The New Student / その新しい生徒

It was the morning of a new day. Rise and shine. I yawned and sprung my arms upwards, trying to reach the unattainable. Just like Tantalus attempted to reach out for the fruit tree or take a sip from the pool of water in which he stood, perpetually failing to do so, I was seeking my lost holidays, now eternally stuck in the past. Yes, a truly abominable curse. That was waking up early for school. Not like I had a choice anyway. It couldn’t be helped.

Time may pass, but this schedule never leaves your sight. Mine, yours, everyone’s. Elementary, high school, university, work. Trapped in it throughout your entire life. "Hey, Mr. Minister of Education, can’t we do something about these atrocious morning class times?” would be what an individual with a childish mentality, unable to deal with the challenging circumstances of life, would say.

That individual would be me.

Nevertheless, I reluctantly moved forward.

Uniform: on.

Breakfast: eaten.

Daily morning goodbyes: given.

Now outside, next to the bus stop, I found my fellow classmate living in Akasaka. I was quick to take notice of her, peeking sideways from behind the bus stop. I walked up to where she was.

“Oh, morning Ishida.”

We both entered the bus and exited when we got to the destination. Awaiting us at the entrance was the ever-cheerful athlete.

Mission status: failed.

Reason: I spotted Kimura.

She updated us on the hot topic of the moment within our class.

“Yokoyama, good morning! It seems some people already saw her inside, and they confirmed with a teacher that she’s coming to our class!”

“Kimura, we can talk as we walk, no need to stand still, especially here, at the entrance.”

“Fine, let’s go.”

Walking down the same corridor as yesterday, we reached our classroom. Now inside, she finished her news report.

“As I was saying, we’re getting a transfer student today. I heard it’s a girl named Kira.”

“Umm Kimura? Are you sure that’s her name? I’m pretty sure she doesn’t use that kind of notebook.”

“I am simply passing on the information I obtained, you should both be thanking me. Now you confused me, even though I was pretty sure I didn’t mishear it.”

“Yes, blame me for pointing out the silliness of the name you suggested. Anyway, we’ll find out in no time. Arguing is pointless.”

“Ehhh? You give up that easily? You used to be more fun to be around last month.”

“Don’t start with that again. Let’s just sit down. Our teacher will arrive soon.”

My short argument with Kimura over someone’s name came to an end when an adult female silhouette appeared.

The teacher closed the door and started the class.

“Today we’ll practice a bit. I want to see what level everyone’s at. In this class, we’ll only be practicing written English. I’ll save the oral part for next time.”

Interrupting the lecture, someone knocked on the door.

“You may come in.”

As the door opened, one could now spot another fellow student. Maybe they wanted to ask a favor from the teacher or pass a message from someone else. In reality, it was neither of the above.

That girl in uniform was the transfer student.

The teacher recognized her and talked momentarily with her outside, behind the door, to make sure she was told everything necessary. You could hear a “What’s going on?” from a few of the students towards the bottom of the classroom.

After finishing the chat, the student followed our teacher and stopped midway at the chalkboard, turning to face it. The room went silent, out of respect for her. At least that’s what I wish was the case. The teacher’s posture and expression told a different story, making it obvious why the class had turned quiet all of sudden.

She started writing her name slowly. Done with it, she placed the chalk stick on the ledge. A shy voice filled the room as it enounced a name.

“I-I’m Akira Natsuko. Akira written with the character for ‘bright’, Natsuko written with the characters for ‘summer’ and ‘child’. Nice to meet you.”

She rapidly took a seat near the bottom of the room, close to where Naoto was.

The usual background noise began piling up as a result of the chit-chatting between classmates concerning the twenty-fifth student, which prompted the teacher to impose herself to restore the silence.

“Everyone!—”

Noticing him, a student she was familiar with already, she redirected her speech towards a specific student causing the majority of the noise.

“Tanaka, stop talking to your classmates, you’ll have time to do so after class.”

Now that the problem had been dealt with, she proceeded.

“Today, I’m tasking you all with writing a small exposition text regarding what you did during these spring holidays, in English. In the next class, you’ll show us what you did. I’ll repeat—stick with something short and concise. No essays, please. You may commence now.”

She paid special attention to the new girl, as she was not only new to everyone else, but she, unlike everyone else in the room, didn’t readily pick up her pencil. The adult female figure in the room walked towards where the transfer student was.

Her face contrasted with everyone else’s. While others were focused on what stood on their desk, playing around and neglecting their duties, or merely in deep thought as if they had forgotten what they were up to during their holidays or their brains had shut down in that time period (I would be part of that group), she didn’t fit any of those descriptions above. She appeared empty, with no particular thought in mind, not bothered by anything. In other words, wholly lacking any interest or care for her surroundings.

“What I said was for the others. However, I won’t force you to do this assignment. In fact, don’t do it, please. If you wish to do so though, you won’t be obliged to read out loud what you write in our next class. Take your time, and whenever you need help, call me.”

The instructor tried her best to comfort the shy schoolgirl, which prompted a nearly inaudible response.

“Y-Yes. Thanks.”

“Since I’ll still need to evaluate your level of written English, write an exposition text about whatever you want. I’ll be aiding other students in the meanwhile.”

She nodded to signal her agreement.

Almost immediately, Naoto raised his hand to ask for help from our educator. She took the quickest route to his desk, like a firefighter seeking to extinguish the fire as quickly as possible.

He had a doubt, but it wasn’t about his near-perfect English.

“Teacher Miyazaki, is she alright? Is there anything I can do to help? I don’t want to pry too much into other people’s lives, but it’ll be hard for her to integrate into a third-year class, most people already know each other.”

First of all, how in the hell did he already know the teacher’s name? He was truly in another league. On second thought, he probably just looked up everything before the school year began, unlike most of the class and a certain someone.

Secondly, that was a great showcase of his personality. Even though he’s a top-tier pupil, he still cares about other people and doesn’t look down on them. This rings true even more for people like Natsuko. He genuinely wanted to help.

Lastly, he really did trick the teacher into thinking he was in need of assistance, though there was no malice involved in his unintended deceiving. His honesty wouldn’t allow such evil exploits.

“Ueno, was it?”

“Naoto Ueno.”

“Well, I would rather not talk much about the subject right now, these are sensitive topics. Plus, I promised her this would only be known among the teachers. If you do want to talk to her, however, please be nice and try to make her feel right at home. She desperately needs it. Also, if any incident involving her does take place, whether it is on school grounds or not, relay that to one of the teachers, even after a class representative is elected. With that out of the way, what did you need my help for?”

“Oh, no, I’m fine. Sorry for calling you.”

“Ah, alright. It’s okay, don’t worry. If you want help, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Miyazaki was now headed to a different student that had requested her help.