"Big brother, wake up. Please, wake up," a small, cute voice called me.
I slowly opened my sleepy eyes, and found my sister, Tamiko, standing next to my bed.
"Whaaaat..." I murmured, almost growling.
Tamiko put her hands on her hips. "You promised you would accompany me to the school today."
Due to my sleepiness, I had trouble thinking. "...the hell are you talking about? School doesn't start in days."
"I meant Sakuragaoka. They put up the accepted students board today, remember? You yourself said that you'd accompany me there," she explained.
"Ah, that..." I muttered, finally remembering the promise. However, I just turned my head away from her, pulling the blanket over my head. "I'm still sleepy, so let's go in a few hours... or tomorrow..."
I could hear Tamiko mumbling something out of annoyance, until she stopped. Finally, I can resume sleeping...
"...Ecchan."
Snapping awake, I quickly sat up, kicking the blanket off of me. "I told you to not call me by that name!"
"Well, at least you're finally awake," she noted with a satisfied smile. "Get dressed up and come downstairs, we'll be going by train."
After she left my room, it took me a few seconds to recover from the idea that she had outdone me. But, I just hate that nickname so much... well, whatever, I'll get my revenge someday. After stretching a bit, I threw on some clothes, including my red hoodie, and moseyed downstairs to my sister, who was wearing her junior high uniform. She practically forced me to gulp my coffee down in under a minute, and we headed off to the train station. Why buy alarm clocks, when you have a little sister?
So yeah, I had promised that I'd accompany Tamiko to Sakuragaoka. I don't even know why. Maybe I wanted to be a good big brother, or maybe I wanted to scope out some schoolgirls. Or maybe I thought I'd bump into someone I know. In any case, for the longest time I thought that Tamiko would apply to Kasumimashita, like her two older brothers. But no; apparently, ever since elementary school, she had planned on applying to Sakuragaoka. However, she's not the only girl I know who has applied to that school.
Moments later the train arrived at our stop, and we continued the journey on foot. I began recognizing places from my festival visit last year, and soon we stood in front of the white building of Sakuragaoka. The many cherry blossoms on the yard were blooming, which was actually quite a pretty sight. Guess that's where the school's name comes from. Dozens of schoolgirls from many different junior high schools were roaming around the campus. And, as expected, there wasn't any other 16-year-old guys. I felt vulnerable. We walked to the front of the auditorium, where the accepted students board was located.
"I... I got in! Big brother, I got in!" Tamiko rejoiced as she spotted her name on the list.
I smirked, patting her on the head. "Congratulations, nice to know that at least one Sugimoto isn't an idiot."
"Hasn't it always been obvious?" Tamiko quipped.
She spotted some of her schoolmates further away from us, so she gave me the permission to go back home, and ran to her friends. Slipping my hands into my hoodie's pockets, I couldn't help but smile as I watched my skittering little sister. So many years we've attended the same schools, until now. Well, I don't think she'll have any problems in Sakuragaoka. At least I hope so. Out of curiosity, I turned to check the list out once more, reading it more thoroughly. Wait a minute... That's...
"Sugimoto-kun? What are you doing here?" I heard a familiar voice right behind me.
I turned around and found Hirasawa standing there, dressed in her junior high uniform. She cocked her head confusedly, still waiting for an answer.
"Oh? Uh, well, I just accompanied my sister here," I explained.
Hirasawa just got even more confused. "Your sister applied here?"
I nodded, and pointed my thumb towards the board behind me. "Yeah, and she actually got in."
Understanding the situation, Hirasawa began scoping the board out herself. After a few seconds, I saw a flash of joy in her eyes.
"I got in, too!"
I, of course, had spotted her name earlier, but still decided to act surprised. "Well, would you look at that. Congratulations to you, too."
After thinking for a couple of seconds, I decided to point at a group of girls further away. "By the way, my sister is that light haired gal, in case you want to get to know her."
Hirasawa gazed at my sister, a bit puzzled. "How come she looks so European?"
"Ah, our mother's mother is from Northern Europe, so we have some European genes. It seems that my sister has inherited most of them," I explained as I turned to look at Tamiko, who had her back turned to us.
After looking at her for a bit, I turned back to Hirasawa. "I'm sure you'll be friends. She's nice and kind, just like you." I quickly realized what I had just said and wanted to reword the latter part of my sentence, but then decided to just it be.
"Thank you," Hirasawa said with a warm smile.
"Ui!" another familiar voice could be heard.
We turned to face the voice. It was Yui, who was a nervous wreck, almost shaking in her boots.
"Why are you so nervous?" Hirasawa asked her. 'Nervous' was a complete understatement. "My name is there. I passed."
Yui flinched. "R-really?"
Her expression turned exited... and a second later tears started dripping from her eyes. I had to take a step back as she ran to hug her little sister.
"Sis, I can't breathe..." Hirasawa muttered, smiling embarrassedly.
As Yui started congratulating her sister and thanking everyone around us, I couldn't help but feel a little concerned. "Now she's lost it..."
However, both of them looked so happy that I decided to give up on the witty remarks and just smile. A sound of camera shutter made me turn my gaze. It was the members of Yui's club; Tainaka, Kotobuki, and Akiyama, the latter holding a camera. Wait, did I just get into a photo? They walked to us, each giving Hirasawa their congratulations. However, they soon noticed me, too.
"Wait, what's this guy doing here?" Tainaka asked, taken aback due to my presence.
I frowned, unamused. "I have a name, you know..."
"Yeah, why are you here, Sugimoto-kun?" Yui asked me, finally letting go of her sister. Don't tell me she didn't notice me from the very beginning...
Before I could even open my mouth, Hirasawa explained to them what I had told her.
"You mean the sister who gave you this bracelet?" Akiyama asked, raising her left wrist with the aforementioned thing around it.
I nodded. "The very same. Nice to see that you like it."
Startled a bit, she hid her left hand behind her back, blushing a bit. So, she's as easily embarrassed as she was at the Christmas party, huh. Gal, at least let me take you out for a dinner before you start acting like that... I noticed Tainaka glancing at both Hirasawa and I.
She scratched her head, puzzled. "Seriously, are you two sure you're not da—"
"We're not dating!" Hirasawa and I yelled in unison, getting a few confused looks from the people around us.
"Alright, got it..." Tainaka muttered, backing down.
Since they clearly had their own plans for the day, I decided to say my goodbyes and head back home. Maybe I'll try to catch some sleep.
A week later, the school had already begun. I had entered my second year in high school. Man, a year sure went by fast. Hopefully these two years will be just as swift. Speaking of swift, I was running to school after sleeping through the alarm. It was already lunch break by the time I got to school. Stopping by the cafeteria to buy myself a sandwich, I headed to the basement, and stepped into the club room.
"Morning," I greeted my friends, breathing a bit heavily.
"It's noon," Tadaaki quipped from the couch, a game controller in his hands.
"Fuck you," I answered as I threw my schoolbag in the corner.
I headed to the kitchen area, where a freshly made pot of coffee was waiting for me. Wonderful. As I was pouring myself a cupful, I noticed something, and turned around.
"Hold on, where's Ichiro?"
Tadaaki kept his eyes on his video game. "He left just as the lunch break started. He didn't feel like wasting his Friday afternoon at school."
He kept playing for a while, until he paused the game and turned around to face me. "Actually, I think I'll do the same. I didn't catch much sleep last night, you see."
"Why don't you just sleep through the classes? It'll count as attendance," I suggested, carrying the coffee cup over to the couches, and taking a seat.
"Don't you remember? The next class is chemistry," he reminded me.
I grimaced. "Oh, yeah. The chemistry teacher is a real asshole. I still remember the time he caught one of our classmates dozing off..."
Tadaaki nodded. "That's exactly why. I'd stay here, but as you know, the basement is off-limits during classes."
"Well, suit yourself. I guess I can handle a few hours of school without you clowns," I said with a shrug, and tore open the plastic around the sandwich.
As the lunch break ended, Tadaaki went home, while I headed to the class. Sure, it'll be a bit boring without those two, and the chemistry teacher is a fucknut, but I still like chemistry. Well, at least the half of it.
"...what?" I muttered to my classmate.
"I said that we won't be doing any experiments today, we'll just be studying theory," he repeated himself.
With a sigh, I muttered: "Thanks for the warning." I turned around, and left the classroom.
Well, there goes that chemistry class. I don't really care for studying from a book, especially when there's a better alternative, like mixing chemicals and such. So, where to now? I can't go home. My mother was really angry when she found me sleeping through the morning classes, so I don't even want to imagine what she's do to me if I came back home now. I didn't really feel like wasting my time around the town, either. I guess there's only one option left. I began heading towards the third floor of the west wing.
Whoever designed this school completely overestimated the amount of students that would attend here. Most of the classes were held in the east wing, while only a few were at the lower floors of the west wing. The rest of the classrooms are used as club rooms and storage rooms. Actually, I don't think there's any "normal" classrooms on the third floor of the west wing. It suited me just fine, since no one would catch me here.
I walked to the end of the hallway, and slid a door open, stepping inside the dark room. After finding the light switch, I turned on the lights, closing the door behind me. Room's windows were covered by mountains of cardboard boxes and shelves filled with god knows what. I guess you could call this place a 'redundant storage'. It was filled with stuff that didn't have a place in the official storage rooms and such. It was a perfect hiding place, since no one had any reason to come here. I found this place last winter, when I was roaming around the school's hallways out of boredom.
Most of the time I go through the contents of the boxes. I've found old photo albums, logbooks, classroom diaries and what not. Did you know that half a dozen students were temporarily expelled for having a chair fight? I've also found an old CRT TV, a VCR player, and a cassette player. With these, I could not only read, but also watch and listen about my school's history, which is actually more interesting than it sounds. However, right now I didn't feel like examining anything. I just wanted to take a nap. For that purpose, there's an old, broken gym mattress right behind one of the shelves. I turned off the lights, waited for a while until my eyes got adjusted to the darkness, and walked around a shelf to the mattress. Taking my uniform's coat off, I laid down with a yawn. After a bit, I finally drifted off.
Snow... I've only seen this much snow when I visited my father's hometown up north. But this wasn't my father's hometown. Instead of beautiful fields and tall mountains, there was nothing. I didn't see anything beyond my own nose. And the snow just kept coming, I was ancles deep in it. However, I didn't feel cold, but anxious. I was alone. I began walking with heavy steps, until I realized that my feet passed through the snow as if it was nothing but air. After some walking, I started hearing humming. I kept going through the white apocalypse, trying to make sense of the humming. Almost as if it was very dampened music, or singing, perhaps. I looked up towards the white sky, where the snow was falling from. However, one of the snowflakes was green. Or maybe it wasn't a snowflake, but something else. I wonder if I could catch it...? However, I suddenly stepped on nothing, dripping over, and falling through the whiteness.
Something blinded me. Fucking noobs can't use flashbangs properly. However, as I carefully opened my eyes, I realized the situation: someone had turned on the lights. I squinted to cover my vision from the blinding light, which soon was covered by a silhouette of a person, followed by a familiar feminine voice.
"Good morning, Sugimoto-san."
The figure stooped towards me with her hands on her hips. Now I could recognize that black, almost grayish hair.
"Well? Are you awake, or what?" she continued.
"Yeah, yeah. Get out of my way," I muttered in a sleepy voice, and sat up.
I could see a bit better now. The girl was Hironaka, the representative of my fellow class, and a star member of the Athletics Club. I've known her for some time, and let's just say that we don't see eye to eye about anything. I kept glancing at her for a while, until my gaze drifted to her skirt. I was a bit curious, yes, but I didn't feel like getting kicked in the face, so I quickly turned my head the other way, and stood up.
"You know, this is the third time I've caught you sleeping. How long have you been here, anyway?" she asked me with a frustrated sigh.
I checked my watch, which told me that the classes had ended half an hour ago. God damn, I really got to start setting up alarms for my naps.
"Since the lunch break."
Hironaka sighed again, and became serious. "I could report you to the teachers anytime, you know."
"So, why won't you do it?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.
"Because I've known you since junior high. It wouldn't change a thing, you would just pretend to listen to their scolds and find another place to nap during classes," she muttered.
I smiled and crouched down to grab my coat and schoolbag. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks for keeping me safe."
I walked past her and around the shelf towards the door, and I could hear her sighing once again. "You're hopeless, Sugimoto-san..."
I couldn't help but snicker as I slid the door open. However, my laughing was cut short when I realized that the door didn't open.
"...what?"
I tried again, but to no effort. What the hell is going on here? Hearing my struggling, Hironaka peeked from behind the shelf with a confused expression. I demonstrated the situation to her by trying to open the door, which refused to do so.
"Why did you come here, anyway?" I asked her.
"I was asked to bring a box here," she answered.
Keeping quiet of a bit, I kept my eyes on the door, and nervously asked: "Were you alone? Does anyone know that we're here?"
I glanced over my shoulder at Hironaka, who finally seemed to understand the situation. "...n-no. A teacher gave me this task, after which she left the building."
I kept glancing at her for a while, until I resumed struggling with the door. As it still didn't want to open, I took a step back and kicked it out of frustration.
"Why the hell did you even lock this!?"
Hironaka tried her best to keep her cool. "As you probably know, these classrooms haven't seen much use. That's why the doors are still as old as the school itself, meaning that you can't open the lock from the inside. Their locks are also very unstable."
I didn't understand the point of her documentary, until she highlighted the latter sentence. "So, I... I guess I might've slammed the door shut too hard when I spotted you sleeping here..."
Oh, so I'm stuck here, huh? Wonderful, simply amazing. I turned back towards the door, breathing heavily, and clenching my fists.
"Fuck!" I cried as I gave the door another kick. Nope, it still didn't budge.
What a shitty situation. Since we were at the third floor, windows were out of option. I also couldn't call my friends over to help us, since Tadaaki was probably sleeping, and Ichiro was most likely jerking off or something. I completely lost my self-control. I really wanted to punch something. I turned around, and immediately found a suitable target. I took couple of steps forward, and threw my fist.
The cardboard box rumbled off the shelf, decorated with a dent left by my fist. Phew, that felt good... However, I soon noticed Hironaka, who had crouched down, and was covering her head with her hands. It was almost as if she was shaking out of fear. Realizing what my temperament had caused, I crouched down, facing her.
"Hey..." I tried calling her.
She glanced at me from the corner of her teary eye, so I continued: "...you thought I was going to punch you?"
"...it's... you're just... that kind of person, you know..." she answered in a low voice, sniveling a bit.
Still keeping my voice soothing, I asked her: "What do you mean?"
"...I've seen you fighting people, many times. Almost every time they start out of nowhere. It's very scary to watch..." she explained, keeping her eyes on the ground.
So, despite of her cool-headed and responsible nature, I still manage to scare her. To be honest, I felt kind of bad about it. As slowly and carefully as I could, I put my hand on her shoulder.
"Listen, Hironaka, that's in the past. I've changed. Maybe I was like that due to the people in Yukinokawa or something, but not anymore."
Hironaka slowly raised her gaze from the floor towards me. Ugh, I don't even know why I felt like explaining myself to her. Maybe I wanted to get rid of the stigma of being a violent delinquent. I mean, I still am one a bit, but not as much as in junior high.
As she seemed to calm down a bit, I took my hand off her shoulder and stood up. "Let's talk about this later, after someone lets us out of this god damn room."
As I finished my sentence, I heard a jingling of a keyring from the other side of the door, which soon slid right open. On the other side was the school's janitor.
"Well now, I thought I heard some ruckus from here. You've got to be careful with these old doors," he said, and stood aside. "Come on, then. Get going."
Hironaka and I glanced at each other. Thanking the janitor, we left the room and began heading towards the lobby.
"Listen, Sugimoto-san..." Hironaka said.
"Yeah?"
She glared at me, clearly annoyed. "Never touch me again."
I just smirked at her, which caused her to become even more annoyed. As we got to the lobby, I headed to the shoe lockers, while she continued on to the east wing, probably to retrieve her schoolbag. I didn't plan on waiting for her, so I changed my shoes, and began heading home.
...I wonder how Tamiko is doing...?
I was in the middle of writing notes when the bell rang, ending the school day. Sakuragaoka was everything that I was hoping for. It also seemed a lot calmer than my previous schools. I've only been here a week, and already gotten used to this place. But, to my misfortune, a lot of my friends had gone to other schools. And those few who study here are in other classes. I can't even walk home with them, since they have club activities after school. And I haven't found a club that I'd be interested in. I still have the club pamphlets under my desk. I've read them through many times, but nothing really interests me.
With a sigh, I started packing my bag. I stood up, grabbing my bag, and glancing once more at the cherry blossoms outside the window.
"Excuse me? Are you Sugimoto?"
Taken aback a bit, I turned around to face the voice. It was one of my classmates. Her brown hair was tied into a ponytail, or something resembling it. She cocked her head, still waiting for an answer.
"Uh, yes, I am," I answered, a bit puzzled.
The girl smiled, and introduced herself: "I'm Hirasawa Ui."
For the sake of good manners, I did the same, despite being a bit confused: "Sugimoto Tamiko. Uh, how do you know my name?"
"Your brother told me. He thought that you and I could get acquainted."
Now, I was even more confused. "Eiji-chan told you? How do you know him?"
"We've been friends for over a year. Hasn't he told about me?" she asked, being as confused as I am.
I slowly shook my head. "No, not at all. I have no idea about who you are."
"O-oh, is that so..." she muttered, looking a bit awkward.
However, she brightened up quickly, and asked: "Ah, I almost forgot. Would you like to walk home together?"
"Well, I travel by train," I told her.
"The station is along my route to home. We could walk there, if you don't mind," she suggested.
I thought about it for a moment. For a whole week, I've been going home alone. It had left me feeling a bit lonely. It wouldn't hurt to make new friends, especially when they are in the same class.
I nodded with a smile. "Okay, fine by me."
We exited the classroom, and after stopping by the shoe lockers, we began walking towards the train station. I glanced up towards a partly clouded sky. What a fine Friday afternoon.
After walking for a bit, I asked: "So, what do you think about my brother?"
"Oh, um..." Ui muttered, glancing upwards while thinking. The pause felt kind of nervous.
Finally, she continued: "Well, he's a nice person, and... uh..." Clearly, she didn't manage to come up with anything else.
"That's all?" I asked her.
"Y-yes, eheh..." she said, laughing sheepishly.
"Well, why is he a nice person?" I presented her with another question.
"Uh, well... I'm not even sure. He just is," she muttered. She soon turned to face me. "What's he like to you?"
I had already prepared for that question: "As you mentioned, Eiji-chan is a nice person. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but he also has his darker side. He has... should I say, a problem controlling his anger. He also has a nasty mouth, though he tries his best to control it. I... I'm not sure if I should tell you, but... he's a bit of a delinquent."
I glanced at Ui, who kept quiet, listening to every word. Since she didn't say anything, I continued: "You said you and he have been friends for over a year? Back then, Eiji-chan was living the most difficult moments of his life. He was constantly in trouble, and was almost kicked out of the school. But, for some reason, he calmed down a bit during winter."
I once again glanced at Ui, who seemed surprised. So, she actually didn't know these things about my brother? I wonder if I should've even told her those...
As I looked at her, I remembered something: "Back when he and I were in junior high, I heard a rumor about two girls from another school coming to pick him up. I assume one of those girls was you?"
She nodded slightly.
"Who was the other one?"
"Oh, she's Suzuki Jun, she's actually in our class. Um, I guess her name doesn't ring any bells, does it?" she asked.
I shook my head. "No, not at all. Eiji-chan doesn't really talk about his doings. Although, one thing has bothered me for the past year. Usually, when he goes out to hang out with friends, he always mentions their names. But, for some reason, he sometimes doesn't. When I try to ask him about it, he just says that 'I wouldn't know them'."
I turned to face Ui. "That friend is you, right?"
"U-uh, I guess... I hope it doesn't bother you," she said, a bit unsurely.
"No, of course not. Actually, I think it's because of you that he has begun to calm down," I said with a smile.
This caused Ui to blush a bit, which made me smile even more.
However, I quickly became serious. "I... I hope this conversation hasn't changed your opinion about Eiji-chan."
"Huh? No, not at all. To be honest, I've been a bit worried about him sometimes, but I guess I shouldn't be, since he has such a caring little sister," she explained, and it was my turn to blush.
At the end of the day, I had made a new friend. Even though Eiji and I don't go to the same school anymore, he still somehow managed to help me. My brother sure is hopeless, but very thoughtful at the same time.