CH 6

Chapter 6: Orientation Is The Beginning Of The Two Loners!

TL: Akabane

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Everyone thinks of orientation as a chance to make friends. Those who fail to make friends and join a group here will spend their four years as a loner player. They think that they will be "outcasts". But I have a negative view of this idea. I thought myself was a real "shady" person who didn't make any friends during the first week of orientation. However, after the orientation, I naturally made connections with people I could call friends during various practical training and departmental drinking parties. In fact, the groups you form during orientation are usually gone by the time. They are gone because they are too much of a trial. So you don't have to worry so much about the relationships you make during orientation. So I don't put much effort into making friends at orientation. Rather, I would rather concentrate on making connections in the circle side. If you can make sparkling friendships in the circle side, you will naturally make friends in the department side. That's how the world works. So, shouldn't I skip the orientation? Because in this department....

"Tokiwa, may I sit next to you?"

It's the beginning of the orientation. I was checking the syllabus in the corner of the classroom when my wife spoke to me. She called me.

"There are a lot of girls in the architecture department, so you should go to the girls' group. You won't have much fun with me."

Naturally I felt awkward. I was prepared for the fact that we were in the same department, so it was inevitable that we would see each other. But I didn't expect her to talk to me. I've been struggling with my wife's childhood friend, a man I've known since the entrance ceremony, even in this second week of the world.

"I don't think it's anything like that...no?"

"...Ugh...do what you want..."

It was hard to say no when dhe asked me with her ululating eyes. Or rather, I couldn't refuse. I had experienced as my wife's ATM in the name of married life, even if it was short in the past. My body may reflexively try to fulfill my wife's wishes. Or maybe it is a habit that comes from the experience of being in a bad mood with my wife, which can be complicated and troublesome.

"Hey, look that girl."

"She's really pretty."

"Don't you know her? I'm sure she's a reader."

"I'm sure she was in the national cheerleading competition."

"She's too perfect with that face to get into our university."

"But if we're in the same department, is there a chance?"

"Someone should go talk to her!"

I hear whispered voices echoing from around me. Everyone is looking at my wife. Of course, she has a face that a hundred people all agree that she is beautiful. And with her mysterious eyes and hair color, she even gives the impression of mystique to those around her. Later on, she even won the Miss Congeniality pageant by a landslide. When it comes down to it, it may be violence in the name of beauty. And conversely, because I'm standing right next to my wife, the boys seem to be somewhat hostile toward me.

"I'm not sure how many classes I'm going to take, Tokiwa. College is a place where you can take as many classes as you want as long as you fulfill your credits, and you can skip any class you want, right? It's totally different from high school. It's like it's a lie that until recently I was on the timetable as you told me."

"I'm a ronin, so I don't really remember my high school days anymore."

My wife spoke to me and I broke off the conversation. There is a disconnect between current students and ronin, after all, in the beginning. Eventually no one will care, but now they will.

"What? You're older than me...is that right? I'm sorry, I've been talking in hushed tones."

She suddenly changed to honorifics. She looks seriously apologetic. This is not good. If it were me, I would definitely want her to treat me this way, but this attitude is not good for other ronin students. If you are in the same grade, you should use a polite tone of voice.

"If you are in the same grade, you should not use honorifics. Both ronin and current students are separated by their grade in college."

"I see..... Yup. I was so surprised that it was like a wall had been built. Ehehe."

My wife is relieved and has a cute smile on her face. I still think she is a really cute woman. I never saw my wife this close to me when I was younger. I always had to look at her from afar. So now I realize that her half-up braid is thinner than I thought it would be. When I realized this, I felt an irrepressible restlessness. So I got up from my seat.

"I'm going to go have a smoke."

"Eh? But you don't smell like cigarettes, do you, Tokiwa? Do you smoke?"

"I like to buy coffee from the vending machine. See you later."

I gave a reason and left my seat. I spent the rest of the day in front of a vending machine on the first floor of the school building, drinking canned coffee, which I didn't like, until just before the orientation started. When I returned just in time, there was already a crowd around my wife, mainly boys. I sneaked up to her, collected my bag and materials, and took a seat far away from her. Soon after, the instructor arrived and the orientation began.

Orientation was boring. I'm in my second week, so I already know all the rules of the university and of course I knew the easy classes. My wife looked at me during every break, but she never came close to me because she was immediately surrounded by a crowd of people. Then it was lunchtime. That was the end of today's orientation. In the afternoon, we were free. While my wife was being invited to dinner by the boys, I quickly escaped from the classroom and headed for the cafeteria, which was far away from the classroom. The Komaba campus of the Imperial Capital University is large. There are several cafeterias scattered around. The one I went to was a restaurant with an expensive menu. It was a rather fashionable place that I thought it was a school cafeteria. I guessed that madams living near the campus would use this place more than professors.

"Oh? What a coincidence. I didn't expect to see you here. Is it possible that you are stalking me?"

Ayashiro was sitting outdoors. As usual, she was dressed in a minefield fashion that reeked of menshera. Perhaps it was time for a mid-life crisis, but today she was wearing a black-based hoodie, a black skirt, and a pink blouse. Her hair was styled in a very short twin-tail. A real woman would look like a pain, but Ayashiro looked amazingly cute.

"I'm not a stalker. I just wanted to get away for a while. Why are you here, then? This place is far from your department's lecture hall, isn't it?"

I take Ayashiro's table and open the menu. The prices are two to three times higher than those in the cafeteria.

"The cheap menu at the cafeteria doesn't satisfy my taste buds, that's why I came here... Or if I had to say, I'm escaped."

Ayashiro elegantly scoops up the pasta with a fork and brings it to her mouth. It's strangely picturesque.

"From the b*stards?"

I call the waiter and order a set of clubhouse sandwiches, which cost 1,000 yen, but considering the cost of running away from my wife, I feel like it's a small price to pay. After all, I had moved 10 times to escape from my wife in the first round. And since I was able to locate all of them, it was a complete waste of money.

"Yes. I've escaped from the hungry eyes of men and the vile jealousy of women. It's disgusting how they all fall head over heels for me at first sight. I wonder what they're in college for? If they want to meet someone, why don't they just use a matching app?"

"Rather, nowadays, college is a place where people go to have fun. That's exactly what I'm doing."

Right now, all I'm thinking about is how to enjoy my youth and meet attractive women. Essentially, I'm no different from the men who gather at Ayashiro.

"I'm sure you're right. But you're the one who likes to study, right?"

"Yes, I do. I'm not going to lie about that. I came here because it's the best place to learn about architecture."

"Yes. It's good to have a sense of purpose. That's what you should have if you're going to college. Next time, tell me what made you decide to go into architecture."

"Why don't you just ask me now? I don't mind if you do."

"If you tell me, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't tell you why I went to law school either. I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about that yet. You have to understand."

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, I won't ask. You're a really weird."

"Ufufu."

The way she put her hand over her mouth and laughed looked so elegant. She may look weird, but she seems to have been raised well. I'm getting more and more interested in her, probably because I don't have enough experience with women. I have an immediate liking for any woman I get involved with. The second virgin mindset can be quite creepy. My lunch arrived soon after, and it was quite a fun lunch for the two of us. It's like youth.

"By the way, are you free on Saturday?"

"Yeah? I'm free for now."

"I have a club that I'm thinking of going to. I'm planning to go to a new club, and I was wondering if you could come along."

I was surprised. This may be the first time a woman has ever invited me out, including the first round. Before we started dating, my wife was a woman who never suggested anything on her own. I was not talking about anything sexy, though, since it was a new club. I was happy that she asked me out.

"Okay. Let's go together. Where?"

"Shimokita. It's a nice town. I used to go shopping there a lot when I was in high school."

"It sure is a nice town. I think the most distinctive feature of that town is the connection between the station and the shopping district. The chaotic streets have their origins in the postwar black market. Although it has recently been cleaned up by redevelopment, there was definitely a certain beauty in the obscenity of the station area in the past. All the elements are independent, and yet all of them must have had the same ideological background to prove their solid existence, to prove their immediacy, and to prove that they all exist..."

Ayashiro's index finger was gently placed on my mouth as I was absorbed in talking about the history and philosophy of urban structure. Her finger was soft against my lips. It prevented me from speaking any further.

"Stop. Your face was cute as you talked so enthusiastically. But the content of the conversation was a little creepy. Ufufu."

"Mmm. I've almost reached the best part..."

"Mmm. I'm not going to swoon. But I'm glad. You have other things you like to do besides playing around. I'm glad to know that. Let's hear it again. But you have to make it easy for me to understand."

"Okay. I'll do my best."

There is a woman who listens to me. That is surely an irreplaceable form of happiness. My wife used to listen to me with a kind smile. That memory is as happy as the time I spend with Ayashiro now. There is someone besides my wife who listens to me. Just knowing that made my day.