Chapter 2.

Chapter 2. A Nosy Neighbor (2/4)

Of course, things never played out as you wished they would.

“Move.” A crystal clear feminine voice demanded.

I ignored them and continued to feign sleep hoping they’d buzz off if I didn’t acknowledge their existence.

“Do you think you can pretend you’re asleep?”

Yes. Precisely. I am a man who has long mastered the art of pretending to be asleep in school so others don’t bother me. Now shoo, shoo.

From the sound of things, it didn’t seem she’d gotten the hint as I instinctively sensed her presence drawing closer, as though she were bending over my desk.

I felt her hot breath run down my neck before she softly whispered into my ear, “If you move, I’ll owe you one.”

A shiver ran down my back as my shoulder twitched and the hair on my arms stood on ends. This reaction wasn’t evoked as a result of stray thoughts born from her suggestive tone, but rather, her voice when she whispered had an uncanny resemblance to the whisper in my dream earlier.

My eyes shot open half expecting the scenery would change to my room at home, however, against my expectations it was still the same.

Haaaaah. What an unpleasant experience.

My eyes looked up a bit into the reflection on the window. There I could make out the figure of a girl in a school uniform. I couldn’t discern her features very well, but I could tell she wasn’t unattractive. 

Knowing that definitely didn’t make me excited or anything. But that didn’t mean I didn’t feel somewhat nervous. I decided not to budge an inch and hold my ground. I would not concede my seat to anyone, regardless of who was asking. This seat was mine. Whether you were attractive or not made no difference to me.

Without her saying a thing I suddenly felt her index finger gently come into contact with my left cheek. Her smooth finger slid along my cheek brushing past my ear lobe then coming to a stop dead center behind my neck. With her index finger on the back of my neck, she whispered again, “I really don’t like being given the cold shoulder you know.”

I raised my arm behind my head and grabbed her hand while I sat up. I pulled her finger away from my neck then turned to her with a calm expression on my face. While I held onto her unreasonably soft hand, I told her disinterestedly, “Can you please refrain from touching me without my consent?”

“Huh? Uh, sorry?” Seemingly caught off guard by my unfavorable response, she apologized slightly confused. I could immediately understand why too. Judging by her looks, I was certain there wouldn’t be a man in his right mind who’d reject close contact with her.

Her two tranquil ruby red eyes stared back at me as I sized her up in my head.

When I scrutinized her looks more closely, there was no doubt in my mind she was a girl who was popular with guys. 

She had her waist-length long red hair tied up in a ponytail high up at the back slightly off-center to her left. Her bangs were parted from right to left at a forty-five-degree downward diagonal to reveal her fair white unblemished skin beneath. A small portion of her bangs hung down to the left side of her face, though it was a bit shorter than her bangs angled to the right, that was because it was tucked under a horizontal braid in her hair that stretched to directly under her off-center ponytail.

She had a black ear piercing in the helix of her left ear. Her light pink lips were petite and cute. Her eyelashes, long, fluttered whenever she blinked. She had everything going for her, the term ‘pretty face’ was undoubtedly made for people exactly like her.

It was a shame I was already a grown adult at heart and knew fully well for every pretty face there was an ugly underside hidden beneath it.

“Uh… how long do you plan to hold onto my hand?” She asked, slightly troubled when I didn’t immediately release it.

“It’s unpleasant being touched without consent, isn’t it?” I said to prove a point.

“Oh? So it’s unpleasant being touched by me?” She squinted and looked at me like she wasn’t convinced.

“Precisely, so don’t do it again.” I released her hand and returned to my previous position with arms crossed, head lowered on my desk.

“Heheh, sure, acting like you don’t like it.”

“I’m not acting. I’m 100% serious. Also, I’m not giving you my seat so please take another. Just take the one on the opposite side at the back if you want a back corner seat so badly.”

“You’re seriously not giving up your seat when I’m asking nicely?”

“Regardless of whether you asked nicely or not, the answer would be the same.”

“Are you sure about that?” She placed one hand, palm flat down, with her galish long fingernails on my desk then raised her leg a bit revealing her snow-white skin beneath her short plaid black and red skirt. I suddenly felt the warmth from the side of her right upper thigh transit to me through the back of my right upper arm in contact with her as she leaned her rear on the edge of the desk while looking down at me with a razor-sharp look in her eyes. Her hair that hung down low behind her back also brushed against the side of my cheek. The air around her turned heavy, threatening, and even imposing. She was pretty domineering about it as if she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Despite her best efforts to intimidate me, unphased, I responded, “I’m sure.”

She said in a low voice, “You know, it would be a real shame if you make the wrong people angry. It’s the first day of your high school life, it would be a shame if… something bad happened to you.”

“Is that supposed to be a threat?”

“Not at all. Just a warning.” Her lips moved to say one thing, but her eyes told an entirely different story.

“Since it’s not a threat, then please scram. I appreciate your thoughtful warning, but I can’t be bothered with such childish nonsense.”

“Hmmm~ I see. I just hope you don’t regret your decision later.” As she said that and hopped off the edge of my desk, she curled her index finger and tapped on the underside of my chin with her long well-kept nail with a sly smile.

What a troublesome kid. Was there such a girl in my class back then? I don’t remember any of my classmates at all. After all, the majority of my time was spent with my head down in class not paying attention to anyone else. I completely ignored the world around me in high school. Let alone any interactions I had with my classmates, which were already sparse in number to begin with, I sadly couldn’t so much as remember any of their names, faces, or voices from all those years ago.

Seriously, what’s the worst she’s going to do though? Bully me? Like hell I care about something like that. If someone tried something like that, I’d viciously bite their hand off like a mad man if I had to.

If she gets guys in the class to beat me down I’m sure as hell going to fight back. Trouble or no trouble, I’m no pushover.

Thinking that our interaction was over, I folded my arms on top of my desk and put my head down again.

Only seconds later I heard something that forced me to rotate my head slightly to take a peek to my right. I felt nothing but dismay when I confirmed my suspicions after I heard the sound of a chair pulled out directly beside me.

As if noticing my gaze directed toward her she leaned forward over her desk and propped her right cheek up with her right elbow on the desk in the palm of her hand as she locked eyes with me.

“Is there something wrong, Mr. Neighbor? Do you have something you’d like to say?”

This was a rather unpleasant development. I thought if I displayed how terrible a personality I had she’d want to stay far away from me and sit across the room.

“I’d like to tell you to move, but you’re free to sit wherever you want.”

“Good.” She had a cheeky smile on her face as if she’d somehow found a fun toy to play with.

If I really stayed here I was certain she’d continuously bother me whenever I tried to make myself comfortable.

Her move had really turned this into a lose-lose situation for me. If I stayed, she’d bother me endlessly throughout the year during lessons in class. If I changed seats for one far away from her she’d win and take my seat. If her plan had been to bother me outside of class hours by bullying or something, I wouldn’t have particularly cared. But because she sat down beside me and made it obvious that I’d have no peace in class if I remained there, I was left with no other choice.

A small sigh inadvertently leaked out from in between my lips and rather than fold to the little threat she made, I decided to fold willingly of my own accord 

I pushed my chair back with the back of my knees while standing up. I bent down and picked up my bag from the ground beside me and put it over my shoulder.

When she saw me abruptly stand up she asked, “Oh? Where are you going now?”

“The toilet. Is that any of your business?”

“Is that really okay though? Aren’t you afraid I’ll take your seat?”

“If it’s taken, so be it.”

“If you’re concerned about it being taken, why not leave your bag in your chair instead of taking it with you?”

“I’m worried there might be a petty woman who doesn’t know how to keep her hands to herself that will hide it somewhere or rummage through my belongings without my permission.” I never left my bag unattended or out of my sight when I was at school. It was a habit to always take it with me everywhere I went.

“A petty woman who doesn’t know how to keep her hands to herself? Whoever could that be referring to?” She smiled and played dumb.

It seems my efforts to keep my seat had all been for naught. When I thought back on it now, I finally vaguely remembered an event similar to this had transpired on my first day of high school. 

I couldn’t remember the girl’s face because I hadn’t so much as spared her a glance at the time and we never really interacted back then. In contrast to back then, I’d lethargically stood up and surrendered the seat immediately because I didn’t have the energy to open my mouth to talk to her. Talking to others had been something too exhausting for me and I considered it unnecessary. I only ever talked when it absolutely required me to. For something I considered optional like this, I kept my mouth shut and wordlessly moved to the opposite side of the classroom. As far as I could recall, the two of us never interacted again after this since she got what she wanted.

I exited the room and stood outside the door for a bit. I didn’t look back, but on the way out the door, I’d heard her chair pull out which confirmed she’d taken my seat.

Counting down from sixty in my head I let a minute pass while leaning against the wall out of sight around the corner. When I figured it had been long enough, I reentered the classroom and took a seat at the back corner opposite of hers.

“Mr. Neighbor, what are you doing? I saved your seat for you.” She called out to me from the side. 

I tilted my head in her direction and peaked at her. She directed a deceptively pretty smile on her face toward me. If a man didn’t know any better, they would in all likelihood instantly fall for her on the spot. Against my expectations, she was still seated where she had been previously. I wasn’t quite able to understand the situation immediately as I’d heard her get off her chair when I exited the classroom. But when she leaned back a little, I figured it out. Thinking I’d be a while, she’d stood up and rested her purse on top of my desk to prevent it from being taken by an uninvolved third party.

I didn’t bother to respond, I simply looked away, folded my arms then put my head down on my desk and ignored her.

I looked forward and only now realized our homeroom teacher had watched our entire interaction with a somewhat amused expression on his face. ‘Ah, youth.’ That was the type of thought the look on his face described. Don’t you, ‘Ah, youth.’ me and pretend you’re watching some shitty drama on TV! I glared at him angrily to convey my intent before I lowered my gaze to my desk and closed my eyes.

With that, I figured it would be over. Class would soon begin and students would soon start piling in.