Chapter 3: Role Model
“Now I’ll ask someone to repeat what I said,” the young teacher finished in English. “Kumai-san, how about you?”
Yurina stared at the woman while still slouched in her chair. Sitting up, she cleared her throat. “Um… Enjoy?”
“Very good!” the teacher, Sudou-sensei, praised her. “Now can anyone use it in a sentence?”
English was not Yurina’s best subject, but she tried hard. That was a mark of most successful athletes here, doing their best in whatever it was they did, and was one of the reasons they were so well-respected. Sometimes it was hard to identify in Yurina herself since she didn’t talk often, but those who got to know her better, as well as those who thought a bit at the success she’d had, knew the truth of her deceptively quiet nature.
She could perhaps have gotten into a more “prestigious” academic private school, but it would have been far from guaranteed, and the basketball program here was known across Tokyo. Since she really had no clear aspirations of college or such beyond graduation, she was content to be able to pursue her sports and live her current dream.
As one of the boys in the class expanded on her answer to Sudou-sensei, she gazed toward the back corner of the room at Miyabi-chan, who as usual was slumped in her chair and appeared asleep. Tokunaga next to her was just staring into space, her mouth slightly open while she held a pencil in front of her that waved slowly back and forth.
Yurina didn’t really know what came over her to make her join the delinquent in the bath and have that conversation which, albeit short, was longer than she had with many people. It was almost an impulse that drove her to follow the girl as she went to the locker room after knocking out that boy. The girl had intrigued her, but she’d also developed concern over her after watching her over time, of a type that made her feel like a bit of a big sister.
She just realized that must be something new to the other – having known her since they both started going to this school, she as well as the other students knew how Miyabi Natsuyaki had quite an independent streak, doing her own thing while everyone else did their best to keep up with the rat race.
Yurina herself wasn’t necessarily concerned with the rat race either, but in her case it was more from a “my pace” sense of nonchalance. She didn’t actively try to stand out as Miyabi seemed to, but she somehow ended up doing so anyway in her seeming indifference to most things.
“Kumai-san,” the teacher addressed her again, “Would you like to pair up with Sakamoto-san for this role play?”
Yurina gazed at her blankly for a moment, having been lost in her thoughts, but then nodded and rose. She came to the front of the classroom along with a boy that was at least ten centimeters shorter than her. The boy glanced up at her from time to time with wide eyes, but mostly kept them to the ground.
She was used to this type of reaction from boys since, although she was strangely tall for a girl or even a Japanese person in general, she was also remarkably pretty. Especially after turning 16 and now entering second year, she regularly received comments about how she should look into modeling. It was something she hadn’t really thought of before, but it didn’t sound terrible. She was certainly in a great location for it. If nothing else, it gave her something else to think about for possible post-graduation activities.
She knew that many successful athletes worked in modeling and endorsements, for example Mao Asada… Maybe she could do that if she managed to make the National Basketball team someday.
“Are you ready for the conversation?” Sudou-sensei asked, peering at each of them from beneath dark bangs. Yurina was about to say that no, she had no idea what they were doing, before the teacher continued, “All right, go for it!”
And then she stared at the boy.
“What… is your favorite color?” he asked in a somewhat stuttering voice.
“Green!” she answered almost immediately, startling him. “How about yours?”
“Um…” he stuttered, staring at her. “Um……”
Yurina sighed. She really wished people would stop doing that around her. She glanced out at the audience. It seemed like about half the class was staring at her dreamily, while half of the rest were glaring daggers at the pitiable boy who had her sole attention at the moment.
Turning back to him, she smiled. “Do you like blue?” she asked, gesturing at a pin on his jacket.
He blinked before starting to say “Hai…” and instead, with a quick glance at the teacher, changing it to the English, “Yes. Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome!” Yurina replied, satisfied.
The boy looked positively radiant at having what must have seemed a relatively successful exchange with her, and Yurina kept her smile on as she returned to her seat. However she didn’t share it only with him, and instead tried to make eye contact with some of the other students who had been staring at her along the way. It all went by too quickly for her to know how successful she had been though, and eventually she managed to retake her seat.
In an unconscious glance at Miyabi, she noticed that the girl had woken, and was now staring heavy-lidded in her direction. Her face was a puzzle, and Yurina somehow got the feeling that she was running their encounter earlier through her head once again. Yes, definitely an intriguing girl.
She glanced around at the other students again, some still of course looking her way, before settling her eyes on the desk. She didn’t mind the attention – as with most everything else, she generally didn’t think one way or another about it – but it had recently begun saddening her at the same time as well, especially with the boys.
That was because she knew now that no matter what they did, how one or another might try to earn her attention, she could likely never return their affections. The reason for this was that she’d recently realized something.
Kumai Yurina likes other girls.
She didn’t know if it meant there was something wrong with her, or if it was something that happened commonly to girls like her since she’d heard rumors of other female athletes who felt the same way. Whatever the case, it is what it is.
She first really realized it one day while watching the cheerleaders during a game, and since then she’d found herself thinking about what it might be like to hug, and maybe even kiss, a cute girl like that in a more than friendly way.
After the realization she’d discovered the great opportunity she had since she regularly bathed and showered with other members of her team. She felt bad about thinking of them in that way though since they didn’t expect a thing, and so kept her eyes averted as much as she could. Somehow though, the fact she seemed to have trouble making eye contact with her teammates and others had served only to enhance her mystique.
However, there was another thing she supposed she was glad of. Even if she might be into girls, she generally wasn’t attracted to most of the other athletes. They were too much like her in being tall and lanky or muscular… not your typical image of “cute” in other words. And Yurina liked cuteness. She hadn’t yet found a suitable cute girl that might share interest in her to test these feelings out with though…
She glanced at Miyabi again, who was yawning with half-slitted eyes. She was cute, but had she even felt attracted to the girl, she knew there was way too much baggage that would come with it. Her eyes drifted to her friend Chinami next to her, and she thought much the same thing. Cute, but bad news. Not that she wanted to stay away from them – Yurina had a habit of quietly sticking her nose into places where maybe it didn’t belong – but she really did feel more like a protective big sister type in regard to those two, if they even needed it. After all, their independence was what generally made them stand out.
The rest of the class passed fairly quietly for her, and her mind wandered to the basketball court and the formations they’d been going over in practice. She felt refreshed after the run earlier, but would be happy when school got out and she had some time to work out before heading home to study.
Even so, the studying wouldn’t be too intensive, since at this point she didn’t even bother with cram school. Her parents and friends had recommended it to her at times, and that she should think more about her “future”, but she was generally just content to spend her time out of the classroom focused on sports and socializing. The two had until now generally gone hand-in-hand, but since talking to Miyabi in the bath earlier, she wondered if perhaps Kumai Yurina was turning over a new socialization leaf.
If so, she knew some people would certainly object to who exactly she was choosing to experiment with. In fact, some did. There were some of her teammates earlier, and now, as she was heading out of the room after English class…
“Kumai-san,” Sudou-sensei called over before she could leave, and Yurina glanced to see the teacher sitting at her desk in front of some papers, having now also donned some glasses, before walking over to stand in front of the desk.
“Sensei,” she said, “What’s up?”
A few of the straggling students still leaving the class gawked at her talking to the teacher, impressed again at how she spoke to her in such a relaxed way… even if she didn’t say all that much. Yurina almost sighed again. These people seemed to watch her all the time… shouldn’t they know her well enough by now!?
That said, some of the students were perhaps staring at the teacher as much as her. Sudou-sensei, with her long and elegant black hair and youthful appearance, was almost as much of an idol in the school as the more popular students. She’d just started this year, and it was rumored she may not have even completed college first. She sure didn’t look it, since despite her mature style she certainly had many innocent features as well, such as the silky smooth skin of youth.
It’s not that it was unusual for this school to have young teachers. Being a mid-city school serving primarily one of the rougher Tokyo neighborhoods, and in the shadow of the high-class Azabu hills district, it was a kind of “proving ground” for teachers new to the system. Most were also women who had even less options elsewhere.
So although many of the other teachers were attractive and captivating in their own right, Sudou-sensei’s youthful appearance offered her a mystique the others did not, especially since many tried to appear more mature and professional in order to look more appealing for advancement… and normally, out of this school.
“How’s the basketball team looking so far this fall?” the teacher asked, pulling Yurina out of her thoughts once again.
“The team?” Yurina asked blankly. “Um, it’s all right I guess.”
Sudou-sensei smiled patiently. “All right?” she replied. “That’s an understatement, as far as I hear it. I hear many think you’ll have a run at the city championship, and that you personally of course have a lot to do with it.”
“I don’t know about that…” Yurina said, shifting her feet in embarrassment. “All the girls are really working hard this year.”
“So I see,” the teacher replied, amusement dancing in her features. She stood up from behind her desk, walking around it in her long, tightly wrapped black skirt. “I played basketball when I was a schoolgirl. Did you know that?”
Yurina stared at her. Of course nobody knew anything about the teacher’s history, aside from all the rumors floating around about what kind of college experience she may have had.
“No I didn’t,” she replied evenly, swallowing under the focused gaze the teacher directed at her.
“You’re an example for the rest of the school – a role model, if you will. The girls around here, even some of the boys, they need that. Teachers can only do so much; it’s the students who can and should have the most effect on each other.”
Again Yurina was very aware of the truth of what the woman was telling her, but her humility couldn’t very well let her agree easily. “Mmm…” she murmured uncertainly. Why was this teacher trying to talk to her so much anyway? Surely she knew as everyone else did that Yurina was not the best conversationalist.
“All right, I’ll just get to the heart of the matter,” Sudou-sensei said with a long sigh. “I hear you’ve been seen with Natsuyaki-san more often recently.”
Yurina stared again. Now that was something she hadn’t really expected. “Is that so?” she asked quietly. “I don’t really pay attention to things like that. If someone has something to say to me, we talk. If I have an observation to make to someone, I’ll make it.”
“It doesn’t bother you?” Sudou-sensei asked, peering curiously at her as if the line of her gaze held enticing bait out to a fascinating specimen.
“Excuse me, but doesn’t what bother me?” Yurina asked in return.
“I’m sure you know her history, and that of Tokunaga-san I suppose, although Natsuyaki’s would appear far more interesting.”
“Would it?” Yurina asked, walking slowly around the desk, gazing around the room as if with no purpose while the teacher followed her around the other side.
“I would think a role model for hundreds of young women would be careful of her associations.”
“We’ve been in the same homeroom for a year and a half now. She’s a classmate of mine, just like any of the others.”
“I see,” the teacher replied, “You look at her no differently despite her family.”
“That’s right.”
“Perhaps you’re a better role model than I even thought at first.”
“I don’t try to be anything. I’m just Yurina Kumai. May I go now? I have to prepare for my next class.”
“Of course,” the teacher said as she managed to find her way back around the desk to her chair, and sat in it. This caused Yurina to come to a stop in front of it as well. “Your English is improving lately,” she continued as she glanced down at the papers in front of her. “I’m sure it’s not necessary to tell you, but keep up the hard work.”
“Thank you, Sensei,” Yurina said, and bowed and left the room.
There were only a couple more periods before the day was over, and as she walked toward the gym for practice she saw Miyabi and Chinami walking quickly together, their heads bowed as they conversed and typed rapidly on their cell phones. She wondered idly how much money they would extort from their poor victims tonight.
As with much of the rest of the school – many of the other girls also glanced their way as if trying to pick up any little scraps of information they could for their own purposes – she knew about the enjo kosai the two of them practiced on many nights. They weren’t the only girls in the school who ran such a service since for many of them expendable cash was at a premium, but they were certainly two of the most successful.
Chinami had even asked Yurina once if she wanted to join them not long after the year began, gushing about how beautiful she was and how she’d have the men eating out of the palm of her hand. Yurina wasn’t so sure of that since she felt she might be a bit… different from the type most of the men seemed to pursue, but either way she declined, citing her busy practice schedule.
The mention of her practice schedule had seemed to make the girl’s face fall, and Yurina remembered how she’d gone out for badminton club in their first year. Like Miyabi though, she hadn’t followed through with it. It made sense for Miyabi, but she wondered why the other girl didn’t continue on. She seemed to quite enjoy the sport. Then again, sports were not the most significant part of most girls’ lives, unlike for Yurina.
As she was watching her two classmates, she bumped heavily into something she’d apparently walked into, and almost tripped over what she now found to be a small girl. More accurately, the small girl who’d risen up to her defense in front of the two delinquents earlier in the day.
“Excuse me!!” the girl squeaked, appearing mortified, and started bowing all over herself as she stumbled and regained her feet. She was obviously not the most coordinated person, and not the athlete Yurina was used to in most she knew.
“It’s all right,” Yurina said, holding a hand out to the wall to prop herself up as she peered down at the girl in pristinely tidy seifuku despite the end of the day, and her pigtails waving around as she bowed. “I saw you earlier, didn’t I?”
The girl’s eyes widened as if in pure amazement she’d remembered. “I… um… I…” the girl stuttered. “I’m sorry for bothering you!” she said with another furious bow, and turned as if to flee again.
“Wait,” Yurina said, reaching out a hand to grip the girl’s slim arm just below the shoulder.
At her touch the other froze, staring at her hand as if a snake had risen up and was trying to bite off her arm.
“Sorry,” Yurina said, withdrawing her hand. They were now getting the attention of no few of the other students passing by, most casting them furtive looks, and the other’s eyes darted around self-consciously. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. What’s your name?”
“Tsu…Tsugunaga,” the girl replied. “Tsugunaga Momoko.”
Yurina furrowed her brow in thought. “I heard somebody say earlier they thought you were a third year. Is that right?”
This Momoko’s eyes widened again. “Mmm…hmm…” she said unsteadily. “I’m sorry!!” she said again. “I must look so silly to you…”
“No,” Yurina replied soothingly. “Of course not. I should be the one to apologize, senpai.” And she bowed smoothly. When she looked up, the girl was frozen staring at her again.
“You are… cute,” Yurina said as she rose, a light smile coming to her lips. “You know that?”
A crooked smile came to the other girl as well. “Of course,” she replied uncertainly, though not really as if she doubted it. “The cutest.”
This time Yurina’s smile widened. “I need to head to basketball practice…” she began, and saw the other girl’s features fall in disappointment. “…Would you like to walk with me to the gym?”
The girl lightened up again, although at the same time an almost terrified shadow crossed her face at the idea of going to the gym.
Yurina kept smiling though as the girl didn’t move to reject her invitation. Wouldn’t it be scandalous for Yurina Kumai to be walking to the gym with a quite obviously unathletic girl who almost looked like she could be a princess, no matter how cute she might be.
The cutest, she’d said? Yes, how positively delightful!
Topic: Tsuukai! Berryz Gakuen (Decisions) (Read 19048 times)