"Ohayo!" Yankumi said as she waltzed into the staff room. She received several scattered and mumbled greetings (as was the routine on Mondays) as she made her way to her workspace in the center of the room. Fumbling slightly, she set down her books and swiped a crisp red folder from her desk, examining it carefully. She opened the flap and scanned its contents: Koshino Hiromi. Age: 18 Father: steel worker. Mother: deceased. No picture.
"Eh?" she said aloud, wrinkling her brow.
"Ah, Yamaguchi-sensei," hollered the head teacher from across the room. "Class 3-D has a new student. Koshino Hiromi. "
"My class? Kyoto, perhaps another class has more room…" Yankumi rambled. She knew her class too well. They would not take kindly to a new student. They were class 3-D; everyone else was an outsider, and unwelcome. What if this student had transferred from Ara High? What if it was someone her students had fought with?
"Oh believe me," crowed the head teacher. "Yours was the only class with an open seat. If you can't handle one more student..." Kyoto flashed her a look that spelled out "challenge."
"Hai," nodded Yankumi shortly, "We'll be fine. But where is the rest of the file? This is only the first page."
"That's all he enrolled with. I'm leaving it to you to get the rest of the information, unless you can't handle that either…" The two locked stares across the room in what had also become a Monday ritual of challenges and empty threats. After some time, Yankumi managed a smile, bowed slightly, gathered her things and headed across the courtyard to her class. This was going to be a long day…
Slidding open the door, Yankumi shouted over the noise of class 3-D. "Ohayo!" she greeted cheerfully. The response of the students equaled that of the staff earlier that morning.
"Shizuka-ni!" she called out, hushing her students. She set her things on the desk as her students settled into their usual places and habits, tossing a ball here, kicking a classmate there. This is going to require more than their usual attention, she thought. Best to get it over with.
"Today," she began loudly, "we have a new student coming."
"EEEEHHH!?" roared the class.
"What new student? From where? We don't want him!" came shouts from every angle.
She tried to continue; "His name is Koshino Hiromi…he's 18 years old…" They were yelling now, indiscernible angry voices meshing together into one.
Yankumi crossed her arms and stood before the black board and gave them her Devil Face. "There's nothing that can be done about it, so shut up and make it work," she chirped in a cheerful voice. "Got it?" The class shifted in their seats, mumbling their choice phrases and profanities.
"Oi," came a strong voice from the back. "What kind of attitude is that?" Yabuki Hayato stood from his seat and looked over a shocked group of young men. His classmates looked at each other, surprised at Yabuki's defense of the new student. "Yankumi's right," Yabuki drawled slowly. "We should make the new guy feel…welcome."
"Ahhhh!" they cheered. Now they understood. "Welcoming" new students was something they were great at. Yankumi was not amused.
"Oi!" she shouted, standing on a desk to gain the upper hand on Yabuki, who was significantly taller than she was. "Don't go causing trouble right away!" They weren't paying any attention. She continued shouting, waving her arms in an attempt to quiet them when the door to the classroom slid open with a thump.
All eyes were focused on the open door, as students quickly took their seats and Yankumi hopped down from the desk, prepared to welcome the new member of her precious class…Precious, she thought, glancing back at their brooding eyes. Right.
Koshino Hiromi stepped into class 3-D for the first time and was, to say the least, a disappointment. He was just under Yankumi's height, with a long and lean torso dressed in a baggy t-shirt and black cargo pants. Compact muscles wrapped in smooth skin coursed down arms that held only a school jacket slung over one shoulder. Jet black hair tied into a topknot added only a few inches to his height, as a rather feminine face stared long and hard back at the 28 pairs of eyes that met his gaze.
Every jaw dropped as silence filled the room. They were all thinking the same thing: pansy. He was small and delicate looking, though slightly muscular, and presented no challenge. They would not be able to welcome him as they had originally planned, they were sure of it. He was too weak…might kill him. Takeda looked like a man's-man compared to this guy. They never pinpointed who said that aloud first, but someone did and the class erupted with laughs and jeers. Yankumi turned and glared towards the class, who quickly lowered their voices and she faced the student for the first time.
"Koshino Hiromi, I'd like to…" Yankumi stopped. In an instant, her voice left her and her body froze. "Uuh…ano…welcome," she mumbled, not taking her eyes (now very wide) off of the new member. A silence like death filled the room, as everyone noted the response of their "Nothing-Shakes-Me teacher. Koshino stared back blankly at the stunned teacher for a respectable amount of time before breaking the silence.
"Koshino Hiromi," he mumbled in a soft voice. "Hajimemashite." Yankumi continued to stare, her brow furrowing then un-furrowing, eyes widening then narrowing as she examined the student, who held her gaze.
"Oi, Yankumi!" came Hyuuga's voice. "You're freaking us out." Yankumi broke from her stupor and glanced quickly over the class in what only three students noted as a panic and the rest merely noted as odd. She selected a seat in the second row and directed Koshino to it, much to the dismay of the other students.
"Come on, Yankumi!" Tsuchiya shouted, banging on the desk. "Let him sit back here with us! We want to get to know him!" The class broke into chorus again, shouting and banging their desks in rhythm; Koshino sat unfazed in the front, eyes forward, arms crossed.
"Oi! That's enough!" Yankumi shouted. Only three students noted the stress in her voice as she turned toward the blackboard to start the lesson. The chants and calls continued as Yankumi wiped her brow. I'm in for it with this one, she thought.
Once again, Yabuki stood to address the class. "Oi!" he shouted, silencing the mob. Yankumi turned, prepared for the worst.
"…that's enough."
Yabuki sat back down in his desk and nodded towards Yankumi. "Are you gonna teach today, or what?" She glanced quickly at him, a silent thanks in her eyes, and turned back again to what she was doing. Here we go…
Yabuki landed hard back into his seat and with eyes forward, acknowledged the vibe from his best friend, Odagiri Ryu.
"She's unsteady…stressed…off guard," he mumbled. Ryu nodded. The two of them had noticed her panic, her stress as she dealt with their newest class member.
"Do you think she knows him from her…other job?" Yabuki said in a softer tone.
"Could anything else shake her that bad?" Odagiri muttered.
"She's in for it if he is. Let's keep an eye on him for now. Hands off him until we know more, ne? "
"Hai." By the time the last bell rang, the rest of 3-D had received word: no one was to touch Koshino until they knew more. As the students shoved out of the crowded classroom, there was another exchange between the two old friends as one pointed out to the other that Koshino remained in his seat while the others left. Odagiri and Yabuki turned the corner out of the class and waited there. They would be unable to hear anything unless things escalated, and they waited in heavy silence for events to unfold.