The Dream Shifter

Chapter 4

"Saki…" he said softly while being nearly carried to his class. Yuki hung his head for a while thinking about it silently. 'We made a promise,' Saki said. It was a promise, but he still felt bad for it to be happening. He got into trouble so frequently from the students either in school or outside. They seemed to find him with no trouble and it was Saki that would show up. It had only been a couple months since starting high school, but the students were beginning to learn not to mess with her. She had developed a rather frightening reputation around school leaving even some girls afraid of her at times. 'Why…why…'

Saki flung the door to their class 3-A open hard letting it slam against the stopper in the tracks. She had an over-exaggerated smile on her face that was obviously compensating for something. When they looked at Yuki blue gloom it was pretty clear the reason. She plopped Yuki down in his seat taking her spot in front of him still trying to dispel Yuki's mood.

When she turned around to look at him he stared back at her with a surprisingly pleasant expression on his face. It made her façade crumble a little as she slid back into her seat completely. She often forgot how quickly Yuki's moods seemed to change usually changing back to the happy pleasant expression he had now. It made it all the more unsettling for her knowing his past as she did. 'Well at least he is over it now.'

The classroom slowly filled in with the remaining students until Ms. Kuniyoshi, the teacher, arrived walking through the doorway taking her place at the front of the room with a freshly cleaned chalkboard behind her. As usual the class was still murmuring between each other while she took her place. She lined up her things by dropping them on their edge creating an even enough noise to echo through the room and be her traditional signal that homeroom was starting. The class came to a slow hush waiting to hear from the teacher. "Alright, listen up. Today we have a new student joining our class." Hearing the word of a new student was enough to start everyone talking again speculating on everything that they could in the minute that the teacher allowed before she was tired of their interruption. "Quiet! I expect you to be welcoming and nice to her she comes from America, so she won't be used to all of our customs."

Once more the students began speaking, this time Ms. Kuniyoshi was stepping out of the room so they were not going to get into trouble for being too loud. "A new student and a girl too."

"I know can you believe it."

"What's so special about an American girl?"

"I wonder what she likes?"

"Oh come on, she's a foreigner. You know all foreigners are hot."

"Shut up! Boys and their dirty minds."

"Really."

"Say that again!"

Saki turned around to see what Yuki was thinking, but he seemed to already be in the clouds again. She pulled out her pencil case from her bag and whapped him on the head to clear his fantasies out. "Hey Yuki, welcome back to Japan. Don't want to give the new student a bad impression on her first day."

Yuki closed his right eye feeling a little sting on his head while he rubbed his hair with his hand. "Hey, what you do that for? New student? When?" He looked around the class not seeing any faces that did not look familiar, but most of them were not common to him leaving it seem like a moot point for him. Yuki stood up out of his chair to try to get a better look of the classroom wondering if the student might be hiding out of sight or even possibly some really tall student was blocking them. "I don't see them. Where are they?"

Saki slid down in her seat a little slapping her forehead realizing that Yuki must have been already zoning out when the teacher first began speaking. 'It's amazing that he has decent grades with his lack of focus.' When she saw him standing up embarrassing himself in front of the class a bit of sweat dropped from her head. Saki attempt to reach for Yuki before Ms. Kuniyoshi came back in, but it was too late for that.

The new student walked in behind Ms. Kuniyoshi keeping a little to the back near the wall. Ms. Kuniyoshi looked narrowly at Yuki who was still too oblivious to realize what was going on. A small vein popped on her forehead before she restrained herself some to yell at Yuki.

"Yuki Hayashi, sit down!"

"I was just looking for the new student, Ms. Kuniyoshi," Yuki said not affected or acknowledging the seriousness in her voice, which case it was difficult to tell.

He continued to turn his head around the room seeking blindly still not picking up on the front of the classroom. The other students lightly laughed or giggled to themselves.

Ms. Kuniyoshi cleared her throat working on keeping herself in check with Yuki. "I'm glad you're concerned about your new classmate, but she is next to me. So you can sit down now." She pointed behind her looking back to find that she was suddenly no longer there. Ms. Kuniyoshi turned around quickly searching the entire front of the room until she found the girl on her right now rather than her left when she entered. A sigh of relief was exhaled relieved that she was not losing it and she knocked her books against the table again to bring the class to attention.

Yuki had finally sat down with it difficult to tell if he was embarrassed or not for being called out by the teacher and everyone laughing at him. Saki could only sink in her chair a little more fearing for how the rest of the day would go. Ms. Kuniyoshi pulled out chalk from the short shelf that ran at the bottom of the chalkboard writing the new student's name up on the board while all of the students still worked to get a clear view of the new girl. When she was done it read "Ayumi Nishimura" making it clear to them that she was Japanese, in spite of being from America. "Don't be afraid Nishimura. Introduce yourself." She stepped out of the way of Ayumi leaving her to be exposed to the class.

"She doesn't look Japanese," a student whispered.

"Yeah, you sure that she is?"

"But her name."

"Maybe she was in America too long." The last comment, while quiet, made a few of them laugh. They were silently told by the teacher glaring over Ayumi at them causing the ones being disruptive to become very still.

The new student seemed very quiet and shy holding her hands tightly together as she looked cautiously around the room. Ayumi turned her head back staring at Ms. Kuniyoshi for assistance to be freed from speaking, but found no comfort from her. She hung her head viewing the tiled floor at her feet. She pulled her head back up and pushed back the stray strands of her black hair to slide behind her ear and to just above the small of her back. Her green eyes open brightly signaling life in her. "My…name is…Ayumi Nishimura," Ayumi said softly barely carrying her voice past the couple rows of students.

Ms. Kuniyoshi waited long enough to see if Ayumi had anymore further to add, but Ayumi remained quiet. She stepped forward leaning over Ayumi to get a look at her face. "You have anymore to add?" Ayumi held her lips sealed simply shaking her head. "Well it seems that Ayumi is a little shy. You may take the empty seat behind Hayashi." She pointed the desk out to her so that she would be clear. "And Hayashi don't show her your weird side, got it?"

Yuki rubbed the back of his head with his hand innocently laughing looking like he did not know what she meant. He understood well enough what the teacher was driving at, but did not want to acknowledge it openly. 'Always picking on me. She never quits.' Ayumi picked up her bag slowly walking down the aisle until crossing eyes with Yuki. He suddenly felt something through his body and under his skin like he had only experienced in his dreams. He could not place it, but her eyes seemed to be talking to him as though they were familiar. Yuki felt sweat building over his hands and arms as the feeling grew. But in the next second Ayumi was continuing on politely smiling to him sending another message to him. This time it was contradicting the last. Yuki turned his head looking at her out of the corner of his eye confused. 'What was that look she gave me? And that smile… What's going on?'