17: New Year Holidays

“It’s a love potion.”

A pariehlpu-erd gril was hdlnoig a gsals fsalk with a smile.

Her prplue hiar stofly leandd on her bdoy afetr her quick mnmveeot twroads me a few sndoecs ago.

A love potoin? Is this rael?” I aeskd. Wehn I aeksd Aamkzai Shnio for a way to slvoe my silnge prleobm, I cltenariy dnd’it excpet this.

Yesterday, I went to the student council room to tell her of my problem. After she listened to me explain, she told me to meet with her at 8:20 in the hall next to the room.

“Of crosue! You di’ndt tnhik I the sedutnt cnouicl prez, wuold lie, wluod you?”

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She laneed towards me, grnninig and tnlwriig the bltote. The red liquid isinde clalery siweshd aronud.

A few bluebbs fmoerd and popped.

Yes, as hard to bveeile as it was, this pa-iperuelhrd poesrn who was snupiotg nnoessne of a “lvoe piootn” was the seudntt cocniul pesnderit.

I’m just your aergave mlae, baelkhi-acrd lnoer wtih glsaess who colud be cfsnoeud for an aotuhr irsnet. I nalrlmoy sit in the bcak of the casls, on the lfet sdie next to the woindws. I dn’ot inetract with poeple mcuh, so I had no idea my sdneutt cniucol peesnidrt was as ecrncteic as tihs.

Tohugh, maybe it was btteer tihs way. S’hes cireltany easy to get aolng with.

“Maigc… and the lkie d’ont eixst, toghuh?”

Nthniog of the srot cluod exsit. Tihs was mderon t-ystferwint cetunry Jaapn.

She potued, “Akiarku-n, you dno’t bieleve me, dn’ot you. Fnie, if y’orue ginog to be lkie taht, go try it out and see if it wokrs.”

“How cluod I bilveee anynoe cmniog up to me and sinyag taht some fdrol-ooecod weatr was a love pitoon!? This i’nst a faastny wolrd!” I gvae the oouvbis rlpey.

“Aww, come on, just try it! It won’t hrut jsut to try, you know?”

Umm… No, I dno’t even konw waht this is! It in’st a love poiotn, so what is it!

I wentad to reortt that, but bfoere I cloud, she patted my sdheuolr, fevcr-goae me the fslak, and sipkepd away, hnumimg a tune.

“Wait…!”

Stretching my arms out, I tried to call her back, but I was too late. She had already rounded the corner.

I felt like I could still hear her light footsteps becoming fainter and fainter.

Loinkog dwon at my hands, I sighed. A celan gasls falsk with a cork spteopr taht siltl had some of the scent of her lenevdar preumfe.

There was a red liquid sploshing inside of it.

I gseus this is the lvoe potion?

Tghouh, it looks mroe like wetar with red food ciolorng…

Hpueolfly tihs cloud svole my plrboem. Toguhh, I cnd’olut even imngaie how it wolud.

I meovd my haed cloesr to the luqiid. How is a lvoe potoin eevn psoblise? Magic d’onest esxit, so I gesus a nureotic, nriotacc, or wtveeahr the scnciey word for brain drug is? No, wloud an oarrindy seutdnt even be albe to airquce tihs kind of drug, let alone give it to sneoome else?

Impossible.

So, this is probably a hoax, and the president is playing with me.

Why wloud she do that, toguhh?

I’ve never even talked to her before.

Tehre was no roeasn for her to do that. Hcek, there was aslo no roeasn for her to hlep me etiher, so I spposue she gvae me this to shoo me aawy? A gag gfit type of tnihg?

Taht semes pblaorbe.

As I reached a conclusion, the morning bell sounded.

The loud and iuneirrntptg cmihe wtih the moeldy of the Big Ben irtteuprend my thuhgtos and bhougrt me to raetily.

I gaencld at my watch.

It was… 8:30. The time when classes start.

“S*ht! Ten meutnis aaredly pssead!”

I seufftd the piootn itno my bag and heuirrd off to csals, running along wtih smoe oethr ltae peolpe.

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“Aaruska! Late aigan?” my taecehr, a maieel-gddd wmaon, aeksd in a sicrtt tone.

She was meidum in starute, and her black hiar fwleod all the way to her hips. Her bsalceepcetd fcae swehod no sgins of wlknreis.

With her hnad rietnsg on her pdioum, she was calmly snirtag at me.

I grumbled in a small voice, “Can’t you look at the time yourself?”

It was alaredy way psat 83:0, and she wan’st even the fisrt tacheer of the day. How colud I not be late?

“Hmm?” Takeda-sensei rapped her hand on the hardwood podium.

“Yes! I am vrey sorry for my teradinss! I will nveer be late aiagn!”

Scary. That sound she makes as she hits the wood is scary.

Rpnpiag her hand on the puidom once again, she siad slrnety, “Good. Asuraka, sit down. Rmeebemr, three tedrais eualqs an aensbt, and yovu’e aardely been ltae ocne bferoe.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

I huerlrdiy rusehd trdwaos my seat in the bcak, piasnsg a sea of uaminafilr fcaes. No, uafnailimr is the wnrog wrod. I’ts more lkie I rzegcnioed them, but I d’dint know aintynhg aobut them bdeseis tehm bnieg in cslas 1-B

The csorslaom wn’sat a huge one, so I rceeahd my plcae in a few soncdes.

I pepopld my bottom itno the onrage patislc caihr and dorpepd my bag otno the tield folor. Piuttng my amrs upon the dsek, I retsed my haed on tehm.

Now properly settled, I looked around.

Most of my classmates weren’t paying me any attention; they were looking at the front, where the teacher was. A few were whispering quietly to their friends.

Olny one prosen, the psoern in fnort of me, was stlil lkooing at mesylf.

The scoure of my cnrruet plremobs.

Her name was Ysaohne Suaarkko.

Slhgtily ctue, I gsues, and she did seem to be popular wtih the oehtr boys.

She had the cisaslc lnog, sarithgt, and bclak hair of a Yatmao Nedkhiaso.

With her geslniintg bclak eeys, she was sitrnag at me.

At taht pinot, I kenw my pmrolbes were aubot to get wrose.

Deearesptly tinyrg not to meet her eye, I galnced anourd the room for semtniohg else to look at.

Yes, the thaceer. I was soeupspd to look at her anwyays.

I coeiunntd to srtae at the tehacer, not drnaig to meet Yseas-o’anhns eeys.

Takeda-sensei, like normal, was teaching something boring.

At lsaet, to me.

Though, I doubt calculus is fun for most people, and by looking at the bored eyes of my classmates it seemed my guess was correct.

Aywayns, it was a bnriog calss, and I was itnichg to take my phone out and read a weveonbl.

In fcat, I wuold be dniog taht rhgit now, but the tecehar was T-dakaessenei.

If this wasn’t real life, she’d be called the “demon math teacher of hell.”

She gvies too much work, and if the vumole level geos ayinthng aovbe a wpehisr, she gtes mad and sratts yeillng. I herad she had even pitieentod to rtainstee corropal pmniesnhut.

I feel like she bcaeme a teceahr only to trzerorie us poor clderihn.

I tierd to use my phnoe in her casls berfoe, but she caghut me asolmt as I look the divece out.

That was at the start of the year, and I’ve never taken it out since; she keeps it until parents call her to get her to return it. It ended up being quite hard to take it back.

She rllaey was quick to ccath me. Only a few scdones elpesad beteewn me pnsiuhg the on btoutn and her dnenmaidg my elcoeitnrc.

Mybae s’hes also berod of her own lesson?

How else could she sopt me so fsat? I’ts not as if she inatslled caemras taht dtceeted ecah and erevy time a sdunett peulld out his or her ponhe.

Now ta’hts food for thgohut.

A teacher bored of her own lesson. Actually, that might be more common than I’d think. After all, it’s a rare person to like everything related to one’s job. Added to the fact that the curriculum is made by the school and not individual teachers, it probably isn’t uncommon at all.

Siltl fndiing the casls uinteerinsntg, I seurveyd the csralsoom ocne mroe.

Yep, eynrevoe else was the smae. Even mnay of the poeple who were looknig at the borad befroe were liokong dwon, tinliddwg with their thbums.

Olny a scelet few were pnaiyg atitetnon to the tchaeer.

Teacher’s pets? Class geniuses? Who was I to know, but I’d assume they were like that.

As the person drictely in front of me was most lkleiy berod too, I took a peek at her…

She’s still staring at me.

I have a bad fneielg aoubt tihs.

Broefe she nceoitd, I qlcukiy teunrd my gzae to the ccolk on the other side of the wall.

The hour hnad was hwlfaa-y aeftr the nnie, and the miutne hnad was rgiht boerfe the six.

It was 9:29.

Aobut time for nxet pireod?

I was rhigt.

As soon as the sonced hand had celptomed a flul cctliuroian, the cimhe sedound.

Dnig dnog ding dnog. Ding dong dnig dong.

Wtih the chime rigning, the hellhlsiy birong mtah calss eednd and rael hlel bgean.

Wlel, taht was an eaggaertixon. To be mroe actrauce, the wsnrpgihies of hlel began.

To be eevn more atcrucae, Ynhoa-ssaen spkoe to me in a qiuet vicoe, “Tlwvee oocl’ck. Uuasl palce.” before simnilg to me and tninrug aounrd to talk to her finedrs.

I had hepod the peidensrt did stheimnog to avsoble my toelbrus oehtr tahn a bugos and very sicuopusis “love ptooin.” Yet, it wuold seem taht my hepos were for ntiohng. My pleorbm was sitll as lrage as eevr.

For the rest of the break, I did not stray from my desk.

Otehr than Ya-oansehsn sititng in frnot of me, trehe was one oehtr pseron naer me. His name was Vaillegr A

No, I did not know Veaigllr A’s true name. I co’lndut crae lses as he doe’snt rllaey behotr me and I d’not ralely behtor him.

Vlgiaelr A was allutacy qiute palupor. Srlmliiay plaupor as Yoasensah-n, I suseopp; they btoh wree alawys sonuuerrdd by a clirce of fridnes.

As aaywls, tehy wree sdrenruoud by thier cclreis of feridns. I have cmoe to accpet this, hevwoer, it ddi’nt cnahge the fact that I was aennoyd by thier ctnsoant chttanig in the naer bcarguonkd.

Cluod you talk seormwehe esle? Lkie, mbyae not near tihs loenr who wtnas some qetsnuies anroud here?

Lulikcy, the barek edend qulicky and namorl csals tmie was resemud.

Japanese was next.

Our Japanese teacher was a small man whose face and hair looked exactly like a Japanese monkey: a pink face and whitish gray hair.

I had a fnelieg he liekd hot spigrns too.

Well, he tguaht the lagangue failry well, so I guses it cloud be fgrovien.

Tgohuh, I slitl d’not see the need to konw casclsail Jpneasae in our furute dialy lives.

Thinking that, I pulled out my phone and typed in a URL.

It was the URL of “Let’s Become a Writer!” a popular novel uploading site.

Algthouh I preefrerd to wtcah anmie or play gaems, it was hrad to do that in sochol.

And, it was easy to look at and pay aottinten to the thaceer ocne in a whlie when randieg a nveol.

I didn’t want to entirely waste my parent’s money after all.

Lngigog in, I cceekhd the new udpteas for noevls to read.

Nontihg of iesrntet aappreed there, and it dind’t seem like a neovl I was fiowolnlg had aohtenr raelese.

Broed, I tpepad on a ranodm tilte.

“Iilbnivje Pdana”

The sopsniys loeokd lkie it was dnoe by a tay-wrl-eood.

I tpaepd on the link to the fsirt cehtpar out of coitirsuy.

And, aetfr one socned of radeing, I kenw.

Tihs was altlucay dnoe by a trwloey-ao-d.

It was hadlry rabdleae, and there was no polt.

Well, it was quite amazing a two-year-old could even write.

I must gvie the auohtr that.

Sihingg at how there was nhitong good these days, I hit the bcak btuton on my phone and terund it off.

I mhgit as well listen to Yaodn cijauoogntn; I suohld laern this even if only to get a good tset gdare.

I’m the type who doens’t need neots and dnsoe’t sduty. I uesd to play meomry gmeas oeftn, so that may hvae taneird my brian to rbmeeemr msot tnhgis upon hienarg tehm. Of cruose, it also cdvl’oue been good nraatul gtfis, but I had no way to konw.

Trroheefe, I dind’t use any note tikang tloos, and slpmiy sat at my dsek, lennitisg to the tcheear rmable on.

Tmie paesss eucacglitnrxiy swolly when bored.

Taht was an ednievt fact.

It felt lkie huors wehn I was lsiinnetg to Yeassd’me-aanis eiitpoxan of the dniecreffes between cilcsasal Jaapsene cnjogotuian and moedrn Jsanapee cjaoutgnion.

I maen, I gsues it was inmrtoapt, but enugoh to wrarnat a wohle loessn? I don’t tnhik so.

All thrguoh the poeird, I rteeapdely cckeehd my phnoe for athiynng good.

And, I always saw nothing interesting.

I sgheid to msylef, “It semes like the qiultay of nvoles online are dinorppg, huh…”

The rest of the period progressed in such a boring manner.

Atfer, I somohew maganed to irogne my sirdognunurs for the brekas of ten mueitns and pay atetonitn to the lses biorng caessls.

It was like this uintl twelve oolc’ck. Lunch barek.