The break between classes began, and the idle chatter of students filled the classroom. There was nothing out of the ordinary happening for Mina, who was quietly sitting alone at her seat as she usually did. Her desk was the last one in the middle row. Unfortunately, the sound of laughter coming from the blathering guys standing near her seat soon disturbed her peace and quiet.
Ugh, I hate this, Mina thought to herself. She liked sitting at the back, but that came with the major drawback of people congregating in the area between her desk and the blackboard on the wall behind it. Mina had an ace up her sleeve for just this situation, though: she prostrated herself on top of her desk and pretended to be asleep.
“Hey guys, keep it down. Sleeping Beauty over here is snoozin’,” whispered one of the guys. Amazingly, the group piped down out of consideration for their napping classmate.
Sleeping Beauty was the nickname forced upon Mina due to her habit of pretending to doze off during the breaks between classes; this was a revelation that she’d only recently made.
Three years had passed since her mother had died and Mina had fallen into an inescapable pit of depression. At that time, she had begun to skip classes as often as she could and instead shut herself away from the world in her room. As a natural consequence, she ended up growing even more distant from the few friends she’d managed to make.
Her middle school life hadn’t gotten off to a great start either. Her absences continued up through the first year of middle school, and so all the groups and cliques had already been established by the time she returned. The first year came and went, but the second year did not bring any change with it. Mina’s personality, the way she was treated by her classmates, and even her homeroom teacher all remained the same this year.
What kind of name is Sleeping Beauty anyways? Am I... getting bullied? That’s some 4D bullying right there.
In Mina’s mind, she was simply a loner who used this tactic to pass the time, the furthest thing from some fairy-tale princess. Still, that nickname didn’t bring any actual harm her way. In fact, it felt like her classmates were strangely considerate toward her, as evidenced by their quieter tones whenever she was around. Most of the class seemed to see her as a frail girl, in part because of how often she missed class and how frequently she came down with fever.
It’s all just white noise. I can ignore it, she muttered to herself.
She sluggishly raised her head and rubbed her eyes theatrically. Then she retrieved her noise-cancelling headphones that she’d bought with Yuuki. She then connected the headphones to her phone, turned airplane mode on, and blasted anime music on maximum volume, as was her go-to tactic whenever she wanted to drown out noise.
Mina understood that she couldn’t go on like this forever, obviously. Despite that, making friends was an extremely daunting task for her, especially considering the peculiar pressure emanating from her classmates, a pressure that was quite different than any she felt elsewhere.
“Because I forced you to make friends. I won’t bring it up again.”
Yuuki’s words swirled around in her mind. She remembered the way her brother had smiled, and how something just felt off underneath. It brought an uncomfortable, stinging pain to her chest, so much so that her headphones didn’t help at all. They remained in her hands rather than on her head, and she instead opted to focus on the conversation a couple of her classmates were having. Could there possibly be an opportunity for her to join in?
“—I can’t pull the Dark Knight at all, man. Failing pretty epically right now.”
“You have to pray to the Gacha gods and go all in on the banner.”
Mina’s ears twitched at the mention of that particular character. Those classmates were talking about the same mobile game she played.
Who, me? Yeah, I got super lucky. Pulled the Dark Knight in my first 10 roll! she chuckled to herself while continuing to eavesdrop on their conversation. Maybe if I showed them I have that character, they’ll want to be my friends!
She made up her mind, pulled her phone out, and launched the game as naturally as she could. She took a few not-too-inconspicuous glances at them to catch their attention, but the plan was a bust before it ever even got off the ground; the guys simply left the classroom before her game had even finished loading up.
Mina was of course disappointed, but decided she may as well collect the log-in bonus since she’d already opened the game. The hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood up, alerting her to an intense glare coming from the seat right next to her.
Gah! A murderous stare! IMy worst enemy!
Bringing phones to school was prohibited, and Mina knew she could get into serious trouble if somebody tattled on her. She sensed impending danger, so she put away her phone and laid face-down on her desk once more.
According to Mina’s Sleeping Sonar—her secret technique that allowed her to parse the sounds around her when she entered this state of faux sleep and thus get a grasp of her classmates' interpersonal relationships—the girl right next to her was the quiet type that didn’t like to stand out.
My most generous estimate is that she has around five points in her charisma stat. Hah! Weakling, she thought, rather confidently for someone who hadn’t come close to unlocking that skill tree. Nevertheless, that seatmate of hers was still a potential target. In fact, just yesterday Mina was messaging Yui about the easiest way to make friends.
“Just hit her with a one-liner, Mina!” Yui’s message read.
“Like what?” Mina asked.
“Take a deep breath, then strike a pose while putting your arms behind your head and say: ‘you know you want this, baby!’” Yui replied with a smug emoji attached. Needless to say, Mina wasn’t exactly sold on the idea.
“I can’t pull something like that off. I’m not a comedy geniyus like Yui,” she lamented under her breath. Besides, she wouldn’t have trouble conversing with people if she was that daring in the first place. Mina hated large crowds and always preferred being left on her own. The only time she’d act natural and excited in front of people was when she felt safe around the other person. As a result, she had trouble even smiling when talking to others.