The Hidden World

Tokyo, Japan

 

The world was beginning its slow start. Birds were chatting with each other in their melodic voices, people were carrying out their daily routines, and in one small apartment the eyes of a teenager were opening.

 

“BREAKFAST!” a voice yelled from the kitchen only a few feet away from the youth’s room.

 

The teenager groggily rose up from his futon and observed the barren room around him. It only had the essentials; nightstand, closet, and desk. On the door was a high school uniform. When the voice called again, the teen walked out of his room and sat in the cramp kitchen to eat his simple breakfast of bacon and eggs.

 

“So, it’s your first day of school in Japan,” said the middle aged woman that was cooking. “You excited, nervous?”

 

The youth made a noise that answered nothing. Finishing his breakfast quickly, he stood and started to head back to his room to change. Before he got there, the woman spoke again.

 

“Aren’t you gonna do something about that hair of yours?”

 

Touching his long hair that reached down past his shoulders and covered his face he said, “It’s fine. I’ll be going now, Auntie.”

 

He put on his uniform quickly and placed around his neck a chain of silver with a shiny jewel tinted brown hanging from it. After brushing his teeth and a quick rinse, he headed out to his new high school with a rather light school bag on his shoulder.

 

“Have a nice day at school, Ethan.”

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Nagisa Sayuri was extremely bored. Everyday was the same; go to school, sit down, listen to lectures, eat, listen to more lectures, go back home. There was no variation, no change. Nothing worth getting excited about. But today was different because change came in the form of a long haired, unkempt youth that stood outside of the classroom door dressed in her school’s uniform.

 

‘A transfer student! I wonder if we could be friends?’ she thought.

 

Soon others noticed this new odd looking student whose face they couldn’t see. Sayuri’s teacher looked up from his work upon realizing that the room had suddenly became quiet. The teacher beckoned to the youth standing at the door and introduced the new student to the class.

 

“This boy is will be joining us. He is a transfer student from America.” Turning to the boy, the teacher said in Japanese, “Please introduce yourself to us.”

 

‘America! I have so many questions for him. Like why did you come here, why is your hair so long, do you like Japan?’ Nagisa thought dreamily while looking at the beacon of hope for her boring school life. ‘Wait, he’s not saying anything. Does he know Japanese?’

 

The teacher also seemed to come to this conclusion and in heavily accented English begun to ask, “Do you know Japa-”

 

“My name is Mayumi Yuki. I will be in your care,” the boy said in perfect Japanese.

 

The teacher looked taken aback while Sayuri was trying to hold back her laughter. She wasn’t the only one, as others in the class began to giggle as the boy began to go to the seat the teacher directed him to.

 

‘Yay, he’s going to sit next me!’ Sayuri thought. ‘That introduction was the best, but it’s weird. He’s a boy but he used watashi. His voice is higher than I thought it’ll be too.’

 

When the boy sat down to the left of Sayuri, she automatically began to bombard him with questions.

 

“Hey! How are you doing? Which do you like better, America or Japan? I’ve never been to America before. Where did you like in America? Oh yeah, how do have a Japanese name if your from America? Speaking of names, my name is Nagisa Sayuri. You can call be Sayuri-chan if you want I don’t mind. Can I call you Yuki-san or is that too soon?”¹This exchange is a bit confusing for those that don't understand Japanese culture. Japanese names are written with their last names first. Japanese people often call each other by this last name as that is polite. Normally they only use first names when they are very close to that person.

 

Mayumi Yuki stared at her with a slightly dazed expression before replying in uninterested voice.

 

“Okay.”

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Yuki sighed to himself. One of his main principles in life was to not stand out and live quietly. To stay in the middle and be average since people who aren't attracted attention and attention leads to conflict. But was just his luck that he had to sit next to this girl (Nagisa Sayuri was it?) who seemed to be extremely hyper and uninterested in class as she kept asking him questions which he ignored of course. To make matters even worse, he messed up his introduction. Yuki wasn’t sure what name he should have used so he hesitated before giving his real name. Of course the teacher had to think that he didn’t speak Japanese and start speaking as Yuki was introducing himself.

 

Clap clap. Looking up from his desk, Yuki saw the teacher trying to draw the attention of the class. When he got it, he began to explain what they were going to do that day.

 

“We will first be going to the field. Some people have come by today to do some testing,” he said. “So every stand up and follow me.”

 

Having said that, the teacher began to walk out of the room with the students getting up in a loud symphony of desks squeaking and curious chatter. Yuki followed them out with Sayuri sticking close to him much to his annoyance.

 

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Sayuri pouted to Yuki while they were walking.

 

“Which one?”

 

“Why do you have a Japanese name if you’re from America?”

 

“Because I’m Japanese,” he answered not looking at her. “I moved to America when I was 12.”

 

“REALLY? I couldn’t tell with all that hair covering your face. Hey, why did you move to America then?”

 

Another onslaught of questions began to stream from Sayuri ranging from topics like American food to his hair. Yuki was saved from this impromptu interrogation when they reached the field and had to separate into boy and girl groups.

 

In the center of the school yard was a small stage with two people, a man and a woman, standing on it. They were dressed in suits and seemed to have been talking with each other before they noticed the arrival of the students. They waited for everyone to quiet down before the woman went forward and began to speak.

 

“Good morning. My name is Kaede and this is Moyasu. We are from the organization Aether and we are here to give you lucky students a test that may change the course of your lives forever,” Kaede stated nonchalantly.

 

“Shall we get started?”