The hallway, just after the fourth-period lecture had ended, was still slightly warm with the voices of students. Outside the window, the wind was howling. At that sound, one person stopped in their tracks.

It was too quiet to be a muttered remark, and too solitary to be an answer to someone else. Adjusting the position of his glasses with his long fingers, he—Yuji Ashihara—stood for a while, gazing at the weeds in the courtyard.