In the end, I figured I might as well just skip today altogether, but since the time magic turned out to be kind of lame, I went to school in time for second period.

I waited for first period to end, then entered the classroom during the break before second period. As I took my seat, Kazama Yōji—sitting in front of me—turned around, maybe noticing me, and said:

“Oh wow, skipping past being late and going straight to executive-level attendance? That’s rare.”

He teased me.

Yōji, who sits in front of me, has been with me since elementary and middle school, and our houses are pretty close too, so we were always hanging out before I realized it. We really get along personality-wise, and Yōji’s easy to hang out with. Like, I mentioned I played soccer in elementary school—well, Yōji also played soccer. That much is pretty normal, but as I said before, I switched to baseball in middle school. And when I did, Yōji followed along and switched too.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. He’s put up with a lot of my nonsense over the years. Honestly, I know I’ve dragged Yōji around with me a ton. Even if he betrayed me badly someday, I think I’d forgive him at least once. Not that he’s the kind of guy who’d do something like that in the first place.

For the record, he’s got a calm personality, is decently good-looking, and tall. The fact that he’s a good-looking guy is kind of annoying, but it’s Yōji, so I let it slide. He’s got a good personality too—he’s good-looking inside and out. Of course, he’s popular. Not that he seems to care much.

“Hmm, I left home like normal, but I guess I got lost in thought and before I knew it, I’d gone all the way to Tokyo. I had to hop on a train back.”

He laughed and said, “What the heck is that?” Yeah, fair enough. Even I think “lost in thought” is a weak excuse.

By the way, my high school’s a pretty competitive one, but I got in with room to spare—not that I didn’t study. But Yōji probably had it even easier. We went to a public middle school in the area, and while it was a good school with a lot of smart kids, Yōji was pretty much ranked first in our grade the whole time. I also had good grades and stayed in the single digits ranking-wise—usually near the top—but I never once managed to beat Yōji.

Maybe he was secretly working hard behind the scenes, but he never really gave off that vibe.

And though he’s smart, good-looking, and a nice guy, Yōji’s athletic ability is average. He’s definitely not clumsy or anything, just plain average. But he’s the kind who puts in the effort, and he works smart, so in the end he usually performs a little above average. Just not by a huge margin.

He seems to enjoy it that way, so I guess that’s fine.

—Smack!

At that moment, I got hit on the head from the side with a rolled-up notebook.

“You probably got distracted staring at some pretty girl and missed your stop, right? Then you thought about skipping but didn’t have the guts, so you came back to school. That’s about it, huh?”

“…How did you know?”

I turned toward the familiar voice—and there she was. Minamoto Haruka.

“Because you’re always ogling every pretty woman you pass.”

Oof, no mercy.

She’s also a childhood friend. We went to the same elementary and middle school. Actually, she lives next door, so technically she’s even more of a childhood friend than Yōji.

Yōji’s what you’d call pretty handsome, but Haruka is a full-on beauty. Probably 10 out of 10 people would agree.

Though, to be fair, my opinion of Yōji’s looks is just that—a guy’s opinion. For all I know, girls might rate him even higher. I wouldn’t know.

Haruka’s been good-looking since forever, so I think I had a bit of a first love thing for her back in elementary school.

…Okay, that’s a lie. I still like her. I just try really hard not to show it.

Why? Because we’ve got that kind of “fated to be stuck together forever” vibe, and she definitely doesn’t see me in that way. I also don’t want to risk ruining our friendship by bringing up something like that and losing her. Besides, I know I’m not in her league when it comes to looks.

And to top it off, she’s only gotten more attractive since we entered high school.

“All right, all right, I’m the bad guy, okay?”

Not wanting to let anything slip, I shooed her off with a wave.

Hmm… come to think of it, I wonder if Yōji likes Haruka too. I’m not sure. He doesn’t show his feelings much either.

For the record, we’ve never talked about that kind of stuff. I’d hate for it to get awkward. And even if he asked me to help him out, I don’t think I could. Haruka and I are too close—he’d probably think I was in the way or something.

And honestly, even if you asked me whether Yōji and Haruka would be a good match looks-wise… I don’t think it’s that simple. Haruka’s on a whole different level. Maybe Yōji feels the same and that’s why he’s never made a move. Who knows?

As for Haruka’s grades—yeah, they’re amazing too. In middle school, she was always ranked second in our grade. I think she even beat Yōji and took the top spot once.

…Actually, scratch that. I do know. She bragged to me relentlessly when it happened. I was so annoyed I’d rather not remember it.

In sports, she was in the same baseball club as us back in middle school. Not as a manager—she was a player, right there with the guys.

And she wasn’t just decent. She was a crazy good breaking-ball pitcher. Even got picked for the national girls’ team when we were in middle school and did some TV interviews and stuff. With her looks, she was kind of a nationwide star.

Though I don’t think she actually got to pitch in an official game for the national team.

Anyway, we were in the same club and practiced together. She couldn’t play in official games since she’s a girl, but she played in scrimmages with us. Actually, the other teams wanted to play against her because she was so popular.

Her fastballs weren’t that fast, but she’d come in for just one batter and throw these insane slow, breaking curveballs, totally messing with the timing of strong batters who were used to our ace’s heat. Took down some pretty tough teams like that.

Well, it was just practice matches. In real games, you can’t use someone like that on a whim, so even if she had played in an official game, it probably wouldn’t have worked out as well.

Oh—figured it out yet?

Because she was a breaking-ball pitcher, we made a good pair.

I teased her a lot about that. Good memories. Wahaha.

I couldn’t beat her in school, and besides that one area, I couldn’t beat her in sports either. Cut me some slack, will ya?

You’re saying I just teased her because I liked her?

…Yeah. I know that.

Apparently, she quit baseball after we got to high school.

She had the option to go all-in on the national team, but high school baseball doesn’t let boys and girls train together. And girls’ baseball teams are few and far between unless you go into the city. Our school’s in Makuhari, but her house is way out in the sticks, so Tokyo’s kind of far.

Confess? Like I said, I won’t.

Even if Haruka continued treating me like always after turning me down… I probably couldn’t handle it. I’ve got a fragile heart.

Moments like these make me wish for more than Time, halt. If only I had a magic spell that let me go back for a little while.

…Huh?

Now that I think of it, wasn’t there a skill called Time Leap that cost three points?

Wait… I’ve got a bad feeling about this. If it only rewinds time by one or two seconds, that’s not gonna help me at all!