'm talking about earlier. Though she may seem used to these rumors, I'm pretty sure they still affect her because she's too kind to not care.
After eating, she slowly stood up and went near me. "I'll go ahead, Hikigaya-kun. I still need to water the flowers at the back of the special building."
"Sure. See ya."
See, she even cares about that bunch of flowers below the service club room that nobody cares about.
...
"Okay, that's it for today, class."
I just woke up as I heard Hiratsuka-sensei end the homeroom for today.
To be honest, I don't really want to hear her ramblings that sometimes go as far as her complaining about not being married yet. Seriously, homeroom was supposed to be the school related topics, not some sort of pity gathering. Of course many of my classmates will reply "I'm sure there's a perfect man for you out there, sensei!". Don't they know that it's basically rubbing salt on the wound? Not like I'm any different, though.
"And Hikigaya, come to the office later." Okay, she found that I was just sleeping the whole time.
As Hiratsuka-sensei left the classroom, I waited just a little bit for the commotion inside to calm down before I followed her to the faculty office. That's only because I don't want to unnecessarily bump into someone who's also leaving the classroom.
I left the classroom without informing Yuigahama. Seriously, that girl can sometimes become possessive like I'm her boyfriend. If I didn't know any better, my heart would be palpitating out of joy right now. What I think is the only reason why she wants to go to the club room with me is due to her being an extrovert. Thus going to the club room alone would make her feel uncomfortable.
Speaking of extroverts, I'm pretty sure everyone is already familiar with those people saying along the lines of "happy outside, dying inside" and such. I know there are people out there who genuinely feel such feelings or even having a mental illness to some extent. However, the number of people saying those lines is too concerning if all of them really is telling the truth.
I think the reason for some people to say such things is because they're extroverts. Yep, those edgy lines could come from extroverts. Why? Because when they're in the company of people, they tend to get happier in contrast to when they're alone. Maybe they confuse the loneliness they feel while being alone as their "true" feelings and disregard the actual joy that they feel while being with people by saying that they're just faking such emotions.
I know that thought was kinda silly but I'm kinda proud that I thought of that. Maybe I should consider writing psychology books. Nah, who would publish such baseless and flawed arguments? If I'm the publishing company, I absolutely won't.
Okay, so much for trivial thoughts, I'm now facing Hiratsuka-sensei inside the office, wondering what will be my punishment for sleeping during homeroom.
"I'm sure you're already aware of the new rumor circulating around the campus." Okay, I guess I was wrong. But seriously, is everyone gonna talk to me about Kuronuma now?
"I didn't take you to be someone who's fond of gossiping, sensei."
She in return frowned at my irrelevant response. Of course she wants to talk about it because she's a guidance counselor. She might also need my opinions on this matter because I'm also someone with a bad reputation like Kuronuma and I'm a member of the service club which kinda makes me obliged to listen to her.
"Don't take it like that. I'm just concerned about one of my students."
"So, who are we talking about?" Though I already know who.
"She's a student from class 2-C, Kuronuma Sawako. Although she's already been treated quite poorly by the student body, it seems that they worsen recently."
"And you're telling me this because..."
"Of course this will be your punishment for sleeping during homeroom. I want you to investigate her case and find out how she really feels about these rumors." Ah great, I thought I could get away wit it scoot-free.
"But aren't you the guidance counselor? I'm sure it's easier if you'll just call her here ang give her some counseling."
"And you won't receive your punishment? No way! Besides, one of the reasons why I made the service club is because I want it to become some sort of extension of my guidance counseling. You can just consider this as a service club request from me so feel free to inform your clubmates about this."
Just when she's done talking, a loud person suddenly entered the faculty office.
"Ah! What's with these kids crushing on their teachers nowadays?" The annoying monkey then moved towards us."Eh! Is this one also confessing to you, Shizuka-chan?" Do they know each ither well?
Okay, not that I have any crush on Hiratsuka-sensei or anything but I might actually fall in love with her if I were ten years older. However, I couldn't feel any of it because the age gap was just too much for me to even slightly consider it.
"You may go now, Hikigaya." She then turned towards Arai-sensei. "Shut up, Pin! You're just delusional."
So basically, they just started arguing about something that isn't audible enough for me because I'm already outside the office. If that is how she treated men of her age, then that's probably why she's still single.
Without any delay, I proceeded to the service club room immediately after I saw a bunch of email notifications from Yuigahama. I slid the door open and saw the two scanning the old laptop that Hiratsuka-sensei left here for club use. Seeing me, each gave their greeting, though I'm still not used by this "Yahallo" of Yuigahama.
"Yo." I gave them my usual greeting and sat at my usual seat.
After a short while, I decided to pass to them about the task that is given to us by Hiratsuka-sensei, though I will omit the part where it was partly my punishment.
"Uh guys, I came from Hiratsuka-sensei earlier and she gave me a request for the club."
Hearing this, Yukinoshita first turned her attention to me while Yuigahama was still clicking on the laptop until I heard a small explosion from the speaker of the laptop. Minesweeper, huh?
"Oh, I thought you're just ditching club activities. So what's the request?" Yukinoshita asked.
"I'm pretty sure you're already familiar with her because of the rumors. It's about a student from class 2-C named Kuronuma Sawako."
A/N: I just updated this fic to let you guys know that this isn't dead yet. I just want to focus first on my other fic and try to update this one after finishing the other or whenever the time presents itself. And wow! 90 favorites and 100 follows for just two chapters! Thank you so much guys!