“Hmm, this might be tricky. I’m pretty tall, so finding something that fits you might be hard…”

Yarai-san sighed as she rummaged through her dresser.

“How tall are you, anyway? You do look pretty tall.”
“I was 166 at the spring checkup.”
“Then yeah, that explains it. I’m only 154.”
“If we were a couple, that’d be a cute height difference, though.”
“We’re *not* a couple, so no, it’s not cute at all.”

Well, not that it was a matter of cute or not. Still, in this situation, it was definitely inconvenient.

In the end, the only thing she managed to find was her old middle school gym uniform. It was a little loose on me, but I had no right to complain. We didn’t even go to the same middle school, so the uniform looked unfamiliar. I decided to just put it on for now.

“Ugh, sorry—it’s not cute at all.”

She apologized as she looked me over, though her face didn’t look sorry in the slightest.

“…Why are you grinning?”
“Well, the outfit itself isn’t cute, but you look cute wearing my old middle school gym clothes, Kaidou-san.”

That was… an absolutely ridiculous reason.

“You’re such a pervert… Also, this gym uniform doesn’t look that different from our high school’s design, does it?”
“Hmm, yeah, but it’s from my old middle school. Doesn’t it make you feel like you transferred in?”
“I guess…?”
“Oh! While we’re at it, want to try on my middle school uniform too?”
“How does that even count as ‘while we’re at it’? You just want to see me wear it.”
“Yup.”

She gave me a look as if to say, Is that a problem?—completely shameless about her motives.

“Look, look! Isn’t it cute?”

Before I knew it, she’d dug out the uniform and was showing it off proudly. It was an unusual one-piece style, rare for a school uniform. There was only one middle school in this area that used that design.

“Wait, you went to Mari Girls?”

The private Maria Girls’ Academy—a school system that ran from kindergarten all the way to university.

It used to be a genuine elite girls’ school, though not so much anymore. Still, a private all-girls middle school carried a certain prestige; back then, plenty of girls looked up to students from Mari Girls with envy.

“Wait, but that’s a combined middle and high school, right? Why’d you transfer to ours?”
“Because the tuition’s expensive!”

Well, that was blunt. I felt like I shouldn’t have asked, but I couldn’t help reacting awkwardly to that answer.

“…Just kidding. I was on a scholarship, so my tuition was waived.”
“W-wait, a scholarship? Mari Girls is supposed to be an academic school, isn’t it?”
“Yup. What, you didn’t know I’m a top student, Kaidou-san?”
“I don’t exactly keep track of your grades…”

Our school didn’t publish rankings or anything. No matter how good someone’s grades were, no one knew unless they said so themselves.

“I was third in our year on the last midterms.”
“W-wha—seriously?”
“Seriously-seriously.”

She pulled a single sheet from her desk drawer—her grade report. It listed average scores and overall rankings for each student.

Sure enough, there it was: Third place overall in ten subjects across five core areas.

“I don’t even compare, huh.”

For the record, I was right in the middle of the pack. Dead center. If you only counted the humanities subjects, I could barely squeeze into the top third, but still.

“So? Did I earn a little of your respect?”
“…Maybe a little.”

Even at my half-hearted reply, Yarai-san beamed with quiet satisfaction.

“Still… so you really were from Mari Girls, huh.”

The emblem printed on the chest of the gym uniform I was wearing—I thought it looked familiar, but I hadn’t realized it was from that school.

If someone asked whether Mari Girls suited Yarai-san, I could agree on looks alone. But since her personality was anything but ladylike, that image kind of fell apart fast.

“Yup!”

She said it cheerfully—and then began slipping into her old Mari Girls uniform. Come to think of it, she was still naked up until now.

The elegant one-piece uniform looked exactly like something a proper young lady would wear. And with her having worn it for three years, she really did know how to pull it off.

Well—almost. The area around her chest was noticeably tight, which completely ruined the refined look and made her seem like she was just cosplaying.

“When you stand next to me like this—in my Mari Girls uniform and you in the gym clothes—it feels kinda nostalgic.”

She tugged me over to the full-length mirror, and together we looked like a mismatched cosplay duo. Yarai-san, however, seemed perfectly content with that reflection.

That said, something still bothered me.

Why hadn’t she continued on to Mari Girls’ high school?

She said it wasn’t about tuition. And I didn’t think she was lying—but she definitely hadn’t told the whole truth, either. Maybe she had dodged the question. If that was the case, maybe it wasn’t something I should pry into.

But then again, if she had a bad experience and left because of it, she probably wouldn’t be happily pulling that old uniform out and wearing it now. That would just reopen the wound.

In the end, though, what would I even do if I did find out?

Yarai-san might like me, but between us, we were still just classmates. It wasn’t my place to dig into her past.

“Whoa, Ritsu-chan, what’s with that outfit?”
“Ah, Mom! I lent her my old middle school gym clothes. There was nothing else that would fit her.”

Yarai-san’s mother froze, a strained smile creeping onto her face as she took in the sight of us.

“U-uh… well, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to take the train home dressed like that…”
“Is it really that bad?”
“‘Bad’ isn’t quite the word. It’s more like… you might get picked up by the police—or kidnapped.”

Getting stopped by the police didn’t sound that serious, but… yeah, a high schooler in a middle school gym uniform was definitely embarrassing.

“Kidnapped’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think? It’s only two stations away.”
“Still, it’s already pretty late.”

I glanced over at the clock on the desk. It was just before nine. Between dinner and the bath, time had slipped away faster than I’d realized.

“It’s your day off tomorrow, right? Why don’t you just stay the night?”
“Eh—huh? N-no, that’s…”
“Great idea! Let’s do that! You’re a genius, Mom!”

Before I could even react, Yarai-san’s excitement exploded.

“I’ll take the clothes to the cleaners first thing tomorrow morning!”

I had to admit—I was free tomorrow. But that wasn’t the issue.

The issue was staying over at Yarai-san’s house.

After what had happened in the bath earlier, I wasn’t sure my nerves could handle it. She might be acting like nothing happened, but I couldn’t just brush it off that easily.

“Tonight’s gonna be an all-nighter! I’m going to the convenience store for snacks!”

Without even waiting for my answer, she dashed out of the house like a whirlwind.

“…Sorry about that. She can be a bit much.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine…”
“I don’t usually say things like this, but—Ritsu-chan, you and Tsuzuri aren’t exactly close friends, are you?”
“Huh?”
“Surprised I could tell? Well, I am her mother. I can usually tell what Tsuzuri’s thinking. I can’t say the same about you, though.”
“…You’re right. To be honest, we’ve only really had a proper conversation for the first time just the other day.”
“I figured as much. I’ve never heard her mention having any friends, so I was honestly surprised when I came home and saw you here.”

I was honestly the one most surprised by how all this had turned out.

“Wait—so you *knew* all that and still suggested I stay over?”
“Haha, I knew you’d catch on. Are you mad?”
“I’m not mad… just a little puzzled, that’s all.”
“Let’s call it a parent’s instinct. You see, Tsuzuri’s never had a friend stay the night before—or even brought one home more than a handful of times. …Then again, if that ends up troubling someone else’s kid, I guess it defeats the purpose.”

Yarai-san’s mother smiled wryly.

It didn’t seem like Yarai-san herself cared much about her situation, but her mother clearly did.
It made sense, though. Any parent would worry if their teenage daughter didn’t seem to have any friends her age.

“But I suppose it works out that she stepped out for a bit. If you really don’t want to stay, you can go home, you know? I’ll come up with a decent excuse for her.”
“If I refused now, I’d sound like a pretty cold person, wouldn’t I?”
“Ah, adults can be manipulative, can’t they?”
“Please don’t say that yourself…”

It felt rude to speak that way to someone I’d just met, but given the situation, I figured I was entitled to a little honesty.

“…Alright. I mean, it’d be weird to go home dressed like this anyway. I’ll stay the night, then.”
“…Ritsu-chan, you’re such a thoughtful girl. Maybe you can rub some of that off on Tzururi.”
“I’d be happy to support that initiative.”

Even though we were talking about her daughter’s shortcomings, Yarai-san’s mother only laughed, looking genuinely pleased.