"Oh! You're Katsuhira Kazuomi-kun from Fujitama Academy, aren't you?"
"And you're Shirase Yumina from Kougyoku, right?"
"Yep, that's me. Nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you..."
Her bright smile looked friendly, but her guard was up.
It was my first day in high school, but I suddenly found myself talking to the so-called "idol" of our neighboring middle school back then.
Of course, I didn't have to wonder how I got here. I deliberately made a series of conscious decisions that led up to this situation.
Let's dial it back to when I was walking with my friends to school a little while ago.
————————————————————
April 7th, Monday.
"Isn't that wild though?!"
"Well, if you put it that way..."
Hiro is as enthusiastic as always. Meanwhile, Keisuke listened to his ramblings with genuine interest.
I trailed behind my friends as I went into deep thought. We never agreed whether we'd go to school together, but we still met each other on the way by sheer coincidence.
Coincidence, huh...?
Coincidences are amazing, aren't they? Your classmate turned out to be that one kid you became friends with a decade ago. The senpai from your club turned out to have been acquainted with one of your relatives. Your crush, who's also the school idol, actually lives right beside your apartment room— those kinds of bullshit.
With coincidences, the possibilities are practically endless. As long as it doesn't break the laws of physics or bend reality, anything can happen!
Well, the chances for those conveniently positive coincidences to occur when you're looking for them are practically non-existent. I'd say that it's less likely to happen than winning the lottery!
What? Did some of those coincidences happen to you? Die then, you lucky bastard! I hope the chances of you stubbing your toe against a hard place go up to a hundred percent instead!
"What in the world are you thinking about, Kazu-chan? You're making an incredibly suspicious face," said Hiro.
"Hey, Hiro. Wouldn't it be nice if you could plant a chip inside everyone's heads and have the button to blow them up whenever you want?" I asked.
"You... That's... actually a decent idea."
"Right? Do you know how much this shitty world can advance if we purge all of the stupid ones to hell with that device?"
"Holy shit! Interstellar travel would be within our reach!"
"Creating a Dyson sphere won't be just a pipe dream anymore!"
Keisuke held his forehead in annoyance as he listened to us.
"I agree that this world has a surplus of idiots, but how can we accurately judge who's stupid or not?" he asked. "Should we prioritize ignorance over lack of intelligence? Should we care about their potential to change? What about their personality and morals?"
"Oh, you're right. We have to be specific about the kinds of idiots we'll have to include in our purge list," I answered with a smirk. "We'll have to create detailed rules and criteria to make sure we don't accidentally purge important geniuses."
Yep, this was a perfectly normal morning conversation for us. Keisuke can only blame himself for making us binge a bunch of sci-fi movies yesterday.
"Haha, you're finally getting it, Kei-chan!" Hiro laughed and put his arm around Keisuke.
"Huh, what do you mean finally? You're probably the one who gets it the least, Hiro..." Keisuke replied, fixing his glasses in place.
I was smiling as I looked at them from behind. These two are the same as always. Granted, it's not like we didn't see each other for ages. Spring break wasn't that long.
The three of us stopped by the convenience store on the way to buy some food. As usual, we started arguing about pointless stuff as soon as we got out.
The weather is pristine and all three of us are in good condition. Today is our first day in high school, so I'm looking forward to having an eventful-
"You guys are as close as usual."
Another voice rang from behind us. Oh, it's him.
"Ah, Gotou. What's up?" Keisuke greeted.
"Hey, Kazehara. You too, Katsuhira, Tendou."
Gotou might not have noticed it, but Keisuke and Hiro were giving me some sneaky glances. Geez, these guys just wouldn't stop worrying.
"Yo, Gotou! How ya been?" With a shoulder tap and a huge grin, I finally greeted our handsome friend.
"I'm doing fine. I haven't heard from you throughout spring break though."
"Ah, about that. I grinded this one game and spent the rest of my time reading light novels. You know, the usual."
"Ahaha, is that so? I'm glad you guys are doing good."
"Heh, certainly not better than you, you riajuu! You went ahead and got yourself a girlfriend! Hurry up and get outta here. I'm sure Maki is already in school."
"Ehh..." Gotou let out a wry laugh, looking troubled.
"What's with that ikemen smile? Just get your ass moving, will ya'? Don't keep your girlfriend waiting," Hiro followed up.
"I wanna walk with you guys though..."
"Trust me, Gotou. Your brain will rot if you go with these two." Keisuke put a hand on his shoulder. "Just go ahead of us. We'll see each other at school anyway."
"Haha, alright, alright. I'll be off then."
"Gotou, catch!" I tossed a packed sandwich at him. "Tell Maki we said hi."
"Thanks for this, Katsuhira. I'll tell her for sure."
We waved at each other until Gotou turned around and took a turn. Look at him being all fanciable. I wonder how many girls will confess to him within the first week only to get their hearts broken.
I sat on one of the steel barriers with a sigh— the other two staring at me.
"Would you guys stop that? It's getting annoying," I said.
"Ah, haha... My bad, Kazu-chan."
"We're just worried. I have no idea how to deal with that kind of situation."
"Just act normal. Being considerate of me won't do anything. I don't really care anymore."
We've known each other for a long time. They knew my last sentence was a lie.
"Let's go." After a while, we decided to continue on.
"It's a completely different route from Fujitama. Feels refreshing..." said Hiro.
"It's about the same distance from our neighborhood, but in a completely different direction."
Before long, we reached the last path on the way to Kougyoku High School.
As the petals fell around us, my mind found itself paying attention to something else. The path laden with fully-bloomed cherry blossom trees seemed endless in my eyes, but I knew the end was near as we were about to reach the school gates.
Suddenly, I decided to ignore everything else to focus on the scenery. The vibrant colors of spring made me feel like I was looking at the world with rose-tinted glasses. But despite that, I felt a gnawing feeling inside my chest.
Ah, that's right. I was almost consumed by the fact that it was a pleasant start to our high school days.
Don't get carried away, Kazuomi. It's just gonna be another boring, uneventful day unless you do something about it. Leaving things up to fate had always been a net negative.
"I hope we can finally be in the same class— the three of us together!"
"That's impossible, Hiro. Keisuke applied for the Preparatory Class, remember?" I said.
"Yeah... Tough luck, but it seems like we'll never get to be in the same class for the rest of our school lives," shrugged Keisuke.
"N-No way..."
Hiro was crestfallen, but there's nothing we can do about it.
The bustling noise became even more apparent as we approached the school gate. The chaos was mostly due to the crowd in front of the big bulletin board showing our class assignments.
"Uwah... I guess we'll have to wait in line for a bit."
There isn't even any line.
"This is quite the crowd."
I hope I can be in the same class as Hiro, or at the very least, some students from Fujitama with whom I was acquainted.
The three of us carefully made our way there, but I heard something interesting from a couple of guys walking behind us. I didn't really pay attention to their conversation at first, but that changed as soon as I heard a familiar name.
"Holy crap. She was so pretty wasn't she?"
"Yeah... That was Shirase Yumina from Kougyoku Middle, right? I knew there was a high chance, but seeing her in the same school is nice, isn't it?"
Shirase Yumina... She's here, huh? I guess that makes a lot of sense. She's as popular as ever. I've seen her a bunch of times during prefectural tournaments, but that's about it.
This time, I wanna meet her properly. It'll be a hard task, but I'll make it work somehow.
"You guys go ahead. I'll talk to those guys for a bit," I whispered.
"O-Oh, okay..."
Keisuke and Hiro were caught off-guard, but they were probably used to it. They know I'll them about it later if they ask.
I approached the two guys who were gossiping. Based on the color of the hem of their blazers, they should be second-years. As far as I remember, they're not my seniors from Fujitama. It's going to be tricky, so I'm a bit nervous about this.
"Excuse me, Senpai. Can I ask you a question?"
"Huh? Oh, what is it?"
"Well, I heard you talking about Shirase Yumina. Ah, I'm Katsuhira Kazuomi— also a first-year like her. I just wanted to ask what class she's in if you saw her. I was told to find her by one of the teachers earlier so I tried to check the board over there... but as you can see..." I weakly pointed at the horde of students.
"Hm, really? Which class are you in?" he asked.
The two of them are quite skeptical, but that much is fine.
"Oh, sorry. I went straight to the teachers' faculty earlier because of some matters about my enrollment documents, so I haven't had the chance to look yet."
"Is that so? Who's the teacher that asked you to find her? Maybe we can help out."
Not sold on my lies, huh?
"Thanks for the offer, Senpai, but it's okay. I don't want to impose on you any further. Tendou-sensei asked me because I'm also acquainted with Shirase-san herself."
"Tendou-sensei, huh...? Well, we don't really know which class she's in. We just saw her walking to school with a guy at the south gate."
"The south gate... beside the Banshou building..." I perused. "Alright, thank you for the help, Senpai!"
I slightly bowed at them before turning away. That went better than I expected. I already had a story ready in case they asked what the teacher's purpose was for calling Shirase.
Well, I went as far as to mention an actual teacher's name, so even they wouldn't be able to doubt me after that.
Okay, time to get moving. The campus had three major buildings. The main one would be the Sekihou building near the north gate. Next would be the Yuuyake building, and connected to it by a hall on the second floor is the Banshou building near the east and south gates.
When I explored the campus after taking the entrance exam, I did my best to remember most of the important places. I didn't think it would come in handy on the first day.
Anyway, I'm not sure if this makes things easier for me or not. I didn't know if we were classmates, but I certainly wouldn't be able to talk to her directly if we weren't. Her being outside gives me a small chance to have a conversation with her, at the very least.
"Ah, there she is..." I muttered under my breath.
Sure enough, it was the one and only Shirase Yumina.
Like those guys said, she was walking with a guy.
"See you later, Yumina-chan, Ishikawa-kun!"
A couple of girls waved at them with smiles on their faces. I guess they were talking earlier, and now it's just Shirase and the guy left.
I secretly observed the two.
The student body of Kougyoku High School is divided into three big groups that vary in size depending on the year. The first group would be the graduates from Kougyoku Middle School which is pretty self-explanatory. The second group would be the graduates from Fujitama Academy. Fujitama is a pretty unique case with it having elementary and middle school curriculums but no high school (yet). It's a fairly new school but it's developing rapidly, so it's only a matter of time before they make separate campuses for every level. It's a great school, but I digress. The third and final group would be everyone else who came from other schools.
Why would I recall this, you might ask?
Well, every school has its own group of extremely pretty girls, right? Shirase Yumina was in that group back at Kougyoku Middle School. I knew of a few other names, but "Shirase Yumina" was the most I've heard in terms of frequency.
Of course, Fujitama had its own group of beauties, but that's a story for another day.
"Haha, you haven't changed at all, Akito-kun."
"Really? I think you did though, Yumina."
I stationed myself next to the south gate and fiddled with my phone. I could barely hear them talk, but the distance was near enough for me to understand their words.
Hmm, they seem to be having a very friendly conversation. They're even calling each other by their first names.
I glanced in another direction and saw a bunch of guys giving them subtle glances. They must be smitten by Shirase's looks. The guy himself didn't look too shabby. He's certainly more of a looker than me. Based on the conversation they were having just now, I wonder if they used to be close friends... or maybe more than that.
"Yumina, you see..."
"Yeah...?"
Oh, what's this? I can't look at them or they'll know I can hear everything. I'm doing so well as a classic background character right now. I can't ruin this, even though I really wanna see their expressions!
"Hm, there's too many people looking at us here. Can you go with me over there for a second?" the guy suddenly asked.
Shit! My hard work will be useless if they leave now!
"Eh? But..."
"Please, just for a bit. I think it's best that I say this now than later."
"Okay... I'll hear you out."
The two of them went around the corner of the Banshou building where no students were lingering around. They were visible to the people entering the south gate, but not enough to be recognized thanks to the tall plant covering them. They just look like a pair of regular students having a normal conversation.
"Hah?! To the east gate?! Are you serious?! How could you get that wrong?!" I exclaimed, pretending to be on a call with someone.
My voice made nearby students look. I smoothly walked to the corner right next to the two while whispering gibberish to my imaginary call-mate.
Good. I can understand them just fine from this area, and they probably didn't hear me approach.
"So, what is it?" Shirase was known to be a cheerful and friendly person, so this calmer tone took me by surprise.
"I'm really sorry for what I did back then. I can see it in your face. You still haven't forgiven me, and I can understand that."
"At least you're aware that we can't just go back to normal after that. I almost lost hope for you when you suddenly started talking to me like nothing happened."
"No. What I did was unforgivable. I won't make any excuses."
"That's not all, is it? What do you really want to say?"
Now this is prime drama. I know I shouldn't be hearing any of this, but the contrast between this Shirase Yumina and the image I had of her is too fascinating.
"I still love you, Yumina. My feelings never changed even after we stopped talking."
"I see... I'm sorry, Akito-kun. My feelings hadn't changed either. I can only think of you as a friend."
And down he goes. It happens, brother. We can't win them all.
"Akito-kun, let go me." Shirase suddenly made a stern command.
Did he grab her? Is this going to escalate?
"Yumina, please. Hear me out..."
"I already did. What else do you want to say?"
She doesn't sound panicked, so I guess it's okay?
"I'm serious about you. You don't have to be considerate of me and Kayoko!"
"Hah?" And now she's mad. "I'm not being considerate to anyone but myself! Our feelings aren't the same. I'm sorry, but I don't want to be in a relationship with you."
"Yumina..."
"Let me go."
Their conversation was cut short by the sound of footsteps.
"Oh..." I made an awkward and slightly dumbfounded expression as I walked past them. "Uh, is everything alright out here?"
When it comes to playing the fool, I'm quite the expert. Right now, I'm just a random student who coincidentally witnessed their drama as I was walking to the east gate.
The guy looked pissed. I focused my gaze on the wrist he was holding onto, prompting him to let go.
"Yumina-"
"You can go ahead, Akito-kun. I'll stay here," she said with a smile.
'Akito-kun' looked like he just swallowed a bug. Tough luck, brother. I'll pray for your recovery.
I watched him walk away. The guy was barely able to hide his grimace.
"Sorry, was I interrupting something?"
"No, not really. Maybe we were the ones who interrupted you. Sorry about that." Shirase's tone was affable just like earlier.
"To tell you the truth, I pretended to go to the east gate so I could check you guys out. I was just passing by so I didn't understand what was going on, but then I heard you say 'let me go' all of a sudden."
"Is that so? Should I thank you?" Shirase smirked with a smug look on her face.
"Nah, you sounded unfazed when you said it, so I thought you didn't need my help. I just figured things would end faster if I crashed the party." I shrugged with a proud look.
"Well, you were certainly right about the result," she chuckled.
Huh, the rumors were right. She was cute— not just her face, but her personality too.
"Oh! You're Katsuhira Kazuomi-kun from Fujitama Academy, aren't you?"
"And you're Shirase Yumina from Kougyoku, right?"
"Yep, that's me. Nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you..."
Her bright smile looked friendly, but her guard was up.
"Well, uh, weren't you busy, Katsuhira-kun?"
"I was waiting for someone at the south gate, but they entered the east gate earlier. I'll meet up with them at a later time. What about you, Shirase-san? What's up with you and that guy earlier, if you don't mind me asking?"
"He was my friend. We met by chance on the way here, so we decided to go to school together."
"It must've been a pretty important conversation if you had to talk in this place."
"I think he noticed that some people were staring at us," she said with a weak laugh, scratching her temple in slight embarrassment.
"If you were held up in this place, then you probably haven't seen your class assignment yet."
"Not yet. It's near the north gate, right? Have you seen yours?"
"Nope. I saw how crowded it was earlier, so I didn't bother before going here. I hope the situation is better now." This is it. "Wanna go check it out together?"
"Mhm, sure."
And just like that, I started walking side by side with Shirase Yumina.
As expected, I could feel the stares of many people. Most of them were from guys. I was used to this kind of thing though, and I'm sure Shirase was the same.
If that Akito-guy saw us, he'd probably go livid.
"Now that I think about it, how did you know who I was, Shirase-san? I recognized you because you were popular even in Fujitama, but I'm basically a nobody."
"You're silly," she giggled. "I'm not that popular. And besides, you're far from a nobody, Katsuhira-kun. You were the-"
"Ah, Yumina!" A girl came running to us.
"Tsucchi!" Shirase happily turned to her.
"Huh? Motokawa-san?" I narrowed my eyes, making sure I called out to the right person.
"Katsuhira-kun?"
"Oh, you know each other?" asked Shirase. "I guess that makes sense. You're both from Fujitama."
"Well, yeah. We were never classmates though— only talked here and there," said Motokawa. "Wait, I should be asking you that! Why are you two walking together? Did I miss something?!"
"No, you didn't..." I replied. "Shirase-san and I just happened to talk near the south gate and decided to check the class assignments together."
"Ahh, I see..." Motokawa suddenly stared at my face before grinning. "Well, I had a hard time brawling with the crowd, but luckily, I managed to see my name on the list. I'll go ahead, Yumina."
"Oh, okay, Tsucchi! I hope I'm in the same class as you!"
Motokawa waved at us before sauntering away.
"So you were friends with Motokawa-san, huh?" I said as the two of us continued walking.
"Yep! We were classmates in elementary school, and we stayed in touch even though we didn't attend the same middle school."
"You must be glad to be reunited."
"Hehe, I really am." Her happy face can really brighten up someone's day. "What about you, Katsuhira-kun? Any old friends in this school?"
"Hmm, I don't think so. I only have friends from Fujitama."
"Ahh, I guess that's the case for most of us. I've met a bunch of my friends from middle school earlier too."
The sound of voices was starting to get louder.
"Seriously, this is such a hassle..." I sighed. "But it's not as bad as earlier, so we can probably take a look."
"Ahaha, I'm sure we'll be fine. Let's do this!" Shirase pumped her fist adorably.
Cut that out, please. You're going put the boys' rational thinking into disorder.
It doesn't affect me though, I swear.
Putting that train of thought aside, I focused on looking for my assigned class. Most classrooms were in the Sekihou building, so it only made sense that this would be the densest area during the first day. There were only a few classrooms in the other buildings since most of them are used for economics, laboratories, or clubs.
They could put up posters or bulletin boards in other buildings to lessen the traffic but... tch, this area was honestly spacious enough for this not to feel like a marketplace. The fault lies in the students. Most of them were lingering around even after finding their class while some others were having group talks nearby. Just get the heck out of here once you're done, damn it!
"Hmm... Oh, there it is. I guess I'm in Class 1-B," I said.
"Ah, there's my name! In Class 1-B! Looks like we'll be classmates from now on, Katsuhira-kun. I'm looking forward to it!" Shirase turned to me with a smile.
Really, what a nice person.
"Yeah, same here, Shirase-san."
I'd say this was a lucky strike, and that's rare for someone like me. Shirase seemed like a fun person. She was cute, friendly, and easy to talk to. It would've been a shame if we weren't classmates and this turned out to be our last conversation.