This choice: Minako and Minato are in separate classes. • Go Back...Chapter #6Separation Anxiety by: Frost   Minako Arisato 2-C
Minato Arisato 2-F
The older sister couldn’t help but reread the list again, hoping that she had just read it incorrectly the first time. However, Minako felt her heart sink once she came to grips that her poor, defenseless little brother had been put in a separate class from her. Dozens of nightmare scenarios flooded her mind of him being trampled beneath the uncaring steps of students as they wandered into class, or sat on by a student appropriating his desk, or even eaten in someone’s box lunch.
“Minako-chan?” called a voice from behind her.
Minako jumped, immediately turning around to face the person behind her. Yukari only flinched at the girl’s reaction.
“Oh, sorry,” Yukari apologized. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Is everything alright?”
“It-it’s… um…” Minako began to hyperventilate, unable to form any coherent words past the first one.
Sighing, Minato felt the need to peek out of the pocket. “My sister and I were assigned to different classes.”
“Oh my, that sounds terrible,” Yukari commented.
“It is!” Minako cried. “What if… what if something happens to him while I’m not there?”
“Relax, sis,” Minato said, taking it much more in stride than his older sister. “I’ll be fine.” Minato looked over the list again and clicked his tongue dismissively. “Look, I’m in the same class as Takeba-san.”
Yukari scanned the bulletin board as well. “Oh, yeah, you are. I can watch over him if you want me to, Minako-chan. You can try asking the faculty to let you switch classes later today. I’m sure they’d let you once they see your brother’s… condition.”
Minako paused in thought, considering the idea while also considering just taking her shrunken brother to her class on her own. “I mean, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but…”
“She doesn’t trust you,” Minato interrupted. “Don’t take it personally. The only people she let handle me were my parents. When they passed, she’s been keeping me close.” He paused for a moment. “A little too close.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Yukari consoled. “I understand that you’re not comfortable, Minako-chan. I was probably asking a lot of you.”
Minako sighed. “No… it’s fine. Just, be careful with him.” Reluctantly, she plucked her tiny brother by the back of his shirt and slowly placed him onto Yukari’s palm.
For Yukari, it felt absolutely surreal to hold a tiny person in her hands. She never really expected to, anyway. Strangely enough, the tiny boy seemed to be unconcerned with the change of caretaker. However, it was obvious to the both of them that it was stressing Minako out.
“I’ll come into your class the moment school ends today,” Minako began with anxiety in her voice. “Takeba-san, make sure he stays away from the edges of the desks. If other students start to crowd him, just keep him in your bag’s pocket—make sure there’s nothing in there that can hurt him.”
“I’ll be fine, sis,” Minato said, waving his hand.
Ignoring her shrunken brother’s comment, Minako continued to dictate directions as they walked to their classes. She secretly began to grade how Yukari carried her brother and was a bit relieved to see her hand stay steady. The tiny teenager sat in the center of the palm wordlessly.
Finally, once the two girls had reached the hallways. Minako had no choice but to say goodbye to her brother and wait for the school day to end.
Over in class 2-F, Yukari carefully carried Minato over to the teacher’s desk in the front of the class.
“Ms. Toriumi?” Yukari called, awkwardly standing at the edge of the desk.
The teacher looked up from a manila folder she had been reading. “Yes?”
“My name is Yukari Takeba. I’m a student in your class.” Awkwardly, she held out Minato, making sure not to shake him too much. “This is Minato Arisato, another student of yours.”
The teacher’s eyes went wide, a reaction Minato was very much used to seeing. “Oh my.” She covered her mouth with her hand, blinking out the surprise in her eyes. “Is he going to require any special needs?”
Minato couldn’t help but cringe at that comment. The last thing he wanted was to be coddled by everyone around him for his size. He kept silent, bottling up his annoyance.
Yukari shrugged. “That’s something you should ask his sister. For some reason, she was assigned to a different class. Is there something we can do about that? She seemed really upset with to split from him.”
“Oh, that’s troubling,” Toriumi said. “I’ll see what I can do, but it might take a few days, even weeks to make the switch. For now, I suggest he sit with you at your desk.”
Yukari nodded, carrying Minato back to her desk. Class went by surprisingly quick. Most of the periods had been each teacher coming in and introducing the curriculum. It seemed that there was a running theme throughout the day as it seemed every student had tried to talk to Yukari in an attempt to get to Minato. Of course, the temporary guardian saw through the fake smiles and politely shut down conversations, which Minato appreciated more than he let on.
He didn't totally hate being watched over by Yukari. She seemed to keep her distance, and she'd only check up on him between class session, which was a nice change of pace compared to his sister. He wouldn't object to having to share her desk for the rest of the year if he needed to.
Meanwhile, in the other classroom, Minako found it impossible to concentrate. Her mind drifted towards her shrunken brother every ten or so minutes. She was an optimist when it came to everything with the sole exception being her brother’s safety.
The second the bell rang, Minako shot up from her seat and bolted out the door. She hurried down the hall and forced her way into her brother’s classroom, pushing past the waves of students leaving the room. Minako scanned the room, looking for Yukari and Minato.
“You look like a deer in headlights,” commented a voice, a boy.
“Wh-who are you?” Minako asked.
“Me? I’m Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya,” he said, fiddling with the collar on his shirt. “I heard you were a transfer along with your brother. I transferred here when I was in the eighth grade. I know how tough it is bein’ the new kid… so I thought I’d check up on you, make sure you weren’t freaking out on your first day.” Junpei scanned her face. “Though, it seems like you’re a bit tense. You okay?”
“Ugh, at it again, huh?” scolded a voice, which Minako recognized as Yukari. “Honestly, is there any girl you wouldn’t hit on?”
“What?” Junpei asked, caught off guard. “But I was just being friendly.”
“If you say so.” Yukari turned her attention to Minako. She opened her hand, revealing the tiny teenager. “Anyway, your brother’s perfectly fine. I hope you weren’t too worried.”
Still a bit flustered, Minako shook her head. “N-no, I’m fine.” She didn’t hesitate to scoop her brother back up. Then she deposited him back in her shirt pocket and felt her whole body stop tensing up. “Th-thank you. I think it was good for the both of us to entrust him to a friend.”
“A friend?” Yukari asked, raising an eyebrow. “Oh… you mean me. I’m glad to hear that. Also, I talked to Ms. Toriumi. She said, she’s doing what she can to move your class. Though it might take a while.”
“Oh… okay then.” Minako was at the very least glad to hear that there was a chance of returning with her brother.
Junpei cut back into the conversation. “Whoa, that’s a real dude…”
“This is my little brother,” Minako said, still a bit too tense to emphasize the word ‘little.’
“Yo,” Minato greeted, using up his speech quota for the rest of the school day. Anything else was him being generous.
“Well, I’ve got to take care of some archery team stuff.” Yukari shot a glare at Junpei. “Don’t try anything funny, you got that, Junpei?” Yukari then walked off without a word, leaving the three on your own.
“What is she, your nanny?”
She was mine, Minato thought, hiding back in his sister’s pocket.
“Well, just to clear something up,” Junpei started, “I seriously didn’t come over to hit on you or anything. If you ever have a problem, you can tell your old pal Junpei about it.”
Minako thanked him before leaving the classroom. She just wanted to head home and put the nightmare of a day behind her.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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