Volume 8 Chapter 4 (1/2)
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- An American?
It was probably the japanese national anthem that resurrected those words
Noticing the students near her were standing, Sei raised her head She glanced at the program
(National anthem?)
So thatwere already over? She'd dozed off, so hadn't noticed
(Now then)
She followed everyone else's lead and stood up, ready to sing the antheht back to the unbelievable first words that her friend had said to her, back when they were kids
Suddenly grabbing her shoulder and asking, ”Are you an Aht
Eriko the kindergartener didn't have her trademark hairband, but her parted hair left her forehead wide open, so the effect was irl back then either
Children with older brothers or sisters tend to mature faster than others, and that certainly seemed to be the case for Eriko, as doted on by her older brothers
Sei was in a different class to her, but occasionally saw Eriko leading her friends in gaarden Back then she probably hadn't lived long enough to ”lose interest” or ”get bored” with things She led with gusto
In contrast, Sei wasn't all that energetic Hue that easily
Shyness was so Sei had been born with When she was suddenly tossed into kindergarten, she responded with bewilderment
Even though they were young children, there was still a wide range of personalities With her personality, she found it hard to innocently play together with friends
But that wasn't to say that Sei didn't have any friends or avoided people She just felt o out of her way to join in with her classmates, that's all
Sports and painting were easy, as were the lessons about the hiragana alphabet and si herself to so child, and soh to make her feel down
Then one day, while she aiting for the bus horabbed her shoulder from behind It was Eriko
Sei already knew her as the king of the irl wanted from her
Without any introduction, Eriko said:
”Are you an American?”
Click
Sei felt like some switch had been flipped inside her head
As young children they were both equally ignorant of proper s to say and bad things to say Looking back on it now, some ten years later, it was hard to knohy exactly, but at that time Eriko's words had definitely fallen into the ”bad” category
Finely-chiseled features and light colored hair Sometimes adults she didn't knoould ask about her parents' nationality
She could laugh about it now, but back then it had been a very sensitive question
It was rude to ask, ”Are you an American?” to a child who considered the conscious of discrimination, it felt like a denial of self
Asking, how is your appearance different to my appearance?
And, have my parents failed as japanese people in some way?
And, no big deal, but s she seriously pondered
(Is that an American?)
Her anger flared Quiet does not equal timid While she didn't usually talk s
”I get it, you're a half”
Probably coed to avoid hearing Sei's, ”No I'm not”
”Hey, is your papa an American? Or is your mama an American?”
”Is America the only country name you know?”
Sei didn't ansith either a ”Yes” or a ”No,” instead verbally lashi+ng out at Eriko before turning her back on her
In reality, it was ad to even be able to say words like A she could appreciate The truth of the norant It wasn't until elementary school that she learned that Africa and London weren't countries
”If it's not America then which country is it?”
Despite Sei's attempt to shake her loose, Eriko stubbornly followed her Even though her pride had probably been wounded by having her lack of education pointed out, this was overpowered by her curiosity, spurring her into action
”Stop following me”
”Running away? Half”
”Get away fro head”
”What did you call me - ”
She couldn't re the conversation, there was no ot into a spectacular scuffle The pair were pulled apart by a teacher and Eriko's mother, who had arrived to pick her up, but even then continued to menace each other, all while covered in dirt
They were both escorted to the nurse's office to get their cuts and scrapes tended to, but a partition was put up between them due to the explosive atmosphere
The antiseptic lotion used on the cuts stung quite a lot, but Sei didn't cry She thought that if she showed any weakness to Eriko on the other side of the partition, she would have lost
The teacher asked both of the about the cause of the fight Even if they told her, as an adult she ht not understand They both knew full hat the other had said to hurt their feelings
”Now shake hands and make up”
She understood the teacher's position, but even as a child, Sei couldn't accept a resolution so easily Would shaking hands s disappear? No, it wouldn't Because it was pride that drove theht
”Come on Sei-chan You too, Eriko-chan”
Sei didn't hate the teacher, but she thought that that was the event that spurred her to build a wall around her She coldly regarded the teacher, as, after all, an adult Even though Eriko was her enemy, they still had more in common since they were both children
So even though the situation hadn't been resolved, they reluctantly reached out and shook hands, barely touching each other
In the end, it looked like they were on the same level They only shook hands to appease the adult, and the truth was that they hadn't forgiven each other at all
Neither of the reconciliation, to avoid drawing the feud out into the future But even if they had, they certainly wouldn't have used it
That single incident seearded as a problem child, rather than an unremarkable one That didn'tto both her classmates and teachers From time to time she'd pass Eriko in the hallway, and they'd stick their tongues out at each other, but it never escalated to violence
Even though that was their only connection, Eriko had still made more of an impression on Sei than anyone else in her class Consequently, Eriko's was the only face that she could reh elementary school and irls fronize theet put in the sa
Upon entering middle school, Sei saw that she'd been put in the sa since stopped poking their tongues out at each other, but they bothnext to each other, with only an aisle between them
- This sucks
She remembered that they'd both muttered that simultaneously
Neither of theht either before or after, they'd only ever fought with one person And that person was right there in front of them
”Sei-san”
nobuko-san, seated on Sei's left, tapped her on the shoulder Sei looked around, seeing that Katsuht, wasn't there There was no need to search for her, all of the seats ahead of her were eraduation certificates They were supposed to go and wait at the bottoe five students in advance, so that the ceremony flowed smoothly
”You were sleeping with your eyes open?”
”I wasn't sleeping”
She stood up and shook her head
”Get it together”
”Yep, my bad, like always”
”What can I do? We're both Satou-sans”
Sharing the sa later in the alphabet, nobuko-san had long since resigned herself to this sort of thing
Thinking back, nobuko-san had been looking out for her all year long Before Sei had taken shi+mako-san as her petit soeur, she'd occasionally asked nobuko-san to help out the Yamayurikai when they were shorthanded It was undoubtedly a bother to nobuko-san, but since Sei didn't have any close friends in her class, all she could do was impose on those seated close to her
”Sei-san, your eyes look gentler than in the past”
noboku-san said softly from behind, after another student had received her diploma
”The past?”
”Like kindergarten, or elementary-school, or middle-school … huh?”
nobuko-san's expression changed in a flash, and she looked at Sei as though she were seeing so inconceivable
”I can't believe it, you don't remember me”
When Sei got ho that she and nobuko-san had been in the same class one third of the time
Satou Sei
The wisteria class homeroom teacher called out the nae, bowed and received her graduation certificate
- Satou-san
Youko ree, and those were the first words she said
”Satou-san, wait up”
It wasn't long after entering into Lillian's middle-school that, for some reason or other, Youko had called out to Sei Froroups to check out the various clubs, and Sei had wandered off on her own - or so like that
Sei had turned around and looked coldly at Youko Unlike now, Sei's gaze used to be quite cutting She had a difficult atmosphere up close, but she wasn't particularly scary
”You're in the saether?”
Hearing Youko's words, Sei's face had suddenly changed to a s one In truth, Youko had been astonished It was the first time she had ever seen her cold classmate smile
”The entrance exaroup?”
Sei muttered, her lips more sarcastic than jovial
”What do you ht?”
Youko said, a bit sullenly, feeling like she was being taken for a fool
Those who had coh from Lillian's eleet in They didn't have to split along those lines, but since they'd just entered into roups tended to be of people in similar circumstances
”Sorry I must have missed that part”
Rather thanat all Sei had been gazing out theall through her classmates' self-introductions When her turn came around, she'd stood up, said her na no social graces whatsoever
But it was probably that which had , then the desire to know more about her would never have been born
”And? Does that have anything to do hether or not we can go and inspect the clubs together?”
Youko felt her tone of voice steadily growing stronger She'd definitely been annoyed by Sei's attitude But,with Sei was, in soe, she couldn't predict what Sei was going to say next
”Not really”
Sei said, relaxing her expression slightly
”It's been a long tirade has called , Youko-san”
Youko-san That had been pronounced quite clearly
This was the first time that Youko had been made aware of it That, at Lillian's, it was typical to call people by their first name
Sure, the classroom had been filled with a chorus of first na new classs of overly familiar students
It was four days after the entrance ceres that were natural to those who had coh Lillian's elementary-school, so no-one explained each and every little thing Youko had read the student notebook from cover to cover but it hadn't touched on this topic
”Thank-you for teaching me this, Sei-san”
”Not at all My pleasure”
After exchanging forced sroup went around to check out the club activities, as though nothing had happened Sei silently followed the at the back
Youko felt relieved
Back when she'd gone to a public elementary school, there had always been one rebellious boy in any group - but Sei didn't seeradually came to understand that the reason she didn't listen to what other people were saying, and slipped out of group activities, was simply because she found them tiresome
”Sei-san, are you going to join a sports club? Or a cultural club?”
In Youko's eyes, Sei had beco person So she asked her about various things The girls who had been in a class with Sei during ele unconcerned about the scary stories about her, but that was of no concern