FLIGHT 008 - DOUBT AND PAIN

Darkness has settled over the skies of the Nigiyaka District, the cold night breeze blew over the quiet streets. The hectic week has just ended, and many people want to spend this Friday night by resting up for the oncoming weekends. But in an apartment complex near Capital All-Girls High School, two teachers, who have way too much energy are spending the night in a different way.

"Andy nooo, pull out! Pull it out!"

"I can't Aneki, I'm pushing it further!"

"Nooo! Stop, pull out!"

"I can't! I'm sorry, Aneki!"

"No, no no! Andy nooooo! Stop! Please! You can't!"

"Aneko, you ... ahhhhh!

"YAHHH! ANDYYYY!"

A large explosion surprised the two siblings. A wall of fire emerged, releasing dangerous amounts of black, toxic, smoke to the environment. The screen in front of them displayed a big word dyed in red.

"CRASH!"

"See, I told you to pull it out of the dive! We're falling to the ground, and you didn't listen to me."

"How am I supposed to pull up if it's stalling. I have to push the column down when the plane is stalling."

The siblings' horribly confusing conversation soon turned into an argument over a simple topic.

"Arghh, the way you pulled the nose up while I tried pushing it down reminded of AirAquila 8501!" recalled Andy.

"Ohh, what happened?" his sister asked.

"An idiot co-pilot made an error that crashed the plane!"

Grabbing her brother's hair in frustration, Aneko's inner demon seeped out. A murderous voice escaped her lips.

"What did you just say? After I let you stay over at my apartment after feeling lonely, and this is how you treat your Aneki!"

"Aneki? Sorry! Please don't kill me!" seeing her sister look aggressive made him regret the words he just said

"Relax I won't kill you," - she let go of Andy's hair and patted his head - "just calm down when we're playing that game okay."

The two siblings are currently inside Aneko's apartment, just a few miles away from Capital All-Girls School. It's 8 PM, and the two were still playing a flight simulator game on Aneko's GameStation 4.

Thanks to Andy bringing his Flight Simulator Set, which includes a throttle system and control column or yoke system, the two were able to play the game realistically. That is until Aneko stalled their plane and crashed it.

"You might wanna clean those controllers up, Andy. It's 8 PM and I'm, HAUUUU!" - she yawned loudly - "I'm sleepy."

"It's still too early, Aneki! I wanna watch some anime with you," he tried to persuade Aneko with a puppy face.

"Ohh fine, I can't say no when you make that cute face," Aneko replied, unable to resist his brother's cuteness.

Andy turned off the Gamestation and cleaned up his Flight Sim Set before plugging his external hard drive onto the TV. The two settled with watching a cute anime about a high school babysitting club. While watching, Aneko was having a hard time resisting the urge to pinch his brother's cheek, the cuteness is driving her crazy on an insane level.

Andy on the other hand was unfazed, something was bothering his mind.

"I wonder what that girl is doing tonight?"

But before he could dwell more on his thoughts, he felt a sudden jolt of pain on his right cheek.

"OW, OW! Aneki, stop pinching me!"

"Ehehehe, kawaii (cute)!" but his sister's mind has drifted to another world.

While Andy is busy dealing with his cuteness overloaded sister constantly pinching his fleshy cheeks, in the suburban area of Kaiteki, another person is having a hard time controlling her overloading happiness.

"AHHHH! He said yes, he said it's okaaaay!" Ayaka yelled while rolling over her bed.

"What's wrong with me! I just wanted to learn more about Aviation from Sir Andy, and yet-" she tightly hugged a pillow over her body, enjoying its softness -"why do I feel so happy?"

Ayaka rolled over her bed, and dug her face onto her pillow. Out of both happiness and frustration, she kicked her legs in the air.

"I just want to learn, why? Why? I'm so happy."

Unable to control her emotions, she threw her pillow in the air and yelled, "WAKARIMASEEEEEN (I don't understand)!"

"Doushita (What's wrong), Ayaka?" her mother asked from downstairs.

"Na-nandemonai!"

Still unable to understand her emotions, she decided to distract herself and grab her phone.

"Might as well watch another episode of Plane Crash Investigators."

Lying comfortably in her bed, with a cool breeze blowing from the window, she indulged herself in watching another episode of the same documentary she watched with Andy. But exhaustion got the best of her, she ended up watching only half of the episode before completely falling asleep.

A hectic week soon passed, today is Friday, August 14, 2020, the last day of Final Exams, and both students and teachers alike can't wait for the day to end.

The week after the chance encounter at the library, was the last week of classes, also known as Summative Test Week. Teachers and students were working hard to finishing their lessons, activities, and quizzes for the 1st Quarter of Classes.

The hectic week ended, and everybody got the rest that they deserved, there were no classes on Monday and Tuesday. The students reviewed for their Final Exams while teachers begin preparing for Grade Computations and their Lesson Plan for the 2nd Quarter.

Right now, the students are now their final exam for the day, their specialization exam.

Inside 1 - D's classroom, the girls are being monitored by the watchful eye of their class adviser. The room was fairly quiet, everyone was with answering their exam. They pushed their brains to the limit, recalling Sir Andy's discussions and the notes they reviewed.

"5 minutes left!" Andy announced.

The girls gasped and hurriedly answered the remaining questions. The noise from pens tapping and papers folding filled the room.

Time continued to run, and the girls became more and more anxious to finish their exams. 1 minute remained … then 30 seconds … 10 seconds … 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

"Pens up, papers forward!"

A loud "RIING!" from the school bell filled the classrooms, the exam day has ended. Everyone rejoiced as the tedious 1st Quarter came to a close.

All that's left now is homeroom, which is just cleaning the classroom. The girls hurriedly tidied up, hoping to get home as soos as they can to rest. But not everyone has the privilege of going home early.

"Sayuri-san, can you see me at the library after this? There's an important matter I need your help with," Andy asked his class president.

Busy with cleaning their classroom, Sayuri replied with a quick "HAI!" before Andy left the room.

Curious as to Sir Andy's request, Ayaka approached their class president, "Sayuri-san, what are you and Sir Andy going to do?"

"Hmmm, I'm not sure" - she flipped the dustpan she's holding, sliding the trash directly into their trash bin - "it's probably something regarding the class. Why'd you ask, Ayaka?"

"Nothing, I just got curious," she replied with blushing red cheeks.

Ayaka calmed herself down as she felt a weird feeling inside her chest, although it felt different this time.

Sayuri was the last student to leave the room, it was her duty to lock up the classroom before meeting with her class adviser.

The cool air of the library was a welcome greeting, she felt comfort over her tired body. Sayuri approached her adviser who was sitting at his usual spot, admiring the city view.

"Sir Andy!" she called, "What's the reason for you to call me here?"

"Ahh, about that" - he brought a bunch of papers from his bag - "I was wondering if you could help me check your classes Aviation exams, is that okay with you?"

Sayuri chuckled, "Is that all, certainly you know my answer for that."

"No, it's a bit inconvenient, especially since most students would rather go home after their exams."

Sayuri smiled and took up Sir Andy's request, "I'll help you out with that Sir, so don't worry about it."

"Thank you very much, Sayuri-san!" he could feel a heavy burden be lifted off his shoulder.

He handed over half of 1 - D's exams to Sayuri, along with a copy of the answer key.

"I have your exam paper for safekeeping, I'd rather not have you change your answers, just in case."

"I'm not gonna do that!" Sayuri grumbled.

The two made their way through the pile of test papersT their arms moved back and forth, in sync with their heads cross-checking the student's answer with the answer key.

About halfway through, the silence in the library became hard to bear for Sayuri-san. Trying to not lose focus on the task at hand, she decided to start a friendly conversation with her adviser.

"Sir Andy, how long have you been a teacher?"

"Well, to be honest, this is my first time teaching."

"Really?" Sayuri's jaw slammed to the ground.

"It's true, I'm currently a pilot in training -"

"Then how'd you become a teacher?"

"Weeell," - he scratched the back of his head and looked away - "I have my sister to blame for that."

Andy laid down his pen, and looked down, "My sister called me the day before I started teaching here, she said she needed an Aviation teacher. I told her I'm not qualified, but she consulted the principal about it, surprisingly they told me that I'm qualified for this job."

Sayuri gave Andy a suspicious look, her eyes showed distrust and disbelief.

"Don't be like that!" Andy reassured, "Aneki told me that I would be a great help to her if I teach Aviation here, I have first-hand experience as a pilot-in-training, and I've been fond of Aviation since high school. I'm suited to be a teacher here. I wanted to help Aneki out, so I decided accepted the offer. I promised her that I'll do my best to teach the students, and treat them kindly."

He smiled as he gazed out of the window, admiring the city's wonderful view, showered by the bright afternoon sunlight. At the corner of his eye, he could see an A320 fly by.

"You're a great teacher, Sir Andy. Despite not having any teaching experience, I learned a lot from your discussions, and you treated the girls with respect. You entertained their questions and you kept your distance from them."

"Is that so?" Andy looked down in embarrassment, "Thanks for that, Sayuri-san."

"I guess now is my time to talk, huh?" Sayuri asked while scratching her head. She had a shy look on her face.

"Not really, but I would appreciate it since I get to learn more about my student.".

Sayuri took a deep breath and began, "Ever since I was a kid, I've always hated boys. Ever since my dad left me, ever since he left the house, ever since he broke up with my mom and left our family for another girl, I've always hated boys."

Her eyes burned with rage, her fists were clenched with anger, her teeth gnashed with frustration, as she remembered a painful memory from her past.

"Our father left us when I was in 1st-grade, before that, my mother knew that he had been seeing another girl, but she kept it to herself. When dad announced that she will be divorcing my mom, she cried her lungs out the entire night."

Tears welled up in Sayuri's eyes, a needle of pain struck her heart.

"To make matters worst, the boys of my class insulted me, treating that subject as a trivial matter. My father left us, my mother had to work hard day and night, just to feed me and my little brother. They think it's a joke!"

She slammed her fist on to the table, the loud "BANG!" surprised Andy who was intently listening while checking the test papers.

"Ever since then, whenever I see a boy, I am reminded of that painful memory. I see all boys as nothing but a monster who's only after a girl's body, or a girl's treasure. They treat girls as if they're toys, something they could dispose of once they're tired of them, and I hate them."

Tears began to fall off Sayuri's eyes, the needle in her heart struck deeper and deeper. She's been hiding the pain all to herself, and now it's taken a toll on her.

To Andy, it makes sense now, "No wonder she thought that I was flirting with Ayaka, her hatred for boys overshadowed her logical reasoning and decision making."

Not wanting to see his student cry, Andy reached out his hand and softly patted Sayuri's long, silky hair.

"There, there, Sayuri-san, don't cry," Andy comforted, "I know it's painful but sometimes we have to move on, not that I'm in a position to say that."

"I know, demo (but) - "

"Don't cry, Sayuri-san. I know it's painful, but I'll be here to help you out."

"Huh?"

A memory flickered in her mind, a young girl being held in a man's bulky arms, softly patting her head and smiling.

"Don't cry, Sayuri-chan. I know it's painful but Papa's here to help you."

"Papa?"

Without her realizing, she flinched and inadvertently slapped Andy's hand. Realizing this, her face reddened in embarrassment.

"Sorry, Sir Andy!" she cried before running away from the library and towards the windy courtyard.

"His head pat," she wiped her tears even as it continued to fall off her eyes, "it reminds of my father, but in a different way. Why?"

She quietly released the emotions she's been enduring for years, crying as she remembered her memories with her father. Once Sayuri calmed down a bit, she stood up and wiped away her tears.

"I better go back to the library, I've caused him so much trouble now!"

The library remained the same when she returned. She sat back at her seat earlier and apologized to Sir Andy for her uncanny display of emotion.

"It's alright, everyone gives in to their emotion especially when in pain," Andy told his student, "it's a painful memory, it's not something trivial like what those boys think. I am glad you were able to hold it in all this time."

"Sir Andy?"

"But, every once in a while, it's good to release the pain building up inside so that it doesn't take a toll on you."

Hearing his teacher's comforting words, made Sayuri reflect on his actions towards him.

"Sayuri-san, it's hard to get over painful memories, but try to slowly move on. It's not good to think that every single boy is an evil monster who thinks girls are just toys. There are some out there who are good and kind-hearted, I don't speak of myself specifically."

Sayuri could only reply with a simple nod and a short "Hm-mm." Then, out of nowhere, she asks Sir Andy to do something that sounded so unnatural for her.

"Sir Andy, can you pat my head?"

His student's request alarmed the Aviation teacher, but he treated it as a trivial matter.

"What, you like my head pats that much?" he teased to try and make Sayuri laugh.

But Sayuri's reply surprised him even more, "I-it's not like I li-like your head pats or anything" - she looked down and sniffed - "it just feels, comforting,"

Andy was cautious of his actions, nevertheless, he gently patted Sayuri's silky, purple hair, while fearing for his life at the same time.

The warm sensation on her head felt pleasing, it was comfortable. Sayuri can't help but smile, but she felt a weird feeling welling in her chest. Thinking that it must've been her lungs being exhausted after crying, she decided to disregard those feelings and continue helping Sir Andy.

"Yoshh, now that I'm okay, I'll help out Sir Andy in checking these test papers!"

"That's the spirit, Sayuri! Thanks for helping me out."

The two continued with their task of checking test papers, they finished at around 1:30 PM and walked out of the library. The hot weather is approaching its peak, a scorching gust of wind blew past the corridor.

"Thanks for helping me out Sayuri-san!

The class president made a faint smile, "No problem, Sir Andy. I apologize for my behavior earlier, and thanks for comforting me too."

"Don't mention it," he gently patted Sayuri's head - "it's a teacher's job to help his students. I won't tell anyone from 1 - D about this, your secret is safe, rest assured."

"Thanks, Sir Andy."

He released his hand off Sayuri's hair and held onto the test papers firmly, "Well, I'm gonna go now. Take care on your way home, Sayuri-san!"

"Hm-mm, take care as well, Sir Andy!" Sayuri waved at his adviser.

On his back to the faculty room, Andy can't help but reflect on the advice he gave to his student.

"It's hard to get over painful memories, but try to slowly move on. Big words coming from someone like me who can't even move after what happened … I hate it!"

Walking through the school corridors, Sayur found herself holding onto her hair, patting her head.

"His head pat reminds me of Papa."

Contrasting feelings began to argue in her chest, making her puff her cheeks and blush.

"It's not that I like your head pats. Baka (Stupid) Sir Andy!"

She chuckled as she remembered the soft and gentle sensation on her head

"I guess you're the first-ever boy who made me happy in a while."