•••
Education, the most powerful tool which you can use to change the world.
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But I've seldom been told that intelligence plus the character is what true education means.
Why have I delve into this topic?
Well, you could say that what Chabashira-sensei had discussed and what I've been reflecting upon are intertwined.
It's halfway through the year. School days were typical as can be, whereas the tests have been peculiar.
The amount of thriving students are next to none, apart from Horikita and her brawny shadow, Sudō.
But let's deviate over that matter. Right now we're in our classroom, Class D.
As it happens, it's midday and the sun's deadly beams pierce my eyes.
The atmosphere are as usual; Kei stealing glances at me, Horikita diligently inking her notebook, Kōenji's usual shedding and his mounting pile of hair, and Ike's pond of saliva, accumulated off, "Overdosing from Kikyō-chan's cuteness pills," is what he says.
Standing imposingly with crossed arms on the podium is Chabashira-sensei, our homeroom teacher. She momentarily set her blunt eyes on me before speaking up, "Alright, listen up, you lot," she commanded, almost military-like. "We teachers have been informed that a notably influential someone might- will arrive at this school, on the afternoon.
So if anyone of you misbehaves, I will gladly revoke you of your place in this class then transfer you to Class E. And that certain someone might exclude you from the goal of his visit," Chabashira-sensei voiced the same threat she used on me a while back.
Many were stunned by this announcement, which is understandable since our last exam was taken the past week.
One student, however, surpassed others in overcoming their daze. The stern girl raised her hand..., and after receiving just a nod from her adult form on the podium, she took the floor, "Sensei, what do you mean by "goal of his visit"?" Horkita expressed the question everyone ached to ask.
"He specifically said to keep it hidden for now and reveal it when he comes."
"Haah? What's with that?" Ike complained.
"Quiet," Sensei immediately shut down Ike. "He comes by as an eccentric, they say."
"Ehh? Someone notable but an oddball?" Shinohara panicked upon hearing that statement.
"My, my, Unsightly-girl," Kōenji butted in, now clipping and filing his nails, "you should know that there are numerous bizarres in the influential world," he commented before bellowing a haughty laugh. Some chocked on the dust from his well-cut nails.
"Unsightly-girl!? Wh- you're one of those weirdos!"
"Fufu, Perhaps you cannot possibly comprehend my flawlessness! Which then you regard my immaculate self as 'weird'," his laughter grew more arrogant.
Everyone paid no mind to this conversation because they were much more interested in the arriving 'important personality'.
"...Uhm, Sensei, may I?" He asked politely.
"You may, Hirata."
"In addition, is his name supposed to be kept secret too?" Everyone nodded along to support what their leader said.
Only to be given a curt reply, "Yes."
Hirata dejectedly sat down.
"Any more questions?" Sensei called out, and laid her brown eyes on me once more. "Good. Now, you're free to do whatever you want while we wait, as long as it's not disruptive," she demanded before heading out, probably to smoke.
Consequently, my classmates all shot up and went to their distinctive friend groups.
"Ne, ne, do you know who that 'certain someone' is?"
"I think you forgot that all of us don't know."
"Noo! I mean, like, can you guess who it is?"
"...Hm, well, a popular weirdo... Maybe the one who made Godzilla an official citizen of Japan."
"What? He is? You know a lot of strange things, Noku-chi."
"Really?...Well, I did commit to memory the story of 'Issun-boshi'."
"Huh?"
'What an offbeat chat,' as I remarked about their chatter, one girl with azure locks trodded towards me, behind her is a girl whose magenta hair tied in twintails swayed timidly.
"Hey, Kiyopon!" Haruka deliberately hollered my embarrassing nickname.
'Did she come here to tease me again?'
Haruka turned to her companion. "C'mon, Airi-chan, don't you know how to say greet?" An endearing motherly tone as always when it comes to Sakura.
"A-Ah, yes. Hello, Kiyotaka-kun."
"Hey, Airi."
"Hehehe~... I'm gonna call over Yukimū and Miyatchi~."
'Haruka planned to gather the Ayanokōji group at my seat, she's considerate but it kind of hurts to know that she think I'm lazy enough not to come over if I were to be invited over... Sometimes, being too observant is a strain.'
"Yo, Kiyotaka." Akito pulled me out of my worry.
"Hey, Akito, Keisei."
After exchanging short greetings, Haruka took the initiative, as always, and started her usual gossip.
"Hey, do you think it's some celebrity or something?"
"There's the possibility, but I don't see the reason why he'd be visiting, or possibly, scouting," Keisei retorted.
Noting that last bit, Haruka quizzed, "Scouting? What do you mean?"
"Since it's someone influential, we can't rule out the possibility that he may be a bigwig from an education department," he paused to survey our reactions.
'I might be thinking too much of this.' "... or just some wealthy individual who has heard of this school. Who knows?"
"Hmm. Yeah, that's not a far off assumption," she backed Keisei's belief. "But there's no point in mulling it over now."
"What? But you were the one who brought it up," Akito interjected.
Haruka plugged her ears. "...What do you want to do, Ayanon?" She said.
'We're back to Ayanon?'
"I don't know. What about you guys?" I didn't want to be the one to dictate our choice of entertainment, frankly because chess and reading are my only forms of leisure.
"Passing the ball back to us, huh? You're crafty.
What about you, Yukimū?"
"Study."
"Sorry, what was that? Anyway, Miyatchi?"
"I'd like to head over the club, but it looks like we've got to stay here."
"Nothing, huh? Last but not the least, Airi-chan~?"
"E-Eh? U-Uh, I don't mind whatever you pick."
"Just whatever?" A cat like grin crept up her face. "Then~ would you like to play 'spin the bottle', Airi-chan~?"
"...AH! A-Anything b-b-but that!" Airi turned beet red upon hearing Haruka's mischievous suggestion.
'Spin the bottle' is a game mostly played by teens, often done at parties - a bottle is layed on the floor in the focal point of the circle. A player turns the bottle, and should kiss the individual to whom it focuses when it stops turning.
One teen, who submits easily like a flower to a bee, and is dominated by his hormones, overhead our recent conversation. He is none other than-
"...Spin the bottle," he muttered. "Oh! Ken, Haruki, I've got a great idea~!"
"Does it involve girls, Kanji?" The only time he gets serious.
"When does it not?" Sudō countered.
"It always does, Haruki. You got to remember that... Anyway, let's play spin the bottle."
"Yeah! But not just the three of us right?" Yamauchi asked with a hint of pink on his cheeks.
"What!? Of course not!- Kikyō-chan~ let's play spin the bottle!" As he stomped off to Kushida, Ike had a bit of drool.
Kushida was jabbering with her friends before he barged in. "Hm? What is it, Kanji-kun?" Though not visible, the corners of her elfin lips twitched.
"Let's play spin the bottle~!"
After hearing out his audacious request, her lips faintly turned into a slight frown.
"What!? Do you hear yourself, you pervert!?" Kushida's friend, idly sitting beside her, clamoured suddenly.
"Ehh- but don't you want to? Hirata is joining too. Right, Hirata!?" Ike called out to Hirata who's across the classroom.
"Huh?" He grew confused when out of the blue, half the girls gazed at him with lecherous eyes. "Y-Yeah, sure." A pitiful smile manifested itself onto his frustratingly well-formed face.
"Sure! Count me in too!"
"Me too"
"Well, if Hirata-kun says s- is participating, I might as well."
"...The powers of an innocent Ikemen...," Yamauchi whispered.
Now that they've all settled themselves, Ike began, "Alright! I'll start!"
To his left and right are Yamauchi and Sudō respectively, across the three are Kushida, Mii-san and Shinohara, and next to Sudō and Yamauchi are Hirata and Onodera.
•
"You guys want to join them?" We sharply turned our heads to Haruka who suggested that. "Whoa! That was cool, did you rehearse that?"
"Who wants to join them? The possibility remains that the bottle may end up pointing to another male. Especially, o-oh god, Sudō." Keisei shriveled up when the thought of stealing a kiss from another male invaded his mind.
"~Really? Maybe you just don't know how to kiss, Yukimū. And the only way you can learn about it is by experience, not ink on paper~."
"You talk like you're a veteran in that field, Haruka," Akito snapped back for his callow friend.
"W-Wha!?... Pff. No, It's because I watch a lot of romance movies with kissing scenes and the like-." Still, Haruka stood her marshy ground.
"Doesn't sound like i-"
"We should quit it there," I immediately intervened to avoid any fights and misunderstandings within our friend group. If Akito had the opportunity to finish what he had to say, it would connote the same meaning as, "Really? I thought you were an easy woman," which is very distasteful.
"..."
"Let's simply watch how their game turns out," I added, to feebly dissipate the awkward atmosphere.
"Well~, if Kiyopon says so~." A mirror-like imitation.
•
Now that they've all settled themselves, Ike began, "Alright! I'll start!"
To his left and right are Yamauchi and Sudō respectively, across the three are Kushida, Mii-san and Shinohara, and next to Sudō and Yamauchi are Hirata and Onodera... "I should go first since I want to beat you two virgins at achieving the almighty first kiss."
"Oy! You're a virgin too, y'know!"
"Not anymore," Ike claimed, his tongue was lacing over his mustache, a result of sheer focus. 'So, if I estimate the distance between me and my Kikyō-chan, it's about three shoes and a pair. The wind's velocity is near one inch, factor in Haruki's stenching breath, it's 1.5 inches. Finally, if I pour all my wishes into the water goddess and her fate deciding bottle, it might point towards my Kikyō-chan... C'mon, c'mon, c'mon. Kikyō-chan, Kikyō-chan, Kikyō-chan-'
"What do you mean, "Not anymore"?"
"What's with his ugly face?" Shinohara commented after getting a glimpse of Ike's wrought face.
"Hm? There's not much difference," Onodera implied.
"...Ok, let it rip-!" Ike exclaimed, the bottle spun viciously.
It spun, and spun, and spun, and spun, and spun, and spun, almost hypnotizing.
For a moment, the breeze within the classroom seemed to have strengthened.
Each individual inside somehow paused to gaze at the mesmerizing bottle. Their eyes quaintly resemble a spiral. They're so spell-bound that not even a faint whiff of perfume can snap them out their daze.
It kept going, and rounding, and twirled, and revolved, and turned, and whirled, and swirled. Each rotation, a fraction of its pirouette lost it's intensity.
Gently, it began to weaken, and so did its compelling force. As it now gradually slowed down, to the point where the afterimages have faded, Ike's heart could only hammer tunes of lust...
It focused on Kushida, then Hirata, Onodera, Yamauchi, then the space in-between, such randomness only luck can decide.
'Yes! Yes! C'mon, on Kikyō-chan-! Kikyō-chan, Kik...yō-ch-ch...an-... No. No. No. T-This ca-can't be.'
"..."
"..."
"..."
The class only grew more silent, to the point where a pale squeak of a chair could be the harshest noise.
The two who are bound to have their lips interconnected could only stare at each other, their eyes expressed different emotions.
'...No. WHY THE HELL HAS NO ONE INVENTED AN INVISIBILITY CLOAK YET!?'
'...Oh, guess we have to do it... There's no turning back now, my image would be shattered more if I back out.'
'GOD! PLEASE, IF YOU'RE REAL... TAKE ME, TAKE ME!'
'Wait... a normal kiss or a... French kiss? Either way, I'm pretty inexperienced with that stuff.'
'...I see, the water goddess played me. That's how it is, huh? You think I can't just run away from this? HAH! How naïve for a goddess, a liquid!'
'If I remember correctly..., teeth are involved in French kisses, right?'...
They gulped heavily in unison as they faced each other.
"..."
"..."
"Kanji-"
"...H-Haruki."
"Kanji."
"Ha-ruki."
"Kanji~."
"Haruki!?"
"C'MERE, KANJI~!" Yamauchi pounced towards Ike.
"AHHIEEEEE!" A girly shriek seeped out Ike's mouth
•
"...Well, that was to be expected," commented Keisei, his leg was bouncing nonstop, probably craving to study.
The group just observed Ike running away from his fate.
"Never mind that. Let's do something~!" Said Haruka who's bored to death. She looked to be busy with her phone.
"What do you suggest?" Akito slipped in before returning his phone to his pocket.
"Hm-," another wicked smirk displayed on her face. "How about... TRUTH OR DARE~."
"...That pause was unnecessary," Keisei pointed out as he turned his phone down.
"How about it, guys?"
"I-I'm fine with that." Cherry red as she always is, Airi clasped her phone just hovering over her lips, concealing a slight smile.
'This is somewhat odd... I suspect they planned something behind my back...'
"That's all the confirmation I need-," Haruka declared and went on to arrange the chairs in a circle, with Keisei and Airi beside me.
"Okay! Let's start with you, Kiyopon~."
'I presume I'll just play along with what they've schemed.
Although, if I choose truth, they might question me about my childhood. And when I decide on a dare, if it's Haruka, she'll definitely make me do something embarrassing, which may ruin my classmate's impression on me.
"Truth or dare~?" Haruka urged me, the wicked smirk still visible on her face.
"Truth." I decided on a truth since forging a lie is much easier.
"Alright!..." She pondered for a while. "What were you like in your childhood?" She asked a fairly simple question.
"I was pretty normal, I'd be what you call a loner in the past, but I had a select few friends here and there." I concocted a lie with a dash of believable factors so as to be plausible.
"Hm-, really? Oh, well."
If this time were the usual, Keisei would've dumped on me a barrage of questions, but this behaviour, or lack thereof, must be part of their plan.
"Next~! Yukimū!"
"Truth," he delivered a curt reply as he adjusted his glasses.
"Uhmm," she pretended to think. "What's your favourite colour?"
"Green."
"Wow. I was sure that It'd be blue."
'Strange...'
"Next up! Miyatchi-ichi~."
"Dare."
"Ohh~, the first dare." She seemed to be having too much fun.
'What are they planning?'
"Oh! I dare you to sit on Yukimū's lap for the entirety of the next round~."
"Right..." Akito gently sat down on the frail lap of Keisei.
'They're awfully compliant.'
"You're heavy!" Keisei naturally complained.
"A fifty kilogramme piece of meat is sitting on top of your branch-like lap, of course it'd be heavy," Akito retorted whilst he adjusted himself.
Haruka ignored their interaction. "...Okay~! Airi-chan."
"Y-Yes?"
"Truth or dare?"
'Haruka has been taking the lead for a while.'
"D-T-Truth!"
"Hehehe~. That's good, Airi-chan, that's good..." She bobbed her head in satisfaction.
"Wh-What is?" Airi gradually regretted her decision.
"...Do you like me more than your crush? Heh~"
"WHA!" She quivered and hid her face behind her hair. "I-I...I don't know-."
"Well, that's good enough-."
'Those were all blatantly trivial question. As i thought, they're utilizing this game as an alibi to interrogate me about my past.'
"Back to you, Kiyopon~." Now they all peered at me, as if anticipating something...
'Let's delay their actions of cross-examining me.' I readied myself up to be embarrassed, "Dare."
"Hehehehe~," Haruka's teasing grin reached from ear to ear. "This was unexpected, I thought that this would happen later on the game."
'Later on? Have I made the wrong choice?' As I thought that, every single one of them swiftly pulled out their phones.
"Dare, huh? Dare it is," her sweet chuckle progressively became one with an ulterior motive. "I•dare•you•to•smile~," Haruka instructed with a breathy voice.
'Smile?
I expected it to be a matter more shameful, but smiling is a straightforward case. Did they think of me as some monster with an absence of emotions?'
"No backing down, Kiyopon."
"I fully support you, Kiyotaka"
"Count me in," Miyake added, sitting comfortably on Keisei's lap.
"M-Me too, K-Kiyotaka-kun." Airi sent me a cutesy thumbs up.
'Do they regard me as emotionally cripple?' "Okay," I said with my head cocked to the side, as if questioning their cause.
I raised the corners of my lips little by little, faintly revealing my teeth.
They, however, appeared upset.
'Have I done something?'
"...C'mon, Kiyopon, you gotta show a sincere smile-! Squint your eyes! Show your glistening teeth, pull the corners of your lips to you ears, add a little chuckle or something~!"
'That's what makes a smile genuine? Might as well follow.' I stretched my lips to a proportion befitting my face shape, length, and complexion, after that I pictured Yōsuke's alluring smile, and portrayed exactly how his resembled. My teeth radiated, reflecting upon my classmates pupils as they suddenly ogled toward me. My pale red lips formed an immaculate arch. As I narrowed my eyes, it's appeal exceeded that of Yōsuke's.
"..."
Snap...
Click...
Click...
Snap...
Camera shutters resounded throughout the classroom, some took blurry photos since they couldn't control themselves from, apparently, my swooning smile.
"Ne, ne! Let's upload this in the forum!"
"I'm gonna set this as my phone's wallpaper."
"Ayanokōji-kun is single, right?"
"Yeah, I heard that him and Horikita-san are just friends."
"Aww! I didn't get to take a photo~. Ne, can you send me some, Noku-chi?"
"Don't have one, but I have some of Yamada-kun."
"The hell?"
Various blabberings could be heard about the classroom, gossiping about me. 'My normal life is over...'
"Fufu~. My, my, T-rex-kun, not only do you rival me in size, but you also do in godly smiles. I offer you my praise." Another prideful comment from Kōenji.
The majority of my classmates seems to have disregarded the presence of Chabashira-sensei.
"Quiet!" Sensei shouted, the touch of a blush emerged on her face. "I believe you've all forgotten that I'm right here. To make matters worse, our special guests has stepped foot within the premises of the school."
Ring... Ring...
Sensei's phone chimed in shortly after her sermon. She grabbed it reluctantly, thinking if it would be an urgent matter. 'The director?' "Good afternoon... Yes... What!? Ah- I apologize. Understood. Thank you." She banged her phone on the poor table.
"Alright, you lot, apparently our special guest requested to 'inspect' your class first."
Anybody would panic upon hearing that news. They scattered their belongings about, wondering how they should act, who that visitor is, why 'inspect' our class?
"Ah!"
"Everyone, calm down. Let's all behave how we normally do." Hirata pacified their nervousness, although it was unconvincing from someone who's showering in their own sweat.
Tap...
"H-He's here!"
"Fake news."
"...Wait is that?" Horikita's uncharacteristically wavering voice reached our classmates' ears.
"W-What? Who is it Horikita-san?"
Tap...
Knock... Knock...
"Please enter, Sir."
Tap... Tap...
Clack...
They sharply gasped for air, perceiving the face of our guest. I myself was also dumbfounded.
"Chi~na."
"DONALD TRUMP!?"
•••