4
The next day, a different world awaited us when we arrived at school.
“Misaka-san, I watched the show yesterday!”
“You made it to the finals, that’s amazing! You’re so smart!”
“If you were going to be on TV, you should have told us! I was so surprised when I saw you on there!”
Voices of praise. Voices of surprise. Voices of excitement.
The morning classroom was filled with the buzz of conversation.
No, with the number of people there, it would be more accurate to say that the noise level had increased.
Unfamiliar students from other classes had wandered in, and everyone seemed to be in a frenzy.
“O-oh, um… I’m not really…”
Even amidst all this, one particular seat in the middle of the classroom stood out.
Several students crowded around it, forming a circle.
Mio was in the center of that circle.
“I just couldn’t say no when they asked me… It’s not like I wanted to be on TV or anything…”
“No, no! You answered all those difficult questions so smoothly! No one could do that normally! I’d be too nervous to even speak, let alone give a coherent answer!”
“Yeah, you were amazing. You even went viral online for a bit! It’s amazing that someone from our school was on that show!”
“I know, right? I never would have guessed that someone from our school would be on that show. If I had known, I would have cheered you on. Why didn’t you tell us?”
Surrounded by an unfamiliar crowd, Mio tried to downplay her accomplishments, but the excitement around her only intensified.
They cheered her on and praised her.
Everyone was saying whatever they wanted.
(Mio is clearly uncomfortable. Can’t they tell?)
I couldn’t help but curse inwardly, but that wouldn’t change anything.
As for me, I could only sit in my seat and watch the scene unfold with eyes filled with regret.
To put it bluntly, we had underestimated the power of television and the pervasiveness of social media.
Apparently, the news of Misaki appearing on the quiz show had spread throughout the class via the class messaging app the day before.
Her name and school name being revealed had a big impact.
It seemed that there was some confusion about who she was since she was dressed differently than usual, but that only seemed to fuel the fire.
It quickly spread to other classes, and through the network of friends, it had apparently become known throughout the school in a single night.
I only found out about it when I walked into the classroom with Misaki.
I had noticed the strange looks I was getting on my way to school, but I didn’t know what they were about. I had just been thinking about getting to school, and now I feel like punching myself for it.
There’s no denying that I had assumed that no one would notice her on TV or that even if they did, they wouldn’t talk to her.
I also can’t deny that I had tried to ignore reality by denying that Misaki had dressed up for TV.
I couldn’t have predicted that it would lead to the current situation.
I don’t have friends many to begin with, so the fact that I rarely open the class messaging app was fatal.
Before I knew it, I had been separated from Misaki and was left all alone. All I could do was dejectedly walk to my seat. I can’t even begin to describe how I felt.
“Misaki…”
Surrounded by people, her figure now out of sight, all I could do was mutter her name.
I felt like I was being crushed by an overwhelming sense of unease about what the future held.