The sun hung heavily in the sky that afternoon, scorching heat leaking in through the wide windows of the classroom, casting long shadows over the opposite wall; though unfortunately, the shade seemed to be at just the right angle to avoid providing any relief to the students in the sweltering classroom. All of the windows were thrown wide open and there was a fan determinedly whirring away in the corner, doing its best to spread cool air across the wilting students. While the height of summer was fun when you were actually out in it, being stuck in a stuffy classroom wasn't the favoured summer activity of many. None of the students in the class were paying any attention to the teacher -- nearly all of them had their eyes fixed on the clock, watching it tick slowly towards the end of the day. Others were doodling in their notebooks in an attempt to look studious, should the teacher look in their direction.
Kirijo Tsukiko was one of the latter. It wasn't to say that she hadn't tried to pay attention -- her page was half full of actual notes, with neat bullet points and underlinings -- but about halfway down, she'd given up halfway through a sentence and begun a campaign of doodling that had taken up a two-page spread in her notebook. Moons and stars and ticking clock faces, cartoonishly rotund cats with long whiskers and written in admittedly shaky handwriting was a phrase in English that Tsukiko had memorized from her homework; Time waits for no man. A note fluttered onto her desk, interrupting her doodling and she blinked at it, surprised. She waited patiently until the teacher's back was turned before opening it. The page was a mess of handwriting from everyone in the class, circling a sentence in the middle;
The rest of the page was filled with suggestions like "alien", "robot", "government spy" and even "alien robot". Suppressing a small smile, Tsukiko picked up her pen and thought for a second. Then she quickly wrote down "from the future" before carefully passing the note to the person next to her.
She had to admit, she was a little curious about the transfer student too. He'd arrived at the beginning of the week and been promptly swarmed by people asking him questions or otherwise drawn by the novelty of a new student. But approaching him was a little too much for Tsukiko -- she was content to sit back and let the others lead the welcome wagon.
Eventually, to the class' audible relief, the jangle of the final bell rang through the school, quickly followed by the collective chaos of every student trying to back and get out as quickly as possible. The teacher at the front of the class protested feebly but, recognizing that his efforts were fruitless, gave up and allowed the wave of students to sweep out of the classroom. Tsukiko lagged back for a few moments, packing away her things before hitching her bag onto her shoulder and following the wave of students into the schoolyard.
It was a relief to get outside -- it was still hot, but there was a mercifully cool breeze that seemed to follow Tsukiko, blowing her hair to and fro, as she made her way to the train station. There was a vending machine on her platform and the trains were air conditioned so she'd be at least comfortable on the ride home. And she'd have a bit of peace and quiet to finish reading her book -- no one else was on her route home.
Well, one person was. The transfer student. The two of them hadn't actually talked yet, but Tsukiko had seen him glancing her way once or twice and it made her intensely nervous.
The train clattered into the platform, just as the vending machine was spitting out Tsukiko's drink. With almost practiced ease, she scooped the bottle from the chute and hurried over to the train, managing to slip past the doors a few seconds after they shut. With a small sigh of relief, she found herself a seat and settled down comfortably, resting the ice-cold drink on her lap. With a smile on her face, she slipped a book out of her bag, a slick hardback with an English title printed on the cover and began to read.
Kirijo Tsukiko was one of the latter. It wasn't to say that she hadn't tried to pay attention -- her page was half full of actual notes, with neat bullet points and underlinings -- but about halfway down, she'd given up halfway through a sentence and begun a campaign of doodling that had taken up a two-page spread in her notebook. Moons and stars and ticking clock faces, cartoonishly rotund cats with long whiskers and written in admittedly shaky handwriting was a phrase in English that Tsukiko had memorized from her homework; Time waits for no man. A note fluttered onto her desk, interrupting her doodling and she blinked at it, surprised. She waited patiently until the teacher's back was turned before opening it. The page was a mess of handwriting from everyone in the class, circling a sentence in the middle;
The new transfer student. Clearly not a normal human. Add your theories and pass it on! - S.
The rest of the page was filled with suggestions like "alien", "robot", "government spy" and even "alien robot". Suppressing a small smile, Tsukiko picked up her pen and thought for a second. Then she quickly wrote down "from the future" before carefully passing the note to the person next to her.
She had to admit, she was a little curious about the transfer student too. He'd arrived at the beginning of the week and been promptly swarmed by people asking him questions or otherwise drawn by the novelty of a new student. But approaching him was a little too much for Tsukiko -- she was content to sit back and let the others lead the welcome wagon.
Eventually, to the class' audible relief, the jangle of the final bell rang through the school, quickly followed by the collective chaos of every student trying to back and get out as quickly as possible. The teacher at the front of the class protested feebly but, recognizing that his efforts were fruitless, gave up and allowed the wave of students to sweep out of the classroom. Tsukiko lagged back for a few moments, packing away her things before hitching her bag onto her shoulder and following the wave of students into the schoolyard.
It was a relief to get outside -- it was still hot, but there was a mercifully cool breeze that seemed to follow Tsukiko, blowing her hair to and fro, as she made her way to the train station. There was a vending machine on her platform and the trains were air conditioned so she'd be at least comfortable on the ride home. And she'd have a bit of peace and quiet to finish reading her book -- no one else was on her route home.
Well, one person was. The transfer student. The two of them hadn't actually talked yet, but Tsukiko had seen him glancing her way once or twice and it made her intensely nervous.
The train clattered into the platform, just as the vending machine was spitting out Tsukiko's drink. With almost practiced ease, she scooped the bottle from the chute and hurried over to the train, managing to slip past the doors a few seconds after they shut. With a small sigh of relief, she found herself a seat and settled down comfortably, resting the ice-cold drink on her lap. With a smile on her face, she slipped a book out of her bag, a slick hardback with an English title printed on the cover and began to read.




