Asano Mitsuki and Fujishima Yutaka.
The two of them had first met during class changeovers in the second year of junior high. Before that, they had gone to different grade schools. While in the first year of junior high, their classes had been held in different buildings.
Mitsuki’s first impression of Yutaka had been “typically modern, with a name that sounds like a guy’s.”
On the other hand, Yutaka’s impression of Mitsuki had been “carefree, with a girly name.”
That about summed up their ideas of each other. Curiously, however, they always managed to cross paths, even though they hardly ever spoke to each other.
For example, they had both skipped class on the same day. Both had played sick and ended up on neighboring beds in the nurse’s office. Then there was the time Yutaka had nearly been caught by a teacher while she was putting on makeup in class. She had gotten rid of the evidence by throwing her bag, with all of her makeup in it, out the window.
From the second-story school window, the bag had scored a direct hit on Mitsuki, who had been walking below. He’d gotten splattered with foundation.
There was also the time when they had both reached for the last piece of yakisoba bread at the school co-op.
“I was first!” both had declared at the same time.
Unfortunately, Mitsuki had gotten clobbered first, and the yakisoba bread was taken away from him. Beware of Fujishima Yutaka.
The cooking class teacher had randomly assigned the seating arrangement. As luck would have it, the two of them had been assigned to be friendly “cooking partners” with each other.
What is this? Mitsuki had wondered. Grade school?
Though they had never intended things to be this way, their destinies definitely overlapped.
Now they were embroiled in the piranha-releasing incident.
“What an idiot!” With those words, Mitsuki scrambled out of the pool in a huff. Somehow he made it out safely, without becoming prey to the carnivorous fish.
Despite the incident, he felt it was all right. After all, he was also guilty of doing a stupid thing. Besides, the girl in white had said he was supposed to die soon. So it didn’t really matter how, even though, deep inside, he didn’t actually want to leave this world as fish bait.
No big deal, he told himself. That was yesterday’s news. I’m still here right now, after all.
But part of him yearned for just a little bit more time.
It’s all right.
When Mitsuki saw Yutaka the next morning, he said nothing.
Yutaka, on the other hand, wore a guilty look on her face, and all the way through class she kept sneaking peeks at the boy. Perhaps she found it disturbing that he could stay so calm and natural even after such an experience.
Every once in awhile, Mitsuki’s eyes wandered from the chalkboard and ended up staring absent-mindedly out the window. Other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary in the way he acted.
He talked casually with friends and gazed out the window. That same old carefree optimism was still there, walking around in the form and clothes of Mitsuki, the Mitsuki that Yutaka knew.
What Yutaka didn’t realize was that the expression on Mitsuki’s face as he stared out the window was deeply insecure and sad.
But how could she notice a thing like that, when even Mitsuki himself wasn’t aware of it?
P.E. class.
It was fourth period, a little before noon. The sun slowly inched its way overhead. It was the perfect time to go into the pool. At least, it was supposed to be.
“The pool’s closed,” somebody declared.
While most of the boys wailed in agony, the girls shrieked in delight. They were at that awkward age where most dreaded the idea of wearing a swimsuit, especially the competition-type swimsuits, in front of the opposite sex.
It was no wonder. There were boys who stared lecherously at the girls. Of course they did. They were at that age.
How sad, the nature of adolescence.
The boys were trying to figure out the reason behind the cancellation of swim class. The replacement curriculum of volleyball, in the sweltering gym, was too much to bear.
“Why was it cancelled?” one of them asked.
“I heard there were dead fish floating in the pool.”
“Fish?” another retorted. “What the heck? They cancelled class just because of that?!”
Mitsuki eavesdropped on the conversations as he played. Of course they were dead. Even piranhas couldn’t stand the chlorine.
Suddenly, Mitsuki understood why Yutaka had done such a brutal thing, releasing piranhas into the pool.
Most likely this was her intention… he reasoned.
She must have done it to have the pool class cancelled. She had probably also wanted to make sure it stayed cancelled for a while. Yutaka’s plan had turned out to be a big success.
Pool was cancelled. The boys had to play volleyball. And the girls had to go to dance class.
Come to think of it, Mitsuki recalled, I’ve never seen her in a swimsuit.
He searched his memory, from the time when he and Yutaka had first been assigned the same class together in second-year junior high. He was sure of it. He had never seen her wearing a swimsuit. Or even attending swim class, for that matter. Last night was actually the first time he had ever seen her standing by the poolside.
Hmmm, he thought, now why would she hate the pool so much…?
In contrast, Mitsuki hadn’t even hesitated to sneak into the pool last night just so he could jump into the water.
Whatever her reasons, Yutaka must have wanted pool class cancelled no matter what. Unfortunately for her, it didn’t seem like it would be cancelled for long.
Although the fierce fish had fought bravely, they nevertheless had succumbed to the chlorine and by now were probably swimming happily in a fish tank in Heaven.
Luckily, there were no victims. The piranhas hadn’t harmed anybody. The teachers didn’t want to make a big deal out of the incident, so they wrote it off as a student “prank.” Despite the fact that this particular group of adults had chosen the complicated job of teaching, adults hated complications, generally speaking.
Too bad, Fujishima Yutaka. Snickering with malice at the thought, Mitsuki hit the ball.
“Super Deadly Move—Lightning Spark Legend!” shouted the boy who received Mitsuki’s pass and smashed the ball down into the opponent’s court.
“All right, Mitsuki! Nice toss!” he added with satisfaction, right after finishing the spike.
It seemed as if everyone was enjoying themselves after all, even without a dip in the pool.
For this P.E. session, the gym space had been split into two. On the other side, the girls were involved in some kind of mysterious original dance. An outside observer would only notice the strange choreography and weird rhythm of the girls’ movements. It sort of looked as though they were merely stamping their feet impatiently, or going through the motions of the sumo foot-stomping ritual.
Amidst the chaos, Mitsuki noticed Yutaka. Each time she jumped, her long brown hair swayed in the air. The other long-haired girls took to the habit of tying up their locks, but not Yutaka. She did no such thing.
Isn’t it uncomfortable? Mitsuki thought. Getting your hair all sticky with sweat? Isn’t it hot? Doesn’t that make it hard to move around?
It suddenly dawned on him that he had never seen Yutaka tie her hair up.
He shrugged it off. Oh well.
Maybe there wasn’t any real reason behind it. Or if there was, it was probably something ordinary. Everyone had their reasons. Even Mitsuki.