Chapter 3: I'm tired, Teacher!

"Good morning," greeted Ai Shimizu.

"Morning..." I said tiredly.

"You have visible eye bags. Can't you sleep?" asked Ai Shimizu.

"Yeah," I lied.

We're on our way to school, and I met her on the way. I've studied the whole night and haven't slept a wink. It's Friday, and the first week of school is almost over. I've been doing all-nighters for three days straight. I tried my best to cram all the books I could in the library and studied all night when I got home. I also studied the lectures that will be tackled next week. At the cost of sacrificing my sleep, I gained the advantage of being ahead in the class.

"Yo," said Tanaka.

Tanaka placed his arm on my shoulder, and he noticed that Ai Shimizu was beside me.

"Ah, hey," akwardly said Tanaka.

"Hey," said Shimizu.

The mood suddenly changed. Awkwardness is covering our atmosphere, and it was clearly because of Tanaka. Tanaka is a good guy and a talkative one, but it seems he's weak toward girls.

"Hey, are the two of you, you know, dating?" asked Tanaka.

"Huh?" asked Shimizu with an upset tone.

"Oh, I mean, the two of you are so close considering it's just the other day our class began," said Tanaka.

"Excuse me, it seems the two of us made a misunderstanding around us. I'll go ahead," said Shimizu.

She bowed toward me and quickly walked away. Tanaka and I were left alone in the middle of the street. We looked at the back of Shimizu as she quickly walked away from us.

"Way to go, Tanaka," I said sarcastically.

"Sorry," said Tanaka.

I talked to several girls at my old school, so I'm used to communicating with them. I've been with him the whole time I'm in school, and I noticed he's bad at talking to girls. I tried communicating with our other classmates, but they all seem to hate me. I'm hated by everyone, and Tanaka is hated by girls. That's probably the reason we get along so well.

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"Hey Takahashi!" yelled Tanaka.

I suddenly woke up from my nap and realized that I was in class. My classmates are staring at me, and the pink-haired woman is staring daggers at me. I've slowly looked around and turned to Tanaka.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Well..." muttered Tanaka.

"Why are you sleeping in my class, Takahashi-kun?" asked the pink-haired woman.

"Shut up; it's not like you'll teach me something useful anyway," I said.

I returned to my napping posture in my chair and closed my eyes. A chalk was thrown on my head, but I tried to ignore the pain. I didn't change my posture and continued to try sleeping.

The slowly moving steps from black heels can be heard over the room. A finger suddenly touched the top of my head.

"You have two cowlicks in the head; you must be a naughty boy," said the pink-haired woman.

Cowlicks? She must mean the two whorls in my head. What is she talking about?

"Oh, excuse me. You see, class, having two cowlicks or whorls in the head is considered stubborn in the Philippines. My mother is a Filipina, by the way," said the pink-haired woman.

Huh. This is the first time she has taught me something I didn't know. For the past few days, she has just taught us lectures from the textbook. Which I already read beforehand; that's why her lessons are so boring.

"What happened, Takahashi-kun? You usually volunteer to answer. Don't tell me you can't answer the question on the chalkboard. Come on, try it," said the pink-haired woman.

She's poking my ears with the chalk that she threw. She's trying to tickle me with it, but I didn't show any reaction. She lowered her head and whispered in my ears.

"I'll give you a reward once you answered it," whispered the pink-haired woman.

Without hesitation, I stood up quickly. My classmates showed a hint of surprise when I stood up. I looked into the pink-haired woman's eyes and talked to her.

"What kind?" I asked.

"That's a secret," said the pink-haired woman while showing a smile.

She's probably confident because she thinks that I don't know the question on the chalkboard. I examined the question on the chalkboard, and it was a question for which I knew the answer. I slowly walked towards the chalkboard and picked up one of the chalks. I wrote the answer letter by letter and slowly placed the chalk back into the chalkbox. I turned around, and the whole class gave me a round of applause. Which seems unnecessary.

"Well done," said the pink-haired woman while clapping her hands.

I placed my hands in my pockets and looked at them.

"Hm, what's wrong?" asked the pink-haired woman.

"Nothing," I said.

I took a step as I made my way back into my seat. As soon as I took that step, I suddenly felt dizzy, and my vision got blurry. My body felt heavy, and I heard the impact of my body hitting the ground.

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I slowly opened my eyes, and I gave them a scratch. I'm currently lying in a white bed. I looked around the room, and curtains were beside me. I slowly sat on the bed and touched my head. I still feel dizzy, and my head aches.

"Takahashi-kun? Are you awake?" asked the familiar female voice.

"Yes, I am," I said.

The curtain opened, and it was the pink-haired woman. She went in and sat in the wooden chair beside me. She's holding a plastic bag that contains two sandwiches and two bottles of ice tea. She took one of the sandwiches and handed it over to me.

"Hungry?" asked the pink-haired woman.

"Yes," I said.

I took the sandwich and opened its wrapper. The pink-haired woman took the last sandwich in the plastic bag and did the same. Both of us took a bite from our sandwich. I tried to avoid looking at her, but I can tell she's looking at me.

"You didn't sleep for days, didn't you?" she asked.

"I did," I lied.

"You're lying," she said.

I looked into her eyes, and she's also looking right into mine. She continued to chew on her food and didn't avert her gaze.

"I've seen you every day at the library reading books. Do you like studying that much?" she asked.

I didn't reply and just kept eating my food. I avoid her intense gaze to lessen the headache I'm feeling. Her gaze is giving me pressure to talk, even though I don't want to.

"I just want to learn everything in this world, that's all," I said.

"Hm, but you do know that it's impossible in our age, right?" she muttered.

"I know. Probably because the amount of information available in the world is vast and constantly expanding. It is challenging for any individual such as myself to gain expertise in all fields and—"

I suddenly realized that I was talking too much. I might have unintentionally made it complicated or made it look like I'm bragging.

"Sorry, I talked too much," I said.

"No, I can keep up with that," she said.

She leaned towards me and placed her arms on the bed while holding her cheeks. Her eyes are filled with interest, and it looks like she wants to hear what I want to say. So I continued. I talked about everything I know; I talked about psychics, the theory of everything, dark matter, etc. She also managed to keep up with me and give comments and feedback about it. The time passed quickly, and the bell for the class rang.

"Well, let's head back," said the pink-haired woman.

I suddenly felt sadness at the end of our conversation. It's been a while since I got to talk this much, ever since preschool.

I grabbed her arm and stopped her from moving. She turned to me with a smile on her face. She looks confused about my actions, and a hint of fear is starting to appear in her expression.

"Takahashi-kun? What is it?" She asked.

I looked down from embarrassment and tried to gather my courage to say what I'm thinking. I lifted up my head and gazed into her eyes. My mouth is starting to clutter as I continue to gather my words. I braced myself and finally managed to say it.

"Will you go on a date with me this Sunday?"