Kurumi's School Life Reincarnation: A Sweet and Bitter Love Triangle!?
During an after-school piano session in the music room, Kurumi suddenly finds herself transported to another world. She arrives at 'Kurumi Academy,' a slightly peculiar high school, retaining only the memories of her original life.
Enrolled as a first-year student with the same name, Kurumi Hazakura, she begins a new life full of heart-pounding and exciting events with new friends, all while thinking she used to be a normal high schooler with no special powers.
The most popular boy in class, T
Kurumi's School Life Reincarnation: A Sweet and Bitter Love Triangle!? - A promise for the three of us to laugh together on the night of the fireworks.
On the rooftop, alone, a figure hunched over.
──Evening of the school festival's final day.
Under a sky dyed orange, Kurumi found Takuto.
The boy who was always laughing at the center of the class was now leaning against the wall behind the gymnasium, hugging his knees.
"……Takuto-kun."
Her voice trembled so faintly she barely recognized it as her own.
She clutched the chest of her uniform tightly. Her heart ached. That scene from yesterday wouldn't fade from behind her eyelids, and her feet couldn't stop moving closer to him.
The faint sound of sneaker soles scraping against concrete. Takuto's shoulders jolted.
He lifted his face. His bright brown hair seemed to sway even without any wind. His drooping eyes, which usually crinkled into a smile with just a slight squint, now reflected her image, opened wide.
"……Kurumi-chan."
His voice was hoarse, cracked. Not a trace of his usual explosive tone that said "Leave it to me!"
He tried to stand up and stumbled.
"N-no, that's not it! I'm just a little tired right now, and──"
His right hand clawed at the air, his left hand searched for the wall, and only his words rushed ahead.
"Takuto-kun."
She pinched the hem of his uniform with her fingertips. As if gently wrapping a soap bubble that seemed about to disappear.
The small sensation of fabric.
Her fingers trembled, enough to surprise even herself.
"There's something I want to talk about. Don't run away."
"……"
Takuto-kun stopped the foot he had been about to step forward. His gaze wandered from her face, to the ground, and then back to her.
And then, slowly, he looked down. The silver walnut earring on his left ear glinted in the sunset, almost as if it were crying.
"……I thought you hated me, Kurumi-chan."
"Hated you?"
"Because, yesterday, after the contest, you wouldn't meet my eyes at all… and I thought, maybe it was because I was talking to other girls. I'm, like, really bad at reading the room, I always just barge in, and because of that I ended up causing trouble for you too──"
His voice wavered, and his words grew smaller and smaller.
It felt like the air was thinning.
"That's wrong!"
This time, she pulled hard on his hem, gripping it tight. The seams bit into her fingers.
Takuto-kun's eyes went perfectly round. In those dark pupils, her own face, backlit by the sunset, was reflected.
"Kurumi… chan?"
"Why do you always try so hard for everyone else, Takuto-kun?"
Her voice was shaking, a mess of tears. Her throat burned, as if everything was about to turn into tears at any moment. But she couldn't run away here.
She had to put it into her own words and give them to him.
"When I saw you laughing with other girls, I really, really hated it. I just assumed I was special to you, so I felt betrayed, and I was sad, and then──"
"……"
"But Reiji-kun told me. That you're lonelier than anyone, and that you're always thinking you have to be useful to someone."
Takuto's shoulders trembled violently.
He bit his lip hard and furrowed his brow, as if holding something back.
"……Reiji did."
"Is he wrong?"
"……"
He was silent for a while. During the silence, the closing announcements of the school festival echoed from a distant speaker, unnaturally cheerful.
Then, as if resigning himself, he let out a deep breath. As if letting all the tension drain from his shoulders.
"……He's not wrong."
His voice was so thin and trembling it seemed to dissolve into the air.
"I can't play the piano like you, Kurumi-chan. I can't read difficult books like Reiji, either. I don't have any special talent at all."
"So I could only feel my own worth by being useful to someone. If I'm not needed by someone, then I have nothing──"
His words cut off midway.
Instead, tears spilled from his drooping eyes, one after another. Small dark stains formed on his gray uniform slacks.
"Yesterday, when those girls said, 'Do you think Kurumi-chan is special?', I couldn't say anything. Even though you are special, Kurumi-chan, I felt like someone like me had no right to say that."
"I'm really, really the worst, aren't I."
His fist clenched tight. His nails dug into his palm, and his knuckles turned white.
She wrapped both of her hands around his, gripping them tightly.
"……That's not true."
As she gazed at Takuto-kun's surprised face, the back of her eyes grew hot, and her vision blurred with tears. The outline of his face wavered like a heat haze.
"On my first day at Kurumi Academy, you were the first one to find me, Takuto-kun. When I got lost, you were the only one who thought I was special."
"You're far more special than you think, Takuto-kun. Your kindness has saved me so many times. Your smile was my light."
Tears streamed down Takuto-kun's face. As if a dam had broken.
Like a child, he sobbed and rubbed his eyes over and over.
"……Kurumi-chan, I'm sorry. I'll do better. I promise."
She nodded. At that moment, a single tear fell from her own eyes onto the asphalt, forming a dark spot.
And then, she hugged him tightly.
"Let's do better, together."
As she wrapped her arms around his back, his body heat came through his shirt. He could probably hear her heartbeat, too. It was pounding fast, and just as hot as her own. The two of them cried, a complete mess, but it was very, very warm.
The sun set.
A gentle orange light enveloped the rooftop.
──Night.
The after-party began, and small lights flickered on throughout the school building. Kurumi ran through the crowd. Her heart was pounding.
It wasn't because she was running.
It was because she was about to properly convey her feelings.
Under the great "Great Walnut" tree in the courtyard.
A lone figure stood there.
Dark, slightly long hair. Straight black hair swaying in the breeze. Sharp, cool eyes quietly gazed at her.
"……Kurumi-san."
"Reiji-kun."
She didn't hesitate. Not wanting to waste even the time to catch her breath, she grabbed his left arm tightly.
Reiji-kun's shoulders flinched. She felt the thin bones and muscles in his arm tense up.
"Wh-what are you──"
"Thank you."
She held his hand. His fingertips were cold, and trembling just a little.
"Your kindness, Reiji-kun, I've felt it clearly for a long time. When you got a book for me in the library, when you left a water bottle for me during the contest, when you stood in front to protect me."
"……I did those things on my own."
"No. Even so, thank you."
She squeezed his hand back. His cold fingers slowly absorbed her warmth, becoming just a little softer.
"From now on, I want to be by your side, Reiji-kun, and wait for your words. I want to know more about you."
Reiji-kun was silent for a moment. His sharp eyes weren't looking at her, but at their joined hands.
But the grip on her hand slowly, yet surely, tightened.
"……Kurumi."
Just three syllables. It was a hoarse voice from his throat, sounding as if it might vanish at any moment.
"Yes?"
"……Thank you."
His lips trembled faintly, then pressed firmly together.
Still holding his hand, she smiled. Her heart felt deeply, warmly happy.
That was when it happened.
"Fufu, was I interrupting?"
Suddenly, a voice like a ringing bell fell upon them. Kurumi gasped and hunched her shoulders.
From the shadow of the Great Walnut tree, a female student stepped into the moonlight. Her waist-length silver hair sparkled in the lights of the after-party. Her amethyst-like purple eyes narrowed elegantly.
"Yu-Yuzuki-senpai!?"
"The reason you came here is no coincidence. The secret of Kurumi Academy lies beyond the path you have chosen."
The student council president, Shiina Yuzuki. She took a step closer, her silver bracelet jingling.
"Huh? What… do you mean?"
"Fufu, there's no need to rush. Because you've already started walking on your own two feet."
Having said only that, Yuzuki-senpai turned on her heel. Her long silver braid swayed softly, leaving a faint fragrance in the darkness.
"Kurumi-san. I look forward to seeing how that choice of yours will change this world."
And then, she quietly disappeared into the crowd.
As if she had never been there from the start.
Kurumi held her breath.
Reiji, too, silently watched her retreating figure.
──The path you have chosen.
It felt as if a small seed had been dropped deep within her heart.
She still didn't quite understand. But her choice was connected to something.
That certain weight made the ground beneath the soles of her feet feel more solid now.
At that moment──
Fweeeee… BOOM!
A large firework bloomed in the night sky.
Red, blue, gold. Great flowers, one after another, tore through the darkness, blooming and scattering.
The finale had begun.
A cheer of "Whoa!" rose from the students in the courtyard.
"Kurumi-chaaan! Reijiii! Over here, over here!"
From a distance, she heard Takuto-kun's voice. His voice no longer had any cloudiness in it.
Before she knew it, his eyes had returned to their usual bright brown. With his eyelids still a little swollen, he was waving at them with a beaming smile.
Kurumi pulled Reiji's hand and broke into a run. The soles of her sneakers kicking off the asphalt felt lighter than usual.
"Let's run, Reiji-kun!"
"……Yeah."
They met up with Takuto in the plaza in front of the school building. A faint sheen of sweat on his forehead, he took both of their hands. And then, he pointed at the sky.
"Look! It's super beautiful!"
Heavy sounds, BOOM, BOOM, resonated deep in their stomachs. Flowers of light bloomed wildly.
Kurumi, Takuto, and Reiji, the three of them looked up at the night sky. The flowing light of the star mines illuminated their faces in different colors, over and over. Her heart was pounding. Being able to see something this beautiful with the people she cared for—she still didn't know what to call this excitement in her chest.
"I'm going to find my feelings, properly, in this world!"
She shouted it towards the sky. It was the first time her voice didn't tremble.
"Huh?"
"……Yeah."
The two of them, with different expressions, nodded at the same time. Takuto squinted as if dazzled, and Reiji quietly lowered his gaze as if thinking about something.
"Of course I'll wait, that's a given!"
"……Whatever. ……There's no need to rush."
"What's with that tone, Reiji! You're so twisted!"
"……I am not twisted."
"Ahaha!"
She felt like she had laughed from the bottom of her heart for the first time in a while. A warm bubble welled up from deep in her stomach.
She still didn't know the answer to love.
But that was okay. This miracle, being able to spend today laughing together, the three of them.
That was more certain and precious than anything.
The fireworks neared their end, and several star mines launched in rapid succession. Kurumi gently took the hands of the two standing beside her.
Her right hand held Takuto-kun's. A little sweaty, bony, and his grip was strong.
Her left hand held Reiji-kun's. Still a little cold, but with more strength than before.
Warm, trembling slightly, but a definite warmth.
When she looked up at the sky, the final, largest firework bloomed with a burst.
Golden light slowly fell like a weeping willow. Slower than any other firework, as if spreading golden roots into the darkness.
It looked just like a giant walnut tree blooming upside down in the sky.
Kurumi didn't close her eyes. She kept watching until the particles of golden light were seared into her retinas and faded away.
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