A little note before we begin: I tried looking up procedures where voting for class reps were concerned, and I found nothing on how long the actual process takes. In some cases, apparently the teacher just appoints a student when there doesn't seem to be a solution. In the case of this story, there was a class vote that took place during homeroom. Sorry about that, and on with the show!
-=-=-=-=-=-
Act 01 Scene 01 -- Part 02
*****
The ringing bell signified the end of class and the beginning of lunch. The math teacher (Ito, I think his name was) straightened his tie and left the classroom, most of the students close behind.
“You brought lunch with you?” Kageyama asked. I was about to turn to face him on my right side, but, remembering it was my blind side, I quickly switched over.
“No,” I replied. “Shizune and Misha said they wanted me to have lunch with them, though.”
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were drooling over Satou.”
“I was not!” I protested a little too loudly. He flashed me a familiar toothy grin.
“Relax,” he said calmly, flapping his hand at me. “For what it’s worth, you’re not the only one looking.”
That made me interested. “Oh? Were
you drooling over her?”
He snorted. “Pfft, no. Satou is
way out of my league. She is a woman of elegance and charm.” He put on a poetic air. “Satou-san is like a goddess, her hair the color of sunbeams and spun gold, her eyes blue and deep as the oceans themselves…”
I heard a giggle coming from behind me.
“Flattery will get you everywhere, Kageyama.”
I whirled around in surprise to see Lilly standing by my desk, amusement on her face.
“Except in my arms, Satou-san,” Kageyama said dramatically.
“If you keep that up, perhaps it might,” she said with another amused giggle. “And, please, call me Lilly. I’ve told you that before.”
“Of course,” he said. He stood up and bowed with a flourish. “And
you may call me later this afternoon after classes.”
Lilly raised an eyebrow and smiled, though I thought I caught a hint of a blush on her cheeks. “And what shall I call you
should I decide to call you?”
“Shiro,” he answered. “You deserve it.”
“Oh? And what about your new friend, Tachikawa?”
He looked down at me. “He has earned ‘Koushiro’,” he answered, winking. “He is my friend, after all.”
“It’s good to know that he’s made a friend,” Lilly said with a hint of mischief in her voice, “though his choice in friends may be a little more than he bargained for.”
He put his hands to his heart. “Ahh! You wound me, Satou-san, even though you’re right.”
“Don’t let Koushiro fool you, Tachikawa,” she said to me, smiling. “He’s a shameless flirt, and has a bit of a reputation for being a skirt-chaser.”
“I’ll not stand for such slander!” he said loudly. For a moment, I thought he was serious. “Good
day, Satou-san.” He stomped out of the classroom.
“...Is he always like that?” I asked, still a little baffled by Koushiro’s...antics.
“He’s actually perfectly harmless,” Lilly said. “I actually wanted to talk to
you, Tachikawa. I’ll not keep you long.”
I stood. “Oh? What is it you needed?”
“I just wanted to let you know that as your Class Representative, don’t hesitate to ask me if you need help with anything.”
I bowed, stupidly forgetting that she couldn’t see the gesture. “Ahh, thank you, Satou-san. Congratulations on your election, by the way.”
She bowed as well. “Thank you, and please, call me Lilly,” she said sweetly. “I hope it’s perfectly alright if I call you Ryosuke?”
“Of-of course,” I stammered, feeling my cheeks warm a little. “Actually, just call me Ryo.”
“Thank you,” she said humbly. “I hope we get to know each other well this next year.”
Hearing her say that made me blush further. “Thank you, Sa...Lilly.” I bowed again reflexively.
She smiled again and nodded. “Enjoy your lunch, Ryo.”
“Ahh, thank you. You as well.”
She gave me a small bow (more like an exaggerated nod), then made her way to the front of the classroom, her cane a sharp, steady tapping.
“Ryokkun~!”
I jumped at the voice. Misha and Shizune entered through the rear doors just as Lilly stepped out.
“Hi, Misha,” I said awkwardly.
“I told you we wanted you to have lunch with us! Wahahahaha~!” I winced at the volume. “Let’s go to the cafeteria!”
I shrugged. “All right. I don’t really have a lunch anyway.” I glanced at Shizune, who nodded my way at Misha’s translation. I walked up to the two of them and the three of us left the classroom.
“Mind if I join?”
Misha and I jumped to see Koushiro leaning beside the doorway, his left eye staring straight ahead. Shizune turned to see whom we were talking to and immediately she bristled.
[What does
he want?]
[He wants to join us for lunch, Shicchan,] Misha signed back.
Shizune narrowed her eyes at Koushiro. [Tell Kageyama he can join us, provided I don’t catch him making passes at the entire female student body,] she replied. [Such behavior is unbecoming of a student of Yamaku.]
“Sure you can come, Koucchan,” Misha announced, omitting the rest of Shizune’s signing. “Come on~!” With that, Shizune and Misha strode ahead of us down the hall. Koushiro walked behind and around me to my left side.
“She looked pretty pissed at you,” I told him. “Shizune, I mean.”
“Hakamichi looked mad at me?” he asked, glancing at me out of the corner of his good eye. “I was too distracted by Misha. Why?”
“Well, she said you can have lunch with us provided you don’t make passes at the entire female student body,” I replied, translating Shizune word for word. “Misha just conveniently decided to leave that out.”
He gave me an odd look. “Wait, you can read sign language?”
I nodded. “I have an older brother who’s deaf.”
“Oh, really?” He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Does Hakamichi know?”
“Err, no,” I answered.
“Any particular reason why?”
I shook my head.
“If she doesn’t, she will soon. Hakamichi’s deaf, not stupid. She’ll catch on eventually.”
“I don’t know why I didn’t tell her,” I answered with a shrug. “Maybe because she already has a translator.”
“One that likes to sugarcoat Hakamichi’s signing,” Koushiro replied sourly as we reached the stairwell. A dark look crossed his features. “I kind of find that insulting.”
“Well, maybe Misha just wants everyone to get along, so she’s playing nice.”
“Hmph. I’m not a goddamned kid, Tachikawa.” He stared at me. “You think you can teach me?”
“Teach you?”
“Sign language,” he answered flatly. “No one ever pointed out to me that Misha was leaving things out that Hakamichi was saying.”
“Ryokkun~!” Misha called from the bottom of the stairs. “Come on!”
“Actually, you know what? I’ll skip out on lunch with you guys,” he said to me with a hint of annoyance. “I’ll see you back in class.” He turned and started walking back towards the classroom. “You’ll teach me, though, right?”
“If you want,” I replied as I started down the stairs.
“I’ll help you out in English,” he called out to me. “Hell, if you want to learn Filipino, I can teach you that, too.”
*****
The cafeteria was already bustling when the three of us stepped in.
“I’ll be right back,” I announced.
Misha nodded and the two of them left me to find a table as I joined the lunch line. There were only three people ahead of me, and I took a minute or two to look back on my morning.
Shizune seemed okay enough, more brusque than outright rude, and, according to Koushiro, sharp as a tack. I wonder what happened that put her and Satou -- Lilly -- at odds. Misha, on the other hand, seemed like her polar opposite: friendly enough, if a bit oblivious to some things.
Lilly seemed real nice and friendly. The blonde hair told me that she wasn’t pure Japanese, but what other heritage she was mixed with I wasn’t sure. I supposed I could ask her if I got to talk to her more. I didn’t know what could possibly be wrong with her that Shizune had to warn me about her, though. She got elected as class representative, so she must have some drive and ability to balance tasks.
Koushiro Kageyama, at least as much as I knew of him, seemed like quite a character. Lilly said that he’s a shameless flirt, though perfectly harmless. Shizune, on the other hand, didn’t seem to like him for the same reason. And now that he knows that Misha’s been, as he put it, sugarcoating Shizune’s signing, he looked kind of put off by it. I briefly wondered about his eyes, like if he had heterochromia or something.
I looked down at my lunch tray, which had a simple sandwich, a carton of milk and a fruit cup. I nodded at the cafeteria worker in thanks as I left the line. I spotted Misha as she stood up and waved at me, and I strode over and took a seat across from them.
“How was your morning, Ryokkun?” she asked as I unwrapped my sandwich.
I shrugged. “It went okay, I guess. I didn’t know that 3-2 had mostly blind students. I guess I kind of fit in there.” My gaze went from Misha to Shizune as the latter started to sign.
[3-2 primarily consists of students with full or partial blindness like yourself and Kageyama. The teacher knows how to read braille,] Shizune signed, staring intensely at me. I barely heard Misha translating her signing. [Where did Kageyama go, anyway?]
“He said he changed his mind,” I replied. “He didn’t say why.”
Shizune huffed but didn’t press the issue. [Why did you transfer here so late into high school?]
I shook my head. “I’d rather not bring it up. I mean, it’s obvious why I’m here, I’d just rather not talk about how I ended up here.”
[How did you find out about this school, then?] She raised an eyebrow.
“My older brother went here for high school,” I answered.
Shizune lifted her head questioningly and crossed her arms, pausing her interrogation to look at me.
I looked at her then to Misha. “What?”
Shizune signed something quickly to Misha. “Shicchan wants to know if you can understand sign language.”
Shit, I thought.
Kageyama wasn’t kidding that she’s sharp.
“What makes you say that?”
[Because you kept your eyes on me while Misha was translating,] Shizune signed. [Not many people look at me as I sign the way you’re doing right now.] Misha looked at me even as she finished translating. [Besides, Misha said to me that asking you about your transferring seemed like prying, and yet you answered anyway.]
“Is it true, Ryokkun? Can you understand sign?”
=====
Make up an excuse
Come clean ←
=====
I closed my eyes and sighed as I put down my half-eaten sandwich. [Yes, I can read sign,] I answered. [My brother is deaf.]
[Hiding that wasn’t a nice thing to do, Ryokkun,] Misha signed with a hurt look on her face. [It would have saved us a lot of trouble.]
I was tempted to lash back at her about omitting Shizune’s remarks about Kageyama, and I almost did, but I held myself back. “[I didn’t feel comfortable telling you earlier,]” I said and signed. “[Although I have to say that Kageyama was right.]” I grinned at Shizune. [He said you would have caught on quickly.]
Shizune shot me a smug smile. [Not a lot gets past the Student Council’s radar,] she signed. She raised an eyebrow. [Although you looking at me while Misha translated kind of gave it away.] She paused and slowly signed with a reluctant look on her face. [Forgive me for saying, but it’s not hard to see where you’re looking when you only have one eye.]
I shrugged. [Fair enough,] I signed as I picked up my sandwich and started eating.
We fell into a silence as we ate, although Shizune kept looking at me appraisingly, as if she were making a mental list of things to ask me after she finished her food.
I tried to excuse myself from their table once I finished, but as I began to leave, Shizune stood up and stopped me, leaning in close.
[I have a feeling you told Kageyama what I said that Misha didn’t,] she signed. [If I offended him, tell him I admit I was a bit out of line with what I said and I apologise, but I’ll not stand for his conduct if it continues.]
[I’ve been told he’s perfectly harmless,] I signed. [I will tell him, though.]
Shizune nodded, apparently satisfied. She sat back down with Misha as I threw away my garbage and put my tray in the appropriate place. Lunch was going to be over soon, so I thought it best to head back to class and beat the rush. I couldn’t help but turn back at the two of them. Misha still had that hurt look on her face as the two of them signed to each other.
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