A Lucky Day
Just because I realized the world had flipped didn’t mean the sky split open or meteors came crashing down.
—Ding~ diding~ diriridiriding~ ding~ diding~ didingdingding~ ♬
“All right, kids. Eat well, and try not to sleep through fifth period.”
“““Yes~”””
From the moment PE ended until lunch, I never took my eyes off the window. There was definitely no sign of anything like that. Absolutely none.
I inevitably missed most of the lesson, but it was probably more important than class anyway.
So, that was that.
“Chana, Chana~ Keep that up and you’ll get a stiff neck. What’s so interesting about that window that you’ve been staring at it for three straight hours?”
“Dreams, hope, and love.”
“Pffhahaha, what the hell are you talking about? You’re so weird~”
The weird one is your way of talking, you bastard.
In this reversed world, Maru had become girl-like—and if it weren’t for that cute face, the speech patterns would have been a little physiologically off-putting.
It was still hard to get used to, but what choice did I have? I had to adapt.
Anyway, for three hours I’d been philosophically agonizing over why the world had changed…
…………
I had no idea.
How could I possibly know something like that?
I briefly wondered, Maybe it’s because I hated the world…? But if that were enough to flip everything, then why hadn’t the debt I screamed at dozens of times a day to just disappear ever gone away? That question killed the thought.
In the end, I just didn’t know.
If there was a god, the god would know.
Oh, right—and one more thing.
It wasn’t only the world that had changed.
After PE, the sweat felt gross, so I went into the bathroom to wash up and discovered that my face had undergone free plastic surgery of its own accord.
Of course, it wasn’t so different that people wouldn’t recognize me. More like a crow turning into an eagle? A slight upgrade.
Some people might think, “How is that only a slight upgrade? Those two aren’t even similar,” but they’d be completely wrong.
They’re both birds, after all—same class. I originally planned to go with earthworm-to-snake, but those are different classes, so crow-and-eagle it was. Very important distinction.
Long digression aside, the world had given me free plastic surgery, so maybe I’d gained a second father.
Ah—around here it would be a second mother.
“Chana, Chana. What are you muttering about? It’s lunchtime—aren’t you going to eat? Are you sick? Is it your wet-dream day today?”
“…What? Wh-what kind of day?”
“Aigoo, why so embarrassed~ I said wet-dream day…”
Stop. Don’t whisper that into my ear.
Don’t scramble my brain any further.
What the hell even is a wet-dream day…
I didn’t know. I should just eat…
I’d spent so long completely checked out, having insane thoughts, that I was starving.
I had a part-time job later and needed to fill up now, or I’d be in real trouble. I’d almost skipped lunch.
“Still, the world changing must’ve thrown you for a loop. You checked out for three whole hours…”
“Hmm~? What’d you say?”
“Nothing… Let’s go eat. Food.”
“Ah, okay! I’ll grab Jisu real quick. Just a sec!”
Maru brought Jisu back, and Seol came along with her, so the four of us headed for the cafeteria.
My situation was so chaotic I hadn’t cared what was on the menu, but the closer we got, the richer the smell of frying oil hit my nose.
“Hey, does anyone know what’s for lunch today?”
“I think it’s chicken drumsticks and steamed egg.”
“Whoa…”
Today’s lunch was insane.
I couldn’t even remember the last time chicken had touched my lips, and now it was school lunch.
Of course, cafeteria chicken would never match the portion or taste of the real thing sold outside, but Chicken God was still Chicken God.
Full of anticipation, we went downstairs. There they were—the mouthwatering chicken drumsticks I’d been dreaming of.
I stood in line, sanitized my hands at the entrance to properly receive the chicken, and finally it was my turn for serving.
I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and prepared to welcome Chicken God.
The line moved, and before I knew it my turn arrived.
Normally I just quietly said thanks and moved on, but maybe seeing Chicken God put me in such a good mood that my voice came out higher and more coquettish than usual.
“Wow! Thank you. I’ll enjoy it!”
And for some reason, the server’s face flushed red as she added one more drumstick and said,
“Y-yeah! H-here, eat lots more!”
“Huh? Is it okay to give me this much?”
“O-of course! Once serving’s over there’s always a ton left and we can’t finish it ourselves.”
“Oh, really? Thanks! I’ll really enjoy it!”
Today my luck was ridiculously good.
Never mind the world flipping—free plastic surgery plus a double-drumstick event… I was almost moved to tears.
Of course, that wasn’t true at all.
Main dishes like drumsticks were cooked to match the student count almost exactly, so they often ran short rather than left over.
But the teenage girl handling the drumsticks that day, faced with the school’s most beautiful boy giving her such a bright, cheerful thank-you, felt an irresistible urge to scoop a little extra and blurted out a lie on the spot.
Naturally, after serving ended and she had no drumstick left for herself, that was pure karma.
After that happy lunch, time seemed to fly by.
Probably just my mood talking.
Anyway, the important thing was that school was over.
I was about to drag my usual heavy feet toward my part-time job when Maru suddenly blocked my path.
“Wh-what… Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing like that. You’ve got counseling today.”
Ah, right. I did.
But I had to go to work.
Missing even one day cost me money.
“So… Maru. People have to choose between what they must do and what they want to do.”
“Hmm? Your tone suddenly got weird… And?”
“Of course I’d love to sit down with our pretty, deeply respected teacher and chat about my recent life and plans for the future, but that’s only what I want to do. Maru, you understand what I mean, right?”
“So basically, counseling with the teacher is useless to you?”
“Haha…. Ha…”
Haha, as expected—our Maru always understood exactly what I meant.
That was why I liked Maru.
“Mmm, a bit harsh, but not entirely wr—”
“Ah, Teacher!”
What?
“Oh! Our Chan! So that’s how you felt about counseling with me! Aigoo~ You wanted it that badly? Then shall we make today’s session a light three hours?”
“N-no. There’s no need to go that far… It would be a burden on you, Teacher…”
“Aigoo, this is about my lovely student—what’s a little burden to me? Come on, let’s go!”
“W-wait a second!”
Teacher was smiling, but a thick vein stood out on her forehead—maybe she was a little angry.
So that wasn’t just a manga expression?
“Um… Teacher. You know I didn’t mean that, right?”
“Haha. Chan, don’t worry. This teacher always takes our students’ words completely to heart.”
“Haha, yes…”
I was screwed.
And so the counseling session happened after all.
Early-semester counseling usually meant an awkward conversation between a student and teacher who barely knew each other.
But maybe because we’d known each other since middle school, or maybe because the earlier incident had put Teacher in an excellent mood, our session was filled with warmth rather than awkwardness.
“Haha, so our Chan doesn’t like talking with Teacher?”
“No, no. How could that be? It’s a chance for a private audience with the school’s most beautiful woman.”
“Hmm… Can I take that as completely sincere?”
“Absolutely.”
Unlike earlier, that part was actually true.
The only celebrities I’d ever seen in person were girl groups dancing and promoting at volleyball games, but Teacher’s looks didn’t lose to any of them.
“Well then, let’s drop that and get a little formal. Chan, is there anything at school that’s bothering you right now?”
“English is too hard.”
“Chan-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“Then how about actually listening in class, hmm? Your homeroom teacher is the English teacher—you should at least know the basics…”
“Tsk, that feels like an unreasonable request. Sounds pretty tough.”
“Chan, people might think I’m demanding you get a top grade on the exam.”
The formal-yet-friendly counseling continued like that until we finally reached the somewhat sensitive topic of home life.
I’d been half-avoiding counseling because of this, but now that it was actually here, I didn’t feel much of anything.
“Mmm… Chan… you’re living alone right now, aren’t you?”
“…Yes. Living alone isn’t… all that bad, actually…. Yeah, it’s not bad.”
“……I see. If anything’s hard privately, or if you ever want to talk, you can always tell Teacher. Nothing said here will ever reach the school or the other kids, and the way I treat you will never change.”
“Come on… Life’s hard for everyone. Why would I need counseling over something like this? Everyone… everyone has their own struggles…”
“Is that so?”
“…Yes. There’s no way… anyone has it easy…”
“I see.”
Of course I was human—I wanted to complain, wanted comfort—but in a counseling session like this…
I couldn’t just whine to someone I wasn’t even that close to…
“I… I’m living so hard… but that’s just… how it is for everyone, right? S-so I’m fi—”
“Chan.”
“Y-yes…?”
“If it’s really hard to say, you can just think of Teacher as your mom and tell me. As much as you want.”
Was it okay to say it?
Was it okay for me to lean on someone?
I couldn’t answer that question myself, so the words just slipped out on their own.
“Teacher…”
“Mm.”
“Living… is…”
“Mm.”
“Living is so hard…”
“…I see.”
“Why is living this hard for me…?”
“…….”
“Why did my dad gamble, and why did my m-mom leave me…?”
“…….”
“Why… why do I have to keep living like this……?”
“……”
“I-if I have to keep living like this, I’d rather ju—”
Teacher, who had been quietly listening the whole time, stood up before I could finish and pulled me into a hug.
“Eh… eueh?”
“Chan.”
“…Yes.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s all the adults’ fault. So don’t think those things. You can cry as much as you want. Don’t… don’t have those bad thoughts.”
Holding me, Teacher’s voice was thick with tears and trembling.
Why was the person talking perfectly fine while Teacher was the one crying? That was what I thought—until I saw that the someone reflected in Teacher’s eyes was also sobbing hard.
At some point I was crying too.
And that day, I never made it to my part-time job.