The sports festival ended, and Monday arrived. Before homeroom started, Kasumi pulled a notebook from her bag. A test prep notebook she'd made for Satoshi. She'd written it carefully in the library last Friday night. She'd brought it to give to him—that was all. There was no other meaning to it. (The buddy period is over, but as class rep, I can't let his grades drop.) That was it. Really. Satoshi sat in the back corner by the window, staring blankly outside. It was his usual habit, but today it was especially bad. Chin resting on his hand, mouth slightly open, his face completely somewhere else. (That idiot. He's probably thinking about Pokémon again.) Just as Kasumi was about to sigh, the classroom door opened. Tsutsumi-sensei walked in with her usual calm expression, holding a stack of papers. "[serious]Before attendance, we have another transfer student coming today. From Osaka. Just wait a moment." The classroom stirred. A transfer student? Again? The air mixed with curiosity and speculation. Tsutsumi-sensei stepped into the hallway and beckoned. The door opened. The moment she entered, the classroom's atmosphere changed. Blonde, fluffy long hair. Around 160 centimeters tall, but the way she stood made her look taller. Gleaming golden eyes swept across the classroom. A charming smile. She had the bearing of someone who could've been a reader model. The boys stirred. The girls whispered, "She's so cute…" The girl stood in front of the blackboard and smiled brightly. "[excited]Nice to meet you all! I'm Kinomi Hikari! I came from Osaka! I'm all about energy, so let's get along!" Her voice bounced with enthusiasm. Kansai dialect mixed naturally into her speech, with no trace of nervousness. The classroom brightened. Kasumi glanced at the seat next to her. Satoshi was— Still looking out the window. His eyes were even narrower. Watching clouds. (…That guy.) Hikari finished her introduction and swept her gaze across the classroom again. A satisfied smile. Then her expression changed—she'd noticed something. Her eyes stopped on Satoshi. In front of the entire class, there was one boy not looking at her. Hikari tilted her head. "[surprised]Hey, you. Why are you looking out the window when I'm introducing myself?" The classroom went silent. Satoshi slowly turned around. "[gentle]Sorry, did you say something?" "[surprised]Did I say something? I was introducing myself! You weren't listening?" Satoshi thought for a moment. His face honest. "[serious]Sorry, I wasn't listening. That cloud looked like a Pidgeotto to me." Hikari froze. "…Pidgeotto?" "[excited]See, over there. The tail shape is exactly the same—oh, but the color's different. That might be a Metapod instead." Hikari looked at Satoshi. Then at the clouds outside. Then back at Satoshi. The class started giggling. The corners of Hikari's mouth slowly rose. (What is this kid?) She'd probably never met someone so unfazed on a first meeting. At her old school in Osaka, even when she was doing reader model work, people always reacted when Hikari showed up. They'd either act cool, get nervous, or get clingy. One of those three. But this guy was watching clouds. "[laughing]Ahaha! What's that! That's hilarious!" It was a genuinely joyful laugh. Kasumi saw that smile and felt an uneasy premonition. --- Once the seating was decided, Hikari sat next to Satoshi. Even after first period started, Hikari kept whispering to Satoshi. "[whispers]Hey, is that cloud still there?" "[whispers]Oh, it already drifted away. But now there's something that looks like a Pidgeot on the right—" "[whispers]What's a Pidgeot?" "[whispers]It's what a Pidgeotto evolves into." "[whispers]Pidgeotto evolves…? What's a Pidgeotto?" "[whispers]A bird Pokémon. It has white feathers and—" "[cold]Be quiet." Kasumi spoke without turning around from the seat in front. Her voice was slightly lower. Satoshi shrank back with an apology. Hikari whispered "scary" while laughing like she wasn't scared at all. --- Lunch break came. Satoshi was eating a curry bread he'd bought from the school store when Hikari appeared from nowhere, holding a cute patterned bento box. "[excited]Satoshi! Try this! I made it this morning!" Satoshi looked at the bento box. The moment he opened it, a sound escaped him. On top of the rice sat a chick-shaped kamaboko. Octopus-shaped sausages, cherry tomatoes, rolled egg. Carefully packed. "[excited]This is Pikachu!" "It's a chick, though." "[excited]It's a little different, but it's similar! The ears!" Hikari laughed, "It doesn't look similar at all." Satoshi took another bite and said, "It's delicious." He said it with pure sincerity. His face held no strategy, no calculation. Hikari blushed slightly and turned away. "Really? I'm glad." Kasumi watched the exchange from the edge of the classroom. Her hand touched the test prep notebook in her bag. The one she'd written last night, taking an hour. She'd color-coded it with markers so Satoshi wouldn't have to ask "why does x appear?" again. (I never found the right time to give it to him.) Kasumi zipped her bag closed. She was hungry, but somehow had no appetite. --- After school, Hikari tugged on Satoshi's sleeve. "[excited]Hey, can you show me around the shopping district? I don't know it at all yet." "[gentle]Sure. Though I don't know everything either." So the two of them walked through Minato Hara shopping district. Under the arcade, in that time of day when the evening light filtered through. Hikari suddenly shouted, "Oh! There's a photo booth!" and pulled Satoshi along. "[excited]Let's take one together!" "[surprised]What's a photo booth?" A group of girls waiting in line all turned around at once. Their faces said "what?" "[surprised]You don't know what a photo booth is?" "[serious]No. Since coming to this world, there's a lot I don't know." "This world…?" Hikari tilted her head, but her expression said "never mind." She was starting to understand what kind of person he was. "[gentle]You take a photo and decorate it cutely." "[excited]Really! Are there Pikachu stickers?" "I don't think so." "[gentle]I see." In the end, they took the photo booth pictures, with Satoshi saying "the machine is complicated" over and over, and Hikari shouting "Press here! This one!" The three photos that came out had Satoshi making weird faces. Hikari laughed, "What do we do with these?" and Satoshi said seriously, "It's a good memory." When they passed a crepe shop, Hikari asked, "Hey, do you like strawberry or chocolate better?" "[excited]I want both! Let's trade halves!" Hikari stopped. Her face turned red. "…Trade halves?" "[excited]That way you get to try different flavors. On my Pokémon journey, the point is to eat lots of different things—" (This kid has no idea.) Hikari faced forward. She wanted to laugh a little, and felt a little sad. This was the first time she'd felt this way. --- Meanwhile, Kasumi was on the second floor of Burger Terrace. Alone, doing homework. Gan-chan asked, "Isn't Satoshi coming today?" "[cold]I don't know. It doesn't matter." "I see." Halfway through her cheeseburger set, she heard footsteps on the stairs. It was Hikari and Satoshi. Satoshi said, "Oh, Burger Terrace!" and Hikari said, "There's a second floor!" as they came up. Their eyes met Kasumi's. Kasumi froze. Hikari blinked for a moment—then smiled brightly. "[excited]Oh! It's Kasumi! Let's eat together!" Satoshi said, "Oh, you were here," and sat in the next seat. Hikari sat across from them. After ordering, they chatted a bit, Gan-chan brought fries—and Hikari suddenly looked at Kasumi. "[sarcastic]Hey, Kasumi, do you like Satoshi?" The air at the table stopped. Kasumi's hand froze, still holding her cup. "[angry]Of course not! He's an idiot!" Her voice cracked slightly. Hikari kept smiling. "[gentle]I see. Then you don't mind if I do, right?" Kasumi couldn't say anything. She'd just said "of course not" with all her might. She couldn't deny it now. The more she denied it, the more it helped Hikari. Satoshi, eating fries, said, "What are you talking about?" Kasumi turned away. Something in her chest burned like it was scorching. --- The next day at lunch. Kasumi was walking down the hallway. Textbooks in her arms, heading to the library. As she turned a corner, she heard voices. Satoshi and Hikari were talking a little ahead in the hallway. Kasumi stopped. Satoshi was laughing. "[gentle]Hikari's got such good energy. She's totally different from Kasumi." Those words fell into Kasumi. (Totally different from Kasumi.) Different—meaning better than her. Satoshi thought Hikari was energetic and good. He didn't think that about her. So— "[excited]Kasumi and Hikari are both friends, but they're so different it's interesting." —The rest of his words didn't reach Kasumi's ears. With her textbooks still in her arms, Kasumi turned back the way she came. Her feet moved on their own. (That's right. Hikari's better than me. Energetic, bright, proactive, cute.) She'd helped him all along. She'd taken care of him all along. Called him an idiot while staying by his side. But that was just her job as class rep. The buddy period was over. It didn't matter anymore. --- During class, Satoshi turned around. Their eyes met. Kasumi looked away. She could see Satoshi tilting his head slightly in the corner of her vision. After school, Satoshi approached her. "[gentle]Kasumi, are you going to the library today?" Kasumi stopped. Without looking at Satoshi, facing forward, she spoke. "[cold]The buddy system period is over. I'm not your caretaker anymore." "Huh?" Kasumi walked away without waiting for a response. Toward the library. Fast-paced. She didn't look back. Satoshi's voice lingered in the hallway. "[sad]Did I…do something? Kasumi, why—" No one answered. Kasumi turned the corner. Deeper into the hallway, she opened the library door. Her usual spot, her usual seat. She sat down and opened her notebook. The test prep notebook came out of her bag. The one she couldn't give him yesterday. In the end, she couldn't give it to him today either. Kasumi shoved it back into her bag and ran her pencil across the page. Nothing was going into her head, but she kept writing. Satoshi might still be standing in the hallway. The thought came to her, and Kasumi clenched her teeth. It was the afternoon when Satoshi, in a world without Pokémon, experienced rejection from a friend for the first time.