Today is just another ordinary, boring day. Sitting at the same desk I was assigned to about a month ago, listening to the same lessons that take forever to end and occasionally writing something down if I'm asked to. This has been all of my days ever since I was transferred to this school, for my first year of highschool.
My family had to move out from our previous home to a new one, in an unfamiliar neighborhood very far away from where we got used to living, because of my mother's job. Ever since then… things have only gone downhill for me. I missed my introduction to the class by arriving late on my first day, because I had gotten lost on my way to school. Making new friends here is also very hard, since most already have their own friend groups and I, a newbie outsider, intruding into these groups would just feel weird. Lessons have gotten especially hard because of that. Usually when I struggled with something, I could just ask my friends, but with no one to rely on… Well, I didn't have many friends to begin with, but I appreciated the ones I had. They would always call me “Red Cheetah Seiko” because I always was the best at running on the track and field course from our class… Even if I had a bit by the end of the race… Actually, thinking about the name now, it was kind of “cringy”.
Regardless, I am far away from everything I know, bored and at a low morale. It's at times like this where I would turn to my left and talk to my friend. But the only thing I see now is a window, showing a very gloomy weather, with clouds so dark that they could rain at any moment they desire. Not even the sun can win today it seems.
I wonder if I should just gi…
DING DONG
was suddenly taken out of my “trance-like” state by the School's bell, reminding me that I'm at school and still have some classes to attend to. My next class is P.E., a class I used to love, that now turned into a disaster. Not because I hate sports, no, far from that, I really enjoy them. It's just that… Track and field is not fun anymore…
Today's P.E. class was track and field once again. Our teacher separated us into groups, and my group was the first one to run around the course.
It went relatively well during the start. I ran as fast as I possibly could, but midway through the course, the track seemed to get longer and more difficult to reach the end.
I got increasingly more tired, while everyone else ran past me like it was nothing… In the end, I got last place, just like when we first had track and field a few days ago.
“Group 1, you can all rest now. Group 2, please come to track.”
Following our teacher's orders, all of us went to sit down around the track. I picked my spot a little further from everyone else and continued to think.
How does the rest of the class maintain their speed, without getting really tired by the end of the course? Am I missing something? Am I doing something wrong? Or maybe, I just am not cut out for this anymore?
I wonder if I should just give up on track and field.
“Group 2, please take your positions.”
No, no, stop thinking like that Seiko, you cannot just give up at the first obstacle you face.
But what if I really am not cut out for this…
“Group 2, on your marks…”
I am just going to observe group 2, and try to learn a few things from them, like how they manage their stamina and all the other things.
“Get set…”
Everyone prepared themselves in the same way, placing their hands on the ground and getting ready for the jumpstart of the run… All except for a peculiar girl with pink hair in the back, she is not using the ground as support for some reason. A gust of wind would probably knock her over, without the support from her hands.
“GO!”
Everyone jumped almost in unison to the teacher's command, they all maintained a steady pace with no clear placements yet. But as the race continued, some began to fall back and the leads became much more clear.
Hmm, maybe it's related to how I maintain my stamina through the race? Should I focus less on getting a lead first? There is a lot to think about… Hm?
The pink girl in the back, at last place, looks to be struggling a lot. She seems very distracted as well. if she keeps running like that she will trip for sure-
THUMP
Aaaand she tripped just like I was about to predict. That looked like it hurt a lot though. A pretty bad fall, I hope she is alright at least. I was not the only one to share that thought as well, as everyone in the class was discussing it from our spectating distance.
“Everyone, please stop the race!” The teacher yelled, rushing to check up on the fallen girl.
“Chie, are you okay? Can you still get up?”
“I-I'm fine miss-”
“That was a pretty bad fall, I'll get someone to accompany you to the nurse's office. Don't force yourself too much, okay?”
“But I'm oka-”
The teacher quickly turned to the audience and looked at every student with much efficiency trying to pick one to help her… Wait, because I am far away from everyone else, I just became a clear target!
“You! With the redish ponytail, uh… Seiko!” she yelled with a commanding voice.
“Yes Miss!”
“Can you help her get to the nurse's office?”
“No problem, Miss!”
I rushed to the scene. The girl bruised her right leg really badly during the fall, she could barely stand up. With the help of the teacher, she was placed on my back and I went on carrying her on my back to the nurse's office. I know the office is on the first floor, but I don't remember if it was on the elementary building or the high school one… I decided to go with my gut and went inside the high school building, but thinking about it now, I could have just asked the teacher where it was…
After going upstairs and walking for a bit, I started to get a little frustrated from being lost.
Like, how does this school feel this big? Why is the infirmary so far away from the track and field course??
Mumble Mumble
Hm? What was that noise? Sounded like someone talking… Is it the uh… What was the name the teacher said again? Right, it was Chie.
“Sorry Chie I wasn’t listening, what did you say?” I said, while turning my head a bit, to look at her.
“I'-I'm s-sorry for all the trouble I'm causing you.” She said very quietly, while looking down.
“Don't worry about it, it's not my first time giving a piggyback ride, and you're not that heavy you know.” I said, giving her a friendly expression.
“I-I see…” she responded, but her expression didn't really change, still looking down… Wait, did she think I called her fat!?
Oh no, I messed up!I need to think of something to cheer her up, quick!
“Hey Chie, uh… how was your day?” WHAT!? “HOW WAS YOUR DAY?”!? THAT IS THE BEST YOU COULD COME UP WITH BRAIN??
Looking at Chie again, she barely reacted to what I said and lowered her head even more.
“I- I guess not so good, thinking about it now hehe…” I respond, with an awkward laugh trying to move on from the topic.
Come on brain, think of something better!
“Ho-How about the weather, look at the wonderful weather we are having…” I said while turning to the windows to my left, only to be met with the same gloomy skies, dominated by dark clouds from before… I can't back down now, I'm far too deep in my sentence!
“A-a lot of dark clo-clouds today, with a high chance of rain! Gu-guess the sun was too lazy to show up today huh?”
I look back at her, only to see her placing her hand over her face… DID I MAKE HER EVEN MORE UPSET??
This was a COMPLETE DISASTER! I have failed in the mission “Cheer Up Chie”... I thought, now lowering my head in defeat.
“Pff…”
Hm? I just heard something again. I looked back and saw her chuckling from my disastrous attempts.
“So-Sorry, I just… just couldn't hold it anymore…”
The mission was a failure, but also a success…?! Just gotta keep the ball rolling now.
“Just my luck I guess… I hope the weather gets better.”
“By the way,do you play any video games, Chie?”
“I-I do play them…” She responds, a little louder than the last times I heard her speak.
“What type of video games do you play? I personally have been… trying to play this game called Phoenix Quest-”
“Yo-you played Phoenix Quest!?” She says, interrupting midway through my phrase “What did you think of it?”
Yes! The awkward silence between us was broken successfully!
Noticing the nurse's office just ahead I say:
“I'll tell you once we get to the nearest inn!” referencing a quote from the game.
“You better!”
Entering the nurse's office, I am met by a tall woman with purple long hair, wearing a black jacket over her lab coat which has sunglasses hanging from it. She notices Chie on my back and quickly instructs me to put her in one of the beds. She tells me to step back a bit, and does all her work as a nurse to heal and patch up Chie.
After she is done, she tells the now recovering girl:
“You just had a few bad bruises, nothing to worry about! There's nothing I cannot cure!” While striking a “cool” pose…? Chie got a chuckle out of it, which seemed to make the nurse smile.
“Stay put in this bed until the next bell rings and you will be healed in no time.”
“Than-thank you Mis-”
Chie is interrupted by a upbeat song by a female singer, coming from a phone on the desk close to the door.
“Sorry, that was my phone. I can't let any notification go by without being seen, who knows when someone needs rescue!” The nurse said while grabbing her phone from the desk. Her phone case has a pink flask symbol with many lines orbiting it, similar to one of these “neutrons” the science teacher talks about in her class… It's a surprisingly cute phone case, compared to her “cool” looking attire and behavior.
“Well, everything ended up okay, Chie.” I said, turning to her.
“I-I guess it did…” she said, expressing a bit of relief.
“I'll get going then, I need to tell the teacher that you ar-”
“Halt!” The nurse yells, freezing me in place from the surprise call.
“You, student whose name I do not know!” She said while pointing at me with a very commanding posture.
“Ye-Yes Sir! I mean, Miss!” Wait, why does she have a traveling backpack, she was looking at her phone just a minute ago. Did she get that during the brief minute we stopped looking at her!?
“You will be watching her now, make sure she doesn't leave before the bell rings!”
“Yes Miss!” Wait, why!?
“I must leave now to rescue someone, and I cannot afford any escapees anymore!” Escapees!? People have fled this place before??
After finishing her sentence, she went running to wherever she was needed, but still made sure to close the door with delicate care. Gone just as fast as she gave the orders… Guess I am on guard duty now. I grabbed the nearest chair and sat next to Chie's bed, to wait for the nurse's return.
“Hey… Hey Chie.”
“Hm?”
“Don't you think it's funny that the nurse wears sunglasses indoors, and acts like that's very cool?”
“It's a bit silly, but I like her. Despite the appearance, she’s super kind to others. Even tries to cheer up the people she’s treating.”
While looking at her, I happen to notice that her hands have a lot of bandages.
“Did you hurt your hands as well with that fall?”
“Oh, uh… this was… something else.”
“Something else?”
“I-It was a few days ago, I'm not very skilled at sewing and…”
“He-hey, you haven't told me about Phoenix Quest yet.”
“Oh, right! I forgot.”
“I didn't get far into the game yet, I only got past the beginning part where the knight loses the fight and the game begins.”
“Did you meet the magician yet?”
“I did see a character that looked like a mage, but she ran away when the knight got up, after washing up on a beach.”
“Oh, so you are still really early at the start.”
“Yeah, I'm not very good at RPGs, so it takes me a while to get through them.”
“Although, I do find it very interesting that the powerful knight loses the first boss fight, but after some persistence, the knight wakes up washed up on a beach.”
“It's not something too unique, but I like how the valiant hero gets up to try again. Did you like the combat system?”
“I did, the combat is very simple and fun! I like that the knight can have 4 types of classes and-”
“Huh?” I stopped myself after seeing Chie a little bit teary all of sudden.
“Is-Is everything okay Chie? Are you feeling pain?? I can go find the nurse if you need!”
“Oh, no, no.” She continues after wiping the tears away “It's just that… It has been a long time since I talked to someone at school like this.”
“Wha-what do you mean?”
“I used to have friends that I would talk to a lot, but ever since I was transferred to this school two years ago, everything started to become so distant.”
“In this new and unfamiliar environment, I slowly became more anxious of people around me. And after high school started, everything became even further away and difficult to achieve…”
"Bu-But talking to you right now makes me feel less anxious, the first time I felt like this in years. I can still do things on my own, but when it comes to talking to people… I wish I could talk to anyone like this…”
“Hm…“
“You know Chie, I guess we are not too different from each other.”
“Huh?”
“I was transferred to this school as well, with nobody to rely on and alone. I was not able to make friends, just like you.”
“…”
“I was even late to my first class, the period where we all introduce ourselves to the classroom, which made things a little tougher.”
“Two people on similar boats, traversing wavy waters.”
“Huh…”
The room became silent for a few moments, when suddenly, we began hearing some commotion coming from the windows. Sounds like the nurse is talking to someone down there.
“I am here principal, what's the emergency?”
“Right on time Miss Oshare. You see, I called you here to assist our newly hired janitor. He's supposed to be tree pruning, but he has a fear of heights and can't go up the stairs.”
“These stairs? They are rather… small.”
“Yes, indeed. But his fear of heights is very severe.”
“So much that he can’t go up just a few meters?”
“Correct. Seeing that you are the most fearless of the staff members, I decided to call you to fix this issue.”
“Huh…”
“Where's him right now?”
“Currently behind the tree, hiding in fear Miss.”
We cannot really know or see what is going on outside, we can only see the tree and the stairs leaned against it. But whatever is happening there sure is uh… something.
“I wonder if everything is going to be okay.” Chie said in a low tone. She might be a little down because of her situation…
“Hey, since we are basically in similar boats, what if we set sail together in just one.”
“Wha-What?”
“What if we became friends? You know, since we don't really have many options, how about we stick together and get through it together!”
This caught Chie a little off guard and she was a bit surprised, but after a few moments of thinking she responded.
“O-of course, we can be friends.”
“Hehe, name's Seiko, glad to be friends with you!”
After agreeing to be friends, the room grows a bit quiet and the noises outside start to pick up again, it seems like the nurse is helping the janitor.
“You have nothing to fear anymore! I used to have the same fears, and met a friend that also had fears of heights, but we both overcame it together.”
“For you to do the same as us, you have to take the first step on that stair, you hear me!”
“Ye-Ye-Yes, Miss!”
“Take a deep breath and then take the first step.”
“Everything is going to be alright!” “Everything is going to be alright!”