"Let's speed up, or we'll be late if we keep going this slowly."

"Mm-hmm."

Nishikata glanced at the time and picked up his pace, with Takagi-San hurrying along beside him.

The morning light of the first day of the second semester filtered through the banyan tree branches strung with wish slips, scattering flecks of gold onto the bustling students below.

Outside the gates, some clutched at their uniforms against the breeze. Inside, upperclassmen darted around holding posters for club recruitment. A few students craned on tiptoe before the bulletin board, the jingling pendants on their backpacks betraying their restless excitement.

The air carried a mix of new textbook paper, cafeteria bread fresh from the ovens, and the restless flutter of youth.

"Akira, when should we apply for a club?" Shouko asked, pulling two packs of wet wipes from her bag and handing them to him.

"Thanks." Akira took them, tore a few sheets, and wiped the dust off his desk and chair. "How about after school? We can check out the recruitment area first and then figure out the application for the art club."

During the walk to school, he'd already made up his mind. The go-home club wasn't an option anymore—joining the art club with Shouko wasn't bad either. Going home alone after school was dull, and he didn't feel comfortable letting her join on her own.

"Okay." Shouko nodded, reaching for the dirty wipes.

But Akira dodged, snatched the clean ones from her hand, and grinned. "I'll throw these away. Might as well stop by the restroom too."

As he left through the back door, Nishikata and Takagi came in through the front.

"Good morning, Shouko."

"New semester—please take care of me, Nishimiya," Nishikata said.

"New semester, please take care of me too, Shouko-chan," Takagi added playfully, almost as if bowing.

"Same here." Shouko smiled and offered them her extra wet wipes.

"Arigatou," they chimed together.

"Oh, Shouko—where's your person?" Takagi asked, her gaze flicking toward Akira's empty seat.

Shouko quickly glanced around. No one seemed to have caught the slip. She exhaled quietly, then patted Takagi's arm. "Akira went to the restroom."

"Oh, I see." Takagi's lips curved faintly.

After wiping down his desk, Nishikata wandered off to chat with other classmates. A moment later, Akira returned, greeted them, then dropped onto his desk to nap.

With Shouko already chatting with Takagi, sleep was the only choice. He had stayed up late writing last night and hadn't gone to bed until past eleven. Better to recharge now than fall asleep during the opening ceremony.

But before he could drift off, Atsuya Ayumi arrived—and with her came a growing crowd of girls gathering around Shouko and Takagi, swapping winter break stories in a flurry of excited voices.

In class, the two biggest "magnets" were Ayumi, the class monitor, and Shouko. Takagi's presence among the girls wasn't as strong, but together, the three drew attention.

Among the boys, rankings of the "top girls" circulated quietly. Shouko's rank, however, had dropped compared to the others—everyone knew she was already tied to Akira.

The girls had their own secret "ranking list" of boys too—real-time updated. Akira had once heard about it from Shouko, but no matter how he pried, she refused to tell him his place.

———

Clap clap clap!

A sudden burst of applause cut through the noise. Everyone turned toward the source.

At the door stood Nobe, their homeroom teacher. Within moments, students scrambled back to their seats. Shoko nudged Akira awake.

"Quiet down." Nobe walked to the podium, her gaze sweeping across the room. Once she confirmed no one was missing, she began:

"I'll give you one day to gather your souls that haven't returned from winter break, alright? But starting this semester, we need to pick up the pace. Our class is already behind others."

Akira sat speechless. Was that line every homeroom teacher's universal catchphrase?

"Ahem." Nobe cleared her throat as she caught some students zoning out. "First, today's schedule. We'll head to the gymnasium for the opening ceremony. Afterward, the class monitor will organize a few boys to bring this semester's textbooks from the supply room—still the same eight books."

"Yes, Nobe." Ayumi replied crisply.

"Good. After that, we'll rearrange seats and go over semester plans and rules. In the afternoon, we'll head to the gymnasium again for a health checkup."

She glanced at her watch. "That's all for now. If I missed anything, I'll let you know. Everyone, line up outside."

The room erupted in the scraping of chairs and muttered complaints.

"Let's go, Akira." Shouko tugged lightly, linking arms with Takagi as they headed out together.

Akira blinked at the mention of "health checkup." He stood and lined up with Nishikata in the corridor.

He remembered Minato Elementary always doing checkups once a year, but Wave Wind Middle required one every semester. Probably the same here.

Height, weight, vision, hearing, teeth—the basics.

The phrase "physical and mental health" made his mind wander briefly to Ishida Shoya, whom he'd run into after school once. Since then, he hadn't seen him much. Occasionally, whispers of Shoya being isolated surfaced, but whether that crossed into bullying… Akira never asked.

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