April 8th

The next day, I couldn't help but listen in on a conservation on the way to class. Some people don't even try to be discreet about the content their chatter. The two girls made a point to shout out every syllable that came out of their mouths.

"Did you hear the rumour?"

A rumour? This could be interesting.

"Oh, um... something about a bathroom?"

The first girl grew embarrassed and flailed her arms comically. Jane snickered under her breath, no doubt proud she wasn't a spastic teenager.

"No! Not that one! I mean the story about that student! Now only did she stop coming to school. She does nothing but sit and stare at the walls all day. If her mother tries to talk to her, she only mutters to herself, 'It's coming, it's coming!'."

"Huh. How about that."

"You don't believe me?"

It was that apathy syndrome I'd heard about. It's all over the goddamn place these days. The first bell rang. In composition, Ms. Toriumi went on about her favourite authors. I have to admit, I wasn't really paying attention.

"Open your textbooks and we'll take a look at the first novel by Zenzou Kasai. Ugh, why him? I'd rather teach Utsubo Kubota. He became famous as a singer but he's also produced fine literature," Ms. Toriumi smiled as she talked about the author. "I wonder why it's not in the textbook. Well, I'll just bring Kubota's book next time."

But I was paying more attention than the boy from yesterday, Junpei, apparently. He was sound asleep at his desk and definitely not paying attention. His cap obscured his face.

Ms. Toriumi must have noticed the student too and immediately called him out, "Hey, Junpei!"

Junpei jerked awake at the teacher's stern voice.

"Were you listening? Who did I say was my favourite author?" Ms. Toriumi asked, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a stern look.

"Huh? Um..." Junpei said before whispering to me. "Psst! Who does she like?"

I decided to help him out, if only because he said I was "Da Man".

I guess I'm too nice sometimes.

"Utsubo Kubota." I said.

"I remember now!" Junpei lied, a casual smirk on his face. "It's Utsubo Kubota."

The class was dead silent. Ms. Toriumi looked to be a cross of shock and elastic at his answer.

"That's right!" Ms. Toriumi said. "So you were listening to me after all!"

It's not like I got credit for answering the question, since it wasn't mine to answer. Yukari glanced over at him, a bit skeptical but still just as surprised as everyone else.

Junpei laughed, "Well, you know how I like to pay attention!"

Junpei leaned over the divide between his desk and mine.

"Man, you saved my bacon, John!"

I heard my classmates whispering.

"John gave him the answer. He must pay attention in class!"

But it was the cool thing to do, right? I'd rather not sabotage my chances of fitting in on my second day.

Not being a douche made me become slightly more popular. After classes ended, there was nothing else to do for today so I decided to go back to the dorms. The strip mall was lively in the evening. At the dorm, me and Jane found we weren't the only ones in the lobby. Yukari and an unfamiliar man were chatting in the living room. The older gentlemen had thin glasses and also seemed to like the colour brown as his entire suit was composed of it, just with different shades. The man and the student had perked up and quit talking once we were inside.

"Oh, he's back." Yukari said.

"So, these are our new guests," the sophisticated gentleman said. "Good evening."

Jane wasted no time and began to talk.

"If you don't mind me asking, who are you, sir? I don't think I've seen you around before."

"I like your politeness," he commented. "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the board for your school."

"Ikut-Ikutsu..." Jane tried to pronounce his name but failed horribly, she rubbed the back of her neck with an embarrassed chuckle. "Sorry, it exactly roll off the tongue like Doe."

I reminded myself to grill her later. Ikutsuki waved her off. Mr. Ikutsuki, he's... well, he's...

"'Ikutsuki.' Hard to say, isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes."

Kinda like that. Mostly harmless, I think. He weaved his hands together, laying them neatly on his lap.

"Please, have a seat." he said.

Me and Jane sat down.

"I apologise about the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignment."

Jane snapped her fingers in mock anger.

"Rats! We have to stay in a quiet dorm where we don’t have to share a room with strangers or weirdos," she then got serious and gave him a small bow. “In all seriousness, we don’t care where we go at this point. Please take all the time you need to sort things out."

"Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Why are you here?" I asked.

He's the Chairman after all, you'd think he'd be busy or something.

"To welcome you, of course. Well, to be honest, I do have other business here. Speaking of which, where's Mitsuru, Yukari?"

"She's upstairs." Yukari explained.

"As diligent as always." Shuji commented. "Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello. Is there anything else?"

"Who else lives here?" I asked.

It's a pretty big dorm but I'd only met Yukari and Mitsuru.

"There are only five students in this dorm, you two, Yukari here, Mitsuru and Akihiko Sanada. I hope you all get along." Shuji said. "Any other questions?"

"The other night I saw-"

The chairman looked concerned.

"You saw something strange? Like what?" Shuji asked. "You were probably just tired. I wouldn't worry about it."

Something didn't seem right but I dropped the conversation.

"Do you have another question?" Shuji asked.

"No, I'm good." I said, intent on heading off to bed.

"Then I hope you have a successful school year."

"It's getting late so we're gonna turn in early. We wouldn't wanna hold ya up!" Jane said.

"Now if you'll excuse me... You must be tired from all that excitement. You should go to bed early. As they say, 'The early bird catches the bookworm!' Please forgive the pun." Shuji chuckled.

This is the man who runs my school.

Yukari sighed and leaned back into the couch cushions, "You'll get used to his lame jokes."

Somehow I doubted that. I returned to my room and slept.