— — — — — —
Sunlight spilled across his face.
Oikawa blinked awake, still half asleep.
He grabbed his phone.
9:30 AM.
And more than ten missed calls from Kawasaki Saki.
The sight instantly wiped away any lingering drowsiness.
"...I'm late."
"Oh man. I'm definitely getting punched for this."
The image of Shizuka Hiratsuka smiling pleasantly flashed through his mind. That alone confirmed it.
Oikawa thought for a moment, then timed it carefully so he'd call right as class ended. He dialed Shizuka-sensei.
Putting on a weak, sickly voice, he said, "Sensei… cough cough… I think I caught a cold. Could I take the day off? cough cough cough—"
"Be at school within thirty minutes. Otherwise I'll drive over and pick you up myself."
Her voice was icy, with a faint but unmistakable hint of murderous intent.
Oikawa immediately backed down.
"Roger that!"
He rubbed his forehead, puzzled about where exactly his acting had gone wrong.
He pulled a convenience-store ekiben from the fridge and devoured it in under ten minutes.
Trash bag in hand. Uniform on. Door locked.
Oikawa stepped outside.
---
The 9:30 sun was bright, a soft breeze brushing against his face. It felt surprisingly nice.
Pedaling his bike down the street, Oikawa suddenly found himself looking forward to summer.
When summer comes, good things always happen.
Right?
Along the riverbank, a group of fishermen had already started their day.
Normally, the road would be filled with students around his age. Instead, there were elderly men walking their dogs and housewives out buying groceries.
The scenery had changed.
Strangely enough, the gloomy feeling from being late started to fade.
But…
The closer he got to school, the heavier that feeling became again.
By the time he actually arrived, his mood had sunk to rock bottom.
The old security guard at the gate glanced at him once and let him pass.
After locking his bike and switching into his indoor shoes, Oikawa stepped into the classroom.
Click.
The sliding door opened.
Every pair of eyes in the room turned toward him.
Even more unfortunate, the teacher passionately lecturing at the front was none other than the math teacher.
"Good morning, Sensei."
Oikawa bowed politely.
"…Go on in."
From the look in the teacher's eyes, Oikawa could tell he probably wanted to yell at him.
Oikawa suddenly felt a little guilty.
Maybe…
Maybe he should join that math competition after all?
He spent the entire class thinking about that.
The rest of the day's classes, however, were devoted to thinking about how he was going to deal with Shizuka-sensei.
…
…
"Explain."
In the teachers' office.
The math teacher sipped tea nearby, watching Oikawa get scolded with obvious amusement.
Oikawa made a decision. He was not joining the math competition.
"I suppose I'm ill," Oikawa began solemnly. "I couldn't sleep no matter what I did. So I sat up and gazed out the window. An inexplicable sadness washed over me. I stared gloomily at the two pillows by my bedside—one was mine, and the other… was probably mine as well."
Shizuka slammed the desk. "Speak human."
"Insomnia."
"I'm sorry! I'll go clean the basketball gym!"
Oikawa quickly assigned his own punishment.
"As if."
Shizuka snorted. "Do you think I don't know? Kawasaki does over half the cleaning work in that gym for you."
Oikawa lowered his head silently.
Not out of guilt.
Out of embarrassment.
He had honestly tried his best mopping the floor. But Kawasaki was just faster and more efficient at housework.
Maybe it was a talent thing.
"From now until the end of the term," Shizuka said, "every Saturday morning you'll spend three hours tutoring the underperforming students in this class."
"Any objections?"
As she spoke, she placed a hand on Oikawa's shoulder.
"No objections! None at all!"
Oikawa nodded frantically.
As long as she didn't force him into the Service Club, he had zero complaints.
"You'll handle math tutoring. For Japanese literature, Hachiman Hikigaya will take care of it. If you have time, you can sit in on that too."
Oikawa froze for a moment when he heard that.
Then he quietly said, "Ok."
---
Inside the Literature Club room.
Kawasaki was working through a workbook, while Zaimokuza sat nearby reading a light novel.
"Lord Yagyū! The evil witch didn't unleash her wrath upon you, did she?!"
Oikawa had already mastered the skill of translating Zaimokuza-speak.
What he actually meant was: 'Oikawa-kun, Shizuka-sensei didn't give you a hard time, right?'
"She signed me up for a volunteer tutoring session every Saturday. Kawasaki, you should come too."
Oikawa set down his bag and casually sat beside Kawasaki, glancing at her workbook.
"Why'd you stop writing? Keep going."
Kawasaki had suddenly paused her pen, and Oikawa urged her on.
"…Okay."
Kawasaki felt her face heating up.
Oikawa was just sitting way too close.
---
After club activities ended, Oikawa had planned to leave with Kawasaki.
But for some reason, she left without even waiting for him.
"I thought things were getting better between us…"
Oikawa sighed, rubbing his temples.
A woman's heart was like a needle hidden at the bottom of the sea. Even someone as clever as him couldn't fully understand it.
"How about coming with me to the bookstore?"
Oikawa pushed away Zaimokuza's arm from around his shoulders, glanced at his phone, and saw he still had time before his part-time job. "Alright. Let's go."
"Forward! To crush the enemy army!"
Oikawa felt a headache coming on. Did chuuni kids really have no fear of dying from embarrassment?
...
After leaving the bookstore, Zaimokuza now held two new light novels in his hands.
"Oikawa-kun, I'll treat you to coffee as thanks."
'You just want to read them immediately, don't you?'
Oikawa didn't expose him and simply nodded.
...
The café was packed with students.
Before long, Oikawa spotted several familiar faces—
Yui Yuigahama, Yukino Yukinoshita, Hachiman Hikigaya, Saika Totsuka, and two younger students.
"Oikawa-kun, over here!"
Oikawa had been planning to slip away quietly, but Yui suddenly waved at him. So the two of them walked over.
Hachiman immediately introduced him to a girl beside him who looked about sixty percent similar to him.
"Komachi, this is my classmate, Oikawa Tōru."
"Nice to meet you, Oikawa-nii. Thanks for looking after my brother."
Oikawa suddenly felt strangely touched.
Being remembered by Hachiman…
Did this mean he was no longer a background character?
"As for this one," Hachiman added, "Yoshiteru Zaimokuza."
Saying that, Hachiman looked a bit surprised that Oikawa and Zaimokuza were hanging out together.
Komachi greeted them again. And Zaimokuza looked extremely stiff.
The guy completely changed whenever girls were around.
Certified social anxiety case.
"So what were you guys talking about?"
After sitting down, Oikawa stopped pretending to be aloof and joined the conversation.
"Well…"
Yui explained. "This is Kawasaki's little brother, Taishi. He says… recently his sister seems to have turned into a delinquent."
"Oikawa-kun, you should know more about this than we do, right?"
As soon as Yui finished speaking, everyone's eyes landed on him.
Oikawa suddenly felt like a prisoner awaiting trial.
Kawasaki turned into a delinquent?
How come he didn't know anything about that?
.
.
.