Trying the Impossible

Noda followed me silently until we got to station. I was surprised he had even followed me this far without any questions. Or maybe it was because I didn't say anything to him about what happened that made him follow along. There were a couple of times as we walked that I considered just taking him anywhere else, but I pressed on. I just hoped that we wouldn't run into any police officers who would for sure assume that we were ditching school…which we technically were.

We passed under the station towards the harbor. The waterfront was clear today and there was a nice breeze. Despite this, there were hardly any people around. I couldn't tell Noda, but this was one of my favorite parts of my walk home.

"What are we doing here?" he asked grumpily.

"You'll see," I said.

But as we got further from the station and closer to the bay, Noda began to act nervous.

"You sure about this?" he asked.

I wasn't, but I answered, "Yeah." We turned a couple of corners before we reached our destination.

"What's this?" Noda asked as we stood in front of the small café.

"Come on," I said, pulling him inside.

Shun looked up from the cash register and raised his eyebrow when he saw me. His expression changed to one of suspicion and apprehension when he saw Noda trailing in behind me. I shot Shun a pleading look and he gave me a short nod, though he looked displeased. But it was to be expected.

"Sit here," I said, motioning to an empty seat near the back of the café. Noda sat, looking around. The small café was mostly empty, as it usually was around this time except for the occasional couple or an elderly person stopping by for some coffee. I grabbed a first aid kit and dropped it off on the table.

"You can do it yourself, right?" I asked, and Noda nodded before taking a gauze and wiping the blood off his lip.

I ran quickly to the back and changed into my work clothes, which consisted of a white collared shirt, a black vest, a black skirt and a red apron. I rolled up my sleeves and fixed my collar before stepping back out into the café.

"So what do you want to drink?" I asked, holding out a menu. Noda looked up at me and stared, taking in my uniform.

"Don't you dare laugh," I growled, but he couldn't hold it in. It was nice to see him smiling again.

"Is that really you?" he asked me with a grin, before accepting the menu. "What's good here?" he asked me after scanning over the menu for a minute or two.

"I'd recommend a latte, or maybe a fruit smoothie if you don't drink coffee," I said.

"A latte it is, then," he said with a smile and handed back the menu.

I picked up the first aid kit and put it back before walking behind the counter to begin assembling the ingredients. Shun leaned against the counter, watching me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked calmly.

"My classmate…he needed to get out for a moment," I said nervously, pulling milk from the mini fridge.

He sighed. "We just talked about this. Ditching isn't going to help you graduate."

I stopped what I was doing to look at him. "I know...but...I couldn't just leave him like that."

Shun didn't look convinced but he didn't stop me. I was already here and so was Noda.

"We'll talk about this later," was all he said.

I sat in the seat across from Noda when Shun told me that he could handle the customers himself.

"Feeling better?" I asked.

Noda was staring out the window, resting his chin on his hand, arm propped up on the table. He glanced over at me, clearly annoyed.

"I wish that stupid teacher would leave me alone," he muttered. By stupid teacher, I knew he meant Yankumi. "I hate her pretty words. They don't mean crap to me."

"…You really did like Fujiyama, though," I said softly. He looked away again, his fists clenched but his eyes mournful.

"I know what I did was low. No one has to tell me that. But when she…when she threw away the necklace…"

He couldn't finish the sentence, so I let the silence sink in. I was thinking about when I had faced a painful rejection like that when Noda cleared his throat.

"Kana, have you ever really liked someone?"

I was startled by his question. "Umm…"

"Or do you have someone right now?"

"No, no, that's not it," I said quickly. I hadn't realized that Noda might ask me about my own love life. For a second, I wavered between answering him honestly and brushing it off. But Noda hadn't followed me all this way to hear me lie.

"Yes…I have," I said finally.

"Eh, really?" he asked me.

I nodded. "I met him at a time when I thought no one loved me. I would have done anything for him…and in a way, I did."

"…but?" Noda asked. It wasn't in a way that was nosy but just genuinely curious.

I laughed bitterly. "I was so blinded by my feelings for him that I couldn't see that our relationship was becoming toxic. When I finally tried to leave…I lost everything."

At his concerned look, I quickly finished the story. "But I turned out okay because I ended up here."

"But isn't this area…?"

So he had heard about Shun, or at least the rumors about this part of town. I had guessed as much from the way he acted on the way here.

"You know how each area of this city comes with its own rumors? Don't go there because people are up to no good. You shouldn't even try owning a business here because so-and-so gang are completely in control of the block. Even the high school you go to supposedly determines what kind of person you are," I said, pausing to see if Noda was following. "I don't know what you've heard about this area and the people who run things around here, but I can guess. But this was and is the only place I can go to when I have nowhere else."

Noda silently nodded, trying to process this information.

"Hey, don't tell the others about this place, okay?" I said after a pause.

Noda looked at me, surprised. "Why not?"

"Well…people aren't supposed to know about me working here."

"Then why did you…" he began, but then he stopped. "…aren't you afraid I'll rat you out?"

I stood up. "Guess I'll have to trust you on that one," I said. "Stay as long as you like, but I have to get back to work."

Noda stayed for a little while longer, and I sometimes caught him watching me and Shun. I had a feeling that even though he knew about Shun, he didn't know what he looked like, so my secret was safe for now. He probably wanted to know how I even began working here, but I was glad he didn't ask.

"I told you it was a bad idea to bring him here. You're risking everything," Shun said to me when Noda left and I told him about what Noda had done. "This isn't even about me. What if one day, you piss him off and he takes a picture of you here and sends it to the school, huh? Then where will you be?"

"…I don't think he'd do that again. This time, he wasn't thinking about the potential consequences of his actions…"

"And neither are you," Shun said sternly.

There was nothing I could say in reply.

Sawada called me later in the day. "Are you still with Noda?"

"No...why?"

"Apparently, the PTA heard about Fujiyama and they stormed into the teacher's lounge, demanding that she get fired."

I guess that even at a school like Shirokin, no parent wanted their child to be taught by a hostess*. Part of me wondered if this was going a lot further than Noda had intended.

Noda didn't show up to school the next day. The others asked me if I knew where he might be, but I honestly had no clue. They didn't question me about what had happened when we left class the day before, even though I could tell that they were itching to.

Yankumi came into the room. "Fujiyama Sensei is on a one week suspension from teaching class. However, she might get fired."

"What?!" the class chorused in shock. They were honestly that surprised?

"But Sawatari Vice Principal has promised that she will not get fired on one condition."

"What's that?" Minami asked.

Yankumi let out a small laugh. "All of you in this class will have to pass the English midterm that's a week from now with a 30% or higher."

The class immediately erupted into groans of "Impossible!" and "30%?!"

Yankumi's confident smile fell. "What? It's just 30%!" she insisted.

"Yankumi, have you even seen our grades?" Oishi asked her.

"I only get single digit percentages in all my classes!" Gamo said.

"My highest grade ever is 18%!" Chikamatsu told her, almost as if bragging.

"You guys are really that stupid?" Yankumi asked, mostly to herself.

"You just noticed?" Yagyu cut in, and she sighed.

"Please, can't you guys just work really really hard?" Yankumi said pleadingly, hands clasped together.

If it were only a matter of trying hard…English was one of my worst subjects and while I could probably manage a 30%, there were other subjects to study for as well.

"If Fujiyama Sensei does get fired, Noda will find it even harder to come to school and he might drop out altogether," Yankumi continued.

I looked up at her. Now that was something I hadn't thought about.

"But it's impossible! There's no way we could ALL get above 30%!" Uchi said, clearly frustrated.

"Okay, fine. From today to the day of the test, I'll hold a special English review session after school," Yankumi sighed.

"After school? No way!" was the class's response.

But why would Yankumi actually commit to something like that just to keep one teacher and one student from leaving this school? I thought of the way she punched him yesterday, so hard that he actually bled. Wouldn't it be harder for her if he did come back? The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a no-merit situation for Yankumi.

By the time Yankumi's English review session was about to start, everyone had left class. While the five of us were walking out to the school gate, Kuma suddenly stopped.

"I'm going to attend Yankumi's English thing," he said. "She's helped me out before, so yeah." With that, he turned and began to walk back.

"I guess I'll go too, since we're always causing her trouble and stuff," Minami said, walking after Kuma.

"Oh, please. I guess there's no choice! I owe her one anyways," Uchi said brightly, leaving me and Sawada behind.

I hesitated. Shun would probably give me a little bit of leeway today, since I came to work early yesterday. Yankumi did help us out when Uchi was in trouble. And even though I didn't feel like I owed Fujiyama anything, I would at least try for Noda.

"Might as well get all the help I can get," I sighed, and walked after Uchi. Sawada followed behind me without a word.

"What, you're actually coming too?" Uchi asked me when I caught up to him.

"Yeah, if you pull your pants up," I said, sticking my tongue out at him. "I can see your boxers. Seriously, put that away."

"You're so not cute," Uchi grumbled, pulling me into a headlock as we walked on.

When we got to the class, we saw Yankumi slouched over a huge stack of books, looking depressed. Sawada tapped her shoulder and stuck his finger out, poking her cheek when she turned.

"Stupid," he said with no expression whatsoever, while the other guys snickered.

"You guys…you came!" she said happily, as if she couldn't care less that she was being made fun of. Sawada picked up one of her flyers.

"Class 3-D aim to get 30% or higher on the English final. Day 1," I read, peering over his shoulder. "Let's Bigin…?"

"Misspell," Sawada said, pointing at "bigin".

"Really?" Yankumi asked.

"B-E-G-I-N, not bigin," he explained.

"Wow Sawada! You're a genius!" she exclaimed.

"I learned that in middle school," he muttered.

"Yankumi, are you sure you can teach us English like this?" Uchi asked worriedly.

"Yeah, you're so unreliable," Minami groaned.

"Come on, let's start!" Kuma said impatiently.

"Yes, let's!" Yankumi said, skirting Uchi and Minami's concerns.

"Oh yeah. Yamaguchi Kumiko Sensei," Uchi started, putting an arm around Minami and Kuma, "We three don't know our cursive, so…"

"Good luck," they said in unison.

Yankumi sighed while I looked on in amusement. Misspell or not, I couldn't believe she had actually managed to put together a packet for the review session in less than a day. If only Noda could see this…

"ABCDEFG!" Minami, Uchi, and Kuma sang loudly as we headed home. They added the occasional "hey hey hey" for effect as well as to mask any letters they had forgotten. I laughed when they stumbled over "LMNOP".

Sawada suddenly stopped and pointed to the riverbank. A familiar figure lay on the grass.

"Noda!" the guys shouted and ran over to him.

"What are you doing here?" Minami asked him.

"Not much," he responded nonchalantly.

"Hey, come back to school. Yankumi's started an English class, and you won't even believe all the stuff she's trying to make us learn!" Kuma said.

"Yeah, it's a pain," Uchi added, laughing along. "Even though we're the only ones that showed up."

Noda showed disinterest until Sawada said, "Fujiyama's possibly getting fired." It was then that Noda sat up in shock. So he hadn't anticipated this happening.

"But she won't if the entire class gets a 30% or higher on the English final," I said as Sawada showed him on of Yankumi's flyers.

"She said it's not just for Fujiyama but for you as well," Sawada explained.

After glancing at it, Noda pushed it away and got up.

"Leave me alone," was all he said before walking away.

We all looked at each other. But what could we do?

When I parted ways with the guys and finally got to the café, I wasn't surprised to see Noda there, a brooding look on his face.

"Another latte?" I asked him after I changed. He nodded.

I saw Shun give me a look, but I ignored him. Noda wasn't a threat as far as I was concerned.

"Look, you're welcome to come here anytime, but you won't save Fujiyama by just sitting here," I said after handing him his latte.

Noda looked up at me and frowned. "But…" He fell silent.

"I'm guessing that if you don't take the test, Sawatari will automatically give you a 0, which is what he would want," I said. "Even if you don't forgive Fujiyama, you don't want to play into Sawatari's hand, do you?"

"Wait," he said as I began to walk away. "…You don't think it's too late?"

"You never know," I replied with a shrug. "I mean, the class isn't even interested in showing up for Yankumi's review sessions." Honestly, our whole class passing with a 30% would be quite a feat, but who knew? Maybe we'd be able to pull it off with some miracle. But we had to try…

"Why is he back? And why are you rewarding his behavior with lattes?" Shun demanded.

"Shun, you're the one who taught me to focus not on what someone did, but why they did it," I said with all of the courage I could muster. "He feels rejected and ashamed and lost all at once right now."

When Shun stared at me, speechless, I was tempted to see how far I could take this.

"See, I do listen to what you lecture me about," I said cheekily.

"Get back to work," he finally growled, swatting my head with a towel. "I really do hope you know what you're doing," I heard him mutter under his breath.

I hoped so too.

Author's Note:

*hostess: a woman who acts as a companion to the (usually) male client who pays for her company. This is usually restricted to a particular venue, called a kyabakura or a hostess bar, but some hostesses are known to keep high-paying clients happy by offering them services outside of their workplace. There's usually a negative stigma surrounding this whole business, even though it technically isn't prostitution. Sorry I didn't explain this in the last chapter.

Thank you so so much for following my story and leaving such kind comments.

One of the few things I regret about the way that I'm writing this is that I can't include all the wise gems that Yankumi's grandpa tells her as Yankumi struggles with the different situations her students are in. In this particular episode, he says,

"People (in difficult situations) are only about to get back on their feet when they meet people they can trust".

Even if Yankumi's grandpa doesn't appear for a while or as often in this story, I hope I can include the sentiments of all the wise things he imparts on Yankumi and her students.

Thank you again for reading! ^^ As always, I would love to hear your thoughts/questions. Feel free to send me a private message if you'd like!

Happy Halloween!