“Roll, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Of course Maylu. Lan is going to be late again!”

I cannot suppress the smile my Navi’s comment inspires in me. Lan is never on time, I’ve gotten used to it. He’s the only kid in our class who, while everyone else is already in their seats, unpacking their books, refreshing notes or nervously finishing homework, will nevertheless postpone his arrival until the delay gets dangerously big.

“Hey, Maylu! Want to bet Lan’ll cross the edge today?” Dex suggests jokingly. I glimpse at the door once and then turn around, briefly refusing his offer.

“No thanks, Dex. Lan’s late every single day, so I know better than to take that bet.” That carries the message I’m not in the mood for his games right now.

“Wise of you, well, that makes sense,” our self-proclaimed class bully concludes, but he tries asking others the same. I return to my preparations, thinking that my words and my hopes don’t match. Again. I couldn’t depend on Lan being on time at school even if he was supposed to actually teach us instead of learning, but at the same time, I wish for the best for him, that this once, for a change, he wouldn’t be late.

I have so many wishes, so many hopes… But so far, not one of them came true.

“Maylu, Miss Mari is coming!” Roll alarms me. I turn to watch the classroom door, which our teacher closes after entering. Everyone’s chat mutes pretty quickly, we track her steps with polite smiles on our faces to welcome our favorite teacher.

Miss Mari puts her folder on her desk and opens our list, then announces in the same fashion she has done it for the last 7 years. “Alright class, let’s check your presence quickly and move on to the lesson. Yai Ayanokouji…”

“Present!” replies our youngest classmate, the rich genius that always holds fancy parties. I listen to the names miss Mari calls out with my eyes on the doorknob, knowing it should move any moment. Two more names and…

“Lan Hikari…” The words come, but he doesn’t. Miss Mari takes a look at our class and spots his empty seat, asking in surprise. “Where’s Lan? Shouldn’t he be with us just about now?”

“Mmm… He’s probably just a bit more late than usual…” I explain in place of the absent Lan, who obviously can’t excuse himself. “Let’s wait for him. He’ll show up for certain.”