Vast, blue darkness. Raichi tried looking up, seeing the light coming from the surface above. Around him, gradiating shades of dark and light blue. And below him, a shade of blue so dark it could swallow him whole.

  Scariest of all, he was encased in a see-through box, or rather, a maze, surrounded by the ocean. Paths were scattered around him, and he could see through them like he was in an ant house.

  ''Helloo?! Anyone there?''

  He called out. But nobody came. His voice bounced off the walls of the empty maze.

  I've gotta get outta here.

  Before panic started settling in, he stumbled through the turns, remembering to stick to the right wall.

  Given that he was underwater, the eerie quiet was creeping into the confined space.

  Sounds of tapping were coming from the walls. The fish caused it by touching the glass outside.

  The fish were typical fish for the most part, except for the occasional shark.

  He was used to having eyes on him, but having fish do the same was more than unsettling.

  What's that?

  Into the distance, Raichi spotted a vibrant light, emitted from somewhere inside the glass maze. He started sprinting in its direction.

  Going further, the maze's paths changed their altitude when necessary.

  The path he followed led him up and down twice, left and right twice, in that order. And in front of him was a bigger room compared to the hallways, a lightbulb hanging from the heightened ceiling.

  Resembling a lighthouse, his vision cleared once he managed to reach the room, separate and bigger than the rest of the maze pathways.

  When he saw what was inside, he jumped back.

  ''Y-Yamada-san!?''

  Yaori stood there, her hands clad in strings.

  Although a path to her 'room' was available, there was another wall where there would be a door, instead. Meaning, it was impossible to enter inside. All it offered was a view of Yaori, from the back.

  The fish were staring daggers at her, too. They continued to clash into the surrounding walls, however futile it was.

  ''Yamada-san—what are you doing in there!?''

  A rotund crystal shard fell on his head, and inside Yaori's room, cracks started falling from the ceiling. The lightbulb fell next to her, crumbling into pieces.

  ''Yamada-san!''

  Yaori didn't seem intent on moving an inch. She didn't respond to him, either.

  He had to make a move unless he wanted her to drown among her red strings, which wound up tied back to her.

  In a fit of adrenaline, he curled his hands into fists and started throwing punches at the glass, even though most of his throws were rather lackluster.

  He let out growling wails against the glass as he continued throwing punches.

  The wall in front of him didn't budge despite his efforts. Instead, the floor below him started cracking.

  As the ground beneath him gave in to the weight, his yelping got drowned out by the water he fell into.

  ''Yamada-san!!''

  Bubbles floated to the surface, his mouth being filled with water.

  One with the fish, he started sinking deeper into the ocean floor, glass spikes above him.

  His ears, filled to the brim with water, picked up a voice. It was a girl's, one familiar to him.

  ''Sato-kun!''

  That's… Yamada-san!

  Her unintelligible echoes soon transformed into words.

  ''Wake up, Sato-kun!''

  Wake… up? Does this mean?

  Right as he was about to let go, he let out an audible gasp and raised his head from his arms.

  His world turned upside-down, Raichi gasped for air, and the classroom was empty for the most part.

  He rubbed his eyes, letting out a small squirm as he did, post-disorientation.

  When he peered to his right, Yaori was sitting at her desk, hands held together, and her eyes full of concern.

  ''Good morning, Sato-kun.''

  ''G-Good morning, Yamada-san…'' He tried fixing his ruined hair. ''Did something happen?''

  ''I tried to wake you up, Sato-kun. I was… worried.''

  ''Worried… for me?''

  ''Hm.'' She nodded.

  Did I… do something in my sleep?

  He thought that a dream was supposed to be just a dream, a work of fiction made by his brain, for himself. And he wasn't the type to have the occasional nightmare or to obsess over it.

  Among the wide selection that was his imagination, this one was his fears manifested, including, but not limited to, his animosity towards gossip.

  Within the contents of the dream, however, there was an outlier. Why was Yaori in the dream?

  "At first, I thought nothing of your breathing sounding funny, but…" She held her chestnut-brown hair. "Then you held your uniform with your hands tightly clenched."

  "I-I did what?"

  It went to show that dreams reflect real life, a literal example, this one. He regretted coming early to school today just for a nap.

  "When I touched you on your shoulder, you let out a silent gasp. I still remember it vividly. I continued to call out and flick your shoulder after that."

  A beat of silence followed.

  "I apologize for scaring you like that, Yamada-san…"

  She shook her head. "N-No need to apologize! It's just… you did give me a little fright, so please don't push yourself too hard…"

  "Okay, thank you."

  Raichi still couldn't wrap his head around the wacky dream. He took a power nap for the sake of having one, and it ended up making for a mental dilemma.

  ''Also…'' He whispered toward her desk. ''Thank you for worrying about me. I appreciate it.''

  ''O-Of course!''

  She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

  Before either could get another word in, the moment was cut when his empty stomach betrayed him, rumbling. His face instantly flushed.

  Dangit.

  Raichi's shoulders stiffened.

  ''That was not me.''

  Yaori held out her hand over her mouth, glancing away. ''S-Sato-kun, maybe you should eat more in the morning…''

  ''I usually do. Should have done so today, I guess.''

  Assuming the rest of the conversation was going to transition into small talk, Raichi reached down to pull out a book to read from his bag.

  "H-Hey, Sato-kun,"

  "Hm?"

  But when he threw a glimpse her way,

  Compared to her composure seconds prior, her face was as red as a rose, her brows furrowed like its leaves.

  "Um. If you'd like, at lunch… could we eat together?"

  "W-Wha?" Raichi blinked, "Like, today?"

  "I mean, I thought so…"

  As he thought about it for a moment, his heart skipped a beat or two. If it were up to him, he'd say yes, but the repercussions that may come with it gnawed at him. He was willing to overlook them, for Yaori's sake.

  Raichi gave an earnest nod.

  ''Sure. I'd like that.''

  ''R-Really!?'' For a morning bird, her fervour was next level. ''Hooray! I can't wait!''

  He scratched his cheek. ''You seem pretty excited already, Yamada-san.''

  ''Well, of course I am. It's… been a while since I've had company for lunch.''

  Her voice trailed off, volume falling lower and lower halfway through. The loneliness in her eyes—was palpable.

  The way she turned away wasn't the bashful kind. Raichi didn't dare pry further, to avoid touching on an intimate subject. He wanted to cheer her up somehow.

  ''We could like… exchange some of the food, if you'd like.''

  ''E-Exchange food?''

  ''Yeah, y'know… like you could take a piece of onigiri from me.''

  ''Ohh!'' She realized, laughing. ''That'd be fun. I'm up for it.''

  ''Then, lunch it is.''

  Raichi also had the idea to read a book with it, but assumed Yaori would do so whether he mentioned it or not.

  Right as he was about to bring it up in a roundabout way, a wild lion's mane entered the fray, and as expected, with Nao following behind him.

  Like a crow at the sight of a scarecrow, he straightened himself up, carrying himself out of the conversation with Yaori in the process.

  "Morning, sleepyhead."

  "Good morning, Hiroshi."

  He gave Hiroshi an honest, disinterested greeting, knowing he could list it off as sleep-induced.

  "Good morning~! You were dozing off as always, weren't you, Raicchi?"

  A nerve snapped within him.

  "H-Hey, I told you not to use that name in places like this, didn't I—" The next word just slipped out. "N-Nao—"

  His mouth went dry.

  "Heh," Hiroshi scoffed, tossing his bag on his empty chair, laughing. "Hahaha! You're still obsessing over this detail, even after Nara!"

  "A-And good morning."

  He had to include that in.

  At this point, it wasn't just a habit; it was Nao's primal instinct to call him by 'Raicchi'. The roots of the nickname weren't unfounded, dating back to their childhood memories together.

  Raichi didn't mind the nickname, but he did experience second-hand embarrassment when she said it out loud in public spaces, and it was an even bigger issue here in the classroom.

  Yamada-san definitely heard that.

  His mind, louder than his words, made the moment feel all the more hollow. He couldn't participate in the conversation, knowing well that Yaori was within earshot after.

  Nao tried defending herself, pouting.

  "What? It's natural to me! I came up with it by the swings, remember?"

  "W-Why is this so funny to me? Hahaha!"

  Hiroshi had the superpower to find everything hilarious, quite mistimed on this occasion.

  "Man, you really haven't changed a bit, have you Suzuki?"

  "Huh?" Nao puffed her cheeks. "You make it sound like I'm the only one. Are you saying Raichi has?"

  Hiroshi propped one hand on his chin, with a grin on his face that was not so mischievous.

  "That's exactly what I'm saying. Take a good look at him." Hiroshi was playing detective. "He's got this different air about him now. More… serious. Like he had matured when he was away from us in Nara."

  The words landed harder than he expected, like Hiroshi had just put more salt on the wound, to which the blond didn't even know it existed.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  The class started filling up one by one, shoes tapping on the ground.

  He tried to wave it off, his hand moving to scratch his neck. "Y-You must be imagining things…"

  "Hmm…" Nao's gaze blinked between the two. "I can see that. Raicchi does seem like… he's changed, hasn't he?"

  Raichi bit the inside of his lip, on the edge of saying anything—just so he could redirect the conversation.

  He wished he could set things right, not just to the friends in front of him, but to the one beside him. She hadn't said a word, but surely caught every word of this struggle.

  ???

  Recess wasn't something Raichi looked forward to as much as the next person, but the dwindled low hum of the classroom during recess was much more preferable to the stillness during the lesson, which made for a breather.

  He didn't gloss over what happened before homeroom. Having his secrets spilled next to her was one thing, and conversing with her was another.

  He had the brilliant idea of bringing out the five reading books he had in his bag, wanting to lend one to her.

  Nao had gone off somewhere, and Hiroshi was sleeping nestled up in his desk, his even breathing confirming to Raichi that he was sound asleep.

  The paperbacks, one by Miyamoto and the others of the same kind, lay on his desk.

  Raichi cleared his throat in an attempt to draw Yaori's attention.

  Her hand, dropping the pen on her desk, curled up.

  ''Yamada-san,'' He began. ''Um, I wanted to show you something. Do you have a moment?''

  ''I-I should. One second, let me just…'' She closed her notebook and moved her school supplies to the side, putting her elbow on the desk. ''What is it?''

  ''I thought you might have already read most of Miyamoto-san's works, so I thought I could show you a few similar ones. Do you want to check them out?''

  ''Similar books to Miyamoto-san's? Like, as in prose?''

  She took the critic's approach, catching Raichi by surprise.

  ''The whole vibe. These specific ones reminded me of his writing style.''

  ''Oh, I see.'' She scratched her cheeks. ''But, do we have enough time for you to show all of them to me?''

  ''Well, we can have it be like an online reading playlist. I'll go through each of them one by one, and you can tell me which one you like, then take it.''

  ''A playlist, huh?'' She put her hand on her chin, her lips curving into a faint smile. ''Alright, then. Show me your… playlist, Sato-kun.''

  He nodded to himself, determined. ''Okayy, now where to start?''

  Raichi turned the spine of the paperbacks to himself so she wouldn't see it. And as he predicted, Yaori tried sneaking a little peek, tilting her head.

  "H-Hey, no peeking, Yamada-san! This is supposed to be a surprise."

  "Okay, okay… sorry for that."

  Raichi got a hold of the first book, putting his arms out with the book held in his hand.

  He grinned.

  "What do we think of this one? Has some impressive prose."

  "Hmm…" She shook her head. "Seems too loaded for this morning. Could be lighter."

  With her feedback in mind, he grabbed another one, showing it off once more.

  "Aand, this one? Can be a bit cheesy, but still lighthearted."

  She shook her head, pouting. "Looks too fluffy."

  "Wow, brutal…"

  She giggled with her mouth covered. "I take literature seriously."

  There were three options left. Taking her mood into account, he made his choice with utmost certainty. It had a worn spine and cover.

  ''Thenn, this one? Nothing like a good old nature novel, with necessary fantasy elements.''

  Yaori raised her finger, a single wovel leaving her mouth and nothing else. She hesitated, glancing away.

  He chuckled. ''It's okay, you can be honest, Yamada-san. I assure you, you'll take one of these.''

  ''H-How'd you know I held myself there?''

  ''No need to lie for my sake. And it's not like I'm the author. Go ahead and share your honest opinion with me.''

  "T-Then, you should know! If all fantasy shopkeepers were like you, the protagonist would be a regular customer!"

  She must have gathered all her courage to say that, as she combusted into crimson a second later.

  "W-Wow, uhh, thank you?"

  Raichi didn't understand if he was supposed to take the compliment, or whether it even was one.

  "A-Anyway—" She raised her fists up to her face. "I think this one seems a little over the top!"

  "Oh, okay… I appreciate the honesty."

  Yaori let out a bashful wail, using her hands to put a lid over her face.

  I'm uh, gonna let her breathe for a bit.

  Raichi left her to her own devices as she chose between the last two options, one of them being a Miyamoto novel.

  He thought the latter might be cheating out, and there was a chance she had read it a thousand times over.

  But in the end, he didn't want the book to be deadweight. He wanted to lend her one she'd be fond of reading, so the correct choice made itself clear.

  Her voice, muffled under her hands, spoke out. "Sato-kun, you dummy…"

  "Uh, I assume that means you're ready for the last one?"

  Yaori split her fingers, looking at him through the tiny gap.

  "Sure."

  "I hope you like this one." Unlike the other books, he held it out, intending to pass it to her. "It's a classic."

  She hadn't taken her hands away, but her gaze peeked through.

  "Is that… a Miyamoto-san novel?"

  "It is."

  "But, but I thought you said you brought similar ones…"

  "Well," He smiled. "I might've kept this one a secret."

  Leaving her hands hovering over her lap, she took a deep breath.

  "If you don't mind, I'll gladly take it." She muttered, eyes furrowed. "...May I?"

  "Go ahead."

  She handled the book like an ancient artifact, as if it could crumble in her hands as she took it away from him.

  Items had physical value, yes, but sentimental value, too. All Miyamoto novels down at the bookshop had value to him as well as a price tag. What she saw in that piece of literature, however, seemed to be greater than what he saw.

  She pushed the book against her chest, putting her arms over it and giving it a warm embrace.

  ''I'll cherish it, Sato-kun.''

  ''I have no doubt you will, Yamada-san.''

  Their eyes lingered on one another before Yaori put the book down on her desk and opened it, her fingers holding down the first page.

  Raichi took that as a mutual sign of the conversation's end, and returned to reading himself, the bell ringing around and above.

  Trying to hold himself back from stretching too much, Raichi grabbed a hold of the edge of his desk.

  He wasn't in the mood for reading after a long and hard math class, and resorted to messing with his favourite blond guy.

  Grabbing his pen, he slid the back of it across Hiroshi's back.

  "Oi." Hiroshi mumbled, his head still buried under.

  "Sorry, sorry, geez."

  He snorted, his restrained laugh coming out in one burst.

  From his right, a soft giggle reached his ears, abruptly cutting off his own. It was barely audible, but it was there. And from the looks of it, the sound hadn't reached Hiroshi.

  Before he could think of anything else, however, a certain blue-haired girl came running through the open class door. Her destination, Raichi's desk.

  The imminent Nao approaching alert sounded in his head. And her shoes, loudly tapping on the floor, woke Hiroshi up from his half-nap.

  ''W-Whoa, what's wrong?''

  ''Raicchi! Help me out here!''

  Nao, taking a position behind Raichi's desk by the cupboards like they were barricades, latched onto his shoulder.

  Raichi turned behind his shoulder up at the blue hair. She pointed at the door with her head, eyes furrowed.

  His eyes frantically looked for the source of Nao's fear. From the corridor, he heard a voice call out, starting out weak then rising as it crept closer.

  "Naoii! Did you run back to the classroom!?"

  Naoi…?

  The girl calling Nao by a literal different name for a nickname, made her entrance at the doorway, hanging onto the sides with a grin, her light-blonde hair swaying.

  "Not a good place to hide, y'know."

  This girl was the definition of outgoing; she approached like a slithering snake, hand skipping one by one from desk to desk.

  Her sneaky, narrow eyes digging at him and Nao, glowed amber-gold.

  She turned her back to them for a moment, calling out for someone.

  ''C'mon Nanamin! Just come in!''

  Ink black hair peeked out of the corner, a friend of hers, presumably.

  ''We didn't have to run this much…'' She yelped.

  ''Hey, it was Naoi who ran from me!''

  The other girl, her black ponytail swinging side to side, entered the classroom out of breath.

  ''S-Sorry for the intrusion.'' She bowed lightly. ''Airin…''

  The blond girl, Airi, stood there with her hands on her hips.

  ''Soo, you already found a bodyguard, did you?''

  This marked the beginning of a girly interrogation, sprung up from Airi's antics. And Raichi was about to find himself in the middle of it.

  ''Stop teasing me like that, Airi!''

  ''I can't help it! Also, you're the transfer student, aren't you? Sato something?''

  ''Uh, yeah. That's me. Sato Raichi.''

  The arrow was now pointing straight at him.

  ''Welcome! So— how do you know Nao? Best friends so soon?''

  "U-Um!" Nao stuttered.

  The hand on his shoulder tensed up a little bit. Who knew, cheerfulness incarnate herself had her flustered moments after all.

  For Nao's sake, as well as his survival, Raichi decided to take the honesty approach. He had no intention of giving people the wrong ideas. And that amount, wasn't one or two.

  "We've known each other since we were seven years old. We're uh, childhood friends.

  "Childhood friends? Now that's a commodity. Cute."

  Nao's tight hand from earlier eased up a bit. She secretly glanced at him, flashing a grin.

  Whether the grin was prideful or embarrassed, considering who it came from, everything hinged on a coin toss.

  "Uh, nice to meet you."

  "Nice to meet you, Sato-kun. The name's Hayasaka Airi, by the way."

  To Airi, this conversation was what it was, a simple exchange, a first meeting with the transfer student. But Raichi had to think ten steps ahead, in a roundabout game of chess and careful balance.

  Pages stopped crinkling to his right, and not to mention, her subtle giggle minutes prior. His answers were being filtered through more than one lens.

  Raichi was aware of the nature of the conversation, as it was bound to lead to Airi asking more questions until her tease bar had been filled up.

  However, before Airi could say anything further, Nanami chimed in, who had been observing the entire process.

  ''I almost forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? I'm Kurosawa Nanami. Nice to meet you, Sato-kun. Pardon Airi's shenanigans for me.''

  ''Hey!''

  ''Nice to meet you, too.''

  There wasn't much thought behind Nanami's shut eyes, but her presence wasn't overwhelming like Airi's next to her. If Nao were a ten, then Airi would certainly be an eleven.

  ''Are these all yours, Sato-kun?'' Airi pointed at the books on Raichi's desk.

  ''Oh, these?'' He grabbed one of them. ''Yeah. I like to read when I can.''

  Her eyes furrowed for a second before she could even see the name of the author, and she made a guess straight away.

  ''Miyamoto?''

  ''Good eye.''

  Nanami gigged, her brows anchored downward. She put a hand on her chest.

  ''I've always wanted to read Miyamoto's. Never found the chance to, though.''

  ''You can borrow one if you'd like.''

  With zero hesitation, he held his arm out with a Miyamoto book in hand. He had pulled this one out from his bag, and it wasn't among his playlist he showcased to Yaori.

  He'd normally do such a thing if the sun were to ever turn blue. Handing out Miyamoto books as if it were charity wasn't the right thing to do, being the son of a once second-hand bookseller.

  ''If you permit me, then gladly.'' After brushing through the pages of the book, she shut it tight, holding it down at her hip. ''I'll be sure to return this to you once I'm done.''

  Raichi didn't dare glance to his right during all this, but it had been minutes since Yaori had turned a page. He did just pass on his own reading book to Nanami, and right in front of the bookworm, too.

  Airi, not patient enough to see his small talk with Nanami all the way through, put her hand on Nanami's shoulder like she was posing for a teenage band cover.

  ''Ah, the nickname. Is it also because you two are childhood friends, then?''

  Back to answering the bad cop, he goes.

  ''Yup.''

  The other blonde, the lion's mane, interjected with his hand on his chin. ''You'd be correct. The two of them are glued to the hip!''

  ''Shut up, Hiroshi.''

  ''Oi!'' Airi complained. ''Only I can tease Naoi, Kimura! Wait for your turn.''

  As a brief team-up, Raichi and Airi actively shut Hiroshi down for the foreseeable future.

  Unamused, he shrank back in his arms, attempting to sleep again, however futile it may be with Airi standing next to his desk.

  ''W-Well?'' Nao said, trying to spur the conversation around.

  Airi ignored her. ''Where are you from, by the way?''

  ''I'm from around here. I had been in Nara for a long time now. I moved back in for the remainder of my high school days, hopefully.''

  ''I see, I see…''

  Raichi had actually started to settle into the social multitasking, but the inevitable bell rang, cutting the conversation short.

  He let out a sigh of relief, which he hoped wasn't too glaring.

  Nanami looked at the class clock and, in a hurry, poked Airi on the shoulder.

  ''I think I should go now, Airin.''

  ''Ehh? Why do you have to be so punctual!''

  ''The bell rang, Airin!''

  Airi let out a sigh, shrugging. ''Meh. Okay. I'll go to my desk too. Let me walk you to the door while at it.''

  ''Okayy. See you around, guys!''

  Without saying a word, Nao, too, followed right after. Her desk was on the other side of the classroom, and she sprinted to it with her hands swinging in front of her.

  As the trio of close friends scattered about, Raichi found himself in wonder about what had just happened. The moment wasn't supposed to be so life-opening, yet it left him gazing at the distance.

  The first thing he was concerned about wasn't himself, the sleepy potato bag sitting in front of him, nor the blue-haired tomboy who fled the scene. It was Yaori.

  Yamada-san?

  He let his eyes wander, willingly or not, to his right, where Yaori kept her attention solely fixated on the book on her desk, his book.

  Her expression, the way her eyes didn't budge, mesmerized him. From what he was seeing, he couldn't tell whether she had only heard the conversation, and not seen it.

  Why did he feel this way, talking about his private life now, of all times? He didn't know. At the moment, it wasn't worth bothering himself with. Or at least, that's what he wanted to believe. For once, he preferred being lost in the low hum of the classroom, about to enter another lesson that would enter through one ear and exit out the other.

  Worst of all, lunch never happened that day. Perhaps it wasn't anyone's fault, or he was the one to blame. The clock moved that way, and it just came about. Raichi was too busy finding words for others, and not for Yaori.

  When the bell marking the end of lunch break rang throughout, Raichi realized then and there that the distance between him and Yaori felt even greater than before.