episode_0033

Vita and Carlyle.

Recently, the relationship between the two has been almost in a cold war.

To the students around them, they were a very sweet couple, but recently, the atmosphere between them has definitely felt different.

“Yes, Bianca.”

“Yeah, why?”

“Did you two fight…?”

Vita immediately knew what her partner Sasha meant. Of course, she had no intention of agreeing with those words, so she shook her head.

“No, not really.”

“… I’m sure they fought.”

“No, really.”

Vita honestly has no idea why she’s explaining this.

‘What does it matter if I fought that guy?’

Really, that’s right.

Fortunately, when I said it again, my partner Shasha didn’t ask me anymore.

Vita let out a short, invisible sigh.

‘Other kids know too…’

It’s nothing to worry about. Strictly speaking, we didn’t fight, and even if we did, it wouldn’t matter.

‘That guy Carlyle.’

To begin with, we were just rivals, and we weren’t even close before she became a woman.

So, it doesn’t matter what happens between him and me.

Surely, that would be the case.

Vita bit her lip.

‘…Why am I like this?’

A very subtle emotion kept rising up.

Annoying, confusing, and even frustrating.

I don’t even know why I feel so suffocated. I just feel suffocated for some reason.

It’s been a few days since I became like this, and I’ve been away from that Carlyle guy.

I just feel frustrated.

‘Obviously, back then. I made a mistake.’

Vita was lost in thought.

[Yeah, I don’t like it.]

[Why do you think I’ll be okay with it?]

Of course, I made a mistake. I admit that.

I felt like I was losing my mind because of my competitive spirit. There was no need to say it like that, but I reacted strangely.

But that doesn’t mean it’s like that.

Carlyle’s attitude now, his attitude that changed in an instant, is not understandable.

‘Men are such petty people.’

As if I were someone else.

When you treat yourself coldly, you become self-conscious and feel worthless.

‘No, what… when did you say you liked me?’

He probably wasn’t sincere in the first place. But even so, he’s not that weird.

‘That Carlyle Schultz.’

Because he was a guy who dated a lot of women to begin with.

It’s not surprising that emotions quickly flare up and then cool down.

That’s obviously all there is to it.

Besides, there’s some good news recently.

[Ah, Vita-kun! It’s something we discussed last time…]

The doctor I met last time contacted me.

[Me, really?]

This is great news for Vita, as the results of the advanced drug’s trials are positive.

[Once this experiment is over, I can give you the medicine.]

A chance to return to the original state.

If you have the will, if you have the earnest desire to return to being a man, it may happen.

This is definitely a blessing in disguise.

So Vita had to feel good. She had to float around.

But, why? But why on earth?

Is it because the biggest problem has been solved?

The current Vita was just feeling suffocated. For some reason, I also felt a little anxious. I don’t know why at all.

Since we’re in the same classroom, there are bound to be times when we run into each other.

Just now, I ran into him briefly in the hallway as I was coming back from the bathroom, and Carlyle just passed me by.

For a moment, Vita felt like she had been pricked by a stinging thorn. She hesitated and stopped.

Obviously, he would have been talking nonsense like usual.

That’s not the case at all, because people suddenly change, you become conscious of it.

Carlyle Schultz has changed.

“… … ”

Vita clenched her fist tightly.

‘What do you want me to do?’

He has such strong pride that he has no intention of bending if the other person acts like that.

The same goes for after school.

“Playing basketball after work today?”

“Well, okay.”

Even though their eyes met, Carlyle passed Vita once again while chatting with his friends.

The awkward air just now, the feeling of confusion.

Vita paused again, clenching her fists.

“Are you okay, Your Majesty?”

“Why, Shasha?”

“Your expression is so bad… That bastard Carlyle Schultz!”

Because my partner Shasha was angry on my behalf. But Vita really didn’t want to admit it.

If it had been like usual, I would have apologized first, but the other person acted like that.

“… No, something like that.”

Vita kept thinking, “What’s wrong with that guy? It’s not something to worry about.”

So, really.

***

Several days passed after Carlyle became the class president and Vita became the vice president.

“Then, eat lunch well. Next week, there’s a sports meet and a midterm exam. Let’s get ready little by little.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, and. Mr. Carlyle and Miss Bianca, can you follow the teacher for a moment?”

After morning classes, the two were called in.

The matter is nothing special.

“That’s right. There’s something the two of you need help with. It’s usually the teacher’s job, but he’s a little busy.”

With those words, the teacher points to a stack of documents on one side of the desk.

“Well, as you can see. Since you’re a member of the examination committee… I think I should ask you a favor.”

Vita waved her hand at the homeroom teacher who had an apologetic expression.

“It’s okay, teacher. Just say whatever you want!”

Rather, I think it would be good to get some points from my homeroom teacher on this occasion.

It’s a bit awkward having Carlyle next to you.

Vita overreacted a little. The surprised teacher soon smiled.

“I like how enthusiastic you are. I really appreciate it. So, I have something to ask you… We are in charge of organizing supplies for this semester.”

To summarize, it is like this.

I had to prepare in advance for the sports competition next week, so I checked to make sure I had the right supplies.

“Especially, the relief supplies must be in the right quantity. The sports competition schedule that day ends in the evening.”

It will soon be late autumn.

The weather is chilly these days, and it’s cold at night.

“So how do you check the quantity of materials?”

At Carlyle’s words, the teacher shook his head.

“Oh, look at my mind. I wrote it down on paper in advance in case you guys didn’t know, right?”

About 500.

“Later, when I have time, I will check it again. Just classify and organize it.”

“Yes, sir.”

And after the answer, the two came out of the teachers’ room together again.

Even while walking down the hallway, there is no conversation.

It’s so awkward.

‘… How did it end up like this?’

I bit my lip because I felt uncomfortable, but I didn’t say anything. I still had some pride left.

Tiring- Tiring-

It’s lunch time.

It’s funny. Even though they were like this, they still had lunch together. It felt like this was the Maginot Line.

If one of them says let’s quit, I think it will happen.

No one has said that out loud yet.

Anyway, Emily Swan. The three of them have been having some very uncomfortable and awkward lunches lately.

Today was a little different. When Vita went to see Emily, Emily said this with an apologetic expression.

“Sorry, Bianca! I’m with the other kids today… ”

“Oh, I see… ”

Vita was slightly embarrassed.

‘Emily is missing here?’

It’s embarrassing because I haven’t had any conversation with that guy yet.

“Then I’ll talk to you later!”

“Ugh, yeah… !”

“Oh, wait.”

Emily suddenly came back as if remembering something.

“But, Bianca. Are you still with Carlisle?”

“Carlyle, why?”

Emily looks apologetic as Vita pretends not to know.

“You still haven’t reconciled. Because of the question I asked… ”

As Vita closes her mouth there, Emily speaks with a smile.

“Yes, Bianca. We’re alone today. We have to make up.”

Maybe Emily was deliberately stepping aside?

Leaving those words behind, he waves his hand and is surrounded by his friends.

‘Emily was originally quite a popular child.’

It’s not strange.

Anyway, what was important right now was the situation where the two of them ended up eating together, but as expected, it was too awkward.

In fact, it was so awkward to go up to the rooftop in Carlyle’s arms that I felt like I was going to die.

It feels like an implicit agreement that the two still have lunch together.

First of all, it was a promise made.

Carlyle is quiet, and neither is Vita.

Why didn’t Emily come? She’s eating with the other kids.

That exchange of words was really all there was to the conversation.

“… … ”

“… … ”

There was a rather awkward silence for a while.

Vita bit her lip. She was still nervous.

‘No, why?’

There’s no need to worry about it. It’s obviously weird for him to be aware of the mood he’s setting.

On the one hand, yes. I feel a little resentful.

‘Why, keep doing that…?’

Even though he wasn’t originally a very friendly person to others, didn’t he often talk nonsense to himself?

Wasn’t it so clever? To the point where it felt shameless.

So, just this once.

‘Just once, like before…’

If you approach me first while pretending not to know, I will readily apologize and follow suit.

The air is so uncomfortable. I feel like I can’t breathe.

The day I lost the class president election.

I regret having done that with such a childish symbol.

It was childish of me to openly humiliate a guy who had a smiling face just because he lost an election.

But Vita can’t bring herself to apologize.

Because of my modest pride, I am not used to apologizing.

My fists are clenched and my chest feels tight.

My lips are very dry, but I am very conscious.

In the end, I just kept worrying and blew another opportunity.

Tiring- Tiring-

The afternoon bell rings.

Vita’s eyes grew darker and darker, wondering what to do.

But to be honest, I don’t want to continue like this with Carlyle.

***

And that afternoon.

Vita and Carlyle came to organize supplies as their homeroom teacher requested in the morning.

The sports festival is coming up soon, and then there are midterms.

Vita couldn’t afford to waste her after-school time because her goal was to be number one in both of them.

After the ceremony, the two remained in the classroom.

“Then please. It might take a long time. But the teacher will give you both extra points.”

“, is that a bonus point?!”

“Already approved.”

Vita continued her small talk with shining eyes, while Carlyle greeted them and went out into the hallway first.

“I’ll do my best, teacher!”

Carlyle is ahead.

Vita followed behind him, carrying her bag.

The warehouse is in the annex. So, if you leave the main building and cross the playground, the building you see right away is the academy’s annex.

“That, um… ”

Vita, who had been hesitating for a long time, finally opened her mouth.

“Me too, list… ”

Because I need a list.

It was a really awkward situation because the teacher gave it only to Carlyle, who was the class president.

“You see, then.”

After a dry answer, Carlyle held out the list to Vita.

“Then, you?”

“I’ve already roughly memorized it.”

You were also very talented.

Since you’re so smart, you must be good at studying too.

What an unfair world this is.

Vita pouts slightly at Carlyle’s words as she takes the list.

‘ah…’

I felt a little relieved at the realization I had just realized.

It would be so awkward to the point of death if the two of us were organizing the warehouse.

‘I was quite worried…’

Still, it’s the longest conversation we’ve had in the past few days.

It’s something like that, really, it’s reassuring.

He doesn’t even realize that he is suffering like that.

Just having a little chat with Carlyle made me feel better.

Anyway, the two of them started organizing the supplies in the warehouse. In fact, it was closer to checking than organizing.

As I push open the large iron door, a peculiar smell comes into my eyes.

The distinctive smell of a gym warehouse.

Dim sunlight illuminates the interior through the cracks in the windows.

Dusty jumping jacks, basketballs wrapped in netting, hula hoops of various sizes and folded mats.

Of course, what the two of them were going to do was simply check the supplies, so they started right away.

We closed the warehouse door and continued our dry conversation.

“There, twenty?”

“That’s right, twenty.”

Check off all the relief supplies without fail. Your homeroom teacher will check them again, so classify them so that you can check them easily.

The warehouse was quite large, and the work I was assigned to do took a lot of time.

‘But because I got points.’

Moreover, Vita is quite meticulous about these things, so she doesn’t want to do anything carelessly when someone trusts her with something.

Since I’m going to do it anyway, I think I should do it perfectly the first time.

Since he has this kind of personality, there are bound to be conflicts whenever he becomes class president. With the vice presidents, that is.

[Vita. There is. Let’s do it in moderation.]

[Do I have to go this far?]

What kind of complaints are those?

It’s called competitive spirit. Sometimes it ends up in perfectionism.

But now that Carlyle wasn’t saying much, Vita felt quite comfortable.

Since you silently endured it, I feel like the awkward situation is helpful at least when I’m working now.

Or else, again.

Vita didn’t know if he just didn’t have any thoughts.

“Whoa- It’s over.”

Anyway, the two people had no idea about it.

Before I knew it, the sun had set in the middle of the sky.

Clank- clank-

‘Yeah, what is it…?’

And then a problem arose.

Vita tilted her head slightly as she was about to open the door.

I tried again, thinking I might have made a mistake, but it still didn’t budge.

“The door won’t open.”

Carlyle, who had been standing behind, approached Vita.

“Move over, wait.”

Clank- clank-

The two were speechless.

This is, no way.

“… I think I’m trapped.”

And of all places, it had to be in the gym after school!