My dreams have always been really bad…
Sousei Takarai was lying face up in bed, looking at the ceiling with his hand resting on his forehead.
I’ve never been able to sleep that well. But even then, to stay up all night long…
He could tell how bright it was outside, even with his blackout curtains. It was already morning. Sunrise had come and gone quite a while ago. Sousei gave up on getting any sleep and was about to get up when his phone buzzed by his pillow.
“Ah…!”
Sousei grabbed his phone. He had a message.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaa—Asumi…”
Morning
It was just one word. A message from Asumi Shiramori.
“…I—I thought s-s-some-something had happened…” Sousei jumped up. “Th-that’s right! Ahh, I should probably reply to this, shouldn’t I…?”
Sousei was doing sit-ups as his mind raced about what to do. Before he could figure it out, his phone got another message.
“Aahh!”
I had a dream
You were in it…
What kinda dream you think it was?
“H-huh?! A d-d-dream…? How should I know what kind of dr-dream she had…?”
His hands were shaking. Even though he had stopped doing sit-ups, he was instantly drenched in sweat.
“…Wh-wha-what should I do? Does she want an answer…? Should I answer? Wh-what kind of dream…? Does that mean it was a bad dream? No, that can’t be r-righ— Whoa!”
Sousei almost sent his phone flying and quickly caught it in a panic. He had gotten another message from Asumi.
A good dream!
A sticker followed the short message. He didn’t really know what it was of, but it looked like a smiling cartoon cat or something.
“…A g-good dream…” Sousei was breathing hard. He couldn’t stop sweating at all. “I—I should…send something back…”
Good morning. I am glad it wasn’t a bad dream.
“…Something like this? Maybe…?”
He sent his reply.
Straightaway, Sousei violently shook his head.
“No, that can’t be right! I have a feeling that’s wrong…!”
He immediately got a response from Asumi.
So formal!
“Aaaaahh!”
Sousei jumped out of bed and started charging at the wall.
“Nah… No, no, no! I shouldn’t break the wall. Aaaaaaagh, but I messed up! This is bad, this is bad, this is really bad! Shiramori will definitely be mad at me for this…!”
But she sent him another sticker right after.
He didn’t really get it, but it was a sticker of some kind of catlike thing holding its belly and rolling around laughing.
“What’s this…?!” Sousei sank to his knees on the floor. He held his phone in the air and looked up at it. “She’s not…mad…?! Right? She found it funny…?! How come?! That’s good. Yeah, good enough for now. It’s fine as long as she’s not angry…”
He got another message while he was talking to himself.
I’m excited to see you at school
“…E-e-e-ex-ex-ex-exci-excited…”
Sousei read the message from Asumi over and over again, almost out of breath.
“This is bad for my heart…”
Damn… This is the first time…
Sousei sighed for the umpteenth time while changing into his indoor shoes at the shoe lockers.
I’ve never been this nervous coming to school before…
Sousei Takarai wanted to become a normal high school student like everyone else.
Getting a girlfriend… It’s not like I haven’t imagined it before, but this is different somehow. Completely different. Or rather, I had no idea what it’d be like in the first place. There’s no way I could have known…
Sousei peeked inside his classroom before he entered. Yukisada Hayashi was there. And Kuchina Hitsujimoto was in the back seat by the window, looking outside with her head propped up on her hand.
Hitsujimoto is kind of early. Maybe that’s normal for her? I wonder… Come to think of it, she does always seem to be in the classroom. I guess Shiramori isn’t here yet…
Sousei drew in a breath and entered. A few people looked in his direction.
“Yooo!” Wakkuu greeted him with what looked like a salute. Wakkuu’s real name was Kouichirou Wakuya, but everyone called him Wakkuu. He was the most cheerful person in the class and was full of energy.
Sousei tried his best to put a smile on his face.
“Morning, Wakkuu.” That was the best that Sousei could manage.
…I want to try saying “Yo” too, but it’s so embarrassing…
Wakkuu gave Sousei a thumbs-up and winked, even though Sousei wasn’t very good at playing along. Wakkuu was like this with everyone.
I get nothing but good vibes from him…
When Sousei sat at his desk, Yukisada approached. Yukisada was a genuine, pleasant high school boy, but when he was bathed in the morning sun, his cheerful aura increased severalfold.
“Morning, Sousei,” he said.
Sousei unconsciously squinted his eyes with how bright his friends’ smiles were and how sleep-deprived he was.
“Oh, yeah… Morning, Yukisada.”
“So?” Yukisada squatted and brought his eyes in line with Sousei’s. “How’d it go?”
“…How’d what go?” Sousei asked.
Yukisada leaned in and dropped his voice. “Yesterday. Asumi asked you out, didn’t she? What’d you say?”
“Ah, that…” Sousei looked down. He pressed his hands to his cheeks. His face was hot. “…Well, for now…”
“For now?”
“So…f-for now, that…”
“Did you say no?”
“No…that’s…”
“So you gave her the okay?”
“…I guess.”
“Ooooooo…” Yukisada grinned with satisfaction. “Gotcha. So you two are going out now. That’s good.”
“It’s…good?” Sousei moved his hands up from his cheeks and held his head. “Good? Is it?”
“Ah, I don’t know. But it’s not a bad thing, right?”
“I suppose…”
“Asumi is cute and kind of seems like a fun, cheerful person. Sounds like a good thing to me.”
Yukisada stood up and patted Sousei on the shoulder before walking off with a spring in his step. Someone started walking over to take his place by Sousei’s desk.
Even Sousei had a few people he could talk with on occasion, but Yukisada was basically the only person who would bother coming to Sousei’s desk just to chat. That was true right up until yesterday.
“Shi—”
Sousei’s eyes bulged. He sat so far upright that he arched backward. Both of his hands pressed down on his thighs. The person who was approaching him was a girl. A girl with long legs and had a habit of walking a bit pigeon-toed. She was slowly walking this way with her gaze lowered and her hands clasped behind her. Her last step almost seemed more like a hop. When both of her feet landed, she leaned the top half of her body to the right and smiled coyly.
“Morning,” she said.
“Ah…” Sousei blinked. If a blink so intense that it contorted his entire face could even be called a blink. He gave a stiff nod. “Goo…”