Kiyono inexplicably felt embarrassed, coughed, and took a sip of water to hide his expression.
"Then what do you think of Anna?" Ono asked casually.
"What do you mean, 'what do you think'?"
"You and Anna have worked together for a long time, haven't you? What are your feelings for her?"
He was already surrounded; the Big Sisters had encircled him, making him feel like a helpless little girl being watched with smiling gazes by four big, burly men.
If he didn't answer, these women probably wouldn't give up… Kiyono felt his scalp tingle.
"She's… just like that. On the surface, she seems innocent, careless, loves to eat, clumsy—and can be considered a beautiful girl…"
"Hmm, that's not what you said just now."
"And… just like the example I gave, she's a very gentle and thoughtful girl."
The girl outside the door's eyes slowly widened.
Her eyes shimmered with moisture, her palms subtly clenched, and a fiery blush gradually rose, quietly spreading across half of her face.
…
"By the way, aren't you too close to me today?"
In the break room, Kiyono looked at the blue-haired girl beside him, almost shoulder-to-shoulder, with a subtle expression—she had even moved her chair over, just like sharing a desk at school.
Her pretty face still held a joyful smile.
"Is that so? Perhaps it's because you have a mysterious scent about you?" Yanami said with a smile.
Kiyono's heart tightened. Had he absorbed the smell of the internet café? He quickly raised his arm and sniffed—no smell! He showered every day before coming to the shop!
Yanami propped her chin with one hand and looked up at him.
"Kiyono, you should have time this afternoon, right?"
Kiyono realized she was teasing him and replied, speechless, "I do… have time."
"It's a rare sunny day today—come to our school! Let's go cheer on Lemon together; she seems to have a competition very soon." The girl's tone lifted at the end.
"What would I, a working adult, do at a school?" Kiyono stood up, created some distance, and refused coolly.
"Adult… Kiyono, did you know that if you went to a middle school classroom right now, no one would suspect you?"
Yanami seemed to have hit a funny bone, her brows curving with a smile.
"Besides, you can visit the school for research, so… is it not possible?"
She spoke from behind; her voice subtly shifted with each word, finally becoming a soft, sweet query like a young girl's.
"…It's not impossible." Kiyono was convinced by the words for research. After transmigrating for so long, it was time to see the legendary school campus!
"Then let's go."
The girl bloomed into a flower-like smile.
"Hey!"
Soft clouds drifted slowly by. Yanami's shoe tip kicked a small stone, and the bouncing pebble startled a calico cat curled beneath the blue curtain of "Fujimori Fresh Fish Shop," which then vanished in a flash.
The blue-haired girl, a popsicle in her mouth, suddenly squatted in front of a pastry shop's glass display case and mumbled, "Kiyono, which do you think is sweeter, red bean paste or walnut shortbread?"
"Stop eating. How much have you eaten already? Aren't we going to school?" Kiyono sighed.
"I'm just asking; I'm not buying…"
Yanami straightened up and hummed. The afternoon sun was warm, making the street feel lazy. The two crossed the road and stopped before a large gate.
"This is the legendary… high school!"
Kiyono gasped, like a simple young man from the countryside who grew up on tales of heroes finally arriving at the stage where heroes are trained, unconsciously bringing along a pilgrim's heart.
He hadn't expected to start out so down and out, yet after all the twists and turns, he still got to experience being a protagonist… Well, it was indeed just an experience; school life was still some distance away from him.
"Isn't this just an ordinary school…?"
Yanami was dumbfounded. Where did you come from, a mountain person!
The cast-iron fence in front of them showed mottled rust, and wisteria vines irregularly entwined the corners. She pushed open the gate and led Kiyono inside.
Warm sunlight, lush green tree-lined paths, the scattered reflections of roadside trees on the flagstone, and the crisp crack of a bat from the nearby sports field.
Yanami usually attended school here…
He seemed to see a phantom of Yanami in uniform, walking along the flagstone path day after day.
Kiyono had only walked a short distance when Yanami suddenly stepped forward two paces. With her hands clasped behind her back, facing Kiyono, her heels crushed dry leaves in the cracks of the stones. She walked backward, smiling at him, her blue hair swaying with her receding steps.
"Kiyono!"
The first sound was drawn out and lowered in tone, while the second lifted gently, sweet with a hint of playfulness—like a girl's white skirt flying in summer. This was Yanami's unique rhythm.
The blue-haired girl stood in the shade of a tree, and in the not-quite-sunset light, her radiant smile emitted a moving warmth.
Ah, this is another side of the girl I don't know.
Kiyono stopped, the thought arriving all at once.
Although they saw each other a lot at their part-time job, those two or three hours each day were just a small slice of her time. She was a high school student; most of her youth blossomed on this beautiful campus.
What is she like at school?
His mind conjured the scene: yawning as she arrived in the morning, then greeting classmates with a big smile upon entering the classroom; sneaking snacks during breaks; sharing lunch with friends at noon. Because of her large appetite, she'd ask the cafeteria staff for extra rice and dishes, often getting teased by her friends…
She would worry about studying, scheme to sneak snacks, talk about romance with friends, and pass notes during class.
The Yanami he knew was only a small part of her.
"Hey, hey, have you been mesmerized by my smile!?"
While he was lost in thought, the blue otter walked up and waved a hand before his eyes.
"How could that be?"
Kiyono rolled his eyes, swatted her hand away, and continued forward.
"Nah."
Yanami glanced at him and said softly, "Walking together with my junior like this… it feels like we've become classmates."
She was thinking, too.
What would it be like if Kiyono were at the same school, in the same class, as me?
…
Their time flows were not the same…
But she still hoped for more intersections in their lives.
With this thought, Yanami played the senior and gave Kiyono a brief tour of the school building. With each place they passed, the girl vividly showed her school-self—full of the lively, playful energy of a high schooler—while Kiyono observed the details with interest.
Old floors, desks, a blackboard in the corner with the names of the day's duty students. This was Yanami's classroom.
The blue-haired girl sat in her seat, grinning as she patted the desk for him—she seemed even more excited than he was.
Classrooms, corridors, old school buildings—under the hazy sun, they left traces across the campus bit by bit.
"This is Lemon's club room. The seniors in the track and field club are all very nice people." Yanami pushed open a door.
"By the way, is it really okay to bring me to the girls' club changing room?"
Kiyono couldn't help remarking. In front of him, a certain locker was covered with orange-yellow Lemon stickers, perfectly reflecting the owner's style.
"Oh—right!"
Yanami's eyes widened, and she belatedly pushed him out.
By the time they reached the sports field, the warm sun had gradually turned to setting light. Cheerful calls from the soccer and track clubs echoed across the grounds.
"Ready—"
A clear command rang out, making them instinctively stop and look.
Through the rusty protective netting, Kiyono saw the girl on the track. Her upper body lowered; with a long breath, her frame grew taut. An inexplicable power gathered like water in her small body.
This was the set for a sprint.
At that moment, the setting sun cut diagonally through a gap in the clouds, gilding her right side in gold while her left was submerged in pale purple shadow.
Heels up—push off.
The instant she launched, he seemed to see red rubber granules on the starting block burst in a fan between her spikes. Lemon's leaning body formed a dangerous angle with the ground, like a straight arrow loosed from the string.
It was truly a sprint "swift as the wind." Each time she struck the track, beads of sweat slid down the taut curve of her inner thigh into her spikes; flying rubber mixed with sand exploded around her.
The hundred-meter track was conquered in the blink of an eye.
Passionate, brave, radiant.
When she crossed the finish line, Kiyono couldn't help applauding—this was the first time he had seen Yakishio Lemon run seriously, and she truly possessed the unique grace and charm of an athlete. He almost felt he'd stumbled onto the set of Uma Musume.
"Kiyono, Yanami—you came to cheer me on!" Yakishio Lemon noticed them and jogged over, a fresh scent of grass and sweat wafting with her.
Her face was beaded with sweat; she bumped fists with Yanami, then held out a fist to Kiyono, expectant.
Kiyono pretended not to see it; he wasn't used to such intimate greetings.
Seeing he meant to refuse, the two girls exchanged glances. With tacit understanding, Yanami pressed his left hand, molded it into a fist, and made him bump Lemon's.
"Why is this mandatory…"
Kiyono shook off Yanami, looking speechless.
"Yay!"
Lemon grinned, glanced between them, and asked, "Did you two come to school together? Have you started dating!?"
"Of course not!"
Yanami was the first to retort. One hand on her hip, her lake-blue eyes tinged with honey in the setting sun: "It's just that he desperately wanted to cheer you on and begged me, so I brought him!"
Are you sure?
Kiyono gave Yanami a cool look.
"Kiyono, are you really that serious about our friendship? I'm so happy!"
Don't believe her!
"Okay, it's decided! Before the competition starts, I must break through the enemy's fortress!"
Lemon smiled confidently, her black hair swaying in the breeze, as if saying—
We'll win.
"Too slow, Mitsuki! We said ten o'clock in the morning—it's already ten-thirty!"
"Sorry, sorry, my bicycle suddenly broke down at home…"
A passionate, energetic female voice rustled by, followed by pattering footsteps, easily conjuring the image of a girl running up with a smile.
And since the voices were so clear, his position must be right beside the two of them, followed by greetings and walking together.
But Kiyono looked at the young man and woman standing at the bottom of the slope in the distance, then looked at Yanami beside him.
Today, Yanami wore a sky-blue dress, a small bag slung over her shoulder, exuding a refreshing summer vibe. Of course, that wasn't the main point; the main point was…