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The bell signaling the end of fifth period chimed, and the students started streaming out of the science classroom into the hallway.
“Ah, Itami.”
Ishikawa Yoshiaki, the science teacher who had just been lecturing them, called out worriedly to stop one of the students who had been hurriedly packing up his bag.
He lowered his voice, trying to avoid being heard by the other students around them, “I heard you got in a fight with a second year last night?”
“I guess,” Itami Tokoro responded shortly, strapping his textbooks together with a book band.
His broken tooth hurt.
There was nothing else to do for fun stuck up there in the mountains than spread gossip. Unfortunately.
“Why on earth….”
He cut the question off, replying coldly, “It doesn't matter, nothing to concern yourself about.”
“That… that’s true, but the gossip has spread all the way to our sister school already…”
“...” Itami Tokoro stared at Ishikawa Yoshiaki silently.
He was one to speak.
Just as Itami was about to say, “Don’t you know the old saying, ‘your small kindness can be a big burden to others’?”, somebody interrupted them.
“Ishikawa-sensei, just because you're on friendly terms with him, don’t patronize Itami like that.”
“Sakasaki,” Itami gazed down at the classmate who was at least a head shorter than him.
“Itami, the English teacher moved class to the AV lab today. You’re going to be late if you keep dawdling.”
With that warning, he bobbed a quick bow to Ishikawa, then walked away.
“...He’s little, but kinda powerful, that kid…” Ishikawa said, watching Sakasaki’s back.
“Well, he is the class representative,” Itami shrugged, “The perfect balance of difficult and formidable, an example to us all.”
He was like an adult who grew up in age only, but was even more childish than actual children.
“He always gets top scores on tests, doesn’t he?”
“Enough that gossip has spread about it to our sister school, I guess.”
‘The only one who can compete with Takeuchi is Sakasaki Hitomi at our sister school. Even if your university is already decided, you shouldn't slack off, and should at least try to study properly.’
Sakasaki Hitomi, the topic that was always pulled out when test scores weren’t good enough.
“So even though I never met him, I remembered his name.”
“His intelligence lives up to his reputation.”
“He’s being used by teachers without his knowledge.”
“Itami.”
“It’s fine, Sensei. You’re staying here, right?” He had absolutely no intention of going back to the other school. “You don’t need to care what the teachers over at the other school think of you.”
“You have a sharp tongue, as usual.”
“Always causing you trouble, right?”
Ishikawa was stuck for words.
Tokoro laughed, “See you.” He waved goodbye on his way out.
*****
‘I like you, Ishikawa-sensei. What should I do?’
Tokoro had confessed to Ishikawa just about halfway through the previous year, when he was a second year.
‘Eh?’ Ishikawa was surprised, staring in shock at the student in front of him. ‘Is playing this kind of joke on new teachers popular now?’ he responded seriously.
Tokoro, who had fallen for him without rhyme or reason at the time, was also quite troubled by his feelings.
‘I’m serious.’
Even knowing his feelings weren’t logical, he still liked Ishikawa, and he even went so far as to try to prove it to him.
When Ishikawa’s transfer to the sister school in the mountains was suddenly decided during spring break, he rashly said, ‘I’ll go there next year, too.’
He’d follow him.
Ishikawa just looked troubled and turned his back on Tokoro.
“That wasn’t a yes or a no.”
If he didn't like it, he should have said ‘don’t come’.
Tokoro strode down the hallway, scowling.
“It’s not just noncommittal, it’s cowardly.”
He didn't want any liability to come back on him, so he refused to admit to any feelings on his part. He wanted to be able to just say that Tokoro was acting all of his own accord.
He was scum.
He cursed under his breath, rounding the corner of the hallway. He nearly ran into someone.
“Ah. Oh, it’s you, Sakasaki. WHat are you doing here?”
“I was waiting for you.”
“Well, thanks. I apologize for being such a bad classmate who needs the class representative to hold my hand.”
“No, I didn’t wait here to scold you,” Sakasaki smiled wryly.
“Then what?”
“I figured it out, when I saw you being so friendly with Ishikawa-sensei earlier.”
Tokoro looked at Sakasaki in shock.
Had he figured out their relationship?
Sakasaki stretched himself up to his full height and looked up at Tokoro.
“I like you,” he said.
“Huh?” Tokoro just stared at Sakasaki blankly.
“I like you, Itami-kun. I thought it was just a general sort of like, but I was wrong.”
“Sakasaki, are you okay? Do you know what you’re saying?”
“Love at first sight, I suppose you’d call it. I just couldn’t help but be interested, right from the beginning.”
“Sakasaki, hey.”
Listen when people are talking to you.
“I wanted to tell you, properly. I don’t need a response, just remember what I said.”
As though he wanted his words to really reach him, he poked Tokoro in the forehead with his finger, then walked away, leaving Tokoro frozen in the hallway.
*****
It didn’t matter who it was, anybody would do.
There was no reason that it had to be Takabayashi Izumi.
“I expected him to budge, at least a little.”
He wanted to see what would happen if the guy that said he liked you suddenly started dating someone else. Maybe Ishikawa would hold his ground, or maybe he’d start to see Tokoro in a new light.
“His eyes spoke so eloquently,” Tokoro laughed, resting his head in his hands on the railing around the roof.
‘Please, don’t cause me any trouble at the new school.’
He was unexpectedly worried about his position as a teacher.
“Why did I fall for such a good for nothing?”
The lush green grounds spread out beyond the southern slope of the roof, and beyond that the spring sunlight was twinkling on the ocean.
“It’s a great view, huh?”
Tokoro spun around, shocked at the sudden voice behind him.
There, he found a student who didn’t quite look Japanese, beautiful enough to send shivers down the spine.
This must be the famed Saki Giichi-kun, the quarter French beauty from the year under his.
But as far as beauties went, Takeuchi was more his type.
While Tokoro was considering such things in his heart, the beauty continued, “ You can’t see this kind of view in the big city.”
“It’s so pretty it’s annoying,” Tokoro complained. “You’re even prettier, though,” he grinned.
“Thanks, for the insincere praise.”
Tokoro’s face tensed up.
“What? Are you looking for a fight?”
“Not at all,” the beauty narrowed his well-shaped eyes. “I was just looking for you because the student guidance counselor, Shimada-sensei, asked me to. He has something to ask you, so he wants you to go to his room in the teachers’ dorm after dinner.”
“Huh,” Tokoro shrugged. “Called out by Master Shimada, huh? I wonder if I’m going to be expelled.”
“He said it was something to do with your transfer paperwork, not about the incident yesterday.”
“Eh?” Tokoro was surprised, eyes widening. “Paperwork? Why now?”
“You should ask him for details tonight when you meet him. Bye.” He started to walk away.
“Hey, Saki Giichi-kun,” he called out to him.
As expected, he stopped and turned around.
“What is it, Itami Tokoro-san?” he asked, eyes meeting his directly.
“Why did the scion of a huge American financial conglomerate choose to come to this prison of a school in the middle of nowhere?”
“I think ‘prison’ is a bit much,” Saki Giichi laughed. “It may be a prison to you, but to me it’s heaven.”
“Heaven? You don’t say,” Tokoro squared his shoulders. “Heaven. I see.”
He nodded repeatedly, smiling to himself.
“If you hate it here so much, why don’t you escape? The Chinese characters for ‘school’ and ‘heaven’ are only one character different, so surely you could still have a fun school life,” Saki Giichi said lightly, leaving the roof.
Tokoro absently stared at the space Saki Giichi had occupied for a while.
“He has a way with words, that Giichi-kun.” ‘School’ and ‘heaven’ were only different by one character, huh? “‘Academy’ and ‘Heaven’ are completely different, though.”
Tokoro looked up at the sky.
It was endlessly blue and clear. Spring was slowly but surely turning into summer, even here, where the seasons changed slowly.
“I think I’ll go back to the ‘school’,” Tokoro sighed, shaking the fence in his hands noisily.
*****
“You were called out by Shimada-sensei!?” Sakasaki bound into Tokoro’s room in the dorm, face pale.
His roommate, Nagai, was surprised by Sakasaki’s loud voice, “Even you can be so loud sometimes. Makes me feel relieved, somehow,” he said, shocked into saying something strange.
Sakasaki ignored Nagai’s outburst. “Surely it’s not about last night…”
Sakasaki was looking up at him, seemingly much more upset than Tokoro was himself.
“No, it’s not,” Tokoro glanced over at Nagai. “In any case, calm down. Would you like some coffee?”
He pulled Sakasaki out into the hallway.
The dorm was busier than ever this close to dinnertime, so after buying two cups of coffee at the vending machine outside the cafeteria, Tokoro led Sakasaki over to the woods to the south of the building.
He selected a random place and sat down on the ground.
“Who told you about it?” Tokoro asked, amused, as he sipped his coffee.
A beauty who loved gossip made for an unexpectedly pretty picture.
“I was just at the teachers’ office for something, and I happened to hear Ishikawa-sensei asking another teacher for advice…”
“Eh…?”
So Saki Giichi hadn’t spread the rumor afterall?
“If it’s not about the thing with Yoshizawa-kun, then what…” he cut himself off. “I’m sorry. Forget that. I don’t want to meddle,” he averted his gaze from Tokoro’s.
“It’s fine,” Tokoro enveloped his paper cup in both hands. “No problem.”
He didn’t feel bad right now.
Having Sakasaki sitting by him, even being in his current situation, didn’t feel bad.
“I don’t know why he’s summoned me, either, but it’s probably because my transfer paperwork was messed up.”
“Paperwork?”
“The paperwork that I submitted to my old school when I transferred here.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, everyone was very interested when they heard you were transfering here. They only allow transfers under special circumstances, right? Everyone wanted to know what those special circumstances were.”
“Right?”
“Don’t talk about it like it’s about someone else.”
“Actually, there was nothing.”
“What?”
“Circumstances.”
Sakasaki looked at Tokoro in bewilderment.
“What do you mean?”
“I just wrote that it was more convenient for me.”
“Eh?” He didn't understand what he was hearing. “That was enough to get your paperwork sent through?”
“It was.”
He made sure it went through.
If one school approved the transfer, the other one couldn’t refuse it.
“I may not look it, but I’m good at scheming.”
“Don’t brag about that.”
“You don’t like this kind of thing, do you, Sakasaki?”
“...”
“Did you know that love at first sight is just the beginning of misunderstandings.”
“Itami-kun.”
“I Liked Ishikawa. I chased him, all the way here.”
Sakasaki’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“So that’s what it’s about. I didn’t lie on the forms, but it wasn't any sort of real special circumstance,” Tokoro chugged the rest of his coffee. “I only know how to do things dirtily. I’m dirty, so I just assume everyone is just as dirty as I am. But Ishikawa is…” he trailed off.
He didn't have it in him to criticize Ishikawa, he suddenly realized.
Wishy-washy Ishikawa. Always trying to evade responsibility and being indecisive, trying to stay clean. Even so, he couldn’t just put all the blame on him.
Sakasaki was staring at the coffee in his hands, gaze never straying.
“In any case, my transfer may be undone,” Tokoro said brightly. “If Master Shimada tells me to, I’ll go back to my old school.”
He stood up.
He couldn’t think of anything else to say to Sakasaki, who was still sitting, silently.
‘I like you.’
His gaze had been so open, trusting.
If only he had come to this school in the first place. If only he had met Sakasaki first.
“I’m going to go now.”
Without waiting for a response, Tokoro turned and left the woods and Sakasaki behind him.
*****
“So, due to discrepancies in your paperwork, we’ll just undo your transfer, shall we?”
‘Master’ Shimada’s quiet, solemn voice was somehow still impressive in the guidance counselor's office.
“That’s fine,” Tokoro replied. “I’m sorry for all the trouble.”
He bowed his head.
On his way back through the darkness to the dorm, Tokoro stopped and looked up at Sakasaki’s window.
He spoke to the faint orange light glowing from inside the room, “You’re smart, strong, and straightforward. You really are blessed,” he complained.
He couldn’t deal with smart people unless they were sarcastic bastards.
“I’m just a dumbass who can only do things backhandedly.”
He didn't suit him at all.
It felt nice beside him, but it couldn’t be him.
Just then, he heard someone running towards him from behind the teachers’ residence.
“Itami!” Ishikawa panted, grabbing Itami’s shoulder.
“Good evening, Ishikawa-sensei.”
“Why are you greeting me so formally….” he pulled him around by the shoulder he was gripping. “I heard from Shimada-sensei. You're going back to the old school? Really?”
“No need to be so excited about it,” Tokoro laughed lightly, shaking off Ishikawa’s hand. “I decided to go back. If it works out, I might even leave tomorrow.”
“What is going on? You forced your way into transferring here, then not even a month later, you’re going back?”
“It’s fine, none of your business.”
“Be serious!”
“It’ll be a relief when I’m gone, right?”
Not fair, Ishikawa-sensei, pretending to care. Not fair to either of them.
“A relief? No such thing…”
“Now you won’t have a weird student following you around anymore. Lucky you.”
“Itami.”
“That’s how much I liked you.”
“...I thought you were joking.”
“Even though I came all the way here?”
“I didn’t think they were connected…”
“Sorry, they were.”
“But, Itami, I’m not like that…”
“I know,” Tokoro laughed. “It was completely one-sided. I don’t plan to push it on you anymore.”
That cheap, flimsy love was over now.
“I thought that you started to like Takabayashi after you came here…”
Tokoro laughed again.
“I even broke a tooth fighting over the princess, right? Let’s say that’s true.” Tokoro shoved both hands in his pockets. “Good night, Ishikawa-sensei.”
He returned to the dorm with a light step, hands still in his pockets.
Even though it was after lights out, the dorm was noisy.
“Did something happen?” Nagai asked him.
“Who knows,” he answered uninterestedly from where he was lounging on his bed, reading a fashion magazine.
There was a knock on the door, and Sasaoka, the vice-representative of his class, popped his head in.
“As expected, he’s not here, either.”
“Who, Sasaoka?” Nagai went over to the door.
“Our class rep.”
“Sakasaki?”
Eh?
Tokoro sat up from his bed.
“He was supposed to be doing the room check, but he's nowhere to be found. And then they called me out.”
“To do the room check? Or... “
“To find Sakasaki.”
“So who’s doing the room check?”
“Never mind that. More importantly, when did you last see Sakasaki?”
Nagai shot a look at Itami.
Itami and Sasaoka’s gazes met.
“Do you know something, Itami?”
“I don't know anything. Last I saw him was over four hours ago.”
“Oh, that so?”
Four hours was long enough to not matter.
“Does Sakasaki disappear sometimes?” Tokoro asked the muttering Sasaoka.
“Of course not. If he did, nobody would be worried like this.”
So that’s why it was so noisy.
“He’s well-liked, that Sakasaki.”
“I don't think anybody dislikes him, honestly.”
Everyone liked him.
“Hey, Itami, let’s help look for him.”
Excited at the chance to stay up late, Nagai’s eyes were shining.
“Do as you like.” His gaze returned to the magazine.
“You're so cold, Tokoro-chan,” Nagai teased, laughing, and then the room was silent.
‘I like you.’
Love at first sight.
Tokoro closed the magazine and hopped off his bed. He headed over to his dresser and grabbed two light jackets.
“He was only wearing his blazer, right?”
It may be April, but it still got pretty cold at night here at Shidou.
“Oh, Itami. You're going to help us look for Sakasaki afterall?” a classmate headed out of the meeting room teased as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
“What are you talking about? I have a date.”
“A date with your girlfriend? At this time?”
“Maybe she’s a ghost.”
“Hey…”
Tokoro left his classmates behind and headed towards the path between the dorm and cafeteria. He then followed a path that wasn't really a path into the woods, and after a while, a moonlit clearing came into view.
There was a figure sitting there, hugging his knees.
“So you were here after all,” Tokoro said, and Sakasaki’s head rose from where it had been resting on his knees.
“Huh? Itami-kun?”
“Not ‘huh’. What are you doing out here?”
“Just thinking.”
“Think in your own room, you idiot.” He threw the jacket in his hand at Sakasaki. “Staying out after lights out, not doing the room check for your class. You're slacking off on your class representative duties.”
“Is it already so late?”
“It is.” Tokoro poked Sakasaki in the head. “Everyone is worried about you. They're all looking for you now.”
“I’m sorry,” Sakasaki put the jacket over his arm as he stood up from the grass. “I forget the time when I get to thinking like that.”
He patted the dirt off his pants.
“Your powers of concentration are impressive, but you shouldn’t cause problems for other people.”
“You're right,” Sakasaki held the jacket out to Tokoro. “I’m not cold. Thanks.”
“I just told Shimada-sensei that I’m going back to my old school.”
The jacket fell to the ground.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
The hand that reached out to pick up the fallen jacket was caught in another.
“Don’t think so much on my account.”
You're impossible not to love.
“That’s not it…”
“Will you come see me after I go back?”
Huh? Sakasaki’s mouth hung open in surprise.
“I’m going to start fresh there.”
“Itami-kun?”
“I understand how you feel, and I feel the same, I want to date you, so I’ll get my feelings in order, then contact you. So, will you come see me?”
‘I like you.’
He wanted to hear those words again.
That open-hearted gaze, those open-hearted feelings. He wanted to make himself worthy of them.
“If yours was love at first sight, mine must be complete, wrinkly love.”
“Wrinkly love? What’s that?”
“I’ll fall in love with you slowly. At this pace, I’ll like you as much as you like me.”
So don’t sit there, hugging your knees and looking defeated, ready to give up on me.
Sakasaki smiled, like a flower blooming.
“You’d better,” he pressed his forehead to Tokoro’s shoulder. “If you say something like that, I really will wait for you.”
“Wait for me.” Tokoro wrapped his arms around Sakasaki, hugging him tightly. “Wait for me,” he whispered sweetly.
Sakasaki had fallen in love with him with such a beautiful heart, so he would fall in love back with his own, equally beautiful heart. He would.
‘I like you.’
I like you, Sakasaki.
*****
“What did you even bother coming here for?” Sasaoka, the class vice-representative growled, grinding his fist into Tokoro’s temple.
“I said I was sorry, just a rich brat doing whatever he wants. Forgive me, please,” Tokoro pleaded, trying to escape the attack.
“Your car is here,” Nagai pointed out.
A black Nissan President was making its way up the wide, tree-lined mountain lane.
“You better get in touch once you’ve settled in,” Sasaoka said, half-threateningly, withdrawing his fist finally.
“I’ll call you every day until you’re sick of me,” Tokoro laughed.
“Not every day,” Sasaoka protested.
The car pulled up in front of them, and Tokoro climbed into the seat when the driver opened the door for him.
“Are you sure you didn’t forget anything?” The ever-responsible class representative asked.
“If I did, Nagai can keep it.”
“If it’s worth any money, I’m glad to be of service,” Nagai said, haughtily, before bursting out laughing.
“It doesn’t feel like I’ve only known you guys for a month,” Tokoro said, and the others fell silent.
“Time doesn’t matter when making friends,” Sasaoka replied.
Tokoro laughed, then looked at Sakasaki.
There was something he’d always wanted to ask him, but he couldn’t get it out. Maybe that was for the best.
“You were pretty popular at the other school, right, Itami? Bring a bunch of girls with you and come to our school festival, yeah?” Nagai begged.
“Make your own girlfriend.”
“This place doesn’t exactly make that an easy thing to do, you know.”
“True,” Tokoro nodded, and Sasaoka and Nagai laughed.
Sakasaki didn’t laugh.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m popular,” Tokoro said, keeping his eye on Sakasaki.
“Oh, do you already have a girlfriend?”
“You could say that.”
‘What do you like about me?’
He wanted to know, but would never ask.
He wanted Sakasaki, who was sighing to himself off to the side, to keep thinking of him, only him.
Hey, Sakasaki, let’s fall in love. One and only love, forever.
“Okay, see you guys again,” Tokoro said through the window of the car. “Be well.”
Nagai gave him a thumbs up.
“Don’t cause trouble,” Sasaoka looked a little worried.
“Bye,” Sakasaki said, shortly.
“Hey, that’s it?” Nagai, after a beat.
“Idiot, that’s a proper, frank goodbye,” Tokoro held his hand out the window to Sakasaki. “Let’s shake goodbye.”
He gripped Sakasaki’s hesitantly extended hand tightly in both of his own.
“Tell everyone thank you for me.”
“Itami-kun…” the two just gazed at each other, unspeaking.
“Hey, Itami. Let go of his hand, already,” Nagai complained, impatiently.
“Ah… It’s hard to let go. Maybe I’ll just take him with me.”
“Idiot,” Sasaoka punched Tokoro lightly.
“I’m joking,” Tokoro let go of his hand. “Okay. Take care.”
He bowed, regally, and closed the window.
The car grew smaller and smaller in the distance.
“Goofing off, right till the end,” Sasaoka commented.
“Yeah,” Sakasaki laughed.
“I think that’s what you call a ‘passing storm’,” Nagai said.
“Probably,” Sakasaki laughed.
The three of them walked back up the cherry tree lined road.
“He’s like a cherry blossom,” Sasaoka sighed.
Came when the cherry blossoms bloomed, then left when they fell.
“Yeah.”
Sakasaki turned to gaze at the cherry blossom petals falling in the spring breeze around them, dream-like.
Tokoro was like the cherry blossoms, falling gracefully.
“It’s going to be so boring here now,” Nagai complained.
“He did make things pretty exciting,” Sasaoka agreed.
And he was a serious troublemaker.
“Calm is good, though.”
“You’re pretty forward-thinking, Sakasaki.”
“I think you’re too backward-thinking, Nagai.”
“So they say, so they say.”
Sakasaki walked slowly among the falling cherry petals.
His laughing friends' voices made him smile, just a little.