Girl Next Door

Chapter Twenty-Six

Kyosuke and his friends looked at the class lists posted at the bulletin boards. Kyosuke was anxious to see if he and Risa were still to go to the same class.

To his disappointment, Kyosuke found out he was in class 2-B, and Risa wasn't among the girls listed. Among his friends who were in the same class this year were Takeru and Ichiro.

"Kyosuke," said Risa with a small smile, "I'm in class 2-A with Mio-chan and Yukie-chan."

"Oh," said Kyosuke, feeling quite down.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Risa, looking concerned.

"Nothing," said Kyosuke, looking at the floor. "It's just... I was hoping we could be classmates again."

"Kyosuke..." said Risa.

Suddenly Takeru appeared behind Kyosuke and patted him on the back.

"Yo, Kyosuke!" he said. "So we're classmates, huh? Ichiro, check it out."

Ichiro adjusted his glasses and looked closely at the class lists. "I see."

Mio and Yukie suddenly appeared behind Risa.

"Wow, so we're classmates, Risa-chan?" said Mio with a smile. "That's great. Now you don't have to put up with those annoying boys anymore." She glared at the three boys.

"Don't be mean, Mio-chan," said Risa. "Kyosuke, Takeru-kun and Toyama-kun are all very nice." She smiled at the boys.

"Gee, thanks, Risa-chan," said Takeru with a smirk.

"Wow, she thinks I'm nice," muttered Kyosuke, flustered.

"Great," said Takeru, taking Ichiro under his arm. "Now we can just ask Ichiro here to help is in our homework, eh?"

"You don't mean, cheat, do you?" quipped Kyosuke.

"Cheat? Hell no," said Takeru with a confident smirk.

"Better stick to your word, Takeru," said Kyosuke, lightly glaring at him.

"Well, it's a good thing Risa-chan's here with us," said Mio, taking her under her arm. "I heard you got the highest grade in your class last year, Risa-chan."

"Second highest actually," replied Risa with a smile. "The highest grades were Toyama-kun's."

"Oh," said Mio.

"Why don't we go over to class?" said Risa.

"Oh, right," replied Mio. "Come on, Yukie-chan."

"O-Okay," said Yukie, clutching a bunch of books to her chest.

"I guess I'll see you later, huh, Kyosuke?" said Risa with a gentle smile.

"Y-Yeah," said Kyosuke softly. "Later, Risa."

The two waved goodbye to each other before going their separate ways with their friends and heading to their classrooms.

At class 2-B, things were just as Kyosuke had expected. He sat at the middle row, while Takeru sat behind him and Ichiro in front of Kyosuke. The three boys sat by the window and had a great view of the school grounds outside.

"It's okay," thought Kyosuke. "Even if me and Risa aren't classmates, we still get to see each other everyday. We are neighbors anyway." He gave a small smile.

A few minutes and the class adviser went in. To Kyosuke's surprise, it was Megumi, who was also his class adviser last year.

"Good morning class," said Megumi, smiling.

Kyosuke was truly dumbfounded. Miss Megumi was still the sweet, gentle, attractive teacher that he had a year ago. Kyosuke couldn't help but wonder at her looks.

"She's so pretty," thought Kyosuke, as Megumi introduced herself in front of the class. "I can't believe she's still gonna be our class adviser. Oh no, this is bad. Risa..." He was so confused. He thought of Risa at the same time and felt his heart grow heavy. His feelings for Risa were conflicting with his presumed feelings for the twenty-four year old class adviser.

"The only reason I didn't fall for Miss Megumi last year was the fact that Risa was in the same class," thought Kyosuke. "This can't be happening--"

Kyosuke's thoughts were interrupted when Megumi suddenly called his attention.

"Matsumaru-kun," she said, smiling sweetly. "Would you care to introduce yourself first?"

Kyosuke was shocked, and it took him a second or two to come to his senses.

"Y-Yes, ma'am," he replied, as he stood up and proceeded to introduce himself.

Meanwhile, in the one of the freshman classes, it was time for the students to introduce themselves to the class. Hinako was called first. She eagerly rose from her seat and put on a sweet smile.

"Good morning, everyone," she greeted the class. "I am Hinako Matsumaru. I'm sixteen years old, and I have an older brother who studies here, that's why I moved here after graduating from junior high."

Some of the boys were already interested. Hinako, despite being immature sometimes, was a very pretty girl, much like Risa, and she had never failed to attract boys before. Even in middle school, she had a great plenty of suitors.

"I hope I this school year can be fun for us. Thank you," Hinako concluded her introduction followed by an applause from the class.

"Thank you, Matsumaru-san," said the teacher. "Any others?"

Mori from behind Hinako raised her hand eagerly.

"Oh, yes, miss?" said the teacher, pointing at Mori. The girl hastily stood up and spoke.

"I'm Mori Shiraishi. I'm fifteen years old, turning sixteen on Wednesday this week. And I'm married."

There were gasps among the students, followed by murmurs after Mori's sentence. Hinako was greatly embarrassed though. She was hoping Mori wouldn't say that in class.

"Excuse me?" asked the teacher, shocked herself.

"Yes, I'm married," said Mori with a confident smile. Then she pointed to Hinako sitting in front of her. "She's my wife."

The whole class gasped once again. Hinako turned very red in the face and clenched her fists on her desk.

"Tee-hee," giggled Mori. "That's all, thank you." Then she sat down on her chair. Hinako, meanwhile, was still in shock.

"Oh-kay," said the teacher, taking a deep breath. "Next please."

Nobody in the class raised a hand.

"Anyone?" asked the teacher. She looked around in the class trying to find any volunteers. Then she saw a quiet, timid-looking boy at the back. She pointed at him.

"You, sir," the teacher called him.

The boy gasped. He was indeed a squeamish-looking fellow and he looked highly strung. When the teacher had called him it seemed he didn't know how to respond.

"Sir?" said the teacher. "Are you okay?"

The boy back at her, and he looked terrified. There was nothing scary about the teacher at all, but he looked as if he had seen a ghost. Everyone in class was looking at him now. He was shaking uncontrollably.

"Are you okay?" asked the teacher, looking worried. "We just want to know a little about you that's all."

The boy continued shaking. Then all of a sudden, he uttered a short sharp cry as he rose from his seat and ran out the room, much to everyone's bewilderment. Hinako, curious, wondered what was wrong with the boy.

As he ran through the corridors, the boy barely had time to shout as he slipped on a puddle of water on the floor. For a fraction of a second he was in mid-air, then his back and skull hit the floor and he knew no more.