“But man, those upperclassmen were really fired up, huh?”
 
Mizusaki said with his mouth full of nori bento. Swallow before you speak.
 
“Fired up, or rather, wasn’t it closer to hunger or thirst?”
 
Mikage nodded at my observation.
 
“I heard that activity restrictions were lifted last year, and club activities are finally getting back to full strength. Everywhere is desperate to recruit members. Increasing membership is necessary to energize the clubs.”
 
She spoke in an emotionless, matter-of-fact manner.… Read more

“…period? There are rules?”
 
“It’s kind of like Beaujolais Nouveau, isn’t it? I just heard about it too, but apparently there’s a school rule that you can’t do welcome activities until 1 PM today.”
 
For a moment, it sounded like Iwama had used another academic term I didn’t know, but it was nothing, just talk about French wine whose release date is set by law.
 
“Why would there be such a rule?”
 
“Who knows… Izuta-kun, have you decided which clubs to check out yet?”… 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

“Hey hey Aya-chi, what are you doing?”
 
“I’m doing partial derivatives.”
 
“Eh, what’s that! Like weird derivatives? Sounds difficult!”
 
Senpai’s voice was cheerful, but Mikage’s voice was cold as ice. The temperature difference between the two threatened to cause convection in the air at any moment. It seemed there really was something between them.
 
Mikage had placed copy paper divided into columns by a vertical line next to the open math magazine, and was writing spell-like mathematical formulas on it with a mechanical pencil.… Read more

“We’ll check out the physics club since we’re here. But whether we join is another matter. We were in the chemistry club in middle school, and we’re planning to take biology and chemistry instead of physics and chemistry for our classes. Physics just doesn’t suit us.”
 
In high school there’s a science subject selection, and if you’re science track, you often choose two from physics, chemistry, biology, and Earth Science. Physics-chemistry selection makes up an overwhelming three-quarters majority, but chemistry-biology selection also has about one-quarter, which is what Mizusaki and I are considering.… Read more

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