Rikka stood at the edge of the pier, looking out towards the sea. She breathed deeply in the fresh sea breeze, clearing out her lungs from the smog of the city. The soft, salty breeze whistled in her ears and flowed through her short black hair. Aaahhhh....!! How she loved the ocean! It truly amazed her how so many creatures and mysteries were hidden from the world and herself, right under this mesmerising blue surface, that never seemed to stay still.
What lies there beneath the water? And will she ever know? She shook her head slightly, and tilted her head up, looking at the dull evening sky. She spread her arms and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. How she longed to get back to to the sea!
Eyes still closed, she stepped forward, pushing her foot beneath the cold, blue surface.....she took another step, and another and another, letting the water seep up to her thighs. She continued to take more steps...just another one till her head was completely under.....just one more....then she could finally see what was down there....she could finally leave her world behind....and enter the blue world of the ocean
Rikka...Rikka!
What was this? A strange yet familiar voice was calling to her. Was it coming from beneath the water?
No....it was coming from above? She opened her eyes. Instead of seeing the dull evening sky, she was met with a man's angry face, who was shaking her rapidly.
'Aargh!' She jerked straight up in her seat and glanced at the snickering faces of her classmates around her.
'So the Sleeping Beauty is finally awake, huh?'
'No, Mr. Rimsey, you should've let her sleep, who knows what activities she was doing at night' and other whispers made her way to her ears, but she didnt care about them. What she was worried about though, was Mr. Rimseys' , her home room teachers angry red face staring down at her.
'Had a nice rest, huh?' he mocked her in a savage tone, 'Young lady, you are now at an age where one should take responsibility and pay attention in class,' he added the point of slamming his wooden ruler on her desk just to send the message home and continued, 'NOT doze off in the middle of class like a-'
A boy from beside Rikka's desk interrupted the teachers lecture with, 'Sir, she was sleeping before you even started the class.'
'Is that so, hmmm, Miss Hikari?' the teacher raised her eyebrows at her, not even mad at the boy for interrupting him. Rikka secretly thought that was pure and utter bull.
Why am I always the one who gets picked on? she thought to herself. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the a girl sleeping in the back corner of the class, near the window. Why didn't anyone wake HER up or tell her off for sleeping in class? So why did everyone just hone in on her as dumb she was the troublemaker?
Of course, she already knew the answer: she was a bad student. Simple as that. So it would make sense why most of the teachers and smarter kids didn't like her. Frankly, she was still quite amazed at herself for reaching the second year(mostly because of her one friend who actually cared about her) but she wasn't so sure if she would be able to graduate since she was A) Lazy as fuck, B) was bad in her studies, and C) also lazy as fuck.
'-Hey, are you even listening to me?' The teacher questioned her in a stern tone. Rikka realized she hadn't been listening to a single word he had said.
'Uh um..y-yes, Sir,' she stuttered.
Mr. Rimsey could tell she was lying because she stuttered everytime she lied to people.
'And have you AT LEAST done your homework? Rikka didn't say anything and refused to meet his eyes. He sighed and shook his head and walked back to the board at the front of the class continued his lesson on Algebraic Equations, occasionally glancing towards her, making sure she didn't doze off again.
Hhhh....she sighed and wiped off the drool from her notebook cover and opened it. She tried to pay attention to what the Mr. Rimsey was explaining but she ended up closing her eyes without knowing it.
Rikka felt something hard poke her from behind. She turned around to face her friend, Haru Sakaki, her first and only friend.
'Hey, ya were dozing off again,' he told her and sat back on his seat. 'Please try to stay awake, otherwise you'll get in even more trouble.'
He once again buried his nose back in his math book. Rikka turned back around to face the board and tried to actually pay attention this time.
Somehow, she managed to actually get some work done in her notebook. The Lunch bell rang and all the kids stormed out to get their favourite foods from the cafeteria.
Rikka stood up from her seat and stretched her body. It really hurt her legs when she had to sit down on a hard wooden chair for a long period of time.
'Hey Rikka,' her friend, Haru came up to her, 'did you understand what Mr. Rimsey taught us?'
'Yea, I got the gist of it at least.' she replied.
'Good,' he nodded in approval, 'If you dont understand or have trouble in something, let me know, k? I'll help you.' He told her.
'Thanks, Haru, you really help me out a lot.' Rikka told him
'Oh, it's nothing really.' He replied, which he said all the time. She guessed it really was nothing since Haru was so smart.
'Ok let's go to lunch, we'd better hurry if we wanna get something good.' Haru said as he hurried off towards the cafeteria.
'K, I'm coming!' she yelled as she stuffed her book in her backpack and began to run after him.
'Wait a minute, Miss Rika,' Mr. Rimsey called to her from the teachers desk.
'Ok.' Rikka replied and turned towards him. She tried to appear casual but she still gulped and wondered why he called her this time. She was sure she didn't cause any trouble this time and Haru had stopped her from dozing off a second time in class.
'What is it, Mr. Rimsey?' she asked him in a polite tone. She gulped nervously.
A few kids hung back near the classroom door to see the teacher tell her off or scold her.
He cleared his throat and spoke, 'I've noticed that you have been dozing off in classes more and more frequently, Miss Rikka.' Mr. Rimsey sat down as he spoke and motioned her to sit down in the chair beside him. She did so and he continued: 'Now Miss Rikka, this school does not want parents to get the wrong idea about how we teach or enforce the rules here in Kiroshima High, but if your current behaviour continues then we would have no choice but to get your father involved and even suspend you for a few weeks to reflect on your actions in class.' He cleared his throat again and glanced at her. She was looking down at the ground between her feet with a stoic expression.
'But I really don't want any of that, as you very well know.'
He paused and glanced at her again. She was pressing her feet harder against the ground. Of course she knew. Mr. Rimsey had been her mother's friend and he had known her since she was fairly little. Even after her mother died when she was only 7 years of age and forced to live with her not-so-caring father, Mr. Rimsey had still ensured that she was taking care of herself properly and eating well. But he couldn't have been there for her all the time, and she had grown up and turned out to be a disappointment in terms of studies and didn't quite fit in with any of her classmates, he still checked in on her well-being from time to time. But what she needed was a proper parental figure in her life, and that was something Mr. Rimsey didn't have the time nor means to offer.
He sighed and continued: 'If you dont want your father involved in your school life then please refrain from falling asleep in class from now on. ' He stacked up some papers and stood up.
'You can enjoy your lunch break now.' He said as he walked off to the teacher's lounge, the kids standing in the hallway scattering around him.
All throughout his talk, Rikka didn't say and single word. She wasn't very good at talking to others, with the exception of her friend, Haru.
After a few moments, she stood up and quietly walked off to the cafeteria.
**********
Mr. Rimsey walked towards his office from the teacher's lounge. On the way, he thought about Rikka and her studies. She really had trouble in all the subjects and she learned most of the things she knew from Haru being her home tutor. Hhhh....he really wondered whatever would become of that girl.
He promised her mother he would take care of Rikka but he had his own family to take care of and his teaching job kept him busy, especially towards the exams season, so he couldn't check up in Rikka too often. He really hoped her father wasn't hitting her anymore like before. He did ask her and she refused but he wondered if she was telling the truth. There certainly weren't any bruises, at least not that he could see on her skin he figured he wasn't but her father was a bit....unstable at times.
He wondered what she even saw in him that made her want to marry him. He certainly didn't see anything good in him.
Leaving these thoughts aside, he opened the door to his office and stepped in.