"Good morning, Handa-san." Kumiko greeted the security guard who worked night shift outside of the school. "Can I go inside, please?" She asked politely.
"Oh, well... You have already been an alumnus, Kumiko-chan, so this shouldn’t be allowed." The middle-aged man whose hair had already turned white, Handa-san, answered casually. "Still, I know you are a good kid, so I’ll allow it this time. Don’t make any ruckus and don’t mess things up inside, okay?"
"Thank you, Handa-san!"
Higo blinked for a moment, somehow getting himself surprised again. He didn’t know that Kumiko was familiar with the security guard like that. Hell, based on their short interaction, it was clear that this was not the first time Kumiko asked something like that, and Higo would never deny that he was curious about it.
"Handa-san has been working here for 23 years, and he has a daughter who graduated from this school as well," Kumiko explained before letting the boy ask anything. "He has been helping me sneak inside whenever we needed a morning training session and the school was still closed, so you can say that we are pretty familiar with each other."
Well, yeah, Higo could tell. Still, once again, he was in awe of how good Kumiko was at socializing. If it was him, let alone asking for the man’s name, he would completely ignore that man, feeling content with being strangers with each other.
That thought only lasted for a moment, though, because the second they entered the school, somehow, so many memories rushed into his head.
The first day he was there...
The uneventful first and second year...
The invitation to the football team...
The hard training they did almost every morning, pouring their blood and sweat to etch their name into the history book...
Every single corner of this school was the quiet witness of his journey in the last three years, and as memories fell one by one like pieces of a puzzle, Higo couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed here. He walked to the quiet classroom where he had been studying for three years, and when the boy saw the inside, a small, genuine smile curled on his face.
’Yeah, at the end of the day, this is my humble beginning, huh?’ He thought in melancholy.
"So, are you done with your memory lane trip?" Kumiko suddenly asked, snapping the boy from his thoughts. When he turned around, he could see her usual smile, as if expecting him to react like this.
"...Yes, thank you." He nodded gratefully.
"Well, come on! There is still one place I want to spend our time together one last time!" She grabbed Higo’s hand quickly, dragging him to tag along.
The girl led him to the rooftop, and another memory sneaked into his mind immediately. "This is the place where I tried to fight Miyashi-senpai and the others, right?" He smiled in melancholy.
"Yeah, you were like my knight in shining armor at that time," Kumiko added. Then, a mischievous smile curled as she added, "That, or like a dog who is anxious after knowing that its owner is getting closer to another dog, right?"
Higo paused for a second, feeling the corner of his lips twitching before he barked out laughter. "Hah! You are right! I truly acted like a jealous dog, huh?!"
He followed along as the girl opened the door to the rooftop. The moment Higo stepped outside, he could feel the chill wind breezing through his face, enough to make him shiver. There, somehow, a bench was placed on the rooftop, as if wanting to provide hospitality toward whoever came to break the rule.
Those two teenagers didn’t stand for the ceremony, just taking a seat there and letting out a deep breath. In front of them, the scene of the school from above was mesmerizing, as everything somehow looked so small from their spot.
"I’ve never known that we have this spot above..." Higo let out another sigh as his gaze swept through the horizon.
"I know, right?!" Kumiko’s eyes beamed when she heard that, her legs swinging under the bench like she was a little child. "This has been my favorite place since the first year! I would always be there whenever things get overwhelming, and this is probably going to be my last time being here, so I want to enjoy it one last time..."
Her voice got smaller the further she spoke, and her gaze also wandered far, probably bringing her back to her memory when she was still a student here. Eyes were truly the window of a human’s soul. Even though she didn’t say anything else, Higo could see the sadness reflecting in her eyes, and coupled with the tears that started to drop slowly on her face, the boy couldn’t help but hug her shoulder tightly.
"You don’t really have to say goodbye to this place, you know?" He grunted, patting the girl’s head gently. "We can go here again whenever we are back home in the future; I will accompany you."
Kumiko blinked for a moment, not expecting Higo to say something like that. While the way the boy spoke was still flat and full of awkwardness, the words coming out of his mouth were just an unspoken commitment from him that he would always be here next to her in the future.
For Kumiko, this was probably way sweeter than any confession she had ever seen before, and she felt like her heart was blooming with joy.
"I am not that sad, you know?" She suddenly turned around, looking at him with a glint of mischievous smile. "In fact, I know this will be my last visit to this rooftop, so I want to create an unforgettable happy memory right now."
"A happy memory?" Higo parroted her words with a frown, looking confused.
"Yup! This..."
She suddenly grabbed Higo’s face, and without the boy knowing, the girl leaned forward, launching a sneak attack to peck his lips gently. Her face was so red, she was getting flustered by her own action. However, the smile blooming on her face was a clear indication of how she felt right now.
"This... Is going to be the most unforgettable memory in my life."