"Shinichi! Are you skipping class again?!"
A loud yell rang on the school's rooftop.
The time was 12:30 p.m. Snow clouds obscured the sunlight. White flakes fell on the ground with a delicate grace.
"Shinichi! Are you even listening to me?"
Tachibana Yukari yelled again, pushing the heavy door completely. The door opened with an annoying creak—just like an evening toilet ghost begging to be noticed.
"Shinichi!"
The boy in question was comfortable on the rooftop, lying with both hands behind his back, without a care for the world around him. His relaxed posture twitched after hearing the noises. He opened one eye to peek around his surroundings, only to close it again.
Yukari's hand moved to the boy's face.
"O-Ow!" Shinichi exclaimed, opening both of his eyes from the sharp pain of getting pinched in the cheek.
"What are you doing, you ugly!?"
Yukari's eyes narrowed at his words.
"What did you say?" she said and pinched his cheeks with both of her hands.
"Ow! Ow! Sorry! Sorry! Stop pinching my cheeks!"
Yukari stopped.
"Why aren't you at the math class?"
"Wait, we have math class today?" Shinichi asked, eyes wide.
Yukari sighed and muttered, "Are you freaking kidding me?"
"I thought it was P.E.," said Shinichi, trying to make an innocent smile.
It won't work on Yukari. She had already seen that so many times.
"Again with the excuses. You skipped the class because you haven't slept, right?"
"About that..." Shinichi tried to look away.
"Just drop it. You were up all night gaming again. I can tell from the dark circles near your eyes."
Shinichi let out an awkward smile.
"Hehe, I slept for 2 hours, you know."
Yukari knew yelling at this guy any further would be pointless. She just sighed and said—
"Don't come crying to me when you are failing again."
"I'm sorry," he muttered.
Yukari didn't say anything back.
Classic Shinichi. Always apologizing.
But he seemed different today. Normally, he wouldn't wait to talk with her. He would yap nonstop about all sorts of things. His usual mishaps. The novel he just finished reading but had no one to talk to. The real meaning of a movie ending that he watched a long time ago. She would listen to them patiently.
Well, she wasn't any better. She would also talk about all sorts of things—the drama at the bakery store, how her little brother Yuuta was always messing up her things, and her activities at the art club. And he would listen to them without interruptions.
Right now, with constant confessions and rejections, they weren't as close as they used to be.
Also, Shinichi didn't confess to her today. That wasn't news. Sometimes, he would do that for 2, 3 days or maybe a week.
Maybe he forgot. Maybe he just wanted to see her reaction. Maybe he was fed up with constant rejections. No one really knew. Except for him.
But she felt like she needed to ask.
"Are you okay?"
"Me? What do you mean? I am better than ever," Shinichi replied with a wide smile.
Again, he was not fooling her. She knew that smile. That smile he made when he was trying to hide his true emotions.
"Are you really?" she asked again, hoping he would open up.
"Yep. Just haven't slept well."
There would be no use asking him further. Amamiya Shinichi could be stubborn in the strangest ways.
"Anyway, have you eaten?" Yukari asked, picking up the big bento box.
"Do I look like I have?" Shinichi replied, slapping his belly like a fat sumo wrestler. "Why do you have such a big bento? Aren't you afraid you're gonna get fat?"
"IT IS FOR YOU! IDIOT!" Yukari yelled at him, her face red.
"Oh, thanks a lot," said Shinichi. "I thought of just sleeping through today without."
Yukari just shot a death glare at him and didn't say anything. Knowing that his best friend/crush was mad, Shinichi tried to change the subject.
"Anyway, what's the occasion? Did your mom make too much food again?"
"No, Yuuta's sick. So she also packed his share and told me to share it with you."
"Oh! How is he? Is he okay?" Shinichi asked with a worried tone.
"Nothing serious. Just a mild fever."
Tachibana Yuuta, Yukari's younger brother, and Shinichi were close, almost like brothers. Whenever Shinichi came and visited, Yuuta would follow him around like a duckling.
"Okay then. Yuuta... thanks for the free food!"
The inside of the bento box was beautiful. As expected from the bakery owner. The foods were put in a layout so neatly that one might mistake it for those stock photos of food online. The contents included—white rice, teriyaki chicken, karaage, spring rolls. Her mom even included two small mochi.
"Remember to share it with Shinichi!"
Her mom's words echoed in her ears. Both her parents liked Shinichi. Funny and reliable, they said. Yukari had grown tired of her parents' usual assumptions—asking if they were dating.
"Damn! This is good!" said Shinichi, chewing the karaage in his mouth.
"Don't speak with your mouth full! You idiot!" Yukari scolded, slapping his lap.
"Sorry, sorry!"
The conversation became quiet again. Yukari glanced at her friend. Why was she having trouble speaking to him? In the first place, what was she even feeling guilty about?
"Shinichi?" Yukari began.
"Yeah?" Shinichi mumbled, food still in his mouth.
"Sorry for leaving you alone yesterday."
Shinichi chewed faster and swallowed the food down.
"What are you even talking about? Oh, you meant about our walk? What of it? I'm sure you had things to handle."
"Yeah, I know. I—I meant after promising you the other day. I felt terrible."
Shinichi made a gentle karate chop to her head.
"Ow! What's that for?"
"Idiot. I thought you were acting strange and that's what you were concerned about?" Shinichi laughed. "By the way, congratulations on becoming the manager."
"What are you even congratulating me about? I have to do a ton of work. Wait—"
Yukari's mouth went agape with sudden realization.
"How do you know I was at the basketball club?"
Shinichi smiled.
"I never knew. You just confirmed it yourself."
"Then, how do you—"
"Let's just say I saw something on my way home."
Yukari's body suddenly heated up. She realized that Shinichi saw Rukio and her walking home.
"It's not like that! I..."
Yukari stopped midway. She didn't know what to say.
She had a level of reputation in school. And Rukio was the model student. Even if there was a slight whisper about them being a thing (which they weren't), there would be a big fuss on campus.
And Yukari hated drama.
"I know. I know," Shinichi calmed her down. The student with messy hair seemed to have read her mind.
"Don't worry about it. I just wanted to congratulate you for becoming a manager."
Yukari sighed.
Shinichi looked calm while revealing what he learned as if he were some detective from the novels he always read.
"Yeah. About that—"
Yukari tried to explain to him what exactly happened yesterday, but the sudden ring from the school bell ruined her plans completely.
"Time to get back to class," Shinichi said. This slacker acting like some model student who had been busy attending class all day.
Walking quietly through a hallway to their classroom, they were stopped by their homeroom teacher, Yamamoto-sensei.
"Oi. You two. Your houses are near Mugi's, right?"
Yukari and Shinichi glanced at each other.
"Yes," Shinichi said. "Is there any matter?"
"Uh... nothing much. Can one of you deliver these printouts to him?"
The teacher took out the stack of papers.
Yukari couldn't say yes. Her thoughts raced back to yesterday. She thought that Rukio would invite her to his house. She flustered and said that she got a message from her mom, calling her to come help at the store. There was no message. Just a trace of her own cowardice and shame.
"Noted, Sensei. I will give it to him for sure," Shinichi said casually and took the printouts from the teacher's hand.
Yukari's eyes widened in surprise.
"Shinichi, do you even know Rukio-kun?"
Shinichi's expression changed after hearing Yukari mention the absent student with his first name.
"Of course I do. The guy sits in front of me."
"Well, I know that too. I meant do you even know where he lives?"
"Yes. I had been there yesterday," Shinichi said abruptly.
Yukari was puzzled by this. What was Shinichi doing there? In a sense, it could be said that Rukio was his rival. Don't tell me...
Yukari shook off terrible assumptions in her head.
"I will leave it to you, Amamiya. Thanks for that," Yamamoto-sensei thanked.
Before leaving, the teacher put a hand on Shinichi's shoulder.
"Before that, let's have a talk at the faculty room after school, huh?" he said. "Come early. I'm sure you already know what I want to talk about."
The teacher was obviously talking about Shinichi's skipped classes. His attendance record is what they call "abysmal."
"Sure," Shinichi said calmly, tucking one hand into his pocket.
Yukari didn't say a word on their walk to the classroom. Her mind was too busy worrying about useless things.
The evening periods were over in a flash. Yukari headed over to the basketball club with a heavy mind and saw the gym closed.
Somehow, her heart leapt with relief.
"Looks like the practice's cancelled," she said and texted Shinichi.
[Practice's cancelled. Let's walk home together.]
Part of her wanted to walk home with her best friend. Part of her wanted to just clear up the misunderstanding.
There was no reply. And Shinichi wasn't picking up his calls. It wasn't a surprise. That guy kept his phone in silent mode.
She waited at the school gate. After about 20 minutes, Shinichi still hadn't shown up.
"Yukari! What are you doing here?"
Yukari turned her head in the direction. It was Hikari. She was hand in hand with some senior she didn't recognize. Must be her eleventh boyfriend.
"Waiting for the idiot," Yukari replied with a smile.
"Shinichi?" Hikari uttered. "I think he left a long time ago. Yamamoto-sensei was furious."
"What?! That idiot."
Yukari quickly said goodbye to Hikari and headed toward the Mugi household.
The reason she was in such a hurry was because she knew Shinichi might do something stupid.
She knew that he wasn't the delinquent that others perceived him to be. He rarely got angry and always dodged the possible fights. But he had his fair share of violent outbursts when it came to her. The very recent example was that he once beat his teammate to a pulp with an umbrella because the guy was repeatedly telling improper jokes to her.
If not for the intervention of Amamiya Akane, the former alumni and Shinichi's elder sister, Shinichi would've been expelled.
Back then, she was sure that Shinichi wouldn't do such a petty thing as picking a fight with Rukio (little did she know). But with his strange behavior today, she wasn't so sure anymore.
She sprinted down the cold road along with the winter breeze. She had to do something before her idiot best friend said or did something dumb to her crush.
She arrived at the Mugi household shortly after.
For some reason, she was now in panic. What if this was all just some misunderstanding and overthinking?
"Ara... are you Ru-chan's friend?" The presence of the woman with blonde hair interrupted her thoughts. She was watering plants in the yard.
"Uh... isn't this Mugi Rukio's house?"
"Yes, yes. I am his mother, Mugi Clara. Nice to meet you," a sincere smile was formed on the woman's face. "Come inside. He is upstairs with a friend."
As expected, Shinichi's here.
"Sorry for intruding," Yukari said awkwardly and walked into the house with Clara.
Once they were inside, a man with steel-rimmed glasses and piercing black eyes was reading with his brows furrowed.
"Clara, can you tell them to keep it down? I am trying to read here," the man said with an annoyed voice.
There were some unintelligible noises from upstairs.
"Hai, hai!" Clara said casually and led Yukari to the stairs.
"Oh! Where are my manners? What's your name?" she asked Yukari.
"Tachibana Yukari. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mugi-san," Yukari said politely.
"Oh, don't be like that. Just call me Clara."
"Hai, Clara-san."
As they walked to Rukio's room, the unintelligible noises became clearer and clearer.
"You think you're so good, huh? Here! Eat this! Fucker!"
"Oh yeah? How about this? Take this! Sucker!"
"You fucking..."
"Got a fucking problem?"
"Damn right! What the fuck—"
Yukari and Clara didn't even have time to stop and listen; they hurried to the room.
It looked like they were fighting. Beside the arguments, they could hear the noises of punches being thrown.
They quickly opened the door and exclaimed in unison.
"Ru-chan!" "Shinichi!"