Two weeks before the speech, I was on class duty.
One boy and one girl was assigned for class duty on each day, going by our student numbers. Since the boy-girl split in my class was uneven, everyone would have a different partner every day of class duty. On that day, I was paired with Shimai Kyouka-san, whom I didn’t remember talking to before.
Normally, class duty involved clearing the blackboard for each class, and occasionally bringing in handouts. Special events like the student council election and sports festival preparation would be handled by the relevant people in charge, meaning that the ball should never be passed to those on class duty. However, on that day, Shimai-san and I were told to go to the staff room, and receive further instructions from the art teacher Koumura-sensei.
After the final lesson of the day, I struck up a conversation while we were heading to the staff room as ordered to.
“I’ve never heard of the students on class duty being told to do work after school hours. Have you?”
Shimai-san was fair-skinned, had a slender build, and tended to look down at the ground. In contrast to my remark which I wasn’t sure could be considered a conversation opener, she gave a concise answer in an unexpectedly clear voice.
“This sucks.”
I liked her response. It clearly stated her opinion, after all. Thus, I continued with another question.
“You know Koumura-sensei?”
“I know, I’m taking art. You’re not, right, Kobato? I don’t see you in our classes.”
“I chose music.”
I found it a little surprising that Shimai-san knew my name, and that she called me by my first name without hesitation.
The staff room was on the first floor. Shimai-san did not bring up another topic, so the conversation ended. I considered what Koumura-sensei could need us for as we went down the staircase.
I didn’t take his class, but I’d met and talked with him before. Speaking of which, Osanai-san had told me to be careful of Koumura-sensei because he hated us. Then again, there was no way he would suddenly pull out a knife and slash at me in the staff room, but something might happen. I was nervous, yet excited.
The door to the staff room was a sliding one, which Shimai-san opened without knocking. Smoking was prohibited on the school grounds as a matter of course, but there was a faint hint of cigarettes that was barely recognizable. Tables were arranged neatly, though there were hardly any teachers in the room. Perhaps they went home since lessons had ended, I initially thought… but no, they were probably in the midst of overseeing club activities. The sharp-eyed Shimai-san spotted Koumura-sensei, and walked towards him without a word.
Standing near Koumura-sensei was another boy-girl pair. I’d passed them in some corridor before, but I didn’t know their names. They must be the students on duty from some other class. Ignoring the two other students, Shimai-san stood in front of Koumura-sensei.
“Shimai from class A, here to see you, Koumura-sensei.”
Unfortunately, I was beaten to the punch. I stood next to Shimai-san.
“Kobato from class A, here.”
Koumura-sensei looked at me and frowned a little. As I’d thought, he apparently still remembered me. But he didn’t tell me to leave, instead running his gaze through the four of us while staying seated.
“Right, everyone’s here. I want you all to move a little something. It’s precious, so please be careful.”
So it was “precious” even though it was just “a little something”, huh. For some reason, a sense of foreboding washed over me. The teacher continued.
“What I want you to move is an objet made by Shimataiga, an alumnus of the school. You know Shimataiga, right?”
Shimai-san and I nodded, while the other girl answered, “Yes!” in a passionate manner. The remaining person kept quiet, seemingly not having heard the name before. Koumura-sensei sighed.
“What, Aotagawa, you don’t know Shimataiga?”
The boy called Aotagawa sulkily replied.
“I don’t know.”
The girl next to Aotagawa opened her eyes wide in surprise.
“You’re kidding! Haven’t you heard the rumors?”
Koumura-sensei put on a wry smile.
“Sawami, please be quiet.”
So that was the girl’s name.
Sawami-san and Aotagawa-kun… those were names I recognized. They were Osanai-san’s classmates. I’d heard her talk about them before, but never thought that I would meet them in person.
Koumura-sensei educated Aotagawa-kun.
“Shimataiga is a sculptor from our school. He lives in America, but came all the way back to Japan, and he’ll be giving a speech here two weeks from now.”
“Ah, okay.”
“You don’t sound very enthusiastic. Well, it is what it is.”
Koumura-sensei looked at us again.
“The other day, an objet was sent over by Shimataiga in advance of his speech. It was made when he was in his twenties, and he wants his juniors to freely see it before his speech. He entrusted it to us, so we obviously can’t leave it lying around. We decided to place it at the Art Preparation Room, so I’d like you all to help move it there.”
Shimai-san asked a question, a strained expression on her face.
“Is it heavy?”
“The four of you should be able to handle it.”
“We will get in trouble if we break it, right?”
“It’ll be fine if you’re careful.”
Why do we have to bear such responsibility when we’re simply on class duty…I wanted to ask, but Koumura-sensei stood up, signaling that he would be taking no more questions.
“The objet is at the office. Let’s go.”
The office was next to the staff room, so we had no time to exchange words with each other. Two administrative clerks were in the room, and they said, “Thank you,” upon seeing Koumura-sensei. It seemed that they’d arranged for this beforehand.
There was something white in a corner of the office. Sawami-san openly showed her disgust.
“What the heck is that?”
Over there were some objects that certainly deserved that phrase.
One of them was a sphere. It was white, round and so big that one would barely be able to span their arms around it. A number of black lines were drawn on its surface. They extended radially from a point and seemed to converge at another point on the opposite side. If you likened the sphere to a globe, the lines would be the meridians since they went from pole to pole.
Sawami-san made a harsh remark.
“Isn’t that just trash?”
I didn’t think that way. Did it not look resplendent in its whiteness?
Near the sphere was a piece of wood lying horizontally. It was a thick tree branch with several thin branches extending from it. The branch had its bark peeled off, leaving only bare wood, and it was about the size of a shinai1. Shimai-san tilted her head in puzzlement.
“Is that driftwood?”
Now that she mentioned it, the object reallly did look like driftwood. It probably wasn’t crafted by a person, but a piece of wood picked up at a beach.
A white sphere and driftwood. That was certainly a somewhat meaningful combination. It could be a wake-up call regarding something about the Earth’s environment, or… something for doing something to something.
The two objects were placed on a platform which was also white. It was flat, oval-shaped and had no legs. The sphere didn’t seem to be falling off the platform, so I thought it must have been somehow secured there, but upon closer inspection the sphere sank a little into the platform. The platform probably had a depression to keep the sphere stable.
I asked a question of Koumura-sensei.
“Does this objet have a name?”
Koumura-sensei answered in a way that made it seem like he didn’t hold a grudge against me.
“I hear that it’s ‘Sight and Outer, or Green Ball’.”
“Sight and Outer” is the Japanese version of “Gaze and Shell”, which is the name that Shimataiga used for all his works.
I observed the sphere, driftwood and platform in detail. All of them had a smooth, unblemished surface. Shimai-san asked a question, her voice betraying a hint of aversion.
“Kobato, you’re interested in things like this?”
Not at all, but it’s still good to take a close look at the objet. If it has any scratches at this point, we could be held responsible after moving it. – That was what I wanted to say, but I wasn’t sure if I should. I would have immediately said it if I was talking to Osanai-san, but I was hesitant to reveal my thoughts to Shimai-san, whom I’d never really interacted with until today.
While I was considering my options, Shimai-san spoke to the other two, apparently not waiting for me to respond.
“Let’s get this done quickly.”
Neither Sawami-san nor Aotagawa-kun seemed to have any objections. Done with my observations, I stood up.
Aotagawa-kun piped up.
“How do we move it?”
Carrying the entire thing along with the platform would probably be the normal approach, but I had a concern.
“Is the driftwood fixed to the platform?”
The other three students exchanged looks. Was I supposed to be the one to check since I brought it up? I didn’t really want to touch it, though… I would probably be asked for compensation if I dropped it…
As we kept a close eye on each other, Koumura-sensei readily lifted the piece of driftwood.
“It isn’t fixed. Let me carry this.”
That left the platform and sphere. Shimai-san poked the sphere, showing that it was, as expected, also not attached to the platform, so it was decided that each object would be handled by two people. Shimai-san and I would move the platform, while Sawami-san and Aotagawa-kun would move the sphere.
After lifting the sphere with Sawami-san, Aotagawa-kun put on a displeased look.
“It’s lighter than I thought. One person could easily handle this.”
In response, Sawami-san retorted coldly.
“We’re not having two people carry one object because they’re heavy, but because it might be unstable with only one person.”
On the other hand, the platform we were holding was not too much for us to handle, but was actually relatively heavy. I made a suggestion to Shimai-san.
“Perhaps this should be carried by two guys?”
Her answer was short.
“Why?”
Thus the five of us left the office. Sawami-san and Aotagawa-kun had their vision impeded by the sphere, so Shimai-san and I took the lead. Following behind us at the end of the line was Koumura-sensei, carrying the driftwood with two hands. His position was probably the most comfortable. The office was located at the first floor of the North Block while the Art Preparation Room was at the fourth floor of the South Block, so there was quite a distant journey ahead of us.
When we reached the staircase, Shimai-san went in front, while I was at the back, holding the platform tight as I bent my waist and ascended one step at a time. Despite its smooth appearance, the platform was actually not slippery to the touch, so while there were no handles to grip, it didn’t feel so precarious. We somehow made it to the second floor, then changed direction, instead heading towards a connecting passageway.
We didn’t talk much on the way, because we had nothing to talk about. On the other hand, Sawami-san and Aotagawa-kun chatted about this and that.
At one point, Sawami-san complained, “Sensei, this is slippery!” while Aotagawa-kun tapped the sphere and asked, “What is this made of?”
Koumura-sensei’s answer also reached my ears.
“What it’s made of, huh. That’s a good question. It’s important to know what was made and how it was made. This is plaster. Anyone can make it, although the quality would be another question.”
Koumura-sensei then added half-jokingly, “Keep your eyes in front. It’ll cost you an arm and a leg if you break it.”
So it was expensive, as I thought.
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Editors (Tier 2): Dedavond, Pearl H Nettle
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