After homeroom, new students were free to go once we bought our textbooks. The six of us headed out to buy them together.
Well, I thought, things are playing out very differently from last time. I didn’t hang out with these guys at this point in time. Nor were Reita, Uta, and Tatsuya friends with Hoshimiya and Nanase. I think. Probably?
Did my actions affect everyone else somehow? There are probably no other factors that would change history besides me, so it’s gotta be me. Of course, it would’ve been a different story if other people had traveled through time. But there were endless possibilities if I started going down that rabbit hole.
“Aaah! Textbooks are sooo heavy!” Uta groaned as she lugged her bundle of books.
“C’mon, you’re kidding, right? Aren’t you too weak to join the basketball club, then?” Tatsuya scoffed.
Peeved by Tatsuya’s provocation, Uta made a complete one-eighty and toughed it out. “This is nothing!” she exclaimed.
“They really are heavy, though.” Nanase took a breath and then turned to her bestie. “Hikari, you okay there?”
“Aha...ha.” Hoshimiya tried to laugh, but she was too out of breath. “I’m not sure I can make it home carrying these.” Her slender arms were trembling. She didn’t look like she worked out at all, which made sense given she’d belonged to the literature club. “I think they’ll be easier to carry once I put them in my bag, but it’s hard to hold them all in my arms.”
I hesitated and then said, “Hoshimiya, want me to hold them if they’re too heavy for you?” I held my books under my left arm and offered my right hand to her.
Hoshimiya blinked up at me for a moment. “Wow, Haibara-kun, you’re strong.”
“Call me Natsuki. This is nothing much.”
“Um, th-then, Natsuki-kun. I’d feel bad if you carried them all, so will you take half?”
“Okay.” In my mind, I pumped my fist in glee due to how smoothly I’d gotten her to call me by my name. I assured her in a deliberately lighthearted tone that the books weren’t heavy and took half of hers in my right arm.
This is pretty heavy, I grunted internally. I’d just put up a front when I said the books were light, but I continued acting as if they weighed as much as a feather. It’s all to get close to Hoshimiya. You could even say I worked out to get close to Hoshimiya!
Reita took half of Nanase’s textbooks as well after seeing what I did for Hoshimiya. Tatsuya and Uta made eye contact, glared at each other, and then turned away with a huff. Are those two close or not? Well, it’s probably fine. Uta’s in the basketball club so she should be plenty capable in spite of her height.
And so, I carried Hoshimiya’s textbooks all the way back to her desk. I really pushed myself; not only were the books bulky and heavy, but there were so dang many of them.
“Carrying all these books home is basically a workout!” I said. “Screw it, I’ll just leave them in my locker.”
“I wish we could,” Reita said. “But won’t they get mad if we leave our textbooks at school?”
“It’s fine! It’s fine! We have to bring them back to school anyway. They’re just bricks in our bags,” Tatsuya said with a shrug.
“Oh, so you’re not planning on studying at home?” Nanase asked with a demeaning grin.
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll figure it out when class starts,” Tatsuya replied.
Nanase looked up at him, about to shut his devil-may-care attitude down. But she stopped herself and sighed. “Hikari, don’t let these delinquents corrupt you.”
“What? Who’s a delinquent? Are you talking about Natsuki-kun and Tatsuya-kun?” Hoshimiya asked, puzzled.
“Who’re you calling a delinquent?” I bantered.
Smooth one! Remember, enter the conversation with confidence, just like this. I made a mental note of that sensation.
I’d made it past the first hurdle and joined the cheerful, popular kids of the class. Next on the agenda would have to be firmly establishing my position. I had failed at this step last time around. Right now, our group was composed of three subgroups: Reita, Uta, and Tatsuya; Hoshimiya and Nanase; and me by myself. I needed to build up a relationship with each person individually, or else I would soon be isolated.
“But you know, I wasn’t ready for high school textbooks to be this massive.” Hoshimiya flipped through the book for Math 1A. “Whoa... I don’t understand any of this either! I’m starting to get worried.”
“Don’t worry; it’ll be fine. You’ll get it if you pay attention during class,” Tatsuya said optimistically.
“I don’t know about that. Ryomei may not be number one in the prefecture, but it’s still quite renowned. Most students who graduate go on to high-ranking universities,” Reita warned.
He was right; the tests at this school were very difficult. Although I had gone through all the classes once before, I would still need to review and study up. Furthermore, this was an academically oriented school, which meant one of the best ways to show off my specs would be to have good grades.
I hadn’t been gifted with athletic prowess, a sidesplitting sense of humor, or talent in the arts. That’s why I wanted to excel in academics, at the very least. Plus, I had seven whole years worth of extra experience.
While in college, I’d majored in science and actually been pretty diligent about studying, albeit secretly so no one would know. So that was four years of beating science and math into my brain. The bigger problem would be the humanities.
“Don’t worry! Tatsu is here so at least you won’t be last in the class!” Uta reassured her.
“Hey! I may be an idiot, but I’d never lose to you! Never.”
As usual, seeing Uta and Tatsuya butt heads made Reita sigh and step in. “Good grief. Stop fighting, you guys. You’re both around the same level anyway, so you look silly bickering about it. It’s unsightly.”
“You didn’t have to say it!” Reita’s scathing remark made Uta wail out in shock.
I had been thinking the same thing. Man, this guy looks nice and eloquent but his words sting. In my past, I’d only known Tatsuya and Uta through the basketball club, and I hadn’t been close to Reita at all. It was somehow refreshing to see this side of him. So this is what he’s like.
“Shiratori-kun, does that mean you’re good at studying?” Nanase asked.
“Well, better than those two, at least. I doubt I can beat you, though,” Reita replied.
“Oh? What makes you think that?”
“I can tell that you’re smart. Am I right, Hoshimiya-san?”
“Yep, Yuino-chan was always ranked number one at our school!” Hoshimiya confirmed.
“Ranked number one?! That’s crazy!” I joined in the conversation with exaggerated surprise. I actually had been surprised, but I made sure to play it up a little. My normal reaction is too boring, I reasoned. I need to overreact a bit if I want to be a cool kid. At least, according to my analysis, anyway.
“That’s right! Yuino-chan is super smart!” Hoshimiya bragged.
“Hikari, why are you acting so proud? Speaking of which, what rank were you? Sixtieth?” Nanase added, getting in a sarcastic dig as always.
“We don’t need to talk about me!”
“That’s unexpectedly average...” I murmured.
“Why do you have to be so brutally honest? Stop that!” she joked with me.
I was secretly over the moon at how Hoshimiya had retorted playfully to my teasing. It’s hard to tell how close we are, but I think it’s going well. Right?
“If you’re gonna talk like that, then what about you, Natsuki? What was your rank?” Tatsuya threw his arm around me and rested his weight there.
Do you have to put your arm on my shoulder just to ask me that? I caught myself being negative again; I truly was an introvert through and through! I need to get used to how pushy jock types can be.
“Who, me? My grades weren’t bad.”
“Well, yeah. If they were, you wouldn’t have gotten into Ryomei in the first place,” said Tatsuya.
My middle school grades, huh? How were they? About average, I think. But I wanted to go to Ryomei specifically for my high school debut, so I studied like crazy to get in.
“I worked really hard before the exams and somehow made it in.”
“Oh, then you’re just like me!” Tatsu crowed.
“Me too! Yaaay, one of us!” Uta cheered.
She raised her hand up in front of my face, confusing me for a second until I realized she wanted a high five. As soon as I put my hand up, Uta slapped my palm loudly. She had to do a little hop because she was so short. She’s kinda like a cute little cat, I thought.
“Ah, that’s my mom.” Hoshimiya was looking at her phone. “I need to head home,” she said. With that, we all dispersed.
My mom was also waiting for me since she’d attended the parent information session after the entrance ceremony. She drove me home, and we had yakiniku together on the way. It was delicious!