Just when we’d half given up, she arrived.
 
It was like magic. She parted the upperclassmen-packed hallway without stopping for even a moment. She gently pushed aside the elbow of a well-built swim club member and stood right in front of us.
 
“Delta-kun, Mizusaki-kun. Do you have a moment?”
 
A low voice cut through the commotion, freezing Mizusaki, me, and all the swim team members in place.
 
It was our classmate, Mikage Aya.… Read more

And the following Monday, after touring all the clubs, we found ourselves at a café after school, both tilting our heads in puzzlement.
 
“Wasn’t today’s welcome event a bit weird?”
 
I nodded at Mizusaki’s observation. There had been several strange things indeed.
 
In deciding which club to join, resolving the discomfort we’d experienced was essential.
 
Club activities can potentially occupy most of high school life outside of academics. We needed to judge with our own clear eyes which club suited us.… Read more

Chapter 2: An Equation Too Beautiful

“Mizusaki-kun, thank you for yesterday! Thanks to you, I got to see it properly, the cherry blossom boar’s eye (inome)!”
 
The morning after viewing the cherry blossoms, Iwama reported this first thing, so my attempt to keep it a secret was immediately foiled.
 
“That’s great! Now Iwama-san’s year is set.”
 
Mizusaki said something like that, trying to look cool, while grinning at me.
 
I pretended not to notice.… Read more

As expected of Tsunagai High School. I never imagined there would be a classmate with such a unique way of thinking.
 
I felt my heart naturally beat faster at the good fortune of meeting such a person so soon after enrollment.
 
“…I never thought of it that way.”
 
“Really? But Izuta-kun, you seemed like you’d like science too.”
 
“Research is certainly interesting. But that’s because it makes me feel the possibility of contributing to humanity with my own power.… Read more

“10x magnification. If we look at the cherry blossoms with those, we should be able to check the condition of the branches from here.”
 
“Yeah, let’s try it.”
 
Iwama peered through the binoculars and adjusted the focus with practiced hands.
 
“Let’s see… um… huh? Hmm…”
 
After searching for a while, Iwama lowered the binoculars and held them out to me.
 
“I couldn’t tell if any were broken. Izuta-kun, you look too.”
 
“…No, I’m fine.”
 
There was, how should I put it, some resistance to peering through binoculars that a female classmate had just been looking through.… Read more

“…Hey, which one is the ino no m? There’s supposed to be a pattern that brings happiness, right?”
 
“Come to think of it, there was talk like that.”
 
I said it while pretending not to be interested.
 
“Do you know what kind of pattern an ino no m is, Izuta-kun?”
 
“Uh, no, what was it again…”
 
I hoped it would end ambiguously, but it didn’t go that way. Iwama took out her smartphone and started looking it up.… Read more

“What are you going to do with that?”
 
“I thought I’d take it home and make a pressed specimen or something.”
 
A pressed specimen is, simply put, a specimen where plants are flattened and dried like pressed flowers. I already have a katakuri specimen at home, so I could just throw it away here, but I felt reluctant to do that in front of Iwama. I put the plastic bag back in my backpack.… Read more

“Then since we’re both here, Izuta-kun, want to go see it together?”
 
Iwama happily displayed that “did you see that smile” smile of hers.
 
“Ahh…”
 
“Oh, were you planning to go home already?”
 
“No, it’s not particularly that…”
 
“Then let’s go! We want our high school life to start off well, right!”
 
High school life, starting off well… huh.
 
It was hard to refuse. Or rather, there was no reason to refuse. There was no way I could bring up the romantic success story here and say something like “it would be awkward for the two of us”—I couldn’t possibly say that.… Read more

“Apparently there’s been a major incident.”
 
When Mizusaki says this, it’s usually about something incredibly trivial.
 
“That’s terrible. Let’s hurry home.”
 
I changed my shoes and exited through the entrance. Classes were over, and all that was left was to go home.
 
“Hey hey, you can’t go home. My bad. Are you still mad about lunch break?”
 
“I don’t get angry over something like that. But you were pretty rude to Iwama-san.”… Read more

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Actually, was she about to say “Mama” just now?
 
Looking at her fingertips holding the lunch box, her nails are neatly trimmed. I wonder if she does martial arts or swimming.
 
…No good, I’m unconsciously observing her. I continue the conversation to sound natural.
 
“Well, if someone can make it for you, that’s fine, isn’t it? Both my parents work in Tokyo and leave early in the morning. So I prepare things myself.”
 
“Oh! I see!… Read more