The Twelve Kingdoms: Shadow of the Moon

acquaintance of hers. But the truth of the matter is, I just don't know. It always seemed like there were aspects of her character that were a closed book to the rest of us."
    "A closed book?"
    The vice-principal's answer was accompanied by a sullen expression. "That's not quite what I meant. Let me put it another way. Youko was an honor student. She was on good terms with her classmates as well as with her parents, or so I've heard. But that's simply not possible."
    "Not possible?"
    "I may be out of line saying this, but teachers will see things in whatever light favors themselves. Friends do the same. Parents tell you only what's convenient for them to tell you. They all fashion their own image of the student and try to impose it on everybody else. Now, the opinions of these three parties are never going to agree. A student trying to meet all the expectations of his teachers and parents would find it intolerable. A good kid to you or me won't be to somebody else. What it comes down to is, in being all things to all people, Youko never got close to anybody, either. It might have been a convenient way to play things, but I suspect it never amounted to much more than a convenience."
    "And how about yourself?"
    The vice-principal frowned. "I'm talking about your gut type of reaction, okay? But for most teachers, the few hard-to-handle students--the ones you keep your eye on--they're the ones you find endearing, memorable. I always thought Youko was a good student, but I'd probably forget all about her the day after graduation. And at a ten-year reunion, I wouldn't have the slightest idea who she was."
    "Of course."
    "Whether Youko acted this way on purpose, or whether it was the result of her simply trying to do the right thing, I don't know. If it was done with deliberation, I can't imagine what she was trying to hide. And if not, once she realized what she was doing, at some point it must have struck her as an awfully empty way to live. Wondering what she was doing with her life, seeing it all as meaningless, I don't think that would have been unusual at all for her to just want to disappear."

    Youko stared with amazement at the vice-principal. The image faded. In his place a girl appeared, a student, one of Youko's closer friends.
    "I've heard you were one of Ms. Nakajima's best friends."
    The girl flashed him a severe look. "Not really. We were never really that close."
    "No?"
    "Yeah. Sure, we talked now and then at school, but we never got together outside of school, never talked on the phone. That was true for most of us. That was about as much as we ever got to know about girls like her."
    "I see."
    "So, frankly, I really don't know anything about her. I don't have anything bad to say about her, either."
    "Did you dislike her?"
    "She wasn't particularly unlikeable, but she wasn't all that likeable, either. I got the feeling that, no matter what, she would always try to say the appropriate thing, you know? She wasn't interesting enough to actually dislike."
    "You don't say."

    It was another girl who came right out and said she didn't like her. "Youko, she was a little two-faced brown-noser."
    "Two-faced?"
    "Yeah. Like, you know, sometimes you badmouth somebody? If she was there, she'd nod and say, like, yeah, me too. But when somebody else was badmouthing us, she'd do the same thing. Always kissing up to whoever she was with. That's why I couldn't stand her. There's no way a person like her has real friends. She was fine to complain to, though. She'd go along with whatever you said. That's about it."
    "Huh."
    "That's why I think she just ran away from home. She was probably messing with some gangbangers behind everybody's back. It wouldn't surprise me if it all started with a lot of big talk about how dumb we all were and deciding to jerk us around. I could never figure out what was going on with her, anyway."
    "Perhaps she got caught up in something she couldn't handle."
    "Yeah, you know, like she got into a fight with the homies she was hanging with. Not that I would know anything about it."

    It was yet another girl who said she flat-out hated her. "To be honest, I don't mind her being gone one bit."
    "You said your classmates teased you a lot?"
    "Yeah."
    "And Ms. Nakajima went along with it?"
    "Yeah. She always went along when they froze me out. But she was the one who always played innocent afterwards."
    "How's that?"
    "They were always giving me crap, you know? Youko never joined in like she really meant