The morning sunlight streamed through the window of Room 403 and fell across Natsukawa Sosuke's face. He slowly opened his eyes, and the last function module he had completed the night before came to mind. It was a strange feeling—the programming knowledge seemed like an instinct he had mastered long ago, and the muscle memory in his fingers as they touched the keyboard felt completely natural, as if he had been coding that way for years.
"System power, huh?" Natsukawa slowly sat up and mocked himself. "I can get the knowledge straight from the system, but I still have to hone the way I think through problems on my own."
It was Sunday, almost a week after the opening ceremony. During the week, Natsukawa had paid close attention in class and kept working on his forum data-collection program after school. To his lack of surprise, the atmosphere in Class D was plummeting toward rock bottom at rocket speed. The classroom was brimming with a lively scene, as if everything were bursting into bloom.
On the first day of school, everyone had at least pretended to take things seriously and taken notes. But as the days passed uneventfully, more and more people began to let their guard down. Kanji Ike and Yamauchi Haruki, seated in the front row, had started secretly passing manga back and forth during class, and sometimes they played with the handheld console Ike had just bought, too. Students in the middle rows had grown bold enough to play with their phones under their desks. The girls used chat apps beneath their desks to share the amusing things they saw in their daily lives. Even Hirata Yosuke, who was always so well-behaved, had been caught dozing off during math class on Thursday.
"They've really been blinded by this false paradise." Natsukawa recalled how, during history class on Friday, even their homeroom teacher, Chabashira, had ignored the students openly sleeping below her and simply read from the textbook, as if she were completing a task that had nothing to do with her.
It was Sunday, and there were no classes. Natsukawa had spent all of yesterday cooped up in his dorm. It was time to get out and clear his head. He didn't want to go bald by the time he was thirty. After washing up and changing into casual clothes, he decided to wander around campus and see where his feet took him.
It was April, and the cherry blossoms on campus had begun to fall. Pink and white petals danced in the breeze, carpeting both sides of the walkways. Natsukawa wandered without a destination, letting his thoughts drift. He thought about his twenty-million-point debt, the system's abilities and limitations, and the "familiar faces" he had met over the past week—the perpetually dead-eyed Ayanokoji, the aloof and independent Horikita, the cheerful "Cherry Bomb" Kushida, and Sakura Airi, the girl he had met at the electronics store who always kept her head down.
"Sakura is so cute~ ᕕ(◠ڼ◠)ᕗ"
As Natsukawa mused, his feet had carried him into a relatively secluded part of the campus. The buildings here looked old, as if they had been abandoned.
He was about to turn around and leave when the corner of his eye caught a suspicious movement. Behind a nearby thicket, someone was crouching with their back to him, furtively watching the abandoned school building.
Natsukawa instinctively wanted to stay out of trouble. He had no desire to approach a random stranger. But the person's muttering made him stop.
"Shizuku-chan... Shizuku-chan... Shizuku-chan..."
The voice was low and feverish, repeating the same name over and over.
Natsukawa's heart skipped a beat. Wasn't that the stage name Sakura Airi used as a gravure model? He immediately realized how serious this was. Had a fan discovered Sakura's idol identity?
He quietly moved behind a tree and followed the person's gaze. It was fixed on the abandoned school building. Natsukawa guessed that Sakura had probably taken some photos there and accidentally included the building in the background, exposing her location. A fan from the school must have recognized the place and tracked her down.
"Holy crap, busted."
Natsukawa muttered under his breath. He decided not to alert the fan and instead circled around to the other side of the building, looking for a chance to get inside and check what was going on.
After walking along the wall for a while, Natsukawa found a half-open window. He looked around to make sure no one was there, braced both hands on the frame, pushed off with his feet, swung himself up, and deftly climbed inside. The building was dim, and the air was thick with dust. It had clearly been unused for a long time.
Natsukawa crept down the hallway, trying to find Sakura. Just as he turned a corner—
"Ah!" A brief cry rang out.
Sakura Airi stood at the corner, her alarm plain to see. She wore an oversized coat, but the edge of her swimsuit was just visible underneath. Traces of makeup remained on her face, and her hair was a little messy, with a few strands clinging to her cheeks, flushed from fright. Her large eyes, hidden behind her glasses, were wide as a startled fawn's.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" Natsukawa quickly raised both hands to show he meant no harm. "I'm Natsukawa, from Class D. We met at the electronics store. There's a suspicious person outside who keeps muttering 'Shizuku-chan.' I was worried someone might be in danger because of a stalker, so I came in to check."
Sakura hurriedly took two steps back, clutching the front of her coat so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her legs trembled, and she looked ready to bolt at any moment. But once she recognized Natsukawa, her tense body relaxed a little, though she probably didn't even notice. Then she realized the situation she was in, and her cheeks flushed bright red, like ripe apples.
"N-Natsukawa-kun..." Her voice was quieter than a mosquito's buzz, and her eyes darted around, never once meeting his.
Natsukawa noticed her shoulders trembling slightly. She had clearly been badly startled. Keeping a safe distance, he spoke gently. "So you're Shizuku-chan. Nice to meet you, even if I didn't find out your name in the most formal way."
"No... My name is... Sakura... Ai...ri. Shizuku... Shizuku is my stage name."
"Oh, sorry. Sakura, it's nice to meet you. Since you use a stage name... Are you a celebrity?"
"N-No. I'm just a blogger who posts pictures online from time to time."
"That's still impressive. I never knew you had such a side to you, Sakura."
"I-It's nothing."
"Why are you staying here, Sakura?"
"I-I still had some more photos to take outside, but when I got to the entrance, I suddenly felt someone watching me with a really uncomfortable gaze... So I haven't dared to go out."
Natsukawa noticed her shoulders trembling slightly. She had clearly been badly startled earlier. Keeping a safe distance, he spoke gently. "Your instincts were right. There really is someone outside who seems to be an obsessive fan of yours. There's no need to rush out. Let's wait here for a while. Maybe they'll leave if they don't find you."
Sakura nodded slightly and cautiously sat down against the wall. Natsukawa sat across from her, keeping his distance so he wouldn't make her feel pressured.
"N-Natsukawa-kun, what brings you here?" Sakura asked quietly after a while.
"I was just taking a walk and clearing my head," Natsukawa said with a smile. "After spending so long coding, I needed to let my brain unwind. I didn't expect to end up in such a secluded place."
"C-Coding?" Sakura raised her head slightly, a hint of curiosity flashing in her eyes, but she soon lowered it again.
"Yeah, it's one of my little hobbies." Natsukawa didn't elaborate and instead asked, "Do you come here to take pictures often?"
Sakura nodded slightly. "Not many people come here... It's a good place to take pictures without... being recognized." Her fingers absentmindedly wound a strand of red hair into a circle. "But while I was taking pictures today, I had a bad feeling..."
"Being an idol isn't easy," Natsukawa said with a sigh. "You have to stay on guard so your fans don't recognize you and keep them from tracking you down offline."
Sakura lowered her head. "N-Natsukawa-kun, could you keep this secret for me? I don't want too many people to know about it. Especially not our classmates... If they found out I was 'Shizuku'..."
"Are you worried everyone would look at you differently?"
Sakura fell silent for a while, then softly said, "Mm."
"Don't worry, Sakura." Natsukawa paused. "I promise I won't tell anyone."
"It's your private business, after all."
"And if you don't want me to bring it up again, I can pretend nothing happened. Of course, if you ever need help, or just want someone to talk to, I'm always here."
Sakura lifted her head as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she swallowed her words and silently lowered her gaze.
They chatted for a while longer, and Natsukawa noticed Sakura gradually relaxing. She still spoke haltingly, but at least she could express herself relatively smoothly now. Compared with their encounter at the electronics store, when she had barely been able to speak, it was a huge improvement.
"It's about time we figured out how to get out of here." Natsukawa stood and glanced at the sunlight outside. He dusted off his pants. "That fan may have left by now, but we'd better still be careful."
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