It was recess. Students were swarming out of classrooms left and right, and soon enough, the hallways were completely filled with laughter and conversations. Some asked each other what they did during summer vacation, and some were planning which club to join later.
Me? I was escaping the pursuit of Kazuki Shihori.
"Haruto~"
Shihori was walking beside me, catching up to my pace quickly, and she whispered my name with her soft voice, sending shivers down my spine. I ignored it and kept increasing my walking speed, weaving my way through the crowded hallway of the second floor, hoping to cut her off using the people. Oh, how my hope was shattered instantly when she was still by my side when I glanced over.
"Haruto~ Stop ignoring me~"
That girl was relentless. She walked closer to me, our shoulders touched, and I felt myself being pushed closer to the wall of the hallway. I could have pushed back, but it would have made her fall, so I decided to just let her do what she wanted. Soon enough, I was against the wall, face to face with her.
"Given up?" Shihori asked, resting both her hands on her hips as she pouted.
"I-uh-I don't know what you're talking about. Have we met before?"
I tried to act dumb and kept looking everywhere but at her eyes. Multiple students walked past us, some of the guys stared at me with hint of jealousy, some of the girls giggled and whispered among each other about what I could assume was my situation.
"You know you can't play dumb with me, Haruto."
Shihori grinned mischievously as she leaned in closer to my face. I could feel her breath on my skin; it was that close. Her big, dark eyes stared straight into my soul, making my body shoot all kinds of warning signals, begging my brain to decide to escape right then and there before I regretted it.
Somehow, I regained my strength, placed a firm grip on both her shoulders, and pushed her away before she got too close for comfort. My face then was a big red mess, I was blushing more and more as time went on.
"Do you have no sense of personal space?!"
"Nope, not when it comes to you, Ha~Ru~To~."
"Shihori-san, don't use my name so casually...and don't make it sound so seductive!"
"Hehe, come on, we go way back. It's fine for me to use yours as well as for you to use mine."
I sighed; it was clear that she would not listen to me.
Kazuki Shihori was my childhood friend. I didn't think we were friends, though. We were more like rivals. Yeah, rivals was the right word. From elementary to middle school, we butted heads in both academic and cultural activities. I have lost count of how many times we shared first place in any contest imaginable.
"How come you are here, Shihori-san. I thought you were in Finland, participating in the Sibelius Violin Competition."
"Well, I have reasons that I refuse to share with you. What about you, I thought you would be at the top of this school since day one. What happened?"
"I also have reason and I will not share with you."
She laughed softly and slipped out of my grasp. Shihori-san took a step back, still too close for comfort but less suffocating than before, folded her arms, and stared at me with a look that lingered longer than I liked. Then, without a word, she turned on her heel and walked back toward our classroom. She glanced back over her shoulder, eyes meeting mine for just a second, an unspoken signal for me to follow.
By the time we reached the classroom, it was empty. The others had already scattered for recess. Shihori-san made her way to her desk and popped open her violin case. Sunlight streamed through the windows, setting the room aglow. It caught the curves of her violin, painting it with golden hues. The wood shimmered like it was alive, almost aflame under the soft light.
A Stradivarius. Not just any, but a legacy instrument passed down through generations of her family.
"I'm surprised you've managed to keep it intact after all those times you brute-forced your way through performances," I teased.
"Shut up, you!" she snapped back, scowling playfully. "Don't question my methods if the sound comes out perfect!"
She nestled the instrument gently between her chin and shoulder, tilting her head slightly to hold it in place. Her right hand reached into the case, fingers curling around the bow with familiar elegance. For a moment, she looked every bit the seasoned professional, her posture, her expression, the grace in her movements. Honestly, she looked more natural holding that violin than any performer I'd ever seen.
"I think you'll understand why I came back here, why I chose this school, after you hear me play," she said quietly. "Will you listen, Haruto?"
The teasing tone from earlier was gone. Her voice was soft now, almost trembling. Sad. Uncertain. And that… that wasn't like her at all.
I nodded. How could I say no when she asked me like that?
She took my silence as a yes and raised the bow. Then, with barely a breath of hesitation, she began to play.
The first note sliced through the air, sharp, fast, intense. Her bow moved like lightning, her fingers dancing across the strings with precision honed from years of practice. It was Vivaldi's "Summer", the first movement, Presto. The room felt suddenly hotter, the atmosphere thick with the fiery energy of her performance. The music consumed everything: the desks, the chalkboard, the air between us, until all that existed was sound and heat and motion.
I closed my eyes, focusing on the melody with an almost unnatural intensity. My hands, resting on the desk, began to move instinctively as if a piano had appeared beneath my fingers. They slid across the surface with practiced precision, playing an invisible accompaniment that synced perfectly with Shihori-san's violin.
"Hehe, I see you still have it in you, Haruto."
She stopped playing and chuckled at the sight of me. Only then did I realize my posture had shifted, my hands positioned exactly like they would be on an actual piano. I'd slipped into a trance, lost in the illusion that we were back on stage again, a duo once more.
"What? Can a guy not immerse himself in music for a few seconds?" I shot back, trying to deflect with a grin.
"He can. But not so much that he ends up giving a perfect accompaniment on a desk."
"Okay! What exactly do you want from me, Shihori-san?" I replied with faux irritation, eager to shift the conversation away from my subconscious performance.
She paused, her smile softening.
"The Sibelius Violin Competition... the organizers decided to host it in Japan this year."
She let the words settle before continuing.
"...And I was hoping you'd be my pianist."
"Nope."
The word came out so fast it startled even me. When I looked up, her expression had already changed; gone was the teasing sparkle in her eyes, replaced by something far more fragile.
"W-What do you mean 'nope'!?"
"I mean I'm not going to accompany you in that competition," I said, trying to stay firm. "Doesn't the competition assign pianists anyway?"
"They do," she admitted. "But I wanted you. We were a team once, even if we pretended to be rivals. All that competitive nonsense... deep down, you know we clicked better than anyone."
"Is that why you came back and enrolled here? Just to recruit an average nobody?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Why are you downplaying yourself so much? What happened to the Haruto who refused to settle for second best? The one who couldn't stand doing anything half-hearted?"
"That is none of your concern! What I choose to do with my life is up to me, and my parents have no issue with it. Why are you so worked up over the fact that I stopped chasing the dream of being the best at everything?!"
"I just wanted to know why! At least give me something, some kind of explanation, even just a hint, so I can understand! Not more questions thrown back at me!"
"I- "
Before the conversation could escalate any further, the bell rang sharply through the hallways, signaling the end of recess. A flood of students returned to the classroom, their chatter filling the space once more.
I slumped into my seat, and Shihori-san followed a moment later, shooting me one last glare before settling into hers. I just sighed and looked away. There was no point in trying to reason with her; she was stubborn to a fault, and my reasons wouldn't make sense to her anyway.
The rest of the school day passed in a blur. I barely remembered what was taught as my mind drifted in and out, looping the earlier conversation. When the final bell rang, I wasted no time packing up my things, hoping to slip out before Shihori-san could corner me again.
But she was already gone.
I glanced around. Her desk was empty. I let out a small sigh of relief, slung my bag over my shoulder, and made my way to my sanctuary: the clubroom.
The infamous Gaming Club.
It was on the second floor, tucked neatly near the stairwell. A surprisingly large room, easily able to fit ten to twelve members at once. To us, it was paradise.
Top-of-the-line PCs. Dual-monitor setups. Ergonomic chairs. Soundproof headphones. A snack vending machine. An energy drink vending machine. We even had four air conditioners, though we were careful not to abuse them. Usually, only two ran at a time unless the room was packed.
I reached the clubroom door and knocked politely before sliding it open.
An arctic blast hit me in the face.
It was like Antarctica itself had taken up residence inside the room. My entire body shivered as goosebumps shot across my skin.
"I told you all to only turn on two!"
I stormed into the room and shut the door behind me, making sure no more cold air escaped. If the teachers found out we were abusing the school's electricity like this, we'd be shut down.
"Oh! Hey, chief! Sorry, it was just so hot. Can you make an exception today?"
A junior, lounging comfortably at one of the PCs, turned around and waved at me with a sheepish grin. He tried to brush it off casually, but his excuse wasn't even a good one.
"No means no! You want the other clubs, or worse, the teachers, to have another reason to vote for our disbandment?"
I growled and marched over to the remote control, switching off two of the four air conditioners and raising the temperature on the remaining ones. The freezing air gradually subsided into something tolerable.
"I swear, if it weren't for your gaming skills, I would've kicked you out of this club so fast, Kanata."
Kanata Shimizu. First-year student. A prodigy with a gamepad. Before he even set foot in this school, he was already known in the regional competitive scene, ranked top 50 globally in multiple games. Give him any new release, and within a day or two, he'd be playing like he was born to do it.
He had short, messy hair: red this week, sometimes blue, occasionally silver. Never it's natural black. Small in stature, he could curl up in a gaming chair like a cat and sleep through anything. Snarky, egotistical, and a sore loser to the core.
"Haha! That's exactly why I'm abusing that fact!" Kanata laughed, leaning back even farther in his chair.
"Whatever. How's progress in the game?"
"Oh? You mean the new RPG? I'm already on the rankings board, not too far in yet, though." He jerked his chin toward his dual monitors. One screen showed the online leaderboard, where his in-game name, KBoss, sat proudly at rank 100.
"At least you didn't waste your summer being an extrovert," I muttered, settling into the PC at the corner of the room.
"The vice principal needs a status report for each club member soon. We all have to be ranked at least in the top 80 of whatever game we're focusing on by the end of August, which means two weeks."
"Doable. Not to worry," Kanata replied confidently. "Any news on the Rebellion Rise tournament?"
"Nothing definite yet. Apparently, there was an issue with the event hall they booked, something about it not meeting safety standards. So they've postponed it. We should get an official update by early September."
"By the way..." Kanata turned to me, that annoying grin spreading across his very punchable face. "I heard you've already gotten real cozy with the new senpai."
"What are you blabbering about?" I asked, already knowing what he meant.
"Oh, you know, the new gorgeous senpai everyone's been drooling over all day…" He leaned closer, voice thick with mischief. "The violin prodigy, blonde hair with pink highlights. Word is, people saw you and her getting intimate in the hallway. And then she played for you. Alone. In the classroom."
"…"
"Aww, cat got your tongue?" Kanata grinned wider, clearly enjoying himself. My silence only gave more weight to the gossip.
"None of it is your concern," I snapped. "Now get your mind back in the game, brat!"
The clubroom door slid open, and in walked two slender figures. Without so much as a greeting, they casually made their way to their respective PCs and sat down like it was their own home.
"Uh… nice to see you two again, Hizashi-senpai, Okasaki-senpai."
"Nice to see you again too, Haruto~," Okasaki-senpai replied with a big smile on her face.
"Uh-huh. Same," Hizashi-senpai muttered, barely glancing my way before locking his eyes onto the monitors in front of him.
Hirumi Okasaki and Yamahito Hizashi, one of the most iconic couples in Hanamizu High's third year. Hizashi-senpai: handsome, sharp, a top scorer, and a borderline perfectionist. Okasaki-senpai: effortlessly beautiful, a fashion genius with the talent to rival top-tier designers, if she ever cared enough to actually compete. Her laid-back, chaotic lifestyle was a sharp contrast to his hyper-organized one. But somehow, the universe conspired to make them work, and now they were also one of the deadliest gaming duos known to mankind.
"How was your trip to Venice, senpais?" I asked, not expecting much of a reply.
"Oh, it was lovely, Haruto~. The boat rides, the candlelit dinners, the cafés and bakeries… absolutely magical~" Okasaki-senpai began gushing with a dreamy expression. "And the fashion show? Fabulous~ Everyone kept asking when I'd mass-produce my designs. Mass-produce, can you believe that? Turning a masterpiece into fast fashion- how awful does that sound? Don't you agree, Yamahito-kun?"
"Yes, yes, very awful. Do you mind? I'm calculating probabilities right now. I'll dote on you later, okay, dear?" Hizashi-senpai responded dryly, fingers flying over a calculator on his desk, eyes laser-focused on a spreadsheet while his lips muttered formulas nonstop.
"Hehe~ Alright," Okasaki-senpai giggled, unfazed, and turned back to her screen, already sketching something new in her design program.
No other members showed up afterward. A few hours later, the bell rang one last time, signaling that all club activities had to stop for the day. When I glanced at the clock, it was already five in the afternoon.
I quickly said goodbye to the remaining three, locked the clubroom door carefully, and made my way to the teacher's office to return the keys.
Right outside the office, I spotted Katsui stepping out, drenched in sweat and panting like he'd just finished a marathon.
"Hard work again today?" I asked as I reached the door, standing next to him.
"Haha! Yeah, everyone was so fired up that we ended up playing match after match. I swear, by the end, my body was moving on autopilot; I was too tired to think!"
"Wait for me, alright? Just need to drop off the keys. Be back in a sec."
"Alright."