CH 8

Chapter 8 – The Smartest Thing in a Tight Situation is to Beat a Retreat

In the morning, I was tangled up with Urushibara-san and Haruyama-kun, two of the most popular guys in the class, and the only response I took, being a shady loner, was to run away.

The smartest thing in a tight situation is to beat a retreat.

He that fights and runs away may live to fight another day.

It’s no use crying over spilt milk.

The last one is a bit different.

But it was the only way for me.

After all, there is no place of rest for me in the classroom.

As long as you take your classes, you’ll be able to handle high school life… I think.

I’ve always been careful not to get involved with others, but because of the actions I took yesterday, I guess I’ll just have to give up and become a toilet dweller because that’s what I deserve.

I finished my lunch break by the emergency stairwell and returned to the classroom after the bell rang, and sure enough, the atmosphere in the classroom had changed drastically.

I could see my classmates glancing at me.

This was not the case until yesterday.

A shady loner, whose very existence until now had gone unrecognized, was suddenly being spoken to by Urushibara-san, the idol of the school, so who wouldn’t wonder, “Who is that guy?” “Why a loser?” “He’s a mobster, but he’s acting cheeky!” It would be natural to think so.

From now on, I must be more disciplined and train myself to eliminate my presence… I renewed my determination as I went home after school, and as I was about to leave, I found a nasty bomb in my shoe box.

Yes, when you think of a shoe box, you think of letters.

Shoe boxes that are supposed to store shoes and slippers, but for some reason are sometimes used as mailboxes.

Well, a letter to me is either harassment by a bully or a false accusation of punishment.

Either way, I know it’s not a good thing.

Hah~, what a day today has been.

I only tried to protect a female pupil from a prowler once.

I guess what Kasumi and her friends said in middle school is the truth.

“Pushing kindness is just a nuisance.”

I need to check the contents of the letter for the time being, but I think it’s not a good idea to do so at a busy entrance, so I put it in my bag and hurried home.

When I’m in this kind of mood, the best thing to do is to run around and sweat with Dozle.

When I got home, I changed quickly and took Dozle to the primary school playground as usual.

Yesterday, I came home late and made my sister Haruko, and I still had some damage from my injury, so I decided to leave today after about 10 minutes.

Dozle still didn’t seem satisfied, but as soon as I called out, “Race you home!” His switch was soon flipped and he made a mad dash for home.

When I got home, exhausted, I prepared water for Dozle to drink and then took a shower myself.

After eating dinner with Haruko, I went back to my room, opened my bag to start studying and remembered the letter.

I forgot all about it.

My misfortune was not over yet.

And when I opened the envelope with trepidation, I found a three-page letter written in beautiful handwriting.

For a moment, I was terrified that it was a cursed letter! But when I checked the sender, it said “Himeka Urushibara.”