Act 1:Rising Son
Scene 6: Supplementary Classes
The school day is over and I'm left behind, waiting in my seat as my classmates file out for the day. The class emptying itself like an hourglass turning on its head, each grain of sand wishing to be the first out of the door. Nori gives me an energetic wave before heading off for his student council representative duties, leaving me to stew in whatever surprise Okazaki has waiting for me. All I was told was that I needed to stay after class, no good news or bad news; just that one statement. I'm worried that It's something bad, maybe I failed that re-test. Oh, that would be bad,very bad. I thought I did very well on that though, she even smiled! It could also be something good though. Focusing on the negative isn't always the greatest of things to do. Maybe I did extraordinarily well on it and she wants to congratulate me without putting me in the limelight. While that is a distinct fantastical possibility, I find my mind lingering with doubts.
I watch as the few remaining students leave, which leaves me begging the question, where is Saki? She still hasn't shown up for class since the fight, and that was two days ago. It's almost Sunday and time for the festival, I doubt she'll bother showing up for the half-day tomorrow. In fact, I'm considering skipping myself, they have an anime marathon starting at six in the morning going to eight in the evening. They even have the unaired pilots for a few of my favourite anime. Maschera's anime is going to be on during the marathon as well, I can always record it, but it's never the same as watching it during normal airing time. I managed to finish the manga quite quickly after Okazaki gave it back to me yesterday and was glad to finish before anything was ruined by the show. It was beautiful done, a real work of art by the creators. It inspired me to start writing a manga of my own. Nothing grand, but the storyboard is coming out nicely, and I've always been complimented on my drawing skills. It's something that I've always wanted to do, but never had the time nor ideas to put it together.
The story is original but draws from outside sources. In short it's about an Orc named Roark Thar, who leaves his home after being hunted by his brood brother. Forced to fend on his own, and escape across the sea, where he becomes a slave. Becoming a holy warrior, despite his bestial nature, he frees the slaves and becomes anointed by a divine. Not what you’d expect a typical high schooler to draw up, but I’m far from normal. The thought of getting back to my room and working on it more gets me giddy, I just love this world that I have created so far. Sadly I can’t afford to let my mind wander, I need to remain interested in the task at hand, I need to know what Okazaki wants from me first. Can’t let my guard down too soon, that would not be good, especially if it’s bad news.
Saya is the last of us to leave the classroom, slowly walking with her forearm crutches out the door, like an old robot long since rusted away. I can't help, but feel that that was a bad analogy, even for me. Saya, while being quite the social butterfly, has never had a boyfriend much to the joy of any interested individuals. It can't be that she hasn't had any suitors, she is fairly attractive; her crutches and eye-patch don't hide that. She has been sporting a knee brace lately, making me wonder how she got that. It was probably just another problem with her condition, I hope it wasn't too serious. She's a nice girl, musically talented too . She quickly became good friends with class 3-3’s Tainaka and started to play the keyboard in their ‘band’.
As Saya finished walking out of the room, I turn, looking over at Okazaki who seems to be shuffling papers around on her desk aimlessly. I wonder if those papers have anything to do with why I'm here? I don't get a chance to ask before I'm summoned to her desk. She calls me over, accentuating the gesture with her hand, not even lifting her gaze from the papers laid out in front of her.
I slide out of my chair and walk up to her desk slowly, somewhat nervously. I have no idea what to expect, so I could very well be walking into the belly of the beast. I approach her desk and look down at the papers crudely piled about like some poor game of Tetris. On the top of one of the more heavily piled stacks is my test, I can't see the mark because her hand is obscuring it. Damn it Okazaki, just give me a little peek, it's my test after all. I feel unsure of what is to come, but I decide to wait and see the outcome of whatever she has to throw my way.
Okazaki looks up at me grinning, her eyes glimmering beneath her ornate glasses like a mischievous cat. Is grinning a good sign? I can only hope so, at least for my sake and that of my future.
“Well Kiri, you never cease to amaze me.” she says coyly, choosing to draw out the suspense before showing me what exactly she is talking about.
I guess I did well, but how well is the question? “H-How well did I do...exactly?”
“Well I can certainly say you almost beat Nori, and you passed a good amount of others,” she grins, trying to gauge my reaction. It’s almost as if she is trying to toy with me.
Damn it woman, show me the score already! I'm visibly shaking with anticipation!
“Well, I shan't tease you any longer. Here you go and congratulations,” she smiles, removing her hand and handing over my test. A sly wink comes over her before she returns to shuffling her paper around.
I reach out and hold the small stack of paper, nearly causing my heart to stop. I let my mouth hang wide open as I look at the score. I look back at Okazaki as she grins ,trying to send a little bit of pride my way.I point a finger to me and look back at her, almost unbelieving in the improvement. Okazaki gives me a small nod before telling me ‘good job’ once again.. I look back at the test again, clearly not believing the outcome. Is this real, or are my eyes playing tricks on me? Oh, how cruel that would be. A truly torturous and malicious prank pulled by some unknown being. I flip through the test and notice how little red pen is actually wasted on my page.
It’s a far-flung score from perfect, but it is certainly an improvement over the failing grades I have been receiving the past few tests. This can officially be called the first eighty percent I have ever received in a history class in my entire life. Needless to say, I am very proud of this! Maybe I should hang this on my wall? Would that be weird? I guess that would pretty weird. In my defence though, this is a historic event. See what I did there? Clever Kirino. I can't wait to hear what Dad says when I call him about this!
“Great Job Kiri, I see when times are rough you can really buckle down. I knew putting Nori on the job would be a great idea! It's even better that the two of you are friends now.” She smiles at me.
I guess I can't claim this victory by myself I need to give credit to Nori. After all, without his help I probably...no...I would have slacked off. That much was certain. Who knows? Maybe we can study for these tests in the future again, it certainly helped boost my marks up, not to mention how fun it was.
“Although, I do have a proposition for you. It has to do with your grades.” Okazaki says, suddenly trying to take on a much more serious role. I look at her slowly, wondering what exactly she is trying to drive at, hoping that while my history mark has gone up slightly, that my other grades hadn’t decreased.
“Well, I took a look at your other marks in the other subjects and they're, well they're less than stellar. In English you're doing quite well, second of the class in fact. Your mark in history has improved, but not enough for a pass thus far. Mutou tells me your science mark is okay, but you have some difficulty when it comes to the physics portion. Don't even get me started on your math mark, it's not even double your age.” she says, causing me to groan when she mentions math. Oh, how I dread the subject, when would a Pythagorean identity ever help me in life? Seriously, useless...
“I know it may be a bit early in the year, but if you're interested, I can convince your math teacher Furukawa to allow you to take supplementary classes. That will help with your math mark hopefully and bring you up to at least a passing level. As for history, I can allow you to redo all the tests at the time of your choosing. So long as you don't go running around telling everyone and you don't leave it to the last minute.” she says, stressing that lost point with a glaring gaze. I guess some people don't forget about late assignments.
I take a moment and consider this. It's a good opportunity, even if it does involve work that I don’t exactly care to do. I'd be a fool to turn it down however, besides, who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?. I'm going to accept of course, but the idea of doing supplementary math classes haunts me. I despise math. While Furukawa-sensei is a kind woman, her subject is none too forgiving. I guess I'll just need to buckle down and work harder, no more lazing around for me sadly. I could probably get help from Nori as well even though he’s no superstar in math. I'd rather not rely on him for everything though, especially so when I already plan on leaning on him for help in Okazaki’s class. That only leaves me with one final question?
“What...about science?” I ask tentatively, hoping that the series of lucky chances I’ve been given don’t run out as soon as I fear.
“Well, Mutou said that physics is going to be over in a few days and that most students don’t do that well anyway. He's going to be covering chemistry next, so there really isn't a point in doing supplementary classes yet. So long as you don't botch this unit, it seems your work in the biology unit balances out the poor physics mark.” she replies, before asking me the last probing question “So, will you do it?”
“Ya...sure. Thank you sensei.” I smile, trying to bow politely to show my thanks.
“Please, no formalities. I get that enough during the school day. At first, it's nice, but it gets annoying after awhile, a short while.” she chuckles, causing me to blush and stand straight again like a ruler recovering from someone bending it. I recover quickly and stammer out a quick, but sincere thank you.
“I'll be sure to tell Furukawa that you're interested in her idea, then I'll get back to you on particular dates and such. Now, for history I suggest you brush up on Paleolithic and Neolithic history to start with. When you're confident with that, I'll let you write the test again after class sometime.” She smiles, writing a reminder on a piece of paper,scrawling it crudely in cursive writing on the edge of some sheet.
I usher in another thanks, before retrieving my stuff and exiting the classroom and wondering if we even covered a neo-whatever era.
That really was a golden opportunity, then again, I should probably be lucky to get the opportunities that Yamaku allows. It's all about ‘accommodating the student's educational and medical needs’,or so it says in the brochure. I wonder what else it says in there, it's been years since I last skimmed through it. Well, to be fair I didn’t skim through it at all, it was Dad’s job.
I don't think it's important anymore, especially considering that I'm going to be graduating this year if everything goes to plan. I still don't know what I want to do when I get out of here though. I could go into something that involves English, or drawing, or even Japanese literature, that's probably a very specific route to take though. I can't see many jobs asking for that specific skill set, our world is more math and science oriented nowadays. I suppose I could be an author, teacher or something else, well maybe not teacher considering my abysmal social skills.
I'm sure I'll find my way in life, it will just take a bit of effort. If only life were as easy they make it out to be in manga, no responsibilities, just the halcyon days of youth.
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I walk down the school hallway and, yet again, nearly nobody is mulling about. At least it's not absolutely barren like it usually is. I think I saw a few juniors walking around here before disappearing around a corner. It's good to see that the school building doesn't go to waste after hours I sarcastically jape, but then again who I am to say what a “waste” is? I walk downstairs and feel my stomach practically shake itself apart in convulsions. I guess I am pretty hungry, my usual lunch never fills me up. I don't get why I never get more, starting tomorrow I will get two lunch items along with a drink. For now though, it seems I need to pay a visit to the vending machines.
I walk down into the lobby and browse the machine looking for a filling snack. I suppose I could eat some garbage food, but that's not really a good choice. Especially considering I don't wanna risk getting high blood pressure, not that I could ever achieve that given the variety here. My point rings true as I glance at the various health foods and low calorie ‘wonders’ propagated throughout, there's even an orange in one of the slots. Who thought putting fruit into a sealed metal dispenser was a good idea, there seems like a million better alternatives than that. Well, I know exactly what I’m not getting...
I look through the small array of ‘decent’ items and eventually settle on a bag of sunflower chips, albeit unhappily. It's some American company's product, but it's cheap and should tie me over until I bother to cook dinner, or more likely order out. I enter the item number and fish around my coin pouch for the desired amount of yen. I insert the small coins into the machine and wait for the metallic giant to process my order.
I watch as the bag of chips moves lethargically from its shelf, tumble down and...get stuck. Are you bloody kidding me? My stomach grumbles in irritation at being denied its snack. I give the machine a small, weak tap on the side, hoping it will drop the food. Sadly it doesn't, leaving me to stare through the glass at the trapped chips in absolute depravity. How depressing, I sigh loudly and roll my eyes in irritation.
“Awww,” I grumble to myself, noticeably annoyed with my rather poor luck.
Defeated, by a vending machine no less. Why does this have to happen to me? I open my pouch of coins to see if I have enough to buy another item and get it unstuck. Sadly, I'm one-hundred-yen short. The only other way of paying I have is my credit card and the machine doesn't accept that. Come on! Really? What are the chances of this even happening? Remind me to never buy a lottery ticket with the luck I currently have.
“Grrr,” I growl to the machine, glaring irately at its metal frame and glass face.
“Problem?” a voice asks from behind me, catching me off guard.
“Eh?!” I squeal, jumping up and spinning to face the intruding voice, getting a face full of ponytail as I do so.
I turn and find myself looking up at a messy-haired boy. His brown tired eyes look down at me questioningly. Oh gosh, this is that cute boy from class 3-3. I find myself blushing from ear to ear and begin to play with my ponytail nervously. I mumble quietly that my chips got stuck in the vending machine and give a sad, pitiful point to the sight of the tragedy.
“hmm.” he grunts to himself, staring at the chips stuck in the machine.
“May I?” he asks before approaching the thief.
I motion for him to go ahead and I move out of the way, doing my best to retain what little dignity that wasn’t lost in our first surprise interaction. He steps up to the machine and enters a code for an item. What is he doing? He puts in the amount of yen required and waits as the machine processes his order. His item falls out of the shelf dislodging my item along with it. They both fall into the bottom with a small thud, allowing my chips to be retrieved. He's a hero!
I give a wide smile and retrieve our items happily, pleased that I didn’t just get cheated out of my snack. I hand him his chocolate shoots happily and nearly drop them when he brushes his hand against mine taking them from me. I feel the blush return to my face as I let the small package go.
“T-Thank you...” I mumble quietly.
He gives out a slight chuckle before replying. “No problem. Glad to be of service.”
I look back at him and give him a smile, he smiles back.” I'm Hisao Nakai, just call me Hisao though.”
I give a small, dumbstruck nod before replying “Kirino Kage, Kage Kirino. Call me Kirino. Kirino, that’s me.” I grin awkwardly, pointing to me as I say it, nearly tripping over my own tongue in the process.
Of course he knows that’s your name, you repeated it four times already. Way to make a fool of yourself to the new kid. Although he probably already knows you as the girl who ogled him in his class then blushed, all while making a very embarrassing exit at that. He probably doesn't even remember that actually, considering how easily forgotten I am.
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