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Leibniz and Newton described the infinitesimal which was later used by such geniuses as Euler and Cauchy. The infinite and infinitesimal was already in existence and formed a field.

I was too late to introduce the concepts but I could expand on them, perhaps with some kind of hyperreal unit. It was not so dissimilar to the imaginary unit used in complex analysis. But what would such a thing look like? I paused the math lecture going on my phone with a touch of the wire and turned to fully face Orimoto.

The person next to Orimoto looked like her friend who was accompanying her. She was wearing the same Kaihin Sougou High School uniform and was taking unassuming looks in my direction. The friend looked a little bored, but Orimoto didn't seem to mind as she lightly tapped my shoulders and raised her voice.

"Talk about super nostalgic! Aren't you, like, a rare character or something?"

As they rudely stared at me, the only thing I could do was make a strained smile.

True enough. If you thought about the tendencies during middle school, the chances of meeting me were quite low. In the first place, recognition was a one way relationship. I would notice them, but they wouldn't notice me. But, as far as rare incidents were concerned, for Orimoto to recognize who I was and call out to me was definitely one of them. This wasn't any different from how it was back in middle school.

Orimoto was what you'd call a self-proclaimed big sister figure and she was the type to mind the business of others. She was the type of person who talked to anyone regardless of who they were and tried to get as close as possible to them. Orimoto had a look of curiosity for a moment before stopping in her tracks.

"Eh, Hikigaya, you go to Sobu High?"

"Ah, yeah." After I answered, I twisted my body slightly and also looked at my uniform.

Of all the prominent public college prep schools in the area, the only one with a blazer was mine. You'd understand where the student was from with just one glance in this area. Orimoto seemed to be thinking the same thing as she breathed out mixed with admiration.

"Ooh. Now, that's super surprising. You were smart after all! Ah, but I've never ever seen what you got on your tests anyway. I mean, Hikigaya, you don't talk to anyone at all after all." As usual, Orimoto was able to bluntly spit things out.

She goes through the trouble of putting herself out there just so there wasn't an invisible wall erected between you and her. A refreshing type. She was probably aiming for that. And then, the rest of her interest was directed towards the person sitting next to me, Haruno, as if it was natural. "

Your girlfriend?" As she asked with a curious tone, she compared me with Haruno. I felt something uncomfortable from Orimoto's gaze and replied back unintentionally in a small voice.

"No…"

"That's what I thought~! I was like no way too!" As Orimoto cackled, her accompanying friend also covered her lips as she was trying to hold back her laughter. Back then, I interpreted that as a carefree laugh. That attitude of hers that she used to indiscriminately talk with someone was a way to show her kindness. That's what I thought.

"Hahaha…"

Why was I forcing myself to laugh with them? How revolting. It felt like the events from two to three years ago were going to suddenly rush back into my head. I let out a dry laugh as if to try to get rid of those memories. Haruno, who was observing our exchange on the side, peered at my face suddenly.

"Could they be your friends, Hikigaya?" The nuance of the way she asked me kind of felt like she was asking '…you had friends?' Maybe it was just me, okay, maybe it wasn't, I see. But, well, although I was asked if Orimoto was my friend, I couldn't really object with 'no she isn't, not at all'. However, in a situation like this, I knew what the best answer was.

"She's a classmate from middle school."

Yep, yep, this was the correct answer. After all, the guys whom I thought I was friends with would introduce me to others like this. After I answered, Orimoto turned towards Haruno and bowed her head slightly.

"I'm Orimoto Kaori." After her introduction, Haruno once again had that usual probing stare of hers.

"Hmmm… Ah, I'm Yukinoshita Haruno. I'm Hikigaya's… Hikigaya's… hey, what am I to you?"

"Er, how should I know?" Actually, why were you trying to snuggle up close to me? Please stop looking at me from below like that.

"It'd be kind of odd to be calling us friends. Hmm, maybe an older sister perhaps? Oh, or maybe older sister-in-law…" As Haruno tapped her chin while thinking, she peeked at me. When I sent her an apathetic look, she grinned. "Ah, how about a meddlesome girlfriend then?"

Oh dear, what's with that lovely confession? Was she an idiot? How exactly did going from a friend to an older sister result in that? Huuuuh? But wait, if you replaced the older sister with a younger sister, oh how mysterious! Then again, like that'd be possible. The way she was acting was so incredibly obvious that it could cause misunderstandings instead. But that made it easier for me to remain calm and answer easily.

"Couldn't you just go with an upperclassman from school?"

"Aw, you're no fun." After she said that, Haruno made a pouty, sulky face. I was thinking how I'd like to poke those cheeks of hers, but there was no way I could do that and I shrugged my shoulders instead. Haruno was probably doing everything on purpose, but I was really glad she was here. Thanks to that, I didn't have to think too deeply about things. This may have been the first time I've ever been thankful to her. If I were alone when Orimoto coincidentally called out to me, I'd have fallen in the dumps pretty hard. I probably would have ended up talking to the wall for five hours after I got home too. Orimoto Kaori was a person from my middle school period that had to be avoided. I thought I had to get away from Orimoto and company before dirt from my past was dug up, but that proved to be futile as Orimoto started talking to Haruno at that moment.

"Your seniority relationship sure is nice, huh!"

"I know, right? Well, that isn't all there is to it though!"

"Eeeh? I wonder what that could be!?"

The two continued their pointless conversation with Orimoto's friend occasionally chipping in with her nods… I sat there in silence watching them exchange numerous amounts of words with each other. Their social conversation continued to head in different directions with no end in sight. In that period, the only permissible actions for me were to breathe and sip at my café au lait. This time that felt like treading across a minefield continued on. Suddenly, the conversation stopped. For their first meeting, they sure had a lot to talk about. But now they had the opportunity to end it there and call it a day. Or that should have been the case. But, Haruno crossed her arms in a dignified manner. She formed a thin smile and spoke.

"But still, going to the same middle school as Hikigaya, huh? Any interesting stories?"

Those words acted as a trigger to continue the conversation. As Orimoto stretched out her 'eeeh', she started to look into her memories. I had a horrible premonition. Actually, you could say that I knew something horrible was about to come up.

"C'moon, I'm sure there was something? Ah, like love stories! Big sis sorta wants to hear about Hikigaya's love stories!" Looking amused, Haruno tried to stir up the mood. I could feel my back getting sweaty again and I was close to bursting out in laughter because of my feelings returning back from the time I was in middle school. Actually, it was more like they were burned into my very being. Jeez, how troublesome. Humans only tend to remember the bad things. If I had the ability to communicate better, I'm sure I would have told her myself. I'd talk about them while painfully laughing at myself. But because I wasted time thinking about that and because I hesitated, I didn't make it in time.

Orimoto brushed her hair and laughed embarrassedly. "Aah, that reminds me. Hikigaya confessed to me once!" She let out the truth so easily.

"No way!"

"That makes me super curious!" It wasn't just Haruno, but also Orimoto's friend who joined in on the conversation, chatting away enjoyably. It was a topic that could easily energize the mood and Orimoto who brought it up continued excitedly.

"We never even talked to each other before, so it freaked me out so bad." Orimoto uttered those words.

But, we did talk. We definitely did. Orimoto probably didn't remember it. More accurately speaking, Orimoto probably didn't recognize me as someone she had talked to. That wasn't the end of it. I also texted her too. Whether it was out of pity or compassion, I managed to get her mailing address. I'd rack my brain over trying to figure out what to mail her. Ultimately, I'd end up sending a text for the most worthless reasons.

There was a time when I waited excitedly and worriedly for a response, only for a magazine text to come instead causing me to cancel my subscription out of rage. There was no doubt someone like Orimoto would have known that had happened. Even if she tried to remember, it wasn't there in the first place. Back then, people who were in love with someone else definitely had no interest in people who were not in their social circle. Instead, their actions become the butt of their jokes. They even didn't serve to be as lasting memories either. Those words brought back a surge of memories which caused my emotions to go wild. The incident long ago that I thought I had laughed away had accurately stabbed at where I was hurt. As I sat there frozen in place, I slowly let out a deep, deep sigh from the forced smile I had on my face.

"You don't say, Hikigaya confessed huh~." Haruno spoke with a surprised tone. But those amused eyes of hers were dyed with a sadistic color. It made me suspect she wanted to know what happened between me and Orimoto after seeing my reaction to her. As I looked at the corner of the floor, I managed to squeeze out a few words.

"Well, it's just something from a long time ago…"

"That's true! It's a long time ago so it doesn't really matter, right!" Orimoto and I probably had a different nuance when we used the same words. Because it's something from long time ago, because it's already dealt with, and because it's already over. That's why Orimoto could say whatever she wanted and laugh so innocently. There probably wasn't any malice mixed in. She just wanted to have fun talking. Even her friend and Haruno were the same. It was like they were laughing at something pleasant. It was exactly like that one time. Even though I confessed to her when it was just the two of us, somehow, the entire incident had spread like wildfire in class the next morning. I could then hear snickers and sneers from a distance away. It was the same. There wasn't anything wrong with just being rejected after confessing. In time, it'd just become a laughable story. As a moment of my younger years, I could easily come to terms with it. What was difficult was when I noticed myself for being disappointed in the girl that I thought I liked. I, who, didn't even understand that much or even notice that much was just as guilty too. My ignorant immature self was something I couldn't laugh away. The conversations were still ongoing, but they didn't reach my ears. I was probably spacing out, thinking about the past.

"Ah, right, Hikigaya."

"Hm?" When my name was called, I came back to my senses.

Orimoto looked like she forgot about the previous topic and instead started with a completely different one. "Like, since you're going to Sobu High, doesn't that mean you know about Hayama?"

"Hayama…" I reflexively regurgitated that name and Orimoto suddenly leaned forward.

"Yep, Hayama! He's in the soccer club!"

That was enough information for me to determine that it was the same Hayama Hayato she was talking about. "Aah, I guess so."

"For real!? There's like a bunch of girls who want to meet him, you know~ Like this one here!" Orimoto reacted as if she caught something. She then pointed to her friend next to her.

"Ah, this girl's Nakamachi Chika from my school." Nakamachi or whatever her name sat next to Orimoto and nodded lightly with a fuzzy smile. Orimoto poked at Nakamachi's with her elbows. "C'mon, Chika, you might get introduced to Hayama!"

"Eeeh. You don't need to." Although Nakamachi had said that, she looked just a little bit brighter and was clearly expecting something. But, unfortunately for you, I'm not close with Hayama. We don't even know each other's numbers.

"Wait a second. I don't really know the guy…" When I said that, Orimoto looked more convinced than disappointed.

"Aah, that's right. Doesn't seem like you guys would fit anyway."

"Hahaha…" I made another dry laugh. There was definitely something stuck in my throat from a while ago. As I cleared my throat a few times, I could hear a whisper from Haruno who had blended into the background.

"…Hmmm, this might be interesting."

"Huh?" When I turned to her, Haruno's eyes lit up with a suspicious glow. And then, she suddenly raised her hand.

"Okay, big sis will introduce you to him!"

"Huh?" Both Orimoto and I were confused, wondering what she was saying so suddenly, but Haruno quickly took out her cellphone and began dialing. She knocked on the table with her fist as she waited for the call to get through. It was probably about three rings. Upon hearing a voice from the other end of the call, Haruno spoke in a quick manner.

"Ah, Hayato? Can you come now? Actually, just come now." Haruno said what she wanted to say and quickly hung up the phone.

"What exactly are you doing…?"

"Hmhmhm." Haruno wore a big smile on her expression.

This person's having way too much fun…

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As everyone waited for Hayama's arrival, I stared out the window at the city absentmindedly. It was well past sunset and the city was submerged in the night as its night face gradually began to show. The sign of the karaoke store in the distance flashed with neon lights and if you looked up, you could see the monorails cutting through the darkness.

You could catch the sights of numerous young people walking about on the streets. Soon enough, the sounds of footsteps climbing up the stairs in the store could be heard.

"Oh, looks like he might be here." Haruno twisted her upper body and took a peek in the direction of the stairs. When she did, Hayama Hayato appeared and finally arrived. It looked like he stopped by right after club activities. He was still in his school uniform with his enamel bag hanging from his shoulders. When Hayama noticed us, he loosened his bolo tie with a tired expression.

"Haruno. This is?" Hayama looked at Haruno followed by Orimoto and Nakamachi. And then, his gaze shifted over to me to which he stopped.

"There was a girl who wanted to be introduced to you, Hayato." Haruno spread both of her hands and lightly pointed at Orimoto and her friend. Not even in their wildest dreams did Orimoto and her friend think the actual Hayama would make an appearance as they giggled to each other excitedly. They huddled together while whispering things to each other.

"…I see." Hayama let out a very short, short sigh that could easily be overlooked. But he quickly gave a perky smile afterwards. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Hayama Hayato." He showed the usual Hayama Hayato expression as if a switch was flipped on. From there, he introduced himself naturally and began chatting with them.

Orimoto and Nakamachi began speaking as well, looking much cuter than they were earlier. Now that their interest had shifted to Hayama, I was finally able to breathe normally again. The warm atmosphere in the store made it somewhat comfortable. Now then, since Hayama was finally here, I could leave it to the youngsters to have fun and just go home… It didn't look like I'd be able to watch the movie though. Then again, if I went to watch the movies right now, I got the feeling I'd fall asleep within seconds of sitting down. I closed my unfinished book, Lolita, in the original English, and placed it in my bag. As I waited for the perfect chance to say I'll be on my way home, the four were living it up.

"Ah, do you want to, like, go have some fun somewhere next time?"

"Ah, that sounds like a good idea!" When Orimoto and Nakamachi said that, Hayama nodded with a smile. He acknowledged them without explicitly saying yes or no. It was a skill only allowed by handsome guys. If an average guy were to do this, he'd either be told he was indecisive or be ignored completely.

"Yep yep, going out to have fun is a good thing. You all should go. It really is a good idea." Haruno crossed her arms and spoke in a serious manner. With someone to give the approval, Orimoto and her friend started getting excited as they began to discuss places that would be good to go. But, I just realized. She did say 'all', but I'm totally not getting invited here am I…? Well, that's natural. As far as they were concerned, I was nothing more than an offering to summon Hayama. In order to evolve a monster level 5 and above, you have to send a lower leveled monster to the graveyard after all. There's no two ways about it. Gotta protect the rules to have a fun duel, you know! Seeing that I was already sent to the graveyard, the only thing I could do was watch over the course of events here. The conversation had become quite pleasant for a moment. Although it hadn't been fifteen minutes yet, Hayama tactfully avoided going along with the two girls and skillfully managed to create the chance to leave.

"Well, it's about time for me to go…"

"Okay. See you again Hayama! We'll mail you okay!" They waved their hands and Hayama responded by raising his.

As they walked to leave, Orimoto and Nakamachi were talking to each other saying "oh my gosh", "he's so cool", "this is so bad". When they disappeared to the lower floor, their voices couldn't be heard anymore. As I looked at them until they disappeared completely, Hayama who had a smile the entire time made a cold expression.

He then glared at Haruno. "…Why would you do this?"

"It looked like it'd be fun." Haruno smiled without a hint of shyness. This wasn't anywhere near the innocence of a harmless prank. What I could see was nothing, but ill will. Hayama made a threatening sigh.

"That again… So, why is he here? It doesn't look like he has anything to do with it." Hayama turned his head towards me as he said that and Haruno responded immediately.

"That's not true! That girl, ah, the one with the perm I mean. That girl was someone Hikigaya liked a long time ago apparently! Isn't that really interesting? I wonder what kind of face Yukino would make if she knew about this, hmmm… Right, Hikigaya?"

And finally, she sent a smile my way. But the only one having a blast was just Haruno. There was no way I'd be having fun. But for some reason, Hayama made another gloomy expression.

"…"

Unlike the cheerful Haruno, both Hayama and I were silent. The conversation halted and Haruno let out a short, bored sigh. And looking to change the mood, she stood up and tapped Hayama on the shoulders.

"Well, anyway, why don't you go hang out with them? It might actually turn out to be pretty fun and go well for you." After she spoke, Hayama's shoulders dropped. His gaze dropped to where his and Haruno's feet were. It was exactly in between the two of them.

"There's no way…"

"Oh? You never know?" Hayama responded weakly and Haruno took his words lightly. When she pulled back her sleeves, a pink and silver wrist watch flashed.

"Yep, I managed to kill some time in a nice way. Okay, I'll be going now." Haruno quickly gathered up her belongings as she said in a speedy manner. "Hikigaya, thanks for hanging out with me."

She shuffled over to me and whispered in my ear secretly. A fresh, floral scent overpowered my nose while a soft breath hit my ears. Because of that, I retracted backwards suddenly. My ears are incredibly itchy darn it, so I'd like you to stop, please! I took two to three steps back from Haruno to quickly make some distance from her and at that moment, Haruno quickly dashed for the stairs. As she went her way, she turned her head and waved her hand.

"If there's any progress, let me know okay~!" It totally sounded like she was talking to me, but there's no progress here, you know! I wasn't invited, after all! Or so I thought as I nodded to her as she left. Now with the boisterous woman gone, what was left was just silence. The only ones left were me and Hayama. That said, there wasn't any reason for us to stay here. This late in the game, there really wasn't anything to talk about. In the past, Hayama Hayato and I had talked and then we had ended it then and there. Regardless of how similar our goals were, how similar our ideals were, we were fully aware of how hopeless our positions were. From here on, it was likely we would never involve ourselves with each other anymore. Their behavior from this morning made it even more apparent. It was the choice of not only mine but also Hayama's. I picked up my bag and started to walk.

"You…" A voice that sounded like it'd disappear came from behind. I had absolutely no reason to talk to him. But, I reflexively stopped my legs. All I did was stand there without looking back, waiting for his next words. "…Haruno seems to be quite fond of you."

"Huh?" Unthinkable words caused me to turn my head. When Hayama's eyes met with mine, he let out a smile. It felt like that smile had seen through something and as I spat out some words, I turned back towards the front. "Don't be an idiot. She was just messing around."

"She looks interested at the very least though." Hayama's voice made it past my back. The tone of the voice quickly changed. "If she doesn't have any interest in something, she wouldn't act so cheeky like that… She wouldn't do anything. She'll meddle so much with what she likes to the point of killing it. For the things she hates, she'd go the extra mile to crush them."

Was that advice or a warning? Hayama's words were definitely sharper than usual. I was really curious about what his expression was like at this moment, but even so, I didn't turn around.

"…Oh, how scary." That was just my honest opinion and although I was already well aware of the truth, I stayed silent and left.

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I rode my bike endlessly down the highway and eventually made it back to the city that I lived in. The day wasn't even over yet and I was already feeling incredibly nostalgic. I approached my house and opened the front door. Coming to greet me was Kamakura which was unusual. He purred with an unmotivated tone and rubbed his head and body against my leg. You're going to get fur on my uniform, stop it.

"What is it? Something wrong?" I thought I'd try asking, but instead of responding with his usual purrs, he hacked out a cough instead. What kind of cat greeting was that? Was it like those 'meowning' greetings, non?

"C'mon, get going." I called out to Kamakura and ascended the stairs. The lights on the second floor were off. Considering the time, my parents definitely weren't going to be home. But, it looked like Komachi wasn't home yet either. She's probably at cram school then. Testing season was just about three months away. It turned out that some fur managed to get on my uniform so I decided to change into my house clothes. I threw my uniform in my room and headed for the living room. I didn't forget to bring along the take-out donuts with me downstairs. With this, I should be able to cheer myself up. As I was about to go down, waiting for me was Kamakura who appealed to me again with his purrs.

"What, you still need something?" With another purr, Kamakura headed for the back of the kitchen.

There was a bowl with glued on wooden letters spelling out KAMAKURA. A quick glance made it look like it was a bowl made by KADOKAWA, but it was actually just a plate for Kamakura's use prepared by Komachi. In the bowl were leftover crumbs and powder from previous meals.

"…Nothing to eat, huh?" Oh I see how it is. You didn't actually come to greet me at the door. You were just telling me 'there's no food, damn it'.

Not very cute, are you? I opened the bin in the back of the kitchen and took out the oh-so-familiar crunchy cat food often paired with a silver spoon, and dumped it in the bowl. But still, if you were to mix this with milk, it'd look like chocolate, wouldn't it? Kamakura thrust his head into the bowl the moment I poured the food in. Halfway through, I couldn't tell if the food was hitting against Kamakura's head or going in the bowl.

"You better chew your food slowly." I stroked Kamakura's head while wiping off the powder stuck to his fur before getting up. I staggered my way to the sofa and collapsed onto it. When I did, I let out a deep sigh. I continued to make deeper sighs, taking deep breaths. As I lay there motionlessly, Kamakura rubbed at my feet and came closer. I thought he had come to report that he was done with his food, but instead he climbed onto my legs. With a satisfied sigh, he began to purr.

"…What do you know? You're surprisingly tactful, aren't you?" I was pretty sure he was just using me as a replacement for a hot water bottle because he was cold, but, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time. I grabbed a comb and brushed Kamakura's back. While doing that, my eyelids started to grow heavy.

What a long day.

Today really was exhausting.

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-WG