Love in the Time of Cholera

"I remember you said we were going to play chess. Wouldn't it make sense to borrow a set from the Chess Club?"

On their way out of the gym, Amasawa Yuto asked Sakayanagi Arisu.

Instead of explaining, Sakayanagi gave him a cryptic smile. "You'll find out soon enough."

"So where are we going now?"

"To the library."

"Sakayanagi, have you been to the school before? It's the first day of classes, but you seem to know your way around."

"Mm-hmm, that's right. My father is the chairman, so I sometimes come to the school. I've been to the library before, of course."

"I see."

The two crossed the central plaza and followed a path lined with ginkgo trees.

The afternoon sun slipped through the leaves, casting shifting patches of light across the ground.

A gray-and-white building came into view. Sparse ivy climbed its walls, and its windows reflected the bright sky.

Above the wide-open oak doors was an antique bronze plaque inscribed with the word "Library."

As they entered, air heavy with the mingled scents of paper, wood, and something old washed over them.

Sunlight cut bright bands across the dark floor. Countless motes of dust drifted and swirled in the beams.

There was no one in the lending area. The librarian sat behind the counter.

The library had a substantial collection, with row after row of bookshelves stretching into the depths.

Every so often, they heard the rustle of turning pages. A few students were studying in the study area, but not many. After all, it was the first day of school.

By midterms and finals, the place might be packed.

What was interesting, though, was that Yuto had expected the students studying at this hour to be second- or third-years. He hadn't thought he'd run into another classmate.

It was Shimazaki Ikkei.

Studying in the library on the first day of school? He really did live up to Class A.

"This way, Yuto," Sakayanagi said in a lowered voice, mindful of the library.

They climbed the openwork spiral staircase to the second floor. There were plenty of books here too, but a quick glance told Yuto most were classics unrelated to schoolwork: mysteries and detective stories, fantasy adventures, and tales of love and family.

Agatha's And Then There Were None, Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera...

It was just a high school library, yet it had gathered so many great works for students to read.

There was even a section for Japanese authors beyond the next shelf.

Yuto spotted a copy of Watanabe Junichi's A Lost Paradise. Was it really appropriate to let high schoolers read this?

Between the shelves stood a petite girl with long, water-blue hair, decorated with two black bows. She seemed to be helping the librarian, since she was putting books back on the shelves.

But she was wearing the uniform of Advanced Nurturing High School. That was a little strange.

The girl seemed to sense someone looking at her. She turned around in confusion and met Yuto's gaze.

When she realized he wasn't going to speak to her, she turned back and continued arranging the books.

Sakayanagi led Yuto to a table in a corner on the second floor of the library.

It was beside a window, where the light was good. A pink-and-white moth orchid sat on the windowsill.

A chess set was laid out on the table.

"I had someone clean this place for me," Sakayanagi said.

"You're lucky to have found a spot like this," Yuto said as he began setting up the pieces.

"I stumbled upon it by chance. Thinking about it now, I'm glad I did. If I hadn't found this place, I wouldn't have been able to play chess here with you, Yuto." Sakayanagi took the seat by the window.

She left setting up the pieces to Yuto, then raised both hands and gently cupped her cheeks, resting her chin in her palms as she watched him.

"Perhaps this place exists so that one day you and I could meet here over a chessboard."

"Given how quiet the Chess Club is, I doubt many people use this place. But the way you put it makes it sound strangely fated."

"Of course. My reunion with you was surely destined, Yuto."

The pieces fell into place, black against white, as the two quietly played.

The sun sank toward the horizon, and at last the game came to an end.

Yuto emerged victorious.

"That was a wonderful game." Sakayanagi closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "Congratulations, Yuto."

A game that lasted nearly two hours had taken quite a toll on her.

Thinking hard burned a lot of energy.

"Not at all. You're very strong too, Sakayanagi. I only won because I got lucky."

Yuto meant it. Sakayanagi was genuinely strong, with a style that combined aggressive precision and solid defense.

She hadn't won the world chess championship by chance. She had the skill to back it up.

If they played ten more games, the score could easily end up five to five.

That was how much pressure Sakayanagi put on him.

Yuto checked his phone. About twenty minutes earlier, Tsubaki Yuki had messaged to ask if he wanted to have dinner with her.

Sakayanagi was still resting, recovering from the energy she'd spent on the game.

"Would you like to have dinner together, Sakayanagi? There's someone I'd like you to meet."

Sakayanagi opened her eyes. "Who?"

"She's someone from my year, but she left before you met me, so you didn't get to see her. She's been very kind to me, and I hope you two can become friends."

By "someone from his year," Yuto didn't mean a first-year at Advanced Nurturing High School. Sakayanagi understood that too.

"I see." Sakayanagi slowly sat upright, moving out of her slumped, languid pose. She seemed to have rested enough. "I thought you seemed a little different from someone who'd just come out of there. You seemed oddly normal. It sounds like she's helped you quite a bit. I'd like to meet her."

"Then I'll get in touch with her."

Twenty minutes later, the three of them met in the dining hall.

It was late, so there were far fewer people there than they'd expected.

Tsubaki was in much better spirits than she'd been at lunchtime, and she was less resistant to meeting a friend from another class.

Tsubaki and Sakayanagi got along even better than Yuto had expected.

"Wait, Yuto beat Classmate Sakayanagi, the world champion?" Tsubaki asked in surprise, biting her chopsticks. "Though I guess it's not that hard to imagine..."

"That's right. Yuto is amazing!" Sakayanagi was delighted too. Somehow, Yuto winning seemed to make her even happier than winning herself.

"By the way, Classmate Sakayanagi, wasn't today the first time you met Yuto? Why are you calling him by his first name?"

"Mm-hmm~ I've known Yuto for eight years, so it's perfectly fine for me to call him that. But since today was the first time Yuto met me, it's understandable that he feels awkward about using my name." Sakayanagi looked rather pleased with herself.

"That's so unfair. I'm not going to be awkward about it. I'll just call you by your name."

"Of course. Then let's call each other by our names, Classmate Yuki."

"Why are you adding an honorific when you're already using my name, Arisu?"

"Why? I suppose it's just a habit."

Yuto quietly ate his dinner. The two got along much better than he'd expected. Maybe this would make things easier from here on out too.

Yuki didn't talk much with her classmates in Class D, and instead talked with students in Class A. Yuto didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

After all, Yuki needed some kind of motivation or goal at school.

For example, saving up enough points to transfer classes.