Sakamoto x Reader (Sakamoto Desu Ga): Image

“Oh no, no, no, no! Not again!” Is the first thing you say when looking at the clock on the nightstand beside your bed. You were late, again.

You ran as fast as you could, but it was unavoidable. Even skip breakfast didn’t help you; you were being punished for being late by the third time that week. Therefore you were forced to stand in the hall with a water bucket on each hand.

Outside the class, near the window, you could hear the whispers and gossips buzzing around the classroom; all of then about you.

“That girl is useless! She can’t even get to school in time!”

“Right? I wonder why she is always late…”

“Maybe her family is so poor that she has to walk here.”

“Or maybe she was awake all night”

You flinched at the suggestiveness of that comment.

“Maybe she was with someone.”

“What a whore!”

“Even her grades aren’t good.”

“Maybe it’s because her ‘night work’.”

“That girl is really useless…”

The comments went on and on as theories of why you were always late began to take shape while you stood powerless outside the door. You just hoped you could enter the door screaming that they were wrong.

“I really have to stop watching anime till late…” You mused in a low voice.

You looked at the ground as the low voice noisy continued inside your class room; the buckets weighting tons on your tired arms.

“Hey, look. She is almost dropping the buckets!”

“What a weak girl!”

“I can’t believe sensei can’t hear this…” You say in disbelief hearing muffled laughs.

You sigh and was about to dive deep into self-pity and self-depression when the near classroom door opened as the teacher condemned another student to stand in the hall holding buckets.

The sentenced student was Sakamoto from the class 1-2. He walked outside the door with his hands in his pockets as he waited for the buckets.

You take the chance to look at the boy as he waited. Since the first day he arrived he was popular. He could be described by two words Cool and Stylish. But he was the kind of guy that seemed to attract trouble, so much strange things happened around him. The fact is: whatever came his way, he always got out of it with style; gaining more and more admires.

The boy took the two buckets in his hands and looked at you only a few steps away. Caught red handed you look ahead with red cheeks.

“Good morning.” He greeted in a nonchalant voice.

“Morning.” You say embarrassed, not even daring looking at the boy who caught you staring. Not he that wasn’t used to it, every single girl in that school stared at him in awe.

But a rustle sound beside you made you look at the popular boy again and you couldn’t believe what you saw.

There he was, all pose, leaning in the wall like a fashion model; his left hand holding the bucket over his shoulder as the other rested over his right thig. You could never understand that boy’s motives, perhaps he was just crazy. But you could understand why he draws so much attention.

You just wished you could be like him. You looked at your feet remembering all the times your classmates made fun out of you. If you were like him you would be successful into getting out that kind of situation and still be seeing with respect and admiration.

After a couple minutes you decided to speak to him. There was no one in the corridors; this was you chance to know his secret, to know why no one could make fun out of him.

“Sakamoto-kun…” You called the boy’s attention.

He looked at you through his black framed glasses; narrow eyes and black irises staring intently at you. He looked at you but didn’t break his pose.

“Why are you standing like that?” You asked while tightening your grip on the bucket as it almost slipped from your hand. “Isn’t it harder to hold the buckets like that?” You continued with a low voice so the teachers wouldn’t hear.

“Image.” Is his short response as he looked ahead.

“Hm? What do you mean?” You ask confused.

“When someone look at you what they see?” He serious asked you.

“What they think of me…?” You repeated to yourself. You remembered what was being said to you earlier and low your head in frustration.

‘But what would change if I posed like this strange boy!?’  You looked back at him feeling annoyed. ‘So make a pose is the ultimate answer!? How posing like cool can make any difference?’ It just seemed impossible that acting like a cool person would make any difference for you. You sighed out of your irritation. Sakamoto was strange and didn’t had anything to do with your problems.

‘What people think of you… ?’ You couldn’t help but thought, even if you already knew the answer.

Leaning forward and almost dropping the heavy buckets, you looked over his class windows and saw how some people looked at him; looks of admiration and respect.

Looking back at him you understood. That is how he could get out of every bad situation. ‘So, how you stand is really everything...’

You two were in the same place, facing the same circumstance; being punished for some wrong you both did. But yet, while you were depreciated because of it, Sakamoto seemed to have people who cheered for him so he wouldn’t drop the bucket.

You two were supporting the same weight, but he handled it different than you so the results were different as well.

‘A pose?’

Changing your position you leaned on the wall as well, bending one leg as your foot made contact with the wall behind you. You crossed your arms as the buckets hung from your forearms.

“Sakamoto-kun.” You called the boy again, founding some new energy and motivation.

“Yes?” He looked at you and you observed the little curl his lips made upwards upon seeing you. You gave him a closed-eye smile.