How long had it been since I last visited an elementary school? Years, easily. And I’d never even been to this one.
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. Wait, but what if they see me breathing heavily and think I’m some pedo creep?! God, I’m so nervous!
As my excitement and dread mingled, I followed the path to the school building, just as instructed.
“Hello there! Nagase Iori-san, I presume?”
“Uh, y-yeah!”
This friendly-looking middle-aged man must have taken one look at my uniform and guessed who I was.
During the meeting, Gossan had suggested I take part in the after-school daycare program hosted by the local elementary school. It was entirely unpaid volunteer work, but Yamaboshi students were more than welcome, since the two schools were on friendly terms.
So Gossan put in a good word for me, and the next day they wrote back, inviting me over three days later on the following Monday. And now here I was, about to become a daycare teacher for the first time.
“I was a teacher for many, many years, but then I retired, and now this is what I do in my spare time. And there are a handful of other instructors on staff as well.”
The man’s name was Kosugi, and he used to be an elementary school teacher. As we walked, he spoke to me with the gentle affection of a grandfather.
After-school daycare was a program that gave kids somewhere to go when classes were over if their moms and dads were still at work. Technically there was no age limit, but older kids generally either went home on their own or hung out with their friends instead, so the vast majority of daycare attendees were between the ages of five and eight.
“On the weekdays we get about forty or fifty kids per day, supervised by two or three instructors, myself included. There’s a lady who works here part-time... Oh, and a young college student as well.”
“Am I going to be an instructor, too?”
“Technically speaking, yes. But the kids call us Sensei, just like any other teacher.”
The word sensei tickled my ears... Wait, where are we walking to, anyway?
“So, uh, you told me to come wearing sweatpants, and now I’m guessing we’re already on our way to the classroom, but... what exactly am I supposed to do when we get there...?”
“You’ll be fine. Oh, and I know it’s cold, but you’ll want to take off that coat.”
“Oh, okay... Wait, but that doesn’t answer my question!”
“You want to know what you should be doing? Ask the children.”
Then Kosugi opened the classroom door.
“Listen up, everyone! That nice older girl I told you about is here to see you!”
“YAAAAAAAAY!”
“Let’s play soccer!”
“Now!”
“Come on!”
A crowd of boys ran up — one, two, three, four —
“W-Wait! If you’re gonna drag me, at least drag me forward! I’m gonna fall!”
At first I was overwhelmed by the kids’ enthusiasm, but as I quickly learned, all I really needed to do was hang out with them until their parents showed up later that evening. From there, it was a piece of cake.
We all gathered out on the playground — me, plus a group of twelve second- and third-grade boys.
“Our team will have seven, and your team will have six. Nagase-sensei is a high schooler, so she counts as two people.”
“Nuh-uh! She’s a girl!”
“Whoa there, fellas. It seems you’re underestimating me quite a bit. You know I’ve mastered the Marseille turn, right? I could count as three people, easy.”
“I don’t know what that is, but you’re going down, punk!”
“HEY! Don’t call me that! Now who’s the punk?!”
“Let’s just play already! If it turns out Sensei’s no good, we can add a handicap later!”
What a bunch of brats!
And so it was decided that my team would only have six players. At the kickoff, I noticed we weren’t using a standard soccer ball, but something softer.
“Pass! Pass!” I waved my hand.
“Be a team player and wait your turn!” said a kid on the other team.
“I just wanted to show everybody what I can do, that’s all! ...Thanks for the pass!”
As the ball rolled to my feet, I stopped it under my foot, then got a running start. They had no expectations of me yet, so there was no pressure. That made this easy.
“Hiiii-YAAAAAH!”
So I kicked the ball as hard as I possibly could. Since the game had only just started, most players were still in the center of the playing area, and my torpedo attack shot right through them. In an instant, it crossed the half-sized field all the way to the goal.
The goalie must have been terrified when he saw that ball rocketing towards him. He let out a shriek and punched it away with his fist. Then I closed in.
When I originally kicked the ball, I was already at full speed. Not only did I have an overall physical advantage, including a height gap of more than 30 centimeters, but I’d caught him off-guard, too. He didn’t stand a chance.
So I ran all the way across the field and kicked the rebound back into the goal before the goalie could take another step!
“GOOOOOAL!”
I thrust both fists into the air in a victory pose. I had completely dominated the other team. It felt like I had superpowers!
I turned back to the center of the field. “Hey guys! Come and celebrate with me!”
“I can’t believe it! She’s so immature!”
I had frightened every single one of them, including my own team.
Aww, c’mon! I’m mature, I swear! Good grief... I’m a kid, too, y’know!
After that, I took the hint and started going easy on them. Not too easy, mind you, lest my team get mad at me, but I gave myself some ground rules, such as: no kicking the ball over the grade-schoolers’ heads. And in the end, we won 6-3. (Naturally, it was my hat-trick that sealed the deal.)