Chapter 4 Part II

"It's hot."

Our school didn't change uniforms with the seasons, so we had to wear blazers throughout the year. The reason was simple: every building came equipped with heating and cooling systems. The heat was only an issue going to and from school. The morning commute. Sweat had begun to trickle down my back in the few minutes that it took to get from the dorms to school.

I took refuge from the heat inside, where the nice, cool air greeted me. It must have been hell for the students with morning practice. Those boys and girls all gathered around the classroom's source of the cool air. From an outsider's perspective, it was like bugs flitting about a light bulb. Perhaps that was kind of a bad example.

"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun."

Hirata called to me, his expression as fresh and friendly as usual. The sweet yet subtle fragrance of flowers always emanated from him. If I were a girl, I'd probably unintentionally shriek, "Hold me!"

"Kushida-san told me about it yesterday. She said that you found the witness. Sakura-san."

Hirata looked over at Sakura's seat. She hadn't yet arrived.

"Are you going to talk to Sakura?" I asked.

"Me? No. I'm going to greet her, that's all. I've wanted to talk to her since she's always by herself, but as a guy I don't want to come off as forceful or anything. Also, if I asked Karuizawa-san to talk with her, that might cause a few problems."

A conversation between the super assertive Karuizawa and Sakura-san was difficult to imagine.

"I think that for the time being, we'll just wait for more information from Kushida-san."

"That sounds great, but why are you talking to me? Talking to Ike or Yamauchi would be better," I said.

There was no real reason for him to tell me any of this. I wasn't really part of the team.

"Not for any particular reason. I guess it's because you have a connection to Horikita-san. She doesn't talk to anyone except for you, so I thought you'd pass it along."

"I see."

Was that my only area of expertise? Hirata smiled, agreeably. If I were a girl, I would have gone from zero to 100 right there, and my heart would have been beating out of my chest.

"Oh, that reminds me. If you're up for it, we should hang out sometime soon. What do you think?"

Hey, hey, don't tell me that you're not satisfied with girls anymore and are looking to make my heart throb. If I, a known recluse, accepted the hero's invitation without due consideration, that would be a big problem.

"Sure. It should be fine, I guess."

Ahh, I said the exact opposite of what I'd been thinking. Damn, curse my terrible mouth. I definitely hadn't been waiting for Hirata to invite me to hang out or anything. Yeah, that's right. This is what's wrong with the Japanese people: we are incapable of saying 'no,' so we have to respond in a roundabout way when invited out.

"I'm sorry. Do you not really want to?" Hirata sensed my unease.

"No, no, I'll go. I definitely want to," I answered, feeling a little disgusted with myself. I tried to act like a proud guy, but I couldn't help actually wanting to go.

"Are you fine with my girlfriend coming, too?"

"Hmm? Oh, Karuizawa-san? That's okay."

My response was surprisingly quick. Well, there was a wide variety of "types" of couples. Since they still called each other by their surnames, they probably weren't that close yet. I reluctantly parted from Hirata, and fiddled with my cell phone while I waited for homeroom to begin. Then, I noticed that Sakura was in her seat.

She wasn't doing anything. She just seemed to be sitting at her desk, killing time. I wondered just what kind of student Sakura was. In the three months that I'd been at this school, I knew nothing about her apart from her surname. It probably wasn't just me, either. The rest of the class probably had no clue.

Kushida and Hirata were proactive and able to open up to just about anyone. Horikita didn't feel the agony of solitude. So what about Sakura? Did she like being alone, like Horikita? Or was she suffering because she didn't know how to connect with people, like me? Those were the mysteries that Kushida was supposedly going to unravel for us.