In short, his unexpected misfortune.

"Hey, hey, let's take a detour and hang out somewhere after club activities are over."
"How about everyone goes to karaoke?"
"Sounds great, let's invite Moeka and the others too."
In the corner of the 2nd Year A classroom after school, a group of familiar girls clustered together, packing their bags while chattering away.
The boys always moved faster; the sports club boys dashed out in a hurry, their teacher’s shouts echoing down the hallway.

"Where's Sakurakoji?"
"Huh?" The short-haired girl, busy stuffing textbooks into her bag, looked up in surprise.
"We're all going to karaoke, right? You're coming too?"
"Um..." Her amber eyes flicked naturally toward the front of the classroom, settling on the boy cleaning the blackboard.
Sakurakoji Saka remained silent for a moment, then gave a polite smile. "Sure, I'll come."
"Yay!"
After packing up, the girls prepared to head for the club building—only Saka lingered behind.
"It's my turn for after-school duty this week. You go on ahead."
"Oh right, I forgot."
While the girls gathered in little groups, the boy at the podium put away the eraser, clapped the chalk dust from his hands, and headed to the back of the room, carrying the trash can out.

Sakurakoji Saka had originally wanted to go with him.
But just as the three girls left, another girl with a high ponytail returned to the classroom and walked straight over to Saka.
"Sayaka-chan, what's wrong? Did you forget something?" Saka asked.
"Um, Saka..."
"What is it?"
Sayaka tugged at her sleeve, hesitating, then pulled Saka to a quiet corner.
"Well..."
She seemed a bit embarrassed, but after a deep breath, she finally spoke.
"Saka, you're on cleaning duty with Jinguuji this week, right?"
"Eh? Uh... yeah."
Saka’s heart skipped a beat. She had no idea why her friend would bring up her childhood friend’s name, and she stammered out a reply.
Sayaka leaned in conspiratorially, whispering in her ear. "Could you find out if Jinguuji has a girlfriend right now?"
"What?!"

"Shhh—"
She quickly covered Saka's mouth, glancing nervously around the classroom. Only the two of them remained, and she relaxed a little.
Saka moved her hand away, thought for a moment, then asked in disbelief, "Sayaka-chan, don’t tell me... you like Jinguuji?"
"No, no, it’s not me! My friend asked me to find out."
"Which friend?"
Sayaka’s eyes darted. "Um... Suzuhara from the neighboring class."
"I know her; I'll just go tell her directly," Saka replied.
"Sorry, actually, it’s me who wants to know."
The ponytailed girl bowed in a swift, fluid ninety-degree motion, impressive in its sincerity.
Though she’d guessed as much, Saka sighed inwardly, unable to keep from resenting her childhood friend.

"Well... I’m not really close to Jinguuji. We just do our cleaning and don’t talk," she managed.
Sayaka visibly deflated with disappointment. "I see... yeah, that makes sense. Sorry, I shouldn’t have put you on the spot."
"It’s fine," Saka forced a smile and waved it off.
If that were really true, she wouldn’t mind at all. But every word had been a lie. If the truth ever came out, she might lose a friend forever.
Just the thought of it made her stomach twist with pain.

"Sayaka-chan, do you like Jinguuji?" Saka asked again.
"It's not really like that, it's just..."
"Just?"
Sayaka scratched her cheek, embarrassed, subconsciously glancing at the boy’s usual window seat, now empty.
"I just think... everyone judges him without knowing anything about him."
Saka fell silent, surprised by Sayaka’s thoughts.
No one she knew had ever thought about it that way.
Why bother thinking, when you could simply join in and mock him with everyone else?
People used stories about boys like him to spice up their tales of youth, only to laugh ten years later at reunions: 'Huh? Was there really someone like that at our school? Haha...'

"But criticizing jerks is natural, isn’t it? Don’t you care that he hurts girls?" Saka pressed.
"It’s not that, I just think... maybe there’s more to the story."
"Sayaka-chan, have you forgotten about Miss Aoyama?" Saka said helplessly, naming the teacher. As expected, Sayaka immediately fell silent.
"I really liked Miss Aoyama. I thought she’d become a wonderful teacher," Saka continued.
"Yeah... you're right. I guess I’m the only one who has these weird thoughts," Sayaka said, scratching her head awkwardly.

Truth be told, Saka didn’t want her friends getting involved with that boy—and she had no trouble admitting it, even to herself.
For one, she wanted to be the only one he looked at. For another, Jinguuji Tsukimi truly could hurt people—so much it was unbearable.
Saka herself was living proof.
And she was probably the only one.

"I used to think you liked Jinguuji, Saka."
"Why do you say that?"
"I just noticed... whenever everyone talks about him, even I join in criticizing him, but you always stay quiet. The others laugh and say you don’t care about romance at all.
But sometimes... I wonder if you stay silent because you know him best."
Saka blinked her wide, innocent eyes. "Me?"
"Ahaha... yeah, it sounds silly, just my imagination."
A strange silence hung between them. Saka felt she should say something, but the words stuck in her throat. She could only force a mismatched smile and wait for time to pass.

"It’s getting late, the others are waiting for me. Please keep this a secret."
Finally, her friend brought the awkward conversation to an end.
After Sayaka left, Saka’s smile faded. She sat in silence for a while, unsure what to do next.

Some time passed before the back door slid open and the other cleaning duty student returned with the trash can.
The chair scraped the floor with an unpleasant screech. Saka hurried over, her small steps quick and determined, and suddenly landed a fist on the boy’s shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?" Jinguuji Tsukimi looked at her, bewildered.
She bit her lip. "Isn’t it obvious? I’m hitting you."
And then punched him again.
"I mean, why are you hitting me?"
Saka looked up at him. In her amber eyes was reflected his handsome face. She remembered when they’d been the same height a few years ago; now she had to tilt her head back to see him.
"Can’t I hit you for no reason?"
He was about to say something, but when he met those beautiful eyes, he sighed softly. "I suppose you can."
"So I can keep hitting you?"
Jinguuji Tsukimi quietly murmured his assent, and Saka’s fists, as they landed on him, grew softer and softer each time.