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. After all, Iwama hadn’t said she’d seen it with me.
“Look at this photo…”
Noticing Iwama was about to show Mizusaki her phone, I instinctively pressed my fist against my forehead.
“Wait, there are two hands in the picture, but Iwama-san, did you have three arms?”
“No, this one’s Izuta-kun’s hand.”
There was still time before first period. I stood up to go to the bathroom.
After washing my hands thoroughly and staring blankly at the gloomy, overcast scenery outside the window, I returned to the classroom to find Mizusaki had already gone back to his seat. As soon as he spotted me at the entrance, he gave me a big smile and a thumbs up.
What a shameless guy. To think he’d engineer a situation to bring Iwama and me together, then talk to Iwama with a completely innocent face as if he had nothing to do with it. He’s got some nerve.
I took my seat, trying not to look at Iwama’s face. Unfortunately, class hadn’t started yet.
“Izuta-kun…”
Called by that small voice, I turned to look at the seat behind me. I had no choice but to see Iwama’s face now.
Iwama’s cheeks were tinged ever so slightly red. Rather than embarrassment, it looked more like an awkward expression stemming from feeling apologetic. Good grief.
“Um, sorry. I had no idea…”
Better if you’d stayed ignorant, I thought, cursing Mizusaki in my heart. Judging by Iwama’s state, Mizusaki must have told her about the legend regarding romantic fulfillment.
“Apparently that cherry blossom also had a legend tied to romance… I had no idea and invited you, Izuta-kun… Now that I think about it, the platform was totally heart-shaped…”
Even without thinking hard about it, that was clearly heart-shaped, but yesterday it was supposed to be a boar’s eye.
“D-don’t worry about it.”
I said this while trying to maintain my composure as much as possible. Actually, I was mostly composed. The kind of turmoil Iwama was experiencing now, I’d already gone through that last night.
I have no room to talk about others being “cherry blossom-brained.”
I didn’t need to let my plant-loving self out so much, or pushing that garbage-tier katakuri on her was a mistake, last night my internal reflection session was as stormy as the weather outside, leaving me sleep-deprived.
But I responded in as even a tone as possible.
“It was an interesting experience, and I got to see beautiful scenery. I’m grateful to you, Iwama-san.”
“Really? Well, if that’s the case…”
Iwama still wore an expression mixing embarrassment and apologetic feelings, so I said:
“Whatever anyone says to you, you don’t need to worry about it. Legends are just other people’s words anyway.”
“…Yeah. I guess, you’re right.”
I noticed Iwama somehow stumbled over her words. It sounded like she wanted to agree but was avoiding it for religious reasons or something.
At the very least, it was clear that yesterday’s cherry blossom had become a touchy subject for Iwama.
“What do we have first period?”
I asked, trying to change the subject anyway.
“Homeroom. Deciding class committees.”
Relieved not to have to talk about the cherry blossoms, Iwama regained her usual smile. Indeed, harmless small talk like this suited us far better than conversations like “the cherry blossoms yesterday were beautiful” or “let’s go again.”
“Committee selection, huh. I haven’t thought at all about which committee to join.”
“Eh, really?”
“Well, I’m fine with whatever’s left over. What about you, Iwama-san?”
“Me? Well, I’m also wondering what to do, “
I was surprised, but before I could say anything, our homeroom teacher came in.
When homeroom actually started, Iwama volunteered for class representative with almost no hesitation. In the first few seconds, when no one in the classroom had volunteered, hearing “Yes!” from behind me gave me a sense of “well, that figures.”
Iwama was chosen as class representative by unanimous applause. To borrow Mizusaki’s expression, she’s like a class representative who got dressed and started walking around. It was the natural conclusion.
Another good-looking guy who looked like he played soccer volunteered next as the other class representative, and since no one else raised their hand, he too was chosen unanimously. From there, he and Iwama stood at the podium and took over from the homeroom teacher to run the committee selection.
Indeed, Iwama seemed more suited to standing at the podium than sitting in the seat closest to the classroom exit.
While blankly gazing at the blackboard, I ended up without any role. I’d been willing to take on any committee that had no volunteers, but as expected of a college prep school, every position was filled by volunteers.
The committee selection ended without a hitch, and the whole class applauded. As if in response, sunlight streamed in and illuminated the names lined up on the blackboard. On the other side of the teacher’s desk, Iwama squinted against the brightness.
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“Yo, Delta. You’re looking kinda lonely.”
The next day during lunch break, Mizusaki plopped himself down in Iwama’s seat. He started spreading out his lunch there.
“Done scouting the other classes?”
“Well, all six classes, one round. Need me to introduce you to any cute girls?”
“You’re enough for me, Mizusaki.”
“Oh, stop it~”
What’s so sad that I have to have this conversation?, thinking this while picking at a cherry tomato, I noticed Mizusaki was looking toward the front of the classroom.
The owner of the seat Mizusaki was sitting in was now eating lunch with a girl named Kannabi, an unusual surname. Her student number came right after Iwama’s, so she sat in the front row. Lately, Iwama and Kannabi had been spending more time together. Kannabi was a petite girl shrouded in a dark aura that kept people away. She’d seemed to be all alone since enrollment. Maybe Iwama was being considerate, thinking this situation couldn’t continue.
“Well, girls hang out with girls after all, can’t be helped.”
Mizusaki sighed, having convinced himself.
“I’m not particularly interested in getting along with girls.”
“Come on, don’t act tough. You were getting along pretty well. You even casually took a two-shot with that Iwama-san, didn’t you?”
“Of our hands.”
“Well, can’t be helped. We just gotta accept it. For science nerds like us and popular people like Iwama-san, we just live in different worlds.”
Listen to what I’m saying.
I had various things I wanted to explain, but I got tired of it. If I told him that Iwama was actually a fellow science enthusiast, Mizusaki would probably use his gamma-delta logic to preach about destiny.
“In the end, it’s the same as middle school, right? We guys should just get along in our gloomy way.”
I’d expected Mizusaki to nod happily, but instead he stopped his chopsticks as if thinking about something.
“What’s wrong?”
“No… I think we should seriously consider this.”
Mizusaki said in a serious tone, as if broaching a breakup. Just to be clear, we’re definitely not in that kind of relationship. And when Mizusaki uses a serious tone, it’s when he’s joking.
“Consider what, allosteric effects?”
“No, not enzyme reactions right now. Something more important, our future course of action.”
Still maintaining his serious face, Mizusaki continued.
“I have no objection to being gloomy together. But how we’re gloomy, that’s important, right?”
After thinking a bit, I caught onto Mizusaki’s intent.
“Club selection.”
“Of course. We came to Tsunagai High School, the prefecture’s top college prep school and a temple of science. Apparently there are several science-related clubs. Isn’t this the perfect stage for our gloomy youth? We can’t fail at choosing clubs.”
Tsunagai High School traditionally emphasizes science education. That’s a big reason why Mizusaki and I chose this school, beyond it being close to home and having an excellent level.
This school attracts aspiring science students from all over the prefecture.
Iwama must be one of them too. One of the strong ones who gathered seeking other strong ones.
Which club is Iwama planning to join?, I shook that thought from my head.
“What kinds of clubs are there?”
“Should be listed on the school website… Don’t worry, it’s a proper primary source.”
Mizusaki took out his phone and started looking it up.
“For science-ish ones, there’s Physics Club, Chemistry Club, Biology Club… and PC Club? No, PC Club’s a bit different, seems like it’s mainly games, illustrations, and videos rather than information science.”
“Then we should check out Chemistry Club and Biology Club.”
“Right. So that’s next week.”
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