Silence.
My question made the air around the room denser and heavier every second the girl didn't answer.
Taking advantage of this awkward situation, I made my eyes slowly roam around the room to look for clues as to what really happened.
It seems like most of my classmates have their phones on hand, only putting it away when I met their eyes.
Interesting.
Finally, the attractive girl with a ponytail made a move towards me. In a flurry of movement, she grabbed my left wrist and dragged me out of the classroom, saving me from the suffocating stares of the populace. Her action eliciting a synchronous gasp from our fellow students.
Once we were outside, she closed the door and tried to explain the situation to me while holding my shoulders in a very firm manner. Almost as if to non verbally communicate to be to stay calm.
In a low but commanding voice, she said;
"Hikigaya, a video was leaked about you and Sensei. It was about the conversation you just had on the rooftop during lunch. I don't know you much, but I know that you absolutely hate attention. I'm sorry this is happening to you."
"wha-"
"Hikigaya?"
I gasped, surprised by what I heard. I could feel my breathing lose its rhythm and my face paling. The ramifications... This could turn into a disaster if not handled correctly. Shizuka's career might be upended because of this.
"This is-"
"Bad. I know. Oh god. Sensei... She'd get in big trouble for this! Fuck! This is all my fault... I knew I should've kept a better eye out while we were talking..."
After trying to catch my breath and calm myself, I looked at the girl and asked her name.
"Thank you, again. I'm sorry for earlier, I should've defused the tension before it became violent."
"I-it's ok. I'm h-happy y-our okay."
Huh? Stuttering? What the?
Ah. It might be my eyes again. I shouldn't have looked her dead on the eyes. My bad.
Seeing as our talk was finished, I tried to walk back in the room. I was in front of the closed door when I felt her hand once again wrap around my left wrist. Turning around, I saw her earlier angry face contort into a gentle, almost motherly smile.
"I do-don't know if you remember me, but we were classmates back in elementary and middle school. We're also neighbors too. I live at the white fenced house in front of yours. I'm Kawasaki Saki, by the way."
With each word she said, I could feel her confidence slowly come back. Her stutter slowly fading after each sentence.
A neighbor? I have a neighbor that looks this good? Since when?
Rubbing the nape of my neck to ease my awkwardness when talking to people, I said;
"A-ah. That's- That's good. Nice too me-et you, Kawasaki. Thanks again for earlier. See you around, I guess."
Was it just me or was that a dejected face I saw on her? Meh. Might be just my imagination.
What. The. Hell. Was that?!
That was so uncool, Saki! So cringe! I think I want to be swallowed by the ground right about now.
'Hi, I know you, by the way. Like, a lot.'
Talk about looking like a stalker. AHHHH!
As we were walking back to our seats, I hear the noise around the room slowly decrease from boisterous exchanges into hushed whispers once again. Their topic most likely about the cynical loner who's now trying to take a nap on his desk.
Looking to my left after I sat on my desk, I see Hayama's clique acting as usual, trying to pretend that nothing happened. It's hard to do that though when the leader of the group keeps sulking on his desk, only occasionally looking up to look at the loner and fucking grin.
Tch, this guy is obnoxious as fuck right now. I should've punched him earlier in his perfect face.
I don't know what came over me, to urge me to stop his fist from punching Hachiman in the head. I remember my body moving on its own when I saw him winding up for a round 2. After thinking about it though, my mind came back to the loner's earlier statement about dodging.
"I've dodged faster punches in middle school, Kid."
I don't know if that was what he said word-for-word, but it was the moment when I felt something clench inside of me, making me remember everything I saw on my peripheral vision during in middle school. All the bullying, the laughing, the mockery. It was like seeing your life flash before your eyes, but instead of yours, it was his.
That statement was the most likely cause of what I did, and I can't believe I finally did it.
I was weak.
I was a coward.
I hated myself.
But not anymore.
I could finally say that I saved him from something, just like how he saved me all those years ago.
A truck, a little girl, a push. Blood, Ambulance, Hospital.
Only took me a decade to give back the favor.
My mind is on overdrive, trying to predict the most likely outcomes of this situation. As a student, the most I could get from this is a suspension, but as a sensei, Shizuka would surely be in deep waters because of this.
Our relationship has always been the reason why I wanted to attend Soubu High. Her Alma Matter and her stories back when she was still a student here helped me go through a lot, her exciting retellings of her days here made my miserable middle school years more tolerable than it would have been. I remember her coming back from Soubu and meeting her in the nearby seesaw.
I remember her telling me about her day here, making me forget about what I had to go through that day. I remember her getting the job as the Modern Japanese Literature teacher here, and our celebration on Saize. Her face was filled with excitement and joy that day.
To know that there is a possibility of her getting fired because of what we did, makes my head ache.
Footsteps, two pairs, from outside of the room broke me from my reverie. The class' noisy whispers slowly dull as they hear the same thing I did.
The front door of the room quickly opened to reveal to two figures, one familiar and one unfamiliar.
On one side, the voluptuous form of Shizuka made all eyes magnetically look into their direction. Her hard look and scowl indicating that she already knows of video. She was carrying a few papers, her usual Japanese book missing from her person.
On the other side, an old man with a lengthy, white beard came into view. His aura screamed authority and respect. His eyes were not unlike mine, pupils glazed over as if to symbolize that he was thinking. Instead of deathly cynicism though, his eyes were filled with an ironic youthful glow.
His eyes scanned around the room, like a cloud passing through a mountaintop. My black onyx met his sapphire blue and he said;
"Good Day, 2-F."
Seemingly awakening from their dazed states, most of the class replied;
"Good Day, Principal."
Oh shit. It's hitting the fan, alright.