Chapter 1

It all started two months before I entered Arakawa High School. Up until that point in time, I had been hitting the books—hard.

The school was notorious for its unbelievably hard entrance exams. So, it was back-to-back studying, burning that midnight oil, and ultimately amassing all the knowledge I could—and it was truly a jaw-dropping amount.

Anyway, I walked down a busy street, on my way to get some takoyaki from one of my favorite food stalls. Theirs was simply the best—the texture, the way it simply melts in your mouth, the explosion of flavors.

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to call it divine. A work of the gods…

Continuing with my steady pace, a set of posters stuck to several lampposts grabbed my attention. As if changing itself to fit the current mood, the air became chilly. The atmosphere grew grim.

A picture, shaded only in black and white, portrayed the image of an extraordinarily beautiful girl. Her face was shapely. She wore a smile so radiant, it beamed with youthful energy—exuberant amounts of it.

Judging from her proportions, she looked around my age. I was fifteen at the time, and she appeared to be more or less the same.

Her raven-black hair was tied with ribbons, twin tails that reached all the way to her shoulders, draping from either side of her head and accentuating her shapely face—contrasting with her pearly white teeth.

This girl…

WAS DEAD.

The write-up beneath the poster explained what had happened. She was involved in a hit-and-run. After being in a coma for nearly three weeks, she passed on…

Dang…

I felt bad—genuinely bad. I was pissed.

It wasn’t some shallow pity. It was much deeper than that. She had her whole life ahead of her—now cut short. Ended. Just like that.

Why…?

It started to dawn on me that I was feeling a bit more attached to her situation than one would normally be. As much as I hated to admit it, I could be pretty self-centered.

So why was I so drawn to her…?

The chilly atmosphere started to seep into my skin, reaching my bones.

A sudden gust picked up, strong enough to send several of the posters soaring high into the sky, and a few slammed into me as I shielded my eyes.

The best way I could describe the strange development was to compare it to a presence. Like it wasn’t just me standing on that singular spot on the sidewalk. It felt like someone…latched onto me…

◯ ◯ ◯

A few minutes later, my favorite green tracksuit—the one with white vertical stripes—was now soaking wet.

There was a puddle that had formed near the edge of the sidewalk. A puddle that a car sped through, splashing me. With the chilly air, it was quite the uncomfortable development.

My love for takoyaki was far stronger than that little mishap, though. I trudged on toward where the stall should be located.

On my way, I tried to figure out how I had not noticed that puddle earlier…

I arrived at the stall. The energetic owner gave me a bright smile, framed by his hazel-colored beard. His eyes were filled with familiarity as they locked onto me. His hair was also neatly tucked into a dark scarf he tied around his head.

“If it isn’t my favorite customer, Junosuke!” His warm voice seemed to heat up my half-freezing body. “The usual? Also…why’re you wet…?”

“Car. Puddle. Big splash,” I replied, mustering a chuckle. “Things happen.”

The stall owner nodded, in what seemed to be a little pity mixed with understanding, before getting ready to prepare the “usual.”

He masterfully arranged six takoyaki balls into two precise rows in a white pack. Then, he drizzled the delicious sauce all over them. It was truly a sight for sore eyes.

I was fighting back the urge to drool throughout its preparation. But now, I could finally dig in.

Handing him the payment—five hundred yen—with my left hand, my eager right hand shivered longingly as it received the pack from him—

Splat.

The sound echoed between the two of us as we watched the good food splatter all over the concrete.

It slipped out of my hands…? But I’m usually so precise. What’s going on?!

“…” Unable to say anything, I continued to gaze at the mess I had made with a dejected look across my face. “…”

“…Don’t worry. I’ll whip up another one—on the house!”

As the stall owner boomed the words with his infectious charisma, I brightened up like a burning star. I also figured he was just being nice to me since he already saw the state I was in before.

The sealed pack containing my new set of takoyaki was clenched tightly between my hands. I had given the owner an innumerable amount of heartfelt bows before departing.

On my way back, I almost tripped three times. Then a cat chased by a dog weaved past my legs. And when I got home, I couldn’t find my keys.

Luckily, the spare was still behind the potted plant by our front door. Unluckily, I struggled with the keyhole for well over a minute, risking my takoyaki getting cold.

When I finally prevailed against the door, climbing up the stairs to my room, I plopped onto my bed with my arms splayed out.

At first, I chalked it up to a series of unfortunate coincidences, but a part of me still considered the slight chance that I was experiencing what people called…

Bad Luck…

Or I might have inexplicably turned into a huge klutz. Who knows…? Could be both…