A Day at School
"Hah… haah…!"
I barely cleared the classroom threshold before I staggered and slumped against the wall.
A few glances drifted toward me as I stood there gasping. Then, just as quickly, they scattered again. The curiosity was still there, but it felt more like consideration than anything else. Things were still a little awkward, but this much was just about right.
"You're late, Cecilia."
And there were kids who came over to me, too. At the kindly offered voice, I lifted my still-panting head.
Hair so pale it was nearly white, and green eyes. A half-elf. And, at the same time, the friend I'd made only yesterday.
"…Good morning, Phil."
"Mm. Good morning."
"Um, I had something to take care of this morning, and I lost track of time, and then…"
Phil the half-elf. One of the otherworlders who'd enrolled at this school the same as me. Unlike most of the others, who didn't seem particularly motivated about studying, she actually had an academic streak and took class seriously. She was apparently into books, too — yesterday I'd just been sitting there reading when she'd said,
"Oh, I've read that one before."
…and just like that a conversation started, and we got close fast. The book Eunhyuk had packed for me had come in handy. Thankfully.
"Did you run?"
"Yeah…. A forty-minute walk in a little over five…"
"Whoa."
Chatting quietly, we headed for our seats. Mine was by the window in the very back row, and Phil's happened to be right beside it.
"So what were you doing this morning?"
Phil asked, her fresh green eyes sparkling. I thought for a second, then sat down and answered lightly.
"Just… talking about the world?"
"Hmm. You said you were in foster care, right? Living with someone in a private home instead of the dorms."
"Yeah. That's right."
I let out a long breath and leaned back against the chair. Running first thing in the morning had left me winded. …Honestly, this much used to be nothing, but after sitting around for so long my body had gone soft.
"Is that person a guy or a girl?"
Phil dragged her chair over from her own desk as she asked.
"…Secret."
I turned my head away sharply as I answered. No matter how well we'd hit it off, I wasn't about to spill everything about Eunhyuk to a kid I'd known for three days. Privacy aside, and also… well. If it got out that I was living with a guy, the reaction would probably be… a lot.
"Yeah? Hmm."
Phil gave a little nod and reeled her curiosity back in. Watching her, I let out a quiet sigh of relief. Once Phil decided to dig, there was no end to it. At least she wasn't trying to pry the secret open any further — that was a merc—
"I was half-wondering if you'd been late because you were doing something dirty first thing in the morning…"
…And at Phil's casually continued remark, I flinched hard. At the same time, a few of the boys sitting nearby also flinched and started coughing.
"Wh-what??!"
S-something dirty? Me? W-w-with Eunhyuk……?!
"Ah, no. Just my imagination, yeah."
Belatedly, Phil waved both hands back and forth in a frantic blur, correcting herself in a flustered voice. She seemed startled by her own words.
"Thinking stuff out loud like that is just… a bad habit."
She shot a sharp sidelong glance at the boys who'd been coughing. Whatever the look meant, it carried enough force that every one of them scrambled to nod.
"Why would you even th-think that…"
I slumped face-first onto my desk, mumbling. …Maybe because my face had gone so hot, the cool surface of the desk felt nice.
"Because, well, we had a real-life example yesterday?"
"……Now that you mention it. Tanya…"
Tanya. Another otherworlder who'd transferred in the day before yesterday, same as us. Species: incubus — a sex demon. He'd hit on a girl the moment he enrolled, tried it again the next morning before school, and gotten hauled off — quite the track record. Word was he was currently in counseling with the police. He was the only otherworlder missing class for reasons that had nothing to do with free attendance.
"I'm not like that…"
"I know. I'm really sorry. My mouth just ran away from me."
Phil pressed her hands together and looked at me with a serious voice. I pouted at her, but nodded anyway.
"…Fine. If it was a mistake, I guess it can't be helped. But next time—"
"Whose mouth ran away?"
Another voice cut in. I turned my head a little.
Tall, solidly built, a small bandage wrapped around one finger. A ponytail swinging free. Flushed skin, and a faint scent of sweat reaching my nose.
"…Good morning, Hyerim."
"Morning, both of you."
The girl smiled with a grown-up little grin and sat down in the seat in front of me. Yang Hyerim — one of the original students in this class. Member of an athletic club. Like Phil, a friend I'd only made yesterday.
"Mind if I join the conversation?"
Unlike Phil, whom I'd only gotten close to through books, Hyerim had come up to us on her own and made friends. According to her, she was interested in otherworlders' physical abilities…? Honestly, I still wasn't sure. She seemed like a good person, at least.
"So who put their foot in their mouth?"
"I, uh, kind of… haha."
Hyerim asked playfully, and Phil answered with an awkward laugh. I watched their easy exchange in silence, still a little unused to it, a faintly ticklish feeling in my chest.
"What kind of slip-up was it that— …whoops."
Just then the front door slid open with a rattle. A middle-aged man walked in, and the kids who'd been chatting scattered back to their seats in a hurry.
"Teacher's here."
"We'll pick this up later."
"…Okay."
We exchanged a few short words and the three of us sat down in our own seats. Not that it made much difference — the two of them were right beside and right in front of me, so the distance barely changed.
"All right, all right. Everybody sit down."
"Good morning, Meteor-sensei!"
"Hit the deck."
Someone's usual joke landed, and laughter rippled through the class. Still feeling that faintly unfamiliar, faintly ticklish sensation, I rested my chin in my hand and stayed quiet.
And then came the next class: PE.
Inside the wide gymnasium, the sound of balls bouncing echoed over and over.
"…That aside, the teacher really has no sense."
Over in one corner of the gym, inside a rectangular court marked out on the floor, Hyerim muttered under her breath. Phil and I watched her quietly from outside the lines.
Thump — she bounced the ball. To my eyes it looked like an ordinary bounce, but somehow the sound was different. Heavier than anyone else's.
"We finally get otherworld residents coming to our school, and—"
She tossed the ball high into the air. Phil and I both tracked it with our eyes. Up and up it climbed, then gravity took hold and it began to fall—
"—and it's volleyball? That's not exactly fair."
CRACK!!!
The ball exploded off Hyerim's hand with a sound like something bursting. Phil and I both jumped. In the next instant the ball slammed into the floor at a terrifying speed and left another explosive BANG!! behind it.
"Don't you think so, Teacher?"
"…You don't even need the performance assessment. Perfect score. Full marks."
"Thank you."
The ball rolled away with a soft thump, thump—. Hyerim gave the PE teacher a small bow, then walked over toward the two of us, who were still frozen stiff.
"Personally, I wanted to go up against something simple, like a footrace."
"Th-that was incredible, Hyerim…?"
"I eat, sleep, and do this. Hitting's the one thing I'm good at."
She smiled that grown-up smile again. Phil let out a "Waaah…" of pure admiration, while I just stared blankly with my mouth open — "Heh…"
When I tried, the ball didn't even make a sound like that. It barely hit my hands at all. Strength was one thing, but the technique was something else.
"You two not joining? It's free practice."
"…I'll pass. I want to watch a little longer…"
Phil answered first. A flicker of curiosity mixed into those green eyes and made them sparkle. She looked a little spooked by the sound… but that was one thing, and she still seemed interested in volleyball itself. Kind of surprising.
"What about you, Cecilia?"
"I…"
At the follow-up, I glanced around. Students bouncing balls for fun, students practicing their hits in earnest, students tossing back and forth among themselves. The slap of balls on the floor, voices, and every so often a sharp whap! — all of it trailed through the gym in overlapping echoes.
I was interested. I'd never done this kind of sport before. But at the same time…
"Hmm. Me too, later."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I feel like if I just jump in, I'll get hurt…"
I'd never tried it, so I wanted to be a little careful. A student limping out of the gym caught my eye — looked like a sprained finger. Nothing serious, but still…
"You're scared."
"Uugh."
…Honestly, I couldn't deny that either. I mean, the sound was so loud…! And I'd never done this before—!
"That's not a bad thing, though. People do get hurt more often than you'd think."
"Mm…"
As I hung my head, Hyerim spoke in a kind voice. Just then a ball rolled up to her feet. She tossed it lightly upward and drove it back the way it had come with a sharp whap!! of her palm. The small bandage wrapped around her finger flashed into view for a second.
"But just sitting around is boring, right? Want to try something else for a bit?"
"Something else?"
I tilted my head, and Hyerim looked back at me with a faint smile. Then she pointed toward one side of the gym.
"A footrace, for example."
On the floor over there, white lines stretched long and long, drawing out a big rectangle.