Spring in my opinion is the most interesting season. As it implies, the start of something new. It implies change but in a positive way rather than autumn that implies the end of something. But shouldn't spring be also depicting end as a beginning is only possible when another thing is ending. So why it is only one among two which is portrayed in more positive way? Shouldn't autumn also depict starting?
As for us high schoolers our each new year starts in this season. For me I am just sitting on my desk, ignoring my history teacher as I have already studied the content he is teaching. My desk is located near the back door of class, so I can't see the school grounds, ughh I am getting bored. My classmates looks like also share the same sentiment. Droopy eyes all around the class except a few. And the old man is also ignoring us same way i.e still continuing lecture. Hey shouldn't you try motivating us?
"And then………."
RING-RING-RING
Ahh finally, inner peace.
"So class will end here for today please revise the topics at home, thank you" and there he exits. And as the teacher left my shoulders relaxed to some abnormal level like I had no bones, my elbows created a soft cushion so that I could crash my head safely on them.
As I was relaxing, I saw 2 figures approaching me.
"Hey Hikigaya, did you brought that book today" asked Fukuda and Kazuto beside him started shake me to get a response.
Fukuda and Kazuto were my fellow 2-F classmates and close acquaintances. Fukuda was a somewhat skinnier side of spectrum. He had brown eyes which matched his hair, as for his skin it was pale, very pale. The first time I saw him I mistook him for a mannequin. As for Kazuto he was of average build. He wore his uniform diligently according to rules, which believe me, was very rare at Soubu. His eyes and hair were of raven black color.
These two were basically only students which I converse on a regular basis. Well at Soubu you can say there is a social hierarchy. Your position on this hierarchy scale or lets say power pyramid determines who you should communicate with. Therefore, due to my somewhat unique personality and equally or more unique eyes I was unable to make a good impression at my first year of High School. But still I tried to be approachable as I can therefore not becoming a total SHUT IN in High School. Due to that I still had interactions with my classmates but was still unable to integrate myself into a clique.
As for these two they were a part of literature club and needed a member so that school can recognize them as a proper club. In autumn of my first year they asked me to join me. For me I took that as my last chance to avoid a lonely High School life. But after talking it out after that I came to understand they just wanted my name for documentation purposes only and after that I can just carry out as I want. But hey for my shadow membership they allowed me to burrow books that they ordered with the budget allocated by the school after their recognition.
As for the book that they were asking was still being read by me. So I just had to decline.
"Uhh Sorry Fukuda but can you give me 3 more days you see I am still reading it"
For extra measure I clapped my hands in front of my chest.
Hearing my reply at first I could have seen some anger on his face but after a second or two it was converted into a look of minor grief. After some more seconds a sigh escaped his mouth.
"Haah , okay but can you bring it before next weekend our advisor wants to see the collection we bought this month."
Nodding to him I made my way to my designated spot to spend my lunch.
Xxxx
After the recess, nothing noteworthy happened, as usual (at least for me). Same old periods and teachers who do their job and leave other to take his/her place. But still among the teachers one always stand out for me. And that one teacher is Ms Hiratsuka Shizuka or Hiratsuka sensei.
Hiratsuka sensei usually wore big lab coat with basic working attire, which reached her 4 or 5 inches above her ankles which is usually weird as not only the coat stands out more but she is actually in charge of a humanity based subject. Also she was attractive enough to be considered a model. A face which looked younger than it actually is and a figure the girls would kill to get. As for teaching, she usually liked to deter from norm and teach with methods which she saw were effective. Overall she is a pretty quirky teacher.
In my first year I never had chance to be taught by her but I still knew about her, which is pretty big deal considering I only know names of two people from my class i.e Fukuda and Kazuto. This fascination only started to grow bigger when I came to know she was our homeroom teacher for second year. Finally don't know but by some godforsaken luck she decided to put extra attention on me. At first I thought it was because she had high expectations from me as I was placed second in school in her subject. But slowly by slowly I came to a conclusion it was not, it is not like I know the real reason even after 1 month but I am really sure it was not my initial theory. Still the time I spend with her is usually pretty lax and it provides a breath of fresh air as I am usually alone in my class, so the interactions with her helps me to maintain some social bones in my body. With my time with her I realized we had a large pool of common interests based on anime, manga, literature. Her conversational skills were pretty good too so I never had to put a large amount effort which made talking with her pretty relaxing and excitable at the same time. I swear to god if only I was born 7 or 8 years older I would have confessed to her and rejected on spot. But hey if I was only going to be rejected why I should be wish to born earlier. Maybe my relationship with her at the time is best outcome.
As for why, I am thinking about this. It was because I was requested by her to bring her supplies to her assigned table in staff room as she was called by principal. The supplies consisted of her teaching manual, a handbag with her teaching supplies and the big stack of paper which if I am being correct is the project she gave us to work on the first day of school. According to her she wanted to see what we could accomplish in a month so she can set a standard of what to accept from us in future.
As for the project itself was to prepare a full report on any topic you find interesting. Many of my classmates got pretty excited over the freedom we got and made a pretty big booklet out of that. Darn those brats because of them I had to carry this heavy stack. Couldn't they just have made a report in 2 or three pages maximum? But it can be hypocritical of me when thinking I made 400 page report on how great Chiba is. Nah it is a perfectly appropriate that Chiba should get at least this much paper.
By the time I was contemplating that I should have added more on my assignment I had already reached the staffroom. Resigning to fulfill my desire due to lack of time and will to provide more effort I knocked on the door. After some seconds the math's teacher opened the room. Due to my interactions with sensei I was you could say regular here. With a minor eye contact between me and math teacher I entered the room he didn't say anything as it had become a norm of me visiting here every other day or free period. It was at a stage you could say they should give me my own table here. With my feet naturally making a way towards the guidance counselor cubicle I thanked the teacher for uhh…. courtesy.
With a month of navigation here I made my way to the cubicle. Opening the door with key sensei gave me before offloading the task on me. I entered and slammed the stack and other items on the table. Taking a breath to relax myself I sat down on the sofa present. If I had to say sensei being a counselor is a good thing as she provided her own cubicle to work. The cubicle is not that great but still a three seated sofa and two one seated sofa on each side of a big wooden rectangular table and an office chair at the remaining side to complete the setup. The office chair naturally belonging to sensei and other seats to be occupied by other occupants in the room, at the time me.
After making myself comfortable I decided to at least wait for sensei so that I could return the key to her in person. I mean if I gave it to any teacher it would make sensei action seem reckless for a teacher to give the key to a student and not wanting to lower her image I begrudgingly decided to wait at least I have 2 hours until Komachi arrives at home.
To pass the time I decided to observe the nearest thing present before me which in the case was the stack I carried with other stacks which already were there, maybe of other sections of year where she gave the project. The files which were present had a variety of appearance i.e colored pages, ribbons, stickers, there were even some elaborate folders which are used by company workers. In short the student had shown a great interest in the assignment. But the stack that caught my most attention was not one of these flashy files but a simple one. The file was kept away from every stack that was present on the table. It was inside a simple transparent file holder. It had colored pages from what I can see but nothing too special. But still this file demanded my attention more than any other. With its simplicity it stood out as a black sheep from its other counterparts.
After some time I realized I had subconsciously picked up this intriguing set of paper. Getting a closer look at it I found it certainly was more unique. The papers were put too perfectly on top of each other, rather the sheets on which it was written were too clean and had a feel it wasn't handmade buy printed and assembled by machines. It was just too perfect.
Contemplating for some time, I decided to open the file out of curiosity to check its content. Still finding it inappropriate to see some other student work without his/her permission I decided to skip the first page after the cover so I don't see the name of maker. Upon laying my eyes on the second page I was surprised to see the work itself. If the outer appearance looked like it was machine made the inner one made the impression of perfection more resolute. The topic itself was not something too special i.e. "Political history of Japan" but the structure, details and every other thing was like I had downloaded this work but still some metaphors here and there challenged to prove it wrong. The work made an impression that it was not made for purpose of fun like its counterparts but to show its superiority to them.
After reading it, I still waited for around 30 more minutes until sensei came. She gave me a can of max and apologized for making me wait for this long after school hours. But as I was late and didn't wanted my dear sister to come to an empty house I just said 'it's okay, just be careful next time" and left in hurry.
As I reached the bicycle stand, I noticed that it was basically evening. The sun was just a few inches above from horizon. The Sakura petals which during lunch were shining beautifully in sunlight now reflected a somewhat orangish hue with its natural pink. Still I had no time to revel in its glory as I didn't want to risk more time getting home therefore I hurried and unlocked my trusty ride and hopped on it.
Pedaling through the streets I had become familiar from a year I had a random thought or wish.
'I will like to meet the writer of that file someday'
Author note
So I am back. With my tests over I am free now but still due to my inexperience in this language the updates will be slow i.e. atleast once in two weeks. I am not much of a writer but still I would like if you all can give me advice so I can improve. The criticism will be welcomed but please don't be too toxic. At last I would like to thank you for taking some time to read this mediocre work of mine. For until we meet again stay healthy and SAYONARA .
