‘There’re six classes in second year,’ Masamune corrected her. ‘Fuka, how long’s it been since you stopped going to school? Maybe your memory’s a little hazy.’

‘I don’t think so.’ Fuka seemed unconvinced, but Kokoro, too, thought that what Fuka said didn’t sound right. There were about the same number of students in the second year as in the first. As Masamune had pointed out, Fuka may not have attended school much in her first year either. Maybe she’d never gone at all.

‘Which elementary school did you go to?’

Yukishina No. 5 Junior High was in a district made up of many elementary schools. Compared to junior high, these schools were relatively small, and if they’d come from the same elementary school, they were bound to be aware of each other.

‘Elementary School No. 2,’ Masamune said sulkily.

‘I was at No. 1,’ Fuka said.

‘Oh!’ Kokoro said.

Fuka caught her eye. ‘You were in – the same school?’

‘I was.’

Yukishina Elementary School No. 1 had two classes in each grade. But probably because they were in different grades, Kokoro had no recollection of Fuka.

On top of which, Fuka wasn’t exactly the type who stood out. She didn’t seem about to star at track or swimming meets. Nor did Kokoro, so it wasn’t strange that Fuka had no memory of her either.

Nevertheless, she still felt there was something odd.

To think that she went to the same school as me!

‘So you two don’t remember each other?’ Subaru asked. Kokoro shook her head. ‘I bet, if I tell you where I went to elementary school,’ he said, ‘none of you will have ever heard of it.’ All eyes were on him now. ‘I went to Nagura Elementary. It’s in Ibaraki prefecture, but when I went into third year at junior high I moved to my grandparents’ house in Tokyo. The two of us, my older brother and I.’

‘The two of you?’ Masamune asked, and Subaru nodded.

‘What about your parents?’ Masamune asked. He and Subaru seemed to get on fine, but it wasn’t until the summer break, when Subaru dyed his hair, that he told Masamune he had a brother. Subaru insisted he hadn’t been hiding anything.

‘My parents aren’t around. When we were still in Ibaraki my mum left us, and my dad remarried and is living with his second wife. That’s why my brother and I went to our grandparents’.’

Masamune’s face dropped. The rest of them gasped.