“All right, now let’s decide the class order. Any ideas?” Beside me, Yuuko shot her hand up into the air again. “We should all be able to sit with the guy or girl we have a crush on!” “No, thanks! I’ll never be able to study if I’m surrounded by a harem of hotties.” Er, Yuuko? This is a class of mostly popular kids, remember? (And a few loners.) Better not force everyone to sound each other out just yet. “We should arm wrestle. Winners get to choose where they sit.” “Kaito, please. The grown-ups are talking.” “We should be seated based on last year’s grades.” “Kazuki, please. I really think your contribution to this discussion should be silence. Although… Let’s talk about your grades last year…” “I want to sit at the back so I can snooze during class!” “I appreciate the candor, Haru. But I really think your seat should be right under the teacher’s nose.” “I like that logic. Put me in the back, too.” “If we’re going by number of personality flaws, I think you and Kazuki ought to be seated first, Nanase!” “We should just draw paper slips and make it fair.” “Now, now, Yua… Don’t spoil the fun with logic.” “Wait, why am I getting chewed out?” I heaved a huge, put-upon sigh before casting my gaze over the class. Then I suggested the immediately obvious choice. “Okay, kiddos. Since we can’t agree, I’m going to exercise my presidential authority. Now as I look at you all sitting here so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I think to myself, Ah yes, how fresh, how befitting the new school year this setup is! So I propose we stay seated alphabetically. What say you?” I waited for a few seconds, but since there was no opposition, I continued. “Anyone with any issues, come talk to me. Issues may include but are not limited to ‘I can’t see the blackboard because my eyes are bad,’ ‘Kaito’s big head is blocking my view,’ ‘Kazuki keeps staring at me, and it’s making me uncomfortable,’ and so on and so forth. We’ll take it on a case-by-case basis. Okay?” I was well aware of the fact that only the popular kids had been contributing to the discussion so far. The others probably felt too afraid to. Those who ended up seated at the front by alphabetical order may have had their grievances, but it was also easier to see the board from up there. It wasn’t worth coming to the class president and complaining. And since I’d chosen alphabetical order, no one could accuse me of prioritizing the popular kids. My plan was calculated to avoid as much class discord as possible. “All right, so everyone seems to be on board. Then let’s stay seated like this for second year. I look forward to serving you all as class president.” “Wow, what a lame ending. What happened to the humor?” “…Ah, I’ll also agree to seating changes if the sight of Kura puts you off your schoolwork, ha-ha-ha!” Since it was the first day of school, and we had the opening ceremony and all, we didn’t have any classes beyond homeroom. Half the kids headed off to club activities, and the other half headed home. Kaito, Haru, and Yuuko had tennis club; Yua had band practice—all my buddies had clubs to go to. I was the only one with a wide-open afternoon stretching out in front of me. I bought a can of coffee from the vending machine and made my way up to the school roof, slippers slapping on the steps. I could hear the band’s trumpets somewhere far-off. I could hear the shouts of the soccer club, warming up by running laps. The rubbery bounce of the basketball club’s balls and the squeaking of their sneakers. And the dull thwacks of the baseball team’s mitts coming into contact with the hard baseballs. As I listened idly to all these typical after-school sounds, I was overcome with a sense of melancholy. I opened the roof door and was met with the sight of the railings towering over me, fencing in a square of blue overhead. The sky was so blue it felt almost oppressive, so vast it made me feel suffocated. And there were tiny puffs of gray, lighter than clouds, floating just above the railings. I headed over there to see a familiar face I’d rather not have encountered. “Ah, hello, hello.” Kura was leaning up against the housing unit of the water tank, enjoying himself a cigarette. “I thought this school was nonsmoking anywhere on the premises?” I made my way up the little ladder and sat myself down beside Kura. “Just another silly rule invented by the education board to keep up appearances. As long as I don’t blow smoke on the kids, who cares?” “And who am I, then, if not one of said kids?” “You’re the one who’s smart enough to figure out which is the better option between tattling on me to the other teachers or having free use of the spare key to the rooftop. That’s who.” “Well, thanks for the compliment.” Like most high schools in Japan, our school frowns upon kids coming and going on the rooftop as they please. Essentially, it’s forbidden. Still, you can sometimes get permission from Kura, the Keeper of the Key, to eat bento lunches here with your buddies. But you have to ask in advance, and it’s kind of a hassle, so most people don’t bother. Me, though? Well, Kura appointed me Roof-Cleaning Officer, a totally made-up role, so I get to come up here whenever I want, without having to ask anybody. It’s pretty sweet. “Aren’t you ashamed to be a smoker in this day and age, though? Society is trying to stamp out your kind, you know.” “Eh, people are just looking for an easy scapegoat.” “You’re telling me.” I popped the tab on my can of coffee, thinking bitterly about the school gossip website. “Well, it’s true that secondhand smoke affects the health of others. And if someone tells me they don’t like the smell, well, I can’t really argue against that. It’s the self-righteous jerks I can’t stand. They just want to sling mud at others. It’s the same anywhere in society, from school to the workplace. It’s like a modern-day witch trial. They’ll burn you at the stake no matter what you say.” Kura was spitting some feisty words here, but all the while, he continued to placidly blow smoke rings. “Yeah, it’s the ones who sling mud without even stopping to consider if they’re right or wrong that I can’t stand. You kids grow up to be adults like that, and I’ll have failed in my duty as a shaper of young minds.” “I so agree. Spot me one?” I held out my hand for a cigarette—not seriously, of course. Kura smacked it away lightly. “Don’t push it, kiddo. If I end up jobless on the street, it’ll be on your head.” “You’re an excellent example to us all why adults shouldn’t be trusted, Kura.” “Oh, go stick your head down the blouses of Hiiragi or Nanase like a good horny high schooler, would ya?” “Now, now, that’s no way for an educator to talk, even in jest.” I took a delicate sip of my coffee. “…So whaddaya want, Teach?” As homeroom ended, Kura had told me to meet him at “the usual place.” “So you’re class prez, right?” Kura pulled a crumpled packet of Lucky Strike out of his breast pocket and lit up his second cigarette in a row. “Oh, whoops, I just realized I’m late for practice…” Sensing danger afoot, I tried to get to my feet so I could beat it. But Kura grabbed me by the shoulder and yanked me back down. He was skinny as a stick but plenty powerful enough. I sat myself down obediently. “Listen, Chitose… Don’t you think it’s better for the class to be all together? No one left behind, and all that?” “Ah yes, depending on the charms of the homeroom teacher, I think that’s the best way to be…” I had noticed there was an empty desk in the back of the classroom. I figured the kid was maybe out sick, but I guess not. “We were missing a student today, the first day of Year Two, Class Five, right? His name’s Kenta Yamazaki. Last year he was in Year One, Class One. He wasn’t a star student or anything, but he got decent grades and had a couple friends. But beginning in third semester, he started having absences, and soon he stopped coming altogether.” I’d never heard that name before. No-shows were kind of a rarity in our school. Attendance was pretty solid, generally speaking. I don’t know how it is in other schools, but most students at Fuji High plan to go to college. That’s why they take the exam for Fuji in the first place, since it’s a college prep school. Our student body consists of mostly smart kids. And yeah, there are some jerks who write shit about people on underground school gossip websites, and sometimes they try to outdo each other when it comes to test scores (the stress buildup can get ugly), but basically bullying isn’t an issue here. Sometimes students who only scraped by on the entrance exam end up dropping out because they just can’t keep up, but this didn’t sound like that sort of situation. I shrugged. “So why’d he stop coming?” “His previous homeroom teacher visited his family home several times but wasn’t able to speak to Yamazaki directly. Asking his friends didn’t turn up much, either; they weren’t that close with him. They only hung out because of shared interests.” “I see. So now you get to show off your skills as an educator.” “Anyway, that’s all the information I have right now. The shared interests in question, incidentally, are anime and light novels. That whole genre, you know.” “Er, that’s nice and all, but I get the sense we’re talking past each other. Conversation is a game of catch, you know.” Kura pretended not to hear me. I heaved an exaggerated sigh. Then I continued, a little more seriously than before. “All right, I’ll bite… Why are you talking to me about this?” “You’re class president, Chitose. Class president is a position of responsibility, with a duty of care to their fellow classmates…” “Yikes. It’s just symbolic, though, isn’t it?” “I thought you were my maid, Chitose.” “Aw, screw you.” Kura had me trapped. I figured he’d deliberately had me take over as class president so he could stick me with this conundrum right after. There was no limit to the stuff he could make me do, using the “class president” angle as leverage. “Only kids know what other kids go through at school. Like adults are the only ones who know what other adults have to deal with. Do you have any idea why a catch like me is still single past the age of thirty, hmm? Do you have any idea why I have to spend the majority of my meager teacher’s salary down at the local titty parlor, Don’t Make Me Take Off My Blazer? Well, do you?” “Okay, well, now I know you’re a total failure as a man, not just as a teacher! …Tch. So you want me to go and convince this Kenta Yamazaki kid to come back to school, right? Why didn’t you just ask Yuuko?” “Hiiragi doesn’t have the subtlety needed for something like this. She’d charge in without knowing all the details and end up driving the kid even farther into his shell. You’re better at analyzing a situation and acting accordingly.” “In other words, you know I don’t even have the option of saying no, huh?” “So here’s an issue that a kid of your skills could easily solve, but you’re just going to turn your back? I thought you were more capable than that, Chitose. Everyone’s superhero.” Kura gave me a grin loaded with meaning. Tch. This unshaven old dude was such a pain to deal with. What’s that saying? Don’t chase what eludes you; don’t reject what comes to you. I didn’t usually go out of my way to help others, but in a situation like this where I’ve been asked specifically, I found myself wanting to do a good job. To swoop in there and tie this problem up in a nice, neat bow and get credit for a job well done. After all, I have appearances to keep up. If I want to keep my life running smoothly, I have to be the Saku Chitose everyone wants to believe I really am. “You’ll let me handle this my way, right? And I want proper compensation for my troubles.” “Oh yeah? You want me to bring you along to the titty bar, too?” “No need. I know plenty of cute girls who are more than willing to ‘take off their blazer’ for free.” “…You know anyone into older guys?” “You are so gross…” I found myself back once again on the river embankment path from this morning. But this time, I was walking in the opposite direction. There’re a lot of paths and roads to take to school, but I like this embankment path. The riverbed’s around twenty meters in width, flanked on both sides by an assortment of old and new houses. And I enjoy the symmetry of the electricity pylons standing at neat intervals with cables strung tight between them. And then there’s the view of the mountains in the background. No cars, either, so it’s a good place for a casual stroll. Lots of feral cats, too, basking in the sun and yawning without a care in the world. As the sight of homeward-bound students became sparser and sparser, I spotted someone sitting beside the sluice gate. Walking with careful, quiet steps, I headed down the little slope meant for accessing the gate. I didn’t want to disturb her peace. She was radiating such an aura of stillness. I spoke up, hoping my voice would be no more jarring than the soft trickling sounds of the river’s water. “Hey, Asuka.” She lifted her face from the paperback book she was reading and fixed her eyes on me. Then, the upperclassman Asuka Nishino responded, in a voice as dismissive as a cool spring breeze: “Ah, it’s you. I had a feeling I’d see you today.” The late afternoon sun made the downy hair on her cheek seem to almost glisten, and her eyes crinkled into a smile, making the small mole underneath her left eye rise. That expression drew me in as she raised a hand in greeting. She was both curvaceous and delicately built, and she wore her tie tight around her collar. Her skirt was in that modest gray zone between short and long. Her understated, muted beauty struck me all of a sudden in that moment. “What are you reading?” I asked. “It’s Phantom Lady by Cornell Woolrich.” “‘The night was young, and so was he. But the night was sweet, and he was sour.’ That’s the new edition, isn’t it? I like that opening passage better than anything in any other novel I’ve read.” “…Of course you’ve read it. Man, you’re annoying.” I had first met Asuka in September of last year. I quit baseball club over summer break, and I was heading home along the embankment, not sure what to do with myself. “Hey! He’s getting away!” “Let’s chase him!” Scuff, scuff, scuff. Clomp, clomp, clomp. A little ways ahead, I could see a bunch of kids playing together and having themselves a good old time. They seemed to be playing a game of samurai. The three of them were running at top speed, carrying “swords,” aka loose branches they’d picked up somewhere. And they were chasing a fourth kid. The fleeing kid also had a branch-sword, but he didn’t seem willing to use it. He must have been the weak link in that little group. I watched them for a while, and then the kid who was being chased ended up slipping and falling into the river. The flow was pretty light there, so there was no real danger of the kid drowning or anything. But the embankment was steep, and a kid his size would have a lot of trouble climbing out by himself. “Loser!” “Ew! You’re covered in mud and river goo! You stay far away from us on the walk home, got it?” The kid’s three “friends” were jeering at him as they peered down the embankment. None of them seemed willing to lend him a hand. There were other students about, heading home from school, but they seemed to be ignoring the scene on purpose. Some of them even visibly picked up speed in an effort to hurry past. Probably it was just friends roughhousing and not genuine bullying. But I figured the least I could do was scoop the tearful-looking kid out of the river, lend him a towel, give his friends a gentle scolding, and admonish them to go easier next time. Now that I’d noticed it, I couldn’t just look the other way and walk past. It would be lame. Just as I was about to step in… “Hey, guys, let me play, too!” With a splash, a teenage girl appeared, plunging down the hill into the river. I blinked, trying to process the new development in the situation. I was just standing there open-mouthed, staring at her. Ignoring the gawking boys, the girl began splashing the fallen boy with river water in a playful manner. I clocked her school uniform immediately. She was one of ours. “Hey, come on! Splash back!” The students who had been ignoring the scene just before had now stopped and were gawking down at the girl with their noses wrinkled. Some of them were whispering to each other and smirking. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was obvious they were talking about how the girl must have a few screws loose. I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t thinking the same thing. It was definitely a very odd, illogical scene. The river wasn’t dirty and stinky or anything, but it still wasn’t exactly the kind of place you’d want to splash around in, either. You had to expect to end up covered in mud if you started playing down there. But the girl didn’t seem to pay any attention to the state of her uniform or the stares of the onlookers. She just kept splashing the kid. Her smile was so bright and beaming that the kid soon seemed to shrug off the weirdness of the situation and began splashing her back. “Come on and join us, you guys!” The girl called out to the other three kids who were still standing on the embankment. At first, they seemed weirded out, but the girl’s exuberance seemed to take hold of them, too. They exchanged shrugs and flung themselves down the slope into the river. “Hey, lady, you are seriously bonkers.” “Splash battle! Splash battle!” “Hee-hee! You’ll never win against me! I’ve got years of splash battle experience on you! Hey! Little squirt! Why are you sneaking up behind me? That’s a dirty move! And just after I helped you!” “You didn’t help me. You just started splashing me.” Now the bullied kid was ganging up with his so-called friends against the girl. “Don’t let her get away!” “Get her!” Tromp, tromp, tromp. Sploosh, sploosh, sploosh. They began a game of tag, right there in the river. It was the same kind of game as before, but this time, instead of yelling, they were all laughing together. …What the heck was going on? After they had all played in the river for a good amount of time, they made their way back up the bank. That’s when I finally stepped in and offered my sports towel. The four kids shared it, wiping off their faces one by one. Then they called “You’re a weird lady, ya know that?” and all ran off together, shoulder to shoulder, soaked T-shirts clinging to their backs. The girl watched them go, then slowly turned to look at me. Her school blazer, hair, face, everything, was dripping wet. Her blouse had gone see-through, and I could make out the camisole she wore underneath. But I couldn’t really appreciate the sensuality of it under the current circumstances. I checked out her blazer crest and saw she was in second year. “Enchanted by the lady of the lake? Well, river.” “Uh, no. I was just thinking you look like the ghost of someone who drowned at sea.” “Seriously?” But the girl laughed loudly with amusement. “Aw, man, I need to get this uniform dry-cleaned. Hey, you—you got any extra gym clothes in your bag or anything? I didn’t have gym class today.” The girl blinked at me as she tried in vain to rub her hair dry with my towel, which was already completely saturated after the four boys had used it. “I do, but they’re pretty sweaty. They don’t smell so fresh.” I handed her my gym bag, and she stuck her face right in there and began sniffing. “Aw, man, that reeks! It’s like someone used a dishcloth to mop up spilled milk at an elementary school.” “Hey now, it’s not that bad. You want me to shove you back into the river?” “I was only messing with you. It smells nice actually, like fabric softener. Can I borrow this? I swear I’ll wash it and give it back to you. I’ll just head back to school, change, and then walk home. If I walk around at dusk dripping and muddy like this, people will start calling the local priest.” But the girl herself didn’t seem all that concerned about the fact that she was wet and muddy. “Sure, but can I ask you one question?” “Ye-es?” “Why did you do that? A normal person would have scooped the kid out of the river and given his friends a lecture. I mean, I was just about to do that myself until you showed up.” The girl rubbed her chin. “Hmm,” she said pensively. It seemed she’d acted on instinct and hadn’t really thought it through beforehand. “Well, I was kinda thinking about how it would suck for that kid to be the only one having to walk home wet and muddy. If everyone got in and splashed around, then they would all be in the same boat, and they could head home as friends. That would be much better in my opinion.” “Yeah, but you ended up wet and muddy, too. You weren’t even part of the situation until you inserted yourself in it. And all the kids walking home were laughing at you.” The girl smiled, looking me in the eyes. For some strange reason, I had the feeling she was seeing right into my mind. “I’m not sure why something like that is supposed to bother me, but okay…” Her gentle smile became a challenging grin. “If I cared what people thought, I wouldn’t fling myself into a river like that in the first place, right? Anyway, I just thought it seemed like fun… So what you’re saying to me now is, like, irrelevant.” I had no idea how to respond. Most normal human beings factor in other people’s perceptions before doing, well, anything. I mean, I was planning to help the kid out, but in a way that would make me look like a hero. Then people would be like, “Wow, what a good guy.” Otherwise, I guess I wouldn’t have done it. But this crazy girl was standing here saying she did it because it “seemed like fun.” It was almost like she accepted herself or something. Like she was exactly where she was meant to be in the world, and she only had to answer to herself. And in the act of being herself, she’d solved the situation for the kid in a way that was going to benefit him much more than what I’d planned to do. “Can I ask one more?” “Sure.” The girl was wringing out the towel, seeming totally unbothered by anything I may have had to say. “What’s your name?” “Asuka Nishino. You write Asuka with the characters for tomorrow and breeze.” Silhouetted against the deep-red setting sun, the girl gave me a soft smile. In that moment, she seemed so beautiful. The wet hair stuck to her cheek? Beautiful. The brown smudge of mud on her nose? Beautiful. She had taken off her shoes and socks, and I could see her bare toes. They were beautiful, too. A soft, late summer breeze swept across us both. After this, I would be looking out for her at school—and on the path home. Tomorrow. Breeze. The name suited her. This girl who lived free, by her own rules. It suited her perfectly. “So I’m class president again, and Kura wasted no time in forcing me to do something for him.” I had plopped down next to Asuka, and now I was telling her all about Kenta Yamazaki. “You’re imperfectly perfect, as always. Like a spotless park you’re not allowed to set off fireworks in.” “That’s a weird comparison. Anyway, everyone prefers a nice tidy park, don’t they?” “But the park prohibits ball games and dog walking, too. No play equipment, either, in case kids get hurt. So no kids around. Just stone-faced adults, reading books like a bunch of statues.” “…Yeah, it sounds super boring.” “Then change the rules if you think that. Then the pretty park will become a fun place to play.” “It’s difficult to change the rules once they’ve been established.” “Is it? All you have to do is pull down the signposts telling people not to do stuff. Boom, done.” “We live in a litigious society. If anything happens, you’ll have a lawsuit on your hands.” Asuka closed her book and stashed it in her schoolbag. Then she got to her feet with a “Hup!” before gazing at the river for a few moments. After that, she turned to look back at me. “Here’s a question. If the girl you’re closest to in your class and I were both drowning—like in the ocean or a big lake—which one of us would you save? You get a kayak in this scenario. A bright-red one. But the kayak only seats two.” “The second person could just cling onto the back of the kayak.” “No, no, the water is infested with piranhas and crocodiles.” Asuka wagged her finger in my face like she was telling off a small child. “I dunno if I’d be able to even row in such dangerous waters.” Asuka continued, as if I hadn’t even said anything. “I’d save you. No contest. Even if it was between my favorite guy in my class and you. I like you more, you see.” “So what happens to the Favorite Guy in Your Class, then?” I turned the question back around on her, my heart pounding all of a sudden. Still, I knew she wasn’t using the word like in the romantic sense. “I’ll pray for his soul. I’ll pray that the piranhas and crocodiles eat him up quickly. It must hurt a lot to be nibbled to death by piranhas, don’t you think?” Asuka clasped her hands together in prayer, her eyes unfocused as if seeing the scenario play out in her mind. “But if it was between you and a cat, I’d save the kitty, of course!” “I’ll hold the cat. I swear. Let me on the kayak!” “…I bet you wouldn’t bother saving anyone. You’d just paddle off by yourself.” Asuka crouched down in front of me, hugging her knees and gazing at me. “No, I’d give up the kayak to you two. I’d swim and take my chances. That’s the most beautiful choice. That’s what I’d want to believe.” “Yeah, right. You’d be squealing, ‘Don’t let the piranhas get me!’” “No, I’d accept my fate. While the fishies were nibbling on my toes and earlobes.” “Geez, they’re going right for the places that hurt, huh?” Her comment had wounded me a little, so I’d just been trying to laugh it off. I often had the feeling that she made no attempt to filter herself around me and just said whatever she wanted. “…Yep, that’s Saku Chitose.” See what I mean? Asuka scooped her bag up from its spot beside me and shouldered it. I wanted to keep talking, but it looked like she was done for now. “So why’d you bring up the kayak scenario anyhow?” “There’s no real reason. It just came to me. If you insist on being the hero, then fine. Go sleep with the fishies. But if you make it back…we’ll have a duel.” “You’d fight a man with piranhas dangling from his body? Maybe I’m just extra-tasty bait.” That evening, I was lying on my bed scrolling on my phone. I’d been in various LINE app friend groups since Year One, but today I had a bunch of messages from girls I’d met in my new class and swapped LINE IDs with. I went down the list, sick of the same old boring group chats. Sending basic responses. I put a little more effort into responding to the girls I wanted to get to know better. It was like going through veggies at the grocery store, picking out the tastier-looking ones, and tossing the rest back. Relationships with other kids can be complicated when you’re popular. You have to know where to draw the line. Other kids approach you freely, either because they like you or because they hate you, and you have to decide how and when to cut them off. Sometimes you get caught up in a trap. It’s like walking across a minefield. You can never let your guard down. And once you put on the “good guy” mask, you have to keep it on right up until graduation. About thirty minutes later, I finished dealing with my personal correspondence. Then I could finally open the messages from my actual friends. First was Kaito’s. Breast-Master Saku, I have a question. What cup size sayest thou, on the subject of our basketball queen, Yuzuki Nanase? “Hmm. I’d say it’s approaching solid C-cup territory.” Wait, how big are Yuuko’s again? “I estimate a pillowy D cup.” Thank you, Master!!! Kaito was such a dork. And fast to text back. Entirely too fast. Kazuki’s message was simple. What’s up for lunch tomorrow? “Cafeteria food, I guess. Shall we invite Nanase and Haru?” Yuuko’s message was littered with emoji. Darling! (a ton of pink hearts) Let’s both do our best as class prez and vice prez! (a ton of faces with star eyes) (a ton of thumbs-ups) (tons of red hearts) Nanase’s message was interesting, very interesting, indeed. I was hoping to get to know you more, Chitose. looking forward to talking to you. “I was hoping to get to know you, too, Nanase. Let’s chat it up anytime.” For some reason, Haru’s message was just a super-close-up photo of a hot dog on a stick. HOT DIGGITY DOG! I’m sizzling with excitement for the new school year with you! “Can’t you send me a cute selfie like a normal girl?” All right, that’s enough of that. Putting my phone down on the bedside table, I headed out onto my balcony. The moon was a perfect circle in the sky, like it had been drawn using a compass. The air outside was still pretty warm despite the late hour, and it smelled of spring. I felt restless. For some reason, ever since I was young, I’ve always felt like a full moon heralds the coming of something new. It was a late country night. All the people you’d see walking along would be tucked in bed by now. No cars running, either. It was ten o’clock, after all. Half the people in town were probably already asleep. The others were probably getting ready for bed. As I stood there in this air pocket of empty time, weird thoughts started coming to me. Did I really exist in this town? What if I was a character in some fictional place, just playing out the role that was written for me? What if I burst and disappeared tomorrow, like a bubble? Would I leave any lasting marks on anyone? What would remain of my pain, my sadness, my loneliness? Would it even matter? This pathetic little town, this pathetic little high school…and all the pathetic little popular kids in it. What if we were all just running around in circles inside a glass terrarium, with no way out? I reached one hand up to the moon, almost trying to gauge how far away from it I really was. And I thought about Kenta Yamazaki. What’s on your mind right now, man? If you’re looking at the moon right now, is it the same one I’m looking at or one that’s completely different? I went back inside my room, picked up my phone, and selected a name from my contact list. Then I placed a call.
Chapter 5
28 min read