Communication : memories

A dream

My name is Tadano Hitohito, I am 15 years old, and I recently managed to get into a respected private high school.

Today is my first day, and even though I'm excited I don't plan on breaking my life rule; read the situation and stay away from trouble! This is the key to having a peaceful and successful life!

Yes, peace and success are all an average guy like me can strive for.

...by the way, it's not like I tried to stand out when I was younger or anything... nope, nothing like that happened at all.

I was just storing my shoes in my locker when I saw a girl standing next to me. I assumed we must be in the same class, and if I want to get through school without any trouble, I have to make sure to get along with my classmates.

I greeted her kindly.

-"Oh hey, your locker is close to mine, we must be in the same class"

The girl looked in my direction.

-"... Yeah, we must be, what's your name?"

-"Tadano Hitohito! And you are..."

I tried looking into her locker's label, but it looked blurred out.

-"Oh, that old locker has seen better days!"

She jiggled.

"They'll fix it eventually, nothing to worry about"

-"Yeah"

Even though it looked old, I could see something carved into it, but I couldn't tell what it was, I could only distinguish one letter.

" 'K' "

That letter... a 'K', it awakened something in me, like a nostalgic feeling I couldn't quite describe.
The girl also looked into the label.

-"I wonder if mister 'K' had a good school year"

-"Do you think it's been there for long?"

-"Maybe, maybe mister K was such a good student they didn't want to get his name off this locker"

-"Maybe"

She put her shoes on and stepped away into the crowd.

-"Anyway, see you around!"

I reached my hand out to her on impulse.

-"Wait, I didn't get your name!"

She turned around and smiled at me.

-"I'm Ren. Yamai Ren"

And then she walked off sight.
Before I noticed, I was the only one left at the lockers, so I picked up my bag and made my way to my classroom, not before looking at Yamai's locker once more.

A 'K'... I tried to remember if I knew anyone with a surname that started with 'K'... and it almost feels as if I did, but I just won't remember.

~~~~~•~~~~~

Thankfully I arrived in time for everyone's presentations. It would be troublesome for someone like me to have to ask someone their name twice, so I try to memorize the names of my classmates. Agari... Yadano... Najimi is also here... Kometani... Inaka... and now...

... The seat next to me is empty, the teacher is calling Yamai's name.

Why isn't she here? Didn't she leave before me? Did she stay behind for some reason? But the more I stare at the empty seat, the more I begin to remember something... Maybe something or someone related to the 'K' I saw in Yamai's locker...