A Case in Which My House Is a Gathering Place for Girls - Chapter 2: I’m a High School Students From Today On

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom as time flies and the time April arrives. The entrance ceremony is held.

I was lost in thought right now as I was standing in front of the school gate of Amahashiritsu Academy, which I will attend for the next three years.

“I can’t thank Katsuragi-sensei enough.”

When I heard that the high school I had planned to attend was being shut down, everything seemed to fall apart, but thanks to my homeroom teacher, I was able to become a high school student without any issues.

“I’m also grateful for all the help she gave me with my new life here. Though, there’s something a little scary about her… like she might have some hidden agenda.”

She helped with everything from the enrollment process to preparing for the move, and then she bought me all the furniture and appliances I needed for my new life, saying it was a “congratulations gift.” I was especially shocked when she bought me an expensive washing machine, the kind that would be a luxury even for a guy living alone.

I tried to refuse, thinking that there’s no way my middle school teacher should be doing this much for me, but my grandfather, sensing the urgency said,

“Don’t worry about it. Thanks to Itsuki-kun, I received some extra income. Let me do this much for you.”

She said this with a ridiculously sparkling smile and before I knew it, the payment was already made. I was curious about the source of that “extra income” she mentioned, but for some reason, I was too scared to ask.

“Thanks to her, it looks like I won’t have to struggle too much… but I’ll have to repay her properly someday.”

It may take some time, but I’ll definitely do it. I swear to myself that as I step through the school gates into the academy.

The moment I entered, the air seemed to change. It felt different as it was like the air was denser and something I had never quite experienced before. If I had to compare it to something, it would be the time when my grandfather and I went hunting bears in the mountains. It’s the kind of feeling where one wrong step could make you the prey instead.

“Phew… Don’t let the atmosphere overwhelm you. It’s okay, I’ll make it here. Maybe, probably, maybe…!”

I take a deep breath to calm my nervous heart. At this rate, I won’t even make it through the entrance ceremony, let alone survive the next three years. I can’t let my childhood friend see me like this either.

“Kanna… I wonder what she looks like. I’m really looking forward to meeting her.”

It’s been more than ten years since I last saw my childhood friend, and we haven’t seen each other even once since then. We both had no friends and our families were close, so we played together every day. Back then, I thought we’d always be together, that we’d be like this for the rest of our lives, but then we got separated.

She was always cute, like a delicate doll, even back then. My mom would say, “Kanna-chan is definitely going to be a beauty when she grows up. Jinpei, don’t let her get away, okay?” with a serious tone.

“Moving was tough. The night before, she had been crying so hard that she couldn’t stop crying, and she wouldn’t let go of me when it was time to sleep. On the day of the move…”

“I don’t want to! I don’t want to be separated from Jinpei-kun! This is a sad and tragic fate! I’m staying here! Jinpei-kun and I are going to sleep on the long pillow!”

I vividly remember her crying and protesting to her parents, and just thinking about it naturally makes me smile. It’s a bit strange when I think about a little kid throwing a tantrum using such difficult words.

That aside. The truth is that I’m anxious about our reunion. We promised we’d meet again, but she never contacted me or wrote to me at all.

“I wonder if she’s forgotten about me… I might not be able to recover from the shock if that happens.”

It’s been long enough that I’m considering the possibility. Naturally, we’ve both grown since then, so she might not even recognize me. I’m pretty sure my heart would break if I call out to her and she looks at me like I’m trash.

“Well, I’ll just have to deal with it when that happens. I’ll build our relationship from scratch again.”

I told myself this as I walked forward. The destination is the gymnasium where the ceremony is held. There are various facilities such as an auditorium and a ground in the school building on a large site, so I would have definitely gotten lost if I didn’t have the map from the welcome guide..

“It’s too big, even though it has everything from elementary school to university. So this is what a city school is like. It’s scary.”

I was talking to myself as I sat on the bench I saw. Fortunately, there is still time until the entrance ceremony. The area near the entrance is crowded with new students and their parents. It’s probably best to wait until the crowd settles down before I head inside.

“Father and mother couldn’t come because of work after all…”

It would be a lie to say that I don’t feel lonely, but at the same time, I know it’s pointless to expect them now. Grandfather has come to every graduation ceremony, every parent-teacher meeting, every event and he was the one who always showed up.

“I wish grandfather could have come today, but I know it would have been hard for him to travel all the way here.”

Even though he’s still an active hunter, catching deer, boars, and even bears during the hunting season, he’s not getting any younger. If I said that to him, he’d get mad at me for treating him like an old man, but making him travel this far for the entrance ceremony seems a bit too much.

“I can’t help it. There are more moments to celebrate in the future. I’ll cheer up and keep going.”

As I told myself, I looked up and looked at my classmates as they walked into the hall their parents saw off, and they all looked strangely filled with confidence. There were no signs of anxiety or impatience at all.

“…They’re all great.”

I shouldn’t be thinking like this. The self-doubt that I had pushed deep down in my heart started to crawl back up. After that, I passed the exams and ended up here. That means I’m standing on the same playing field as everyone else. There’s nothing to be afraid of. The day before I moved to Tokyo, Katsuragi-sensei said to me,

“You may be swallowed up by the atmosphere, but you don’t have to be scared. Itsuki-kun could do just fine at the school. Always imagine yourself as the strongest.”

She gave me a hard pat on the back with those somewhat confusing encouraging words. Even though it was a mock exam in the countryside, I had once ranked first, so I should be fine.

“Alright… shall I go now? I’ll find Kanna quickly and surprise her.”

I lifted my heavy body with a determined push and started walking toward the gymnasium. I was searching through a crowd of people I’ve never seen before as I was looking for a familiar face. It might be more difficult than finding the clown from a certain picture book wearing red and white.

But there are times when a man just has to act. I figured this was one of those times, so I gave myself a mental pep talk.

“Well, we’re in the same class, so I don’t have to force myself to look for her now.”

After the ceremony, we move to the classroom for an orientation, so finding her later is almost guaranteed. I should relax and take my time.

But with such a carefree thought, there’s no way I’d find my childhood friend among over a hundred new students. When the ceremony began…

“…No way.”

A voice of astonishment slipped out of my mouth without thinking.

After the principal’s excessively long speech, the greeting from the guest speakers, and a congratulatory message from the current student council president, it happened.

“From the freshmen’s response… Hanazono Kanna.”

“…Yes.”

A dignified voice echoes through the quiet gymnasium.

All eyes in the room were focused on a single female student who stood up and began walking toward the podium.

Her well-maintained wavy, flax-colored hair is glossy under the light, just like the stars filling the night sky. Her transparent milky white skin is that of an angel untouched by impurity. She had long eyelashes in her neat nose beam, and large eyes that carried both cuteness and inner strength. It is no exaggeration to say that God brought together the beauty of this world and created her.

“Is she really my childhood friend Hanazono Kanna?”

The girl who used to cling to my back and cry when we were little, the one who refused to leave me, no longer resembled that girl. Instead, she had transformed into a stunning beauty who seemed to have stepped out of a painting.