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"Wha - seriously?!"
Aragaki Masumi massages her ear, holding her phone at arm's length, as her best friend's screeches echo through her entire house.
"Why? How? Coming back next week? Seriously? Why didn't you tell me?"
Masumi scowls.
"Satsuki, I just found out yesterday," she says as patient as she can.
It's been about a year since she moved to America, right before the start of her third year of junior high. Her dad, having been accepted into an American company, had been worried about how she would fit in. After all, she only knew a little English back then, and she wasn't too accustomed to American culture. But, Masumi thinks, smiling, she did meet several friends who could also speak Japanese, so that made it far easier to adapt.
"I can't wait!" Satsuki squeals from the other end.
Sighing, Masumi gives the wall a wry look. Satsuki never will change.
The company he'd been working for the past year was now closing down, so they were moving back to Japan. Though it had only been one year - less than a year, actually - she feels like she's been here forever.
It'll be nice to go back to Japan, though.
"You have to enroll at Touo!" Satsuki continues. "I'm going there, and so's Dai-chan!"
"What about the others?" Masumi says, Satsuki's excitement contagious.
There's a pause.
"Ah, well, Midorin's going to Shutoku, Ki-chan's going to Kaijo, Mukkun - " she continues, almost reluctantly. Masumi frowns. There's something odd about the way Satsuki's voice is lowering. " - and Tetsu-kun's chosen a really small school. I can't believe I won't be going to the same school as him!"
Well, her love for Tetsu-kun still stays the same no matter what, Masumi thinks.
"Tell Tetsu-kun I said hi," she tells Satsuki. "And please give my regards to Ryo-kun, Sei-kun, Atsu-kun, and Shin-kun. I've missed them a lot."
"Sure. See you then! Call me when you arrive, okay?"
"Yeah. I'll do that."
"How's your dad?"
"He's the same as normal. Very busy. Comes back at around one in the morning."
Her voice doesn't leave much room for any further comments.
Satsuki's clever enough not to ask any more questions.
Sighing, Masumi changes the topic.
"I've been training with several teachers, so I'll challenge everyone to one-one-ones, okay? You wouldn't believe it, but I finally grew taller! Though I probably will never be able to dunk…"
Satsuki giggles.
"Okay, then! See you next week!"
The call ends and Masumi closes her phone with a snap.
"That was quite energetic," she tells herself. "I'm looking forward to returning to Japan."
Her eyes catch the shoebox on her desk, wrapped in tape and covered with a thick layer of dust. Her face contorting in an expression of anger, she shoves it under her bed.
There were also some things she wasn't looking forward to as well.
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"Bye!" she calls over her shoulder. "Email me, okay?"
Her friend grins.
"You stupid, or something? Of course I will! And you'd better email me, too, Masumi."
Masumi's own smile droops a little, and she looks around.
"Where's Ta-kun?" she asks.
Her friend's eyes narrow. "He's busy," is the short reply.
Sighing, Masumi drags the suitcase along again.
"I wanted to say bye to him, too, but oh well," she says. "Tell him I'll miss him, okay?"
"Mm."
Waving one last time, Masumi boards the plane, her smile firmly fixed on her face.
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As the plane soars into the air, humming, Masumi settles into her seat and flips open her phone. There's five new messages: two from Satsuki, both filled with exclamation marks; one from Ta-kun, with an apology that he couldn't see her off; one from her father, with instructions; and one from Kuroko.
"Eh?" Masumi says, confused. Tetsu-kun has rarely ever emailed, or even called her. So why now?
She clicks the select button, and her eyes fly over the words.
"Aragaki-san, Momoi-san has informed me that you are returning to Japan," it begins in Tetsu-kun's ordinary formal address. "I am looking forward to seeing you again. However, I have found it within my duty as your friend to inform you of a new change."
New change? Masumi doesn't like the sound of that.
Frowning, she reads on.
"As much as I hate to tell you, Aragaki-san, the people you used to call friends are no longer the same as they used to be. They are now different, and not in ways that I can say I like."
What?
"I don't wish to alarm you, but you will see when you arrive."
What? What does Tetsu-kun mean, different? And not in ways he likes? No longer the same as they used to be? Her mouth open in dismay, Masumi slips her phone back into her pocket, tugging at her black hair.
What's that supposed to mean, they're different? They've always been her friends: Ryou-kun, Sei-kun, Atsu-kun, Shin-kun, Dai-kun -
Different?
She's having a really bad feeling about this.
