The school day was about six hours, not counting breaks or extra activities after lessons.
Following a rotation, students had to take care of cleaning their own classroom.
〈A huge bore.〉
One couldn't escape from this community commitment. All students had to follow this institute rule. It could be their own classroom, or the corridors or the gym... the students, with pre-established rotations, would have to engage in cleaning.
I had asked myself several times why there wasn't a staff member assigned for that purpose.
A student's life is already full between studying and extra activities. It would have been more convenient to have one or two people dedicated to that task.
Thinking about it better, the answer was quite obvious. It would never have been possible.The institute provided for the development of the social and community aspect of the individual.Attending the institute, besides preparing minds academically and physically for the world that follows, served to educate people in the way of living in Luminis.
In Luminis you weren't just a single individual. The existence of an individual here meant being part of a community mechanism, that is, being part of a group.In this shared space, the individual stops acting in isolation and begins to move in harmony with an invisible structure of which many other people are part.
Concretely this meant that an individual's action could reverberate, both directly and indirectly, on another's actions. The fate of the individual tended to intertwine with that of others, making every collective success a personal victory and every failure a common wound.The most glaring example was cleaning the school.Each student had their own task. Some had to clean classroom A, some had to clean classroom B, some had to clean the gym, and so on.The individual efforts would lead to the common end, that is, a clean school.
That's why students were forced to clean the institute. The goal was to develop this sense of community, even through a simple action like cleaning.As they say "all for one and one for all".I also unlocked this reasoning over time.Before I accepted cleaning as the most natural thing in the world. A bit like breathing. As if giving my contribution to the machine of life in Luminis fulfilled my existence.Perhaps because Luminis was God's masterpiece?After all those talks with Sasyashi I had started trying to understand what really fulfilled me. Something that could be only mine.So... I was saying "cleaning".Saying that, one might think of who knows what great work.The school, from what I knew, had been operational for four or five generations. The signs of time, like the vast majority of buildings, were tangible.The only thing that could be "cleaned" was the accumulation of dust and dirt that settled on the floor and desks.Using the broom I did nothing but lift dust into the air.
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A sneeze had caught my attention. Surely all that dust had bothered her poor nose.
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Cleaning was never done by single students. We always moved in pairs or at most three people.It didn't matter what type of cleaning or in which part of the institute. Working alone was forbidden.For safety reasons it was better to always have an additional presence. Maybe a student would have to move a heavy box and it would be difficult to move it alone. Maybe the physical effort they would face could cause them not insignificant muscle pain. Especially if the student in question wasn't trained.
Or while moving it they could get hurt slipping down the stairs if they weren't careful enough.
For these reasons solo cleaning was forbidden.
The choice of partners was random. During a break between one lesson and another we had established the rotations and partners through a random draw that happened no more than two months ago.From that draw came the pair "Nakato Toruchi / Yokoaki Zakara".
A pair, from my point of view, quite unusual given that we didn't have any special relationship. I've known her for almost a year and there have been few times I've dealt with her. Maybe they could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Every year, until graduation, students of the same year classes were shuffled. It happened that some classmates from previous years met again in the new class, but it was a relatively low probability.With Yokoaki it never happened. That was the first year I had to deal with her.
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She asked me while taking the other broom from the cabinet at the back of the class.
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After the dry answer I gave her, silence fell... or so until she pressed on.
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〈Here we go again...〉
In the past year, since Yokoaki and I ended up as a pair for cleaning, she had tried several times to establish a relationship of confidence with me. Even during the day she tried to talk to me or induce me to join her group of friends for lunch.I had always defused this approach by showing indifference towards her approach.
The reason was very simple... she was exactly my character opposite.She was considered the sunniest and most popular girl in the class, if not the cutest. She was always available to others, ready to help or support them without asking for anything in return.She excelled quite well in the academic field without excelling. I'd say above average.
If I had to mention a field where she could be considered poor, I'd say physical activity.She always tried hard during activities despite her two "handicaps".
Let's say she had larger breasts than the average girls her age. Every time she found herself exerting physical effort, her two "handicaps" did nothing but bounce.I could only imagine the discomfort they could cause her during physical activity.
I, on the other hand, was quite the opposite.
Asocial and alone.The only person who ever paid attention to me had been Sasyashi.
〈What does she want from me?〉
That litany had been going on for quite some time and that afternoon I decided to put an end to it, even at the risk of seeming rude or aggressive.
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Her expression and demeanor became slightly hesitant.
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While I was speaking, without realizing it, she had shortened the distance.
〈Now she's a bit too close.〉
She was giving me a strange look. Big green eyes like emeralds staring straight into my eyes almost as if wanting to read inside me.
I had the face of such a beautiful girl staring at me from so close. However cute and provocative, I wasn't so spineless as to be fooled by her approach and lose control and my composure.
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〈Yeah right... Now we've said the bullshit.〉
If before I could think she was trying to get something from me, whatever it might be, with that statement I could draw my conclusion.
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I said that, but her expression could seem true and honest.
She had reddened cheeks and sparkling eyes. She had taken my hand which, against all predictions, she had placed on her soft breast.
Yes, her breast.The girl, without shame, had placed my hand on one of the parts of girls' bodies that for boys was considered forbidden territory.Is she serious?Like a huge part of boys my age, I had never touched a girl's breast.
The only episode clearly "similar" was when by mistake I entered the women's bathroom of my convent by mistake. That time too Sasyashi came to visit me. She was the one occupying the bathroom. I found myself opening the bathroom door and observing her intent on pulling up her underwear. Nothing were my apologies and my attempt to explain... it was the strongest slap of my entire existence.In that case instead no misunderstanding... no mistake on my part... no hypothetical sexual harassment.The girl had done everything herself and the thing didn't seem to displease her.
〈Could this be the beginning of a hypothetical love story of mine? It would be nice... but I have other plans.〉
With great regret I push the girl away gently removing my hand from her breast.In that moment I tried to imprint the sensation, the softness and the shape in the palm of my hand. Honestly I doubted such an experience would present itself again. I had tried to carve all that into my mind.
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I answered her with honesty and respect bowing for the refusal towards her.
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〈That's not the point. I doubt there exists a boy who says no to a girl after the latter has allowed him to feel her breast.〉
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The girl was starting to play dirty. But, however tempting the bizarre offer was, I renewed the refusal again.
Honestly the more that conversation went on, the more unrealistic it seemed to me.The most beautiful girl in the class declaring her unconditional love ready to do any kind of thing?
Too unreal. If before I only had the suspicion that there was something underneath, with her way of doing things I had confirmation.In the end I managed to extricate myself from her grip intent on leaving the classroom. It didn't matter that I hadn't finished cleaning. The girl had become a bit unmanageable. It was better to be scolded rather than stay with her one more minute.
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Click
I heard a mechanical noise coming from the girl. Turning around I saw her on the ground with her skirt caught in what looked like a small mechanical brace attached to her thigh.
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Yokoaki Zakara was considered the incarnation of sweetness and femininity.
〈And who would this be?〉
It came naturally to me to think that.
The docile and angelic girl who was known as the cutest girl in the class had loudly uttered a rather unusual, aggressive and vulgar exclamation.
By now in my head, as in that of all our classmates, these concepts had become associated with her name and her face.Just hearing her name did nothing but recall such traits.Instead I had found a completely different girl.
A vulgar imitation of the girl idealized by collective thought.
I noticed a small metallic object rolling towards me that had hit my foot. It seemed to come from the girl. She didn't seem to have noticed.She raised her gaze towards me. Before that moment she hadn't yet realized the exclamation uttered moments before.
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〈Either she's making fun of me or she suffers from a double personality disorder.〉
From her scowling and angry face with clenched teeth of moments before, the Yokoaki that everyone at the institute knew had returned.
The sharp gaze she had displayed before, while uttering her curse, had transformed back into the big bright eyes of a super sweet girl. Exactly those that drive boys crazy.
She had displayed them with impressive speed. Almost as if they responded to a precise and mechanical command.
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She continued to ignore what had happened. Maybe she thought I would overlook the matter or maybe she hoped I had misheard.I decided to seize this opportunity and discover something more.For months she had been pestering me and just before she had made fun of me making me believe she had fallen in love with me. I had reached a point where I was driven only by curiosity.In all this she was slowly approaching me. She necessarily wanted to be helped to get up.
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It was tangible that she was starting to make excuses.While she tried to convince me I had misheard and was slowly approaching the object that had rolled on the ground. This gave me confirmation that it was really hers.
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I bent down and picked up the object.
Once in my possession I could give it a quick look in more detail. It was a small-sized gear with small, close-set teeth, chiseled with almost manic precision.
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As if she had received another command, her gaze had changed again. It had become the gaze of a person intent on killing their bitterest enemy.
〈For having this reaction it must be something important. What if...〉
With the object with me, I made sure to close the classroom door and position myself away from the girl.
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I placed the gear on the teacher's desk urging her to approach and take it back. I had every intention of giving it back to her if she approached to retrieve it.
All she had to do was "just" get up and reach me at the desk. But as I imagined, it wasn't possible for her.
My intention was to return the object to her. This only after receiving some answers.