it was winter in 2007

Ohsaka Gakuen’s school grounds were covered in wetness—a rareity for the city during their usually clear decembers. The school’s students dressed in their winter uniforms, no longer the short-sleeve button ups with blue ties, but now a grey blazer, cardigan, and their white button up underneath.

Winter meant spring and fall sports coming to an end for the season. Which was something Nakatsu was not looking forward to, he lived and loved for soccer. However, at the same time, he was excited. Ohsaka Gakuen had made it to Nationals! This year, it was being held in snowy Hokkaido. Which was a long ways from Osaka about a 22 hour’s drive. Luckily they were able to get a 6 hour flight with only one stop in Narita. And that’s where Nakatsu was now with the rest of the soccer team. The first flight? Everyone was together. The second one was where they were seated seperately from one another.

When Nakatsu boarded the plane for a second time and found his seat, he saw that a student his age was sitting next to it—definitely not someone from his school, for he did not recognize thems As he put his carry-on baggage in the overhead container, he decided to introduce himself to this mystery.

Nakatsu plopped down into his seat, and with a polite toothy smile, he introduced himself, “Looks like we’ll be sitting together for a while…I’m Nakatsu Shuichi,” he extended a hand out to the other, expecting them to both take it and reply with their own name.