On the first Friday of December, at the Advanced Nurturing High School newspaper editorial office.
Kanzaki Toru sat in a chair in the corner of the editorial office, a cup of tea gone completely cold in front of him. He rarely drank tea. Shiina Hiyori had placed this cup beside him half an hour ago, saying that tea was warmer than coffee in winter. He had not had time to drink it, because a student reporter from the school paper was seated across from him, the red light on the recorder blinking while his notebook was densely packed with questions. This was not the first time he had been interviewed—after the Autumn Festival, the school paper had run a feature on the joint stall, and Horikita Suzune had been the interviewee then. But this time was different. This was a personal interview, and the headline had already been drafted: Kanzaki Toru of Class D—From Outsider to Team Core.
"Thank you for accepting this interview, Kanzaki." The reporter's surname was Yamada. He was a third-year student, the deputy editor-in-chief of the school paper, and wore round-framed glasses. As he spoke, he habitually tapped the edge of his notebook with the end of his pen. "First question—when school began last semester, you had a very low profile in class. According to your classmates, you always sat in the last row by the window, almost never spoke up, and never gave your opinion during group discussions. Yet after the Uninhabited Island cooperative assignment, you suddenly became the de facto coordinator of Group 12. How did that change come about?"
Kanzaki Toru raised the tea and took a sip. It had gone entirely cold. The bergamot aroma remained, but all that reached his mouth was a faintly bitter aftertaste. He set down the cup