[CH.4] Entering elementary school
I didn't know what kind of conversation my parents had with my sister, but her attitude softened somewhat. She stopped blatantly ignoring me and started exchanging greetings, which I considered a significant step.
However, I also wanted to be cautious because being overly familiar all of a sudden could potentially make my sister's attitude harden again.
While going through these daily interactions like playing Minesweeper, I graduated from kindergarten and entered elementary school.
In my past life, when I graduated, I thought, "Wow, this school building is smaller than I expected," but visiting it as a new student now, it seemed like a very large school. The difference in perspective due to height was intriguing.
At the entrance ceremony, the new students, dressed in brand new uniforms, marched hesitantly. It was incredibly cute to watch, but when I considered that I was also one of them, it felt somewhat strange.
Our grade consisted of exactly 60 students, divided into two classes of 30 each. In this town, there were two elementary schools, and our school was opened primarily for the children on the mountain side, so it was relatively smaller in scale.
The school in the center of town had about twice as many students, and I remembered being surprised by the sheer number of people when I entered junior high school.
I had hoped to be in the same class as my friends, Nao and Fumika, so I was very fortunate when I actually ended up in the same class as both of them. It seemed like a good start. If there was any concern, it would be about our homeroom teacher. In my past life, my homeroom teacher was a woman in her late twenties named Yamamura, and I had bitter memories of her.
There was this peculiar art class where we had to draw pictures of vegetables, and there were no sample pictures provided. As a result, each student had to rely on their memory to draw the vegetables. This led me to be summoned to the principal's office in my previous life.
"Mrs. Matsuda, haven't you ever gone shopping with your son!? The color of the turnip is white, not purple! Please, next time, show him the actual vegetables and teach him correctly."
My mother probably hadn't expected to be called to the school because of the colors I used in my drawing. I remember her looking surprised at first and then nodding obediently as if she had been pressured. However, it was true that a traditional turnip is white, but there are also purple turnips in the world. Back then, without the internet, acquiring knowledge involved reading books, doing independent research, or stumbling upon information by chance on TV. Perhaps the teacher didn't know about purple turnips. Nevertheless, the emotional residue of that event lingered because it felt unfair to be judged as wrong just because she didn't know something.
"Now, I'd like to introduce the homeroom teachers for each class."
As I thought about such things and endured the long speeches by guest speakers and the principal in the gymnasium, the voice of the vice principal, who was in charge of the proceedings, echoed through the hall. Two women went up to the stage and bowed deeply.
"I will be the homeroom teacher for Class 1-1, I am Aki Kanda. Let's make this year a fun class! Thank you in advance."
"I will also be the homeroom teacher for Class 1-2. I am Mayumi Kio. Let's make a class where we can all enjoy studying and playing together! Thank you in advance."
As I listened to their self-introductions and aspirations, I couldn't help but be surprised by the absence of my previous life's homeroom teacher, Mrs. Yamamura. However, if this world was different from my past life, then there could be people here who had changed their lives entirely, like me, by transitioning from male to female and experiencing a time slip. Perhaps my existence had influenced the choice of homeroom teachers.
In the future, there would surely be many events that were different from my past life, both for better and worse. I couldn't help but hope that they would turn out for the better.
"Let's go, Sumire-chan!"
While I was lost in thought, the girl next to me shook me gently and called out to me. Except for those who had recently moved here, everyone at this school had been in the same kindergarten together. This girl was Yuko Matsumoto, with a personality that got along with anyone without prejudice. She embodied the saying that a name reflects one's character.
I stood up and placed my hand on the small hand she offered, and we held hands. We also held hands with the girl next to us, Ruriko Honda. Of course, she was also a friend of ours.
Encouraged by applause from parents, teachers, and current students, we walked out of the gymnasium together. It was the start of Sumire Matsuda's elementary school life in Class 1-2.
Our elementary school primarily organized group commutes by classes. Class assignments were made based on the neighborhood where you lived, so unfortunately, Nao and Fumika were in different groups.
"Alright, let's go. First graders, make sure to hold hands!"
The sixth-grader leading us called out, and we turned around and started walking. Following their lead, the rest of us formed two columns and followed behind. I held hands with a fourth-grade boy who stood on the side facing the road.
By the way, this boy was my childhood friend, Ma-kun, also known as Masataka Oniichan. There's a three-year age gap between us, so we didn't have much contact outside of school. However, whenever we crossed paths at the convenience store, he would always say hello, so we didn't become distant.
Here in this world, Ma-kun, whose real name is Masataka, is a very caring person. He even joins me for morning jogs and is always considerate of my short stature and small steps, often checking if I'm okay.
"Are you okay, Subo? If you ever feel tired, just let me know," he said with a smile, and then chuckled with a hint of embarrassment. By the way, Subo is the nickname his family calls me. It seems like it's a custom in his family to add "bo" to the names of kids from other families. My sister is also called Tsukibo. It's probably because they didn't mean anything by it that I didn't take offense, but occasionally, it's amusing when strangers respond after hearing my name being called.
My sister, on the other hand, who was talking to her classmates in the back, didn't come anywhere near me. It seemed like Maa-kun had an inkling of the situation regarding my sister and me, but he didn't make any efforts to forcefully bring us closer.
Once we arrived at school, I greeted Nao, fumika, and my friends. I had been appointed as the "flower assistant" for this semester, so once a week, I would go to the staff room to pick up the flowers provided by the teachers and arrange them in the vases in our classroom. Perhaps if we ever got a pet, I would switch to the "pet assistant" role.
The first semester of the first grade in elementary school started off very calmly. There were no kids causing disruptions or acting out during class. Everyone listened attentively to the teacher. Most likely, it was due to the teacher, Ms. Kio, who made sure to keep the class engaged by carefully considering the timing and content of her lessons. I had a vague sense that there were traces of effort in her teaching.
In my previous life, I had always perceived school as a place where I was "forced to study," and I never participated in class with a positive attitude. So in this life, I wanted to set a goal to enjoy learning in school.
However, there were moments when I couldn't help but think about things differently, especially during music class.
In the first music class of each school year, we started by attaching a printout of our school anthem to the last page of our textbooks. Interestingly, what was written on that page was "Kimigayo," the Japanese national anthem. It suddenly occurred to me that we never raised the national flag at our school ceremonies, nor did we sing the national anthem. Not even during the entrance ceremony, which took place recently.
As a result, I went through my entire elementary school education with the same practice. But the real issue arose during my high school entrance ceremony. Without any prior knowledge, I was suddenly told that we would be singing the national anthem, which I didn't know. I ended up standing there awkwardly, not knowing what to do, until I eventually lip-synced my way through it. I don't know how the others felt, but I certainly felt quite embarrassed.
I'm sure there were various reasons and agendas behind this educational policy, but I've always thought that I would have appreciated it if they had explained these things to me properly. As a result, I felt out of touch and embarrassed about not knowing certain things.
Despite some reservations about certain classes, overall, I was enjoying my school life. Especially physical education, running is so much fun.
One of the first advice that art school would give you is to draw what you can see, because what people remembers what object look like is different from how they actually look like. I have no idea what that art teacher was thinking, unless she wanted to test common sense lol.
ReplyDeleteEven then, I am expectng that the school called some 20, maybe 30-ish parents over this.