“Just kidding. I was only messing with you.”
“You…!”
“Anyway, nice to meet you. At least I won’t call you by your first name, so don’t worry.”
I added that last part casually.
It wasn’t anything meaningful, but Shiranui narrowed her eyes slightly at the remark.
“…There’s someone who might make that complicated.”
Her voice was so quiet it sounded more like a murmur to herself than a reply to me.
Hearing that, I asked without thinking much of it.
“You mean Kimiya?”
“…Oh, right. Since you’re in Class A, you already know her, huh?”
“Hm? Well, yeah. We’re in the same class, so she’s helped me out quite a bit since enrollment.”
“—I wasn’t asking.”
Her tone was icy. So much so that it caught me off guard.
Unlike earlier, this was closer to the rejecting attitude she’d shown when we first met. A stubbornness that seemed to push something away—yet somehow, it didn’t feel like it was directed at me.
But in the end, I didn’t have time to figure out what that attitude meant.
“Well, whatever.”
—More importantly.
Shiranui turned her gaze straight at me.
“Kageyu—Kageyuki, how long have you been here?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, here. You suddenly called out from the window. …Were you watching me?”
Her eyes probed—or maybe glared—at me.
I hesitated for a second on how to answer, but in the end, honesty was the only option.
“Nah, I just got here.”
“Really? You didn’t hear anything?”
“Well, a little. Stuff like ‘spirit’ and ‘guts.’”
“—That’s not ‘a little’!!”
Shiranui clutched her head and screamed.
“Ah… So you really didn’t want anyone hearing that, huh?”
“Of course not! Who would?!”
“Fair enough.”
What do I do? She’s seriously hilarious.
Maybe the girl I met the first time was a completely different person…
“Uwaaahhh, you heard it all?! Why were you hiding and listening?!”
“I wasn’t hiding. The window was just open.”
“Then you should’ve covered your ears!”
“That’s unreasonable, Shiranui…”
“Ugh, damn it…! I thought no one would come here at this time…!”
Shiranui bit her lip, her eyes tearing up. She looked like she was about to mutter something like “Grr…”
Well, being glared at like this wasn’t ideal, so I tried to smooth things over.
“Don’t worry about it. Whatever you were doing, talking to yourself isn’t a big deal.”
“……”
She kept glaring for a while but eventually let out a resigned snort.
Then she said this:
“Then don’t tell anyone.”
“Hm?”
“Thinking about it, you seeing me isn’t really a problem. But you absolutely cannot tell anyone. What I was doing here.”
If that’s what she meant, I don’t even know what she was doing in the first place.
But saying that wouldn’t convince her, so I nodded obediently.
“Got it. I promise.”
“…Good.”
Her face didn’t look like she actually thought it was “good,” but she nodded anyway.
I wonder how this reunion would score. I definitely couldn’t call it a high score—if anything, it was more like a failing grade. At the very least, the atmosphere wasn’t one where I could stick around.
But—that didn’t mean I was ready to leave just yet.
I genuinely wanted to build good relationships with everyone at this school, and I truly believed it was possible. I wasn’t about to give up on being friends just because someone seemed to dislike me a little.
—That’s exactly why.
That’s why I had to ask one last question.
“Hey, Shiranui?”
“…What?”
“It’s about the entrance ceremony. Back then, your attitude was totally different, wasn’t it?”
“—Not really.”
She snorted softly, as if I’d brought up something pointless.
“At the time, I thought I’d only talk to you once.”
“…………”
“That’s all. Got a problem with that? If not, I’d like you to leave now.”
There was no room to argue. But it was a strange answer.
“I thought I’d only talk to you once”—So what? Did that mean she was trying to be nice? Or did it mean she changed her attitude? I couldn’t tell, and either way, it was odd.
Still, Shiranui was now glaring at me sharply.
I’d apparently stumbled into a place she didn’t want to be seen. Maybe it was time to go.
“Alright, sorry for bothering you. I’ll head back now.”
“———————”
No response from Shiranui.
A shame, but I’d probably have another chance to make up for it. At the very least, I forced a smile.
“Well, see you. Don’t be late for homeroom.”
The moment I turned to leave, Shiranui spoke up as if to stop me.
“…Kageyuki.”
“Yeah?”
“Your first name… what was it again?”
Maybe that was her way of meeting me halfway.
Unlike before, her eyes were unreadable—transparent. So I couldn’t grasp the true meaning behind her question. Maybe she’d genuinely forgotten.
Even so, the fact that she wanted to confirm wasn’t a bad thing.
A smile is a powerful weapon. The best part? It’s always free.
A zero-yen smile has value money can’t buy. Even without capital, it sells for a high price.
“Sou. It’s written with the characters f ‘tree’ (木), ‘eye’ (目), and ‘heart/mind’ (心), making up the character ‘想’.”
“Sou….nderstand”
Shiranui said.
She’d mentioned she wouldn’t call a guy by his first name, so this was probably just an acknowledgment.
“Well, let’s get along for the next three years. See you.”
“…………”
Shiranui didn’t answer.
Even so, I found myself thinking—persistently—that I’d come see her again.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
3
Private Seishinkan Academy High School Division.
Compared to other prefectures, Tokyo’s land area isn’t particularly large, yet our school boasts an extravagantly vast campus, a defining feature that squanders the limited space. It’s primarily a combined middle-high school with an escalator system (automatic advancement). The high school enrollment quota is extremely small, and as mentioned earlier, I’m the only first-year who entered this year.
Now, Seishinkan has two unusual traits compared to other schools.
The first is that about 30% of the student body is admitted not through academic exams but through special talent admissions.
Students are accepted based on notable achievements, backgrounds, or unique skills. From what I’ve heard, awards in arts or music, or prior work as child actors are common “special talents.” Some rarer cases include students who got in through insect research or yo-yo techniques.
Basically, if you had any standout skill or background by middle school entrance exams, the school was pretty open to accepting you. Some in my class even got in because they “could speak three languages.”
But honestly, this feature is more of a side note. At least for me.
Whether you enter via exams or special talents, treatment afterward is no different. Post-enrollment, everyone equally suffers through regular tests like any other high schooler. Since I entered in high school, I don’t even know who got in through which method in the first place.
So, the bigger deal for me is the school’s second defining trait—
Namely, most of the students are rich.
Facility-wise, it’s probably one of the most advanced high schools in Japan. Combined with an education system specialized in nurturing “special talents,” Seishinkan’s biggest selling point is that students can pursue all kinds of challenges if they want. This is likely tied to the exorbitant tuition fees.
The Kageyuki household isn’t poor by any means (despite being a single-mother family), but most students here come from families one or two tiers wealthier. They pay the insane tuition and still make donations on top.
Meanwhile, I got in through academic exams as a scholarship student, securing a tuition waiver. My mom originally recommended this school, but I doubt I could’ve chosen Seishinkan without that scholarship.
—In that sense, this school was like another world to me.
Morning classes ended, and lunch began—but I had no time to catch my breath.
The moment lunch break started, I bolted from the classroom, first stopping by the faculty office. Then, after a detour to the equipment storage, I headed to the entrance, swapped into my outdoor shoes, and stepped outside.
Plenty of students change shoes during lunch. Since the cafeteria in this building is small, most head to the larger one in another building.
Even those who skip the cafeteria (opting for convenience stores or school shops) or bring homemade lunches often go outside. After three years here, everyone has their own favorite lunch spot—or so Kimiya told me.
But my goal wasn’t food.
It was business.
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