It’s Fujimura Ren again! 9 years old. Still.
And that’s… the kid from the clinic! He looks kind of uncomfortable, but it’s definitely him.
He steps into my classroom and then just kind of… stops.
Sakimiya-sensei waves him forward—trying to make him less scared, I think—and soon he’s standing next to her in front of the class.
“Okay class, this is Sakuragi Toji-kun, he’s going to be in our class starting today.”
The teacher writes his name on the chalkboard, and—oh! I know all those kanji! Mama and Papa will be so proud.
“Sakuragi-kun, is there anything you’d like to say to the class?” Sakimiya-sensei asks.
The kid—Sakuragi Toji—keeps looking at the teacher for another few seconds. She smiles at him.
He turns towards us. He’s not smiling.
“Hello, everyone. My name is Sakuragi Toji. I just moved here from Nagoya. Um… let’s all get along.”
Then he gives a small bow and then looks back to Sakimiya-sensei.
“That was wonderful, Sakuragi-kun. Why don’t you take a seat right behind Fujimura-kun and we’ll get started with the day.”
She gestures at me in the front row, and Sakuragi-kun looks at me.
And then looks through me to the empty desk.
It feels… weird.
He walks past me, quiet and straight-backed, and puts his bag down without making a sound. Not even a chair scrape.
Hmm.
The lunch bell rings and right away there are other students wanting to meet the new kid.
I try very hard to face forward—front row, good behavior, just wait for lunch to get here—but behind me, voices start piling up anyway.
“Are you really from Nagoya?”
“That’s so cool!”
“Did you ride a bullet train to get here?”
“Was your old school huge?”
He answers quietly.
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“I don’t know.”
Short. Polite. Careful.
He sounds a little quieter with each answer, like someone’s slowly turning down his volume.
I sneak a glance over my shoulder.
Sakuragi-kun is still sitting perfectly straight at his desk. Hands on his lap. Back straight. Like he’s trying to be smaller than he actually is.
There are already four kids around his desk. No, five. Six?!
That was fast.
I last about three more seconds before I can’t stand it anymore.
I push my chair back just a little, then someone bumps me and I have to scoot a little more.
I kneel on my chair—my knees awkwardly bumping against the chair back—and suddenly I’m part of the circle too.
He sounded uncomfortable before, but from my new vantage point it’s even more obvious.
I want to say something, but there are already a bunch of people talking, and, well… words are harder to come up with than they usually are.
I feel like I’m meeting one of those famous people on TV, which just makes me want to help more.
“Hey!” I blurt eventually. “You’re the kid from the lobby at my family’s hot springs, right? I didn’t say hi—sorry, I was busy and maybe a little shy—but I definitely saw you there!”
I feel too loud, but maybe that’s why he looks at me?
“You were helping that lady—was that your mom?—and she was walking with a cane and you were helping her walk and I thought you were so cool and—”
I pause to take a breath and realize that the group has gone quiet.
…Why is it so quiet?
Now other people are looking at me, and Sakuragi-kun isn’t.
He’s looking down at his desk.
“Oh,” someone says.
One of the boys beside him shifts a little.
One of the boys near the windows whispers something to his friends and laughs.
The room is very still for a couple seconds, and then—
Sakuragi-kun stands up.
Fast.
His chair scrapes loudly against the floor.
Everyone flinches a little.
He’s still looking down and his ears are red.
Is he okay?
He turns toward the aisle, and I only realize I’m in the way when he shoves past me.
It’s not in an angry way, but it’s still hard enough that my chair wobbles a little bit.
And by the time I steady myself, he’s already out the door.
The classroom stays quiet for a moment.
“…Did he go to the… bathroom?” someone whispers.
“I think so?” another kid says.
The door slides back open—Sakuragi-kun?—and the lunch cart rolls inside—not Sakuragi-kun, I guess.
Half the class quickly forget about the new kid and the room gets louder as they line up for food.
But not me.
I turn around and sit back down in my chair.
My chest feels weird.
I replay what I just said in my head.
The lobby…
The cane…
Helping her walk…
Oh.
Oh no.
That was not a good first impression.