Invisible No More

Ryuji kept his eyes on the hallway window as Mr. Yamaguchi stepped up and pinned the mock-exam results beneath the ofuda charm. Top of the mock exam, bottom third in practicum - sixth overall.

"If you cannot keep up your grade, you will be asked to transfer instead of repeating. The school's got a long waitlist." Mr. Yamaguchi reminded the students once more before stepping back from the post. He looked at the list and saw Yukiharu-san's name was near the bottom. Top in evaluation but the lowest in mock exam. Unexpectedly, he imagined person like her, titled Yuki-hime, would also excel in class.

It's nothing to cry about, this is class ranking and not the entire grade..

Then he heard a familiar wailing cry. Natsume-san was pressing her cheeks with her hands. Her name wasn't that far from Yukiharu-san's. surprisingly Fuyuki-san's name was just thirteenth.

Natsume-san rushed over to hold Ryuji's hand with teary eyes.

"Minato-san, save me. I can't fail my midterms..." She was close, really close. His eyes scanned for Yukiharu-san and she was with Fuyuki-san and she was stretching side to side.

"You could ask Fuyuki-san?"

"He's a meanie he doesn't teach me anything ever." Her eyes followed Ryuji's and her mischievous grin curled around her lips.

"Minato-san, we should form a study group. I can ask Hana-chan to teach us practicum." She didn't wait for his answer. She already darted off to drag Yukiharu-san over. Fuyuki-san followed them close behind.

"She said yes! Let's meet at my place this weekend!"

His lips twitched towards refusal, but then he looked at Yukiharu-san, she gave him a small, unreadable nod. This also meant Fuyuki-san would be there - maybe a practicum lifeline after all.

- - -

Ryuji felt the weekend stretch on forever and still wasn’t ready. The house was a narrow, detached two‑story squeezed between two others; he hesitated on the genkan until Natsume flung the door open.

"Minato-san, come on over!" her permed hair pinned to one side, a loose pullover tucked into high‑waisted jeans. Mrs. Natsume greeted him with the same bright laugh as her daughter—warm and a little teasing.

“Mom, stop it. Hana‑chan and Ko‑chan will be here soon. Minato‑san, my room’s upstairs.”

Upstairs felt like a different world. Posters of pop idols papered one wall, edges curling; a small TV with a VCR sat on a low shelf, a stack of VHS tapes with scrawled titles beside it. A stereo cassette player hummed on another shelf, cassettes lined up with handwritten labels; a Walkman and a pair of foam headphones lay on top of a pile of magazines. The closet took up nearly a quarter of the room; the bed was half buried under pillows and stuffed animals. The air smelled faintly of hairspray and lemon detergent, and the whole place had that lived‑in, slightly sticky warmth of a summer afternoon. Ryuji stood there, suddenly aware of how loud his own breathing sounded.

Yukiharu-san and Fuyuki-san arrived together shortly after but felt like an eternity in Natsume-san's room. He couldn't decide where to look and ended up looking at the floor.

He was lost for words when he finally looked up - Yukiharu-san, no Yuki-hime. She wore night-blue yukata with tied up hair pinned with a simple kanzashi. Fuyuki came in dark green tracksuit. Natsume-san glanced at Ryuji, then bounded toward Yukiharu-san.

“Welcome, Hana‑chan and Ko‑chan! But you should get changed - I’ve got gifts upstairs. Boys, hang out here for a bit.”

"Mrs. Natsume, thank you for having us here and this is from my parents." Yukiharu-san handed a small paper bag. Mrs. Natsume’s face lit up at the sight of two rolls of castella cakes.

After few moments of awkward stare between Fuyuki-san and Natsume-san's excited squeals, the door clicked to let the boys enter.

Yukiharu-san was in an oversized creamy pink pullover with black stirrup-leggings with an ankle band. Her hair was down held by a pink sweat. Ryuji almost dropped his jaw - his expression must have been something, because Natsume-san grinned like she'd won. Fuyuki-san made a sharp tongue-click. Yukiharu-san's cheeks bloomed red.

"Now we're dressed to study!" Natsume-san flexed her arm.

- - -

Ryuji could not focus - The lemon detergent from Yukiharu-san's fuzzy pullover and cramped little table made his shoulder brush hers, and every line of the textbook blurred when he tried to read it aloud.

"Ko-chan, let's go to konbini. I want something cold. Buy me an ice cream."

"Go get it yourself."

"You said you'd treat me."

"I'll treat you to ramen."

"But I want ice cream."

Fuyuki-san dug in his bag and tossed 500 yen to Natsume-san. She pouted and covered her mole with her finger.

"But I want to get some more for everyone, I need your muscles to carry them back." She sprang up and grabbed his sleeve and hauled him toward the door. The click of the latch sounded impossibly loud. Ryuji thought he saw a glimpse of Natsume-san winking at his way before the door close.

Ryuji and Yukiharu-san were alone.

The room suddenly shrunk as soon as the others left; the VCR's red standby light blinked on the low shelf and Ryuji could suddenly hear his heart beat loud as drums. His elbow brushed against the soft pink pullover fabric swallowed her hands. the lemon scent tickled his nose whenever she moved.

She watched him for a beat – it stretched longer than he could bear. Ryuji started to fidget.

"Minato-san,"

The silence broke, her voice plain enough to be about the textbook, "You have an accent, where are you from?"

He answered before he gave it a thought, "Yeah, Chiba. Recently I moved here for school. Can you tell?"

He laughed nervously and his ears felt hot. Her eyes were steady, didn't sparkle like Natsume-san's, but her curiosity of him made his hands itch.

"Do you have relatives here?" She kept her calm demeanor.

How is she so calm? I can barely think with her stare. Keep it together, Minato.

"No, I live alone."

She hummed then moved on, "Tell me about the charm you have, where did you get it? It didn't look like it's something you can get from a shrine."

"I got it in a mail, I don't know where it's from."

She listened quietly, finger twirling with her jet black hair. "In a mail." She echoed.

"Yukiharu-san, do you know anything about charms talking to you when you bind it? You seem to know things that's not in the textbook."

She leaned in. "Did your charm talk to you?"

"It did." He leaned back.

She tapped her lips and was caught in thought. "Only strong willed spirits have the power to talk through the seals." Her eyes were still on Ryuji, searching. He tried his best not to stare at her lips.

She leaned closer. "Do you have the charm with you?"

"N...No, I left it at home." He leaned back and hit the shelf, he felt her sigh on his cheek.

She pulled back and leaned back against the bed.

"You should carry it with you all the time if you've bound it. It's like your partner if it spoke to you."

"Partner.... I never read that in the text."

"Well... er... it's from the scrolls at home." Yukiharu-san stuttered and broke her gaze.

"Your house has scrolls about Shinyo? I read those are really rare!"

"Maybe someday you can read them at my place." Her voice was breaking.

The silence stretched. Yukiharu-san picked up the textbook from the tiny table and set it on her knees and flipped through the pages. Ryuji's mind wandered in dozen directions unsure of where to look. He locked onto the VHR's red light. The door latch clicked and the two barreled in with two ice cream bars in her hands like trophies with smile brighter than the sun.

Ryuji and Yukiharu-san both jumped slightly.

"Hana chan, vanilla or strawberry?"

Fuyuki-san followed with a plastic bag full of snacks. He stood at the threshold and gaze fixed on Ryuji felt like his hand was on Ryuji's chest: Don't you dare.

Ryuji was able to focus better in the second half - Fuyuki-san and Natsume-san sandwiched him and Yukiharu-san sat across from him. But the lone moment together played in loop in his head. She didn't talk or looked at him at all afterwards. At the end, everyone finished making their notes from collective efforts.

What was she getting at?

The study group ended when Mrs. Natsume called them for dinner - apple curry on rice. Ryuji walked back home with tangled excitement and dread tugging at his chest. But one thing was clear, starting on Monday they will be doing binding practice together after school till midterms.