Zooming in a little more I notice on a chair behind Mrs. Yamada that she is a familiar figure.

- It's not Hana but someone else, it's a boy but he looks familiar.

Looking into the phone I see who he really is.

"Tanaka Yuto" I say and take my face out of the phone.

I put my phone next to me and take a moment to think about what his presence there means. "So there are two possibilities, either he is a chess player or he just came to watch the competition and that's about it".

- I can't always stay locked in my room and not at least try to see which of these possibilities is the real one.

I get up on my butt in bed and look out the window. "In the morning I'll try to find out more".

Kurogawa School, 7:26 a.m.

I was walking down the school hallway, they were a bit empty given that I was a bit early. Entering my classroom, I set my things down and take my phone with me.

Walking down the empty school hallway I eventually run into the student council president.

"Oh, hi Ishikawa, what are you doing in school at this hour? " he asks me and I turn my gaze to him.

"I said to be quicker and I got to school too early so I'm walking around school all crazy" I tell him while looking at my phone to see the time.

He laughs a little and puts his glasses back to his eyes and then puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Okay, just be careful what you do in school or else there will be consequences" he tells me and then walks away from me.

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"Wait" I tell him and he turns to me and asks me what to stay for.

I approach him and stop next to him and start talking.

" I wanted to ask someone about Tanaka Yuto, do you know if he is in the school chess group? " I ask him and step back a little.

He turns his gaze to me and puts his glasses correctly to his eyes. The silence of the school lets me hear my pulse keep rising and not slowing down.

" No, he's not part of the school chess group, however he wanted to become a member but lost the test match so he was disqualified. Do you want more details or can I leave now? " he says looking me straight in the eye and a bit on the rush now.

" No, thanks for telling me " I say and he walks away without another word.

I watch him walks away, his hurried walk, surely he's in a hurry to go somewhere important, after all he is the student council president.

- But at this hour, where can he go so important? None of my business, I guess.

I turn back on my way, the windows reflecting my reflection and at the same time the sun is coming through, my shadow is super visible

I keep walking until I reach a dead end of the school so I turn around and continue walking down the hall when suddenly a thought hits me.

- Why did he say to be careful what I do there will be consequences? I mean what can a mere student do? Ah I get it now, my class, the most cheating class in this whole school.

I stopped at a window, my reflection visible through it. I was looking at myself when I decided to open the window and take a breath of fresh air.

The smell of spring, a gorgeous smell, a soothing and pleasant one, the way spring generally is, is just gorgeous.

" Ishikawa-kun!!! " I hear from the other corner of the corridor.

Looking over, I see Sakura coming towards me with a wide, calm smile as usual. Even though I was feeling good, the fact that I have to talk to someone now seems to have taken away a bit of the nice vibe I had.

However, I answer her back and she stops in front of me, her cheeks were a little flushed, like she's excited about something.

" Hey, Sakura-san, um, why are you so cheerful? " I ask her somewhat curious as to why she's excited rather than cheerful.

" Well, as summer is coming up, the school announced that there will be a small festival at the beach so I came to tell you " she tells me with a wide smile on her face.

- Oh yes, summer is coming up soon and I'm going into year 2.

" Oh interesting, I'll probably be there " I say rubbing my head.

I was looking at her, her smile remaining conspicuous on her innocent face, her way of being, is also an important thing that somehow shows how she is as a person.

" I can't wait for the festival! " she tells me.

Looking behind her, all the other students enter the school and the quiet hallway suddenly becomes noisy so I put my hands to my ears and Sakura's expression changes to a less cheerful one.

" Alright Ishikawa-kun, I'm going to class, maybe I'll see you after class if you want to see me " she says and walks past me walking to her classroom.

I closed the window and with my ears covered walked to my classroom, the crowded hallway bothered me, I could barely get through it.

- Pf, that's school life, crowded all the time.

Finally, after I could escape the crowd of students in the hallway, I walked into the classroom and sat down in my desk, glaring at the blackboard.

I take a deep breath and then exhale, moving my gaze to the door, more and more classmates enter the classroom and they talk to each other.

- A few more days and summer will come, will I be able to have a peaceful summer or will I still have to stay in one place, alone?

I was looking around, everyone was talking to each other and nothing too interesting was happening. Just school socializing, which I don't have.