"Hey, my dearest companion..."
"Are you trying to be some kind of tragic side character? And no, I don't remember us being close enough for that kind of drama," Hachiro Hikigane replied dryly, swinging his tennis racket to smack the ball back across the court.
"A love triangle is the most unstable of forms. When three people talk, someone's always left out. You can only look one person in the eyes at a time—someone's always ignored. Sports are built for two or four players, rarely three. So—"
Whack. Gen Shin, standing across from him, returned the shot with perfect precision.
"—someone's always going to end up alone." He glanced over at Yuki Komiya, who was quietly hitting balls against the wall by himself, a familiar pang of guilt settling in his chest.
"If you feel so guilty, why don't you switch places with him?" Hachiro responded, effortlessly hitting the ball back again.
Gen just shrugged. As the first winner of their rock-paper-scissors match, Hachiro had earned the right to play, and he wasn't about to give that up.
"Still, it's really the school's fault. Who organizes joint P.E. for three classes and gives us an odd number of students? It's basic math—someone's going to be left out," Gen grumbled, shaking his head at the school administration.
"Eh…" Hachiro muttered. Truth be told, he usually ended up partnering with either of the two loners depending on who had free time, but rarely were all three of them in P.E. at the same time. They were in different classes after all.
Still… thanks to these two, P.E. wasn't as miserable as it used to be. He almost caught himself wondering—what if they had been in the same class? That would've been… unthinkable before.
"I heard Miss Hiratsuka called you to the office. What for?" Gen asked casually.
"I spoke the truth," Hachiro replied without a hint of shame.
"Got it. So your essay was too real to handle? Offended the masses?" Gen grinned. He wasn't wrong—Hachiro's compositions had a reputation.
Hachiro sighed, continuing his rally. "In the end, she forced me into some weird club. Or, correction—a 'circle.'"
There weren't enough members to be considered a real club.
"Weird circle, huh... Ah, it's that time of year again," Gen mused.
"Don't tell me it's something like the Occult Nap Society or... the Neo-Age Explorers Club?"
"I don't even know what those are. Are those real clubs somewhere in the world?" Hachiro raised an eyebrow.
"Probably. Though maybe not on this planet," Gen smirked. "So it's the Volunteer Service Club, right?"
"...You already knew." Hachiro gave him a blank stare. If he knew, that meant the club's reputation was worse than he thought.
"Of course I knew. You said it was weird, so that narrows it down," Gen teased.
The name Volunteer Service Club sounded suspiciously noble—if you didn't know the truth behind it.
"So… what do you know about it?" Hachiro asked. Gen had this strange ability to acquire uncannily accurate gossip, despite not having many friends.
"Now that you ask… hmm…" Gen caught the incoming ball with his hand instead of hitting it. "Let's take a break and chat."
Hachiro glanced at the P.E. teacher in the distance. There were no rules against resting during drills, after all. He followed Gen toward a quiet corner of the schoolyard, one out of sight of watchful eyes.
Gen plopped down on the dusty ground without hesitation. Hachiro sat beside him, knees pulled up.
"Yukino Shirayuki. A celebrity at this school. She and Miura from your class are known as the 'Ice and Fire Queens' of Tomoharu High. Or so the rumors say."
"She's pretty intense," Hachiro admitted, though he wasn't sold on the whole "queen" thing.
"And did you know the Shirayuki family is kind of a big deal in this city?"
"I did not," Hachiro deadpanned.
"Yeah. Old money. Yukino's the second daughter. Her sister, Haruno, already graduated and is in college. Back in the day, she and Miss Hiratsuka were in a band together. Also tight with the current student council president."
This sounded more like Haruno's biography than Yukino's. Still, that family really was something.
"And also..."
"..."
"..."
"Don't stop there. What now?" Hachiro frowned at Gen's deliberate pause.
"And also... you have a bit of a tragic connection to her."
That stopped him. Hachiro looked at Gen in disbelief.
"You remember that car accident? First day of school, got yourself hospitalized for three weeks?"
"Oh. That."
It wasn't exactly her fault. Yukino hadn't been driving, and Hachiro had thrown himself in front of the car to save a dog.
"It wasn't even a big deal," he muttered.
"Well, the Shirayuki family made sure she never even met you. They couldn't risk a scandal. Headlines about the 'heiress in a hit-and-run' wouldn't go over well."
"Yeah… can't blame them, really." Hachiro shrugged. The medical bills were all paid. He missed three weeks of school, but no one died. Not a terrible outcome, considering.
"And you know the dog's owner tried to visit you in the hospital, right?"
"...Wait, what?"
"She even wanted to bake cookies for you."
"...Cookies?"
"Yup. Her name's Yui Yuibana."
"...Who?" Hachiro's brain tried to place the name.
"She's in your class. Pink-ish hair, tied up in a bun. Usually hangs around Miura's group. Leaves her top buttons undone sometimes."
"Oh. Her." He instantly categorized her as a bubbly, shallow type. Bit of a follower. Probably not his type.
"She'll probably come talk to you soon," Gen said with a smirk. A prophecy.
"Please no," Hachiro groaned. Dealing with Miura's clique sounded like a headache.
He knew her type—flashy, popular, extroverted. The kind of people he avoided.
Gen laughed. "You sure? She might actually want to be your friend. You did save her dog, after all."
"Spare me. That'd just be pity."
"Man, your paranoia's getting worse." Gen patted his shoulder.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Maybe she saw you dive in front of a car and thought: 'Wow. He's actually a good person.'"
Was that sarcasm? It sounded like sarcasm.
"Whatever. Sounds like a pain..."
You didn't even deny being a shut-in, Gen thought silently.
"Honestly, Miura's crew? No clue. But Hayama and his crew—they're good people. Annoyingly perfect, but not bad."
Hayama Hayato—handsome, golden-haired, the golden boy of Class F. Captain of the soccer team. Friendly, popular. Everything Hachiro wasn't.
Gen, meanwhile, knew the class hierarchy well. Miura's clique, including Yui and Ebina the fujoshi, revolved around their queen. And that queen had her eyes on the prince of the school.
"And who leads the second-tier girls' group again...?" Gen muttered to himself. He'd know when he saw her.
"Anyway, maybe give Yui a chance. You two ended up in the same class again. Maybe it's fate."
"Or maybe it's just bad luck."
"Still holding out for that househusband dream?" Gen grinned.
"Damn right. That's the life."
"Same. Work from home, live easy, make a little money on the side. Best life possible."
The two of them shared a knowing smile.
"See? That's why we're best friends," Gen declared with pride.