Chapter 11
The days drifted by like falling sakura petals—soft, fleeting, and calm.
A week had passed since the first day of school. The once unfamiliar classroom of 1-A now buzzed with a steady rhythm. Desks no longer creaked awkwardly when someone shuffled into them, voices no longer hesitated before speaking. Names were becoming easier to remember. Patterns were starting to form.
For Katsuragi Kokoro, things were... surprisingly manageable.
He wasn’t exactly popular—but he wasn’t alone either. The occasional talks with Kenta Yamaguchi, who was always bouncing with ideas for jokes and new video content, slowly became more frequent. Sometimes, Kokoro even found himself laughing at the stupid things Kenta and his two rowdy friends, Murata Genji and Ogawa Minoru from 1-C, pulled off during breaks.
Some of his classmates even started greeting him. A nod here, a quick "yo!" there, or even a "Hey, what game do you play?" during lunch. It was casual, light, and something Kokoro had long thought might never happen again—not since middle school.
The classroom, once a wall of unknown faces, was slowly becoming warmer.
Of course, not everything was dramatically different.
Sayori Kojima still dominated the airspace with her antics, and Fujimoto Riku still tried (and failed) to keep her in check with gruff logic. Hanabusa Mei sat with her usual calm, occasionally chiming in with sharp, witty remarks that surprised even the boys. Kubo Haruki often chatted about his telescope or a new block set he’d ordered online, and Rei—well, Rei was usually napping somewhere.
And then... there was Watanabe Mika.
She kept to herself mostly, surrounded by a quiet grace that seemed untouchable. She’d exchange polite words with anyone who talked to her, and she always smiled gently to the girls who shared a club interest with her. During class, she listened attentively, her white hair falling like silk around her face, and when the bell rang, she’d rise and leave as elegantly as she arrived.
But occasionally—just occasionally—her pale eyes would drift toward Kokoro.