Evening, as I lay in my bed in the hours after dinner, a call came in from Shimizu.
‘Ichirou-kun, what happened after that? Smooth sailing?’
“Ah, my bad. I didn’t report. I can’t call it smooth sailing, but it’s like I’ve settled down where I’ve found some peace.”
As thanks for his advice, I told him of all that had come to pass.
‘So without aiming for it, you took your place as commander of the delusion-armed forces. Sixteen is amazing. That’s got to be the largest group.’
“You’re not wrong about that, but its not like they’re united. In the first place, I can’t stand to look at the cringe…”
Shimizu was guffawing over across the line.
‘You just can’t run away from karma, I guess.’
“You hit it where it hurts. I’m about to lose my will to live here.”
From his point of view, it was at most someone else’s business, so half for fun, he calmly put out comments that would seriously drag me through the dumps.
‘Ah, more importantly, I’ve got something else to discuss,’ before I could groan, whether he sensed it or was a natural, Shimizu changed the subject. ‘Someone’s looking for you.’
“Hah?” I was bewildered by this information I had yet to say, hear, or think about.
‘It’s kinda like the network was suddenly on it. It seems there’s someone who wants to know about a Satou Ichirou from N High. That’s you, right? It’s circulating around the girls, you know.’
“Well who could… seriously, who?”
‘I don’t know the origin, but it came to my place from Mishima. Mishima Shouko, you remember her?’
“I’d like to forget her, if I could.”
Mishima was a classmate from middle school. Excluding Shimizu, there wasn’t a s ingle person in middle school I could call a friend. Either enemy or potential enemy.
‘Relying on hearsay to pry into people is something only a person with a wide social circle can pull off. Do you know anyone like that near you?’
“… Social circle, a girl…”
There was only one person who fit the bill. The queen bee, Ooshima.
Though if you wanted to surprise me, maybe even Kobato.
But if Kobato-san was the ringleader, and the motive was, “Satou-kun, your personal information is only good to threaten and oppress you, right~?” I might just kill myself. After immortalizing my despair against modern society on a message board or blog as my will and testament.
‘Well, they’re already looking into you, so there’s nothing you can do about it, but you’d better keep your guard up. Sounds nice, it’s like raw school politics at work. A little interesting.’
While Shimizu’s voice was bouncing oh so amusingly, my feelings were the reverse, falling lower and lower.
‘What, if it really gets too painful, you always have the option of EXPULSION~ Subtitle: The Flight to Freedom~. It’ll totally work out.’
“Even if you bring it up as a joke, expulsion’s a game over! No way!”
‘But you can play to your heart’s content.’
“I want to study!”
I snapped, half serious. “In the first place, I don’t even have any friends to play with!”
‘Hahahah. Well, just be careful. I went out of my way to leak this information.’
“What does leaking it accomplish?”
‘Think about that on your side. How about solidifying your defenses or something?’
He makes it sound easy. Even if you know it’s coming, not being able to avoid it is the essence of bullying and harassment. Shimizu’s grades and athletics weren’t up to snuff, but he knew his way around. From an advanced player’s point of view, my troubles must have been simply charming. Without any way to put his information to good use, it came to pass that the inevitable made a direct impact a few days later.
Evening, as I lay in my bed in the hours after dinner, a call came in from Shimizu.
‘Ichirou-kun, what happened after that? Smooth sailing?’
“Ah, my bad. I didn’t report. I can’t call it smooth sailing, but it’s like I’ve settled down where I’ve found some peace.”
As thanks for his advice, I told him of all that had come to pass.
‘So without aiming for it, you took your place as commander of the delusion-armed forces. Sixteen is amazing. That’s got to be the largest group.’
“You’re not wrong about that, but its not like they’re united. In the first place, I can’t stand to look at the cringe…”
Shimizu was guffawing over across the line.
‘You just can’t run away from karma, I guess.’
“You hit it where it hurts. I’m about to lose my will to live here.”
From his point of view, it was at most someone else’s business, so half for fun, he calmly put out comments that would seriously drag me through the dumps.
‘Ah, more importantly, I’ve got something else to discuss,’ before I could groan, whether he sensed it or was a natural, Shimizu changed the subject. ‘Someone’s looking for you.’
“Hah?” I was bewildered by this information I had yet to say, hear, or think about.
‘It’s kinda like the network was suddenly on it. It seems there’s someone who wants to know about a Satou Ichirou from N High. That’s you, right? It’s circulating around the girls, you know.’
“Well who could… seriously, who?”
‘I don’t know the origin, but it came to my place from Mishima. Mishima Shouko, you remember her?’
“I’d like to forget her, if I could.”
Mishima was a classmate from middle school. Excluding Shimizu, there wasn’t a s ingle person in middle school I could call a friend. Either enemy or potential enemy.
‘Relying on hearsay to pry into people is something only a person with a wide social circle can pull off. Do you know anyone like that near you?’
“… Social circle, a girl…”
There was only one person who fit the bill. The queen bee, Ooshima.
Though if you wanted to surprise me, maybe even Kobato.
But if Kobato-san was the ringleader, and the motive was, “Satou-kun, your personal information is only good to threaten and oppress you, right~?” I might just kill myself. After immortalizing my despair against modern society on a message board or blog as my will and testament.
‘Well, they’re already looking into you, so there’s nothing you can do about it, but you’d better keep your guard up. Sounds nice, it’s like raw school politics at work. A little interesting.’
While Shimizu’s voice was bouncing oh so amusingly, my feelings were the reverse, falling lower and lower.
‘What, if it really gets too painful, you always have the option of EXPULSION~ Subtitle: The Flight to Freedom~. It’ll totally work out.’
“Even if you bring it up as a joke, expulsion’s a game over! No way!”
‘But you can play to your heart’s content.’
“I want to study!”
I snapped, half serious. “In the first place, I don’t even have any friends to play with!”
‘Hahahah. Well, just be careful. I went out of my way to leak this information.’
“What does leaking it accomplish?”
‘Think about that on your side. How about solidifying your defenses or something?’
He makes it sound easy. Even if you know it’s coming, not being able to avoid it is the essence of bullying and harassment. Shimizu’s grades and athletics weren’t up to snuff, but he knew his way around. From an advanced player’s point of view, my troubles must have been simply charming. Without any way to put his information to good use, it came to pass that the inevitable made a direct impact a few days later.
