Chapter 8 - Career Survey (1/2)

Career Survey

One day during lunch break.

Just like usual, I entered the world history preparation room while being wary of my surroundings. I didn’t go the the staff room this morning, so this would be my first time meeting Hiiragi-chan today. Hiiragi-chan normally would have said, thank you for your hard work, but she instead faced me while looking like she was in a bad mood.

“Is something wrong?”

There were bentous for two people set on top of the table, and next to Hiiragi-chan my seat was placed on standby.

“Earlier, I fished this off of Sakai-sensei’s desk.”

Sakai-sensei is my homeroom teacher.

“Heeh. Wait, don’t snoop around other people’s desks!”

“He was in class anyways, and the staff room was basically empty.”

“That’s a reason!?”

“I had something that I was curious about, so I did a little bit of investigating.”

It was quite a self-righteous statement that she made. Please someone teach Hiiragi-chan about the general manners of society. As a student, I believe that the teacher should lead by example.

Regardless, what did she want to investigate on my homeroom teacher’s desk…?

“Then, sensei, what did you find out?”

“It’s not Sensei, it’s Haruka-san when we’re alone, right?”

Busubusu, Hiiragi-chan pokes my cheek with her finger. As expected, when she’s pouting it’s cute.

“The reason that I’m in a bad mood, do you not know, Seiji-kun?”

While talking about how she was in a bad mood, she didn’t forget to continue feeding me the bentou. Today, what I was being fed was the same karaage as before. It’s really good.

“Did I do something?”

“Doing something like that, I think it’s a little bit awful.”

“Awful? I didn’t do anything like that.”

Doing something that would make Hiiragi-chan sad would make me guilty. It’s a rule that I swore in my heart. Did I do something which I thought was alright, but it was really not?

“Ah. Did you not like it when I talked to the other girls in class?”

I say talk, but it was only to the extent of saying stuff like, “Ah, it seems like it’s now a self-study period”, or “Ah, thank you”.

“If it’s only a high school girl, I won’t get jealous of her.”

After her say it out loud I muttered to myself in a small voice, “… of course”.

“Besides, there’s no way a second-year high school girl would be able to draw you away, right? I mean, I’m a college graduate and I also have a teacher’s license. I’m a hundred times better.”

“That’s what you focus on?”

It seems talking about a high school girls made Hiiragi-chan frustrated enough to bring out societal standings.

“Mukii”

She said it outloud. It seems like what she’s angry about is something else entirely…

“It’s alright, it’s alright. Haruka-san has a lot of good points.”

“Uuu~. Even if you try and avoid it like that…”

As I comfort her by patting her head, her expression becomes softer and softer.

“I, Hiiragi Haruka, am mad at you Seiji-kun…”

Her face wasn’t convincing at all.

“Haruka-san, isn’t it about time you told me? Why are you mad?”

She rummaged around in her bag until she fished out a single sheet printout. With it in her hand, she slammed it down on the table with a loud sound as if challenging me to a duel.

[Career Survey Second Year Class B Sanada Seiji]

It was the career survey that I had turned into to my homeroom teacher before this.

“??”

Ignoring me, who had many questions come up in my head, she spread it out in front of me.

“Look at this. Do you still intend to act dumb?”

In her angry mode, Hiiragi-chan pointed with her finger at what I had wrote for my first and second choices.

My first choice was a local public university, while my second choice was a private university. By the way, I ended up going to the university that I wrote in as my second choice for four years in the future.

“What do you mean by acting dumb? Isn’t it normal? Didn’t I do it properly? It isn’t even the summer of my second year, it’s normal for me to write a few schools I’m interested in.”

“It’s not that! Why are you going to college?”

“Why is that… well, it’s basically a bureaucratic society after all. There isn’t anything else that I want to do in particular either.”

“Even if you go to college, there isn’t much meaning to it. I guarantee it.”