On Monday after the Couples’ Battle Royale, everybody was talking about it.
“How many flowers did you guys end up getting?”
“Six! We won two battles.”
“What kind of battles?”
“Darts, if you can believe it!”
“...Funny you should say that, because I kinda can’t.”
“Who did you fight?”
“Well, we bumped into some third-years and couldn’t slip away...”
“Which first-year pair survived the longest?”
“I heard it was Itou-kun and Narita-san from Class 1-C!”
Everyone who participated in the event was talking about things that only they would understand. Him, him, her, him... Somehow it felt like everyone in the room had taken part. Was there anyone here who didn’t? Were they just standing around quietly and letting the other people talk? I couldn’t tell.
So instead, I sat at my desk and started prepping for my next class.
“Man, I wish I could’ve been there,” said a guy behind me. Oh, good. Evidently not everyone had participated.
“So who won?”
“The student council president and this really pretty third-year girl. Figures, am I right? So why couldn’t you make it?”
“It was just too sudden, man. I already bought concert tickets for that day.”
Apparently there was a small minority of people who didn’t attend the event, mostly those who had some previous engagement. I swallowed and cleared my throat. Someone was bound to ask me why I wasn’t there, and I needed to think of a reason.
I was at a wedding? No, too forced. I went into town with my mom? They’ll think I’m a mama’s boy! I didn’t feel the need to come? They’ll think I’m a hipster who hates anything mainstream. I made plans with some friends from middle school? ...Well, they can’t fault me for prioritizing the plans I already made, and this way they’ll think I have friends... Yeah, that works.
Then first period ended. But during the break period, no one talked to me, so the subject didn’t come up.
Then second period ended. A guy asked me in passing if we were supposed to change classrooms for the next class, so I told him I was pretty sure we didn’t have to. Then a girl asked me the same question, and I gave her the same answer. No one asked me about the Battle Royale.
Then third period ended. I talked to a chatty guy about the TV shows we watched on Sunday. There was a group behind us talking about the Battle Royale, but they didn’t ask me about it.
Then it was time for lunch.
Stretching, I glanced around. Everyone had fallen into their usual routine by this point, and likewise, I did the same. The five of us all automatically gathered in one corner of the classroom. There, sure enough, the conversation turned to the Couples’ Battle Royale. It was a bizarre, uncommon event, and even those who normally struggled to make small talk would jump at the chance to discuss it. Apparently everyone else in the group had participated, which surprised me.
“What kind of battle did you have?”
“Team shogi.”
“Oh. That’s not as crazy as I was expecting.”
“What about you?”
“Ping-pong doubles.”
“Yawn...”
“Hey!”
Everyone laughed, and I laughed along with them. There was nothing for me to contribute to the conversation.
“Oh, and did you see that karate match?!”
“No, but I wish!”
“I’m telling you, it was nothing like you see on TV!”
“Love me some girl-on-girl action!”
“Whoa there, buddy...”
I nodded along to every subject change. It was a fun conversation, and the event itself was probably even better. But right now, I felt nothing. It was like I was just watching a show on TV — I couldn’t get invested at all.
After lunch, classes started up again, with break periods in between, back and forth and back and forth until at last I reached the final class of the day. In the end, no one ever asked me why I didn’t go to the event. Not once had I spoken of the hot topic that 99 percent of Yamaboshi students were talking about. That much was fact.
After school ended, the mood in the classroom was more cheerful and lighthearted than usual. It was the last week of April, the fifth week of the first semester, and we were now just days away from Golden Week, which probably contributed... but it felt like the Couples’ Battle Royale had made some serious waves. As a result, everyone in school seemed to be a lot more friendly with each other.
But I hadn’t caught those waves, and now I had been left behind.
Before this, I had already vaguely sensed — no, I knew for a fact — that I was running behind everyone else, but this was the final nail in the coffin.
Why did it turn out this way? I didn’t understand what I did wrong. I couldn’t think of anything. Why? Wasn’t everything going to change after I started high school? Wasn’t I going to improve my life? Not that I was trying to do something as cringey as a “high school makeover,” but still, wasn’t this supposed to afford me new opportunities? And yet none of it had turned out the way I imagined.
“You know Nagase-senpai, the girl who won the tournament? Wanna go see her?”
“Yeah, totally!”
“I heard she’s soooo pretty!”
More Battle Royale again. At this point, every time the subject came up, it felt like the world was judging me for not having participated, and I couldn’t take it anymore. Maybe tomorrow would be better, but I was done for today. I packed up my notebooks and pencil case and rose from my chair. No one noticed. So I left the classroom without speaking to a single person.
I walked out of the front entrance. School had only just ended, so there weren’t many other people headed straight home, but that number would steadily increase as time went on, and I wanted to leave ahead of rush hour.
But as I walked, I noticed a crowd of people standing in the courtyard. What was going on? Some kind of club recruitment?
I really needed to pick a club and get it over with. Most people would at least have narrowed down their potential candidates by now. This raised a yellow flag in my mind... How long did I have until it turned red...? Agh, forget it! I should just get some advice from someone... but who?
Then I overheard two older students on their way to the courtyard:
“Look! It’s the CRC!”
“Wanna go check it out?”
But I didn’t follow them. Instead, I headed for the gates... then came to a stop. Not for any one particular reason — I just felt like walking in a different direction. But of course, I wasn’t too eager, so I ambled over slowly, approaching the outer edge of the crowd. I counted about twenty or so onlookers surrounding exactly five people, almost like this was a celebrity meet-and-greet.
“I’m Kiriyama Yui, the karate champion from the Couples’ Battle Royale that everyone’s been talking about... Ugh, how am I supposed to say that with a straight face?!”
“Okay then, I’ll say it! This is Kiriyama Yui, the adorable angel who triumphed in the number one most vicious battle of all time! And I’m her supportive boyfriend, Aoki Yosh—”
“Kiriyama-san, you were AMAZING!”
“That battle was so awesome!”
“I hope you’re feeling better now!”
“Th-Thank you... Heeheehee...”
Then the crowd started asking questions, like a swarm of reporters at a press conference. Everyone seemed to be unironically enjoying the celebrity treatment.