Persona 5: Exchange Student's Tale

Chapter 3: Enrollment

When we landed, It was 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I was a bit groggy, even though jet lag never really affected me all that much. My encounter with that silhouette from the plane must've taken a lot more out of me than I'd first though. For now though, I'll have to ignore it. That old friend of my grandfather's is waiting for me. Grandpa told me a couple stories about a few young escapades he had with Jiriso Kanasashi, but I never thought I'd meet him. He's not as wealthy as my family, but he's in his twilight years and retired, so he didn't have anything to lose by taking me in. I'm sure Mom wired him some money too, but I won't push that point. As I exited the airport, I looked out to the street and saw him sitting in his car. I walked up to the left side door, knelt down, and knocked on the roof of the car. He looked over, flashed me a smile, and unlocked the door. It was pretty weird riding passenger on the left side, but I didn't bring it up. We talked on the way to his house about a few miscellaneous things, mostly his living situation and neighborhood. He lives in Yongen Jaya, just like I was told, and he runs a small shop out of his garage. He also told me about this quaint little cafe called Leblanc just down the street from his house. I've always loved the vintage atmosphere and rustic feel of cafes like that, so I was delighted to hear it. Suddenly, we stopped in front of a prestigious looking building. I looked at Jiriso with a half smile.

"This doesn't look like the house you described."

He shook his head and chuckled.

"No, this is Shujin Academy, the school you'll be attending while you're here. I went here when I was young, I can assure you, you'll enjoy it. Follow me."

I nod an okay as we got out of the car. As I step out, I see a yellow Porsche 356 pulling out. It's Sunday, so the only reason for someone not on school staff to be here is to get enrolled. They pulled out pretty slow, so I caught a glimpse of the guy in the passenger seat. He was slim, with frizzy black hair, glasses, and a near vacant expression. Maybe I'll catch him at school.

"Weylyn, come on!"

Guess I lingered for a bit too long, Jiriso was already at the front gate. I jog up to him, and give a sleazy smile. Lets see if he's the cool type.

"Oh, sorry, got distracted. There was a hot chick in that car, I couldn't not check her out."

I figured that Jiriso, being a dude himself, would sympathize with a young man stopping to examine the females, but he just shook his head.

"Now Weylyn, that behaviour might be acceptable in America, but in Japan, such a thing is considered very rude."

Well, there goes my hope of him being the "pervy old man" stereotype. These strict social norm followers never were at the top of my favourite people list. They're boring, predictable, uninteresting. Where's their sense of enjoyment? I mean, what human can't appreciate the females? I'll just agree, probably the quickest way to move on.

"Alright, I gotcha, gotta play by the rules. I can do that no problem."

He looked at me seriously.

"Well, that's not what your mother told me. Fighting? Vandalism? Those are disruptions of the peace, and in Japan, the peace is a priority. Please, just stay in line while you're here. Come on, let's get in there and get you registered."

With that, he turned and started walking toward the main office. What he said offended me. Not because he talked down to me, and not because he took my joke too seriously. I'm used to all that, I barely notice it anymore. I hated that he got so serious about those social standards. Predetermined expectations of someone just because of where you are? That's ridiculous! Why should I have to be professional one hundred percent of the time?

We entered the principal's office, and I almost broke down. The first thing I saw was a man, if you could even call him that, entirely shaped like an egg, even down to the bald head and oblong torso. He lacked a neck, and replacing it was a second chin of prizewinning size. He was wearing a cream coloured suit and a red bow-tie. However, he had a civil air about him. He was in the middle of a conversation with a female teacher, but noticed our entrance. When his eyes landed on me, his brows furrowed.

"Ah, is this our delinquent foreigner?"

I take back the civil comment, his only redeeming factor is gone. Jiriso spoke before I could give him a piece of my mind.

"Yes sir, this is the exchange student I've taken in."

The principal nodded to him and returned his gaze too me.

"I am principal Kobayakawa. During your stay here at Shujin, you are to follow our rules and policies to the letter. If i hear that you fail to do so, you will be removed from our school as quickly as you were placed here. Is this understood?"

A stern look from Jiriso determined my answer.

"Yes sir, I understand."

The principal smirked. I wanted to smack the shine off his head. He proceeded with is high and mighty act, but moved on from establishing my place.

"This is your homeroom teacher. Please, introduce yourself."

The female teacher that he was talking to, staying silent until now, took a step toward me. She had unkempt, not quite shoulder length brown hair, a yellow long sleeved shirt, and a blue denim skirt.

"I'm Sadayo Kawakami. I teach Japanese, and host your homeroom."

She dropped her rigid demeanor and let out a deep sigh.

"Principal Kobayakawa, I don't see why you push both of these troublemaker transfers on me. Would a male teacher not be better suited for them?"

"Both?" could that mean I have something in common with the guy that was in the Porsche? This could be quite interesting. The principal gave Kawakami a sympathetic look.

"It was a sudden transfer, and your class was the only one with an opening."

She let out another sigh. She didn't really need to worry about me, I wasn't gonna give her a hard time. I can tell from her tired features, she's dealing with some stuff I couldn't really understand. With my registration paperwork done, Jiriso and I went back to the car. As we left the school, he cast a glance at me.

"What do you make of Shujin? Think you can make it in a place like that?"

I wasn't about to voice my actual problem with that principal to Jiriso, but I won't lie either.

"That principal seems a bit... full of himself."

Jiriso was quick to try and offer an explanation.

"Oh, no no, he simply wants to stress the importance of not causing any trouble."

Even if that's true, it's only about ten percent of the reason. I can feel it, he thinks he's better than me. Not only me either, he thinks he's better than everyone. The rest of the ride was in silence. We got to Jiriso's house at about four o'clock. Seems like it didn't just feel like hours at the school, it actually was. I grabbed my bags, and he showed me to my room. He always kept a guest room prepared in case of visitors, so he just let me crash in there. I put away my things and joined him for dinner. The exhaustion from the plain was catching back up with me, so I thanked Jiriso for cooking and went to bed, hoping I could get some energy for school tomorrow.