Mother / 母

Once we were all sitting in the classroom, Yokoyama complained about the need to have classes following the sacred lunch break. She was on my left and Natsuko was on my right. Kimura was right behind her new friend from today and Naoto was further to the bottom of the room. That was going to be the layout for pretty much every time we were to have classes inside that room.

“Ehhh, why do we always have classes in the morning and afternoon? Today is even worse since we have PE as our last class. Cleaning duty is so much better.”

“If you want, I could tell one of our teachers about that. They’ll make sure you clean more than anyone else,” I teased her.

“Shut up, I didn’t say I wanted to clean more.”

After our science class ended, we put our ten-minute-long break to good use and headed to our respective dressing rooms. As I was aware Natsuko didn’t really know anyone else in the class, I gave her some advice as I evidently couldn’t enter women’s dressing rooms.

“Hey, Natsuko.”

“Hmm?”

“I can’t be around you until we all meet at the gym, so you should stay close to those two. Don’t be afraid to talk to them. You’re better off with them than isolated from everyone else.”

“Y-Yes."

Now inside the women’s dressing rooms, Yokoyama and Kimura noticed she sat next to them, and the former took the opportunity to question—I mean, annoy—her.

“Hey, hey, Natsuko. Just here between us three, do you like him?”

“H-Huh? He’s just my friend,” she blushed a bit and stuttered while answering, not having seen that coming.

“Well, if you say so.”

Minutes later, when we were all gathered inside the gym, a powerful voice announced the following:

“Hello everyone! My name’s Saburou Ishikawa and I’m going to be your PE teacher this year! There’s no need for each of you to introduce yourselves, as I’m sure by now you each other. I’ll learn your names as time goes by! Today we’ll be practicing basketball throwing and passes!”

He began silently counting the number of students, but his count didn’t match what he had been told. He scratched his head given his confusion with the situation.

“I was told you were twenty-four, but it seems there’s one extra.”

Kohei stepped forward and explained what had happened.

“Teacher Ishikawa, today we had a new student join us, so we’re twenty-five now.”

“Is that so? Oh, you’re that class with the new student, I had forgotten. I wanted to divide you into groups of four, but now one of you will end up with five,” he briefly pondered what to do, “Alright, form your groups and go get your balls over there. There are exactly six basketball hoops, one for each group.”

As expected, my group consisted of Kimura, Yokoyama, Naoto, Natsuko, and, obviously, me. Kimura rushed to where the balls were, in order to pick the “best” one. Pure excitement. That was her middle name when sports were involved.

“Alright, I got the ball, let’s start with passes! Natsuko and Ueno can alternate with Ishida while I train with Yoko-chan.”

Naoto and Natsuko were doing pretty well while I was waiting for my turn. In the middle of my waiting, I could observe Kimura’s flawless passes directed at her friend. Don’t be fooled though—Yokoyama was pretty good at it too.

In the second part of the exercise, the teacher signaled us to move closer to the basketball hoops to perform throws at varied distances, taking turns. Unfortunately for the rest of us, this exercise consisted of throwing as many times as we could until we missed the ring while drawing farther and farther away from it with each successful throw. Needless to say, when it got to Kimura, she kept scoring points, again, and again, and again, and again. It wasn’t even fun anymore.

Eventually, Kimura got bored of it and handed the ball to Natsuko.

“I guess I really am in shape today, but I’ve got to give an opportunity to Ueno and Natsuko as well. Here you go.”

She passed the ball to Natsuko.

However, she was distracted, talking to me, so she couldn’t properly catch it as it kept slipping from her hands. In the end, she did get a proper hold of it with both hands. She managed ten successful throws in a row, but the eleventh, now as far as it could get from the hoop, hit both sides of the ring, only to bail out to the floor.

When the clocks marked 3:30 PM, we were tasked to do our daily cleaning duty, starting with the gym we just used for PE class. Recalling my chat with Yokoyama beforehand, I was quick to pester her about her will to clean.

“So, the time has come, aren’t you excited?”

“Stop teasing me, Ishida. I simply stated I preferred cleaning.”

“Fine, but at least, put some effort into it, unlike in today’s classes.”

“Right back at you.”

Damn it. Not very effective.

The remaining three of our group were waiting for us to finish bickering.

“Now that all five of us are ready, let’s go!”

As expected of our cheerful Kimura. Leading us through that upcoming daunting quest.

Today it took us longer to finish our cleaning tasks, but we concluded them within half an hour. Yokoyama and I left first to catch the next bus home, with the former letting the other three know we were leaving.

“See you tomorrow!”, Kimura followed right after, with only Naoto, Natsuko, and our remaining classmates inside.

As all the students were leaving, my best friend had a plan in mind, one that required the transfer student’s cooperation.

“Natsuko? Sorry for asking you this suddenly, but can you stay here for a couple of minutes?”

“Huh? Sure.”

Naoto searched all over the school for the English teacher, Miyazaki. Eventually, he found her at the cafeteria.

“Oh, Ueno! Is there anything you want to tell me? Luckily you found me at a good time, I have a meeting with the other teachers after this break.”

“It’s about Akira Natsuko. Could you please tell me what’s going on with her? Please! I swear I’ll keep it a secret!”

With him begging like that, it was hard to refuse.

“Ok, I get it. It wouldn’t benefit her if I kept it within the teachers and the principal only anyway.”

“Natsuko’s parents passed away very recently, and she had no one else to take care of her. She was wandering around Fukuoka, homeless, looking for a place to sleep at. I found her and took her in. This happened roughly a week ago.”

Naoto changed into a more serious and low-spirited expression.

“I… had no idea she was in that situation. It all makes sense now. Sorry for being so insensitive.”

“It’s okay, I’m aware you meant no harm,” she seemed to have recalled something, “Since you’re the first to know about it, I wanted to ask you if she could move into your house until this school year ends. I handled it all until now, but I’m afraid I can’t keep doing it. I'm usually busy and lack the financial means to support her within my household. I’m sure you understand.”

“Yes. However, I can’t really accept that, teacher, since I have a better, more suited candidate for it.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. While neither of us in class bothered to talk with her at all today, Yuki Ishida did. He took the initiative to approach her and bond with her today. In my opinion, the Ishida household is our best option.”

“Yuki… Ishida? Who are we talking about exactly?”

“He’s the student who’s always distracted.”

Naoto really had to say it. Damn it. As if I didn’t have better defining traits. He scratched his head, embarrassed. His description was far from ideal. Sadly, it was good enough for the teacher to remember who he was referring to.

“Ah, I see. Can I trust you on this?”

“Yes, please! I know him very well, we’ve been friends for a very long time, he won’t let you down. Don’t let his distraction cloud your judgment, he’s a kind and loving person!”

Hold it right there. Isn't it way too early for a redemption arc? Not that I'm unwelcoming of it, not in the slightest. As a matter of fact, just like any reasonable human being, I welcome praise any day, cloudy or not. Despite all that, considering how he chose to describe me seconds ago, it gave off the impression he was skillfully defusing his previous claim—it devalued those compliments.

“Calm down, I got it. I’ll put my trust in you.”

Although, signaling agreement and preliminary validation towards this suggestion implied that—

“Ahhh!”, she sighed, “Now I have another topic to discuss. Guess I’ll give her the keys so that she doesn’t have to wait until everything has been dealt with. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?”

“No," he got up, "Thanks for trusting me. I’ll call her here so you can talk with her.”

“Thank you.”

Naoto rushed to the classroom’s doorway, worried that her classmate might have gotten tired of waiting. Fortunately, those worries were exaggerated as Natsuko was napping next to the door, sitting on the floor with her back against the wall. He put his hands on her shoulders and shook her, seeking to wake her up as fast as possible to make sure the teacher was still in the cafeteria when he returned.

“Hey, Natsuko, wake up!”

“H-Huh?”

She rubbed her eyes, noticing he had made it back already. She winked twice to make sure he was actually there.

“I’m sorry for falling asleep. What did you want from me?”

“Nah, I am the one who needs to apologize. You must be tired, hence why you fell asleep. Come with me.”

When they arrived, she was still there. He was relieved, knowing his efforts were not in vain. Natsuko still wasn't aware of what was going on though.

“T-Teacher Miyazaki? Is anything wrong?”

“Ueno, could you please let your classmate know about it? I have to know if his parents agree. Also, I’d like to ask you to let us talk alone elsewhere.”

“Alright, no problem. See you tomorrow!”

With him gone, the teacher focused her attention on the student next to her.

“You must be confused, sorry. I'll let you know what's going on. Please, follow me.”

“Y-Yes.”

They walked down the hallway until they reached the very end of it, where the teachers’ lounge was located, in order to have a chat all by themselves, with no eyes or ears nearby.

“I take it you realized why Ueno told you to stand by. He wanted to talk to me about something he was certain only a teacher could know—You.”

“And what did you say?”

“I did not reveal everything, only part of it. He knows you were homeless and that you’re an orphan. That’s it. I only mentioned these details because I deemed them to be important. As you know, I can’t financially support you within my household. I already have a family to take care of. Hence, I asked for his opinion. He suggested that you move into the Ishida’s household.”

“T-To Ishida's house?”

She blushed instinctively, unable to hide her influx of surprise and embarrassment. She should’ve been ready though, as Miyazaki had already told her that, sooner or later, she'd have to start living with a new family and not her current one.

“When's that going to happen? I-I mean when do I m-move into his house?”

“If all goes well, it might be tomorrow already. I can see you're happy with this change, and sincerely, so am I, if that's what brings you happiness.”

“M-M-Me? H-Happy? No, no, no, you got it all wrong, teacher.”

“Oh? Is that so? Given what Naoto told me, I don’t see why you’d be anything but happy, even if just a little. And, as I said, if you are, so am I. Gaahhh what am I going on about, it's as if I was your mother.”

She really couldn't understand herself at that moment. But one thing was certain—taking in that lost girl was definitely the right choice.

“You were.”

“Hmm?”

“You were my mother. Thank you for this week. I really felt like I had a second mother. Hence, as a responsible daughter would say, I promise I'll study hard and get the best grades I can.”

“Oh really? I'll be patiently waiting for your first grades then.”

The teacher almost lost track of time while she was in the cafeteria. Thankfully, she looked at her watch right when it was necessary.

“I have to go now, got a long meeting ahead of me. Oh, I nearly forgot! You can have my keys to the house. It'll be a while until I arrive at home, so you should get going.”

She put her keys atop the big round table.

“Here, take them. The other attendants should be here in no time, hurry up! I don't want them to see you here.”

“Yes. See you later.”