Despite all the excitement surrounding the new transfer student, the rest of the day went by as slowly and uneventfully as always. When sixth period got out and we were finally released for the day, I grabbed my book bag and stood from my chair—only to be accosted by a still very much pissed-off Koharu. “Tono,” she muttered grumpily. “What’s up?” I said, turning around to face her. “Go buy me an ice cream.” For reference, she was referring to the Sentan-brand old-fashioned vanilla cones they sold at the student store. They came prepackaged in a clear plastic shell, with a perfectly shaped sphere of processed ice cream on top. Not that it really mattered much. “With what money?” I replied. “What, you don’t expect me to pay for it, do you?” From prior experience, I knew better than to talk back to her on this. Though it pained me to admit, she’d been treating me like her personal errand boy since the start of the current school year. I still vividly remembered that fateful day—I was walking down the hall, minding my own business, when out of the blue, she asked me if she could borrow a hundred yen, and I figured why not. Then she asked me for another hundred yen the very next day, and while I did voice a complaint, it was still such a small amount of money that I begrudgingly acquiesced. She’d pegged me as a sap ever since, and every now and again would come by to ask me for money or to go buy things for her. I took no pride in being easily manipulated, for the record—but every time I tried to protest, the third-year goons she always paraded around with would look at me like I was asking for a fight. I most certainly was not, so I always caved in the end. “Fine, whatever,” I relented. “Good. Now get going. Chop-chop!” she called after me as I headed out of the classroom to go buy her stupid ice cream. As I descended the stairs, however, someone poked my shoulder. Startled, I spun around—but it was only Shohei.