Red Data Girl - Series 1 & 2

The First Makeup - 8

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Red Data Girl: The First Makeup
By Noriko Ogiwara
Chapter 2: Ichijo
Part 1 (2 of 2)

“Izumiko, are you feeling alright?”

Izumiko heard a voice by her side. When she looked up, she saw that homeroom was already over and Manatsu was standing at her desk.

“You seem off. You don’t look good.”

“Ah… No, it’s nothing,” Izumiko disagreed instantly. The moment she looked at his suntanned face she could see that he was acting no different than usual. No one in the class was acting as if anything was off either.

“I’m fine. I just spaced out.”

“Oh. That’s okay then,” his voice was less forceful than usual. “If we don’t get going now, we won’t get a good seat. We have group counseling next.”

Most of the students had already gotten up from their chairs. As Izumiko rose, she remembered something she had wanted to ask Manatsu.

“Um, what was the name of the boy in your row who sits closest to the hallway again?”

“Ricardo?”

Izumiko bit her lip.

“Ricardo…”

“He’s one of the students from Brazil.”

“I didn’t really catch what he said before. I only got a little.”

Izumiko’s voice was uneasy, but Manatsu didn’t notice.

“Yeah, his voice was pretty quiet. It makes sense. He was in front of all these people he doesn’t know. If we’re nice to him, he should get used to us and open up though.”

So he was an exchange student…

Izumiko was surprised with herself. She had been so horrified by what she had seen that she hadn’t even been able to notice that the boy speaking wasn’t Japanese.

“Seriously, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

I can’t tell anyone that the exchange student scared me, Izumiko said hopelessly, shaking her head. I can’t even tell Manatsu. Everyone would just think I was prejudiced against him. If anyone heard, they’d definitely think I was a horrible person…

Manatsu offered her a small smile.

“You know, I think I get what Mayura was saying about you a little better now.”

They gathered in the auditorium again and class explanations began. As their homeroom teacher had explained before, their core classes would be English, math, and Japanese. Izumiko was a bit disappointed to hear that those would be conducted in their homerooms but besides gym class being separated by gender, there didn’t seem to be any other restrictions on mixing the three first year classes together during the classes they chose for themselves.

As Izumiko began to look over the large amount of papers she had received, Mayura came over from her seat. She seemed much happier with the prospects of seeing Izumiko and Manatsu in Class C than she did with the task of deciding what classes to take. There were a number of students in Class A who also wanted to get Mayura’s attention and while she had managed to shake them off, they continued to watch her from behind.

“How did everything—You don’t look so great, Izumiko,” Mayura said, looking at her. “You’re kind of pale. Did something happen?”

For an instant, Izumiko felt the urge to confide in her. But then she remembered that she couldn’t say anything to Mayura either. Mayura threw an accusing look at her brother. He stretched and let out a big yawn.