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I arrived at school and went to the notice board to find my homeroom class assignment, then headed to the office to get the pass I needed to get out of my class for the English part of the curriculum and head over to the second-year room. After asking an upperclassmen where the different rooms were, I made my way to my class for this year..
The teacher was the type whose appearance screamed old stodgy at the top of its lungs, from his orange and maroon striped tie over dull brown suit, to the weary and ultimately disinterest expression in eyes that matched his suit almost, perfectly, seen behind thick-framed round spectacles. I was sure that we would get along fine for the rest of the year, these teachers seemed to appreciate those quiet achievers who received their education with a minimum of fuss. I listened attentively as he explained some procedures that were going to differ from my days in elementary school, and obediently acknowledged my presence during roll call, affirming furthermore a slow, dry voice and way of speaking that complimented his appearance to an eerie level. I continued through the day, the excitement of being in an entirely different school fading quickly. I saw a few familiar faces, the course work didn't seem to take any grand jump from what I was used to, and didn't stimulate me in any new or interesting ways. I understood and did the math, and listened to and contemplated the history lecture, and all the while tried to disguise my real interest in the clock ticking the minutes down to the English period. Finally, it arrived.
"And now, class, we will turn our attention to..." I bolted out of my seat, more rapidly than I had intended to. He blinked owlishly behind his glasses, and took a long moment to consider me, "Yes, Kikukawa-san?" He spoke, sounding resigned to something that none of us were aware of. He peered at me, and I felt a flush creeping up my neck as the eyes of my classmates all focused on me. I really didn't like being under scrutiny, or under too many people's attention at all.
"Um, you were about to move us on to our English study, correct?" I said quietly, forcing unwilling eyes to focus on him rather than the floor.
"Yes, I was. Is this going to be a problem?" I felt sudden understanding, and a tinge of pity for this teacher. I suspected that this man may have had an unfortunate history of more troublesome classes, and that such might explain his less than enthusiastic personality at the moment. He was resigned to more of the same. I was glad that I wasn't going to be giving it to him, though.
"No, sir. Not at all, but I'm supposed to be attending another class for my English study." I raised the pass, and he set down his book and gestured me to the front of the class. I studiously avoided looking at the faces of her peers while he carefully digested the contents of the note, then slowly nodded and proffered the note back to me. To my surprise, a dusty smile creased the corners of his lips.
"Very well then, Kikukawa-san. I feel it's a shame that I won't get to teach such an apt pupil myself this year, but you hurry along." Surprised, I smiled shyly back. Bowing respectfully, and thankfully, I left the room.
When I found the classroom, I heard a strong, feminine voice within. I should have known that they were going to have proceeded into the lesson already, but somehow this still surprised me. I stood at the door for a handful of seconds, not wanting to intrude, but having to. I took a deep breath and knocked. The voice quieted, and then a, "Yes? Come in, please." Sounded out. I opened the door and poked my head in.
"Now now, all the way in." The teacher chided, and the class snickered. Almost all of the class. I saw Haruka-chan siting in a desk just to the right of the center of the room, and she was smiling over at me. Even so, I felt embarrassed just to be called out like that in front of her. I came all the way into the room and clicked the door shut behind me. The teacher continued to look at me with inquisitive eyes, and I found myself unable to speak again, so I just walked up to her and held out the note. I felt the eyes of the class following me, just as a moment before, and tried to ignore them, just like before. The teacher, a fairly pretty woman who couldn't have been older than thirty, caught a few strands of dark hair that had worked free from her ponytail and tucked them behind her ears as she read.
"Well of course!" She said warmly after she had finished, "You were that advanced student I was told about, it had completely slipped my mind. Please, have a seat in any empty space you find." She gestured out to the classroom, "My name is Miss Nakamura, and I suppose I'l be taking care of you for a short time every day, I hope we get along." Her smile was sunny, and I was reassured. Until, at least, I turned to the somewhat less bright eyes of my new classmates. They expressions there ranged from indifferent, to curious, to even a few hostile. I hoped those last ones were just my imagination, I didn't really think anybody would be hostile to a student just because they jumped a year in one course.
I saw a few empty seats, and there was one fairly close to Haruka-chan in the back, but I didn't relish walking past that many students to get there, so I chose one closer to the front, even though it was nearly opposite her seat. I sat down and took out my textbook, and focused as intensely as I could on Miss Nakamura so I wouldn't notice any further stares I was getting.
"Okay class, back to attention. Up here, we've all seen first-year students before, we all were first-year students before. For all intents and purposes for the next hour, she is your classmate, so please treat her with the same respect you accord one another with." I thought perhaps she had noticed those potentially hostile looks as well, though I remained in doubt as to how much her words would help with that. I took a peak off to the side where Haruka-chan was, and saw her still looking over at me and smiling encouragingly. I smiled back, and for a moment our eyes met. For that moment everything was fine with the world again. Then she looked away and glowered, a small scowl appearing on her face. Concerned, I followed her eyes, and got my first glimpse of somebody whose importance in my life, for both good and ill, I could not possibly have begun to comprehend on that day. Who could have? She merely sat there, serene and demure, textbook open before her with her fingers linked together over it. Her tawny chestnut hair hung straight around her shoulders, and her eyes were closed for the moment. When the teacher began speaking again, however, they opened with a slow grace that defied the normal muscle control granted over one's eyelids, and her deep carmine eyes shone with a quiet intelligence, and unspoken mirth danced behind them as though she were in on a secret regarding all of them, and she found it endlessly amusing. I was immediately wary of her, though some of that might have been caused by Haruka-chan's apparent ill-favored regard for her. I thought that I may want to pay more attention to the teacher now that she was speaking, though.
Very soon I found out the basis of the reason for this antagonism Haruka displayed, when the teacher stopped in the middle of the lesson to ask for translations of example sentences.
"Would anybody like to volunteer to translate line 4a in the text?" She offered to the class, in return getting an initial stiff silence.
"I would." Her unmistakable voice said, and I felt a slight trill of happiness for her. I knew the answer, this time, but I hadn't wanted everybody to see me, this little first-year outsider, taking the first question of the year.
"Very well."
Haruka stood and cleared her throat.
"My uncle, the business ma'am, brought expensive books back from his trip ovaries."
Miss Nakamura blinked, and it looked as though she genuinely regretted having to say, "No, I'm afraid that's not entirely correct, Haruka-san. Would anybody else care to translate and correct the mistakes?" Her eyes didn't even make a show of scanning the room, the first hand in the air was that of the tawny-haired girl, and it looked as though Miss Nakamura had been expecting it.
"Yes, Shizuru-san?"
So I had a name to put to the face of this strange girl whom I felt so cautious of: Shizuru. I watched as Shizuru-san pushed her chair back with hardly a squeak upon the floor and stood with the grace of a dancer, unfolding as though she were about to put on a performance for an audience rather than answer a school question.
"Correctly translated, the sentence reads, 'My uncle, the businessman, brought expensive books back from his trip overseas'. But really, there wasn't much wrong with Suzushiro-san's translation. I'm sure her tongue just tripped over sounds, rather than her mind over meanings." I frowned. That much was apparent to me, and should have been to any in the class who paid attention. Of course Haruka didn't actually think those words meant "ma'am" or "ovaries", so it felt rather like Shizuru was thinly veiling a condescending remark. Far too thinly. I decided to just keep watching for now, maybe I could do something about it later.
"I can't stand that girl." Haruka-chan informed me after class, "She doesn't seem to care about anything. I swear, she takes some perverse pleasure in attacking me, just because I do care, and she knows it." I considered, and that's certainly what that situation had looked like to me, but I still didn't want to judge too hastily.
"Maybe so, Haruka-chan." I answered for a lack of anything better to say, and did my best to try and cheer her up by talking to her about what we might be able to do this weekend. I got the feeling that it didn't really matter who she said she was speaking harshly of, she was really speaking against herself. I didn't have long to talk to her and think on it, though, as I had to go back to my own regular class before it was too late.
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I still couldn't believe I had made such a fool of myself, and on the first day of school too. And in front of Yukino, no less!
I knew I shouldn't think about it too much, but it was hard to focus on anything else for a while. I just knew Yukino must have thought I was an idiot. Here she was, good enough to skip a year, and then I went off and talked about reproductive organs--I looked up what I had said in the dictionary later, and it didn't do much to improve my mood. It was so embarrassing!
Of course that Fujino girl was there to jump on my slip too. She was just the sort of stuck-up girl that I knew I would run into at this school. She didn't talk much, but I heard enough chattering gossip going on when I was trying to study to get the general picture. Wealthy family, well-connected, her father owned a business. Or two, or three, depending on the rumours you believed, but one looked like a safe bet. She probably went home to a mansion and sipped cups of expensive tea while doing her homework with the aid of high-paid tutors. She probably didn't have to do anything on her own, she had help studying, and she never had to clean, and she probably had multiple wardrobes full of clothes. No wonder she did so good in class, I wonder what I might do if I was able to hire private tutors for every subject.
Lunchtime came soon, though, and I had an another matter to occupy my attention. I walked out into the student commons area, and my stomach growled quietly. I took my wallet out of my pocket, and looked sorrowfully at the yen within, then closed it and put it back in my pocket. I had enough for lunch, of course, as my parent's had provided, but the highly uncomfortable tightness around my chest told me that I had better things to put my money towards. I took my first resolute step in the opposite direction from the cafeteria, ignoring it when my stomach tried to suggest this was a bad move. I soon found a bench to sit down on under a tree. I sat down and lay back, tilting my head up to see the sunlight filtered through the new spring leaves, then closing my eyes and considering what do do with my free time now. My stomach let me know that studying would be hard to focus on, so I let my mind drift.
That Fujino, I knew, she probably went out and bought whatever she wanted, if she hadn't brought her own meal of... of caviar or something. Just a bowl of it. Probably the kind of thing she would eat. Then she would go home and have her kitchen staff prepare a full five-course meal of her favorite foods. Yes, there would be mouth-watering savory soups and fine cuts of meat, and fresh-baked breads and the tastiest sushi and just all kinds of things. Of course, then there would probably be two or three courses of dessert, candies and creams and pies and cakes. Whatever she ate, of course, she would only eat one or two dainty ladylike bites from before telling her servants to throw it away, anything other than the most freshly made foods being offensive to her sensitive palate.
Soon my stomach was not the only thing growling, so I started a contest with it at about this point. I'm not sure who would have won if it was not for the little gentle laughter I heard.
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I wasn't quite sure what to make of what I was seeing. I was on my to the cafeteria, disappointed that I hadn't found Haruka-chan there, and now instead found her sitting on a bench in a common area along the way. Her eyes were closed and I thought she might be asleep, so I didn't call out to her. Approaching her, I heard the oddest noise, some low rumbling that seemed to be coming from her direction. She wasn't snoring, though, I could see that. I sat my lunchbox down on the bench beside her, and turned my head inquisitively. What was that? I looked closely at her face, and had to suppress a bubbling of laughter. She couldn't be growling, could she? In her sleep? I covered my mouth with my hand and doubled over trying to contain myself, thinking all that needed to happen now was for her to start kicking her leg around, and I would have myself a cute little puppy for a friend. The image of Haruka-chan with floppy puppy ears and a tail was too much, though, and I just had to laugh. The sound appeared to wake her up, her eyes snapped open and focused on me. She coughed into her hand, and I saw a light flush color her neck.
"Good morning, Haruka-chan." I said, still giggling.
"Good morning? It's afternoon." She replied, puzzled.
"Good afternoon, then, Haruka-chan. Did you catch that bunny?"
"Bunny?"
"Whatever you were dreaming about chasing, then."
"Dreaming? Yukino, what are you talking abou..." Her voice trailed as I fell into more fits of giggling. I sat down on the bench next to her, trying to control myself enough to speak again.
"All right, Haruka-chan. What were you growling at, if it wasn't dream bunnies?"
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Good lord, how bad could today get? Now Yukino must have thought me really strange.
"Er, well, you see, it's like this. Yukino, I was... that is..." As if on some cue from God's most warped sense of humour, my stomach took this opportunity to let it's discomfort be known quite audibly. Any lesser person might have broken down then, to have so many embarrassing situations land upon them in so short a time, but I was made of sterner stuff. Even so, there wasn't much more I could do than sit there and not break down, and that was hardly an active approach.
"Haruka-chan, maybe we should go to the cafeteria and get you something to eat." Yukino suggested tentatively. I felt my face grow hot. Not from my financial situation, but from showing that much weakness to Yukino... again.
"No, that's okay. I'm not really that hungry." Her eyebrows shot up at my blatant lie, but she didn't argue with me, "And I'm trying to save my money right now."
Yukino looked at me helplessly
"Okay, Haruka-chan." She conceded, "But you know, I think I just have far too much lunch today, for just myself. I'd be happy to share." She lifted her lunchbox suggestively, I was fully prepared to gracefully deny her generosity, but my stomach let out another growl and my mouth began watering, both promising some terrible wrath if I ignored them now. I figured I was a growing girl, and it wouldn't do me any good to waste away while saving up for clothing. If I kept this up, the new blouse would probably be too big for my skeletal frame. Yes, that sounded quite logical.
"Um, if you wouldn't mind, Yukino." She just smiled and unwrapped the cloth from the meal. It looked delicious, all of it. Rice, of course, with sliced salmon in some kind of sauce--I could smell the sweet spices from here--and a generous portion of sliced eggplant. I wasn't very fond of eggplant, but this one looked remarkably good. Whether from actual appeal or hunger I wan't sure, but I also didn't care,
"Don't just look, Haruka-chan, that won't get you any less hungry." Before I could argue that I was not, in fact, all that hungry, she brought out a pair of chopsticks and skillfully wrapped some rice in a bit of salmon before raising it up to my mouth. I didn't even think, my mouth opened and I took the bite.
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I saw Haruka-chan's face light up after that one bite and smiled. Really, I was just offering her the chopsticks, but paused to try and figure out the best way to transfer possession of them to her. For some reason, I thought I liked her method better. I took the utensils and got myself a bit of eggplant, but stopped while raising it to my mouth.
The thought that stopped me was ridiculous, of course. A product of reading too many novels with romance in them, and far too much shoujo manga. There was absolutely nothing more on those chopsticks than a bit of eggplant that my mother had made and that I would now enjoy, I told myself firmly. Oh, and I supposed there had been Haruka-chan's lips a moment before but that...
Okay, okay. I took a steadying breath. Fine, an indirect kiss. I hoped my subconscious was happy now that I'd acknowledged the thought as valid. I supposed that, as far as the literal definition went, this was indeed an indirect kiss. That didn't matter for Haruka-chan, though. I mean, she was a girl, you couldn't indirectly kiss your best friend if you were both girls, after all.
"Yukino?"
Haruka-chan was looking at me strangely, and I returned her gaze for a few long moments. Haruka-chan, I thought vaguely. Also, something about food.
"Um, should I go get another pair of chopsticks, maybe..." Haruka-chan said uncomfortably at the end of those few long moments. I came fully out of my reverie. I hadn't noticed that I had been so far into my own thoughts. I felt something hit my thigh, and found that I had relaxed too much my grip on the utensils too much and dropped a bit of food.
"Oh, whoops." Haruka-chan laughed. She reached her hand over and plucked the piece off of my skirt, and popped it in her mouth.
"Mm-mm. Glad I didn't let that go to waste. This is really good, Yukino." I nodded to what she said, but absently, my mind still a few seconds in the past, in that moment when her fingers had brushed my thigh. It was such a peculiar feeling. I started to become worried, had Haruka-chan and I grown apart at some point last year? I couldn't ever recall having felt uncomfortable around her when we were in elementary school, but it seemed like some time last year I started feeling differently around her. It was an unfamiliar, kind of unwanted feeling. Sometimes when I was around her I would suddenly feel... different, about me, and about her. Almost like I didn't want to be her friend any more, but that felt like it couldn't be further from the truth. Whatever it was, I hoped it would go away soon now that I could see her more again.
I looked back up at her, "Really? I'm glad you like it, Haruka-chan." I got my own bite, and this time made it to my mouth with only the briefest hesitation, brushing off the recurrent thought the best I could. We finished the lunch box, and I was glad to see that Haruka-chan looked in much higher spirits than she had when I arrived. In fact, that realization struck me at a much deeper level. Here was something I could do for Haruka-chan, I thought. I knew that if Haruka-chan were trying to save money, it was for a good reason, so I wasn't going to pry, but I thought I might be able to help her with it. We continued eating, and when we were close to finishing it, I brought up my idea.
"Say, Haruka-chan. If you liked this, would you mind if I brought you something for lunch every day?" I ventured this hesitantly, knowing that Haruka-chan was a proud person, and might take that the wrong way. I even saw this warring in her features for a few seconds, before she finally spoke again.
"I don't want you to go to any trouble--"
"It's no trouble at all, Haruka-chan." I interrupted her quickly. She looked taken aback, and I felt a warmth in my cheeks, but then she shrugged and nodded.
"Er, well then, thanks, Yukino. I could get used to having more cooking this good, so if it wouldn't be any trouble..." She stood up, and I looked around to see other students milling about and gradually moving back towards the school building.
"Okay then, we can start having lunch together tomorrow." She smiled at me, and I smiled back. Now I felt much better than I had a short while ago. One small thing I could do to hel--
"Sounds fantastic. I never knew you were such a good cook, Yukino, lucky me." She smiled and waved, and I waved too. Then I heard what she had said. Me, a good cook? Oh my, had she thought that I... that this lunch... I slumped for a moment. I barely knew a rice cooker from a toaster, my mother had prepared this. But Haruka-chan thought that I had made it. I tried to imagine telling her that, no, I was getting my mother to make two lunches--something I hadn't really thought out either, though I was pretty sure my mother wouldn't mind terribly, my parent's both knew and adored Haruka-chan and also knew what problems she might be having--and it wasn't a fun scenario. I was sure that she would refuse, and probably be disappointed that I offered to make somebody else work more for her. No, she wouldn't like that at all, and I didn't want her to be disappointed in me.
Which left only one real option, I concluded glumly. Cooking couldn't be too terribly difficult, could it? I could probably learn something simple for tomorrow, and learn as fast as I could to keep up with the following days. It would be good practice, too. I always thought I would like to be able to cook for my family later on, might as well start now. So I'd be helping Haruka-chan with my own two hands. I rather liked that thought.
So when I got home from school that day, I found my mother at home in the kitchen, reading one of her magazines. It was her one vice, trashy women's magazines, so I suppose that made her the same as a good many mother's across Japan, and probably the rest of the world. I was fairly certain that this wouldn't be a difficult idea to get past her, so I just jumped right to the point.
"Hey, Mom, don't you think it's about time that I started to make my own lunch for school?" I thought that she might be a little surprised at the spontaneity of the request, and I saw that as she looked up from her reading. What I hadn't't expected was the suddenly speculative, searching gaze she fixed me with.
"If you would like to, of course," She answered smoothly, "Why, are a lot of your classmates making their own lunches now, or something?"
"No, I don't think so," I answered honestly.
"Are you going to need to make... particularly big lunch boxes for yourself?"
I considered, and realized that I was going to need more foodstuffs, "No, but I will want to make two," I said, and waited for her to ask who the other was for. Instead, she just smiled slowly and mysteriously,
"Well then, why don't we get started right now, while I'm not doing anything else? You must learn, first of all, how to make the rice just right, it really does set the tone of the meal," My mother rose from the chair and walked to the pantry, and I followed her, my confusion over her odd smile forgotten as I tried to remember all these new details of cooking.