Tonari no Seki no Satou-San chapter 9

Here we go with chapter 9. It’s a long one.

Title: Changing seats with Satou-san.

April is here. There is nothing special about it, except that the school year and classrooms have changed. We started our junior year without any hiccups and will spend the next year taking exams or looking for a job. I have to do it. I don’t have any intentions to act as an honors student, but I’ve been thinking that it’s time for me to get serious about my studies. I’ve decided on the university I want to go to, the only thing left to do is…. I’ve got to do something about this feeling that has been floating in the air for some reason.

Nothing has changed, not even the faces of my classmates or my homeroom teacher. And yet, I’ve been greeting today’s homeroom with an uneasy feeling. The seating chart without names is pasted on the blackboard. From now on, the names of each of my classmates will be written on that paper. The homeroom teacher’s hand-made paper box is placed on the teaching table. I stick my hand in the round hole right next to it and draw a lottery, which is folded into a triangle. Each time, the change of seats was done by a strict lottery. In other words, it all depends on luck.

I watch absentmindedly as everyone else draws lots, one after the other.

“Yamaguchi-kun, you’re going to love changing seats.”(S)

Satou-san, seated next to me, was buoyant. I turned my gaze toward her and saw her smiling at me.

“I think I’ll have a window seat this time.”(S)

“…why?”(Y)

I can’t help but ask back. I don’t care where she wants to be, I don’t care.

“Because it’s warmer in a window seat.”(S)

The simple, straightforward answer comes back to me. See, it didn’t matter what Satou-san says is always unimportant. It’s springtime now, so it’s good. When summer comes, we’ll only be in direct sunlight, but I don’t think anyone wants to sit by the window. 

“Oh, and I’d like the last seat in the back. Last seat by the window.”(S)

Satou-san went on in a carefree manner. I don’t need to ask why. It’s probably because she thinks it’s harder to be called on in class if you’re seated at the back of the room. I think it’s pointless. There are even some teachers who want to concentrate on poorly performing Satou-san. It doesn’t matter where you sit, the guy sitting next to you will probably have a hard time. I’ve been through a lot myself. It was never a good thing to have Satou-san sitting next to me.

“Hey. Where do you think you’d like to sit, Yamaguchi-kun?”(S)

She was still the same. As buoyant as ever. What’s so fun about it, why is she talking to me in an excited manner.

“I’m not…”(Y)

I guess she doesn’t even notice my unenthusiastic tone as I answer.

“It’s all the same to me.”(Y)

It doesn’t matter where you sit among the unchanging faces.As long as I don’t bother the guy sitting next to me like Satou-san does, and I don’t meddle with him. If I want to talk to him, I 

 will read the air. It doesn’t matter who sits next to me. So I don’t care about changing seats, and I don’t mind it.

“I doubt it.”(S)

Satou-san tried to object, so I got up from my seat. It was my turn for the lottery. The seating chart on the blackboard is already half full, and the homeroom teacher is beckoning me to join her. 

“Hey, you’re up Yamaguchi.”(Teacher)

“Good luck, Yamaguchi-kun.”(S)

I could hear the cheering on my back as I headed for the teaching table, but all I could do was sigh. What am I trying to do? If I draw the lottery, I’ll have to say goodbye to that seat, and I won’t be able to talk to Satou-san anymore. We haven’t been particularly close, and even though we’re in the same class, we don’t have any other to contact each other. Now I won’t have to deal with her.

I stuck my hand into the box and drew a triangular lottery ticket. The number marked inside the open one pointed to a corner of the seating chart. The seat at the back of the row, on the farthest window side. Coincidentally, it was the seat Satou-san had wanted to be in.

“Nice, Yamaguchi-kun.”(S)

Sato-san, who had taken her seat in turn, let out an envious cry. But I couldn’t say anything. I watched her wildly long skirt sway as she passed me in the narrow aisle. She heads straight for the teachers table and smiles at our homeroom teacher before shoving her hand into the box. She checked the number of the raffle she’d drawn, the homeroom teacher then confirms it, and only the homeroom teacher grimaces. Satou-san gave an awkward, bitter smile. The teacher writes Satou-san’s name on the seating chart. She is seated in the first row, directly in front of the teacher’s table on the right. Satou-san’s seat was in the front row. In other words–.

The lottery was over without a hitch, and when the seating chart was completely filled, we were moved to our new seats. The seat next to me was a relatively quiet, high-achieving female student named Karasawa-san. She was quite different from Satou-san. I glanced at the profile of Karasawa-san, who wore glasses, and then sighed. At the very least, I won’t have to be talked to or have to help with answers in class.

I was sitting in a classroom with recess coming up and I had no energy to get up. The sun was shining brightly here. As I expected, it will be hot and humid day in summer. The blackboard seen from here is far away. It’s not so far that I can’t see the letters on the board, but the blackboard, the podium, and the teaching table all seem very far away. Satou-san’s seat, which is right in front of the lectern, is also far away. From my seat, I could only see her back. All I could see was the single knot of hair that fell down the back of her uniform. I couldn’t see her expressions, of course. She seemed to be exchanging words with a few girls. All I could see was the smiles on the girls’ faces, but not Satou-san’s.

It was an odd feeling. Satou-san was far away. Not that we had ever been close, but she was sitting next to me. She was sitting next to me, baking me a treat, talking to me, and giving me sweets. She was sitting next to me, pointing at me and choking on words as the teacher pointed at her, or smiling and talking nonsense. I watched as he retied his hair in a single knot. But from now on, Satou-san, you’re going to be meddling with the guy next to you – the one who isn’t me. I talk to her and give her snacks. It’s not me helping her out when she gets stuck in class. I’m not the one she’s going to talk to when she’s stuck in class. I won’t be the one to watch her tie her hair back up close and personal anymore.

— So what, it’s ridiculous. I plop down on my desk and close my eyes. I think to myself in the pitch-black world. It’s just a change of heart. I should just be happy that I’m in an environment where I can focus more on my classes as I prepare for my university exams. I should be happy that I’m not next to Satou-san. I don’t care what I’ve lost. You’ve lost nothing.

That’s when I heard a loud bang. The sound of a chair collapsing was heard several times, in the seat next to me. I heard it from the seat next to me. I heard it now, too, from the seat next to me. I looked up and looked at the seat to my right. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to wake you up…?”(S)

An awkward look came over Satou-san’s face as she fixed the fallen chair. For some reason, I felt a burning sensation in my cheeks at that moment.But I didn’t want them to know that, so I turned away from them in a hurry.

“No, I wasn’t sleeping.”(Y)

“Yeah. I’m sorry to surprise you, though.”(S)

Satou-san said, and then added,

You’re sitting next to me again, Yamaguchi-kun.

“-What?”(Y)

I returned my gaze to her again.Satou-san sat down in the seat to my right, hooked her bag to the side of that seat and smiled at me.

“I hope to seeing you again in the future. I may cause you some trouble.”(S)

“….”(Y)

“Oh, but I’m glad I’m in the very back seat!I might be called upon few times in class.”(S)

“….”(Y)

“That’s why I don’t think you’ll be in more trouble than before, Yamaguchi-kun. Yeah, definitely.”(S)

“….Sato-san.”(Y)

Finally, panting, I called out to her.

“What?”(S)

She tilts her head slightly.

“Um, why are you here, Satou-san?”(Y)

I didn’t continue with the line, ‘I thought you were seated at the front’. How could she be seated next to me when it should have been decided by lottery? I was so surprised, I couldn’t believe it, and my heart ached in disbelief.

“Karasawa-san asked me to take his place. She said her eyesight is bad, so she’d rather be in the front seat.”(S)

Satou-san mentioned the name of a girl who was initially seated next to me. I was sure it was the girl who wore glasses.

“So I’ll sit here instead.”(S)

With that, Satou-san tapped the desk to my right.

“I hope you get to know each other better in the future, Yamaguchi-kun.”(S)

I’m not… I’m not exactly happy about it. I mean, I’m not happy about it, but – if you asked me to be nice to you, I wouldn’t be able to be evil. No, I don’t care about it. I don’t really care about you, Satou-san.

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Notes:

This line well translating 「いいなあ、山口くん」  turned into this “I love you, Yamaguchi-kun.” I decided to go with the alternative “Nice, Yamaguchi-kun.”

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