Re: *Ch32 Updated 11/9* Precious Friendships (Shizune BE, Sisterhood plot)
Chapter 35: Scartesian Coordinates
After writing everything I need on the board, I put down the white board pen, adjust my tie for I think the fourth time in fifteen minutes, take a deep breath, and turn around.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine. Just remember to be friendly to the kids.”
“Sure. I will.”
Even though I’ve been a private tutor for two months already, I still feel nervous. This is the first day I’m holding a class in a tutorial center. The 10 o’clock class, which is the Mathematics class I sat through last week, is one of the classes of the tutor who resigned. Sitting at the back of the classroom is Alvin, the substitute last week, who will sit through today’s class to see if things are working fine.
There will be three students. I already met them last week. I hope they like me.
A flurry of knocks on the door tells me that a student, or more than one of them, has arrived. From the last class, I know that the three of them are good friends. Taking another deep breath and wishing myself good luck, I approach the door and open it.
“Hello. Welcome.”
It turns out all three students have arrived.
“Hi, Alvin-sensei (teacher Alvin)… oh…”
“Hey Makoto, you forgot? Today will be Teacher Nakai with you.”
“Oh. Hello, Nakai sensei.”
I smile gently at the little boy named Makoto.
“Hello, Makoto right?”
“Yeah.”
“And you? You’re Mitsugu, am I right?”
“I AM! Hi, Nakai-sensei!!”
This Mitsugu is very energetic, but not very good at schoolwork.
“And you’re Etsuko, right?”
The girl with ponytails known as Etsuko gives me a polite bow.
“Yes. Nice to meet you.”
“Nakai-sensei, we just call her Ecchan.”
Ecchan blushes a bit and smiles bashfully upon hearing her nickname.
Huh. I want to tell her that I’ve a similar nickname too. Maybe later.
“Alright, kids, please take your seats.”
Makoto, Mitsugu, and Ecchan sit together in a row.
“My name is Hisao Nakai. I’ll be your math teacher starting from this week.”
“Sensei! Did you comb your hair today? Why is there a bit of hair stuck out on the right side?”
Oh boy. This class is not gonna be easy. I can’t get angry though.
“This hair? It’s been sticking out for a long time. I can’t do anything about it, no matter I try.”
“Really? Can I try flattening it?”
“Uh… But aren’t we supposed to have a class?”
“Yup, but we wanna get to know the teacher first!”
I remember that Alvin also had a hard time with them last week.
“Alright, alright. See if you can flatten my hair. I doubt you can do it.”
“HERE I COME!!!”
Mitsugu, the energetic boy, immediately leaves his seat and runs at full speed towards me.
“Oh no!”
Afraid of being tackled at the front (like what Emi did to me last year), I instinctively move away, and Mitsugu falls on the ground after missing his “tackle”.
Oh no! I just dropped my student to the floor in my first day of class! I hurry over to him.
“Mitsugu, are you alright?”
“Awwww…”
It looks like he just scratched his elbow. Makoto, Ecchan, and Alvin come over.
“How are you?”
“I’m… fine…”
Ecchan folds her arms and stares daggers at Mitsugu.
“Told you not to act so rashly! You never listen.”
“Sorry…”
His scratched elbow is bleeding. I take out a bandage from my wallet. The last time I got to use this was three months ago on Hanako’s leg.
“Are you bleeding? Here, use this.”
I carefully rip open the package and apply the bandage on his elbow.
“Thank you sir.”
He gets up, wipes off the dust attached on his clothes, and scratches his head.
“Sorry, Ecchan. I won’t do that next time.”
“Hmph! How many times have I heard that statement already!”
“Hehehe…”
I suppose I need to apologize.
“Mitsugu-kun, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you fall down. I just moved away instinctively.”
“It’s okay, sir.”
If I don’t want to get tackled again, I need to tell them the truth. It’s been over a year since I had that accident, but I still feel uncomfortable telling others about my condition. But it’s probably easier to do it on kids.
“Uhm… I supposed I need to tell you all about this. I had a heart surgery a year ago, and it’s still kind of vulnerable now. That’s why I had to dodge from you. Please don’t tackle me again, or I’ll be in big trouble.”
“I see. Sorry sir.”
Ecchan raises her hand.
“Sir, did you say you had a surgery?”
“Yes.”
“My cousin had a surgery on her left foot last month. It left a big scar right there. Do you have a scar as well, sir?”
“Yes indeed, Ecchan.”
“D’you mind if you show us your scar? We’re curious!”
Oh boy. Seeing their sparkling eyes, somehow I find myself unable to reject the kids. I take a glance at Alvin, who is smiling all the time.
“Alright then.”
Making sure that my back faces the classroom door, I remove my tie and undo the buttons on my shirt, showing my chest to my students.
“Wow. So that’s what a scar looks like.”
I don’t like the idea of my scar being appreciated by a bunch of youngsters, but I don’t think there’s another choice.
“My cousin is actually very sad about her scar. I’ll tell her that she’s not the only one with scars.”
“That’s so kind of you, Ecchan.”
“Actually, he’s not the only one in this classroom either.”
Alvin-san, who’s been smiling all along, suddenly speaks up.
“Mr. Alvin?”
He proceeds to wrap up his sleeves and, surely enough, there’s a pretty long scar on his left arm.
“Wow. I didn’t know you have a scar as well.”
Mitsugu suddenly smiles wickedly.
“Hey, sir, why did you get this scar? Did you fight with the bad guys in the past?”
Alvin smiles.
“No, Mitsugu-kun. Sorry to disappoint you. One day I had a nasty fall in the rain when I was ten years old. I broke my arm, and this is the result.”
“I see.”
Makoto, who hasn’t said much since entering the classroom, seems to notice something on the board.
“Hey, sir, doesn’t your scar look like what’s written on the board?”
I turn around and realize that he’s right. Today we’re teaching Cartesian coordinates. The x- and y-axes do look like our scars. It seems like I just found a perfect way to divert their attention back to the class.
“Huh. I didn’t realize it. You’re right! That’s what we’re learning today! Let’s start our class right now then.”
“Made your decision already?”
“Uhm… I’ll have chicken rice with assorted vegetables, served with green tea.”
“Alright. Let’s go to the counter.”
Even though I only held two classes in the morning, I already feel completely drained. Luckily, it’s lunchtime, so I can take a short break. And today Alvin-san is kind enough to accompany me.
“You order first, Nakai-san.”
“Thanks. I’ll have pork ramen with assorted vegetables.”
“And I’ll have chicken rice with assorted vegetables. I’ll pay.”
“No. I should treat you today. It’s your first day working in the center! I’m your senior, so I kind of have to treat.”
“(Cashier) It’s 1450 yen in total.”
“But…”
“No worries. You can treat me later. Here’s 1000, here’s a 500 coin, and 50.”
“Er… Sir, this is a 100-yen coin, not 500-yen.”
“Oh. I made a mistake. Hold on… This one is 500. Huh. Don’t they look similar?”
No, they don’t. They’re of quite different colors.
“Errr… Well, here’s the change. 100 yen.”
“Thank you… Ah!”
Crap. He just dropped the coin on the floor.
“Where is it? Erm… Oh, it’s right there. Ah!”
“Ouch!”
“I’m… I’m sorry…”
It looks like he stepped the boy next in line on the foot while picking up his coin. The boy is visibly annoyed.
“Be careful next time!”
“I will. I’m sorry…”
Embarrassed, we take the tickets and go pick up our food. We sit down opposite to each other in a corner of the restaurant.
“So, Nakai-san, how do you feel about work this morning?”
“Well, you can just call me Hisao.”
“Alright. Hisao-san then.”
Uh… Okay. Not the most common name I’ve heard (I think it has to do with him avoiding his surname), but it’s still way better than the nickname given by Misha and mom.
“And I’ll call you Alvin-san… oh, wait, I guess I’ve never addressed you in your surname.”
The boy from Hong Kong laughs at my strange comment.
“Still not used to it, huh? It’s okay. Alvin-san or just Alvin is fine. Doesn’t it feel strange for a Japanese to have a friend with a name in Katakana?”
Normally it would be, but coincidentally I do have a friend with a name in Katakana. (“Misha” is also Katakana, but it’s only a nickname.)
“I do have a friend from high school with a Katakana name. Her name is Lilly.”
“Really? There’s a female student in my university called Lilly as well. She’s a tall blonde, and she walks with a cane. She frequently appears in the English faculty.”
Wait! Does that mean…
“Hold on. What university are you studying in?”
“Kasshoku. In Chiba.”
“We’re in the same university then!”
“Really? So, is that the same Lilly we’re talking about here?”
“Must be. She’s in the English faculty too. She is a tall blonde with curly hair and blue eyes. She walks very gracefully.”
“I’m sure that’s the same girl. I don’t know about her. I just heard about her name.”
“What major are you in? And what year?”
“I study electronic engineering, second year.”
“Then how did you know about Lilly?”
“Besides engineering, I also love languages, so I applied for a linguistic class this semester as an elective. Since that class ends at noon, I often have lunch in the cafeteria over there. And every time I go there, I can see that Lilly girl surrounded by presumably her classmates, or boyfriends, I’m not sure. As you mentioned, she walks and talks with great elegance. I don’t know why she’s walking with a cane though.”
He apparently doesn’t know Lilly is blind yet.
“Well… I’m a good friend of her. I’m actually going to ask her for lunch this coming week. You can join if you want.”
“Sure. I’ve been having lunch with boys only for such a long time. You know, more than 90% of my classmates are boys.”
I can feel for you, Alvin. If I didn’t have Shizune with me, I probably would have ended up with the same fate.
“No problem. Let’s exchange phone numbers then. I didn’t know you’re in Kasshoku too.”
“Yes, I am. So, I assume you study science, then?”
“Yeah. So… my phone number is…”
We proceed to store each other’s phone numbers in our phonebooks.
“Great! Got it. By the way, can you speak English? I’ve heard that Hong Kong was once governed by the British.”
“Yes. I’m actually quite fluent, although after so many years in Japan, I might need to brush it up a little bit.”
“Lilly’s from Scotland. You can speak English with her.”
“Really? No wonder she’s tall and blonde. So she’s an international student?”
“No. Well… Maybe I’ll leave it to next week. You’ll know soon enough.”
“Sure, no problem.”
“Oh, by the way, d’you know Shizune is also our school mate?”
“Shizune? You mean the girl who introduced you here?”
“Yeah. Shizune Hakamichi. She’s also my high school friend. She studies business.”
“I didn’t know. I thought you’re her boyfriend.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Hmm… That’s strange. I heard from the Director that you know sign language. If not for Shizune, why would you learn language? Do you have a family member who you can communicate only in sign?”
So that’s his thought process. He knows that I know sign language, and because of the fact that I am not deaf or mute, he deduced that I must be Shizune’s boyfriend. He’s almost correct. I have to appreciate his observation and analyzing skills.
“No. Well… You’re right. It’s true that I learned sign language because of Shizune. It’s… well… uhm… Anyway, it’s complicated.”
“I see. You do like Shizune, don’t you?”
Looks like he’s not dropping the subject. Why is he so curious?
“Uhm… (Sigh) I guess I can’t hide. You’re right.”
“I see. Well, to tell you the truth, I find her pretty attractive. But now that I know about you, I’m not going to get in your way.”
I see. That’s why he’s been persistent. That’s… fair.
“Alright then.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Huh? What question?”
“How was work today?”
Oh. He started lunch by asking me this question, and we diverted our attention towards many other topics.
“It’s been an eventful morning, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah. The students here are very inquisitive.”
“I didn’t know you have a scar too.”
“I guess we have another thing in common then, besides being in the same school.”
This boy is surely interesting.
“By the way, Alvin-san, I just realized you’re using your chopsticks upside down. You know, the thicker side should be up.”
“Oh!! Hahaha… Oh well, it’s fine. I don’t mind.”
“And why are you taking a fork with you? I don’t think you need it.”
“Uh… Oh! I thought I ordered ramen. Turns out I’m having rice as lunch today! Hahaha…”
You don’t eat ramen with fork either. He’s certainly the clumsiest, or funniest, boy I’ve ever seen.