The Other Side of White

Chapter 1 - The Substitute

     Minami Sumiya stood out in front of the university, waiting for her close friend, Grace McAllister, to walk to class with her. She did this every morning, so she knew almost everybody that had classes at this time. She would catch onto bits of gossip as she waited, and it seemed like today was going to be an interesting day.

     “I hear that there’s going to be a substitute in English today,” she could hear someone comment as they went by.

     Everyone seemed quite excited about this. It was the most popular topic of the day.

    At Tokyo University, multi-national students were common, even if Minami herself was native.

     “Minami…Minami!” A voice called, and Minami snapped her attention to Grace, who stood in front of her with an irritated expression, “Gosh, ignore me, will you?” the Scotswoman teased.

    “Sorry, Grace,” Minami laughed, “I hear that there will be a sub in the English classes today.”

    “I don’t have English,” Grace sighed, “It’s my first language.”

    “Too bad for you,” Minami smirked, “I hear that he is very cute.”

      “Take a picture. Now, let’s go, we’ve got to get to our psychology class!” Grace began to run, and Minami followed behind, her curiosity piqued. She couldn’t wait for her English class.

***

     It was finally noon, and Minami entered the English classroom, sitting at her usual seat in the middle. She couldn’t see the sub, but she could see a white dog in the corner of the room, sleeping comfortably. It looked like a German shepherd, but she wasn’t sure. She was no expert on dogs, after all. It shifted, opening its blue eyes, and watched the other students filter in. Their eyes met, and its tail wiggled, not quite a wag, but it seemed to smile. Minami found a small smile creeping onto her face.

      Soon afterwards, as the last students took their seats, the door to the office opened and their teacher entered the classroom. They all fell silent as he strode over to the podium and placed some papers on top.

     “Don’t stop on my account,” he stated in Japanese, for their benefit, “Though I should remind you’re to speak as little Japanese, or whatever your native language be, as possible.”

      Some girls nearby began to giggle amongst themselves in hushed whispers, and Minami could hardly blame them. Their substitute professor was an American, tall, with dark hair and tan skin. He wore a t-shirt and jeans, as well as a pair of hiking boots. He also walked with a slight swagger and had an air of lazy tension about him. His jaw was sharp, from what she could see. He appeared to be only a few years older than her.

     The dog in the corner stretched, its eyes meeting her own once again, and flicked its ears.

     The professor sent an irritated glance at the dog, which sat up and grinned back, its tongue lolling out.

    “Allow me to introduce myself,” their teacher began in flawless English, “I am Aaron Fulmine. I met your professor a while back and he recently asked me to teach his class today. The dog is Blitz, in case you’re curious. It’s a pleasure to be here today,” he smiled, “Talk in English as much as possible, and if you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them. Now…as for what your professor has laid out for your lesson today…” And so the lesson began.

     Minami had already snapped her discreet picture by the time class was halfway over and they were having a fifteen-minute session in which they would practice with a partner. She looked around, but everyone seemed taken – they must’ve had an odd number of students today.

     “No partner, Miss…?” Aaron asked.

     Minami looked up, catching his deep green eyes, “Minami, Minami Sumiya. And no,” she laughed nervously, “I don’t.”

     “You do now,” he leaned against the desk, “Though you probably don’t need the practice – your English is quite good.”

    Minami thanked him and took her textbook in hand, preparing to read the practice dialogue when someone began screaming. It was a girl up and to her left, screaming in rage at the top of her lungs in neither English nor Japanese. She seemed to be furious. The boy with her, whom Minami presumed was her boyfriend, was chatting in the same language, trying to console her.

     Aaron looked back and stated something in the same language, his voice carrying over the classroom. The room went silent, and the arguing couple stared at him, both startled and seemingly embarrassed. Aaron continued on after his initial pause in a gentle tone of voice, and they nodded at him before sitting down and resuming their practice.  The other students soon joined in.

     “So…what was all that about?” Minami asked after she had done a few practice dialogues, “What language was that?”

     “Just a couple arguing in Russian,” he replied evasively, “I simply told them that English class was not the place to be having such an argument. In Russian, no less; though I suppose that I wasn’t a stellar example of using English in this class when I’m supposed to.”

     Minami found herself resisting a smile, and the dog from earlier approached, placing his head on her lap and looking up expectantly.

     “You’re incorrigible,” Aaron muttered to the dog, which looked back at him with a smug smile as she scratched behind his ears.