We get into the dressing rooms.
There's nobody here.
"Here," Izumi takes a pile of flyers and adhesive tapes from her huge backpack (how can she carry something like that every day? And what does she wants it for? It's not like she carries her books or something) and hands them to us. "Follow my lead," Izumi cuts some pieces of tape with her teeth and puts them on her fingers. Then, she walks to a locker, takes some flyers from her backpack and puts them up one after another like they were seals, so you couldn't open the locker without breaking or removing the flyers.
And she does the same with another locker, and another and another and another and so on and so on.
Wow, she's fast.
And clever.
Even though her flyers end up a little crooked.
But, well, considering it's Izumi we're talking about, it's pretty impressive, to be honest.
"Ummmm, Izumi-san?" Sotoka-san approaches her. "What are you doing? We said we were going to talk with the soccer team."
"Yeah, but they are not here, though," Izumi says while putting flyers up. "And President-san's gonna yell at us anyway, so why don't we put up these flyers?"
"But we agreed we were just going to talk with the soccer team. Or al least that's what you told me."
"Yes, and we can talk to them when they arrive. But we can put up some flyers while we wait."
"Just stop, please," Sotoka-san puts her hand on Izumi's shoulder, and Izumi stops it. "You lied to me, Izumi-san."
"No, I didn't, Sotoka-chan. It's just that when we were coming here I thought we could put up some flyers is no one was around and no one is around, so—
"Stop it!" Sotoka-san yells, and then realizes she yelled and: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"Ok, I'm not gonna put up flyers anymore, Sotoka-san," Izumi promises.
"Thanks," Sotoka-san sits on a bench and waits the arrival of the soccer team.
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"Izumi, what are you doing?!" Sotoka-san yells again, and this almost never happens.
But she's yelling because Izumi was opening one of the bags of one of the soccer team's players and was stuffing it with flyers.
"What?" Izumi asks stupidly. "We agreed I wasn't going to put up more flyers, but we didn't say anything about stuffing some bags with flyers.
Sotoka-san stands up and leaves.
"Chotto matte kudasai, Sotoka-chan! Ikanaide, ikanaide, ikanai...!" I don't know what she said.
But she then sighs and starts putting up flyers again.
And I have nothing better to do, so I help her, no, I just accompany her.
"Hey," I asked her, why are you so good putting up flyers?"
"I don't know," Izumi says while she's still putting up her flyers, "I've always done it."
"Really?" I mean, you put them up so quickly and all, but your drawings are still horrible. "Why?"
"'Cause I sell lots of stuff."
"Why?"
"To buy some manga and stuff," Izumi puts up her last flyer, so I give her mine.
Izumi starts putting them up as fast as always.
"And how could you put up all those flyers throughout school?"
She shrugged.
"I dunno. I started since 4 am."
"WHAT?! AND HOW DID YOU GET IN?!"
Izumi stops.
And then looks at me like she wants to tell me: "are you dumb or what?"
"I just got in."
"But school's supposed to be closed at that time."
"Oh, yeah, it's just I always climb the gates near the soccer field. Actually, they're pretty close, I can show them to you if you want."
"So you didn't just only 'got in'. Hey, did you say you always get in that way? Haven't no one seen you?"
"Maybe. I always get there on my way from home, and I don't wanna walk all the way to the main entrance."
Probably someone had seen her, but he or she didn't cared. And why would they? It's just a student getting in her school.
"Is this like a joke or something?" asks someone.
We immediately turn to the dress room's door, and there's Yuri Okabe. I think she's really popular. I maybe she is because even I know of her.
But surely everyone only praise her because she's kinda pretty.
And behind her there's a lot of sweaty girls who are looking at us and at their lockers while murmuring to themselves.
Yeah, of course, they always do that; it's the only thing they do. SHUT UP! IF YOU WANT TO TELL US SOMETHING, JUST DO IT! WE'RE ALREADY HERE!
"It's Nuki-chan," I hear someone says.
Oh, yeah, Nuki-chan. I'm pretty sure that's Izumi's nickname. And I think Nuki stands for tanuki. And, to be honest, that's a very accurate nickname: she has some enormous eye bags, her long and messy hair makes her look like a wild animal, and she kinda reeks (like coffee and a little bit of sweat, but I honestly think no one has ever told her about that last bit; I mean, why would they?).
But it's also a pretty cruel one.
"A joke?" asks Izumi genuinly confused. "No, we just wanna start a club, and we just need two more members. I don't know if you have a friend or someone who might be interested..."
But no one's listening to her because they're still murmuring.
"That's some ugly flyers right there."
"Why are they telling us all this?"
"What's ANIME LIFE anyway?"
"There's already an anime club."
"What a waste of paper."
"We don't even like anime."
"So, is this drawing supposed to be Nuki-chan? Lol."
"Why don't you leave?; I wanna change my clothes."
SHUT UP! I HATE YOU! WHY ARE YOU TALKING LIKE WE ARE NOT HERE, LIKE WE DON'T EVEN EXIST?! WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?!
FUCK YOU, THEN!!!!!
"Ummm..." says Yuri Okabe. "Ok, but next time just tell us; it would be easy that way. There's no need to fill all the dressing room with your flyers. And, fyi, you need five members to start a club and you're only two. So you're like actually missing three members."
"No, Sotoka-chan is in our club, too!" Izumi yells.
"Don't yell," I tell her because yelling right now doesn't seem like a good idea.
"Hamano-san?" Yuri Okabe asks. "Hamano-san's with you? Where is she?"
As soon as they hear that name, the others begin to murmur.
"Hamano-san?"
"Why Hamano-san's with them?"
"'Cuz she's dumb af."
"People say she's like a whore, ¿no?"
"Girl, she is like a saint. You know what I'm saying?"
"And that's just what people say."
"Hey, imagine being in a club with Nuki-chan."
"Jeez, how annoying would that be?"
"Even the nerds at the anime club kicked her out."
"Really?! Lol."
"Why there's a happy sun and is that a kitty?"
"Why are they doing all this, I mean, it's pretty easy to start a club; you only need four friends."
"And how many friends Nuki-chan has?"
"I think only that other girl. And who dat?"
"Beats me, I think she goes in my classroom, but idk."
"She seems like she goes to preschool."
"Hahahahha, you're so mean."
"And why she mad, anyway?"
"I guess 'cuz she has to bear Nuki-chan's stench."
"She really smells, right? Lol."
So, you won't shut up. All right, all right. If that's what you want...
I take Sotoka-san's flyers, I get closer to them.
"ANIME LIFE!" I yell and I throw all the flyers at their faces. They hit them and scatter though the air; Yuri Okabe and company just look at me surprised and scared, and I takes Izumi's hand, and we run away as fast as we can.
"Hey, Ino," Izumi calls me, "Why did you do that?"
"To shut them up."
And to make them pick those up.
Izumi smiles and yells:
"ANIME LIFE!... oh, oh, oh, follow me," now Izumi takes us through the hallways and the stairs, and we stop in front of some classroom.
Door's closed.
Izumi opens her backpack, takes out all the flyers she picked up from our classroom, opens the door and:
"ANIME LIFE!" she throws all the flyers inside and shuts the door.
There were a group of guys inside who didn't have enough time to even react.
"Who are they", I ask.
Izumi smiles.
"The anime club."
And we leave.
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I'm home. I leave my shoes at the entrance and I go to my room. I leave my backpack next to my study table. I take my broom, my mop, my bucket and my cloth; and I sweep, I mop, I dust, and I order everything in room; and it's night now.
But everything's clean enough.
But tomorrow it'll get dirty again.
But that's life.
Unfortunately.
I go to the kitchen, and there's a table with a curry plate on.
It's already cold.
Doesn't matter: I like it that way.
I take my spoon and start eating.
It's so quiet.
But I like it that way:
There's no sister's stories.
Or dad's jokes.
Or mom's questions.
Only my thoughts.
I go back to my room.
I put on my pajamas.
I lay on my bed.
And tomorrow I'll get up at the same hour and dress with the same uniform to go to the same school were I'll get the same boring and unnecessary classes with the same classmates.
And I can't do anything about it.
That's how it's going to be until I graduate.
Or die.
And if I graduate I may go to college.
Or start working.
Or get married.
It doesn't matter.
My life's only getting worse.
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But today was fun.
I hope tomorrow's too.
Anyway, goodnight.
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SHIT! THE HOMEWORK!