"Hey Saionji, you can't sleep in my class! I've been telling you this since the very beginning of the term!"
I lifted my head and looked toward the teacher standing in front of the board. She was pointing the dry-erase marker in her hand directly at me, scanning me with a furious face.
As I looked around, I saw that most of the class was staring at me. Everyone had a slight smirk on their face, trying to cover it with their hands.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. It won't happen again."
"If you don't make an effort to ensure it doesn't happen, it's only going to hurt you anyway, Saionji. It doesn't affect me."
"You're right, ma'am..."
Once this woman starts talking, no one can stop her. It seems like an undeniable truth that she makes her husband suffer at home with this big mouth of hers.
I was sitting in the back row by the window. In the row to my right, there was a very hardworking girl. Ever since the teacher woke me up, she had been glancing at me out of the corner of her eye and then quickly looking away.
I leaned forward, keeping an eye on the teacher at the same time.
"Why do you keep looking at me?"
"I... I'm not looking at you. Where are you getting that from?" The girl pressed her legs together and started crushing the pencil in her hand.
"Well, my bad for the misunderstanding then."
Even though I didn't believe her, I didn't push it. I didn't want to create the illusion in people's eyes that I valued myself too highly.
...
When the bell rang for break, I observed my classmates with slow steps and left the classroom. Right by the door stood the girl who sat to my right. As I passed by, she raised her right hand, but she neither made a move nor said anything.
I looked back over my shoulder and then kept walking.
From the opposite direction, my old friend Suzuki was walking down the hall, strutting with his hands in his pockets, flanked by five thug-looking guys behind him.
"Hey Saionji, you bastard."
I kept my cool and put my hands in my pockets. He brought his disgusting face close to mine.
"Your behavior is terrible, but everything gets covered up thanks to your intellect."
"What kind of problems are there with my behavior?" I kept staring into his hateful eyes with a serious expression.
He pulled his head back a bit and pushed one of his friends forward.
"Problems like this."
I took a medium-force punch to the right side of my face.
"You don't know that you shouldn't stare straight into the eyes of those older than you. That's bad behavior." They were all laughing and high-fiving each other.
Without showing any sign of being bothered, I looked around. The girl sitting to my right had her hands over her mouth, watching us in absolute shock. Some people were taking out their phones and recording the fight.
I was supposed to control my temper, but I couldn't. Suddenly, I stepped close to Suzuki's right kidney and landed a punch.
Unfortunately, my punches weren't very strong, but the area I struck was certainly not a painless spot.
"You son of a bitch." He was rolling on the floor in agony, clutching his kidney.
"From now o..." Before I could finish my sentence, I saw the school principal approaching, parting the crowd of students with his arms.
I straightened my collar and bowed before the principal.
"Are you trying to disgrace our school?!"
His bald head had turned bright red, and veins were popping on parts of his forehead. Spit was flying from his angry mouth.
"Get to my office. Right now."
...