05 Sato 1
The middle school I attended drew students mainly from two areas. Most lived in the apartments and maisonette-type houses near Shin-Urayasu Station. The other, smaller group of students lived a bit further away in the apartments on the reclaimed land.
Actually, the place where I live was originally reclaimed land too. Between us and the new reclaimed land where the minority group lived, there’s an old embankment that runs along like a railway track, creating a very clear border.
Since the middle school was built for our area, it’s a bit of a trek for them to commute. In short, this middle school didn’t really feel like it “belonged” to those people.
In fact, I’d heard that another middle school would be built over there in a few years, so the people from the new reclaimed land side felt like “outsiders.” If they hadn’t come here, we could have just maintained the same social circles we had in elementary school.
After the entrance ceremony, I entered my classroom and looked around at my new classmates.
I had to move fast—join a circle of people from my elementary school I was at least somewhat friendly with and establish a foundation for my future social life.
But right then, my eyes were stolen away.
I saw a female student sitting perfectly straight in her chair, eyes downcast on the book in her hands. She wasn’t trying to mingle; if anything, she seemed to be actively rejecting others.
She had long, black hair so beautiful I’d never seen the like, even on a celebrity. Her pale, determined profile felt less like a “pretty girl” and more like a work of art. I couldn’t even fathom what kind of food one would have to eat to end up looking like that.
(What is that? That’s not just ‘outsider’ level. She looks like an alien.)
I was in shock.
“Well, well, Sato-chan, falling for Nagumo-san already?”
The one who called out to me so familiarly while I was staring blankly at the black-haired girl was Kobayashi-san from my elementary school. She always had a boyish haircut; she was athletic, smart, and popular.
I’d been in the same class as Kobayashi-san a few times in elementary school, but we weren’t particularly close. However, she’s the type who closes the distance between people in an instant, chatting casually with anyone. Because of that, she has a huge social circle and knows everything.
(In the worst-case scenario, maybe I can get Kobayashi-san to let me into her group?)
I thought, a bit calculatingly.
But 90% of my brain was currently occupied by that black-haired girl.
“That person… is her name Nagumo-san?”
“Yep, yep. She’s got that Takarazuka vibe, doesn’t she?”
Kobayashi-san compared Nagumo-san’s unique atmosphere to the Takarazuka Revue. With her dignified, almost doll-like features, it certainly felt that way.
“She’s from the reclaimed land, right?”
“What’s that? Sato-chan, you use such funny names for things.”
Kobayashi-san gave a slightly mischievous smirk and held up an index finger.
“Nagumo-san’s grandmother lives over by Urayasu Station, so they’re actually ‘older’ residents than we are, you know?”
Urayasu Station is in the old town. Since we’re ultimately people living on reclaimed land ourselves, we must be the “new faces” from the perspective of the people over there.
“How do you know about Nagumo-san’s grandmother, Kobayashi-san?”
“Ah, Nagumo-san’s grandma is a bit of a local celebrity. She’s a mage who works as a fortune teller. I heard she was even on TV once.”
“A mage? There was someone like that in Urayasu?”
That was the first I’d heard of a mage being in Urayasu.
Mages are the kind of thing you only see on TV occasionally; they aren’t exactly common. They exist all over the world, but their numbers are small, making them quite rare. The image is sort of like an “ethnic minority group preserving old traditions.” Since it’s common knowledge that magic itself is useless, they’re generally seen as people who neither help nor harm.
On TV, you often see magicians performing sleight-of-hand and mocking them: “See? Amazing, right? Even a mage couldn’t do this! By the time they finished chanting their incantations, the show would be over!”
Sure, there are celebrities who are mages, but they’re a tiny minority and mostly just use the title as a convenient gimmick.
“Of course they’re here. Mages live in separate territories so they don’t step on each other’s toes. In other words, they’re apparently everywhere.”
That was also news to me. Kobayashi-san really did know everything. Despite being the same age, her level of knowledge was like that of an adult.
“Hmm. So, is Nagumo-san going to become a mage too?”
“Well, it seems she’s aiming for it. I heard from a friend at the elementary school over there that ‘Nagumo-san is always reading magic books at school.'”
As expected, Kobayashi-san even had friends at the school on the reclaimed land. Just how wide was this person’s social circle?
“I think magic is pointless these days, though. I wonder why she bothers studying it.”
I accidentally let that slip.
“Not good, Sato-chan. Not good at all. You shouldn’t say things like that—mocking something someone is serious about.”
Those light words made me snap out of it. When I looked into Kobayashi-san’s eyes, I saw a flash of genuine seriousness.
“Well! We’re all in the same class now, so let’s get along, okay?”
Kobayashi-san said that with a wave of her hand and disappeared into another circle of people.
Because of that, I was late to the game in building relationships in my new class.
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Having managed to slide into a group from my elementary school, I spent my days observing Nagumo-san from a distance. For me, it was impossible to go through school life while averting my eyes from such a powerful presence.
Whenever she had a free moment, she was reading a book with a black leather binding. Normally, you aren’t supposed to bring books that aren’t school-related, but it seemed Nagumo-san had obtained permission from the teachers beforehand. Apparently, she’d had approval since elementary school; she was blatantly “special.”
But she didn’t completely reject people; if you spoke to her, she’d answer properly. However, she was a very blunt person.
“I want to spend my breaks studying magic,”
she would declare, showing no interest in socializing with others.
(As expected of an alien,)
I thought, impressed. Usually, it doesn’t work that way. For a girl, there’s an invisible rule that you must belong to some kind of group and never be isolated. There’s no telling what might happen to a child who strays from the herd.
For the time being, Nagumo-san had a close friend from the same elementary school named Shiba-san in another class, and they seemed to commute together.
But friends in other classes aren’t someone you can rely on. Even for me, I wanted to be with the kids I was close to in elementary school, but at school, “a neighbor nearby is better than a relative far away.”
In fact, there were people who looked at Nagumo-san with malicious eyes, calling her “stuck-up.” There are always people who hate others for no clear reason.
Still, I couldn’t quite figure out what kind of person Nagumo-san was.
She read nothing but magic books, yet she was good at both studying and sports. That was impressive, but to me, it also looked like armor—as if she were saying, “I can do anything, so it’s okay if I become a mage.”
I heard that Nagumo-san’s parents weren’t exactly thrilled about her becoming a mage (Source: Kobayashi-san). Because of that, I felt like she was being stubborn, pushing herself to the limit with her shoulders tensed.
Besides, even if you’re high-achieving, if your social skills are low, you’ll get ousted in the world of girls. That’s why you should live a smarter life.
…But part of me also thought that kind of noble isolation was cool and not so bad.
And that was when the incident happened.
Nagumo-san’s black leather-bound book went missing.
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