I really hated [Sociology]. Just hearing the broad questions it raised made my head spin. To put it bluntly, it was just historical philosophy. Setting up a whole course for this pointless dialectic was a truly torturous decision for the students.
What was society? What determined its rise or fall? How did its various phenomena—economics, law, science, and religion—relate to one another? What caused them to develop? What were the different historical forms of society? What caused one social structure to replace another?
Star Color wasn't interested in any of that. Sociology was really just the product of dissatisfied "philosophers" mixing past historical developments with their own scientific ideas and philosophy. They'd even founded a so-called "Christianity of science"—they were completely insane.
Star Color exhaled a mouthful of poisonous smoke.
"Just as I thought. A good man needs a rooftop, a cigarette, and light, fluttery clothes."
Star Color climbed onto the rooftop. The surveillance cameras didn't cover this spot, and the little space up here was cramped. Nobody ever came up to enjoy the view.
(Here, "rooftop" means the roof. In anime, rooftops often have a spot outside that you can reach by climbing a vertical ladder.)
After all, the roof was utterly unremarkable. Every building had one; there was nothing novel about it. Unlike the rest of the school building, it had no sleek, minimalist decorations. It was barren and desolate, the bare color of concrete, rough and crude from years of exposure to the elements.
It had no aesthetic appeal and wasn't a popular place with students. It was just a very boring rooftop. Maybe someone had climbed up out of curiosity, only to be thoroughly disappointed.
It was so quiet that only birds ever stopped by. Nobody came here on purpose; it was simply too peaceful. It was the only place in the crowded school building where you could actually stay. People avoided it as if it were filth.
That was exactly why Star Color liked it. At least this boring, crude place wouldn't become a gathering spot for teenagers eager to indulge in their youth.
"Our minds are wider than the sky, our minds are deeper than the sea."
Star Color enjoyed a moment of peace. Class would start soon.
Feeling the harmful substance was almost burned out, Star Color pressed its glowing end against the ground, then tossed it into an opaque plastic bag.
Listening to his unsteady footsteps, he pushed the door open with a creak.
Star Color took two pieces of gum from his pocket and popped them into his mouth. Every so often, he blew a white bubble. The gum helped mask the harmful residue in his mouth.
He let his mind wander. What would be good for lunch today? It was a question of great importance. He headed down the stairs.
He strolled over to his classroom. The girl standing at the door looked a little familiar... but she definitely wasn't from Class A. Was she trying to socialize across classes? What frighteningly good people skills.
"Um, could I get past you?"
Star Color asked timidly.
"So Otonashi-chan is in Class A."
"Huh...?"
Star Color had a vague recollection of the girl in front of him. The big-breasted, tea-haired girl from the bus... Miss Arthropod. What was her name again...? He'd forgotten.
"I'm Kikyou Kushida. Don't you remember?"
"Uh... well... I do remember."
Star Color nodded awkwardly. He'd been targeted by Miss Arthropod. He wasn't very good at dealing with girls who didn't mean what they said.
A classmate beside her reminded Kikyou Kushida that Star Color was a boy.
"A boy?! Then should I call you Otonashi-kun?"
Star Color nodded helplessly. He'd been mistaken for a girl plenty of times. He was used to it by now.
"Then, Otonashi-kun, would you like to go to a café with me after school? I want to make up for what happened the other day."
She interlaced her fingers and held them between her thighs, then bent at the waist with her knees angled slightly inward. Her wine-red eyes sparkled. She was putting on quite a convincing act.
Star Color couldn't stand her. That wicked woman didn't need to put on a coy act in front of him. Her performance only made him sick.
"Sure~."
Star Color returned her smile. He had nothing else to do, so he might as well see what this arthropod was up to.
"Then I'll come find you in Class A after school. It's a date, Otonashi-kun."
"Okay~."
As soon as he returned to the classroom, some girls who loved a bit of gossip gathered around him, grinning.
"Otonashi, you're popular with girls, aren't you?"
"You've already captured Little Kushida's heart? That's impressive."
"Your face is just too cute, Otonashi. If a girl who couldn't resist boys saw you, she might say, 'You're so cute, I might just fall for you.' You'd better watch out for the other guys."
"Huh...? Don't tease me! Something just happened on the same bus as her..."
Star Color still wasn't used to being in a crowd.
He felt Tamiya Emi's gaze on him. Her shimmering eyes seemed to hold a hint of displeasure...
Huh... Was she jealous...? Probably not. They'd only been friends for about two and a half days. How could a girl fall in love with someone in such a short time? Star Color shook his head. He was definitely imagining things.
"I'm exhausted..."
"Who would've thought you had such a way with women, Otonashi Seishiki?"
Sakayanagi Arisu wore a confident, composed smile with a hint of teasing.
"Huh...? Why are you teasing me too? It's not like that. My luck is always the absolute worst."
"The absolute worst?"
"I once drew every single unlucky fortune in the box at a shrine. Even the shrine maiden standing next to me tried to comfort me, saying they were all fake and I shouldn't worry about them."
"My, how interesting."
"Classmate Sakayanagi, are you really that mean? Do you enjoy taking pleasure in other people's misfortune?"
Star Color looked at Sakayanagi Arisu, who could barely hold back her laughter, and broke into a cold sweat.
"Not at all, Otonashi Seishiki."
"No, you were clearly having a great time laughing just now."
Sakayanagi Arisu was the one who seemed like Katsuragi, that Little Fist Stone—someone whose nasty personality didn't match his appearance...
At last, it was lunchtime. Star Color yawned.
English was definitely his weak point. Just thinking about having their homeroom teacher, Teacher Majima, teach the class gave Star Color a headache. A mass of words joined together on the blackboard, and the lines looked like white cheese-covered spaghetti, making his stomach rumble. Did a delicate strawberry cake really need to be decorated with English chocolate? It didn't, especially since he wasn't going out anyway.
Star Color approached Tamiya Emi. She was tidying up her desk.
"Tamiya~. Want to go have lunch together?"
"Let's go, Star Color."
"Okay~."
On the way to the cafeteria, Tamiya Emi didn't say a word.
"Um... Tamiya, is something wrong?"
"Hm?"
"You seem a little distracted. Did you not have enough for breakfast?"
"No..."
Star Color tilted his head and looked at her.
"Really?"
"Um... Star Color, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Tamiya. What do you want to know?"
Tamiya Emi met Star Color's clear, bright violet eyes, and her heart inexplicably began to beat faster.
"Um... how did you and Kushida meet...?"
"Oh, that's what you wanted to ask?"
Star Color then told her what had happened on the bus.
"I see. But Kushida is pretty strange."
"How so?"
"The old woman was struggling because she was carrying a bag that was too heavy, and she clearly wasn't at fault. Why didn't Kushida help carry it? Instead, she was arguing over the seat. It seemed like she was just putting on a show."
"Come on, who knows? Don't assume the worst about people. Maybe Kushida just didn't notice."
As he told the story, Star Color deliberately dropped hints to guide Tamiya Emi toward that line of thought.
"Star Color, you think everyone is too kind and innocent. You'll definitely get taken advantage of once you go out into the world."
"Huh...? But is there anything wrong with being kind and innocent?"
That left Tamiya Emi speechless.
"Most people have lost their kindness, and that's why the world has become like this. But I think... in this world, kindness is the one thing we must never betray."
Star Color was like a spotless lotus, with a fragile kindness that needed to be carefully protected. His childlike sincerity and innocence were pure and endearing.
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