Rea's Childhood Memories

Lunch break

It is a warm afternoon in May. In an elementary schoolyard, students practice back hip circles on the bars, play tag, or just chat in the shade. Because teachers always tell students to play and exercise outside, fewer are in the classrooms. However, in one classroom, 15 girls, all around 10 years old, make a circle and talk secretly. There are two girls in the circle's center at the back of the classroom. These two girls, Miyu and Karin, are entirely different from the others: they have ponytails with fancy hair accessories, wear pretty pink clothes, and behave confidently. In the center of the circle, Miyu and Karin point at their classmates one by one. Then, they two talk in a whisper. Miyu is talking with Karin with a smirk on her face. Karin is responding to Miyu, watching her handnails carefully. After that, they tell each classmate “Ichigun,” “Nigun,” or “Sangun.” It is like a solemnity ceremony. Miyu and Karin are deciding the ranks of their classmates in the community. As the girls are being told their positions, some are purely delighted with them. The other girls said to be nigun or sangun seem sad and upset. One girl bursts into tears, and two girls pat her back. No one except two queen bees can know why they are deciding the rank of their classmates or what kind of criteria the allocations are based on. In this narrow community, everyone just accepts their fate. The lunch break will end in five minutes. 

Note:

Ichigun: a top-tier group of casting systems in schools

Nigun: a middle-tier group of casting systems in schools

Sanngun: a bottom-tier group of casting systems in schools