Chapter 27 – Past ①

To begin with, it was only in their third year of middle school that Satoru and Reika started to become aware of each other’s existence.

Since both of them had excellent grades, their names were often brought up by their homeroom and subject teachers.

“This time as well, Takashima-kun is first in the grade, and Hatsune-san is second! As expected from the two of you!”

Among those mentions, it was always Satoru who ranked first and Reika who came in second—that pattern continued.

Back in those middle school days, Satoru was the perfect example of a gloomy introvert.

People around him often called him a “bookworm,” and he hardly had anyone he could call a friend.

On the other hand, Reika, much like now, held the position of a cool and untouchable beauty.

However, while she now had quite a few friends she could talk to, back then she had a prickly attitude toward everyone—“solitary” was the word that best described her.

They were two people whose stances were hard to define—similar in some ways, completely different in others—so even when they became aware of each other, they didn’t interact at first.

That changed during the summer.

Thanks to a cram school.

With high school entrance exams approaching, many cram schools held summer classes, and it just so happened that the two of them ended up attending the same one.

Naturally, given their academic abilities, they were placed in the top-level advanced class.

“Guess I’ll stay and study until closing again today…”

For third-year middle schoolers, it’s a time typically marked by peak adolescence and rebellion.

Satoru was no exception—he was in the thick of his rebellious phase.

He constantly argued with his parents whenever they talked, so going home became something he dreaded.

As a result, even though summer classes ended in the evening, he’d always stay behind until the very last minute before the school closed late at night to study.

That way, all he had to do when he got home was shower and go to bed—he could avoid talking to his parents as much as possible.

Looking back now, after he had mostly outgrown that rebellious stage, he could admit he’d been a total brat.

Still, in running away from all the frustrating parts of adolescence, studying had become his safe haven.

That might explain how he was able to achieve such high marks.

Of course, it wasn’t unusual for other students to stay behind and study as well.

But the cram school only stayed open until around 10 PM, and not many people stuck around until closing time.

Dinner schedules, daily rhythms, and the dangers of overstaying meant that most students left by a certain hour.

But among them, Satoru and Reika stayed and studied every single day until the very last minute.

“…Hatsune-san, you always stay and study until the school closes too, huh.”

One day, as closing time approached and no one else was around, Satoru finally mustered the courage to quietly speak to Reika.

Why he decided to talk to her all of a sudden, even now, he wasn’t sure.

Maybe it was because he had no real friends, and his family felt unbearable.

There was no one in his life he could truly connect with or feel at ease around.

So perhaps, out of desperation, he found himself drawn to her—the girl in the same class at school and cram school, who also studied late into the night like him.

Loneliness is hard—but still, he couldn’t help but laugh at himself for choosing the worst possible person to approach.

But that moment marked the beginning of everything.

“…Hatsune-san, you’re going to study until this place closes before you go home, aren’t you?”

“…Oh? Are you trying to say, ‘Even though we study the same amount, there’s still a gap between us’?”

Now, Reika only says kind, loving, and doting words to Satoru. But back then, even she responded to him like this.

“No, I didn’t think anything like that…”

Satoru, the introvert who didn’t pick up on any social cues, hadn’t even realized that Reika had a reputation for being prickly toward everyone.

And he’d had enough experiences of people reacting negatively when he spoke to them, so he’d developed a sad kind of tolerance—thinking this sort of response was normal.

That’s why he didn’t back down so easily in the face of Reika’s harsh words.

“Hatsune-san, what are you working on right now?”

“Math. Why? Are you saying  you’ll happily give me the answers or something? You’re annoying, could you go away?”

“Hatsune-san, your handwriting is really neat!”

“Your handwriting is just too messy. It’s irritating to see answers written in that chicken scratch of yours scoring higher than mine, so don’t show it to me.”

“Hatsune-san, your pen is stylish.”

“…I bought it because I use it often. Unlike you, I don’t want to get everything all grimy with pencil smudges.”

“Hatsune-san, when you’re on break, you always wear earphones—what are you listening to?”

“…Just music. What, would it have been funnier if I said I was desperately listening to Basic English or something?”

No matter how coldly Reika spoke to him, for some reason, Satoru never stopped talking to her.

Because even though she was harsh, she never ignored him.

That, in itself, was something Reika hadn’t anticipated.

If it were any other guy trying to flirt with her persistently, she would have shut him down without mercy.

But Satoru’s approach was just too pure.

Little by little, that pure honesty chipped away at Reika’s sharp tongue, and she gradually started having normal conversations with him.

“Hatsune-san, you use so many different colors to mark things.”

“…Of course. Each section has different elements and levels of importance. Don’t you use color coding?”

“I don’t. At most, I use a mechanical pencil and red and blue pens.”

“…Are you serious?”

“Yep. Either way, I can’t really categorize or prioritize things well, so I just go with what sticks in my head. If there’s stuff I can’t keep up with, then I rely on the red and blue.”

“…Can I see your notes?”

“Sure, go ahead!”

“…Unbelievable. How can you score that high with notes like this?”

“I’m not good at organizing, so I just keep solving problems. I try to catch the important bits that way. If anything slips through, I use the red and blue pens to patch it up.”

“…I see. So you’ve already found the optimal method for yourself. No wonder I can’t beat you.”

“Hatsune-san, isn’t your current method your own optimal way?”

“…I’m just doing whatever felt the most natural among what people say is good. I haven’t been able to figure out a method that really suits me and commit to it like you.”

Reika sighed and shook her head as she said that, handing his notebook back.

“Then once you find it, Hatsune-san, won’t you be unbeatable? You’ve gotten this far without even finding your perfect method.”

“Well, maybe. But—what’s with the way you said ‘gotten this far’? At this point, how would you describe your own grades?”

“…Who knows? I don’t want to evaluate myself. That kind of thing’s for those ambitious types who want to chase their future dreams. Oh, wait, was that a bit sarcastic?”

“…No. I’m starting to understand all too well that you’re not saying it with any malice. You really are just as twisted as you look.”

“…Huh?”

It was at that moment that Reika smiled for the first time in front of Satoru.

Until then, Satoru had been talking to her the same way he talked to anyone he wasn’t used to—awkwardly and cautiously.

But here, when the topic of “evaluating yourself” came up—something introverts particularly hate—he accidentally let slip a self-deprecating remark.

“Sorry, I was teasing you.”

Normally, if someone else had said that to her, she probably would’ve gotten furious.

But here was someone who’d always gotten the sharp edge of her tongue, suddenly discovering a new way to interact with her—playful teasing—and smiling innocently.

That simple fact made Satoru unexpectedly happy.

“You were so harsh before, and now you’re teasing me? That’s cruel.”

“You should be thankful I’m not ignoring you.”

And from that summer of their third year in middle school, for the two of them the other became someone they could let their guard down just a little and honestly talk.