The minutes passed as if they were seconds while with each word that came out of the mouth of my Aunt Hikaru my heart was accelerating more and more. She was telling me about all the obstacles she had to overcome during her three years in that school, how she was getting to know one by one those people she could call friends and all those experiences she was able to live with them, that was a student life that I could hardly imagine. A school where students and teachers interacted with each other. A country so far behind in technology compared to Japan that APA did not exist.

—It's true Minoru! I have a lot of pictures saved in the memory of my visor. Let me go get it to show them to you, I'll be right back.

With that said, my aunt got up from her seat and headed to the main hall where her purse was located. After a few seconds, she returned to her seat with her visor on.

—Are you ready?

—Y-yes!

Then, with the push of a button, each of the pictures were sent to my visor.

Piip—

One by one these pictures were appearing in front of my eyes through my visor as if they were shooting stars. Pictures in which four people appeared, two men and two women, including my aunt. These pictures illustrated several places where my aunt appeared sharing with her friends in different situations. In the classroom talking with their desks next to each other as they waited for the bell to ring to signal the end of recess, on the roof of the school sharing lunch under a huge blue sky, laughing with a teacher they met casually walking down the school hallway, sharing after-school karaoke, and countless other situations. There were so many moments captured in pictures that made every part of my body want to scream, "I wish I had a student life like that too!"

Then, immersed in this desire to replicate the same path my aunt followed, I asked her.

—Do you think I can go to the same school?

—Unfortunately, scholarships to study abroad ceased to exist a couple of years ago. As you should already know, Japan borders are closed to all other countries, the only way in or out is with a special permit which has too many requirements.

—It's true...

I said to my aunt despondently, then she took her visor off and as she looked down, she began to caress the locket around her neck with a nostalgic expression.

—You know, when I returned to Japan from those three years, I had already made up my mind to study to become a teacher. Once I entered the university, I wanted to recreate all those nice experiences I had with my friends outside the country. However, I came up against a very difficult wall to overcome that was always there....

—A wall?

—In other words, an APA. After a year of trying to approach my classmates over and over again, I finally gave up. Just like that, realizing the role that teachers play with their students here in Japan, I decided to stop studying to become a teacher.

Then I had realized, although it was rather obvious, that perhaps the reason was because I was occupying one? As long as APA existed in Japan and people were still interested in occupying them, none of the pictures my aunt had shown me were going to come true for me.

—You may be right Aunt Hikaru, however, all those stories you told me, and all those pictures you showed me.... I'm sure any student would wish to have a life like that! That's why...!

—U-uh!?

The impulse I felt at that moment caused me to rise abruptly from my seat as I brought my right hand to my chest to reaffirm the words I was about to say.

—I'm going to change my life as a student! Not by attending a school in another country, but here in Japan! Then I will be the one to show you pictures with my friends.

Immediately my aunt was stunned by what I had just said. After a silence between the two of us, she said to me.

—If that's what you want, I'll be cheering you on.

As she said those words to me, for some reason, the smile my Aunt Hikaru showed me at that moment was forced.