The next morning, Hikigaya Hachiman stood still at the school gate. Looking at the scene before him, he felt a sudden urge to turn around and go ho.
"Good morning, Hikigaya-kun."
Saeki Miria's voice ca from the side.
She was standing at the school entrance, her blonde hair shimring in the morning light. When she caught his gaze, she pursed her lips, appearing as though she were afraid of annoying him.
"...Morning," Hikigaya replied with a weary sense of obligation.
"Let's go up together." Saeki walked over to his side. She stayed near him, but kept a bit of distance, lacking the natural shoulder-to-shoulder proximity they had yesterday.
Hikigaya didn't answer; he simply started walking forward.
Students at the gate were filtering in in small groups. Quite a few gazes landed on them. "A gloomy guy with dead-fish eyes accompanied by a blonde gyaru"—it was certainly a sight worth a second look.
Along the way, this strange pair drew considerable attention, the amount of stares exceeding the sum of Hikigaya's previous sester.
Entering the classroom, Sakuraba Ema was already at her desk next to his. She looked up, saw them, and offered a smile.
"Good morning, Hikigaya-kun, Saeki-san."
Hikigaya gave a nod in response.
"Good morning, Sakuraba-san." Saeki also nodded and sat back in her own seat.
Hikigaya began taking out his books, pulling out the schedule tucked inside his math book to check the day's classes.
At the neighboring desk, Sakuraba Ema pulled a small pink cloth bag out and placed it on the corner of her desk. It was embroidered with a few cherry blossoms; even her bento bag was that cute.
In the seat in front of him, Saeki pulled out a book and started reading, the occasional sound of pages turning filling the air.
The preparatory bell rang. The morning classes went by one after another. The teacher said various things at the podium while Hikigaya listened half-heartedly, all while feeling a gaze occasionally drift over from his side.
Sakuraba Ema was peeking at him, thinking he hadn't noticed. Every ti he moved slightly, that gaze would quickly dart away.
Hikigaya recalled his reflection while brushing his teeth this morning. There was nothing special—just those DHA-rich dead-fish eyes and that face full of disappointnt. Was it really worth looking at like that?
After the third period ended, Saeki returned from the restroom. Just as she reached the front door of the classroom, several girls surrounded her.
"Saeki-san, want to go to the cafeteria together for lunch?"
Saeki blanked for a mont, then gave a soft nod.
"Sure... I didn't bring a bento today anyway."
"Um..." One of the girls, also blonde, lowered her voice. "Are you and that boy really close?"
Saeki followed her gaze. Hikigaya was slumped over his desk, unclear if he was spacing out or actually asleep.
"Yeah... we t during the sumr after third year of middle school while working part-ti at a cafe."
"I see..." The girls exchanged a look, as if confirming sothing.
Saeki didn't say anything more. She just lowered her head slightly, walked past the girls, and returned to her seat.
Sakuraba Ema happened to be walking into the classroom at that mont. As she passed the door, those sa girls stopped her.
"Sakuraba-san, do you want to go to the cafeteria with us at noon?"
"Eh?" Sakuraba Ema's eyes widened slightly as she stopped. "Is... is that okay?"
"Of course it is! Let's go to the cafeteria together, Saeki-san is coming too."
Sakuraba Ema's gaze moved past them into the classroom. Saeki was sitting in her seat, looking down at a book.
"...Thank you." Sakuraba Ema pointed to the pink bento bag on her desk, a hint of regret in her voice. "But I brought a bento today."
"I'm so sorry! Let's go together next ti."
"Is that so? Well, let's have lunch together next ti then."
"Mhm, definitely next ti."
Sakuraba Ema put on a standard smile and walked past the girls into the classroom.
When she passed the second-to-last row by the wall, her footsteps paused for a mont. That person was slumped over the desk, face buried in his arms; she wasn't sure if he was asleep.
Then she walked on, sat down gently in her seat, took out her textbook, opened it, and fixed her eyes on the page.
Several seconds passed, and she didn't turn the page once.
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During lunch break, the classroom emptied by more than half; presumably, everyone wanted to see how the food was at the new school's cafeteria.
Hikigaya was not such an enthusiast. He took out the sandwich he'd bought at the convenience store that morning and prepared to go downstairs to the vending machine to buy a drink to finish his lunch.
As he reached the door, he heard footsteps behind him.
"Hikigaya-kun."
Sakuraba Ema caught up, holding that pink bento bag.
"Is sothing wrong?"
"Um..." Sakuraba Ema paused. "Are you going to eat lunch?"
Hikigaya glanced at the bento bag in her hand.
"Yeah, I'm going to the vending machine downstairs to get a drink too."
"Ah, I happened to want to buy a drink as well." Sakuraba Ema showed her little snaggletooth. "Can I co with you?"
Hikigaya hesitated for a mont, but then nodded, effectively giving his silent consent. Sakuraba Ema's smile grew even brighter. He couldn't help but look away and start walking. Sakuraba Ema followed behind him, keeping close pace.
People were coming and going in the hallway. Sakuraba Ema trailed half a step behind him. She stole glances at his profile, and perhaps wanting to break the silence, she spoke up:
"Where did you go to middle school, Hikigaya-kun?"
"I was at... before, then I transferred to Chiba Municipal."
"Ah, so we were actually at the sa school." Sakuraba Ema's tone carried a hint of pleasant surprise. "I was in Class C."
Hikigaya thought back. Class C was on the floor above his class. He had absolutely no mory of her.
"I see..."
"You were in Class A, right, Hikigaya-kun?"
"...Yeah."
"Class A was on the second floor and our class was on the third, so we didn't see each other much," Sakuraba Ema said. "But I rember you."
Hikigaya tilted his head to look at her.
"Back in the second year..." Sakuraba Ema paused. "Once on the rooftop, you helped a girl who was being bullied..."
'The rooftop?'
Hikigaya's pace faltered for a mont.
They arrived at the vending machine. He chose his favorite, MAX Coffee, as usual. The can rolled out of the slot with a lingering warmth. Sakuraba Ema chose a bottle of strawberry milk.
"Let's go. Let's eat lunch first," he said.
He didn't return to the classroom; instead, he went to the courtyard where there were several benches and few people around.
He sat on a bench, tore open his sandwich, and placed the MAX Coffee beside him.
Sakuraba Ema sat at the other end of the bench and opened her bento. There was a gap of two seats between them.
Neither of them spoke.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, falling between the two of them.
The wind blew, the leaves rustled, and a few cherry blossom petals drifted from sowhere, landing on the armrest of the bench.
Sakuraba Ema lowered her head and picked up her chopsticks. Her movents were gentle as she picked up a piece of octopus-shaped sausage, put it in her mouth, and chewed slowly.
The broadcast from the Radio Club reached them from afar—faint and indistinct, the words unreadable.
Hikigaya took a bite of his sandwich.
He thought back to what she just said: "Once on the rooftop, you helped a girl."
When she said that, her tone was so certain, as if it had been etched into her mind for years.
But he was certain he had never done that. The rooftop of that middle school was always locked. He had seen it many tis when searching for a place to eat lunch; it was impossible to even enter the rooftop.
So why was she so sure?
Hikigaya looked at her. She had rembered a certain soone for many years, treating that person as so kind of important existence, searching for a long ti, and finally finding him.
Except she had found the wrong person.
The cherry blossoms on the armrest were blown to the ground.
Sakuraba Ema kept her head down, eating in small bites, slower than usual.
She didn't want to finish so quickly.
Or rather, she didn't want this ti of "eating together with him" to end so soon.
Hikigaya looked away.
Sothing was stirring in his mind—'should I just let it be?'
She was convinced anyway, and he couldn't explain it clearly either.
If he just played along with her words and admitted that the person on the rooftop was him, everything would probably beco very simple.
She would show that "I finally found you" smile and approach him even more proactively.
From then on, soone would say "good morning" to him every day, soone would eat lunch with him, soone would look at him with those sparkling eyes, and soone would always be thinking of him.
Sothing he had never possessed in sixteen years would just drop into his lap out of thin air.
Hikigaya looked at the drifting cherry blossoms in the distance.
'They're beautiful.
But they aren't my flowers.'
He lowered his eyes.
"You've got to be kidding ."
Hikigaya stuffed the last bite of the sandwich into his mouth and took a gulp of MAX Coffee. It had gone a bit cold.
Sakuraba Ema had also finished eating. She put down her chopsticks, closed her bento box, and wrapped it in that pink cloth.
After wrapping it, she didn't stand up. She just placed the bento bag on her knees and stared at the flower bed in front of them.
Hikigaya looked at her profile.
He spoke.
"Sakuraba."
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