Unexpected Reconnection With My Distant Childhood Friend—What Could Go Wrong?

Lunchtime had arrived.

I pulled out my lunch from my bag, ready to be devoured by a hungry plebian. Just as I was about to open it, I noticed Kisaki looking toward my seat. For a brief moment, our eyes met, and it seemed like she was about to say something, but before she could, a group of girls from our class swarmed around her.

“Kisaki-chan! Come eat with us!”

“Yeah! We were just talking about that thing yesterday!”

Kisaki hesitated for a second, then turned to them with her usual composed expression.

“Alright, I’ll join you.”

And just like that, she was gone.

Well, not like I expected anything different today.

I let out a small sigh and picked up my lunch, making my way toward the rooftop.

The rooftop was my usual lunch spot. It wasn’t exactly a secret place, but not many students bothered coming up here, not even one, well except for me. Something about the worn-out tables and chairs gave it a forgotten, peaceful atmosphere.

As I opened the rooftop door, a familiar sight greeted me.

“Yo, Taki-kun.” she greeted in her usual calm voice.

A girl with dark, short hair sat on one of the old chairs, her legs crossed, quietly eating her lunch. The breeze gently swayed her bangs as she turned her head slightly toward me.

Miyahara Mizuki.

We’d been friends since our first year of high school.

I walked over to my usual seat and plopped down. As I unwrapped my lunch, a small memory resurfaced in my mind, a short flashback of how we first met.

Back in my first year, I had randomly decided to eat my lunch on the rooftop. I had expected to be alone, but when I arrived, I found Mizuki already sitting there, quietly eating by herself.

She didn’t seem bothered by my presence, and I wasn’t exactly the type to go out of my way to start conversations. So, we simply coexisted in silence.

Eventually, though, we started talking.

It began with small things—casual remarks about the weather, random comments about school. Then, before I knew it, we could talk normally like your average friends.

“Have you eaten yet?” Mizuki asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“No, not yet.” I replied, showing my unopened lunch.

“Then let’s eat together.”

I nodded and sat down, setting my lunch on the nearby table.

“Did you watch last night’s episode?”

“Yeah, and honestly, that cliffhanger was brutal. What a way to leave the viewers hanging.”

“Right? Any idea on how are they gonna resolve that in the next episode?”

“Well, they should be looking for the imposter, otherwise, they’re gonna get wiped out as soon as possible.”

We continued talking, switching from anime to the latest game I had bought.

“By the way, have you bought that game?” Mizuki asked, raising an eyebrow. “I was actually thinking of getting it too. How is it?”

“Yep, I bought it but I haven’t played the game yet, but I look at some gameplays in WeTube, and the combat system looks pretty smooth, even better there’s a co-op option. I try to avoid story spoilers, but if you like action RPG, I think you might like it.”

I mean, I already have the game in my hands, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, I haven’t had the chance to play it last night.

“Is that so? Maybe I’ll pick it up this weekend.”

“You sure? You’re always saying you have no time for games.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes I need a break too.” she replied, looking off to the side.

I chuckled. Mizuki was usually the silent type, but when we talked about things we both liked, she could be surprisingly talkative.

After a short pause, she suddenly brought up an unexpected topic.

“Hey Taki-kun, have you heard about what happened to Kisaki yesterday?”

My chopsticks froze in place for a split second.

“Uh… what do you mean? Did something happen to her?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

Mizuki tilted her head slightly. “You don’t know? It’s all over our class group chat. Apparently, she being harassed by some random passerby. Thankfully someone helped her out. Kisaki told her friends about it. Everyone’s been talking about it.”

Wait… our class has a group chat?

“Hold on,” I said, putting my chopsticks down. “There’s a class group chat?”

Mizuki blinked at me, then covered her mouth as she let out a small giggle. “You… didn’t know?”

I leaned back in my chair, letting out a deep sigh. “Wow. Feels great to know I’ve been left out of the loop.”

“Maybe if you were a little more social, you’d be in it.”

“Tch. Harsh. You hurt my meow meow.”

She chuckled, and for some reason, seeing her laugh at my expense made me feel even more left out.

But more importantly… Kisaki told her friends about what happened?

I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. But if she leaves out my name, I guess it’s fine, for now.

I went back to my seat after lunch and the afternoon classes started. After we ate lunch, Mizuki went in first. She mentioned she had to do something.

Mizuki was sitting on the other side of the classroom, paying close attention to what the teacher was saying and writing down everything. Just looking at her motivates me to work harder.

But not even ten minutes in, my eyelids grew heavy. It was the kind of drowsiness that hit after a full stomach, and before I knew it, I had dozed off.

“Taki.”

I heard my name being called faintly in the distance. I ignored it.

“Taki!”

I snapped awake, suddenly aware that the whole class was staring at me. The teacher stood at the front, arms crossed, looking unimpressed.

“If you’re awake now, answer the question,” he said.

Crap.

I had no idea what he was even asking. My mind was still groggy with that quick nap, and I could feel a drop of sweat forming on my forehead.

Desperate, I glanced to the side—and that’s when I saw it.

Kisaki was looking in my direction, her expression completely neutral. In her hand, she held a small piece of paper with a single word written on it.

I squinted. It was the answer, hopefully.

“Uhm, arise?”

I quickly repeated it out loud. The teacher nodded, seemingly satisfied, and moved on with the lesson.

“Phew. That was close.”

I let out a silent sigh of relief and slumped back in my chair. A second later, a small folded piece of paper landed on my desk. I unfolded it.

[You’re welcome.]

[Thanks for helping me out. A big help.]

I passed the paper back, and after a moment, another note landed on my desk.

[Still sleeping in class, huh?]

[Old habits die hard.]

[You haven’t changed much.]

[Neither have you.]

[Well, you got taller.]

[And you got more popular.]

[That’s just how things turned out.]

And before I realized it, we had fallen into a silent back-and-forth conversation.

Our exchange continued for a while. It was funny how natural it felt, considering we hadn’t properly talked in years. If the teacher found out, I was done for, but somehow, I didn’t mind.

The last class of the day was math. My worst enemy.

No matter how much I listened, the numbers on the board might as well have been ancient runes. I stared blankly, unable to process anything.

“Even now you’re still bad at math huh.” Kisaki whispered from beside me.

“Some things never change.” I sighed, resting my forehead against my hand.

A small chuckle escaped her lips.

Back in middle school, math was always my lowest-scoring subject. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.

That was, until Kisaki started tutoring me.

We’d study together after school, either at my house or hers. She was patient, explaining things in a way that somehow made sense. Thanks to her, my grades didn’t completely tank.

It was a nostalgic memory; one I hadn’t thought about in a long time.

By the time class ended, my brain was fried. And then, the teacher delivered the final blow.

“Don’t forget, there’s a math assignment due Monday, so I want you to finish it as soon as possible. Class dismissed.”

I barely held in a groan. Great. Just great. I had planned to spend the night playing that new game I bought yesterday, but now I’d be stuck dealing with this nightmare instead.

Just as I was debating whether to actually do it or copy someone’s answers, Kisaki turned to me.

“I can tutor you, if you want.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“For the math assignment,” she clarified. “You’re struggling with it, right?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“Then let’s study together. My place should be fine.”

…Wait. Did she just casually invite me to her house?

I glanced around. A few of our classmates were still packing up their stuff, but no one seemed to have heard our conversation.

“You sure?”

“We used to study together all the time, remember? What’s the problem?”

I scratched the back of my head. “I mean we do but… It’s just… I wasn’t expecting this turn of event.”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to.” She shrugged, picking up her bag.