“I’ll be the mom, so you be the dad, ’kay, Ryou?” “Huh? Why? I wanna be the dog!” Back when we were little, we played house this one time—like any kids would probably do. The expression on her face right now, sitting next to me in class, was the exact same one she’d had back when she was whining about being the dog. She had her cheeks puffed to near detonation while she busied herself copying the text on the blackboard. Full hamster-bomb mode. The tension seemed to go all the way down to her hands—I could hear her mechanical pencil’s lead breaking again and again. What had flipped her hamster switch? Well… Ryou, let’s have lunch together! Huh? Why? No thanks, I’m fine by myself. …I said that. Or rather, I wrote it, during our notebook chat. I had no idea why that hamster-fied her, but that was the apparent trigger. After the last morning class ended, I took my lunch—a convenience-store meal—and left my seat. I wondered if she would end up alone during the break, but no, she had a whole crowd around her, as she did every day. In fact, wasn’t she better off without me? I didn’t really care about having or not having friends, but people who did care put a lot of importance on these first few days of the school year. April was an exhausting time—you had to actively tag yourself as part of a certain group, let people know who your crew was. Fushimi’s eyes met mine for a second, and she had this abandoned-puppy look on her face. Sorry. Your reputation is too much for me to have lunch with you now. I apologized in my mind and left the classroom. I made my way to the physics room on the third floor of the special-classrooms building. It was always open, probably because there was nothing of value in there. When I went inside, I saw someone had already arrived: Torigoe, a girl with shoulder-length hair who was a lunchtime regular in this room. “You’re here.” “Can’t go anywhere else.” We exchanged unenthusiastic greetings, and I sat far away from her, like always. Then we started on our lunches, tapping at our phones without any real conversation. Torigoe was the only person I got along with at school, although I only saw her in this physics room during lunch break. I didn’t know which class she’d ended up in, and I doubted she knew mine. We’d been like this since our first year—not really meddling in each other’s business or talking about anything we didn’t need to. We weren’t really friends, more just two like minds. “So what were you talking about with Her Highness during class?” Despite the nosy question, she didn’t seem particularly interested in the answer. She didn’t even take her eyes off her phone. “Oh, you mean Fushimi? Nothing, really.” “Uh-huh…,” she replied absentmindedly. “Wait, how do you know about that?” “Because we’re in the same class.” Seriously? I had no clue. “It’s also blowing up the group chat.” “…What?” “Yeah, there’s a group chat with, like, seventy percent of the class in it.” “The hell? And you’re in it?” “I mean, yeah. I don’t talk, though. I just lurk.” Huh, that was unexpected. I didn’t peg her as the type for a class group chat. …And they didn’t even invite me. Wh-whatever, not like I care. “Well, I wouldn’t join even if they asked.” And I did kind of wish they’d asked, at least. Even though it was true I wouldn’t have joined. I’m a teenager, please understand. Torigoe left out a soft laugh. “Oh, please, you don’t have to pretend you don’t care.” I’m not pretending! Anyway, Torigoe told me how everyone was excitedly speculating about what I could’ve been talking about with Fushimi. “Don’t they have anything better to do?” “From what I can tell, literally anything Fushimi does is the most fascinating topic in the school.” Seriously? I doubted anyone knew Fushimi and I went all the way back to childhood. We certainly didn’t act the part. “It’s just that nobody expected to see you two together. I was surprised, too. I mean, the perfect princess and the king of loners?” “Wait, the king of what?” It actually fit so well, it wasn’t funny. “Bw-wuh?!” Torigoe let out a bizarre screech. It was probably the first time I’d ever seen her lose her cool. “What’s up?” “Huh? No, nothing… Huh… You don’t know?”
✦ ✦ ✦
Who doesn’t know what? I was confused, but lunchtime had ended. We went back to the classroom separately. As always, Miss Perfect Princess was surrounded by classmates. They had invaded my seat, too. Sigh. I don’t mind you using my seat, but lunch is over. Go away already. It wasn’t such a huge deal that I had to actually tell them off, but it was annoying. Then Fushimi noticed me. “Ryo—er, Takamori is back. Would you mind leaving his seat?” Nicely done, Fushimi! A guy who was obviously dressed for attention reluctantly stood up. I gave Fushimi a thankful thumbs-up. Her calm and collected poise dissolved into a beaming smile. These last few days, she had been different from my mental image of her. We had talked a bit the previous year, but she’d always kept that even expression. Oh well. Come to think of it, she started acting all cool like that back in middle school. I believe it was around the time when she started getting her reputation as the perfect and graceful pretty girl. She looked nothing like the person I’d known my whole life. And I honestly wasn’t a fan. I considered taking a nap when class started, but I felt the short vibration of my phone. Probably my sister asking me to go shopping for groceries on my way back home. I checked my phone below the desk and saw an unfamiliar icon along with the username Hina. …No way. Next to me, Fushimi was sending occasional nervous glances at me. I-it’s her! But how did she get my profile? …Was it Torigoe? And why would she text me when we’re right beside each other?! Torigoe gave me your handle! Hope that’s okay! I mean, it’s fine… Wait—there’s more. Do you want to go back home together today? What’s up with you, Fushimi? Don’t you always go home with your popular friends? I’ve heard the neighbors talk about it. Plus, you sure it’s okay? There’s gotta be plenty of people who want to go with you. I asked her all that with a glance, to which she shrugged, burying her head deeper and deeper into her shoulders. She briskly tapped her phone and then looked at me again. Is that a no? I could feel that she was on edge. Why was she so antsy just from asking me that? There was only one answer I could give. sure The “read” icon popped up instantly as Fushimi lifted her head from her phone and beamed. That smile made my heart skip a beat. I was used to seeing her face, or I thought I was…but I was surprised by how cute she appeared to me right then.