September 1st.
The first summer vacation of high school has come to an end.
But I'm not pessimistic at all. In fact, I have energy to spare.
And for good reason. This year—I finished my summer homework with plenty of time to spare!
My body feels light. It's as if wings have grown from my back.
I didn't realize that following a schedule and making steady progress every day would prevent so much panic.
Usually, I would spend the last two days working on my homework as if my life depended on it.
Because of that, I was usually half-dead when summer vacation ended... but this is all thanks to Riran.
"Hey, hey, hey. Akito, you've got a smirk on your face. Did you finally cross the line with your little wifey?"
"Stop casually sexually harassing me, Ryūya."
Sexual harassment can happen between men, you know.
Good grief, and here I was soaking in my own satisfaction.
Turning around, I saw Ryūya wearing a wicked grin. Hmph, enjoy it while you can.
"Listen and be amazed. This year, I finished my summer homework with time to spare. Current me is invincible. I'm in my strongest state."
"...I hate to break it to you while you're bragging, but that's actually normal. Is your head okay?"
"Stop hitting me with logic punches."
To me, this is a revolutionary event! It's a revolution!
He just doesn't understand how wonderful this is. Whatever, I don't care. Hmph.
"Oh, are you mad? My bad, my bad. Hey, Akito~?"
Don't poke me. You're noisy.
—Hm? A gaze?
I feel like someone is looking this way... Who is it?
I look around. But no one seems to be watching.
There are a few people who made their 'summer vacation debuts' as high schoolers, but other than that, things are normal.
Hmm?
"Akito, what are you looking around for?"
"! ...Morning, Riran."
Riran had arrived at school in her summer uniform.
It's been a while since I've seen Riran in her uniform. Since we spent this whole summer in plain clothes... even in her uniform, she's as cute as ever.
Riran toyed with her bangs a bit shyly, whispered a small "Morning..." and took her seat in front of me.
"So, what's wrong?"
"No, I just felt a gaze."
"A gaze? Toward you, Akito?"
Hey, don't give me that 'Are you just being self-conscious?' look.
But well... I guess so. There's no one who would be looking at me.
"Sana-tan..."
"Whoa!?"
"Kya!?"
Th-That scared me... Hiyori, where did you spring up from?
Perhaps due to the heat, Hiyori was slumped over and melting. Is she okay?
"Morning, Sana-tan, Rira-tan. It's been a month~"
"Y-Yeah. Morning."
"M-Morning. ...You look like you're melting, are you okay?"
"It's so hot I'm gonna dieee."
Well, it's true that the heat today is sweltering. The air conditioning isn't working very well either.
"More importantly, listen to this~. I met my fated person during summer vacation!"
"Eh, really? What kind of person?"
"Well, he's the heir to a pretty big company. As we talked, our hobbies matched up and it was really fun."
Hiyori spoke with a bit of a dreamy atmosphere, perhaps remembering the person.
"But you know, he said he recently had a broken heart~"
"A broken heart?"
"More like, he was about to be put into a political marriage, but it was called off."
...A political marriage? And it was called off... surely not.
"Sorry, Hiyori. Do you have a photo of him?"
"Yeah, I do~"
She showed me her smartphone.
In the photo, there was a nice-looking young man with a shy face, pictured in a two-shot with Hiyori.
"Sorry, Hiyori, I'm borrowing this."
"Eh? Sure..."
I took the smartphone and went over to Neika.
"Neika, do you recognize this person?"
"Eh? ...Eh!"
Neika's eyes widened when she saw the photo.
I knew it... This person was the heir of a partner company of the Jūmonji Group.
And in all likelihood, that partner company was...
"Isn't this the son of the production company?"
"Y-Yeah, but... wait, what? He's Hiyorin's fated person?"
"It seems so."
"...Isn't the world just too small?"
You can say that again.
And since it's the Jūmonji Group's production company, that means...
It's the company that collaborated with Screaming Land for mine and Riran's Wedding Experience.
And Riran and I gave our consent to use the photos taken during that Wedding Experience as advertisement models.
...Somehow, I feel like I'll be meeting this person soon.
I returned the smartphone to Hiyori and let out a quiet sigh. I hope I don't get dragged into more trouble...
"U-Um...!"
"Nn?"
Suddenly, someone spoke to me.
When I turned toward the voice, standing there was—
"Ah, Suwabe-san. Morning."
She has characteristic dark brown hair styled in a loose braid draped from the back to the front.
Whether you'd call her gentle or relaxed, that's the impression she gives.
She is our Class 1-5 president, Suwabe Hitomi-san.
That Suwabe-san blushed slightly as she looked at me.
"U-Um... Sanada-kun, Kuonji-san. Do you have a moment...?"
...Eh, both of us?