I Quit the Going-Home Club for a Girl with a Venomous Tongue - Chapter 94

Chapter 94 – Emotional Resistance

 

For days after that, I completely stopped interacting with her.

 

She seemed to accept my ‘rejection’ over the phone.

 

We passed by each other at school, but we completely ignored each other’s existence. We never made contact with each other, yet we never avoided each other either, just maintaining our indifferences toward each other. I tried to avoid her at first because I didn’t want to slip up, but I stopped doing it eventually and this had become a part of my new daily life. Human’s adaptability was amazing. 

 

Without her, my daily life turned mundane.

 

Days passed quickly, I found myself tearing my calendar’s pages one after another at a rapid pace.

 

But, I still clung to a small hope that, someday, she might remember me again and our relationship would return to what it once was. Maybe one day, she would come over at me and curse me again. Such thoughts appeared whenever I looked at her from a distance.

 

*   *   *

 

February was finally over and March arrived.

 

This was the last month of my sophomore year. Next month, I would become a third year, the group with the highest hierarchy in the school. I’ve grown accustomed to calling other people ‘senpai’ at this point, but there would be no more of that soon. 

 

Though, it wasn’t like we could abuse our position or anything. We had to deal with exams and a lot of other stuff, we simply wouldn’t have the time to play around with our cute kouhais. 

 

“Do you know any backhanded dealings that involve the school, Sui?”

 

I was building a tomato juice tower with three of my cans when Makoto spoke to me.

 

“What backhanded dealings? Is it part of our school’s seven wonders or what?”
“No, no. You know, that kind of dealings that only the teachers would know about…”

“Like HR related stuff?”

“Yes! Do you know about it?”

 

You said it clearly, only the teachers would know about it, how the hell would I know?

 

“Why are you asking me though?”

“…Uh… It’s related to the class change.”

“Class change? Ah, you want to be in the same class as Ruka? Is this what you’re talking about?”

“Yes! As expected of you! You understand!”

“Impossible.”

“Eh, seriously?”

 

I heard that the matter involving class change was very sensitive. They would divide the students that had great leadership qualities, athletic prowess or individually talented evenly across the classes. Other than that, they would also consider your grades and also the relationship between the students, though the latter wouldn’t influence their decision as much as others did.

 

You could say that their decision would be somewhat arbitrary. We could, to some extent, control it, but it would be really hard to do so.

 

In this case, it would be impossible to force them together. I doubt that the teachers knew that they were dating and even if they did, that reason would be too weak to put them in the same class. They would prioritize their grades and stuff first before they would look at their relationship.

 

It was simply impossible, Makoto-kun.

 

“It’s impossible.”

“No way… I thought a back-handed person like you would be able to help me…”

“So I’m just a back-handed person in your eyes, huh? Why don’t you do it yourself? Just threaten them with something like, ‘If you guys won’t assign me in the same class as Ruka, I’ll expose all your shady dealings!’”

“Ah, that’s worth a try…”

“Good luck, just don’t mention that it’s my idea. I don’t want people to associate me with a nutjob like you.”

 

I picked up the can at the top of my tower and opened it.

 

“Well, unless you can dirty your hands a little, you won’t get what you want, it’s the way of the world.”

“Dirty my hands?”

“I’m talking about money, the most important thing that ever existed in this world. However, I don’t think you have enough of it to both force them to do your biddings and silence them, do you? And even if you do, you don’t even know who’s the correct target for it, so just give up and pray to God or something.”

“No way…”

“Don’t worry about it, if I’m in the same class as her and you got assigned to Iwo Jima or something, I’ll make sure that no one will take her away from you.”

“Thank you for that, but why would they assign me there to begin with?” (T/N: A volcanic island in Japan, it’s that island they fought at WW2, the battle of Iwo Jima)

 

There was also the possibility that what course you would be taking influenced their decision, but I doubt that would be too big of a factor for them to consider. From the track records so far, they would still assign students with science and humanities majors in one class. After all, aside from elective classes, the courses they would be taking were pretty much the same.

 

I would be lying if I said that I wouldn’t be sad to be apart from Makoto. After all, we’ve been together for two years. Not only him, I will miss Toma dearly too. There was also my good friend Tsuru, though it would be awkward if I got into the same class as Shirona.

 

Kaya? No, please no, please get that pervert away from me. Yes sure, perverted high school girls would be in demand everywhere, but I didn’t want her to breathe the same air as Ugin. 

 

What about Arina?

 

What if I got into the same class as her?

 

I turned my gaze toward the blackboard. I imagined her slender back as she distributed printouts for the class. Occasionally, I would catch a glimpse of her face through the gap between her hair. Maybe she would even glare at me while calling me out in a rude way like usual.

 

But that would never happen.

 

“Anyway, you’re back to your old self, huh?”

“What do you mean?”
“You know, going-home club or whatever.”

“Hey hey hey, I’ve always been a professional member of the going-home club! Even if they throw me into the volcano or the deep sea, I will always find a way back home!”

“I don’t think it’s humanly possible to do that.”

“Skill issue, average members of the going-home club can manage to do this much at the very least.”

“That aside, what happened?”

 

As expected, he didn’t know that Arina forgot everything about me. No matter what happened to our relationship, people around us wouldn’t really care about it and nothing big would change. This world was indifferent like that.

 

I gulped my tomato juice and answered his question.

 

“Nothing much. I’m just worried about the exam these days…”

“I see. You’re going to university aren’t you? Anyway…”
“What’s up?”

“About Hiwa, she changed, huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“Eh? You know, she’s softened a lot lately, she no longer spits poison like before and she became even cuter…”

“You’re looking at another girl when you already got Ruka? I’m going to snitch.”

“Please don’t, I’m begging you.”

 

He was right though, Arina had changed. She became more expressive and she started to show more respect toward her conversation partner. At this rate, the stigma that she was a problem student would disappear.

 

I heard that more people confessed to her, but she still rejected them all.

 

Well, as long as she could graduate from the school peacefully, I would be satisfied. 

 

*   *   *

 

Time passed and when the spring break was almost upon us, Tsuru-sama summoned me.

 

I didn’t remember offending her and I doubt that she did this because she had a feeling for me or something. In any case, she told me to go to the old staff room after school.

 

After I finished cleaning, I immediately went there. That place, used to be known as Rose Garden, was a place filled with memories of Arina and me. There was the possibility that Tsuru would bring her along and that thought made me slow my steps. I really didn’t want to see her. Not only I wasn’t confident that I could face her properly, the atmosphere would turn really awkward if she were there.

 

When I arrived, I placed my ear to the door and listened properly. It seemed that Tsuru was alone since the room was eerily quiet. 

 

I knocked on the door. A reply appeared from inside the room, so I opened the door and entered.

 

“I’m here.”

“As expected of a going-home club member, you got nothing to do, huh?”

“Nah, I’m just that good at time management. Anyway, you’re alone?”

“Did you expect someone else to be here with me?”

“Nope.”

 

I sat down on the chair that she prepared for me.

 

“You know what we’re here for, right?”

“Are you trying to tell me about your gyaru life?”

“Stop messing around.”

 

Woah, big sis, you’re scary. That sudden shift in tone made me speechless.

 

“What happened to Arina? She became gentler and calmer lately, what happened?”

“I don’t know. Hell, I want to ask her myself too. Is that a problem though? You know why I hang out with her in the first place, right?”

“To cure her problematic tongue and personality, right?”

“Exactly. Since she’s like this, that means I succeeded in doing my job.”

“Then, why did she forget about you?”

 

I knew that someone would notice the anomaly at some point, I just thought that they wouldn’t find out about it this quickly. 

 

After all, Arina would never talk about it herself. After that rejection I made over the phone call, she would most likely shrug off every conversation about me when someone brought it up.

 

On the off chance that someone actually managed to find out about the truth, they probably would let it slide. It was human nature. The matter of another person’s relationship was a delicate one and most people would choose to stay out of it.

 

Sadly, this girl in front of me wasn’t part of that majority.

 

“How did you come to that conclusion?”

“Anyone with a brain could tell! You two stopped hanging out together and whenever we talked about you, her mood would immediately worsen and she would start speaking vaguely. I asked her about it and she refused to answer me. So, I asked her again and again until I managed to find the answer from her… She said she doesn’t know you… And she didn’t seem to be lying…”

“Oi, I sometimes hang out with her, you know? You just didn’t know about it.”

“You’re a terrible liar. You can’t even look at me in the eye when you say that.”

“Ugh…”

“Tell me what’s going on… Why are you lying to me? What are you hiding?”

“Calm down first, take a deep breath, okay?”

“Don’t try to change the topic. I won’t leave this place until you give me an answer.”

“You won’t mind spending the night with me here then?”
“Yes.”

 

This stubborn girl… Why couldn’t she just let it go? I had my reason for doing this…

 

I couldn’t shrug her off with jokes anymore, so I guess I should run away. I’ll just say that I need to go to the toilet and ditch her after that. I’d have to leave my bag behind, but aside from my tomato juice, nothing important was in there. My phone and wallet were in my pocket after all.

 

“Can I go to the toilet first?”

“Here.”

 

She threw an empty plastic bottle at my feet.

 

This girl really planned everything out, huh? Unless it was a trend among high school girls these days to do that, that was the conclusion I came to. She even ripped the label off.

 

“That’s embarrassing, so no.”

“Then, just pee in your pants.”

“I never thought that Mugiyama Kaya’s teaching would come in handy in this kind of situation.”

“You’re cute compared to her. That one is a lost cause. A real first-rate pervert.”

“I see, you know about her deranged side, huh?”
“Jeez, stop trying to change the topic. Answer me properly! Tell me what happened!”

 

Yeah, I couldn’t run away from this. I should just tell her enough to chase her off.

 

“It’s true that she forgot about me.”
“I knew it…”

“I don’t know why though…”

“Like I said, you’re a terrible liar. You know something or at least you have a suspicion on why this happened…”

 

She was so persistent. Unknowingly, I raised my voice a little.

 

“I really don’t know anything!”

“You’re lying–”

“It was all for her sake!!”

 

I yelled for the first time in a long time. My voice cracked and my legs started trembling from the tension.

 

Tsuru was startled and tensed up. Her eyes fluttered as she stared at me silently.

 

“…I did it for her sake, I can’t say anything anymore… Please stop asking about this… I beg you…”

 

I let out a deep breath, trying to calm my pounding heart.

 

Why did I shout at her? It was childish and pathetic. Why did I vent my feelings on a poor girl like her? I lowered my gaze and scratched my head in frustration.

 

After I did that, there was a sound of sniffling and that immediately made me look up to the source.

 

Tsuru was holding her mouth. The corners of her eyes were moist and she was desperately holding back her weak sobs. This was my fault… I should apologize…

 

“But… This is just sad…”

 

She said, clearly struggling trying to let that out.

 

Her tears broke down with every blink she made. Seeing this made my nose feel itchy.

 

“I just want to see… To see you two being happy together… This kind of conclusion…It’s too painful… I can’t accept it!”

 

After that, she covered her face with both hands and laid the upper part of her body on the desk. She was still holding her sobs back and prevented herself from breaking down completely.

 

“You know… I’m not emotionless… It’s hard for me too… Hell, it’s really hard for me… It’s not like I wanted this to happen or anything…”

 

I didn’t cry.

 

But, at that time, I didn’t realize that we weren’t alone in that place.