第六章

11 March 2011 08:20

Haruka and I reached the third floor and walked past the green felt-covered notice boards that displayed posters about how to wash your hands correctly, the importance of wearing a mask when you have a cold and what do in the event of an earthquake. We made many of these posters during our personal and social education lessons, an activity the budding artists in the class took part in wholeheartedly as it gave them the opportunity to try out the latest manga drawing techniques that they had been practising at home. I particularly liked the attention that Kumi-chan had given to drawing the face of a student crouched beneath a table, sheltering from the falling debris caused by an earthquake; peering out between the metal legs was a super-cute girl complete with long eyelashes and a glint emitting from a smile that was as wide as her face. Kinoshita-sensei had asked Kumi at the time if she thought that the  girl would look so happy as the earthquake rumbled on and suggested that perhaps a concerned look would be more realistic, with which she had agreed. However, on account of the clear level of effort that had gone into the artwork, the class still chose that poster to display on the board.

I inserted my fingers into the metal handle that was sunk into the door at the back of the classroom and with a heave managed to slide it open enough for us to pass through. All the doors in the school required some maintenance so much so that creeping into the classroom after the bell had rung was virtually impossible. The effort required to slide the door meant that even if you could avoid making a sound yourself then you would, most of the time, be unable to prevent one of the wheels that supported the door at its base from squeaking as it rolled along the runner. I thought that perhaps the teachers had left them this way to catch out those who had overslept or who dawdled back from break time.

A light breeze was blowing the curtains that had been pushed to one side of the window that ran the length of the classroom the opposite side to the door. Even though it was cold, the windows were always left open a crack as the school was heated by individual paraffin heaters in each of the rooms that gave off a powerful smell not to mention the  poisonous gases thrown out as the fuel burned. The warming effect was far from uniform and those nearest to the heater got uncomfortably hot whilst those sitting further away got no benefit whatsoever. 

Not everyone had arrived yet but the class was more than half full. I loved the view from this floor; because the school was built on higher ground than most of the surrounding buildings, you could see right across Ōfunato Bay and out to the Pacific Ocean which filled the whole of the horizon. On a clear day, usually in winter, it was possible to see ships heading towards the port from many kilometres away as the sun glinted and glistened off the water and occasionally a ship’s window.

Students were congregating in groups, some standing, some sitting, and the room was alive with the buzz of chatter. In one corner of the classroom gathered the awkward, geeky boys with their long fingernails, unruly hair and eyes fatigued from clearly too much time spent in front of a computer screen the night before when they should have been either studying or sleeping. In this group was Hiroshi, the most socially competent amongst his friends, who had a developed a crush on Haruka although the feeling was far from mutual.

‘Hi, Haruka-chan. How are you today?’ he said not quite making eye contact. His friends started to laugh quietly, more with embarrassment than anything more malicious.

‘Fine thanks,’ Haruka replied abruptly whilst walking briskly to her desk at the front of the classroom.

‘I don’t know why he keeps on bothering me?’ she said through gritted teeth although quietly enough so that he couldn’t quite hear her slightly irritated tone.

‘It’s obvious, isn’t it?’ I whispered. ‘He thinks you’re cute!’

‘But all they talk about is computer games and online videos of people playing computer games,’ Haruka whispered back. ‘I have absolutely nothing in common with him.’

Not an unkind girl, Haruka had begun to get annoyed by the unwanted attention from Hiroshi. At ten years old, the boys and girls had begun to interact in a different way to how they had done in the previous three years at school, going from carefree conversation to more awkward, confused exchanges.

I was going to say that he’ll get the message eventually but was cut short by the entrance of Kinoshita-sensei who had arrived five minutes early.

 ‘Good morning,’ he said in a loud, authoritative but friendly voice as he placed a pile of books onto his desk at the front.

‘Ohayō gozaimasu,’ we all replied automatically as the groups slowly dispersed and the students found their way to their respective desks.

‘Now, I wonder how many of you have remembered?’ Kinoshita-sensei said with a smile on his face. ‘Do you recall the permission slip that you got your parents to sign and return to me last week? Well, today’s the day we’re going to be taking our afternoon lesson outside.’

Excited looks were exchanged across the room and a cry of Yes came somewhere from the back of the class.

‘As you know, we have been studying about our local area, and I thought that it was time we ventured out of the classroom to understand a bit more, through seeing first-hand, what makes up the place where we live,’ Kinoshita-sensei explained.

‘I have arranged for us to walk down to the port to see the cargo ships and to speak with one of the managers about the types of goods being sent from Ōfunato to countries around the world as well as the types of goods coming into Japan. We’ll be leaving here after lunch, to get there at about two o’clock.’

‘For now, though, I would like you to get out your maths homework for us to run through together.’

I opened my rucksack and took out the homework that I had completed the night before. Over the next forty minutes, we went through the challenging puzzles that we had been set and I was pleased to see that I had actually done well considering how hard I had found the assignment whilst working through it at the desk in my bedroom.

***

…why is this so heavy…

…must be getting old…

…think he knows what I’m up to…

…looking at me very suspiciously…

…nothing to worry about o great and mighty one…