Chapter II: First Impression: Make or Break?
A/N: The education system here may differ from the actual Japanese education system but who said that they were living in Japan anyway? Here you go, Gigiaten! Enjoy! XD
In East Touka City (Petalburg City) Academy, students were required to take up several academic units, one extra-curricular subject of their choice (Art, Home Economics, and Music), and at least one Pokemon field of their choice: battling, coordinating, breeding, medicine, and officiating. Simply speaking, it means Haruka (May) has to complete subjects like Math, English, History, Science, P.E., Home Economics, and the Pokemon field of her choice: coordinating. Since the school doesn't have an official uniform, they actually allow the students to come in their casual or adventure outfits. In the case of Haruka: a red bandana on the head, a red shirt with a hint of black around the collar, a pair of white gloves with a hint of dark blue on the fingers, a white skirt with a pair of black shorts underneath, a pair of black socks, and a pair of red sneakers with a hint of yellow. She sat down on the desk nearest to the door; Kanata (Kelly) was on her adjacent right side. Along with their fellow classmates, they were all waiting for their teacher for the first period: homeroom.
At exactly eight o' clock, their teacher finally entered the classroom. One distinguishable feature about their teacher is a mole on his chin…complete with a strand of hair growing out of it like pushing a daisy out in the open from the soil.
"Good morning, class. I will be your adviser for this school year. My name is Shigeo Nagase but you can call me Naga-sensei. Now that I've introduced myself, it's your turn. Who would like to volunteer first?"
As expected of a class of complete strangers, nobody dared to raise their hand. Pairs of friends started pointing to one another. Well, it was expected of the first day of school. They were just on the process of getting to know each other. Naga-sensei grabbed his record book and turned the page on his advisory class where a list of names appeared.
"Shy people, aren't we? Well, I'll just have to do this the blind man's way." He closed his eyes and raised his pointing finger at head level. The students looked at his pointing finger as it nosedived down to the page…and down to a certain name. Finally, he opened his eyes to see who was the lucky boy or girl.
"Ah yes, Kumano Haruka-san."
The brunette girl felt a chill run up her back just by hearing her name.
"Oh I wonder who she could be, kamo." She pretended not to be Haruka for the moment just to dodge the bullet.
It was no use. All of her classmates looked at her just because she was the first one to speak.
"Come on, Haruka. First impressions always count." Kanata whispered.
"But I feel nervous, kamo."
"Then this is good practice to overcome your nervousness when seeing Satoshi. Get in there and be a man!"
"Kanata…I'm a girl kamo."
"Oops…" Kanata quickly covered her mouth with her gloved hands. "Sorry, my bad…"
She stood up from her seat and went up the platform facing her classmates. Even at such a small audience stage fright can really take the toll out of her. She was practically shaking from head to toe while being stared at by her fellow classmates. It felt like slithering packs of Habunake (Seviper) were glaring at her.
"Wait a minute…" The teacher took a good look at her face. "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?"
"Oh, maybe several minutes ago?" Haruka laughed lightly. "When you called my name? Ha, ha, ha, ha…"
"Anyway, maybe it's just my imagination. Please carry on."
"O-Okay…" She faced the class, took a deep breath, and introduced herself. "My name is Kumano Haruka. It's a pleasure to—"
"HOOOOOLD EVERYTHING…!" The teacher suddenly exploded in a burst of hysteria that caught everybody by surprise.
"EEEEEEEEK…! What's the matter, sensei?"
"I know you! You're last year's Ms. Kawaii!I knew it!" The teacher slammed his hands flat on the table.
"Oh no…I was hoping nobody would remember that, kamo."
"I happen to be one of the judges during that time. Your signature cutesy pose has overwhelmed the competition. Believe me; the other judges were astounded by your performance as well."
"Oh…I'm very honored…ha, ha, ha, ha…"
"I know: why don't you do that winning pose as your introduction? Even the boys of this class are agreeing to what I'm saying."
"EEEEEEEEEHHHH…?"
"(It's official. This guy's a complete pervert.)" Kanata's thoughts ran amok inside her head while giving her teacher a serious stare. "(I told you you're going to need luck.)"
What's even worse for Haruka is 80 percent of the class consists of boys. She felt like she was in a familiar TV series where a certain senior class is chock full of delinquents.
"I also happen to be your teacher in Math." Naga-sensei whispered something into Haruka's ear. "I'll give you a good grade for today in that subject. How does that sound?"
"How do I know you're not lying?" She asked sternly; although she somehow needed a good start in one of her weakest academic subjects.
"You can slit my belly with a knife later if I don't keep my word."
"No thanks, I'll do it for the high mark."
"Good girl; do it for the class and make us proud."
Finally, she decided to go for broke and do the embarrassing pose one more time. As much as Kanata couldn't believe her eyes, this is her friend she's talking about. She tends to do weird stuff at the most conspicuous places at the most conspicuous time.
"(Okay Haruka, just calm down. You've done this before. You can do it once more.)" She consulted with her conscience before executing the move that made her a winner. It wasn't much of a winning move anyway. It was as simple as smiling before the audience, making a single successful spin, striking a sexy pose before the camera, and finishing it off with the traditional "cherry on top" which means a wink of an eye.
"Hello everyone, I'm Haruka—the girl with style, kamo!"
"(Please don't push your luck, Haruka. Seeing you on stage is embarrassing enough.)" Kanata said to herself; her gloved hands covering her face.
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Lunchtime: almost every student at school is always anticipating for it. To make it short, it was their second favorite subject next to dismissal. During this time, the school cafeteria was full. Others had to settle for take-outs and had to eat someplace else. Haruka and Kanata went a few floors up to the rooftop where the breeze was just right. Aside from the cool breeze, they were also granted access to the view of the entire campus—even the elementary school building where her brother Masato is right now.
As soon as Haruka opened her lunch boxes, she suddenly didn't feel like eating anymore. The two boxes that comprised her simple yet scrumptious meal were both full of rice.
"H-How could this have happened?" She panicked instead. "I'm sure I had some egg rolls in here!"
"That's very unusual." Kanata replied; laughing. "The girl with style fails at preparing her own lunch with style, kamo."
"It's not funny, Kanata! Masato must have the other box. But I'm not allowed inside the elementary school building. And stop using my signature word!"
"Look at the bright side. Rice gives you energy to do work, anyway."
"If I only had a salt shaker with me, I could make rice balls out of these." Haruka began hitting her head against the wall (of course, not to the extremely skull-cracking extent). "Aw man, the first day of school and I screw up in making my own lunch, kamo."
A few minutes later, somebody decided to eat at the rooftop and entered the premises as well. The brunette girl's nerves of steel were tingling to somebody on the rooftop. For all they know, whenever her senses were tingling "he" was present in the vicinity.
"Hey Haruka, I think this belongs to you." The one she felt was Satoshi (Ash) who was in the middle of giving her something—a lunch box. "I just went past your brother and told me to give this to you. He's waiting outside the building for his box of rice."
"Satoshi…" Haruka opened the box. It contained her favorite egg rolls. She couldn't tell him how happy she was to finally eat a balanced meal. Immediately, she went to the edge of the rooftop and saw her little brother waving at her from ground zero. "Masato, catch…!"
She threw the other box full of rice from such a height; Masato wasn't able to catch the speeding box without getting hit hard in the head first.
"OW!" He cried.
"Oops…sorry Masato…" She pleaded.
"I take the liberty of bringing your lunch here and this is the thanks I get? Pathetic…!" Masato left the high school grounds and returned to his friends at the other building wearing an angry face.
"I'm really sorry, Masato. I'll make it up to you someday." Haruka then turned to Satoshi. "Thanks a bunch, Satoshi. You really helped me out."
"Nah, it was nothing. I'm glad to be a big help to you." Satoshi replied.
Haruka was within kissing distance of Satoshi. The perfect time to confess her feelings was right now. She felt that sledgehammer pounding again inside her heart; only this time the pounding was more powerful than a few hours ago. Both of them were flushing red with shyness.
"Haruka…" Satoshi made the first move.
"Yeah…?" Haruka replied.
"You know what?"
"Um…"
"You look cute when you blush. Well, see you later."
Satoshi quickly disappeared in a puff cloud as he ran downstairs back to his classroom. Back on the rooftop, Haruka stood petrified upon hearing the fact that she was complimented by the boy she loves and adores. Kanata was about to steal an egg roll from her lunch box but upon hearing the boy's remark on her friend's merit she dropped the egg roll back into the box.
"Kanata…did you just hear that?" Haruka asked.
"You mean Masato's 'OW'?" Kanata replied sarcastically. "Yup…loud and clear…"
"Not that, silly. Satoshi just…just…just complimented me, kamo!"
"You're getting all excited because of one measly compliment?"
"You said it yourself, Kanata." Haruka turned around and winked at her friend. "First impressions always count kamo."
TO BE CONTINUED