Sorato Hideki had been attending Fuurin Gakuen, the sole high-school remaining in the sleepy town of Midorioka, for nearly three weeks.   Though his first week had been a tumultuous one, he was slowly settling in.

His childhood had been an unstable one.  Though his father never directly abused him, and it would be difficult for Hideki to claim neglect with how plentifully his father provided for him, he was never able to lay down roots or feel ‘at ease’ anywhere.  At any given time, his father might take a job offer, or start a relationship with a new woman, and Hideki would be expected to pick up his entire life and move somewhere else.  Being told he’d go and live with an extended family member he’d never heard of was even further outside of Hideki’s comfort zone than he’d expected, but he was finding life with his ‘Auntie Shion’ to be an unexpectedly pleasant one.

It was a sunny morning in June, and while most of the other students were tiredly shuffling to school, Hideki arrived chipper and wide awake.  He started his day hours earlier with a jog, a shower, and cooking breakfast, so the walk to school wasn’t as jarring to his senses as someone who had just rolled out of bed.

His first stop of the day was the shoe lockers.  To keep the school clean, none of the students wore their “outside shoes” into the school, but changed into their school shoes when they arrived.  He opened his locker and paused, as his eyes settled on a small pink envelope tucked between his white tennis shoes.   Hideki looked around a moment, to see if anyone was watching him, before he pulled the envelope out and looked at it.

It was a thick, high quality pink parchment, held shut with a red heart sticker.   There was no question, looking at it from the outside, what the contents would be.

“Your first?” a voice asked.

Hideki was startled, and his head snapped to the side to see a girl standing at the shoe locker next to his.

She was an almost breathtakingly pretty girl.  Her hair fell in soft waves around her face, with streaks of brown running through curls of black.   At first, he thought she was wearing makeup, the way she peered up from under her dark lashes, but he soon realized the only unnatural thing was the faint gloss across her lips.

“Your first confession?” she asked again, smirking.

Hideki blinked, then looked at the envelope, before saying with a small smirk on his own lips, “Kind of.   It’s the first one since I moved to Midorioka.”

“Welcome, then,” she said with a small smile, “I’m Tomo Madoka.   I hope Midorioka is treating you well.”

“Sorato Hideki,” he replied, smiling back at her, “I’m used to moving around a lot and having to get used to new cities and new schools, but I’m not used to making friends as quickly as I have been.”

“I’m glad,” said Madoka, “So are you going to open it or… Do you already have some idea who it’s from?”

Hideki looked at the letter for a moment before saying, “I want to wait, and open it later when I can take my time.  I don’t think I know anyone who would make a confession, that I’d reciprocate feelings for… But if a girl took the time to write a letter like this, I at least owe her my full attention.”

Madoka looked surprised, before slowly smiling, and said, “That’s actually very sweet of you.  Too many people these days are careless with other people’s hearts and feelings.”

When Madoka opened her own locker, a handful of pastel envelopes and folded letters fell out on the floor, scattering at her feet.  Some were tied with ribbons, some were decorated with stickers, and some had elegant calligraphy on the outside addressed to her.  She stood there for a moment, before kneeling down to quietly gather the envelopes.  She stacked them back up, and tucked them into her bag, before retrieving her school shoes.

‘That’s a lot of letters,’ Hideki thought, staring as he watcher her collect them, ‘I almost want to tease her back, but…’

After changing shoes, Madoka put her brown loafers back in the locker, before bowing to Hideki and quietly excusing herself, and turning to leave for class.

Hideki watched her walk away, thinking to himself, ‘She doesn’t look happy atall.’

Hideki’s day carried on like most others, with homeroom announcements, and four classes before lunch.  During lunch, he reached for his bag, before seeing a bento placed on the desk in front of him.  He slowly grinned and said, “You don’t have to do this every time.”

“I like to,” said Suu, turned around in her seat ahead of him, “You like my food, don’t you?”

“Of course I love your food!” said Hideki, as he opened the densely packed bento.

Suu smiled, her chubby cheeks curved and flushed, and said, “Then I like cooking for you!”

“Still,” Hideki said, picking up a finger sandwich, “I don’t want to feel like I’m taking advantage of your generosity.  You’ve had to deal with enough ‘fake friends’ before.”

Suu looked down, a bit shyly, and said, “The difference was, you’re always grateful, and you never ask… You or Fumi-chan.”

“I’m glad I‘m not entirely left out as a third-wheel,” said Fumi as she approached with her own bento in one hand, pulling her chair to Hideki’s desk.

Suu’s face slowly turned red as she stammered, “Wh-what does that mean?”

“You’re entirely unforgettable, Fumi-chan,” said Hideki, “Between the fact you boss around the entire class, or pretend to be more mature than everyone else around you…”

Fumi glared daggers at Hideki, who simply grinned as he ate.  Suu, meanwhile, looked absolutely horrified.  She worriedly looked back and forth between the two of them, before saying, “P-Please don’t fight!”

Hideki and Fumi both looked at Suu, confused.   Finally, Hideki said, “We’re not going to fight, Suu-chan.  Sometimes friends pick on each other.”

“Boys are like that sometimes,” said Fumi, “Hideki-kun doesn’t know how to talk to girls.”

Hideki’s eye twitched, and he resumed eating his lunch.

By the time classes ended, Hideki was gathering his book and pencils back into his bag, when he noticed the desk behind him, which had stayed empty all day.

“Hey, Suu-chan?” asked Hideki.

“Mm?” asked Suu, looking up from her bags, “What is it?”

Hideki looked at the empty desk, before looking at her and saying, “Kazuo-kun never showed up for school today.  Nara-sensei called for him, which means his parents didn’t call in with an excuse.  Have you heard if he’s sick?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t really know,” she said, shaking her head, “I don’t really talk to Kazuo-kun, and he doesn’t really talk to anyone else either… But I went to middle school with him, and it was pretty normal for him to miss days here and there.  Come to think of it, he was gone for a week or so, around this time last year...”

Hideki looked at the empty desk, and asked, “So someone just misses class unannounced and nobody is concerned?”

“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Suu said with a soft sigh, “It’s more like… Kazuo-kun is kind of like a porcupine.  The closer someone tries to get to him, the more he bristles up, the sharper his words.  Kazuo-kun only keeps one or two friends, I think.”

“On one hand, that’s kind of sad,” said Hideki, “On the other hand, it sounds like it’s his own choice, too, so I can't fault him for that.   Sometimes all you need is one or two good friends anyway.”

Suu smiled softly at Hideki, before gathering up her bag and going with him to meet Fumi by the door.

Since their harrowing event several weeks earlier, Hideki, Suu, and Fumi had grown close.  They ate lunch together every day, and on the exception of days where Fumi had activities with the newspaper club, they walked together to Fumi’s bus stop, and then Suu’s apartment, before Hideki continued home.

Hideki had become accustomed to his Aunt Shion not being home when he got in from school.   She worked long, irregular hours, and overtime seemed to be the norm.   Nonetheless, Hideki started on cooking dinner, and had it ready by the time she came home.

That evening, when Hideki finished his homework, he sat at his desk for a quiet moment before reaching into his book bag and pulling out the small pink envelope.   He turned it over in his hands a couple of times, before gently sliding a finger under the fold to break the adhesive under the red heart sticker, without tearing anything.  On the inside, he saw a piece of folded powder-blue paper.   He took a deep breath before he pulled it out, and opened it.

Dear Sorato-kun,
You don’t know me, but I hope that can change. I’ve noticed you since you first transferred to Fuurin Gakuen.   I wanted to tell you that I like you, and I hope you’ll accept my feelings.  I’m sorry for being too shy to tell you in person, but I was hoping that next Monday we could meet by the old dojo after school and talk.
~ Kobayashi Ami

Hideki read the letter a few times over, pouring over the pretty handwriting and the perfection of the paper.   It was clear that whoever wrote it had put a great deal of time and effort into it, but the thought of ‘whoever wrote’ it was a concerning one for him; he hadn’t recalled meeting a Kobayashi Ami.  The idea of getting a confession note from a stranger wasn’t uncommon, and it had happened before, but something about it didn’t set well with him.

‘Next monday by the dojo,’ Hideki thought, ‘I’ve never been settled anywherelong enough to have an actual girlfriend, though I don’t know how long I’ll be in Midorioka before my dad uproots me again… At least I have a week to think over what I want to say to her.’