The heat from the sports festival still lingered somewhere in his body. Monday morning. The moment Sakuragi Ren's eyes opened, his mind was already filled with Nanase Hinata's face from yesterday. That expression—the one where their eyes had met for just an instant after the finish line, before he'd looked away. When Ren opened his phone, there was a photo on Hinata's SNS of him laughing alongside some guy he didn't know. Kajiwara Sota—that name had been catching in Ren's chest ever since last night. (I'm overthinking this. A run will blow it all away.) As always, Ren began sprinting up Namiki Slope. The 600-meter incline with a 12% grade that connected Okanoe District to Harukaze High School. Ginkgo trees lined both sides, their leaves fragmenting the May morning light into fine patterns. Ren ran this slope every morning partly for leg strength, partly to empty his mind. He loved that time—just moving his legs relentlessly toward the school perched at the top of the hill. Halfway up, he spotted a familiar back. Silver short hair. A cool expression, maintaining a steady pace. Nanase Hinata. Ren slowed down slightly. Then, internally, he thought: (Why'd you slow down?) There was no reason to slow down. This was the same road they'd walked together normally until yesterday. No problem. None at all. "Yo" He pulled alongside and called out. Hinata turned toward him. Those blue eyes looked his way for a moment— Then immediately faced forward again. "...Yeah" Short. Terrifyingly short. But Ren didn't stop. He felt like if he backed off now, things would get even weirder. He searched for words—like he'd been practicing all day yesterday. Well, he hadn't been practicing, but still. "Your first leg yesterday was really good" He said it. His best effort. Completely honest. Hinata's run in the class relay at the sports festival had genuinely been excellent. He was just telling him that. Normal. Nothing strange about it. Hinata's ears turned a faint red. Ren saw it. He definitely saw it. "...It wasn't anything special" Still facing away, only three words came back. Something short-circuited in Ren's head. (Nothing special? What does that even mean? Who tells someone "that was good" and responds with "it wasn't anything special"? Is he embarrassed? Or did he hate it? No, his ears were red. What does a red ear mean? Is he angry? Ashamed? Which is it? Which one?) "...I see" That was all that came out. The two of them continued climbing through the ginkgo trees in silence. Only the sound of wind rustling leaves echoed around them. In Ren's head, those three characters—"nothing special"—looped three times over. (Nothing special, nothing special, nothing special...) Incidentally, there were still 300 meters to school. It felt long. Very long. --- The morning classes didn't sink in at all. Ren and Hinata were in the same class—Year 2, Class A. Their seats were positioned diagonally across from each other, and Hinata's desk sat at the edge of Ren's vision. Because that "nothing special" from this morning kept spinning in his head, the characters on the blackboard all started to look like "nothing special" too. (Focus. It's math. "Nothing special" has nothing to do with this.) The moment he thought that, Hinata was looking at him. The instant Ren noticed, Hinata's eyes dropped to his notebook. The motion was so natural, but the timing was too quick. He'd been looking. Definitely looking. (Why are you looking? Why do you turn away before I can look back?) Waiting for his next chance, Ren glanced slightly in Hinata's direction. Their eyes were about to meet again. Again, he looked away. His mechanical pencil stopped. In the margins of his math notebook, he started to write "nothing special," then hurriedly erased it. At lunch, Ren just said "I need to clear my head" and left the classroom. The door to the roof was still broken, just like always. An open secret of Harukaze High—technically off-limits, but the lock was busted and anyone could get in. The students who knew about it treated it as an unofficial spot. When Ren stepped onto the roof, the sea breeze hit him all at once. The view from the roof of a school built on high ground was always refreshing. Suruga Bay's blue sparkled in the May light. Far below, he could see the port area of Minato Hara City, and a few seagulls circled slowly overhead. Ren stood there with his arms crossed, looking out at the scenery. (Why's he been weird since this morning? What does "nothing special" even mean? Normally, if someone says "that was good," you'd say "thanks" or something. But "nothing special." Nothing special. Ugh...) He sighed and sat down on the concrete floor. "Oh, Sakuragi-kun comes here too?" The roof door opened and two girls came out. Classmates. Ren recognized their faces. They were carrying lunch bags and looked a little surprised when they noticed him, but then they didn't mind and started sitting down in a corner. "Yeah, I come sometimes" "It's nice here, right? The wind feels good" One of the girls said that, and the other continued, "Hey, speaking of which—" "Nanase-kun seems pretty close with the transfer student, Kajiwara-kun. They've been together since yesterday" She said it casually. Really casually, just opening her lunch container while she spoke. Ren didn't move. (Since yesterday. Yesterday was the sports festival day. They've been together since the sports festival. Close. With Kajiwara. With Kajiwara Sota...) The SNS photo from yesterday replayed clearly in his mind. That unknown guy's face, laughing next to Hinata. "Oh, really?" His voice sounded normal, he thought. The girls didn't say anything more after that and just started eating their lunch. Ren looked out at the sea from the edge of the roof a bit longer. Looking toward Kazemi Hill, he thought. He'd seen a rumor in the group chat last night that Kajiwara Sota was joining the track club. Apparently he's incredibly fast. He's in a photo on Hinata's SNS next to some unknown guy. That guy's wearing a Harukaze uniform, they've been together since yesterday, they're close— The dots were starting to connect into a line. (Kajiwara and Hinata know each other, and that's why he was distant this morning? No, that doesn't... but...) He was basically constructing a worst-case scenario all on his own. He knew it. But he couldn't stop thinking about it. On the roof where the wind was strong enough that his voice would disappear across the sea, Ren was alone for a while. --- The 400-meter track gleamed white in the afternoon light before summer. Harukaze Track Club—42 members, coach Seiichiro Togawa—had a 2.5-hour practice after school on weekdays. The relay team finished their warm-up and moved into baton-pass drills. First leg: Nanase Hinata. Second leg: Sakuragi Ren. Third leg: Kajiwara Sota— When Ren saw that name written on the practice menu sheet, he stopped for a second. It was already there as a member. Fast. Even though it was just yesterday and today, he was already there like it was normal. He hadn't asked whether Kajiwara himself would show up today, and he didn't. It ended up being just Ren and Hinata confirming the baton pass. They took their positions on the track. Hinata got into his starting stance ahead. His silver short hair looked exactly as it always did in the sunlight. His form was normal too. The whistle blew. Hinata exploded forward. Ren calculated his acceleration timing and started running. The baton came— Slightly off. It wasn't a big deal. In normal practice, it would've been "we were a little off today" and that's it. But something felt wrong. They tried again. Again, it was slightly off. Hinata's acceleration timing was off by maybe a few hundredths of a second from usual. Ren understood, holding the baton. (He can't focus properly either.) The third time was also off. Not catastrophic. But definitely off. At the end of practice, Coach Togawa called everyone over. A 45-year-old PE teacher and former corporate athlete—Seiichiro Togawa always spoke quietly. He didn't yell. But because he was quiet, every word carried weight. After giving instructions to the other members, Togawa looked directly at Ren and Hinata standing on the field. "Did something happen between you two?" Just that. Nothing more. Ren immediately laughed and answered, "Nothing's wrong, Coach. We'll adjust" Hinata also said, "No problems here" Their voices overlapped perfectly. Togawa said nothing. He just nodded and dismissed them. But his eyes—they saw through everything. The eyes of a former corporate athlete. He understood completely that the baton-pass misses weren't a technical issue. He just wasn't asking about it. "Nineteen days until the prefectural qualifiers" That's all he said before walking away. Watching his back, Ren felt something grow heavy in his chest. --- By the equipment shed on the field. While other members laughed and changed out of their gear, Ren stayed behind. He sank deep into an old sofa. The familiar feeling of sinking, just like always. He looked at the wall. "Nineteen days until the prefectural qualifiers" It had been 21 days yesterday. The handwritten number changed every day. This year's prefectural qualifiers—the National High School Athletic Meet Track and Field Shizuoka Prefectural Qualifiers—their goal was first place. Last year they'd placed second, and this year they were supposed to erase that wound. But the baton pass was crucial for that, and today it had been off three times in a row. Ren clasped his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling. He replayed that pass over and over in his mind. Hinata's acceleration timing. Where the baton should arrive. Everything was slightly off. It wasn't a technical problem. It wasn't Ren's fault or Hinata's fault—something had formed between them, and it was showing up as baton misses. (I could just ask. Why is he being weird?) He knew that. He could just ask. But. If he asked—maybe he'd get an answer he didn't want to hear. Kajiwara flickered through his mind. If the reason Hinata was being distant was exactly what he'd imagined— (I might not want to know.) Ren put his hand in his pocket. His fingertips touched something small and fabric. He pulled it out. A navy-blue charm, a little worn. His mother's keepsake. She'd given it to him in third grade—in the white hospital room at Harukaze Hospital, right before the end. "It's a charm," she'd said, and then she'd started to say something else but couldn't. Ren hadn't been able to say anything either. His father hadn't cried after coming home. At least not in front of Ren. He'd kept acting normally, stoically. Ren had grown up watching that. Putting on a brave face became second nature. Somewhere along the way, expressing emotion became scary. That's why it was like this now, he thought. Even when he had things he wanted to say, all that came out were one-liners like "I see." Ren realized he was gripping the charm and gave a bitter smile. He always grabbed this thing when he couldn't carry something alone. "...Just run" He told himself in the empty equipment shed. While running, he didn't have to think about anything. That much was certain. He stood up from the sofa and left the shed. --- At the corner of Every Mart Okanoe Branch, at the bottom of Namiki Slope. The convenience store at evening was fairly crowded with high school students heading home from club. Ren went through the automatic doors and headed straight to the refrigerated case without hesitation. He picked up two ice creams. He didn't need to think about it. On the way home from the sports festival, after practice on hot days—he'd come here and buy two ice creams, then hand one to Hinata. Somewhere along the way, it had become a routine for the two of them. He couldn't even remember when it started anymore. It was that natural. At the register, Mii-chan looke