I (30), Who Works for a Black Company and Died While Regretting My Gloomy Life, Started Over From High School!
Chapter 101: Shijouin-san Avoided Me

The first day of the second semester began with clear skies.

In the still sweltering heat, classmates I hadn’t seen in a while arrived at school, each seeming to carry the weariness of the end-of-summer break.

However, as expected of youthful energy, after just a short while, everyone seemed to get back into the swing of things, chatting and catching up with friends they hadn’t seen in a while throughout the classroom.

(I remember in my previous life, the end of summer break was always so painful, and I couldn’t understand why those outgoing kids would say things like, “Being with friends at school is more fun than staying at home!”…)

But now, I can somewhat understand that feeling. Now that I don’t have to fear my surroundings anymore, the lively atmosphere of this classroom is quite pleasant.

“Hey, can you help me copy the homework?” and “Hey, how was the camp with the club members?”—words like these reached my ears, and for some reason, it made me smile.

“Um… Sorry, Niihama. I still have hazy memories, but I vaguely recall you and that driver taking care of us when we were drunk and staggering…” said Ginji, Kazamihara, and Fudehashi as they lined up in front of me with guilty looks on their faces.

We still don’t know who bought the alcohol in the first place… Well, it was quite a hassle, but…

“Don’t worry about it. You didn’t cause any trouble, and besides, the barbecue was almost over anyway.”

As I smiled and waved off their concerns, the three of them heaved sighs of relief, their expressions softening.

“Oh, phew. If you say so, I guess the guilt eases a bit. By the way… Our memories of that time are quite fuzzy, but… Did we say anything embarrassing…?” asked Kazamihara timidly.

Well, it’s understandable that she’s uneasy when he doesn’t remember what he said.

“Well, I’ll go one by one… First, Ginji, you don’t need to worry. You were a bit of a crybaby, but what you said didn’t change much.”

“Is that so…? Well, I’m relieved, but it’s a bit disappointing that I’m just too ordinary to make it into the conversation later…”

Indeed, when you’re drunk, what you say reflects your suppressed feelings and true thoughts, but you’re just a regular otaku without any particular peculiarities, so you won’t say anything dangerous.

“As for Kazamihara… Ah, I never knew you were so grateful to me.”

“Huh? Wait, what did I say!? What’s with that gentle look on your face!?”

It’s okay, Kazamihara. You may always have a poker face and act like a cold-hearted, dry-tongued office lady, but I know you genuinely care about your friends.

“Finally, Fudehashi… Umm, just forget about it for the sake of your honor as a girl.”

“Huh, whaaat!? Hey, what does that mean!? What did I do!?”

That reaction is natural, but it can’t be helped.

The truth is, Fudehashi at that time was the complete opposite of her usual athletic, healthy, and beautiful girl self—it was more like a perverted old man.

“I know it’s hard to not be concerned, but just forget about it, Fudehashi. Oh, but once you can handle alcohol, make sure you’re aware of your limits. If you get drunk at a university club or something, it could affect you later on.”

“You expect me to forget about it? That’s impossible!”

As Fudehashi glared at me, I averted my gaze and ignored her.

It’s true that I could tell her if she really wanted to know, but there’s no way I could say something like that in the middle of this class.

“Huh? Oh, it looks like Shijouin-san is here.”

At Ginji’s words, the atmosphere reset, and the two girls and I directed our gazes towards the beautiful girl who entered the classroom.

(Oh… She’s still cute in her school uniform.)

As I looked at her long, glossy black hair and her too adorable appearance, the fact that we had snuggled up to each other at the beach felt like a lie.

I was worried about what would happen after I got drunk and fell asleep, but yesterday, after talking with Kanako, I was so exhausted from the day before that I ended up sleeping until night and missed the timing to send a text.

“Good morning, Shijouin-san. Are you feeling better now?”

I approached Shijouin-san’s seat and greeted the girl I hadn’t seen for two days. This casual interaction was my greatest weapon in my second life and a result of the connection I had built up with Shijouin-san in this life.

That’s what I thought, but…

“…!”

(What…!?)

Normally, Shijouin-san would respond to my greeting with a smile, but as soon as she saw my face, she quickly averted her gaze.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t hear my voice or that someone else called her. She reacted to my voice and presence and deliberately turned away, not wanting to see me.

“Uh… Uhm, Shijouin-san…?”

“I-I’ll, I’ll be right back, going to the restroom!”

Without showing me her face at all, Shijouin-san hurriedly left the classroom. I was left standing there, dumbfounded, frozen in the same pose as when I called out to her.

(She turned away from me… and ran away? She didn’t even want to look at my face, couldn’t bear being in my presence…?)

I was hit with an unexpected reaction, and it felt like the ground beneath my feet suddenly disappeared, plunging me into an abyss.

My entire body felt as frozen as the Arctic Ocean, and I knew countless cracks were forming in my glass heart.

And in an instant, all my vitality withered away, and I inevitably collapsed on the classroom floor.

“Huh? Oh no! Niihama seems to be dead!”

“What’s wrong? Is it severe heat exhaustion?”

“Oh no! His face looks like a zombie, and his breathing is shallow!”

“Seriously! Haruka’s attitude is mysterious, but I can’t tell if Niihama is mentally strong or weak!”

I could hear my classmates panicking and fretting, but it had no effect on my heart, which was suffering from a fatal blow.

Shijouin-san disliked me.

I wanted to die.

(TLN) Today is queue day! That means I will be filling up the queue for next week’s chapters tonight. If you want to be able to binge them all in one sitting, head on over to ko-fi in the morning tomorrow!