“The alarm? Do I have to call Sora already?”

“I’d better get up; I have to get ready for work, too.” 

“Sora! Wake up!” 

“Haaah.... I could really use a nice cup of coffee....” 

“What!?” 

I don’t know if it was a good idea to give her a jolt right after she woke up.

In my defense, it wasn’t intentional.

“Good morning, Mom.” 

I gave her a military salute. 

“S-Sora? You woke up on your own? And this early?”

She was surprised, but her gaze was already fixed on breakfast. 

“Yeah, I can’t count on the bike, so I’ve got a really long walk ahead of me.” 

I scratched my head.

“You made coffee.” 

She was almost moved to tears. 

“I don’t tell you this often enough, but you’re a fantastic son.”

She took my hands. 

“You’re a godsend.”

If only she’d remember that even when I don’t clean my room.

Finally, she sat down at the table. 

“Go ahead and eat; I have to go already.”

“Wait!”

She took a sip of coffee. 

“Don’t you at least want me to drive you?” 

“Don’t worry about it; you should get some more rest.”

I said goodbye to her one last time.

“Everything will be fine today.” 

I told myself that; after all, my mom didn’t know about all that mess.

Everything had to go well...

Yes, it had to...

On the street, something hit me on the head.

“Rain?” 

It started raining. 

“Not this time.” 

I was prepared; I pulled out my weapon: the umbrella. 

Checking the weather forecast saved me.

“Sora: one, rain: zero.”

The rest of the trip went smoothly, and I finally arrived at school. 

I didn’t waste any time; I went straight inside.

I'm so nervous!

My hands were shaking as I put my shoes away.

How should I act around Akari? 

Should I bring up yesterday? Or not?

I walked down the hallway to the classroom. 

"It's now or never!" 

I whispered it—there were too many people around to shout. 

I walked in. 

“Huh?” 

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Everything was just as usual. 

I wonder what I was expecting.

“Sora!” 

“Haru!” 

I joined him at his seat.

I was relieved; everything seemed calm. 

I glanced at Akari—I couldn’t help myself.

She’s here today.

She was surrounded by some of her friends, the same ones from yesterday.

Honestly, I hoped they wouldn’t notice me.

Maybe I was wrong; for a moment, it seemed like Akari was staring at me.

I looked away, almost instinctively.

Damn! Did she see me?

My face flushed like an oven. 

I mean, after everything that happened, can you blame me?

I’m letting myself get worked up over nothing.

I took a deep breath. 

Calm down, I have to stay calm.

“Sora? What the heck are you doing?”

Haru looked at me strangely; he’d been talking to me the whole time. 

“Did you hear what I said?” 

“Sorry.”

I smiled. 

“Could you repeat that… You know… Like, everything?”

Haru almost pouted. 

“I said, are we going to the arcade after school?” 

Those words lit up my eyes. 

“Yes! Absolutely!” 

Few things excited me as much as video games, and I was also really good at them, unlike sports.

All right, class! Everyone to your seats!”

The literature teacher. 

A real stickler.

“We’ll talk about this later,” 

Haru whispered to me, sitting up straight.

“Okay.”

I straightened my back.

Without meaning to, my eyes darted toward Akari again. 

She was there, facing me. 

Our eyes met.

Akari.

I raised my hand to wave at her, but she turned away before she could see me.

Damn it! Then again, why do I care? I never say hi to her anyway!

I pushed the thoughts out of my head, focusing on the lesson.

“Alright, guys, we’re almost done. Now we need the history book—turn to page fifty.” 

“History, huh?” 

I grabbed my backpack. 

I wish I hadn’t. 

I was holding it when it slipped out of my hands. 

“No way.” 

I jumped—only then did I realize the mistake I’d made. 

The magazine slipped out of the backpack. 

How did that get in there?!

I tried to grab it, but it was too late. 

The girl sitting at the desk next to me already had it in her hand. 

BRRINGGG. 

The class was over. 

“Sora, but in this magazine....”

“Akari’s in it!” 

Shut up!

I wanted to scream at her.

Just as I feared, the other girls gathered around.

“Sora! What are you doing with this?!” 

She started flipping through it. 

“Wait, I wasn’t doing anything weird with it!” 

“Nothing weird?! It’s full of girls in bikinis!” 

I think the girls in swimsuits were the least of my problems. 

“It’s not my fault the magazine put those photos in there!” 

“Wait a minute....”

Another girl chimed in; the situation was getting worse, and very quickly. 

“Were you looking for Akari!?” 

“What?!” 

It wasn’t entirely untrue, but not in the way they meant it. 

Haru came over too. 

“Hey, what’s your problem?”

He came to my defense. 

Oh no!

The worst was yet to come. 

Akari approached us.