A Book Can't Be Judged By The Cover Chapter 6: Water And Oil

The trip towards Akamine-sensei was hellish and silence-filled. This whole ti, gumi continued to stare daggers, or rather swords, at Haji as if that would do anything aside from making him feel inferior. She had already killed him more than a hundred tis in her mind with that devilish stare but Haji didn’t notice half of it. He was too focused on not leaning forward or veering sideways since his headache worsened. The last thing he wanted was for gumi to see that pathetic side of him.

"What did you do this ti?" She angrily blurted at Haji while trying to hold herself back.

Haji shrugged in response, wincing due to his throbbing headache. "How about you? It’s unusual for the class representative to get in trouble."

She didn’t answer, instead, she just kept on growling the rest of the way.

Once they reached the teacher’s office, Akamine-sensei was already waiting for them. There was a few seconds pause before she beckoned for gumi to co in. At first, she was indecisive but then saw it best to call gumi in, and then Haji after.

Click!

There were only muffled noises to be heard from the teacher’s office so Haji didn’t bother listening in. Instead, he sat on one of the empty seats by the hallway and clenched his stomach agonizingly. He was more hungry than usual, probably since the heat drained most of his energy. And it’s not like the hallways of the school was airconditioned either.

A short trip to the bathroom might have done the trick, but Haji clearly rembered Akamine-sensei telling him to wait. He’d already given Akamine-sensei more trouble than most— adding to that ever-growing pile of trouble that gave Akamine-sensei headaches. It made Haji feel guilty.

Akamine-sensei and gumi’s voices were still as indistinct but Haji could hear them raise and lower their voices. It seed that they were having a light squabble, which piqued his curiosity. The class representative and the horoom teacher having a debate? Spicy.

"I’ll be going now, Akamine-sensei." gumi bowed upon exiting the office.

"Haji, you may co in," Akamine-sensei called just as the door was about to close.

Without hesitation, Haji walked inside the office, quietly berating himself for not thinking up a script before he entered. He knew that Akamine-sensei won’t delve into personal topics in public but when there’s just her in the room, she won’t think twice about asking prying questions. Of course, all of those conclusions are based on Haji’s experience.

"You’ve missed the morning classes for quite a few days now. At the rate you’re going, you might have to repeat the year." Akamine-sensei went straight to the point before Haji could even seat himself.

’Please, anything but that!’ Haji thought, but he didn’t dare say it.

"What exactly is more important than your morning classes?" The cheerful and vibrant Akamine-sensei no longer existed in front of Haji. She frowned, causing Haji to fidget. Even then, concern was still written all over her face. "Look, Haji, if you don’t tell anything, I won’t be able to help you. I don’t know what you’re doing during the morning classes... or why you choose to miss out on them in the first place. I don’t know what your current situation is but as your horoom teacher, I have to know all these things. Otherwise, I’m as helpless and as clueless as to what to do to fix this."

Gulp.

"Yes, sensei." Haji began, nodding his head as he stared at the floor. "Actually I— "

He paused.

’Wait, what do I tell her? What do I tell her?!’ Haji asked. He couldn’t bring up such a sensitive topic, not to their kindhearted teacher. Besides, he could slightly rember the unspoken rule that a student shouldn’t have a part-ti job. Gossip or not, he wasn’t going to take his chances. "I... I’m sorry I can’t tell you, sensei."

This ti, it was Akamine-sensei who paused, clasped her hands, and heaved a sigh. "I guess I can’t force you to say it. However, I can’t just warn you forever. If you miss out on your morning classes, your precious sumr class is at stake. And if by any chance you missed on that as well, then you’d have to repeat."

"If you ever feel like talking to , don’t hesitate. You can talk to at any ti, okay?"

Haji nodded.

"And um... if you need any help, here’s my cellphone number." She hurriedly wrote her phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Haji. "Do you have your phone with you?"

"I don’t have a phone," Haji said.

Akamine-sensei brushed it off, thinking that what Haji said was a joke. How could he not have a phone? Everyone has one, right? Or so that’s what she assud. But as it turned out, Haji was actually telling the truth. He really didn’t have a phone, he never did have.

"You’re dismissed." Akamine-sensei then said after handing Haji her phone number.

As soon as Haji stood up, he felt as if his whole world turned upside down. He beca so light-headed that he didn’t even notice himself falling forward. There was nothing he could do to stop himself. One mont, he was falling down, the next mont he hit his shoulder on Akamine-sensei’s desk and then rolled down until his body hit the floor. His consciousness was still intact, but he couldn’t bring it upon himself to stand up. His headache aggravated and he could feel himself dipping into unconsciousness as the coldness of the floor enveloped his body.

After two seconds though, Haji found the strength to support himself with his right arm. With great difficulty he managed to seat himself on the floor, panting. "Are you all right, Haji? What’s wrong? Are you sick?" Akamine-sensei rushed towards him, panicked. He quickly checked if Haji had a fever but all she felt was cold sweat trickling on his forehead. For so odd reason, he was sweating although the air conditioning was in full blast.

"Just a headache, sensei," Haji simply responded.

"Here, have so water," Akamine-sensei grabbed a thermos from her bag and poured cold water for Haji.

The water didn’t help with his headache, but it did refresh him a little. "I’d better be going now, sensei," Haji continued, mustering all his strength so he could stand up.

"Are you sure you’re okay? Where’s your house, I can drive you."

"Thank you sensei, but I’ve caused you more than enough trouble already. Besides, my house’s just a few minutes walk from here." Haji forced himself to smile as he dragged himself out of Akamine-sensei’s office. He then gently closed the door behind him and rushed out of there. ’That was close, I felt like dying back there.’ Haji told himself, leaning on the walls as he made his way to the school grounds. He wanted to exit the school as soon as possible.