School Days

“I’m Mahiru Yoshida, and I’m Kousei’s girlfriend. We met on a vacation, and your teachers kindly allowed me to attend classes with him while I’m visiting. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.”

Mahiru introduced herself to the class with a polite bow, her smile warm and genuine.

After the fireworks festival, she’d reiterated her desire to spend time with Kousei at school. At first, he thought it was just a playful comment, but apparently she really wanted to experience a real school environment at least once in her life, even if just for a short time.

Convincing the teachers to allow her to stay hadn’t been all that difficult. As long as they didn’t disturb classes, friends or relatives were usually allowed to sit in class for a few days.

The much bigger issue was, of course, coming up with a plausible explanation. They’d first considered saying Mahiru was just visiting from a nearby city during her vacation, but all schools in the West went on holidays at the same time, so that would have definitely raised some eyebrows.

Instead, they settled on a simpler story: they’d met during a vacation, remaining as unspecific as possible. Kousei had travelled to England with his family last summer, so if someone were to ask, they would just say that’s where they had crossed paths.

“Pleased to meet you, Yoshida. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay here. I presume you’d like to sit next to Satou in the back, yes? Mashita, would you mind taking the empty seat at the front?” the teacher instructed, prompting Hayato to move.

Grumbling under his breath, Hayato stood up, protesting in silence. Before heading to the front, he leaned towards Kousei and exchanged quick words with him.

“Hey, wasn’t your girlfriend already here a few weeks ago? How long is she visiting?”

“Hm? Oh, she’s here for like a month,” Kousei replied nonchalantly, uninterested in prolonging this conversation any further.

“Ah, that’s great. So I still have a little time to get to know her.”

Kousei turned to face his so-called friend in one swift motion, fire burning in his eyes.

“If you lay a finger on her, I’ll kill you.”

The moment Mahiru took Hayato’s former seat, the air at the back of the classroom changed in an instant. The usually so chaotic and disruptive boys turned into model students within an hour, focusing intently on their work, as if eager to impress the beautiful girl nearby.

“You should come to school every day,” Kousei whispered, leaning in on Mahiru. “Everyone’s being way quieter than usual.”

“Huh? Is this not normal?”

“Definitely not. Usually, they’re all talking to each other or just not paying attention. I think they want to make a good impression on a certain cutie today.”

“H-hey, don’t call me that in public, dummy.”

“Who even said I was talking about you?” Kousei teased, a big smirk on his face.

“Hmpf.”

Turning away from Kousei, Mahiru put her focus on the exercises the teacher had written on the board. Although Kousei often felt a pang of guilt, he couldn’t refrain from teasing his girlfriend regularly. After all, she looked absolutely adorable when she pretended to sulk.

Despite never setting foot in a public school before, Mahiru had no problem keeping up with the pace of the class. The complex math equations that left many students struggling seemed to barely faze her.

Mahiru may have defied her family’s wishes on a regular basis, but she’d always found joy in learning. She wished to exchange her knowledge with other people, so attending school was a dream come true for her.

Glancing at her and noticing the speed she moved her pen with, Kousei couldn’t stop admiring her inspiration and passion. He didn’t even realise he was grinning until Mahiru looked up at him, her face lighting up with an equally wide smile before she broke into a soft giggle. He knew they probably looked like two overenthusiastic people stumbling through the awkwardness of affection, but the thought didn’t faze him.

In that moment, Kousei wished from the bottom of his heart, more than ever before, that his time with Mahiru would last forever.

Lunch break arrived a few hours later. Mahiru and Kousei sat together at a table in the school’s caféteria, with a few other people seated next to them.

Under normal circumstances, Kousei went to the caféteria with Hayato alone, enjoying his quiet company as they ate the lunch they’d prepared at home.

But of course, many other classmates, boys and girls, wanted to have lunch with him today, though he suspected he wasn’t the person they were primarily interested in.

“Mahiru, would you like to grab some ice cream after school?”

“Oh, I want to join you as well! I know, let us exchange phone numbers so we can keep in touch, Mahiru.”

Two girls currently talked to her, trying to get her attention. Kousei had expected her to bask in male admiration, but she seemed to be quite popular with the girls as well. Her shining presence truly had an impact on everyone around her.

“That’s a great idea! Let us exchange phone numbers,” a boy chimed in.

Mahiru enjoyed talking with so many different people, but even she was starting to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of classmates trying to get to know her at the same time. Seeking a way out of the situation, she wrapped her arm around Kousei’s.

“Thank you for the invitation, you’re all so nice. Unfortunately, Kousei and I already made plans for today. Maybe we can hang out another day,” Mahiru said with an innocent smile.

The entire table sighed in unison, disappointed by Mahiru’s rejection. Only Hayato remained silent, his wary gaze not budging from Mahiru’s face for a single second.

“Is everything okay?” Kousei asked him.

“Hm? Oh yeah, sorry, I just spaced out for a bit.”

Hayato continued to inspect Mahiru for a moment longer, his eyes narrowing slightly as realisation hit him.

Yes, this really is her.

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Immediately after the final school bell rang, Hayato sprinted back home. Just this once, he hadn’t even stopped to talk to Kousei. There was something way more important he needed to take care of at the moment.

Storming through the house door, he was greeted by his mother.

“Hayato, what’s gotten into you? You’re completely out of breath.”

“T-the one girl Dad told us about… She’s here!”

The eyes of Hayato’s mother went wide in shock, her entire face turning pale.

“So it’s finally time…”