Day two of middle school life.

Today, Kurato was leisurely sightseeing through the same warm sky as yesterday.

It was a magnificent, cloudless clear day, making for an extremely pleasant flight.

The reason he could fly around with this much ease was because today’s checkpoint inspection had gone extremely smoothly.

From arriving at the checkpoint, lining up and passing through, it hadn’t even taken five minutes.

Yesterday it had taken over thirty minutes due to checks and confirmations, but today he passed through simply by showing his pass.

Truly a touch-and-go.

Kurato was in an even better mood.

At that moment, he noticed something below.

Currently, Kurato was cruising at an altitude of around 100 meters, but about 50 meters below him, he felt like he saw something red moving through the air.

‘A bird… no, that’s not it. A UFO?’

As he approached while thinking that, he realized it was a human and a girl.

‘The sight of bright reddish twin-tails fluttering in the wind felt familiar from somewhere… ah. From three years ago.’

The pioneers of Unison he had fought against at the Kawasaki Frost Tournament.

‘Her name was… Asukai-san, if he remembered correctly.’

As he drew closer, Asukai-san was flying at full power with pyrokinesis, her expression desperate.

“Mm—! I’m going to be late!”

Looks like she was in trouble.

She said she was going to be late, but unsurprisingly, she didn’t seem to be holding a slice of bread in her mouth.

The reason her face looked so strained was probably because she was flying at high speed and couldn’t open her eyes due to air resistance.

When someone’s in trouble, you help them.

Kurato decided to lend a hand.

“Um—”

“Wah! You startled me!”

When Kurato spoke up, Asukai-san widened her eyes in surprise.

He had tried to call out without startling her, but still, sorry about that.

Kurato bowed his head while flying.

“I’m sorry for startling you. You looked like you were in a hurry, so if you’d like, should I draft for you?”

“Uh, …draft?”

She clearly didn’t understand the word, so Kurato decided to show her directly.

He changed lanes into Asukai-san’s flight path and flew out in front of her.

At that, Asukai-san’s expression immediately relaxed.

“Oh, amazing. Somehow, it feels easier to fly?”

“That’s reassuring to hear. The way it works is by me flying in front, I’m blocking the wind hitting you directly, which reduces air resistance. That should be why it feels easier to fly.”

It was originally a technique used with bicycles or cars and the faster the speed, the more effective it became.

The one being pulled could move while expending almost no effort.

“Eh, but doesn’t that mean it’s harder on you?”

“It’s fine. I’ve placed a shield in front of me, so I don’t receive any air resistance. With this, flying alone and drafting you doesn’t change the load at all, so please feel free to make good use of it.”

Unlike cars towing each other with a rope, all Kurato had to do was fly in front of Asukai-san.

He wasn’t expending any extra effort at all.

If anything, “Is this cruising speed alright? I can go faster if you’d like.”

Matching the other person’s pace was the only slight inconvenience.

“Ah, if possible, a little faster…”

“Understood. Just let me know when the speed feels right. Here we go.”

Kurato and Asukai-san became a single gust of wind, racing through the spring sky.

After flying like that for a while—

“Ah, this is my destination.”

In the direction Asukai-san pointed stood a school building about as large as Sakurajō.

If Sakurajō was a white castle, this one was like London’s clock tower.

The brick-built school buildings had an old-fashioned, refined charm.

If he remembered correctly, it was Amagawa Kōryū Academy… or something like that.

A prestigious school alongside Sakurajō, commonly called Tenryū.

It had come up when he looked up Sakurajō as one of Tokyo’s Three Great Middle Schools.

“Um, thank you so much! Today was the entrance ceremony and I was about to be late, but I somehow made it in time. You really helped me!”

‘So it was her entrance ceremony. Good thing she didn’t end up late.’

“No, no. I’m glad I could be of help.”

When Kurato said that, she peeled off behind him and flew toward the school.

He thought she would just keep going, but she stopped midway, turned back and bowed deeply toward him once more.

‘Instead of doing that, she should hurry to the entrance ceremony. Such a conscientious girl.’

“Have a great entrance ceremony, Asukai-san!”

Kurato said that, then waved broadly at her as she lifted her head and returned to his route to school.

“Ah, my name—”

Unfortunately, her words didn’t reach Kurato’s ears.

* * *

“…Why does he know my name?”

For a short while, I tilted my head in midair.

A boy I had never met knew my name.

The fact that strangers knew about me wasn’t new.

After the team battles in elementary school, my name had spread a bit, so there were times when people I didn’t know would talk to me.

But was that boy like that too?

Boys, especially those in the Special Zone, often knew very little about abilities.

There were quite a few boys who didn’t even know my name, let alone that you could participate in team battles with just two people.

And yet, that boy knew my name and even though he knew it, he didn’t get scared.

Even though I’m a B-rank competitor.

“And I didn’t even ask his name…”

I didn’t get his name and I should’ve asked for his address or phone number so I could thank him properly.

It’s not like I’m saying this because I want to get close to a boy.

There are already very few boys in the Special Zone and it’s not often you meet someone amazing enough to fly through the sky like that.

I know that and I’m definitely not thinking anything impure!

Probably…

“Haa… I’m hopeless.”

“What’s wrong?”

As I was feeling down, my best friend’s face suddenly popped out from the side, startling me so badly I thought my heart would jump out of my chest.

Looks like I had descended to the ground without noticing.

“No, it’s nothing, Sophia-chan.”

“Really? If anything happens, tell me, okay? More importantly, let’s hurry, Momiji. The entrance ceremony is starting.”

Saying that, Sophia-chan ran toward the school building.

“Ah, wait! Sophia-chan!”

I hurried after my best friend, who was wearing the same wine-red blazer as me.

* * *

After escorting Asukai-san to her school, Kurato flew straight to Sakurajō.

Distance-wise, Sakurajō and Tenryū weren’t that far apart, so he arrived at his classroom with plenty of time to spare.

However, his seat wasn’t there.

Well, it wasn’t really that serious of a situation.

It was just that a girl he didn’t recognize was sitting in Kurato’s seat.

She had glossy, slightly bluish long hair extending down around her waist.

‘She hadn’t been in this class yesterday, so maybe she was from another class.’

Wakaba-san, Honda-san, the unfamiliar girl and Nishikaze-san in the seat behind were chatting happily.

‘Better not interrupt.’

Kurato quietly closed the classroom door and took a step forward, thinking he’d go over to Sato-kun, who had already arrived.

Then—

“Ah, Makishima-kun! Good morning!”

“Good morning, Makishima-kun!”

“Good morning, Makishima Kurato-kun!”

The girls near the entrance all turned around at once and fired off greetings together.

‘Girls’ detection abilities are insane!?’

“G-good morning, everyone.”

Kurato hid his inner surprise and responded with a smile.

Then, the eyes of the three girls who had been beaming moments ago flashed sharply and like ninjas, they slipped right up close to Kurato.

“I’m so happy! Makishima-kun replied to me!”

“No, it was me! He made eye contact with me! Could this be mutual love!?”

“Both of you, stop it! Makishima-kun belongs to everyone!”

‘He (I) belongs to no one!’

Kurato was forced to take a step back under the pressure of the three girls.

They kept a fixed distance from him, but the pressure was intense.

Their feverish gazes roamed over his entire body and when he looked around, the other girls in the class were all sending him the same kind of looks.

He didn’t understand why, but being C-rank alone causing this was something he had to accept.

As Kurato resigned himself internally, the three continued arguing.

He should probably step in.

“But you already remembered my name. I’m happy.”

When Kurato spoke in a low voice, the argument stopped dead and all three turned toward him at once.

‘Scary, scary.’

“Of course! I remembered properly!”

The girl who had greeted him first nodded vigorously, showing excessive affirmation.

“You’re a Shield user, you came from outside the Special Zone, your previous school was Momoyama, right? Elementary school and your hobbies are strength training and ghost stories!”

Wow, his self-introduction had been completely memorized.

As Kurato admired the elite schoolgirls,—

“And your height is 166.7 centimeters, you’ve got a charming mole on the back of your neck and when you’re troubled, you put your hand behind your head, right?”

‘That information is not public!’

Faced with information even he didn’t know, Kurato’s smile froze.

Taking his bitter smile as confirmation, the girls nodded enthusiastically.

“Hey, Makishima-kun. Um, do you remember my name?”

“I’m Kitayama Sae. Nice to meet you again!”

Before he could stop them, the girls moved on to the next topic.

Kurato’s expression darkened.

He hadn’t remembered their names.

Because he hadn’t remembered them, he’d praised them for remembering his.

He’d dug himself into a hole.

“Sorry. I’m bad at remembering people’s names. I’ll learn them gradually.”

When Kurato apologized honestly, the three didn’t look displeased at all, instead hurriedly waving their hands.

“It’s totally fine!”

“Take your time and remember!”

“I’m Kitayama Sae, okay!”

Kitayama-san has a strong sense of self-assertion.

When Kurato raised his hand ambiguously, the three waved back happily, while the other girls looked on with resentful expressions.

“I got to talk to a boy first thing in the morning!”

“I’m so glad I got into Sakurajō!”

“He even waved back, Makishima-kun is god-tier!”

‘…They get that happy over this?’

With shrill voices behind him, Kurato slipped through a gap between the three and escaped.

Then he noticed that almost all the girls who had been chatting earlier were looking at him.

Well, of course they were, after all that noise.

Sure enough, the unfamiliar girl noticed too, blinking her large eyes in surprise before hurriedly standing up.

“Ah, I’m sorry! I used your seat without permission!”

The unfamiliar girl brushed her long hair aside and bowed.

She seemed calm and mature in her manner and Kurato shook his head.

“No, no. I’m the one who should apologize for interrupting you in the middle of your conversation.”

When Kurato scratched his head apologetically, the mature girl gave him a surprised look.

Her gaze moved back and forth between Kurato’s face and his tie.

‘Have I done something again? I really don’t know anymore…’

Noticing Kurato’s confusion, the mature girl lowered her gaze and apologized again.

“I’m sorry for staring. Your responses were so composed that I was a little… no, quite surprised.”

“Oh, I see.”

That had happened even outside the Special Zone.

When he was two years old, Ryuko-san had looked at him the same way.

Feeling nostalgic, Kurato’s stiff expression softened slightly.

“If you’d like, please sit here until the warning bell. I have some business with a friend over there.”

Kurato said while glancing at Sato-kun, though he didn’t actually have any business with him.

He was just being considerate.

But—

“Wait a moment, Kurato-kun. I have something to ask you.”

Wakaba-san stopped Kurato as he tried to leave.

‘What could it be? Why was she holding a pen and notepad, clearly in interview mode?’

He’d already been thoroughly interviewed yesterday.

As Kurato looked puzzled, the mature girl narrowed her big eyes slightly and chuckled.

“Once Waka-chan gets like this, she’s hopeless. You couldn’t move her even with a lever.”

Saying that, she beckoned Kurato over and guided him to sit back down in his seat.

When Kurato obediently sat, the mature girl explained.

“Actually, Waka-chan has been waiting to ask you something. There’s a rumor that you dueled Kujo-sama after school yesterday and she wants to confirm it.”

That’s spreading in a pretty dangerous way.

As Kurato frowned, a surprised voice rang out.

It was Nishikaze-san from behind.

“A duel!? And with that young lady!?”

“That seems unlikely, doesn’t it? I mean, Kujo-sama is A-rank, right? There’s no way she’d raise a hand against a boy…”

Honda-san nodded along, giving a wry smile.

“So what is it!? Makishima-san!”

Wakaba-san thrust her pen toward Kurato’s mouth like a microphone, trying to extract the truth.

Her eyes were sparkling intensely, clearly desperate to know.

‘A true journalist through and through.’

Kurato glanced at her dubiously for a moment, then opened his heavy mouth.

“It wasn’t a duel. Well, but…”

Kurato briefly explained what had happened with Kujo-sama yesterday.

Then—

“M-Makishima-kun, you’re… Raito-sama’s brother…”

Honda-san was left speechless.

“Amazing… going up against an A-rank and holding your own…”

Nishikaze-san’s eyes shone.

“It wasn’t evenly matched. Kujo-sama was holding back quite a bit.”

Kurato hurriedly corrected Nishikaze-san.

‘If the story got any bigger, it could cause trouble for Kujo-sama.’

“Even so, the opponent was A-rank, right? That’s still amazing…”

Even then, Nishikaze-san’s eyes continued to sparkle.

Beside her, Wakaba-san wore a dangerous smile and suddenly started scribbling furiously.

“Midday duel. An A-rank’s fist shattered by a C-rank. A genius boy appears! This is it. This will sell!”

“It wasn’t a duel and nothing was shattered. And don’t sell it in the first place!”

Kurato desperately stopped her pen.

“Oh? Is ‘genius boy’ okay, then?”

“…Don’t do that either.”

The mature girl teased Kurato—no, offered spot-on advice—so Kurato adopted it and firmly shut Wakaba-san down.

“Eeh! It’ll totally sell!”

‘I said don’t sell it…’

Just as Wakaba-san pouted in dissatisfaction, the warning bell rang.

‘It’d been a hard morning.’

“Well then, I’ll be going. See you later, Waka-chan. Um, Kurato-chan?”

The mature girl tilted her head as she asked.

‘Using chan even for a boy. That’s pretty fresh.’

When Kurato nodded to show that it was fine, she smiled happily.

When she smiled, something stirred inside Kurato.

‘That girl’s face suddenly surfaced in his mind… Bad.’

As Kurato shook his head, the mature girl turned lightly and started toward the classroom exit.

“Ah, um…”

Kurato tried to call out to her, but then realized he hadn’t asked her name.

In just these few minutes, they’d gotten quite close, but they’d completely skipped introductions.

As if sensing Kurato’s thoughts—

“Tsurumi. My name is Tsurumi Midori. Nice to meet you.”

Turning back to say that, she smiled quietly.

Tsurumi-san left, her long hair swaying.

Despite her rich expressions and cute side, her atmosphere and mannerisms were very refined.

A true Yamato nadeshiko (ideal traditional japanese girl).

“See you later! Midorin!”

Beside Wakaba-san waving energetically, Kurato stumbled.

* * *

Memo

• Tsurumi Midori… C-rank, Aquakinesis. Intelligent and calm in personality, with grades ranking high within the school. The protagonist seems to be overlapping her with someone…