Chapter 7: The Returning Curve

Hiiragi Shuichi had only rested for a while, but combined with the seven-day Golden Week holiday, that break had stretched far too long.

Aoba Tomoyo’s help had indeed been effective. Not only was Hiiragi Shuichi exempted from rent, he also received the benefit of half-price utilities.

This successfully steeled Hiiragi Shuichi’s resolve to quit both of his part-time jobs, keeping only the relatively easy one: the front counter position at the bakery.

Finally, he no longer had to worry about collapsing from exhaustion again.

However……

‘I thought it would be impossible to achieve, but a rich person’s single word settled it all……’

Hiiragi Shuichi thought this to himself in front of the mirror in the early morning, carefully tying his uniform tie with precision and arranging his uniform to be immaculate.

After adjusting his black curly hair slightly and smoothing the roots into a relatively suitable position, Hiiragi Shuichi turned his body and tried showing a smile that anyone would find endearing.

The effect was decent.

“I’m heading out.”

Even though Hiiragi Shuichi was the only one in the apartment, every day before leaving, he would still quietly bid farewell to this small room.

Then he would sling his deep blue commuter bag over his shoulder, carrying earnest hopes for the school day ahead, step across the threshold, and let the still-slightly-chilly morning breeze blow clarity into his mind.

The walk from Aoba Apartment to Metropolitan High School took fifteen minutes.

Hiiragi Shuichi didn’t find it far. Rather, he thought it was just right.

Because during the school term, that stretch of road to and from school was one of the rare times he could be alone with his thoughts, and it was convenient for him to ponder certain matters.

Like the matter of the eraser.

After seeing off Aoba Tomoyo that night, Hiiragi Shuichi had thought it over for a while and made a preliminary judgment.

The notebook had fallen in a bad spot.

The eraser hadn’t fallen into the hallway along with the notebook. It must have dropped down to the lower floor, where Aoba Tomoyo, who had just left, happened to pick it up.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked Hiiragi Shuichi whether he recognized that eraser.

But then again, she hadn’t asked him whether the eraser was his.

Instead, she cleverly asked if he “recognized” it, which was rather sneaky.

With all these factors combined, how could Hiiragi Shuichi not think of the eraser?

Having learned his lesson, Hiiragi Shuichi committed every rule from the notebook to memory.

Fortunately, he had only dropped an eraser, not any office supplies like the “Love God Pencil” or “Love God Ink,” since those weren’t recorded in the notebook at all.

Once he returned to school, he couldn’t slack off.

He needed to figure out a way to get that eraser back.

While pondering this, Hiiragi Shuichi walked along the Pedestrian Slope toward Metropolitan High School, passing beneath the cherry blossom trees and glancing at the shimmering Meguro River beside him.

The pleasant feeling relaxed him.

Though it was already May, the cherry blossoms had long since shed all their petals.

“Hey! Shuichi!”

Hiiragi Shuichi heard a familiar call.

Before he could even turn his head, Asuka Ryunosuke had already rushed eagerly to his side, patting him on the shoulder.

“Yo! Morning! Are you feeling better, Shuichi? You’re finally back!”

That shout vibrated straight into Hiiragi Shuichi’s heart, bringing a slight twinge of discomfort.

“Well, I’m better…… Alright, alright, don’t be so noisy. Are you trying to scare me? Do you want me to go ‘thud’ and collapse right in front of you again?”

Hiiragi Shuichi subtly conveyed his displeasure in a joking manner.

If not for Asuka Ryunosuke’s inherently warm and kind nature, Hiiragi Shuichi probably wouldn’t have found a reason to associate with him.

It was precisely because he could see that quality in him that Hiiragi Shuichi could tolerate his noisy and clumsy side.

“D-Don’t joke around, Shuichi! If you collapsed again, who knows how long everyone’s gloom would last this time.”

“Everyone?”

“Yeah! While you were gone, everyone in class really missed you, Shuichi.”

“Haha…… That’s an exaggeration. I’m not that popular.”

Hiiragi Shuichi laughed to hide his awkwardness, then quickened his pace, stepping into the A Building near the north side of the Metropolitan High School campus a few strides ahead of Asuka Ryunosuke.

He headed to the shoe lockers to change his footwear, and it took considerable effort for Asuka Ryunosuke to catch up with him.

Hiiragi Shuichi opened his shoe locker door, intending to take out a pair of white indoor shoes with green stripes.

Instead, over a dozen love letters crammed haphazardly inside came tumbling out of the locker with a “shuffle.”

Not only was Hiiragi Shuichi stunned, Asuka Ryunosuke was also somewhat surprised, and the other students changing shoes around them all turned to look.

‘Th-This…… I haven’t been at school for this long, and I’ve accumulated this many……’

Hiiragi Shuichi raised an eyebrow, took out his shoes, put them on, and closed the locker door.

He picked up the stack of love letters and shoved them all into Asuka Ryunosuke’s hands.

“Ryunosuke, I’m counting on you. Hold onto these for me.”

With that, Hiiragi Shuichi flashed a smile at Asuka Ryunosuke, whose face had scrunched up like a bitter melon.

Inside the Class 2-D classroom.

Kawasaki Yuki had arrived at school early, but not because she was on cleaning duty today.

She had heard that Hiiragi Shuichi would be returning today, and she was so happy she couldn’t sleep.

She woke up very early.

Then, before she knew it, she had gotten ready, and before she knew it, she had walked into Class 2-D, only to find the classroom completely empty.

She realized the sun hadn’t even illuminated the entire room yet and remembered she hadn’t even eaten breakfast.

She had arrived at school far too early.

She kept waiting for Hiiragi Shuichi’s arrival, unconsciously twirling her aqua-blue high ponytail around her finger as she sat in her seat.

But the wait dragged on for too long, and before she knew it, she had dozed off with her head on the desk.

It wasn’t until she heard more and more students around her, their voices growing louder and louder, that she heard something in her sleep like, “Did you hear? Hiiragi’s back!”

She reflexively lifted her head from the desk.

By then, the classroom was already quite lively.

“Whoosh—”

The sliding door at the back of the classroom was pulled open slowly.

Kawasaki Yuki immediately fixed her gaze on it.

Hiiragi Shuichi strolled into the classroom without making a fuss and sat down in his seat in the second-to-last row.

Asuka Ryunosuke, following behind him, was a different story. His face beamed with a smile, like a victorious general returning through the Triumphal Arch.

“Ah, Hiiragi’s back!”

“Hey hey, Hiiragi, are you feeling better? Everyone was really worried about you.”

“Yeah, yeah! Last time’s monthly exam rankings felt off without Hiiragi in the top three.”

Students swarmed him, chattering all at once with great enthusiasm, surrounding Hiiragi Shuichi’s seat so tightly that it gave him a bit of a headache.

But he still chose to respond to everyone’s concern with a warm, bright smile.

Hiiragi Shuichi dealt with the students’ clamor using various pleasantries while thinking:

‘Speaking of which, where’s Yuki? Isn’t she coming over……’

Suddenly, the noise stopped.

Hiiragi Shuichi turned to look, and there was Kawasaki Yuki, pushing her way through the crowd with a slightly puffed-up expression.

Her presence naturally quieted the students down.

“Alright! Shuichi just got back—don’t go making trouble for him!”

She planted her hands on her hips with a triumphant air, and that aura instantly made the noisy students disperse from Hiiragi Shuichi’s side on their own.

Even if some students might have felt dissatisfied, and even if some other girls who secretly had crushes on Hiiragi Shuichi resented Kawasaki Yuki for monopolizing him, the students didn’t dare say much.

Because no matter what, she was Hiiragi Shuichi’s close companion.

Rather than picking a fight with Kawasaki Yuki, they figured, what if doing so invited Hiiragi Shuichi’s displeasure?

Wouldn’t that be losing more than they gained?

Hiiragi Shuichi greeted her with a smile, and Kawasaki Yuki let go of her imposing demeanor, speaking gently instead.

“Shuichi…… G-Good morning……”

“Yeah, good morning. And…… long time no see, Yuki.”

With that, Hiiragi Shuichi glanced at Asuka Ryunosuke.

He wasn’t standing nearby. He had simply settled quietly back into his own seat.

During the seven-day Golden Week holiday, Hiiragi Shuichi hadn’t seen either Asuka Ryunosuke or Kawasaki Yuki.

In their small three-person group chat on LINE, not a single message had been exchanged during Golden Week either.

Instead, he had been pestered by Aoba Tomoyo the whole time, dragged out for shopping, coffee, and the like, which had left Hiiragi Shuichi completely drained both mentally and physically.

That was just how things were.

That was why Hiiragi Shuichi felt it was best to maintain only ordinary friendships with others.

Never advancing upward, never falling downward, keeping everything in a middle state was most convenient for his school life.

Moreover, Asuka Ryunosuke and Kawasaki Yuki had only come to know each other because of Hiiragi Shuichi.

Between the two of them, there was essentially no relationship to speak of.

Hiiragi Shuichi was well aware that the two of them had only formed a surface-level friendship to stay close to him.

In many cases, the “relationships” between students at school, when you got right down to it, that’s all they really were……

True friendship, genuine connection, or even oneself…… where exactly did those lie?

‘Hah, such things probably didn’t exist at all.’

Hiiragi Shuichi let out a sigh and greeted the first class of Monday morning.