Chapter 1
If the school were a human body, then this place was definitely the kidneys.
It was the organ tasked with collecting all the body's waste and preparing it for elimination.
An egg-shaped humidifier hissed on the empty counter, the steam and other silly sounds it made dissolving and vanishing into the sterile infirmary.
Well, I'll just borrow this spot for a sec.
For me, anywhere would have been fine. Whether it was this den of sickness or the final dumping ground for delinquents, anywhere I could comfortably skip school life was good enough to me.
Out of the three white beds lined up, only the one by the window had its blackout curtain drawn. So, without hesitation, I dove into the middle bed and closed my eyes.
And I think it was exactly then that I heard it.
The toad that ripped the prize! The fox who roars with stolen pride~♪
It was loud music.
It blared out right next to me.
It was probably coming from a phone speaker. Someone must've fumbled and pulled their earbuds out by accident. But that didn't matter. Something else had stirred me far more deeply.
It was a song by an artist I was sure no one else in my grade knew but me.
It was the kind of music you wouldn't stumble upon unless you were really digging deep, hardly something a typical middle schooler would listen to.
Suddenly, I felt a warmth spreading through my body.
Before I knew it, I found myself standing up and reaching for the curtain of the bed next to mine.
. . . Huh?
That day, I saw my first sitting there on the bed.
It was a girl. She was sitting cross-legged on pristine bedsheets. Her lips were wrapped around a Lipton milk tea straw as she looked at me curiously.
Her skin was pure white, and her lips shone with gloss. Her black hair, with straight-cut bangs, fell to her chest. She wore an oversized, fluffy cardigan, and her school uniform skirt was folded up far too high.
Her round, striking eyes were faintly veiled with a cloud of melancholy.
There was something strange about her.
Maybe it was because she stood out, not exactly fitting the mold of an ordinary girl, but also lacking the edge of a delinquent.
Hm? What do you want?
. . . Huh?
No, you can't just pull open someone else's bed curtain without saying anything.
Her voice was like a clear winter morning—bright and crisp, yet strangely without a chill. There was no hint of detachment in its tone. Maybe that's why I let myself get a little carried away that day.
Five thousand mornings tucked in a box at nine o'clock~♪
Then and there, I belted out the song, a cappella.
I continued with the chorus that had just echoed out earlier.
The girl stood there wide-eyed, silently listening to my impromptu recital which must have gone on for what felt like several minutes. When I finally finished, she averted her gaze, fidgeting slightly, and mumbled a hesitant question.
. . . Do you like . . . Pendulum Craftsman?
Yeah, I love them! What about you?
. . . I like it. Probably thirty times more than a newbie like you.
Even though she knew nothing about me, she answered confidently. For some reason, her response and her pause felt incredibly comforting . . . and that's why I took a liking to her.
So, why are you here? You feel sick?
I'm just not cut out for school. What about you?