"That won't do," said Ms. Minagawa with a forced smile. "If you bought it, you'll need to file a complaint with the Education Committee. There's no point in arguing with the canteen owner directly—the canteen is run by the principal's family."
Akira, seated quietly below, stared in disbelief. It felt like his teacher had some deep personal vendetta against that convenience store.
"Any other questions, Matsuoka-san?"
"Nope, that's all."
Ms. Minagawa nodded and gestured for her to sit back down. Then she resumed her calm explanation:
"Classes begin at 8:30 AM. As long as you arrive before that, you're fine. We break for lunch at noon, and class resumes at 1:30 PM. School ends at 2:30 in the afternoon. On Wednesdays, we continue until 3:30 because I give an extra foreign language lesson."
"Each class runs about 45 minutes. You can use the restroom during lessons—just raise your hand and ask. This isn't kindergarten. If you poop your pants, no one's going to help you clean it up."
Laughter broke out across the classroom.
"Shouko, did you catch what Ms. Minagawa just said?" Akira turned toward Shouko, who was still staring ahead intently.
"Hmm…" Shouko nodded slowly, then shook her head quickly.
"…It's fine. I'll explain everything to you again on the way home," Akira reassured her. He knew she hadn't caught much of the lecture—Ms. Minagawa had spoken a little too quickly.
"Alright! If there's nothing else, you're free to go!" Ms. Minagawa clapped her hands and promptly sat down at the podium.
Chairs scraped loudly as students got up in unison. It was only the first day of school, and few had gotten to know one another, so everyone moved quickly.
"Let's go, Shouko!" Akira stuffed his books into the desk cubby—no way was he carrying them home.
Shouko paused, watching him with curiosity. "You're not taking your books back to read?"
"No, they're too heavy. I'll just take them out during class when Ms. Minagawa teaches."
Then he added casually, "And if I fall behind in class, I can just ask you to help me catch up, right?"
Hearing this, Shouko's mind wandered. She imagined herself helping Akira practice pronunciation again, like in kindergarten. Back then, she could scold him and order him around, and he couldn't even talk back! Thinking about the punishments—just innocent kid stuff, of course—her ears turned red.
"What are you daydreaming about? Why are you grinning like an idiot?" Akira asked, watching her space out with a blank smile slowly spreading across her face.
"N-Nothing!" Shouko snapped back to reality, frantically shaking her head as a blush crept over her cheeks.
Just as Akira was about to press further, a familiar female voice interrupted:
"Shouko! You smell sooo good!"
Shouko froze. She was suddenly hugged from behind—her face squished against another's, someone sniffing her like a complete pervert.
Akira turned and saw the culprit: Miu Matsuoka. He hesitated to intervene—beside her was the twin-tailed girl, Ito Chika.
Ito Chika gave Akira a stiff wave. "Hello, I'm Ito Chika. You can call me Chika."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Akira," he replied, nodding politely.
After their introductions, Miu finally released Shouko, who was still beet red from the sudden contact. After introducing herself, she gave Akira a playful wrinkle of her nose, as if to say, Why didn't you save me just now?
"You kids done yet? I still need to lock the door." Ms. Minagawa's voice drifted from the front. Though she didn't sound annoyed, the message was clear.
Akira glanced around—only the four of them remained in the room. He helped Shouko gather her eight-book schoolbag, then gently lifted her out of her chair.
"See you tomorrow?" Miu asked.
"Yeah, see you," Akira replied.
Miu gave them a casual salute—two fingers from her forehead as she walked out. Akira and Shouko also bowed goodbye to Ms. Minagawa and followed after them.
As they passed Class B, Shouko pointed out, "Akira, look—their desks aren't pushed together like ours."
Akira peered in. Sure enough, their desks were arranged individually, not in pairs like in their class.
He couldn't help but mutter to himself, Is our teacher just that intense…?
The two exchanged a glance before continuing out of Suimon Elementary School. As soon as they exited the gates, Akira spotted that spiky-haired boy again, this time standing with his parents. The boy locked eyes with them, gaze falling to the hands they were holding—and then narrowing at Akira.
He noticed the schoolbag Akira carried in his right hand. Pink. Or was it magenta?
The boy sneered and stuck out his lip at him.
Akira felt nothing. One day, that kid would envy him for being ahead from the very start.
"Are they classmates?" the boy's mother asked gently, noticing her son staring.
"Why do you care?!" the boy snapped, yanking his hand away.
The mother didn't respond. Her soft smile didn't falter—she simply closed her mouth obediently.
Shouko noticed the noise. "What's wrong, Akira?"
"Nothing. Let's go," he replied with a shake of his head, taking her hand and continuing on.
On the walk home, Akira repeated Ms. Minagawa's schedule and rules to Shouko in a slower, clearer voice.
"Aunt Shizuka! I'm home!" Shouko called out as they entered the house.
"How was your first day of school?" Shizuka Miyamura asked as she stepped out of the living room, crouching at the doorway.
Akira, taking off his shoes nearby, was totally ignored.
She used to ask him the same question every day, but he always brushed her off or let Shouko answer for him. Eventually, she gave up and just asked Shouko directly—who would even report how many times Akira went to the bathroom.
"It was fun! I met a bunch of new friends, and Akira and I sit together!" Shouko said happily, changing into slippers and taking Shizuka's hand as they walked back to the living room.
At the end of her story, she even described the scene at the school gate, which piqued Shizuka's curiosity. She turned to Akira, who was quietly peeling an orange at the coffee table.
"What happened exactly?"
Akira shrugged. "Hard to explain, Shizuka-chi. If I put it bluntly, you'd probably beat me to death."
He really couldn't wrap his head around it. If he imagined himself in that spiky-haired kid's shoes—and Shizuka as the mom—he figured he'd be getting the beating of a lifetime.
"Kids shouldn't talk about death. It's bad luck." Shizuka gently patted his head.
Shouko added softly, "That's right."
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POWER STONE!!!??
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