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Vol. 1 Chapter 22: Farewell to the past, I’m a new me. — Part 1
“Ahaha! So you turned into some Sherlock Holmes ay, Yuta-kun?! Glad you made up with Asakawa-san!”
As if from the bottom of her heart, Yui—the maid—congratulated me through a call. Well, even though she wasn’t involved in this whole ordeal, I thought it’d be fine to tell her what happened. Hence my morning call.
“Thanks. I just called to let you know how I feel. I’ll be sure to hang out with you sometime, and sorry for calling you outta the blue.”
“No no, I’m happy to hear your morning voice~! Ah, also, don’t just visit me at the store! Let’s go on a date sometime, me and you, ‘kay? —See you!”
With that killer sentence, she hung up. Even if it was through the speakers, hearing her cute voice was a comfort to my morning. Actually, if I set her voice as my alarm my quality of life would improve dramatically. Not that it’d help me wake up any earlier, though.
Oops! Time flew off the window as I talked with her. Ugh, I thought I had enough time for a call! Hurriedly, I checked my belongings and bolted to my front door. I had already packed my lunchbox inside my bag.
“I’m off!”
I set off as usual at a not-so-usual pace, fast, since I couldn’t be late. Today, as it’s been for a while, Kurosaki waited for me. After running for a bit, the station got in my line of sight, and I see her black hair tangoing with the wind. I approached her from behind and tapped her shoulders, unnoticed.
“Morning, Kurosaki!”
“Wah! You scared the hell outta me
 Good morning, senpai!”
“What’s up with you? You’re breathing heavily.”
“Didn’t you jumpscare me a second ago?!”
While patting the junior who started to hit me repeatedly, we passed through the ticket gates for the train.
“Um, we found the person who filled your locker with tacks the other day, so I don’t think he’ll do it again. Sorry I dragged you into this
”
I decided to leave all the evidence in Asakawa’s hands. She said she’d submit it to the teacher, so in the near future, Makabe will be punished. After all is said and done, I need to apologize to the two that had nothing to do with it and got affected.
“You went out of your way to find the culprit?! I’m glad! thanks!”
“No, it’s my fault you were targeted so you don’t need to thank me, do ya?”
“Still, I’m happy you did something for me!”
“
Gotcha. Thank you.”
I take in her thoughts. She’s been trying to lighten the mood, so I honestly accepted her gratitude. However, this atmosphere was short-lived. After fidgeting and squirming, she opened her mouth.
“C, come to think of it, senpai, is there something different about me today?”
“You have your hair over your right ear, right?”
“Oh, you noticed!? Since when?!”
“Since I first saw you. Of course I did.”
Her blonde inner color, usually hidden by a black exterior, was neatly arranged behind her right ear like a secret curtain; a draping of gold. It was impossible not to notice such an eye-catching hairdo. To top it off, her seldom-shown ears were visible. Every time she gently adjusted her hair made Kurosaki seem mature and classy—Frankly, it suited her well.
“H, how
?”
“I think it looks amazing on you, especially the way your hair is pulled back.”
“
Perv.”
I didn’t mean to say anything strange, yet she still narrowed her eyes and treated me like some pervert. Despite the banter, she clutched the hem of my uniform with tenderness. Is she as happy as she looks, or am I imagining things?
We arrived at the school a bit later, all while talking about a new game that had just come out. After changing our shoes at the lockers, we met up with the others as I walked Kurosaki to her classroom.
“Okay, senpai! I’ll see ya after school!”
“‘Kay~”
Waving at me, she stepped inside her classroom. The calm before the incidents reigned supreme once again, and everyone worked hard to enjoy their precious free time before classes started, even if it was little. Among them, I saw one of my few friends.
“Morning, Katayama.”
“Miyamoto! Good morning!”
“I just wanna ask you something: you okay now?”
Guessing what the conversation was about, he turned down a word from the group and walked over to me. The others must’ve understood, so they didn’t question us or anything, and we managed to talk calmly.
“Oy, what’s up with that answer!? I thought there were at least 50 criminals!”
“So, an army?”
“Haha! Anyway, thanks for your hard work!”
Once again, I was thanked. I’m grateful for his lighthearted banter so as to keep the conversation from getting too dark.
“Same here, thanks,” I answered.
“I told you, don’t worry about it! Oh, how about we go to Shimokitazawa this time? They’ve got some new handmade accessories—”
After talking about our next hangout, homeroom began. Meanwhile, Makabe—the subject of the matter—was absent from school and was nowhere to be seen. He’s probably afraid to come to school due to the revelation of his wrongdoings. Well, aside from everything that happened, there were already some rumors he was doing shady stuff in the background, so it’s possible the situation would’ve been resolved without my input.