Chapter 43
Heaven
The sluggishness of summer vacation had finally worn off, and the rhythm of everyday school life had returned.
Though the lingering heat was still harsh, the air was gradually starting to cool.
When sixth period ended, I decided to throw myself into club activities—but then I noticed about twenty hurdles left lying around the athletic field.
Seriously… who would leave these here? Must be the first-years, huh? I’ll have to remind them through the teacher.
We can’t just leave them like this. They’re not even scheduled to be used today, so I should put them back.
“Taiyō-san, I’ll help you.”
“Tsukiyo, sorry about this. Thanks.”
Kaminagi Tsukiyo—now the shining flower of our track and field club. About twenty guys had tried to join just to get close to her, but every single one of them had been rejected.
Not that it was surprising—it would’ve just made things awkward, and besides, none of us wanted to share her attention.
Anyway, I needed to get these hurdles cleaned up so I could get back to practice.
“Senpai, I’ll help too.”
“Hm?”
Standing there was a black-haired boy. I couldn’t help but stare—his face was strikingly handsome, with perfectly balanced features and well-kept hair that had just a hint of curl.
He was a little shorter than me, maybe around 165 centimeters, but his limbs looked strong, giving the impression that he trained regularly.
Since he called me senpai, that made him a first-year, I guessed.
“Oh, Yusa-kun?”
“Hello, Kaminagi-san.”
“Ah… so you’re acquainted with my little sister, huh.”
At school, I usually refer to Tsukiyo as my little sister, so I have to be careful not to slip up. Within our friend group, I just call her Tsukiyo, but in public, it’s “my sister.”
“We’re classmates in the honors course,” she explained. “But what are you doing here?”
“I saw you and Yamada-senpai cleaning up the hurdles, so I came over. They’re probably from the P.E. class that had sixth period.”
“Wait, but if you’re in the honors course, this has nothing to do with you, right?”
“I just thought it’d be tough for two people to handle all this. …Was it a bother for me to step in?”
Not at all—it was a huge help. Thanks to Yusa-kun pitching in, we managed to put away all the hurdles in no time.
For someone from another course to go out of his way to help—it really said something about him.
“Thanks a lot. Uh, you’re…”
“My name’s Yusa Amatsu,” he said with a polite smile. “I’ve heard about you, Yamada-senpai.”
“You’ve heard about me?”
“Yes. You know Takematsu from the track team? He’s my friend. He said there’s a senior who always ends up drawing the short straw.”
That guy’s dead meat.
“But he also said everyone respects you—a senpai who looks out for others and always takes initiative.”
“See? Taiyō-san really is kind,” Tsukiyo teased.
H-hey, you too? Don’t say that—it’s embarrassing.
It’s not like I want to do all this; if I don’t, practice doesn’t happen, that’s all. It’s not something to be praised for.
Yusa-kun laughed, Tsukiyo laughed, and I realized the underclassmen had been teasing me a lot lately.
“Well then, I’ll get going. Thank you for your hard work, senpai. You too, Kaminagi-san.”
“Thanks again for the help.”
“See you, Yusa-kun.”
Yusa-kun walked back toward the school building.
Didn’t know there was a first-year like him around.
“So, since he’s in the honors course, I guess he’s pretty smart?”
“Yes. I think he’s been second place all this time.”
And first place, of course, was the girl standing in front of me.
The Kaminagi siblings’ brilliance needed no explanation.
“Yusa-kun’s kind of a celebrity among the first-years,” Tsukiyo went on. “He’s really smart, athletic, and he’s also on the student council.”
Well, with a face like that, it makes sense.
A first-year like him was basically the mirror image of Seiya from our year. Though Seiya doesn’t really socialize, so maybe Yusa’s the more approachable one. Still, he’s shorter—but for some reason, that might even make him more popular.
“The first-year girls are crazy about him,” Tsukiyo added with a grin. “When they talk about boys, it’s usually between my brother… or Yusa-kun. A lot of my friends have confessed to him too.”
“R-Really…”
That thought had always lingered somewhere in the back of my mind.
If a boy ever appeared who could truly match Tsukiyo—
Then I’d… support her.
And if that boy were him… maybe—
No. That would be rude to both of them. Still…
“Tsukiyo…”
“Yes?”
Her big, round black eyes and her gentle, smiling face met mine.
I couldn’t bring myself to say another word.
“It’s nothing. Alright, let’s get back to practice!”
“Yeah! Let’s aim for nationals!”
“We can’t even win the district prelims…”
