Teary Promise (Part 20)
After what seemed like an eternity for an oddly short walk from the park, we arrived at Yosaka Middle and High School. I was not expecting both the middle and high school education levels together, which is quite rare in this country. Well, those large academies in this region do have those two in the same campus, but those two are treated separate and are not counted.
Immediately as soon as I could see the front courtyard of the school, I could already see how much I appreciate that I am not sent to this school. The state of the school building and the greenery alone has seen better days with those looking no different from an abandoned place with noticeable damages to some facilities. Well, I am not saying the school is really in that bad state, but certainly not as maintained as the schools I have been to.
There were students still in the school. Some of them stared in our direction, not because of me, but how glaringly obvious Saeko's Mizuho uniform sticks out. A uniform of a prestigious school, at a school full of delinquents, is asking for trouble.
Nishizawa: "Oh yes, Inami-san. This always happens when students here see a student of an another school entering the school, especially if they aren't wearing a gakuran or sailor uniform like that of this school, and even more so if it is what they see as an "elite" school. Someone would have shouted at Hisakawa-san by now if she was a boy and not accompanied by someone else."
Me: "Why did she not change if we knew this would happen?"
Nishizawa: "Well, we aren't allowed to say why, but let's just say that her clothes are a part of a body and no modifications are allowed."
Saeko: "Hey! I did not ask for this!"
What kind of an explanation is that? Sounds like a stupid reason to me, but there were indeed things odd about her, like sending me messages when I could clearly see her being too busy to even send me any, and the context of her messages don't seem the kind that could be sent in advance!
Nishizawa: "Let's see if I could say something that would automatically stop me from saying it if you aren't supposed to know. You see, the Mizuho uniform could... For students... The uniform was designed because..."
What is with the abrupt silence midway through saying a sentence?
Nishizawa: "That's odd. I am supposed to be able to say what the uniform does. Oh right, if anyone who could hear us isn't supposed to know that is related to Mizuho, I can't say it even if the person I am talking to could, and I forgot where we are right now."
Me: "What is this problem that had you bringing me to here?"
She looked through her notes as if she herself forgot why we are here. Well, there were distractions along the way here.
Nishizawa: "Well, our systems in Hatsuya are showing that people regardless of age and gender are being turned into schoolgirls, except that our memories may have been modified in a way that we would not notice it even if someone is being transformed in front of us. [1] If this is indeed happening, and assuming that it would keep going at our predicted rate, our population would be made up of nothing but females within our lifetime [2], which is an issue. Do not think that this does not concern you, as this will affect you being able to find a husband and having children. You probably might not get to have grandchildren as there might be a lot fewer males when your future children reaches adulthood than there are today."
(Author's note 1: Related to Story 4, Part 10)
(Author's note 2: It will happen as it has already happened in Story 2, Part 87, which happens at a later time)
Saeko wore a look that she was the one who discovered it, but unhappy that the words Nishizawa used has discredited her. However, she did not say anything about it. Not sure if she has been made not to say it, or what she said was true in some ways.
...Hold on. People being turned into girls? What is going on?
Saeko: "So, what we are doing here is to document this school before the changes become more noticeable. It was chosen because of how the students here behave, particularly because of the male-majority student body, and they are... quite defiant against the school authority. Plus, there are a number of unused classrooms. It would be noticeable if this school were to have more girls than boys all of a sudden, and those empty classrooms were to be filled up. The challenge here is making sure that we are not manipulated to think that there has always been a lot of girls here when the change happened."
Nishizawa: "Basically a surge of female students enough to overthrow the current male-majority, and of course you need room for more students if these transformed older people enter, as young girls of course, but no change to the existing cohort."
Me: "So, if you are aware that this phenomenon is fundamentally changing mankind, why are you not doing anything to stop it? Is it the same thing as... what happens when the outfit of where Saeko studies at gets worn?"
Odd. I tried to said "Mizuho uniform changing people" directly, but the words that came out of my mouth after the odd pause was not in my words, but does convey the general idea.
Nishizawa: "First of all, it is difficult for us to even remember that this is happening, and secondly, we have no idea what is changing us. It's like we are characters in a game where we are at the mercy of some unseen force that changes us, including what we can remember. And third, this is not something that medicine or gas could solve. We don't even know if it is spread around like a disease or we were randomly chosen by the unseen force to be changed. As for your next question, no, it is completely separate. The one we are talking about does not have anything involved and, sadly, it seems to be a permanent thing as it's not reversible as there is no trace in their genes left that they were ever male at all."
Saeko looked as if she was guilty that this even happened in the first place.
Saeko: "It is a good thing we are all... girls... as we aren't affected by this directly. We would not be get pick on easily if we behaved the same way as boys as we go surveying this school. Although, I think my uniform stands out a lot."
Saeko seemed troubled referring to herself as a girl. I wonder why.
Inside the school, the interior looks like it is a first generation of schools to have been built with concrete instead of wood. Whether this was actually a replacement of an older wooden structure, I do not know as I don't know the history of this town or school before I moved in, and signs that there was one were probably covered up except perhaps in old analog photographs.
The layout seems typical for middle and high school, but with the size of a primary school since middle and high school are combined. From the school corridors alone, that the school is falling apart with things that are in need of a state of repair. There were some odd mismatches for some fixes due to the difference of style used between the era of the original, and when the fix was made.
Immediately as soon as I could see the front courtyard of the school, I could already see how much I appreciate that I am not sent to this school. The state of the school building and the greenery alone has seen better days with those looking no different from an abandoned place with noticeable damages to some facilities. Well, I am not saying the school is really in that bad state, but certainly not as maintained as the schools I have been to.
There were students still in the school. Some of them stared in our direction, not because of me, but how glaringly obvious Saeko's Mizuho uniform sticks out. A uniform of a prestigious school, at a school full of delinquents, is asking for trouble.
Nishizawa: "Oh yes, Inami-san. This always happens when students here see a student of an another school entering the school, especially if they aren't wearing a gakuran or sailor uniform like that of this school, and even more so if it is what they see as an "elite" school. Someone would have shouted at Hisakawa-san by now if she was a boy and not accompanied by someone else."
Me: "Why did she not change if we knew this would happen?"
Nishizawa: "Well, we aren't allowed to say why, but let's just say that her clothes are a part of a body and no modifications are allowed."
Saeko: "Hey! I did not ask for this!"
What kind of an explanation is that? Sounds like a stupid reason to me, but there were indeed things odd about her, like sending me messages when I could clearly see her being too busy to even send me any, and the context of her messages don't seem the kind that could be sent in advance!
Nishizawa: "Let's see if I could say something that would automatically stop me from saying it if you aren't supposed to know. You see, the Mizuho uniform could... For students... The uniform was designed because..."
What is with the abrupt silence midway through saying a sentence?
Nishizawa: "That's odd. I am supposed to be able to say what the uniform does. Oh right, if anyone who could hear us isn't supposed to know that is related to Mizuho, I can't say it even if the person I am talking to could, and I forgot where we are right now."
Me: "What is this problem that had you bringing me to here?"
She looked through her notes as if she herself forgot why we are here. Well, there were distractions along the way here.
Nishizawa: "Well, our systems in Hatsuya are showing that people regardless of age and gender are being turned into schoolgirls, except that our memories may have been modified in a way that we would not notice it even if someone is being transformed in front of us. [1] If this is indeed happening, and assuming that it would keep going at our predicted rate, our population would be made up of nothing but females within our lifetime [2], which is an issue. Do not think that this does not concern you, as this will affect you being able to find a husband and having children. You probably might not get to have grandchildren as there might be a lot fewer males when your future children reaches adulthood than there are today."
(Author's note 1: Related to Story 4, Part 10)
(Author's note 2: It will happen as it has already happened in Story 2, Part 87, which happens at a later time)
Saeko wore a look that she was the one who discovered it, but unhappy that the words Nishizawa used has discredited her. However, she did not say anything about it. Not sure if she has been made not to say it, or what she said was true in some ways.
...Hold on. People being turned into girls? What is going on?
Saeko: "So, what we are doing here is to document this school before the changes become more noticeable. It was chosen because of how the students here behave, particularly because of the male-majority student body, and they are... quite defiant against the school authority. Plus, there are a number of unused classrooms. It would be noticeable if this school were to have more girls than boys all of a sudden, and those empty classrooms were to be filled up. The challenge here is making sure that we are not manipulated to think that there has always been a lot of girls here when the change happened."
Nishizawa: "Basically a surge of female students enough to overthrow the current male-majority, and of course you need room for more students if these transformed older people enter, as young girls of course, but no change to the existing cohort."
Me: "So, if you are aware that this phenomenon is fundamentally changing mankind, why are you not doing anything to stop it? Is it the same thing as... what happens when the outfit of where Saeko studies at gets worn?"
Odd. I tried to said "Mizuho uniform changing people" directly, but the words that came out of my mouth after the odd pause was not in my words, but does convey the general idea.
Nishizawa: "First of all, it is difficult for us to even remember that this is happening, and secondly, we have no idea what is changing us. It's like we are characters in a game where we are at the mercy of some unseen force that changes us, including what we can remember. And third, this is not something that medicine or gas could solve. We don't even know if it is spread around like a disease or we were randomly chosen by the unseen force to be changed. As for your next question, no, it is completely separate. The one we are talking about does not have anything involved and, sadly, it seems to be a permanent thing as it's not reversible as there is no trace in their genes left that they were ever male at all."
Saeko looked as if she was guilty that this even happened in the first place.
Saeko: "It is a good thing we are all... girls... as we aren't affected by this directly. We would not be get pick on easily if we behaved the same way as boys as we go surveying this school. Although, I think my uniform stands out a lot."
Saeko seemed troubled referring to herself as a girl. I wonder why.
****
Inside the school, the interior looks like it is a first generation of schools to have been built with concrete instead of wood. Whether this was actually a replacement of an older wooden structure, I do not know as I don't know the history of this town or school before I moved in, and signs that there was one were probably covered up except perhaps in old analog photographs.
The layout seems typical for middle and high school, but with the size of a primary school since middle and high school are combined. From the school corridors alone, that the school is falling apart with things that are in need of a state of repair. There were some odd mismatches for some fixes due to the difference of style used between the era of the original, and when the fix was made.
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