Back To High School Part 1

February 6th
Family Home, Sumida City, Tokyo
8:10

The alarm clock began to ring insistently. After I turned it off, the noise downstairs was Tamamo trying to cook again. The memory of yesterday, when my mother asked me to help Maria get to school, flashed through my mind. I looked at the clock again and noticed that the time set on the alarm was wrong, and in fact it was already late. In a hurry I went to the bathroom to get ready and then down to the kitchen to eat breakfast quickly.

"Tamamo, hurry up and eat!"
"At this rate, we'll be late!"
"Besides, we still have to change into our uniforms."
"Classes start in 40 minutes, and we still have to catch the train!"

"If you knew you had to get up early, why didn't you set the alarm before going to bed?"
"And aren't you supposed to be in the Army? You should be in the habit of getting up early, like at dawn or something," my mother scolded me as she sat down to drink her coffee and read the newspaper.

"I spent nine months sleeping in a coffin!"
"The best I can offer is 12 hours of sleep, take it or leave it."

"All right, putting that aside, they came earlier to drop off your uniform."
"They're there on the table, yours is the one on top."
"I hope I got the measurements right, your body... you have very peculiar measurements, to say the least."
"Oh, and while we're here, here are your identities."
"Yours is Elise Valkyria, I left the place of origin the same as before, so you're an immigrant here."
"And Tamamo-no-me, Japanese nationality, but she has been living abroad with us all her life, so you don't know much about some things."
"Both came to the school as assistants to Maria, the other teachers should know the rest."
"I think that should cover the basics."

"So you managed to create fake identities, do the paperwork to enter the school, get two uniforms, all in less than 24 hours."
"It's frightening how fast you can get things done when you're motivated."

"I'd also like to add that I ended up buying the new oven for my cafeteria."
"Oh, and I also got you a few extra things, here you go."
"A tactical holster for your pistol, magazines, and a big box of ammo."

"I'm sure there's no place on earth that sells stoves and ammunition in the same store."

"It's just for personal defense."
"I think it's obvious to say that it's super illegal to bring that to school."
"Don't take your gun out unless you absolutely have to."
"I don't want to go through stupid problems like the time a teacher saw you with a gun in the halls like before."

"Hey, the gun wasn't mine that time, I just found it on the street."
"How was I supposed to know it was real when I was just 10 years old?"
"Look, this time I'll hide it with my coat, and I'll even forget it's even there."
"......"
"Damn....."
"......."
"Oh, I need help, this skirt is too small for my hips."
"And there's no room for my fox tail either."

"Oh my, the tail, I completely forgot about it!"
"Give me the skirt, I'll fix it with a pair of scissors and a lighter."
"It's a simple task to make room for the tail to fit."
"I hope so."

After waiting a while for my mother to finish mending my clothes, we were finally ready to go to school, but my mother stopped us again right at the door.

"Cesar! Wait!"
"Here, take this, you almost forgot your lunch."
"I made another bento for Tamamo, too."
"All the excitement of getting everything ready for school reminded me of old times, and before I knew it, I had prepared your lunches."
"It's just a mother's reflex."

"Thank you so much, really."
"I can't believe I'm fussing over this again."
"Sorry to rush off like this, but I'm already late."
"See you later."

"After I finish my work, I'm going to the cafeteria, so I'll see you there when you get back."
"Oh, Maria will probably be off duty this afternoon, so she'll probably be home when you get back, so please wait for me to introduce you first to avoid any misunderstandings."
"See you later."

My mother waved goodbye from the front door, reminding me of this exact scene from my childhood. But I didn't have much time for nostalgia, because the clock kept ticking. After a desperate race against time and morning traffic, we somehow made it to Amari High School in Aoyama-Itchome, which was almost on the other side of the city.

It seems that Amari High School was quite prestigious around here, an elite school for important people, where all the children of wealthy parents went to prepare to become future leaders of various companies. Because of their status, they seem to have a somewhat lenient approach to teaching some students with connections, such as a sick girl who had never attended school before, or two enthusiasts of cosplaying as fox girls. When we arrived, we introduced ourselves in the teachers' room, but it seemed that our class teacher hadn't arrived yet, so we decided to wait in the hallway to meet her.

"Look, I know it's hard to keep up after being trapped in a rock for a thousand years, but please try not to be surprised by everything you see.
"Watch the reactions of the people around you; if they're not surprised, you shouldn't be either.
"If you need to use something you don't understand, watch someone else use it first and learn quickly."
"I think that should cover most things."
"Any questions?" I said, giving Tamamo the last instructions.

"People talk a lot about us."

"We're new here at the end of the school year, so that alone is strange."
"But being an albino with ears doesn't help either."
"Just tell them you like dressing up like a cartoon character and leave it at that."
"If we're going to be seen as weird, it's better to make a strong impression at first; they'll get bored and forget about it later."
"Just don't do any magic in front of them."

After a few minutes, the teacher finally came into the classroom. She was a young woman with beautiful straight black hair, wearing an exotic and very suggestive lustful Chinese dress that was hard to forget, complemented by her golden eyes. When our eyes met, we both stood there paralyzed, recognizing each other clearly. She was visibly shaking with fear as she searched through her clothes.

"Do you know her?" Tamamo asked me.

"Well, unfortunately, yes, a little," I replied.
"The last time I saw her, I had a gun pointed at her head while using her as a hostage at the Battle of Vienna."
"She tried to kill me that day along with other soldiers."

"Oh, that would certainly make this situation awkward," Tamamo remarked.

The poor girl seemed to be looking for her stilettos, but couldn't find them. Instead of escalating the situation, I simply gestured a greeting, which made her realize the real reason I was here, probably related to her boss. She took a deep breath and resigned herself to the fact that we were going to have to work together whether we liked it or not. She walked past us and got right into teaching the class, which was already running a little behind schedule. After calming the class and apologizing, she prepared the students for our entrance, which would undoubtedly cause a stir.

"Alright, so I'm going to introduce you to the new girls who will be your classmates."
"Due to some special circumstances, they are here to prepare for the arrival of someone else."
"So please, I don't want you to bother them with unnecessary questions, okay?"
"Especially you, Yamada, I've got my eye on you."

"New students?"
"This is the weirdest time to transfer," one of the students immediately started to complain.

"Yamada, shut up!"
"I just told you! No annoying questions."
"They have their reasons, okay? They will be the ones to answer your questions, only if they choose to or not."
"End of discussion."
"Alright, the first one is... Tamamo?" the teacher said, a little confused by all the ridiculous things that happened in such a short time.

Okay, Tamamo just entered the class. Please don't mess this up. Just say your name and nothing unnecessary, please have mercy on me at least in this. I'm begging you, please.

"Hello, my name is Tamamo."
"I was born here in Japan, but I have lived abroad all my life."
"Please let me know if I seem strange; there are many things here that I'm not familiar with."
"Please be patient with me, but let's all get along."
"Thank you very much."

"And those fox ears and tail? Are you cosplaying?"

"What character are you dressed up as? Is it from a video game?"

"Does the school allow you to wear these things in class?"

These were some of the questions that immediately followed. The teacher responded by silencing them and asserting control, even going so far as to punish Tamamo by sending him out into the hallway as an example. Despite the difficulties, Tamamo had managed to handle the situation better than expected, so if she could do it, I would certainly have an easier time.

"The next student is Elise."
"Please come in and introduce yourself."

Okay, here I go. Don't be nervous, remember this is all for Maria, everything will be fine. It's just a little ridicule I have to endure before I can see her again. I've waited so long to see her, this is nothing compared to that. Gathering all my courage, I walked to the front of the room and introduced myself. All eyes were on me, mouths open in silence. Even compared to when Tamamo had entered, the atmosphere was much different now, as if they were seeing a ghost.

"My name is Elise Valkyria."
"No, my name is no joke; my mother gave me that name."
"I'm also from abroad, from America."
"My Japanese is probably bad, so I apologize in advance for any misunderstandings."
"Please don't hesitate to let me know if you don't understand or to correct me."
"Any questions?"

The whole class immediately raised their hands simultaneously; it was clear from their confused faces that they had a lot to ask.

"No, it's not makeup; I have real albinism."
"No, I don't melt in the sun, I'm not slime."
"No, my clothes are not special in any way; they are just black to block out more light. I don't need a special suit to survive."
"The sun just irritates my skin like a burn, and it bothers my eyes a bit in bright light."
"That's why I usually stay in the shade; don't insist that sun exposure is good for the body when the sun is literally my enemy."
"No, I don't know the best makeup for white skin."
"Yes, my hair is naturally white, it's not dyed."
"Any other questions not related to albinism?"

Everyone in the class lowered their hands at once, including the teacher.

"Yes, that's exactly what I thought."

But a hand rose more boldly among the others, and it was sheer terror on my face when I saw it came from Tamamo. Even before it spoke, I knew it meant imminent trouble.

"Oh, I have one!"
"When are you going to tell them you're my girlfriend?"

And that's how Tamamo blew it in the most spectacular way. I would have preferred her to perform magic instead of telling people something like that. It really caught me off guard, and I thought I didn't need to tell her not to say that because it was painfully obvious how embarrassing it was. I quickly saw the other students' mouths drop in surprise.

Damn it, if I was going to die with someone who dropped a bomb like that, the best way to do it was to make the explosion as big as possible and at least go out in a blaze of glory.

"Ugh, I don't like rumors, so I'll be clear from the beginning."
"Tamamo is my girlfriend, okay!"
"Yes, I like girls romantically, yes, I'm a lesbian just like Tamamo."
"I have nothing against men, I can be around them without problems."
"But don't expect anything to happen between me and them."
"It's a personal preference, I hope you respect it."
"Anyway, I don't want to bother with this all day, it's personal."
"It has nothing to do with classes anyway."

"Is that true?"
"Do you hate men?"  The boy outside the classroom said through the window.

"What did I just say?"
"It's just my preferences, okay?"
"And you should be out in the hall!?"

"Yamada, shut up!"
"And you please calm down!"
"We have to continue the lesson!"
"We've already spent a lot of time on this," the teacher appeared, trying to bring order to the chaos I create when I talk.

After all the excitement had died down, Tamamo and I went to our seats near the window, that's what I would normally say if this was a TV series. In reality, our seats were right in the middle of the class. The class started soon after, with everyone's eyes on us, clearly waiting to talk and preparing their barrage of questions.

Right now we are in a Japanese history class, it seems to be from before Tamamo's time. So she will be fine for now. I, on the other hand, have no idea. It's not that I was a bad student, it's just that I wasn't the best either, and I'm studying the history of a foreign country, in a different language, with confusing names that sound the same to me. Well, I hope my mom takes care of the notes, because otherwise, I'll be in trouble. Wait, Tama has the book upside down and doesn't realize it? It is in Japanese, she should at least know that she's reading the book upside down.