Work Text:
It was always the same.
In Sonozaki Complex, her year's batch were separated into classes based on their grades. Top scorers go to Class A, the others land in classes like B, C and D based on their total marks on each of their core subjects. The principal had done this to separate the achievers from those that need a little more work in their academics. The students had no problem with this, they all were content- and the system made sense. The Class A students were always highly looked upon as great examples of what a good student should be and were always praised as well as told how successful they will be in the future. They were always in the limelight, always popular- social, kind and nurturing- the perfect students. There was not a single flaw you could find in Class A.
Well-disciplined, happy and responsive during classes- all the teachers loved to teach Class A. They were the epitome of perfection.
Class B was somewhere at a level slightly below Class A, they had good grades- some highs and lows. But, still good students overall. They knew how to handle themselves, and everyone always worked hard to better themselves to build a brighter future for themselves. They had a goal, and they were all willing to work together to achieve that goal. Something in Class B radiated an aura of family, almost sibling-like. Everyone supported each other and stood up for one another.
Class C is a little average. Grades in this class ranged from weak Bs to strong Ds and Es. This is the class where students are much more relaxed and focused on the fun aspect of their school life, and was mainly the prankster class of the batch. They all goofed around, and sometimes were a bit too loud when it came to free time. However, when needed- the students of Class C knew when to take things seriously. They knew when they had messed up, and will try to appease the school officials so none of them will get punished for being overly rowdy. Nonetheless, the majority of the students of Class C are friendly and are ready to take on anything at any time.
Class D… is a little worse for wear. This class consisted of students that are deemed the trash of the school and are used as the bad examples for the other students of Sonozaki Complex to avoid. They were a mess, even messier than Class C. They were labelled as academically incapable and always had to put up with the strictest of teachers so that they would all listen to their lessons more attentively. Some students in Class D consisted of gangsters, slackers and the so-called gyaru of the school- which was defined by the students as the girls were more flirtatious, rowdy and honestly- hard to take seriously. Teachers of Class D would sometimes even give up and walk out of class in the middle of their lessons when most of them barely paid any mind to what they were supposed to be learning.
Class D had a good ratio of guys to girls- just like any other school, and one of them was a dwarfed girl named Saeri Mariko. Standing at only 4'2, she gets bullied a lot for her height. She wasn't particularly bothered by it, considering how it was something that she couldn't control. Saeri found it easy for herself to numb herself to the words her classmates would say to her and even fight back, adapting their manner of speech. The girl didn't have a choice, it was what she needed to do to protect herself from harm. She was admittedly a little frightened of her classmates and what they would do to her if she let her guard down, so she had put up this barrier for herself to be ruthless and cold towards anyone that approached her. It was her way of survival.
==== IF I'M A FAILURE, WHAT NOW? ====
A dark room would suddenly be illuminated with the bright light of the afternoon sun taking the shape of an open door. Inside, it was your standard living room. A flatscreen television was plated to the wall with a white desk drawer underneath, which had various photo frames of a smiling family, all with the same hair color. A tall and muscular appearing male had spiky and short hair, the slightly shorter woman beside him had long and fluffy hair white the third, which appeared to be a young girl around 6 years old- had short and poofy hair, appearing to still be in it's growing stages. The girl had bright teal eyes as she was lifted by the man and woman so that she could be in the middle of the frame.
Otherwise, nothing too notable.
A small bespectacled girl in a black sailor school uniform and long black skirt to match was at the door with her backpack slung over her shoulder.
"I'm home…" The girl cried to the empty living room.
She stood at the entrance, appearing to be waiting for something or someone to show up. She had blonde and fluffy- practically unkempt short hair, round glasses and an empty gaze. Her eyes were dull and void of light as she waited.
Not long after, footsteps could be heard before the lights suddenly switched on. The short girl flinched at the sudden light and blinked twice before shaking her head like a drenched puppy.
A taller blonde girl with long hair that had a grey ombre near the halfway point of her hair rushed to the entrance and skidded to a stop a fair distance from where the shorter girl stood.
"Welcome home, Saeri!" The taller said, panting. She laughed a little. "Man, I uh- didn't expect you to get home so soon!" She added with a chuckle.
"I didn't have anything to do today." Saeri responded bluntly.
"Oh yeah, of course! Okay! Makes-" The taller panted for the final time before straightening her posture. "A lot of sense!" She pointed backwards over her shoulder with her thumb, leaving her free hand to rest at her hip. "Your mom's in the back making dinner for us tonight. Was helping her out earlier 'till I heard you, ahah!"
"That's- nice of her." Saeri said back, entering the house and closing the door behind her. She looked up at the taller girl. Upon closer view, the taller girl had a peculiar fringe. It was split into 3, it's middle section of her hair was shaped into a diagonal tuft swooping downwards. It had a gray streak as well, the same color as her ombre. The remaining two were simply tucked into her side bangs.
The taller grinned teethily. "Yeah! She's pretty awesome like that!" She scooted over to pat Saeri on the back. "C'mon! You need to shower. Gotta get reading together for tomorrow's test!"
Saeri sighed, putting her hand on the other's wrist and pushing it away. "Yeah, I know- Ayame."
==== IF I'M A FAILURE, WHAT NOW? ====
The room had two beds on opposite sides of it with a large square table in the center. It was low, almost like an oversized step stool. There, Saeri and Ayame sat on the ground at each side so that they faced each other. Textbooks and previous worksheets were strewn across the table's surface as the two girls were totally silent.
A clock's ticking could be heard in the background from a nearby analog alarm clock.
Ayame was chewing on her pen, mumbling out incomprehensible words as she read a body of text- using her finger to trace where she was reading. After a pause, she pulled out the pen from her mouth and wrote.
On the other hand, Saeri was totally stagnant. She wasn't focusing on her workbook and instead was just watching Ayame when she didn't notice. In truth, Saeri wasn't able to concentrate all that much in her studies- she had a lot of trouble focusing and processing a lot of things. The moment she read, she would always seem to forget right afterwards.
Saeri looked down at her workbook and flipped back to all the pages she skipped and then at her current one, which she also planned to skip. A feeling of dread settled in the girl's heart, the thought of being unable to answer anything in tomorrow's test and failing one again made her feel awful. She desperately wanted to rank up, but despite all her efforts- her nervousness and paranoia always ate at her and won.
Saeri hissed under her breath, flipping another page.
Ayame suddenly spoke, looking up from her own workbook. "You have been flipping a lot of pages, you doing alright?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry."
Ayame cracked a small smile, cocking her head to the side as she leaned forward to rest her elbow on the table and resting her cheek on her hand. "You know you can just refer to your notes. This isn't a real test, don't need to make your life harder or anything."
Saeri furrowed her eyebrows. "No, I need to challenge myself."
Ayame paused, keeping her eye on Saeri's expression with a straight face before shrugging. "...If you say so! Call me if you need anything," she said before she went back to her own workbook.
==== IF I'M A FAILURE, WHAT NOW? ====
Well, shoot.
Only a few questions were answered with varying amounts of confidence. Saeri totaled up her confirmed score to at least 40%, but it really wasn't up to her goal- not at all.
In Sonozaki Complex, students were required to at least reach 60 to reach a passing grade. And while Ayame could easily get herself a 70 or 80, Saeri's average was only in the 40s to 50s. Saeri envied Ayame and her lifestyle, she was always so carefree and open to all of her classmates while she had to constantly be on guard in case her classmates mock her stature again. Saeri wanted a happier school life, and having Ayame as a housemate wasn't helping with her desperation.
Ayame is Saeri's benchmark, someone she needed to work to become. But to Saeri, Ayame felt much more like a goddess living in the same room as a peasant. She was kind, charismatic, empathetic, always respected others and always knew how to set up a good atmosphere despite her own little flaws and insecurities. Ayame was completely set for life, but what does that make Saeri?
She couldn't think of anything for herself, if she couldn't do well in school and is already considered the trash of her school, where was she supposed to go? Questions began to flood Saeri's mind as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill at any moment. Saeri looked down, making an attempt to control her breathing and to avoid crying in front of Ayame.
Saeri let out a shaky breath, catching Ayame's attention.
"You okay there, Sae?" Ayame questioned.
The moment Ayame asked, Saeri wasn't able to hold back her tears anymore- a few falling onto her workbook, staining it with a wet circle. Ayame noticed this and instantly stood up in a frenzy.
In Ayame, her big sister-like instinct kicked in immediately.
"Whoa, hey! Hey!" Ayame said, rushing over to Saeri's side and wrapping one hand around her shoulders while the other was used to pat Saeri's head, brushing her hand over a spot above her temple and stroking it lightly with her thumb.
Ayame lowered her volume. "Shh, shh- don't cry! It's just a test! You'll be fine!"
Saeri sniffled and spoke in a softer tone, almost impossible to hear unless her listener was directly beside her.
"B-But… If I-" Her sentence was cut off by a finger to her lips. Caught off guard, her cheeks turned a slightly red-ish hue.
Ayame became much more stern, but there was enough care in it that didn't make her seem angry, but rather just concerned. "It's just a test, your teacher just wants to see how much you really learned! This isn't anything big, so just don't think too much about it and do what you can!"
Saeri kept her silence, looking down.
"But if I… fail again, then-" She hissed at herself. "I can't rank up, I'll be forever stuck with the wild dogs of our school… I-"
"I won't even have a future…. Fuck, I-" Saeri curled up into herself slightly, her voice softening . "I'll just end up like her," she choked out. The girl was having a hard time trying to hold back more of her tears.
Ayame's face darkened at the mention of 'her', she knew exactly who the other was referring to. It wasn't a pleasant memory, to put it simply- but she quickly pushed the boxed up memories to the back of her mind once more.
That 'she' didn't have to be remembered, it wasn't important to both of them right now.
"Pshhhh, nah- you're going to be fine, I promise!" Ayame cupped both of Saeri's cheeks and made her face her eye-to-eye. Bright and sparkly to dull and faded.
"You just gotta have more confidence in you and your abilities! You're like- super strong and actually really nice, and I really like that about you!" Ayame smiled. "You never give up without a fight!"
Unsureness settled in Saeri's mind. "But, putting that aside…"
"Yes?" Ayame questioned.
"It's just- I really… really want to do better. Like- like those slice of life fiction stories where the main character studies and then like-!" Saeri emoted with her hands up in the air, emulating an explosion.
"Boom! Just like that- good grades and everyone praises them!" She lowered her hands, looking down as she did- placing her hands in the gap between her thighs. "I want that...I want that miracle…"
The light that reflected off of Saeri's glasses concealed her eyes. "School… fucking sucks sometimes, I swear."
Ayame stayed still for the entire time, listening to Saeri's small monologue. She couldn't say for herself that she hated school, in fact- she liked it, she met a bunch of people and she had lots of fun participating in various activities that made find herself in the highly unpopular Fencing Club.
Ayame sighed with a smile before standing up, walking over to her bed and tossing her entire duvet onto Saeri without any warning- completely covering the small girl. Two bumps emerged from the thick blanket and too- irritated muffled protests.
"H-Hey, what the hell?! Get this off me!" Saeri exclaimed underneath. The blanket shuffled in place for a few seconds before she uncovered herself, bringing the duvet around her small form like a warm unconditional hug. She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance as she turned around and saw Ayame laughing.
Ayame continued to laugh for a bit before controlling her laughter into soft giggles, sighing after. She crouched, bouncing a little bit off her legs.
"Sheesh, you're so tense! Cheer up, would you!" Ayame walked over and lifted the duvet, bringing it around herself as she sat beside Saeri. She looked over and readjusted the duvet so that it could cover Saeri's shoulders as well.
Ayame took Saeri's pen and twirled it in her hand. "School's about having fun with new people, discovering yourself and seeing what you can and cannot do! And if you can't..!" She stopped twirling the pen and used her middle and ring finger to hold the pen out towards Saeri to take.
"You just gotta take it as a challenge." Ayame grinned, her eyes half lidded as she used her free arm to rest her elbow on the table once more.
"If you can't, just gotta try harder and harder everyday until you can make it." Ayame smiled. "Trust me, if you make it past this stage- everyone's going to be so happy for you, including me."
Ayame continued. "You'll be famed as the Class D that ranked up all the way to B, or even Class A! Think about that! That'll be super cool!" She exclaimed, resting her hand on Saeri's head- ruffling the girl's messy hair.
"And you might be able to get everyone to like and look up to you! Maybe even the teachers as well!" Ayame's eyes sparkled.
"Oh my gooood, and think about all the food you'll get offered~!"
…
Saeri sweatdropped at the sudden mention of food. "... Food?"
Ayame's cheeks turned a bright red, shaking her head and desperately waving off her extra sentence said earlier.
She awkwardly laughed. "Ahahaha-! Ok, maybe that was a stretch- but like-" She slammed her hands onto the table, completely forgetting about the pen she had held in between her fingers earlier.
It flung slightly into the air, and in that moment, Saeri caught the pen with a swift swing of her hand.
"M-My… point still stands! Alright! You get that?!"
Saeri blinked, and gave whatever Ayame said some thought.
If she could try harder now, she could be looked up to more. She'd be happier, and her self-esteem would be boosted to a healthier level. Maybe she'd even get more friends than just Ayame being her long-term companion. The image Saeri had of herself hanging out with new faces together at a park with everyone smiling made her face brighten up.
It was her wish, she always wanted a world where there wasn't any hate. She simply hated others as self-defense, she hated others to instill a reputation for herself as someone not to be toyed with.
The more she thought about it, she was so lucky to have met Ayame that fateful day. She had something to look forward to in the future, something to strive for. If it wasn't a job or career, it was her ideal.
Saeri's eyes softened, looking away. "And you'll always- watch me, right? Watch me become…"
Ayame nodded immediately, pumping her fist in front of herself. "Great? Heck yeah, I will! Ayame Noboru's here to help you through and through!" She declared excitedly with a smile.
"Super pumped!" Ayame added.
Saeri looked at Ayame with a blank expression before her lips curled into a small smile and huffing.
"Thank you, Aya."
"No prob, boss!"
There was a brief moment of silence.
Saeri slid her workbook over to Ayame. "Mind if you uh- help me now?"
==== END ====