I had to change a few things in this chapter after some further research into Japanese entrance exams.
Ah. The yearly ritual for senior high school students. Sawada couldn't help but notice that he was slightly out of place. Every student was in their school uniform. Sawada didn't think he could even fit into his anymore. Didn't have a chance to try, he had long since given that uniform away.
Today, a cold Saturday in mid January, was national entrance exam day. For the second time in his life, Sawada was taking entrance exams, but this time, he was a little less prepared. His outside world experience might help him in school, but unless a professor found his story particularly fascinating, the only thing that would matter was these next two days. Ami had prepared a lunch box for him, and loaded his bag full of pencils and pens. Ami had taken the exams a few years ago, and inside was a note telling him that they weren't as hard as everyone made them sound. It was an utter lie, but she was trying to make him feel better.
He figured he wouldn't actually need all the writing utensils, a pencil can only break so many times. Despite his anxiousness, this exam was only the prerequisite for the exam to Keio. He had passed the entrance exams once before, but this time he needed scholarships. Couldn't pay for the best university in Tokyo without a little bit of help. If anything, that's where his time in Africa would help. Scholarship boards liked unique stories.
He knew he wanted to immerse himself in both helping those in poverty, and finding solutions to the problem. The concentration of wealth in the top percent of most nations seemed to him an error in need of repair. This time, if he managed to get in, he had a hard road ahead. His goals required a double major. But before Sawada thought too much about it, he had to get accepted, and for that, he had to find his test room. The halls didn't wind too much, but it took him a few minutes to find the room. Inside, most of the seats were filled, waiting for the time to pass until the first test was handed out.
Sawada checked with the test supervisor, and found a seat for himself. Two seniors sat on either side, both from prestigious private high schools, and both looking slightly curious about their neighbor. Sawada smiled to himself and looked up at the clock. As the last seat filled, the supervisor announced their first test, and the amount of time that would be given. Civics, and in particular, his first major, Economics. The test itself was full of Japanese government questions, as well as a few related to major governments in Europe, and America. He remembered a few of the topics from his first test, but found that most of it had changed, and that he knew more about government than he had before he moved. Traveling through Africa meant dealing with a lot of immigration, and a lot of embassies.
The supervisor announced the end of the first test, and Sawada was pleased. If the next couple went as well, he might just be golden for the day. The test takers mingled for a few minutes, those that knew each other from cram schools sharing their impressions. Sawada remained in his seat, people watching a bit. A few students in the same uniforms were clustered near the back of the room, and the rest were bidding the minutes until the second test began. Nobody left the room for fear of returning late. It had been the same the first time around as well.
After fifteen minutes, the supervisor announced the second test, and handed out the booklet. Filled with maps, and complex questions related to geography and history, Sawada began trying to remember his world map, and the various events related to each part. After answering about 70 of the questions, he noticed the time winding down, and filled in as many of the bubbles as he could. History wasn't exactly his strong point, but at least this was something. After finishing, he glanced over the answers, and fixed a few he knew. As he corrected the last question, the supervisor announced the end, and a few audible sighs emerged. It felt nice knowing that the students still fresh in school had some difficulties.
It was getting close to noon, and Sawada was hungry. He was happy to dig the box lunch out of his bag. The test taking would resume in forty five minutes, and unlike the previous break, everyone was ready to get out of the room. There was a line half the hallway long for the bathroom. Sawada walked back along the hallway toward the entrance. It was cold, but he wanted to go outside for his lunch. The cool air would wake his senses up a bit, and he needed a breath of fresh air. The next text was going to be the most difficult. He knew the Japanese language as a native and would be able to answer all the questions related to it, but there was also a section on English.
Of course he had done well in high school with it, but he had used English a grand total of two times since then, and learning four other languages had buried much of his knowledge. Kuma and Ami had done their best to use English with him, but the language had slipped for them just as it had for him. Years of not using something did that.
He opened the box and looked through the tiers. Rice balls, seaweed, cheese, egg, and a whole section dedicated to vegetables. Ami had clearly spent a good hour putting the box together. He grazed slowly, admiring her handiwork, and trying his best to think only English. From his bag he retrieved his journal, and began jotting sentences in the language. Even after studying for years, he knew most Japanese people never mastered English. All the cases, the various ways of saying the same thing, but it meaning something slightly different, and the cultural differences. Sawada remembered wanting to say things the way he would in Japanese, and finding no direct translation.
'I see carrot.' That looked weird. Ah yes, their articles. 'I see a carrot.' So would it be 'I see many carrot?' Sawada sighed. He knew that was wrong, but doing plurals in English was like torture. Each and every noun had its own plural. He liked in Japanese that there was no difference between single and plural. It was carrot, whether there were one or ten. But all this was too easy. He could only imagine what they would ask. At least the preliminary test didn't feature an essay. But he knew there would be one for the Keio exam. The previous round had been about the Patriot Act in America.
There had been a lot of news coverage on America, so he knew enough about it to form a strong opinion, but writing a strong concise essay, and making his point clear in the language had been nearly impossible. He sighed, and began writing a journal entry in English. Every so often he had to stop and try to remember whether or not he knew the word he wanted. There was a deep frustration inside, with his other languages; there was no need to remember the word. He knew it. It was already there.
But he cranked the journal entry out, and felt a little better about his coming test. Finishing his box lunch, he tucked it back into his bag. He only had a few minutes, so he ran to the bathroom, and then returned to his testing room. His two neighbors were already sitting, pouring over American news, and their notes. The supervisor was sitting at a desk, preparing some audio equipment, and Sawada raised his eyebrow. He had heard talk of a listening test, but hadn't realized they had started. He didn't know whether to be happy, or deeply concerned. He could read English okay, but he didn't know if he could understand it.
The supervisor announced the beginning of the third test, mentioning the strange devices and its format. In unison, the prospective students began the final test of the day, long paragraphs on the Japanese language, and the study of rarely used characters. The second half was dedicated to English, 50 questions dedicated to grammar and word defenitions. He glanced over the questions, sighed. and starting filling in the bubbles. As he got further in, it felt like the strands he had been grasping at were returning in full force.
As he filled in the last bubble, and glanced around, he realized he had a good ten minutes left before the listening portion. His neighbors were buried in their booklets, and only one other head was looking up. Someone a few rows ahead, and in one of those fancy uniforms. Second done, that was worth mention.
The supervisor stood up, bringing the section to a close. Another few minutes, and they began the listening. Sawada focused on each word as much as he could. About half of them went by without him understanding, but he got the gist of the conversation. By some miracle, he pieced together answers to the questions. Sawada was pleased with his brain recalling as much as it had. As the last recording ended, Sawada sighed in relief.
Everyone departed in a stream of uniforms, Sawada the only blemish. He sat back on the concrete ledge where he had rested during lunch. He looked over his English journal entry, and began writing another, peppering a few English words in between the Bambara.
"Excuse me…" A young voice interrupted his stream of thought. Sawada looked up, grimacing slightly as a ray of sunlight hit his eyes. The young man was one of his test taking neighbors. "I'm sorry to interrupt you…"
Sawada got the distinct feeling the boy wanted to ask him some questions. "It's no problem. What can I do for you?"
The boy looked at his feet, and then toward Sawada. "Are you a Sawada?" The young man avoided eye contact with Shin, and looked thoroughly awkward. The question was completely unexpected. Shin almost dropped his pen, calculating how exactly the young man could know his name.
He closed his journal and stuck it in his backpack, knowing there would be no time for writing now. "Yes I am… How is it you know that?"
The boy bowed, and handed him a business card. "I am Yoshida Akio of Waseda High School." Sawada glanced over the card, noting his position in the high school, a member of the student council, and in the top of his class. "It's nice to meet you… I know"
"My sister." Waseda high school, the all boys prep school for Waseda University. "She went to a school close to yours. And you must be doing preliminaries for your university." To each question the boy nodded. "So how is it that you know what I look like, and why are you asking?" Sawada didn't feel like being formal about this, following none of the correct procedure for new meetings.
Akio was slightly put off by his behavior, but Natsumi had mentioned her brother and his nature before. "Well… yes, I went to a school near Natsumi's. She has a picture of you in her dorm." Sawada had been to see his sister once since he came back; he knew the picture Akio meant. "That's how I recognized you. She has talked about you before, so I wanted to meet you. While we were in the test, it didn't seem like a good idea to talk, but since it's over for the day…"
Sawada nodded, and wrestled a bit with what to think. This Akio fellow obviously knew his sister enough to see her dormitory at Housei, not to mention having discussions involving him. "Sit down Yoshida." He was blunt, and the boy did as Sawada said. "I'm guessing you know my sister as more than just a friend. That's fine. But do not hurt her." There were overtones that Sawada left out, knowing Akio would understand. "Now why don't we go get some dinner together so you aren't terrified of me."
Akio figured he didn't have much of a choice, so as Sawada stood up, he followed. Natsumi had wanted Yoshida to meet Shin, but she hadn't intended for them to meet without her around. In all truth, Sawada was pleased with Akio's courage. "Where are we going?" They had walked to the train station before he asked the question.
Sawada glanced over the list, and picked the best train. "We're going to my friend's ramen shop. Don't worry, it won't take too long." They walked together down to the platform, and silence resumed between the two. Akio fidgeted with his bag a bit, and as they stepped onto the train, Sawada noticed how awkward Yoshida was being. There was one open seat. "Why don't you take the seat Yoshida." Sawada grabbed a hold of the metal bar along the ceiling. Akio bowed and took the seat.
The train ride went by quickly. Their stop was only a few miles away, and when they arrived, Shin tapped Akio on the shoulder and signaled to follow him again. His ability to follow directions was impressive. Sawada laughed to himself, considering which was a better quality, the courage, or that. It was still fairly early in the day, not quite 4 o'clock. Sawada wasn't sure if the ramen shop would be busy.
"Just a block or two Yoshida. It's good ramen. Been in his family since his dad." That sounded surprisingly good actually. Sawada made a mental note to share that with Kuma. "His name is Kumai Teruo. We call him Kuma." Hopping up the stairs, Sawada put his hands in his pocket, and began moving through the crowds with a kind of agility only known to the people that lived in the area. Akio tried his best to keep up, but every time he tried to follow the path Shin had cut, he found a person in his way. Another fact that Sawada noted. At least this boy hadn't spent extensive amount of time in this unsavory part of town. Another good mark. Akio didn't know that all the things he did were being noted by Sawada, and that things were going well.
"Sawada!" Akio called out in a slight panic. A moving wall was pushing him back towards the stairs, and Shin trotted around, pulling his collar into safety. There was a distinct smile on his face, and Akio grinned sheepishly. "Thank you." Sawada nodded and took his pace a little slower so that they wouldn't get separated.
They came to the last corner, and Sawada pointed out the shop. Akio glanced toward the red curtains, and nodded. "Welcome to Kumai Ramen Yoshida." Sawada pulled the curtain open, letting the younger boy in. "Just pick a table, I'll join you there in a minute." Akio nodded and picked the very same one Sawada had when he first visited Kumai Ramen after returning from Africa. Another point for Akio. Sawada walked up to the line, and waved to Kuma, who glanced up and smiled.
"Hey Sawada! How did the test go?" Kuma almost dropped his ladle into the broth he was stirring. Burning his fingers slightly, he rescued it, and ran over to the sink.
Sawada suppressed his laughter, and leaned against the counter. "You okay there Kuma?" The Bear nodded. "The test went okay. There's a listening section now, but I managed." Sawada had been pleased with his dormant English skills. "Tomorrow is the math and science section. That'll be fun since I haven't used math like that for awhile."
"But you knew that stuff easy." Kuma put a bit of salve on his finger, and looked at Sawada.
"Yeah, we'll see." Sawada glanced over at Akio. "But, my sister's boyfriend is over at that table." He casually pointed toward Yoshida. "SO, mess with him! He seems like a good guy, but you know…" Kuma nodded. The same thing would happen if it was Aya.
Sawada walked over to the table, and sat down across from Akio. He was looking over the single sided menu, not sure what kind of ramen he wanted. "Have you had this Osaka style ramen?" Akio was looking over the ingredients and it sounded good.
"Nope. That one was added while I was gone. My ramen bowl is actually…" he pointed to one a few up from the noodles Akio was looking at, "the Yankumi bowl. It's named after our teacher from the last year of high school. She still comes here actually. I can't imagine how surprised she was when Kuma named the noodles after her." Sawada pictured Kumiko, her eyes getting wide, and mouth dropping open. It was always elegant, despite the fact that anyone else would have looked slack-jawed.
"Hum…" Akio noted Sawada's face when he fell quiet. "Well… I guess those sound good too." Yoshida was still going with the Osaka style noodles. After all, they were named after a soccer player, and Akio really liked soccer.
Aya trotted over a minute later, smiling at Sawada. "Hi hi Sawada! What can we get you?" He pointed to the two noodle bowls. Aya handed them two towels for their hands, and the boys both returned them, Sawada still noting all of Akio's movements. He had good towel style. "I'll be back in a few minutes with your noodles." She bowed and trotted away towards Kuma.
Akio sat rigid, back straight, and eyes toward the table. "Well Yoshida, how do you feel about your test?"
In truth Akio felt he was going to get in fairly easily to Waseda. His parents were wealthy, he had maintained good grades, went to an excellent cram school, not to mention his high school. But it was never the style to be boastful. "I am very concerned. The entrance exams are difficult, I hope my preparations were enough, but there is always more I could have done."
Sawada nodded. "Well I'm sure you're doing fine. Waseda High School generally goes right into Waseda University." Akio nodded and smiled, doing his best to show appreciation for his company's compliment. "How long have you been… friends… with my sister?" Sawada leaned back, really just waiting for his noodles.
Yoshida's eyes were back to the table top. "Well, I've known her for about three years; we've been friends for two. She was always very kind." He remembered the chocolates she had given him for Valentines Day. They had been the nicest of the few he received.
"She can be very kind. She can also be very stubborn. Too stubborn for her own good. Have you met our father?" Sawada crossed his arms across his chest. This topic didn't bring him any joy.
Akio hadn't moved his eyes. A bowl of noodles appeared in the spot he was staring, and they both took the opportunity to interrupt the conversation. "Enjoy!" They both spoke together. Akio was trying to figure how to politely say that his father was one of the scariest men Yoshida had ever met. Sawada could read his facial expressions.
"You don't have to answer that, I know my father is terrifying." Although he really wasn't for Sawada, years of disobedience had broken Sawada of fear.
"Oh he's not that bad, just clearly a strong individual." It was a lot easier since Sawada had said it instead. "These noodles are delicious." Akio kept good manners while eating, slurping his noodles, but not inhaling them like Kumiko did so often.
"It's okay. I know what it is like. Although I must guess it's worse for you." Sawada could only imagine how his father would treat Akio. "Or maybe not… at least you seem well to do and respectable."
"Oh no… my family does okay…" Again, Akio played down the compliment, just as Sawada expected him to. They finished the rest of their noodles mostly in silence. Kuma kept looking over, waiting for the bowls to be finished so he could run over.
Sawada eventually slurped down the last of his noodles, and set his chopsticks on the table. Akio, who had slowed down so he wasn't the first to finish, quickly followed Sawada's example. As his last chopstick full disappeared, Kuma appeared, grabbing both of the bowls. He tripped on an engineered accident, spilling half the slightly warm broth onto Akio's lap.
The boy shot up, feeling the liquid soak into his clothes, and feeling frustrated by the large mans clumsiness, but not once did his face display that emotion, and he immediately asked if Kuma was okay. Kuma raised his eye brow, as did Shin. Both were impressed with his calmness, but both were also displeased with his lack of personality.
"I'm fine, I'm sorry about your clothes... we can pay for the dry cleaning bill." Kuma offered him a rag to dry some of Yoshida's jacket. "The bathroom is right through there." He pointed toward a small hallway by the counter.
"No, it's fine. Don't worry about this, I won't need them much longer anyway. I will go use the restroom though." He took the rag and walked slowly toward the hall, smelling his jacket along the way.
Kuma flopped down into the chair Yoshida had vacated. "Wow… super calm guy. If I were him, I would be on the floor with a fist in my face right now." Sawada nodded, arms back over his chest.
"Good for my sister I guess. He's everything I'm not, so I'm sure my dad is thrilled." Sawada was happy for his sister though. If he made her happy, and if Yoshida was really as relaxed as he acted, he would take good care of Natsumi. After all, if Sawada, with all of his high school antics, was able to protect Natsumi, Akio would be able to do at least a decent job. "Not much personality though. Kind of like cardboard."
"We woulda beaten him up in high school for being a snitch I bet." Kuma remarked before hopping back up as Akio came around the corner. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Akio nodded, and sat back down in his chair, as rigid as ever. "No harm in smelling like good noodles." He tried to play the friendly card. Kuma and Sawada gave a compulsory laugh in order to make Akio feel a bit better.
"Maybe not quite cardboard." Sawada said to Kuma, leaving Akio with a puzzled look on his face. Kuma nodded, and suddenly realized a large stack of orders behind the line, Aya calling for him. "Well Yoshida… I'm gonna go pay the bill, you wait here." The boy nodded, following the directions perfectly again. As Sawada arrived at the counter, Kuma called out that the noodles were on the house because of his 'accident.' He winked at Sawada, and waved to Akio.
"I'll see you tonight Sawada, Ami should already be home whenever you want to head there. Uchi is probably going to visit around 7." Sawada nodded, and left a few yen for Kuma anyway. He couldn't take free lodging and food from his friend all the time.
Again, together, Sawada and Yoshida walked back out onto the street. Sawada thought it best to walk Yoshida to the station, even though he was sure the smart boy knew the way. "We can walk together, I live around here, but I don't want you to get lost." Akio nodded, and fell back in line with Sawada.
"Thank you for the noodles Sawada." He made sure to overstate his appreciation. "The smell in my jacket will remind me to visit this place again." It was a genuine compliment, but Sawada couldn't help but laugh at how it sounded.
"Well, the noodles were actually on the house because of Kuma putting that smell into your jacket." They laughed together, and Akio felt a bit more relaxed. All the warnings and stories Natsumi had told him must have been true, but her brother didn't seem like a bad person.
As the train station approached, Sawada thought about how best to send his sisters boyfriend off. "I'll see you tomorrow for the math and science portions, Yoshida." The young man nodded and got ready to head down the stairs. Before he took the first step, Sawada grabbed his shoulder. "And you seem like a good guy. I'll trust you with my sister." He didn't have much of a choice. He doubted Natsumi would listen to him if he tried to get between the two.
Yoshida spun around and bowed deeply to Sawada. "Thank you very much. Your approval means more than anyone else's." To that Shin laughed again. To think his opinion mattered that much was surprising. "See you tomorrow for the exams." The boy's head disappeared behind the stairs, Sawada standing at the top watching to make sure he made it out of the neighborhood safely.