The Pain of an Inferior: A Blistering Love Comedy That Begins After a Broken Heart - Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – Deadly Disease

When the art class started, I casually looked for Haruka, but he was nowhere to be found. At the same time, I couldn’t find Ise Ria either.

I was not the only one who noticed their absence. Soon, my classmates noticed and spread the word. In a blink of an eye, the two of them became the topic of conversation throughout the classroom.

Most of the topics were about ridiculing the two of them, which made it uncomfortable to listen to.

The class became blatantly noisy, but the teacher did not scold them for it.

We’re currently in art class doing a practical exercise to see how much we could apply what we have learned in elementary school. We were given time to work on our own during the fourth perdiod. Although we were watched by the surveillance cameras, our behavior in the classroom was not taken into consideration.

There is no way for me to know what the two were doing right now. This made me feel frustrated beyond comprehension.

I poured my murky feelings on the brush and hurl them into the canvas.

While my classmates were chatting about trivial matters, I was silently finishing my work.

When I returned to the classroom after the art class, Haruka and Ria were sitting in their own seats, chatting happily with each other.

They didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that everyone was obviously paying attention to them. They didn’t even shifted their gazes from the other even though there were other students around them.

“Hey, you guys, why are you skipping class together? Take the lessons seriously!”

Yunika breaks in on the conversation between the two.

Seeing Haruka laughing happily and chatting with Yunika, my chest tightened. Ever since elementary school, I have never been used to Haruka talking to girls. Ria is a guy, so it doesn’t bother me, but Yunika is different.

While I’m already feeling down, an unpleasant voice once again reaches my ears.

“I think the two of them are gay, aren’t they?”

Fudo Akito, who looks more like a delinquent than Haruka, blurts out in a voice so loud that it must’ve be heard by them.

“Well, Ise has a good face.”

Shun continued the conversation based on the assumption that Haruka was a homosexual.

“Are you a homosexual too? That’s disgusting.”

Kashiwagi Rui, an intellectual and kind of small, made a comment that made fun of Shun.

“If I had to choose between ‘yes’ and ‘no’, The answer would definitely be a ‘no’, but if Ise was a girl, you guys would have definitely made a pass at him, too. Am I right?”

The top caste boys were all making fun of Haruka and Ria. They insulted my favorite Haruka with lies and falsehoods, which made me disgusted.

However, I respect the atmosphere and don’t criticize them. I always read the air.

I stare blankly at the distant Haruka while listening to the voices of the three.

I kept staring at him for a while and tilt my head.

Even though I kept staring at him intently, he never once turned his attention back at me.

I have been staring at his face for a while now, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

He seemed to have only Yunika and Ria in his sights.

“…… Why?”

I clenched my fist tightly and bit my lip.

Recently it’s always been like this. All his attention was directed at Ria, happily setting his hair.

Even though it was my choice, I haven’t had my hair touched in years.

I wished angrily that homeroom would start soon and the school would end.

Eventually, a teacher came to the the classroom and homeroom finally began.

My anxiety was finally eased a little.

With the teacher’s final greeting, the students are finally dismissed from school.

After seeing off the high caste members who were rushing to their club activities, I hurriedly headed towards Haruka.

It was the first time since school had started that I went to Haruka. It seemed that Haruka, Ria, and the other students who were still around were watching my movements to with curiousity.

“Haru-kun, let’s go home together, shall we?”

My words caused a commotion around us. Few people know that Haruka and I are childhood friends.

Haruka looked doubtful and asked me.

“Okay, but what about your club activities?”

“I already went to the sports club today, since the King got mad at me.”

“Oh, I see.”

I lied as an excuse to go home with him, even though the King was not really angry with me.

If the computer judges that we have been immersed in the virtual world too much and have not exercised enough, our access to VR will be restricted. In such a case, the restriction will not be lifted unless we do the necessary amount of exercises.

The computer locks us out even during important events in VRMMOs, so we have to take countermeasures by installing management apps and exercising in moderation.

I have been managing my schedule as a matter of course. I have even joined an athletic club in the real world, so there was no way that I would be restricted due to lack of exercise, but Haruka didn’t suspect that I was lying at all.

“See you later, Haruka.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Haruka parted with Ria from the classroom and left the school building along with me.

I was a little relieved to be alone with him for the first time in a while.

Yesterday, when I saw him and Ria alone together, I had been feeling some kind of anxiety that I couldn’t shake off.

“It’s been a long time since we walked home together.”

“I guess so. Last time, it only happened once in the ninth grade, I think?”

“That’s. After all, we go home at different times.”

“It’s because I didn’t participate in any clubs..”

Haruka has a history of not participating in any club activities as he spent all his time studying hard in order to enter the same school as me, A-10 Academy. Thanks to this, his background and achievements is a blank, the so called vanilla profile. Vanilla boys are not very popular even if they were handsome, so I was satisfied.

“Do you want to hold hands like we used to?”

I suggest jokingly and teasingly.

If I said this to him, he would definitely take up my offer and hold hands with me, just like always.

“Miyako’s not a kid anymore, right?”

Saying this, he dismissed the opportunity I had given him. My thoughts came to a half, not knowing what just happened.

“Hm? Miyako?”

“Uh, uh… It’s, nothing.”

I stagger, awkwardly moving my stiff legs, and started to walk.

I was taken aback and glanced alternately at his left hand and his side profile as he walked right next to me.

The warmth that I had expected did not come.

I lost my ability to think rationally. I pulled my shoulder alongside Haruka, wanting my hands to touch with his, even if it was just a light brush. However, I couldn’t get close to him naturally, I was in agony. The distance between our hands was still far.

I am frustrated, wondering why he doesn’t ask me to hold hands with him. He held Ria’s hands as a matter of course. But why doesn’t he want to hold hands with me? My heart is simmering, even though I’ve given him a chance to do so, he ended up ignoring it.
“……”

The two of us walk in silence for a while.

I was supposed to be having a good time on my way home while holding hands with Haruka, this is such a disappointment.

Every step I took brought me closer to my house. I didn’t want this time to end without me doing anything.

I had no choice but to initiate a conversation.

“…. Did you skip class earlier?”

“Uh, yeah. I was feeling hungry, so I went to the cafeteria to get something to eat.”

“You have to attend classes properly. I don’t want Haru-kun to be a delinquent not only in appearance but also on the inside.”

“I’ll do better next time.”

Haruka replied with a smile on his face.

“……”

The conversation ends, and we fell silent again.

I turned my head down, exasperated.

I hate it when Haruka doesn’t smile genuinely at me.

When he talked with Ria, he had a wide grin on his face. But when he’s talking with me, he only puts on a faint smile.

Even though I was trying to strike up a conversation with him for the first time in a while, he didn’t try to connect with me.

In the past, he tried desperately to capture my interest by talking about unimportant things. He used to try harder to entertain me with interesting stories than Shun, but now I couldn’t see his enthusiasm.

Why is that, Haru-kun? what’s wrong?

The Haruka I knew so well up until this point is now an unknown thing to me.

I was struck with tremendous fear and anxiety.

“Listen, Haru-kun…”

“What is it?”

“This Saturday, why don’t you and I go somewhere together?”

I decided to ask him out on a date. Normally, it should be him who asks me out on a date, but this was no longer the right time for me to fumble around.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, it would be bad for Shun.”

“…… What?”

I, who had wanted to see Haruka happy, was astonished. My blood drained from my vein, making my face pale.

Looking reluctant, Haruka turned down my invitation.

“You said it’s bad for Shun-kun… What?”

“Last time, Miyako was worried about Shun, but I’m sure that Shun has special feelings for you. That’s why I said that it probably wouldn’t be good for me and Miyako to play alone.”

Haruka’s tone was reproachful while mentioning Shun’s name.

Something had snapped inside my head.

“…. Why?”

“?”

“Shun-kun’s already playing with other girls too, isn’t he? … On top of that, he’s even doing naughty things with them! It’s fine if I go out with Haru-kun alone!”

I couldn’t help but let out a passionate shrill. Combined with the irritation that had been building up until now, I ended up lashing out at Haruka as if I was going to burst out.

“Ah, calm down, Miyako. Uh… is something wrong?”

“It’s you who’s acting weird, Haru-kun!”

My shouts echoed through the deserted residential area. Haruka’s eyes went wide in surprise.

“Am I weird? No, I think I’m just normal though…”

He stared at me as if he had saw something strange, which frightened me. I tried my best to cool my head down.

“…… I’m sorry for shouting so loud suddenly.”

“Well… since Shun doesn’t notice Miyako’s feelings, you want to go on a date with me just to make him jealous, right?”

Haruka somehow thought up of a reason from the confusion as to why I’m acting weird. It’s a bit off the mark, but I used this chance regardless and went along with his story..

I didn’t care about the reason, I just wanted to go on a date with him.

“It’s… Because Shun-kun disrespected me… hey, Haru-kun? … Please… Will you go on a date with me?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know if I should… Why don’t you ask your good friends Fudo-kun or Kashiwagi-kun?”

Mouthing the names of the boys who are not important to me, Haruka once again rejected my plea.

I feel as if my body is freezing.

Blood drained from my veins, and my skin was so pale it must’ve looked like a corpse.

“Ah… I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come out of nowhere.”

“I don’t have much say in this, but I’ll tell Shun that Miyako is worried.”

“…… Okay… Thank you…”

I turn my head down and said my thanks without any vigor.

We had finally reached my house.

“See you tomorrow.”

“…. See you tomorrow.”

Without noticing how strange I’m acting, Haruka disappeared back to his house.

I walked slowly, shoulders slumped, and opened the door to my house.

“I don’t feel so good…”

As I took off my shoes and stand in the hallway, I suddenly felt nauseous.

My chest is heaving, making me feel sick. In no time at all, my mouth is filled with saliva.

I felt an impending crisis and rushed to the bathroom.

“Ugh… Geez…”

I was soaked, and the food I had eaten at lunch was mixed with my gastric juices.

Chills ran through my body, and I started to shake.

I cleaned up the mess, and wobble to the living room.

I laid down on the carpet as if I were going to fall down.

“Why… Why… Haru-kun…”

Tears, large ones, trickle down the sides of my eyes and wet my temples.

I wanted to hold your hand. I wanted to go on a date. I wanted you to smile at me happily, just like you did with Ria. But nothing seems to have gone right.

I feel nauseous again, even though I’ve just let it out a lot in the bathroom.

And I feel a terrible headache coming.

With a high-pitched beeping sound, a red floating window appeared in front of me.

[Your health is impaired. Please check the medical server.]

My pale face turned even paler.

With a slow, sluggish movement, I access the medical server located near the kitchen.

Text appears on the screen, and an inorganic mechanical voice reads the text.

[Your health is impaired.

You have been prescribed with medicine.

Please take it within 24 hours.

If you do not take it, you will be forcibly transferred to a medical facility.

Please take the medicine as soon as possible.

In case you lose your medicine, please access the device again.]

A medicine is ejected from the device.

At the same time, a timer appears at the top of the screen, counting twenty-four hours.

I picked up the medicine with a shaking hand.

“……”

While I stood there with the medicine in my hand, the phone suddenly rang. I pressed the answer button in a hurry.

An icon indicating that I am on the phone, visible to others, begins to circle around gently around me.

It was my mother calling.

[Miyako?! I got a notice that you got sick, are you okay?]

“I’m fine… I’m sorry for worrying you.”

[If you don’t like your school, you can always transfer to another one. You can even go to a correspondence course if you want.]

“I’m not being bullied, I’m fine. I’ll fix it on my own.”

[Is that so. Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay?]

“Okay… Thank you.”

The call hangs up, and at the same time the icon on the phone disappears.

I took a glass of water, and with all my might, I put the capsule in my mouth. The water pours into my stomach.

Tears stream down my cheeks and fall onto the table.

“…… Haru-kun.”