TSCEIAB Ch. 34

 

“About Hugo. Isn’t it suspicious he goes to school regularly these days? And he’s always smiling, too.”

 

“That’s right. I’ve never seen him smile before.”

 

“Me neither. But he’s not always smiling. You know the girl who transferred? Haley? He seems to be smiling only in front of her. What’s up with the two of them?”

 

“Are they dating? I saw that Hugo kept going in and out of the office and changed all his classes. Maybe he’s trying to match the transfer student’s timetable ?”

 

“It seems like they’re always sticking together.”

 

“Come on, I don’t think they’re dating.”

 

“Why?”

 

“That’s because…….”

 

The student whose words trailed off pointed into the distance. The other students turned in the direction he was pointing.

At the end of the hallway, a transfer student walking with a book at her side spotted someone and quickly turned around.

And the black-haired boy quickly followed behind the transfer student.

 

“Haley! Haley?”

 

It was obvious to anyone that the boy was following the transfer student.

 

“…… I think Hugo is one-sidedly interested.”

 

“No way…….”

 

“What the hell is it about the transfer student that has bewitched him?”

 

Someone muttered, and the others thought of the transfer student.

Appearance, personality, wealth, etc.

It doesn’t look like there’s anything outstanding.

But, if there is one thing that was unique, it would be:

 

“…… No way. Because she’s Asian?”

 

The only thing that stood out was that she was Asian, like Hugo’s old would-have-been-pair guide.

The students gathered there looked with bewilderment at Hugo’s back as he walked away.

 

“…… Hugo’s ideal type must be Asian.”

 

In this way, a new rumor featuring Hugo was added to the school.

At this, Hugo, the person involved, snorted.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Hugo was acting strange.

He was not a kid who usually went to school, but these days he shows his face at school every day.

As a result, his name was the first thing I heard when I went to school.

Everywhere I went, people would talk about him.

What time did he get to school today, where did he park, and what was his first class?

Where and what he ate for lunch, and who did he talk to?

There were no other popular stars in the school.

 

‘I heard he used to go to school once a week at most, or once every half a month at the least.’

 

I couldn’t figure out what was going on lately that kept him going to school regularly.

 

‘Sigh…….’

 

In fact, whether Hugo came to school or not was none of my business. There was something else I was concerned about.

 

“Hi, Haley.”

 

“…….”

 

As I walked into the classroom for my morning class and sat down, someone approached me and spoke.

I didn’t have to look up to know who it was.

 

Damn Hugo Alexis.

 

“Can I sit next to you?”

 

“…… No.”

 

“Okay, then I’ll sit in the back.”

 

“Haa…….”

 

Starting with the last English literature class, Hugo began to switch classes one by one.

It was none of my business either, but the fact that every class he switched overlapped with what I was taking was a big deal.

 

“Haley, who are you having lunch with today?”

 

Hugo, who had given up the seat next to me, sat in the back and tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned my head in surprise to see him with a childlike expression on his face.

 

It’s been like this for the past few days.

Even when it wasn’t class time, if he spotted me in the hallway, he would run up to me and talk to me like a puppy who had just found his owner.

 

Thanks to this, the kids’ eyes on us have become strange.

Look at it now. The kids in the classroom were staring at us.

 

‘I can feel their stares burning my skin…….’

 

Most of them looked at me curiously, but a few of them, like Hugo’s biggest fans, looked at me quite sharply.

 

When I couldn’t answer the question and only looked around, Hugo cleared his throat loudly, “Ahem.”

 

That was all there was to it, but the kids who had been glancing at us quickly turned their heads away in gasp.

 

‘What? What’s wrong with them?’

 

I glanced back and saw Hugo’s face as before.

A harmless, childlike expression was neutralizing his sensitive mood.

 

“So? Who are you having lunch with?”

 

“…… Melissa and Olive.”

 

“Looks like you’ve gotten along well with Olive too.”

 

“Just, sort of…….”

 

Although the gazes were gone, I could feel that everyone was listening to our conversation.

That bothered me, so I hesitated to answer.

Hugo leaned over to me and began whispering in my ear.

 

“Can I join you?”

 

I flinched and bent down to dodge, but he didn’t seem to care.

 

“I have no friends, so I have to eat alone.”

 

For a moment, I almost laughed at his words.

You have no friends, so you eat alone? Give me a break!

If he could reach out, there would be a truckload of people to hang out with, not just at lunch, but for every meal.

 

“Huh, Haley?”

 

When I didn’t answer, Hugo called out to me from behind in a plaintive voice.

This time, his voice was loud enough to draw attention from the kids who had turned their heads and sneaked a glance at us again.

I shuddered as I rearranged my already tidy desk and whispered so that only Hugo could hear.

 

“…… Sorry. That’s a little difficult.”

 

Having lunch together?

I’m sure I’d choke at the first bite because of the kids staring at us.

After that, there will be endless gossip.

Hugo’s lips pursed at the uncharacteristically firm refusal as if he wanted to say something more.

But before he could say anything, the teacher came in.

 

‘Hah……. I don’t think I can.’

 

I pretended to pay attention to class and pulled my timetable out of my bag.

Then I picked up my pen and began to check off all the classes that overlapped with Hugo’s.

 

‘This, and this, this one too…….’

 

When I marked them, the number of classes that overlap and didn’t overlap was similar.

Maybe there will be more in the future.

I’m going to make the first move before that.

 

‘I’ll go to the teacher’s office right after class today.’

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

When Hugo and I started having a class or two that overlapped, I didn’t think much of it.

No, I tried to think little of it.

I didn’t like the class I was changing to, and I was a little annoyed.

 

‘Plus, I was able to avoid him back then.’

 

The way to avoid him was simple.

Sneaking into class.

Preferably after Hugo had already been in the classroom and taken his seat.

I snuck in as stealthily as I could, sitting as far away from him as possible.

Of course, being an S-class esper, he catches on quickly.

But whenever he tried to talk to me, the teacher would walk in preventing from saying a word to me.

When class ended, I hurried out of the classroom before Hugo could talk to me.

It wasn’t hard to avoid Hugo just by doing so.

 

But the overlapping classes became three, then four……. When it got to five or six, avoiding him became impossible.

On top of that, he noticed that I was avoiding him and started calling me every time I ran into him in the hallway.

I didn’t know it, but some weird rumors were circulating about us recently.

It was a rumor that Hugo had a crush on me, an Asian transfer student, and started following me around.

 

‘Does that even make sense…….?’

 

Hugo’s strange behavior seemed the root cause of it all.

He was coming to school regularly, changing classes, and as a kid who was always alone, he would come up to me, an Asian transfer student, and talk to me, smiling.

I don’t know about anything else, but the attention I was getting was too much of a burden.

Once again, my goal was to go to school quietly and earn my diploma.

 

‘To achieve my goals, I need to distance myself from Hugo.’

 

To do this, I had to do something first about the timetable.

I grabbed the timetable I had checked during my morning class and walked briskly to the teacher’s office.

As expected, even though Hugo was not next to me, every kid I passed by around the hallway glanced at me.

Then began whispering among themselves.

When I noticed that, my pace quickened.

 

“Haa, huff…….”

 

I was almost running. I was panting shallowly as I turned to the corner.

 

“Haley?”

 

“……!”

 

Turning to the corner, I ran into Hugo not far away. I checked where he was coming from.

 

‘The teacher’s office……?’

 

I paused, and he strode toward me. He was smiling as if he was happy to run into me.

 

“You left right after class, and I guess you haven’t gone home yet. What are you doing here? Do you have any business in the teacher’s office?”

 

“Uh, uh…….”

 

“What’s in your hand……. a schedule?”

 

His gaze turned downward. His smile slowly faded as he looked at the timetable I was holding.

 

“…… You’ve marked the times that overlap with mine?”

 

“…….”

 

“Even the names of other subjects are written underneath.”

 

Hugo’s brow wrinkled deeply. He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side.

He was silent for a moment. Even though the smile had disappeared, I felt strangely overwhelmed.

 

“…….”

 

“…….”

 

A confrontation ensued. Luckily, no students were walking through the hallway where we were.

But it was an open space, and it was unnerving to be facing him like this.

I rolled my eyes to look at him, and Hugo asked a question in a subdued voice.

 

“…… Do I make you uncomfortable?”