High School Girl Warrior

Chapter 104 – Dark Days

(Rinne’s PoV)

How did all that happen again…?

First, a new chemistry teacher had appeared. His name was Soga Taketo.

He could talk about all sorts of things, had plenty of interesting ideas, and was the kind of person that seemed to be living a very fulfilling life.

He was 22 years old, had stylish fluffy hair and looked neat, overall.

That teacher had just graduated from college, yet he had quite the dignified attitude.

And we were right around the time to take exams to see if we could get some recommendations for university.

One wouldn’t normally be thinking of love at that time.

I was a self-aware girl. I knew that I had a promising future ahead of me.

My grandfather, the person who raised me, often times told me that I was an excellent child that was born out of mediocre parents.

I had been planning to steadily build up the blocks of my life. One at a time.

And yet… A teacher and a student.

Something like this should only happen in dramas…

It’s only natural for that to be unrealistic.

And yet, we just happened to be a good match.

He appeared next to me and…

Well, I think teacher Soga Taketo was a very good kisser.

***

One day though, teacher Soga talked about a girl whose nickname was Haku.

He said that she may be always quiet, but she was actually a very smart girl.

Haku wasn’t very remarkable.

She was always in the corner of the classroom, spending her whole time reading books.

I remember replying to him saying that my test results were better than hers.

But teacher then said that Haku was not the kind of girl who could display her talents in this kind of place.

He said that she was a very clever girl for someone of our age. Someone who could notice a lot of things that others wouldn’t.

The way that teacher Soga talked about her, felt like he was praising his own little sister.

It was just a casual conversation though. Teacher Soga probably didn’t mean anything in particular with that commentary.

And yet… The hazy fire of jealousy flickered in my heart.

Up until that point, teacher had praised me in many ways.

But not once had he called me clever or anything like it.

Perhaps that’s what led me to do what I did…

In the end, I just couldn’t allow teacher Soga to praise other female students.

It felt as if I had been possessed by a demon.

… In that day, I had been entrusted to deliver the completed math test sheets to a teacher.

And it just so happened that Haku’s test sheet caught my eye.

… Why did I do that back then?

It was autumn of our third year as high schoolers… This was supposed to be a really important moment of our lives.

Haku too should have been preparing for her university entrance exams.

And yet… Before I realized what I was doing, I had already slipped Haku’s test sheet into the trash can besides me.

***

What happened after that… I don’t even want to remember it.

My actions caused a commotion.

Judging from the circumstances, there was no other explanation to what happened other than someone stealing Haku’s test sheet.

Surprisingly though, I wasn’t suspected.

Both my classmates and teachers trusted me, so they didn’t assume that I could possibly do this kind of bad thing.

So, the other students were suspected instead.

There were a fair number of students who messed with Haku, after all.

She just stood out in a bad way.

Being shy isn’t a sin, but keeping an extreme distance from others isn’t a good idea either.

In an environment like a school, a completely isolated student is seen as an annoyance.

But well, as the teacher couldn’t evaluate Haku’s performance without her test sheet, Haku would need to take a supplementary exam.

And that’s how it was supposed to end… After all was said and done, I really didn’t want to think about what I did and what it meant at all.

So, I cut off all outside information and focused fully on my studies. It was the perfect way to escape reality.

But… About two months after that happened, a classmate told me that Haku ended up never needing to take the supplementary exam.

Because Haku found the missing test sheet on her own.

A chill ran down my spine when I heard that.

Haku surely knew it. She knew that I had thrown her test sheet in the trash. Otherwise, there would have been no way for her to find it.

She had watched me the whole time… She saw me, an honor student, lie in front of everyone without any hesitation.

***

Exams, university, this kind of thing… Nowadays it feels like all that was just an event from a dream that I had a long time ago.

Still, it’s not hard to imagine how Haku sees me.

One of the people who had malice towards her.

One of the people who humiliated her.

In the kind of world we live in now, what kind of cruel acts will she do towards me?

Until now, I have lived my life doing what I believed was right.

So… I just can’t imagine doing anything when faced with a justified counterattack.

If Haku wants revenge… What will I do then?

Will I be able to still be the ‘Miss’ that everyone wants me to be?

“Eeeexcuse me!” I heard a voice and knocks on the door.

It was Haku’s voice.

“We’re about to leave, so please get ready.” She told me.

“… Got it.” I muttered.

Sadly, my voice was obviously hoarse.

“May I come in?” Haku asked.

“… Go ahead.” I replied.

Then, Haku went inside with a visibly forced smile on her face.

“It’s quite the organized room. Feels like you’re still an honor student even now.” She told me.

“… Thanks.” I muttered, then pulled out my travel bag, “Guess I’m saying goodbye to this place now.”

“Why do you say that? Once the world becomes peaceful, you can come live here again.” Haku replied.

“You really think so?” I asked.

“Yeah. And we can also go back to school too.” She nodded.

“Don’t be silly. We should have already graduated by now.” I told her.

“Ah… Well, even if you tell me that, I still think of myself as a high schooler.” She replied.

She’s quite carefree, isn’t she?

“… I suppose we can still pass as high schoolers since we didn’t get our diplomas.” I commented.

“Right?” Haku cutely giggled.

Then, she stopped laughing and said, “Oh, right, I guess I should mention it before I forget…

“The thing you were talking about yesterday… Was it about you throwing away my test sheet perchance?”

I felt as if something just hit me right in the very core of my being.

I couldn’t face her, so I averted my eyes, “Just as I thought. You did know it was me…”

“Well, in those circumstances it could have only been you.

“Then, I just had to think a bit about the route from our classroom to the teacher’s office to figure out where the test sheet would have been thrown away. It wasn’t too hard.” Haku explained while puffing up her chest, as if she was a great detective, “In any case, if that’s what you were talking about, then don’t worry about it.

“I mean, I just remembered it in the first place. It was no big deal.”

“… How come?” I couldn’t help asking.

“I mean, you had to act like an honor student every day. It’s normal to get a bit frustrated and want to do something bad every once in a while, isn’t it?” Haku replied.

Her kind words made me feel even worse.

“I mean, it was just a test anyways.” Haku told me.

“It wasn’t just a test. It was a test that would help us get recommendations for universities… Didn’t my actions make you feel troubled?” I replied.

“To me it was just a test.” Haku smiled wryly, “I didn’t take any university entrance exams.”

“… What? Why?” I couldn’t help asking.

Miyabigaoka was a pretty decent preparatory school. Students that went there and didn’t go to university were rare.

“I just didn’t have the money to go to one.

“After graduating, I was planning on taking it easy for a while, then try getting any random job that I could find.” She replied.

I opened my mouth agape, “… Your parents allowed that?”

“I had no relatives to speak of.” She told me.

It was a series of new information, “You’re… An orphan?”

“It’s not that uncommon nowadays, is it?” She replied.

Well, with the current state of the world, it certainly isn’t.

“One more thing. At Miyabigaoka, we’re adapting to the long-term refugee life, so, under the guidance of teacher Suzuki Asaka, we’re currently implementing some measures to take care of people’s health and avoid stuff like thrombosis.” She suddenly told me.

“What does that mean?” I asked her.

“Essentially, that there’s a lot of work to do.” She replied.

Ms. Suzuki Asaka… She was a physical education teacher that spoke in the Kansai dialect if I recall correctly.

“You could work on the land near the school building to help with farming, for example.

“If you don’t like that, you could try fixing torn clothes.

“Rika also said that we didn’t have enough hands to take care of the cooking.

“We also need more people to help taking care of the children who aren’t even old enough to go to elementary school yet.

“And of course, if you want to, you can also join the supply procurement team.” Haku explained.

“I see…” I muttered.

“So, that’s basically it.

“I’d like it if you could forget about what the past world was like, and instead try being a bit more positive about the future, Rinne.” Haku told me.

“… Hmph.” I said.

But to my chagrin, I was actually starting to feel a bit more positive about my future prospects.

“Hey, Rinne! It’s about time to leave! Your grandpa will enter the bus before you at this rhythm!” I heard my grandpa call me.

He was right outside the bicycle store, and I could notice from his voice that he had already gotten a bit better.

“So, shall we go?” Haku asked.

“… Let’s.” I nodded.

Right now, I felt like the dark days were about to end.