The sudden arrival of a transfer student had little to no impact on Tobi’s day-to-day life. As usual, he scarfed down his school lunch—except for the bread—in the blink of an eye, then left the classroom with Baku in one hand and his bread roll in the other. He made his way into the courtyard, which had been off-limits until recently, but didn’t feel like climbing up to the roof. There were a few simple flat benches outside, and Tobi sat down on one of them to eat his bread with Baku slung over his shoulder.
“Okay, Tobi, listen up,” said Baku. “I want you to think about your routine for a minute. Every day, at the same time, someone gives you a nice meal to eat, yeah? And y’know what? That makes you a pretty lucky kid. There’re tons of people out there who never get to eat no matter how hungry they are! Y’know, like me! Actually, more than tons—there are hundreds of millions! I bet you don’t even have a clue. Well, what do you have to say to that, Tobi?”
“…That you’re being really obnoxious today,” Tobi replied.
“No way, that’s crap! I can’t possibly be obnoxious—I’d need energy for that! I’m not even close to top form. And can you blame me? I’m dyin’ of hunger! I’m dejected, Tobi! Despondent! I’m practically on my knees, sobbing right now! I’m too damn weak to be annoying! That’s how you know I’m hungry—it makes me all sad and quiet!”
“You call this quiet?” Tobi shot back. He’d polished off his bread while Baku was monologuing.
“I’m only talking at about seventy percent of my normal volume.”
“That’s more than loud enough…”
“Okay, then maybe I’ll just shut up entirely!”
“Please.”
“Oh yeah? You sure? You really want me to shut up? Sure you won’t regret it?”
“Extremely.”
“Positive?”
“Yes, I’m positive.”
“Oh, you little liar! You’d regret it for sure. I’d know—I’m an expert when it comes to you! And I’m no cold-blooded monster, so I’d never let my partner do something I know for a fact he’d regret! Besides, keepin’ quiet’s boring…”
“I don’t think you could stay quiet even if you wanted to.”
“Of course I could! It’d be easy! Three days, two days, one day—I could keep quiet for half a day even, no problem!”
“Why are you counting down?”
“I mean, think about it. I’m quiet all night long when you’re sleeping, aren’t I?”
“I guess that’s true. So the longest you can stay quiet is about seven hours, then?”
“Bet I could keep it up for eight and a half, in a pinch!”
“So you couldn’t even hit the half-day mark…”
At that point, Tobi realized that someone was approaching them and clammed up. It was a man wearing a set of work clothes, walking into the courtyard not from the school but from the parking lot on the other side.
“Oh, hey!” said Baku. “If it isn’t Haizaki!”
“…Hi,” said Tobi.
Haizaki flashed Tobi an expression halfway between a forced smile and a troubled frown, then nodded in greeting. By now, Tobi was well aware that the man was much more than a simple school janitor. He was a janitor who could see zingai. He had a weasel-like zingai of his own named Olver and seemed very knowledgeable about the strange beings.
Haizaki had told Tobi to come to him if he ever needed help, but Tobi hadn’t quite figured out how to treat him. It was a difficult question and one that Haizaki seemed to struggle with as well. He appeared somehow hesitant, like he was less than fully committed to follow through on his offer.
“Do you need something?” asked Tobi.
“…Oh, umm, yeah,” said Haizaki. “Well, so you got a transfer student in your class, right?”
“We did. This morning.”
“Right. And, umm—about her,” Haizaki began before crossing his arms and frowning. “Oh, but actually… I dunno. Hmm…”
“What’s his deal? Think he hit his head on something or what?” Baku let out a mocking chuckle.
Haizaki really was acting oddly—and his behavior grew more suspicious than ever when, a moment later, the very transfer student he had been talking about stepped out from the school’s side entrance into the courtyard.
“Gah!” Haizaki exclaimed, bracing himself. A moment later, he shook his head, then turned to face Tobi again. He’d clearly wanted to say something but had now abandoned the effort and started silently rubbing his thighs instead. It reminded Tobi of how cats would groom themselves after being startled as a way to calm down.
Lunch wasn’t over yet, so why was the transfer student here? Tobi was in no position to question her leaving class early, considering his own lunch habits, but he still found it strange—and all the more so when she inexplicably started walking directly toward him and Haizaki. Haizaki’s reaction had been strange, as well. Did the two of them know each other somehow? Why would a transfer student who’d only just arrived be acquainted with a middle school’s janitor? They seemed like a strange pair, to say the least.
Asahi walked over to the bench Tobi was sitting on, then sat down as well. She turned her sleepy-looking gaze toward him and said, “You mind?”
“…You already sat down,” Tobi replied.
“I guess so,” Asahi said before covering her mouth with both hands and letting out an extended yawn. “True ’nuff,” she added a moment later, without moving her hands away.
“Ahh…” Haizaki sighed, then stood up straight. After firming up his resolve, he turned to the transfer student and said, “So, umm, Asahi? You know, it’s…it’s still, umm, lunchtime, so…”
“Why say that to me and not him, old man?” Asahi asked, putting both hands down on the bench and shooting Haizaki such a nasty glare, you’d think she was looking at a pile of human waste.
“…You’re sticking with that, huh? I mean, I guess it’s true…”
Haizaki’s shoulders slumped. He’d put on a tough front for barely a moment before abandoning it and withering once more. Living like that must be exhausting, Tobi thought.
“You’re her old man?” Tobi asked.
“Huh?” At first, Haizaki didn’t seem to understand what Tobi was asking.
Monika, on the other hand, put on a faint, sardonic smile. “Is there a resemblance?”
“Huh? Ohhh…” Haizaki had finally put the pieces together. “Nope, no way,” he said, waving his hands in the air. “We’re not related, no! Not even distantly. She didn’t mean ‘old man’ as in ‘dad’—just as in, well, old man. Basically, she’s saying I’m over-the-hill. Just some random middle-aged stranger. Middle-aged… I mean, I’d like to think I’m not quite that far gone just yet…”
“Speaking as a fourteen-year-old in full bloom, you look pretty far gone to me,” Asahi commented.
Tobi was having a difficult time getting a handle on the new student. On the one hand, she was openly mocking Haizaki, but on the other, the two seemed rather familiar. At the very least, he doubted they were total strangers. But if they weren’t strangers, what were they? And why was Asahi out in the courtyard at all?
“Schools are weird places,” Asahi muttered. “You gather up a bunch of kids with nothing in common except their age, then make them all do the same thing at the same time. I guess it’s efficient, but it’s definitely not my style.”
Who was she speaking to, exactly? Tobi almost wanted to ask, but more than that, he wanted nothing to do with her. She was trouble. Obvious trouble.
“Well…,” Haizaki said before clearing his throat. “You see, it’s important to know how to act as part of a group, right? Humans are social animals and all. We’re fellow Homo sapiens! So this system makes sure everyone can work together in social settings…I guess…”
“Come on, old man. You’re just trying to sound like a mature adult by saying something that sounds kind of right.”
“I—I am an adult, you know? I have a job and everything…”
“You don’t sound so sure of that.”
“I am!” Haizaki shouted. For a very brief moment, he seemed ready to defend himself, but it didn’t last. “I am… I mean it. I’m making a proper living. I even cook my own meals.”
“You cook? Color me surprised.”
“You’d be surprised by a lot of things I can do! I’m more put together than I look. My cooking’s not bad, either. I can make okonomiyaki and, umm…takoyaki…”
“Those are basically the same thing in different shapes.”
“So what?! They’re still good!”
“How about you, Tobi?” Asahi asked.
“I—,” Tobi began. Asahi had dragged him into the conversation so suddenly he’d almost replied reflexively, but before he could follow through, it struck him that he didn’t understand what she was even asking. And more importantly, she’d just called him something unexpected. “…‘Tobi’?” he repeated, pointing toward himself.
Asahi nodded. “Tobi.”
“…Why?”
“Why what?”
“Well—” Tobi started to speak, then paused again to really think things through.
Baku grumbled curiously. He probably would have cocked his head if he wasn’t a backpack. Meanwhile, Asahi just stared at Tobi. Her gaze didn’t move, but he felt like she was inspecting him from top to bottom.
“…I never told you my name, did I?” Tobi concluded.
“Oh, you didn’t?” Asahi’s expression never shifted. Not even slightly.
So much about this was strange. Asahi had said that school was a weird place, but Tobi was extremely confident that she was far weirder.
Just then, the bell rang. Lunchtime was over, and the afternoon break had begun.
“Okay, old man,” Asahi said with a shrug. “I know you’d probably love to waste the whole day standing around and chatting, but don’t you have something more important to do?”
Haizaki grimaced and pressed his hands to his head. “…That’s right. I’ve gotta get to work.”
“Better hurry,” Asahi said, shooing Haizaki away like she would a fly.
After Haizaki plodded off into the distance, other students started making their way into the courtyard to chat or run around outside. One of them, however, stepped out of the side entrance only to duck back inside. Then she repeated the process. It was a girl with her hair tied up in buns, and Tobi didn’t have the faintest clue what she was trying to accomplish.
“Oryuu…” Baku heaved a heavy sigh. A backpack really had no business sighing like that.
Asahi made a deep throaty noise. Assuming she was laughing, Tobi glanced over to find she was staring at the side entrance. She’d crossed her legs, slouched forward, and was now resting her chin in her hand, her elbow braced on her knees.
“I never told you my name,” Tobi repeated.
“Yeah,” Asahi replied, shooting him a sidelong glance. “You sure didn’t, Tobi.”