Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 1 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Uniform Ping-Pong

Those words Adachi spoke while skipping class with me, "let's go play ping-pong", would eventually turn into a small-scale table tennis craze between us two. A table and all the necessary equipment—rarely used these days—had been stored on the second floor of the gym. As we obviously couldn't open the large window, it was a little hot and stuffy up there. 
A green net was stretched across the side that overlooked the first floor. It was there to stop any stray balls from falling down, likely something from a time when this school still used to have a table tennis club. Sitting on its edge, chatting with Adachi in hushed voices, had been starting to get a little boring, which is why I had agreed to her suggestion. 
It was the end of October, a time when winter uniforms had already replaced the summer ones, but the weather was still slightly too hot for their long sleeves. The sky was clear and blue without a single cloud, and gym classes were being held outside. Adachi and I were the only ones using the gym, although without permission. After taking a peek down into the first floor and confirming that that really was the case, we began setting up the table. 
"Were you in any clubs in middle school?" Adachi asked me while struggling to install the net onto the table. Though the two of us had been skipping class together for a month now, I suppose that school clubs just were something that had never come up. 
"Yeah, I played basketball. I was pretty into it, actually, and often stayed late practising shots." 
"Wouldn't have thought", Adachi replied, probably because I was shorter than her. 
"So, should we play basketball then?" 
"It's no fun playing against an amateur." 
"Yeah, yeah", she smirked back. Bouncing balls around on the court below was a quick way to draw the teachers' attention. Not that Adachi had meant it seriously, of course. Besides, as we naturally were both wearing school uniforms, I had a feeling we would have been way too bothered by our skirts riding up to focus on anything else. 
Ping-pong had just enough movement for an amateur to handle. 
In the small, quiet space on the second floor... 
Adachi and I were first year high school students, though both far from what you'd call a model one. We hadn't known each other forever or anything like that, but rather, had met for the first time after starting here. What I knew about her was a puddle compared to the ocean of what I didn't. Most of those were things that I had no need to know. 
There wasn't really anything all that adventurous about Adachi's looks. Her hair—a bit on the longer side—had been dyed light brown, but it barely stood out, to the point that you could easily have mistaken it as her real hair colour. Her body was slender and generally curveless. Her shoulders were also heavily sloped, leading one to wonder if she even had any. At the same time, as her eyes were confident and her lips thin, the expressions on her face oftentimes looked cold. In truth, however, she was calm; or rather, quiet. 
Though she got angry and laughed like anyone else, not once had I seen her raise her voice. 
She often wore a silver bracelet around her left wrist. It was perhaps a little too big, and the way it rested on her wrist made it look like she was wearing a thin handcuff on just one of her hands. 
As for me, my hair was dark brown, and anyone could have seen that it was dyed. I also spent longer putting on makeup than Adachi. Though it was pretty ridiculous that a single small earring was all it took for people to treat me like a delinquent, Adachi was still far more popular with the teachers. Probably because she was the prettier one and rarely if ever acted defiant. 
Don't let yourself be deceived, however: that girl was at least three times the troublemaker I was. If you wanted proof, all you had to do was look at the number of days she had actually attended school. Even so, being three times as diligent as Adachi wasn't enough to make me an honours student, unfortunately. Our test scores were also in the same range, curiously enough. 
Adachi had taken off her uniform jacket and tied it around her waist. Once the table was fully set up, I followed her lead and took mine off too. I'd be moving my body all over and didn't want it to tear. Of course, the main reason was how hot it was in here. 
I took off the makeup I was wearing since I was going to get sweaty anyway and held out the racket, which, from the looks of it, had mould growing on it. The pink, spotted ping-pong ball rested on my palm. Adachi stood facing me, in her left hand holding a racket of her own. Looking at her, I noticed something I had never noticed before: she was left-handed. 
"When did you last play table tennis?" 
"Hmm... Not since 6th grade." 
We talked while hitting the ball back and forth. This was the kind of vocabulary I hadn't used in ages, and a grin soon formed on my face. 
"6th grade? That's like, forever ago!" 
Being right-handed made it easy for me to aim for her right side. I mercilessly shot the ball towards that area, only for Adachi to skilfully hit it back with the back of her racket, barely moving from where she stood. 
"You're pretty fast." 
"I can do this too." 
In the blink of an eye, she switched the racket over to her right hand and swiftly shot the ball back, hitting it with much more strength than I had. I was left staring in awe. Well, the ball did end up missing the table completely and landed in the net behind me, but still, impressive nonetheless. 
We killed some time like that, playing casual ping-pong with some occasional serious back-and-forths. Meanwhile in the classroom, the third-period class was taking place. What was it on Mondays again? Maths? Maybe Japanese history? Either way, I was far too busy chasing the ball to try to remember; classes and such had become a secondary issue in my mind. 
Adachi and I hadn't always skipped class together. She had her own places, and I had mine. Not that she even used to come to school all that much anyway. 
Reading manga and stuff, you often see students hanging around on their school's roof. In reality, however, most schools have their roofs closed off. Besides, you'd probably get sunburnt if you took a nap or something up there. That's why I chose the second floor of the gym, because it was safe from both people and the sun. Coincidentally, Adachi too had taken notice of it. 
The second term had barely started back then, and it was still quite hot. Perhaps that's why she had been sitting around lazily with her shoes—and even her socks—off. I still remember the way she sprang up in panic as I walked in, probably thinking that I was a teacher making the rounds or something, as well as her cute, little toes which she had been wiggling around. 
Ever since then, we had often found ourselves doing the same thing by a complete fluke. That also went for skipping class; we'd get a hunch that the other might have come here, and when we went to check, there they were. As for after-school stuff, well, Adachi rarely ended up staying the whole day, and as such, I usually went with my other two friends. Those two were the complete opposites of delinquents, though, and had probably never failed to copy a single letter off the blackboard, much less skip a class. 
Two diligent students and two not so diligent. Well balanced, or maybe just halfway done. The ping-pong ball travelled between us, slowly enough to cause my mind to wander off to such thoughts. 
I got to take some time off the things that usually bothered me, and it felt great. 

"Too hot. I can't keep going." 
Undoing the top button of her shirt, Adachi declared that she had had enough. She placed the racket on the table and waved her hands sideways, as if to further reinforce her statement. She wasn't the only one exhausted. I rolled up my sleeves—now sticking to my arms with sweat—and left the table as well. The ping-pong ball remained in my hand, though. I could have tried tossing it on the table, but since I didn't feel confident in my ability to land the throw, I decided against it. 
Whoever was in charge of cleaning this place must have been pretty careless. The floor was covered in a thick layer of dust, sticking to it like wax. Neither I nor Adachi really wanted to sit on it, but thankfully, the net that stopped balls from falling down to the first floor also doubled as a bench. On it we sat, quietly. 
"I want some wind", Adachi muttered, her face flushed and her cheeks burning. Feeling the exact same way, I gave the window we weren't able to open a bitter look. 
It wasn't that the window was locked or anything, of course, and if we tried, we could probably have opened it with ease. No, the problem was more that if we did that, people outside might see and realize that someone was up here. 
"Should we go out? The lunch break's soon." 
Adachi had rolled up the sleeves of her shirt and even pulled its tail out of her skirt. No way could I ever wear my uniform that casually. If left alone, she'd probably roll up her skirt too; another thing that I wasn't able to imitate. Even if no one was watching, it was still kinda embarrassing. Just as I thought that, however, Adachi actually began doing it. She grabbed her skirt and waved it. 
"My, how immodest. Our school's— um, what's the word? Umm..." 
"Dignity?" 
"Yeah, that's it. 'Tis being degraded." 
"Anyway, lunch, huh? What to do..." 
Adachi glanced at me as she said this. I decided to let the abrupt change of topic slide. 
Considering that all it took for me to go back to my regular uniform was to put on my jacket, I was inevitably chosen as the one to go do the shopping. If Adachi were to go, she would have to first tug her shirt, roll down her sleeves, redo her buttons, and then put on her jacket. And that was just way too much work. She probably also wanted to fix her hair, seeing how it had fluffed up slightly. 
"Fine, fine. I'll go." 
"I promise I'll go next time." 
"I don't think your 'next time' and mine are the same thing." 
This must have been her fifth next time already. And yet, Adachi simply laughed. 
"A danish, and... water's fine. That'll be all." 
"Got it. If they're sold out, I'll just grab something." 
Adachi always drank mineral water. It kinda made me jealous thinking that that might be why her skin was so clear and without any spots. Maybe instead of blood, she had water running in her veins. 
"You're going to class after lunch?" 
"I might. What about you? Going home?" 
"Hmm, well... Not to class anyway." 
After a second of thought, she uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on the floor. The air of nonchalance was already back on her face. 
Never had I tried seriously asking Adachi why she didn't go to class. The reverse was also true. We had simply happened to both come here at the same time and, feeling a little bored nevertheless, tried playing table tennis to see if that would help. 
I flicked away the ping-pong ball I had kept in my hand. It made soft clacks as it bounced on the floor before hitting a wall and stopping. Those sounds resembled the sound of knocking on the door of another's heart. 
Adachi took off her shoes and, dangling them off her fingertips, spoke. She was completely focused on that activity, and the look on her face was really stern. Her lower lip was curled and pushed forward, like she was really giving it her all. 
"Ping-pong is pretty fun, huh?" 
"True that. Individual sports might be a better fit for me after all." 
While I did enjoy basketball too, I had realized in my third year in middle school that I just wasn't suited for it. I was the kind of person who, when it came to competitions, always wanted to test how far they could get with their own strength alone, and I knew well that that would just end up ruining the dynamic in team sports. I also regularly got told off for hogging the ball. 
"But, you know. If they said we were having ping-pong in gym class, I still probably wouldn't go." 
"Same here. I'll be hiding somewhere else if that happens." 
Adachi agreed while stretching her hand up. She waved it in the air before cracking her elbow and letting out a yawn. I hear that's just how her body was. Apparently, it always made that kinda sound when she stretched her elbow. Strange. 
"We sure agree on the weirdest things, Shimamura." 
Adachi had said my name, and though she probably was unaware, just hearing it annoyed me. I really hated my last name: "Shimamura". The first thing that came to anyone's mind when they thought about "Shimamura" was the fashion store by the same name, and I couldn't help but to feel that whenever people referred to me, that's what they were imagining. Being a "Shimazaki" or something would've be much better. 
As we sat there relaxed, our legs stretched out, the chime indicating the end of class played. It echoed through the gym which should have been empty, and soon enough, my stomach joined in on its melody with a growl. 
"There's the chime." 
"Yep." 
"Off you go now." 
Adachi waved goodbye at me, and so, I reluctantly stood up. I put on the jacket that I had taken off, as well as my shoes. Then, after checking that I had my wallet, I headed to the stairs. Before I got there, I took a look back and saw Adachi stretching for her bag to grab her phone and, not quite reaching it, flopping back down into her original position. Though I could totally sympathize, I still decided to taunt her with a quick, "Heh, sloth". She protested a little by drumming the floor with her heels, but I simply shook my shoulders and walked down the stairs. 
Just who Adachi had registered in her phone was yet another in the endless pile of mysteries that surrounded her. I had never seen her talking with anyone in school, besides me of course. Well, I guess that made sense, seeing how she barely came to school in the first place. 
We had been meeting here a lot lately, though, so maybe she was coming to see me. 
Realizing that could actually be the reason made me feel a little uneasy. 
And for some reason, it felt like if I were to bring that up with her, Adachi would never come to the second floor of the gym again. 

The next day, Adachi once again asked me if I was up for some table tennis. She seemed slightly more enthusiastic than yesterday, and I pondered why that might be while setting up the table and the net. Having already done it once, we managed to get everything ready a little faster than the last time. 
"Can I serve first?" 
"Sure?" 
She readied the ball—orange this time—and served. It wasn't any normal shot, however. She shook the racket sharply, as if cutting the underside of the ball, which made it spin and caused it to bounce back to her side after hitting the table in front of me. 
I was far too confused, more so by Adachi's exaggerated motions than the trajectory of the ball, to hit it back. 
"Hum." 
Adachi returned my look of suspicion with a wide, childish smile, the like of which was rarely seen on her face. It really left an impression. 
"I looked this up online yesterday. I didn't have a racket, though, so I practised with a spoon." 
She spun the racket in her hand as she bragged, proud that the unveiling of her new technique had gone successfully. It was honestly more surprising to me that Adachi was this into ping-pong, but as the chagrin I felt was strong, I decided to act like that didn't interest me. 
"You're using curve balls against an amateur? That's low." 
"It's your fault for having no ambition, Shimamura. Here comes another one!" 
Adachi took another weird pose and began serving. She hit it a little too low this time, however, and the ball ended up flying backwards towards her direction instead. It hit the wall and bounced back. After having picked it up, Adachi scratched her forehead. Then, bouncing the ball on her racket, she explained. 
"You see, I'm still only good enough to send one out of every ten flying straight forward..." 
"So, you got worse after learning a new technique?" Was I really going to win just by standing still? 
Well, as it turned out, yes. Just like the previous one, her next attempt failed too, and the ball flew off in the distance, bouncing off the floor and the other tables. It ended up landing on my side of the net, and as such, I went to pick it up, even if it had ultimately been Adachi's fault. Just then, however, I heard a voice coming from downstairs. 
The shock I felt was comparable to a needle being stuck into my heart. My body came to a sudden halt, and the ball I had been chasing rolled away. Adachi reacted similarly. Someone was speaking: a girl. Adachi quickly circled around the table and walked over to where I was, and we took a peek down below together. If there was someone on the stage, they'd only need to look up and they'd see us. While the piercing sensation in my heart had already passed, I could still feel my skin tingle nervously. 
It seemed that we were having gym this period. Girls from our class had begun setting up to play volleyball. The reason why I realised this—that they were my classmates—was due to spotting the familiar faces of my friends. Hino and Nagafuji, to be precise. They were currently carrying the net and its supports. We had only ever sat down and talked before, so it hadn't been that much of a shock even when someone did walk into the gym. As such, I had never taken the time to actually learn the class schedule. 
We sat there, crouched, our hands on our mouths. The ping-pong ball still bounced lightly on the floor, and we waited nervously to see if anyone would react to its noise. 
"Oh damn, my heart's pounding", Adachi whispered to me. It almost sounded like she was enjoying the thrill. 
"Why are you getting a kick out of this?" I laughed back, poking her with my elbow. 
"What are we gonna do if they walk up here?" 
As I asked her this, Adachi—with her hands still on her mouth—laughed and turned her eyes upwards. 

"Let's open the window and jump out." 
"Huh? But, this is the second floor. Won't we break our legs?" 
I voiced my disapproval towards Adachi's proposal. Jumping out of any window was scary, but even more so this one since I had never taken a look at what was below it. Although, it did kinda feel like I was taking what was meant as a joke seriously. With a short "hmm", Adachi nodded. 
"So, you're saying you don't get enough calcium?" 
"How is that the conclusion you came to?!" 
Me getting angry might have just proven her point. 
Through the wall I leant against, I could feel the chatter of my classmates. The teacher hadn't arrived yet, it seemed, and there was nothing to stop them from talking. Hino and Nagafuji had no clue where I went when I skipped class, and the thought of me being in the same building as them probably didn't even cross their minds. It was pretty funny to think about. 
Crouching there, hiding, made it feel like I was doing something wrong. Well, I obviously was, but sharing that wrongdoing with Adachi was kinda fun. Was I into it because she was with me, or was I simply getting off on the feeling of doing something that I shouldn't? 
I knew right away, but decided to leave the question unanswered. 
At some point, the orange ping-pong ball had rolled all the way to the end of the wall and come to a stop. 
"Maybe I'll drink some milk during lunch today, so that I can jump down without breaking my legs", Adachi planned. The look on her face was simultaneously serious and non-serious. 
Of course, today didn't end up being the "next time" she had promised. 
As school came to an end that day, Adachi had, as was the norm, already left. She had told me before that her mom would yell at her if she came home early, so I figured she just loitered around town, killing time. 
Much like yesterday, I attended the afternoon classes, after which I dropped by a bookstore with Hino and Nagafuji. I normally wouldn't have gone with them as my home was in the opposite direction, but today, there was something that I kinda wanted to check out. Well, not that I knew if they even had those sorts of books, considering that I had never taken a look at that section before. 
"Oh, they do." 
Standing before the shelf that contained sports books, I pulled out one that taught table tennis. If Adachi was going to look stuff up online, then I was going to use a book. I turned it around and took a look at the price tag. As I did, I couldn't help but gasp. 
"That's expensive!" 
I could see now why the internet got so popular. It was easy to look stuff up. And cheap. 
"What are you looking at?" 
Hino walked up to me and took a look at what I was holding. Though we had parted ways at the store's entrance, she had apparently seen me and come to check out what I was doing. 
"You're going to join the table tennis club, Shimamura?" she asked, tilting her head. A pretty strange question, considering that our school didn't have one. 
Hino was my kinda plain-looking classmate. She had never dyed her hair, never shoplifted, and probably had never pulled the hair of a girl from another school. Well, not that I had done the latter two either. 
Her eyes were big and round, which lent a certain air of charm to her... or maybe just simple-mindedness, as evidenced by her addition of a vocal sound effect into the swing of her air racket. She easily got caught in the moment, and I'm sure that if you flattered her, she'd even do a backflip or two for you. She also often lamented about how there were no people in school who shared her passion for her hobby—fishing—but that was a whole another story. 
"So, why table tennis? Did you watch 'Ping Pong' on TV or something?" 
"No, I wasn't influenced by anything. I just... felt like it." 
It would have been too difficult to explain. Well, it really wouldn't have been. Still, the words wouldn't come out, and I ended up placing the book back onto the shelf without so much as reading a single page of it. In the end, it seemed that I too would be relying on the internet. In my mind, I could already hear Adachi accusing me of copying her, and it kinda pissed me off. I was so angry, in fact, that it'd be worse if she didn't say it. 
"Guys, don't leave me!" 
The last member of our group toddled over, proclaiming her presence in a monotone-ish voice. 
Nagafuji had giant breasts and wore glasses. What more did I need to explain? Well, her hair was also really long, and when she wasn't in her school uniform, it often rested on her chest. It was straight, silky smooth, and felt good to the touch. 
Matching her breast size, her attitude too was all adult-like. She was always calm and composed. But, also a little dumb. 
"What are you talking about?" 
Hino gave her chest a slight smack, as if to say "don't worry about it". 
"Okay, I won't", she replied while giving Hino's head a tap in return. The two had been friends since middle school, or so I'd heard. I, on the other hand, had only gotten to know them after entering high school, and so, even if we were all friends, it felt like the two were slightly closer with each other than with me. Still, friendships aren't such that being close is always better. Get too close and you might be met with opposition, and you'll realise that you weren't ever that good of friends to begin with. 
"What's your excuse for such casual sexual harassment?" 
"You always worry about your boobs. I thought I'd help you ease up." 
Hino wasn't at all ashamed. Rather, I had never seen her act that way. Did she maybe have a strong sense of what was right? Or was that the wrong way to describe it? 
"You do?" I asked. Looking downwards, almost like she was a little embarrassed, Nagafuji nodded slightly. 
"Well, they're big and boys are always staring at them. Of course I worry." 
She crossed her arms, as if to hide her chest. Of course, she wasn't able to hide it at all. 
"All the boys in the classroom imagine themselves groping your boobs ten times a lesson, I think." 
"Whoa... That's gross." 
Nagafuji looked visibly grossed out as I said this. Well, that probably wasn't all they imagined, but since I didn't want to start talking about those sorts of things in public, I decided to leave it there. Taking a glance at the table tennis book I had put back into the shelf, I sighed. 
"That's the price you pay", Hino said, and gave her chest a tap, in the same way that you'd tap someone on the shoulder. 
"Oops, got them mixed u— Blegh!" 
Nagafuji smacked her head before she could finish her sentence, and she ended up biting her tongue. 
The two continued their back-and-forth, making all sorts of noises. I slipped away quietly so as not to be grouped with them. 

Even so, the three of us ended up back together as we left the bookstore. And I really was trying to get away... 
"Hey, Shimamura. You skip class pretty often, right? What do you do in the meantime?" 
Hino, walking next to me, asked me this while holding a bag with the magazine she had bought inside. Nagafuji's eyes also turned my way. Though they were both the kind of students who'd never skip class, it seemed that they were still sort of interested in it. Even so, there wasn't really anything for me to explain. Considering that the two were capable of combating drowsiness during class, nothing about my hideout would be attractive enough to tempt them down the wrong path. 
Although, that did kinda make me ask why I went there either. 
"What do I do? Well, just kinda hang around. You know, sleep, lie around, do stuff on my phone." 
Playing table tennis wasn't one of the things I mentioned. 
"What freedom", Hino said. She didn't seem jealous. 
"We have a place like that in school? It feels like the teachers would find you wherever you went." 
Nagafuji seemed puzzled. For an honours student like her who never wandered too far in the more deserted parts of school, it was probably inconceivable for there to be any places there suited for a classic game of hide-and-seek. 
"Ah! I think I have a pretty good guess of where you do it." 
"Huh?" 
Hino suddenly proclaimed that. Though I didn't know if her guess was right or not, it still got me pretty flustered. 
"Should we go there and look for her the next time?" she then proposed to Nagafuji, making it sound like it would be really fun. 
"Knock it off..." I latched back, my warning mixed with a wry smile. If they really did find me, that wouldn't be very good. 
If it had been just me, then whatever. But, Adachi was around too now. 
"Speaking of which, I met a weird girl at the fish pond last Sunday." 
I rolled my eyes at Hino's sudden and inexplicably proud outburst. Just how many times had she boasted about something like that? 
"When aren't you running into weird people?" 
All the people who Hino introduced with a phrase like that really did end up being weirdos, and it never ceased to amaze me. Had she just been born under that sort of a star? Although, if that was the case, then I guess that would make me a weirdo too. 
"It's better than running into a pervert", Nagafuji followed up. I couldn't argue with that. But, was that really good enough for you, Hino? 
"Let's see, who have I met lately... There was this one girl who was wearing something that looked like a space suit, and..." she continued talking in a gleeful tone of voice, which probably meant that it was. Well, as long as she was happy. 
Half-listening to Hino's story about the weird girl, we made our way back to the school area and began our usual journeys home. As Hino and Nagafuji both came to school by bus, the bus stop would be as far as we went together. After that, it'd be me walking back home all by myself. Our family only had a single bicycle, and since Mom used it all the time, I rarely got to ride it. Mom had been the sports-type in her youth and still went to the gym, and so, the speed at which she pedalled was just out of this world. It was to the point that you could have used it for the source of an urban legend. 
"Hey, look!" 
As we passed by a gas station, Hino suddenly pointed at something in front of us. After making sure that we were looking, she quickly pulled her hand back. I strained my eyes to see what it was, and then— 
"Oh!" 
It was Adachi. 
Like a model delinquent, Adachi sat on the fence that separated the road from the side walk. She was wearing her school uniform as casually as ever, with her jacket taken off and her shirt untucked. Something about the way her bangs sat seemed to bother her, judging from the way she was fiddling with them with a mirror in hand. 
Were she to fall backwards, she would naturally tumble onto the road. I was more worried about that than whether or not it was good manners to be sitting there. 
Next to Adachi was parked a blue bicycle which seemed to belong to her. 
For the first time ever, I learned that she came to school by bike. 
Adachi noticed us too. She glared at us, which caused Hino to jump a little. Come to think of it, Hino and Nagafuji had never spoken to Adachi. As such, they didn't know about us two being friends either. It wouldn't have been all that weird for them to interpret her stare as something more hostile. Now, considering those factors... 
I had never really put much thought into running across Adachi outside of the gym. What was I supposed to do here? Seeing how she was looking at me but not moving, it was fair to assume that Adachi was just as confused as I was. 
Either way, we couldn't just stand there staring at each other forever. I averted my gaze. 
In the end, we ended up pretending to not know one another. 
I walked past her like she wasn't even there. Adachi also didn't greet me. Was she maybe mad that I was ignoring her? I looked over my shoulder and our eyes met, and a few seconds later we turned our faces away nearly at the same time. 
"..." 
What was this emotion I felt, this restlessness and embarrassment? I mean, it wasn't like we were a couple trying to keep the fact that they were going out a secret. Well, I suppose it might have shared some nuances. 
"Who was that girl? I think I've seen her in class. Like, in April", Nagafuji asked me while tucking her dangly hair behind her ear. Seriously, again? 
"You ask who she is every time we see her", Hino pointed out. 
"Do I?" she replied back. Yeah, I guess she wasn't really the thinking type. 
"She's... Adachi. From our class." 
"She's a real delinquent, one recognized by the teachers." 
Hino added on to my simple explanation. You had to be recognized by a teacher to be a delinquent? 
"A delinquent, huh? So, Shimamura's comrade?" 
"Who knows." 
From Nagafuji's perspective, even I was a delinquent. The only difference between us was that I came to class every once in a while, while Adachi never did. In other words, no such thing as a diligent delinquent. 
Well, there was a slight difference; Adachi looked tough like she was going to beat you up, whereas I couldn't stop giving off the impression that I was constantly spacing out, like an iguana passing the day in the sun. Just sitting there, idling away instead of going to class. 
What might a bad girl like her have been doing in a place like this? 
I casually took one more look over my shoulder, only to find that Adachi had already ridden off. 

The next day was Wednesday. There was still a lot of the week left. Adachi wasn't showing up. 
Even after first period ended and the class that had been using the gym left, I remained alone on the second floor. It was cloudy today, and no light came through the windows. The pleasant weather made it easy to just sit there and idle. 
Nevertheless, by third period, even I was beginning to get bored. After waiting till the period started and confirming that no one had come to the gym, I grabbed a table tennis racket. I then picked up an orange ping-pong ball that had been left on the floor and hit it towards the wall. It bounced once, hit the wall, and flew back towards me. I hit it again. Wall tennis, I think this was called. 
Practising by myself in secret would widen the skill gap between me and Adachi. Although, I suppose it had already been pretty wide with her handicapping herself by sticking to that weird serve she had learned. I continued hitting the ball back towards the wall, every now and then taking a glance at the stairs and the landing. 
Adachi wasn't coming, was she? She had come here pretty much daily since we'd met, so her randomly not showing up made me feel pretty restless. There had also been that incident yesterday after school, and I couldn't help but be a little worried. Still, it was probably—no, definitely—an unnecessary worry. 
If what happened yesterday really had caused Adachi to never come here again, the regret would haunt me for the rest of my life. Well, if not my whole life, then at least for half a year. After that, we'd switch classes, and the memories would fade away like ink. 
I had already parted ways with and forgotten many friends before meeting Adachi, Hino, and Nagafuji. You come to the surface for a quick breather before sinking deep, deep down. Then, after everything around you disappears and you start to suffocate, you aim for the surface again. That was my impression of human relationships. 
"...Oops." 
I heard the sound of someone coming up the stairs. I stopped hitting the ball and stood still on the spot, waiting to see who it was. Maybe Adachi? Maybe a teacher? Quite the nerve-racking moment... or so I thought until I heard the characteristic sound of indoor shoes and realised that it was a student. 
As you'd have it, the one climbing the stairs had been Adachi. She noticed me and smiled relievedly. 
There was something slightly off about her this time: she wasn't carrying her bag with her. 
"Yo. A late start today, huh?" 
"Oh, no. I was thinking about leaving already. I just came to check." 
Adachi combed her hair with her hand as she said this. "Already"? It wasn't even noon yet. 
Not only that, if she was "leaving", was it fair to assume that she'd been in school for at least some time? 
"I heard a ping-pong ball bouncing too." 
Sitting at her usual spot, Adachi glanced at my hand. 
Had the sounds really been loud enough to be heard that far away? 
I placed the racket and ball on the table and sat down. Then, looking at Adachi, I spoke. 
"I saw you yesterday." 
"Yep, you did." 
She nodded back, confirming my statement. An awkward silence fell between us. I felt strangely self-conscious, like this one time back in elementary school when I went to eat out with my family, and a kid from my class was there at the restaurant. 
These sorts of pauses in conversation were a little more common with Adachi, I found. Perhaps the reason for it was that I had a hard time deciding how close of friends I wanted to be with her. That word, friend, covered a wide spectrum of possibilities. 
"Where's your bag?" 
"In my bike's basket. I didn't want to carry it around, so I left it there." 
From the looks of it, she didn't have her phone or wallet with her either. I guess she really was planning on leaving right away. 
Still, that was pretty careless. I wasn't going to tell her that, of course. I had a feeling she'd laugh and ask if I was her mom or something if I did. 
"I didn't know you came to school by bike." 
"Oh, we never talked about that? I played with my bike keys every now and then, but I guess you didn't notice." 
As she said this, Adachi spun the keys she had been holding around the key chain, which seemed to be a purple dog. Or maybe a cow? I could see that it had four legs, but the exact species was harder to determine. 
"Oh, I guess you might have. I wasn't really paying attention." 
We both fell silent after I said that. There should definitely have been other things for us to talk about, but I just couldn't find the words. Adachi seemed to be in a similar situation. She looked up at the window in front of us and squinted. 
"Well, I'm going now", Adachi said before standing up. 
"Oh, okay", I replied back while nodding sluggishly. 
Adachi brushed the back of her skirt lightly and began walking towards the stairs while spinning her keys. What had she come here for, I wondered. Well, obviously just to drop by. 
"Hey, Adachi." 
Still sitting, I addressed Adachi, her back turned towards me. 
"Hmm?" 
She looked over her shoulder, puzzled. 
"Which would you prefer: attending class, or going home together?" 
Why had I asked that? I didn't really know myself. However, there was a number of empty voids inside me which functioned as the organ of my mind. A few of them had appealed to me to do so. 
It's not enough. That feeling, resembling hunger, had gently nudged me forward. 
Well, it might actually have been hunger. It wasn't too long till the lunch break, after all. 
Adachi was taken aback slightly. That surprise quickly passed, however, like a gust of wind, after which she returned to her calm self. 
"...Well, I guess I can go somewhere and kill time until school's over." 
She had chosen the latter. Well, obviously. There was no way Adachi was going to class. 
Seeing how I knew that from the get-go, there wasn't really any point setting up two options. 
"I'll wait for you at the place from yesterday." 
"Okay, got it." 
Adachi waved her hand, and I felt compelled to do the same. 
There was something kinda strange about it, her killing time outside of school and then going home with me. 
Yeah, it was definitely weird. But, funny at the same time. The proposal got me all excited, and I found myself laughing as I saw Adachi off. 
Though I always hoped that school would end faster, today, that wish was twenty percent stronger. 

Nagafuji was part of a club whereas me and Hino weren't, and so, it was common for us two to be left behind and leave school together. Today wasn't one of those days, however; I had something planned as well. With a quick "see ya", I left Hino. 
"I'm gonna die of loneliness, like a rabbit", she pleaded. Nonetheless, the shoe rack was where we separated. 
What I liked about those two was that even though they might have given me advice every now and then, that was as far as it ever went. Never did they interfere in my affairs in an attempt to rehabilitate me or anything like that. Let the bad people be evil. 
As I put my outdoors shoes on and exited school, I noticed that it had started raining lightly. Not good. My walk quickly turned into a brisk jog. I didn't have an umbrella or anything with me, and by the time I exited through the school gate, that jog had further escalated into a run. 
Was Adachi already waiting for me? The thought of that made me feel bad, and even if it hadn't been raining, I still probably would have run. Of course, I wasn't looking forward to seeing her or anything; it just wasn't polite to make someone wait. 
Just as I had passed some boys wearing school uniforms, and then the gas station, I caught a glimpse of Adachi. There was a conflict of emotions in my head; on one hand, I felt relieved that she had waited for me, and on the other, sorry for making her wait. 
She stood there in the drizzle, holding up an umbrella. The fact that she carried one surprised me. 
"You didn't need to go out of your way to match the pose." 
Seeing Adachi sit on the fence in the exact same pose from yesterday made me giggle. As I ran towards her, a little out of breath, she noticed me, hopped off it, and waited with her hands on her bike's handlebar. 
I quickly ran the rest of the way to her, and though I still hadn't made it home, silently muttered: "Goal". 
"Sorry. It started raining." 
"No need to apologize. I mean, the rain's not your fault." 
Adachi looked a little embarrassed. 
"Hold this", she said, before handing me the umbrella. Then, with both of her hands now free, she released the kickstand of her bike with her foot before looking back to me. 
"Which way's your house?" 
"That way", I pointed. 
"Thought so..." 
Adachi's face clouded over. I gave her a questioning look, as if asking, "is that not good?" 
"No, it's just... My house is over that way", she replied, pointing in a direction around 70 degrees off the one I had. It wasn't all that surprising when you considered the fact that we obviously didn't share a middle school district, but even so, we really did live far apart. There was no need for Adachi to pass through here on her way home. 
And yet, she had been here yesterday. Why? Another one on the pile of mysteries surrounding her. 
"Whose house are we going to first?" 
"What a novel question. Well, hmm, how about yours?" I answered. There was no getting over the fact that one of us would have to make a huge detour. I decided to give Adachi priority over myself, in part due to feeling guilty for making her wait in the rain. She had no objections to this and got on her bike. 
"You're riding on the back? Okay, you hold the umbrella then." 
Adachi kicked the rear wheel lightly. Not a bad idea. Still, tongue in cheek, I pretended to admonish her. 
"Two people sharing a bike is against the rules!" 
"So what? We're delinquents." 
"Yeah, I guess that's true. Comes with a lot of benefits, huh?" 
"Definitely does." 
As Adachi had suggested, I quickly hopped onto the back. I placed my feet on either side of the wheel, and a hand on her shoulder for support. 
"Ready", I told her, holding the umbrella in my remaining hand. Adachi began pedalling. She seemed to have some trouble at first, but as the speed stabilised, it became easier for her to keep the pedals moving smoothly. 

I looked down at her head. Though definitely pretty when viewed in combination with her face, looking at it on its own, it seemed kinda surreal, like some sort of a fuzzy creature. Was my head like that too? 
Had either one of us been a good, diligent student, she'd likely have yelled something like "this isn't an okay thing to do" and attempted to pull the other back on the right track, burning with passion to help her friend. Of course, neither Adachi nor I were. 
If anything, it felt like we were sinking in deeper. 
I also felt like I was holding the umbrella way too high, and it was doing a horrible job blocking the rain. 
"You have friends, huh, Shimamura?" 
Driving back the road which I had come down, Adachi spoke, facing forward. 
Her voice sounded calm, but also a bit dry. Perhaps that was due to it coming from slightly below me. 
I had a hunch that things could get pretty awkward depending on my answer. Why? Well, that I wasn't sure about. 
"I'm also friends with UNIQLO and H&M", I joked, poking fun at the last name I hated so. Adachi's shoulders wavered lightly, as if to indicate a giggle. 
"I figured that the reason you were hanging in a place like that was because you didn't have any." 
What a rare occurrence: Adachi was talking about me. Or perhaps, was having such a view more of a comment on herself than anything? In turn, I asked Adachi about her. 
"What about you, Adachi? You have any friends?" 
"Hmm... You, I guess?" 
"That's not many." 
Though I said that, I also felt a tiny bit delighted. Although, I guess it wasn't really something to be happy about from her perspective. 
The next corner was a sharp turn. Adachi steered the way she always did, but with another person's worth of additional weight on top of it, the bike wasn't quite as responsive as she had expected. Wobbling, we came close to scraping against the wall of the building next to us. 
Adachi turned her head upwards after regaining control. With no regard to the road, she stared up at me. 
"Wh-What?" 
She didn't answer right away. The bike continued travelling forward, her head still bent backwards. I wanted to watch the road in her stead and make sure that we didn't crash into anything, but it was hard to turn my eyes away when stared at. 
"Earlier, while I was watching you run towards me, I kinda thought that..." 
"Yeah?" 
"There's something catlike about you, Shimamura." 
I could hear the bike's tires spinning under Adachi. 
"A cat?" 
"Not human." 
Wow, mean. How had I been running to earn a comment like that? Or maybe it was my face? Did my face look like a cat's face? 
"What about me makes you think of a cat?" 
"The fact that you don't seem like you warm up to people." 
"...You think so?" 
"You don't?" 
The fact that I made no effort to speak about myself, nor about the person I was talking to. 
I felt like that was what Adachi's eyes were saying. My fingers gripped her shoulder slightly more tightly. 
While I did think that there was a part of me that didn't want to let people in, I assumed that was more or less true for everyone; just a natural part of being a person. Perhaps it was assumptions like these which led to others thinking that I didn't warm up to them. 
However, I had to wonder: wasn't Adachi like that as well? 
Not that I even knew if what she was saying was true, as I had never owned a cat. 
"I don't think someone who doesn't warm up to people would ride a bike with another person." 
"Maybe you see me as a cat or something?" 
As she said that, Adachi at last turned to face forward. Back to safe driving. I didn't feel at all relieved, however. Rather, a sensation resembling uneasiness filled me. 
I really didn't like how much we were talking about me. 
Like averting its eyes, my mind, too, fled from that topic. And what better place for it to flee, than to what Adachi had just said. 
Adachi was a cat too? Two cats, sitting silently on the second floor of the gym. 
Lying in front of the window as rays of light passed through it, not caring that it was slightly hot and humid up there. 
Chasing after a ping-pong ball as it bounced around. 
That definitely was cat-like. 

"I don't know the way back. Can you draw me a map to school?" 
"Oh, right. Makes sense." 
Without any hesitation, Adachi agreed to my random suggestion and pulled out a notebook and a pen—both of which looked like they were covered in dust—out from her bag. Again, I was impressed that she even had those. 
Adachi's house, located around thirty minutes from where we had started, was white. The walls, I mean. There was a carport on the left side of the building, though no vehicles were parked under its roof at the moment. The walls made it hard to see, but inside, I could catch a glimpse of the tip of a green clothesline. 
In front of the main entrance stood a field, consisting of three, maybe four, plots in total, and straight past it, a massive, factory-like building, giving off that countryside feel. It looked a lot like where I lived. 
There used to be a lot more fields in the past. You would rarely see any houses as you walked around, just endless grass and its smell. These days, it was pretty much all houses, though, and it was the fields which had become a rare sight. 
I had drawn a picture of myself walking along the side of a field in elementary school, but that scenery no longer existed. 
"Okay, done. It's the path I take when I bike to school, so you'll probably be able to pass through it." 
"What's that supposed to mean? That I'm wider than a bike?" 
"If you spread out your arms, then yeah." 
Laughing, Adachi handed me the map she'd drawn on a torn-off page of her notebook. Who walked like that, with their arms spread? Looking at the map, I traced the way back to school with my finger. It was there that I realised something: now that I had this, I could come to Adachi's house by myself. 
Not that that would come in handy often. What was the point of coming if I didn't know whether Adachi was home or not? 
"Are you wet?" Adachi asked, patting my shoulders and hair. 
"Yeah, pretty soaked." 
"Right. The rain did get stronger while we were getting here." 
Adachi hadn't been safe from the downpour either. Her bangs were wet and stuck to her brow. Having perhaps noticed this from the way I was looking at her head, she brushed them up with her hand. This revealed her forehead, giving her a slightly different vibe from usual. She seemed more mature this way. 
"Wanna come in? I can lend you a towel or something if you want." 
"Nah, I'm good. I mean, if I walked in all soaked, that'd be a nuisance for you. Right?" 
It was like I was forcing Adachi to agree with my reason to refuse her offer. A wry smile appeared on her face. 
"Backing away? That's so like you, Shimamura." 
Excuse me? Who gave you permission to decide that? I felt a sudden urge to lash back. At the same time, I knew that there was truth to her words, and that it definitely wasn't a good trait. 
"Okay then, I'll come in." 
"No you won't. Go home!" 
Rejected. How mean of Adachi to pull back her offer the second I accepted it. 
Well, whatever. I turned around and began to leave. Just then, Adachi called out to me. 
"Shimamura, umbrella." 
She held out the folding umbrella I had been using while we were riding her bike here. 
"It's gonna be tough without an umbrella, right?" 
"Thanks. I'll give it back tomorrow." 
"If I show up to school tomorrow, then sure." 
What an Adachi-like thing to say. Waving her goodbye with the umbrella I'd received, I left her house. 
It had taken us thirty minutes to ride here together. Riding by yourself, it probably took closer to twenty. Walking took about twice as long, so forty minutes. And that was just to reach the school; I'd still have to spend twenty minutes walking home. All that added up, it would take me approximately an hour. 
"Damn." 
"Shimamura." 
A voice called me from above. I turned my head up, and through the umbrella, saw Adachi. She was on the second floor of their house. 
It seemed that she had rushed up the stairs to make an appearance through the window. It was kinda absurd to think about and made me laugh. 
"What is it?" 
"Well, umm... First, take this towel", Adachi said as she dropped a towel down to me. Not wanting it to hit the wet ground, I let go of the umbrella and opened my arms wide. "That defeats the purpose", I heard her mumble. Still, I managed to grab it. 
After picking the umbrella back up and shaking the droplets of water off it, I used the towel to wipe my face. It was lemon-yellow and didn't smell of Adachi, perhaps due to having been washed recently. Not that I knew what she smelled like in the first place. 
"Thanks." 
"No problem." 
"..." 
"..." 
She had said "first", so was there more? Thinking that, I looked up to her, still holding the towel. Adachi simply stared back silently, however, her elbow on the window frame, propping up her chin. The only sound that could be heard was that of rain. 
I wiped my hair with the borrowed towel. One more thing I'd need to return tomorrow. Just then, Adachi opened her mouth. 
"Sorry." 
"Hm? About what?" 
"I just feel bad for making you take such a long detour." 
The nonchalant expression on her face really made me question how genuine that sentiment was. 
"Want me to give you a ride back?" 
"Huh? No. That'd make the whole thing pointless." 
If she did that, then for what reason had I come to her house? Although, to be fair, even I didn't know the answer to that question. 
"I guess that's true", Adachi nodded, her expression still the same, and we returned to silence. 
These moments of emptiness that arose between me and Adachi made me feel restless. I felt like I needed to say something, anything. There was another feeling too: a desire to get away as soon as possible. I couldn't think of anything to say, so I went with the latter this time. 
"Anyway, I'm going now." 
"Okay. See you tomorrow, maybe." 
Another vague statement. Adachi really was keeping whether or not she'd go to school ambiguous. 
She closed the window, and I walked away, the towel hanging around my neck. Did it make me look like a middle-aged man? 
"...What a weird day." 
What might Adachi have thought about for those twenty minutes as she rode to school, knowing that she wasn't even going to go to class? 
As I walked back along the slightly longer-than-normal route to home, I grew curious about her inner thoughts. 
Today, we had talked about friends. 
Maybe tomorrow we should talk about school. 

"The next day, Adachi once again came to school." 
"Well, I am a good student, after all." 
What was she even talking about? I responded with a bleak stare while hitting the ping-pong ball back. 
Nothing special had happened that Thursday morning, and it was now lunch break. 
We finished playing table tennis, and I thought I'd go buy us some food again. Just then, however, the cheerful sounds of two people talking, as well as those of their footsteps, entered the gym. Not only that, they were heading to the second floor, where we were. 
"I heard a sound coming from here", I heard one of them say as they climbed up the stairs. 
"No way..." 
I recognized that voice. A few seconds later, my suspicions were confirmed as the two figures entered my vision. Instinctively, the muscles of my face tensed up. 
"Ugh." 
"Don't 'ugh' your friends." 
The one barging in was none other than Hino, carrying a grocery bag, followed by Nagafuji. She quickly noticed Adachi, however, and her enthusiasm instantly withered. Hino's eyes moved between me and her, and I could almost hear her growling. 
Adachi glanced at me as well. She was clearly confused. "Don't all look at me", I wanted to say, but I knew that wasn't going to work. First things first, I placed the racket down silently and sat down in my usual place. 
"It's rude to sit down by yourself", Hino stated as she sat down next to me. Nagafuji followed suit and sat down on my other side, sandwiching me between them. Only Adachi remained standing up. She simply stood there, playing with her hair. I gestured for her to sit down, but her response was just to scratch her temple awkwardly. Only when I said her name did she reluctantly walk over to us and sit down, still quite far away from me. Her usual spot had been taken by Nagafuji. 
"How did you know that this was the place?" 
"I saw you looking at that table tennis book at the store, so I figured there was a good chance." 
"Oh." 
It had been my fault. Feeling guilty towards Adachi, I glanced at her sideways. She was studying us, her expression as nonchalant as ever. It didn't seem that she was going to be taking part in the conversation. 
Hino pulled my sleeve and asked cautiously, "Is that person over there 'Adachi'?" 
She should have just asked her directly, considering that the person in question was right there. 
"No matter how you look at it, yeah, that's definitely her." 
"Right, right. Adachi", Nagafuji nodded. Had she forgotten again? 
"You're friends with her?" 
"Hmm, I guess you could say that." 
Knowing that I couldn't just feign ignorance this time, I went ahead and admitted it. Hino seemed a little surprised by my response. 
"Huh? So, Wednesday... Nah, whatever." 
She had clearly wanted to say something, but decided to hold her tongue. Nagafuji gave her a glance before turning towards Adachi and introducing herself. 
"My name is Nagafuji." 
"My name is Hino." 
Hino followed suit. Nothing wrong with that. Still, I did wonder why they were talking so formally to a classmate. 
Adachi pointed at the girls in turn and repeated the names they'd given. 
"Nagafuji, Hino. I'll keep that in mind", she said, almost as if she was planning to go settle the scores with them afterwards. The two were a little taken aback. 
Adachi wrapped the introduction up with a short "nice to meet ya" and leaned against the net, facing the wall in front of her in silence. Her face and attitude certainly did give off an aura of aloofness, and even Hino and Nagafuji were unable to bring themselves to speak to her. 
"Oh, right. I bought us some pastries. I thought we'd eat together." 
"Do teachers not come here? There's gym classes and stuff, yet you're not getting caught." 
And so, I got stuck with these two. I really wish they wouldn't have sat on both sides of me and spoken to me in stereo. 
It made it hard to decide which one to deal with first. 
Whatever. Let's just eat the pastries for now. 
I shoved my hand into the plastic bag Hino had been carrying. I took out the topmost pastry, thanked her, and took a bite of it, big enough to fill two mouths. Then, still munching it down, I replied to Nagafuji's earlier question. 
"I sit down silently when there's class. That's how I don't get caught." 
"Hmm. They must all be pretty irresponsible then. Or just have bad eyes." 
The tone of her voice sounded like she was admiring the teachers, even though the contents of her remark were clearly condescending. This was a pretty common occurrence with Nagafuji, there being a sharp disparity between her words and deeds and her behaviour. 
That sharpness was in direct contrast to the smoothness of the curve her breasts drew. 
"What would you like, Adachi?" 
I nudged the conversation towards Adachi. Still facing the wall, she moved her mouth and nothing else. 
"The stuff that you like is fine." 
"Okay. Here you go then", I said before gently tossing an egg bun at her. 
"Thanks", she replied as she caught it, to no one in particular. 
Nagafuji and Hino also took out pastries and drinks of their own and began eating. They continued talking, and though they did bring the conversation to me from time to time, never did they attempt to speak to Adachi. As far as Adachi went, well, it was clear that she had no intention of walking over to us. All I could do was sit there, stuck between a rock and a hard place—or in this case, my two friends—and munch on the dry pastry. 
It didn't seem that this lunch was going to be good for my digestion. 
We continued eating and soon finished. The resulting boredom seemed to be too much for Hino, and she started to get rowdy. 
"Can we play ping-pong? No, let's play it!" 
She tugged my arm and invited me to play. Looking at Adachi, I found myself having trouble deciding how to answer her. 
"I'm still eating. After I'm done, okay?" 
Like Hino, Nagafuji had also finished already. 
Were Adachi and I just slow? 
"Okay. Nagafuji, let's play!" 
"Sure, I don't mind. What are we betting on it, though?" 
"Huh? Do we have to bet something...?" 
Continuing in that line of conversation, the two grabbed the rackets and ball we had been using. I absent-mindedly watched the two play while simultaneously feeling a little out of place. 
In the middle of their game, Hino spoke to me. 
"Shimamura, are you free on Saturday?" 
"This week?" 
"Yep. Hiyah!" 
She extended her arm and hit the ball as it bounced from the edge of the table. With great strength, Nagafuji hit it back. 
"Well, I don't have any plans, at least." 
"Cool. Remember that girl wearing a spacesuit I talked about the other day? She's pretty interesting. Wanna come see her?" 
"Just say it straight, you want me to come fish with you." 
"No, no. That's a bonus. Anyway, I talked with her about you, and she said she wanted to meet you." 
What sort of a conversation had they had? Objectively speaking, there really shouldn't have been anything about me that would catch the attention of a weirdo. So, what part of me had she exaggerated, and how? I tried reading it off her expression, but Hino was far too busy playing table tennis for that to work. 
"Can't you just take Nagafuji with you?" 
"I'm busy with my club", she stated back, as if to say "don't lump me with that idler". Not that club activities weren't a waste of time as well, in my opinion. 
"There you have it, Shimamura. Come with me." 
"Hmm... Well, why not. Saturday, yeah?" 
"All right!" 
Hino swung the racket with all her might as she shouted, and splendidly missed the ball. 
That was enough of that conversation, I decided, and gave Adachi a glance. She was spacing out with the pastry in hand, most of it still uneaten. 
Neither Adachi nor I were of the talkative type. With other people around talking, falling silent was inevitable for us. 
But, even setting that aside, Adachi was staring off in the distance, not looking at any one of us. 
Feeling both uneasiness and a certain hunch as I stared at her eyes, I sighed quietly. 

The next day was Friday. Out of all the weekdays, this one was my favourite since it was the closest to the weekend. 
Just like on Wednesday, Adachi wasn't showing up. Ever since yesterday, I'd had a hunch that this would happen, that Hino's and Nagafuji's presence would affect her in some way, and she'd stop coming here. 
I could wait here till lunch break, I could wait for hours after it, and I still likely wouldn't meet her. Yeah. There was a good chance that she'd never come here again. And if I wasn't meeting her here, the chances of me running across her in general would drop dramatically. If I was unlucky, it was possible that I wouldn't see her face until graduation. 
"Unlucky, huh? Is that so?" 
If meeting Adachi was considered "lucky", then that meant that it was a good thing for me. Well, made sense. She was my friend, after all. It would have been strange to consider meeting her a negative. Feeling that it was a positive thing was why we had been meeting here in the first place. Definitely, no doubt about that. 
Those feelings had faded when Hino and Nagafuji had come; disappeared like smoke. 
Adachi was... moping, perhaps? There was another, quite similar word that described her perfectly, but I couldn't recall it. Either way, because of that, she was avoiding coming here. 
I thought I knew exactly what was going on in her head, yet, no matter what I did, I still couldn't remember the word. It was like a weight on my shoulders that I couldn't take off. 
There was so much that I didn't know about Adachi, and sometimes it annoyed me. 
The only person who I understood even slightly was myself. 
Yesterday, while watching Hino and Nagafuji play table tennis, it had sunk in: that's not what I wanted. 
Something about playing it with permission, your jersey on all neat and tidy, felt wrong. 
This wasn't a place for us four to get together and have noisy fun. The atmosphere that had been in the air while Adachi and I played ping-pong with our uniforms worn casually suited it the best, I thought. That unique sense of relaxation that was only achievable when it was just the two of us was why we had come here in the first place. That's how I felt, at least. 
The true essence of it was beyond my grasp. 
Even so, Hino and Nagafuji coming here just didn't feel right. That I was sure of. 

"We're meeting tomorrow at ten. You better be there in time, because if you're not, I won't put the bait on your fish hook for you." 
"Yeah, yeah. Got it." 
I casually waved off Hino's reminder. Still wondering why exactly was I going fishing to meet some weirdo, I left the classroom. Though Hino and Nagafuji did invite me to come with them, I declined their offer and left by myself. 
From the corridor till the shoe rack downstairs, I stared at the map drawn on the torn piece of paper and wondered if I should go. In the end, I decided not to. It was hard to imagine that Adachi was just sitting quietly at home. 
Past the school gate, my steps were filled with caution. I did sort of hope to find Adachi sitting past the gas station, and so, that walk turned into a light jog on my way there. Nevertheless, the bad-mannered delinquent was nowhere to be seen. Only the fence stood there, silently. As a test, I tried sitting on it and almost fell backwards onto the road. 
My heart still pounding from the near-death experience, I continued walking forwards, albeit more slowly than before. I stopped, contemplating whether or not to quickly visit the convenience store adjacent to the gas station, before cutting across the empty parking lot of an eyeglass store. After turning left at the green, cylindrical cramschool building and passing the bus station where I usually parted ways with Hino and Nagafuji, I felt an impact. 
"Slam!" 
"Whoa!" 
Something hit my back lightly and almost caused me to fall on my face. Getting ready for a street punk or a delinquent to charge me and demand my money, I cautiously looked over my shoulder. My prediction had been sort of right; mainly the delinquent part. 
It was Adachi. She was riding her bike, and it looked as if she had stuck out her hand and pushed my back with it. 
Thankfully, she didn't seem to have intended to ram into me with the vehicle, which made me feel a bit relieved. 
"Sorry. I tried to brake, but didn't make it in time." 
"Is that why you said 'slam' when you hit me?" 
Adachi got off the bike and began walking beside me while pushing it. I hadn't seen her at all in school that day, yet she was still wearing her uniform. Her bag was also in the basket. So was a plastic bag, filled with something. 
I walked forward in a relatively quick pace, and Adachi followed. 
"Huh? Are you sure?" 
"About what?" 
"You don't live this way." 
"Hmm... Yeah, I don't." 
Adachi drew her chin in slightly, but showed no signs of turning back. I had gone to her house the other day, so maybe this time she was coming to mine? This, too, might have been a way for her to kill time. 
For a moment, we walked in silence. Every now and then, I'd sneak in a glance at her. Both her hair and the silhouette of her face were refined, as if crafted on in painstaking detail. Seeing her blink as I stared at her made me feel relieved: she was alive after all. 
I stared for too long, and our eyes soon met. 
She took out the plastic bag from her bike's basket and handed it to me. 
"Shimamura, take it." 
"Umm, okay? What's this?" 
I took a look inside and saw a pastry. Two, in fact. Judging from its shape, one of them was a cream bun. The other one was a stuffed bread filled with something white, tuna or potato perhaps. Both were the kind that you could buy at the school canteen. There was also a bottle of lukewarm mineral water on the bottom of the bag that made you wonder for how long it had been there. A little much for breakfast, but not enough for dinner. In other words: Lunch. 
"I was thinking about giving these to you during lunch break." 
"Lunch break?" 
I tried imagining Adachi standing in line at the crowded canteen, but it just felt so wrong. 
However, hearing her say those words, "lunch break", it suddenly clicked. 
"Oh. So this is the 'next time'?" 
It was the first time I had ever seen Adachi laugh. Her normally fierce stare softened, like the rays of the evening sun. 
"How much was it? I'll pay you", I asked, and began pulling out my wallet. 
"No, it's fine", Adachi replied without telling me the price. Well, whatever. I could just put my memory to work and estimate. The mineral water was likely the type sold in a vending machine, so that didn't take long to recall. Now I just needed to remember how much the stuffed bread cost, and I'd have the answer. 
I rubbed my finger against my brow and groaned slightly, trying to remember. Adachi looked at me, confused, but I ignored her and focused on getting my brain to work. After rummaging through my memory for a moment, it finally appeared in front of me. Good timing, because any longer and I would've gotten dizzy. 
I pulled out my wallet and started counting. It seemed that I had just the right combination of coins with me, so I prepared the sum I had calculated and handed the money to Adachi. 
"Here's for the water and bun. The exact right amount, isn't it?" I stated, full of confidence. Adachi, having taken the money, simply tilted her head, however. 
"Dunno. I forgot already." 
"Huh? Bummer." 
Feeling a little disappointed that I didn't get to show off, I twisted the plastic bottle open. As the lukewarm water entered my mouth, I could truly feel the remnants of the bygone summer. As usual, I had spent my entire summer break this year just lying around. 
After a few sips, I held out the bottle to Adachi. 
"Wanna drink?" 
She took the bottle and gulped down about one third of it. After it left her lips, she took a breath and, still facing forward, spoke relievedly. 
"I'm glad that you didn't go home with your other friends. I would've missed my chance to give you these." 
I didn't really see how them being around would've stopped her from doing that. Right as I was about to put those thoughts into words, I noticed the look on Adachi's face. It was the expression of a child. Her eyes were cast slightly downwards, and her lower lip faintly pouted. Those two minor changes alone altered her usually nonchalant appearance massively. She looked like a child sulking quietly. 
Looking at her face, I finally found the word I had been looking for earlier, the one close to "moping", but not quite. 
"Sulking". 
Sounds kinda similar, don't you think? No? Well, I suppose that's subjective. 
Adachi had said that I was her only friend. In other words... Yeah, I think I understood what was happening. 
If I said that to her face, Adachi would likely get mad. Then deny it. Then leave me and go home. I'd get embarrassed too and have trouble looking her in the eyes. 
Even when it wasn't easy to admit things, even when things bothered me, at times, I still faced forward. 
We didn't need to clear it all up. Just one, single thing was enough. 
"Adachi", I called to her, and she turned to look at me. 
Staring back at her, as if refusing to avert my gaze, I pointed straight forward at the far end of the road. 
"Are you walking with me to my house?" 
For the current me and Adachi, this was all that I could ask, and all that she could answer. 
We still needed practice to put curve into the ping-pong ball bouncing between us. 
"Yep, that's the plan." 
I smiled at her reply. 
"I'll need to make you a map, won't I?" I said, swinging the plastic bag lightly from side to side. 

And so, the four of us formed a strange connection. 
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a perfect circle or anything like that. More like a bunch of warped lines, with me as their centre. 
Would a day ever come that Adachi and Hino went out fishing together? That, I didn't yet know. 
I knew the chances were low, but at the same time, I couldn't help but look forward to it, even if just a little. 
That slight sense of elation alone gave me wings. 
"I'm an airplane. Whoosh!" 
I went ahead and spread out both of my hands. 
How many more steps would it take before I started feeling embarrassed?