"W-what... what's wrong, Hajima?"
Ichinose lowered her head, twirling a lock of hair beside her ear around her small finger.
"Ah... it was rude of me to keep staring."
Whew, was it because the weather was gradually getting warmer?
My face felt hot. It must've been the sun.
Ichinose feels the same way I do. It's just the weather!
I calmly (or maybe not?) shifted my gaze to the bulletin board beside us.
I found my name near the top of Class B's list, while Ichinose's was at the very top.
Incidentally, the names didn't seem to be arranged in Japanese syllabary order.
I remembered that Sakayanagi Arisu was probably at the top of Class 1-A's list, too. A quick glance at the names below hers showed that they weren't arranged according to the usual pronunciation-based order, either.
Was there some special system for arranging the names, or had they been sorted according to entrance exam scores?
I glanced at Ichinose, who was admiring the school grounds nearby, and asked her.
"Would you mind telling me your entrance exam score, Ichinose?"
The girl, who'd been gazing at the cherry blossoms, turned to me with a puzzled look.
"Why are you asking me that all of a sudden, Hajima?"
"I'm just curious."
Ichinose nodded adorably.
"Of course. It's nothing I need to keep secret."
"The entrance exam wasn't too difficult, so I think I got around 490 out of 500."
"That's an amazing score. I had no idea you were so capable, Ichinose."
"I wouldn't say that. Studying is a student's duty. I just did my best to do what I was supposed to."
"But you're already an amazing person in my eyes."
Setting aside her personality and looks, her straightforward nature alone made her likable.
I gave her my honest opinion.
For some reason, Ichinose seemed distracted. She stared blankly for a moment before coming to her senses,
then stepped back slightly and looked me up and down.
After that, she leaned closer again, tilted her head, and studied me for a while before nodding as if she'd figured something out.
"You're more of a charmer than I expected, Hajima."
"Why do you say that? Even if I'm sincerely complimenting you..."
"Telling a girl you've only just met, 'But you're already an amazing person in my eyes'—doesn't that sound a little forward, and kind of like a direct romantic advance? I know you didn't mean it that way, but it's easy to misunderstand."
Huh? Was this some kind of mysterious thought process unique to girls?
"Why can't I just be giving you a simple compliment?"
Ichinose brushed back her side bangs and thought about it.
"I know you can. What I mean is, it's fine if you say that to me, but it might not be a good idea to say it to other girls."
Huh? That sounded even more likely to be misunderstood.
"You've already misunderstood me."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I mean, you want to be the exception."
"Ah, I meant that I understand what you meant by it. Another girl might misunderstand."
"P-please don't joke around."
Her pretty face turned red as she waved her small hands in a fluster.
"I'm not joking."
I let the faint smile that had been on my lips fade and spoke with a serious expression.
"You really are an incredibly cute girl, Ichinose. So what I said wasn't just a simple compliment."
"Just like you said, it was a little forward, and kind of a direct romantic advance."
I winked my left eye, but I'd clearly overestimated the girl's defenses.
If this were a manga, Ichinose would've turned into an adorable little steam engine by now.
"All right, I was joking about what I just said, so don't take it to heart."
"But... I wasn't joking when I said you're cute, Ichinose."
"Eeeek!"
"Is this Class 1-B? Looks like quite a few students have already arrived."
I tried striking up a conversation with Ichinose, who'd followed me silently the whole way without saying a word.
I waited, but she didn't respond.
Ah, maybe I'd gone a little too far earlier.
"Yeah, at least we made it before the deadline."
She'd managed to get herself together, at least. I'd already prepared myself for the awkwardness of talking to myself.
"Then let's head inside. Are you really okay now?"
"Hmph."
Ichinose gave a soft snort.
"Don't bring that up when there are so many people around!"
She tried to look angry, but the slight furrow in her pretty face only made me want to tease her.
She walked into the classroom before I could reply.
Maybe I really had gone too far. I should find her later and give her a proper apology.
My gaze followed Ichinose into Class 1-B.
From this moment on, I was beginning an entirely new high school life.
I'd study alongside everyone in Class B for three years, and then graduate.
Well, honestly, it wasn't anything grand, but I couldn't help feeling excited.
I didn't know what I'd feel on the day I finally graduated.
Books said that after graduating, people wished they didn't have to leave.
But I didn't understand what that meant.
I supposed I'd graduated from the White House, but I hadn't...
No, there were plenty of things I remembered vividly.
Regret, remorse, joy, anger, relief.
Perhaps one day, all those feelings tangled together would come back to me.
But I still didn't feel the slightest urge to go back.
Would graduation bring feelings I'd never experienced before?
Probably, but...
Maybe the outcome wasn't all that important.
After all, the present was still unfolding. If I wanted the memories to stand out more in the future, I needed to make every second of the present count.
Only by making each moment worth remembering might I be able to understand those feelings more deeply when the time came.
Sorry. I'd been thinking such passionate thoughts at the door, but when I sat down at the desk with my nameplate, I didn't know what to do.
Honestly, this seat was a real headache.
I wouldn't have minded sitting off to the side, but why was I right in the middle?
I didn't think I was the protagonist of some novel, but this seat was definitely conspicuous.
And since I'd arrived a little late, all the seats around me were already occupied.
Everyone was chatting and getting to know one another.
It wasn't that I couldn't chat. I knew plenty of ways to join a conversation naturally.
But being able to join a conversation and having the courage to do it were two different things!
Besides, I didn't know if the seats had been assigned deliberately, but there really were a lot of girls around me.
It wasn't as if they were all girls, but I just didn't have the courage to casually join in.
Especially not with a group of girls.
Um, you two guys in front of me, why not look around?
I could only sit up straight and act as if I didn't care about my surroundings, silently praying that some guy would come talk to me.
Huh? You're wondering what my deskmate was doing while everyone else had one?
Come on, I really had to wonder if I'd done too much to contribute to global cooling in my past life.
My deskmate was a cute girl, and she was popular, too. Naturally, she'd become the center of attention.
That would normally have been a good thing, but unfortunately, she was someone who didn't want to talk to me right now.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a lonely soul in the first row whose deskmate hadn't arrived, leaving him in a situation much like mine. Just as I was about to give him a sympathetic look, I saw boys and girls around him start talking to him.
What the heck? His looks were pretty average. I was clearly more appealing!
Just as I gave up and prepared to wait for the homeroom teacher, I heard the two boys in front of me whispering.
"But you lost, so just accept your punishment."
"Hey, that's cheating, isn't it? Who said you could do that?"
"You didn't notice that loophole in the rules beforehand, so don't complain. You came up with the conditions yourself, so don't try to wriggle out of it."
The boy in the seat in front of me turned around and smiled.
"My name's Tetsuya Hamaguchi. I like soccer. I've been lucky enough to have a lot of seniors guide me along the way, and I've kept at it all this time. I look forward to studying with you."
"Hajime Kashima. I like reading. I look forward to getting along with you, too."
The boy in front of me was named Tetsuya Hamaguchi. I could tell he loved sports and was confident in his abilities. He also seemed warm and relaxed around his classmates.
As we talked, his deskmate turned around as well.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce you. This is my deskmate."
Hamaguchi gestured to the boy beside him.
"Hi, I'm Ryota Beppu. I like studying. Nice to meet you."
Ryota Beppu adjusted his glasses and held out his hand.
"Hajime Kashima. Nice to meet you."
His hobby was studying? That was... well, an unusual hobby.
He looked unapproachable at first glance, but once we started talking, that impression quickly faded.
"Hey, don't let his usual poker face fool you. He's actually really easy to get along with."
"Does having no expression count as a poker face?"
They didn't seem like they'd have much in common at first, but for some reason, I got the feeling they actually got along surprisingly well.
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