The Days We Shared

As the young man waited for the bus to arrive, he stood idly with his head lowered while people chatted around him.

Suddenly, he heard a voice.

"Um... could you move a bit?"

He looked up to see a girl around his age. Judging by her uniform, she was also heading to Kyoto Public High School.

Startled, he quickly stepped aside to make room for her.

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"No problem."

The rest of the journey went about how anyone would expect.

While everyone else chatted with one another, he simply stood there, trying his best to fall asleep.

"Next stop, Kyoto Public High School!"

His eyes snapped open.

Without another thought, he stepped off the bus and walked toward the school gates, feeling every random glance and quiet giggle from the students around him.

Guess I'm imagining things...

He made his way over to the class assignment board and searched through the list until he found his name.

Class 1-A.

He headed toward the classroom, entered, and found his seat.

Last row.

Right side.

Next to the window.

Perfect.

He dropped his bag beside his desk and immediately rested his head on it, preparing for a nap.

"...Oh? You're a first-year too?"

He slowly lifted his head.

It was the same girl from the bus.

"...What do you want?"

His sleepy eyes narrowed.

"Just... leave me alone."

"Ohh?"

She tilted her head with a grin.

"You're annoyed? My bad. Didn't know you were the grumpy type."

He tapped his thumb against the desk before giving her an exhausted glare.

Then he quietly laid his head back down.

"Fine, fine."

She raised both hands.

"I'll leave you alone."

Hmm... Was I too grumpy with her?

Nah... probably not.

He managed to get a short nap before the school bell rang.

The sound jolted him awake.

As he lifted his head—

"...!"

He nearly jumped out of his seat.

The girl was leaning way too close to him.

"The hell?! What do you want?"

"Hmm..."

She blinked before finally noticing the distance between them.

"Ohhh..."

She awkwardly leaned back.

"My bad."

She rested one hand on his desk.

"You know..."

"You remind me of someone I knew back in elementary school."

"I think his name started with an A..."

"...Something like Aki?"

"I don't really remember."

"But I do remember how he acted."

"In fact, it's pretty hard to forget."

"He was always super energetic and talked about the most random things."

"...But whenever he got annoyed..."

She pointed at him.

"He acted exactly like you."

He stared at her blankly.

"...I'm honored, I guess."

A small pause.

"Now go away."

She opened her mouth to keep bothering him—

But before she could say another word, the classroom door slid open.

The teacher walked in.

The teacher placed his bag on the desk before casually looking around the classroom.

"Welcome to Class 1-A."

"My name's Tanaka. You can call me Tanaka or Sensei—either one's fine."

"I'll be your homeroom teacher for this academic year."

"I'm thirty-five years old..."

He paused for a moment before shrugging.

"So..."

"Do you all want to introduce yourselves in front of the class, or would you rather keep things quiet?"

...

Silence.

Tanaka scratched the back of his head.

"You know, you can discuss it with each other."

"Just don't get me into trouble."

The classroom immediately filled with quiet conversations.

After a few minutes, everyone returned to their seats.

"Alright then."

"How many of you want introductions at the front?"

Fourteen students raised their hands.

"Okay..."

Tanaka nodded before looking at the rest of the class.

"What about the quiet ones?"

Sixteen hands slowly went up.

"Hmm."

"Looks like the quiet option wins."

"So I won't force anyone to come up to the front."

He sighed dramatically.

"...Sadly."

He muttered under his breath.

"I wanted to see the jokes."

A few students couldn't help but chuckle.

"Anyway, it's the first day, so we won't be covering any chapters."

"Classes will end at twelve-thirty today."

"Until then..."

He lazily dropped into the teacher's chair.

"...Try not to burn the school down."

The classroom fell silent.

A second later, Tanaka suddenly sat upright.

"Attendance!"

"I nearly forgot attendance."

He grabbed the attendance book and flipped it open.

"Let's see..."

One by one, names echoed throughout the room.

"Akira Aizawa."

Akira lazily raised one hand without lifting his head completely.

"Here."

Tanaka nodded and continued reading.

Several names later—

"Rin Asakura."

The girl from the bus stood up.

"Here!"

Akira glanced toward her before looking away.

Rin...

That name feels... familiar.

At almost the exact same moment—

Rin stole a glance toward Akira.

Wait...

His name's Akira...

And he acts almost exactly like that idiot...

...No way.

A Few Hours Later

It was snack break.

Naturally...

Akira was asleep again.

"Yo, Akira."

A familiar voice interrupted his peaceful nap.

"Whatcha doing?"

Without lifting his head from the desk, he groaned.

"Shuuuut uuuup..."

"I'm trying to sleep."

Rin dragged a nearby chair over and sat beside him.

"I don't know why..."

"...But I feel like I've seen you somewhere before."

"Which elementary school did you go to?"

"Why do you want to know?"

His voice was still muffled beneath his folded arms.

"...Are you deaf?"

"I literally just told you."

"I feel like I've seen you before."

"So..."

She leaned in slightly.

"Which elementary school?"

Akira sighed.

"Uh..."

"I think Kyoto Elementary..."

"...Maybe."

Rin blinked.

"What do you mean, maybe?"

"I went there too, you know."

"Good for you, I guess."

He didn't even move.

"But I'd really appreciate it if you went away."

Rin ignored him completely.

"So?"

"Do you remember anyone from there?"

Akira slowly lifted his head and stared at her with complete disbelief.

"...And apparently I'm the deaf one."

He sighed again.

"But if answering makes you leave..."

"...Fine."

"There was this one girl—"

"Oooooh."

Rin grinned.

"Spicy."

"Wha—"

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Anyway..."

"She'd listen to literally anything I talked about."

"I could ramble about the most random things, and she'd just sit there listening."

Rin's smile slowly disappeared.

"...Wait."

"You sound exactly like the idiot I knew in elementary school."

"Were you... really energetic back then?"

Akira rubbed his eyes in annoyance.

"...Yeah."

"I talked a lot."

Rin froze.

The pieces slowly came together.

Her arms dropped to her sides.

She stared at him for a few seconds.

Then pointed straight at his face.

"You..."

"You idiot."

"The girl you kept talking to..."

"...Was me."

Akira blinked.

"...What?"

Before Akira could process what she'd just said—

"Yo, Rin~"

Another girl's voice called out from the classroom door.

A blonde girl stood there with a bright grin on her face. Beside her was another girl with short black hair, quietly standing with her hands behind her back.

The blonde looked between Akira and Rin.

"...Waittt..."

She narrowed her eyes dramatically.

"Did I just interrupt a confession?"

Rin clicked her tongue and turned toward her.

"Mika..."

"What do you want?"

Mika placed a hand on her chest.

"Ouch."

"That's how you greet your best friend?"

"It's snack break."

"Come on, let's go have some fun."

She pointed at the girl beside her.

"Don't become a shut-in like Yui."

The black-haired girl frowned.

"...I'm not a shut-in."

"Sureeeee."

Mika dragged out the word with a smug smile.

"Keep telling yourself that."

She looked back at Rin.

"Now come on."

Rin let out a quiet sigh.

She looked back at Akira for a brief moment before standing up.

"...We'll continue this later."

"Huh?"

Before Akira could ask what she meant, Mika had already grabbed Rin by the wrist.

"C'mon!"

The two of them walked out of the classroom.

Yui gave Akira a small nod before quietly following after them.

The classroom gradually returned to its usual noise.

Akira stared at the doorway for a few seconds before letting out a tired sigh.

Can it really be her...?

The girl from elementary school...?

...And even if it is...

Why am I thinking about it this much?

He scratched the back of his head.

"...Whatever."

With a dull thud, he dropped his head back onto the desk.

If there was one thing Akira was good at...

It was sleeping.

Within moments—

He was asleep again.