Chapter 29
Of cultural appropriation
Kazuki and Elyna rapidly fell into step; their entente was efficient. Smooth, even, as she seconded him with brio. But to keep that professional wall took a toll on his restraint. He caught himself staring at least once a day; inevitably, he would scold himself afterwards.
Elyna needed his help to navigate school, and launch a successful career. No more. But of course, his heart was a tough opponent; it had ideas of its own. Today was no different; Kazuki’s patience was thinning as his class debated over the incoming culture festival.
“Hey, if we do a maid café, we get to see Elyna-sensei in uniform!” Daiki exclaimed, eyes sparkling with envy. Shūji shrugged while Haruki’s spine straightened. Kazuki frowned; this wasn’t the type of idea he wanted in his class.
Ready to intervene, he glanced at his teaching assistant; Elyna was bristling with indignation. Her eyes blazed with barely contained fury. “Absolutely not!” she clipped, her tone final. She crossed her arms defensively. “I will not wear this ridiculous outfit.”
Kazuki remained silent: he would back her up, but the best cases were best left to the defendant. Her fan club, though, would have none of it; if they thought they could bully her into accepting it, they had another thing coming.
“Please, Elyna-san. The short skirt would…”
That’s going too far.
“Tanaka-kun!” Kazuki warned, his voice louder than he intended. Elyna sent him a loaded look, asking permission to set things straight. He nodded his assent, hoping she would remain diplomatic.
Her ire was so palpable that Daiki lowered his gaze. Kazuki suppressed a shiver; Kami-sama preserve him from ever facing that arctic expression!
“I really don’t fancy dressing up to be drooled on, thank you very much.”
Ouch. Not the way he wanted to remind his boys to respect women. An amused whistle left Shūji’s mouth. “Brutal, Elyna-chan…”
“Don’t call me that, sushi.”
A few protests arose, as high as Haruki’s eyebrows, but Elyna lifted her hands in peace. “Listen, I understand it is part of the geek culture, and I’m not trying to pass judgement. But Japan has so much more to offer. Not to mention I’m not a doll.”
Silence welcomed her words, and Elyna seemed to grow in stature, shedding the mantle of anger to replace it with enthusiasm.
“You’ve got kendō, and incredible food, and craft, and history, and the shintō religion, and legends…
how about we celebrate… I don’t know? Those who never let go of the sword even though it was banned in the Meiji era? ”
The Satsuma rebellion? An unexpected choice.
Elyna’s love of history never failed to amaze him. And from the expression spreading upon his student’s faces, they, too, were affected by the prospect.
“Hey, we’ve got a badass kendō team who are going to blow the Nationals!” Shūji cheered from his seat, lending support to the idea. “How about we embody a Shinsengumi team?”
Elyna chuckled. “You guys are so strung out on kendō, I swear it’s your intravenous pride. But after all, we’ve got our Saitō already,” she chuckled, pointing at a frozen Haruki.
The class representative looked like he was about to melt. With his towering height and slicked black hair, his resemblance to the manga’s Saitō was uncanny.
“That’s right!” Kenji exclaimed. “And left-handed too!”
“That’s an ambitious project,” Kazuki interjected before it could derail completely.
Shūji stood, summoning attention with ease. And for once, he was dead serious. “How about the Boshin War then? Well, we could coordinate with several classes to re-enact key battles. After all, I’m sure Katayū-sensei will be pleased to lead students to their death.”
Ah! Just another reason to mess with Mako-san again.
Kazuki was loath to stop to the rolling avalanche, especially when Haruki turned to his classmates. “Perhaps we can stage Brunet-san’s presence in the Shōgun Army.”
“Oh, and crush the cultural appropriation of the Last Samurai movie!” Elyna exclaimed. “That’s a brilliant idea!”
What cultural appropriation?
As puzzled as he was, the class hesitated between uneasy silence and explosive comments. Whispers arose until Ayumi lifted her hand. “Ano, Elyna-sensei, what are you talking about? Everyone loved that movie.”
“Oh yeah, it was huge here,” Kenji added. “My dad still quotes it.”
Elyna blinked, clearly taken aback. “Really? I thought—I mean, I’ve read that it was problematic with the white saviour narrative and Tom Cruise replacing Brunet-san. Isn’t that… cultural appropriation?”
“Ah, we don’t use that word much here.”
“It is offensive?”
The absurdity caught him off guard, and he bit back a smile. His students were less merciful: scoffs and snickers rose in the room, some commenting on ‘western whims’ and less stellar expression that he shut off with a quelling look.
“The film was a great hit, and we’d rather talk of cultural appreciation.
Especially when it came to historical details.
The main concern was about the militaristic view, but history is history.
I hope this school has shown that the values of Bushidō are more than let's hack at everyone that disagrees. "
One quick look at the national prankster forced him to add: "Not a word, Onishi-kun!"
Shūji lifted his hands innocently, allowing him to continue. "Anyway, that's a topic for another day… especially if you want to re-enact the Satsuma rebellion, or the Boshin War.”
Elyna’s expression shifted, her cheeks colouring slightly. But instead of mortification, he was pleased to find understanding in her gaze. He could almost see her beliefs shifting again to accommodate the world around her. A quality praised by Buddhism.
“Well,” she snickered. “It seems I’ll have to study a bit more. Thank you all for teaching me.”
“It’s an easy mistake,” Kazuki offered, surprised by the instinct to soften her embarrassment. “Western media tends to write about what should offend us.”
Without asking how we feel.
“And it seems we’re very good at being offended,” Shūji added with a grin, but without bite.
The tension broke with scattered laughter; Haruki joined in the mirth too.
“Well, then, I think we’re going to have to vote it out.”
“Absolutely,” Haruki nodded. “I’ve noted all the ideas.”
Well, would you look at that? Haruki-kun, talking without prompting?
As the class traded more ideas—how about the republic of Ezo? With Elyna dressed as a foreign dignitary to serve food? –Kazuki couldn’t help but worry. Could they pull off an event of this magnitude without biting the dust?
“Well, thank you all,” he intervened before the debate could get out of hand. “That was inspiring, but let’s first get a manageable schedule. Now, who’s with it?”
Two thirds of the class lifted their hands, while the rest grumbled in their seat.
“Elyna-san, I bet that puts you on the committee,” he stated. She blinked at him, and he chuckled. “We’re counting on you. Who will second her?”
A few hands lifted in the air. Kazuki scrutinised every volunteer.
He finally chose Daisuke, one of the hard-working boys who seemed utterly uninterested in his teaching assistant.
Elyna’s vision had merit, but it would take hours upon hours of hard work; better to pair her with an academic student rather than an admirer.
“Neee,” Shūji drawled from his seat. “This is going to take forever. Good luck!”
Kazuki cuffed him on the head. “You will all be assigned tasks either way. I don’t want to hear any of you slacking off.” Then he turned to his delighted assistant. “As for you, committee members, you’ll have to convince the other classes to side with you.”
“And the Vice Principal,” Shūji sing-songed.
Kazuki didn’t even dignify that with an answer. “It won’t be easy, but if you present it with the same enthusiasm you just did, I’m sure you can pull it off.”
“Hai!” both Elyna and Daisuke responded. He nodded to them both, trying, and failing, not to linger on Elyna’s warm cheeks and sparkling eyes. She looked utterly blissful, like a kitten about to overtake the world with cuteness.
Kazuki’s heart stuttered treacherously.
Elyna: I think I bit off more than I could chew for once
Aksel: what kinda food we talkin’ about?
Elyna: bigger than food
Aksel: OK, I’m worried now… ???
Elyna: eeeew, pull your mind out of the gutter