Chapter 4.5 - Gravimetry
I arrived at the designated place punctually, 10 minutes after my message, just as promised. It looked like this was a wise decision as the brown-haired boy who contacted me just threw away what seemed to be the leftovers of his dinner. I had told him that I'd answer his questions, but I didn't expect him to ask me twice in one day while I wasn't even able to answer his first one.
"It feels pretty unusual to get an invitation from you, Ayanokouji-kun. I thought you would just ask me via chat."
I greeted him with a smile and sat down beside him. He seemed the type to ask in the classroom or by chat, so it was indeed out of the ordinary. He was usually quiet and behaved like an introvert would most of the time. He began to warm up to Karuizawa-san and the rest of us, but he was still uncomfortable around most people.
Did I perhaps assess him wrong?
"I guess it's unusual. It's just that I'd like to see your face when we are talking."
"Huh?"
I felt my face burn up after hearing that sentence. This wasn't something he could just say to a girl. Wasn't Ayanokouji-kun aware of this?! No, wait. It's Ayanokouji-kun, after all. He probably didn't know any better due to his upbringing.
"Did I say something weird again? I'm sorry about that."
His trademark monotone voice rang through the area. It was manly, and somehow mysterious. I couldn't help but enjoy listening to him for some strange reason.
Ayanokouji-kun mentioned that he had been homeschooled before, but I didn't expect his social abilities to be this bad. I wondered if I should warn him about the dangers of saying such things to a girl. The reactions would differ vastly, depending on the person. Some would dislike his open and honest approach, while others...
"Ah, no. Not at all, just a little unexpected." I waved my hand as if it was nothing, pushing those thoughts deeper in the back of my mind. "A-anyway, what were you about to ask me, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"About that. Today was really scary, huh?"
"You mean swim class? Yeah, it was pretty heated. It was understandable, however."
"You were pretty calm, Matsushita, weren't you? Aside from Horikita, you seemed to be the only one who was cool-headed."
Cool-headed, he said... Was he...? No...
I wasn't as affected since none of my underwear was stolen, but I was still upset for the other girls. Stealing underwear of either sex was just wrong and should not be excused, no matter who did the deed. Doing nothing or behaving differently because of the circumstances would send a bad precedent as well.
Ever since Hirata-kun invited him to our group, I had watched Ayanokouji-kun with interest. Hirata-kun was a good guy, so I understood why he had invited him. He wanted to help Ayanokouji-kun find a place in our class, since he seemed sad or was even apathetic to most of the things that had happened. He bantered with Horikita-san a lot, but aside from that, he was quiet. Inconspicuous even.
His social abilities were almost non-existent, and he seemed kind of dorky in a cute way, walking into the wrong classroom on the second day. He wasn't a bad person, or indifferent, even though his expression always implied such a state of mind. Ayanokouji-kun had trouble expressing himself, and that was alright.
Today, however, something felt different. He appeared different. When everyone started yelling at each other, he kept quiet and didn't move an inch. He simply listened and observed. I couldn't help but grow even more curious about him.
"Hmm. Guess I was. I mean my stuff wasn't stolen, so it's easier to keep calm, I think? I was still upset, though. Talking about cool-headed, however, you were also pretty calm back then."
I gave him a playful sideway glance, as if I trapped him in a lie. My expression wasn't serious at all, but I wanted to know how he'd react to this accusation.
"Did I seem calm to you? I was overwhelmed, honestly. As you know, I'm not very good in social situations. A large group makes this even worse. Additionally, everyone was aggressive, so I felt more like a deer staring at headlights. I couldn't really think properly. Maybe that's why I seemed calm."
His reasoning was sound and fit perfectly to the person I came to know the past few days.
Was I overthinking things?
Probably.
Most likely.
He wasn't standing out, so why did I believe that he was calm rather than scared? My hypothesis was completely off, but I didn't know why.
Why would I want him to be something he wasn't?
I was confident in my intelligence. If I were to try, I was sure that I could beat around 90% of students in our year. So why would I ponder over something that made little sense? He has proven time and time again that he is just a simple high-schooler that had little experience with social interactions.
Why did I try to force him into another role? Why did I want him to be special?
For some unknown reason, I thought back to our swimming lesson. The time we had spent outside, when I felt up his muscles. They were firm, yet soft. It was unbelievable.
I banished these thoughts from my mind.
"So that's what it was, huh? I guess large groups can intimidate if you are not used to them."
Ayanokouji-kun played around with his fingers, which exposed his nervousness upon revealing his next question.
"What I really wanted to ask, though. Why didn't you mention that I could have been the culprit as well?"
This was a dangerous one to ask. From his perspective, I could have simply forgotten that he was in the locker room alone, which would prompt me to inform the teacher now. The position he put himself in with those few words was rather unfavorable. Yet, despite all of that, he asked me.
Did he trust me that much? Because I was his friend?
Friendship seemed important to him, as he smiled for the first time after we had called him our friend back in the classroom. He was surprised and his reaction was adorable after he realized that we were thinking of him in such a way. Even though it pained me to see him this happy about something so trivial, I couldn't help but wish that he'd smile again like this.
Gosh, stop it Chiaki! What was wrong with me today?
"Because I didn't believe you were. Even if I did, the time you would have had to pull this off was miniscule since I was with you almost the entire time you weren't in the pool area. It's physically impossible that it was you, hence I mentioned nothing."
"Do you believe Yamauchi is the culprit?"
"Honestly? I don't think he would be this stupid. Someone must have set him up, but I don't know who or why."
Yamauchi was a fool, yes. But not to this degree. It wasn't too far-fetched that Ike and Yamauchi might have tried something like this, but they wouldn't have done it in a way that left them no chances of escape. They are perverts and morons, but not complete idiots.
If I wasn't completely off with my assumption, they would have at most tried to film the girls while they were changing. They would have used a camera or something like that, which would have been harder to find out and impossible to trace once it was out of the changing room.
Yamauchi must've been set up. But other than that, I hit a brick wall. There were too many things I didn't understand.
"You think someone from our class would do something like that?"
That was a good question, one I had thought about a lot after class ended. Even if someone would want to set him up, they needed time for that. It was impossible for us girls, since we were all on the observation deck or swimming. The same, however, went for the boys who were in the pool area.
Ayanokouji-kun and I were the only people with an opportunity, but even that was only a possibility if we had worked together. Either of us alone wouldn't have had enough time to pull this off.
But that could only mean...
"I'm not sure. I wouldn't say anyone of the girls would pull this off, but..."
If it couldn't be anyone from our class...
"But?"
"Maybe one of the other classes?"
Damn it, Chiaki. You weren't supposed to say this out loud.
I chided myself for my carelessness and kept thinking about the only theory I could come up with, even if this hypothesis had its flaws. A certain highschool detective once said, 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'
This statement held true in his world as well as the real one. It was unthinkable that someone from our class had set Yamauchi up, therefore the conclusion was simple.
"But why would the other classes care whether we lost someone?"
School had started a week ago, so it made little sense that someone held a grudge against him outside of our class, since we only had limited contact with the others.
"They shouldn't. Unless..."
... they had something to gain from it. But what?
Chabashira-sensei's words echoed in my mind.
'This school evaluates its students' talents.'
'The amount you've received reflects the evaluation of your worth'.
Our talents... our worth...
What if she meant this literally?
What would happen if our worth dwindled? If the amount of points reflected our worth, it meant that if we were to be worth less than before, we would get fewer points. This, by extension, meant that if we lose a student, we would lose his 'worth' as well.
But why would the other classes care about our worth? They shouldn't. Unless... it was a competition? About what? Our worth... Evaluation of the students' talents...
Don't tell me... The 100% employment guarantee?
"Unless?" the boy beside me asked, ripping me out of my turbulent thoughts.
I was talking too much...
"N-nothing. I was just zoning out. Sorry about that."
A laugh escaped my lips, hiding my thoughts and jumbled up feelings.
My current point balance was around 50.000. Since I wasn't friends with a ton of people, I hadn't spent as much as the other girls, but I had set up my room with a lot of stuff to create a comfortable living space for myself. If my conclusion was right, then it would be a good idea to save as much as possible before it was too late.
Should I warn the class?
No... I wasn't certain about my theory. Additionally, it would be of no use to us either way. The class was a mess and I would only stand out if I were to tell someone about my findings. First, I should calm down and observe. I can still plan my course of action once I know more.
My gaze wandered to Ayanokouji-kun, who sat beside me. He was glancing at me with a questioning gaze and a lightly tilted head, which looked somewhat charming.
As a friend, I should at least give him a few pieces of advice. Right?
"How many points do you have at the moment?"
"Me? Around 90.000 I think, why?"
The number of points was at the same time surprising, and not surprising at all. It was quite a large amount, but we've only been here for a week. Ayanokouji-kun also didn't seem like a lavish spender if compared to someone like Karuizawa-san who also had a lot of friends.
"Ahh, just wondering if you are a big spender like most of our other classmates, but that doesn't seem to be the case. You should probably keep it that way. It's a good habit to be more frugal."
"Oh. Yeah, guess you're right. I'll bear it in mind."
I nodded in approval before standing up to stretch my arms.
"Uwaaah, so tired..."
My eyes watered a little after my fake yawn, so I quickly rubbed over them.
I wasn't that tired, but I needed some alone time to think. My mind was a mess, and I needed to reexamine what I knew, what the teachers said and how the students behaved. There's also still Ayanokouji-kun's other question which I wanted to look into.
"I'll head back to the dorms. You coming?"
I turned to the brown-haired boy beside me with a smile on my face. Talking to him made me feel calm and relaxed, even though I couldn't put my finger on why this was the case. His presence was soothing and not at all bothersome, like it was the case with some of the other guys.
"Oh, no. I'll stay here for a moment longer."
His answer came quick. Monotone, as always. He said that he had trouble expressing himself and this still held true. I hoped that this could change. His smile was cute...
"Alright. See you tomorrow, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Mh. See you Matsushita."
I waved him goodbye before walking back towards the dorms. On my way over, I still couldn't properly wrap my head around today. I went through everything I knew. Again and again, I reached the same conclusion.
The classes would need to fight each other for the 100% employment guarantee. This was the only outcome that made sense. We already lost one of our classmates without realizing that we were competing, which is why I didn't have high hopes for our future.
After opening the door to my dorm room, I dropped my bag and fell face first into my warm and endlessly comfortable bed. My uniform would wrinkle, but I had to change it either way, so I wasn't concerned. I still had to shower too...
"I'm so done."
I flapped around with my feet, frustrated about today.
Our class was doomed, and I was the only person who knew. And what was that just now? Why was I so weird? I must really be tired, huh?
Ding!
With a defeated groan, I grabbed my phone, unlocked it, and turned my face to the side to read the message I received.
[07:33:12 PM][Karuizawa] Karaoke with us tomorrow? (＾▽＾)
I crawled forward until I arrived at my beloved pillow and turned around before typing my answer.
[07:34:28 PM] Who's us?
[07:34:59 PM][Karuizawa] Me, Satou-san, Kushida-san and some girls from Class B.
Kushida-san, huh? She wasn't usually in our group, but knowing her, she was probably invited by someone in Class B as well. I didn't like to get too close to people, but this would give me a chance to see how much the students in their class knew about this school. Information was key in my situation!
[07:36:02 PM] Sure, I'm in. (ᵔ◡ᵔ)
[07:36:09 PM] Girls only?
[07:37:12 PM][Karuizawa] Why? Do you want to invite Ayanokouji-kun as well? (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
Ayanokouji-kun?
I tilted my head, which felt like it rose in temperature from one second to the next.
[07:37:48 PM] Where does that come from?
[07:38:19 PM][Karuizawa] Satou-san saw you guys talking. All cozy and stuff. (^_~)
[07:38:39 PM] He just wanted to ask something...
... that was all.
[07:38:51 PM][Karuizawa] Hai-hai ~
I pouted and was about to type something else as another message from her arrived.
[07:39:10 PM][Karuizawa] Only girls from Class D for now. Both boys and girls from Class B.
[07:39:31 PM][Karuizawa] I wanted to ask Hirata-kun and Ayanokouji-kun as well though. He seemed kind of down today; you know? Maybe this'll cheer him up. ＼(٥⁀▽⁀ )／
[07:40:12 PM] Hirata-kun, huh? ┬┴┬┴┤( ͡° ͜ʖ├┬┴┬┴
[07:40:21 PM][Karuizawa] AHH, MOU!
I decided to end my teasing here and left my phone on the bed as I made my way over to the bathroom with a light chuckle. After a nice, warm shower, I rubbed myself dry and slung the towel around my body before walking back into the living room. I grabbed my bag and prepared the materials I'd need tomorrow before placing it on a nearby chair.
As I was on my way towards the bed to take care of the question Ayanokouji-kun had asked me, I noticed the sheet of paper I had prepared, which had slipped out and dropped to the ground. I picked it up and skimmed over it.
Karuizawa, gyaru, gal and gravimetry.
I still couldn't wrap my head around his question, though. After putting on my nightwear, I snuggled back inside my bed in a sitting position before opening the browser on the school-issued phone. A few lone water droplets ran along my skin as I tried to put myself in Ayanokouji-kun's position.
'ギャル'
The very first hit was likely the same that Ayanokouji-kun had read, since it contained the two English words; girl and gal. With this information, I made my next inquiry.
'Gal'
Most of the text was, understandably, in English. Luckily, I had no problems reading through the hits one by one. After every line I passed, I grew more confused.
'Gal - definition: girl, woman'
'GAL - Get A Life'
'gal - written abbreviation of gallon'
'gal - a girl, woman'
I couldn't find a single clue on how he managed to end up with something like gravimetry. I didn't even know what that was except that it probably had something to do with gravity, which I inferred by the name. After checking the next three pages with hits, and making sure none of the contents had anything to do with gravimetry, I changed my search term.
'gal gravimetry'
The first hit read 'Gal (unit)'.
I clicked on the link and read through the beginning of the page. From what I could gather gal was a deprecated unit of acceleration which was sometimes used in gravimetry.
How in the world did he find this without specifically typing it into the search bar? And before the hundreds of hits, that gal meant girl at that!
I closed the browser and opened a chat before typing away.
[08:04:03 PM] Can we talk?
I slung my moderately wet hair over my shoulder, laid back and rested the phone on my belly. A few minutes later, it vibrated and a loud sound rang through the room.
[08:07:18 PM][Ayanokouji] Of course. Did you forget something?
[08:08:43 PM] No, I just thought it would be funny if I start the conversation just like you did earlier.
[08:09:10 PM][Ayanokouji] I see. So what do you want?
I somehow felt like pouting. I didn't have the slightest clue why, though.
[08:10:03 PM] Shouldn't you be like all happy that your friend decided to text you this late because she wanted to answer your question? Greet me properly, would you?
[08:10:55 PM][Ayanokouji] I'm thrilled that my friend is texting me this late because she wanted to answer my question. It really is a pleasure, Matsushita-sensei.
I laughed and sent him a cute smiley because he wasn't being serious at all.
[08:11:32 PM] (・`ω´・)
I waited for a while, but he never replied upon receiving that kaomoji. Since I felt he was being awfully mean to me, I paid him back in kind.
[08:20:27 PM] Are you sleeping?
[08:20:28 PM] Brr
[08:20:29 PM] Brr
[08:20:30 PM] Brr
[08:11:32 PM][Matsushita] (・`ω´・)
What... was that?
I racked my brain but couldn't determine anything.
Was she having a stroke, perhaps?
No, the chance was almost nonexistent under ordinary circumstances. It would be an insult to her health if I were to ask her now. This wouldn't do. I had to figure this one out of my own and I was sure that I could do so eventually.
The best thing in such a situation was to ask the all-knowing internet. It let me down a few times already, but I was sure that most of my questions could be answered with it. I quickly copied the row of symbols into the search bar and hit enter.
The first hit was 'Omega'.
...
...
...
Thanks for nothing.
Time passed, but I couldn't quite figure out the meaning, until I finally remembered something that I heard the other guys talking about.
Emoticons — some kind of smiley-language used in chats.
I immediately retyped my query and hit enter once again.
This time, I found what I was looking for. Rows upon rows of so-called 'Kaomojis'. They all seemed to have a meaning. Some of them had the same, while others were used to express something entirely different.
I went through all the emoticons, line by line. Symbol by symbol, I ingrained their meaning and pattern into my mind. After over two hundred of these so-called kaomojis, I finally found the one I was looking for.
It represented anger.
What did I do wrong? What should I answer? Sorry? Or another emoji? Was this a good idea or would she get more angry?
After a few minutes of ruminating about my answer, my phone repeatedly vibrated and rang all around the room.
[08:20:42 PM][Ayanokouji] I was. Sorry.
[08:20:45 PM][Ayanokouji] (μ_μ)
[08:21:22 PM] Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. m(_ _)m
[08:21:39 PM][Ayanokouji] It's totally fine. I didn't mean to go to sleep yet, anyway.
I sighed heavily, feeling bad. Maybe he was tired because of everything that happened today, and I just woke him back up. But he said that it's fine, so it was alright. Right? I didn't need to feel bad, did I?
"Ahhh, mouuuu!"
It somehow felt wrong. This cute outburst of emotions was Karuizawa-san's trademark, after all. I couldn't just steal it.
I closed the chat, scrolled through my contacts until I reached a certain brown-haired classmate on my phone, and pressed the call button.
Tuut!
Tuut!
"Matsushita? What is it?"
The boy on the other end of the line didn't sound tired, which made me feel more relieved than I expected. Everything else about his greeting was just as predicted, which led to a small smile on my face.
"I just thought I'd make sure that you won't fall asleep on me again. Is it a bad timing?"
"Ah, no. Not at all. I was just surprised, that's all."
"Sorry, sorry." I rolled towards the side of my bed, letting out a small giggle in the process. "So, about that question you asked me this morning? I have a question of my own."
"I'll answer it if I can."
"What's gravimetry?"
He was silent for a moment before he responded in his usual manner.
"Ah, something about gravity, I think? I'm not too sure, honestly, which is why I was confused. As I've already mentioned before, I first figured that it was because she was cute, which would make her attracting to the boys, thus being a gravitational force of sorts, which would somehow explain the gravimetry part. But that would make you a gal too, which Ike and Yamauchi denied. After all of this, I was at a loss and chose to ask you."
As expected, he also thought that Karuizawa-san was cute. I felt a light sting, but couldn't classify its meaning. As he kept going on, I noted that his reasoning made sense, at least the way he had spun it to fit his narrative. Afterwards, my mind blanked out.
I calmed my heartbeat and took a deep breath.
It was stupid to think so much into his words as he simply stated what he believed. He explained his reasoning, due to the things he felt, and said them out loud. He wasn't aware how a girl might take his compliments and possibly misunderstand the meaning.
How could he, when he was homeschooled for such a long time?
I still didn't figure out how he wound up at gravimetry, however, since I hadn't managed to find this exact topic without specifying it. There must've been a reason he found this meaning before the usual ones.
"What kind of search engine are you using, Ayanokouji-kun?"
He was once again silent, and I was sure I could hear him typing on a keyboard. It seemed like he had to check, which was kind of cute. A few seconds passed before he finally answered.
"It's called Bing."
"Mh, okay. Give me a second."
I removed the phone from my ear and opened the browser on it. I navigated towards Bing and once again typed in the English word 'gal'. To my surprise, the first hit was exactly what he asked about in class: gravimetry.
I heaved a deep sigh and put to phone back near my ear.
"Sorry, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Huh? For what?"
That I once again thought something was weird about you when you were just being clueless. What was wrong with me? Why do I always think that there was more to him than he let on?
Baka-Chiaki.
"What kind of search engine are you using, Ayanokouji-kun?"
That was a weird question to ask. Coupled with the one prior, a bad feeling began to spread through my body.
I opened my browser and quickly typed in gal. The first hit displayed was an explanation that gal was a slang word for girl, which, now that I was reading it, made total sense.
Karuizawa was a girl, after all. That was my mistake.
I hadn't typed 'gal' into the search engine since I knew all its implications, or at least I thought I did. Gravimetry was just the one that made the most sense in my mind, due to Karuizawas good looks. I made a serious blunder, and I had little time to fix it.
My hands typed in another search term: 'top search engines japan'.
I clicked the first link, which displayed a graph of a few different search engines and their respective market shares. The first one was Google — the one I used as well. I navigated to the second displayed search engine and typed 'gal' into the search bar. Again, an explanation about gal meaning girl showed up on my screen. Closing the tab, I navigated to the third engine and repeated my query.
As luck would have it, the first hit was about gravimetry.
"It's called Bing."
"Mh, okay. Give me a second."
She went silent afterwards, likely crosschecking my results with hers.
That was too close. I decided that I needed to be more careful about the things I'd ask Matsushita and learn to use the internet properly. Even if I think I know what something meant, I should still make sure. If something like this happened again, I might not be able to get myself out of it like this time.
"Sorry, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Huh? For what?"
I played dumb. I had to. There would have been another way if I hadn't found a suitable search engine, but I would have needed to tell her something I was not yet planning to share.
Did she perhaps notice something?
She seemed quite suspicious of me, so I needed to be extra careful in how I was going to act around her from now on. She could not be allowed to catch on to me. Even if that meant eliminating her.
"Ahh, nothing. So, Ayanokouji-kun... you should really start using Google as your search engine."
"Oh, really? Okay."
"Yeah, if you had used that instead of the other one, you would have seen that a gal is an English slang word for girl."
"Oh... really? Now I feel kind of stupid."
I wanted to express my feelings upon realizing what I had done. I really wished to laugh, but I couldn't.
I giggled upon hearing his deadpan reply. This was just like Ayanokouji-kun.
"It's not that bad. You just seem to be even more clueless about social interactions than I initially thought."
"Thanks?"
Once again, I let out a hearty laugh. It really was relaxing talking to him.
"Don't worry, I'm going to help you from now on!" I pat my chest in reassurance, even though he wouldn't be able to see it. "Being homeschooled must have been tough for you, right?"
I really wondered about that. He seemed clumsy and dorky sometimes, but I didn't have the feeling that he was stupid. He didn't seem to be extraordinarily intelligent either, but in a range that it's acceptable as a normal human being, unlike other people I could think of.
"It was alright, I guess. Due to that, however, I didn't really have a normal school life like normal children, which is why I'm socially inept. This is my first time going to school and interacting with so many people. Oh, and please don't tell anyone about this. I don't want them to pity me or anything. I'm rambling on too much anyway, but I thought it would be fine telling you."
A light smile formed on my face, thinking about how uncomfortable it must have been to share this with me.
Even though he looked like he cared little, he trusted me with such a secret. Our small group knew that he was homeschooled, but we always thought that he must've had friends outside of this, which was apparently a wrong assumption on our part.
His parents must have been really strict. He was homeschooled and didn't have many social interactions. His life sounded like that of a rich family son who didn't have a choice in these matters. It was as if everything was decided for him the moment he was born.
I was similar, yet totally different.
Since I was also from a rather wealthy family, I felt some kind of familiarity with him. My parents, however, were kind and let me do whatever I wanted as long as I brought back results. But I met enough other people who had similar problems as he had, albeit not as extreme.
Due to my newfound understanding, I found myself even more interested in the boy called Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and we didn't stop talking until the day changed to the next one.