The Golden Week had ended.
In the end, I only hung out during the first two days—with Minase and Yukari—and after that, it was all part-time work for me. Of course, I properly attended school during the weekdays in between.
And so, on the first day after the holidays—
“Hot as hell…”
It was an unseasonably hot day.
The moment I stepped out of the house to head for school that morning, I groaned at the wave of heat that struck me.
Sure, the temperature in summer is higher, but when the heat suddenly hits you like this before your body’s adjusted, it’s a whole different kind of pain. Compared to gradually rising summer heat, this out-of-nowhere midsummer-like day was way tougher to handle.
Even the weather segment on TV had been warning about heatstroke.
“Tch.”
I clicked my tongue. The memory of last summer—when I was taken to the hospital for heatstroke—flashed in my mind. That incident was what made me quit soccer.
I sighed and forced my legs to move forward. Just as I reached the stairs, I heard footsteps coming down from above. At this hour, there was only one person who’d be heading down. I stopped and waited.
“Ah, Sakura!”
Just as I thought, it was Minase who appeared. It’d been a while since I’d seen her in her school uniform.
“Yo.”
My reply came out rather lazy, probably because I was already drained from the heat.
Minase must’ve sensed my lack of energy because she gave me a mischievous grin like a kid about to play a prank.
The next moment, she dashed down a few steps—
“Tō!”
—and jumped, landing right in front of me before wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug.
“Morning!”
“It’s hot, damn it!”
I quickly pushed her away.
“You’re as rude as ever.”
Minase stomped her foot in mock anger.
“I’ve told you not to do stuff like that out of nowhere! Especially not today—it’s scorching!”
She didn’t seem to feel the heat at all. When I gave her another look, she seemed as lively as ever, without even a hint of sweat.
“What are you talking about? We’ll be going on the water slides together this summer. You’ve got to get used to the heat early!”
“Sorry, but I’ll be sick that day.”
I replied bluntly and turned to head down the stairs. Minase laughed behind me, “You’re saying that again,” and followed.
Once outside, the early May sunlight felt like needles piercing my skin.
“No, seriously. It’s so damn hot.”
“I know, right?”
Minase nodded but still looked perfectly cool. Maybe I’d just gotten weaker.
We walked side by side like always.
“You know how office workers get to start their Cool Biz dress code in May? We should move our uniform change earlier too.”
Japan’s spring gets shorter every year. There’s no reason to cling to the old rule of changing uniforms in June anymore.
“True.”
Minase nodded again, a small smile tugging at her lips.
I glanced at her. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, I just thought—you’ve been grumbling nonstop since we met.”
“…Yeah.”
She wasn’t wrong. I fell silent for a moment.
“Sorry. I just remembered something unpleasant from last year. I’ll stop.”
Even if I wasn’t snapping at her, it wasn’t fair to dump my bad mood on a classmate first thing in the morning.
“It’s fine. I don’t mind listening to complaints, you know?”
“Yeah, well, I can’t lean on you for everything.”
I needed to handle my own mood swings. Besides, this weird heat wouldn’t last forever.
“So, what did you do during the break?”
I decided to change the subject.
“Oh? The classic ‘How was your vacation?’ question?”
“Shut it.”
Yeah, I knew it was a boring question, but I couldn’t think of anything else.
“What about you, Sakura?”
“Work.”
She flipped it back to me, but fair enough—it was my turn to answer.
“I thought you’d stop by at least once.”
“I didn’t want to bother you or your boss.”
Minase smiled, but it seemed a little forced. Maybe she still felt bad about showing up uninvited before.
“You don’t have to worry about that. The manager would probably be happy to see you anyway.”
She knew about the late owner’s wife, after all. I’m sure the manager would appreciate the chance to talk about her again.
“Besides, what, you were just gonna wait for a free drink? No plans to actually buy anything yourself?”
“Fair point. Alright, I’ll stop by next time.”
Minase grinned.
“So, what did you do then?”
“I hung out with Asahi.”
Ah, Yakushiji. Seemed like there wasn’t any awkwardness between them after all. That was a relief.
“And then I met up with my old classmates.”
“You mean from the talent school?”
“Yeah. Sierra, Sera, and Yozo-chan.”
A K-pop idol, a high school model, and a faceless singer who never shows herself—what a glamorous lineup.
What made it interesting was Minase herself. She’d left both her talent school and our drama club behind, yet she still kept good relationships with those who stayed or succeeded. That was just the kind of person she was.
“Oh, I took a photo. Wanna see?”
She pulled out her phone and started fiddling with it. …Not the safest thing to do while walking. I watched the road for her just in case.
“We hardly ever get everyone together. Especially Sierra.”
Well, considering she’s based overseas, that made sense.
“Let’s see… not this one, Yozo-chan’s in it…”
Apparently, she was filtering out photos where Yozo’s face appeared. No one knew what she looked like, and Minase seemed intent on keeping it that way. Then again, unless someone already knew who was who, it’d probably be fine.
“Here, this one.”
She handed me her phone.
In the photo, Minase stood in the center, with two girls on either side—Sera and Sierra, both instantly recognizable from the video call the other day. They were eating snacks and drinking juice, clearly having a good time. Judging by the angle, someone else had taken the photo. Probably Yozo herself.
“Looking at this… you’re not losing to them at all, you know.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Minase tilted her head.
“I mean, you’re just as cute as they are.”
“Oh, come on.”
She laughed it off, thinking it was just flattery.
“I’m serious.”
“Really? Well… thanks. That makes me happy.”
Her cheeks turned slightly pink. It was rare to see her bashful like that. She tried to cover it up with a goofy “I’m blushing here~,” in an old-man tone.
“Hey,”
I was tempted to tease her more, but decided to let her off and switched topics.
“Sera, Sierra, Yozo… all your names end with ‘ra.’ Is that on purpose?”
“Ah, that.”
Her eyes lit up.
“There’s actually a reason. You know how in documentaries about Olympic athletes or baseball champs, there’s always something like ‘A promise to my late father’ or ‘A vow to a fallen friend’?”
“Uh…”
“Just kidding.”
Minase stuck out her tongue playfully.
“You little—”
“But we really did decide to do it on purpose. The reason’s a secret, though.”
So there was a reason, after all.
And one more thing was clear—they shared a bond strong enough to have their own little secret like that.
Now that I thought about it, she’d mentioned something about a “promise” before. Maybe fulfilling their dreams was the promise that tied them all together.
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