Manabiya no Sumi Oneshot : Manabiya no Sumi

Manabiya no Sumi (The corner of the schoolyard)

Code
T- Suga-sensei
N- Noda
F- Friend
U- Unknown

01
Manabiya no Sumi

02
--

03
T- Next
T- Number 41… Noda, please read
N- Okay
N- The teacher in charge of modern Japanese for our class is Suga-sensei
N- He’s young, calm and collected; a man of few words
T- Hurry up
N- Ah, yes
N- I, Noda Kanako
N- Am the student helper in charge of fetching him before class, and carrying the chalk and notes for the lesson
N- Ah
N- Suga-sensei forgot his chalk box

04
F- Suga-sensei makes me uncomfortable; he’s nice on the eyes but his face is like steel and he’s so hard to talk to
N- That’s harsh, but true I suppose
F- So I’ll leave it up to you, modern Japanese student helper
N- To be honest, he’s a little hard to approach
N- Excuse me! Sensei, Suga-sensei!!
N- …Ah
N- Um, your chalk box…
T- Ah, sorry, just leave it there
N- Okay…
N- At first

05
N- Does, does he hate me!?
N- Or so I thought, but
N- But he treats everybody like this
N- …’Nice on the eyes’?
N- If I tried telling him that…
T- Quit staring
N- So
N- Sorry!!
T- I’m marking, move back a bit
N- Eh, wah, I’m sorry!!
N- Even so his expression almost never changes
F- ‘His face is like steel’
N- Haha
T- …Noda
N- Yes?

06
T- It’s rude to laugh at your own private jokes around other people
N- …Sorry…
N- Even though I’m already in high school
N- I was scolded harshly enough that I can’t be pointing fingers at others
N-It’s like those eyes were telling me I have no common sense!!
N- …I feel really frustrated somehow…
N- That was mortifying
T- Oi Noda
N- …Suga-sensei
N- For sensei to call out to me…
T- Your scarf is twisted; you’re an eyesore

07
N- Sensei, Suga-sensei, I’ve come to escort you to class!!
T- Open the door quietly!
N- Whenever we meet
h/w- If your hair is in the way then tie it up
h/w- It’s not in the way!
h/w- It sure looks like it is
h/w- It’s not!! Grr!!
N- I’m always being told off by him
F- Seems tough on you, Kanako

08
N- It’s fine; I only have to bear it for another six months
h/w- Next year I’ll be the helper for maths
N- Ah, it’s Suga-sensei
N- Ah, that prickly atmosphere
N- A sensitive brow, and eyes that become easily annoyed
N- That’s why nobody gets close to him
N- Strict people make me nervous
N- I like kind people
Sign- Sunday, on the way home from a part time job
N- I’ll take a short cut

09
T- Don’t bully them

10
N- Who’s that!?
N- Why is Suga-sensei’s voice
N- Coming from that messy haired person!?
h/w- I’ll sit down here
N- Se
N- Sen
N- Suga-sensei?
N- His clothes and hair are so sloppy; he’s like a different person…
N- …Do you live nearby?
T- Yeah
N- So this really is Suga-sensei…
N- …Oh yeah, sensei, are you married?
T- No

11
N- Do you have a girlfriend?
T- Nope
N- Really…
N- I bet anyone going out with Suga-sensei would have it tough
T- This is the first time I’ve seen you in casual clothes
N- Huh?
N- You say that but you don’t seem interested at all
h/w- No opinion either
N- This is the first time I’ve seen your casual clothes too sensei
T- Ahaha
T- My regular shirt is my casual shirt too

12
N- Just now
N- I missed seeing sensei’s smile
N- I wonder if he’ll laugh for me again
N- Sensei, good morning
T- Good morning
h/w- I’ll carry some for you
N- Do you always spend your days off like that?
T- Pretty much

13
T- Hey
N- Sen…
N- A cigarette…?!
N- A lollypop…
U- No way, did you think it was a cigarette?
T- Sorry, my mistake
T- Well, don’t go starting any time soon
h/w- What year are you in
N- He might not be

14
N- As calm and collected as I thought
T- But sweets are against school rules anyway
h/w- Ah, my lollypop!
F- Hey Kanako
F- Have you been following Suga-sensei around lately?
N- What?
N- …Yes, he’s just so interesting I couldn’t help it
h/w- Interesting?
N- He’s someone you just can’t get the hang of
N- Sensei
N- Suga-sensei
T- Open the door quietly
h/w- Don’t make me tell you again
N- Ah… yes…
h/w- Sorry
N- Sensei

15
N- Sensei, how come you don’t smile?
T- At what?
N- ...No, I mean you don’t smile very often
T- Hm? That’s not true
N- He’s not aware of it!?
N- You should try smiling more often
N- You’re a good teacher so it’s a waste if everyone’s scared of you
T- What…
N- …Sensei, how old are you?
T- What?
T- Twenty…
T- Twenty…
T- …Eight…?
h/w- Huh?
T- …Or
T- …Nine…?
T- …I think…?

16
N- Haha
N- Did you forget?
T- Don’t laugh, I can’t help it
T- I’m only ever thinking of you guys

17
N- …Sensei…
T- Hm?
h/w- Um…
N- Your chalk box is really old
T- It was a gift
N- From a girl?
T- My former teacher…
T- Don’t be cheeky
h/w- …Cheeky…
N- Sensei, I’m in the first year of high school, the height of my youth
h/w- He laughed! Out of his nose!!
N- I bet in high school you were
N- I didn’t know you back then huh
N- …Ah, he turned his back on me again

18
N- ‘How about you?’
N- Sensei never
N- Asks me that
N- The one asking the questions
N- Is always me
N- Sensei
N- Suga-sensei…
N- Haven’t the people around sensei increased lately?
F- Haha, that’s probably because of you
F- People who used to think he was scary see you, and realise he’s okay
N- …I see…
N- I see…

19
N- Of course he isn’t here
N- To sensei
N- I bet I’m just one bird in a flock of pigeons
N- …I see
N- I started to like sensei
N- And that’s why
N- I feel so lonely

20
N- Sensei, I don’t understand these words, please explain them to me!!
h/w- This list
T- Use a dictionary!
T- If you still don’t understand, ask me then!!
N- But but
h/w- But they don’t seem like the kinds of words that would be in a dictionary!
h/w- At least check first! I’ll lend you my dictionary!! Though there certainly are some common sense things mixed in there
N- But sensei
N- What questions can I ask you about modern Japanese?
h/w- Sensei – Suga-sensei
h/w- So the main character basically feels like this right *gibberish*
h/w- Calm down, try forming a sentence in Japanese, Noda
N- What do I have to do to be by your side?
N- Don’t always look so unkindly at me
N- Teach me, sensei
N- Your dictionary is really old…
N- Another gift?
T- That’s right

21
N- From your ex?
T- Former teacher
N- …Was it a girl?
T- A man!!
T- I couldn’t buy something as luxurious as a dictionary when I was in high school
N- I was ashamed of myself
N- About to say ‘I’m sure your parents would be delighted
N- And buy one for you, if you asked’
N- …So sensei had it tough, and that made him work harder…
N- …To tell you the truth, I don’t really like studying…
N- I bet sensei
N- Hates stupid girls
N- If I were a poor student

22
N- I bet he’d love me
T- Noda…
T- Noda
T- Sorry, but can you help me get the printouts for the absent students? If you have time that is…

23
N- Sure!!
N- At the very least
N- I’d like to be one step closer to sensei
N- Than the other students
N- Just one step
N- By his side
h/w- Thanks
T- That took longer than I thought
h/w- It’s already dark
N- You’re right
T- Well let’s head home soon
N- If I said I wanted to stay together a little longer I’d sound like a pervert wouldn’t I…
T- What, you tired Noda?
N- …No, that’s not it
T- …Noda
N- It’s very rude to sigh when you’re with other people
N- I know!!
h/w- Geez
T- Ah
N- What?

24
T- It’s an organ
T- I wonder if it’ll play

25
T- Oh, it lives
T- Noda, which one should I play?
N- What?
T- ‘Hoshi Meguri no Uta’ or ‘La Mer’
T- My fingers might still remember
N- Wow…
N- You’ll play for me?
N- By ‘Hoshi Meguri’ you mean the one by Miyazawa Kenji?
T- Yeah
N- …What’s ‘La Mer’…?
T- Chanson
h/w- Haha
N- What kind of choice is this…?
N- …Okay then
N- The harder one

26
Sfx- Bang
Bang
Bang
N- Wah
N- Won’t it break if you stamp on it like that!?
T- Nah, its fine

27
N- It made me
N- Want to start spinning in circles
N- It was a cute melody tinged with homesickness
N- When he stepped on the pedals
N- It let out a noise as though it were breathing
N- It makes me feel like I’ll stop understanding the sound of my own heart

28
N- It was the first time I’d seen sensei so merry
N- I was so happy I was afraid I’d start shaking
T- I think my fingers are cramped
N- But you can play, can’t you?
T- I am in the teaching profession after all; in order to practice the piano I often played the organ at
an acquaintance’s house
T- ‘Hoshi Meguri no Uta’
T- And ‘La Mer’; that person played them often
h/w- Haha
N- A girl?
T- That’s right

29
T- I dated her
T- The girl who was chasing the same dream as I was
T- But I was so tactless that she got fed up with me
T- I couldn’t treasure two things at once
T- She was a stern person
T- And little by little she grew more disappointed in me
T- But it was because she was so stern that although she was always so hard on herself
T- She said that she wanted to support me
T- Even so

30
T- I stole her dream
T- That’s probably why I can never become a good teacher
T- Why are you crying?

31
N- Because
N- I like you

32
T- Sorry
T- But I can’t look at students that way
T- Not now
T- Not ever
T- Let’s go
T- It’s getting late
T- The guard huh…
Sfx- step (all of them)
N- In the old school building in the corner of the grounds
N- In that place, just the two of us
N- How

33
N- Would that look to others?
U- …Huh?
U- I could’ve sworn there were people in here…
U- Just my imagination huh…
Sfx- step

34
T- There was
T- No need for us to hide, Noda
N- I guess

35
T- Sorry
T- I’m sorry, Noda
N- Sensei
N- Suga-sensei
N- Help me with this question

36
N- Sensei
N- Sensei
N- Sensei
N- Suga-sensei
N- Hey, is it really bad… a student and a teacher?
F- Hm? You mean if they go out?
F- I think it’s pretty great actually

37
F- That’s just a kid’s opinion though
F- I guess an adult that would lay hands on a child could never look after children of his own
F- What should you do in a situation like that?
F- The one who takes responsibility is the teacher, after all
T- ‘Noda, I’
T- ‘Am a graduate of this school’
T- ‘My parents wouldn’t help me try to decide a career path’
T- ‘Then I met a very kind teacher’
T- ‘Ah, I thought’
T- ‘I want to become a teacher’
N- That clumsy, awkward man
N- How resigned
N- And how prepared was he
N- To give things up
N- So he could become a teacher?
N- To stumble over a student and put that position in danger
N- Sensei
N- I can’t

38
N- Suga-sensei
N- Trouble sensei with my feelings any further
N- But
N- I
N- I
N- I like sensei
U- Oh?
U- You know, that first year, Noda, hasn’t been coming around much lately
T- …I suppose not
U- I guess she’s busy with the preparations for the culture festival

39
T- …Sensei
T- ‘Sensei, sensei’
U- ‘What is it, Suga?’
T- ‘How do I become a teacher?’
T- ‘Sensei, sensei’
T- ‘There’s so many things I don’t understand
T- If there comes a day when I can be called ‘teacher’, will I understand then?’
T- Without hurting
T- Or being hurt

40
T- How do I protect the things that are important to me?
N- Sensei
N- Suga-sensei
N- They intensified

41
N- The autumn rushing into winter
N- And my feelings, which I decided to hide for three years…
F- Kanako
F- Let’s go to the stage, Fujieda and that’s play is starting soon
N- Oh yeah
U- Thank you very much

42
N- Ah
U- That was second year class two’s Egawa Yutaka, class five’s Kuniyoshi Kiichi, and class one’s Kikuchi Fumiko
U- Um, we have some time before the next performance, so does anybody want to jump in?
N- I have to smile properly
N- I decided just to be a regular student
N- Until the day that sensei will see me
U- Anyone? A song, a play, anything’s fine
U- Student, staff, anyone want to do something?
U- No way
U- How about the chairman?
U- Spare us
h/w- Do it
U- Then how about one of the teachers?

43
N- What?
U- Wah, you’ll do it Suga-sensei!?
T- Can I use that piano?
h/w- Suga-sensei can play?

44
N- Sensei…
U- …It’s a pretty amateurish performance
U- A crowd pleaser? How unexpected
U- I always thought Suga-sensei was more rigid
N- Sensei
U- The sound and his fingers are stiff
h/w- He sucks
N- Sensei
U- Ah, but it’s cute
U- A nice melody
U- What’s it called?
N- …I

45
N- Know
N- That song’s name
N- Only I know
N- That song is important to sensei
h/w- Sensei!!
h/w- Awesome
h/w- Suga-sensei!!
h/w- You suck!

46
N- …Why the piano…?
T- …I…
T- Wanted to call out, but I didn’t know how
N- What?
T- Noda, if it’s just questions I’ll answer them, so please come by sometimes
N- Sensei, I’m sorry…
N- I do like you after all
N- Despite that
N- Is it okay if I stay by your side?
N- I want to tell him
N- I’ll try just being a student
N- Can I be with you like before?

47
T- Is that really okay with you Noda?
N- I don’t mind
N- If I can walk shoulder to shoulder with you
T- If, by any chance
T- Your feelings don’t change
T- And I
T- Become unable to see you as a student

48
T- Even if you can’t do anything, will you wait?
T- Will you cross that bridge with me if we come to it?
N- Yes
N- Even if I tried saying it like that
N- I’m sure a time would come when I couldn’t bear not touching him
N- But if I am with sensei
N- And we can split that pain between us
N- Then I’m sure I can see that as happiness
N- But the ‘by any chance’ is cruel
N- Which bit do you mean? About my feelings changing?
N- Or you becoming conscious of me?
N- First of all
N- I have to start my making sensei believe I like him
N- It’s a long way off…
N- I wonder if I can persuade him in three years…
N- …Sensei, Suga-sensei, let’s shake hands
N- Even a student and a teacher can shake hands, right?
N- Ah, he sighed
N- Without anyone knowing

49
N- That was something that happened in the corner of the schoolyard
Manabiya no Sumi/End