Asahi Kagami, a first-year in high school, had only been attending for six months when rumors began to circulate about one of his classmates: Fuyuka Himuro, a girl as frigid as ice.
Autumn had just begun, which marked the onset of exam season. Asahi and one of his friends—Chiaki Kikkawa—were sitting in their abandoned classroom after school. With their exams less than a week away, they got together for the purpose of studying. Chiaki didn’t seem to be in the mood to cram for the upcoming tests, however, as he broke the silence by mentioning something that had been the talk of the school for some time now.
“Hey, remember what happened last Friday?”
“You’ll have to be more specific.”
“Dude, I’m talking about how Himuro left school early. Apparently, it was because she had a fever.”
“That’s news to me.”
“So she supposedly caught a cold, yeah? But get this: she returned today like nothing had happened to her.”
“Okay, can you shut up now? I’m trying to study here.”
“I mean, how ironic is it that someone with a nickname like ‘The Ice Queen’ ended up catching a cold? Sounds like something out of a comedy sketch or something,” Chiaki, paying no heed to Asahi’s complaints, added with a stretch.
“If this is just going to turn into a gossip session, I can go home and study by myself.”
“Hey! Come on, man. It was just a short break, alright?”
Asahi was one of the best in his class when it came to studies. Chiaki, on the other hand, was, let’s say, not on the same level. Asahi had accepted his friend’s request to assist him with his studies, but they hadn’t made much progress as of yet. When he attempted to concentrate again on what he had been helping Chiaki with, he couldn’t help but be distracted by what his friend had just brought up. His pen stopped, he let out a sigh, and he thought to himself, “The Ice Queen, huh...?”
That happened to be the nickname of one of Asahi’s classmates, Fuyuka Himuro. At some point, a few people at school had begun to refer to her as such, and it had been quick to catch on. Now, pretty much everyone knew her by that moniker alone. Deep down, he thought that her nickname likely had nothing to do with who she really was. After all, to him, she just seemed like an ordinary girl.
Despite her normality, she still managed to stand out in other ways. She was beautiful, aloof, and incredibly intelligent. She always received the highest test scores, possessed some serious skill when it came to basketball, harbored a love for romance novels—which she read in the cafeteria during lunch breaks—and came from a wealthy family. Asahi knew that much about her, at least. It was difficult not to, since she was the constant talk of the school. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Her accomplishments, as well as her academic and personal life, had created a foundation for her, a veritable pedestal to be placed upon. She quickly rose in popularity among everyone at school, regardless of their gender, year, or class number. They wanted to get to know her better and become her friend.
Unfortunately, none of them had succeeded. As soon as the term started, one of the first things she had made clear to her classmates was to stay away from her.
From then onward, she was always alone, keeping everyone at arm’s length with her icy demeanor. She was a cold, stern girl, with a tone that never faltered, and an expression that never wavered. She wasn’t one for small talk, kept conversations as brief as she felt necessary, and always maintained her distance. Eventually, this resulted in her nickname, and she’d been dubbed “The Ice Queen” ever since.
Asahi felt that it described her fairly accurately, but something about the whole situation just didn’t sit right with him. There had to be something else to her, something more.
“Oh yeah—she’s your neighbor, isn’t she? I remember seeing her place the last time I came over to hang out.”
“Study.”
“Sir, yes Sir!”
After telling his friend off, Asahi returned to his own studies. He opened his practice book, replete with questions from previous exams, and set to work on a set of equations with his favorite pen. A few problems later, it was clear that his mind wasn’t where it needed to be; he couldn’t concentrate in the slightest. After he wrote out and quickly erased several equations, he realized that it was time for him to return home. Studying that day had been completely futile.
He parted ways with Chiaki at the train station as usual and made his way back to his residence. Thoughts that had been tormenting him since last Friday swirled around in his head.
“Geez, I’m acting like a typical, stupid, love-struck teenager,” he repeated endlessly to himself.
It wasn’t love or anything like that, but ever since last Friday, the only thing that had been on his mind was Fuyuka Himuro. That was when—out of the blue—that withdrawn girl, who everyone referred to as “The Ice Queen,” had left school early with a very high temperature.