He was wearing the boys’ uniform for Yukishina No. 5 Junior High, the school badge showing clearly on his chest.

The embroidered name tag said Mizumori.

I feel as if – I know his name, Kokoro thought. Her eyes widened.

Because she sometimes had a dream.

A dream of a transfer student arriving.

And among all her many classmates he noticed her, and a smile as dazzling as the sun spread over his face. He said, ‘Good morning.’ And he smiled.

Epilogue

AS SOON AS THE child entered the room, she knew: The time has finally come.

She wasn’t sure why she was so certain.

But her heart trembled, and whispered to her.

You’ve been waiting for this day for a long, long time.

The pain that recurred so often – the feeling of her arm being yanked hard – came back to her.

Akiko Kitajima was a member of the NPO Kokoro no kyoshitsu. As well as serving as a counsellor for several local schools, she had been involved with this alternative School from its inception.

Like many of the children who came to it, she’d also attended Yukishina No. 5 Junior High.

There was a time back in junior high when Akiko had stopped going.

It was in the autumn of her third year, while at her grandmother’s funeral, that Akiko first met Ms Samejima.

Samejima-sensei. Yuriko Samejima-sensei.

She’d lived in the neighbourhood, near Akiko’s grandmother, since the days when Akiko was very young, and had apparently helped Akiko’s grandmother with her shopping and other errands. Ms Samejima was quite an intense lady, and at the funeral she wailed far more loudly than any of the deceased’s own relatives. Akiko and her family were taken aback, for Akiko’s grandmother had never mentioned this friend. When Ms Samejima came up to Akiko and asked, ‘Are you Akiko-chan?’ Akiko was in for an even bigger surprise.

They may have never heard a word from Akiko’s grandmother about Ms Samejima, but she certainly seemed to know all about Akiko.

She took her hand and looked intently at Akiko. ‘I hear you’ve dropped out of school?’ she said, holding her hand even tighter. ‘You poor child,’ she said, tearing up.

Ms Samejima had never met Akiko’s mother before, but she didn’t hesitate to speak her mind. ‘You’ve never paid her any attention,’ Ms Samejima said, and Akiko’s mother paled and stared at her.

‘Who do you think you are?’ she fired back. ‘What gives you the right to speak to me like this?’

Samejima-sensei’s response could not have been more brazen.

‘I am this girl’s grandmother’s friend, that’s who I am. Akiko, your grandmother was always so worried about you. And she asked me to help you if anything ever happened to her. She told me this as her last request, and that’s why I’m saying what I’m saying.’