Chapter Two
ABOUT a week and a half had passed since Mom and I visited Ayako’s house. As the dreary vestiges of summer retreated, the vibrant blue of an airy autumn sky emerged in its place. In PE, our focus was dedicated to the looming interclass sports meet and thus dominated by soccer, basketball, and volleyball. That day, awash with soft morning sunlight, soccer took center stage.
While the teacher was engrossed in overseeing the boys’ spirited scrimmage, we girls were enjoying a much more casual affair. Our engagement was limited to half-hearted attempts at kicking and chasing the ball and served more as a backdrop to cheerful conversation than a contest of skill. I found myself comfortably caught up in easy banter with Mao and Honomi.
“I am starving,” announced Mao, an undertone of frustration coloring her words. She was crouched in a deep squat, raking her hands through her bangs. “Whose bright idea was it to schedule PE right before lunch?”
“But you’ve hardly moved,” I observed.
“Hear me out, okay?” she rebutted. “I woke up late this morning, so all I had was a glass of milk. I used up all my energy just to get to school. It’s like climbing a freaking mountain every morning.”
Honomi laughed at Mao’s dramatics. Her ponytail swishing, she said, “You really struggle on an empty stomach, don’t you, Mao?” She poked a teasing finger at Mao’s cowlick. “Unfortunate for you that our school is on a hill.”
“I also had a light breakfast, so I’m also a bit hungry,” I admitted.
“Not you too, Haruka,” chided Honomi gently.
“It’s soccer, okay? I just want it to be over already.”
Mao and Honomi, my two friends, were my school ambassadors when I first transferred. They fell into the role through no volition of their own and simply because they had the misfortune of sitting next to me. Initially, they were to help me acclimate for just a week, but that week turned into two, then three, then a full month. After a month, I was perfectly settled in, yet they stuck with me. Our bond deepened, and soon we were inseparable in everything we did.
The first colorful character to adopt the introverted newcomer that was me was Mao Kagami. She was a classic picture of athleticism: lean, tall, and fast. Even her dark brown hair, cut short and naturally curly, seemed to fit her image. A track-and-field sensation, her reputation was sealed during our first trimester’s athletics meet, when she single-handedly outran two boys as the anchor in the mixed relay, securing our class a medal. She was secretly nicknamed and revered as “The Prince” among some of the girls in the grade below us.
The other classmate to take to me was Honomi Kudou. Outwardly, she was the laid-back, gentle type, and had known Mao since kindergarten. She always wore her waist-length black hair in a ponytail and sported glasses in class. She was currently nursing a debilitating crush on an upperclassman in her club. During exam periods or club breaks—whenever she was away from him basically—her soft, puppy-dog eyes drifted dreamily, shimmering ever so slightly, the expression usually earning her a stern reminder from Mao to return her attention to her studies.
From an outsider’s perspective, Mao might appear to occupy the position of an older sibling in their relationship, and Honomi the younger, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Honomi’s relaxed demeanor extended only as far as her speech, and (in matters aside from romance) she was as diligent as they came. In fact, she took care of Mao—in a way more akin to a mother than an elder sister.
How I found myself in their company was as big a mystery to me as to anyone. But they were unmistakably the real deal: true friends with whom I felt at ease, even with all my bungling awkwardness. Sometimes they almost seemed too good to be true, and I puzzled over why they’d bothered to befriend someone like me. Though I might never understand the reason, I was nonetheless overwhelmingly grateful for their friendship.
Our eyes lazily chased the soccer ball zipping across the field.
“Just soccer, Haruka?” Mao asked, her tone playful.
“You got me. I’m a total lost cause,” I replied. “Oh, except for gymnastics. I like gymnastics.”
“You did ballet. That makes sense,” Honomi offered. “You must be pretty flexible. Meanwhile vaulting is like my worst nightmare.” Her eyes shot to my knee. “Oh, hey, your bandages are gone.”
The shift in topic conveniently presented an opportunity for me to steer the conversation toward Towada. “Hey, do either of you know a guy named Towada from class…5, I think?”
“Hang on, Haruka. Is this about a crush?”
I freaking knew it. Honomi’s eyes radiated with the intensity of a thousand suns as her lovestruck brain shifted into gear. I launched into an explanation before her misunderstanding could manifest further, breathlessly recounting how I’d gotten lost with Koro, my near miss with the bike, the unexpected encounter with Ayako, and my escort home with Towada. “I’m still piecing together all the faces in our grade. If he hadn’t been wearing our uniform, I don’t think I even would’ve known he was from our school,” I concluded.
“True, there are a lot of people in our grade,” Mao said. “But yeah, Towada? I know him. He’s in the tennis club. They practice near the track, so I see them swinging their rackets around all the time. But I dunno…” She shrugged. “He’s kinda pretty…ordinary? Like there’s nothing about him that really stands out.”
Honomi nodded. “Aside from Sakai, the president of the club, most of the members are all pretty meh—hardworking, but meh. Towada transferred here last year, didn’t he? I’ve never been in the same class as him, so I don’t know much about him either.”
“You didn’t have to add that first bit. We already know you’ve got nobody but Shinjo on the brain,” Mao retorted.
Shinjo was the upperclassman Honomi was smitten with. At the mention of his name, her face flushed bright red and she giggled shyly. Cute, I thought before she suddenly clasped my hands, saying “Good luck to the both of us!”
I thought I told you it’s not like that!
Before we knew it, PE was over, and we hadn’t seen even a hint of a soccer ball in our vicinity.