Yesterday's entrance ceremony was over, and the first regular school day was coming to an end.
The end-of-day homeroom begins. It was then.

A paper wasp flew into the classroom through the window.

The classroom erupted in chaos at the sight of the bee. The homeroom teacher tried to get it out somehow but was struggling, clearly not used to handling insects.

One of the classmates spoke to the red-haired boy sitting nearby, who looked every bit the delinquent—Retsu Hino.

"Hino, can you get rid of that thing...?"

The moment the classmate asked, the paper wasp flew closer to Retsu.

The expression on his face as the wasp approached was—

Filled with pure despair.

"...No way."

Retsu was deathly afraid of bugs. He couldn't stand even harmless ones, so something dangerous like a wasp was out of the question. Getting rid of it or exterminating it was absolutely impossible for him.
He had tried to look tough just to hide this fact. But in the end, it was only skin-deep.
And now, just like that, all 35 classmates had found out that he was terrified of bugs.

---

Eventually, the teacher managed to get the wasp out, and homeroom ended.
Now, it's after school.
Retsu is staring at the afternoon sky with a hollow, defeated expression.

I wonder... is it okay to talk to him?