Chapter 24: Pissed Off! [side Mishima Satsuki]
My final exams went horribly, and I ranked 250th out of 300...
I can't believe my ranking.
Why?! Sure, I probably studied less than before, but this bad?
The girls I hung out with also got low ranks, but not this low...
Three failing grades means three remedial classes?!
I've never had to take remedial classes before!
And on top of that, the scores get posted, so I get humiliated...!
My family was shocked. My parents and my brother.
I didn't say anything, but our school sends the report card home.
And? Kousuke is ranked 10th?!
I totally thought he'd be a wreck, a complete mess by now?!
So frustrating! Okay, I suck at math and English, but I was way better than him at Japanese and social studies, right?!
What the heck! He used to say he liked me so much—now he's over it already? It pisses me off!
Summer break started, and obviously everyone's on summer break.
Only the club activity nerds bother coming to school every day. But I'm here too, every day.
If you get a failing grade, you have to take remedial classes for about ten days straight.
Since I have three subjects, my whole morning is wiped out.
It was humiliating.
If you're out sick or in the sports department, you can at least make excuses.
I was healthy and attended class like normal.
Sure, I've been a bit distracted since high school started, but did I really fall this far?
I'm so irritated.
Some dumb gal from another class,
"Huh? Mishima-san, weren't you always acting like a top-tier girl? What are you doing in remedial?"
"No way! She's probably the most hurt by this! Pffft, hehehe!"
To get looked down on by a loser like this!!
I was so pissed I ignored her!
Of course my irritation kept building.
What day of remedial is this now? I ran into Kousuke in front of the cafeteria.
I don't want to see him! I don't want him to see me like this!
No way am I letting Kousuke laugh at me for looking pathetic!
But? The girl Kousuke was with!
Huh? I kept looking back and forth between the girl and Kousuke and couldn't stop laughing, lol.
"Kousuke? Kousuke! Seriously? I always thought you had good taste in girls? Ahahahahahaha! This is who you're with?!"
I can't stop laughing!
Isn't this the girl? That super popular handsome guy from Class 1, Kuzu-kun,
said she was the chubby girl who suddenly confessed to him.
Kousuke: "...Don't say such rude things."
But I keep going,
"I mean! I mean! Look at this fat girl! All she does is eat sweets, right? Never moves, right? She's the type who's like, 'I want you to see the real me!' right? Like, both her brain and her food are a happy meal set, right? How did you even confess? The guys she confessed to are spreading it around, you know? I know I shouldn't laugh, but! Ahahahaha!!"
The chubby girl gasps.
What kind of reaction is that? She doesn't get it, huh?
Kousuke: "...She's way prettier than you..."
I'm a little surprised,
"...Huh?! ...You mean me?"
He's never called me "you" before!
Just for insulting and dumping him a little, he calls me "you"? Offensive!
Girl: "...Kousuke-kun..."
Don't act all cutesy like a cute girl when you're a fatty.
So annoying!
I'm mad that Kousuke doesn't respect me anymore!
"I don't deserve to be called 'you' by Kousuke! And stop acting like my ex-boyfriend, Kousuke!"
Kousuke: "...You called me 'you' first, Satsuki. We don't have anything to do with each other anymore."
Huh? It's fine if I do it! But he can't!
"Seriously, you piss me off! Even if you're an ex, if you hang out with weird girls, my value goes down too, you know?!"
And then, Kousuke says something stupid.
Kousuke: "...Just watch. Tomonaga-san is a wonderful woman. She's absolutely going to get beautiful, so just shut up and watch..."
That's hilarious!
"Hmph! I thought you at least had good taste, but your eyes were just holes, huh? Try your best polishing up that totally unremarkable rock, okay?"
I'm still pissed off!
As I try to leave,
Kousuke: "Good luck with remedial, Satsuki! Fight!!"
He brings up remedial in front of everyone and I turn bright red!
Shame and anger!
Kousuke's taunting, like he's my best friend or something!
Well, I did diss that fat girl, so I feel a little better, but seeing Kousuke just made me angrier.
Why does he bother with a girl like that?
Terrible taste!!
Then August comes, and remedial finally ends.
I can finally hang out with everyone from morning!
"Every time we see you, Satsuki, all you do is complain about remedial!"
"Right? You should've just studied properly!"
Are they teasing me? Or making fun of me? I can't tell.
My boyfriend Masaki Yamamoto—I call him Masaki now—used to say things like, "That's rough." or "Hang in there."
He used to say stuff like that, but lately Masaki says,
"Try being the boyfriend of a girl everyone says is dumb, okay?"
And
"If you get another failing grade, you'll really have to repeat the year, you know? I can't date a girl who repeats a year!"
Stuff like that. I mean, I think he's joking, but...
He still wants my body almost every day? I guess he still wants to see me?
...But I'm anxious. Is this okay?
Kousuke never made me feel this anxious, right? ...Wait, what am I even thinking?
But I still end up complaining.
I'm not looking for a solution, though.
I just want him to listen, say "That's rough" or "It's not your fault, Satsuki" or "Don't worry."
...Kousuke always listened to everything. But. In the end, he always gave advice and tried to fix things—that was annoying.
Back in middle school, my grades were always high, so this never happened.
High school is different, huh? I'm bad at math and English—can you teach me sometime?
Like I said before,
I just wanted Masaki to listen, say "That's rough" or "It's not your fault, Satsuki" or "Don't worry."
But,
Masaki: "You were one of the top students in middle school? (lol) Everyone who came to Hokusho has about the same academic ranking, so you were being way too optimistic, huh? This high school is full of people who were top of their middle schools, you know? How did you even pass the entrance exam if you're bad at math and English? Figure it out yourself, okay?"
I just wanted him to listen, that's all!
Why do I have to be told stuff like this?
I blame Kousuke.
He should be supporting me like he did for the entrance exams, shouldn't he?
Even if we broke up, if he still loves me, he should at least give me that much aftercare, right?
In the end, it's all Kousuke's fault, everything.