"Ah…"
It's Wednesday, April 6th. Spring is settling down and the sun is shining.
Going out onto the paved road, I put up with constant yawning.
It was a little after eight in the morning. The street was still very quiet at
that time. Usually, such an occasion could be considered unusual, but, when
you consider the particularity of this place, you could immediately
understand that it was not impossible.
This place was called Four Seasons' Island, commonly known as
Academy Island.
An artificial island built hundreds of kilometers southeast of Tokyo Bay.
Originally it was a small island built by the business sector to cultivate true
elites, but a certain system they introduced has achieved results that exceeded
the world's imagination, and excellent graduates are constantly emerging. As
a result, the number of people engaging in the program has increased
dramatically, and it has become a metropolis with more than twenty school
districts.
In fact, the total population of the island is now approximately one
million.
It is said that almost half of them are students. To me, someone who has
just arrived on the island, it's simply unimaginable.
"Today is the day before school starts, and only the opening ceremony is
scheduled for the afternoon. People who are out at this time are rare," I
recalled the information recorded in the instruction manual.
I let out a slow sigh.
At that time I should've been sleeping in late. Yesterday I went through
the admission procedures, and I was planning to spend this day quietly.
However, because it had been raining for the last two days, the boat to the
island was delayed, so I did not arrive until ten o'clock at night on the 5th.
And so more time passed until the review of the island was finished.
I really didn't want to go to school at that moment, so I planned to
postpone my schedule by one day.
As a transfer student, I also wanted to participate in the afternoon
ceremony and other activities, so I had to take care of all my paperwork in the
morning.
At that moment, I was on my way to Eimei Private Academy, a high
school located in the fourth district of Academy Island.
I hadn't finished with the moving procedures either, so I stayed one night
at a small hotel in the Fourth District. Even so, my destination was nearby
and I should have been able to find it if I kept walking a little longer.
Although I think… I was a bit lost.
I didn't know which way to go.
And this island isn't listed on Google Maps. When I entered the island,
they told me, "this device is fundamental in Academy Island". They told me I
could use apps such as maps in the terminal they gave me, but I was so sleepy
and dizzy yesterday that I could not recall everything they told me.
At this age, I still get lost—just like a child… Ugh, it made me want to
cry.
Just when I was down, a figure appeared in my field of vision. It was a
student across the street. Looking at her uniform, it seemed to be different
from the school I'm going to. Driven by the intrigue of having finally met the
first villager (islander?), I decided to cross the road at full speed and talk to
the girl.
"Hey!"
"Uh? Did you call me? Are you all right?"
When she heard my voice, she turned around and tilted her head. It's just
that I couldn't help but fall into a difficult-breathing situation. I think I ran
too fast…
I found myself in a very unrealistic situation. In fact, she was a pretty girl.
Her dazzling red hair fell gracefully over her waist. Plus, she was looking at
me with clearest-ruby-like eyes. Those eyes, which seemed to show elegance
and inner strength, were nonetheless so pure that they almost felt bewitching.
Her appearance was rather beautiful than pretty. Whether you were a man
or a woman, as long as you caught a glimpse of her, you would be fascinated.
She had the slender body of a model. Also, the white thighs that were
carelessly exposed under the uniform, although not in a miniskirt, were evenmore sensational.
And…
Uh… have I seen her anywhere? Is there a record of her on the Academy
Island's home page?
For a moment, nostalgia took hold of my heart and made me frown.
However, my latter thought was the right answer. Being such an eye-catching
girl, it wouldn't be a surprise if she were a tourism ambassadress of this
island. Even if she simply had appeared on a news story, she was memorable
enough.
"Um, sorry, are you okay? I'll leave if you don't need anything."
"Ah—I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry. I need some help."
When she turned to me in surprise, I was nervous and couldn't think
normally.
"Actually, I arrived on this island only yesterday, and I'm a little lost.
Would you do me a favor and give me directions to the Eimei Academy in
District Four?"
"Ah, that's… Well, there's no need for formality. You're in the second
grade, just like me."
"Ah, is that so—eh? No, how did you know something like that?"
"There's a function in the terminal allowing you to learn this kind of
thing. It's limited to basic information, though… You really don't know
anything? They should have explained to you how to use the terminal when
you arrived."
"Ah… That's… They did. It's just that my condition made it difficult to
focus… I skipped the introduction course.
"What were you doing…? Well, it seems that I'll have to teach you.
Anyway, can you get the terminal out?"
Encouraged by her gentle smile, I took the terminal out of my pocket
again. I didn't know how to start it, so the girl immediately took my hand and
guided my fingers into the little depression at the top of the screen. By the
freshness of her hand, I stopped thinking for a moment.
Almost instantly afterward, probably because my fingerprint had been
confirmed, there was a sound, and the terminal was started.
"So, you start the terminal this way. And the rest is almost the same as a
normal smartphone."
She continued, explaining to me kindly. Although my face didn't reflect
it, my heart was quite moved.
"See the blue icon in the lower right corner? That's the map application.
Although the details could be a little different, basically, you just need to
think of it as Google Maps limited to the island."
"I see… Had I known this from the beginning, I wouldn't have gotten
lost."
"Who told you not to pay attention to the explanation?"
"You don't need to state the facts."
As I said it with a wry smile, the girl in front of me smiled immediately.
How to put it? She was a good-hearted girl.
"Well. Then I should leave. I have to go shopping. You should take care
too."
"Ah…"
Just as I was experiencing this little piece of joy, she opened her lips
slightly and said that suddenly, then waved her right hand to say goodbye to
me. Her movements were too beautiful, and I couldn't help but want to stop
her. But I desperately swallowed the words I was about to say, and simply
thanked her.
I would then part ways with the girl whose name I would not know until
the end. It must have been like that.
"…Huh?"
Suddenly, there was a loud noise, so I did a one-eighty.
There is a unique element to Academy Island: almost sixty percent of the
population is made up of students. Compared to Japan, it has very little car
traffic. However, it is not completely zero. The work vehicles used in
construction can be seen every day. That was written in the guide.
That was a truck.
In the center of my field of vision, in the direction the redheaded girl was
heading, a large truck was accelerating.
Of course, we were both walking on the sidewalk, but the fact that it had
been raining on the island the day before yesterday and yesterday crossed my mind