Chapter 98: Prologue – Asamura Yuuta
The cherry blossom avenue was now completely covered in leaves.
As I walked along the narrow street that served as my school route and up the gently winding slope, I could see Suisei High peeking up from beyond the hill.
I glanced at my watch—still plenty of time to make it to the gymnasium before the opening ceremony kicked off. Late or not, I picked up my pace and hurried to the school entrance.
My class would change today, so the first thing I needed to do was check which one I'd landed in. A little ahead of the shoe lockers, students crowded around a large piece of paper stuck to the wall, which listed the names of students in class order.
As someone who had hardly any close friends at school, or rather, especially at school, it was a little nerve-wracking. Up until our second year, Maru had been in the same class as me, so it was relatively easy to feel comfortable in class.
I wouldn't say I'm particularly bothered about feeling lonely, but as a student, there are lots of times where group work is required, and knowing that there's someone there that has your back makes life a whole lot easier at times like that. So, to say that I should come out of my shell a bit and be more friendly with my classmates day-to-day would be a reasonable argument. But then again, sometimes I feel like investing too much energy into relationships isn't worth it.
Well, I do think having a few friends to fall back on during exam season is rather convenient. On the flip side, though, I'm probably just overthinking it all way too much, and Maru would say something sarcastic like, "Your tolerance for loneliness is too damn high."
As the crowd thinned out a little, I slipped into the flock of students and carefully scanned the class roster for my name, starting from the beginning. Since our names were listed in alphabetical order, having "Asamura" as my last name was pretty convenient at times like these. Just by following the list from the top, I was bound to find my name quickly.
Let's see… not in Class 1. Not in Class 2. Not in Class 3, either. I slid my gaze further to the right, and—
Hm?
A golden light danced at the edge of my vision. I instinctively turned to face it and saw a girl with slightly longer bright-colored hair standing to my right. She was frowning slightly, staring intently at the class roster.
Ayase Saki.
A third-year student at Suisei High—and my Stepsister.
My old man and her mother got married last June, and we became step-siblings.
I found myself staring at her for a while. Ayase-san's hair, which used to be cut short, had grown to almost the same length as it was when we first met. She had the same hairstyle and the same appearance... but the impression I get from her now is a far cry from what it was back then. By "different", I don't mean her looks–not her flashy hair color, nor her natural-looking makeup subtle enough not to break any school rules. No, it was her facial expression. Ayase-san hated having her picture taken because she thought her eyes looked intimidating, but it wasn't because of how her face naturally looked. It was probably because she was always tensed up around others, and that tension showed mostly in her face.
My impression of her had changed enough to understand the reason behind this change.
When we first met, she gave off the vibe of a wild animal, always on guard and ready to bite at anything that tried to hurt her—though she'd probably get angry if I said as much to her face. But now, I get why Ayase-san referred to her makeup and clothes as "armaments." I think her wariness stemmed from her distrust in her biological father, who divorced her mother. I, too, had bitter feelings towards one of my biological parents, my mother, who had divorced my old man; so, I could kinda understand where she was coming from. Or maybe it was because we'd been living under the same roof for so long and I'd gradually come to understand her better.
"Asamura-kun."
Suddenly, she turned towards me and spoke.
"Oh, Ayase-san."
"Hm? Sorry, did I surprise you?"
"Nah, not really."
She wasn't entirely wrong—I was a little surprised as we don't usually have overly friendly conversations when we're at school. Also, I felt a little awkward with myself because I'd been staring at her for quite a while.
"We're in the same class this year. Let's get along."
"Huh? ...Huh?"
I turned back to the class roster. I had checked up to Class 3. So, that means… Class 4. Figures. 『Asamura Yuuta』 was printed at the top, right next to『Ayase Saki.』
"Oh. You're right."
"Seriously? Wait, don't tell me you didn't want to be in the same class as me", Ayase-san grumbled, sounding a little peeved.
I rushed to explain, "No, no, it's not like that. I just assumed they didn't usually put family members in the same class."
I didn't know if there was actually a rule like that, but the school knew that Ayase-san and I were family now. I just assumed that they would separate us into different classes.
"That isn't actually a rule, is it?"
Now that she mentioned it, I wasn't so sure anymore.
Sifting through my memories, I remembered that there were twins and cousins in my junior high who had been put together in the same class. It seemed like a challenge just to balance the students' based on their academic abilities and personalities in each class, let alone having to consider their relationships and friendships on top of that as well.
"Now that you mention it, I don't think it is."
"Anyways, looks like I'm not in the same class as Maaya anymore."
"Oh, really?"
"Same goes for you, right?"
"Huh?"
I turned to look at the class roster again. Hmm, let's see... Ah, Maru isn't there. I scanned it again and spotted Maru's name listed under Class 3.
"Maaya's in Class 3."
"So that means Maru's with her, I guess."
With those two together, it was bound to be a formidable class. I don't know in what way, but still.
"Since our classes are next to each other, we'll probably have PE together. But in the third year, there'll be more classes separated by career paths, so it probably doesn't matter as much that we're not all in the same class."
Since the classes we chose varied based on whether we wanted to take science or humanities, or whether we were aiming for a national or private university or not, we'd be separated into different classrooms more often than before.
"Maaya wants to study science."
"Huh?"
Isn't that a bit surprising? Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure Maru was aiming for a science-related field too. Those two might be more alike than I thought.
"She said her dream is to be a mad scientist[1]."
[1: Reference from anime Steins Gate]
"Isn't that from some anime...?"
"Is it? Maybe it was just one of her jokes."
"Maybe."
We both tilted our heads, not really getting it.
"Well, anyway. Let's have a good year together, Asamura-kun."
"Likewise, Ayase-san."
At any rate, we'll be spending a year together in the same classroom at the same school from now on. Simply put, I was pretty chuffed.
As we walked side by side to the opening ceremony, we talked about stuff like that.
There was no one around us anymore. Everyone had already hurried to the gymnasium. That's why we could walk slowly and talk like this.
"So, what should we do?" Ayase-san asked.
"You mean at school?"
We hadn't made it public that we were step-siblings as of yet. We didn't want to attract unnecessary attention or become the topic of weird conversations.
I chose my words carefully, "To be honest, I reckon it's fine to keep things the way they've been. For instance, we should be able to walk around and chat about things such as how we ended up in the same class, like we're doing now."
I suppose it's normal for students to do things like that.
Ayase-san chuckled.
"So pretty much just act like regular classmates, right?"
"Right. It wouldn't be normal to go out of our way to avoid talking."
"I understand," Ayase-san said, nodding.
But still—
Considering Ayase-san's personality, she probably won't be able to talk as easily with me at school as she does at home. And since Maru isn't going to be in the same class as me anymore, it's practically a given that there'll be more times where I won't talk to anyone at school.
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