When the train doors opened, the scent of the sea wafted in.
Crowds of students in matching uniforms filed off the train. A single scarecrow-like machine stood at the entrance, reading the chips in their train passes. During the day, there would be an attendant standing by, but there was no one around at the hour Minegahara students plodded through.
Outside the station, they only had to pass a single crossing before the school was right in front of them.
“So how’s Kaede doing?”
“You can’t have her.”
“Come on, be nice to your new brother-in-law.”
“You already have a girlfriend who’s plenty cute, Kunimi.”
“True, now that you mention it.”
“She’d be pissed if she heard any of this.”
“Works for me. Kamisato’s cute when she’s mad. Hoh-hoh, whaddaya know? Thar she blows.”
Sakuta followed Yuuma’s gaze and saw Mai Sakurajima walking on her own several yards ahead of them. Long arms and legs. Petite face. A slim, fashion-model build. Everyone wore the same uniform, but on her, it looked totally different. The black tights she wore, the skirt hiding the curve of her backside, the perfectly fit blazer—it all just seemed totally out of place. Like she was wearing someone else’s clothes. It was her third year here, but Mai didn’t seem to belong in her uniform.
There were three girls chatting near her, and each of them looked much more comfortable in their school clothes. A first-year who was enthusiastically greeting a senpai from her club wore it far better. Even the male student playfully kicking a friend in the back came off as full of life by comparison.
The short road from the station to the school was filled with Minegahara students, chatting and laughing.
But in the center of it all, Mai walked alone in silence, completely isolated. Like an alien who’d wandered into an ordinary high school. Someone out of place. An ugly duckling. It was impossible to look at her any other way.
In fact, nobody was looking at all. The Mai Sakurajima was right here, but she attracted no attention. Nobody seemed excited to catch a glimpse of her. At Minegahara High, that was just normal.
Mai was simply there, like the air itself. Everyone accepted this. It reminded Sakuta of what he’d seen in the Shonandai Library. A sense of unease rose up inside him.
“Uh, Kunimi…”
“Mm?”
“You can see Sakurajima, right?”
“Yep, clear as daylight. I’ve got good eyes. Both twenty-ten!”
Yuuma’s answer was just as he’d expected. So what exactly had Sakuta seen the day before?
✦ ✦ ✦
“See ya later.”
“Mm.”
Yuuma was in a different class this year, so they split up at the second-floor landing. Sakuta headed for Class 2-1. When he got there, the room was already half-full.
He sat down at the front of the row by the windows. With a name like Azusagawa, he pretty much always ended up here on the spring seating charts. Unless there was an Aikawa or an Aizawa, he’d generally be first on the class roll. Unfortunately, being first in this case didn’t come with any real upside. Still, ever since starting at Minegahara High, Sakuta had come to appreciate this spring seating arrangement.
After all, the windows at school offered a commanding view of the ocean.
He could see a number of people out wind surfing, hoping to catch an early morning breeze.
“Hey.”
“……”
“Hey, I’m talking to you.”
Hearing a voice nearby, Sakuta looked up.
A girl was standing in front of his desk, staring crossly down at him. A key member of this class’s most popular group of girls. Her name was Saki Kamisato.
Big, wide-open eyes. Hair to her shoulders that curled slightly inward. Subtle makeup, with a tasteful shade of pink on her lips. All the guys agreed she was cute.
“Can’t believe you ignored me!”
“Sorry. Didn’t think there was still anyone in class who’d actually talk to me.”
“Listen…”
The bell rang.
And the teacher came in with it.
“Argh! We need to talk. Roof, after school.”
She slapped his desk and then wove her way through the classroom back to her own seat.
“I don’t get a say, huh?” he muttered. Then he put his chin on his hand and focused on the view.
The sea was still there. Offering no assistance.
“What a pain…”
Getting called out after school by a girl didn’t give Sakuta even the slightest flicker of hope. Not even the tiniest hint of a thrill.
For one thing, Saki Kamisato was dating Yuuma Kunimi.
3
After school, Sakuta pretended he’d forgotten his appointment and started heading for the shoe lockers but then thought better of it and went to the roof. He’d decided blowing her off now would only make things worse later. Haste makes waste… Though maybe that didn’t quite apply in this case.
Regardless, the first words Saki Kamisato said to him were “You’re late!”
Already mad. Totally unfair.
“I was on cleaning duty.”
“I don’t care.”
“So what do you want?”
“I’ll get right to the point,” Saki began, glaring right into Sakuta’s eyes. “You’re a total outcast in class, so being with you devalues Yuuma’s stock.”
“……”
Quite a thing to say but certainly to the point.
“Despite this being the first time we’ve ever spoken, you sure know a lot about me, Kamisato,” he said, keeping his voice flat.
“Everyone knows about the whole ‘hospitalization incident.’”
“Right, that,” Sakuta said absently, like the topic bored him.
“If you feel at all sorry for Yuuma, never talk to him again.”
“By that logic, you’re the one in trouble now. Your stock’s crashing as we speak.”
There were other students on the roof, and the palpable tension between him and Saki was drawing a lot of attention.
A few were even typing on their phones. Probably reporting to their friends.
How industrious.
“Forget about me. This is about Yuuma.”
“I see. You’re amazing, Kamisato.”
“Huh? Why’d you suddenly compliment me?”
He’d intended it as a bit of a joke at her expense, but this seemed lost on her.
“I don’t think you need to worry. Kunimi’ll be fine. His market value won’t take a hit just because someone sees him talking to me. Everyone knows he’s the kind of guy who eats the lunch his mom made him with real appreciation and always talks about how great it is every time. They know he’s a good dude who looks after people.”
Yuuma had laughed once, saying that anyone raised by a single mom knew how precious mothers were, but even an idiot knew it wasn’t that simple. There had to be kids who came from similar homes who acted out all the harder.
“So don’t worry. Kunimi’s such a great guy, he’s honestly way too good for someone like you.”
“You trying to start something?”
“You’re the one who showed up raring for a fight, Kamisato.”
Sakuta was starting to get annoyed, and it was finally showing in his tone.
“Ugh, don’t remind me! Why does he call you by your given name but calls me Kamisato? I’m his girlfriend! So why does Yuuma use my family name?”
This was the last thing he’d expected to spark a tangent. Who cares? he thought but left that unsaid. He didn’t need her love life burdening him any more than it already was.
But what he chose to say instead was possibly even worse.
“You’re really on edge today. Is it that time of the month?”
“Hah?!”
She turned beet red.
“Th— Drop dead! You idiot! I hope you die!!”
Having completely lost her cool, Saki headed back inside, screaming insults over her shoulder. She slammed the door behind her.
Still standing there, Sakuta scratched his head, muttering “Crap, maybe it actually was” with a hint of regret.