Chapter 64: Rooftop Meeting

Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Rooftop Meeting

Shion’s monologue, POV

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?She wore the first-year uniform with an absolute, geometric perfection that made the standard fabric look like custom tailoring. Her short brown hair was neatly brushed, her posture completely upright, and her hands carried a stack of student council reference binders against her side.

?As she walked past Classroom 2-B’s open door, her light brown eyes didn’t deviate by a single degree. She didn’t look at Junpai’s hollow form. She didn’t glare at Aki. She didn’t acknowledge me either.

?That was sort of harsh. Still holding on to what happened at the park?

?The class wasn’t vigilant; I guess they didn’t see her as a potential threat. The school’s regular tests and trials would be starting soon, so I’m sure some might have already started laying down the groundwork.

?I didn’t know what Class 2-B was planning or thinking, but I’d best watch anyone interacting with my class.

?Nanami Mistogan

Physical Ability: (C-)

Intellectual Ability: (A+)

Adaptability: (B)

Social/Class Standing: (A+)

?SOAAD: (B+) Advanced

Class: 3-A

(1st year)

?She was entirely cheerful in nature, but everyone could sense a trace of pain and guilt in her presence.

?Junpai didn’t even raise his head as she passed. He merely closed his eyes tighter, his shoulders shaking in a single, microscopic spasm that only Aki caught.

?If this was the state Junpai was in, it was a far bigger problem than it seemed.

?Some female students stood up from behind, immediately spotting her from above and rushing over to Nanami, one delivering a heartfelt hug.

?"Nanami!" the student hugging Nanami shouted in excitement.

?"You weren’t picking up your calls late last night—did something happen?" another questioned, her tone filled with worry.

?"Oh, ahh..." Nanami stuttered.

?"Your reaction seems different today. Are you okay, Senpai?" another student asked from behind the group.

?"I’m fine, just a bit tired from yesterday," Nanami replied.

?"Weren’t you going out with your boyfriend?" the girl hugging her questioned.

?"Well.... it’s a long story... I don’t want to talk about it," Nanami’s tone saddened.

?I see. For a moment, I thought maybe she wanted to air it out in the open, but maybe she still will—just not now.

?The lunch bell rang at 12:30 PM, its electronic chime echoing through the concrete hallways with a cold, institutional regularity.

?"We’re eating on the roof," Aki announced, his voice dropping into the room like a heavy weight as he stood up from his desk.

?He didn’t bother asking, but simply moved to Junpai’s side, his large hand coming down firmly on Junpai’s shoulder to physically hoist the smaller boy upward. "Let’s go. Oota, Inosuki, move."

?In every solution to a problem, you will always find Aki there.

?Both Oota and Inosuki were surprised by Aki’s sudden actions, but followed either way.

?The procession up the concrete stairwell was completely different from their usual chaotic ascents. There was no racing, no laughing, and no arguments about who would buy the last carton of strawberry milk from the vending machines—which actually was what I wanted to bring up, but I felt I would stand out like crazy.

?I immediately discarded the idea completely.

?When we finally reached the roof, the wind was high, carrying the sharp, metallic scent of the nearby Shinjuku rail lines. The sky above Tokyo was a flat, unyielding sheet of white clouds, draining the color from the surrounding skyscrapers until the entire landscape looked like a high-contrast photograph.

?Pretty cinematic. If I were alone, I definitely would have taken a picture.

?But when my vision shifted to the environment...

?Mataguchi was already there. He sat on the low concrete base of the ventilation housing, his black trousers perfectly straight, his lunchbox resting on his lap unopened, while his dark, lifeless eyes tracked our approach.

?Wait, who invited him? is what I would usually say, but knowing Mataguchi, this was just a coincidence. He would normally find somewhere private to eat, so it just happened to be the same spot.

?"The atmosphere is nice outside today," Mataguchi stated as we gathered near the chain-link fence. He dropped his left hand onto his lap, a bandage covering his palm. "Were you guys perhaps following me?"

?Seriously... wait... what happened to his arm?

?Mataguchi

Physical Ability: (F-)

Intellectual Ability: (C+)

Adaptability: (A+)

Social/Class Standing: (F+)

?SOAAD: (C) Competent

Class: 3-F

(1st year)

?"Shut up, Prez," Aki muttered, though there was no real heat in his voice—only a deep, bone-weary exhaustion. He sat down heavily on the concrete, forcing Junpai to sit beside him.

?"....." Mataguchi went silent. Jeez, at times he’s so obedient while being completely clueless at the most important moments.

?"Hmm... Prez, what happened to your arm?" I asked, seeing Oota notice the bandage and look concerned. Well, so was I.

?"Hmm... this? I got a ’brush’ on my way home after a short visit."

?On his way home? While a "brush" normally makes you think of an everyday household object (like a hairbrush or paintbrush) or a light touch, a "brush" (or "brush-in") is an old-fashioned or formal British/Commonwealth term for a short, sharp fight, skirmish, or hostile encounter with an enemy.

?Did this skinny dude seriously go into a fight? I’m starting to feel sorry for the thugs.

?"That must hurt. Are you sure you’re okay?" I said, worry lingering beneath my voice.

?"I’m fine. It’s okay," Mataguchi deadpanned, seemingly looking unfazed, while I stopped pushing further into the conversation.

?Oota, Inosuki, and Aki seemed to understand what Mataguchi meant and didn’t ask further. Besides, he was in no position to get in trouble because of his class placement.

?So we did him a favor and kept it to ourselves.

?I, who had followed the group, moved smoothly to Oota’s side, kneeling neatly on the concrete and opening my lunchbox. I began arranging the small pieces of sweet tamagoyaki on a piece of wax paper, my movements methodical, calm, and domestic.

?Inosuki remained standing, his back against the rusted steel door of the stairwell, his arms crossed as his gaze drifted over the group.

?What now? Is he shy?

?"Junpai," Oota said softly, looking across the small gap. "You need to eat something. Shion brought extra."

?Junpai stared at the small, yellow square of egg I was holding out toward him with a polite, encouraging smile. His mouth opened slightly, his voice coming out as a dry, cracked whisper that was almost swallowed by the wind.

?"Why... why did she say those things, Oota?"

?The question was direct. It was the first time since Saturday that Junpai had explicitly addressed the core trauma.

?My fingers froze for a fraction of a second above the lunchbox. My violet eyes widened slightly, and my expression instantly shifted into a display of deep, sympathetic sorrow.

?"Junpai-senpai..." I began, my voice dropping into that quiet, fragile register. "You shouldn’t torture yourself. Some people... some people simply don’t possess the capacity to understand affection the way you do. She was using what she had. I could see it the moment she looked at you when you were checking the movie times. She wasn’t really looking at you."

?"An illusion," Junpai muttered, his fingers clawing slightly into the denim of his school trousers. "She called it an illusion. She asked why she shouldn’t let me enjoy it. I was... I was so stupid. I spent three weeks memorizing those pop-culture facts. I bought that jacket because I thought... I thought it made me look like someone she could talk to without feeling embarrassed."

?To be this affected, I started to doubt that they had recently met. How long were they together? Since last semester?

?"You aren’t stupid, Junpai," Aki growled, his fist slamming down onto the concrete floor with a dull, heavy thud. "The only stupid thing was that fake BS. She came into our space, she messed with our people, and she put her hands on Shion. If she wasn’t a girl, I would have broken her phone over her face right there on the platform."

?"Violence is structurally inefficient," Mataguchi interjected deadpan, picking up a single piece of pickled radish with his chopsticks.

?"I don’t understand what exactly Mataguchi meant, but I totally agree that violence wouldn’t solve anything," Oota said, panicking as he tried to comfort the group.

?"Can you look at anything without a calculator in your head?!" Aki snapped, turning his glare toward Mataguchi.

?"The guy is broken, Mataguchi! His first actual date, and it was a statistical simulation! How are you so cool with that?!"

?"I guess you are right," Mataguchi replied without a single flicker of emotion in his dark eyes. "Junpai’s current state represents a standard post-rejection deceleration. It will normalize, provided the social circle maintains its current density..."

?Immediately, I noticed Inosuki’s eyes shifting to Mataguchi for a moment, then down to the ground.

?I looked at Mataguchi. He isn’t ignoring the trauma, I guess.

?Suddenly, Inosuki looked back at me. I was currently watching Mataguchi speak, my head tilted slightly, my violet eyes completely still. For less than half a second, my gaze flicked over to Inosuki, and he quickly lowered his face to avoid direct eye contact.

?Hmmm?

?Inosuki’s mind seemed to be turning over something. For some reason, my first guess was a flashback to Aki’s conversation.

?Nothing, just that you have a long way to go if you are aiming for the expensive gems.

?It was a remnant of the past self.

?Oota let out a long, ragged sigh, leaning his head back against the chain-link fence. The white clouds above him seemed to shimmer slightly, the edges of the skyscrapers shifting by a fraction of a millimeter as if the visual data was struggling to render against his retinas.

?"If you can’t get over losing her, then get her back and fix her. If she refuses to change... you have a clear answer," Oota suddenly muttered to himself. Everyone paused to listen. He was unexpectedly calm, finally acting like his original self we normally knew.

?"For now, let’s just... let’s just stop talking about her," Oota murmured, his eyes closing as the phantom static grew louder.

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"The wound is where the light enters you.

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