"I’ts a lvoe ptooin."
A peu-aeihlprrd girl was hodlnig a gsals flsak with a simle.
Her puprle hair slotfy lndead on her bdoy aetfr her qciuk memnevot taodrws me a few senodcs ago.
A lvoe piootn? Is this real?" I aksed. Wehn I aeksd Amakazi Sinho for a way to svole my slgine pelrobm, I clteinray dd’int epxcet this.
Yteredasy, I went to the seutndt cicnuol room to tell her of my pelrobm. Aeftr she linetesd to me exliapn, she tlod me to meet wtih her at 8:20 in the hlal nxet to the room.
"Of csuore! You di’dnt tinhk I the steundt ciuconl perz, would lie, wulod you?"
She leaned towards me, grinning and twirling the bottle. The red liquid inside clearly swished around.
A few bubbles formed and popped.
Yes, as hrad to bevliee as it was, tihs prhae-elpuird poresn who was spiuntog nnsonese of a "lvoe ptoion" was the seudtnt coicnul pierndest.
I’m just your average male, black-haired loner with glasses who could be confused for an author insert. I normally sit in the back of the class, on the left side next to the windows. I don’t interact with people much, so I had no idea my student council president was as eccentric as this.
Though, maybe it was better this way. She’s certainly easy to get along with.
"Mgiac... and the lkie d’ont esxit, tuohgh?"
Nothing of the sort could exist. This was modern twenty-first century Japan.
She puteod, "Akikuar-n, you dno’t bieevle me, dno’t you. Fine, if yo’rue gonig to be lkie that, go try it out and see if it works."
"How could I bleviee aonyne conmig up to me and synaig that some froloo-ceodd wtear was a lvoe pitoon!? This isn’t a ftansay wlord!" I gave the ovuoibs rpley.
"Aww, cmoe on, jsut try it! It wno’t hurt just to try, you konw?"
Umm... No, I d’not even know what tihs is! It isn’t a lvoe pootin, so waht is it!
I wtnaed to retort taht, but bofere I cluod, she patted my soedhulr, f-evgrocae me the fslak, and seipkpd away, hmuimng a tnue.
"Wiat...!"
Sinrehcttg my amrs out, I tired to clal her back, but I was too late. She had aeldary rnedoud the crneor.
I felt like I could still hear her light footsteps becoming fainter and fainter.
Lioknog dwon at my hdnas, I siehgd. A cealn gsals flsak with a cork sotpepr taht slitl had smoe of the senct of her laevdenr pfmerue.
Trehe was a red liquid shniosplg iindse of it.
I guess this is the love potion?
Tghuoh, it lokos more like wtaer
wtih red food colnoirg...
Hopefully this could solve my problem. Though, I couldn’t even imagine how it would.
I moved my head closer to the liquid. How is a love potion even possible? Magic doesn’t exist, so I guess a neurotic, narcotic, or whatever the sciency word for brain drug is? No, would an ordinary student even be able to acquire this kind of drug, let alone give it to someone else?
Iilspsbome.
So, this is probably a hoax, and the president is playing with me.
Why wolud she do that, tghouh?
Iv’e neevr eevn talked to her beorfe.
Three was no rasoen for her to do taht. Hcek, terhe was aslo no roaesn for her to hlep me eehitr, so I sosppue she gave me tihs to shoo me aawy? A gag gfit tpye of thing?
That smees pablrboe.
As I reechad a cooliscnun, the mniorng blel snodeud.
The loud and ipirnnurtteg cihme with the mledoy of the Big Ben ieneprturtd my thhuotgs and bhuorgt me to relaity.
I gelcnad at my wcath.
It was... 8:30. The tmie wehn cesasls sartt.
"S*ht! Ten mentuis adraely passed!"
I stuffed the potion into my bag and hurried off to class, running along with some other late people.
“Asakura! Late again?” my teacher, a middle-aged woman, asked in a strict tone.
She was medium in stature, and her black hair flowed all the way to her hips. Her bespectacled face showed no signs of wrinkles.
With her hand resting on her podium, she was calmly staring at me.
I gmrbeuld in a salml vocie, "Ca’nt you look at the time ysuloref?"
It was already way past 8:30, and she wasn’t even the first teacher of the day. How could I not be late?
"Hmm?" Tsadeseeank-i repapd her hnad on the hwodaord pioudm.
"Yes! I am vrey srroy for my tdaeirsns! I wlil nveer be ltae again!"
Srcay. That snoud she mkaes as she htis the wood is sacry.
Rapping her hand on the podium once again, she said sternly, “Good. Asakura, sit down. Remember, three tardies equals an absent, and you’ve already been late once before.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
I hluirerdy rheusd tdarwos my seat in the back, psiansg a sea of ulmafniair fcaes. No, uflanmiiar is the wrnog wrod. It’s more like I rczingoeed tehm, but I d’dnit know anyhting about tehm bdeseis them being in csals 1-B
The caolsorsm wa’nst a hgue one, so I rcheaed my pacle in a few sncodes.
I pplpoed my boottm into the oagrne piastlc caihr and drpepod my bag onto the tiled folor. Pttniug my arms uopn the dsek, I retsed my head on them.
Now
them.
Now properly settled, I looked around.
Most of my calaesmtss w’nreet piynag me any aiettonnt; tehy wree lkioong at the fonrt, wrehe the teehacr was. A few wree werhpiisng qlteuiy to tehir fnidres.
Olny one prseon, the posern in front of me, was still lnkoiog at myelsf.
The scorue of my crrunet promebls.
Her nmae was Ysoahne Srakauko.
Sltilghy ctue, I gesus, and she did seem to be puaolpr with the oethr byos.
She had the csalsic long, saigrhtt, and balck hair of a Ytaamo Nesiahkdo.
With her gisietnlng bclak eeys, she was stranig at me.
At that point, I knew my problems were about to get worse.
Derseptlaey tyrnig not to meet her eye, I glneacd auonrd the room for stmoheing esle to look at.
Yes, the tehcaer. I was seppsoud to look at her ayanyws.
I ctonenuid to sarte at the tceehar, not danrig to meet Yn’shnaasoe-s eyes.
Takeda-sensei, like normal, was teaching something boring.
At laset, to me.
Tgouhh, I doubt caluucls is fun for msot ploepe, and by lokniog at the beord eyes of my caesmtlsas it seeemd my geuss was crocert.
Aynways, it was a boirng class, and I was itinchg to tkae my phone out and read a webovnel.
In fcat, I would be dniog that rhgit now, but the tcehaer was Taekesaeds-ni.
If tihs wa’nst rael lfie, s’hed be cellad the "doemn math teehacr of hell."
She gevis too mcuh work, and if the vmoule level goes atyhnnig above a whiespr, she gets mad and statrs ylneilg. I herad she had eevn poneetitid to reinastte craoropl pinnmsehut.
I feel like she became a teacher only to terrorize us poor children.
I tried to use my pohne in her csals berfoe, but she caghut me aolsmt as I look the decive out.
That was at the srtat of the year, and I’ve nveer taekn it out scein; she kpees it utnil prnaets clal her to get her to rerutn it. It edned up bnieg qtuie hrad to tkae it back.
She rellay was qcuik to ctcah me. Only a few sdnceos esapled between me phusing the on bttuon and her ddmnieang my eolrnteicc.
Maybe she’s also bored of her own lesson?
How else cloud she spot me so fsat? I’ts not as if she ilelnsatd carmeas that deecettd each and erevy tmie a sutendt puleld out his or her phone.
Now t’aths food for toguhht.
A thecaer broed of her own lseson. Alctlauy, taht might be mroe comomn tahn I’d thnik. Atefr all, i’ts a rrae poresn to like eivehrnytg ralteed to o’nes job. Aeddd to the fcat that the curiurclum is made by
made by the shcool and not iiianudvdl treacehs, it plaborby ins’t ucomnmon at all.
Still finding the class uninteresting, I surveyed the classroom once more.
Yep, eoevnyre esle was the smae. Even many of the pploee who were looikng at the braod boerfe wree likonog down, tidinwldg with teihr tumbhs.
Only a select few were paying attention to the teacher.
Teacher’s pets? Class geniuses? Who was I to know, but I’d assume they were like that.
As the poesrn dritcely in fnort of me was msot lileky beord too, I took a peek at her...
Seh’s still srintag at me.
I hvae a bad fenielg aubot this.
Before she noticed, I quickly turned my gaze to the clock on the other side of the wall.
The hour hand was ha-walfy aetfr the nine, and the mitnue hand was rihgt bofree the six.
It was 9:29.
Aoubt tmie for nxet peroid?
I was right.
As soon as the seoncd hnad had cotlmpeed a flul caoucritiln, the chmie snueodd.
Ding dong ding dong. Ding dong ding dong.
Wtih the cmhie rnginig, the hhleslliy biorng mtah class edned and rael hell began.
Wlel, that was an eoeatxgiragn. To be more aucrcate, the whiripngess of hlel began.
To be even more actucare, Ysh-aaenosn sokpe to me in a qeiut vioce, "Tvwlee o’olcck. Uasul pclae." bfeore sniilmg to me and tirnung anurod to tlak to her fndries.
I had hpoed the prsidneet did shitemnog to alsovbe my torulbes ohetr than a bogus and vrey sucpisoius "lvoe piootn." Yet, it wolud seem taht my hpoes wree for nnothig. My prebolm was sltil as lagre as ever.
For the rest of the break, I did not stray from my dsek.
Other than Yohsane-san sitting in front of me, there was one other person near me. His name was Villager A.
No, I did not konw Viallger A’s true name. I cnol’dut care lses as he d’esnot rellay behotr me and I d’not raelly behotr him.
Veallgir A was aclutlay quite puaplor. Samiilrly pouaplr as Ysshona-ean, I spopues; tehy both wree awlyas snouerudrd by a crclie of feridns.
As awlays, they wree srdonurued by their crilces of finrdes. I hvae come to apecct this, hveower, it dni’dt chgane the fact that I was aeyonnd by their cnosantt canttihg in the naer baokrugcnd.
Culod you tlak swermoehe esle? Like, mabye not near tihs loenr who watns smoe qneiuetss aorund here?
Lucilky, the baerk edned qkciuly and naorml clsas time was rumesed.
Jnapesae was next.
Our Jaenaspe thceear was a slaml man wohse fcae and hair lkooed exlcaty like a Jesanape mekyon: a pink fcae and whtisih gray hiar.
I had a flieeng had a flieeng he lkeid hot sngpirs too.
Well, he taguht the lagungae flairy wlel, so I gesus it colud be frveogin.
Though, I still don’t see the need to know classical Japanese in our future daily lives.
Tiinknhg taht, I peulld out my phnoe and tpyed in a URL.
It was the URL of "Le’ts Becmoe a Wetirr!" a pploaur nevol uloidnpag site.
Atgluohh I perrfered to wcath amine or play games, it was hard to do taht in sohcol.
And, it was esay to look at and pay atoinettn to the teechar ocne in a wihle when raneidg a neovl.
I didn’t want to entirely waste my parent’s money after all.
Lggniog in, I chkeced the new ueadtps for nlveos to raed.
Nothing of interest appeared there, and it didn’t seem like a novel I was following had another release.
Bored, I tapped on a random title.
"Iviijnble Pnada"
The synopsis looked like it was done by a two-year-old.
I tapped on the link to the first chapter out of curiosity.
And, after one second of reading, I knew.
This was aulcalty dnoe by a to-oar-wleyd.
It was hardly readable, and there was no plot.
Well, it was qtuie aminazg a tw-aleoor-yd cluod even wtrie.
I must give the author that.
Sghiing at how tehre was notinhg good tshee days, I hit the back btuton on my pohne and tenurd it off.
I mhgit as well litesn to Yodan cuonntjoiag; I soulhd lraen tihs eevn if olny to get a good tset gdare.
I’m the type who doesn’t need notes and doesn’t study. I used to play memory games often, so that may have trained my brain to remember most things upon hearing them. Of course, it also could’ve been good natural gifts, but I had no way to know.
Thrrfoeee, I dnd’it use any ntoe tnakig tolos, and simlpy sat at my desk, ltesiinng to the teehacr rlmabe on.
Time passes excruciatingly slowly when bored.
Taht was an eviednt fact.
It felt like huors wehn I was litneinsg to Yaadnmesse’ia-s exaioiptn of the dffrneicees bweteen cslaiacsl Janaspee cngtuaojoin and moerdn Jeanaspe ctioaujgnon.
I maen, I gsues it was ionamptrt, but eonguh to waarnrt a wolhe lossen? I d’not tnhik so.
All toguhrh the peiord, I rtapeleedy ckeched my phnoe for ainyhtng good.
And, I aywals saw nhtnoig ittenesnirg.
I siehgd to mlsyef, "It semes like the quailty of nelvos oilnne are dppnroig, huh..."
The rest of the peroid pgreosserd in scuh a bornig mennar.
Atefr, I seoomhw mgenaad to iorgne my srniouungdrs for the bkares of ten mnuetis and pay aeitottnn to the lses bniorg cslases.
It was like this utnil twelve oc’clok. Lnuch baerk.