English. The class was unusually quiet. English has never been anyone's
favorite subject and so that explains it all. Many have argued why they
even have to learn such when it is quite obvious that this language won't
be used everyday. Some students cringed. Some looked impatient. Some
looked bored. Some looked like they were somewhere else.
The teacher Okano Hajime scanned the entire class and found one student who looked the perfect example of someone who obviously looked like was anywhere but the classroom.
"Okay, class. We have finished discussing about the parts of speech and now I want one of you to give me an adjective and use it in a sentence."
He proceeded to walk around the classroom and stopped at one student.
"Stand up, please."
"Atashi?" She looked up at him cluelessly.
"No. The window behind you. Of course, YOU."
The girl swallowed hard.
"Give me an adjective and use it in a sentence." The bald-headed teacher raised his eyebrows. He looked at the young girl inquisitively. She obviously was spaced out at this time of the day. Maybe he ought to change the seat plan again, he thought. Students who sat near the window usually spaced out the most. And on top of that this girl had been carrying this ridiculous smile since the beginning of class.
Creepy. His eyes narrowed and looked at her even more suspiciously.
"Anou.." The girl muttered and scratched her head absently.
"Are you with us?' Okano Hajime raised his eyebrow.
"Ah, hai." There. That smile again. She is really not herself today.
"And the adjective is.."
"Sweet." Her eyes nearly popped out when she said it.
"Okay, now use it in a sentence."
The creepy smile was plastered on her face again. This time it was even more disturbing. "His lips were sweet." She uttered it melodiously.
Silence.
"Eh? Did you say LIPS?" Did he hear right?
Twitch!
"Yadda! I mean, his HIPS! NO, I MEAN DIPS! NO! I MEAN...NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" The girl was flailing her hands to him and to everybody. She was in a panic. Some of the boys tried hard to suppress a laugh. Some of the girls giggled.
Twitch! Twitch!
She shook her head. She was at a loss. Spaced out alright. A classic case.
"Ah! Gomen! Gomen!" She was bowing repeatedly.
"What in the world are you apologizing for?"
"I do not know." The girl replied cluelessly and still bowing.
The whole class thundered.
Two seats to the left of the second row, Noriko sweatdropped.
"There is nothing wrong with your sentence, you may take your seat."
"Arigatou, sensei." The girl felt like wanting to jump out of the window already. She was blushing like a tomato.
"Next.." Okano Hajime scanned the class for another spaced out soul.
The girl looked at her friend Noriko and bit her lip. Noriko shook her head in response. Her friend sure was acting creepy.
The bell rang!
"ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU, SENSEI!" As the class has finally ended.
"MATA ASHITA NE!!" (see you tomorrow)
Noriko immediately approached her friend who was now busy fixing her bag.
"Ne?"
"Hai!"
"That was quite a show you put up earlier. Where were you?"
"Ah! Mou! That wasn't a show. I mean, it was.well, he..adjective. That was all I could think about that time and...oh! can we please forget any of this ever happened?" The girl was beginning to feel uneasy again.
"Let's get out of here now." Noriko began to tug her friend's sleeve.
"Okay." She smiled.
"I'm going to get us a soda down the hall, okay?" Noriko chirped.
As she proceeds to walk down the hall, Noriko gets bumped hard on the back. She falls but ends up kneeling.
"NORIKO-CHAN!!!!" Her friend was so surprised.
"WHAT THE HELL?!!! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, WILL YAH? ARE YOU BLIND?" Noriko yelled.
Only then she realized too late that the pair of feet behind her, belonged to a man.
Big.
Her eyes climbed up to the knees.
Higher.
Higher.
White shirt.
Two notebooks in one hand.
One hand in the pocket.
Higher.
Face.
Eyes shut.
Drool.
Oh.
My..
God..
Noriko swallowed hard. She was practically on her knees staring at the school's most popular narcoleptic.
"Ru..ru..kawa-kun? Sumimasen." Noriko's eyes began to bubble.
The dark-haired fox-faced narcoleptic merely looked at her stoically and the only response was,
"Eh?"
Noriko's heart began to pound hard. It was so deafening. Just as she was struggling to stand up, her knees began to feel weak.
"Rukawa-kun.." Just as she was about to say something when..
Suddenly out of nowhere an army of girls began to march along the hallway.
"RUKAWA! RUKAWA! RUKAWA! L-O-V-E! RUKAWA! RUKAWA!" AH! DAIJOUBU, RUKAWA-KUN?" They all gave him a heart wrenching concerned look.
"Ah..anou..sumimasen.." Noriko smiled sheepishly at everyone then returned her gaze at the sleepyhead.
"If you had anything else better to do, then you must know that you must never ever get in his way, do you hear?" One chinky-eyed girl scolded Noriko. The rest of the girls frowned at Noriko on cue and surrounded her.
Noriko clenched her fists.
"NORIKO-CHAN!!!!" She could hear her friend from the hall.
"Hmph!!!" The chinky-eyed girl snobbed her. Before they knew it, the Rukawa girls sees Rukawa walking alone on the hall the whole time.
"AH!!! RUKAWA-KUN!!! MINNA! (everyone) FOLLOW HIM!" And the hall echoed with their cheer as they ran to catch up with Rukawa.
"OI!!! MATTE!!!" Noriko yelled at the girls.
"Noriko-chan! Cool it, will you?" Her friend finally caught up with her.
"Anou baka!!!! (That idiot!) YOU THINK YOU'RE SO GREAT? I HOPE YOU ALL FAIL AND ROT HERE IN HIGH SCHOOL FOREVER AND EVER!!!!!" Noriko raised her fist at them. She was red with anger.
"Noriko-chan, yamete kudasai (stop it please) You know how those girls are." She tried to pull her friend away from where they stood.
"You don't understand." Noriko frowned at her.
"Nani?" Her friend looked surprised.
"He looked at me."
"Yeah?"
"Do you have ANY IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS?"
"Are you sure he looked at you because, you know, it's pretty hard to tell under those sleepy eyes he has and all."
"I'm serious. Rukawa looked at me. That means acknowledgment. That means he NOTICED ME!!! Me! Yamaguchi Noriko. The most popular basketball player and the handsomest person in this planet Rukawa Kaede NOTICED ME!!!"
"Okay."
'OKAY?! That is not just OKAY. This means a lot of things. This is a breakthrough. Do you see, a BREAKTHROUGH." Noriko was shaking her friend while holding onto her shoulders.
"So what did that guy say to you?"
Noriko released her friend. "Well..anou...he said..ahm..Eh?"
"HE SAID WHAT?"
"Eh?" Noriko bit her lip.
"That's not even a word."
"BUT WHO CARES?! All that really matters is that man noticed me. How many people ever get that, huh? How many people in this entire school ever get through his cold exterior? How many people get this kind of chance? I bet not even those moronic girls ever get that chance. They must be wishing every night before they go to sleep that they got the chance like I did."
"Wow." Her friend shook her head as she stared at Noriko.
"So you see my point now?"
"Oh, sure. But I think we better leave now before you make an entire campaign speech here. You should run for president, you know." Her friend chuckled.
"I know. I also know that I'm a whole lot better than that chinky-eyed bitch and the rest of all that moronic girls who follow Rukawa everyday here in school. They think they could ever get through him that way. For all they know, Rukawa merely thinks of them as one annoying bunch of stupid fangirls dogging him around."
"Hai. Hai. For all they know, he could think nothing of them."
"You're right. A man of Rukawa's nature doesn't need so many women. He only needs one. Just one. The right one."
"And you're assuming that it could be.." Her friend raised her eyebrow.
"My friend, you'll see.." Noriko winked at her.
**************************************************************************** ********************* AUTHOR NOTES: To get a better understanding of Rukawa's condition, I did a little research for all to know.
Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder, possibly resulting from a biochemical defect that affects the neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. It generally first appears in an individual's teens but can occur at any age. It is rare, however, for narcolepsy to first appear in someone who is past forty.
Narcolepsy afflicts both sexes equally and tends to run through families. Suffers tend to get poor grades in school and to have numerous study problems due to their inability to read, study, concentrate, memorize, or pay attention.
Later in life, this places limitations on their career alternatives, resulting in a low level of job satisfaction, frequent job loss, a loss of income, and low self-esteem.
Narcoleptics tend to have poor interpersonal relationships, become alcoholics, have high divorce rates, suffer from a decreased sexual libido and impotence, and experience a great deal of depression and other psychiatric problems.
One person in every 1,000 is affected, and sufferers complain of excessive daytime sleepiness, often expressed as tiredness, lack of energy, or irresistible sleepiness. They may suddenly drop off to sleep at any time.
Most commonly, attacks occur while the individual is watching TV, reading, listening to a lecture, or engaging in an activity that does not have their full attention.
Attacks can also occur while walking, bike riding, eating, talking, or driving.
The teacher Okano Hajime scanned the entire class and found one student who looked the perfect example of someone who obviously looked like was anywhere but the classroom.
"Okay, class. We have finished discussing about the parts of speech and now I want one of you to give me an adjective and use it in a sentence."
He proceeded to walk around the classroom and stopped at one student.
"Stand up, please."
"Atashi?" She looked up at him cluelessly.
"No. The window behind you. Of course, YOU."
The girl swallowed hard.
"Give me an adjective and use it in a sentence." The bald-headed teacher raised his eyebrows. He looked at the young girl inquisitively. She obviously was spaced out at this time of the day. Maybe he ought to change the seat plan again, he thought. Students who sat near the window usually spaced out the most. And on top of that this girl had been carrying this ridiculous smile since the beginning of class.
Creepy. His eyes narrowed and looked at her even more suspiciously.
"Anou.." The girl muttered and scratched her head absently.
"Are you with us?' Okano Hajime raised his eyebrow.
"Ah, hai." There. That smile again. She is really not herself today.
"And the adjective is.."
"Sweet." Her eyes nearly popped out when she said it.
"Okay, now use it in a sentence."
The creepy smile was plastered on her face again. This time it was even more disturbing. "His lips were sweet." She uttered it melodiously.
Silence.
"Eh? Did you say LIPS?" Did he hear right?
Twitch!
"Yadda! I mean, his HIPS! NO, I MEAN DIPS! NO! I MEAN...NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" The girl was flailing her hands to him and to everybody. She was in a panic. Some of the boys tried hard to suppress a laugh. Some of the girls giggled.
Twitch! Twitch!
She shook her head. She was at a loss. Spaced out alright. A classic case.
"Ah! Gomen! Gomen!" She was bowing repeatedly.
"What in the world are you apologizing for?"
"I do not know." The girl replied cluelessly and still bowing.
The whole class thundered.
Two seats to the left of the second row, Noriko sweatdropped.
"There is nothing wrong with your sentence, you may take your seat."
"Arigatou, sensei." The girl felt like wanting to jump out of the window already. She was blushing like a tomato.
"Next.." Okano Hajime scanned the class for another spaced out soul.
The girl looked at her friend Noriko and bit her lip. Noriko shook her head in response. Her friend sure was acting creepy.
The bell rang!
"ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU, SENSEI!" As the class has finally ended.
"MATA ASHITA NE!!" (see you tomorrow)
Noriko immediately approached her friend who was now busy fixing her bag.
"Ne?"
"Hai!"
"That was quite a show you put up earlier. Where were you?"
"Ah! Mou! That wasn't a show. I mean, it was.well, he..adjective. That was all I could think about that time and...oh! can we please forget any of this ever happened?" The girl was beginning to feel uneasy again.
"Let's get out of here now." Noriko began to tug her friend's sleeve.
"Okay." She smiled.
"I'm going to get us a soda down the hall, okay?" Noriko chirped.
As she proceeds to walk down the hall, Noriko gets bumped hard on the back. She falls but ends up kneeling.
"NORIKO-CHAN!!!!" Her friend was so surprised.
"WHAT THE HELL?!!! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, WILL YAH? ARE YOU BLIND?" Noriko yelled.
Only then she realized too late that the pair of feet behind her, belonged to a man.
Big.
Her eyes climbed up to the knees.
Higher.
Higher.
White shirt.
Two notebooks in one hand.
One hand in the pocket.
Higher.
Face.
Eyes shut.
Drool.
Oh.
My..
God..
Noriko swallowed hard. She was practically on her knees staring at the school's most popular narcoleptic.
"Ru..ru..kawa-kun? Sumimasen." Noriko's eyes began to bubble.
The dark-haired fox-faced narcoleptic merely looked at her stoically and the only response was,
"Eh?"
Noriko's heart began to pound hard. It was so deafening. Just as she was struggling to stand up, her knees began to feel weak.
"Rukawa-kun.." Just as she was about to say something when..
Suddenly out of nowhere an army of girls began to march along the hallway.
"RUKAWA! RUKAWA! RUKAWA! L-O-V-E! RUKAWA! RUKAWA!" AH! DAIJOUBU, RUKAWA-KUN?" They all gave him a heart wrenching concerned look.
"Ah..anou..sumimasen.." Noriko smiled sheepishly at everyone then returned her gaze at the sleepyhead.
"If you had anything else better to do, then you must know that you must never ever get in his way, do you hear?" One chinky-eyed girl scolded Noriko. The rest of the girls frowned at Noriko on cue and surrounded her.
Noriko clenched her fists.
"NORIKO-CHAN!!!!" She could hear her friend from the hall.
"Hmph!!!" The chinky-eyed girl snobbed her. Before they knew it, the Rukawa girls sees Rukawa walking alone on the hall the whole time.
"AH!!! RUKAWA-KUN!!! MINNA! (everyone) FOLLOW HIM!" And the hall echoed with their cheer as they ran to catch up with Rukawa.
"OI!!! MATTE!!!" Noriko yelled at the girls.
"Noriko-chan! Cool it, will you?" Her friend finally caught up with her.
"Anou baka!!!! (That idiot!) YOU THINK YOU'RE SO GREAT? I HOPE YOU ALL FAIL AND ROT HERE IN HIGH SCHOOL FOREVER AND EVER!!!!!" Noriko raised her fist at them. She was red with anger.
"Noriko-chan, yamete kudasai (stop it please) You know how those girls are." She tried to pull her friend away from where they stood.
"You don't understand." Noriko frowned at her.
"Nani?" Her friend looked surprised.
"He looked at me."
"Yeah?"
"Do you have ANY IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS?"
"Are you sure he looked at you because, you know, it's pretty hard to tell under those sleepy eyes he has and all."
"I'm serious. Rukawa looked at me. That means acknowledgment. That means he NOTICED ME!!! Me! Yamaguchi Noriko. The most popular basketball player and the handsomest person in this planet Rukawa Kaede NOTICED ME!!!"
"Okay."
'OKAY?! That is not just OKAY. This means a lot of things. This is a breakthrough. Do you see, a BREAKTHROUGH." Noriko was shaking her friend while holding onto her shoulders.
"So what did that guy say to you?"
Noriko released her friend. "Well..anou...he said..ahm..Eh?"
"HE SAID WHAT?"
"Eh?" Noriko bit her lip.
"That's not even a word."
"BUT WHO CARES?! All that really matters is that man noticed me. How many people ever get that, huh? How many people in this entire school ever get through his cold exterior? How many people get this kind of chance? I bet not even those moronic girls ever get that chance. They must be wishing every night before they go to sleep that they got the chance like I did."
"Wow." Her friend shook her head as she stared at Noriko.
"So you see my point now?"
"Oh, sure. But I think we better leave now before you make an entire campaign speech here. You should run for president, you know." Her friend chuckled.
"I know. I also know that I'm a whole lot better than that chinky-eyed bitch and the rest of all that moronic girls who follow Rukawa everyday here in school. They think they could ever get through him that way. For all they know, Rukawa merely thinks of them as one annoying bunch of stupid fangirls dogging him around."
"Hai. Hai. For all they know, he could think nothing of them."
"You're right. A man of Rukawa's nature doesn't need so many women. He only needs one. Just one. The right one."
"And you're assuming that it could be.." Her friend raised her eyebrow.
"My friend, you'll see.." Noriko winked at her.
**************************************************************************** ********************* AUTHOR NOTES: To get a better understanding of Rukawa's condition, I did a little research for all to know.
Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder, possibly resulting from a biochemical defect that affects the neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. It generally first appears in an individual's teens but can occur at any age. It is rare, however, for narcolepsy to first appear in someone who is past forty.
Narcolepsy afflicts both sexes equally and tends to run through families. Suffers tend to get poor grades in school and to have numerous study problems due to their inability to read, study, concentrate, memorize, or pay attention.
Later in life, this places limitations on their career alternatives, resulting in a low level of job satisfaction, frequent job loss, a loss of income, and low self-esteem.
Narcoleptics tend to have poor interpersonal relationships, become alcoholics, have high divorce rates, suffer from a decreased sexual libido and impotence, and experience a great deal of depression and other psychiatric problems.
One person in every 1,000 is affected, and sufferers complain of excessive daytime sleepiness, often expressed as tiredness, lack of energy, or irresistible sleepiness. They may suddenly drop off to sleep at any time.
Most commonly, attacks occur while the individual is watching TV, reading, listening to a lecture, or engaging in an activity that does not have their full attention.
Attacks can also occur while walking, bike riding, eating, talking, or driving.