Summer and Morning's Bond

A single move, and the opponent was checkmated.

Yuki Gyakukai felt a bit helpless. She had been considering whether to go easy on her.

After all, what she had said earlier about needing roughly two more moves meant that, if she played it safe, it would take two moves to checkmate the opponent.

But since Sakayanagi Arisu had said it like that, there was no point wasting any more time.

"I have to say, Classmate Sakayanagi is quite impressive. Dragging that frail body of yours to play at the same pace as me for so long is truly admirable."

Mid-sentence, as if remembering something, Yuki Gyakukai's expression shifted slightly.

"Classmate Sakayanagi, your condition doesn't look right. Maybe you should go to the infirmary and take a look."

"No need. I'll be fine after resting a bit..." Sakayanagi Arisu remained somewhat dazed, staring at the checkmated board before her.

It seemed her confidence had taken a considerable blow.

After all, her proudest skill—chess—had been easily defeated by someone who only knew the rules and had played a few games.

No matter how she looked at it, it felt like there was always a sky beyond the sky, a person beyond the person, along with an intense sense of unwillingness.

Yuki Gyakukai felt she couldn't stay in the library any longer. The events of today were, more or less, giving her a bad feeling.

So she quickly made an excuse, hurriedly bid farewell to the others, and swiftly left the library.

The summer sun was especially scorching, but unfortunately, it was already afternoon.

The gradually setting sun was partially obscured by faint clouds in the sky, and a great deal of light filtered through the clouds, scattering in patches.

Looking at this scene, the sun sinking westward, along with the drifting clouds around it, took on a rosy hue.

Yuki Gyakukai walked along the road. The many trees rustled loudly as they were blown by the sea breeze.

Suddenly, her gaze involuntarily fixed on a bench by the roadside ahead.

A blue-haired girl in a pure white pleated skirt was dozing off on it, one hand resting on the tree beside her.

She slowly lowered her footsteps, making sure to keep the noise within a reasonable range.

"It's almost evening. Aren't you going to eat? What are you doing here?"

She gently patted the girl's cheek with her hand. No reaction?

Yuki Gyakukai, puzzled, crouched down beside the bench, leaning in to listen, sensing the steady breathing.

"Are you really asleep?"

"Mhm... I'm asleep."

Turning her head, she scrutinized the blue-haired girl, who still had her eyes closed and was breathing steadily.

"Didn't even open your eyes. Looks like you're really asleep." Yuki pretended to look troubled:

"What should I do? I found a high school girl on the school bench. Maybe I should..."

"No way, pervert!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Ai Morishita opened her eyes, quickly stood up, and held her waist in discomfort.

"Why did you tickle me?"

"None of your business why. Let's go. By the way, didn't we agree to meet at 8 AM tomorrow? Why are you waiting here so early?"

Still not quite understanding what was going on in the mind of this girl with her peculiar way of thinking, she turned to look at her.

The airheaded girl, Ai Morishita, said nonchalantly:

"I came to scope out the place first."

"You scoped out the place, and all you did was fall asleep on the bench. What was that about?"

Ai Morishita stubbornly retorted:

"I wasn't asleep. Didn't you see I had one hand on the tree? I was listening to the voice of nature."

"Is that so?"

Looking at the airheaded girl with her peculiar way of thinking, speaking nonsense with a straight face, Yuki Gyakukai couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth:

"As I thought, I still can't quite figure out what's going on in your head."

"Yuki, it's only natural that you don't understand."

Ai Morishita picked up a stone from somewhere, placed it under her foot, and kicked it forward with each step. As she chatted idly, the stone was kicked who knows how far.

"What a shame."

She reached out and patted Ai Morishita's little head:

"What's there to be a shame about? If it's kicked away, it's kicked away. I'd rather hear what you heard from nature just now."

Then, the Morishita girl put her hands on her hips and began spouting nonsense with a proud look:

"It said time is almost up, the flowers will soon wither, and it looks forward to meeting us here again next year."

"Is that so? But are you sure that's not just the seasonal factor?"

Faced with Yuki's question, Ai Morishita held firm to her own view:

"Of course that's part of it—I'm not stupid. But if I heard nature's voice, then I heard it. 'The spring breeze keeps its promise, and flowers have their blooming season'—that's a perfectly normal thing to say, isn't it?"

Somewhat startled, he turned back and grabbed her bouncing ponytail.

"Ow! Yuki, that hurts—what are you doing?"

"Don't move. I want to see what's actually inside your head—one moment you're unhinged, the next you're all poetic."

Walking back to the dorm, one could see Yuki Gyakukai gripping Ai Morishita's head with both hands, turning it this way and that, occasionally letting out little clicks of amazement.

"Yuki, you're mean."

Ai felt like she was being toyed with. Her naturally airheaded face now looked genuinely dazed, almost drooling—and if she actually did drool, she'd look like a complete idiot.

"By the way, didn't we agree to talk at 8 a.m. tomorrow? Was it really necessary to scout the place this late? If I hadn't run into you tonight, were you planning to sleep there?"

Ai caught the movement beside her, shot him a wary look, and quickly hopped two big steps forward.

"I told you, I'm not stupid. I know how to go home when it gets dark."

When she got to the next topic, her expression turned a little shy, and she fidgeted with her small hands.

"And—I mean, and—what we're doing tomorrow morning is still a bit too embarrassing for me. I wanted to practice beforehand."

As if afraid Yuki might misunderstand, she turned around in a fluster:

"It's what you said... See, even I get shy. So that thing tomorrow morning will definitely make you shy too. I was afraid you wouldn't come, so I waited for you here. After all, I saw you heading this way."

By the last sentence, Ai even puffed out her chest with a hint of self-righteousness, like a proud little bunny.

"How could I not come? I promised you, and it's not like it hurts me—though there is some risk."

Yuki Gyakukai answered seriously.

The two walked together to the dormitory building and took the elevator up.

The elevator reached the fifth floor, and the doors opened.

"Morishita, I'm off."

"Mm."

Ai watched Yuki walk away ahead of her. Thinking about what would happen after today, at 8 a.m. tomorrow, her normally airheaded face melted like ice and snow.

Mmm... a little shy, but a little excited too.

Yuki won't not come tomorrow, right?

We already met today—if I don't show up tomorrow, would that be bad?

"Summer skies are always dark; if you can't make it by dawn, let us meet before nightfall..." Can that line be used like this?

Yeah, I should try it again sometime.