---

---

"Hey, wall pass, wall pass!" The super-enthusiastic girls' captain even changed sports just to harass her. Man, she really loves messing with Biwashima. And after this, it transitions into the usual development, of course.

Judging from past experience, this seems like the right time. I, and Fushimi too, subtly evacuated.

Biwashima, for who knows what umpteenth time, didn't deflect the incoming ball but caught it with her palm, pulling it towards herself. "Oh?" Seeing Ebihara tilt her head, Biwashima let a cynical smile, one she often used, play on her lips and dropped the ball at her feet. The instant the ball bounced once and stopped at its highest point, the way Biwashima's leg rose was reminiscent of my mother's flank kick this morning—in short, the blood rushed to her head, making her forget she was wearing a skirt without jerseys or gym clothes underneath, resulting in a shot that was quite the stylish present flying straight at Ebihara's face. "Oof!" True to her name, the girls' captain arched her back dramatically like a shrimp to avoid the ball. A girl club member behind her, and Kaneko too, got caught in the crossfire and had to make a sudden dodge.

Stepping off the mat and landing on the floor, Biwashima fixed Ebihara with eyes glinting with a predatory light. "I'm gonna hit you back with the ball forty-seven times, so stand right there."

"Heeh, the 'one time for one time' theory, huh? Then, Biwashima, if you reject a guy once, does that mean the guy you like rejects you once too? Hmm, no wonder the other day—" "Sorry, once is fine. I'll make it quick."

Tsking as her foot slipped on the second step forward, Biwashima kicked off her socks and dashed off barefoot. She kicked the ball, letting it rebound off the wall, and used it as a guide while chasing Ebihara, who was shrieking and running around in panic. The other club members naturally made way, moving towards the dojo walls.

The sport changed from soccer to tag, and the club members, including me, watched their childish roughhousing with grins. Everyone was getting tired from running around since early morning, so it was the norm to kill time by watching this spectacle in the latter half of practice.

"They're so energetic." "Totally." "Rea-" "-lly." A voice and a notebook suddenly poked out from my side. I thought it wouldn't be a problem at all to omit describing who it was, but I glanced sideways just in case. Hmm, perfectly ordinary. No surprises. That's why I wouldn't say who it was even if I died... just kidding, it was Fushimi.

When I suggested, "Why don't you join in sometimes, Fushimi?" she refused with a resolute shake of her head, *vwoom vwoom*.

"Because... it's embarrassing. Ooh, ooh... And you saw me."

Mumbling incoherently, combined with Fushimi's voice quality, it was hard to catch what she said.

"Saw you? Saw what?"

"..." Silence. Then, a blush. She looked up at me with reproachful eyes.

I wasn't aware of verbally attacking her, so when I searched for a reason for that reaction... ah.

"Ah, well, yeah." If you raise your leg that flamboyantly, any obstruction would be removed, wouldn't it?

"Ugh, don't remind me." "Forbidden." "Forbidden." She lightly tapped my head with her notebook, as if I were the one to blame. She stood on her tiptoes, and I, thinking half-asleep how cute every little gesture of hers was, let myself continue to be hit. With this intermittent stimulation, my drowsiness would probably clear up eventually. Though, it's not impossible it might deepen instead.

While we were interacting through this soft violence, Fushimi suddenly readjusted her grip on her notebook with a *shing*.

"...Aha."
"Actually." "Just now." "Biwashima's." "You were looking." "You."

Fushimi's blush subsided a little, replaced by a look full of resentment. Huh? For some reason, I'm being condemned. As Fushimi slowly closed in on me, for a moment, I thought of a wonderful countermeasure—just hugging her—but if I actually did that, my life would likely take a tumble while embracing something entirely different, so I stopped myself.

"Calm down, Yuu-tan. That's a false accusation, it is." "Yu-Yuu-ta, ta? Yu, Yu-yu-yu-yu-ta, ta-tta, Yu-ta-shuu—" When I tried calling her a weird name to secure an escape route, Fushimi's state changed even more drastically.

Naturally, the attention shifted from the Ebihara group to the Boku-Fushimi pair. Even Ebihara and her gang stopped to see what was going on. While they gestured "go on, go on," urging us to continue, I was wondering what to do with Yuu-tan, who was not only muttering "Yuta-yuta yuta yuta-yuta, taan" but also furiously scribbling in her notebook as if trying to make it bug out. Right about when I was clutching my head, the other club members burst out laughing.

They laughed warmly. I was enveloped in a soft membrane of harmony. There are lots of people around me.
And every time I participate in that 'group smile.'
I can't help but think, rather simply, that I can't choose the same path as my older brother.

"Taan, ta-taan, yu-yu-yu-yu-yu-yu-taan."
- I wrapped that up nicely, so I really wish Fushimi would go back to normal soon.

Morning practice ended, and after entrusting the dojo key to the person on duty for the day, everyone headed to their classrooms.

Walking ahead were Ebihara, Kaneko, Biwashima, and the rather large group of underclassmen: Ichimiya Kawana, who had independently decided softball practice was over and left, and her boyfriend Souda Yoshihito. In a corner of that group, Fushimi was hunched over, looking forlorn. Occasionally, she'd look back at me with puppy-dog eyes, making me want to rush over and escort her, but if I did that, I'd probably get teased and deepen her isolation even more. Intervening in human relationships is quite difficult... but perhaps learning that balance is part of school education. My older brother, conversely, chose the conclusion of 'searching for a way to live with minimal involvement.' The fact that I can feel myself aiming for the complete opposite through interacting with people makes me somehow happy.

And then there was us, the duo of me and Sugawara. Well, as mentioned, we were the only second-year male club members left, and we were also in the same class. To be frank, we weren't connected by some super-close bond, but if we were considerate of each other, we could get a bit of conversation going and knew each other well enough to exchange polite smiles. Well, more than just classmates, I guess.

We ambled past the gym, heading for the school building. Here and there, students from other clubs who had finished morning practice could be seen, boys and girls in uniform emerging from the gym and athletic field. The ones still running laps on the track were probably from the track and field club.

"Ah... I'm tired."
Sugawara, looking like he was struggling to find a topic, started with a safe one.

Just as I was about to reply, an old-fashioned cell phone started to sing.

It was saying something like "at that time, in that place," or rather, it was an old song. Wasn't it a song from around when we started elementary school? Not that I'd criticize someone's taste based on whether it's old or new, though.

"Sorry," Sugawara said to me before answering the phone. I could pretty much guess who was on the other end.

"Hello... Oh, good morning. Eh? Ah, sorry, sorry. But I did wake you up, well, it was me though. ...Your sleeping face? I saw it. It was super cute. ...Sorry, sorry, but still, eh, you usually wear makeup...? Sorry, sorry, sorry! Actually, I knew! Uh-huh, right! You could... right, right. School, if you don't leave home soon, you won't make it. Talk? Okay, then, how about after first period? I'll go to the front of the classroom. Yep, yep, okay, bye then—"

Sugawara hurriedly finished and ended the call. After hanging up, instead of sighing like "phew..." as if tired from the exchange, he revealed a splendid, smirking face. Ah, he's on a high level.

But, what is this, I wonder? This sentiment spreading through my organs from an unknown source. It's like, if I cut my nails and they fell to the ground, and someone else stepped on them, and for some reason, I felt pain.

It felt as if some part of me that I couldn't quite grasp ached from overhearing that conversation.
...Though I don't have the courage to unravel its unknown identity.

"The usual girlfriend?" I said, trying to recall her name, then gave up.

"Well, yeah. She seems to be upset because I came to school first without waking her."

He spoke happily, lightly tossing his cell phone and catching it in his palm. Sugawara, who also serves as student council president, apparently isn't satisfied with excelling in both academics and sports, but has also run the full course of love. Well, their magnetic-couple act is famous throughout the school. If I recall, they both called each other by nicknames full of doting-couple elements. Uh, what was it again...

"Ah, Mii-kun!" Right, right, that's it. Huh?
A female student emerging from the gym waved, nearly stumbling forward. Judging from Sugawara raising a hand and greeting her with a "Yo," it must be a case of, 'Are you scattering pheromone dust or something, you bastard?' The female student, tapping her shoes with crushed heels, approached... hmm, Plain Jane (temp.) looked at Sugawara's face, her own face breaking into a smile, while she looked around, craning her neck.

"Ah... Is Maa-chan not here today?" Right, Sugawara's girlfriend was definitely called something like that.

"Still at home... No, I think she's rushing to school now. She's bad at riding a bike, so I'm a little worried."

He put a hand to his chin with a pensive, troubled look. Being mutually overprotective is a staple of doting couples, I thought, as my fingernails dug into my palm and my smile almost twitched. Meanwhile, Plain Jane, in contrast, had a relieved expression. If this Maa-chan person is treated as an obstacle, that means... ah, so that's how it is.

This is why protagonists are the way they are. What's so fun about naturally selecting out the supporting characters? Honestly.

"Ah, I just remembered I had something to ask Fushimi. Sorry, I'll just go for a bit."

Being used to drifting in the air all the time, reading the currents has become easy. Just like a nail that sticks out too far can't see its own base, a buried pillow can't have a high vantage point, but it has a good eye for the horizontal. As I started to trot off, *te-te-teh*, Sugawara called out, "Hm, okay. See you in class then." I wanted to reply, "Enjoy yourselves, you young lovebirds," but I just waved and said a noncommittal, "Later."

"Um, uh, probably Senpai!" As if not allowing me to face forward, a sharp voice from behind grazed my earlobe with a *swoosh*.

"Yes?" My neck, which was in the process of turning sideways, was twisted back once more.

"S'up! Thanks! Later!"
I received three sporty greetings and thanks from the plain, probably junior, girl.

"...You're welcome-ssu." It seems she too has mastered the skill of reading the room.

The competition seems abnormally high, but well, good luck to her.

Muttering half-hearted encouragement to myself, I overtook not just Sugawara and his companion, but also the group of juniors ahead, and entered the school building. Then, while taking off my shoes and putting them in the shoe locker, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

That Plain Jane from earlier, I couldn't help but think she was actually pretty cute, I mused.

Well, classes, the main duty of a student... or so it should have been, but man, I can't remember what they were about. Before I knew it, it was lunchtime, and the classroom clamor had reached saturation point.

I stood up as if to escape the noise... though really, I just didn't want my classmates to see the rabbit-shaped persimmons in my bento box. I lightly declined a friend's invitation and left the classroom. If I mingled with the teeming masses in the cafeteria, no one would pay attention to what I, who tend to merge with the air anyway, was holding.

In the hallway, Sugawara also came out of the classroom and was walking in the opposite direction from me. He probably intended to have lunch with his girlfriend. I didn't go so far as to wish that the disciplinary committee would confiscate their bentos for violating public order and morals.

I went down to the first floor and exited the school building still in my indoor shoes. The proper route, so to speak, would be to go through the building or the covered walkway, but I took a shortcut.

The cafeteria was already bustling, enough to make me wonder if these guys were skipping class to be here. Just seeing the students lined up in front of the old lady taking orders or the ticket vending machines was enough to make me weary. Still, as I searched for a less crowded spot, "S'up, Senpai." "Hey there, Senpai." "Oh, Senpai." "Senpai, I didn't know you ate at the cafeteria." Acquaintances galore. My mistake, shivers galore. Souda and Kaneko. Ichimiya and Biwashima. The four juniors were sitting around a table in a subtly uneven arrangement. Ichimiya and Souda were snuggled up so close there was only about seven millimeters between them. Annoying. Then Biwashima was sitting about half a person's width away from Souda, and next to her, with another gap, sat Kaneko. Yeah, sorry, strictly speaking, they weren't "surrounding" it. But somehow, Ichimiya & Souda aside, the remaining two had a bit of an awkward vibe.

"Senpai, there's an empty seat here," Kaneko offered, pointing to the spot next to him. Was he trying to draw me, someone known for reading the room, into this bizarre space? Well, since there were no other empty seats in sight, I guess it was fine.

"Well then, excuse me," I said, circling the table and taking a seat. In front of the four were cafeteria-made dishes, one for each; no bento-eaters. Ichimiya seemed like the type to be so annoyingly lovey-dovey as to make a handmade bento for Souda, but no, I think... Souda had gushed to me about her before... "I mean, Kawana's fingers are super beautiful, you know? So, I don't want them to get hurt. Knives, oil, frying pans, they all could leave scars," so that's why she's docilely being fed the daily special with a "Here, open wide," huh? I see, I see. Choke on it. In fact, Biwashima, go ahead and strangle him.

"Senpai, you have a bento? Of course, your mom made it for you, right?"
Biwashima casually tossed a barb my way. Just like Ebihara picks on Biwashima, Biwashima playfully picks on me. There wasn't a chance in a million she was in love with me, but she probably sensed somewhere that I was easy to tease. Ah, come to think of it, one person's missing.

"Where's Ebihara? Isn't she with you?" "Ah, she said something about going to the gym." The gym? Is something going on there, or is someone there? Did she just go to play basketball or something?

"Oh well," I thought, and started to unwrap the cloth around my bento box. Midway, my hand suddenly stopped.
Our eyes met. With Fushimi, who was slurping curry-colored udon. She was eating all alone.

"..."
Her eyes were glistening, *uru-kyuu*, as if she were about to cry.

Is it really okay to add another unrelated person to this corner that's already exuding such a delicate atmosphere?

"This too, well, whatever." I easily convinced myself. That's my good point, and my bad point. I beckoned her over with a little wave. For a moment then, I had a hallucination of a fluffy tail appearing behind Fushimi. And it was even wagging, *pata-pata*. Supporting her udon bowl with both hands, she waddled towards me like a penguin. "Cuuute," I thought, blankly watching her, a bit incredulously. She yielded the way to every student passing between the tables, forever unable to swim through the river of people.

If she ever tried to live a turbulent life, she'd end up stranded on a desert island from day one, that one.

Looking exhausted and having lost even the steam from her udon, Fushimi somehow made it to me. "H-Hi." "Mm, hello."

Fushimi looked around for her own chair. Ah, it's like musical chairs, so there's one chair missing. That's a joke, of course; next to me was just an air chair.

I couldn't very well solve the problem by acting like a senior and ordering, "Kaneko, bring a chair." I don't have that kind of authority. In the first place, Kaneko isn't a conveniently useful guy like Doraemon. But he's not Nobita or Suneo either. Same for me. What exactly do we need to belong to in order to fit in?

Since there was no other choice, we both sat on one chair. It's that familiar thing where my seat can become anything. We didn't bump butts trying to expand our territories, *zuri zuri*. If anything, Fushimi seemed kind of embarrassed. Is she at that age where doing something different from others is embarrassing? Does such an age even exist?

"Not a bento today, huh?" Usually, Fushimi-san has a loving-mother-made bento.

"Mom." "Overslept." "Did." She looked a little dejected. Well, these things happen.

I resumed opening my bento box, which I'd paused. It was a two-tiered box; the bottom one contained only white rice. The top box was inhabited solely by... those rabbit-shaped persimmons. What the heck, there's nothing but persimmons in here. And they're all cut into rabbit shapes.

Fushimi, who had been slurping her udon while peeking into my bento box with great interest, muttered, then her eyes widened.
"Rabbit." "San." You call people without honorifics, but you use "-san" for other animals? Was she called "Forehead Bastard" by the rabbits, ducks, and bantams she was in charge of feeding?

But how am I supposed to portion this out and eat it? Rice and persimmons. Eat them separately? Or mix them in? No, honestly, I'm not that fond of persimmons. Mainly because of this current predicament. "Want some?" I offered the persimmons to Fushimi. She nodded *koku koku* and started munching on them *mosha mosha* between bites of her curry udon.

Kaneko and the others, oblivious to my micro-tragedy, were engrossed in their own interests.

Observing them, Biwashima was watching Souda, and Kaneko was watching Biwashima. Hmm, it seems rom-coms are popular among the underclassmen. Over here, the two plain ones were munching on locally famous persimmons, and I thought, "Youth is nice, huh?" though Fushimi is also a first-year. But she seems more like a first-year middle schooler. Mentally, at least.

The seat opposite us opened up, but Fushimi didn't try to move. She was doing her best to keep her butt perched on the edge of the chair.

I also didn't offer her the seat, as I'm grateful to have people around me.

The idea that food tastes better when you eat with someone isn't wrong. In the end, it's the heart that feels the taste, so I guess it's probably true.

Afternoon came in a flash. *Whack, whack* (good thing it's a club that actually makes that sound, so I don't have to lie). After serious training involving repeatedly swinging shinai back and forth and doing practice strikes based purely on judgment, we sat seiza for meditation, and today's club activities came to an end. That also meant the end of the school day.

The supervising teacher didn't show up at the dojo either, so we put our armor away in our assigned lockers in the dojo and headed to the changing room.

Before leaving the dojo, we have to stop at the entrance, being careful not to step on the threshold, and bow, so it gets a bit congested. In the morning, they misuse the dojo without even a shred of consideration, as if saying "walls, crumble!", yet they never skip the custom of bowing when entering or exiting. Basically, they're good kids, I think. Not that anyone would do anything bad even if they applied themselves otherwise. After all, even the student council president is a member, ha-ha. Well, my turn came, so I gave a heartless "Excuse me—" greeting.

Exiting the dojo, the changing rooms were on the right, and the restrooms on the left. Those two were in a plaza-like area, and through the front window, students from other club activities could be seen.

The boys' and girls' changing rooms, separated by a thick (too thick) opaque wall, jutted out from the plaza like a section of an ant nest. The girls' side was closer to the dojo, the boys' side further in. If you linger too long with regret, even your life might grow faint; without any particular emotion, the boys and girls separated in front of the changing rooms.

And the inside of the changing room, well, it stinks. It can't be helped, but the smell of kendo gi and sweat, mixed with mold born during the rainy season and salt crystals, created a chlorine-like odor. I've had dream-shattering discussions with Kaneko and others, wondering if the girls' side also reeked like this.

After thrusting our shinai into an overturned beer crate and putting them away individually, we each opened our lockers. Since there were no second or third-year students, there were plenty of spare lockers, and it wasn't uncommon for one person to use two. The lockers were crammed with things like manga, power wristbands, and some kind of cloth, so if a hero (a patrolling teacher) were to visit, everything could be confiscated.

"Ahh, today was boring too... School's such a pain—"
Kaneko, rummaging *goso-goso* in his locker, grumbled in a tired voice. Drawn by his voice, I looked his way, and our eyes met. As peers who recognized each other as being on the same level, we exchanged silly grins.

"Senpai, do you find school fun?"

For some reason, it feels subtly strange when Kaneko uses polite language with me. Hmm, inexplicable. "It's only when every day is boring enough that we can finally enjoy peace, right?"
I sought agreement from Sugawara, who was next to me, starting to take off his kendo gi. "Huh?" he said, looking distant for a moment, then shook his head.

"Nah, I'd rather be an enemy of boredom."

Sugawara retorted with a sarcastic tone, a fearless look twisting his features. Kaneko and I looked at each other, sharing a wry smile that conveyed our mutual understanding perfectly.

"...What is it? Was that, uh, trying too hard to sound cool?"

"Nah, not really. Just wondering if you were bored, I guess."

"Not really, since Maa-chan's around. But isn't it more interesting when various things happen? And if possible, it's more fun to go out and do various things yourself, surely."

Sugawara's casual assertion was naturally tinged with the arrogance of someone who could resolve all those "various things." And he even nonchalantly gushed about his girlfriend. All that was left for us common folk was to maintain a wry smile.

"Yeah."
I was the first to leave the changing room. Usually, I'm the first to leave this gas-chamber-like place, but perhaps I've been blessed with a heaven-sent talent like 'the ability to change clothes quickly'? ...No, no, that's just too cruel, no matter how you look at it. What if I wasn't given two gifts? The moment that was certified, my brilliant future seemed like it would slip from my grasp, so I decided to pretend I hadn't noticed.

In contrast to the orange evening sun from the window, I emerged into the plaza, veins throbbing on my forehead.

"Hm?" "...Oh?"
A female student who had been leaning against the side wall, squinting at the evening sun, looked up.

After getting me in her direct line of sight, she approached with cute, *teko-teko* steps. A familiar face, or rather, features that would be hard to forget. But her name, unless I thought hard, wouldn't come to the tip of my tongue.

Umm... This girl was Misono Mayu, right? The girl who's always clinging to, fawning over, or tightly hugging Sugawara. She's one half of the doting coup(le) (abbreviated) that makes classmates think, "She's so clingy and hot in summer," and, "Maybe I should throw a stone at them in winter." When I see that kind of thing, I also feel something... unidentifiable. It's not out of jealousy because I don't have a girlfriend... What is it, I wonder? Even though I'm the one feeling it, it somehow seems like someone else's problem.

By the way, she's quite a beautiful girl. Specifically where, you ask? She's a girl whose overall features are well-balanced, without any single part standing out too much.

"Um, Amano-kun, was it?"

She also seemed to only vaguely remember the person in front of her. But I thought she only recognized me as Student A who's always with Sugawara, so it was surprising that she remembered my name, even if she wasn't sure.

"Ah, I was right, I was right. So, um, Mii-kun... Michizane-kun isn't out yet?" She peeked past me at the changing room door. If a boy tried to peek into the girls' changing room like that, just looking at the wood grain of the door would confirm sexual harassment, but girls have it easy, huh—well, I don't particularly think that. What a pointless, long thought.

"He'll be out soon. Or, shall I call him?"

"Nuh-uh, I'll wait. Waiting, you know, is actually pretty fun."

She rolled a happy voice on her tongue, as if about to add a "la-la-la" to the end of her sentence. I somehow, sensitively and self-consciously, felt that it wasn't quite a "well then, goodbye" atmosphere, and so I attempted to continue the conversation with the beautiful girl. I don't get many chances to talk to girls like this, after all.

"Come to think of it, Misono-san, what club are you in?"

"Me? I'm in the art club. After all, my dream is to be a picture book author!"

She puffed out her chest with a self-made "ehem!" sound effect. ...I guess Fushimi wins, no, it's nothing.

"Huh, a picture book... author."

"Well, you know, I'm not really sure if joining the art club is the most direct path, but it seemed like the most fitting one. Besides, Mii-kun recommended it to me."

"Hahaha... You really love Sugawara... Mii-kun, don't you?"

It's a bit sad that Sugawara is about the only topic we have in common. Moreover, for her, it's probably not 'about' but 'that wonderful so-and-so.' And that, I felt, made something in me sad in a completely different way than before...

"Yup!"

She completely ignored my slight exasperation and sarcasm, responding with a smile bathed in the glorious evening sun. Man, doting couples have amazing filters. They possess wonderful eardrums that straighten out any distorted remark by letting it pass right through. Sugawara, too, probably lives in a world overflowing with praise.