The only thing I remember was being on the train.
The carriage swayed rhythmically. As usual, I was a nervous wreck about the prospect of visiting Yamamoto’s parents’ house. Yamamoto had been trying to soothe me with an exasperated look until, eventually, exhaustion claimed me and I drifted off to sleep.
"Hey, Hayashi. Wake up."
"Mnn..."
Yamamoto’s voice pulled me back to reality.
My body felt a bit stiff, likely from sleeping upright in my seat.
"That’s what happens when you don't sleep properly the night before," he remarked.
"Sorry, sorry."
"We're almost there."
"Okay."
A few minutes later, the train pulled into the station nearest to Yamamoto’s parents’ house.
Our hometown sat in a basin, which often meant the temperature was a few degrees higher than in the city center. Even though it was nearly October, the air still carried the heavy warmth of summer, sparking a faint sense of childhood nostalgia.
"Shall we go, then?"
"Yeah. ...By the way, is someone picking us up?"
"No. We’re walking."
"...Oh."
I felt a small twinge of disappointment. It was presumptuous of me, I know, but I dreaded the thought of a long walk in this sweltering heat.
"How far is your place from here?"
"About fifteen minutes."
Well, I suppose that wasn't too bad.
"But there’s somewhere I want to stop by first."
"Where?"
"Cram school."
"Cram school?"
I tilted my head in confusion.
It was highly unlikely that Yamamoto was still attending one. Did he have a teacher there he was close with?
...No, knowing his personality, that was impossible (sorry, not sorry).
Then why on earth would he want to go there?
Then I remembered—Yamamoto had a younger sister.
He probably intended to pick her up from her studies so we could all head back to his parents' house together.
"Now that I think about it, how old is your sister? Is she in high school already?"
"No, she’s an elementary schooler."
...That was a pretty significant age gap for siblings.
I kept that thought to myself, though.
"She’s in the fifth grade. She has her middle school entrance exams next year."
That explained why she was holed up in a cram school on a weekend.
Yamamoto’s explanation was concise and perfectly logical.
"Cram school in elementary school? On a holiday, too? That sounds awful. I’d hate having so little free time."
"Yeah, I agree."
"You do? ...Wait, did you not go to cram school when you were a kid?"
"Nope. Never went once."
Come to think of it, Yamamoto had held the top spot in our grade throughout high school.
His parents probably figured he wouldn't have any trouble with his studies and saw no reason to force him into extra classes.
We talked as we passed through the ticket gate. We took the escalator out the north exit and began walking through the station rotary.
"My parents have a laissez-faire approach. She said she wanted to go, so they let her. That’s all there is to it."
"Wow, she must be a real hard worker to ask to go to cram school."
Then again, Yamamoto was a man of intense focus and stubbornness in his own way. I wondered if that personality trait ran in the family.
"Actually, it’s apparently because her best friend goes there."
"...Friends."
"You just thought, 'I can't believe I heard that word come out of his mouth,' didn't you?"
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"At least try to act like you're denying it."
In the distance, out-of-season cicadas were buzzing. We walked along the road, the sound of car engines humming nearby.
"...Well, partly because of that hands-off upbringing, she grew up a bit selfish, but overall, she’s a cute sister."
"I see."
"Yeah, Akari said she was cute too, so it’s probably true."
"Wait, Akari went to your house?"
"...Ah."
The expression on Yamamoto’s face as he walked beside me turned awkward.
"To be precise, she never actually came over. But she was so persistent about wanting to meet my sister. I had no choice but to arrange a meeting once."
"...Oh."
"They got quite close. So when I told her we’d broken up, she burst into tears and told me she absolutely hated me."
"Is that so..."
"What’s with you? You’ve been acting strange for a minute now."
"...Nothing."
"Right."
Yamamoto’s response was uncharacteristically subdued.
We continued walking in silence for a while longer.