Chapter 33: Do You Like Your Classmates? 1

“Hey~ everyone, it’s homeroom~. Take your seats~ and quiet down~.”

As usual, Kanna entered the classroom for morning homeroom.

“Miho-nee, what’s wrong? ‘Quiet down’ is pretty strong coming from you.”

Hearing Kanna’s words, Sakurai asked from his seat.

“I drank way too much yesterday, so I’ve got a killer hangover and my head hurts~. Everyone, please stay quiet so my head doesn’t get any worse~.”

“Is it really okay for a teacher to be like that!?”

As always, the exchange between Sakurai and Kanna echoed through the classroom.

“Kanna-sensei…… why does she only act like that with Sakurai……”

“Damn…… I’m so jealous……”

“Kanna-sensei, please direct even a little of that gaze toward us……”

The male students watched the interaction between Sakurai and Kanna with envious, bitter glances.

After chatting with Sakurai for a while longer, Kanna finally turned to the rest of the class.

“Alright, let’s start homeroom~.”

The unmotivated Kanna began homeroom as usual, and the day started.

Akaishi was still bothered by the way his classmates had looked at him earlier, so he couldn’t even focus on Kanna’s daily announcements.

It was mid-April and the school schedule had settled, so that day included a home economics class unrelated to university entrance exam preparation. It was an unusual timetable: two periods plus lunch break dedicated to cooking practice.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

The home economics teacher announced the start of class.

In home economics, the class was divided into groups. The groups were formed freely — people who wanted to be together gathered, with each group consisting of six students.

Since Akaishi didn’t have any particularly close friends in class, he ended up in a group of other leftover students. As expected, Sakurai formed a group with his five followers.

Once the cooking practice began, discussion started in Akaishi’s all-male group.

“Alright then, let’s work well together today!”

“Indeed, let us do so.”

As a self-introduction for the group, the six leftover students began introducing themselves. Akaishi followed suit and gave a simple self-introduction, but he recognized two of them.

“Alright, Akaishi, you wash these vegetables.”

A boy with a strong Kansai dialect. Other than that, he seemed like a completely ordinary guy. He had introduced himself as Mitsuya Hiroshi.

He was one of the boys Akaishi had seen when entering the broadcasting room behind Mizushiro.

“Then I shall peel the vegetables that Akaishi-dono has washed.”

Another boy with a very distinctive way of speaking.

He had a shaved head and wore glasses. Other than his speech pattern, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about him. He had introduced himself as Yamamoto Takeshi.

He looks strong, Akaishi thought.

Hearing their unique speech patterns, something tugged at the corner of Akaishi’s memory.

They were the boys from the broadcasting club.

When he had entered the broadcasting room, these two had been away from Sakurai’s group, fiddling with equipment. He remembered noticing people with strong verbal quirks working on the machines.

They were probably in charge of the broadcasting club’s equipment.

He also vaguely recalled hearing during the self-introductions when they entered second year that they were also in the computer club……

“Hey Akaishi, what’re you spacing out for? Hurry up and wash the vegetables.”

“Ah, yeah…”

When he was lost in thought, he was scolded.

He’s pretty familiar despite it being our first real interaction, Akaishi thought, feeling a bit more distant.

“Akaishi-dono, there is no need to be in such a rush. I shall wait patiently. Mitsuya-dono may sound strict, but he is not truly angry. As a pure Kansai person, he is simply bad at gauging personal distance. He means no harm, so please forgive him.”

“Hey Yamatake! Not all Kansai people are like that!”

“This is what I mean.”

“O………… ohh.”

Yamamoto gently spoke up in an attempt to defend Mitsuya.

These guys really have strong personalities, Akaishi thought as he began washing a large amount of vegetables, feeling a slight sense of incompatibility.

“This is weird……”

In one corner of the home economics room, Hachiya muttered to herself.

“Excuse me, Hachiya-san. I believe I asked you to peel the vegetables, but could you explain what exactly this situation is?”

Takanashi pointed out Hachiya’s disastrous work.

On Hachiya’s cutting board lay a pile of completely dismantled onion layers.

“What exactly is this onion? It looks like rose petals scattered on the ground. Since everything is piled together, I can’t tell which parts are edible and which aren’t.”

“B…… because, because! Onions can be peeled forever, so I didn’t know when to stop!”

“Even so, don’t you think you went a bit too far? Weren’t you the one who made a bento for Sakurai-kun before? I thought you were good at cooking.”

“Th…… that was……”

In Sakurai’s group, Hachiya — who was supposed to be skilled at cooking — stood frozen in front of the destroyed onion.

While washing vegetables, Akaishi observed Hachiya’s situation. As expected, it’s turned into a disaster, he thought, as if it had nothing to do with him.

Given that Hachiya was the type to wash vegetables and rice with dish detergent, it was inevitable that she would completely demolish an onion.

“What’re you looking at while washing vegetables, Akaishi?”

Mitsuya noticed Akaishi staring off in the wrong direction and spoke to him.

“Hm? ……Wait, what’s with that group? They’re dismantling an onion! Hey Yamatake, look at that mountain of onion peels.”

“They’ve done it now. Well, to be honest, even I’m not entirely sure how many layers to peel off an onion.”

While peeling vegetables, Yamamoto replied.

“Hey Akaishi, switch with this guy right now! You’ll end up like that group!”

“No way.”

Akaishi pushed back.

“It probably won’t reach that level, but I must admit I’m getting tired of peeling. Akaishi-dono, would you like to switch?”

“Well…… if you insist.”

Akaishi switched tasks with Yamamoto.

Listening to their conversation, Akaishi realized that unlike himself, these two held no particular interest in Sakurai’s group.

“This is strange……”

In the home economics room, Hachiya muttered again.

Chapter 33_ Do You Like Your Classmates