Part 5: No Other Reason

"Well then, I'll see you tomorrow, Sugiyama-san. If you could kindly get to school 30 minutes early, I would greatly appreciate it."

With that, Kurebayashi takes a bow and exits Mr. Hirashi's office. Classes start in less than 5 minutes, and it would have been better if I went along with her to the second school building. But God knows I won't be able to handle talking with her for that long. I need at least a day of preparation before I can properly engage in a conversation with someone. That may be an over-exaggeration on my part, but my point still stands.

I wait for a bit before I, too, take my leave. But not before giving Mr. Hirashi the stink eye as I walk to the door. He gives me an apologetic look but still has that stupid smirk on him.

"Sorry about this, Jo. But I really think this might be the only way to get through to you."

"What is that supposed to mean? Don't think you can get away with this by spouting some profound-sounding crap."

"Don't worry, I take full responsibility for tricking you. But I do hope you'll at least try to take this seriously."

I could barely register what he said as I closed the door behind me and hurriedly made my way to the second school building. Fortunately, there are also a few other students walking to their respective classes. It at least makes me feel a bit relieved that I'm not the only one running late.

On the way, I curse at myself for not even putting up a fight earlier. But looking back on it now, I don't think there was much I could do about it. Mr. Hirashi knew what I would do in that situation and set me up perfectly.

That girl, Kurebayashi, was also hard to say no to.

Well, I guess there's no harm in just going with the flow for now and seeing how this goes. I mean, it's not like I have anything better to do. And how hard would volunteer work actually be?

As I traverse the hallway to my classroom, the radiant smile of Kurebayashi suddenly flashes in my mind.

Yep, I'm only doing this because I was ambushed and have on other choice. Definitely no other reason.