Chapter 5: Surprise

A jolt of surprise went through her body when she was awoken rudely by her father. She rubbed her eyes, trying to orient herself.

She apparently did not sleep in her bed, as her back was crying in pain from the very uncomfortable position she slept in on her desk. She did not even remember falling asleep.

She recalled that she cried a bit again after Kanade left. She sat down on her chair and cursed herself, her friend, and her father. After all, someone was to blame, right? That was the last thing she remembered before being woken by her dad.

Neither of the two spoke a word to one another as they went through their morning routine. Not that this was very different from their other mornings, but this day, of course, after what happened, carried a very heavy atmosphere with it.

The air was cold out. Too cold for this time of year, honestly. It felt like the world itself shivered from the tension between Tsubasa and her father. The sky was thick with clouds, hanging over them like grey, judging eyes.

The drive to the school was as uneventful as silent. Tsubasa thought about turning on the radio to have at least some music to kill the unbearable quietude, but she was afraid that this would give her father a reason to start speaking, and she really did not want to hear a word from him right now.

Arriving at school, her classroom teacher was waiting for her at the school entrance. She mustered Tsubasa with a mix of anger and worry as she left the car. Her father did not, he stayed in the vehicle and regarded his daughter with a stern look as she stepped up to the teacher and greeted her carefully.

Her teacher extended her hand towards the school and Tsubasa followed her invitation. Both of them turned around while walking to see her father drive off, apparently content with having his daughter supervised.

"Is everything okay", the teacher suddenly asked.

Tsubasa was stumped for a second. She did not expect her to say anything, let alone show concern for her. "Um… sure, yeah", she answered.

But her teacher threw her an uneasy look. She knew Tsubasa. She was quiet, an outsider. But she was very good in her academics and never skipped a day of school. Something was up with her, she knew that, so she decided to keep an eye on the young girl.

The fellow students in the classroom did not say anything when she entered. No questions, no whispered remarks. She also got no weird looks from them, as they most likely did not even notice she was gone yesterday. So, she quietly sat down on her table next to the window, like every day.

Tsubasa did not know how much she missed yesterday, but judging by the topics her teacher glanced over, it did not seem to be anything significant. Everything seemed as if she was never gone. And in a way, she liked it that way. Sure, yesterday was exciting, new, but she likes the routine of her boring life just as much. It's what she is used to, after all.

As such, the first class passed by pretty uneventful. The teacher wrote stuff on the board, she copied it into her notebook. The teacher gave out pages with questions and terms, and she answered them. Every now and then, her mind wandered off to the previous day: The subway ride and the people; the music blaring from every corner. She had fun, even if they weren't able to do what they set out to do. Maybe they could go again sometime, maybe on a Sunday.

She finished her page quickly and correctly, as expected of a Kazanari. Her teacher had no more topics for her to work through at the moment, so she decided to enjoy the view from her window. The classroom was in the second floor, and from her seat she could see all the way down to the schoolyard, with its large circular fountain in the middle and the beautiful trees standing on the corners of the four walkways leading up to said spring. The wind still went rather strong, as indicated by the shaking leaves.

She enjoyed the view a lot. When it was class and everyone was inside the building, the whole picture looked almost magical, similar to a painting. Too beautiful to be real. And so fragile that the mere presence of people destroyed it.

Which is why she felt a sting of discontent as she saw a person walk over the yard, seemingly searching for something or someone.

Tsubasa was almost furious, as ridiculous as she herself thought her feeling to be. Didn't this student down there know that she was defiling her favorite view? Not only was her existence unwanted, but her appearance clashed with her surroundings. Her red hair alone did not go well with the green trees. If she could, Tsubasa would open a window and tell her to fu-

Wait.

Red hair?

Tsubasa almost jumped out of her chair when she realized who was walking down there. "Kanade", she whispered in shock.

"Kazanari-san", came the voice of her teacher, "what's wrong?" Quickly, she stepped to the window to take a look out herself. A few students echoed her movement.

But it was too late. When Tsubasa looked back to the yard, there was no Kanade anywhere. Seemed like she went inside the building. Maybe for the better, who knows what trouble she would have gotten into if she was caught.

But what was she doing here anyway?

Was she following her as she was driven by her dad? Or did she just try her luck in the next school nearby? Possible, Kanade knew which way she took to school every day, and the uniform she had to wear was a dead giveaway.

"Nothing", the young girl answered quietly, "sorry. I just thought I saw something…"

And here came the whispers. Tsubasa spoke rarely in class; in general, really. So, her sudden and unprecedented behavior must of course have enticed her classmates to gossip. Great. Just what she needed.

Then came the lunch break. Like every day, the young girl took her little box with food and walked down to the far corner of the yard, far away from the fountain, the main gathering spot for the students of the school. She sat down on the grass, underneath one of the large trees, and prepared for lunch.

She was chewing on a piece of sausage, when a familiar voice called out to her: "Hey, there you are!"

Tsubasa almost choked on her food.

"I was looking for you all over", Kanade cheerfully said, as she sat down next to her.

Couching still and with strained voice, the younger girl asked: "What are you doing here?"

"What? Can't visit my best friend anymore?" The redhead locked her hands behind her head and rested against the tree.

Tsubasa's eyes darted across the yard, fearful of any eyes directed towards the two. "Are you insane", she whispered, "do you know what will happen when a teacher sees you?"

"What can they do? Kick me out? Man, am I scared."

Tsubasa decided to get back to her lunch and ignore what her friend had to say. The scolding form last night was still fresh in her mind, and she did not want to experience that again.

"Wanna ditch this place?"

She regarded her friend with a look of disbelieve. "You can't be serious! You saw what happened. I don't want to go through that again. No way."

Kanade snorted. "You really are a prim and proper daddy's girl, huh?"

Tsubasa took another bite from her food. "No, I just don't want to jeopardize what was given to me, okay?"

"Goddamn", Kanade spat out, "listen to yourself. You sound just like your dad last night. I thought you wanted to not be like him!"

Tsubasa jammed her box of food down onto the grass with such force that the rice spilled everywhere. "No", she argued loudly, "I wanted to see something new, change myself. I never said that I wanted to turn my back on my family!"

Her friend seemed to be unimpressed. She rolled her eyes with a sigh and stood up from the tree. "I'll come back when you cooled your head a bit. Seems like you're still hung up on the scolding from yesterday."

As Kanade left the proximity, Tsubasa dared a careful look around. She could see a few pairs of eyes looking in her direction, regarding her with a mix of pity and judgment. She ignored them, she was used to those types of looks. What she wasn't used to, however, was her teacher looking at her from across the yard, cellphone on her ear.

Tsubasa sighed. She was talking to her father. She was sure of it. A complete stranger to the school suddenly showed up and talked to the daughter of the most influential family of Japan, a day after said daughter skipped school for unknown reasons. Could this get any worse?

On her way back to the classroom Tsubasa found herself being stopped by her teacher in the hallway.

"Excuse me, Kazanari-san?"

For a second, Tsubasa honestly thought about pretending not to hear her. But, considering she would see her teacher in class anyway, she decided to react: "Yes? How can I help you?"

Her teacher led her over to the windows, letting the rest of the students walk past. "Who were you talking to?"

And there was the question she feared. Should she answer honestly? What would her teacher tell her father? What about Kanade? Would she get in trouble too? She needed more time to think of a reply, just a few more seconds. So, she decided to stall.

"What do you mean?"

"In the schoolyard. I've never seen you so upset. You're usually not one to raise your voice like this. What happened?" Her voice was gentle, almost motherly.

And this tone convinced her to tell her. Tsubasa sighed. Her breath fogged the window. "We had an argument. Nothing major, just…"

She felt her teacher rest a warm hand on her shoulder, signaling support.

"She was the one who convinced me to skip school yesterday. She tried to get me to do it again."

"But you did not want to", her teacher concluded.

She nodded. "I told her that I feel bad for what I did yesterday. I honestly do."

"That's good", her teacher replied with a gentle smile.

Tsubasa took a deep breath and stared out the window, observing how the dark clouds in the sky wandered over the horizon. She imagined being on of them. High up there, without any fears and liabilities. Just free, just being.

"You should get to class now", the teacher said, pulling her out of her dream.

Tsubasa nodded embarrassed and excused herself to her room.

She did not see how her teacher pulled out her cellphone again to make another call.