Chapter 1 — Just Another Morning

The first bell hadn't rung yet.

Students drifted into the classroom in groups.

Someone laughed near the door.

Someone else complained about homework.

A desk screeched across the floor.

Another normal morning.

Haruto Aoki stepped inside without making a sound.

His backpack hung from one shoulder.

He walked straight to the back.

Second seat from the window.

His seat.

He set his bag down.

Pulled out a novel.

Opened it.

The classroom faded into background noise.

Just the way he liked it.

"..."

Haruto wasn't shy.

Not really.

He simply didn't see the point in talking unless there was something worth saying.

That made people leave him alone.

Which was convenient.

A chair scraped beside him.

His classmate, Kenta, dropped into the seat.

"Morning!"

"Morning." Haruto Said.

"You actually finished the math homework?"

"Yeah."

"Lend it to me."

"No."

"...Cold."

"You've said that every Monday."

"..."

Kenta sighed dramatically.

"You know, one day I'll report you for not helping your friends."

"You've never called me your friend."

"...Good point."

Haruto returned to his book.

Kenta wandered off in search of an easier victim.

Peace.

For exactly three seconds.

The classroom door slid open.

"Morning!"

Several heads turned at once.

"So you're finally here."

"You overslept again?"

"I didn't!"

A girl laughed.

Bright.

Easy.

The room somehow became louder.

Haruto didn't look up.

He already knew who it was.

You didn't need to see her.

You could tell by everyone else's reaction.

Yuna Tachibana.

The center of half the conversations in class.

Popular.

Friendly.

Always surrounded by people.

She walked to her desk near the middle of the classroom.

Her friends gathered around immediately.

"No way, your hair looks so cute today!"

"Really?"

"Where'd you get that ribbon?"

"My sister bought it."

"Borrowing it?"

"Nope."

"So mean."

Laughter.

More voices joined in.

Haruto turned a page.

"..."

None of his business.

The first bell rang.

Students hurried back to their seats.

The teacher entered carrying a stack of papers.

"Good morning."

"Good morning."

"I'll return your quizzes before class."

A collective groan filled the room.

The teacher smiled.

"That bad?"

"Yes!"

More laughter.

One by one...

Quizzes landed on desks.

Some students cheered.

Others buried their faces.

Kenta looked at his score.

"...I'm cooked."

Haruto glanced over.

"You passed."

"Barely."

"A pass is a pass."

"You sound like an old man."

The teacher clapped once.

"Everyone."

Silence slowly returned.

"Pass today's worksheet to the back after writing your name."

Papers began moving across the classroom.

Front.

Middle.

Back.

A chain of passing hands.

Haruto waited.

The worksheet finally reached the student in front of him.

The boy turned around.

"Here."

Haruto accepted it.

He wrote his name.

Neat.

Small.

Then passed it behind him.

Except...

There was nobody behind him.

Right.

Back row.

He stood.

Walked toward the teacher's desk.

Halfway there—

A breeze slipped through the open window.

One loose worksheet slid off a nearby desk.

It floated lazily through the air.

"..."

Nobody noticed.

The teacher was writing on the board.

Students were busy talking quietly.

The paper drifted lower.

Then landed beside Haruto's shoe.

He looked down.

Picked it up.

The name section was blank.

Someone hadn't written on it yet.

He glanced around.

Whose was it?

"...Ah."

A voice.

Not loud.

Just enough to catch his attention.

Yuna stood two rows away.

Looking under her desk.

Then inside her notebook.

She checked the floor.

"...Where did it go?"

One of her friends tilted her head.

"Looking for something?"

"My worksheet."

"You lost it already?"

"I just had it."

Haruto looked at the paper in his hand.

"..."

He walked over.

Stopped beside her desk.

"...This?"

Yuna looked up.

"Oh."

Her eyes shifted to the worksheet.

Then back to him.

"That's mine."

She accepted it with both hands.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

That was the entire conversation.

Haruto nodded once.

Turned around.

Walked back to his seat.

No one said anything.

The teacher hadn't even noticed.

Yuna quickly wrote her name.

"Crisis avoided."

Her friend laughed.

"You'd lose your own head if it wasn't attached."

"I would not."

"You almost lost one sheet of paper."

"That's different."

"It really isn't."

Yuna puffed her cheeks for a second.

"...You're mean."

Her friend grinned.

Haruto heard none of it.

He had already reopened his novel.

Class began.

The teacher explained today's lesson.

Formulas covered the board.

Pens scratched across notebooks.

The room settled into a quiet rhythm.

Halfway through the lesson—

"Mr. Aoki."

Haruto looked up.

"Can you answer number three?"

He stood.

Read the problem.

Answered.

Correct.

"You may sit."

He did.

No celebration.

No reaction.

Just another answer.

A few rows ahead...

Yuna rested her chin on her hand.

She glanced backward for only a moment.

The quiet guy.

She'd never spoken to him before today.

Actually...

Had they ever spoken at all?

She couldn't remember.

Not that it mattered.

The teacher called her name next.

"Ms. Tachibana."

She immediately looked forward.

"Yes?"

"Question five."

"...Uh..."

She stared at the board.

Blank.

"..."

The classroom became suspiciously quiet.

Then—

A tiny whisper came from beside her.

"Second formula."

She blinked.

"Oh."

Right.

She quickly solved it.

"Correct."

The teacher nodded and continued the lesson.

She quietly exhaled.

"Thanks," she whispered to her friend.

Her friend frowned.

"I didn't say anything."

"...Huh?"

Then who—

She looked around.

Nobody seemed to notice.

Maybe she imagined it.

She shrugged it off.

Outside the window...

A breeze stirred the trees.

Inside...

Haruto turned another page of his notes.

Just another ordinary morning.

At least...

That's what both of them believed.

The bell rang.

Class was over.

Chairs scraped across the floor.

Conversations immediately filled the room again.

"That quiz was evil."

"I told you to study."

"You said that after the test."

Haruto closed his notebook.

He waited.

Not because he had nowhere to go.

Because the hallway would be crowded for another minute.

He preferred letting everyone else leave first.

As expected...

Half the class rushed out.

Kenta stood up.

"I'm getting a drink."

Haruto gave a small nod.

"See you."

"Don't disappear."

"I won't."

"You definitely will."

Kenta laughed and left.

The classroom became quieter.

Only a handful of students remained.

Haruto slipped his novel back into his bag.

Then stood.

He headed toward the hallway.

—

Outside.

The corridor buzzed with life.

Students leaned against the railings.

Some reviewed notes.

Others simply talked.

Haruto kept walking.

Eyes forward.

Hands in his pockets.

No reason to stop.

At the end of the hallway...

A vending machine stood beside the staircase.

A short line had formed.

He joined it.

"..."

One student bought canned coffee.

Another picked orange juice.

The line slowly moved.

Then—

"Wait for me!"

A familiar voice echoed from behind.

Haruto didn't turn.

He stepped aside after buying a bottle of water.

As he twisted the cap—

"...Ah."

The bottle slipped.

It rolled across the floor.

Straight toward someone's shoes.

It stopped.

A white sneaker blocked it.

The sneaker's owner looked down.

"..."

Yuna bent slightly.

Picked up the bottle.

She glanced at the label.

Water.

Then looked ahead.

"...Here."

Haruto accepted it.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

A short pause.

"...You dropped it."

"I noticed."

"...Right."

Silence.

Awkward.

Not uncomfortable.

Just...

Two strangers with nothing else to say.

Yuna gave a small nod.

Then stepped toward the vending machine.

Her friends finally caught up.

"There you are!"

"You ran ahead!"

"I wanted something to drink."

"What'd you get?"

"I haven't even bought anything yet."

One friend noticed Haruto walking away.

"...Wasn't that the quiet guy?"

"Hm?"

"The one from class."

Yuna looked over.

Haruto had already turned the corner.

"...Yeah."

"He barely talks."

"I guess."

Her friend shrugged.

"Anyway..."

"What are we getting?"

The conversation changed just as quickly as it started.

—

Haruto climbed the stairs.

The bottle felt cold in his hand.

He took one sip.

"..."

Nothing remarkable.

Just water.

He continued walking.

—

Back in the classroom...

Students slowly returned.

The next teacher hadn't arrived yet.

Someone had started tossing an eraser across the room.

"Catch!"

"You throw like a grandma!"

"It slipped!"

The eraser flew far higher than expected.

Everyone watched.

"..."

"..."

It landed perfectly inside the classroom trash bin.

A beat of silence.

Then—

"No way!"

"LET'S GO!"

The entire class erupted in applause.

Even students who hadn't seen it clapped anyway.

A heroic moment...

For an eraser.

Wide shot.

One student stood triumphantly on top of his chair.

Three classmates pointed at the trash bin like history had just been made.

Meanwhile...

Haruto quietly walked back to his seat.

Yuna quietly opened her notebook.

Neither reacted.

They looked like the only two normal people in a room full of overly excited stick figures celebrating the greatest trash-bin shot of the century.

The classroom door opened.

The teacher entered.

Instant silence.

"..."

"...Good morning."

The lesson began.

The second lesson ended.

Then the third.

Morning sunlight slowly shifted across the classroom floor.

The clock ticked on.

Nothing unusual happened.

Just classes.

Notes.

Questions.

Answers.

Haruto preferred it that way.

---

The lunch bell rang.

The classroom emptied almost instantly.

"Finally!"

"I'm starving!"

"Cafeteria?"

"Let's go!"

A wave of students poured into the hallway.

Haruto stayed where he was.

He reached into his bag.

A homemade lunch.

Simple.

Rice.

Egg.

A few pieces of fried chicken.

Enough.

He opened his novel beside it.

Read one page.

Then another.

Peace.

---

Outside the classroom...

Yuna stood with her friends.

"So?"

"What do you guys want?"

"Noodles!"

"No."

"Curry!"

"No."

"Then you decide."

"I always decide."

"Exactly."

Her friends laughed.

Yuna sighed with an exaggerated pout.

"...You're impossible."

"That's why you like us."

"...Maybe."

She glanced back into the classroom.

Only a few students were still inside.

Among them...

The quiet boy.

Eating alone.

Reading while he ate.

"..."

One of her friends noticed.

"What?"

"Hm?"

"You were looking inside."

"I was?"

"You were."

"I was just thinking."

"About food?"

"...Yes."

"Liar."

"I am not."

Her friend narrowed her eyes dramatically.

"...Suspicious."

Yuna lightly bumped her shoulder.

"Stop it."

"I didn't even say anything."

"You were about to."

"...Fair."

The group walked away.

The conversation drifted somewhere else.

---

Inside...

Haruto finished his lunch.

He closed the lunch box.

Wiped the corner of the desk with a tissue.

Packed everything neatly.

Just as he stood—

"...Excuse me."

He looked up.

The class president stood nearby.

"Could you help carry these notebooks to the faculty room?"

Haruto looked at the stack.

"...Sure."

"Thanks."

She smiled with relief.

"I would've asked someone else, but everyone disappeared."

Haruto picked up half the stack.

It was heavier than it looked.

Together...

They left the classroom.

---

The hallway was quieter now.

Most students were eating.

Some sat along the railings.

Others chatted under the trees outside.

Haruto walked carefully.

The notebooks blocked half his view.

"Sorry," the class president said.

"They're heavier than usual."

"It's fine."

"You don't have club activities today, right?"

"No."

"Must be nice."

"...Maybe."

She laughed.

"You really don't waste words."

"I guess not."

---

They reached the faculty room.

The notebooks were delivered.

Mission complete.

Haruto gave a small bow.

Then left.

---

On his way back...

He slowed.

Someone stood in front of the classroom bulletin board.

Reading the newly posted announcements.

Yuna.

She held a carton of milk in one hand.

Her brows were slightly furrowed.

"..."

She seemed focused.

Haruto didn't think much of it.

He simply walked past.

At that exact moment—

A sheet of paper pinned to the board slipped loose.

It fluttered down.

Landing near his feet.

He instinctively picked it up.

Yuna looked over.

"Oh."

"It fell."

"...Thanks."

She took the paper.

Looked at the pin.

"It wasn't attached properly."

Haruto nodded once.

"...Looks like it."

A short silence.

Neither moved.

Yuna glanced back at the board.

"They keep putting announcements too high."

Haruto looked at the top row.

"...Yeah."

Another pause.

"..."

"..."

Someone ran down the hallway.

"Yuna!"

She turned immediately.

Her friends waved from the stairwell.

"Hurry!"

"We're going to be late!"

"Coming!"

She looked back.

"Thanks."

Haruto gave a small nod.

Then continued walking.

That was all.

---

The afternoon lessons passed quickly.

History.

English.

Science.

The final bell echoed through the building.

Students stretched in relief.

"We survived."

"Barely."

"Homework?"

"Don't remind me."

Haruto packed his bag.

One notebook.

One pencil case.

One novel.

Everything in its place.

He slung the bag over his shoulder.

Then left.

No lingering.

No detours.

---

Outside the school gate...

Students scatter

ed in every direction.

Some headed for the station.

Others climbed onto bicycles.

Friends waved goodbye.

Haruto walked alone.

The afternoon breeze was cool.

Behind him...

Yuna exited through the main gate with her friends.

She happened to spot a familiar figure disappearing into the crowd.

"The quiet guy already left."

"Hm?"

"The one from our class."

"Oh."

"He always leaves early."

"Really?"

"I think so."

None of them paid it any further thought.

The conversation shifted to weekend plans.

Haruto disappeared around the corner.

Neither of them looked back.

Not because they disliked each other.

Not because they were avoiding each other.

Simply because...

They were still strangers.

---

Far above...

The classroom windows reflected the afternoon sky.

An ordinary school day.

An ordinary conversation.

An ordinary beginning.

Neither Haruto Aoki nor Yuna Tachibana realized it yet.

But years later...

If someone asked them where everything started...

Neither of them would remember the exact moment.

Was it the worksheet?

The vending machine?

The bulletin board?

Or...

Was it simply...

Just another morning?