The Lie and What Follows

Spring of the third year in high school.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Tou Endo pedals his way to school on his bicycle.

The private high school he attends is uniquely Christian and also one of the top academic schools in the prefecture. He remembers being quite surprised when he first enrolled and saw nuns walking around the campus. The school is known for its high-quality education and liberal atmosphere, which leads to an exceptionally high number of applicants for transfer exams.

Tou, who came to this school almost directly from junior high, doesn’t mind this, but it’s worth noting that the school rules explicitly forbid romantic relationships. Despite its liberal atmosphere, this is one area where the school is different from others. But this rule hardly restrains students in the throes of adolescence; it’s virtually ignored. If anything, it seems to fuel the fires of passion, and the high-spirited students often gossip about who went on a date with whom last week.

(…Well, it doesn’t concern me anyway.)

He can count his close friends on one hand, including the school nurse, Tanaka-kun who partners with him in gym class, and Ninomiya-san who exchanges a few words when passing out printouts. He’s spent his three years in high school doing what a student is supposed to do. He’s not bad at studying; he keeps a high rank in tests just by attending classes and doing daily preparations. The fact that he has no other commitments might be a reason, but when he talks to people, he becomes nervous and can’t speak well.

That day, as always, he parks his bike in the bicycle lot and opens his shoe locker. Inside, alongside his worn indoor shoes, lies a letter sealed with a cute heart-shaped sticker.

…This must be a mistake, right?

Confused by the unexpected event, he stands there for about ten seconds. In the bustling corridor, he quickly stuffs the letter into his bag.

Let’s check this letter first. If it’s a mistake, I can just give it back to the person… What if I don’t know the person? Can I still give it back?

Tou changes into his indoor shoes and heads not to the classroom building but to the men’s restroom located even further back in the club room building. This area is less crowded in the morning and at noon, making it a very convenient place for Tou, who tends to be a loner. He enters the men’s restroom and cautiously opens the letter. What he reads is a short message:

“To Endo-kun, I’ll be waiting for you behind the gym after school.”

“Uh, Endo-kun, huh. Do we have another Endo-kun in another class? Maybe they meant Kondo-kun?” He hopes that’s the case. But no, wait. There’s no way they would mix up the shoe lockers of different classes. And anyway, there’s only one Endo-kun in his class.

Is it me? Is it some kind of bullying in the third year? With only one year left till graduation? Can’t they just endure it for one more year?

He has many concerns but no one to blame. After all, he’s never been involved in romantic affairs during his three years in high school and junior high. It’s quite rare for a student to obey the school rules as diligently as he has.

But, who is the letter from? What if I ignore it? What if it really leads to bullying? Or could it be a confession?

He finds it hard to believe any of these assumptions. “Because it’s me, after all.” He’s becoming sad.

For now, since he knows that the letter is addressed to him, he decides to go to his classroom. He can’t even guess who it’s from.

Despite the event that would usually make a high school boy happy, Tou is very gloomy. When he enters the classroom, nothing has changed; it’s just an ordinary day.

There are various groups in the classroom: the prominently visible girls’ group and the mixed, lively group of the basketball, soccer, and baseball clubs sharing conversations. Among the girls, Riko Adachi stands out with her brightly dyed brown hair, piercings, and relatively heavy makeup. She is the central figure among the girls, and around her are Shiori Kiryu, who looks demure but is actually quite foul-mouthed, and Hana Imamura, who is tall and slender and is in the basketball club.

And then there’s Kenta Kondo, the basketball club captain. He’s a guy who’s good at everything, from looks to grades and personality, making it hard to find any faults. He was the first person Tou suspected the letter could be for. From Tou’s perspective, there’s no way he can compete with Kondo. Well, he does beat him in grades sometimes.

Talking with Kondo is Makoto Tamura from the baseball club. He has a simple and sturdy physique, and he’s frankly intimidating.

And then there’s the guy who’s more involved with the girls, Mr. Kitazawa. He looks flashy and is actually flashy. For the time being, he’s flashy, so he often mingles with the girls. Actually, he’s clearly aiming for Adachi and has confessed to her several times, only to be rejected each time. Keep it up.

Honestly, it’s surprising that he can talk so casually with someone he’s been rejected by, but Adachi has reportedly been confessed to by many boys, so maybe neither of them cares.

Those are the two main groups; the rest are talking in small numbers. Whether it’s because of the school rule that forbids romantic relationships, you rarely see boys and girls talking in the classroom. The lively groups are an exception.

In the midst of observing this, Tou heads to his own seat. His seat is near the window, in the last row—the best seat. Considering that seats change every term, he’s grateful to be able to sit here until summer.

He hangs his bag next to his desk and picks up the novel he’s left in the classroom. Just as he’s about to resume reading from where he left off, a girl takes the seat in front of him.

“Good morning, Endo-kun.”

It’s Ninomiya-san from the printouts. Well, describing her that way is probably not right.

“Good morning, Ninomiya-san.”

He only greets her in the morning, but since he has few people to even greet, she’s one of the few people he talks to at school. He plans to continue doing so so he won’t forget how to speak.

Ninomiya-san has her hair neatly arranged at shoulder length and secures her bangs with a gray hairpin. At first glance, she appears to be an honor student, but she’s almost always sleeping in class.

Even when the teacher warns her, she continues to sleep.

However, her grades are consistently in the top five in the school year, so the teachers usually only warn her once. She’s a slightly odd character.

He had thought she might be a loner like him, but then he saw her walking happily with a boyfriend-like person outside of school and thought that maybe she’s just fully committed to her boyfriend.

“Today, you look even gloomier than usual,” she comments.

“Is that so? I thought I was the same as always.”

This is why people think he’s gloomy.

“Hmm,” she says and leaves it at that.

With her vague answer, she ends the conversation and sits down, showing him her back.

Well, even if I told her about the love letter-like thing I received, she probably wouldn’t be interested.

More importantly, it’s after school.

Not feeling up to dealing with the event, he immerses himself in his novel until the homeroom teacher enters the classroom to start the day’s homeroom session.

After school.

It came so quickly.

Huh? What classes did we have today?

He’s lost in thought, taken aback by how quickly after-school time has come, after the homeroom session has ended.

“Adachi! Wanna go to karaoke?”

Charao, the flashy guy, brings him back to reality with his loud voice. Tou looks around the classroom.

The club members must have left already because there are only a few students remaining, including the lively guys and girls, and a few others.

“Ah, not today. What about your club?”

“Nah, the rugby guys took the ground today, so we can’t use it. Don’t wanna run outside, so I’m skipping.”

It seems Charao, who’s in the soccer club, is skipping. Whatever.

“Don’t care. I’ll pass today.”

“Riko, wanna go to karaoke with us then?” Kiryu-san asks Adachi-san.

Wait, didn’t she just turn down Charao’s invitation?

“Ah, let me think… Today is really, you know…”

She’s really thinking about it. Seriously?

“C’mon, c’mon! Let’s go, let’s go! Right, Kenta?”

Charao jumps in again, urging her to go. He’s persistent.

And the invited Kondo-kun.

“Sorry, I have club activities. We have a match this weekend, so I can’t. Maybe next week. Sorry.”

Kondo-kun declines with a smile, a wonderful blend of wryness and freshness.

“Fine then, Kiryu and I will go alone!”

Charao really wants to go to karaoke.

“What? Why are you coming along? If Kenta isn’t coming, it’s just gonna be us.”

As expected of Kiryu-san. Sharp as ever. Her fondness for Kondo-kun is quite apparent.

More importantly, it’s not the time to be listening to the conversations of the lively girls. He needs to go behind the gym.

Tou grabs his bag and leaves the classroom, as if charging into battle.

Classroom:

“Alright, I’ll go too. See ya.”

“Ah, Riko, is it today?”

“Yes. You guys decided, didn’t you?”

“Sorry, sorry. Well, good luck.”

“Sure, sure.”

“Adachi? Are you okay?”

“Hm? I’m fine. Good luck with your club activities, Kenta.”

He arrives behind the gym. He’s actually here.

And yet, the person he’s supposed to meet hasn’t arrived yet.

It might even be better if they don’t show up.

Thinking about what might happen next makes his legs tremble.

I don’t want to be bullied. I don’t want to be bullied. I don’t want to be bullied.

He’s lost in a spiral of negative thoughts, not sure how much time has passed.

“Sorry, did you wait long?”

Lifting his downcast head at the sound of a female voice, he finds that it’s Adachi-san standing there.

“Huh?”

Her appearance is entirely unexpected, and he lets out a surprised voice.

“Sorry for calling you out like this all of a sudden. I won’t take much of your time.”

“Ah, no, it’s okay.”

“So, what I wanted to talk to you about is… Actually, I…”

What? What? Is this really happening?

“I’ve liked you for a while now. Will you go out with me?”

Her voice shakes slightly as she says this.

It takes him a considerable amount of time to process her words.

“So, what do you think?”

Her face is hard to read, perhaps due to the shadows. But he knows he can’t keep her waiting any longer.

“Um, why me?”

Even as he asks, he realizes it’s a stupid question.

Wait, wait. This is Adachi-san, right? One of the cutest girls in the grade and a lively one at that. Is this some kind of prank?

He looks around briefly, but there doesn’t seem to be any place for anyone to hide behind the gym. There’s no sign of anyone, so the likelihood of someone hiding and watching this situation is low.

“Well, why not? I like you, so isn’t that enough? What’s the problem?”

She sounds irritated. Scary. He can’t say anything careless here.

“Uh, I don’t really know much about you, Adachi-san, so hearing a confession all of a sudden, my head is… spinning.”

His voice is feeble as he squeezes out the words.

“It’s fine. We can start as a couple. Hana and Tamura started like that too.”

Hana Imamura from the basketball club and Shin Tamura from the baseball club started like that? Wait, are those two even dating? He doesn’t understand what made her like him, but perhaps there are various ways love can begin.

To be honest, since his unrequited love in elementary school, he hasn’t liked anyone, so he can’t keep up with the situation. But he needs to give her an answer now. Can he say they should start as friends?

“I… um…”

“Take your time. It’s okay.”

Her voice sounds gentle.

“If you’re okay with me, then please take care of me.”

Saying this, he bows his head.