Red Data Girl - Series 1 & 2

The First Makeup - 21

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Red Data Girl: The First Makeup
By Noriko Ogiwara
Chapter 4: Hodaka
Part 1 (1 of 2)

In a dream, Izumiko was singing. It was an ancient song which went with a dance her grandfather, Takeomi had taught her. She didn’t fully understand the lyrics’ meaning, but when she was wrapped in the deeply familiar mists at the top of Mt. Tamakura, the song seemed appropriate.

When she had opened her eyes to the morning light, she hadn’t known where she was for an instant, still caught up in her dream and Mt. Tamakura. But that was far away and when she remembered she was at school in Tokyo, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

That’s right. I haven’t danced at all lately…

Izumiko’s dance had become  a style of her own. At first, she had made the same movements her grandfather had taught her but since then she had been moving the way she wanted to instead. She had occasionally gone up to the top of the mountain to dance, but being bad at sports, she had never felt the need to practice seriously. In that way, dancing had only been a pleasant pastime for her.

When she had decided to leave the shrine, she had known that she would not be able to dance anywhere else. But she had also thought it wasn’t something she needed to do. The sudden desire to dance again surprised her.

Still, this was just a result of being homesick and Izumiko was fed up with herself for feeling that way. She knew why she was longing for home though. She had been dragged through so much lately. What was worse, it had all been happening so fast that she hadn’t even had the chance to thinking about what was happening while it happened. As hectic as her life was now though, she didn’t want to return to a time when she had been satisfied with being entirely on her own.

While Izumiko had guessed something might come up to throw their plans into disarray, she had never imagined that it would be something as big as Yukimasa Sagara showing up as a part time teacher.

Even though Izumiko hadn’t told Mayura about Yukimasa’s arrival, Mayura had already known. When Izumiko had returned to their room that day, she had found Mayura wide awake and alert. Just as she had been thinking how glad she was to see Mayura feeling better, Mayura had said, “Did you hear there’s a cool, new teacher who looks like a movie star here?” She had already gotten a number of messagess about it from friends.

Izumiko, still flustered from the shock of the morning’s encounter, had responded that she hadn’t known. However, while she was able to play dumb at first, the real trouble didn’t start until the next day. No matter who she passed in the hallway then, they were talking about Yukimasa’s arrival.

Luckily, it was decided that Yukimasa would teach English elective classes to the 2nd and 3rd years as well as give supplementary lessons to the exchange students. Izumiko would not have to see him in her own classes. She didn’t need him as a teacher and she was deeply grateful for how things had turned out. The more the uproar grew, the more uncomfortable she became with running into him as one of her teachers.

While technically in Tokyo, Houjou Academy’s location was still considered a retreat from the city for many students. Izumiko hadn’t come to think about it like that yet but she had been busy with dorm life ever since her arrival. The campus’s greenery lent the feeling of being further away from the flashy city than she actually was. But now Yukimasa, who had rolled into the school like a whirlwind, was something she had to deal with too.

Yukimasa was the topic of discussion at every table in the high school cafeteria for weeks after his instatement. All the girls talked about him constantly. Even the first years around Izumiko who didn’t have any classes with him had caught the fever.