Just when I thought my answer, about goth girls not being a standard reply for a "preference." One of the boys, quietly leaning on the corner, spoke his mind and stated his personal opinion.
"But why Goth Girls, though? Isn't Gothic Lolita better?"
Yahiko-kun commented, pushing his glasses smartly as he leaned against the blackboard.
If you may recall, Yahiko-kun too belongs in Sobano-kun's friend group, a.k.a "The Back Bencher Boys" ("B3" for short)
Some nodded, seemingly agreeing with Yahiko-kun's opinion, while some others are clueless about the distinction between the two.
Sobano-kun inquired, shadowed in curiosity.
"What's the difference?"
Pushing his glasses some more, Yahiko-kun explained that
"A 'Gothic Lolita' is a subculture of Goth and Lolita fashion. A Victorian-inspired, doll-like variety which was popularize during the 1990s. With their gloomy yet demure and elegant aesthetics, gothic-lolita fashion symbolizes eternal beauty of childhood, as if to went against the stifling Japanese society at that time."
Yahiko-kun explained, subtly nodding to himself. He's strangely knowledgeable about this random subject.
"Hm, I see..."
Sobano-kun cupped his chin, thinking deeply. He noticed that,
"By the way, since when did you start wearing glasses?"
If Sobano-kun recalled correctly, 'I don't remember Yahiko-kun having any problems with his vision.'
Answering Sobano-kun's question, Yahiko-kun subtly sighed, smirking.
Delicately pushing his glasses once more, tilting his head at such an impressive angle, as if he was animated by studio Shaft. He told Sobano-kun with a piercing side eye,
"I won this at a gatcha this morning. I've been waiting for the opportunity to use it since."
Squinting his eyes in disappointment, Sobano-kun told Yahiko-kun.
"You're stupid..." He commented, staring at his friend making a smug and confident face.
Folding his arms, Yahiko-kung laxly leaned against the wall. Tilting his glasses on the side profoundly,
"Money's worth well spent." He uttered.
Meanwhile, one of our classmates, Satoru-kun, invested in hearing out Yahiko-kun's breakdown about the Gothic Lolita fashion. Satoru-kun raises his hand as he was curious about something.
"Now that I think about it, isn't 'Jirai, a.k.a Landmine Style' is pretty much the same? They too are frilly, and are also targeted towards the emotionally unstable type-a appeal. It's a really popular genre nowadays."
Appearing from behind out of nowhere, Shiki-kun who had just returned from his errand cut in and personally answered Satoru-kun's question.
With a condescending glare, and a somewhat menacing presence and tone. Shiki-kun explained that,
"No, absolutely not. 'Jirai Kei' is a totally different set of culture than that of Gothic fashion. They're obviously superior! No. THE BEST!"
"Goth fashion is mostly limited to 90% black and some 10% dark complementary colors. On the other hand, Jirai Kei is more vibrant and less restricted in styling. Their clothes stylized to incorporate both 'soft' and 'edgy' elements, as if to interpret that "This girl is cute, but is also dangerous appeal. That is why they referred to this style as "Landmine Girls."
Clearing his throat, he continued.
"In short, though both of them are going for the cute doll aesthetic, one style is the representation of gloomy-cute while the other approach for the cute-but-is-also-dangerous appeal."
As if in disgust, Shiki-kun menacingly pushes his glasses, condescendingly staring down Satoru-kun for his lack of educated assumptions.
"Get your facts first before spouting such nonsense, you uncultured swine."
He sneered, handing Otoko-kun his snack from the errands he ran just now.
"Yeah! What he said!!"
Yahiko-kun cheered, vouching for his friend's claims as he was offended as well for his own expertise and interest.
"Haha sorry, I guess..."
Satoru-kun could only laugh it off, scratching his head apologetically, not thinking much of it as he receiving his snack from Shiki-kun's hand.
By the way, Otoko-kun is one of our more popular classmates. He has an easygoing personality, and decent looks to boot. If I remember correctly, he's a member of our school's track and field club. And I even heard he has a girlfriend from a different section.
I couldn't care any less about this details, really. However, Shiki-kun and the other single guys in our class think otherwise, burning with passionate jealousy, wanting to strike him down at any given opportunity.
'This lucky bastard..!' the others though, already realizing where the Jirai Kei comment came from as his girlfriend is really into cosplaying.
Getting back on topic. Another question arises.
It came from Kaido-kun who also belongs in B3's friend group.
Intersected at Shiki-kun's passionate explication, Kaido-kunn inquier to Shiki,
"But isn't Jirai Kei just the goth subculture of 'pastel goth?' Tell me, what's the difference, huh. Shiki-kun?"
Kaido-kun said as if retorted, testing his friend's knowledge while menacingly pushing his glasses the same way.
'The hell was a pastel goth?'
I thought to myself, watching them debate over fashion that developed somewhere beyond my expertise.
Everyone in this group seemed strangely knowledgeable about this random topic for some reason. But Shiki-kun only replied with confidence with what he knows,
"Well, that's..."
Before we knew it, it became a free for all debate, laying out different varieties of fashion, and other trivial stuff getting thrown along the mix as we progressed our nonsensical conversation.
But most importantly, to me.
'Phew. Seeing them arguing over the topic like this, it must mean my preference suggestion was actually pretty common, right?'
A sight of relief escaped my mouth as the main focus shifted away from me.
That means this time, again, I didn't stand out too much as it was a topic standard enough for everyone to join in. [It wasn't]
Meanwhile, some of our female classmates, staring our way, hearing this somewhat detailed conversation about girl's fashion.
"Are those guys really guys...?"
They wondered to themselves, overhearing this somewhat passionate debate from the gathering of boys at the front corner. They're even putting down specific dates of origin, even surfing the internet checking for facts.
Meanwhile, as for Sabano-kun. Starting at his three closest friends from the B3 friendgroup. He can't help but notice something.
Cutting in on their somewhat heated conversation. Sobano-kun raises his hand, addressing his curiosity.
"Hey. Since when did you guys start wearing glasses...?" He inquired.
Sobano-kun the shrugs his shoulders, jokingly theorizing that,
"I bet it was for a stupit reason, like the three of you fell for the same gotcha on the road, gambling away all your money because of an enticing prize, like a nitendo switch, only to lose it all and was given constellation prizes because the owner felt bad from how much money you guys lost."
The three in question, Kaido-kun, Shiki-kun, and Yahiko-kun, just pushed their glasses silently. Their guilty silence was practically telling of an answer.
"Eh, really? Don't tell me that..."
Sobano-kun squinted his eyes, uttering in disappointment.
"So that's why you guys acted like some kind of mercenary group earlier..."
Sobano-kun palmed his forehead. He was referring to why we were running errand in the first place. The three in question wend around our room, inquiring if there's some errands our classmate would like for us to run, and we'll do it in exchange for money enough for snacks. I too am a little bit short on cash (gave away 10,000 yen) so I decided to join in on the fun as well. it has been a while since I last eaten something during recess, after all.
In a state of disappointment from his friends, Sobano-kun turned to his more logical and lazy friend, Hakuto-kun.
Pointing at the three idiots, he told Hakuto-kun,
"Hakuto-kun, can you believe this guys... ?"
Sobano-kun halts his words, sees Hakuto-kun pushing his glasses as well. Replying,
"What do you mean, Hitohito-kun? You too, are wearing glasses as well. Aren't you?"
Hakuto-kun argued, wearing cheap looking glasses identical to the three.
Sobano-kun squinted his eyes even more, muttering with an annoyed and small voice.
"Ah, no. My glasses are real.. I was prescribed this by the optics..."
Sighing heavily, Sobano-kun can't help but palm his face in frustration. A sense of defeat ran through his psyche.
"Sigh~ I'm surrounded by idiots..."
Everyone laughed at their skit like interaction. I too had a small chuckle from their comedic segment.
The room was becoming more and more boisterous as laughter and chatters filled the air during lunch time in our classroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~