Chapter 2 – First day at school
The rest of the spring break passed quickly and soon it was time for the new school year to start. Eri had not seen Harima since that memorable night of the party; there had been no other occasion to warrant asking him out, and he hadn't contacted her at all, buried as he was in his work. She felt at once nervous and excited at the prospect of seeing him again.
The first thing she did as soon as she got to school was to check the notice boards to see which class she was in. There was no way of knowing who she would have as classmates this year, and that caused her a lot of anxiety. She didn't want to be separated from her good friends Mikoto and Akira, who she had been together with all through high school so far. And, although she didn't dare admit it even to herself, she didn't want to end up in a different class from Hige as well.
Arriving at the huge notice boards, she craned her neck and started reading the names written on it with no little trepidation. She found her own name soon enough, listed under class 3-C. Just as she started looking for her friends' and Hige's name, a girl's arm was thrown over her shoulder, and a cheerful voice sounded from behind her.
"Don't worry. You two lovebirds aren't going to be separated." Eri turned around and came face to face with her best friend Suou Mikoto, a tall athletic girl with well-endowed breasts. Next to her stood Takano Akira, her other close friend, calm and composed as usual. Although she wasn't nearly as demonstrative as Mikoto, Eri could tell she was genuinely glad to see her.
"Mikoto! What are you talking about, I wasn't worried about that at all!" exclaimed Eri, always quick to deny she had any feelings for Harima at all. "I was just about to check out if you guys are in the same class as me, that's all!"
"I see. Well, just in case you're wondering, Harima is in 3-C as well, and so am I," said Mikoto with a sly smile. Eri's face lit up at this news, but she checked herself immediately and said, "Oh – th-that's good to hear. Well then, please take care of me this year as well." She turned her attention to the notice board once more, browsing through the names on it. "Wait a minute. Where's Akira's name?"
"In class 3-D, I'm afraid," Akira said morosely. "What? No! Why?" cried out Eri, genuinely upset by that turn of events. "I was so looking forward for the three of us to spend our last school year together…" she said plaintively.
"Well, apparently the students with the best grades were streamed in 3-D," said Akira gloomily. "Hanai will be going there too. I don't even get to be rid of him."
"Really? Oh, Mikoto, I'm so sorry…" said Eri, looking at her best friend with concern. "You'll miss him a lot, won't you?"
"What are you saying, Eri? Why would I miss that idiot?" asked Mikoto. She spoke cheerfully, but her friends could tell it was kind of forced. "Besides, I'll still see him at the dojo every day. It's not like I could get him out of my hair that easily."
"If you say so…But really, it's such a pity Akira is in a different class this year. We won't have as much time to hang out together this year with the exams and everything, and now we'll be separated during class too…"
"Well, I don't intend to cut ties with you two just yet," Akira said decisively. "We can still meet up at breaks and after school, you'll see."
"Sure we can," added Mikoto bracingly. "Our friendship isn't that weak after all, right?"
"You're right," agreed Eri, brightening up once again. Then she went on to ask her friends, "What about the others? Who else is in our class this year?"
"Well, outside Akira and Hanai, our class consisted mostly of idiots, so we're pretty much the same as last year," Mikoto informed her. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Lala was transferred to our class this year. Here she is," she pointed out to a tall, dark-skinned girl in the distance. "Ichijou's group has already adopted her."
It was just as Mikoto said. Lala Gonzalez, a fierce Mexican girl with an amazing talent for wrestling, was currently standing a little further away together with three other girls they knew well. Ichijou Karen, a slim, sweet girl with a braid in her short black hair was talking to her and smiling in a friendly manner. Lala's attitude towards her seemed gruff at first glance, but in reality those two, who had started off as rivals, had become really good friends. Karen was also a wrestling prodigy; she seemed delicate and frail, but her slender body held the strength of many men. Lala always strove to catch up to her, but she also respected her a great deal and was very protective of her. With them were Karen's close friends, Sagano Megumi, a sprightly girl who was fond of basketball, and Yuuki Tsumugi with her customary glasses and braids, the studious one of the group, head of the astronomy club. The four of them seemed to get along quite well; Lala was still reserved and didn't talk much, but she seemed genuinely glad of her present company.
"Well, I'm glad she seems to fit in well with Ichijou and the others," said Eri. She chuckled as a funny thought came to her. "I bet Imadori will go into hiding with both Lala and Ichijou in the same class as him."
"Serves him right, that big breasts maniac," remarked Mikoto, laughing as well. "I could never understand what Ichijou sees in him."
The three of them stayed there a while longer, gossiping and laughing about their classmates. They were totally immersed in conversation, when a male voice sounded behind them. "Yo." It was Harima heading towards them, with Yakumo and Sarah in tow.
"Good morning Sawachika-senpai, Suou-senpai. Takano-senpai, please take care of us this year as well," greeted the two girls in unison while bowing to Akira, their president at the tea ceremony club. Akira, Mikoto and Eri reciprocated their greetings, then Mikoto said loudly, "Hey Harima, take care of us this year as well! Right, Eri?" she added, elbowing her friend. Eri blushed a little and mumbled, "R-right, take care of us this year as well." "Likewise," replied Harima calmly. "I take it we're in the same class this year as well?"
"Yeah, most of us except Akira and Hanai," answered Mikoto readily. "Is that so? Darn, I think I'm going to miss that four-eyes. He'd started to grow on me."
"Yakumo-san! Sarah-chan!" A bunch of girls' voices interrupted the conversation, and three second-year girls came into view walking swiftly towards their group. They were Yakumo and Sarah's three closest friends: lively and athletic Tawaraya Satsuki, founder of the girls' basketball team, feisty Inaba Miki, a self-proclaimed suitor of Hanai's, and calm, sweet Tougou Haruna, Tougou Masakazu's little sister who was fortunately nothing like her idiot brother. They rushed to Yakumo and Sarah and a flurry of greetings ensued among them. "Hey, hey, have you two gone to the second-year's notice boards yet?" asked Satsuki excitedly as soon as the greetings were over.
"No, not yet," replied Sarah. "We came to see which class Harima-senpai got in first."
"Well then come on, let's go!" cried out Miki enthusiastically. "Harima-senpai, you come along as well!" she went on, dragging Harima forcefully by the sleeve of his uniform. Miki was really keen on hooking up Harima with Yakumo, and spared no effort to throw them together.
"Wait up girls, we're coming too!" Mikoto called out. As one, she and Akira grabbed each of Eri's arms and pulled her along. "Hey, wait a second! The second-years' classes have nothing to do with us!" Eri protested.
"Sure they do. Akira needs to know which class her kouhais will end up in, isn't that right, Akira?" "Oh, absolutely," replied Akira. "Hold on, you two! Why do I have to go too…?" Eri kept protesting, but her friends purposely ignored her and made their way towards the second-years' notice boards. Yakumo and the others were already there, excitedly looking for their names.
"Yay! All five of us are in class 2-D!" shouted Satsuki. The five girls wished each other well happily, then started checking out their other classmates. "Are we the same as last year?" asked Sarah.
"Yeah, pretty much," Miki said. "Oh, wait, there's a name I haven't seen before. How does it read…Hi…Hiro…can you make it out, Haruna?"
"I think…it's Hirayama…Yuusei or something," Haruna said. "Doesn't ring a bell to me, has any of you girls heard of it?"
All of them shook their heads. "Could it be a transfer student? That's so exciting! He may be a foreign prince or something!" squealed Miki, all flustered up.
"Now now Miki, don't get carried away just yet," smiled Haruna. "We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl."
"Oh come on! Surely it's a boy, Yuusei is a male name!" "Haruna's right, you know," put in Satsuki. "For all we know, he could be a sleazebag or some ugly otaku."
"Aww, why are you guys doing this? Let me have my fantasy a little longer!" pouted Miki in mock whining. The others started laughing good-naturedly and she soon joined in the laugh, their senpais beside them watching with a smile. But this pleasant scene was soon to be interrupted in the most brutal way.
"There you are, villain!" A man's voice resounded somewhere behind them. They all turned around in surprise, and came face to face with Hanai Haruki, a tall, well-built guy with glasses. Serious and reliable, Hanai excelled both in studies and martial arts, but on the other hand was remarkably dense when it came to certain things, especially Yakumo. He was madly in love with her, and even though she never did anything to encourage him, he kept not only pursuing her but also constantly misunderstanding her relationship with Harima. Undeterred by the surprised looks he received, Hanai advanced towards the group seething with righteous indignation and flanked by two companions even more eye-catching than he was: On his left stood Tougou Masakazu, the self-proclaimed leader of class 3-D and easily one of the most eccentric guys in school. Despite being quite handsome and talented in many things, somehow he always got carried away no matter what he undertook, making everything he participated in unto a regular circus. Small wonder most people in school thought of him as a clown despite his capabilities. On his right was Harry McKenzie, a foreign kid with a name that sounded almost the same as Harima's. That was the extent of the similarity between them, though. Unlike the brusque and intimidating Harima, Harry was a bona fide lady-killer, what with his great looks and impeccable manners. He was really smart, too, but for some reason he always went along with Tougou's hare-brained antics, even though you'd think he would know better than that. Some people thought he did it for the sake of their friendship, but most suspected he got a kick out of pulling crazy stunts with his friend.
"Oh, hey, four-eyes," replied Harima casually, totally brushing off Hanai's dramatic exclamation. By now he was pretty used to this guy throwing tantrums out of the blue. "I hear we're in different classes this year."
Before Hanai had a chance to reply to that, Tougou stepped forward, thumping his chest like Tarzan. "That's right, sir! Hanai-kun is our comrade and brother-in-arms now, and as fellow men we have pledged our fealty and everlasting support to him! We will forever fight alongside him in the name of justice and vanquish all evil!" he declared, gesturing dramatically like some movie hero. Everyone around stared at him wide-eyed, and Haruna buried her face in her hands. "…Onii-chan…not again…"
"…Right…well, good luck with the vanquishing and all that…" said Harima awkwardly, in an obvious attempt to soothe the overexcited Tougou. He half-turned towards the girls again, hoping against hope that if he ignored those three they would just go pester someone else or something. But, as expected, Hanai was not about to let him off that easily.
"Not so fast, you scoundrel! You will not leave here until you have properly explained yourself!" he cried out. Harima drew his eyebrows together and scowled at the comedy trio in front of him; he was beginning to feel seriously irritated about this whole scene. "Four-eyes, I have no idea what you're talking about," he ground out. "If I did something wrong, I'll apologize, but I can't know what the hell I did unless you tell me."
"Don't act all innocent with me, you conniving bastard! This time I witnessed your crime with my own eyes!" yelled Hanai, causing a good many heads to turn towards them. He pointed his finger at Harima with the look of an attorney addressing an infamous criminal and clamored, "How dare you accost Yakumo-kun in front of her own house and force her to walk to school with you!"
Oh, so that's what it was. Because this morning Harima had got ready a bit earlier than Yakumo and Sarah, he waited for them for a short while outside the house before the three of them set off for school. Apparently either Hanai or someone of his newfound friends had seen them together and had drawn the wrong conclusions yet again. Unfortunately, setting the record straight was probably not going to be easy. Harima's current living arrangements certainly left a lot of room for misunderstanding, and he knew from personal experience that a man in love wasn't likely to listen to reason. But before he could figure out how to begin explaining the situation, Inaba Miki suddenly sprang in front of him.
"Kyaa! Hanai-senpai, you're so cool when you're angry!" she exclaimed playfully, latching on to Hanai's arm before he had a chance to withdraw. Hanai went crimson with embarrassment and temporarily forgot his righteous indignation – what if Yakumo-kun thought that he was a playboy? The horror! Completely flustered, he blurted out, "Inaba-kun…I don't think this is appropriate behavior for a young lady of your age…"
"But you know, senpai," went on Miki without paying him any heed, "you've got it all wrong. Harima-senpai did not go to Yakumo-san's house to meet with her, he's staying there himself!"
For a few seconds Hanai looked as though he had a stroke or something. Unable to utter a single word, he just stood there, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Then he exploded – literally.
"WHAAAAAT?" he roared, clouds of steam escaping from his ears. "D-d-does that mean that…you and Yakumo-kun…are l-living together?!" he sputtered, purple with rage.
"Yes, that's right, senpai," put in Sarah, directing a beatific smile at the livid Hanai. "Yakumo and I were afraid to live all on our own after Tsukamoto-senpai left, and since Harima-senpai needed a place to stay, we asked him to come live with us and protect us from danger. So now, we're in his care."
"What do you mean, you're in his care?" cried out Hanai, bursting with anger. "This is preposterous! He's the one you're in danger from!" "Now wait just a minute…" Harima started saying, affronted, but before he could finish his sentence, Tougou butted in again.
"Of course, Hanai-kun is right! As men of honor and integrity, we will not stand for this! It is our sacred duty to protect the fair maidens of our school from the clutches of evil perverts!"
Harima's face darkened even further as he felt the end of his patience approaching fast. He, too, had tasted the pain of unrequited love and thus he was able to sympathize with Hanai, but he was not about to tolerate being called a pervert in front of the entire school! "You know, I've just about had it with you idiots…" he said menacingly, cracking his knuckles, and took a step towards them. Inwardly, he knew this was a bad idea; those three might be fools, but each of them was strong enough to hold his own against him. There was no way he could take on all three of them, but he was too stubborn and proud to back down.
A little further off, two teachers, one male, one female, were watching the scene attentively. "Th-this looks bad, Osakabe-sensei," said the male teacher, a small, meek-looking man with glasses, to the tall, black-haired woman next to him. "I think we should step in and break them up before things get out of control."
Cool, beautiful Osakabe Itoko, homeroom teacher for class 2-D and also Harima's elder cousin, swished her black hair and gave her colleague a reassuring smile. "You worry too much, Tani-sensei," she said with confidence. "I believe we can leave it to these girls; they seem to have the situation well in hand."
Tani Hayato, homeroom teacher for class 3-C, cast her a doubtful look; he knew all these kids very well, and while he was quite fond of them, he was well aware they could be real troublemakers at times. Then he looked back towards the children again, and his eyes widened in surprise. Osakabe-sensei was right; fed up with the boys' immature behavior, Akira, Mikoto and Eri decided it was high time they took matters into their own hands.
Mikoto was the one to move first; with swift steps she approached her childhood friend, and without a word of warning, threw him over her shoulder with a perfectly executed aikido grip. "Really, Hanai! An honor student like you embarrassing himself like this!" she shouted indignantly. "B-but, Miko-chan…" "Don't call me that, idiot!" At the same time, Akira slipped silently behind Tougou and Harry, and whipping two pistols out of her school bag, she held them under their chins. "Hands up, boys," she said in a manner that would have made any yakuza in the country envious. Tougou and Harry's faces turned several interesting shades of color before finally settling on a sickly green. "Y-you're not scaring us with these toys, Takano-san," said Harry in a vain attempt to put on a brave front, the tremor in his voice belying his words. "There's no way you would bring real guns to school." Akira, however, merely smiled coolly. "Wanna bet on it?" she asked. Tougou and Harry exchanged a look, and unanimously decided not to risk it. Slowly, they put their trembling hands in the air.
Meanwhile Eri was successfully negotiating peace at the other end, by delivering a powerful kick to Harima's shin. "Oww! What the…" he tried to protest, only to be kicked again. "That's enough out of you, Hige! Remember your record! I will NOT have you getting into fights on the first day at school!" thundered Eri, her golden eyes blazing furiously. "Ugh…" Harima's shoulders slumped with defeat. Damn, but that woman was scary! He had faced down some mighty tough delinquents in his time, but when Ojou got angry she was worse than the lot of them combined.
"The bell will ring soon," said Akira with such composure you'd think she held her classmates at gun point on a daily basis. "We'd better head to the gymnasium for the opening ceremony." She turned towards the second-year girls who were gazing at her in awe. "Yakumo, Sarah, I expect you at the club room after classes are over today." Yakumo and Sarah nodded obediently, and Akira turned back and headed towards the gymnasium, leading the quivering Tougou and Harry in front of her. Mikoto and Eri followed, dragging Hanai and Harima behind them like potato sacks.
Left behind, the second-year girls stared at their departing senpais with open admiration. "Wow," exclaimed Satsuki, "how awesome was that? Our senpais are amazing! Suou-senpai threw over that huge Hanai-senpai like it was nothing! And Takano-senpai was so cool! Just like a gangster from a movie! I hope you don't mind my saying this, Haruna," she added, turning towards her friend, "I mean, it's your Onii-chan and all, but…" "Nah, I don't mind at all," said Haruna with a smile. "I think he deserved it."
"Oh, and what about Sawachika-senpai!" carried on Miki enthusiastically. "Harima-senpai is so tough, and yet she made him submit just like that! You have your work cut out for you, Yakumo-san," she added, wagging a finger at her friend. Yakumo blushed beet red and murmured, "…Inaba-san…I've told you, it's not like that…" Fortunately, Sarah came to her rescue.
"Girls, girls! The bell's going to ring any minute now, let's get going!" The five girls left hurriedly for the gymnasium, under the watchful eyes of the two teachers who were still looking in their direction.
"There, you see? All is well," Osakabe-sensei said to her colleague nonchalantly. Tani-sensei, however, was still staring at the notice boards in shock and muttering "…G-guns…Takano-san pulled out guns…"
"Oh, come on, it's not your problem anyway. You're not her homeroom teacher anymore," pointed out Osakabe-sensei reasonably, and gave him a slight nudge. "Let us go inside too; we don't want to be late for the opening ceremony." Without waiting for an answer, she headed towards the school building, with the dazed Tani-sensei trailing behind her. As she walked, a small smile was playing on her lips, and she muttered under her breath, "Well, would you look at that. Seems like my stupid cousin found someone who can handle him after all."
None of them noticed a boy in a second-year uniform standing some distance behind them, a boy with light brown hair and clear green eyes, transparent like the waters of a lake. When everybody was gone, he walked up to the notice boards, found his name on them and gave a satisfied smile. "So this is Yagami High," he whispered to himself. "Looks like nee-sama was right. This school year is going to be a lot of fun."
SRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSR
The opening ceremony had ended, and the students were assembled in their classrooms, waiting for homeroom to begin. Osakabe Itoko entered class 2-D and ascended to her desk. As always, her commanding presence was enough to stifle the students' chatter at once. Clearing her throat, she started with the customary start-of-the-year speech.
"I am pleased to inform you that I will be your homeroom teacher again this year," she announced. "I sincerely hope we will have a happy and productive school year together. Before we start roll call, however, I would like to announce that there will be a new student joining us this year. His name," she took a piece of chalk and started writing on the blackboard, "is Hirayama Yuusei-kun. I expect you will all welcome him and get along with him. Hirayama-kun," she called, "come on in and introduce yourself to the class."
The door opened and a slender boy walked in. He had soft, light brown hair and clear green eyes, transparent like the waters of a lake. At Osakabe-sensei's beck, he walked up next to the teacher's desk and looked straight at the class in front of him. "Hirayama-kun," said Osakabe-sensei, "if you'd like, introduce yourself to your classmates and tell us a bit about yourself."
The young man bowed to the rest of the class and said in a low, clear voice, "My name is Hirayama Yuusei. Nice to meet all of you." "…Well, that's it, I suppose," Osakabe-sensei said when it became clear he was not going to say anything further. "Your desk is over there; please be seated." Hirayama-kun nodded and headed towards his desk, with an aloof expression on his face. His new classmates started exchanging whispered comments all around him; he had left them with conflicting impressions. His face was certainly very handsome, but he seemed rather unsociable.
Osakabe-sensei then proceeded to take roll call. When she reached Yakumo's name, Yakumo put up her hand and answered with a stiff expression on her face. She was feeling quite stressed; as expected, when her male classmates hadn't seen her for a while they tended to notice her more on the first few days, and consequently she could sense a lot more of their thoughts – perverted and otherwise. As a result, she became even more uncomfortable than usual. As soon as she answered roll call, she concentrated on shutting out the annoying thoughts, when suddenly she felt a change. She looked to her right, and saw the transfer student's eyes trained on her, staring at her from across the room. Yakumo let out a sigh of frustration. Of course, there was no reason to expect him to be any different than the rest. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and braced herself against the inevitable volley of perverted thoughts. A moment later she opened them again, blinking in confusion. That was odd. There were thoughts coming from him; she could definitely feel them, but the only thing she could pick up was…
"…Static…?"
SRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSR
"Static? What do you mean, static?"
Sarah looked up curiously from her bento box and into her best friend's troubled eyes. It was just the two of them at the moment, having lunch on the rooftop. Satsuki had some club issues to take care of, and Miki and Haruna who were on day duty had been called out by Osakabe-sensei to help with something. Which was a good thing at the moment; Sarah was the only one who knew about Yakumo's special ability, and Yakumo wanted to discuss her strange experience with her as soon as possible.
"…I don't know how else to describe it," Yakumo said perplexedly. "It's the only thing that I pick up from him."
"Are you saying, then, that he's like Harima-senpai whose thoughts you can't read?"
"No, it's not the same," Yakumo shook her head. "In Harima-san's case, I can't sense any thoughts coming from him. In Hirayama-kun's case, I can sense there are thoughts, but something's stopping me from reading them."
"You mean, like something is jamming the signal?"
"I think that's a good enough analogy," said Yakumo thoughtfully. "Weird, isn't it?"
"Well, there are all sorts of things in God's world," Sarah said soberly, crossing herself. "I mean, you too have quite a unique ability; maybe that's also the case with Hirayama-kun."
"What about Hirayama-kun?" Miki's voice asked behind them. Yakumo and Sarah turned around and saw their friends making their way towards them. Sarah giggled awkwardly; she didn't like keeping things from her friends, but on the other hand she had to protect Yakumo's secret. "We were just saying that he seems pretty interesting, that's all," she replied.
"Doesn't he?" said Satsuki, as the three girls settled down beside them. "And quite a looker too…although not my type," she admitted. "I hear that half the girls in class are smitten with him, but they're afraid to get close to him; he seems so cold and distant." Suddenly she cocked her head as a thought occurred to her. "Don't tell me you like him too, Yakumo-san?" she asked.
Before Yakumo had the chance to say anything, Miki cut in, laughing. "Oh come on, Sa-chan, you know that Yakumo-san has Harima-senpai!" she said. "Although," she carried on with her customary enthusiasm, "it might be a good idea to use him to make Harima-senpai jealous! It works in shoujo manga all the time," she went on, striking a dramatic pose. "The hero realizes his feelings for the heroine when he sees another guy fall in love with her."
"Miki," said Haruna in mild reproach, "it's not very nice to use other people like this. You have to consider their feelings as well." "That's right," added Satsuki. "Real life is not the same as manga."
"Hmm, I suppose you're right…too bad though, it was such a good idea…" sulked Miki. Then they moved on to other subjects while finishing with their lunch. When they were done, Sarah said,
"I'd like to go to the washroom before class starts; are you coming with me, Yakumo?" Just as she expected, her friend nodded and the two girls separated from their friends and headed for the washroom. When they were out of earshot, Sarah turned towards Yakumo and said,
"You know, I think Inaba-san's idea wasn't so bad after all."
Yakumo stopped in her tracks and stared at her in astonishment. "Wh…what do you mean by that?"
"Just hear me out," Sarah said seriously. "The reason you can't hang out with guys is because you read their thoughts and they make you uncomfortable, right? But if you can't read Hirayama-kun's thoughts, then you can probably hang out with him without too much discomfort."
"But…I don't even know him…why would I want to do that?"
"Like Sa-chan said, life is not the same as a manga, but it's not all that different either," Sarah said. "Until now, Harima-senpai has never seen you in the company of other guys. And there hasn't been any progress in his feelings for you either, even though Tsukamoto-senpai left and you two are living under one roof. I think it's time to give him a little push."
Yakumo blushed, understanding what her friend meant. "But…what Tougou-san said is right too…it's wrong to play around with other people's feelings," she objected.
"Don't get me wrong here," Sarah said. "I'm not suggesting you make Hirayama-kun your boyfriend or lead him on. Just that you try to get to know him and spend some time with him, as you would with a female friend. Harima-senpai seems like the possessive type; if he does have feelings for you, we might get a reaction out of him. Besides, I think it will be good for you to get used to being around men. You can't remain terrified of them for the rest of your life."
Sarah was right, admitted Yakumo inwardly; one way or another, eventually she'd have to deal with her problem once she finished school and went out into the world. Wherever she went, there would be men nearby, so she might as well make an effort to get used to them. But she was completely unaccustomed to this; she didn't even know how to go about approaching a man. "I…how am I even going to do this?" she wondered aloud. "How can I ask of a man to be friends?"
"We'll think of something," Sarah reassured her. "There are so many school events – one way or another, we'll find some pretext to make contact with him without him reading too much into it. And don't worry about being left alone with him or anything either. I'll be beside you every step of the way; I promise I'll never let you feel unsafe. Unless you tell me otherwise, I'm never going to let you out of my sight, okay?"
"Okay," said Yakumo, squeezing her friend's hand. Never in her life had she imagined that one day she would have the courage to actually seek out a man's company, but with Sarah by her side she felt she just might be able to do it. Nevertheless, she was still at a loss how to find a way to establish contact with a person she did not know at all.
But as it turned out, they did not have to find a way to approach Hirayama-kun after all. When they returned to the classroom, Yakumo had barely sat at her desk when she saw the transfer student get up and purposely make his way towards her. Of course, she was not the only one to see this; all around the classroom, her classmates stared in astonishment at this unexpected move, but he did not pay any attention to them. Oblivious to the surprised stares directed at him, Hirayama-kun headed straight for Yakumo's desk and looked down at her. "You are Tsukamoto Yakumo-san, right?" he asked in his low, clear voice. Once again, Yakumo could sense thoughts coming from him, but she could not read them at all. "Y-yes," she said timidly.
Hirayama-kun pulled an envelope out of his uniform pocket and handed it to her. "This is for you," he said. "I hope you don't mind my saying this, but you should answer as soon as possible." Without another word, he turned around and headed back to his desk, ignoring completely the ruckus his action had caused.
The whole classroom was in an uproar, whispered comments darting right and left. "Did you see that? The transfer student gave Tsukamoto-san a love letter!" "No way! On his first day here?" "That bastard, who does he think he is? I've been in love with Tsukamoto-san for two years now!" "And she's shot you down five times, in case you forgot." "It doesn't matter! How can I let some stranger snatch her away!" Such were the remarks on the boys' side, while the girls on the other hand all but squealed with excitement: "Ooh, so Hirayama-kun isn't cold after all! He's giving us the cold shoulder because he's in love with Tsukamoto-san!" "Well, if it's Tsukamoto-san, we might as well give up. There's no way we can measure up to her." "You don't know that, maybe she'll reject him and then we'll have a chance!" When Tani-sensei walked in for the afternoon English lesson, he was surprised to see that the usually well-behaved class 2-D was in complete chaos. With great difficulty he managed to quiet the students down sufficiently for the lesson to begin. However, even then most of them did not pay any attention, but kept on chattering in hushed voices. As for Sarah and the rest of Yakumo's friends, they were just as astonished about all this as everyone else. Not knowing what to make of it, they just kept staring at their friend, waiting for her reaction.
But Yakumo did not see or hear any of this. At first she, too, was shocked by Hirayama-kun's gesture; but as soon as she took one look at the envelope he'd given her, every other thought fled her head. For the handwriting on the envelope of the purported love letter was none other than her own sister's.
The lesson was well under way now, not that anyone paid any attention to it. Virtually every student's eyes were riveted on Yakumo, but she was quite unaware of it, her whole attention directed at the letter on her desk. She wanted to open it so badly…it was weeks since she had last heard from her sister, and she missed her terribly. She was really impatient to learn her news, to find out whether she was well and happy. She was in the middle of class, but… Furtively, she looked up; Tani-sensei was writing on the blackboard at the moment, and had his back turned towards the students. Yakumo quickly made up her mind. If it were Osakabe-sensei or the overly strict Katou-sensei, she might not risk it; but Tani-sensei was rather lenient, even if she got caught he would probably let her off easily. Besides, she was one of the top students in the school; she could afford to break the school rules for once, she reasoned. Decisively, she tore the envelope open and unfolded her sister's letter, her eyes devouring the long-awaited words. Tenma's letter read:
My dearest Yakumo,
I hope my letter finds you in good health. You must have started your new school year by now; I can't believe my little sister is now a second-year high school student! I'm always thinking about you, and it pains me that I'm so far away from you now, but at least I can take comfort in knowing that you have Sarah-chan and your friends to look after you. You are always reliable and you never complain, Yakumo, but I would never be able to rest easy if you were all alone. I would be even happier to hear that you are together with someone you love, so hurry up and make some progress with Harima-kun! Your big sister worries, you know!
Here things are about the same as I've told you in my previous letters. The lessons are really difficult, especially English; how I wish I had Eri-chan and the other girls here to tutor me! But it can't be helped; I'm on my own now, and I have to make do with my own power alone. If I study and study and study again, even an idiot like me will eventually get somewhere, so I'm going to give it my all. In my free time I'm almost always at the hospital, taking care of Karasuma-kun. His condition is pretty much the same, but that is to be expected; the doctors say that it will probably be some time before there is any change. So I do not despair; now that I've made up my mind to be with him, I'm determined to wait for as long as it takes. He'll come back to me one day, I'm sure of it. My love will bring him back.
By the way, I met Hirayama-kun who brought you this letter here in America. I've only known him for a short while, but I think he's a pretty good boy. He'll be a student in our school for the next year, so it would be nice if you got along with him. Be careful, though; you don't want to make Harima-kun jealous!
With all my love,
Your sister, Tenma
Yakumo read the letter again and again, her chest tight with emotions. …Nee-san…I miss you so much, but it's so good to know that you're happy… In every line, Yakumo could discern Tenma's courage and optimism, as well as a steadiness that she didn't even know her sister had. Her usually impassive face had lit up with happiness for her beloved sister, and she kept gazing at the letter fondly, completely engrossed and unaware of what went on around her.
Naturally, with practically every student in class staring at her, her actions did not go unnoticed. "Look, look! Tsukamoto-san is opening the transfer student's love letter!" "What, she couldn't even wait till after class to read it? Don't tell me she was looking forward to it?" "See, she's reading it now…oh my gosh, she's smiling!" "And blushing, too! I can't believe it!" "What could that bastard have written to make her so happy?" "It's not fair! I've written her three love letters so far, and she still turned me down!" Quite a few boys started to look in Hirayama-kun's direction with open hostility, but he did not seem to take any notice of it. Once the lessons ended, he picked up his things and walked out of the classroom without so much as a backward glance. On his way out, several feet were stretched so that he would trip over them, but even though he never once looked down he somehow managed to skip over all of them and get out of the classroom safely. Without a doubt, Hirayama-kun seemed to be a person of unusual abilities.
SRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSR
"Ha-ha, so that's what it was," Sarah laughed while on her way home with Yakumo. "You had me there for a second, Yakumo. Of course there is no way Hirayama-kun would write you a love letter on the very day he met you, but frankly I didn't know what else to think. Although I should have known the only person you would be so happy to get a letter from would be your sister."
"Do you think we should tell the others in class about this?" asked Yakumo. "Such a misunderstanding might cause problems for Hirayama-kun…" She had noticed the attempts to bully Hirayama-kun, and she felt guilty for unwittingly causing him trouble.
"If it gets serious, we will," said Sarah. "But I think the excitement will die down soon enough…and besides, he seemed quite capable of defending himself. By the way, where did Tsukamoto-senpai know him from? She must think very highly of him if she entrusted him with a letter to you."
"In her letter, Nee-san said only that she met him not long ago in America and that she hopes I get along with him," answered Yakumo. "Should I…ask him about it, I wonder?"
"Of course you should; we were looking for a way to approach him anyway, right? And besides, if he is acquainted with your sister, he might be able to tell you more about her life in America," Sarah said. Yakumo's eyes lit up at this; she certainly wished to hear more about her sister, and she was also curious to know what kind of connection Hirayama-kun had with her. She would be really glad to have someone she could talk about her sister with; her friends, the senpais, she could not meet quite as often now that Tenma was gone, and with Harima-san she purposely avoided the subject, as she did not wish to cause him any more pain. She decided that, as soon as time permitted, she would definitely ask Hirayama-kun about it.
Harima was already there when they arrived home, doing housework. Since he did not have club activities, he usually arrived before them. "Welcome home," he greeted them as soon as they stepped in. "How was your day?"
"We're home." Yakumo was hesitating whether she should tell him what had transpired today, but before she could come to a decision, Sarah had already forestalled her. "You'll never guess what happened, Harima-senpai. There was this new transfer student in our class, Hirayama-kun, and he brought Yakumo a letter from Tsukamoto-senpai!"
Harima raised his eyebrows at the news, but otherwise he seemed to take it quite calmly. "So, Tsukamoto has friends in America now, too," he said. "Did she meet this guy at school or something?"
"Nee-san didn't say where she met Hirayama-kun," Yakumo said. She paused for a moment, and then added, "I would like to ask him about it directly."
"Sure, I don't see why not," Harima said composedly. "Normally I'd tell you to be careful around men you don't know, but if Tsukamoto trusts him he should probably be all right."
Without any further comments, he finished with the clothes he was folding and got up to take them to his room. Just before he was out the door, he turned his head and asked, "Your sister…is she in good health?"
"Yes," replied Yakumo. "She seems…to be quite healthy and happy." "That's good, then," he said quietly, with a complex look on his face, and then turned around and walked out of the room.
"Well, that's not much of a reaction, but it's still too early to tell," remarked Sarah. Yakumo stared at her thoughtfully; she pretty much expected this, but what she did not expect was that she was not quite as disappointed about it as she thought she would be.
