Five

'It wasn't Hikaru.' 

For the whole of her second day of school, Kaho's mind whirred with thoughts of Kobayashi Hikaru. He had been in her class since she was eight years old, so had his girlfriend, and Makoto. Kaho rarely saw them apart, and couldn't recall them ever fighting. Hikaru lived two streets away from Kaho, while Makoto and Sayuri lived further into the cluster of houses, nearest the Obata Convenience Store and the cycle repair shop. Some mornings, like on their first day of school, Hikaru would walk to Sayuri's house and then go to school with them. Had Makoto been with them on the first day? Kaho couldn't remember. 

For two letters in a row, Kaho had had the same message. Apparently, Mariah, Kikiyo and Ryota weren't getting them as frequently as Kaho or Mamoru, but maybe that meant their missions were something they had to be aware of, not something they were being directly instructed about. 

She hadn't been sleeping. She probably had four unanswered texts from Tatsuya, even if she faithfully wished him a good morning and a good night. She'd apologized each night with her goodnight, declaring that the new material from school was wiping her out. She wasn't sure if he believed her. Nor was she sure if he had had letters too. Wouldn't he have mentioned something, maybe framed it as a coincidence or déjà vu? Or was he being a stickler to the rules Kaho had seen in her own letter, instructing her not to talk about them to others. Like how Kikiyo had said at lunch the day people started getting them. 

Except now it wasn't uncommon to see haphazardly hidden corners of black envelopes in class. People were always consulting their letters. Yesterday, she'd seen a first-year nearly trip over someone at the shoe lockers because she was reading a letter like it was her horoscope. 

She was exhausted, whatever meagre naps she'd had during the week hadn't scratched the surface of her fatigue. Saving the world, like Future Kaho had said, left Kaho tired to her bones. She had barely made it to school in time on foot for the last two days, her mind occupied by theory and speculation about Hikaru. There was nothing off about him, or Makoto. Sayuri wasn't in, but that was all? 

Kaho paced her room each night after her shower, attempting to recall anything she could about Hikaru from grade school and middle school, but nothing malicious came up, he punched an upskirting creep in his first year of high school after Sayuri caught him with his phone under her skirt. That was two years ago, and the upskirter didn't press any charges, not about Hikaru nearly breaking his nose, or for accidentally stepping on his brand-new smartphone. But compared to Hanagawa High School's actual delinquents, Hikaru was a saint. 

It was driving her crazy. Each night was restless, and it wasn't like she could ask Hikaru what it was he hadn't supposedly done. But her Future Self was persistent, probing her to be sure that whatever was going to come to light had nothing to do with Hikaru. 

She opened the third letter, on Thursday night, which still said the same thing, a declaration of Kobayashi Hikaru's innocence, just adding fuel to the fire. She didn't remember falling asleep, but woke up sore, stiff and aching, her older brother shaking her by the shoulders. 

"Oi! Kaho! Mum's been calling for you for half an hour. You're late."

Kaho sat upright, head whirling from side to side, morning light pooled in through her bedroom window, her older brother looming over her in one of the dozens of new tracksuits he bought for his job at Hanagawa High School since his tracksuits from his last job at the local middle school were a little worse for wear. His chosen tracksuit for the day was a bright, royal blue. He already had a whistle around his neck and a fresh sheen of sweat on his brow. He'd been, and come back from his run. 

Kaho swore, shoving Taiga out of her bedroom and frantically got dressed. 

"I'll drive you to school this morning, okay?" 

"Thank you, thank you thank you thank you!" Kaho said, her heavy footsteps thundering through the house. She tore through the bathroom and began brushing her teeth, hair still in shambles from a restless night of questioning why her Future Self was desperate to highlight something Hikaru did – or supposedly didn't do.

She laddered her tights pulling them over her legs but didn't have time to change them, or lacquer nail varnish around the hole to keep it tearing. She grabbed a little bottle of sparkly silver nail varnish and stuffed it in her blazer pocket, throwing her hair into a ponytail as she rushed down the stairs. 

"How are you, my lovely girl?" Kaho's mum asked. 

Himiko was waiting by the door in her school uniform, her long black hair was in twin tails under her bright yellow hat. She tied the laces on her shoes and stood proudly at the door, "Kaho were you still sleeping?" 

Kaho yawned into her fist, nodding as she stretched her arms over her head. Her mother handed her a cup of cold coffee, she'd boiled when Kaho was supposed to wake up. Kaho wrinkled her nose. 

"Ice?" Taiga asked, stood next to the freezer. He was chopping slices of mango, kiwi and spinach without even looking at the knife or the chopping board. He stuck his tongue out at his sister and held out a small slither of mango. Himiko, despite wearing her school shoes, dashed for it, snatching it from Taiga's hands and tucked in. 

Kaho budged past her siblings, stealing a slice of mango from Taiga's chopping board and popping it into her mouth; it was cold, sweet and sugary, making her teeth hurt. She grabbed a fistful of ice from a bag in the freezer and plonked the ice cubes in an old water bottle. She tipped the contents of her cold coffee cup into the bottle, shook it and took a sip. At least it was cold on purpose.

"Want one of these?" Taiga asked, "We have time for me to fix you one." 

Kaho wrinkled her nose. Her brother laughed and tipped the ingredients into a blender with a spoonful of yoghurt and three different powdered proteins. She gagged as he turned the blender on, and the pure, delicious mango turned an uninviting luminous green from the seedy kiwi and finely cut pieces of spinach. 

She took a mango from the plastic net bag, and Taiga's knife, cutting the mango in half, and dicing the halves into chunks. She ate the pieces from a single chopstick she took from a drawer. 

Taiga shimmied and swished his hips to the sound of the whirling gears in the blender, a viscous, rancid protein drink coming to be. Kaho laughed and wriggled with him, eating her pieces of mango, the juice trickling down her chin. He laughed at her and continued to dance, keeping one hand on the lid of the blender. When the drink was sufficiently liquified, Taiga stopped dancing and decanted the smoothie into a reusable cup. He sipped it, wrinkled his nose, and had another mouthful, pointing to the door. Kaho nodded, heading to the door and putting her shoes on. 

"So," Taiga said, hopping in his car, and turning the radio down. He put on his glasses and Kaho mimicked pushing glasses up her nose. 

He elbowed her, then started the car, "The other day, Ryota told me the famous Matsuoka Kathen has a son, and he happens to be in your class." 

Kaho rolled her eyes, "We don't know that for sure, Taiga, it's a common enough surname." 

He sighed and pulled onto the main road, "Yeah, okay, but if he is the son of Matsuoka Kathen then he has the game in his bones, in his blood, in his genes. His genes, Kaho!" 

Kaho crossed her arms. If Taiga hadn't been driving, she would have swatted him. Assuming that Naseru was a basketball legacy because of his name was ridiculous, there were tonnes of Matsuokas in Japan, like there were tonnes of Suzukis. Kaho went to judo lessons with three Suzukis, and there was another one in her class, Rantaro, but none of the four weren't related! 

"Your point?" Kaho said. 

Taiga flicked the indicator on and turned left, "My point is that if he joins our team, we are bound to make it to Nationals." 

Kaho rolled her eyes. He'd been in the job for twenty-four hours and he was already planning for a National championship. Had he even seen the team from last year play? Sure, he knew Ryota was good, but one good player does not a National champion make.

"I can't believe you don't have faith in Ryota," Kaho teased. 

"I never said that!" Taiga said, eyes wide. 

"You implied it."

Taiga scowled, driving past the corralled students as they approached the school gates, "He wasn't at try outs yesterday. Nobody called Matsuoka came." 

Kaho shrugged, "I don't know what you expect me to do about that."

He pulled into the staff car park and flicked Kaho in the ear. She scowled at him. 

"You should get him to try out, Kaho. I'll consider him for the team whenever he shows up – he's a legacy."

"You think he's a legacy." 

"Ryota does too!" Taiga protested, leaning out the driver's side window and inputting a code in a small keypad by the car park gates. 

"Even if he is, can't make him do anything," she declared. 

"Sure, you can! You're a girl! Seduce him with your womanly ways." 

Kaho swatted him, got out of the car and slammed the door. She couldn't believe him! Her brother was such a dope – not only was Kaho very much taken, but to suggest his younger sister seduce a boy to get him to play sports? He definitely had a basketball in his skull instead of a brain – maybe Kaho should take him for an MRI scan – maybe then the doctors can tell her whether he is that much of an airhead, or if his brain is deflating. 

She snorted to herself and adjusted her bag on her shoulders, glancing at one of the clocks mounted to the front of the school building. She had ten minutes before class. 

Kaho was sure that her friends would be loitering in the halls, or in one of their classrooms, so she made her way up to the second floor, passing Maki on the way. 

"Morning," she said, "Hey, have you seen Tsumugi?" 

"Tsumugi from 2A?" Kaho asked, brows raised, "Why?"

"I'm looking for her, obviously," Maki replied, rolling her eyes. She brushed past Kaho, crossing her on the stairs, and briskly descending back toward the shoe lockers. 

Kaho watched her go for a moment and swallowed the lump in her throat. She hadn't seem much of Tsumugi, but she never did; she usually went to the library after finishing her food. But she knew Maki did, Maki and her horde, both of whom were notably absent. 

Kaho took a deep breath and kept going up the stairs. The door to 2A was wide open, and from the end of the hallway, Kaho could hear Mamoru's laughter. She made her way inside and greeted her friends. They were huddled around Mamoru and Kikiyo's chairs at the front of the class. Mamoru was on the right, nearer to the door, while Kikiyo was on the left, right next to the window, like where Makoto sat in her class. Mamoru was on his phone, showing the group pictures from his holiday, where he'd gone to Bali. On the screen was a video of a tourist being chased by a bird. Ryota passed it over so she could watch. Kaho snorted as the man stumbled over his flip-flops on the sand. 

"I swear, they're like that everywhere. Bloody things just don't care," Ryota laughed, "Remember when we went to the beach last summer and Kikiyo got mobbed by that seagull."

"Don't remind me, it was big enough to be a pelican," Kikiyo moaned, massaging her temples. She looked rough again, pale and clammy, the bags under her eyes even darker and more pronounced than yesterday. Kaho glanced at the coffee, still undrunk from home and carefully placed it on Kikiyo's desk. 

"What's this for?" she asked, looking up at Kaho. Her eyes were bleary, like she was nodding off in her seat. 

"You look like you might need it," Kaho said. 

Beside her, while Kikiyo was distracted by the cup of iced milky coffee, Mamoru produced a can of vending machine coffee. He slipped it into Kikiyo's school bag, followed by an envelope. A white one, distinctly different from the ones they'd had from their Future Selves. 

Kaho made a face at Mamoru, who turned away, pretending not to notice. 

"Uh, you look like you might need it too, Kaho," Mariah said, rummaging in her shoulder bag. She produced a can of coffee and handed it over, "I figured when I didn't see you on the way up to school that you'd overslept. Grabbed this for you from the convenience store."

"Mariah, you are an angel."

"What did you get me, Mariah?" Ryota said, winking at her. 

Mariah elbowed him in the ribs and leaned on the vacant teacher's desk, "Shut up, Ryota, you never drink vending machine coffee anyway. Not when you can drink 'Pokari'."

Ryota grinned, "I've had two already this morning. Was in the park playing with those twenty somethings that work the night shift down at the fire station at five this morning. They bought me one. Each." 

Mariah sighed, "You and basketball."

"Honestly, Ryota," Kikiyo said, slurping on her coffee, "If you dedicated even half the amount of time you spent on basketball to your studies you would have kicked Tsumugi from the top spot for test scores." 

"Gross, why would I do that?" Ryota laughed, "I'd much rather have some fun, instead of being a tired bag of books like you, Killjoy." 

Kikiyo lowered her head. Mamoru exhaled a shaky breath. 

"You're probably right," Kikiyo said quietly, "Maybe- maybe we should do something today? After school? Cut loose, have fun, like you said Ryota."

Mamoru tensed, eyes flickering to Kaho, "I'll pay." 

"Sweet!" Mariah said, "Bowling? Oh! Can we please go bowling!" 

Mamoru shrugged, "What do you think Kikiyo? Want to go bowling." 

She shrugged, "Can do?" 

He furrowed his brows and sighed, opening his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the warning bell. 

"See you, guys," Mariah said, "Tell us what you want to do at lunch, yeah?" 

Mamoru nodded. Kikyo didn't speak, slurping the dregs of her coffee and putting the reusable cup in Kaho's hands. 

Kaho was the last of the students to leave 2A that shouldn't have been there, crossing the threshold into the hallway, just as someone else stepped into the room. Kaho's eyes widened, the girl walking in was none other than Tsumugi, the best student in the grade. She had cut her hair since the break, going from wearing her hair in a long plait toward the small of her back, to a severe bob that hung by her collarbones. 

"Your hair!" Kaho said, "Tsumugi, it looks amazing!" 

"Thank you," she said quietly, running her hands through the short, silky bob, "I think so too." 

Kaho slipped briskly into the next classroom, where her friends were waiting for her. She came in, empty cup in one hand, school bag in the other, and made it to her seat just as the second bell rang. She slipped into her chair, Hiro Sensei was just behind her. 

"I will pretend I didn't see you straggling Miss Aigawa, if you pretend you didn't see me," Hiro Sensei said, clicking his tongue. 

Kaho nodded and shuffled in her chair, to sit comfortably. Naseru was sitting in front of her, alert and to attention. 

Hiro Sensei had continued wheezy ramblings and nodded to the back door to the class, where a woman was lurking. The class turned to look at her. She had dead, blonde hair, with angry black roots just starting to sprout, and wore a sleek black pencil skirt, a red ruffled blouse and a blazer. 

Hiro Sensei beckoned her to the front of the classroom. She walked across the room, heels clicking with every step. Emi's eyes widened and she raised her hand. 

"Not now, Miss Sato," Hiro Sensei said, his voice cracking. 

He took a long, wheezy breath and wiped his palms on his powder blue dress shirt, already marred with sweat. He pushed his glasses up and rummaged in his leather satchel, retrieving his thermos flask. He knocked back the scalding tea, shuddered and made his way to the centre of the room. The woman stood beside him.

"Good morning, class," Hiro Sensei said, "I will be passing a sheet of paper around to take registration today. We have important matters to discuss."

He gestured to the woman in the red blouse beside him. She nodded genially. 

"This is Officer Ueno from the Hanagawa Police Department," he swallowed the lump in his throat, "Something happened the other night and we - as a necessary means, of course, have consented to Officer Ueno and her team to come in to talk to all the students in the Second Year classes. Lessons will be suspended to accommodate the investigation, in the meantime, we are expecting you to use this unexpected free day as an opportunity to do research into colleges, or something like that. Uh, Officer Ueno?" 

"Right, thank you Mr Hiro. As your teacher said, I am Officer Ueno, my team and I are interviewing every second-year student with reference to an incident that happened on Monday night, the first person we want to talk with is," she took a sheet of paper out of her blazer pocket, "Hikaru. Kobayashi Hikaru."