Brooding Guy, Quiet Girl

Chapter 24

Chapter 24: "It all came tumbling down."

The meeting was over faster than I would have expected. Izuna-san had to pull out quickly since she had affairs to attend to over at the student council. In the end, it felt more like she gave me orders on what to do instead of discussing what should be done.

I feel less and less like a president. If anything, I'm a mere figurehead for the club. Izuna-san is the one who's really doing real work around here.

But I don't mind. She does a far better job than I can ever do.

Bag in hand and a file in the other, I walk down the vacant hallway. It's time to head home. The weekends are free for students of Gekkoukan, so I'll use them to laze around in my comfortable pyjamas, like I did everyday at home.

At that moment, a paper in the file slips out. Just before it touches the floors, I drop the file and catch it. It's the form I gave our first client...

Kousaka Misha. That is the name she wrote on it. I find it to be a rather fitting. Very... subtle. Compared to my name... Why would my parents name me 'Alice' in the first place? It's a foreign name. And, I'm positive regarding the fact I'm a pure-blood Japanese.

Alice. I don't like it. It makes me stand out too much. And everyone keeps mispronouncing it.

There's one thing I've learned through these past five days, and it's that I do better when people ignore me. I can't handle attention. It gives my cold feet, and then my mind shuts down.

I can hear faint echoes of music resonating through the hallway. Particularly, a rather lovely singing voice, accompanied by the skilful strums of a guitar and the rapid beats of drums. Are they practicing? What song is she singing? It's... rather nice.

...

I hate this feeling. Is it envy? Spite? Disappointment? Sorrow? All of the above? I haven't an idea. But I know it's not good. It hurts. It really hurts.

Simply because I fall apart under pressure, I failed to join them. I keep telling myself that it will be fine. Things will get better... But... They're not. And they won't.

I used to enjoy listening to soundtracks on my music player. However, last night and the night before... I just couldn't get past five seconds of any track. Listening to music just reminds me of how horribly I failed, and the sheer embarrassment I brought to not only myself, but Reiji-san as well.

I hang my head low, shutting my eyes tightly.

I should be there, practicing with everyone.

Not here, holding back my tears.

It's funny. I practiced the piano and the violin day after day... and it turned out to be completely pointless. All those hours I spent hitting the keys, hoping to get the right rhythm... All the scolding my tutors would give to hone my talents...

It all came tumbling down.

"Shit!"

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I quickly catch her head before she pounds it against my chest.

That was close.

I dicked around a bit back at class, trying to get those goddamn scribbles off my desk. I used everything I could find, the duster, erasers, brooms... you name it. Obviously, it failed. Tomorrow, I'm gonna try to scrape it out with a coin or something.

But never mind that... this little detour made me cross paths with Alice. Again. What a pain... Can't walk down the stairs without her bumping into me at the corner... Can't take a bath without her walking in on me...