"My girlfriend, Ninamori, went to a different high school than I did. She said she wanted to take a stepper school to get into a prestigious university."
Seigi Somura listened to his classmate Naota Nandaba on a Wednesday spring morning. They walked to their high school together being neighbors in a student apartment
complex.
"I didn't feel strongly about that kind of stuff," he continued. "My other two friends from middle school started their own local trucking business. One of them is taking some
mechanic classes at the same time."
"That's nice having a serious and smart girlfriend," Seigi commented.
"I didn't mind the small-town life. I just listened to Ninamori and transferred out to this neighboring town. She said I needed some exposure to a more dynamic environment since
most of my years have gone by without event since Medical Mechanica arrived and left our town."
"Medical Mechanica! They're that really big foreign company, right? My parents want me to go into the biomedical engineering field, and they're always talking about how big
Medical Mechanica is."
"They're not that great…"
The two chatted about what they were looking forward to today. It was mentioned that Naota still couldn't handle the spicy tofu curry from the cafeteria. Seigi said if he beat
Naota in badminton during PE class, Naota had to take two servings of the curry.
In their homeroom, the usual cliques formed at various charismatic people's desks. Naota was in the mechanic-otaku group talking about the latest robots they were developing.
Seigi was in the sports club group talking about the soccer matches that were on television yesterday. The old jabba-the-hutt-looking homeroom teacher promptly walked into
the classroom and stood behind his podium.
"Stand, bow, sit." The class went through the required motions. "Yamamura, don't start texting right as soon as you sit down."
The homeroom teacher droned on how youth these days take granted about technology and don't read proper literature anymore.
"…used to have evening tea after intense rounds of shogi. After saying that, I have some announcements to make. For starters, the physical education classes will be held in the
baseball field today..."
Sitting in the back of the room next to Naota, Seigi noticed Naota sigh.
Seigi whispered, "so it looks like you're glad to be out from the curry dare."
"It's not that. I just have a thing about baseball. I was never good at it," Naota started. "But my brother…He's in America playing baseball."
Later, Seigi walked to PE class with Naota, who was absentminded since morning. During Chemistry class, he poured too much baking soda into a beaker. He tried pouring it back
into to the container and got scolded for that. During lunch, he dropped his apple juicebox and stepped onto it creating an unfortunate situation for a senior girl sitting nearby.
"Naota, tell me about your brother. It seems to be on your mind," Seigi inquired.
"I haven't seen him in years now. He sends a letter, now and then, talking about various girls he's dated. He's done well by minor-league standards and is waiting for a scout to
pick him. He says, if it doesn't work out in a couple years, he's going to open a restaurant," Naota started. "He knows where he wants to go with his life and has a party in
America."
"That's not a bad thing. He's supporting himself," Seigi offered.
"Everybody liked him. It's always about how I'm the younger brother," Naota began. "I always couldn't measure up to him."
"You know what: we could go visit him and talk to him in person," Seigi thought of something. "My mom's a flight attendant, and we get discounts on tickets."
"Really!" Naota showed his initial interest. He changed tone right away, "Hmmm, I don't know what I'd do there. My brother and I don't have anything in common now."
"That's not true. If you talk it out you might get some closure," Seigi advised.
"That's..."