I Was Supposed to Be Giving Love Advice on the School Radio, but Before I Knew It, the Beautiful Girls at School Were Hitting on Me
In the empty broadcast room, where the latest J-pop music is playing, I stretch my legs wide.
“I’ll just announce what’s going to happen tomorrow, do some announcements for the whole grade, then play the jingle and then that’ll be it…”
I’ve gotten into the habit of checking the flow of my monologue, which I don’t want anyone to hear. Checking my watch, I hook my finger on the fader knob.
As I slowly lower my finger while counting to three in my mind, I feel my mind switch to broadcast mode at the same time as the volume decreases.
“Now, here was the request number from Kombu Wakame san, [White Age]. We look forward to receiving more requests from you in the future ! Last but not least, next week’s theme is [My Failure Story on the Test !] We are open to stories about quizzes or about your junior high school days.
We are looking forward to hearing from you !”
Pause for breath.
“Well, this concludes the afternoon broadcast on May 20th. Please look forward to the next broadcast～”
After saying all that, I turn off the microphone and turn up the fader. After a while, I stop the jingle, and the broadcast room is filled with silence.
“What a great day…..”
The pep talk to myself echoes hollowly. I open my lunch box and eat the rest of what I couldn’t finish before the broadcast.
Kageyama Shogo, the only member of the broadcasting club at Akihito High School, was quietly eating his lunch in the empty broadcast room. He was eating his rice, which was a little colder than before the broadcast, and reached for a piece of paper on the desk.
“I feel like today’s letter could’ve been more exciting…….”
Then, I started a self-reflection session while looking at the letter. It was not good behavior, but no one criticized me. I continued talking to myself, taking advantage of the soundproof room.
Just then, the door to the soundproof room is opened. With a squeaking sound, a tall female teacher suddenly appears.
“Hey, Kageyama, good work.”
“Mashiro sensei, thank you.”
This person who entered with yakisoba bread in her hand was the teacher, Mashiro Izumi, the advisor of the broadcasting club to which I belong.
“I’ll be borrowing your chair.”
“Yeah, feel free to.”
Without even hearing my reply, she sat down on the swivel chair and began to eat the yakisoba bread, then started to spin around in the chair.
“You’ll get drunk if you spin around while eating, Sensei.”
“Don’t worry, I have a strong semicircular canal.”
She didn’t listen to my advice and continued to spin around and around.
…Something must have happened in the staff room again.
Sensei has only just started working here and seems to be having a lot of troubles, so this sparsely populated broadcasting room has become her refuge.
“Another trouble? Sensei.”
“Ah? Oh, well, something like that.”
I ask out of a sense of obligation, but she blurts it out vaguely. In the worst case, she will complain, but at this rate, it does not seem that I said something that bad. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, the chair stopped spinning.
“Hey Kageyama, are you enjoying the broadcast?”
The sudden question made me stop checking my letter and look up at her. Mashiro sensei had a complicated look on her face.
“What is it, all of a sudden? It’s a little tough at times, but it’s also very rewarding.”
And then I looked at the three letters in front of me. They were the same as always, with familiar members.
“There are a few people who look forward to my broadcasts.”
When I answered, she looked down at me with a downcast look in her eyes.
“I see……”
“Yes, as long as these people are listening, I can do my best.”
I answer confidently, but Sensei has an unflattering look on her face.
“Ummm…….”
Sensei then starts spinning around in her chair again. The next time she stopped, she had her back on me.
“Actually, we had a staff meeting today……. The need for a broadcasting department was on the agenda.”
“……Seriously?”
Contrary to my feelings of wanting her to just be joking, Sensei continued with a serious expression.
“Well, I know very well that Kageyama is working hard. He’s running all the equipment, coming up with the plans and topics all by himself, and I know very well that he’s trying to protect the broadcasting club that his seniors left behind. But I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to allocate a budget to a broadcasting club with only one member…”
Sensei is trying to be as gentle as possible, but I can tell what she is trying to say, even if I don’t want to.
“I knew I wasn’t good enough……”
Until last year, the broadcasting club was led by third-year students and worked hard despite being small in number, and the daytime broadcasts were actually quite popular content.
However, after the seniors graduated and I became the only member of the club, the popularity plummeted. The number of students who listened to us dropped dramatically.
I had been trying my best while feeling that I was not good enough, but in the end it came to this…..
“No, Kageyama is doing well. But it was really hard for a club to maintain one person only……. I said my piece, but that vice principal is stubborn…..”
“Sorry for making you play the losing role…”
Sensei expresses her frustration.
I’m well aware of the story that the previous head teacher forced a new teacher to become a club advisor.
It must have been difficult for the advisor, but I was very grateful for Sensei’s desire to keep the broadcasting club going even if it meant going against her superiors.
“But I still feel frustrated. There are people who still listen to the radio in this way, and I feel like I’m betraying them……”
“Right…….”
I don’t know their faces or names, but three of them write to me every week for the twice-weekly school radio. I wonder how they will feel when they find out that this radio will end, will they be sad?
“Haa……”
I let out an involuntary sigh, even though I didn’t mean to.
The atmosphere was getting kind of humid, and suddenly there was a sound of a bang. I looked and saw that it was the sound of Sensei tapping her knee and standing up vigorously.
“Kageyama !”
“Y-yessir……!”
“Are you…..going to give up the broadcasting club by any chance?”
Her fierce expression made me instinctively straighten my back.
“Well, I don’t want to give up, but if it’s cancelled, then I guess there’s nothing we can do…?”
“That’s just what the wig-wearing vice principal said, it hasn’t been officially decided.”
I feel like I’m switching between my statements and my heart voice, but I don’t care at this point.
“So you’re saying that if radio becomes popular, there’s a possibility that the broadcasting club can continue to exist…..?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Oh…..!”
I felt like there was a ray of light in the pitch darkness. However, the light still felt dim.
“But how do we gain popularity? We’re doing it once a week now, but do we need to increase the number of times we broadcast?”
“No, that’s impossible. Even just once a week is too much, and if Kageyama’s workload increases any further, he might break his body.”
“But !”
“The main duty of a high school student is to study. I won’t allow anything more.”
“I see……”
Sensei stopped me and I was at a loss for a response.
“Kageyama, your speaking skills are getting better and better. To be honest, I think you have more skill than you’d expect from a high school student.”
“H-haa……”
“But there is something missing from this radio. Do you know what it is?”
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be having such a hard time right now…..”
I sighed, and she chuckled at me.
“Do you want to know?”
“….Yes, I want to know.”
I replied, straightening my back. She took a deep breath and said the answer.
“It’s love, I tell you !”
Maitoshi