40 Typical School Stuff

My school has a library. It's small—barely the size of a regular classroom—but it holds a surprising assortment of books.

I moved the stepping stool a little more to the left. I reached for a book that had a blank spine.

The Little Prince.

"Meh, I've watched the movie. Good movie."

I slid the book back on the empty shelf. Most of the books here were interesting enough, but not exactly what I was looking for.

There were only two that caught my eye. First, a Japanese history textbook since the subject is taking more out of me than I originally thought. The other was a thin children's cookbook.

I read through the latter. Thirty pages of simple recipes. I didn't need to jot down notes for this one. Hell, I didn't even need to bring it with me.

I waltzed up to the librarian's desk.

"Can I borrow this history book?"

The elderly librarian looked up and smiled warmly. "Of course, you can." She stamped a slip of paper and slid it into the book. Her eyes softened as she studied me for a moment. "I haven't seen you in a while, Sasaki-chan. I thought you moved to another school. You used to come here every day."

I paused. The librarian said something interesting. "I did?"

"Yes," she chuckled softly, "you used to come here almost religiously. Always reading something."

"Really?" I asked, genuinely curious now. "What did I usually read?"

"What, you don't remember? Eat more vegetables. They're good for your developing brain."

After a soft chuckle, the librarian finally spoke up.

"Fairy tales." The elderly librarian's gaze drifted to a shelf that held only a single book. Huh. That was the very shelf where I found The Little Prince. "As you may know, there used to be thirty books," she continued, a hint of nostalgia in her voice. "But the students keep misplacing them...

"I see. It can happen. Still, kids sure don't know how to organize their things."

Sheesh. 30 books reduce to a lonely one. None of those students bothered replacing them, not even the school.

"Sorry, Pico. I know how much you loved them," she said.

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault. Also, my name isn't Pico anymore. I go by Eira now."

"Eira? Really? But Pico is such a good name."

"Haha... a lot happened. Anyway, I'm going to go back to class!"

I swiftly escaped with the history book, speedwalking to the classroom.

It was currently lunchtime. I already finished eating the noodles I made the other day, so I hung out in the back.

The sound of Gameboys being mashed was like music to my ears.

"I KEEP DYING AT LEVEL 8! GAAAHHHH!"

"Nooo! Dude, why did you scream?! I got distracted and died too!"

I took my rightful seat on the main character seat and watched my classmates play Tetris. They weren't terrible, but they weren't doing too well either.

I eased back in my seat. "Have you guys eaten lunch? You do know that lunch is about to end."

"Don't talk. We need to concentrate...!"

"Suit yourself."

I read the history book to prepare for my only nemesis: Social Studies. When the bell rang, everyone went back to their seats. The math teacher came in.

"Hey there, kids. Did everyone do their homework?"

""Yes!"" ""Ugh...""

There were some groans mixed in there. Hehe, kids.

We passed our notebooks to the front as the teacher wrote elementary equations on the board.

While the teacher was marking the homework, he made us answer the questions on the board in our heads.

"Who wants to volunteer and write their answers on the board?"

Many hands rose up excitedly. I'll let them do it.

"Let's have someone who didn't raise their hand have a go. Sasaki-chan, do you mind?"

My classmates looked back towards me.

Ah, shit. One of those? Well, it's fine.

"I can do it." I rose from my desk and wrote down the answers. Percentages and fractions were just too easy.

The math teacher added. "Don't forget to show how you reached the answer or you'll lose marks in a test."

Oops. I forgot to write those down. I added them before returning to my seat in the back.

"Does everyone agree with her answers?"

No objections came my way.

"Good. Nicely done, Sasaki-chan."

Math.

Mathematics is a universal subject that any kid in the world can understand. I think math is easy, but not because I'm good at it. At a fundamental level, math is very rigid. 1+1 will always equal 2. You can argue otherwise, but you'd have to be very convincing. I'd still think that you're mistaken, though.

"Today, we will continue from where we left off last week: The relationship between decimals, fractions, and percentages. Let's do some more questions first. Turn to page 195 in your textbooks..."

Seeing the study material, I couldn't help but smirk.

As an avid reader of trash isekai and all sorts of stories with overpowered main characters, I am familiar with the trope of "regression."

I can't say I'm a big fan of it. Most of the characters I've read about all do the same thing of using their knowledge of the future to gain the upper hand in the battle against fate. That's cool, but it gets old when they keep pulling shit out of their ass. At some point, you can't help but ask, 'How do you remember all of this precise information?! How come you never mentioned this before?!'

Oh my god, I get it.

I have to do elementary school-level work since I'm an elementary schooler now. As someone who graduated from high school—no matter how mundane my scores were back then—these questions are too easy!

It took me a minute to solve all 20 questions. Just, oh my god. I might as well be a genius at this point.

School's going to be pretty easy at this rate. My cheat ability is being a high school graduate in a world of little kids!

I answered questions left and right, not bothering to do a once-over. Perhaps because I finished earlier than everyone else, I caught my seatmate trying to peek at my answers.

Thus, my math class went by in relative silence.

Next up: Physical Education. The activity?

"Everyone, form groups of four with your friends!"

The PE teacher's voice echoed throughout the gymnasium. A metal box full of volleyball balls was beside her.

With her instruction, my classmates quickly formed groups.

If I'm remembering right, there should be 25 students in the class... wait a minute.

Before I knew it, I was the only one not in a group. Really, I should have seen this coming.

The PE teacher smiled nervously. "Sasaki-chan, you can join any group you want. Or, if you'd like, you can play with me instead like in the past."

I heard giggles from behind me. When I turned back, my classmates looked away.

"No, I'll join a group," I said.

I waited for everyone to start passing the ball to one another. After briefly observing the six groups, my feet led me to the people with the best skills out of the lot.

"I'll join you guys."

"No." Nakamura crossed his arms. "Go somewhere else."

How blatant. The three other kids in the group aren't saying otherwise either. Smiling, I called out to the teacher.

"Ms. PE teacher, I want to join this group."

"Okay. Nakamura-chan, Sasaki-chan will join your group, okay?"

"Ugh."

An adult is too strong for him to dismiss. He and the others groaned as he passed the volleyball to me.

I caught the volleyball, feeling the tension in the air as Nakamura and his group barely concealed their irritation. It wasn't like I cared that much about being left out. It's just kids being kids.

Curious as I was about the reason, it was none of my business. I tossed the ball back to Nakamura, meeting his glare with an indifferent stare.

.

.

.

"Everyone, let's have group matches now!"

Enough time passed for a warm-up. During that period, I wasn't given the ball again. They really don't like me.

However, I wasn't just idling around. Nakamura's group had people who actually knew how to receive and hit the ball. I kept all of their movements in mind.

The match against another group started. Once again, the volleyball never came my way.

I crossed my arms, watching as they fumbled a few plays here and there, clearly trying too hard to show off. Nakamura's spikes were either too powerful and flew out of bounds, or too weak, making easy saves for the other team.

Why are you all such tryhards? You can't even reach over the net!

Ms. PE teacher was watching as well. She noticed how I wasn't getting the ball. Her expression shifted a little, but she didn't intervene.

Even the teacher has given up.

The first group match ended in our victory. Well, their victory. I just stood there.

The second match started not too long after. I tied my hair up as one of my group members served the ball.

The other team received the ball clumsily. Still, they managed to hit the volleyball back to our side.

They hit it right to where I was standing.

"Mine!"

One of my group members rushed over, but they tripped on their own foot along the way.

Amused, I brought my arms together and smacked the volleyball straight up. Finally, I touched the ball after half an hour of waiting around.

"Mine!!!"

Another group member sprinted to my position. Unfortunately, they slipped and fell in their panic.

Well, that's the end of that.

I caught the ball. No one else was close enough to reach it. The other team celebrated their small victory.

"Tsk, that was a terrible pass. The ball went straight up, Sasaki! You'll make us lose at this rate," said the kid who tripped over his own foot.

"Better up than down like you," I retorted. His face flushed red. Heheh. I kind of like screwing with kids. This is fun.

With a soft thud, the other team served the ball. It was heading towards me again. Prior to them serving, I changed my position on the court. I had a good feeling about one particular spot, and there I stood.

"Mine!"

The same kid tried to do the same thing again.

"No, mine."

I side-stepped him and jumped. My arms were pulled back, fingers splayed and ready. I stopped thinking at that moment and let my body do what felt most natural.

Strength traveled from my legs, core, and into my arm as I swung it forward in one powerful motion. A resounding thud reached my ears.

The ball shot downward as gravity pulled me back to the ground.

I landed lightly on my toes and looked up just in time... to see the ball hit the net.

I didn't hit it high enough.

Another point for our opponents.

The other team cheered again, and my teammates groaned in frustration. If looks could kill, I'd be burning in hell already.

Still, I cackled internally.

I knew it! Messing with kids is pretty fun!

Fuck it, they already hate me anyway. At least now I'll give them a real reason to really hate me.

Forget Pico fellas. You're stuck with me now, and I'll make sure you remember it even if you get amnesia. Mwahahahaha!

Despite my efforts to sabotage my teammates, it would still result in my team's victory. Pretty close game though. If only the other team was better and stopped hitting it out of bounds...

"That's the end of the lesson, everyone! Get changed and ready for your next lesson! I'll be seeing you all next week!"

After running around for the past hour, we were back to regular school lessons that passed by really slowly. As usual, I barely struggled.

"Pico."

Someone called out to me as I was heading to the schoolyard. It was time for club activities, and someone like me who wasn't a member of any got to leave school early.

Sighing, I turned around.

"How many times do I have to say that my name is Eira?"

"Eira, Pico, they're no different to me."

"Seriously?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes so blatantly at Nakamura. He wasn't alone. His friends swiftly surrounded me from all sides.

The narrow corridor got even narrower.

"Guys, don't you all have a club to go to? We don't want any of you getting marked for truanting."

"We don't care about that right now, you liar." A female classmate spat out.

"Liar? Me? I'm not following here."

"Yes, liar!" Nakamura pointed at me, furious. "You acting differently doesn't change anything! You're still... You're still the same loser from before!"

"What the fuck did you just call me?"

I immediately covered my mouth. Uh oh. Swearing in school is a big fat no-no.

"?"

Unlike me, Nakamura and his buddies didn't react that strongly. His face twitched in annoyance though.

"Why are you talking in English all of a sudden? Are you showing off again? You're not impressing anyone!"

...thankfully, teaching kids English swear words isn't part of the curriculum.

Anyway, me, a loser. Sorry, but calling me that out of the blue was super unexpected.

...or was he? It's not me that he's calling a loser. I've done nothing but mind my own business until today.

This can only mean one thing.

He's talking about Pico.

"Is that how it is?" I laughed at the realization. "I'm a loser?"

"Well, yeah!"

Okay, so... I'm getting bullied. Pico was getting bullied, and now that I've replaced her, I'm taking her place.

That's terrible, but also, that's amazing.

For me, that is.

I couldn't help but keep laughing, even though they looked at me as if I were insane. Everyone has been so distant since I first came to school, and now I know the reason why.

And it looks like they're upping their game.

"I see. I'm a loser. Thanks for helping me remember."

After nodding my head in agreement, I resumed walking, squeezing through a gap between two classmates.

"Huh?"

They stood there for a few seconds, blankly watching me walk away.

It didn't take long for someone to regain their focus. Someone screeched like a chimpanzee from behind me. "Hey, weirdo! Where do you think you're going?! We aren't done here!"

"Stop it, Saori. Let her leave." Nakamura spoke to the girl who shouted.

"Hmph! She's getting ahead of herself, that granny! Everyone else thinks so too, right?!"

"Lower your voice already." Nakamura snapped back. "Besides, I..."

Their voices lowered the farther away I get, until I couldn't hear them anymore. The sound of excited kids doing club activities was what remained.

School bullies and their little shenanigans. Sorry, but I'm too old for this kind of crap to work, you know?

I descended the flight of stairs to the first floor, making my way to the lockers. Let's see... the best way to deal with bullies is to not ignore them, I think? I'll snitch on them tomorrow and see from there...

I stopped in front of my locker and opened it.

...where did my shoes go?