Ishiki (Consciousness)

3 - Akira (Part 4 of 5)

I woke up later than I meant to the next morning, still in my school uniform.  No time to get ready.  All I could do was splash some water on my face and rush outside to the fields.

It was early, so the grass was wet and dewy.  The sky was clear today, but it was still freezing cold.  When I reached the other students, I saw that they all had the same depressed look on their faces.  And Yusuke and Ken’ichi both looked like they were about to collapse from exhaustion.

“This is ridiculous,” complained Ken’ichi to Yusuke, who didn’t appear to be listening.  “Do they really expect us to play sports on this field?  It’s all muddy and gross!  Back at my old school, we had a higher standard than this.  And I was the star of the soccer team.”

A girl next to him struggled to stifle a snort of laughter.  I recognized her from my history class.  Shizuka Satou.  I found it amusing that Ken’ichi could never catch a break.

“Hey, you think that’s funny, Satou?”  Ken’ichi whirled angrily at her.  “Just so you know, I was the star of my school’s soccer team.  We made it all the way to the Edona regional’s.”

Shizuka rolled her eyes.  “Who cares, Ken’ichi?” she said.

Gradually, more students came up to the fields, including Himeko Himura and Ayame Higashide.  Himeko, as usual, was fussing over her shoes.  They had gotten muddy again.  And as for Ayame, she was silent but shivering.  She had left her blazer in her dorm or something.  The other boys stared at her intently.  But I didn’t know why.  To my surprise, I didn’t think Yusuke understood it either. 

“What a skank, huh?” he said.  And I laughed even though it made me uncomfortable.

That’s when the gym teacher arrived.  He was a short, stocky man with a boxy face.  And his voice was strong when he called out, ordering us to assemble in a line.  I stood between Yusuke and Shizuka as the teacher took roll.  

“Akiyama, Yusuke.”

The three of us were chatting.  None of us wanted to be here.  And we all agreed that going back to bed would be much more fun than playing any sport.

“Ishii, Akira,” the teacher called.  

“Here, sir,” called a tall boy at the end of the line.  Yusuke, Shizuka, and I looked toward him.

“Gosh, he looks like a movie star,” Shizuka remarked, swooning.  Yusuke and I both gave her looks.

“Jyaki, Joey,” called the teacher.

“Present,” I responded.

“All right, then.  Everyone is here,” he said, addressing the whole class.  “My name is Mr. Azuma, and I’ll be teaching physical education this year.  Physical education is an essential part of a child’s life.  It will mold you, test you, teach you so much more than the rules of the game.  You will learn the meaning of teamwork and the meaning of competition.  I will --”

“-- teach you the true meaning of being a total loser, too dumb to do anything with his life than become a gym teacher,” whispered Yusuke, and we tried our best not to laugh too loudly.

“Today, we will be learning about soccer,” finished Mr. Azuma.

“Oh, yes.  Soccer is a fantastic sport,” said Akira Ishii.  “I’ve been playing since I was two years old.  In fact, my father took me to the World Cup a few years ago.”

“Really?”  Azuma was noticeably impressed.

Akira puffed out his chest, reveling in the attention.  “Yes, sir.  And it’s a fairly easy sport to play, in my opinion.  It’s very gratifying.  Although that one --” he pointed to me, and I inwardly groaned “-- is going to need a lot of time to get it, being American and all.  Everyone knows Americans are terrible at soccer.”