Chapter 83
Chapter 83
"Oh, come on, don't be like that."
So-hee dragged a desk over, screeching it across the floor.
Right. So-hee had transferred to this school, so of course she needed a desk and a chair. The very fact there were spares in the classroom meant she'd been properly enrolled. Normally, no spare desks or chairs would be sitting in a classroom here.
......Although she was forcing that desk right between me and Ha-neul.
"......What exactly are you doing?"
Ha-neul asked as if she had about twenty things she wanted to say, but she'd start with that one thing to keep it short.
"Ah, this?"
At Ha-neul's question, So-hee puffed out her chest.
"Obviously, I'm Ye Sa-ra's personal maid. I should sit as close as possible."
"......This is a walkway for the other students."
She was right. Normally there were gaps between the rows of desks. Whether that space was intentionally left so students could walk through easily, or it was a remnant from the era when class sizes were huge and just ended up empty after the birth rate collapsed, I can't say.
"They said that being here basically counts as not being here anyway. They'll figure out how to get by. Crawl over the desk, jump across it, whatever."
I'm not sure how many kids in this class have that kind of athleticism, though.
Actually, I doubt anyone would treat that as "counting as not being here." Maybe if you walked all the way around.
Then again, Ha-neul has a fundamentally kind-looking face, so I do worry other kids might see her as an easy target. But in So-hee's case...... well, it's a little rude to put it this way, but judging purely by visuals, she looked more like someone who does the bullying than someone who gets bullied. I don't know if her skin was naturally a darker shade or if she was genuinely tanned, that distinctive trait, but at any rate, just looking at her, she came off as the sort of kid who liked to have fun.
And she really did like to have fun. In the game she had tons of friends. She virtually never missed school, but she had a bulldozer personality where she'd happily skip the second she felt like it.
Even among the partying crowd at this school, few advertised "I'm a party girl" that openly.
On top of that, So-hee had unbuttoned three buttons on her shirt right now.
The ribbon that was supposed to be worn properly like a necktie was undone, hanging limp.
It was so indecent that even the homeroom teacher couldn't bring herself to call her out on it.
......Could the reason she kept walking around like that at her old school be that the teachers found it too awkward to point out? Worried she'd report them for sexual harassment?
"......."
Ha-neul pressed the bridge of her nose with her fingers as if a headache was coming on.
"No, no matter how you look at it, this spot isn't meant for a desk......"
Despite her protests, I kept ending up glued to Ha-neul's side. And we were already notorious for openly ignoring the teachers during class. It did feel a little rich to claim we had to follow the rules now, but Ha-neul was a diligent kid at heart.
She was only breaking school rules to help me. Originally, she was meant to live quietly and then get tangled up with the other characters. So I, the root cause of this whole mess, probably had no right to say anything to her.
"How about asking one of the kids nearby to switch seats?"
Ha-neul suggested, not giving up.
"Ah, you think?"
So-hee sprang up as if the thought had just occurred to her. Without a moment's hesitation, she strode boldly toward the kid sitting right behind me.
Standing squarely in the space between my chair and that kid's desk, So-hee looked down at her and spoke.
"Hey."
......Couldn't she at least show the bare courtesy of checking a name tag?
"......."
No answer came.
Still, the fact that she'd stopped the conversation she'd been having with another kid just moments before suggested she was at least a little scared. It was a stark contrast to when Ha-neul tried talking to people and got no response at all.
Which made perfect sense. Ha-neul looked kind to everyone, looked diligent, and was gentle in conversation. If someone walked up and just went "Hey" like they were picking a fight, anyone would be scared.
On top of that, So-hee was on the taller side for a girl. If a kid like that stared down at you from above and talked like that, who wouldn't be terrified? Even I would immediately hand over a textbook if some Tanned Blond Playboy about 187 centimeters tall walked up and asked to borrow one.
But these kids would also know the score. This was So-hee, the girl who'd talked with me and boldly declared herself my maid. You didn't mingle with anyone connected to me. To uphold that principle, they couldn't talk to So-hee.
Well, seeing the teachers give Ha-neul various orders, it probably wasn't a strict "do not speak" level of prohibition...... but unlike Ha-neul, who was merely a friend, So-hee was openly my maid, so they were likely more on edge about that.
So-hee's back was to me, so I couldn't see her expression. But from the sound of her voice alone, it didn't seem especially friendly.
"Hellooo~ Are you ignoring me~?"
So-hee rapped her fingers on the kid's desk. At the scrape of a chair against the floor, I glanced over—the kid had flinched.
"......."
The eyes of everyone around us swung this way. So-hee didn't seem to care at all.
"Hmm."
She waved her hand right in front of the kid's face and smacked the desk a couple of times.
Still no answer.
From my angle, though, it looked like the kid was just clenching her jaw and enduring it.
I couldn't see her face from here either, just like I couldn't see So-hee's, but it wouldn't be strange at all if her eyes were brimming with tears.
"Hah."
So-hee let out a breath of disbelief, sweeping her hair back. To anyone watching, she was an unmistakably pissed-off thug. Though I still couldn't see her expression from this angle.
So-hee stepped slightly to the side of the desk. Then she crouched down in a posture that was thoroughly unladylike, one that conjured up the image all too easily of sitting in some secluded corner of the school or outside a convenience store with similarly dyed friends, and met the kid's eyes head-on as the girl kept her head down.
"Hhk."
The kid sucked in a breath. So-hee looked at her,
"You, are you ignoring me right n—"
She was about to say it in a slightly threatening voice—
"Hold it—!"
—but thanks to the disciplinary committee member with the idiot hair and blue hair who came charging in, she didn't get to finish the sentence.
Everyone's gazes, which had been fixed on So-hee with tense expressions, swiveled around to stare at the disciplinary committee member. I heard someone let out a long exhale. Probably a sigh of relief from the kid behind me now that So-hee's attention had shifted.
So-hee, still in her crouch, turned her head to look at the disciplinary committee member. Her upper body twisted slightly, her head turned, and her eyes shifted sidelong as if glaring. Whether she intended it or not, it was such a murderous expression that any elementary school kid walking by would've wet their pants.
......So she'd been acting completely tame around me. So this is what a real thug looks like.
Well, for a thug, she didn't exactly live a thug's life. Still, she was a female protagonist. If she were too unlikable, the players would hate her.
Looking as if to say What now?, So-hee slowly straightened up.
"Ugh......."
Watching that, the disciplinary committee member took a step back. Yeah, seeing it in person, the pressure hits different, doesn't it?
As a disciplinary committee member, she'd have no shortage of things to call out. For starters she'd have to call out that whole chest situation, but could this disciplinary committee girl even manage it?
"What's with her now......?"
So-hee asked, looking toward me.
"Disciplinary committee member."
"They have those here too?"
I imagine they exist at other schools too. Though they'd have zero presence, of course. Honestly, who goes through school memorizing the student council president's name? All through elementary, middle, and high school, I voted in student council elections wondering why we even bothered. If I'd known who anyone was, I might've actually thought about my vote before casting it.
By the time I got to college, I didn't vote at all anymore.
"She's a good kid, though. One of the few people in this school who doesn't ignore me."
"D-Don't just go deciding that on your own!"
......I called her a good kid, and her response was "Don't go deciding that on your own"—did that mean she wanted me to think she was a bad kid?
Well, more likely she just blurted it out without thinking. A reflexive reaction. She was a kid who was determined never to lose to me, after all.
"Oh, yeah?"
At my words, So-hee looked rather impressed. Even if she hadn't seen it herself, So-hee had heard from us that I was being ignored. The moment she saw this girl stepping forward without ignoring me, she'd probably concluded there was no way she could be a bad kid.
So-hee raised a hand toward the disciplinary committee member and said,
"How about we get along? We're both the kind of people who don't ignore others, yeah?"
"Do you think I came to talk to you people because I wanted to!?"
Apparently our sheer audacity had pushed her to the limit, because the disciplinary committee member shouted. Then she jabbed her index finger straight at So-hee and said,
"You! You were threatening that girl just now, weren't you!?"
"Huh?"
So-hee dropped her gaze and looked down at the kid she'd just been pressuring. Then she looked back at the disciplinary committee member.
"No, she ignored me first."
"Then that means she just didn't want to talk! There's no need to force a conversation!"
She had a point.
Though I'd assumed So-hee got pissed because the kid was openly acting like she didn't consider her a person.
In truth, it'd be hard for So-hee to have a positive image of this school. She was close to me and had heard about this place entirely from my and my friends' perspectives. From our perspective, it wouldn't be strange at all if she thought the whole school was full of nothing but awful people.
Except for a few unusual cases like this disciplinary committee member.
"......Hey."
So-hee called me quietly.
"Does she not know you get ignored?"
"I told her. She just doesn't believe it."
"Why?"
Her brow furrowed slightly as she asked. I didn't have much of an answer.
"Uh...... maybe because I'm too good at playing the Villainess?"
"......Just what kind of stuff happened?"
"......I'll tell you later."
The story about how I tried to placate her and failed—let's save that for when we have plenty of time.
"And you, that ribbon—"
Just as the disciplinary committee member was about to call out So-hee's outfit as well,
ding-dong-deng-dong, the school bell rang. It was the warning bell. Since it was our classroom, the bell didn't affect us, but if the disciplinary committee member didn't hurry back, she wouldn't be ready for class in time. There were ten minutes after the warning bell before the class bell rang, but homeroom teachers usually came in right after the warning bell to do morning announcements before starting the lesson.
"......Anyway, I'm definitely not letting this slide!"
With a threat that wasn't particularly scary, she rushed out of the classroom.
"......."
A moment of silence.
"Well, then."
As if that settled everything, So-hee looked down at me and grinned.
"Looks like I've got no choice but to sit here."
"......."
I heard the sound of Ha-neul letting out a long sigh.