A/N: complete author's note at the bottom of the chapter! Kodocha belongs to Miho Obana.
CHAPTER 3
Bright sunlight flooded the curtained bedroom window where Sana was laying sprawled on her stomach, clearly in a deep sleep. No matter how nervous she was about something, as soon as she was able to find the capacity to sleep, well, boy did she take advantage of that. She was mumbling incoherent words as her face was pressed flush up against her pillow, and half of her blanket was off her body while the other half was haphazardly strewn about her person. On the floor were two pillows that she must've kicked off of the bed in haste as she fumbled around her awkward, tense dream while a dark blue cap that she had hanging off of her bed post was now by her chair instead—just how much of a kicker was she in her sleep?
It was at this moment that her trusty alarm clock rang at 8:30am—the one with the pig in the island attire, playing a bouncy, catchy tune that was sure to blast anyone's eardrums if it were sitting right next to their head. Sana, however, was a rare exception—she made no movement to even acknowledge that she had heard the alarm, or that it was even ringing in the first place. True, everyone who may have been still sleeping in the house would've woken up for sure, but everyone was already awake, eating their breakfast or reading the morning paper. It would be no surprise for them to see a panicked Sana racing throughout the house, determined to get to school on time because she was late (as per usual).
When the alarm had been ringing for about thirty seconds, it was at this point that the speed of the tune became faster, and the volume of the tune became louder in the hopes to wake up Sana. The pig danced its little dance, sounding exhausted but determined to wake up the sleeping teenager.
Meanwhile, Sana in her dreamworld, had landed herself in a rather pleasing situation. Having had a fitful sleep in the beginning, her dream self was now sitting on the roof top, eating a delicious bento box alongside Akito Hayama, who was having his own bento box. They each had rice topped with sesame seeds, tamago, crispy chicken karaage, octopus shaped sausage, pickles, and fish balls. The identical meal made Sana think that perhaps she had prepared the meals for herself and Hayama, or perhaps he did (although she didn't know if he often cooked). Maybe it wasn't the two of them at all, but it might've been Shimura who had made them such a good meal.
Either way, despite the simplicity of such a hang-out, Sana felt quite happy. She was just having a conversation with her best friend, about anything and everything. She was animatedly chatting while he was his typical stoic self, piping up when he felt the need to do so. Part of what made it all the more relaxing was the fact that they were so comfortable with each other, just as how it had been when they had first met—mind you, their first encounter did not feature their best selves, but their interactions were very much natural. As they got older, this never changed, even if awkwardness got in the way—they somehow found a way back to each other, in some shape or form. This reassurance was something that Sana was banking on when she returned to school, and it was at this point that she jolted awake, her hands fisting her bedsheets as she looked wildly around, her ears ringing.
Blinking sleepily at her alarm, her hazel brown eyes squinted at the clock that she now held in her hands, yawning in the process. She stretched a little, her eyes adjusting to the scene before her before they widened with a yelp. "I'm going to be so late!" she all but screeched, slamming her hand down on the button to stop the alarm before tossing it onto her side dresser. She fumbled with her blanket, getting all twisted up in them as she attempted to exit her bed, clearly in a rush to get ready for the day.
In a wild attempt to get ready, Sana managed to get fixed up in good time. After having a quick shower, she brushed her teeth and washed her face, getting her hair dryer out afterwards to give it a quick blow. She then put on her school uniform, which had thankfully been pre-washed by Shimura a few days before knowing she would be returning from the U.S.—there were no wrinkles (yet) as she smoothed down her white blouse and dark blue skirt. Putting on a pair of plain white socks with a red ring around the calves, she checked her appearance in the mirror. Her cheeks were a little flushed from the influx of fast activity to get ready, but apart from that, she looked rather well put together. She decided to tie her mostly dry hair into a ponytail, using one of her favourite dark blue hair ties. Grabbing her school backpack, she raced down the stairs to the kitchen, giving everyone present an exasperated look of "why didn't you wake me".
Her mother merely scoffed, sipping her morning coffee as she sat peacefully at the kitchen table. "Good morning, my daughter," she said. "I see you've finally graced us with your presence."
"Haha," Sana said drily, sitting herself down at the table in a huff. "Why couldn't any of you have woken me up? I'm going to be so late!" she whined, grabbing her bowl of miso soup and downing it in two gulps.
"It's not my duty to wake you up every day, and you know that," her mother replied. "You're old enough to wake yourself up. I don't mind when you choose to, but you should face the consequences of sleeping in too late."
Sana muttered something under her breath but didn't respond, too busy eating her breakfast. Shimura had made a tasty traditional Japanese breakfast, which Sana was happy to eat but at the rate she was practically inhaling everything, it was of no surprise to her that she was not really tasting the food at all. She was just finishing as much as she could because her mother never let her leave the table unless she finished everything on her plate—a good habit, as it ensured that she never wasted food, but it was an annoying habit all the same (especially during times like these when Sana was running late for school).
Food was finished quite quickly, and, with bulging cheeks, Sana presented her empty plates to her mother before she nodded approvingly, a smug smile on her face. "Have a good day back at school, Sana."
Sana took a big swallow; nearly choking from the extent of what she had taken all in one go. "Thanks, Mama!" she said, giving her kiss on the cheek before giving a Shimura a kindly wave. "Rei, let's go!" she exclaimed, bolting through the hallway to get her trusty black shoes on. "I'm gonna be so late." Muttering to herself, she sat down on the steps, tying her laces before standing up, hopping from foot to foot impatiently. "Oh Reeeeeeei!"
"Coming, coming," Rei said, running a hand through his brown hair as he jangled his car keys in the other. He yawned a little, obviously still a little jet lagged. "Let's get going!" He slipped on his sneakers easily, which matched his semi-formal attire of sandy brown slacks, a plain white blouse, and a red tie. It was his usual standard of clothing; it was rare to see him in clothes other than the ones he donned today.
As soon as the two of them got into the car that was parked in the garage, it took all but a few seconds for the familiar blue car to boot right up. The speed of the vehicle, however, was of no surprise to Sana as Rei was still keen on driving at a snail's pace in-order to keep her safe. While it was reassuring that Rei was always worried for her safety, it frustrated her to no end—why, even babies would crawl faster than the speed that Rei drove at! "Rei, hurry, I'm going to be so late!" Sana cried, giving him her usual pout as she waved her arms about. "You and I both know that we can walk faster than you can drive, can we please speed it up?"
"Sorry, Sana," Rei replied, hands firmly on the wheel as he hardly pressed on the gas. "I've got a duty to get you to school safe; just because we've been away for a year it doesn't mean that we need to speed like those race car movies that we saw in L.A."
This was a typical conversation for the two of them, which hadn't changed no matter how old Sana got (minus the L.A. comment). "But Rei," Sana groaned. "Look!" She pointed out in-front of them. "We've hardly moved! This grandma has been riding her bike faster than us, look, look! I'm going to be so late!"
"Sana, we'll get to school on time, so just sit back and relax, okay?"
"But Rei…" Sana eyed the steering wheel, biting her lip before extending her arms to grab at the wheel. "Can I please give it a go? Maybe with my help, we can get there faster!" She gave it a sharp jerk to the opposite lane, causing Rei to panic and step on the gas.
"Sana!" he exclaimed. "We're gonna crash! Please, let go of the wheel!" It was clear that he was sweating bullets.
"But look, we're already going faster!" she said almost gleefully, turning the wheel sharply to the right.
"S-annnn-a!" Rei cried out, trying to get the car back under control. This, of course, sped up the process of getting Sana to school, because between the two of them trying to jostle for control of the car, Rei's adrenaline picked up, causing him to speed in zones that he really shouldn't have.
Within minutes, Rei pulled up to Sana's school at a harsh jerk of a stop- it was a wonder that the airbags didn't blow up in their faces. Rei was heaving, sweat dripping from his brow as he leaned back in his seat, very much wide awake now. Sana, meanwhile, was smiling cheerily; clearly happy that she had arrived at school with a few minutes to spare. "Thanks, Rei!" she said, giving him a big slap on the back to which he merely waved her away. "I'll see you later!"
"Yeah, yeah," Rei said, panting a little as he sat up, gripping his door handle for support. "We don't have anything booked for this week, remember, but next week we're getting back into things with commercial shoots and interviews, okay?" Sana had stopped participating in Child's Toy after the end of middle school, seeing as she was now a teenager, but she did find herself missing the after-school tapings as they were fond memories. However, she was asked by Zenjiro a few times over the years to come on as a guest speaker, which she had always accepted without a second thought. In many ways, Child's Toy was like a home of sorts for her, and she always felt that it was a place where she was always accepted.
"Aye aye," Sana said, giving him a nod as she stepped out of the car, shutting the door behind her. "You should call up Asako and tell her you have a free day. I'll walk back home, it's no big deal."
Rei blushed, putting a finger to his lips. "Shh," he said nervously, looking around him. Thankfully, most students had already filtered into the school, so there were hardly any onlookers. "Keep your voice down."
Sana idly waved him off. "No-one's listening," she said confidently as she looked around herself. "Anyways, you should think about what I said! Bye for now!" She gave him a big smile, waving before turning around to walk towards the school. In actuality, she was really anxious to be at school, but she didn't want Rei to be worried about her. She wouldn't have minded being late to school or have continued at the pace that Rei was driving at before, but her nerves got the better of her which caused their near accidents on the road.
She sighed to herself, looking straight at the daunting doors of Jinbo senior high-school. She had missed a year and came back in the second week of the first semester. Everyone was probably already settled in and had likely known people from the year that she had missed. It was like she would be a transfer student, but not really, as she knew a solid amount of people that she could probably fit right in if need be. Her stomach churned a little, feeling first day jitters—one would think that such a natural-born actress with such confidence would never feel nervous, but she did. Taking a deep breath, she headed inside, ready to meet with the secretary to let her know where she was placed for homeroom and classes this year.
The school was exactly as Sana had remembered it to be, with one week old welcome posters adorning the hallways (that should've been taken down; it was likely that people just forgot to). She recalled that the school liked to decorate its walls with Sakura to celebrate the start of the new school year, as in Japan that was when school started—in April, when everything was just starting to bloom. It was always nice to see, and it was nice to know that things didn't change in that aspect.
Sana had received all of her yearly information from the secretary, who was rather excited to see her ("Oh Miss. Kurata!" the lady had exclaimed. "How was your filming? We're so happy to have you back with us for your final year. You all rested up?" She was very nice, but Sana found that she had asked far too many questions when it was clear that Sana was itching to get going.). She found out the homeroom that she was in, which was good, but now she had to hurry or she'd be late to the school entrance ceremony. This meant that she could find out who she was in the same homeroom with and get a chance to see any new and familiar faces.
It took no time for her to arrive to the school gym, thankfully, where she slipped in unnoticed, seeing as people were still getting organized and the gym was rather noisy. The principal was trying to call for attention by tapping his mic, which got relatively all the students' attention—there were always going to be students that'd be a.) sleeping while standing or b.) talking to the people around them. Sana never blamed them, of course, for everyone pretty much knew what to expect during these ceremonies by now unless they were new, and who didn't like getting some extra sleep or talks in with their friends? Even though the gym was huge, the student body was quite an impressive amount as well, so students could get by without getting caught (usually) when they weren't paying attention to the admin.
Sana found the line for her homeroom, marked by big signs that were held by the first person in line, and she went ahead to go stand at the back, behind some tall guy that she knew that she recognized but could not remember his name for the life of her. They had probably never talked before, but had likely seen each other in the hallways in 10th grade. His hair was a mass of overgrown dark brown locks, and it looked like he had just woken up. She could relate, but she was thankful that she had remembered to brush her hair before throwing it into a ponytail. He had turned around to give her a look, his eyes widening before facing the front. Sana couldn't help but give a small grunt, crossing her arms as she peered over his shoulder to get a glimpse of the principal, who was on the shorter side so it looked like he was standing on a stool of sorts—something that Sana wished that she had. She cursed under her breath, wishing that she was just a little bit taller to see over the guy before her without needing to stand on her tippy toes.
Be that as it may, it wasn't too much of a struggle, and the ceremony ended in a timely manner. The principal was very friendly, as she had remembered, and he gave the usual greetings of "Study hard, work hard, and make these school memories count"—he likely added the last part for the graduating class of this coming year, which Sana could appreciate. It was true; their lives at school very much helped to shape who they would become in the future, and the friends that they'd make along the way would certainly impact their memories concerning life at school.
It was now that Sana and her homeroom were being led to their class by their homeroom teacher, whom Sana noticed was a tall, slim male with glasses and a crooked bowtie. She wondered if he'd be nice, and if they would get along. As she followed her class, she noticed that people were giving double-takes when they passed by her in the halls as they went to their respective homerooms, whispering to their friends in line as they saw her. Sana merely gave them a small smile; she was very much used to people ogling her (without trying to make it seem boastful, it was just something that she was hyperaware of ever since she got into the acting business) but she never really let it affect her. She carried on with life as usual, and for the most part, people weren't rude about it—they just didn't often expect to bump into an actress; especially after she had been absent for a whole year as she was shooting a movie. She was thankful that she could continue her studies in L.A. so that she would not have to repeat her grade, and she was forever thankful that her tutor had helped her so diligently with her Math; a core subject that she needed to pass every year in-order to be considered for post-secondary (if that was what she wished to do after her final year of senior high-school).
By the time she had entered the classroom, students had already found their seats and were talking to their peers, waiting as their teacher was getting settled at the front of the classroom. Seating was usually in alphabetical order, and there was only one seat left in the middle back of the classroom, so Sana could only assume that it was hers seeing as she was the last person in line and no bag had claimed the seat.
As she neared her desk, she felt the buzz of the classroom lull as she felt all eyes on her, which Sana simply ignored; they'd go back to talking amongst themselves within seconds. As she sat down, she faced the sea of faces, giving them a cheerful smile. "Good morning, everyone!" she said, putting her bag on her desk and fumbled with the flaps. "Long time no see."
A few gave her reassuring smiles, while some were looking quite starstruck. It was clear to Sana that she recognized half of the students, while the others were ones that she had seen before but had never interacted with. She hummed quietly to herself as she got out her things, which included a pencil, an eraser, and a notebook. As she was about to lean back in her chair to rest her eyes a little, a sharp shriek sounded, which caused Sana to turn around. "Aya…?" she said, able to recognize that high-pitched shriek anywhere.
"Sana, it's you!" It was Sana's long-time friend from Elementary, Aya Sugita, who had shrieked. She ran over to Sana from the back of the classroom, a bit of a tear in her eye as she gave Sana a big, tight hug. "Oh, we've missed you! I'm so happy that we're in the same homeroom!" Aya looked the same as ever; her brown bangs pinned up by a barrette, her brown eyes glistening of innocence, and her smile like a warm cup of tea on a cold day. She was just the slightest bit taller, but not extremely noticeable.
Sana hugged Aya right back, ridiculously happy to see such a welcoming and friendly face. "Oh, Aya!" she exclaimed, pulling away to wipe a tear from her eye herself. "How've you been? I didn't know that we were in the same homeroom!"
"Mhm!" Aya said, giving her a big smile. "Guess who else is here—" she made a motion for someone to enter—this being none other than Tsuyoshi Ohki, her long-time boyfriend since Elementary school. "—we couldn't believe our eyes that you're back."
"Sana, hi!" Tsuyoshi said excitedly, his eyes shining as if he had just been crying himself. He, too, also looked the same—his dark brown hair was in its usual style (cut a little shorter since she had last seen him), his glasses were still the round spectacle shapes, and he had grown a little bit taller. "It's been so long, how was L.A.? How were the people? Did you have a good time? How did filming go for your movie?"
"Aw hi Tsuyoshi!" Sana said, her smile never leaving her face as she whacked Tsuyoshi on the back, which caused him to cough from such a jarring motion. "Glad to see you and Aya together in the same class. L.A. was amazing—but I'm really glad to be back in Japan with all of you." Okay, so that last part wasn't exactly true, as she was technically quite nervous, but no-one needed to know that. "How are you two? Anyone else that I know in this class?"
"Oh we're fine," Aya said, giving her a smile before flashing a nervous look between her and Tsuyoshi. "And yeah, we've got Gomi, and Hisae; they just want to get something for the teacher, and we've Mami, and… uhum…" She looked at Tsuyoshi, biting her lip.
Tsuyoshi looked at a confused Sana, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. She would've thought that having so many familiar faces would've been nice in the classroom, and besides, she hadn't seen Gomi, Hisae, and Mami in ages. She was looking forward to catch up with them. "What's up? Who else?" Her heart raced, as she feared that she knew what Tsuyoshi was about to say.
"Look, Sana, there's also—" Tsuyoshi started before the sounds of someone falling into their chair with a huff appeared from behind Aya and Tsuyoshi, which made the two of them turn around, and caused Sana to look between them curiously. Her breath caught in her throat as she locked eyes with honeyed-brown ones, who immediately froze in their activities to stare at her, while Sana stared right back, mouth agape. It was none other than Akito Hayama who was sitting beside her.
Oh great, this was just what I needed.
A/N: Well, what the heck just happened? I updated three days later after my most recent update? I think that it is because I am in a writing mood, but I don't know how long this will last. I also wanted to get the ball rolling on Sana meeting with her friends again. Sometimes I get these spurts of wanting to write stories, but sometimes I get a major lull- we'll see how this goes, and I apologize in advance for very late updates. I'm excited to write the next chapter, but am unsure of when I will be updating next. I don't know if I will ever be able to update as quickly as I just did now! I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'm sorry if any of the dialogue seemed awkward. I'll keep doing my best! I'm so happy that Akito has made his appearance, hehe. And we've got lots of familiar faces :) Also, hooray for a little bit of a longer chapter!
P.S. I'm hoping that I am writing the Japanese senior high-school experience in a correct way. I'm doing a lot of searches to try to make it align with how the schooling system works in Japan. Please let me know if anything is incorrect! Thanks in advance :)