It was already time for school to let out at Soritado Elementary School.
Inside the Class 4-F classroom, a somewhat chubby little girl was cleaning by herself.
"Hey! Where's the person who was supposed to be on cleaning duty with you?"
A child with short silver-white hair stood in the doorway and called to the little girl inside.
"Huh? Oh! H-he said I was too ugly and he didn't want to be around me, so he left early.
But it's okay! I can do it by myself!"
Startled by the sudden voice, the little girl saw that it was another classmate and stammered out what had happened.
But Gojo Satoru wasn't having any of it.
"Are you kidding me?! What kind of excuse is that for ditching you?"
As he spoke, he walked over to the little girl and lifted the bangs that covered her eyes. Then he said simply,
"You look pretty good to me. You're just a little chubby."
"R-really?! You really think I'm pretty, classmate?"
The little girl asked excitedly.
Faced with her excitement, Gojo Satoru didn't hesitate for a second before giving his verdict again:
"Of course. Other than being a little chubby, your features are really delicate. You're definitely not ugly like they said!"
Hearing his confident answer, the little girl relaxed and smiled as she thanked him, then introduced herself.
"Thank you! You're the first person outside my family to say I'm pretty!
My name is Amikura Mako. Nice to meet you!"
"Yeah, got it. My name's Gojo Satoru. Nice to meet you, too.
I'll help you clean."
As Gojo Satoru spoke, he picked up the broom the other student on duty had left behind and started sweeping on his own.
"Huh?! Are you sure that's okay? You're not even on cleaning duty today, Gojo-kun. Sorry for the trouble!"
Amikura Mako, who had just calmed down, got excited again.
"It's no big deal. We've exchanged names, so I guess that makes us friends, right?
Isn't it normal for friends to help each other?"
He answered casually.
"Friends?"
Amikura Mako repeated the word over and over in her heart.
Two months later,
In a grassy field,
Gojo Satoru was lying back leisurely while Amikura Mako sat beside him.
"Gojo-kun..."
"Just call me Satoru. As long as I don't dislike someone, I don't mind them using my first name."
Cutting Amikura Mako off, Gojo Satoru thought for a moment, then continued,
"Besides, you're my friend."
Hearing that, Amikura Mako seemed a little less reserved and smiled as she spoke.
"Okay! Satoru-kun!
By the way, why did you become friends with me?
I'm so fat, but you're so handsome, and you get good grades. I heard from the teacher that you've even won lots of awards."
"Because I'm an angel investor!"
Gojo Satoru sat straight up, grinning as he replied.
But Amikura Mako looked confused.
"An angel investor?? What's that?"
"It means I keep encouraging promising people like you. Once you slim down and get pretty, you'll be hopelessly in love with me!"
The bizarre explanation made Amikura Mako burst out laughing.
"Hahaha!"
Wiping away her tears of laughter, Amikura Mako happily asked again,
"That's such a strange thing to do! Lots of girls already like you, Satoru-kun. Why go to all this trouble?"
But Gojo Satoru answered seriously,
"What do little kids know about love? They're just after my looks!"
No! They know.
It was nearly the end of term, and school had let out for the day.
As usual, only Satoru-kun and I were left in the classroom. But he looked unusually serious, and an uneasy feeling rose in my heart!
"I'm going abroad! I might not be coming back to school tomorrow."
His sudden farewell was hard to believe. Unable to accept it, I asked in an increasingly agitated voice,
"Huh?! Why?! We're about to start fifth grade! Why so suddenly? Is it something your family arranged?"
But the smile that was usually on Satoru-kun's face was gone. He simply explained,
"No. Some of my work was nominated for an award, so I have to go overseas to accept it. I don't know when I'll be back. I might be away for a while."
It should have been such happy news, but I couldn't bring myself to congratulate him. Instead, I asked again,
"But didn't you say you wanted to see me slim down and fall in love with you? If you leave now, will we really ever get to see each other again?!"
As if afraid I wouldn't get another chance to say it, I shouted,
"And—and I already like you! I've liked you from the very beginning!"
At that, he finally smiled a little and made me a promise.
"We will. We'll have a chance to meet again. When we do, I'll accept your feelings!"
He'd promised! But I still couldn't feel happy.
"At least, at least leave me some way to contact you! What if we really never meet again!?"
When I said that, the smile vanished from his face. He wasn't just cold—he was angry!
As if I'd touched a painful memory buried deep inside him, he yelled at me for the first time.
"Something like that! Something like that really is meaningless!"
Then he turned and walked away, not giving me another chance to stop him.
"If two people love each other,
being apart is fatal,
and things like phone calls and letters are worthless.
If we can't hold each other, then there's no point!"
Satoru-kun stopped at the doorway and said those words, then left without looking back.
Back then, I couldn't understand what he meant. All I knew was that I didn't want to be separated from him.
But now, I understood perfectly!
When I was in middle school,
I used the address my elementary school teacher had given me to visit his home once. That was when I found out he'd been a child in an orphanage.
Looking at the medals and trophies filling an entire wardrobe, I finally realized how hard he'd worked. Unable to rely on anyone else, he could only keep proving himself through the awards he won.
Proving that even without depending on others, he was no worse than anyone else. And I, his friend, hadn't known a thing.
He was only an elementary schooler. Why did he always act like an adult? Why did he never ask for help, insisting on doing everything himself?
Maybe the chance to go abroad really had meant a lot to him. That was why he hadn't had time to say a proper goodbye.
Standing outside Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, I kept imagining what might happen.
If I earned the one-hundred-percent employment and higher education privilege, maybe I could get a really good job. Then I could go abroad to find him.
One day at school,
It was Friday, and classes had let out. A tall student with silver-white hair and a blindfold hurried past me.
He seemed furious, his face full of anger as he quickened his pace.
Though I hadn't seen him in a long time, my instincts kept telling me—
That was Satoru-kun!
"Satoru-kun?!"
I ran over excitedly and tried to grab his arm, but for some reason, an invisible force knocked my hand away. He didn't seem to hear me calling, either.
He just kept walking away.
Later, I searched every first-year classroom with my friends, but I couldn't find that familiar figure.
Maybe I just missed him too much and had started imagining things. After all, I couldn't touch him, and he couldn't hear me.
Another two weeks passed. It was nearly the start of term in May.
"Mako, Chihiro!
Look! The latest First-Year Handsome Ranking is out, and some student from Class D is absolutely dominating it!
A student from Class A only posted this yesterday, and he's already in first place! He's taken the ranking by storm, even beating out all the upperclassmen! And he's really handsome!"
My friend Kobashi Yume ran over excitedly and held her phone out in front of us.
On the screen was a handsome photo of a silver-haired boy.
Beneath his silver hair was a pair of deep blue eyes like the starry sky, framed by long, fluttering lashes. He wore a gentle smile.
His class and name were listed underneath.
"First-Year Class D, Gojo Satoru!"
I shouted in shock.
I'm not mistaken! It's Satoru-kun! I'd know those eyes anywhere!
The students in class seemed startled by my shout and all looked over.
But I didn't care. My whole body was already wrapped in joy.
Satoru-kun didn't lie to me! We really did meet again!
Before you continue