Re-edited to better viewing pleasure...

Weiß Kreuz does not belong to me... I gained no profit but the freedom to play around with my muses....

Fragmented Pieces of My Family 3: Mother Goose

The woman watched all the class emptied away from parents and children. Her eyes looked around the classroom and saw the vacant classroom. The children had put the chairs and desks back to their original position. The extra chairs had already been taken away to the storage room downstairs.

The parent day was over. However she had not felt as if she had done her duty as a teacher. Her eyes lay upon a bag. The owner had not come back yet to fetch it. She sighed. Naoe Nagi had been one of her favorite students. He never got the first rank in each year but she was certain it was not because he was not smart. It was only the matter of his presence in class that held him from getting the first rank.

Ever since he came into the school last year, Naoe had already been taking absence for more than 30% of his school days. She once phoned his guardian, but the foreigner merely told that the boy was not feeling well and could not come to school. He never told what kind of sickness the boy had, she guessed that the guardian sent some health test to the doctor at the school infirmary for the school never made fuss about it. But he could always cope up with the studies anyway. Naoe Nagi was a genius. Nobody doubted about it.

She really loved the child and she always noticed that the boy always ate his lunch alone at the school garden. He never worried about making friends to anyone. He seemed to make a certain barrier from the outside world and she always wondered about it. But that was only until today. The essay revealed quite an answer to her questions. For a boy who had such a past, she wouldn't wonder that he become asocial.

She looked outside the window and wondered where the boy went. She regretted that she didn't try to pursue him when the boy went out from the class. She did call and followed him outside the class, but as she got out of the door, the boy was already gone. The class seemed to be aroused in anxiety. The parents were all talking about him, and the children were whispering to one another. She had to calm them down and told them not to make the problem bigger but to treat the boy nicely – but not too nicely for it might make the boy's distrust towards the society even bigger.

She was also an orphan. Her parents died of a car accident when she was a child. But could live with her old-fashioned grandparents who forbade her to do almost anything she liked. She once also hated the whole world for leaving her all alone. She missed her parents sometimes when she was a child. The children also made fun of her. Being an orphan seemed to be a big mistake.

And this Naoe Nagi; she never knew what happened to his parents. He was transferred from Germany – a very far country, that is. Perhaps that's why his guardian was also a foreigner. Perhaps Naoe's parents used to live abroad and died while they were there.

She never personally met the guardian. He only came once to take the boy in and it was Kawahara-sensei – the second grade teacher – who met him, but she saw him when he came. From all the female teachers at the school, who didn't? The guardian was still young and he was handsome too. But it was a kind of cold beauty that the man gave out. He seemed to be far high in the sky for people to reach. There was this barrier that would never let anyone came closer to him.

She often wondered if a man of that kind could fulfill his duty as a guardian. But somehow she felt, from only a short glance of the two together on the boy's first day that the man did care about the younger one. At least today's essay seemed to show that the boy really looked up to the man.

The sun was going down and the clouds turned husky crimson. She didn't realize how long she stood there gazing to the sky. She sighed and looked down at her watch. It was already late and she had things to do at home. A friend of hers said she would come to her home this afternoon.

The boy still had not come yet.

She packed up her things into her hand bag and walked to the door where she paused to look back at the lonely school bag on top of the table. She hesitated for a few seconds but finally she went back to her desk, took out a note book from her bag and stooped to wrote down a short note to the boy. She left the paper on the school bag and then she left the room.

She loosened her braids and the black curls fell down her back. The room was not spacious; in fact it was rather small. It has two futons already spread on the floor and her friend was lying there lazily reading a woman magazine.
"The parent day was tiring, you know, Chii?" she said as she loosened up her clothes and changed into an over-sized white shirt. She wore only underpants and no bra underneath. They were going to make a small slumber party anyway.

"Lucky for you, you work at the bank and you don't have to deal with those noisy parents," she continued again. Her hand took up a comb from the dressing table and she started to comb her hair.

"Ne, Tomo-chan," said the other girl. She always called the junior high school teacher with her childhood name. "So what the boy you told me the other day write about?" she asked, throwing a jealous glance at the flowing locks on the curvaceous back. "Hey, why not dye your hair with purple tone? I'm sure it would make you gorgeous. Perhaps you could snare a man or two and share one for me?"

Sakoda turned around, "I cannot dye my hair, Chii," she exasperated, "Not while I'm still teaching at that school." She came down from the chair and sat by her best friend. She drew a sigh and looked long at her.

"What?"

"What what?"

"The boy! I mean, you were so anxious to tell me about him and his Greek god guardian, and now that the day's passed you're not going to tell me anything?" Chii demanded. She raised herself and sat. Her shoulder length hair was permed and dyed light brown. Sakoda used to envy the freedom of appearance the other one had.

Sakoda looked away. She wanted to tell her best friend about the whole thing that happened at school that afternoon but she just didn't know where to start. Did she have to tell her about the whole essay? Or did she only had to tell the cover story of it? She always told her best friend about everything, but she didn't feel it decent to just tell others about what the boy had experienced in the past.

"Well, for one thing," she finally voiced, "the gorgeous guardian couldn't make it. The boy said that he was out of town or something."

"Mou, that's not fun!" Chii frowned.

Sakoda knew well that Chii actually was only interested in the guardian. Well, what do you expect from a woman who always fails in love? A handsome man would always do.

"But he's not married, right?" asked Chii again. She seemed to be absorbed in the idea of the foreign guardian and Sakoda felt grateful for that. At least she didn't have to try filtering the essay to her friend.

Sakoda shook her head although she wasn't quite sure. A handsome man such as Mr. Crawford wouldn't find any trouble of picking a woman or two for his pleasure. She couldn't imagine the man getting married though. He seemed to be not made by the heaven for that purpose. Perhaps he could entertain women, but definitely only for the fun of it.

"Good!" Chii voiced, "If he's not married, then you perhaps can take him." She grinned, "I mean, you've been lonely for such a loooong time ever since that stupid Hiro abandoned you. It's time for you to set up a new. I think it would be a dream come true to see you wed this foreigner."

"Chii!" Sakoda screamed, "He's my student's guardian! I cannot do that! And I have only seen him once. That's not going to go anywhere, mind you?"

The man was indeed handsome, but it was not him she was concerning about. It was the boy. She wondered what he's doing right now as she had her fun with a friend who's staying over. The boy didn't have any best friend. She bet he never felt it how to stay at a friend's house and spend the whole night chatting and playing together. That was just sad.

"I'm taking a shower now." Sakoda stood, "Maybe next time I should stay over at your place. I'm dying to take a bath." She frowned, "When I get a raise I'd move to a bigger place with ofuro so I can take a bath as I please."

"You'd better do so, Tomo-chan," Chii answered, "I don't like to have a friend staying over at my house because my mother would always knock our door before midnight and tell us to go to sleep."

She stepped into the shower and drew close the curtain. Soon hot water came pouring upon her body. It was relaxing to have the liquid trickle over your body. It soothed away tiredness and troubles. Ofuro was a better option but she could not yet afford a room with one.

Her mind floated once again towards the boy. Was he trying to suppress a cry then? She wondered. Maybe she would to ask him to talk tomorrow at after school. She despised having to act up herself in order to be seen discipline as the school demanded from its teachers, but she sure loved to teach. She also cared about each one of the children in her class. She knew most of them well and they knew her quite well.

"I hate shepherd who abandons his flock," someone hissed in her ears.

- tbc -

Yeah, I just wanna write down how an outsider sees Nagi... I think this works just fine.... tell me what you think...

Now, please push down the button below and tell me what you think about Sakoda Tomoko the teacher.