Another: The Class of 1999

Chapter 9 - A date?

I didn't realise how horrible group projects could be until I transefered to Yomiyama.

Ishida-Sensei had a different approach to group tasks than my old school - we had to be in groups that he assigned us, two girls and two boys, we had to do our research, and then present it to the rest of the class ourselves.

And, just my luck being the new student, I was in a group with three people who I had never spoken to before.

The other girl in our group was called Taniguchi Ran; extremely slim and petite, but was also very bossy (she believed that if she was the one to write down all our findings, then she herself didn't actually have to do any of the research work). Her hair was in a high ponytail to show off the small patch of dyed red hair on the underneath. She had a fringe, but unlike mine (which was slightly too long), I felt like hers had been cut a little bit too short. I also noticed that she was wearing big leather boots on her feet and three silver bracelets on each arm - all of these being against the school rules.

The boys were named Sugimoto Makoto and Kojima Yemon. Makoto was the tallest, and Yemon was slightly larger around his stomach. Makoto had a thin face and short spiked up hair, and his black eyes were small and cautious. Meanwhile, Yemon had round face with chubby cheeks and glasses which he perched on the edge of his nose. His hair was thick and brushed neatly.

Our topic (given to us by Ishida-Sensei) was the life cycle of plants, which seemed easy enough. Yemon and I were looking through our text books and notes in order to make sure that all the information we included was accurate, then Ran would write down everything we said, whilst Makoto focused on creating a colourful title on our A3 paper.

"Sugimoto-san doesn't speak much," Yemon whispered to me, nudging my attention over to Makoto.

"Oh dear, how come?" I asked.

"Last year he was in class 2-2," Yemon explained, as if he had been wanting to tell me this story for ages. "But at the beginning of this year he got moved to class 3-3 instead of 3-2."

"That's a shame," I said sympathetically.

I noticed Makoto glance at Yemon, as if he hated being talked about like he wasn't there. Yemon hadn't been malicious, there was no sign of bullying or teasing. It was more like he wanted everyone to be included and understanding. I wondered if he'd have tell me about Fujiwara Riku if I had asked?

Makoto didn't say anything. I couldn't help feeling sorry for him - in his final year of middle school, he had been taken away from all of his friends and dropped into a class that was haunted by death..

"Come on!" Ran impatiently tapped her pen on the desk. "We need more information!"

"Right! Sorry!" Yemon turned back to his book. "Right, where did we get up to?"

Ran sighed. "Come on! What happens after plants wilt and die?"

"Right, right!" Yemon studied his book and Ran readied her pen. Yemon just stared.

I cleared my throat. "The seeds that the plant reproduced grow in its place."

Ran pointed her pen at me. "At least one of you pays attention in lessons," Ran glanced at Yemon with an annoyed expression.

Yemon glared back. "Well, why don't you do the research for a change?"

"I'm writing!" Ran cried, jabbing her pen. "That's my contribution!"

I managed to make eye contact with Mokoto. His eyes darted towards Ran and Yemon, I rolled mine, and he smirked, shaking his head slightly.

"Ran-chan," Ai leaned back in her chair and turned her head to she was facing our group. "Do you have a pencil sharpener Ai-chan could borrow?"