Chapter 1: CH 1

Umm, I…I will do it.

Translated by Dawn

Edited by Dawn

Umm, I…I will do it.

It was mid-April when the petals of the cherry blossoms were beginning to fall.

“L-let’s start with the class representatives, first. Who wants to be a member of the class representative?”

It was Monday’s sixth period, long homeroom time.

The classroom was quiet and still, though there was a slightly trembling voice in the air.

I, Aizawa Akito, a blossoming high school sophomore, was sitting by the window on the corridor side, watching the owner of the voice without any sense of anticipation.

Kano-sense was a young female teacher who had been the homeroom teacher for Class 2A since this spring.

Her petite figure with pulled-back hair and black-rimmed glasses was like a sheep scared of wolves.

Though I had never actually seen such a scene before.

I mean, why would someone who was scared of her students be a teacher?

And moreover, a homeroom teacher was……too much of a burden on Kano-chan’s shoulders, no matter how I thought about it.

She used to teach an ancient Japanese literature class in the first year when most of the students were asleep.

Oh, Kano-chan was a nickname for Kano-sensei.

In short, the students were friendly to her in their own way, but she was being looked down upon as much as well. Well, young female teachers were like that in any school.

While I was thinking about it, no one raised their hand.

That’s right. Being a class representative wasn’t much work, but it was definitely more tedious than the other positions. No one wanted to do something that they knew would be a hassle.

“Sensei.”

Suddenly, I heard a voice from my left.

I looked and saw a girl sitting in the middle of the classroom, languidly raising her hand.

Was she Satomi, as I recall?

With her permed medium-brown hair and thick makeup, she looked like a typical example of a gal. But no matter how I looked at her, she didn’t look like she intended to be the candidate for it.

“Sa-Satomi-san!? Could it be that you’re going to do it!?”

“No, I’m not going to do it. I’m not suited for that kind of thing.”

“Eh…?”

Kano-chan, who asked with great vigor, tilted her head at Satomi’s response.

Satomi showed an unpleasant smile and continued.

“I think Mizutani-san is the best candidate.”

Giggles of laughter escaped from some of the seats.

They were from girls who seemed to be Satomi’s circle of friends.

It had only been a few days since this class started, but I could already tell that a sort of group had begun to form, even though I was on the outside of the mosquito net.

“…..Mizutani-san?”

Kano-chan said in return and shifted her eyes to the girl sitting in the back seat by the window.

Caught by her, many other gazes were drawn to her. I turned my head in that direction, too.

The first thing I noticed was her bright blond hair flowing down her back and her jewel-like blue eyes.

Her bright color contrasted well with her snow-white skin, giving me a strong impression of her as a whole.

However, even if you removed these impressions and looked at her nose, lips, and other thin parts, there was no doubt that her face was terribly well-defined. Even the way she carelessly rested her head on her cheekbones looked like a painting.

Karin Mizutani. In a clichéd way, she was the most beautiful girl in the school.

Even I, who am not familiar with rumors, knew of her, and now she had the whole class looking at her.

Including me, of course.

“It’s fine, I’ll do it.”

Mizutani said in a low-temperature voice without changing a single expression.

Satomi’s expression changed to one of boredom.

The fact that Mizutani was not dismayed must have been to her displeasure.

“Really? Then, can we settle on Mizutani-san for the girls?”

Kano-chan looked around the classroom.

Seeing that no one raised their hands, she said in a relieved tone, “Well, it’s decided then.”

On the blackboard, next to the words “class representative,” was written “Karin Mizutani.”

She was putting on air as she’d just finished a job, but was that really, all right?

The way things were going right now, it looked like she was pushing a job she didn’t want to do onto someone she didn’t like.

Was she so full of herself that she couldn’t see what was going on with her students?

Or maybe she didn’t have the courage to pay attention and dared to pretend she didn’t notice.

….Probably the latter.

I didn’t mean to offend her.

It was just that people were like that, and it was just a matter of not expecting it from the beginning.

If we didn’t expect or ask for things from others from the beginning, we wouldn’t be disappointed.

“Now that the girls are set……we’ll move on to the boys. If anyone wants to do this, can you raise your hand?”

One, two, three seconds…..nobody raised their hand.

Well, that was to be expected.

Normally, if Mizutani were to be a class representative, several boys who were confident in themselves would run for the position. But in this case, the process was not good.

Anyone who looked at the process would have realized that Mizutani was on Satomi’s radar, even if they didn’t know why. And Mizutani was probably a lone wolf, while Satomi already had a group of friends. In terms of position in the class, Satomi was definitely stronger.

If you were so lucky, you might be able to get close to the most beautiful girl in our grade.

But Satomi’s contrarianism might also be directed at you.

After weighing the former and the latter, everyone’s balance tilted toward the latter.

I understood the feeling, but the atmosphere was bad.

If I were to use an analogy, it was like that feeling you get when you were climbing a mountain and the oxygen got thinner as the altitude increases, and you felt as if you were suffocating.

—Wait a minute.

If even I felt that way, she must be in even more pain, right?

She looked calm earlier, but that might have been Mizutani’s way of trying to be strong.

To show Satomi that it wasn’t working.

Once again, I looked back at Mizutani’s seat.

To my surprise, my eyes met Mizutani’s blue eyes.

Mizutani immediately looked out the window.

….What was that? Didn’t Mizutani just look at me?

No, it couldn’t be.

Ever since I entered high school, I had been a man who lived inconspicuously.

The only thing I and Mizutani had in common was that we share the same nearest station to our homes.

I often took the same train at the same time as her, but I didn’t think that was enough for her to recognize me. Since I was not particularly noticeable.

But……those blue eyes that seemed to suck you in if you looked at them all the time.

If I wasn’t imagining it, it looked like it was asking for help.

Of course, it was more likely a misunderstanding.

And the fact that our eyes met could just be me being self-conscious.

See, how often did people do that?

You know, the ones who went to see an idol live and say, “Our eyes met!”

Maybe I experienced the same phenomenon.

Mizutani was like an idol in this high school.

But whether it was a misunderstanding or not, whether our eyes met or not, the fact was that we wouldn’t be able to decide on a class president at this point, and the awkwardness would continue. The others couldn’t be relied upon. If that was the case, better yet—

“Umm…Aizawa-kun? By any chance, are you going to be the representative candidate?”

Kano-chan rolled her eyes.

Everyone’s eyes focused on me, and my hand almost shook.

Even so, I did not lower my raised hand.

Or rather, I couldn’t.

If I lowered my hand once I raised it, they would definitely think I was weird, right?

And I wasn’t even skillful enough to cover it up by pretending to scratch my armpits.

“Umm, I…I will do it.”

“Really? Then we’re fine with the boys’ side too…but before that. Just in case, is there anyone else who wants to be the representative?”

Naturally, no hands were raised.

“If that’s the case, then Mizutani-san and Aizawa-kun will be the class representatives.”

Kano-chan’s declaration was met with sparse applause.

There was an air of both relief and disappointment among the boys.

Half of them were relieved that they would not be assigned to troublesome positions.

The other half were probably disappointed that they had lost the chance to become friends with Mizutani.

….This, maybe.

If I had waited for a little longer, would someone else have raised their hand?

If so, it would mean that my actions meant nothing.

Kano-chan wrote “Akito Aizawa” next to “Karin Mizutani”.

After clapping her hand with chalk a few times, she

“Let’s have the two of you act as moderators for the class meetings from now on. And do greeting as well.”

plainly say something horrible.

“…..Seriously?”

I was starting to regret raising my hand so soon.