We walked together and got to school. I split off from Riona at the shoe lockers and went with Reona to the classroom. Classmates still avoided looking at me at all.
Apparently the pre-summer wallet incident was still in effect. Reona pressuring the class had been very effective.
That said — I had two pair rings on my fingers and would prefer no one noticed, so the social isolation was actually working in my favor.
I dropped my stuff on my desk and went to the bathroom. Today was the opening ceremony in the gym followed immediately by the placement test, so getting bathroom logistics out of the way was sensible.
“The second-year summer-after section is the school trip and the festival, all stacked, event city.”
“Yeah, this time next year is exam-prep death, so we should enjoy this run.”
Two guys having that conversation in the bathroom. Apparently for normal people the school trip and the festival are looked-forward-to events, unlike for me, who was praying for total cancellation.
“Maybe I’ll get a girlfriend through one of these.”
“You? No.”
“Lots of couples form at trips and festivals though.”
A couple of my classmates had been on similar topics this morning. Whatever, not relevant. I was going to be a lifelong bachelor anyway.
I finished, washed my hands, and went back. I laid my head on my desk and started snoozing. There was still time before we had to move to the gym, so I’d recover battery.
I had earplugs in this time as a countermeasure for Reona’s previous blowing-in-my-ear tactic. I was just drifting off — and suddenly someone tickled my side.
“Wh—!?”
I bolted upright. Reona was standing next to me, beaming.
“What was that?!”
“Just waking you up.”
“There were so many better options.”
“I called you several times and you didn’t move.”
She was wholly unapologetic. Tickling the side, ranked: bad.
”…So why?”
“It’s almost opening-ceremony time and everyone’s lining up in the hallway, but you were asleep.”
“Oh — yeah, that’s not great.”
I looked at the wall clock and saw the ceremony was starting in five minutes. A surprising chunk of time had vanished. My classmates had probably heard the yelp, but I’d be in line and not skipping, so net positive.
“If I hadn’t woken you up, no one else would have, so I’m a savior and a hero, basically — right, Ryouya-kun?”
“Yeah, though ‘savior’ is overstating it.”
It is depressing to admit, but my classmates were not going to engage with me, so I would absolutely have slept through. Reona prevented a disaster.
“Then I want a reward for the rescue.”
”…Fine, but please pick something reasonable.”
“Mm. Within the range of what you can reasonably grant.”
“Be merciful.”
“I’ll discuss it with Riona and decide.”
To be honest, the earplugs — installed specifically to defeat the ear-blowing tactic — had been the cause of me almost sleeping through, so in a sense this was also Reona’s fault. I did not point that out. Pointing out things to her had a 0% success rate.
———
Sorry for the wait — updates resume.
I’m aiming for daily posts, but the first few might be spaced as I get back into rhythm.
I haven’t been able to reply to older support comments — felt awkward replying after so much delay — but I’ve read them all. Thank you.
Re: the print release — current schedule puts volume 1 release before end of year, so there should be news available soon.