In the new town, a hill began the moment you stepped out of the station. Walking up it, I realized I still hadn't learned the town's name.

When I opened the classroom door, the seat at the very back, by the window, was empty. "Sit there," the homeroom teacher said. The boy at the next desk, Sora, didn't look up, not even after I sat down.

At break, he dropped his eraser. I picked it up and handed it back, and only then did he look at me — at my face, I mean. That was all it was. And yet, for a while, I couldn't forget it.