Chapter 2

“Kurono-sensei?”

Kurono Naomi recognized the voice at once. “Imagawa-san? You’re early! Come in.”

The door slid open. A tanned girl dressed in gyaru fashion walked in. “Excuse me… yeah, Sagawa-sensei let me go early today. I thought I could… well, talk a little. We have time, right?”

Naomi glanced at her phone: just a few minutes after half-past five. “Plenty. The rest should start arriving at six or so.” She smiled at her guest. “That tan is really settling in. I like it. It suits you.”

The girl blushed and looked away, holding her hands together awkwardly over her lap. “Well… I like it too, but people are talking…”

“Don’t just stand there. Makes me feel old.” She opened a desk drawer, reached for something there and tossed it at her. “Here, catch!”

“Eep!” The girl caught it just before it hit her in the face. “You almost hit me!”

“But I didn’t.” A smug smirk. “Cherry was your favorite flavor, right?”

“Yes, sensei. Thank you.” The girl unwrapped the candy and ate it right away. “Tasty!”

“Anytime.” The smirk turned into a warm smile. Naomi sat in one of the chairs before the desk and gestured at the other. “Now sit here, Sara-chan. Tell me what’s eating at you.”

The girl sat in turn, her bashfulness returning. “Well… I just… I can’t get used to this. People are talking, they say… I’m… you know, loose and all that. Because of my looks and my tan.”

Naomi ran a hand through her luxurious ginger hair. “Two things with that. One, that’s none of their damn business, and if that doesn’t work, then move on to number two—even if you were ‘loose and all that’, so what? As long as you’re careful and use protection…”

Imagawa could not look at her. “Kirishima-san and others have been calling me a slut. Behind my back. And to my face.”

The gyaru girl frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, there’s… You know, homework, assignments, tests and so on. That’s the obvious hierarchy, the most visible one.”

Imagawa thought she understood but was not sure. “And the other one is…”

“The other is trickier. Call it popularity, if you want. Some of it is obvious; for example, how many friends you have, how many boys want to date you, stuff like that. Other sides aren’t so easy to see, but…” A shadow crossed Naomi’s brow, and Imagawa did not know what to make of it. “Imagine this for a moment. A popular girl could start a rumor that would totally fuck up the life of a much less popular one. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not.”

A hint of horror appeared on Imagawa’s face. “But that’s… bullying. That’s awful.”

“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.” Naomi looked into Sara’s eyes. “And, want it or not, you have a place in that hierarchy. What you’re doing will influence that, will affect where others stand. Like Kirishima. Maybe she’s jealous of you.”

Imagawa considered this. “Well… she’s always made fun of my height. But now she’s started saying stuff like I’m padding my chest. Or that I should get a swimsuit one size bigger.”

Naomi saw the pattern. It was a familiar one. “Let me put it like this… a classmate of mine liked to say that others learn how to treat you when they see how much shit you put up with. You’ve gotta hit back, girl.”

The gyaru was quiet for a while before speaking, eyes lowered. “I’m… I’m not that kind of person.”

The answer jumped to Naomi’s tongue. You have to be. But she recognized where Sara’s reluctance was coming from. “It’s not nice, I get that. There are things you can fix just by talking to people up front. You know, in a frank but nonaggressive way, something like this: ‘Look, if there’s something about me that bothers you, tell me. Let’s talk about it.’ That will do it.” She waited for a moment before adding, “Most of the time.”

Imagawa caught the message. “Most of the time, but not always.”

“Trust me. Talking out of experience here.” She again looked into the girl’s eyes. “When you leave high school, you’ll surely go to college and get a job. Those places also have power hierarchies. What you learn now will be useful when you have to make a place for yourself there.” Naomi’s phone suddenly started ringing. “Ah, crap. Sorry, girl.” Imagawa dismissed that with a brief headshake. Naomi looked at the phone, frowned slightly, then answered. “Hello, Ayase-san. What gives?”

“Did I call at a bad time?” the female voice asked with a trace of irony.

“Well, I picked up, so bad time or not…”

“Got one for you,” the voice said without pleasantries. “You live near Kashiwa, right? Remember the power outage from yesterday?”

“Yeah…”

“That was an immigrant. I’ll send you the details. When you get there, tell them Fuyutsuki-sensei sent you.”

An immigrant… haven’t had one of those for a while. “Alright, I’ll handle it. Thanks.”

“Tell me later how it went. Bye.”

Naomi hung up. “That was brief.”

Imagawa stood up. “If you’re busy I can come back later—”

“Oh nononono!” The tall redhead grinned apologetically. “It’s stuff I can do after the session, don’t worry.” She stood up in turn. “But would you mind helping me set up the workout stations? It will be a while before the rest arrive, so we’ll still have some privacy.”

“Of course, sensei, let’s get to it.”