The Note
One month later
After a month of healing, my leg was finally free of the stinky old cast that I had because of what happened last month. I threw that old thing away as I was able to finally walk and run again. It was more of a hassle than I thought.
But oh boy, was I tired. I couldn't even keep my eyes open during class the following Monday. Reason being… I stayed up watching anime the night before. For some reason, I had the urge to watch the dubbed version of Konosuba. I'm not a dub normie, per se, but I just had the urge to just rewatch the series in English.
"...so in short," said my teacher's voice, though it sounded like she was talking into a tunnel, "the sentence structure in Japanese is vastly different from many languages including… Lee-san? Lee-san. Lee-san!" Ah, just let me sleep.
"Yo Sawyer!" someone cried out in a deep, masculine voice. A split second after that, I opened my eyes. Oh crap, the teacher wants me to answer a question. What do I say?
"...nngh, uh," I moaned, rubbing my eyes awake, "I, uh, think you have to find the, um, derivative of the formula to get the formula to… nngh."
"Lee-san," said the teacher with a tone of disapproval, "This is English class, not Calculus." ...oh.
The entire classroom erupted into laughter as soon as she had said that. I looked around and saw so many people trying to stifle a laugh. Hell, even CJ had trouble trying to keep a straight and professional face.
"Looks like someone didn't get a good night's sleep," chuckled Takeuchi-san next to me. I looked at her and she was smiling like she usually is.
"I never do," I groaned. She shook her head in playful disappointment.
After a few more seconds of uncontrollable laughter, the teacher tried to get back on topic. "Okay, class, you've had your fun. Now to get back to the lesson.
"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by Lee-san dozing off over there," she continued jokingly, smirking when she met my eyes (I smiled back, don't worry), "Japanese sentence structure is vastly different from other languages. We could argue it was because of how isolated the Japanese were until the mid-19th century before the Perry Expedition. Your history teacher will explain to you guys about that later on, mind you.
"There have been examples of this in other languages and cultures as well. You could say it was due to social distancing. For example, American English is slightly different from British English. As a matter of fact, I would like Lee-san, Takeuchi-san, and Brown-san to come up to the front of the classroom." Me, Takeuchi-san, and CJ? Why?
I got up, along with Takeuchi-san and CJ (Brown is his last name), and walked up to the front of the classroom by the chalkboard. I didn't know what's going on but, frankly, at least standing up would've woken me up a bit.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"I would like you three to talk about how different English is to different areas," said the teacher, "I have heard you and Brown-san talk in English and I have heard a noticeable difference in the way you two talk. So please, explain to the class the different dialects of English. In English, please." I wanted to ask about why Takeuchi-san was here with us, but I decided not to question it.
"Alright," I said, clearing my throat and turning back to the class, "well, um, yeah, it's true CJ and I have different ways of speaking. I'm from the western part of the US, so I have more of a Pacific Northwestern accent, one that is easily understood if I talk to foreigners. CJ here grew up somewhere else, so he has a different accent. Ain't that right, CJ?"
"Yeah, that's right," explained CJ, his accent shining through the way he spoke, "Now, I grew up in Baltimore. A totally different place than where my homeboy Sawyer over here grew up in. Not only that, but I grew up in the hood. We were pretty much our own isolated community, that hood we was in, so we tended to kinda talk differently."
"Hey, uh, dude," I said quietly to CJ when I noticed the question marks forming over the students' heads, "I don't think they understand what the hell you're talking about. Accent's giving it away."
"Man, ain't nobody asked, now did they?" said CJ in an exasperated voice, "They seem to understand me just fine."
"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. "So the reason why we talk differently is that we are separated from each other. I'm from the West Coast, CJ's from the East Coast. We have many more dialects and accents throughout the US. Some people talk with a 'Southan Drawl' or a sort of Spanish/English hybrid. It's like having the different dialects here such as the Kansai dialect and the Nagaoka dialect."
"Excellent," the teacher said gleefully, "Takeuchi-san, would you like to add anything to that?"
"Why yes indeed," said Takeuchi-san in English. She spoke with an accent, but not a Japanese one, I'll tell you that. No, she spoke with a clear, posh British accent. My eyes widened when I heard her speak. I didn't know she could speak fluent English in one of the prettiest English accents out there.
"There are some discrepancies between American English and British English. For example, we say aubergine while Americans say eggplant. And we all have different accents in the UK as well. I speak with a Southern accent. I can't really put my tongue on the name of the specific accent I am speaking, but it is a rather posh accent. In fact, the northern and southwestern accents in the UK had actually influenced the American accents, especially the one with the southern drawl."
"T-Takeuchi-san," I stammered, "You speak English? How come I didn't know about it?"
"Because you didn't ask, love," she said ever so sweetly, smiling and making my heart jump a little, "I understand English perfectly. I am half British, after all. I could hear what nasty things you two talk about in secret, thinking I wasn't able to listen in onto your conversations. I know that you two snuck into the girl's locker room last week. You nasty little boys. Thank goodness Natsuki was the only one there. Your dastardly plan is secret safe with me."
As much as I liked Takeuchi-san berating me in an English accent via ratting me out, I had to stop Takeuchi-san from telling the whole class of my crimes. So I went over to her, put my finger over my mouth, and said: "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
"Aw," cooed Takeuchi-san with a smug smile on her face, "It's not like the students understand us." She turned to the class to address them, "Right?"
Confused faces spread throughout the whole class, not knowing what's going on. Obviously, they weren't able to follow the conversation even when I started talking. Thank God.
"Did any of you learn a single shred of English for the past three years I've been teaching you all?" our English teacher exclaimed angrily in Japanese, clutching her head in frustration, "You all disappoint me! And Lee-san? Brown-san? See me after class."
As soon as the entire class heard our English teacher say that we were in trouble, their ears perked up. Ah shit, I thought to myself as I looked at Takeuchi-san, who shot me an evil smirk. Damn her!
Lunch
Well crap, I got chewed out by my English teacher, both CJ and I (especially me because I was sleeping in class). For some reason, though, she let us off the hook, saying that we're just young boys trying to explore our options, whatever the hell that means. Oh God that conversation was hella awkward.
Whatever, I'll just eat my lunch.
Lunchbox in hand, I walked out of the classroom and explored the school for a little bit, trying to find a place to eat my food in peace. There were students in the hallways eating or walking. Outside, many students were lounging around on the benches and the waterfall in the middle of the courtyard. I didn't see anyone there, so I decided to move on.
On the third floor of the third-year building, I stopped at the top of the stairs. There was no one up here, only a few kids just eating in private. I guess this is where all the loners eat their lunch. I won't find anyone up he-
"Lee-kun?" asked a familiar voice from behind me. I turned around and saw Ono-chan a few steps below where I was standing. She had her own lunchbox in hand (I made it by the way). She looked like she was trying to find a place to eat her own lunch.
"Ono-chan! Hey!" I said, smiling, "What are you up to?"
"I'm gonna eat lunch on the rooftop," said Ono-chan, gleaming with excitement like she always does, "You wanna join?"
"I thought the rooftop is off-limits," I said, skeptical about her plans.
"It's fine," she chided with a mischievous smile, using her hand to swipe away any objections, "Can't get in trouble if you can't get caught." Well, I already got chewed out once today and got out scot-free. Might as well test my luck.
"Alright," I said, "Sure, I'll eat lunch with you."
As we walked up the stairs to the rooftop, I asked: "Do you do this often?"
"Every now and then," Ono-chan said as she opened the door to the rooftop, "I'm always somewhere else, so good luck trying to find me."
The rooftop was, well, like any other rooftop. Gray concrete floors, open sunlight, a few benches facing towards the rooftops and mountains of rural Japan. There was a chain-link fence on the perimeter of the rooftops to prevent anyone from accidentally falling from the third floor. A couple of small trees grew on pots. The sky was pretty much clear of any clouds and the sun beamed down its rays onto us. For a rooftop that was prohibited from other students, it was pretty well furnished.
"Let's sit down here," said Ono-chan, who proceeded to sit at one of the benches looking out towards the city skyline, "This is a perfect view."
I sat down next to her and took out my lunch, some more onigiri rice balls. I also had a can of Red Bull that I got from the vending machine because I really need it. Ono-chan took out her own lunch that I made for her, with onigiri rice balls and a caesar salad.
"Thank God I came to Japan," I said, "It's a whole other world."
As I raised my drink to my lips, the sound of the door opening reached my ears as someone had opened the door to the rooftop. Oh no, did we get caught?
I looked over to the source of the sound and saw the maiden of mystery herself standing in the doorway, a lunchbox in her hand.
"Sorry I'm late, Sayori!" exclaimed Saito-san as she tried to explain herself, "I had to use the ladies' room really bad and… O-oh, Lee-san!"
"Yo," I said as I saw Saito-san coming closer, then pausing once she noticed that I was there with Ono-chan. She was blushing as if she was embarrassed.
"Oh my goodness, I said too much!" she exclaimed as she covered her face with her hands in shame, "I didn't realize you were here!"
"Ah, it's not a big deal," I said, smirking, "It's a completely normal thing for everyone."
"Er, yeah," said Saito-san, tugging at her sleeve, her voice trailing off, "Normal."
"Sit down, Yuri!" said Ono-chan, scooting away from me and patted the space between us, "We saved you a spot."
I placed my food on my lap to make some room for Saito-san, who sat down right next to me. She unraveled her lunchbox which was wrapped in a piece of cloth and opened the lid, showing off the yummy morsels she had in that box. She also had a metal bottle wrapped up in that piece of cloth, most likely holding hot tea.
Saito-san twisted the cap of her bottle and poured the contents of the bottle into the cap, using the cap as a cup. The hot and steamy liquid seemed to be freshly steeped tea had an aroma that lingered even though we were outside. Long story short, it smelled hella good.
"You know," said Saito-san after she took a sip of her tea, "I was worried about eating up here on the roof. I just wish we don't get caught."
"I kind of do myself too," I said as I finished up one of my onigiri rice balls, "Especially since I already got in trouble today."
"Lee-san!" cried out Saito-san, who stopped drinking her tea to look at me.
"What?" I froze as the two stared at me with worried eyes. It was like they were shocked that I had gotten in trouble.
"For what?" asked Ono-chan, "Is it something bad?"
I rolled my eyes and smirked. "Nah, it's nothing that bad," I said.
"B-but you're an exchange student! Won't that be detrimental to your education here in Japan?" said Saito-san, who put down her "teacup" and looked at me intensely.
"It's not that big of a deal," I said, "All I did was get caught sleeping in class. And something else that I don't wanna talk about."
"Which is?" said Ono-chan, really trying to get me to say what I was gonna say. Wow, why did I even say that last sentence?
"Uh, just ask Takeuchi-san if you really wanna know," I said, "Just, long story short, I got in trouble because I didn't know that Takeuchi-san could speak English. B-but it's not that big of a deal!"
"If you say so," said Saito-san as she shook her head, "I don't know what it's like to be in trouble. The only time I was ever in trouble was when the two of us were put in detention together."
"Seriously?" I asked.
"Y-yes," said Saito-san, "I actually thought about not eating lunch up here because getting yelled at wasn't a pleasant memory."
"Ah, you're one of those who don't get in trouble all the time," said Ono-chan as she took another bite from her onigiri, "Me, I just get in trouble because I wake up too late. Really, the teachers are used to it."
"Yeah, I'm now your personal alarm clock because you refuse to wake up on your own," I said to Ono-chan, who playfully pouted.
"I used to get in trouble a lot back home," I explained, leaning back into my chair, "Not that I want to get in trouble, per se, but it's, well, because my sister keeps getting into fights. And I have to help her, which usually gets me in trouble as well."
"How severe were your punishments, Lee-san?" asked Saito-san.
"I get suspended for a few days after each incident," I said, shrugging, "My sister too. Damn principal's kind of a bitch. Thank God that the program that I was in understood my predicament. Usually, they would kick anyone out of the program if they ever get into a fight, but I was an exception. They understood that my sister gets into fights and I just try to keep her safe. But that program refuses to meddle into my school's punishments when it comes to dealing with incidents like these."
"You're a bad boy," said Ono-chan, smiling, "With a good heart."
"And with the strength of a thousand men," I said, flexing my arms, "What's funny is that program is based in Geneva, Switzerland, so each incident I find myself getting into feels like putting my head at The Hague."
"Well, let's hope you don't get in trouble anymore," said Saito-san, sipping her tea.
"Yeah, let's," I said as I finished up the can of Red Bull that I was nursing.
Clubroom
Like always, when school ended, I stayed in the classroom for the literature club. Takeuchi-san was off doing something else for the time being, so I just spent my time alone while listening to music via earbuds.
I was leafing through a manga that I picked up this morning on my way to school, a rather popular manga called Komi-san Can't Communicate. I had already a lot of it on my phone even back when I was at home, but having the real book in my hands seems more natural than staring at a screen.
The manga was about a girl named Komi-san and her quest to get a hundred friends. Her, along with I guess you could say her love interest Tadano-san and Najimi, who a: doesn't have a gender, and b: is supposed to be the childhood best friend that everyone has, someone like Ono-chan.
I was reading from the beginning, where Komi-san first meets Tadano-san and Najimi, but I already had butterflies in my stomach. I get that feeling whenever I read a romance manga (I'm a sucker for wholesome handholding). The series is still going, but to my disappointment, there was no romance yet.
So, I was just reading manga while vibing to music when the door opened. There stood Nakano-san with a rare smile on her face. She came marching into the clubroom with a cheeky grin, I really was curious as to why.
"What's got your mood up?" I asked as she pranced to the desk behind me, sitting in its seat.
"Oh, nothing," said Nakano-san, "Other than a new volume of Parfait Girls being released today."
"Oh, nice!" I said as I closed the book while keeping my thumb on the page that I was on as I bent backward to face Nakano-san's unnaturally pink eyes. Seriously, those have to be color contacts. There's no way that's a real eye color.
Speaking of Parfait Girls, I haven't read it. I don't even know what it's about. Whenever Nakano-san reads with me, I usually am just reading my own thing. I show her something that I found interesting in my manga while she shows me hers, maybe like inside jokes or just something to laugh at. We don't talk much when we read together, but when we do, it's just shitposting.
"What's stupid is that I can't pick it up on my way home," she said, sulking a little, "I gotta get home before my dad does."
"Well," I said, "If you want, I can pick it up on my way to school tomorrow."
"You sure?" she said, crossing her arms, "I don't wanna bother you or anything."
"Nah, it's cool," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "There's an otaku shop on my way to school anyways. I can just grab a copy and give it to you in PE or here in the club."
"Y-you're not doing this because you like me or anything, right?" she stammered.
"Tsk. I'm just being nice," I said with a rather lax tone, "Relax, it's no big deal. I just want at least one good thing about coming out of your mouth"
"Hm," muttered Nakano-san, looking down as to make her voice just audible, "T-thanks. You're a good friend."
"Hm?" I asked as I leaned in while cupping my ear to hear her easier, "What was that?"
"I-I said nothing!" she exclaimed like a tsundere. Yep, there it is, I thought as I dodged a (hopefully) playful slap to the face.
After that, the rest of the club entered the clubroom. I read my manga while Nakano-san read hers, just talking about the different mangas out there while recommending books and shows to watch. You know, your average conversation between two weebs.
"Okay, everyone!" Takeuchi-san said her signature catchphrase, "Take out your poems! You know the drill!"
I took out my poem, a hastily written poem I wrote this morning. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're gonna say. I should've written it last night instead of watching anime. Well here's the thing. Anime comes first, a'ight? Ain't no exceptions to that rule.
I showed Ono-chan and Saito-san my poem first. The two of them liked it, Ono-chan especially because of how alike our writing styles are. Saito-san showed me hers and it, of course, had lots of imagery and big words. It's a little hard to follow, but it was still pretty good. Though, I didn't tell her it was hard to follow, for she might not take that comment well.
Then I showed mine to Takeuchi-san.
"Hey, Lee-san!" she exclaimed as I approached her, "Did Yuri and Sayori like your poem?"
"Well, I couldn't say they hated it," I said, "Though it seems like Saito-san had something to say about it, probably because of how different our writing styles were."
"Ah well, Yuri's kinda tough to please when it comes to literature," said Takeuchi-san as I handed her my poem and her to me, "I guess she's more, what we call 'cultured' compared to us normal people."
"You make it sound like she looks down on us," I said, defending Saito-san, "Besides, you're British. You're the epitome of cultured."
"Ah, well, I wasn't trying to sound like that," Takeuchi-san said, "Sorry if it did sound like that. She's just… different. In a good way, mind you."
"Well, yeah, she's pretty unique," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
"Now, that's the line that a guy would say when describing a girl he likes," said Takeuchi-san with a smug smirk. I rolled my eyes at that comment. What? Me and Saito-san? I don't think that'll work.
She read my poem, examining every single thing about it. Honestly, I had the idea of writing about this one specific topic, so I thought long and hard trying to make everything fit. In the end, I just left my pen to bleed on the paper for God knows how long. You could still see the mark my pen left after being in that one spot for a while at the top of the paper.
"Alright," said Takeuchi-san in her posh British English, "Well, I guess it's the right time to tell you 'Monika's Writing Tip of the Day'!" Takeuchi-san would give me a little writing tip every day. I haven't told you guys each tip that I learned because, well, sometimes they would be a pretty insignificant tip. But whatever, I got time to tell you what she told me.
"Sometimes, when you're writing a poem - or a story - your brain gets fixated on a specific point. If you try so hard to make it perfect, then you'll never make any progress. Just force yourself to get something down on the paper, and tidy it up later! Another way to think about it is this: if you keep your pen in the same spot for too long, you'll just get a big dark puddle of ink. So just move your hand, and go with the flow!"
"Hmm," I said, "I'll keep that in mind!"
"Go ahead and read mine, will ya?" she said, smiling.
Her poem was titled Hole in the Wall. Here's how her poem went:
"It couldn't have been me.
See, the direction the spackle protrudes.
A noisy neighbor? An angry boyfriend? I'll never know. I wasn't home.
I peer inside for a clue.
No! I can't see. I reel, blind, like a film left out in the sun.
But it's too late. My retinas.
Already scorched with a permanent copy of the meaningless image.
It's just a little hole. It wasn't too bright.
It was too deep.
Stretching forever into everything.
A hole of infinite choices.
I realize now, that I wasn't looking in.
I was looking out.
And he, on the other side, was looking in."
"Well," I said, "It's very… freeform."
"I tried writing something like that," Takeuchi-san said, "I didn't want to be held back by basic literary rules and techniques."
"A free soul," I said, "Or an artist with a creative mind."
"Exactly! You don't have to follow all the rules, right?" said Takeuchi-san, "Speaking of which, how was your talk with our beloved English teacher?"
"Oh, it went alright," I jokingly sneered, "No thanks to you!"
I then went to Nakano-san last. Without saying anything, we exchanged our poems. And I was expecting her usual childish style of a poem, but this one was vastly different upon first glance… Actually, it wasn't even a poem, it was a note!
"Uh, Nakano-san?" I said.
"Shh!" she exclaimed, "Just read it!"
"Okay, okay, fine, sure," I said, looking back at the note and reading it word for word. Here's what it said:
"I don't know how else to bring this up. But there's been something I've been worried about. Yuri has been acting kind of strange lately. You haven't met her last year, so you may not know what I mean. But she's not normally like this. It's like she changed ever since you came here.
Okay... This is really embarrassing, but I'm forcing myself to suck it up. The truth is, I'm REALLY worried about her. But if I try talking to her, she'll just get mad at me. I don't know what to do. I think you're the only person that she'll listen to. I don't know why. But please try to do something. Maybe you can convince her to talk to a therapist.
I've always wanted to try being better friends with Yuri, and it really hurts me to see this happening. I know I'm going to hate myself later for admitting that, but right now I don't care. I just feel so helpless. So please see if you can do something to help. I don't want anything bad to happen to her. I'll make you cupcakes if I have to. Just please try to do something. As for Monika... I don't know why, but she's been really dismissive about this. It's like she just wants us to ignore it. So I'm mad at her right now, and that's why I'm coming to you about this. DON'T LET HER KNOW I WROTE THIS! Just pretend like I gave you a really good poem, okay? I'm counting on you. Thanks for reading."
"Y-you know what?" she said as she shoved my poem into my hands and snatching her "poem" from my grasp, "Just never mind it. Don't even say anything about it, 'kay?"
Before I could say another word, Takeuchi-san spoke up in a clear voice. "It's getting late, everyone! Let's all just go home now!" Well, there's that.
I ended up going home more confused than ever. On the walk home with Ono-chan, I kept silent trying to figure out what was going on. If it really was something worrying, I don't wanna drag Ono-chan into it. So I stayed silent so that she remains oblivious about the weird encounter I had with Nakano-san.
Later
As I lie in my bed, I wondered what the hell was Nakano-san talking about with that note. Was she really different last year? I mean, the only thing that I could think of that she did out of character was her bringing in a wine bottle. Then again, I'm not always with Saito-san like how Nakano-san is. Is it because of me or anything? God, I hope I don't get dragged into another mess like my sister did.
Do I have to worry? Is there really a problem? Jesus, I feel like everything had hit me all of a sudden. If there was something wrong, I gotta fix it, right? If it's something concerning Saito-san, I gotta help her right? Fuck, I am confused myself. I don't know what the fuck that was about.
"I hope it ain't anything too serious," I said aloud to myself while looking up at the ceiling. "I don't want any more drama in my life."
Famous last words.
Honorifics: (Underlined honorifics are the ones used in current chapter)
-san: Most common, it is an all-purpose suffix that can be used in any situation where politeness is expected. Basically the titles Mr. Ms. etc.
-sama: This suffix is one level higher than "-san" and is used to confer great respect.
-kun: This suffix is commonly used at the end of boys' names to express endearment.
-chan: Feminine version of -kun.
Senpai: Superior/Upperclassmen.
Sensei: Master.
Translation notes:
1. There are different accents in the UK, about as numerous as the accents in the US (Not really a translation note, but I found that rather interesting.)
2. Onigiri are balls of rice with some sort of stuffing and are sometimes wrapped in seaweed.
A/N: I thought I would have time to write while quarantined due to this coronavirus crisis. Nope! That was a fuckin' lie! Let's recap what happened. My brother broke my computer (I don't write on that one, but I did lose all progress in DDLC: Monika After Story and lost all of my custom skins in War Thunder). Got a new one. I apparently have online school, but I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Also, my parents are working in hospitals as nurses, so I'm pretty fucking scared over here. I also tried to write, so I wrote like a thousand words one day then had a giant case of writer's block. Then I wrote three thousand in a day then voila, here we are.
Now, that note that Natsuki gave Sawyer sounds familiar, right? I'll let you guys figure out what the hell is going on. On that, I'll see you in the next one. Peace! And stay safe from this fucking plague!
