At the Finish Line [Haiji Kiyose] - Run With the Wind

nine - "two weeks?"

She laughs awkwardly. "Sorry, I don't understand..."

He closes the lid of his laptop, crossing his fingers and clearing his throat. "I received your email where you said you wanted to discuss your current performance with me."

"Right..." She raises a finger. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm... concerned... about my grades at the moment--"

"And were you not concerned about it when you failed last year, as well?" He questions.

Stammering, Chiyo taps her foot on the floor. "Of course, Sir, but now I've not started this year off well, I think I need to do something about it--"

"Skipping lessons, arriving late to lectures, extended deadlines for your benefit --and you think now is the time to take action?" He pushes his glasses further up his nose, looking up at her. "Miss Yoshida, is University a joke to you?"

She shakes her head. "Not at all, Sir. It's the opposite of that, it's very important. But, until recently, it wasn't very important to me personally..."

"Then why are you studying at Kansei? For the experience? To have fun with friends?" He questions. "Your current performance isn't acceptable and that's the harsh truth."

Chiyo sighs, clenching her fists. "Mr Takamiya, I could try to explain it to you but it wouldn't make much sense."

He furrows his eyebrows. "Try me, Miss Yoshida."

Pursing her lips, Chiyo nods. "Okay then... My father is in politics and he became the mayor of our hometown when I was in Junior High. Since then, he's had this mould of who he wants me to become in terms of my career and my future. Me going to University and getting this degree --to him it means I'll live through his life. But I don't want that."

"Miss Yoshida, this isn't an issue with your parents, this is how you view your time here at University." He tells her.

She shakes her head. "That's what you'd think, but my whole outlook on University is that I didn't choose my courses for myself, I had to choose these for my father. The pressure from him is overwhelming, to the point where I can't sleep at night and I worry. You might think he has no input in my time here, but he's the only reason I'm at Kansei. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him pushing me --and granted I needed a driving force to tell me what to do, but this wasn't what I'd planned. So, what I'm trying to do now is change my perspective. I'm going to do as much as I can to turn this around and get the degree he wants me to have so that I can choose the rest for myself. Does that make sense?"

A hand resting on his glasses, the other on the table, Mr Takamiya shakes his head. "What it comes down to is that your grades aren't acceptable for a third-year student re-taking a year."

"And I can't change that?" She questions. "There must be something I can do?"

He raises a hand to silence her. "I didn't say you couldn't change that. I'll make a deal with you: if I give you two weeks to revise the first term work for both Economics and International Relations, you retake the test you failed two weeks ago and when you pass, I will allow you to continue with the course."

Eyes wide and heart-thumping, Chiyo raises her eyebrows. "Both subjects? Two modules?"

"Miss Yoshida, you are on thin ice here." He warns. "I'm sure with this new perspective you've gained that you will be able to complete the task. And anyway, you did all this work last year but you failed --this shouldn't be difficult."

Biting the inside of her mouth to hold back a retort, she nods. "Agreed. So, two weeks?"

"That is what I said." He replies, opening up his laptop. "If you need any resources, then let me know, but you should have everything you need from last year. Isn't that right?"

Pursing her lips, she nods again.

With a slight smirk on his face, Mr Takamiya types on his laptop. "I'm glad we're on the same page. I'll see you in two weeks time. You can leave now, you've got some work to catch up on."

Standing up with her fists clenched and blood boiling, Chiyo grabs her bag from the floor and makes her way over to the door.

"Oh, Chiyo?"

She turns around, sending him a fake smile. "Yes, Sir?"

He glances up from his laptop screen briefly. "For future reference, I don't think we're meant to be copies of our parents. If you wish to take another path, so be it. But don't use them as an excuse for self-sacrifice or a chance to push the blame onto others. At the end of the day, you can't fail to simply make a point."

Eyebrow raised, Chiyo shrugs. "Thank you, Sir?"

She places a hand on the doorknob, twisting it and opening the door when he calls out again.

"One last thing," He looks at her. "Good luck."

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