TIPs: Yamagata-sensei’s Little Bit Of Favoritism

Nearly thirty years had passed since I became a teacher, and by now I was one of the more veteran teachers at Mankai Yuri High School. Because of its strange name, people often assumed it was an all-girls school or something of the sort, but it was actually an entirely ordinary private coeducational high school. It had plenty of distinctive students, a high academic standard, and active extracurricular clubs.

My name is Yamagata. I was a physical education teacher and the advisor of the kendo club. I was well aware that students said all kinds of things about me—that my face was scary, that my voice was too loud, that I was gross—but even so, I liked seeing the students’ energetic faces in the morning. I liked watching students give their best. There had never been a time when I felt that being a teacher was not worthwhile.

“Hey! You’re late!! Get your asses into the classroom already!”

My voice was in excellent form today as well. The students were probably muttering things like “So damn loud” or “He’s seriously annoying” behind my back right about now. Excellent. I sincerely hoped they would channel that energy into their studies and club activities.

And there came another problem child today. The time was 8:34. She was unquestionably late.

“C-Could I still make it? Sneak, sneak… Ah…”

“That makes ten days in a row. Yo, Kushibiki.”

“A-Ahaha… Wow, your temple is twitching…”

“Anything you want to say?”

“S-Shorry…”

Kushibiki Konoha. A member of the kendo club under my supervision, and a highly promising first-year student. With her cute appearance, cheerful and energetic personality, and perfection in both academics and athletics, she enjoyed enormous popularity not only throughout the school but even around the local area. But she was a habitual latecomer.

“…Well, I know your circumstances, so I won’t say too much, but don’t make Mogami-sensei worry.”

“Fweeh, if you know my circumstances, then please let me off~”

“That and this are separate matters. Oh, and since you’ve done it ten times, come to my desk after school. Those are the rules.”

“Ugh… Sniff. I oppose pointless traditions…”

Her expressions changed constantly. There were not many students as endearing as her from a teacher’s perspective. I would be happy if my own daughter grew up to be even half as energetic as this girl.

She approached kendo matches with complete seriousness, got along well with the upperclassmen, led everyone as one of the central figures in her class, and had an excellent attitude in physical education. She was late often, but in every other respect her conduct was exemplary, and she never neglected participating in local volunteer activities… To be frank, she was an almost perfect student. But her family circumstances, or rather the people and situations around her, involved far too many problems. None of that was her fault, of course.

I thought about such things as I watched her sprint at full speed toward her classroom. When I considered how much she was carrying on her shoulders at that age, I could not help feeling sorry for her.

“Good afternoon, Mogami-sensei.”

“Ah, good afternoon, Yamagata-sensei. Are you heading to club activities now?”

“No, I need to deal with Kushibiki’s lateness.”

Mogami Sasano. She was quite a young teacher, and this was finally the year she had been given her own class. She was also Kushibiki Konoha’s homeroom teacher. She genuinely looked so young that if she were mixed in among the students, you would probably never notice.

The other day, I had gone to the mathematics department office and happened to see one of the math teachers yelling at her, “What do you mean you’re not wearing a uniform?!” It had become the main joke in the faculty room for a while afterward.

“Kushibiki-san… I imagine it must be difficult, given her circumstances.”

“I’ve been trying to keep an eye on her as much as I can. Has her mother’s condition still not improved?”

“From what I’ve heard, apparently not. Her aunt says she comes over to look after her, but it seems she basically stays at home alone, so I’m genuinely worried.”

“She’s always been cheerful. Because of that cheerful personality, she has a habit of burying painful or difficult things deep inside and carrying them alone. Someone needs to help loosen that burden for her, but… Hmm.”

Apparently, Kushibiki’s parents had divorced when she was young, and her mother had raised her two daughters by herself. Then, six years ago, Kushibiki Konoha’s older sister had died in a water accident right in front of her. Her grandparents had already passed away as well, and her mother must have endured a great deal of hardship. A few months ago, she suddenly collapsed and was hospitalized. Since then, Kushibiki Konoha had been living a lonely life.

“Excuse me, this is Kushibiki from Class 1-5! I came because I have business with Yamagata-sensei.”

“Come in.”

“Ooh~ There are some weird rice crackers here! Did you go somewhere, Sensei!?”

“Oh, these? I went to Tokyo last week. Here, take one. Don’t tell the others, okay?”

“Yay!! Then I’ll dig in right away…”

“Don’t eat it here.”

“…Yesh.”

There was a rule that students who were late ten days in a row had to write a short reflection essay. In Kushibiki’s case, since she had to prepare for school entirely by herself in the morning, it was probably difficult for her to arrive early. But if I showed favoritism toward a single student, the rules would fall apart. I wanted to find some way to ease things for her, though.

I glanced sideways at Kushibiki as she wrote her reflection essay. Her innocent face illuminated by the setting sun was certainly cute. If I had been younger, I might perhaps have found myself attracted to her. Thinking that such an innocent young girl was enduring an unbelievable degree of loneliness behind that cheerful expression made my heart ache.

“I’m doooone.”

“Let’s see… Hmm, acceptable. As expected from the student with the highest Japanese score in the entire year. Your handwriting is excellent, and the composition is well organized.”

“My math is so horrible that my overall year ranking is a disaster, though~. Haaah, I’m getting kind of sleepy…”

“Club activities are off today too. Go home early and get some rest.”

“Shensheei… Can I sleep here… zzz…”

“Hey, hey, that was way too fast.”

Apparently, she had fallen asleep. I was impressed she could sleep in the PE instructors’ office at all. Sure, there were fewer people around at this hour because of club activities, but… was she serious?

“Good grief… Sleeping like you don’t have a care in the world. You’ll catch a cold.”

I pulled out a blanket from somewhere in the instructors’ office and draped it over her. Somehow, I could not bring myself to wake her. If it had been some other student, I would have shaken them awake and given them a lecture on the spot, but I hesitated to do that to Kushibiki Konoha.

“…When things get rough, make sure you talk to someone.”

18:25. It was about time to close the instructors’ office, so I decided to wake Kushibiki Konoha. For some reason, the other teachers had also been watching her with warm expressions, but she showed absolutely no sign of waking up. Come to think of it, she was managing the household while still maintaining her grades, so perhaps she was not getting much sleep.

“Hey, Kushibiki, wake up. I’m closing the room.”

“…Crab… sho good…”

“W-A-K-E U-P! You idiot!”

“Fwah, y-yes!! I’m sorry, I won’t be late again!”

Apparently, her ears had memorized that response.

“Fwah… Huh? It’s dark outside… Was I asleep?”

“Yeah. Everyone else has already gone home. Sakegawa Kisaki may be waiting for you at the entrance.”

“Oh, right. Sorry for sleeping in the instructors’ office.”

“No, it’s fine… Actually, no, it isn’t. Be careful next time.”

“R-Roger that! Then I’ll excuse myself!”

“All right. Be careful on your way home.”

Kushibiki opened the door to the instructors’ office and started to leave. Ah, right. I had forgotten.

“Kushibiki.”

“…? What is it, Sensei?”

“Here!”

“W-Whoa!”

I handed her a large paper bag. Inside was—

“Rice seasoning?”

“My wife’s family sent us all kinds of stuff. My wife told me to give some of it to you.”

“To me!? I-Is it really okay to give me this much?”

“She apparently saw you when she had some business at the school before. Kushibiki… if something happens, talk to someone. You can talk to me too, but first go to Mogami-sensei.”

“Th-Thank you very much. I guess I made everyone worry…”

Kushibiki smiled. Sometimes, this girl put on a smile that looked pasted onto her face. But right now, she seemed genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart. Wipe that drool off your face.

“It’s fine. Come on, I’m closing up, so get going. Sakegawa’s waiting for you, right? And don’t be late tomorrow.”

“I-I’ll do my best.”

“Say yes.”

“…Yes.”

“Good. See you.”

“Goodbye, Sensei!”

Kushibiki hurried off noisily. Ah, she tripped.

I really did show her quite a bit of favoritism myself. I lit a cigarette in my car. Watching Kushibiki had made me want to see my own daughter as soon as possible. Maybe I would buy her something on the way home today.

The wind had grown thoroughly cold, and the trees had shed their leaves. I could see the students walking home together, laughing. Among them was Kushibiki Konoha, happily clutching the paper bag while chatting with her friend.