Ryunosuke Chiba was absolutely bewildered by the events of the past few days. First, they had 2 new teachers. Second, one of his new teacher looked like a talking octopus alien and had super speed. Third, the government had told his class that their new teacher had destroyed 70% of the moon. Lastly, the most crazy part of that unbelievably crazy list was that his 3-E class was expected to kill their new teacher before he destroyed the Earth at the end of the school year for a cash bounty. His class had no training. In Chiba's opinion, Class 3-E was filled with the lowest of the low, the failures of the failures, the worst of the worst. Maybe the tentacled monster had chosen Class 3-A, they would have had a shot at killing him. But Class 3-E would never have a shot at this. They couldn't even get good grades.
Chiba looked around to see what the rest of his classmates were doing. The octopus was teaching a lesson, but most of the students were still in a state of disbelief, even after 3 days. He smirked a little. That was one opportunity of having bangs cover your eyes: no one could ever tell if you were paying attention. Except one person. He felt an intense gaze from the front left and turned to see a pair of emerald eyes making eye contact with him, despite his eyes being covered. Chiba involuntarily made a slight smile. The corner of Hayami Rinka's lips turned up just slightly before she turned back around.
Back when he was in normal classes, Chiba had never had an friends. Sure, he had people who were friendly to him, but they usually disappeared as soon as he handed them back their work. One afternoon, Chiba left for the library, loaded with his and several other classmates' work. He was never able to say no when someone asked for help. The words just wouldn't come out. Chiba took on more and more work, even as his own grades began to slip. He never found the ability to voice his concerns; he just kept coming to his empty table at the library, day after day.
One day, the seat across from him was taken.
Chiba sat down apprehensively. He peeked through his bangs to see a girl sitting across from him. He had seen her before, sitting by herself at another table in the library. She had red hair and emerald eyes. If Chiba had to choose one word to describe her, he would use purposeful. During the time that she worked that afternoon, she did problem after problem without getting distracted or getting water. Her gaze was so intense, Chiba was surprised that the paper didn't have singe marks. If he had to guess, Chiba thought this girl was in the same dilemma as him. She had way too much homework for just one person.
They worked in silence until the library closed at nightfall. She gave no indication that she noticed him. They both left in silence.
The next day, she was there. Again, they both worked in silence, doing problem after problem, bearing the weight of other people's burdens. Even though they didn't speak to each other, her presence was strangely comforting to Chiba. Someone else knew what he was going through, knew his pain, understood his problems.
It would be 3 weeks before they would say a single word. Chiba had just pushed his chair and headed for the exit when he heard "You left your water bottle."
He turned around in surprise. Her voice was very flat and businesslike, but Chiba did not find it weird because he could relate. Chiba turned around to pick up his water bottle and uttered a terse "Thanks". She nodded in response.
That short conversation was a catalyst for more talking. They began greeting each other when one of them sat down and saying goodbye to each other as they left.
It was two more weeks before they moved beyond greetings. Chiba was trying to speed through a worksheet when suddenly, "Do you know how to solve this problem?". Chiba looked up. The girl was looking at him, a worksheet in her hand. Chiba silently grabbed it from her.
For just a moment, their fingers touched.
Despite both of their best efforts, Chiba and the girl both turned red. Chiba quickly moved to start solving the problem to avoid eye contact and avoid meeting her see his red face. The problem was pretty complex, but math had always been his best subject. After a couple of minutes, he wordlessly handed it back to her. Chiba was about to return to his work when he heard "What is your name?".
Chiba looked at her. Their faces were no longer red from that awkward instance earlier. Somehow, she was maintaining exact eye contact with him, even though his eyes were covered.
"Chiba. Chiba Ryunosuke.", he felt himself mumble. He was such a loser; he couldn't even talk straight.
"I'm Hayami Rinka.", she said back flatly.
"Thank you for the help.", Hayami said and turned back to her work.
Slowly, over the next couple of months, the two formed somewhat of a partnership. When Hayami needed help with math or science, she asked Chiba for help. When Chiba needed help with social studies, English, or Japanese grammar, he asked Hayami for help. If one of them finished their stack of homework first, they would help work on the person's stack. They began leaving the library together as well. They didn't live too far apart, so they walked home together in comforting silence.
Slowly, the bonds of academic partnership began to fade and a new friendship was created. Chiba and Hayami walked to school everyday in comforting silence. They sat together at lunch and tried to get a head start on their massive stacks of homework. After school, they worked in the library and walked home together.
They began to learn the details of each other's lives. Sometimes, Chiba would have headphones and Hayami noticed that his playlist was all Japanese punk. On the way home, Chiba noticed that Hayami always looked longingly at the cats in the front of the pet store. Sometimes, Chiba's sisters would open the door and Hayami got a brief glimpse of them before a tree blocked her view as she walked home. One day, Chiba was walking by Hayami's house on the way to the grocery store and heard the sounds of jazz music and sharp footsteps coming out of the open window. They never directly told the other person about their lives. Chiba and Hayami somehow just knew that the other person knew.
That period in their life was the calm before the storm.
One cold afternoon, Chiba walked slowly to the library. He had received the dreaded letter. Chiba was going to E class. Studying for others had cost his grades dearly. Strangely, the first thing that he had thought was not about his parents, but about Hayami. He would probably never see his only friend ever again. She probably wouldn't even want to be seen with an E class outcast anyway.
When he walked into the library, he saw Hayami sitting at their normal table. Unusually, she didn't have a pencil out. She was just staring at a piece of paper.
Guess I should just rip off the Band Aid and get this over with, Chiba thought to himself. As he got closer, he could tell her eyes were puffy. Hayami had covered it up well enough that a normal person wouldn't notice, but Chiba had known her for almost a year and could tell.
That's when he knew that she was in E Class as well.
The first emotion that he felt was relief, that he wouldn't be alone. Then, he felt extremely guilty and chided himself for his own selfishness. Chiba sat down and did the most impulsive thing in his entire life.
He grabbed Hayami's hand and squeezed it.
She looked up at him in surprise. This was the most contact they had ever had with each other. And then, she understood. His hand had conveyed his message. She was not going to be alone in E Class. Even if they were going to be outcasts, they would be outcasts together. They would be best friends, always. She squeezed his hand back.
After 10 seconds, Chiba let his hand go.
"Thank you, Chiba.", Hayami mumbled.
They just sat at the table. Neither of them had any homework anymore. No one wanted to even interact with anyone going to E Class.
"Hayami, let's go. We have nothing to do here.", Chiba felt himself say.
She looked up at him and nodded. Despite it still being afternoon, it was very dark. They were in the heart of winter. They walked in silence, thinking about what they were going to tell their parents.
Suddenly, Chiba crossed the street. Hayami was utterly bewildered. They never went this way. She picked up her pace to catch up to him. Chiba kept going up the sidewalk and suddenly stopped. Hayami caught up to him and was about to ask him what he was doing when she realized where they were.
They went inside. Hayami immediately headed to the left. There were kittens, lots of them. Hayami immediately got on her knees to play with them and pet them. Chiba watched from above. He felt a slight grin coming to his face as he watched this shy, serious girl alter her personality for these kittens. Hayami turned around and gave Chiba a small smile. It conveyed her message and Chiba received. Nothing was said. Nothing was needed to be said. They both knew what the other was trying to say. That's how their friendship was.
That's how their friendship is. Chiba thought to himself as he returned to the present. He may be stuck in E Class. He may have a teacher that was an octopus looking creature that couldn't be killed. He may die by the end of this school year. But at least he had his best friend with him for this crazy ride. He smiled slightly and went back to solving his problems.