Chapter 6

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

< Chapter 5 | TOC | Chapter 7 >

Chapter 6: Monday with Nemurihime

I spent my weekend sleeping most of the time.

The reason was more than abiding by the words of Shion, but rather, I had to heal quickly so as to not hinder my part-time job next week.

The sleeping must have been quite effective, as I was totally back on my feet on Monday.

Due to my broken sleep cycle, it has been a while since I last felt this refreshed on a school day.

Well, the refreshing feeling that was like a bonus-time, ended the moment I entered the classroom.

"Morn!"

"Oh, Taniguchi, morning!"

"Ayy. Wait, did you cut your bangs?"

"You noticed? Actually--"

I had no idea how people could enjoy the same type of conversation everyday without getting bored of it.

While listening to the chattering of his classmates which didn't have any content, Kanata walks towards his seat briskly.

For a moment, it felt like some people were peeking glances at him, but that was it.

On a usual morning, I'd just walk straight to the desk and fall asleep to settle down the fatigue from staying up late, but unfortunately, I felt wide awake today.

I take out a paperback book from my bag.

The title is "Selected works of University of Tokyo Quiz Research Club! The world's best quiz compilation: Volume 12".

As the title says, it's a quiz book compiled by the quiz research club of UTokyo.

Ever since I received the volume 1 of this supreme series from my parents as a gift in elementary school, I've been completely hooked to it and purchased every single volume since then.

And then, I start answering all the questions in my head. It's just perfect for a morning brain exercise.

"Everyone, good morning."

A voice that sounded like the ringing of a bell.

Her voice alone changed the atmosphere of the classroom.

"Yumekawa-san, good morning!"

"Good morning, Shiroyama-san. That nail-polish looks cute!"

"Good morning Yumekawa-san! You're as cute as always!"

"Good morning, Takaoka-san. You're really exaggerating it."

One didn't even have to confirm with their eyes that who had entered the classroom; it was obvious from just her words. Also, you could easily understand what was happening around her without looking.

It's Yumekawa Shion. The most beautiful girl among the first years, and an existence that everyone admires and longs for.

I'm sure that right now, she's surrounded by many classmates and communicating with each of them one-by-one.

This is a common scene every morning.

While solving the 10th quiz question, Kanata goes deep in thought.

That maybe whatever happened on Friday was all a dream.

◇◇◇

There's at least one person in the classroom that maintains top grades without even listening to the lessons.

Unfortunately, I do not fall under that category; so I closed the quiz book as soon as the class started.

In total contrast, Shion started getting drowsy 5 minutes into the first lesson, and sank her head onto the desk.

Immediately after, she falls asleep, looking very comfortable.

She'll probably remain in this state until the class ends.

This is also a daily occurrence; which is the origin of her title of the "Sleeping Princess".

If I remember correctly, this habit of Shion started around one week after she entered high school, and by the second week it had become her usual routine.

While the teachers also used to warn her at the beginning, but they stopped complaining after Shion took the first place among first years in the first fixed-term test.

As our school is one of the best escalator schools in Tokyo, it has a tendency to overlook students as long as they perform well.

As a matter of fact, there are similar students in other classes who are virtually left alone because they are good at their studies.

The school might have a policy to let genius students free rather than suppress their freedom and hurt their own pace. Apparently such a policy would lead to positive results in their academic achievement.

Shion, who keeps sleeping through the lessons.

Someone had made a comment that her figure looked almost as if an angel was taking a nap.

Taking a glimpse at her defenseless and innocent sleeping face unwillingly reminds me of Saturday morning.

The figure of her sleeping peacefully, comfortably hugging her pillow, with a fair skin and a surprisingly sizeable chest..... wait, concentrate on the lesson.

I tightly close my eyes several times to drive out my evil desires.

Unfortunately, I'm not a genius.

The level of these lessons are already quite high, and I need to concentrate on the class properly to be able to keep up.

Saying that to myself, I force my focus back onto the blackboard.

---As I do so, the scene of the lined up empty energy drink cans pass through my mind.

Immediately after, I turn my gaze towards Shion once more.

Although I myself am not sure why, I kept observing the expression of Shion's sleeping face.

Maybe it was my imagination.

Or maybe it's just something like a confirmation bias and my mind is playing games on me.

But, rather than sleeping peacefully and comfortably, the sleeping face of Shion looked like she was incredibly tired and unable to recover from accumulated fatigue.

Almost as if she has studied overnight, and is now taking a nap on her desk.

The discomfort that creeped into my head.

Without giving me enough time to identify its true identity, the chime signalling the end of the first period rings loudly.

< Chapter 5 |

TOC |

Chapter 7 >