27th
April 2025
Hi
Kiki. Today I’m stuck in bed with a cold which of course is no fun. But it
gives me plenty of time to write to you. So today I will tell you what happened
when Yuko, Shizuyo and I met Hiroshi, Tatsuya and Kouhei. But I warn you this
is a long story.
It
all started two years ago at the start of September. At that time Shizuyo, Yoko
and I were in our last year of the elementary school section of Kurai Jinsei.
We were visiting the middle school section with our classmates to get to know
it for when we enter it. Two middle school students were there to greet us and give
us a tour.
During
the tour we noticed three boys were arguing with a teacher; those boys were Hiroshi,
Tatsuya and Kouhei. At this time they were in their last year of the middle
school section. The two middle school students told us who they were and that they
were always in trouble with the teachers.
“Do
they do bad things or something?” asked a classmate of mine.
“No
they don’t,” answered one of the middle school students, “but something bad happened
to them before they came here, which is why they are always treated with
suspicion from the teachers”.
“What
did they do?” asked another classmate
The
two middle school students didn’t answer the question and just said it was
better not to get involved with Hiroshi, Tatsuya and Kouhei. Yuko, Shizuyo and
I thought it was unfair for them to be put under suspicion if they haven’t done
anything wrong.
After
being shown around Yuko, Shizuyo and I asked if we could walk around the school
again because we wanted to explore around the school more. The two middle
school students thought that was okay as long as we didn’t touch anything and did
not disturb anyone. So Yuko, Shizuyo and I went to look around the school
again.
“I
can’t believe we will be here soon” said Shizuyo.
“Yes
I feel like our time in the elementary school section was short” said Yuko.
“Time
goes by quickly, too quickly really” I said.
Just
then Hiroshi, Tatsuya and Kouhei came towards us. “What are you girls doing
here?” said Tatsuya. The girls and I explained to the boys we were looking
around the school some more. The boys offered to walk around with us and we saw
nothing wrong with that.
“So
why are you three in this boarding school?” asked Kouhei. It’s always like
that; whenever you meet a new student or a student you haven’t spoken to before
at Kurai Jinsei, you would ask that student why they were attending the
boarding school.
“Since
you are curious to know, we wanted to come here because of our parents” I said.
Despite this was the first time we met the girls and I told the boys everything
about our problems with our parents.
“That’s
the same as us,” said Hiroshi “we came here because we wanted to get away from
our parents too”.
“Really
what had happened to you three?” asked Shizuyo.
Before
the boys answered Shizuyo a teacher came by and told Shizuyo, Yuko and me it
was time for us to get back to the elementary school. We said goodbyes to the
boys and left. What we didn’t know then, it was the start of a friendship
between us.
A
few days after that, the girls and I met up with the three boys again. It was
on Saturday at the park. The girls and I were playing a game of throwing and
catching when the boys came up to us.
“What
are you three doing here?” I asked.
“Just
enjoying the day away from the school, teachers and things” answered Hiroshi.
“We
like coming here at the weekends, especially after having the teachers on our
backs for the whole school week” said Kouhei.
“Pardon
me for saying so,” I said “but we were told that something bad happened with
you three, which made the teachers keep an eye on you all the time. May I ask
why?”
“Should
we tell them Hiroshi?” asked Tatsuya.
“Might
as well, after all these girls told us their stories” said Hiroshi.
The
boys told us about their pasts and the reason why they came to Kurai Jinsei.
The girls and I were shocked because their stories were worse than ours. Sorry
Kiki I have no time to tell you about our pasts yet, but I will soon I promise.
Yuko,
Shizuyo and I continued to meet up with Hiroshi, Tatsuya and Kouhei as time
went by. We had become friends with each other and were happy with that. Being
with each other helped us all forget our troubles and other things. What we
didn’t know then was that the start of our friendship was going to give us some
very annoying trouble.
That
trouble happened during the last week of September. It all started when the
girls and I were talking to the principal of the elementary school section in his
office. Hiroshi, Tatsuya and Kouhei wanted to take us somewhere on Sunday, so
we asked the principal if we could go with them. Of course the Principal was
reluctant about letting us go with the boys somewhere without a teacher because
of the rules. The girls and I feared we weren’t going to be allowed, when
suddenly the phone rang. The phone call was from the principal from the middle
school section. For ten minutes we heard the principal saying ‘yes, ah, and
okay’ till at last he put the phone down.
“The
principle of the middle school section said he has allowed those three boys Hiroshi,
Tatsuya and Kouhei to go out with you on Sunday,” said the Principal “therefore
I will allow you three girls to go as well”. The girls and I were happy to hear
that. “But I do expect there will be no trouble right?”
“Of
course not sir” I said. Then we left the office.
That
Sunday soon came and the girls and I were out with the boys. We asked them
where we were going, but the boys said it was a surprise.
Our
destination turned out to be a house where an old man and old woman lived. The
man was named Shiro Tamara and the old woman was his wife Akiko Tamara. The
reason why the boys brought the girls and me to their house was because their
pet Akita dog Sonata had six puppies. The girls and I fell in love with the
puppies at once. While playing with the puppies we learnt about Mr and Mrs Tamara.
They lost their son Hikaru to an illness ten years ago and didn’t have any
other children or relatives, so they cared for Sonata like family and her
puppies made the family bigger. The boys also told us they met Mr and Mrs
Tamara at the park during the year they first came to Kurai Jinsei, so they
knew about the boys past.
“Are
you three girls at that boarding school for a reason too?” asked Mrs Tamara.
The
girls and I told Mr and Mrs Tamara about our pasts and the reason why we
entered the boarding school. Mrs Tamara felt sorry for us and gave each of us a
big hug.
“You
three have lived hard lives like the boys have,” she said to us “but don’t let that
keep you down. My husband and I were hurt after we lost our son but we
continued to stay and live happy for our son’s sake. And now we have Sonata and
her puppies we have become happy again. I believe you six children will have
happier futures when you leave the boarding school, as long as you don’t let
the past continue to hurt you”.
I
must say Kiki hearing Mrs Tamara’s comforting words made me remember my
grandmother. My grandmother, my father’s mother, used to comfort me when I was
sad, lonely or angry but she died before I entered Kurai Jinsei. I’ll tell you
about her some other time.
Suddenly
we heard a commotion outside with police sirens. “What on earth?” said Mrs
Tamara. The girls and I went outside with the boys and Mr and Mrs Tamara to see
what was going on. And there we saw two policemen grabbing a man and arresting
him, but to our surprise it was Mr Kisaragi.
“What’s
Mr Kisaragi doing here?” said Kouhei.
“Is
that the gym teacher you boys told me and my wife about?” asked Mr Tamara.
“Yes
Mr Tamara,” said Tatsuya “that’s Mr Kisaragi the nosiest teacher at Kurai
Jinsei who likes to poke around in everyone’s business”.
“And
the one who keeps a close eye on us because he always thinks we are going to do
something bad just because of our troubled pasts” said Hiroshi.
Mr
Tamara walked up to the police and told them who Mr Kisaragi was. The police explained Mr Kisaragi was seen looking outside Mr
Tamara’s house for hours by a neighbour, and because Mr Kisaragi looked suspicious the neighbour
phoned the police.
“Care
to explain why you were spying on my house sir?” said Mr Tamara.
You
wouldn’t believe this Kiki but Mr Kisaragi
said that because the boys, girls and I were all visiting Mr and Mrs Tamara, he
had secretly come along to check we weren’t going to do anything bad to Mr and
Mrs Tamara. We were not happy to hear that.
“Let
me tell you something sir,” said Mr Tamara, a bit crossly, “Hiroshi, Tatsuya
and Kouhei have been allowed to visit me and my wife since we first met them
four years ago, and Kyoko, Shizuyo and Yuko are allowed to visit us too since
they have become friends with the boys. And another thing the boys have never
done anything bad to us; you just don’t trust them because of their pasts”. He
told the police the reason why Mr Kisaragi thought the boys were troublesome.
“I
suggest we go and talk to the principals of the boarding school sir” a police
officer said to his colleague.
“I
suggest that too” agreed the second officer.
The
boys, girls and I said goodbye to Mr and Mrs Tamara and the police gave us a
ride back to the boarding school in their cars.
When
the police brought us and Mr Kisaragi
back to Kurai Jinsei, the police told the three principals of the school what Mr Kisaragi had done. The three principals
were not happy with Mr Kisaragi’s
stupidity.
“We
are sorry for the trouble Mr Kisaragi
has caused officer,” said the principal of the middle school section “we will
punish him at once”.
“See
that you do,” said an officer “we do not want anything like this to happen
again”. The police released Mr Kisaragi
from his handcuffs and left.
“First
things first,” said the principal of the elementary school section “I take it
you girls know about Hiroshi, Tatsuya and Kouhei’s pasts?”
“Yes
sir because the boys told us themselves about their pasts,” I said “and we
understand how they feel because of our pasts”.
“We
also understand how hard it is to try and recover from the hurtful pasts” said
Yuko.
“But
how can Hiroshi, Tatsuya and Kouhei recover, if some stupid moron like Mr Kisaragi isn’t giving them a chance to
redeem themselves?” said Shizuyo. Mr Kisaragi wasn’t happy from being called
a stupid moron but we didn’t care.
“Hiroshi,
Tatsuya, Kouhei, Kyoko, Shizuyo and Yuko, you six go back to your dorm rooms
while we deal with Mr Kisaragi” said the principal of the middle school
section.
“Yes
sir, but tell Mr Kisaragi to mind his own business next time” said Kouhei. Then
the boys, girls and I left for our own dorm rooms.
Mr
Kisaragi got into a lot of trouble with the three principals and was warned not
to spy on students when they went out of the school again. All the students,
including myself, claim it served Mr Kisaragi right. But of course it didn’t
stop him from poking into a student’s business inside the school, but at least
he minded his own business when we were outside of school.
And
that Kiki was how the girls and I met the boys, and about the stupid mistake Mr
Kisaragi made. I told you it was a long story.
