The next day, Friday.
At the first hint of daylight, Akiyama Shin woke like a perfectly precise clock. With no disturbance from Kushida Kikyo the night before, he had enjoyed a rare, peaceful night that was entirely his own.
His morning run seemed to last a little longer than usual, and the exhilaration of being drenched in sweat felt all the purer.
Back in Dormitory 501, he took a long, refreshing hot shower, washing away the fatigue and sweat from his morning workout.
After changing into a clean, neatly pressed uniform, he seemed to glow with a crisp freshness from head to toe.
Having gone to bed early, he felt more alert and energetic than usual. His handsome face remained as expressionless as ever, but deep in his dark-red eyes, there seemed to be a faint trace less of the weariness that usually lingered there.
He had to admit.
Having the whole bed to himself...
Was just so damn great!!!
He could roll over and stretch out without a care, never worrying about disturbing anyone beside him. By traditional standards, Akiyama Shin might not have been the kind of endlessly attentive, gentle man people called "yasashii." He was relatively calm and rational, even a little cold.
But when someone entered his personal sphere, like Kushida Kikyo, he cared about their feelings and what was on their mind. He looked after them in small ways, though he tended to be direct and practical about it, without dressing things up in sweet talk.
He walked alone along the tree-lined path to the school building in the early morning, savoring the brief tranquility.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting shifting patches of light across him.
Just then, a familiar, gentle yet lively voice called his name from behind and to the side.
"Akiyama-kun?"
Akiyama Shin stopped, then turned around, slightly surprised. Three people were coming from the direction of the cafeteria.
At the front was a pink-haired girl holding a half-eaten sandwich. It was Honami Ichinose.
Beside her were Chihiro Shiranami, timid as a small animal, and Ryuji Kanzaki, looking serious and composed.
Akiyama Shin was indeed a little surprised.
Since that gathering last month, he and Ichinose's group hadn't been in touch at all.
They had hardly crossed paths at school, either.
Akiyama Shin figured their class must have been giving it their all last month, not only following the rules strictly but studying hard, too.
They had probably also been holding frequent study sessions and review activities after school.
That was the only way they could have overtaken the competition within a month and risen from Class B to Class A.
Now that he was seeing them, especially Ichinose's warm, completely unclouded smile, he felt even more certain of his judgment.
"Ichinose, Kanzaki, Shiranami."
Akiyama Shin nodded to each of the three standing before him, his tone even.
"Good morning, Akiyama-kun!"
Honami Ichinose replied with a bright smile.
"Morning."
Ryuji Kanzaki kept it brief.
"G-Good morning, Akiyama-kun..."
Chihiro Shiranami spoke softly, instinctively shrinking behind Ichinose.
Akiyama Shin was just about to ask what they wanted when Ichinose beat him to it. She blinked her big eyes and asked with concern,
"Akiyama-kun, have you eaten breakfast?"
Akiyama Shin was taken aback. He hadn't.
After finishing his run, he'd gone back to shower. Making breakfast himself would have left him short on time, and the thought of the crowd waiting in line at the cafeteria at this hour seemed like too much trouble. So he'd decided to go hungry and make up for it by eating more at lunch.
Seeing his brief hesitation and the fact that he didn't answer right away, Honami Ichinose immediately gave him a look that said she'd known it. She pouted at him reproachfully.
"Akiyama-kun, skipping breakfast isn't good for you~"
"It's bad for your body and your brain, too!"
Chihiro Shiranami nodded vigorously beside her. Her voice was quiet, but she sounded serious.
"Mm... If you skip breakfast... your stomach will complain... and you won't have any energy..."
At that point, Ryuji Kanzaki said nothing. He simply took a breakfast from his backpack, wrapped in a clean paper bag.
It was a hearty-looking sandwich and a small carton of milk. He held them out to Akiyama Shin.
"Even when you're alone, remember to eat properly."
Kanzaki's voice was as level as ever, but there was no room for argument in his words.
Akiyama Shin looked at the breakfast being offered, then at the three of them.
Ichinose's expectant gaze, Chihiro Shiranami's look of agreement, Kanzaki's firm, no-nonsense stance.
For a moment, he was utterly bewildered.
The people in Class A are... way too nice, aren't they?
And this kindness...
Seemed to keep landing squarely on him.
First, they had lent him an umbrella in the rain. Then they had invited him to a class gathering. And now they were handing him breakfast? Akiyama Shin felt like he was starting to crack.
What's with the way they're treating me... like a kid who can't take care of himself?
However, Akiyama Shin was exceptionally perceptive when it came to other people's emotions.
From the first time he'd met Ichinose and the others, he hadn't analyzed them in excessive depth the way he did most people.
He could clearly sense that what they radiated was a nearly pure, untainted goodwill.
It was warm and sincere, and it left his mind, so accustomed to dissecting and calculating, at a loss.
Seeing Akiyama Shin still standing there without moving, Ryuji Kanzaki added in a resigned tone,
"Take it. You can't think as efficiently on an empty stomach."
That seemed to hit home for Akiyama Shin.
He came back to himself, a faint smile appearing on his face, touched with both gratitude and resignation. He reached out and accepted the still-warm breakfast.
"Thank you."
He thanked them sincerely.
The moment Honami Ichinose saw him accept it, her face lit up with a radiant smile.
"You're welcome! Well, Akiyama-kun, we'll get going now! Our class has a morning meeting!"
She waved to Akiyama Shin as she spoke.
Ryuji Kanzaki and Chihiro Shiranami also nodded to him. Then the three of them turned and hurried toward the school building, as if they really were in a rush.
Holding the breakfast, Akiyama Shin watched them leave and nodded before continuing on his way.
However, the morning meeting Ichinose and the others had mentioned...
Was a lie!
As soon as they rounded a corner and confirmed that Akiyama Shin couldn't see them, the three of them slowed down in perfect unison. Honami Ichinose was the first to crack. She covered her mouth and giggled, her eyes curving into pretty crescents.
"Success! The plan worked!"
She cheered softly, sounding a little pleased with herself.
Chihiro Shiranami's cheeks were red, but her eyes were sparkling as she chimed in quietly.
"Mm... Akiyama-kun... took it..."
Ryuji Kanzaki looked at his two companions, who seemed a little too excited, and sighed in resignation.
"Ichinose, Shiranami, we didn't need to make it so complicated next time. There was no need to stage an 'accidental' encounter. We could've just given it to Akiyama directly. With his personality, he wouldn't have refused. If you think carefully about what we just said, there are way too many holes in the story."
He meant the spur-of-the-moment excuse about having a morning meeting. But Honami Ichinose didn't seem bothered at all. Instead, she grinned and shot back,
"Come on~ Kanzaki-kun, you're so stiff! Doesn't setting up a chance encounter feel so youthful?"
"It's just like something out of a manga!"
"Besides, wasn't it fun seeing Akiyama-kun freeze up for a moment?"
Chihiro Shiranami nodded hard. Her cheeks were flushed, and though her voice was faint, she sounded determined.
"Y-Yes... Doing it this way... feels much better... than just giving it to him..."
As it turned out, Ryuji Kanzaki had left early that morning and happened to see Akiyama Shin heading out for his morning run.
He hadn't thought much of it at first. He'd just been bored, so he watched for a while, only to discover that Akiyama Shin ran for nearly an hour without stopping. It was an astonishing amount of exercise.
After his run,
Kanzaki watched Akiyama Shin return to the dormitory building.
Later, when Ryuji Kanzaki went to the cafeteria to queue for breakfast, he happened to run into Honami Ichinose and Chihiro Shiranami.
While they were chatting, he mentioned Akiyama Shin's morning run.
At the time, Chihiro Shiranami, who was usually so timid, made a surprisingly sharp guess.
"Akiyama-kun... will definitely shower first when he gets back, right...? But even after he's done, the line at the cafeteria will probably still be long! I think someone like him, who might not want to bother with it... could end up skipping breakfast...!"
Ichinose and Kanzaki immediately agreed with her. So the three of them came up with a plan: Ryuji Kanzaki would buy an extra breakfast, and they would stage this seemingly chance encounter. Their goal was to make sure that a certain genius, who wasn't good at looking after the little details of daily life, wouldn't have to go to class on an empty stomach.
Ryuji Kanzaki looked at Honami Ichinose and Chihiro Shiranami, still basking in the joy of their successful plan, and shook his head helplessly.
But the corners of his serious mouth lifted by a barely perceptible degree.
"Fine... Just this once."
Before you continue