"I hear your prefectural tournament starts this week."
Zerozaki Hajime gazed at the neat row of cherry trees lining the campus grounds, though her words were meant for Yukimura Seiichi standing beside her. Aside from ordinary mountain cherries, Rikkai had interplanted quite a few weeping cherry trees. A spring breeze brushed past, setting the luxuriant branches swaying softly. Pale pink petals curled and uncurled as they drifted, leaving their delicate fragrance behind in a fleeting swirl. The scenery before them felt dreamlike, exquisitely graceful, carrying an inevitable tinge of poignant beauty.
Noticing Zerozaki Hajime taking the initiative to speak while they were both admiring the cherry blossoms, Yukimura Seiichi lowered his gaze to look at her.
"Yes. Will Zerozaki-san be coming to watch our matches?"
As the cherry blossoms continued to flutter down, Yukimura noticed a petal resting on the tip of Zerozaki Hajime's nose and reached out to brush it away.
A warm sensation brushed against her nose. Zerozaki Hajime’s expression remained unchanged, though her wine-red pupils dilated slightly. She turned to look at Yukimura Seiichi and saw that many cherry petals had landed on his shoulders as well. She initially intended to point it out, but changing her mind midway, she said instead,
"Yes, I'll be going."
The two remained silent for a good while. Lost in thought for a moment, Zerozaki Hajime continued,
"Are you free after your match?"
Yukimura paused slightly. Narrowing his eyes, he smiled and said,
"The match is on Saturday, and I'm free on Sunday."
Zerozaki Hajime nodded gently and smiled at him.
"Then... would it be all right if we meet at the entrance of Genjiyama Park on Sunday?"
Yukimura looked slightly surprised. Whatever he was thinking, after a brief moment, he smiled and replied,
"All right, let's meet at two o'clock on Sunday afternoon then."
As they spoke, the two walked over to the tennis courts reserved for regular team members. The regulars looked somewhat surprised to see Yukimura Seiichi and Zerozaki Hajime arriving together. However, Sanada Genichirou didn't give the others any time for gossip. As it happened, their break time had just ended, and Sanada immediately ordered them to resume training.
Ordinary club activities usually ended in less than an hour and a half, but athletic clubs had to participate in various competitions—plus, this was the world of tennis. Consequently, many club activities had to make way for the tennis club's training schedule. Yet minor training sessions could never stop the regulars from indulging their appetite for gossip.
"It feels like the captain and Zerozaki-san are getting really close."
Marui Bunta blinked, blowing a bubble of gum as he glanced back at Yukimura Seiichi and Zerozaki Hajime in the distance.
Niou Masaharu looked down at his own hands, raised his gaze to the sky, and then closed his eyes to take a deep breath, inhaling the faint fragrance of flowers and grass carried by the breeze.
"Spring has really arrived~puri."
Yanagi Renji opened his data notebook, though it was impossible to tell what he was recording. He simply remarked,
"The probability of Yukimura and Zerozaki encountering each other by chance is 0.1 percent."
With that, he closed his notebook and said no more.
Kirihara Akaya scratched his head with a puzzled look on his face, having failed to catch Yanagi's meaning.
Yagyuu Hiroshi pushed up his glasses.
"Are you saying it wasn't a chance encounter? It seems the captain came here with Zerozaki on purpose."
"Yagyuu, how on earth did you figure out that the captain was the one who initiated it?"
Jack Kuwahara looked completely bewildered. While the captain's gossip was certainly juicy, the conversational leaps were far too fast; he needed a moment to sort it all out.
Hearing them still gossiping, Sanada Genichirou finally lost his patience and barked at them,
"Too slack! Get back to training this instant!"
Only then did everyone temporarily drop the subject.
Yukimura Seiichi went to the tennis club locker room to change into his team uniform, while Zerozaki Hajime walked onto the tennis court by herself. Actually, Zerozaki Hajime didn't really need to come; after all, she was merely a nominal tennis club manager, and most of the work was handled by the other ordinary members.
Then why had she come?
Zerozaki Hajime figured it was probably because she needed a mobile charging station she could access at any time. Still, constantly relying on them for blunt favors wasn't the ideal way to handle things either. While she had been out of touch with human social intricacies for far too long, she understood that building a solid grassroots foundation would benefit her future endeavors.
Zerozaki Hajime had already looked up their backgrounds; they were completely normal people in this world, just exceptionally passionate about playing tennis.
Arriving at the front row of the spectator stands and seeing that the regulars were all busy training, she chose not to disturb them. Instead, she took out her phone and began searching for basic tennis knowledge. On the way to the court earlier, Yukimura Seiichi had recommended a few introductory tennis books, and Zerozaki Hajime intended to buy some to read properly.
After saving the titles of the books she wanted to buy, Zerozaki Hajime slipped her phone into her pocket and noticed that Yukimura Seiichi had already entered the court to converse with the other members.
She opened the System interface to check the situation around Genjiyama Park. Not a single monster was detected, and a flash of unease crossed her mind. Monsters wouldn't just sit still; could they be plotting some massive move?
Gazing intently at the System interface, Zerozaki Hajime pondered other possibilities and failed to notice that the regulars had long finished their training. Aside from Yukimura Seiichi, who could see her interacting with the System interface, no one else could perceive it. Seeing Zerozaki Hajime sitting in the stands staring blankly at a blank space, the others looked somewhat puzzled.
"Is Zerozaki-san bored? Why has she been spacing out the whole time?"
Marui Bunta was the first to walk over to her, stopping right where the floating pages of Zerozaki Hajime's System interface hovered.
Coming back to her senses, Zerozaki Hajime stood up, neatly stowing away the System interface, and smiled faintly.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something else just now and didn't notice that you had finished."
The group walked out of the court together. Marui Bunta was playfully tussling with Niou Masaharu, while Jack Kuwahara stood between them with a distressed expression, acting as a human shield. Kirihara Akaya had originally been standing nearby egging them on, but suddenly remembering something, he gravitated over to Zerozaki Hajime's side.
Earlier, Zerozaki Hajime had talked to Yukimura Seiichi about the movements of the ball monsters, and later discussed which racket to buy with both him and Sanada Genichirou. Seeing Kirihara approach, Zerozaki Hajime looked at him with mild curiosity.
"Since Zerozaki is a Space-Time Order Officer, does she always go everywhere alone?"
Prompted by Kirihara's question, everyone turned simultaneously to look at Zerozaki Hajime.
Zerozaki Hajime stared blankly at Kirihara. She couldn't miss the pure, innocent look in those large green eyes; it was just an idle, unintentional question on his part. Yet his words were enough to send her thoughts drifting far away. She hadn't always been alone in the past, either.
Noticing the change in her expression and her prolonged silence, the others realized that Kirihara had, to some extent, touched upon a sensitive subject.
Standing beside Yukimura Seiichi, Sanada Genichirou circled around to Kirihara's side, grabbed him by the shoulder, and said in an extremely stern voice,
"Akaya! Were you slacking off during training today?"
Jarred back to reality by the commotion, Kirihara hurriedly and frantically defended himself.
"I wasn't, Vice Captain Sanada! I was training right under your nose!"
Drawn back from her reverie by their bickering, Zerozaki Hajime smiled at the two of them.
"Most of the time, yes. But then again, isn't everyone?"
That was the truth. Zerozaki Hajime's lifespan was vastly longer than that of the human world, and she had long since grown accustomed to endless solitude. Occasionally she might feel a pang of nostalgia for the past, but she was also a part of the vast expanse of time and ultimately had to keep moving forward.
Seeing that she didn't wish to elaborate, no one pressed further. Even the simple-minded Kirihara realized this and obediently kept quiet.
Since Zerozaki Hajime lived nearby, the group walked her all the way to the entrance of her apartment building.
"This is far enough. You guys go on back, and watch out on the way."
Standing at the gates of the residential complex, she looked up at Yukimura and the others.
Yukimura Seiichi nodded. Lowering his gaze slightly, he said to Zerozaki Hajime,
"All right. If anything comes up, Zerozaki-san, remember to contact me."
After Zerozaki Hajime turned and walked into the complex, the group parted ways to head home.
Sanada Genichirou and Yukimura Seiichi were the first to get off the train. After bidding farewell to the other regulars, Sanada finally looked over at Yukimura.
"Yukimura, you and her... do you have her contact information?"
"Yes."
Yukimura nodded without elaborating.
Sanada opened his mouth, unsure of what to say. He didn't harbor any strong feelings toward Zerozaki Hajime—not necessarily fond of her, but not hating her either. After all, there were simply too many uncontrollable factors about her, and she might not even be human.
It was obvious to anyone that his childhood friend had feelings for her; Sanada wasn't blind to it. But why did he have this persistent feeling that things wouldn't end well for the two of them?
The setting sun bathed the low buildings on either side of the street in a layer of gold, stretching the shadows of Yukimura Seiichi and Sanada Genichirou out long behind them.
Hesitating for a long while, Sanada finally spoke up.
"Yukimura, have you thought this through?"
Yukimura smiled at him.
"It's fine, Sanada. She won't hurt us."
Sanada frowned. That wasn't what he meant. Pondering for a moment, he said,
"Very well, Yukimura. Since you've chosen this path, you absolutely cannot afford to lose!"
"Ah... Sanada, you... noticed?"
Yukimura opened his eyes slightly. Was he really being that obvious?
Still, being a bit obvious might not be a bad thing.
Sanada nodded. Since Zerozaki Hajime wouldn't bring them any substantive harm, there wasn't much else he could say.
"Rest assured, Sanada. I'll give it everything I've got."
Living in a high-rise apartment, Zerozaki Hajime sneezed, wondering why her body had suddenly become so fragile.
After mulling it over, she concluded that teenage bodies were simply too weak. Deciding to revert to her adult form, she realized she much preferred her adult appearance anyway—it made movement much more convenient, enhanced her strength and speed, and, best of all, her adult form looked significantly better.
Zerozaki Hajime's balcony was quite large, easily accommodating a table and two chairs. She was very fond of this balcony; with its expansive view, she could sit there and gaze out at everything beyond the planet.
The black hole was getting bigger and bigger, Zerozaki Hajime thought to herself. She knew that almost all of her former companions had followed the evolution of the black hole and reached the Higan. Yet she remained on this shore, wondering when she too would be able to cross over and reunite with them.
Perhaps this was simply the destiny of a Space-Time Order Officer: as long as there remained even a single place that had yet to reach the Higan, she could not cross over ahead of time.
Sitting on the balcony, Zerozaki Hajime stared up at the dark night sky. The moonlight washing over her softened the chilling aura emanating from her white uniform.
She spent the entire night awake.
The next day, Zerozaki Hajime reverted to her teenage form and raised an eyebrow when she saw the heavy dark circles under her eyes in the mirror.
Brushing it off, she headed to school as usual, thinking about how tomorrow would mark the first match of Rikkai's prefectural tournament. She felt an inexplicable sense of anticipation.
Yagyuu Hiroshi was on duty at the school gate today. Seeing the severe dark circles under Zerozaki Hajime's eyes, he frowned slightly.
"Zerozaki-san, are you alright? Didn't you rest well?"
Zerozaki Hajime shook her head.
"I'm fine, Yagyuu-senpai. I just didn't sleep very well last night. Taking a short break at noon will fix it."
Though Yagyuu Hiroshi found it a bit hard to believe, seeing her insistence, he knew better than to press her with others around. In the end, he simply offered,
"If you feel unwell, make sure to visit the school nurse."
"Understood. Thank you for your concern, Yagyuu-senpai."
Upon entering the classroom, as she passed by Ayanokouji Yumi, Ayanokouji grabbed her sleeve and whispered in her ear,
"Zerozaki-san, come with me to the restroom."
Placing her coffee and schoolbag on her desk, Zerozaki Hajime followed Ayanokouji to the girls' restroom in a state of utter bewilderment.