“Haaahh...!”
“Color me surprised, Kou. You managed to wake up on your own.”
“I did turn in early, after all. I got plenty of sleep.”
Dressed for work, Koutarou and Kenji were walking side by side up the road. Being an early Sunday morning, there were very few other people or cars around. The two boys were the only ones out on the street at this hour.
“Like I said before, I’m already a self-sufficient adult living on my own, Mackenzie-kun.”
“And I hope it stays that way.”
“Of course it will.”
“We’ll see about that... By the way, did anything happen in regards to you-know-what?”
“What?”
Kenji’s expression and tone turned serious. Noticing that, Koutarou furrowed his brow a little.
“You know... About it appearing in that room?”
“‘It’? ...Oh yeah, right, the ghost!” Realizing what Kenji was worried about, Koutarou smiled and slapped his fist into his palm. “I didn’t see anything like that.”
“You didn’t?”
“Nope. Nothing happened before I went to bed, and things were quiet while I slept. Just think about it. If there really had been a ghost, do you think I’d have woken up in the morning?”
“That’s true. Knowing your sleeping habits, there’s no way you’d wake up before getting enough sleep.”
Feeling relieved, Kenji loosened up a little.
“Hahaha. But still, I didn’t think you believed in ghosts, Mackenzie.”
“Huh?”
“It’s always science and logic with you. So to think that you’re worried about ghosts...”
Koutarou began poking at Kenji’s cheek with a wicked grin on his face.
“So what? Can’t a man of science hate ghosts?” Kenji snapped back.
“If you’re scared, just say so. You’re not being honest.”
“Yeah, I’m scared. It’s scary. Ghosts or not, freaky things happen all the time.”
“You’ve got it bad, huh?”
As Koutarou shrugged his shoulders, the boys passed by Kisshouharukaze High School where they both would be students starting tomorrow.
Kisshouharukaze High was about a twenty minute walk from the closest station, Harukaze Station. It was also twenty minutes away from Corona House. On a map, Corona House, Harukaze Station and Kisshouharukaze High School formed a equilateral triangle with almost every urban convenience concentrated within it.
Kisshouharukaze High School was established a few years ago, immediately following the merging of the neighboring municipalities. As Kisshou City and Harukaze City came together, a new high school was needed to accommodate the children of both cities.
Since there were already plans for construction in the area, they simply decided to increase the scale of what would become known as Kisshouharukaze High School While it wasn’t as big as schools in the major cities, it was the largest school in the suburban area.
“Fight, fight, fight! Harukaze, fight!”
And because of that, despite it being spring break, there were already plenty of students participating in club activities in the Kisshouharukaze schoolyard.
“The baseball club, huh? The spring tournament just ended, so the third-years must have handed the club over to the next generation by now...”
“They seem quite lively. They’ll get even more lively when the first-years join, I imagine.”
Watching the students in their uniforms, Koutarou and Kenji walked by the school’s front gate. Their worksite was just a little farther ahead.
“...”
Even after they passed the school, Koutarou was still glancing back at the schoolyard. Balls were being pitched, bats swung, and balls caught. It wasn’t that long ago that Koutarou had been doing the same thing.
“Hey, Kou... Are you sure about not joining the baseball club?” Kenji asked in a serious tone as he watched the way Koutarou was acting.
“It’s fine. I can’t live on my own, work part-time, and play baseball all at the same time.”
Koutarou finally took his eyes off of the schoolyard and gave Kenji a smile.
“Kou...”
Kenji could see the wistfulness in Koutarou’s smile.
“Besides, there’s the knitting society. So there’s no reason to be so pessimistic.”
“What’s with that anyways? The knitting society, I mean.”
“Hmm?”
“Are you serious about joining that club?”
“Yeah. I’m as serious as I can be.”
On the day the results of the high school exams were announced, Koutarou had been recruited into the knitting society and was earnest about joining it.
“You’re kidding, right? No matter how you look at it, it just doesn’t suit you...”
Kenji looked Koutarou up and down as he spoke. He had a large body, stocky physique, and big hands. Kenji couldn’t imagine that knitting and handicraft were in any way suited for Koutarou. If anything, he would be better at tearing things up than making them.
“How rude. Just you wait. I’ll knit you a handmade muffler one day.”
“Stop it. You’re making me feel ill... I’m getting chills down my spine just imagining it.”
“Yeah, I feel the exact same way now that you mention it. I’ll just knit one for myself.”
The boys smirked at each other.
“Admit it. Your real goal is the beautiful club president that recruited you.”
“I won’t deny it.”
Oh... I didn’t expect that reaction. I was certain that he was after the club president. Did I read him wrong?
Being childhood friends, Kenji could see through Koutarou’s reaction.
“Anyways, I’ll be spending my high school days with Sakuraba-senpai in the knitting society.”
“Hmm, that does sound fun. Maybe I should join too.”
“Don’t you dare. A ladykiller like you would taint Sakuraba-senpai just by getting too close to her.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t treat me like some kind of bacteria.”
“Just think about it. Remember Valentine’s Day? You monopolized all of the class’ chocolate. The other boys cried tears of blood.”
“That wasn’t my fault.” Kenji sighed to hear the same argument brought up for the umpteenth time.
“It was definitely your fault. Don’t underestimate a grudge held over food.”
“But in the end, you ate most of the chocolate anyways. And it really wasn’t my fault. Giving chocolate to me was easy, so it would indirectly be given to you—” Kenji stopped himself mid-sentence.
“Hmm? What was that?”
“No, it’s nothing. In fact, I’m not going to tell you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, we’re going to be late.”
“Hey, wait up. Why are you in a hurry all of a sudden?”
The two arrived on the job shortly after.
“Haaa!” Koutarou shouted as he pushed a large stone out of the way.
“My, you sure are strong, Koutarou-chan.”
Watching the rock rolling away, the elderly woman next to Koutarou called out to him. She was dressed in farmer’s clothes and was holding a small, metal trowel.
“I’m still young, after all. But it also means I’m not as good at detailed work like you.”
“Ohohoho, that certainly might be true. Thank you for the help, Koutarou-chan.”
“You’re always giving me sweets, so don’t mention it.”
“‘Give and take,’ was it?”
“Haha, that’s right... Anyways, I’ll head back to my post now. See you later.”
“Thank you again.”
Koutarou parted ways with the elderly lady and returned to his assigned land division a few dozen meters away.
“Now then...”
As Koutarou looked back towards the elderly lady, he saw her squatting down and shaving away layers of soil by her feet with the trowel.
“Heh... I guess I should get back to work too. I have to work hard so I don’t lose out to that lady and the others.”
Koutarou rolled up his sleeves and began digging at the ground with tool in hand.
Koutarou was working with excavating ruins, and the elderly lady was one of his coworkers. She had helped him out a great deal when he first started. Kenji worked with them as well, but the worksite was so vast that his station couldn’t be seen from where Koutarou was stationed.