[6]
"And so, with that said, that is the end of the lecture." Shiori said, and it was at that moment that the bell rang. "Huh, just in time for lunch break as well. See you kids next period", she said, turning towards the door.
Megumi was still being stared at by Suzuki's questioning gaze, and so, she had to make a decision.
"Um, sensei, I have a question about the lecture, actually..." she found herself saying. Although her face was, as always, meek and innocent-looking, her eyes promised death to her meddling aunt.
Shiori oblivious as she was, still picked up on that. "Oh, really? Well...I'm kind of in a hurry, so..." she began, inching closer to the door. But Megumi didn't want to let her escape.
"Oh, I insist! I really need your help to understand today's lecture." as she said that, Megumi closed the argument by picking up the stack of textbooks that laid on Shiori's desk.
It was obvious to Megumi that Shiori wanted to refuse her, but she found that she couldn't infront of her adoring, impressionable students, who were watching the whole thing.
So she laughed. "Alright then, Kanazawa. Make sure not to drop the books, though!" and with that, they left the classroom.
Despite the hallway being empty, Shiori found it...odd, and slightly eerie that Megumi wasn't angry...but instead held a beaming smile on her face.
After a while, she couldn't take the silence. "Hey, Megumi....are you alright...?"
Megumi didn't turn towards her, but kept on smiling.
"Why wouldn't I be? Why wouldn't having my oddball aunt show up at my school be great? And having my former childhood friend get enrolled into my class should only be a happy moment, right?" Megumi said, a fake smile plastered on her face. Shiori looked at her in disbelief as a shiver ran through her spine. She tried to salvage her niece's mood.
"Well...because, um...uh..."
Before Shiori could say anything, they reached the Teacher's Lounge, where Megumi left the textbooks.
Only then did she fully look at her aunt's concerned, borderline scared face, and then she sighed. Megumi couldn't fully get angry at her idiot aunt when she showed an expresssion like that. "Come on, let's go to the rooftop bench."
After arriving, she locked the door and sat down. She looked at Shiori, who looked at her two parts confused and disbelieving.
Megumi clicked her tongue. "What are you doing...hurry up and sit down."
"You wish! How do I know you won't beat me up? I'm a new teacher, I can't deal with that kind of mess!" Shiori said, sounding scared.
Megumi gave her stupid aunt a disbelieving stare. "Why would I attack you?"
"Why wouldn't you? Plus, you're like, kind of the quiet geek type...a very unpredictable type of person...this aunt fears for her life...!"
Megumi's eye twitched. She clutched the bridge of her nose as she said: "You absolute nitwit! You thought I brought you up here to fight you?"
"If I say no, will you let me go?", Shiori countered, hands shaking. "Ack, I should've never left Midori City, this place is too violent! Oh poor old me, doomed to die an early death by the hands of my untrendy, uncute niece! This beautiful me is too good for this earth!", she exclaimed dramatically, while crying.
Megumi looked at her . "Stop it with the circus act, auntie. You're seriously making me contimplate the murder thing."
Shiori pointed at her. "See? I knew it!"
Megumi shook her head. "Idiot. I didn't bring you here to fight you... I brought you here because of today's events."
Shiori began to sweat.
Megumi stepped closer.
"You do know what I'm alluding to, right?"
Shiori began to sweat more. She looked the other way.
Megumi pressed on. "Auntie Shiori..."
"Alright! Alright already! I'll tell you." Shiori said.
"Rika had been hounding me about getting a job, and to placate her, I send out a resume to the nearby schools. Then I met you, and you did your whole 'I don't like you' speech', and then you walked outside, totally ignoring that Suzuki guy who kept calling out to you..."
"Wait, what? Did that really happen?" Megumi asked, shocked.
"Yeah, he kept calling and you just continued on. So...I really wanted to know how the story would end..."
Megumi understood. And at the same time, she could feel herself getting more pissed off.
"So you took the job as a teacher at my school and got Suzuki relocated to my class...because you wanted to know how we would react to eachother."
"Yes...?" Shiori said. "I'm sorry, but I'm a soap opera junkie! I needed my fix of drama! You understand, right? Right??"
Megumi's eye twitched, and she raised her fist in anger. "Shiori! If you like drama so much, why don't you just watch some tv? Ugh, you idiot!"
"Hey! Don't diss my entertainment! How would an untrendy girl like you know how I feel!"
"I don't care how you feel! You're trying to make my life into one of your trashy soap opera stories!" Then the bell rang. "Agh, I didn't get to snack at all!" Shiori began to whine, but then Megumi just sighed and unlocked the rooftop door.
"Come on", she said. "We have to get back to class."
As they strolled through the empty hallway, Megumi could feel herself returning to her shy, stifled demeanor. The dull, grey colors of the school suited it, she decided. She hated being in this school.
It felt cold, and unfamiliar, no matter how many months she spent there. Being around Shiori, however annoyed she might feel, made her feel just a little like her old self.
The no-nonsense, confident girl, who could say what she wanted - when she wanted. But, as she stole a glance towards Shiori, she was also mad at Shiori for acting so selfishly.
She didn't want to meet with Suzuki again.
She didn't want him, her old friend, to judge and reject what she's become. Deep down, Megumi feared having to interact with him, because it was a constant reminder that she had lost her way, and let her environment change her.
That fact really did make her feel sad inside...but deep down, she also wanted to change.
Wasn't it her that, every day wished for a new beginning, and a new way to become a new and improved version of herself. Did she not bemoan her life at very step of the way, complaining about her life and her lack of social life?
Looking at her aunt, she realized that maybe, just maybe, having Shiori around wasn't as much of a curse as she thought. Maybe Shiori was the start of it all. And all she'd done was be rude and angry towards her...Megumi knew that this time, it was different.
She needed to apologize.
"I'm sorry-"
"I'm sorry!"
They both paused. What?
Shiori turned towards her, regret in her eyes. "Look, Megumi, I'm sorry for barging in and wrecking things like that. I should've told you that I was going to work here. And about the whole 'Suzuki' thing...well, I could've gotten around that better. I'm sorry for acting so selfishly."
Megumi's eyes softened. "No, it's me that should apologize. I haven't exactly been my most welcoming self ever since you showed up."
Shiori narrowed her eyes at her playfully. "...Is that it?"
Megumi's eyebrows furrowed. "A-and, I suppose I could be more...amicable towards you."
Shiori did an airpump. "Yes!"
Megumi grew a bit embarrassed at that. "Provided that you don't act like an idiot."
"Hey!"
A little laugh escaped Megumi's lips, and a smile stretched on Shiori's.
"I'm sorry about how hectic today has been for you. But hey, at least it can't get any worse, right?" Shiori said, and Megumi nodded.
They finally reached the classroom and entered seperately. Megumi found her way to her seat while trying hard in ignoring Suzuki's existence - but found that she didn't really need to, given the fact that his seat was swamped with students, eager to get to know him.
Megumi looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 'Looks like he's a hit', she thought.
But she found that it didn't matter much to her - well, not as much as patching things up with her aunt. She felt happy, elated even, to have dealt with that situation.
She felt like she was on a new path, in a strange way. And hey, maybe now with so much new attention, Suzuki would forget about her and interact with all these new kids.
Their paths were diverging. It felt final, but in a good way. Megumi's smiled a nostalgic smile as she rested her head on her arm.
It felt good.
Shiori began class again, and people began to return to their seats. Then, just as Megumi had sharpened her pencil, something happened.
A knock on the door. Who could it be?
Megumi and everyone focused on the door, as Shiori went to open it. There, she was met with a beautiful girl. With long, silvery platinum blonde hair, and piercing purple eyes, she looked like a fairy from a fairy tale. She didn't even have to introduce herself, everyone knew of her: She was Kouchou Sayuka from Class 1-A.
She was the most popular girl in the whole school, thought Megumi. And the worst part...
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Enjou-sensei, but as the Vice-President of the Student Council, I have been sent to collect next week's surveys. I hope you don't mind."
She said in her soft voice.
'She was part of the Student Council!' Megumi cried in her heart.
"Oh, it's no problem at all. Everyone, please cooperate", said Shiori. Bit by bit, everyone approached the Teacher's desk to drop off their survey
Megumi was the last one to do so; and before her, Suzuki went ahead.
He approached Shiori and Sayuka with an cough. "I'm sorry, but since today's my first day here, I don't have a survey to give..." Suzuki began, but then he stopped.
"It's okay, I could find one for you now. Right, sensei?" Kouchou said with an unusually forceful voice. Shiori blinked a few times before agreeing.
Then the two of them left, leaving behind a gossipping classroom.
Ichinose Takumi, the boy who sits in front of her, said: "Hey, Kouji, is it just me, or did Kouchou blush?"
The other boy agreed.
"I think you're right...how strange!" said Tateno Itsuka, a glasses wearing girl.
"How exciting, you mean! Sayuka-chan being in love, that is!" exclaimed Aoba Rie, a sporty girl.
"I don't believe it for a second," replied Maeda Haruki, the football star of the class.
Megumi couldn't help but sigh. Everyone felt interested in the (supposed) love story between those two, but as she looked around the class and heard it all, she couldn't help but feel that it had just gotten even more troublesome.
Especially when she saw her aunt's chesire grin.
'Are you kidding me, Shiori... Getting excited over random teenagers romance....my aunt really is helpless. She wasn't lying before, huh. Really, a true soap opera junkie', Megumi couldn't help but think.
The murmers got louder and louder.
'It got worse!', Megumi thought as she sighed in desperation.