Transfer Student

--- 3 months after enrollment ---

Komi is currently sitting in class, lunch is still going on and everyone is spending time with their clique, Komi not excluded as she is sitting in her new friend-group.

Tadano proved to be a great help. He helped Komi befriend Osana Najimi and Agari Himiko.

While the 3 of her newly made friends were messing around, Komi was lost in thought. The first weeks with her new friend circle went great, but nowadays, Komi is just spacing out, rarely paying attention.

Komi was mad, worried, and scared. Mad at Akiyama for still not having sent a single update, it's been 3 months since Akiyama's last letter. Worried about his wellbeing and scared about him maybe never replying again.

At the start, she believed that Akiyama will send a letter soon, but the enthusiasm faded after another two weeks of silence.

Having grown increasingly worried, Komi sent a few letters to the home-address of Akiyama, but they all came back. Indicating that no Akiyama lived there anymore.

At that point, Komi had no choice but to wait patiently. Akiyama left no clues to his whereabouts except for "My Grandfather is taking me in", which was also useless as Akiyama left no information about his family, in all the seven years Komi knows him.

Her head is full of Akiyama, until now, Komi was never aware as to how important Akiyama is to her. She is obsessed with a person she hasn't ever met nor talked to except through letters.

Her parents know what is up; however, they can't help. This is an issue Komi has to tackle on her own. Unbeknownst to herself, Komi is lovesick, lovesick for the missing Akiyama.

"OK class, sit down." the teacher, entering the room, declared.

With the cliques now dissolved and every student sitting in their seat, she continued:

"Today we have a new transfer student. Come on in and introduce yourself."

A student with pitch-black hair entered the room.

He was measuring 171 cm, his listless eyes scanning the classroom. His being exuded a certain amount of maturity untypical for his age.

His face could be described as okay, nothing you'd turn around a second time for, but also nothing unpleasant. It was average.

"Hello, my name is Akiyama Shoji, nice to meet you." Akiyama said.

The class was silent, no comical scene of girls going "Kyaaa", or boys grinding their teeth at their new potential rival, after all, who would react so strongly for someone with average looks and a seemingly boring personality?

Not even mentioning that they all secretly admired Komi Shouko, and it wasn't as if this transfer student would flip the class hierarchy around, right? ... Right??

While the class was silent, Komi was vibrating in place, her eyes wide open, staring at this "Akiyama Shoji". 'There is no way, right?' Could it be her Shoji? The Akiyama Shoji she wrote to for over seven years? Or is this a fluke, just someone with the same name? But how many Akiyama Shoji's with the same age could there be all over Japan?

One of the first thoughts racing through her head were, 'Am I looking good?' First, worrying about her looks is something you'd expect from a 15-year-old pubescent high school girl.

Throwing the million thoughts and questions she had aside, she first had to verify that this is indeed her Akiyama. Which in itself had to wait until after school.

--- After school ---

Akiyama was currently packing up his belongings preparing to go home, that at least until a flustered Komi stood before him and stared him down.

"Yes, can I help you?" Akiyama voiced out.

Komi, standing before Akiyama, didn't know how she got here, nor what she should say. She instinctively went up to him.

Resorting to the only reliable way of communication she mastered, the notebook, she wrote:

*Are you Akiyama Shoji?*

'This girl is weird...' Akiyama thought, he has never heard about someone communicating through notebook instead of just talking. Oh, no, wait he has heard about someone doing just that, but it couldn't possibly be her, right? But this is her hometown, close to her home... Akiyama's eyes flashed a weird glint, he had a guess as to what will entail from this conversation.

"... Yes?" Akiyama voiced out a question.

Komi wasn't sure what to do at this point, should she confirm his identity, or should she leave it alone?

What if he is her Akiyama, why is he here and hasn't contacted her yet, has he forgotten her?

Knowing that hesitating won't bring her anywhere, she decides to confirm whether he is truly her Akiyama.

*Akiyama Shoji from Nagaoka, my pen-pal since third grade?* Komi went for the direct approach, if he shows a response that isn't confusion, it's her Akiyama. If not, she'll leave him alone.

"Shouko, I suppose." Akiyama smiled, from the way she behaved he already guessed it was the girl with a communication disorder that saved him all these years ago.

Komi, hearing his response, was elated. She was over the moon, like a dog with two tails, she hasn't even noticed him using her first name, or maybe she just didn't care? Whatever the case may be, it truly was her Akiyama and as quickly as the feeling of happiness came, it went and was replaced with anger.

There are some questions she has to get answered. The past three months he forgot her, made her sick to the stomach, worried her to an extent that she even suffered from insomnia, why, why didn't he send a single letter in all of three months, he should have had enough time to contact her, right?

"Let's go somewhere private, alright?" Akiyama, noticing Komi's mood, suggested.

Komi, also feeling that this shouldn't be discussed in the classroom, agreed.

And thus they went to the rooftop.