The general assembly finally ended, and our class slowly shuffled back toward the classroom.
I walked behind everyone else, pressing an ice pack against my left eye.
It still hurt.
A lot.
Who would've thought that Hina Hanzaki, the school's perfect honor student, could punch like a professional boxer?
Seriously.
She looked like someone who would politely apologize if she bumped into a chair.
Instead she nearly rearranged my face.
Barbarian.
I dropped into my seat at the back of the classroom and leaned back with a quiet groan.
A second later, my best friend Shouji Akagi sat down beside me.
He looked at my face.
Then at the ice pack.
Then back at my face again.
Shouji slowly raised one eyebrow.
"What happened to your face?"
He leaned closer.
"I know you're not clumsy enough to walk into a pole on the way to school."
I shrugged lazily.
"It's your girlfriend's best friend."
Shouji blinked.
"...Girlfriend?"
I casually pointed toward the front of the room.
Straight at Yuki Shinazaki, who was sitting beside Hina.
Shouji's face instantly turned bright red.
"She's not my girlfriend!!"
His voice cracked halfway through the sentence.
I grinned.
Sure.
Totally convincing.
Shouji quickly looked away in embarrassment before turning back to me.
"Wait… Hina punched you?"
He gave me a very specific look.
The kind of look that said you definitely deserved it.
"What did you do this time?"
Hey.
First of all, rude.
Second of all…
Okay, fine.
Maybe I deserved it.
But the prank was worth it.
I told him about the locker.
The pie.
The glorious explosion of whipped cream and jam.
And the legendary punch that followed.
Shouji tried to keep a straight face.
He failed.
He burst out laughing.
"Okay—okay—" he said between laughs. "That was actually hilarious."
See?
This is why he's my best friend.
He understands art.
Prank art.
Although…
Sometimes I felt bad for him.
Because if I'm being honest, the reason he probably never confessed to Yuki was because of me and Hina constantly fighting.
If they started dating, they'd probably spend every day listening to us argue.
Actually…
Yeah.
I don't blame him.
Classes ended early since it was the first day.
As usual, Shouji walked over toward Yuki and Hina.
And as usual…
I followed him.
Because apparently my life goal was to annoy Hina Hanzaki.
The moment we got close, she noticed me.
Her eyes narrowed immediately.
The friendly smile she had while talking to Yuki completely vanished.
Her expression twisted into pure irritation.
Like the universe had personally offended her.
She groaned loudly and looked away.
Actually—
It wasn't just a groan.
It sounded more like someone who had just discovered something disgusting.
Oh.
We were doing that today.
Fine.
I groaned even louder.
Yuki sighed.
Shouji sighed.
Then they both started laughing.
Honestly, the entire class probably already knew that Hina and I absolutely hated each other.
No.
Hated might be too soft of a word.
If looks could kill, I would've been dead several hundred times already.
After putting our books away in the locker room, we headed out toward the school gates.
Since it was the first day, we didn't have any homework.
Which meant one thing.
Video games the moment I got home.
Shouji and Yuki walked together ahead of us.
And somehow—
For reasons I still don't understand—
Hina and I ended up walking next to each other.
I glanced sideways at her.
Was it safe walking beside someone who could punch like that?
She spoke first.
Without even looking at me.
"Walking next to you is annoying."
Wow.
We were starting strong.
I crossed my arms.
"Breathing the same air as you is also annoying."
She immediately stopped walking.
I stopped too.
We both slowly turned toward each other.
Her eyes were sharp.
Really sharp.
Like she was seriously considering punching me again.
"If you weren't such an idiot," she said coldly, "I wouldn't have to punch you."
"If you weren't so easy to annoy," I replied, "I wouldn't prank you."
Yuki turned around.
"Oh no."
Shouji sighed.
"Round two already?"
Hina pointed a finger directly at my face.
"You rigged my locker with a pie."
"You punched me in the face."
"You deserved it."
"You deserved the pie."
We stared at each other.
Then we both turned away at the same time.
"Hmph."
"Hmph."
Yuki laughed.
"You two sound like a couple in lover's quarrel."
Both of us shouted at the same time.
"WE ARE NOT A COUPLE!"
The entire street echoed with our voices.
"I'd rather die than end up with him!" Hina yelled immediately.
"Same here! Who would ever love this barbarian?" I shot back.
"Who are you calling barbarian?!" she snapped, turning toward me again with pure fury in her eyes.
Shouji rubbed his temples.
"This is going to be a long year."
Eventually the girls headed in a different direction.
Yuki waved goodbye.
Shouji and I walked toward the park like we usually did.
There was a small ice cream stand there that we liked.
When we arrived, I pulled out my wallet.
"I'll pay."
Shouji immediately shook his head.
"You don't have to—"
"Too late."
After three minutes of arguing, he finally gave up.
Victory.
I ordered two ice creams.
Then I paused.
Because I noticed something.
An old man was sitting on a nearby park bench.
He looked tired.
Sweat was visible on his face even though he was wearing a hat.
Without really thinking about it, I turned back to the vendor.
"Actually… make that three."
A minute later, Shouji and I walked over to the bench.
I held out the ice cream.
"Sir, sorry to bother you," I said. "You looked a little overheated earlier, so we thought you might want this."
The old man looked surprised.
Then he smiled warmly.
"Thank you, young man."
His eyes studied me carefully.
Almost like he was examining something.
"I appreciate it."
I waved casually.
"No problem."
Shouji and I walked away.
We wandered around the park for a while.
Then we heard crying.
A small boy stood near an old broken well.
Tears streamed down his face.
Shouji knelt beside him immediately.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
The boy sniffled.
"My present…"
He pointed down the well.
"It fell."
I looked inside.
There it was.
A small wrapped box.
Stuck between branches halfway down.
Lucky.
Unlucky part?
Still too deep to reach.
I looked around.
The only thing nearby was a long stick.
Not long enough to reach the present directly.
But short enough to wedge between the stone walls.
A stupid idea appeared in my brain.
I grinned.
Shouji saw the grin.
"Oh no."
"Catch the present."
Before he could stop me—
I jumped.
Inside the well, I slammed the stick between the stone walls.
It wedged tightly.
Barely holding my weight.
I balanced carefully on it.
The wood creaked under my shoes.
Yeah.
This was definitely a terrible idea.
I slowly reached toward the box.
Almost…
Almost…
My foot slipped slightly.
The stick shifted.
My heart jumped.
"Hanato!" Shouji shouted from above.
"Relax," I muttered.
I stretched my arm farther.
Just a little more—
Then I heard a hiss.
I froze.
I looked down.
A snake was coiled near the water below me.
Its head lifted slowly.
Great.
Fantastic.
Falling suddenly became a very bad option.
I quickly grabbed the present.
At that exact moment—
CRACK.
The stick split.
My foot slid.
For a split second I lost my balance and nearly fell.
"SHOUJI!"
I threw the present upward.
He caught it.
The stick snapped completely.
I kicked off the wall and grabbed the edge of the well just in time.
My fingers slipped on the stone.
For a moment—
I almost lost my grip.
Then Shouji grabbed my arm.
"Are you insane?!" he yelled as he helped pull me up.
A few seconds later, I climbed out.
The little boy hugged the present happily.
"Thank you!"
He ran away smiling.
Shouji looked at me.
"I see you have a kind heart."
He crossed his arms.
"So where does that kindness disappear to when Hina is around?"
I stared at him.
"...Ha. Ha."
Very funny.
Then I noticed something.
The old man from earlier was still in the park.
Watching me.
Smiling.
Like he knew something.
Something I didn't.
For some reason…
That smile made the back of my neck feel cold.