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It had become a routine for Kasuga Kaneko not to show up for her duties as class president. Her seat was always vacant for long stretches—so long, in fact, that everyone eventually thought as if that chair had been emptied from the very beginning.

A long time ago, way back, there was a story about how diligent and dedicated Kasuga Kaneko had been before entering high school. She was the only student in Japan—maybe even the world—who had held the position of class president for nine years in a row. She had led her class ever since the first day of elementary school and kept that leadership role all the way through the end of middle school. During that time, she never missed a single day of school. Her attendance record over those nine years was a perfect 100%.

On top of those two spectacular facts, Kasuga also held the title of the best student in the school. She always stood at the top in every field—academics, sports, arts, student organizations, you name it. Kasuga Kaneko was like the apple of all apples, the gem among gems, the sapiens among sapiens, with limitless possibilities. Above all those, she's also a Mona Lisa, with amazing figure, and attitude of an angel. She was the finest girl you couldn’t find anywhere else.

The title of class president for nine years, perfect attendance, stunning beauty with an athletic build, and an intellectual to boot—she seemed like a human from utopia, overflowing with flawless superiority. Perfection was the alternate name for Kasuga Kaneko herself.

Well, at least that’s how the story was told. But the fact that we saw were far from any of those. She wasn't an over-achiever student, but just a truant, whom existence was far rarer than a UMA or supernatural cases.

For those who had known Kasuga Kaneko since elementary school or middle school, this information would probably sound like a baseless, outrageous lie. They’d call it a hoax, slander, bad magic trick, dark joke, uninteresting prank, or the jealousy of the incapable trying to fool the world about that girl.

But no, unfortunately.

This wasn’t a lie, instead a real fact. At least from a year ago—since she enrolled high school.

I supposed the story of the perfect Kasuga existed in her past. She wasn’t an ordinary girl, but a novel protagonist without a single flaw or defect. Everything about her was perfect—inside and out.

They said Kasuga Kaneko was hyperactive and sociable. She loved to chat and was friendly to everyone. She was an outgoing girl who liked making friends, helping others, and wiping out evil from the face of the earth, root and branch.

Unfortunately, in high school, Kasuga was far cry from that kind of person she was in the past. She's pretty much a problematic student in contrast.

She showed no sign of wanting to get close to anyone—or of wanting anyone to get close to her. She wasn’t a hyperactive, friendly girl; she was a cold, expressionless person. Her face always wore a blank look, as if she couldn’t care less about the world.

When spoken to, she never responded. She’d just stay silent, motionless. She even kept her mouth shut when the teacher called attendance—only raising her hand. If asked a question at the blackboard during class, Kasuga Kaneko would simply shake her head, signaling that she didn’t know. She never uttered a word.

It was undeniably strange. But truly, Kasuga Kaneko never spoke a word during the entire first year of high school. No one ever heard her voice. She clearly showed no signs of being the best student back then, nor wanted to be a role model for anyone.

Even so, with that cold demeanor, everyone still agreed to elect Kasuga Kaneko as class president. Given her nine years of experience in that role, it only made sense to entrust her with the job again. Besides, having a student of her caliber as our leader would surely make people think that our class was something special. Those in the class would bask in her good reputation, too.

Unfortunately, like a tomato that refused to ripen, those expectations never came to pass.

Kasuga Kaneko was indeed elected class president by acclamation. But she never once carried out her duties. From the day she was appointed until the very end of the term—when our first year ended—she never touched a single issue concerning the class or its activities.

Not only that, she would also frequently skipped school without notice, disappeared from her seat for two to four days. A behavior which only worsened her image. As a result, Kasuga Kaneko received a mountain of complaints from every teacher, along with warnings about being held back and so on.

That yankee behavior in that girl became more and more pronounced as the days went by. From every angle, she clearly didn’t deserve to advance to the next year. Kasuga had abandoned her duties, behaved poorly toward teachers, constantly played truant, and never did her homework. That was more than enough to keep her down.

Nevertheless, because her exam results were at the very top of all students, Miss Mikami—our homeroom teacher back then—still passed her to the second year—with certain conditions. She asked her to change her bad habits: stop skipping school without notice, behaving better, and interacting more with the class. Kind of a dictative request. But it also showed how Miss Mikami cared about her. She hoped that Kasuga Kaneko could enjoy her school life wholeheartedly, so that she wouldn’t leave any regrets in the future.

Unfortunately, that hope went unfulfilled. Again.

Far from improving, Kasuga Kaneko stayed the way she was: a problematic, anti-social, and truant student. Never wanting to be anything else, maybe forever.

But why she turned into such tragic human after all those achievements? That question popped into people's mind, teasing them with tentative curiosity.

No one knew why Kasuga Kaneko had changed from a bright, friendly sunflower of a girl into a gloomy, brooding banyan tree. Her eyes were intimidating, her lips pressed tight, her chin resting on her hand, her indifference knew no boundry. An invisible but thick wall of warning signs was always up around her—a wall called solitude. It was as if she never intended to live in what we call society.

Surely, I didn't have much critique on this case. I wasn't Kasuga Kaneko's friend, acquaintance, or anything—I had no connection to the girl. Sure, it was a bit awkward having someone like her in our class. The classroom atmosphere could never be perfect with a problematic member within it.

Every single human was free of their choices, no? Kasuga Kaneko included. She wasn’t put on this earth to live up to anyone’s expectations. If she wanted to live in an ending solitude, then no one had the right to stop her. Not me, our classmate, the teachers, or even the Emperor himself. Besides, we had our own problems to deal with, rather than putting our hands to worried about her.

I had no business with her. I had no issue with her. So, there was no need to trouble myself by keeping an eye on her.

That’s how I felt.

At least until that sense of normalcy was shaken by one absurd accident.

It was summer of our second year.

I was running late for school. I leaped over the already-closed school gate, ignored the supervising teacher's shouts, dashed straight to the Faculty Building.

As I was climbing the stairs, I accidentally bumped into a girl standing in my path, knocking her to the floor. Guilt stopped me in my tracks for a moment to check on her. She was a tall, slender girl with long, straight black hair that fell to her waist and bangs that covered her forehead, wearing a white eyepatch over her left eye. The eyepatch had fallen to the floor—probably because I’d bumped into her. I think she had taken it off just before I collided with her.

I’d always wondered why she wore that eyepatch—ever since from the first year. So had everyone else. I was sure she didn’t have chuunibyou, so it couldn’t be just for show.

And yes, Kasuga Kaneko wasn’t wearing that thing just to look cooler like some otaku. She had a specific reason for wearing it. And of course, it was to cover her eye.

An eye that no one had ever seen before.

Apparently, I was the first person to bear witness of it. That eye, as blank as a sheet of white paper.

That mysterious case that the medical world couldn’t solve.

The truth was, the left eye of Kasuga Kaneko, which I’d bumped into that day, had turned blind for a reason that made no sense at all.

***