On Monday, the dismissal bell rang more lazily than usual. The students on duty slowly wiped the blackboard, while the pile of homework assigned last Thursday still sat untouched on the podium.
A few girls crouched in front of the shoe cabinet, complaining about the Golden Week make-up days. Outside, cicadas were already testing their voices on the bare cherry blossom branches, and the automatic door of a nearby convenience store chimed faintly as newly stocked soda bottles dripped with condensation.
Akira and the others waved goodbye under the fading sunset.
Atsuya Ayumi hopped onto her new bicycle—freshly bought over the weekend. The wheels had barely spun half a turn before she easily overtook Takagi and Nishikata, who were walking side by side.
Just as she was about to proudly ring her bell, a familiar engine roared behind her. Akira, carrying Shouko on his back seat, sped past like a gust of wind.
Originally, Ayumi had planned to walk home with Takagi, but after thinking about it for a week, she decided it was better to start cycling to and from school again.
Takagi and Nishikata were a little different from Akira and Shouko—so the clever Ayumi decided not to disturb them.
Lately, there had been a growing buzz in class about Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day. Most of the discussions revolved around guesses for the second volume's story.
Even Nishikata, who had been holding back his curiosity all morning, finally couldn't help himself.
"Miyamura," he whispered, poking Akira's back with his pen. "In the second volume of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, do Jinta Yadomi and his friends find a way to bring Menma back to life?"
(Narration note: Jinta Yadomi — the protagonist of Anohana)
Akira turned around to face him, raising a brow in amusement. Nishikata looked unusually serious.
He had originally bought the book just to support Akira, but he hadn't expected to be pulled so deeply into the story. With classmates discussing possible endings every day, his curiosity only grew stronger.
Class hadn't started yet, and although his question wasn't loud, it immediately caught the attention of Takagi and Atsuya Ayumi nearby. They, too, had wanted to ask but were holding back to avoid spoilers.
"Why do you think that?" Akira asked, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"Uh…" Nishikata scratched his head, trying to organize his thoughts.
"Only Jinta Yadomi can see Menma's spirit, right? That's already supernatural enough. And with what happened between him and his friends later, I think there's a high chance the second volume is about reviving Menma.
Plus, Shouko said it was a healing story, so that makes it even more likely."
Takagi and Ayumi exchanged thoughtful glances—they actually found his reasoning pretty convincing.
Shouko, sitting nearby, pressed her lips together, trying her best not to smile.
"Of course," Nishikata added dramatically, "that's assuming Jinta's not secretly a psychopath. But I don't think Miyamura would write him that way—otherwise, you'd get flamed by readers."
Nishikata leaned back, stroking his chin as if deep in thought. At that moment, he felt like his IQ had just surpassed Einstein's.
Akira couldn't help but clap lightly. For a second, even he thought Nishikata's analysis sounded reasonable—a genius, an absolute genius.
"So," Akira teased, "you want spoilers?"
"Nope." Nishikata waved his hand quickly. "I'll wait for the second volume. If I hear spoilers now, I might lose the motivation to buy it."
Akira shrugged and let it go. If Nishikata really wanted spoilers later, he'd just make something up on the spot following Nishikata's "genius" theory.
"Nishikata," Takagi chimed in, "even if you ask Miyamura, he probably can't tell you what happens next. After all, he's not the author."
Just then, another boy leaned forward from behind them.
"Someone like Miyamura, who's good at everything, probably doesn't read many novels, right?"
Akira blinked, then nodded slightly. Technically, the boy wasn't wrong—since he started writing his own stories in middle school, he hadn't had much time to read others.
"So, Nishikata, asking him's useless. If you've got any questions about Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, ask me instead." The boy puffed his chest proudly. "I've read it twice already. I even know some hidden details—and I can predict seventy to eighty percent of what'll happen next."
Although the author's name was also "Miyamura," it never crossed his mind that it was this Miyamura sitting right in front of him.
After all, the school principal shared the same surname, and no one assumed Akira was his son.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Akira listened with polite interest, saying nothing.
Seeing their silence, the boy, Sato Masao, smirked subtly, glancing at Ayumi before adding, "I'll come back after class and analyze it for you guys."
The bell rang before anyone could reply, and he hurried back to his seat.
"Miyamura," Nishikata whispered, "Sato doesn't mean anything bad. He's just kind of—"
"Stop, stop, stop." Akira raised a hand, smiling faintly. "I get it. Don't worry, I'm not mad. Actually, I'm kind of curious about his 'analysis.'"
Nishikata blinked. This guy's too calm…
Of course, no one in class knew that Akira was the author of the novel they were so obsessed with. Everyone had promised to keep that secret, and unless he held a signing event, no one would ever know.
The class period flew by. Afterward, Sato returned to the back row and began "analyzing" Anohana for his audience.
To be fair, some of what he said made sense… but most of his attention seemed fixed on Atsuya Ayumi, and his glances made it obvious what he was really after.
By the time the afternoon sun stretched long shadows across the blackboard, the last water bottle clattered to the floor, and the dismissal bell blended with the sound of the baseball club's practice outside, the day finally ended.
The next morning—
"Ugh…"
"That… shouldn't be right…" Shouko muttered as she struggled with her blouse.
"I just bought this recently… Why is it so hard to button today? It was fine yesterday…"
She tried a few more times before finally taking a deep breath and fastening it.
"As long as I don't do any strenuous exercise today…" she whispered, continuing to get dressed.
There was no time to buy a new one now—she'd have to wait until after school. Thankfully, there was no P.E. class today.
Shouko sighed softly. There was only one person she could blame for this…
Lately, she hadn't been exercising much. And it was all because of someone's overly generous feeding habits.
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