An Angel Appears

I stuffed my arms into a brown blazer and raced through the tiny living area. “I’m coming!” I shouted while cramming my feet into my loafers. I erupted through the front door.

“Two minutes and forty seconds,” said a tall, athletic-looking guy dressed in the same uniform as me. He was looking at his phone with an amused expression. I peeked over his shoulder and saw a stopwatch app that displayed “02:40.”

“Your time has improved!” Masashi Takeda continued. He nodded his head in approval. “With speed like that, you could do well in sports.”

“Can’t,” I grunted as I shouldered my satchel. “Part-time job, remember?” I hoped he wouldn’t ask me about it. Takeda was the only person besides my uncle who knew about my unusual part-time work, but he knew I couldn’t talk about it.

And I’d hate to lie to someone I’d known since middle school.

“Oh, yeah.” Takeda clapped a hand on my shoulder, staggering me. “Still, it’s something you should keep in mind. Maybe one day, you and I can team up again. And not just in an online RPG.”

Living by myself in an apartment near an elite, private school sounded neat, at first. I’d earned a scholarship there through sheer hard work and persistence, and convinced my uncle that I’d be okay on my own.

But I still wasn’t used to making friends or getting up on time. Granted, it was the first day of school after the winter break and I hadn’t come up to speed yet.

My lethargy didn’t go unnoticed by Takeda. “Keisuke! You need some more exercise. Come on, here to the station. Let’s race!” He started the timer and dashed off.

“Hey, you got a head start!”

I heard an evil laugh, sounding exactly like the main villain in one of the first RPG’s we’d cooperated on. “Catch me if you can, Son of Turtleman!”

Hearing the line from the old children’s computer game made me grit my teeth. I dashed after him, satchel in hand.

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At the train station we met up with Takeda’s friend, Endo Itachi. The two of them were into sports, and swapped stories with each other while we waited for our train. I’d known Takeda for years, but if it wasn’t for the fact that he played online games with me, we wouldn’t have too much in common anymore.

I still wasn’t sure about Endo, though. I thought he could be a bit of a jerk sometimes.

I appreciated Takeda’s friendship, but I knew it would probably only be a matter of time before my after school job and his sports pushed us into separate social circles.

And maybe that would have happened if an angel hadn’t appeared in our class.

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The teacher held her hand to one side like she was introducing the latest luxury vehicle at a car show.

“Class, this is our new transfer student. Be sure to make her feel at home in our academy.” She stepped away from the new girl, as if trying not to detract from her beauty.

Because she absolutely, positively, was a stunning beauty. My heart had stopped beating as soon as she’d walked into the classroom. But not entirely for that reason.

It was Caterina. The priest character from my dungeon game, given flesh and bones and wrapped in a school uniform. I checked every detail: long blonde hair tied with a red ribbon, immaculate school uniform, long shapely legs with over-the-knee stockings, and gorgeous dark brown eyes… no, there was no mistake. I rubbed my eyes and stared at her, along with everyone else in the classroom.

A hush fell as the new student, aware of all the eyes on her, nervously cleared her throat. “Uh, I’m pleased to meet all of you. My name is Tokunaga Erika . I look forward to working with you.” Then she smiled, and the hearts of everyone in the class melted and puddled on the floor.

Is this a dream? I asked myself. I suddenly recalled the nightmare from last night but none of the details, only that Erika had been in it. I must have seen her on the train or downtown somewhere, and my subconscious recorded it. Then I’d converted my mental image of her into a computer image. Yes, that seemed to make the most sense.

I’d been so busy rationalizing that I hadn’t heard the teacher assign Tokunaga to a seat. I looked up to see her making her way down my aisle, and realized with a start that she was heading to the empty seat to my right. On the last row. Close enough to share pencils, textbooks, thoughts, dreams, romantic fancies --

Endo plopped his trim, athletic butt in her seat. I hadn’t even seen him get up out of his chair.

He patted his now-empty desk. “Here, why don’t you take this one? The neighbors are much nicer.” That would put Erika between him and Takeda, and cut me completely out of the picture. Smooth move, Endo. You scum.

Erika stopped in front of Endo. She gave him one of her heart-melting smiles, tilted her head, and said in a sweet voice, “I’m sorry, but that’s my seat you’re sitting in. Could you move, please?”

Still trying to be cool, Endo said “You sure? Because --”

“Now, please.” I just loved the way her eyes disappeared behind her lovely, long, lashes when she smiled. Embarrassed, Endo stood up and moved back to his chair on the right of Erika’s. On the way, he glared at me as if it was my fault he was such an idiot.

Erika settled gracefully in her seat. Endo leaned an elbow on her desktop. “So, uh, where are you from --”

She pivoted abruptly toward me, turning her back to Endo and absently knocking his elbow off her desk with her arm. Off-balance, he toppled forward and cracked his head on the hard wooden arm of her desk, falling to the floor with a grunt and curse. He laid on his back moaning, one hand covering his bruised forehead. Except for Takeda, who gave him a worried look, everyone else in the class turned back to the front where the teacher was starting the morning’s first lesson.

“What’s your name?”

It took me a second to realize that someone was asking me a question. It took a little longer for me to process the fact that it was Tokunaga.

“Who, uh, you mean -- me?”

“Yes, can you tell me your name, please?”

“I’m, uh, Nakata Keisuke?” I mentally kicked myself. Who gives their own name as if it was a question? She must really think I’m a loser.

“Nakata-san, I’m pleased to meet you.” Then she smiled.

Such a short, innocent sentence, “then she smiled.” Just like “the sun exploded,” or “the bomb went off” or “Japan sank.” Her smile had that effect.

I maintained the presence of mind to nod, and a moment later, to close my mouth. “I’m p-pleased to meet you too, Tokunaga-san!”

“Oh, please, call me Erika. We’ll be sitting next to each other for a long time, Nakata-san. Let’s be less formal.”

To my amazement, I didn’t drop the ball on this one. “Please, just call me,” I mustered up all my courage, “Keisuke.”

The smile never left her face. “Keisuke. What a pretty name.”

Take me now, God. I will never be filled with more joy than at this moment. Somehow I managed to keep from clutching my heart.

She turned away and pulled out a notebook and mechanical pencil as the teacher started her lecture. Once or twice, I thought I caught her glancing my way. But she never gave Endo another look, even though he was still lying on the ground and groaning. Probably hoping for a little sympathy.

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Before we broke for lunch, the class was given a chapter to study in our economics text. While I was still wondering if the teacher had assigned it as punishment for some unnamed crime, Erika passed me a note.

I unfolded it. No, not a note. A map.

For some reason, I felt a faint tug of memory, déjà vu. Like she’d done this before.

It was a nicely drawn partial map of the academy grounds, with an arrow pointing to an alcove away from the main buildings. The text above the arrow read “Meet me here for lunch?”

She raised her eyebrows and mouthed the words, “Will you?”

I was instantly suspicious. In the part-time job I had, that kind of attitude came with the territory. But there was no reason to prank me, was there? Had Endo or someone else put her up to this?

Looking at her deep, dark eyes convinced me otherwise. I gave her a quick nod, then we both returned to our work before we attracted the teacher’s attention.

At long last, the bell rang. I pulled the plastic bag of junk food out of my satchel and headed out the door. Although I sometimes ate lunch with Takeda and Endo, I thought it wasn’t such a good idea to do that this time, given what had happened earlier.

Besides, I had a much better offer.

Behind me, I could hear Erika fending off several lunch invitations. As I passed out the door of the classroom, I could clearly hear her say, “Thank you for your kindness, everyone, but I’ve already got plans.”