The rest of my first week of school was a lot less nerve-racking than the first day had been, not to mention less confusing.

It didn't take me long to get used to staying in one classroom all day, and I often wondered why they bothered having bells at all. The only really necessary ones were the ones for starting and ending school and lunch. I asked Ryo about it one morning during the break and we soon had a class-wide discussion going about the differences between Hanai and other schools in Japan. He didn't really see the need for all the bells, either, but apparently it was part of Hanai's attempt to base itself on American schools. That amused me very much and I spent several minutes explaining how different Hanai was from American schools. Our classmates, all of whom had been rather distant up until then, listened with interest and starting chipping in; the result of which was that I learned a lot.

Apparently, in other schools, the lockers were tiny things meant for shoes only, because everyone removed their shoes at the start of the day and wore slippers to class. That seemed very odd to me- like going to school in a bathrobe. Another thing I was told was that very few schools had cafeterias; the hot lunches were brought up to the classrooms, and the students ate at their desks. Apparently, Japanese students don't move around much during the day! I was very surprised, and a little disgusted, to find that other schools had longer days, their classes going on until four and the activities taking another hour after that. Ryo gave me a significant look when that was mentioned, and I decided I was very glad to be attending Hanai after all. I couldn't imagine being in school from eight to five, and didn't want to try.

Haruka's contribution to the discussion was that other schools seldom accepted foreigners; foreigners were supposed to attend special schools where they had teachers from their own countries. No one in the room missed the point, but one of the other guys countered that this was only because foreigners seldom knew Japanese; there was no reason a Japanese-speaking foreigner couldn't attend a normal school. I got the feeling he wasn't so much defending me as taking an opportunity to spoke Haruka's wheel, since most of my classmates were still pretty wary around me. Some of them were not too happy about the way I had 'tricked' them, but since most of those were the ones who had been saying unkind things about me, I wasn't too bothered about that. The rest seemed to be rather shy, and I supposed I must be a real novelty to them- one they weren't sure how to deal with. So there was some subdued friendliness, but Ryo was the only one I genuinely considered a friend.

The teachers had a mixture of reactions to learning that I could speak the language but not read or write it. Some of them took it in stride while others got into a fair fluster about it. As Ryo had predicted, Minoro-san didn't take it at all well, but he didn't have much use for me anyway, so that didn't trouble me particularly. The math teacher, Temikyono, seemed to have a grudge against me as well; why I don't know and never had a chance to find out. Someone told me he was a relatively new teacher, so perhaps his constant attempts to trip me up with unusually complex equations were part of his way of trying to demonstrate his authority to the class. If so, it didn't work; complex or not, equations were very old news to me and I could have done any of them half-asleep.

I'm not really bragging, it's just that math's always been especially easy for me. 'Sides, like I said before, I got into equations around the age of five or six, so there really wasn't anything for him to teach me. I considered telling him, but decided that knowing he had a non-certified genius in the class would just make things harder for him, and I didn't want to do that. I felt kinda sorry for him, actually; he always seemed so tense and nervous, fidgeting all the time, and it was plain the class didn't respect him much.

It was different with Minoro- he was simply a bigot, no two ways about it, and he seemed to really enjoy intimidating the class. I suppose I made it worse for myself by refusing to be intimidated. Like when he told me to read part of a chapter, then suddenly 'remembered' that I couldn't read yet; he got very cross when I replied, "Yes sir, I'm afraid that's right, I still can't read yet. I'm so stupid; it takes me more than two days to learn a new language."

The English teacher- Himete-san- turned out to be...I don't know, kind of manic. She got agitated very easily, was hyper and impatient- talking too fast, pacing around the room, that kind of stuff. She also had a weird habit of clapping her hands three or four times whenever someone gave her a correct answer- like applauding them. Wrong answers got her huffy, and too many in a row usually resulted in her pounding on the desk with her hand. I think she was generally regarded as crazy, and no one liked that class much. Since I had what I considered an unfair advantage, I mainly kept my mouth shut, grateful that I spoke English and was used to eccentric personalities.

I think the class all realized more or less simultaneously what an advantage they had by having an American in that class; it was on Thursday, right after Himete-san left the room. She'd been talking about 'affect' and 'effect' and had made enough of a mess of it that if I hadn't known better, I would have been severely confused myself. As soon as she was gone, I turned to Ryo and said, "In a nutshell, to 'affect' something means you do something to it, cause something to happen. 'Effect' is a result. Like you affect a ball by kicking it and making it go somewhere, and the effect, hopefully, is a goal. 'Course, if you're unlucky, the effect is that it gets away from you and the other team has a chance to steal it." And all of a sudden, I was the focus of twenty-eight pairs of eyes, most of them gleaming hopefully.

"Thank you!" Ryo responded in a heartfelt tone, and quite a few other students murmured something similar. "I like your analogy," he added with a grin.

"You would," Haruka snorted from the rear of the room.

"Maybe Haruka needs a different example," I suggested sweetly. "A simpler one." And smiled as he glared at me. "You remind me of New York," I added, thoughtfully. "Most people there don't have time to use manners, either- you'd fit in well."

The bully, who wasn't used to polite insults of that sort (I know, oxymoron) just blinked and disappeared behind a book as several students giggled quietly. Ryo grinned at me as I turned my attention back to him and I grinned back. I had not had too many opportunities to defend someone I liked before, and was finding I enjoyed it.

However, I definitely did not enjoy learning that I would be expected to be in school two Saturdays out of every month. Not even when I was assured they were only half days; not even when I was told that other students in other schools had to attend all the Saturdays of every term. As far as I was concerned, making Saturdays into school days was an outright crime and ought to be abolished. I also learned that in the months when the sports teams competed, the games took place on Saturday afternoons. That seemed a bit unfair, too; but at least watching the games was optional.

So with one thing and another- tidbits here, explanations there and adjustments all over the place- the first week of school went by. By the time Sunday arrived I was feeling pretty confident that I would manage okay; learning kanji was going to be a challenge, but I was looking forward to that. I'd already gotten a pretty firm grip on hiragana and katakana (the two sound-based character systems, as opposed to the word-based one.) and wasn't as illiterate as I had been. In the meantime, Dad, and sometimes Mom, were transcribing a lot for me. It was only fair, as Dad remarked more than once, since it was their oversight that had put me in this position. He and I were getting along better these days, spending so much time together, and to my surprise, he seemed rather wistful for New York himself. "I suppose," he said Friday night over dinner, "I had a more...idealistic notion of what it would be like to live here again."

"Did you think Mom would be home more?" I asked. I had begun to grow more accustomed to being roundabout at school, if only because being direct usually meant getting no response at all, but I had always been pretty direct with my parents. Polite, as in tactful, but straightforward. "'Cause I sure did."

"I'm not sure," Dad answered thoughtfully. "Your mother loves the country, but she loves her job as well."

I nodded. "Do you like yours?"

Dad toyed with his rice for a moment. "I am enjoying the work, yes," he replied slowly. "The facilities are very good, the budget is excellent, and one does not have to deal with the endless red tape. It makes a nice change." Then he smiled and asked how things were going with me socially, since it was clear I was doing very well academically.

"It would probably be going better if I hadn't..." I ran my hand through my hair. Sometimes I actually forgot it was now blue, and got quite a shock when I happened to catch a look at myself in the mirror. If I'd known that dye was going to be so tenacious, I might have had second thoughts about it. "But there's been no hazing, and no one's picking on me- well, that bully and his circle of pals, but that's nothing much. They pick on everyone. I'm lucky," I added as an afterthought, and went on to explain the game Ryo had called Backstab, that had been so popular a year or two ago. "But ever since Ryo started telling people off for it, it's become almost extinct."

Dad looked interested. "It sounds like you've made a pretty high-status friend," he observed. "That may be why the other students are still avoiding you. High-status people, in this country, are treated with a great deal of respect, but they are also held at a distance, from awe- as if they were celebrities. And since you are his friend-"

"Reflected glory?" I concluded ruefully. "Didn't really think of that. He's just a friendly guy in my class, you know? My lab partner for science, even."

"I'm sure he's pleased that you think of him as a normal boy," Dad said seriously. "You know, people who are put on pedestals are often extremely lonely- isolated by their own popularity."

I thought that over as I finished eating, musing about it in silence. It was a good point and I was surprised I hadn't seen it sooner; it really demonstrated the differences between me and the other students. To them, he was Sanada-san, the star, the hero, to be looked up to and held in high esteem; to be addressed with great respect and careful formality. But to me, he was an ordinary boy- a friend who happened to play soccer when the season was right. I had no awe of him whatsoever; I just liked him. He was easy to like, friendly and upbeat and always willing to explain things, if not exactly what one could call patient.

'Dad must be right; he must be lonely. I never see him with anyone else- he talks to people, sure, but he doesn't hang out with them like he does with me. And he talks about that friend of his- Sage... friend, singular, never plural. How ironic is that, one of the most well-known and popular kids and he has one friend. ...Well... two, now. What was it Haruka said, something about...oh yeah, collecting gaijin. Maybe 'cause we 'gaijin' treat him like a friend instead of an icon.'

As I got up and took my plate into the kitchen to wash it, sighing again at the lack of a dishwasher, I wondered if I'd ever get to meet this 'Sage' Ryo talked about so frequently- and why he hadn't come in to school all last week. Ryo had been worried about him, confiding that Sage's 'guardian' was rigid, closeminded, and dictatorial. I hadn't asked for details, and Ryo hadn't volunteered anything, though I got a sort of feeling that he could have told me a great deal if he'd chosen to. It was just like him to not want to breach someone's confidences.

'Well, wherever he is, I hope he's all right, for his sake and Ryo's. Hope he turns up soon- kinda like to meet the guy.'

The very next morning, Monday, I got my wish.

You see, you do have to be careful what you wish for.

Just kidding, Seiji.