"What terrible weather."
Lucas stood outside his house, staring up at the gloomy sky. Rain had started to fall, and he felt a little disheartened.
But so what? He still couldn't escape the clutches of school.
He pulled out his bicycle, got on, put on his raincoat, and headed toward school.
Today was his first day of high school.
Back in the third year of junior high (which refers to the final year of middle school in Japan—viewers of the anime will know), he had never once considered studying seriously. He had spent almost all his time playing video games. However, when the graduation exam results came out, he had surprisingly scored above the high school acceptance line.
Rather than happy, he felt irritated.
Lucas pedaled quickly, reaching his top speed. There were fewer people on the road now, so he could ride freely without worrying.
But accidents always happen when you least expect them.
There was a girl walking ahead of him with her head down—pink-haired. At his current speed, if he tried to brake or swerve suddenly, he'd be thrown off the bike completely.
"Girl in front, move out of the way!"
Lucas shouted at the top of his lungs.
But he was getting closer and closer to the pink-haired girl, and she didn't react at all.
Panic swelled inside him.
"Damn it," Lucas cursed inwardly.
In the next second, he leaped off the bicycle, pulling the girl out of harm's way.
But the force of the fall slammed him to the ground.
Only then did the pink-haired girl snap out of her daze.
"W-What just happened…"
"Don't worry about that. Are you hurt…?"
Lucas winced as he spoke, enduring the pain.
"N-No…"
The pink-haired girl didn't know how to respond. Maybe this was the only thing she could say.
After all, her deep-rooted fear of social interaction had been there since childhood.
"…That's good."
Lucas gave a relieved smile.
That had been close. If he hadn't assumed no one would be on the road, he wouldn't have ridden so fast.
If he had just thought it through, none of this would have happened.
It was fine for him to get hurt. But he didn't want anyone else getting hurt because of him.
"Then… are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Lucas slowly stood up, pulled two tissues from his pocket, and handed one over.
"Here, use this to wipe the dust off your face."
"Thanks…"
The pink-haired girl accepted the tissue.
Lucas used the other one to wipe the blood off his arms and legs from the fall.
Then he looked at her again—something about her seemed familiar.
Same middle school? Same class, maybe?
Wait… her name's… Goto Ichiji? No—Goto Hitori. Yeah, that's it.
"Can I ask you something?"
The pink-haired girl stiffened and turned toward him like a machine creaking to life.
"…Yes?"
"Oh, then I was right. I'm Lucas. We were in the same class in our third year of junior high."
"Lucas…?"
Goto Hitori blinked, stunned.
She had barely interacted with anyone in junior high.
But the name "Lucas" did sound familiar.
Back then, the person she was most afraid of in class had been Lucas.
In her mind, he was someone loud, hard to deal with—always the type to talk back to the teacher during lessons.
"Hey, what's wrong, Goto-san?"
Lucas tilted his head, confused. He knew she'd been a loner in school and always seemed distant—but she wasn't even replying?
"N-Nothing…"
Goto replied instinctively. Her voice sounded like she'd been forced to speak by a demon.
"In that case, you must be heading to school too. From the route, looks like we're going to the same high school."
"Y-Yeah. I'm going to Shuuka High School…"
"Perfect! That's my school too. Let's go together."
"O-Okay… okay."
Ahhh, why did I agree to that?!
"Then, give me your schoolbag. I'll carry it for you and hand it over when we get to school."
"T-That's not necessary."
Goto refused, flustered.
It felt far too rude to accept help from someone she barely knew.
But Lucas crouched down, slung his own bag onto his back, then picked up hers too.
"…Whoa, Goto-san, why is your bag so heavy?!"
"There's a guitar in it…"
Goto's voice grew even quieter.
"Guitar?! How does that even fit in such a small bag?!"
Lucas glanced at her bag, then his. They were about the same size. How could a guitar possibly fit in there?
"Because… I like music. I wanted to find someone at school who liked music too…"
"I see. Well, I hope you find someone. But now's not the time to talk—we're gonna be late!"
Lucas glanced at his watch.
The next moment, he grabbed Goto's wrist and took off running toward the school.
"Ah…?"
Goto wanted to break free, but she didn't have the willpower to try.
Lucas-kun… I really don't know how to talk to you…!