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“Good afternoon, senpai. I’m Kaoru Miki, —— Primary School, grade 3.”
Saionji studies the new arrival with skepticism. They had told him his remedial math tutor would be younger than him; as a middle-school first year, that had to mean a primary school student. But he had expected someone in grade 6. This boy can’t be older than ten. Maybe even nine.
For a moment his thoughts slip. Am I really so bad at math they need to send me back to Grade 3?
He keeps the mask on his face. “Saionji Kyouichi. —— Middle School, first-year. Let’s not make this take any longer than it needs to, okay?”
Kaoru seems a bit taken aback, but nods and opens his notebook.
His father slaps him, just once, almost obligatorily. Son, you must not stain your own record through such carelessness. If you are not seen as the leader, the rule-maker, there are plenty of others who will stain it for you.
No one calls him “Kyouichi” since his mother died. His teachers use “Saionji”; his classmates do the same, when they speak to him at all. His father always calls him “son”. Even in his mind, “Kyouichi” is just the characters he writes on tests and forms.
His father curls his lip, just slightly. And now your tutor is a primary school prodigy. Be sure to learn from him, then, so that you don’t fall even further.
Since the first, arranged session, they’ve met at Kaoru’s house to study. It’s larger than Saionji’s house, with a garden that has a full grand piano sitting in the middle of it. This seems impractical—do they have to wheel it inside every time it rains?
Kaoru is a surprisingly patient teacher for a nine-year-old. Perhaps it helps that he’s struggling with the material as well—while he’s several years ahead of his classmates, he’s only just started the middle school lessons that have been so impenetrable for Saionji. It still doesn’t come naturally and he’s brusque with Kaoru because of it, but the younger boy brushes it off with a smile.
Saionji wonders if Kaoru’s ever gotten to talk about math with anyone.
The other students learn about the tutoring. They tease Saionji between classes. Saionji tries to laugh back at them. “My teacher is a prodigy. He’ll be better at math than anyone at this school before he’s finished his own. What has yours done?”
He’s still a primary schooler, they say. Saionji just gives a superior harrumph.
You’re weird, they say. But by the end of the week the tutoring is eclipsed by the next round of gossip, and they go back to leaving Saionji alone.
Kaoru has a twin sister. From the way he talks about her, she’s every bit as talented as he is…but Saionji sees the framed articles and awards on the walls, “Kaoru Miki” on nearly all of them. Whatever the girl does, her parents don’t seem to feel the same way as her brother.
He catches her watching them from the staircase at one point. When their eyes meet, she grins and slinks away from the banister.
One time he arrives early, and hears the sound of piano music from the garden. Miki is there, clearly practicing—he’s playing the same measures over and over again. A man is watching from the doorway, who Saionji has to assume is Miki’s father. He hears Saionji’s approach, turns, and scoffs slightly. He doesn’t say a word to Saionji as he leaves the room.
Miki finishes his recitation and looks up. “Senpai!” He comes over to the door. “What do you think? Sorry it wasn’t a full piece.”
Saionji doesn’t know anything about piano music. “I suppose it was pretty, if you like that sort of thing.” Miki’s face falls slightly, and Saionji feels a twinge of guilt. “Let’s get to work.”
Miki is better than Saionji at math. It’s a bit galling, but from kendo Saionji knows that age doesn’t always match up with skill. The only option is to get better. (Though it’s often him showing up the older boys.)
On his next test, Saionji’s score is higher. It could be a fluke, though.
He’s riding his bicycle home from picking up groceries when he hears a familiar call of “Senpai!” He turns to see both Kaoru twins sitting with a woman at a family restaurant with windows open to the street. “Mother, this is my friend Saionji-senpai. He’s the middle-school student I tutor.”
The woman stares him up and down. He knows his clothes are perfectly fine for running errands, but reflected in her eyes they are shabby. The middle-school boy who needs to rely on her primary-school son to pass math.
“Don’t worry, Ms. Kaoru,” he replies, throwing that disdain right back at her. “Your son and I are not friends. Good day.” He cycles off without giving her another chance to speak.
Miki’s sister confronts him before school. “I don’t know who you think you are, but if you don’t stop messing with my brother I will end you.”
He has to laugh. What can a nine-year-old girl do to threaten a thirteen-year-old boy? “I don’t know who you think you are. Get to class, little girl.”
Her eyes flash. “Didn’t your mother teach you to be polite to a lady?”
“My mother is dead,” Saionji answers coldly.
This usually leads to a stuttered apology or a panicked flight from the conversation. This girl does neither. Instead, she tilts her head back to look him in the eyes. “There are worse things that can happen to parents.” It’s not part of the threat, it’s just stated as a fact.
The next time Saionji sees Miki, he asks if the younger boy would like to bike into town with him.
Miki tries out for kendo. Saionji is surprised. The heavy shinai seems like it would be a challenge for the boy’s wiry frame, and indeed when he asks the instructor after his own class, that does seem to be a concern.
The bigger concern turns out to be Miki’s father. When Saionji arrives after school, he overhears an argument. The fencing team is nationally ranked! You could be an Olympic star, if only you applied yourself. But instead you’re choosing mediocrity in a dying art!
Saionji grits his teeth at the slight, but his own father has beaten into him not to argue with a superior. There’s nothing to be gained by talking back at the insult. Most likely the conversation will be over soon.
So it’s a bit of a surprise, again, when Miki comes back into the room with a shaky smile. He’s allowed to continue with kendo as long as it doesn’t interfere with his piano.
Kozue joins the fencing team.
Saionji and Miki ride their bikes one day and get caught in a sudden rainstorm on the way back. As lightning flashes, the two of them search for shelter. Saionji notices a number of adults running through the storm, and stops one to ask what’s wrong. There’s a girl missing. She’s supposed to be staying with her aunt, but nobody can find her. The man pauses. You should get inside, but if you see her, please let someone know.
Miki has spotted a church with an open door. The two of them rush inside, dripping wet, leaving their bicycles against the outside wall. The building is empty, and a little drafty.
Miki suddenly grabs Saionji’s arm. “Senpai!”
Saionji looks up to see three coffins at the front of the room. One of them looks like it hasn’t been sealed properly.
He and Miki look at each other. If Kozue had been here, they might have felt pressed to stay. She might have gone up to look. Saionji tries to hold back a shudder.
“The rain’s not that bad,” he says finally, without even looking outside. Miki slowly nods.
They walk the rest of the way home, rather than risking an unexpected spinout. The rain doesn’t let up until the next morning.
Miki tells Saionji he and Kozue will be transferring to Ohtori Academy for their last few years of elementary school, and then on through middle school and high school.
Saionji hears this and walks out of the room. His mind crackles with static. Without thinking about it he heads for the kendo room at school. Even though he’s only in his first year of middle school, he’s been trusted with a key, so he can practice even when the instructor isn’t there.
It’s only after he’s gone through two full practice forms that the static clears enough to realize he doesn’t want to be left alone again.
“My father would never permit it, Miki-kun. It’s too expensive.”
There’s a thick envelope in his kendo locker a few days later. The application is almost fully filled out, including the scholarship section. Miki’s handwriting is much neater than Saionji’s own, though there are a few sections where a different pen has been used that must have been Kozue’s work.
He thinks about it all through practice. The instructor chastises him for his distraction—a rare occurrence. The other members of the team glance at him and whisper.
He drops the envelope in the postbox on the way home, without telling his father.
Ohtori Academy has a kendo team, though it seems much less popular than their fencing club. Saionji privately makes it his mission to build the place up in the future, partly for his own benefit and partly to spite Miki’s father. Even if he has to clean up the training room himself.
The captain is a jaded high school third-year, but there’s another boy Saionji’s age with bright red hair who steps into a leadership role much more often. He has a smirk that Saionji finds infuriating, and he’s almost as good as Saionji himself. His style feels like he’s stolen techniques from other armed martial arts; in a discipline like kendo, which draws so much from tradition, this seems almost sacrilegious.
Saionji keeps these complaints to himself. Only Miki would understand where he was coming from, and he doesn’t want to make trouble for Miki.
Ohtori Academy has three piano rooms. Miki is ecstatic. Predictably, he tries to get Kozue to play with him; predictably, she blows him off, claiming to be busy with schoolwork and fencing. Saionji comforts him with some meaningless platitudes, and suggests that perhaps Miki should turn his attentions to girls who behave more appropriately. Miki is nonplussed and Saionji reminds himself that his friend is only ten.
Kozue finds out about the “appropriate” comment. She comes up to Saionji later that day and, after checking to see if there are any teachers nearby, flips him off without a word before leaving again.
At the end of the year there are elections for the new team captain. With so few high schoolers in the club, the candidates end up being Saionji and the redheaded boy, Touga…but Touga steps out of the race before the votes can even be cast, saying he’ll be too busy with Student Council business next year. Saionji recognizes the brag for what it is, but gives an awkward acceptance speech anyway. He knows the other team members don’t particularly like him, but they can’t deny his dedication to kendo. Only Miki is genuinely happy about it.
At the end of the following year, he is asked to join the Student Council by Tsuchiya Ruka, the captain of the fencing team. Touga does not seem happy about this. Saionji learns about the Rose Bride and The Ends of the World. He can’t help but be taken with Anthy, standing demurely on Tsuchiya’s arm.