Reaching for the Stars

Part III, Chapter 4

Prologue

6:32 AM. Friday. Sawako Yamanaka walked up an elevated path, lined with cherry blossoms that were just about to bloom. She dragged a small cart behind her, mostly loaded with teaching materials she had decided to recycle from her time in Sakura-gakou. At the back of the cart though sat a peculiar case, hidden behind the other boxes of her things. It was her guitar case, containing her beloved Gibson Flying-V guitar. For the past few years, Sawako had been trying her best to become a respectable and responsible teacher, learning classical piano and mastering musical theory. She was a punk rocker in her youth after all and she wanted to finally outgrow that part of her past. She had given up performing live. She had given up going on tours. She had given up on fighting popular culture, as prescribed by the universal punk doctine (though she does her part at times). However, the one thing she couldn't give up was that guitar of hers.

The white V-shaped guitar was almost a decade old yet it still played a wonderful tune when plugged into an amplifier. Remembering the fun times she had doing all of those things she had stopped doing brought a smile to her face. It wouldn't hurt to keep that small part of her past alive. After all, people never change. Quickening her pace, she reached the main campus of Ohashi High and observed her new home fondly.

"It's bigger than Sakura-gakou, that's for sure..." She said amazed. Though she had moved to Ohashi for a more peaceful lifestyle, she was glad that her workplace was very modern and very much alive. Whether or not that was another testament to her punk taste, she didn't know. Shrugging, she carried on to the main building where the staff lounge was situated. There, at the front door stood a woman about her age who seemed just about ready to cry.

"Yuri-chan." She said with a smile, "It's been a while."

"Sawako!" The woman replied, embracing Sawako tightly, "You made it! How are you old friend?"

"I'm doing good." She answered, returning her embrace, "A little pissed off about the state of the Japanese transit system, but I'm doing good."

"Still the same Sawako, huh." Yuri laughed. She then saw the guitar case at the back of Sawako's cart and said, "You still have the Flying-V, too... still can't let go of it, huh?"

"There are some things in life you just can't let go of Yuri." Sawako reasoned, "This is one of them."

"I see." Yuri nodded, "Well, anyways, welcome to Ohashi High. I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"Hopefully." Sawako said a little hopefully. Her friend then chuckled and warned,

"Just be sure not to go metal on the freshmen. You might traumatize them for life after all."

"Hey! I trashed that stupid live-house as a sign of protest!" Sawako argued passionately, "They don't have a clue what good music is! If I had some gasoline and matches then..."

"That's exactly why I'm warning you!" Yuri reiterated, "We don't want our new teacher to be an arsonist."

"Well don't worry, I didn't burn down the last school I was in." Sawako reassured. The two of them then had a burst of laughter.

"So..." Yuri said, after recovering from her lack of breath, "have you found someone yet?"

"Someone?" Sawako asked, "Oh... you mean that..."

The two of them looked at each other's ring fingers and noticed the apparent absence of a ring of any kind. They could only sigh.

"I don't have time for that sort of thing anymore, Yuri." Sawako said to her friend, "I'm already in my thirties after all... though I may not look like it, but yeah."

"That's not very reassuring for me you know..." Yuri said, "I'm turning thirty next year! I want to get married before that, you know."

"Well, at least you still have a chance." Sawako said, "I've given up on that sort of stuff... ever since that bastard Hal... damn him... I became a punk rocker because of him..."

"Right... Hal." Yuri said, somehow remembering him as well, "If that's your choice then, I can't really argue with you. I'll keep looking for mine."

"You have my support." Sawako said with a wink, "Anyways, I need a place to store my guitar. I don't want the students or the other profs to see it, and I don't have space in my apartment."

"The music room is down the hall." Yuri said, "You can probably keep it in the storage room there."

"Thanks." Sawako said, leaving her trolley of materials and picking up her guitar. Before she could leave though, Yuri called out to her friend.

"There's an amplifier in the music room too." She said with a nudging grin, "Just be sure to get to your class in time, got it?"

"Yeah." Sawako said delightedly. She then headed over to the music room down the hall. Just as Yuri said, the amplifier sat there in the corner of the room beside a few guitar cords hanging about. The teacher then laid down her guitar case and opened it, revealing her white Gibson Flying-V guitar. Her excitement rose as she took one of the cords and plugged her guitar into the amp. She flipped the switch, and the oh so familiar hum of the amp greeted her ears. It was glorious.

"A few chords wouldn't hurt..." she said as she pressed the overdrive button, "just this once..."

She then strummed her guitar and a powerful chord roared like a lion. It brought a tear to her eye. Moving her fingers down the fretboard, she strummed again. Before she knew it, she was playing the lead guitar part of Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. Lost in the moment, the teacher was banging her head, making her hair fly out wildly in the air. In that moment, the high school girl she thought she had long left behind came back to life. She felt no shame. She felt no remorse. She felt punk.

Her moment of glory however would be cut short as the doors of the music room creaked open. A young man stood in awe as he watched this scene unfold before him. It was Satoshi Tainaka.

"Good morning, Sawa-chan."

There in the music room, Satoshi was standing face to face with Ritsu's former teacher, Sawakao Yamanaka. The morning sunlight poured into the room and fleshed out the Gibson Flying-V guitar that hung over her shoulder. The lady, though she had stopped playing, looked like a rock star in her prime. Her hair was a beautiful mess and her fingers were solidly fretted on a power chord. The screech of the half-maxed drive of the amplifier echoed strongly in the room and made it absolutely clear. She was a rock star.

"Who are you?" Sawako asked, not really being able to see Satoshi from behind the threshold, "And how do you know that name?"

There was a hint of desperation in her voice as she started fidgeting around. The fact that whoever was at the door knew her as 'Sawa-chan' didn't help either.

Seeing her like this, Satoshi's heart beat nervously as he stepped into the room to show himself to the disgruntled teacher. Without a doubt, this was Ritsu's former teacher, someone who had the power to send him packing back to Osaka. Despite this, he wasn't afraid. Reaching into his bag, he took out a set of drumsticks and made his way to the drum set at the end of the room. Somehow, something inside prodded him onwards. Perhaps, he thought, she would understand him.

"H… hey, answer me." She demanded, wondering why a student would ignore a teacher like that. There wasn't any anger in her voice, Satoshi noted. In fact, she seemed rather intrigued by his act of defiance. Satoshi saw this and confirmed his suspicion; she had a punk soul.

"Sensei," Satoshi asked as he seated himself before the drum set, "I have a question."

"Go ahead…" Sawako replied, not really sure what this person was planning.

"What is rock n' roll?"

"Rock n' roll…" She repeated dazedly, "That's…"

"It's about passionate hearts." Satoshi interrupted, intriguing the teacher even more, "It's about hearts that express themselves through instruments and music. Anger, Happiness, Sadness… Love."

"It's about always moving forward," the two of them said in tandem, "not giving a damn about what lies ahead."

Satoshi then raised his drumsticks and started laying down the beat for Smells Like Teen Spirit, the song Sawako had been playing just moments ago. Sawako looked at the young man amazed then started to play as well. Before long, the two of them were rocking out like there was no tomorrow, lost in the rock n' roll.

The song ended and Sawako turned to Satoshi with a smile.

"You wouldn't happen to be… Tainaka-san's brother, would you?"

"I'm not just Ritsu's brother. I'm more than just that." Satoshi said firmly, "I'm Satoshi Tainaka."

"I knew you were still alive." Sawako said, "Like Tainaka-san said, it'll take more than cold water to bring you down… and I can see why. You're a rocker too."

"Ritsu told me that once or twice…" Satoshi said, "so I guess you could say that."

"They're looking for you, you know." Sawako then said, "They're going on tour just for you."

"I know that." Satoshi replied, "And they will find me, in my own time."

Sawako's smile then soured, not really comfortable with that statement of his. He had to say something.

"I love my sister, don't get me wrong, but I can't face her after all that time." Satoshi said, "When we do meet again, I want to show her that I've grown. I want to show her that I've found myself. I want to show her who Satoshi Tainaka really is… If I don't, then she will never find me... and I will never find myself."

Sawako then sighed.

"It can't be helped then." She shrugged, "Fine, I won't tell the girls where you are."

"Thank you for understanding, Yamanaka-sensei." Satoshi said, bowing deeply. The gesture and the appropriate name made her smile.

"However, you will have to play by my rules." She warned, "First of all, you will forget about that ridiculous nickname."

"Yes ma'am." I chuckled, "Ritsu probably called you that all the time."

"So did Hirasawa-san… but don't remind me." Sawako mumbled, "Second, from this day onwards, you will be my student assistant and will do everything I tell you to do. Got it?"

"Yeah." Satoshi nodded eagerly

"Third." She said sternly, "Mention anything about me and rock n' roll, punk rock and/or death metal in the same sentence and I will make your life a living hell!"

"Hey, hey, I won't!" Satoshi panicked, making Sawako laugh.

"Finally…" she said, mellowing up, "promise me that you will see them again someday. You can't run away forever, you know."

"I'm not running away, I'm moving forward." Satoshi reasoned, laughing a little bit. Sawako however was not pleased. "Don't worry, I'm a man of my word."

"Alright then." Sawako said, turning off the amplifier and hiding her guitar, "So we're ten minutes late for class, let's go."

"Yes, Yamanaka-sensei."

The two of them then marched out of the music room and headed for the 1-A classroom.

"By the way." Satoshi said, turning to his new teacher, "I have a friend who's looking for a good bass guitar. She wanted me to go with her, but I don't know a thing about guitars. I was wondering if you could help her pick one out."

"Why not?" Sawako said, "You're not planning to form a band, are you?"

"Maybe." Satoshi replied, "I don't know yet."

"Heh, this might be Osaka all over again." Sawako laughed.

"What was that, ma'am?"

"Nothing."

The two then reached the 1-A classroom and Sawako's first homeroom class in Ohashi began.

"My name is Sawako Yamanaka, and I will be your teacher from now on." She said as she chalked her name up on the blackboard, "I don't have a lot of teaching experience as of now, but I will do my best to guide you through this school year. Nice to meet you all."

To Be Continued

Epilogue

A few classrooms away, in the class of 1-T, there was a commotion brewing. The class advisor, Yuri Koigakubo was as pale as a ghost as a note was delivered to her by one of the staff in the middle of class. She had been silent for the past minute or so and her students were getting rather edgy.

"Yuri-chan, what's going on?" Asked a young man casually.

"I... it's nothing Haruta-kun," Yuri said, still shaken up by that paper, "l... let's get back to business, shall we? Midterms are coming up after all."

With that, the class more or less calmed down. Earlier that day, a transfer student from Tokyo had applied to study in Ohashi High and Yuri was the girl's interviewee. The girl was Taiga Aisaka, a mean spirit who gave off an aura of fury that would strike fear in even the toughest of delinquents. Yuri herself had trouble even talking to the girl and was surprised she made it out of the interview room alive. The young teacher had transferred the girl's application over to the Principal, hoping that it be denied, but it passed. What's worse was, as she had just learned, she was going to be her student from now on. It was going to be a tough year.