Fumiko and Akira exited Iwasaki's office and walked out into the hallway. The smooth, yet rough looking floors of the spacious hallway were partially covered by a wine and gold pattern rug, that stretched out from one end of the hall to the other connecting ones. As Fumiko followed Akira and walked down the long corridor lit only by chandeliers, Akira turned around.
"Hey Rei," She called out to her. "Why don't I show you around the campus a little? We wouldn't want you to get lost Monday when I'm not with you, right? I mean, after all, Bōken Academy is kind of a big school.
Fumiko decided that walking around for a little while wasn't such a bad idea. She wasn't particularly in a rush to go home to a family that she doesn't recognize. "Sure." She replied. "I don't mind."
"Well, follow me." She told Fumiko while smiling. "But first," Akira walked up to Fumiko and pulled out a golden badge. She gently grabbed the outside of Fumiko's blazer with one hand and pinned the badge above her heart with the other. "The teachers just passed these out today." She told her. "I asked to hold on to yours so I can give it to you later when you were feeling better." She then reached into her other pocket, pulled out another badge and did the same to herself.
Fumiko looked down at the badge. Engraved in the middle of the badge was a picture of two swords crossed. Inscribed below the emblem were words that read "nee incerta spe". Before Fumiko could ask what the badges were for, Akira took her by the hand and led her to, and down the stairs. She didn't let go until they arrived in front of another wooden sliding door with a sign above it reading "1-C". Akira slid open the door, stepped inside, and turned around back towards Fumiko
"This," She said with her arms outstretched into the air as if she was showing off something. "Is our classroom." She told her. "You've already been here but, you don't remember right?"
"No, I don't." Fumiko answered her as she walked into the classroom.
The classroom was about 3 times the size of a regular classroom. The wooden walls of the room, a light brown color, much brighter than the dark oak walls that covered the hallways. In the middle of the room stood a podium. 10 feet behind it, towards the front of the room, to the immediate right of the door that Fumiko and Akira entered through, was a huge blackboard that looked like it was just recently used. In front the podium, instead of the standard classroom desks, were 4 rows of long tables each set at a different height from the other. Behind each table, were 4 chairs. On both ends of the first row of tables, were stairs covered by more red carpet that allowed you reach the tables high up in the back.
Akira went up the stairs until she reached the third row of tables and sat in the third seat from the left. "This is my seat and," She pointed to the seat on her right. "This is yours. We picked them out together last week. After all, we've always sat next to each other since 1st grade." She sat there for a while and closed her eyes, as if she was remembering something. Eventually, she got up, walked down the stairs, toward Fumiko, and clasped Fumiko's hand.
"Rei," She started. "I know Ms. Iwasaki told me already but I want to hear it from you. Do you really not remember me?" She asked in a soft tone.
Fumiko somewhat understood what kind of person she meant to Akira before she lost her memories. She didn't want to make her upset. She was the only person who, since this morning, didn't look at her strange or treat her like she was some poor soul who you should take pity on. But she didn't want to lie to her for those exact reasons. To make her feel false hope didn't stand right by Fumiko. She couldn't lie to the one person she somewhat felt comfortable around.
"Sorry, I don't." Fumiko answered.
"Oh." Akira said with a disappointed tone. She stared down at her shoes.
"But, I appreciate you for helping me out all day." Fumiko said trying to make her feel better. "Even though you know I don't remember you, you still worried about me. Thanks, Aki."
That was all Akira needed to hear to make her feel better. She looked up from her shoes smiling from ear to ear. "Well, that's what best friends do for each other." She walked towards the door that they entered from and turned around. "It's getting late. We should start heading off the campus.
Fumiko looked at a nearby window and saw that the once orange sky, was turning a dark red. "Yeah." She replied.
Once outside the campus, Fumiko looked back at the grounds that she was just on not too long ago and noticed how big Bōken Academy. "You weren't kidding, it's huge."
"Hmm? Oh, the campus? Yeah. Supposedly, before the effects of the Time Meteor, It used to be a school called "Kyoto University". Akira told her as they continued walking.
"Kyoto University?"
"Yeah. Oh," Akira said as if she forgot something. "Rei, I know your memories are missing but surely, you know what country we live in right?"
"Hmm? No."
Akira laughed a little. "Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. We live where people used to call "Japan" according to what we were taught in preliminary school. After the Time Meteor incident, and a little before Bōken Academy was founded, the citizens living here of that time didn't want to change the name of their country or any of its cities, even though you couldn't say it was the same country anymore after everything was altered by the meteor. So," She continued. "Instead of calling the country and its cities by a completely different name, they just added the word "New" to everything even though, everything looks old. Pretty Ironic right?' She said as giggled a little.
By the time Akira finished talking, they arrived at the house Fumiko woke up in.
Fumiko walked through the gate and just before she entered the house, Akira called out to her.
"Since we have a day off tomorrow, I can show you around the city if you want. After all, New Kyoto has all sorts of good places to visit."
"Sure, I don't have anything else to do obviously." They both laughed.
"I'll come by tomorrow around noon then." She ran down the street before turning around and waving at Fumiko.
Once she was out of sight, Fumiko turned towards the door, sighed a little, then slid it open.