ONE DAY, ON A ROOF

“So then, like, Haruka ate the entire thing! His doctor told him to knock it off and stuff, but he was all, like, ‘Oh, it’s fine, it really tastes good, so…’”

Takane paused to sigh, obviously still in a huff over it.

The breeze felt good up here, on the roof, in the early afternoon.

The concrete floor beneath us was slightly warm to the touch, under the bright midspring sun.

It had been around ten minutes since I had sat down and begun talking to Takane.

“Ha-ha-ha! He’s always a handful for you, isn’t he, Takane?”

Takane furrowed her brows at my innocent reply. “Ugghh, just talking about it makes me angry all over again.”

She was a sophomore at this high school, part of the special-ed program.

Her favorite food was simmered yellowtail with radish. Her least favorite was tomatoes.

She was a gifted gamer, too. That served as both her regular hobby and her daily addiction.

She was an only child, living with her grandmother; her parents were apparently working overseas somewhere.

But among all of those unique personality traits, the one that always stuck out the most was how constantly irritated she was.

Even now, although her complaint was hardly anything serious, her body language indicated extreme annoyance.

If it irks her that much, why does she even have to talk about it? That was my honest take.

But I suppose it was the way she stuck to that habit that made her…more innocent—girlish, if you will—than she would’ve been otherwise.

There was no hiding the fact that Takane had a thing for Haruka, a guy she went to class with.

She hadn’t officially declared that herself yet, but picking up on it was easy when she started nearly every conversation with “I can’t believe what Haruka did!”

From that, I had to surmise that Takane’s constant moaning was her way of expressing her affinity for the boy.

If I found myself saying something like, “Oh man, that dude Haruka’s the worst,” who knows what kind of wrath that could trigger. That was drama I didn’t need in my life.

That’s what I always strove for: a life without drama. One where I never got in the way of anyone.

And that was always what I had to keep in mind during conversations like these. Going to this school, it was a must.

“He’s incredibly late, though, isn’t he? Geez. How long does it take for someone to go out and buy lunch?”

“Well…maybe the cafeteria’s really crowded or something.”

“Yeah, suuuure,” Takane snorted. She never accepted anything at face value. It was vicious.

Well, not that I have much right to judge.

As she stared at the metal door separating the roof level from the stairway leading up to it, Takane opened her mouth, as if suddenly remembering something.

“…Oh. Hey, while nobody else is around, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Well…um, maybe this is kinda weird, all of a sudden…”

Takane’s eyes drifted into space.

What was it? More of her mindless complaining?

“…Is there anyone you…like, or whatever, Ayano?”

The question threw me a little. From her, it was surprising.

I didn’t think Takane was even sensitive to that sort of thing, really.

“Anyone I like? That’s kind of sudden.”

“Huh?! Oh! Is it? I mean, you don’t have to say if you don’t want to! Ha-ha-ha!”

Takane flailed her hands a little, her voice ratcheting up in tone.

Why was she in such a panic over my response? This is ridiculous.

“No, no, it’s totally fine,” I replied. “I don’t…really have anyone, so…”

Her hands stopped in midair, and her eyes opened wide.

“Wh-what? Is it that weird to you?” I hedged.

“N-no, no…”

Takane followed that up with a distracted giggle or two. From that act, it was pretty clear what kind of response she wanted from me.

She probably wanted me to say that I liked him.

…Pondering over that depressed me a little.

I almost wanted to stand up and head home right that moment, even. Not that I could. I tried my best to change the subject.

“He is pretty late, though, isn’t he? Hopefully he’ll be back soon…”

“Oh, totally!” Takane took the bait. “What the heck is he doing? I’m, like, super-hungry!”

…How much longer do I have to wait for them to bring lunch back up for us?

Then I would have to watch every word I uttered to this girl. What a bother…

And his face, in particular. I didn’t want to see it, if I could help it.

Ever since the first time I met him, in fact. Something about it just made me want to smack him.

Just then, we heard the door latch clank open.

“Hey! Sorry we’re so late ’n everything! Bet you’re hungry, huh?”

“Well, what do you expect? It was a madhouse down there.”

Two voices boomed out from the doorway.

They were quicker than I expected, but oh well. Just keep enjoying the day. No roadblocks, no obstacles. No interference.

With a light breath, I gave the brightest smile I could and said:

“Welcome back, Shintaro.”