Open Fields
I don’t know if I’m ready for today. I haven’t recovered from the mental strain of yesterday’s activities.
It doesn’t help that I’ve been up for some time to finish the work I forgot to do yesterday. There had been so many distractions, that it just slipped out of my mind.
I’m still busy on it when Cho and Nanami arrive, and they don’t disturb me.
Mutou is late which allows me to finish the work just in time. Who decided to have first period on Wednesdays be science?
Giichi comes in late as well. He must have been doing something before school and decided to wait out the crowds.
He nods to me as our eyes meet.
That’s an interesting turn of events.
I nod back.
When it’s time to split into groups again the proverbial walls close in as two desks scrape towards mine.
The trio are back together it seems.
“I’m glad you chose us for the group work,” Nanami says with a huge smile.
Yes. That’s exactly what I did.
“How did you manage to get in Giichi’s good books?” Cho asks.
“What do you mean?” I’m not sure what they’re trying to say, and I try to pretend that nothing happed earlier.
“You greeted each other,” Nanami continued. “There are people in this class that he hasn’t acknowledged since he first started here and he’s being friendly to you on your third day.”
They considered that friendly? I suppose it is if he’s ignored some of his classmates for over two years. That gives me a strange sense of pride.
I explain what happened yesterday and they nod in unison.
“That makes sense.”
It’s Cho’s turn to take over the conversation.
“With him it’s like you need a letter of introduction. Someone lets you into the circle and then once they’ve given you a thumbs up, he’ll approve of you as well.”
“But I hardly did anything.”
“You helped the rest of the committee with work, didn’t you?” Nanami asks.
“Yes?”
“Then you’re in their good books. I would have left as soon as I got the chance,” Cho admits.
“There’s no one in this class to be the middleman and, since he’s the class rep. as well, there’s no official reason for him to deal with us. It can all go through the teachers.”
Does he really have to make things that difficult? For someone so focused on correct procedure, there’s an awful lot of red tape in dealing with him.
Thinking about it like that, his behaviour makes much more sense. He’ll make a great addition to the bureaucratic machines that make everything so difficult for us common people.
“So, will you join the disciplinary committee,” Nanami asks hopefully.
“What! Why would I do that?” I nearly shout.
Nanami looks crestfallen.
“You’d be our classes’ inside girl. We could finally open inroads into dealing with our class rep. in person. Though Nanami just wants the chance to finally talk to him.” Cho adds this last part on with an evil grin.
“That’s not true!” Nanami is not able to keep her voice down the way I did. Her cheeks have also gone bright red. “I don’t want to talk to him any more than you do.” She adds with a pout.
That’s an interesting turn of events. One I definitely did not see coming.
I turn to Cho for an explanation. It is her turn to talk anyway.
“I was just as confused as you when I found out,” she says with a shrug. “It’s something to do with how he’s able to get almost anything done if puts his mind to it. He put up a pretty big fight to get some of the school’s policies changed last year, and it really moved her. I suppose he’s also not the worst person to look at either.”
Mutou clears his throat, and we all jump. He’s apparently had enough of our discussion, so we get back to the work.
The day carries on without any more excitement.
Lunch goes by and we don’t pick up where we left off. Nanami is too embarrassed, and it looked as if she was likely to run away had we continued with that conversation.
When the final bell rings, I’m not sure where to go. I wanted to check out some more clubs, but I’m not really sure where to find them.
“How can I find out where to see more of the school’s clubs,” I ask Cho and Nanami.
“You could ask the student council. They should know all about that.”
“Nanami, I’d rather not go back there so soon,” I tell her. “Is there any other way?”
“I suppose I could introduce you to track,” Cho offers. “You don’t need to do anything. Just come alone and see if you might enjoy it.”
“Yes, you should go with her. I’d take you to band, but I don’t think that would really help you. If you want, I could introduce you to the art club on the way. I know a lot of people there.”
I weigh up my options. Go it alone or take up one of their offers.
I don’t really see the sense in wandering alone and I’m not really much of an artist, so there’s only one choice.
“I’ll come to track with you,” I say, turning to Cho. “But you better not try and make me run.”
“Great,” she says. “Let’s get going. I’ll need to get changed before we head over.”
As we make our way towards the changing rooms, a voice calls out.
“Hey! Wait up!”
Charging towards us is a tiny, blonde bolt of lightning. She’s from our class. I think her name was Emi?
“Want to head down together?” she says, addressing Cho.
“Emi, where are your manners? Can’t you see we have a guest.”
Emi looks at me.
“Hatsumi? We haven’t met yet. I’m Emi!”
Cho’s reprimand doesn’t seem to worry the girl. She’s just as energetic as before.
“Hi Emi. You’re heading to track as well?”
“Yeah, can’t miss a day of training or I’ll lose my edge over the others.”
“Emi’s the fastest thing on no legs,” Cho says.
Emi laughs. “That’s me. Are you joining us? I can show you the ropes.”
She’s full of energy and looks ready to throw herself into my recruitment.
“Hatsumi will just be observing today so that she can get a feel for the club. Don’t scare her away. Like you did at the start of the year.”
I raise my eyebrow at this.
“She can be very energetic and forceful in getting people to do their best. I think we lost some of the new recruits because they couldn’t keep up.”
“That wasn’t my fault,” Emi responds. She pouts and looks at us with remarkably convincing puppy dog eyes.
Even if she was responsible for it, I wouldn’t be able to hold it against her with that face.
We make it to the change rooms, and I decide to wait outside for them. It might be crowded, and I don’t want to get in their way.
The two girls emerge a few minutes later and I notice that Emi has changed her legs. The somewhat realistic legs are gone, replaced by black bladelike legs.
I’ve seen them on TV a few times. They’re meant to be good for running. Emi really is serious about this.
“Well, I’m going to head off to start warming up,” she says. “I hope we hang out again at some point. Maybe lunch?”
She’s off before I can reply. Her warmup starting before she reaches the track.
“I should probably get going too,” Cho says. “Head over to the stands. You can watch from there and maybe they’ll be some people to give you a few tips.”
I guess that is the best thing to do. I can’t stay with Cho unless I do plan to run with her.
Heading over to the stand, I see that they really are very large. I wouldn’t want to fall from the top row.
There’s no one here yet so I sit down on the lowest bench and watch what the students are doing.
There are a lot of them. They seem to group up according to distance rather than age.
The warmup starts with a lap of the field before they begin stretching. Once that’s done, they begin the session properly. Emi looks like she’s a sprinter. Makes sense. ‘Fastest thing on no legs’ and all.
Cho looks like she does middle distance races. It’s slower than Emi, obviously, but I don’t think I would be able to keep that pace up for long.
Maybe I’m not as fit as I thought I was.
Which group would I be in? I know I don’t have the speed for sprinting, and it looks like I don’t have the stamina for longer distance running. I look around, hoping to see any sign of fatigue among the runners.
I watch them on the track. Some are sprinting in short bursts while others take steady laps of the field.
As a group of them are about to pass by, a girl breaks off and begins to walk over to me.
She’s much darker than any of the other students and long brown hair.
How doesn’t that annoy her when she’s running?
I also notice that her left arm ends in a bandaged stump.
“Whatcha doing?” She calls out.
Very casual.
“Just watching,” I reply.
“I see that,” she says, rolling her eyes, “but why?”
“Cho suggested I come down and see what goes on at track. Get me to join if I like it.”
“And? Do you?” She asks.
“I’m not sure I have what it takes to keep up with any of you.”
She sits down next to me with a sigh. “Don’t think like that. You gotta approach it differently. They’ve been training for months, even years,” she says, waving in the general direction of all the runners. Start off small, get bigger.”
“Was that your approach?” I ask her.
She shrugs. “Something like that. I just like it out here and the running knocks you out quick when you get back to your dorm.
It seems this girl doesn’t share Emi’s passion for running but rather sees it as a means to an end.
“So, are you tired enough now? Don’t you want to get back on the track?”
“Na, I’m not really feeling it today and you seem like a far more interesting distraction,” she says with a wolfish grin. “What’s your story?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why you here? What do you want out of this?” She pauses for a moment and looks me up and down. “Who are you?”
“I’m Hatsumi Nakano.” I say, pausing to think of what to say next.
“And I’m Miki Miura. I’m going to need a bit more than that.”
She really is inquisitive.
“Well, I transferred in this week,” I explain, “and I’m trying to find where I fit in.”
“Oh yeah. I heard that our class wasn’t the only one to get a transfer,” she says, piecing things together. “And stop trying to fit in. That’s boring. Be your own person and do what you want to.”
I guess she’s following her own advice, ignoring club activities.
As another group of students come towards us, Miki jumps up and shouts, “Iwao, get over here.
I jump in surprise.
A boy breaks off from the group. He has very short brown hair. Does he shave his head? I notice that he’s in a similar situation to Miki. He’s missing his left hand as well. The only difference is that his arms come to an end just below the elbow rather than at the wrist.
“What’s up, Miki,” he responds, slightly out of breath.
“Come meet the new girl, Hatsumi,” she responds.
Iwao takes a moment to catch his breath before walking over to the two of us.
“Hey Hatsumi, how are things going so far?”
Seems like he’s just as casual as Miki. I can see why she singled him out.
“I’m okay,” I say deciding that I might as well try to be as casual as the two of them. “Things have been very busy though.”
“That’s better than it being boring though,” he responds.
I guess he’s right about that?
“Wanna go to the cafeteria?” Miki asks, “I want to get something to eat.”
“You can go,” I say, “I’m supposed to be researching the track club.”
“We can tell you all about it,” Iwao interrupts. “You don’t need to be here for that. They’re just going to keep running in circles for some time.”
I suppose that he’s right about that. I won’t see anything new. I don’t just want to leave without Cho though.
I look out across the track and see her in the distance, coming round towards us.
“Just give me a moment,” I say to the pair as I get up and move closer to the track.
As she comes past, I wave at her. I can see that she notices me.
“I’m heading off with these two,” I call out as she runs past. I think I see her nod her head in acknowledgement.
I turn around and see them already up and waiting to leave. I hurry back and we head off towards the cafeteria.
“So how did you get to know Cho?” Iwao asks.
I explain what happened on my first day and Miki nods, trying to look sagely.
“That’s Kubo for you. I don’t know how he does it, and I don’t think anyone can really get in his head, but he’s got a nose for creating the perfect scenarios. He was involved in getting me and Suzu together,” Miki says.
It looks like Kubo has more involvement in students’ lives than I thought.
“Wait, I know that name.” I say, thinking about what Miki was saying.
“Suzu?”
“Yeah, I ran into her yesterday. There was a collapsing pillow fort.”
“You know. I’m not even going to ask,” Miki says, “but that does sound Suzu-like.”
She laughs at this.
“Well, I hope I get him for my final year,” Iwao interrupts our Suzu reminiscence, “the other maths teacher isn’t nearly as interesting as yours.”
“Won’t happen, you’re stuck with her now,” Miki says, apparently shooting down Iwao’s hopes for a less conventional maths teacher.
He looks crestfallen.
“You could have him as your homeroom teacher next year,” I try to console him.
“No, I’m class 2-3. I’ll be getting Mutou.”
“Oh god,” Miki groans. “Don’t bring Mutou up.”
Apparently, Mutou is not very high up on Miki’s list of teachers. I can see why. He seems capable of draining the energy out of anyone who gets too close. Miki and her carefree attitude must struggle at dealing with him.
We reach the cafeteria and head over to the serving counter, there aren’t that many students here at the moment. They must all be busy with their clubs. I’ve had time to familiarize myself with the menu since the first day, but what Miki and Iwao order is not on them.
“Is there a secret menu that I don’t know about?” I ask the two of them.
“No,” Miki responds, “but if it isn’t too busy, they don’t mind making custom orders. Within reason of course.”
I’ll have to think about coming here at more unusual times from now on. I see why they were so ready to ditch the club. The menu is nice and all, but it does miss some of the things that they don’t have up on the menu.
Once the food is ready, we head over to a table by the window.
“So, you came to see the track club,” Iwao brings the conversation back to the issue of clubs. “Do you actually want to join? Or are you just humouring your friend?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t think it’s my kind of thing, but I should be doing something to keep me occupied.”
“Having lunch with random students can do that too,” Miki suggests playfully. “You can even get them to take you out and pay for the whole thing if you’re lucky.”
“Don’t fall for her tricks,” Iwao adds to that. “She’s a con artist. I don’t know how many students have been tricked into paying for her lunch.”
I have to admire Miki’s guts. I’m not sure I have what it takes to swindle people like that.
“They love my company and are willing to pay for it,” is Miki’s only response to that accusation.
“Track can be fun.” Again, Iwao is the one to drag the conversation back on course. “But it isn’t for everyone. There has to be some love for it, no matter how small.” He stares at Miki when he says this, and she shrugs.
“If you say so,” she responds.
“I guess she doesn’t like to be open about some things.”
“Well then, what are your ideas. Someone mentioned the art club.”
“No!” They say in unison.
That’s emphatic.
Miki explains this one.
“Nomiya, the art teacher, can seem nice at first, but he doesn’t really have time for you if you aren’t good at it. He’s not going to chase you away, but you’ll probably be treated badly. Succeed or give up. He doesn't have any middle ground.”
That doesn’t sound pleasant.
I’ve tried to draw when I was younger, but it never went anywhere. Nanami may be friends with some of the students there, but I don’t really feel like finding out whether what Miki says is true.
“We could go see the swim club,” Iwao suggests. “They aren’t nearly as strict and should still be practicing.”
“You just want to see the girls in swimsuits,” Miki teases, while poking him in the ribs.
“Not at all, I’m trying to help a fellow student.”
He sounds sincere, but he won’t look at me. Maybe there’s some truth to Miki’s accusation.
“Well, you two can do that if you like,” Miki says. “I need to get going. Work needs doing and I don’t want to get in trouble tomorrow.”
Miki jumps up as soon as she’s finished talking and heads off towards the door waving back at us as she does.
“So, you want to go meet the swim club?” Iwao asks, a bit more hesitantly now that were alone.
I guess he’s serious about being my guide.
“Sure,” I say.
We make our way outside and see that Miki is long gone.
“She acts like she’s still at practice,” I say, more to myself than anything else.
“You do need to keep an eye on her,” Iwao agrees. “You never know what could happen next when she’s around.”
That was true. Here I am, on my way to the pool with a boy I just met when all I was trying to do was check out the track club. All because Miki decided that she needed to do something about the lone girl sitting in the stands. I wonder if she had any other plans for the two of us?
I shake that thought off. Don’t be stupid. She was just being a good schoolmate.
“How about you fill me in on the swimming club?” I decide to ask. “How much do you know.”
“They’re really quite flexible with how they do things,” he explains. “You don’t even have to join, and you can still make use of the pool. Though I suppose they can’t exactly stop you if it’s for medical reasons. As for what they do, it’s mostly just laps of the pool. Whatever stoke you want to work on, at whatever speed you can go. Some people compete while others just do it for fun. The coach doesn’t mind.”
“Sounds like you know a lot about how they run things,” I say. “Why don’t you join them instead of tack?”
“Well, for the first, I know a few of the members. So, we chat about these things. As for the second, I’m simply better at running and I like being good at what I do.”
He’s competitive then?
“How good are you?” I ask.
“Best in my year,” he says smiling proudly. “I can even give Emi a run for her money, but she will usually beat me.”
“And Miki?” I ask.
“I’ll usually beat her if we’re at practice, but we don’t race together so I can’t really say.”
“She’d beat your ass,” I joke.
“Hey, don’t side with her just because you met her first,” he complains back.
We reach the auxiliary building and head inside. The nurse must be busy because I don’t see him anywhere.
Iwao leads the way, and we soon arrive at the swim room. It must be nice having an indoor pool. It’s probably heated. Being able to avoid that first freezing plunge must be nice.
Iwao opens the door and gestures for me to go ahead of him. Another gentleman I see. I step inside and am immediately hit by the smell of chlorine and the sounds of splashing.
The room is large, not quite as big as the cafeteria, but still impressive. The walls are pale and wide windows up near the roof provide plenty of natural light. Dark tiles at the bottom of the pool as well as the lane dividers are a visible and physical guide for the students in the pool.
I see a ladder in the far corner and what looks like some sort of seat elevator opposite it. That must be for those who can’t use their legs. A hot tub at the back of the room is a surprising addition to it all. There’s a teacher standing at the side of the pool, she has long brown hair and is wearing a tracksuit. A student hangs off one of the lane dividers and listens as the teacher explains what she wants him to do.
All the other lanes are filled with students swimming back and forth. A few lanes have several students in them. They are going much slower than those that have a lane to themselves and stick to the sides of their lane to avoid each other and occasionally grip on to the edge.
Iwao was right about there being many levels of ability here.
“Let’s head over to the bench over there,” he says pointing to the opposite side of the room. “Watch while we wait for them to wrap up. There’s someone I’d like you to meet when their done.”
We head around to the bench and Iwao and the teacher acknowledge each other with a nod of the head when she notices him. I guess they know each other from somewhere?
The bench is made of plastic and has several small holes all along its surface. Probably to allow it to drain when swimmers sit there.
“As you can see, we have a diverse bunch here. You don’t need all your limbs to swim, or your sight for that matter.”
“What did you say?” I turn to him in shock.
“See the guy in the in the second lane over?”
I nod. From what I can see, he looks fit and is moving at pace.
“He’s blind. See the pads at each end of the pool?”
I can make out something attached there. The look like square pieces of foam.
“Those are for when he misjudges the distance left. Help to stop him splitting his head open. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes distractions can mess things up.”
If what Iwao is saying is true, I’m amazed. The boy is by far the best swimmer there. I watch as he approaches the end of the pool. To me it looks like he’s about to hit the wall but, at the last moment, he dives down, spins and pushes off the wall before continuing towards the other end of the pool. That was impressive, even if he wasn’t blind. I could never get the hang of that manoeuvre.
Some time passes and the lesson comes to an end. We watch as the students make their way out of the pool and into the changing rooms. Some simply jump out of the pool, while others have to use the assistance provided.
The blind student is not one of those. He easily gets out of the pool and is handed a plastic cane by the teacher. Everyone disappears from sight, and we wait a few minutes.
“So, who are we here for?” I ask.
“Here he comes. The sightless sealion. Hiraku!”
That last part catches the boy’s attention.
“Hi, Iwao. You came by.” The boy responds.
The sightless sealion? What kind of nickname is that?
What a minute. “Hiraku?!” I shout.
“Is that you… Hatsumi?” Hiraku responds.
“You’re in the swim club as well?” I’m still shocked by the reveal.
“Have the two of you met already?” It’s now Iwao’s turn to look confused.
“Hatsumi helped me with cleaning up the games club room yesterday when she got lost looking for the library. It really was a great help.”
He’s just as polite as before.
“And yes, I am in both clubs. The games club meets on Tuesday and Thursday which allows me to swim on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”
He has quite the busy schedule it seems.
“So how did you get a hold of Hatsumi and why did you bring her here?” Hiraku is the only one among us who doesn’t seem at least a little confused by the situation we’re in.
What isn’t he ready to deal with?
“Miki charged me with introducing her to the swim club.” Iwao explains. “I didn’t realise she already knew a member,” he continued, turning to me.
“Don’t look at me like that. How was I to know?”
“Would that have been Miki Miura?” Hiraku asks.
So, he really does seem to know everyone, and he can already recognize me from just my voice.
“Yeah,” Iwao responds.
“You really do get around Hatsumi,” Hiraku says. “Maybe I have a new rival.”
Rival in what? Does he keep track of how many people everyone knows?
“Well. Why don’t we get out of here,” he continues. “I wouldn’t mind some fresh air after all this chlorine.”
With that he heads towards the door, and we have to follow or watch him leave without us.
As he gets there, Hiraku stops at one of the lockers and, opening it up carefully, he retrieves his wooden cane and replaces it with the plastic one. He must not have wanted it to get to wet.
After that we head out into the corridor, his steady tapping acting as a guide to all of us.
“I wouldn’t mind spending some time out in the school grounds. Would the two of you be willing to join me?” He asks as he continues onwards.
“Sure thing.” Iwao answers.
“Why not,” I say as well.
Hiraku leads us through the school grounds. We head past Rin, who seems to be working on some sort of mural. I’m not sure what I make of it as I can’t really tell what it’s supposed to be.
Just up the stairs, he leads us off the path and over to a massive tree. Upon reaching it he begins to settle down with his back against the truck.
“I really do love it here,” He sighs, contentedly.
I look down at him. Not entirely sure what he’s going on about.
“Come on you two. Join me,” he says patting the ground on either side.
Iwao and I look at each other. He shrugs and sits down on Hiraku’s left.
I join them as well.
“Just take all of it in,” he continues. “The wind rustling through the trees. The smell of fallen leaves. The patches of sun that reach us through the branches.”
I notice that he says nothing about the sights, but that makes sense.
Maybe I can feel what he feels.
I close my eyes and try to block out my thoughts, only focusing on what’s around us.
It’s nice. After the rush that everything has been up until this point. I haven’t had a moment where something isn’t happening, or where some new person isn’t getting involved. I should try this more often.
I’m about to say something when I hear arguing nearby.
I look up and see two students getting up in each other’s faces. The one is big, not like Toru though. The other has a bandage wrapped around his head. For some reason he has a beret as well.
I can’t really tell what they’re arguing about, but the larger boy seems to have had enough of it and turns to leave.
The other boy isn’t done yet though. It looks like he’s about hit him in the back of the head!
I’m about to shout a warning when another girl comes running out of nowhere and punches the boy hard enough to knock his beret off.
“Shit,” Iwao exclaims, jumping to his feet.
“What happened?” Hiraku is instantly alert.
“A girl just punched someone,” I say, also struggling to my feet.
“Oh dear,” he says, reaching for his cane. “This could get very ugly.”
“It looks like it’s over,” I say.
The one’s run away, and the other is leaving with the group she was with.
Hiraku shakes his head. “Maybe the fight’s over, but Yamaku is very strict about that kind of thing. The disciplinary committee and the teachers will come down hard on this. You two saw what happened. They’ll want to talk to you.”
I gulp.
Great. A moment of peace and now I’m thrown into this. It looks like getting dragged back towards those three on the committee.
“We should stay here,” Iwao says. “I don’t know if that boy is running for a teacher but, if he is, we should wait here for a while. He definitely saw us, and I’d rather not annoy them by making them look for us to find out what we saw.
He’s probably right. The three of us head over to the stairway and wait.
It wasn’t long before Mutou showed up to find us. That boy must have immediately run off to get him.
Mutou, for once, seemed to have a bit of energy in him and a determined look on his face.
“You saw what happened?” He asked.
“Yes sir,” Hiraku said. “They both saw the exchange.” He had taken the lead in this, which I was grateful for. I didn’t relish the idea of getting involved in disciplinary matters.
Mutou nods to himself. “Come with me then,” he says, turning towards the auxiliary building.
The three of us follow him in silence. We get some looks of pity from a few students as we pass them. It must look like we’re the ones in trouble.
As we reach the disciplinary council room, I see the beret boy sitting outside. He looks sullen and is trying to cover the side of his face.
Mutou knocks on the closed door. It opens a few moments later and I’m greeted by Rei, looking much more serious that when we last met.
“Sorry we have to meet like this so soon,” she says, after seeing me. “Please come in.”
The four of us head inside and see Giichi and Toru already sitting at the table. I notice that there are no extra seats set out for us.
“Mutou,” Giichi says as the science teacher follows us in. “Thank you for that. You can go now.”
I turn to look at Mutou and see that he is unhappy about that request.
“You know how this school’s procedures work,” Giichi continues. “We will look into this matter first. You can then look at the conclusions we reach. If you have any issues with them, we can then discuss them.”
Giichi really does have an intimidating aura. I felt some of it when I was swept along with their work yesterday, but it’s much more intense now and even seems to affect Mutou.
“Fine,” the teacher sighs. “Please let me know what you get out of this quickly. And don’t take any sides either.”
This addition seems to infuriate Giichi as his face goes white with anger. I even take a step back. He looks like he’s about to kill someone.
“That won’t happen,” he says coldly.
Mutou nods and, sensing the tension that is developing in the room, leaves.
Giichi looks to us now and smiles. I wish he didn’t. That smile isn’t right. There’s only anger in his face.
“So, the three of you were there when Ritsu Tainaka hit Takashi Maeda?”
The three of us nod. It seems that even Hiraku would rather stay silent when faced with the scathing tone of the disciplinary committee chairman.
“Good, I’ve already spoken to Maeda and he’s given me his side of the story. When someone can find Tainaka, we’ll hear from her. So, is it true that she attacked him without provocation?”
“No!” I say with some anger of my own. Of course that boy is trying to get away with what he did. “She was defending someone else.”
“Oh?” Giichii replies.
“Yeah, he was about to hit this fat kid in the back when she stepped in,” Iwao continues.
Ouch. Not the nicest description, but I suppose it works.
“That would be Taro Arai,” Rei interjects, sliding a file over to Giichi.
That isn’t concerning at all. I know they said that I was on their radar as the new student, but the small pile of files sitting in front of Rei makes it seem like they know a lot more about all of us then I would like.
“So, Arai and Maeda where in an argument before this happened. What next?”
“The argument was over. Arai was just leaving when Maeda tried to punch him,” I say. “It was only then that Tainaka hit him.
Giichi nods as he examines the file in front of him.
“That does make a bit more sense than Maeda’s own story,” Giichi says softly. “Toru, please see these three out and ask Maeda to rejoin us. I’d like to see if he’d like to change his story before this goes any further.”
That was very quick. Toru stand up and gestures towards the door. As he heads over to the door he turns to us, “Thank you for that, it’s good that you were able to catch the whole thing.”
He steps out into the corridor and looks down at the hunched-up Maeda. “The disciplinary committee would like another word,” he says, towering over the boy.
It honestly looks more terrifying than if it were any of the teachers. The two of them head inside and Toru closes the door, leaving us standing out in the corridor unsure of our next move.
“Let’s find somewhere to sit down again,” Hiraku suggests. “I’m sure we could all use a moment to get our heads together after what just happened.
That sounded like a good idea. I’m sure he would have some wise words to put the whole thing into perspective.
Once again, he leads the way, but this time he avoids the tree where we saw it all happen. He leads us back to the main building and up the stairs. I guess we’re heading to the games club room.
Once there, he motions for us to settle in before doing the same.
“There aren’t that many events like this at Yamaku,” he begins once we’re all sitting down. “Most students know not to get involved in fights. It can be especially dangerous for some of the more fragile students.
I can see how that might be true. You wouldn’t want to hit someone only to find out you’ve put them in hospital. Then the police would probably end up getting involved.
“But the disciplinary committee has a lot more power that I thought they would,” I say. “Mutou almost seemed scared of them. Should they really have that much say in these matters?”
I think back to the disciplinary committee I had before coming here. They were really just a ceremonial figurehead used as a front for the school to hand out punishments.
“Yamaku wants to give students a place to grow. Sometimes that means students end up with a lot of responsibilities,” Hiraku explains.
“I prefer it this way,” interrupts Iwao. “They actually care about the students they have to punish.”
There seem to be some bitter memories under the surface there.
“Yes,” continues Hiraku. “They do take an interest in finding out what actually happened. The last chairman didn’t really care about that. He just left it to the school board.”
“If he was still in charge she would be expelled,” says Iwao.
“That’s a little harsh,” I respond.
“Any acts of violence will result in immediate suspension and, on further investigation, should the action be found to affect any pre-existing conditions, expulsion of the student at fault is the only course of action.”
It sounded like Iwao was quoting something he knew well.
Maeda did have bandages covering his head so a punch to the face would probably have met those requirements, I realize.
“Giichi is the one who fought for that line in the disciplinary codebook to be modified,” Hiraku adds. “I believe there was a lot of tension when that was going on. The school board doesn’t like changes. There were even rumours that legal action was what finally got them to budge.”
My eyes widen. That was extreme. I knew Giichi’s father was a lawyer, but it looks like Giichi has the same ambitions. He also must be able to draw on his father’s resources if what Hiraku says is true.
“I think that’s enough drama and school intrigue for me. I’m heading back to the dorms.”
Hiraku nods. Iwao looks a bit disappointed.
“Shall I walk you back?” He asks.
“Let the lady have her space,” Hiraku responds before I can answer.
I wonder what that is about?
“See you two some time,” I say.
It might be a while before we cross paths again. Then again, with the way I’m getting myself involved in so much these past few days, I could see them again very soon.
“Fine,” Iwao says, dragging it out. “See you again Hatsumi.”
With that I head out into the corridor and set out towards the dorm rooms.
Maybe I can spend some time in front of the TV if there’s anything interesting on?
I get back to the dorm common room and look around. There’s no sign of the Tainaka girl. They did say she was missing. Maybe she was on the run?
A few couches around the TV are unoccupied and a game show is on. It’s not too interesting, but it might get a few laughs out of me.
I’m sitting there, not really focused on what’s in front of me when a voice calls out.
“So, you managed to get away,” it says.
I turn to look over my shoulder and am greeted with an unusual, yet completely expected sight.
It’s Miki with her sleepy friend Suzu draped over her shoulder.
“Scootch over,” she says as she swings Suzu around. I barely have enough time to get out of the way as she flops down into the middle of the sofa.
The sudden jolt wakes her up for a moment.
“Hello, hero,” is all I hear before she’s asleep again, tilting over against my shoulder.
“She must like you,” Miki says as she flops down onto the sofa as well. “Saving her life and now acting as a pillow. You’ll soon be part of her league of superheroes.”
I look at her in confusion.
“She gives her friends superhero names. It won’t be long before you join the magnificent Stumpfist on her crime fighting adventures.” Miki says this while holding her stump high in the air.
“She calls you that?” I ask hesitantly.
“Not really,’’ Miki responds. “Well, she doesn’t mean to anyway. She talks a lot in her sleep. Don’t ever let her know that almost everyone knows what their superhero names are. She’ll die of embarrassment.”
That’s nice of her. I suppose Suzu can’t help it anyway so it wouldn’t really do anything but embarrass her to fill her in on how much everyone really knows.
“Never mind Suzu. How was your date with Iwao.”
“It was not a date!” I respond.
Suzu stirs.
“You went off with a boy for the afternoon, so he could give you a private tour of his hangouts,” Miki responds.
“Take me on your date,” Suzu mumbles.
“See, Suzu agrees,” Miki responds excitedly.
“It was not a date,” I say emphatically. We were joined by someone else soon anyway. So, it couldn’t have been a date.”
“You wanted it to be though,” Miki continues teasingly.
“No, I didn’t. I just wanted to see the swim club and what they had to offer.”
“Suit yourself,” Miki says. “How was that?”
“I didn’t expect to run into Hiraku there.”
‘Ah, the swimming sage,” Miki says, nodding. “Another nice guy. So, you hung out with two hot guys instead of one.”
What was up with all these titles people were giving him? And Miki’s insistence on me getting together with someone?
I know how to deflect this conversation.
“Yeah, we were together when we saw Maeda and Tainaka get into a fight.”
“You saw what?” All the fun was gone from her voice now.
I felt bad about weaponizing the event, but it had got her off my back.
“Yeah, there was an argument and Tainaka hit him right across the face. The disciplinary committee already questioned us about it.
“Damn, they’re in my class. I need to get Suzu back to her room and go find out more,” she says hurriedly, already pulling Suzu to her feet.
“See you soon,” she calls back as she hauls the sleeping girl away. It sounded like she’d be coming to find me when she knew more.
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