I arrived at school, and even here, people kept staring at me, whispering to each other. I thought my disguise was already blown, but it wasn't the end of the world. It would just be a bit embarrassing to drop the act now, especially since…
Koji accidentally bumps into someone on the way.
"OH! Sorry, sir. Are you a teacher here? What's your name?" says Shin, the person Koji bumped into.
"Shin?!"
"Wait, how do you know my name?"
Damn it, I messed up.
"Uh… Shin is… my name, you asked."
Saying my name's Shin is probably one of the grossest things I've ever said.
"HAHAHA! So we're name twins! Nice to meet you, sir. See you around these parts, just watch out for the…"
Shin steps closer to Koji with a serious face.
"The vampires."
"Cl… of course."
Thank god Shin's an idiot. At least now I'm sure my disguise worked. But I'm still wondering why people kept staring at me on the street. Whatever, I need to get to the cafeteria, sign for the extra delivery in Shin's name, and ditch this disguise in the bathroom.
Koji keeps heading to the cafeteria, when he runs into a teacher who approaches him.
"Look who's here, a new teacher, or maybe the school owner," says the teacher, laughing.
Crap, it's Teacher Rose, my Spanish teacher. I need to be careful with what I say.
"Good morning! What do I owe the pleasure of meeting my esteemed fellow educator?"
I've never been good at mimicking old people.
The teacher laughs again.
"I guess you must be new around here. I'm Rose, Spanish teacher. And you are?"
"My parents named me Shin, a pretty silly name, by the way. Really poor taste on their part. I must say, though, the name they gave you is an excellent choice, a teacher's name, really. I'm just a substitute teacher."
I just meant to say my name's crap and hers is nice—what's wrong with me?
"Hey, Shin, between us, just talk normally. I know what it's like to be young in a school like this. I'm young too. But aside from that, what do you teach, Shin?"
At that moment, I remembered Teacher Rose was planning to travel soon. Maybe she requested a substitute for this occasion. It seemed plausible, so I went with it.
"I teach Spanish too, I hope we get along."
"Oh! A fellow Spanish teacher! I asked the principal for a substitute, but I didn't expect him to act so quickly."
"The principal is very serious when it comes to his work."
"Por cierto, ¿quieres que te ayude a conocer la escuela? Puedo enseñarte el mejor sitio de aquí, ¡la sala de profesores! ¿Quieres venir?"
*Do you want help getting to know the school? I can show you the best place here, the teacher's room! Wanna come?*
I didn't know what to answer. Spanish was definitely my weakest subject. I caught fragments of what she said, and besides, it couldn't be anything bad. So I responded.
"Genial!"
"Cool!"
"¡Venga! ¡Vámonos!"
"Okay! Let's go!"
"Genial! Genial!"
"Cool! Cool!"
I didn't quite get what she meant, but I understood she wanted me to follow her. I heard her say "professores", which I know means teacher, so I guessed she was taking me to the teacher's room.
I followed the teacher. After a couple of minutes, I realized we weren't going to the teacher's room, which confused me. If we weren't going to the teacher's room, where was she taking me?
Despite finding it odd, after a few more minutes, I finally figured out what was happening. Teacher Rose was lost.
"Hey, Rose."
"W-what?" The teacher turned, looking visibly embarrassed.
"You're lost, aren't you?"
"AAAH! Why was I born like this?!" The teacher dropped to the ground, crying.
I was running out of time. We were halfway through the first period, and I needed to get to the cafeteria.
"Alright, alright, we already passed the cafeteria. Do you want to go there and have some coffee or something?"
"Yeah, sure! Let's go!"
The teacher takes the lead and heads toward the cafeteria.
She knows we're going the wrong way, right?
"Rose, wasn't the cafeteria the other way?"
"Hm? Oh! Right, you can go ahead."
She just doesn't want to look lost again, huh? Fine by me. I won't waste time. Reworking the plan: we're going to the cafeteria, grab some coffee as if we don't care until "Oh, there's an extra delivery, we need someone to handle this situation!" At that point, I'll step in, pay for the extra delivery, sign my name, then another problem will come up: "But there's so much food now, how are we going to sell it before it spoils?" And I'll say, "Let's lower the prices, that way more people will buy, and nothing will go to waste." The professor Shin saves the day and vanishes. Then, a crowd of students comes because of the cheap prices, a long line, and BAM, my golden opportunity. Time to execute.
"But then, Professor Shin, how old are you?"
"Oh, I'm 28, why do you ask?"
"I wanted to see if we're close in age, and we are! I'm 29."
There are rumors she's been saying she's 29 for the last 5 years.
"29? You look 25! A beautiful lady!"
The teacher blushes.
Being polite and kind seems like the easiest way to keep the conversation from being suspicious. I'm pretty sure it'll go unnoticed.
"I'm flattered, Shin. Would you be interested in going out for a drink sometime?"
Wait, no way she took that as a flirt, damn it! What do I do now? If I refuse, I'll be marked, and maybe she'll realize I'm actually a student. My plan will fail, all the girls will date other guys, I'll be alone till I'm 65 and die of misery from a wasted life. That can't happen. There's only one thing that can save me right now.
"Cool!"
"Cool!"
"Oh! Perfect!"
"Perfect!"
"Hey! Is there a teacher here?!" A woman from the kitchen yells.
Koji and Rose stand up and head toward the kitchen.
"This gentleman here is saying we ordered two identical food deliveries, but the principal only gave us enough money for one. That's not right."
"What do you mean? Why would a teacher have to deal with this?" says Rose.
Wait, that's true, why would a teacher handle this?
"Can you call the principal then?"
"Sure, we're already—" Rose is interrupted.
"Relax, I'll pay for the extra delivery. It'll be fine."
"What?!" says Rose.
"What's wrong?"
"Do you know how much one of the principal's deliveries costs?"
"About 50,000 yen?"
"80,000 yen, Shin. He buys the best quality stuff."
Holy crap, 80,000 yen? Alright, I have that money, I can pay, but say goodbye to my allowance.
"Genial! Genial!"
"Cool! Cool!"
I paid for the extra delivery, and the guy left. Everything seemed to be going as planned.
"But now, there's so much food, it's going to spoil." says the woman from the kitchen.
"Just lower the prices so more people will buy, and everything will be fine." says Koji.
"That's a great idea, thanks!"
"So, Rose, shall we go so we don't bother you?"
"Of course!"
The plan went incredibly well. Not that I doubted it, but I thought God might want to mess with me. It seems like this time, He finally let me be happy. Of course, I can't celebrate yet, but the hardest part is done, and I'm feeling pretty confident about the rest.
"Hey! Watch out, you two!"
Koji and Rose look to the side, and a cart of books is rolling down the stairs, about to hit Rose.
Damn it! Actually, this is an opportunity!
Koji throws himself in front of the cart that was about to hit the teacher, letting it hit his arm.
"Ah! Shin, are you okay?!" says Rose, a bit frantic.
"Genial!" says Koji, giving a thumbs-up with his bad arm.
"Cool!"
"Your arm, is it okay?"
Koji's arm looks dislocated.
"Actually, it's an old injury that flares up when I overexert my arm…"
Shit, this is all just acting. My arm really is dislocated, and it hurts like hell, but I need to hold it together for my opportunity.
"So now, what are you going to do?" says Rose.
Imagine this like a Mexican soap opera from here on out, because that's what it felt like.
"I need to recover. I have to travel to Malaysia to get treatment from my master."
Don't ask me why I said "my master." I was losing myself in the character, my arm was hurting too much.
"Travel to Malaysia? And what about me? What happens to me, Shin?"
"One day, our paths will cross again, if it's the will of our fates. I'll see you at the end of the red thread, Rose."
"Shin!" says Rose, already lying on the floor.
"Genial! Genial!" says Koji, leaving while giving a thumbs-up with his bad arm.
"Cool! Cool!"
And that was the image that stayed in Rose's head: her beloved saying goodbye, with his magnificent "Genial!"