Hajime's good mood lasted right up to the point he reached his classroom. When Kaori slid the door open, however, his smile stiffened into a grimace.
As soon as they saw who entered, the entire classroom either frowned or put a silent sneer on their faces, just for Hajime.
Hajime dared a glance at Kaori. She was oblivious to the abundant lack of welcome her boyfriend was receiving as she said hello to her own friends, which included a certain ponytailed termagant.
She noticed Hajime right after greeting Kaori with a smile. At that point, her smile became more akin to a lioness's snarl than anything else.
"You're here early. For once." Yaegashi Shizuku said. The edge of her tone made Hajime wince.
A tongue was indeed stronger than a sword, particularly more if the tongue belonged to someone with swordsmanship as a specialty.
Even Kaori managed to notice her best friend's icy tone. She glanced between the two with a slight frown on her forehead.
"Shizuku, don't be so hostile to him."
Hajime tried to slip into his seat unnoticed, but Shizuku's glare kept him bound on the spot.
"I'm not being hostile, Kaori. He had been late for school every day since the beginning of this semester. Until today. As a class monitor, it's my job to point out things like this."
"But..."
As Kaori tried to argue for the sake of her boyfriend, a boy tapped on her shoulder to garner her attention.
Kaori spun around and grimaced herself at the boy standing in front of her.
"Hi...Mikasachi."
"Please. You can call me Kaito," Kaito said with a smug grin. Kaori rolled her eyes.
"I specifically remember refusing to do so the last time you asked me out."
Several students snickered. Shizuku let a snort through her nose. However, Kaito merely shrugged, his confident smile not wavering in the slightest bit.
"Either way, I couldn't help but notice that you just came in through our classroom door hand-in-hand with our class weeaboo over there."
Kaito nudged over his shoulder to point at Hajime with his thumb.
Hajime tried his best to hide in his seat, but everyone in the class was staring at him; giving him disapproving glances, whispering among themselves.
Kaori huffed out loud with her arms crossed.
"We are. So what? And don't call him a weeaboo."
Kaito's smile only grew, like a clown that just stumbled upon a very good subject for a joke. He stepped up to the teacher's deck and stretched his arms out.
"My, my. It seems that God is really fair after all, doesn't it boys and girls?"
He said in a loud voice that reached the other end of the classroom no problem.
The entire class snickered again. This time, some of them even shouted "Here, here!", all the while giving Hajime a silent jeer as well.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaori asked with an apparent frown. Kaito bowed to her, albeit in a very sarcastic manner.
"What it means is, Kaori, you have a very terrible preference when it comes to your boyfriends."
Kaori, now understanding that everyone was making fun of Hajime, opened her mouth furiously to make a retort.
However, before a single word ushered out from her lips, Shizuku stepped in. She slammed the edge of her kendo stick against the classroom floor, silencing any noise that was present beforehand.
"Get back to your seat."
The class monitor pointed the edge of her weapon to Kaito, who stepped down from the desk, his smiles wavering.
Shizuku snorted at the apparent cowardly manner and flipped her kendo stick back to its place with a certain ease.
"That is enough. It is one thing to embarrass yourself, it's another to start bullying one of our classmates."
"As if you ever gave any care," Kaito muttered under his breath, but he hurried back to his chair when Shizuku snapped her eyes over to him.
Just then, the bell signaled the start of the class. Shizuku and Kaori both hurried back to their respective seats as the homeroom teacher came through the front door.
Hajime slumped over his desk. He always did, but today he felt even more miserable. He had hoped, as foolish as it now sounded, that being with Kaori would somehow reduce the bullying he received.
As much as he appreciated Kaori for standing up for him, his hope was dashed by the second half of the conversation.
'Why did I even expect anything to change?' He glumly thought to himself, 'I am still the same person-same, pathetic person.'
Hajime sighed into his arms and pulled himself into a slumber, as he always did in class. And by doing so, he missed a crucial thing that the homeroom teacher mentioned.
"And Miss Yaegashi, please go and fetch our 4 years old trouble maker up at the rooftop, will you?"
Shizuku swallowed her exasperated sigh.
"Yes, sir. Shall I go right now?"
"He is not even here; try at lunch break."
Shizuku sighed openly as the teacher left. The rest of the students gathered in threes or fives as they used the slight break time to either go to the bathroom or plain chat with each other.
Kaori tried to make her way to Hajime, but Shizuku put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.
"What are you doing?" Kaori hissed in a low voice and tried to free herself, but Shizuku's grip was ironclad.
"Kaori, I told you a million times before; think about the consequences before you act. If you go now, you'll only make things worse."
After a few seconds of pause, Kaori slumped back in her chair.
"Hajime is nice, Shizuku. You just have to get to know him better."
Shizuku looked at the boy in question, already asleep on his desk, slightly drooling over his school jacket.
"Well, not everyone would take your word for that," she said, as the bell signaling the first lesson rang alongside the hallways.
As I wise man once said, to elevate someone to greatness, you must first push them down some stairs first.
