Chapter Text
Four years after their graduation, the same old classroom was filled with the same old lively chatter that former classmates usually do when they catch up with one another. It wasn’t mandatory for students of Misora Primary School to reunite so many years later, but Seki had to admit, the 2003 promotion had always been a bit different: there were such different personalities in-between those walls, and yet – all of them treated each other with such familiarity, it was hard to miss the impact they had made on the teacher. She had short hair now and hadn’t seen almost any of them in ages, but they all still referred to her as ‘Seki-sensei’; and she fought hard to hold back the tears.
Some of the kids had changed so much – others, not at all. Their attitude was the most noticeable: for example, the original members of the SOS Trio simply could not stop commenting on absolutely everyone. There was a fondness in their jokes, though, one that only appears when you’ve known the people around you all your life. And everyone noticed humorously that Tamaki Reika hadn’t lost her very distinctive laugh, even though her diva façade had worn out a little bit. Maybe that’s one sign of maturity, but who are they to know. She was eagerly chatting with Shimakura Kaori, wanting to know the latest gossips, so maybe she hadn’t changed that much either.
Some former classmates had gone abroad for some time and had returned to Misora, even if only to reunite with their old friends. That was the case of Senoo Aiko, who was supposed to study in Osaka during her high-school years and who made a surprise appearance after the reunion had already started. Not even her closest friends seemed to have expected her and greeted her as excitedly as everyone else. Kota Amano had also caused a bit of a commotion; after finishing primary school, he had moved to Hong-Kong, but came back to the city for a few days because he ‘didn’t want to miss this for the world’.
On the other hand, there were some missing faces. Asuka Momoko, the first in the class list, had come back to the States, and wouldn’t just fly so many hours because of this. Hanada Shino had returned to Mongolia, and nobody had heard of her in a while. Makihayatama Hana was nowhere to be found, and apparently, child idol Segawa Onpu was also out of reach. She was probably too busy nowadays.
Seki was happy to find out several of the kids had gotten closer over the years. Hayashi Ryota and Nakata Goji were now good friends, and Nagato Kayoko was completely surrounded by her peers. The teacher also caught Fujiwara Hazuki and Masaru Yada occasionally stealing intimate glances with one another – they thought they were being so discreet, but everyone noticed what was going on. Same went for Koizumi Marina and Kimura Takao, although they weren’t trying to hide anything: glued to each other, her hand casually falling over his arm as they chatted with their respective friends. These things, after all, were better left unsaid.
Especially when it came to drifting apart. Whatever happened to Kotake Tetsuya and Harukaze Doremi?
Minus those who had shared class with them the year prior and probably their closest friends, everyone expected them to pester each other like they always used to do. However, their silence was almost as loud as their typical bickering, and frankly, most of the now teenagers found themselves uneasy with it, as if there was a tension in the air that affected all of them at once. The pair wasn't just ignoring each other, but actively avoiding even passing next to one another. Or at least that’s what it seemed, because if you paid enough attention, you would notice how every time they boy laughed, Doremi would stare at him so intensely she kept on getting distracted from her own conversation. Kotake was the same or even worse; his eyes constantly following her whenever she wasn’t looking, his expression unreadable.
Nobody dared saying anything about the matter, but those two weren’t fooling anyone – for once, they were not even fooling themselves. Something had definitely happened between them, and, unsure if it was out of worry or just pure curiosity, Seki made it her mission to find it out.