New Game+ 3
AN: Surprise.
I woke up to someone pounding on my door, though it took me a moment to recognize it with the way my head was pounding. I sat up just as Yukari Takeba poked her head into my room. After reassuring herself that I did not sleep in the nude, she opened the door and entered.
ôMorning! Sorry to wake you up, but Mitsuru-senpai said that I should escort you on the way to schooùoh my God!ö
I blinked at the sudden shift in the event I remembered, then followed her gaze. I reached up to my temple and jerked back as the light touch sent a flash of pain through my head. Despite my precautions, the hit she'd given me had swelled up overnight, it seemed.
ôI'm so sorry!ö Yukari said guiltily. ôUm... listen, I actually have to be at school early for my club, so, if it's okay with you, I'm going to leave now, okay? Unless, you want me to wait?ö Obviously she needed time to stop feeling bad about hitting me. The smart thing to do was give the both of us time to get over the awkwardness caused by the incident and start again later, so I told her to go on ahead. She smiled in relief.
ôAlright, see you at school. Take the train to Port Island from the Iwatodai station. The school's right there, even though it's a bit of a walk. Hey, if you get there ten minutes before class starts, I'll help hide the bump, okay?ö She left with that, but came back a moment later. ôDon't be late!ö
I was, of course.
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I'm late, I'm dead, I'm late, I'm dead, was my mantra as I rushed into the halls of Gekkoukan High School. Despite a year's worth of getting up on time for school and a pressing need to make a good impression on future Social Links, I'd fallen back asleep the minute Yukari had left. I knew the moment that I woke up that I was in trouble.
I'd had no choice but to run out the door in my clothes from last night, without breakfast and without unpacking my school supplies. Luckily, I knew from past experienceùhehùthat absolutely no schooling would happen on the first day of school, as all of out teachers were rotating through to introduce themselves and allow the students to get acquainted with their idiosyncrasies, perhaps the only nod anyone made to the fact that being a weirdo was a requirement to teach at Gekkoukan.
I managed to buy a breakfast bento at the station which I ate on the ride to school, but the stares that I got were a constant reminder that I was a student late for the first day of school. The moment the doors opened I was off across the plaza.
I was rushed up the steps to the second floor, stopping outside classroom 2-F stopping outside 2-F to catch my breath and decide how I was going to move forward. Obviously a transfer student who was two hours late on the first day of class was going to look bad no matter what. I couldn't blame anyone for my mistake since the only person I could blame was Yukari, which was bad in all sorts of ways.
My choice was plain: I had to make up a story as I went along.
ôWhat else is new?ö I asked philosophically, and opened the door.
ôAnd where have you been, Arisato?ö Snapped the irate Isako Toriumi, composition teacher. Twenty-seven pairs of eyes turned to face me, and I felt Yukari's murderous glare as if it were a physical thing. I felt a sudden shyness at being put on the spot.
If only I hadn't walked in on Ms. Toriumi! Most the teachers I could have bluffed my way past. If I could have talked samurai to Mr. Ono or magic to Mr. Edogawa I might have derailed the lecture long enough for the next period to come. There would still be the problem of my registered attendance but that I could deal with.
Mrs. Toriumi had none of those weaknesses. Worse, she was my homeroom teacher, meaning that any delinquency on the part of her class reflected on her.
ôWell? Takeba said you were awake when she left. Why are you three hours late?ö
ôTwo and a half,ö I corrected, then winced as her scowl intensified. I tried to think of anything I could say to appease her. My mind jumped to the bond we shared through the Hermit arcana she and I she and I had forged in the MMORPG ôInnocent Sin Onlineö the year before, but I realized that I had no right to know anything she and I had discussed online. Half-heartedly, I stretched my spiritual senses to try and feel any trace of the bond Maya and I had formed, but no trace of it existed.
Links of the heart have to go both ways. I knew that, but the reality hurt. The ôMayaö I knew was not the Isako Toriumi whose impatience was on a slow burn to real anger.
Well, actually, I knew enough about her to know that her favorite stories were true ones.
ôWould you believe me if I said I fell asleep?ö A gasp arose from the class at my carefree tone. ôYukari-san is trying to cover for me, but the truth is that I traveled across half of Japan, got in after midnight and just fell asleep as soon as I got hom--, er, to the dorm. She tried to wake me up this morning, but I just fell back asleep.ö
Yukari released her stare with a short intake of breath that went unnoticed by everyone else, focused as they were on me, her role in my crime exonerated.
Ms. Toriumi nodded, then asked in a deceptively mild voice, ôIn that case, where did the black-eye come from?ö
Black eye? My hand flew up to touch my eye socket, which sparked with sudden pain. Well. That explained the stares I'd received on my way here.
ôNow, I've taught Yukari-san before, and she's honest. I have to wonder what really happened. Did you get into a fight on the way to school?ö Just what I needed. Late the first day and made to look like a yankee on top. All my plans for pleasant first impressions gone just like that.
Fortunately, the path to escape was obvious. ôSensei, do you really think that I'm the type? Really?ö
She studied me for a long moment, then shook her head. She sounded surprised when she said, ôHonestly no. What did happen?ö
I winced. ôStupid accident.ö Yukari facepalmed.
She waited for a better explanation. When none was forthcoming, she shrugged. ôFine. Take the empty seat by Iori.ö When I started towards my seat the gossip engines started deciding my personality and background based on my rumpled appearance, my act of defiance and my "relationship" with Yukari. Before I could sit down to my well deserved rest, Ms. Toriumi spoke again. ôOh, and for being late I want an essay from you on the reasons for punctuality and a slice of cake. Two pages minimum. The paper, not the cake.ö
I sat down, and buried my head in my arms. I hadn't been back a full day and I could already tell that my life was going to be a goddamn mess.
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Less than a year. Progress! More tomorrow. No, seriously.