Chapter 4:
Dangers Lurk in
Everyday Life
I t all began at 6:00 P.M. on a certain day. A text message from the
school informed us that the entire dormitory wouldn't have water for quite a
while, due to trouble with the water department. I turned the faucet to
confirm, and nothing came out.
It sounded as though the repair work wouldn't finish until the early
morning. In the meantime, the school was taking the necessary steps to
provide for its students. It would hand out two liters or more of water in the
cafeteria as needed, although the text warned us that the cafeteria was
expected to be crowded as a result. The convenience stores were temporarily
unavailable, but the Keyaki Mall would provide free drinking water.
However, we were prohibited from bottling the water and taking it home.
That really wasn't an issue for me, though.
No, my big problem would be the toilet. Even though there was water
in the tank, we had to be cautious, since we could only flush once.
The tea in the refrigerator should have been enough for one cup, which
could get me through the day. As for dinner, I'd cook something without
using any water. I'd just started prepping dinner when my phone suddenly
rang. The moment I went to answer it, it stopped after two rings.
I saw that Horikita Suzune had called. It was unusual for her to reach
out. Even if Horikita had some business with me, she generally texted.
Curious, I decided to call her back. However, no matter how many times the
phone rang, Horikita didn't answer.
I did think it was strange, but I decided to give up. I placed my phone
on the table and went back to making dinner. Since I already had rice on
hand, I settled on fried rice as a simple option. Once I added the egg, the
finishing touches were all that remained.
Suddenly, my phone rang again.
By the time I turned off the burner and went to my phone, the ringing
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stopped. Another call from Horikita. I tried calling back again, but she didn't
answer. This was getting suspicious.
Maybe Horikita just happened to become busy right after she tried
calling? Considering her personality, it was hard to imagine that was the case.
She was the type of person who called only when calm. Even if something
had happened, ending the call twice in a row, and not picking up afterward,
was strange. I concluded that Horikita had probably been caught off guard by
something unexpected.
"Yeah, right," I muttered.
Exasperated at myself for reading too deeply into Horikita's call, I
decided to stop cooking for a bit and send her a text.
Hey, looks like you tried calling me twice. Did you want something?
The read receipt instantly popped up, but no reply came. I waited for
quite a while, but there was nothing.
I'm cooking right now, so I might not respond right away. Just text me,
and I'll get back to you.
Once again, the read receipt popped up, but she didn't reply. I went
back to my dinner.
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4.1
B y the time I finished eating, I still hadn't heard from Horikita. As I
drank the last of my barley tea, I started feeling like something was wrong.
"She couldn't be... She's not really in danger, is she?"
Could she have collapsed somewhere? This whole thing was atypical
of Horikita, without a doubt. Was her phone malfunctioning? If so, she could
just have contacted the school.
If I knew someone close enough to Horikita to go to her room and
check on her, this would have been over quickly. Sadly, I couldn't think of
anyone who fit the bill.
Are you okay? I texted.
I had to find out what was going on.
"Oh..."
The read notification didn't appear. The situation had changed. Maybe
her phone's battery had run out, or her phone had automatically shut off.
What other possibilities existed, though? The fact that Horikita called
in the first place still weighed on me. Why? It was also strange that she
hadn't said what was going on.
Logically, my first thought was that Horikita had some business with
me, but had been interrupted by something else. A teacher might've called
her, or a classmate. But that theory was very shaky. It was hard to imagine
someone from the school calling Horikita in the middle of the summer,
especially at night. She didn't have any friends who'd contact her that way.
Maybe some accident had stopped the call. Or she just fell asleep and
forgot to call me back. That might have been it.
"That doesn't fit."
Horikita was a gifted and focused student. I couldn't see her forgetting
to reply.
"I'm worried."
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In the end, my options were limited, but I was too concerned to just let
things be. For the time being, I decided to try calling Horikita again. I dialed
her number. On the fourth try, I finally managed to connect.
"Hello?" Horikita didn't seem surprised. If anything, she actually
sounded tired.
"Hey. Sorry for calling a bunch of times. I was worried, since you tried
calling me. Were you sleeping?" I asked.
"No, I wasn't. I'm sorry for not replying."
I didn't hear any hint of panic, nor did I get the feeling she'd had an
accident.
"I'm kind of in the middle of something right now," she continued.
I heard a metallic thunk over the phone.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Nothing to worry about. Goodbye."
She abruptly ended the call. Well, at least I managed to get in touch
with her, and she said that everything was fine. I decided to forget about this
for the time being.
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4.2
I thought that was that, but around 9:00 P.M., my phone lit up. A new
message.
Are you awake? read Horikita's text.
I'm awake.
I'd like to talk to you. Do you have time? It was roughly two hours after
we'd last talked.
I'll call you.
Horikita picked up on the first ring.
"What's up?" I asked.
"There's something I wanted to ask you."
As before, Horikita sounded tired. She paused before speaking again.
"Let's say that there was a turtle," she began.
"Huh?"
Horikita launched into a completely crazy story.
"It's an extremely smart and talented turtle. If I accidentally hit it, and
flipped it onto its back, that would be terrible, wouldn't you agree? It
couldn't right itself under its own steam."
"I suppose. But actually, in most cases, turtles can extend their necks
and use their legs to flip over. The only turtles that absolutely can't right
themselves are giant tortoises and sea turtles," I explained.
"......"
Horikita fell silent at my unnecessary explanation.
"This would have been easier if you'd just assumed that turtles can't
get up on their own and listened to me," she said after a moment.
Yeah. That made sense.
"Okay. So, they can't get up on their own. Is something wrong with
that?"
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"In such a situation, what would you do?"
"I'd probably flip the turtle over. It's not that much trouble."
I wouldn't have any reason to save the turtle, but I wouldn't have any
reason to abandon it, either. I thought I might as well extend a helping hand.
However, I wondered what exactly Horikita was getting at. Maybe she was in
trouble, like the turtle that couldn't get up on its own?
I didn't get the impression that she was panicking, though. She seemed
calm. That probably meant this wasn't a pressing issue.
"So, what's wrong?" I asked.
"Well, I'm not upset or anything," she replied.
"Well, it sure sounds like that's where this is headed."
"I was just talking about a turtle on its back. It had nothing to do with
me."
"Okay. Then why are we talking about a turtle?"
"I just...wanted to talk to you about a turtle that flipped over," she
insisted.
Okay, this was getting weird.
"This isn't like you," I said. "Well, I guess asking for help isn't like
you, either, but... You called me because you don't have anyone else to go
to, right? If that's the case, then just come out and say why."
Horikita paused.
"If you say that you can't prevent wanting to help people, then perhaps
I can't go to you for advice," she said.
"Huh? It's fine. Talk to me," I told her.
"I'm just having a little trouble."
At least she'd finally admitted it. "Where are you now?"
"I'm in my room."
"Wait. Are there bugs?"
If that were the case, I understood why Horikita didn't want to talk
about it. I was probably right on the money, although the dormitories were
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generally kept clean, and Horikita lived on an upper floor—actually, that
made the likelihood of bugs rather low.
"That's not it. I could deal with a bug myself."
"How would you deal with it? Detergent? Hot water? Slippers?" No
matter how good my powers of deductive reasoning were, I couldn't imagine
Horikita's current situation.
"Well, I'm in trouble because... No, it's fine after all. I'll take care of
it."
"You say you'll take care of it yourself, but it's been more than two
hours, and you haven't done anything yet, right?" I shot back. If she'd called
with this problem earlier, then she'd been struggling for quite some time.
"Well. Well... It's true that I'm just about at my physical limit. I'll tell
you everything."
Finally.
Instead of explaining, however, Horikita suddenly made a request.
"Could you come to my room?"
She sounded both embarrassed and disgusted.
"Now? But it's already past nine," I protested.
"I understand, but...to deal with this, you need to be here." Horikita
spoke as though she was frustrated or in pain.
"Well, I might get in trouble for going to the girls' floor at this time of
night," I said.
"I know, but I can't do this unless you're here," she replied.
With that, Horikita abruptly hung up.
"This is kinda scary. But I guess I have to go," I muttered.
Grabbing only my phone and room key, I hurried out. Wouldn't want
to keep her waiting.
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4.3
I didn't want to run into any other girls, so I waited until no one else
was using the elevator. Sneaking around like that was pathetic, but hey. That
was me. I managed to reach the thirteenth floor undetected. When I got to
Horikita's room, I rang the doorbell. After waiting a while, I tried to slowly
open the door myself. It wasn't locked.
"Horikita?"
Horikita's place was a one-bedroom and kitchen model, but I couldn't
see into the bedroom area. It was hidden behind a closed door. There was no
sign of Horikita in the kitchen or hallway. Like me, she'd barely decorated
since moving in.
"You're alone, right?" I heard her voice from behind the bedroom
door.
"You're being way too loud," I told her.
"It's okay. Even if someone came in right now, I'd conk them with my
right hand," she replied.
What in the world was that supposed to mean? Cautiously, I entered
Horikita's bedroom. She had her back to me, so I couldn't see her expression.
The room was decorated simply. Nothing seemed particularly strange.
"Okay, I'm here. What's the problem?" I asked.
"Once you see, you'll understand."
Horikita slowly stood and turned to face me. Two radically different
emotions coursed through me at the exact same time.
"I see. So. That's it, huh?"
"That's it, yes."
I felt some secondhand embarrassment as I looked at her right hand,
which was completely stuck inside a small water bottle.
"How do I say this? This is completely unlike you. Don't tell me you
were just playing around."
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"Don't be dumb."
"This is like when you challenge yourself to use your fingers to pick up
a single piece of corn, right?"
That must've irritated her, because she swung her right arm at me.
"I-It's just a joke."
"There's no point telling an unfunny joke. You failed."
"It wasn't funny because I was teasing you, right?"
"This water bottle got stuck because I tried to wash my hand. Can you
help me get it off?"
So, that was what happened. I grabbed the water bottle and pulled, but
only ended up pulling Horikita toward me.
"Come on. If you don't pull back yourself, you're gonna stay stuck. At
least give it a little elbow grease," I said.
"I already know that. It's just that I'm tired. Let's get this over with
quickly," she replied.
After trying to free herself on her own for more than two hours,
Horikita was exhausted. I grabbed the water bottle again, put a little more
strength into it, and pulled. Horikita pulled back as I did so, enduring the
pain. However, her arm remained stuck.
"It's no use. At this rate, the bottle will never come off," I told her.
"I see. I suppose I expected as much." Horikita appeared to have
resigned herself to being trapped.
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"Guess we have to rub your arm down with soap and slowly pull the
bottle off. Let's head to the kitchen," I said.
"Did you forget that there's a water outage right now?"
That was right. We wouldn't have water until twelve. The only usable
water was in the toilet, but Horikita probably wouldn't like that.
"I'll go to the cafeteria."
We were low on options, but as long as I could get some water, we
could remove the bottle. I left Horikita's room and headed straight for the
cafeteria. However, an unfortunate surprise awaited me there.
"I'm very sorry. So many students came that we're all out," said the
cafeteria lady.
Apparently, those who'd needed water for dinner had taken all of it.
Well then, I'd just go buy some at the vending machine. I didn't need a lot of
water to free someone's arm from a bottle. About two drinking glasses' worth
would be enough.
I walked toward the vending machines, and discovered that our
misfortune was just beginning. All the water, tea, and juice were sold out.
"I've never seen a completely sold-out vending machine before," I
muttered.
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4.4
"Y ou're empty-handed?"
Horikita, the water-bottle woman, glared at me, but it didn't matter.
This tragedy was born of multiple misfortunes.
"So, what are we going to do now?"
"If you're okay with it, we could ask Ike or Sudou for water."
"Pass," she replied.
I'd thought that was how she'd reply.
"I could lie and say it's for me."
"I'm opposed to using any water they might have. Who knows what
they've put in it?" she muttered.
She was treating them like harmful germs or something. I wanted to
disagree, but lacked the confidence. Those guys did tend to leave uncovered
tea and water
lying around. They'd probably try to rustle up clean water for
Horikita's sake, but they might be a lot less considerate if I said I wanted
water. Friendly malice was a diabolical thing.
"Okay. Want to try one more time?"
"Yes. Even if it hurts," she replied.
Horikita offered her right arm, bracing herself. She wanted her freedom
as soon as possible. I saw sweat trickle down her arm.
"Okay, I'm going to get a really good grip on it."
I wanted to free Horikita and return to my own room, so I grabbed the
water bottle tightly, putting myself in a ridiculous pose. I pulled twice as hard
as I had the last time. Horikita looked as though she was in agony, but
endured it without complaint. However, the bottle didn't budge.
"I guess we really do need water," I said.
The bottle probably wasn't going to come off unless we made
Horikita's arm slippery. If it was stuck after that, we might need to contact
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emergency services.
"You're telling me to wait until twelve? Like this?"
"Well, the only reliable guy left is Hirata," I said.
"I wouldn't have any concerns about the quality of Hirata's water,
but...I dislike the idea of owing him a debt," replied Horikita.
"Well, I'll say I'm the one who needs water, for appearance's sake. It
won't be your problem," I told her.
"I suppose that's true," she answered.
Horikita still sounded somewhat dissatisfied, but appeared to accept the
fact that you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs. I tried to call
Hirata. No matter how many times the phone rang, however, he didn't pick
up. Even when I tried to send him a chat message, it went unread.
"Maybe he's asleep. I'm not getting a response."
"I see. My emotions are a mixture of joy and despair," she replied.
"Well, we probably don't have any other options. I think we can only
rely on Kushida or Sakura."
"Please ask Sakura-san," replied Horikita immediately.
"Are you still on bad terms with Kushida?"
"There's no reason for us to get along. Besides, there are still quite a
few things about her that I can't accept," she said.
"What do you mean, 'can't accept'?"
"The test on the ship. She abandoned the idea of trying to win right
from the start. She wanted the Dragon group to end with a draw."
Horikita crossed her arms as she recalled the events of the previous
test. Unfortunately, she still had her hand stuck in the bottle, so her
declaration lacked impact.
"That's because she's a pacifist. She was probably choosing the option
where everyone ended up happy," I reasoned.
"I had no intention of completely rejecting Outcome #1. But it was
something entirely different for the VIP herself to steer us toward it,"
Horikita answered sharply.
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During the test, students had been separated into twelve groups. We'd
played a game where we had to discover the hidden identity of a chosen VIP
within each group, with four possible outcomes in total. The most difficult
outcome to achieve was Outcome #1, which required everyone in the group
to discover the VIP's identity and wait till the assigned time to submit their
answers, without anyone betraying the group by turning in an answer early.
The group that achieved Outcome #1 would have 500,000 private points
awarded to each member, and a million private points awarded to its VIP.
The only drawback to Outcome #1 was that the VIP's class wasn't
awarded any class points.
"Kushida being our group's VIP gave Class D the advantage. All we
had to do was keep the VIP's identity hidden, but everyone found out that
Kushida-san was the VIP. I think that Kushida herself had something to do
with that."
"But that's just speculation on your part."
"Yes. The possibility remains, though. Therefore, I assume she's
guilty."
Horikita's words grew forceful. I understood how she felt, but the
seriousness was lessened, since Horikita's arm was still stuck in that water
bottle. I needed to tread carefully.
"I understand how you feel, but that won't do," I said.
"You mean, me saying all this without any evidence?"
"I'm saying that situation was your responsibility, too. Let's assume
that, yes, Kushida betrayed us. If so, then you're at fault for allowing her to
betray us. You have to win at all costs. Am I wrong?"
Horikita seemed to understand what I meant. Nevertheless, she
objected. "Don't be absurd. Don't you understand how unrealistic that is?"
"Unrealistic? I can't imagine why it would be. If Kushida did
manipulate you all into Outcome #1, that's honestly amazing. In other words,
she completely outdid you in the exam."
Of course, this was all assuming that Kushida had truly betrayed the
Dragon group. Honestly, it'd probably been Ryuuen or Katsuragi. I didn't
know which. Either way, someone with more power had forced everyone in
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the Dragon group into a certain outcome. Still, the fact remained that Horikita
had been outsmarted.
"The VIP was in your class. If you didn't act because you were
confident in your victory, then the responsibility lies with the people on your
team. If you're aiming for Class A, you need to be able to manage people
better," I added.
"You're talking about very complicated things," Horikita countered.
"I understand that you're frustrated. But this is the path you chose.
Besides, you're maturing. If I'd said the same thing to you when we first met,
you wouldn't have listened to me at all."
That was true. Slowly, Horikita was beginning to think like an adult.
She was no longer a girl who rejected everything around her on instinct.
"I understand. I accept the test results. Perhaps I was too optimistic.
But, right now, my main objective is getting my arm free," she huffed.
"I suppose I'll see if Sakura can help."
Since it was getting late, I decided to reach out to Sakura using chat.
Sakura, my room is out of drinking water. The vending machine is sold
out, too. Would you mind sharing with me?
I waited for a while after sending the message, but saw no indication
that Sakura had read it.
"No good. I don't know if she's asleep or what."
"Honestly, today is just not my day," Horikita sighed.
"I take it you want the bottle off right now?"
"If I planned to wait, I wouldn't have called you."
"Then you have to take a risk, too," I said.
"Risk?" Horikita was instantly wary.
"We'll head to Keyaki Mall for water. There's no other way."
"So, that's our final option." Horikita put her hand to her forehead.
Honestly, no matter what tragic pose she assumed, she still looked ridiculous.
"Most people are eating right now, so this is our chance." As a matter
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of fact, I hadn't bumped into any of our classmates this evening.
"I can't take the risk. Can't you ask one of your friends?" she urged.
"Unfortunately, I can't. I think they made plans to go out for karaoke.
They're not here."
"This is not my day," she sighed.
"Let's get this over with, then."
"W-wait. I really can't go outside like this," said Horikita.
"In that case, do you want to hide your hand? I guess it's already
hidden in a water bottle," I joked.
"That was completely unnecessary," she snapped, and raised her hand
as if to strike.
"O-okay, I get it. Please put your hand down. Do you have a cloth or
something?"
"Cloth? If a handkerchief counts, I have one." Horikita pulled a white
handkerchief off the shelf. I placed it over the water bottle.
"This looks painfully suspicious. It's not large enough to cover
everything."
"Don't you have anything bigger?" I asked.
"Will a bath towel do?"
I placed the towel over her arm. "Well, I guess this works."
Honestly, I suspected the bath towel might make her stand out even
more.
"If the towel's even a little lopsided, it'll fall off," said Horikita.
"Well, can't you hold it with your free hand?"
Horikita folded the bath towel and held it to her body, giving the
impression that she was about to take a bath. Yeah, that looked way better.
"If someone were to see me, what kind of impression would they get?"
she asked.
"Hmm..."
No one would normally walk around the dorms with a bath towel, nor
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take one outside. People would be suspicious.
"Depending on the situation, I suppose they might think you were
going to use my bathtub," I suggested. That might have been a leap of logic,
but that was the way I saw it.
"Rejected."
Horikita took the towel off. I supposed that I didn't really want anyone
to think that about us, either.
"How about putting your hand inside your bag?"
"Rejected. Can't you think of anything better?" She was peerless when
it came to complaining.
"Why don't we just go there as we are? We'll avoid worrying about a
towel or handkerchief falling down."
"I suppose so."
All that was left for us was to act. I peeked into the hallway, taking a
slightly hesitant Horikita with me.
"Okay, no sign of anyone. Let's go," I said.
"W-wait a minute. I still haven't put my shoes on."
Because Horikita could only use one hand, putting on her shoes took
quite a bit of time. Finally, the two of us stepped out into the hallway.
"Wait. There's a faucet on the path to school, right? If we make it
there, we'll be okay."
If we walked at a normal pace, we'd arrive at the faucet in about five
minutes. We'd be fine under the cover of darkness, as long as we got out of
the dormitory. We reached the elevators, but—
"It's no use, Ayanokouji-kun. We can't use them," Horikita said.
"What?"
"There's a surveillance monitor in the first-floor lobby, right? I don't
know who can see us on that."
A monitor on the first floor did display whatever the elevator cameras
captured. Horikita was concerned about being seen. Even if she managed to
hide her arm, she couldn't avoid looking mysterious.
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"Should we take the stairs?"
That would probably take quite a bit of time. Also, the fact that
Horikita couldn't use one hand made it a little riskier.
"I'd rather take the stairs than let someone see me," she confessed.
Horikita chose pride over safety. Two emergency stairwells were each
located an equal distance from the elevators. No matter which we took, we'd
have to pass students' rooms again. There was no getting around that.
I brought Horikita toward the stairwell. She stayed behind me, as if
hiding herself from view. I was starting to agree with her words earlier. "This
is not my day," indeed.
I heard a door open about three rooms behind us.
"Th-this is bad. That's Maezono-san's room."
Maezono from Class D, huh? There was no way for us to escape.
However, Maezono didn't leave the room. Instead, her friend Kushida
stepped out. Another piece of bad luck for Horikita.
"Thank you, Kushida-san. I'll return the favor next time!"
"Oh no, it's okay. Don't worry about it. Good night, Maezono-san."
I didn't see Maezono's face. As the door closed with a ka-chak ,
Kushida headed toward the elevator without noticing me or Horikita.
"That was close," Horikita said.
"Yeah."
If Kushida had looked back, she would've noticed us. I was sweating
an uncomfortable amount. We were far too conspicuous like this.
We headed to the emergency exit as quickly as possible, but I heard
Maezono's door open once again.
"Kushida-san, you forgot something!" Maezono shouted as she stepped
outside. Kushida turned.
"Ah, Ayanokouji-kun. Horikita-san. Good evening."
"Y-yeah."
Our exchange was brief. It seemed as though Kushida wanted to check
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on what she forgot. She headed back toward Maezono, and Maezono
inevitably noticed us as well. Horikita froze.
"You forgot your phone!"
"Ah, sorry. Thanks! You're a lifesaver."
"Let's get going, Ayanokouji-kun. There's no need for us to linger,"
said Horikita. She pushed the water bottle against my back, emphasizing that
this was our chance.
If Horikita were seen in this state, her pride would be utterly
demolished. We reached the emergency exit, and I tried to open the door.
"It won't open."
"You're joking, right? There's no way an emergency exit door
wouldn't open, is there?"
"I'm serious. It won't open." Locking an emergency exit was normally
prohibited, which meant...
"Where are you going?"
Oh no. Kushida approached us.
"Oh, uh. We were just thinking of taking the stairs."
That was the best answer I could give.
"Oh? But the power's out in the east emergency stairwell right now.
I'm pretty sure it isn't usable. It'd be really dangerous to go downstairs in
pitch darkness. I think the west stairs are okay, though."
"So, that's why it's locked. Huh," I said.
Horikita said nothing, continuing to hide behind my back.
"Horikita seems to be acting differently than usual. Is something the
matter?" asked Kushida.
Horikita raised her voice. "Nothing's wrong!" she replied curtly.
Her bluntness worked. Kushida stopped.
"I see. Well, if something's troubling you, please tell me. Okay?
Maezono-san was in trouble earlier because she had no water. I have more
than enough," said Kushida.
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Kushida had what we wanted most of all. If Horikita could only ask for
her help, she'd get water quite easily.
However, Horikita pushed the water bottle into my back like the
muzzle of a gun. She didn't want Kushida's help.
"Well then, good night to you both," Kushida said sweetly.
"Yeah, 'night."
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4.5
I t took us quite a while to get to the first floor from the thirteenth. We
were worried that the lobby might be crowded, but fortunately, no one was
around.
"We can go right now," I said.
"Okay."
I made my way toward the exit, Horikita trailing closely behind me.
Then, several male and female students emerged from the darkness,
chatting as they walked. They didn't appear to be Class D students, but from
Horikita's perspective, it didn't make any difference who they were. We
couldn't get out of the dormitory in time. Horikita turned on her heel and
started to head back, as if returning to her room.
"At this rate, they're going to see us," she said.
The students drew nearer, their presence hard to ignore. Flustered,
Horikita and I opened the door to the west emergency stairs. How unlucky
could we be? I heard a voice directly above us. It sounded like a male student
on the third or fourth floor, heading downstairs. Students who lived on the
lower levels often didn't use the elevators.
No longer able to go upstairs, Horikita and I were forced to return to
the lobby.
"We have no choice now but to use the elevator!" Horikita said.
"Is that okay? You'll be seen on the monitors," I said.
"I'll have to use you as cover. Since we know the camera's position,
we should be able to do that," replied Horikita.
That suggestion was bizarre, but not impossible. I would rather have
avoided it, but since we lacked an escape route, there was no other choice.
We hurried to the left elevator and got on. I positioned myself directly in
front of the camera, and Horikita stood behind me, making sure to hide her
arm. She was like a ghost clinging to my back.
I hoped observers wouldn't notice anything. At any rate, we needed to
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get away from the first floor. I pushed a button at random.
"Well, we're safe for now, but...this is just the beginning," I muttered.
"Let's give up. I can't go outside like this. I'll just endure this bottle
until the water comes back," said Horikita.
That had to be a tough pill for her to swallow, but if it was what she
wanted, we just needed to return to the thirteenth floor. I cancelled the
request for a random floor, and pushed the button for the thirteenth.
Hopefully our trials were over for tonight.
Then, just as we relaxed, the elevator suddenly slowed. I was having
terrible luck with elevators lately. At least it wasn't breaking down, and I
hadn't pressed the wrong button.
We had stopped on the fifth floor. That meant that someone had
pressed the call button. No matter who got on, they'd see Horikita in this
bizarre state. She might've gone undetected in a big crowd of people, but fate
continued to be cruel, and the elevator doors opened to reveal a single male
student.
Unbelievable. Of all the people we could have encountered...
Kouenji Rokusuke, a Class D student, waltzed into the elevator with
his usual haughty air. He went straight to the mirrored wall, not even giving
us a passing glance. As he gazed at his reflection, he pulled out a comb he
always carried, and started to style his hair.
"Elevator boy. Top floor," he said.
Horikita appeared stunned by Kouenji's incredible display of
narcissism. I wanted to say a bunch of things right back at him, but it was
probably best to just stay quiet. I pressed the button for the top floor, the
elevator doors closed, and we started our ascent once again.
Kouenji showed no sign of paying attention to us. I would've thought
that he'd spare us a glance, considering that we were his classmates, but at
least that meant he probably wouldn't notice the water bottle.
While Horikita hovered in the camera's blind spot, the elevator passed
the tenth floor. I wondered what business Kouenji had on the top floor, but
couldn't ask. Maybe he had no real reason for going.
When the elevator doors slowly opened, Horikita and I stepped out
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simultaneously. Kouenji never once moved his eyes from the mirror. Things
had ended without incident.
Horikita rushed straight to her room.
"It's impossible. Walking around outside is completely out of the
question," she muttered as she went inside.
I was about to follow her when my phone vibrated.
Sorry for the late reply. I was researching something, so I didn't notice
your text, read the message from Sakura.
"Sakura-san?" asked Horikita.
"Yeah." I texted Sakura back.
You wanted water, right? Of course that's okay. Would one bottle be
enough? said her message.
That's plenty, thank you. Can I come get it now?
Sure. I'll wait for you, Sakura replied.
It was difficult to hold a conversation with Sakura in person, but when
we texted, it went smoothly.
"Good news, Horikita. Apparently, Sakura has water. She just gave me
the okay to borrow some, so I'll be going now."
"Thank you. However, please don't tell Sakura-san about me," Horikita
replied.
"Well, since you won't be stuck like this anymore, how about we take
a commemorative photo?" I joked.
Horikita seemed to be about to start swinging the water bottle at me, so
I ran into the hall.
"What a terrifying woman. Considering her physical prowess, if she hit
me on the head with that bottle, I'd probably die," I muttered.
If a high school girl with her arm stuck in a water bottle killed me, my
name would live on in infamy.
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4.6
"T here—it's off," I said.
After a long, arduous struggle, we'd finally succeeded in freeing
Horikita from the water bottle.
"Honestly, this day was a complete disaster," she muttered. If my hand
had been trapped in a water bottle, I would've felt the same. "Ayanokouji-
kun. Please don't speak a word of this to anyone."
"Before you go issuing warnings, isn't there something else you'd like
to say first?"
"Thank you."
It wasn't sincere, but at least it sounded like an approximation of
gratitude.
"I have to say, getting trapped in a water bottle? That's just so unlike
you, Horikita."
"Shut up," she snapped.
I decided that I'd outstayed my welcome, so I headed back to my own
room.
Really, though, was it even possible for someone's arm to get stuck in
a water bottle? I took a bottle out of a box, rinsed it, and then inserted my
hand as a test. It was an exact fit. The bottle felt surprisingly snug.
"Rocket punch! Eh, just kidding."
I gave in to silliness for a moment. When I tried to get my hand out of
the water bottle, though...
"I-I think I'm trapped!"
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Chapter 5:
A Day of Girl
Troubles and Disaster:
A Devil Smiles Like an Angel
"Y ou're gonna do what I say today, Ayanokouji!"
Woken by the doorbell, I sighed when I saw my visitor. "What're you
yammering about this early? You sure are energetic, Yamauchi."
"What, were you sleeping or something? Dude, you're acting pretty
chill, even though summer vacation is over in a couple days," Yamauchi said.
"Anyway, I decided that today's gonna be special. Let me in."
I was being chill precisely because we only had a couple days of
vacation left. Still sleepy, I didn't exactly follow Yamauchi's train of thought,
but I let him in anyway. I prepared a cup of barley tea for him and set
it down.
"So, am I involved in this special day of yours?" I asked.
"I'm not gonna let you weasel out of this, Ayanokouji.
Remember when I wanted to know Sakura's phone number?" he
pressed.
Yamauchi's determination was obvious. His eyes were slightly
bloodshot.
"I see."
I couldn't just turn him down. The whole situation was kind of my
fault, after all. Some time ago, I'd gotten Yamauchi to make a fool of himself
by promising him Sakura's number. That had damaged his perceived market
value, especially in Horikita's eyes. I definitely owed him one. Still, since I'd
made that bargain without Sakura's consent, I wasn't about to give Yamauchi
her number.
I did need to repay my debt to him, though.
"Well, if you've come to ask about Sakura's number, I think that might
be kinda difficult."
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"Oh no. That's not it. I've given up on that." Yamauchi produced a
letter. "I've written down all my feelings for Sakura on this paper!"
"Written down... Wait, this is a love letter?"
"Right! I've written about just how much I love Sakura! Here, read it!"
Yamauchi showed me the note in the unsealed envelope.
Dearest Sakura Airi-sama, you've been on my mind for a long time
now. Please go out with me.
"It's really...simple. And overly formal at the beginning," I said.
Yamauchi looked pained. "Even if I write something long, that doesn't
mean it'll be good, right?"
That was probably true. Still, this was too little to go on. I could
honestly picture the letter's recipient—especially Sakura—being
uncomfortable.
"Wait. Why is it printed, instead of handwritten?" I asked.
"I'm not really proud of this, but my handwriting sucks. I printed the
letter to make it easier to read. I was kind of worried she might not be able to
understand it, you know?"
Yamauchi scratched his nose with his index finger, looking a bit proud.
I didn't think that pride was merited.
"Besides, even resumes are printed nowadays, right?" he added.
"If you really want to convey your feelings, handwritten is better. Also,
why'd you use such a scary-looking font?"
It was the kind of font you'd choose for something like "A strange
demon appears!" It looked as though it was made for casting curses.
"It's got impact, right? The letter's got this whole 'I've been thinking
of you for a long time' vibe."
"For the sake of argument, I'll let that go. The problem's the last part,"
I replied, pointing out what he'd written to add to his appeal.
If you go out with me, I'll give you all my points every month as
tribute!
"That's no good."
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"Whaddya mean? Don't they say that cute girls like men who can
support them? If going out with Sakura means I gotta hand over all my
points, I'll do it. That's how I'll communicate my passion."
I couldn't deny that girls loved financial stability, but it kind of seemed
as though Yamauchi was offering to pay Sakura to date him.
"It's fine, dude. Even if she was only after the money, it'd be all right. I
want to date her. Is that bad?"
When I affirmed that it was indeed bad, Yamauchi began to grasp just
what I was getting at. "Are you seriously planning on confessing your love to
her?" I asked.
"Yeah. Starting with the second semester, I'm aiming for my dream
school life! I've already asked Kikyou-chan to help. I got her to call Sakura."
This was all perfectly normal to Yamauchi, and I found I couldn't
bring myself to rebuke him. I should probably have stopped him, for Sakura's
sake, but at least his methods were direct and honest. I considered offering
him a helping hand.
"So, what should I do? Proofread the letter?" I asked.
"Well, yeah, but I have one more really important role for you. I want
you to deliver the letter to Sakura."
"What?" I thought I'd misheard him.
"I want you to deliver the letter. Look, I've been feeling super nervous
all morning, all right? The last time I felt this nervous, I won the final match
at the Ryougoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall. That's why I don't have the
confidence to give the letter to Sakura myself," he explained.
Wait, what final game had he participated in at Kokugikan? I wanted to
interrogate that probable lie further. It was honestly a weak statement, and
uncharacteristic for Yamauchi.
"If you say the letter's the problem, then I'll rewrite it. Please!"
Yamauchi clapped his hands, bowed his head, and begged me to help. "Any
past problems between us will all be water under the bridge! If you're ever in
trouble, Ayanokouji, I'll help you!"
"If you insist, I guess I'll help," I replied.
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"Really?!"
"But what matters is how Sakura feels. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, I'm not an idiot. I know my chances aren't that high."
At least Yamauchi understood that his chances of success were low. In
fact, Sakura actively shied away from men, which made his chances
despairingly low. Even so, he was determined to try.
"I understand. I'll deliver your letter. Okay?"
"Ayanokouji! You're a lifesaver!"
Yamauchi grabbed my hand and lowered his head in reverence, as if
worshipping a god.
First, I'd need to review the letter carefully. Considering that it was for
Sakura, it needed to be gentler if it was going to work. Honestly, this was still
rather premature. Confessing his love, when he and Sakura hadn't even
exchanged contact information, was just risky. If Yamauchi wanted to
increase his chances of success, he needed to actually talk to her.
Then again, maybe Yamauchi had a point. Romance happened
spontaneously. People often went from zero to sixty very quickly.
Like Yamauchi, I had zero romantic experience, but I thought that I
should at least do something to help.
"Ah, that reminds me. I want to add one more thing to the letter. I want
to hear Sakura's response to my confession behind the school building,"
added Yamauchi.
"Behind the school building? After Gym Number Two?"
"Yeah, yeah. It's like, there's this rumor, y'know? If you confess your
feelings there, it's sure to go well."
"So, that's the stage you've chosen for this whole production?"
"I mean, it's not just a rumor. They say, if a student confesses their
love, it's gotta be behind the school. That's like the golden rule."
I couldn't see any connection between telling someone how you felt
and the back of the school building. However, I understood his thinking.
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5.1
I t took just under half an hour for me to contact Sakura. How would
she react to Kushida's invitation, I wondered? She probably wouldn't take
this with equanimity. I, on the other hand, was on standby at the agreed-upon
spot, waiting for Sakura to arrive.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I answered it.
"Hello?"
"H-how's it going? Can you see Sakura yet?" Yamauchi asked.
"Nope. I mean, she's probably not going to show up until about ten
minutes beforehand, right?"
"I-I see. Damn, I'm so nervous!"
Yamauchi waved from where he stood, some distance away. Even
though he didn't want to be seen, he'd probably gotten curious, and come
closer to have a look.
"Hey, Yamauchi. Should I really hand the letter over for you? I think it
would be better if you gave Sakura this yourself."
"Th-that's impossible, dude. Whenever I'm really nervous, my hands
start to shake. I've carried that trauma ever since I was a little kid."
Most people probably shook under extreme stress, though.
"I understand that you don't want to mess up, but think about it. Does
an indirect love letter really have any value?"
"You know when a cute girl asks you to meet her after school, but
when you go, a completely different girl from the one you expected shows
up, and it's this plain Jane confessing to you instead? This plan is sort of the
reverse. I asked Kushida not to tell Sakura that I'm the one asking her to
meet. In other words, when Sakura realizes you're waiting for her, she'll be
disappointed. But once she learns that it's really me confessing, my chances
will be a lot better when she compares us, you know? So, when you hand
over the letter, don't mention me at all. It's better for Sakura to think you're
the one confessing," he said.
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Yamauchi didn't seem to care that he was completely trash-talking me.
I had no room to criticize his goals, but he really needed to consider Sakura's
feelings.
"Look, I just think getting a confession of love from someone you can't
see is scary," I replied.
"Th-that's—"
I wanted to get him to change his mind. With a confession of love, you
had one shot. I figured that even Yamauchi shouldn't do it in a way that
might leave him with regrets.
"There's still time. I think you should reconsider. That's why you
wrote this letter, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose, but... Ugh, should I confess to Sakura in person?"
Finally, the proper conclusion seemed to form inside Yamauchi's head.
"Ayanokouji-kun?" Just then, I heard the faint sound of footsteps, and
a voice called out to me.
"It's Sakura! I'm leaving the rest to you!" whispered Yamauchi.
Panicked, he hung up.
Well, there probably wasn't much else I could do at this point. All that
was left was to hand over Yamauchi's letter.
"This is a coincidence, right?" Sakura asked.
"Kushida called you here, right?"
"Y-yes. She said that she needed to talk to me about something. She
said it was important," Sakura replied meekly. She looked around, but of
course, she could see no one but me.
"To tell you the truth, I asked Kushida for a favor. She called you out
here for me," I said. Strictly speaking, that wasn't true, but I couldn't help it
if Sakura got confused.
"You, Ayanokouji-kun? I-I see. That's a relief. I don't normally talk to
Kushida-san, so I was worried I did something to make her angry." Sakura
put her hand to her chest and sighed in relief. She no longer seemed anxious.
I decided to be direct.
"Even so, you're pretty early. It's still about half an hour before we
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were supposed to meet," I said.
"I was feeling anxious, so I came early." Sakura still looked flustered.
"But it was you, after all, Ayanokouji-kun. I'm really relieved."
When she patted her chest, her expression became calmer.
"But why get Kushida's help, Ayanokouji-kun? If you want something,
you could just ask me directly."
"Oh, um. About that. It's a complicated situation."
"A complicated situation?"
How would I explain? I knew quite enough about the biological
differences between men and women through my studies, but I had no
practical knowledge whatsoever of romance. Also, the issue wasn't just our
different genders. I had to factor in Sakura's personality and feelings, too.
Even in our modern, effective, intelligent society, this little dance remained a
complicated mystery.
Time passed while I considered what to do. The longer I stayed silent,
the more guarded Sakura would become.
"The truth is, I had Kushida call you here because I wanted to give you
this." I offered her Yamauchi's letter.
"What's this?"
"If you read the contents, you'll understand well enough," I said.
"O-okay."
Feeling something akin to guilt, I averted my eyes. Sakura looked back
and forth between me and the letter, as if trying to grasp the situation.
"A l-letter...behind the school... A boy..." she whispered. Whoa! She
thought that I was confessing my love. This was bad.
"Someone who wants to stay anonymous asked me to give you this. He
said that, if you read it, you'd understand. He has bad handwriting, but he
really poured his heart and soul into this letter," I said.
"Ah, ahhh. Th-this is... Oh my. Oh my. Ahhh!"
Sakura's composure was gone. She stared into space as if looking into
the future. I was apprehensive about her reaction if she opened the envelope
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and read the letter, so I decided it was best that I skedaddled.
"Okay, well. I've handed the letter over. All that's left is for you to
decide how to respond. You can text or call me if answering directly is too
hard," I said.
"I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I—!" she stammered. "I-I just, well...I can't! I mean,
th-this is a l-love—"
"Yeah, a love letter."
"Eek!"
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131
"Whoa!" I rushed to support Sakura as she came dangerously close to
toppling over. "Are you all right?"
I could tell she was too warm just by touching her back. This must've
been really unexpected for her. She was probably trying to figure out who
sent the letter.
"Um, um, um!"
Sakura's eyes shot open. She stiffened and stood up straight. Once I
was sure she was steady, I let go of her.
"What about...Horikita-san?! Do you think she'll be angry?!"
"Huh? Horikita?"
Why should Horikita get angry? If she saw me deliver a letter in
Yamauchi's place, she'd probably just sigh in exasperation, and say
something like, "Oh my, how difficult it must be for you not to get involved
in something idiotic." It certainly wouldn't make her angry.
Did Sakura still think I was confessing? I had made sure to say that I
was only the messenger.
"Umm.. Ahh..." Sakura's face continued to redden. She looked as
though she might pass out. I couldn't imagine that the letter was the only
thing making her react that way.
If she did still think I wrote the letter, I understood why she'd brought
up Horikita.
"Sakura. Just to repeat myself, this letter is from another guy. Do you
understand?"
Sakura's shoulders trembled.
"Eh? I-It's not from you, Ayanokouji-kun?" she stammered.
"I already told you that I'm the messenger, didn't I?"
"I-I see. Of course that's what... B-b-b-but, what do I do with this
letter?!" she cried.
"Just read it and answer."
I tried to walk away, but Sakura grabbed my sleeve. "But I can't...I
can't do it! I can't..."
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"Has no one ever confessed their feelings to you before?"
"Never!" Sakura replied instantly.
Huh. I would've thought she'd been confessed to countless times,
given how cute she was.
"This letter... Will you read it with me? Together?"
Together? Well, Yamauchi had actually written the thing with my help.
However, if Sakura didn't have the courage to read the letter alone, I couldn't
really help her. Yamauchi probably wouldn't like that.
"Can you try to read it by yourself? As the messenger, it's my job to
ask you that. I hope you understand."
"Okay..."
Sakura didn't seem even slightly happy about that.
"Maybe the letter's from someone you like," I said.
"That's not possible now," she said sadly.
"Huh?"
"Ah, no! That's just, well, that's because I don't like anyone! I mean, I-
I'll try reading it!" she stammered.
Sakura hung her head, looking a little depressed as she turned and
headed back to the dorms. She would probably read Yamauchi's letter in her
room.
Yamauchi rushed over as soon as Sakura had safely left the area. "H-
how'd it go?! How'd she react?! Did she look happy?!" he asked nervously. I
understood his sense of urgency, but really, it indicated that he should have
been the one to deliver the letter.
"She hasn't read it yet. We'll just wait for judgment," I replied.
"D-don't use a scary word like 'judgment'! I believe it'll absolutely be
fine!" Yamauchi responded, frantic.
"Out of curiosity, what's your basis for that belief?"
"How she acts when she talks to me, I guess," he answered sheepishly.
"How she acts?"
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"You know, how she looks away, all embarrassed. She can't look me
in the face because she's really aware of me, don't you think?"
Actually, I thought that was probably because Sakura lacked people
skills.
"That's not all. Whenever she talks to me, she always kind of sighs
heavily afterward. Isn't that a sigh of love? You know, when you think about
the person you like, and then you sigh, like 'Ahh!' It's like a sign, dude," said
Yamauchi.
Sakura probably sighed from exhaustion after dealing with someone as
high-energy as Yamauchi. People were naturally oblivious to reality and
logic when it came to the girls they liked, though.
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5.2
I t was the middle of the night, and I was settling in for bed when my
phone vibrated.
Are you awake? It was a rather short message from Sakura.
I looked at my phone for some time without touching it, but saw no
indication that there'd be more messages. Sakura probably thought I was
sleeping. I opened the chat window, marking the message as read. Soon, I
received another message.
Did I wake you? it said.
Sorry, I was doing some laundry. It's okay. A small lie.
She must have felt relieved, because the next message was slightly
longer.
I have to meet with Yamauchi-kun at five tomorrow, but...can I meet
you before that? I could've refused. However, Sakura didn't have anyone
else.
Where are you meeting him?
The same place as yesterday: behind the school building.
I already knew that, but I'd wanted to confirm. I promised Sakura that I
would meet her at the same location behind the school. Then it was time to
sleep.
I turned my phone's screen off and set it down. It vibrated again,
though.
Um. I'm sorry for bothering you over and over. Is it okay if I call you?
Her anxiety radiated from her message. It would probably be better if I
didn't leave her hanging. When I called her, Sakura answered quietly.
"You can't sleep?" I asked.
"No. When I think about tomorrow, I get so nervous. Ahh..." Sakura
sighed over the phone.
She sounded depressed. She was probably considering how she'd
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answer the confession.
"I-I don't know anything about Yamauchi-kun. That's a bit scary," she
said.
"I see."
"I just realized that liking someone, or hating someone, actually comes
with a ton of responsibility."
I supposed that to Sakura, who had distanced herself from those around
her until now, that must have come as a shock. In this case, though, my
ability to help was rather limited. Sakura would have to make this decision.
Yamauchi would live with the consequences. Even someone like me, a
complete novice when it came to romance, understood that.
I couldn't advise Sakura on whether to reject or accept Yamauchi. I
could only listen quietly to what she had to say.
"Yamauchi-kun hasn't done anything wrong, but this... I think I just
don't want this. Still, I do feel sorry for him, since he likes someone like
me..."
Love was a rather complicated matter.
"I've been thinking about it for a while now, but I just don't know what
to do." That was understandable. Even over the phone, Sakura's confusion
was palpable. "Why me? That's what I'm wondering. Why do I have to
suffer like this?"
As I'd expected, she sounded troubled about the situation, rather than
happy.
"Ayanokouji-kun, this... Well, this might be something you don't need
to hear, but..."
"Ask me anything. If I can answer, I will."
"Well... I'm sorry to bother you, but are you perhaps dating anyone at
the...present time?" For some reason, Sakura was being rather formal.
"No, definitely not. I've never dated anyone, and I'm not dating anyone
currently."
"R-really?!"
"You sound happy about that, which makes me feel like you're being
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sarcastic."
"O-oh, no, that's not... I didn't mean to make fun of you! I was happy
because you're like me, that's all."
"I was just teasing," I replied.
"Oh, you!" It was only a little joke, but it seemed to lighten Sakura's
spirits. "Well, has anyone ever confessed their feelings to you? Or have you
ever confessed your feelings to someone else?"
She was really grilling me. Well, I had nothing to hide.
"I have zero experience, same as you."
"Okay, I see!"
Sakura sounded happy again. We chatted for a while about this and
that. After some time passed, she seemed to get drowsy, and we ended the
call. I hoped she could sleep soundly. Speaking of which, I thought it was
about time for me to get to sleep as well.
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5.3
O ur meeting time was four in the afternoon. I showed up ten minutes
early to find Sakura already waiting, with a pained, complicated look on her
face. She was probably juggling several preoccupations, since her expression
kept shifting. She looked crestfallen, then nervous, then worried. I wondered
what she was thinking about.
"Did I keep you waiting?" I asked.
"Oh!"
Sakura approached me hesitantly. I hoped I could ease her burdens a
bit.
"Thank you for coming here, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Nah, it's nothing. So, what's the matter?"
"Well, it's about the letter you gave me yesterday.".
"Did something happen?"
Maybe Sakura was still hesitant to talk about it. She didn't seem able to
get the words out. I was about to tell her not to hold back when I saw several
people walking our way down the path. They must've been doing club
activities, since they wore jerseys.
"Sorry. How about we walk around a little?" I asked Sakura.
"Huh? Oh, okay," she replied.
It wasn't a good idea to let someone see us right then. We headed
toward the tree-lined spot at the back of the school building. This was a
hidden spot where most people didn't come, but it looked well-kept.
It'd be a huge pain in the butt if Yamauchi happened to come early and
spot us there, so I knew we should wrap things up quickly. Sakura tilted her
head, extended her right arm, and looked toward the sky.
"What's the—"
A single water droplet landed on my cheek. If it didn't come from a
sprinkler, then—
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"It's raining," said Sakura.
The skies had been clear just a moment ago, but now, it was pouring
rain. It would probably pass soon, but the downpour was intense. Our clothes
were soaking wet in minutes.
"Let's head back to the path!" I shouted.
Sakura nodded. I led her back the way we came, and we took shelter
behind the school building. We were only in the rain for a bit, but it came
down so hard that it completely soaked Sakura's clothes. Even her hair was
drenched.
"Man, talk about unlucky. Are you okay, Sakura?"
"I-I'm fine. What about you, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"I'm all right."
I let out a little sigh while I watched the rain, which grew even more
intense. What bad timing.
"Here, you can use this." Sakura meekly handed me a handkerchief. It
was the same one I'd borrowed back on the island.
"I'm fine. Use that yourself. You'll catch a cold," I replied.
I couldn't dry myself off when a girl was absolutely soaked. Even so,
Sakura stood on her tiptoes and wiped the excess water from my hair. Her
scent, carried by the rain, tickled my nose.
"I'm surprisingly tough, you know," she said. She mopped the water
from my face, then my cheeks and neck.
"......"
I looked over at Sakura, who stood beside me in silence. I felt as
though I could understand what Yamauchi was after now. Sudden rain. The
two of us panicked, sheltering under the roof. It would have been even more
magical if Sakura and I had been in our school uniforms, rather than casual
clothes, since it was the middle of summer vacation.
There'd be nothing to hide from each other. We'd talk until we ran out
of things to say. Then, our eyes would meet. We'd each hear the other person
breathing deeply. It was the kind of scenario boys dreamed about. For some
reason, I could picture it very clearly. Maybe what Yamauchi desired was
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something like this.
"I wonder if it'll pass?"
"I looked up the weather on my phone just now. Sounds like this is just
a passing shower. It should stop soon," I told her.
"I see."
"Sorry. I let you get soaked, even though you had something important
to do after this," I said.
"Oh no, it's fine. It's really not important," Sakura replied.
In other words, that meant...
"I...I wonder what I should do..." she continued.
"Just answer based on how you feel. You can accept Yamauchi, or
reject him, or you can start by being friends," I said. What she wanted was up
to her, not me. "Of course, you can always hold off on answering, too. And if
it's too embarrassing, I can tell Yamauchi for you."
Yamauchi wouldn't want that, but if Sakura asked, I'd do it.
"No, I'll do it myself. I think I probably have to," she replied.
"I see. I suppose you should, for Yamauchi's sake."
"Yes. I know. I'm going to turn him down."
"I see." I'd already guessed as much. It was important that she tell him
herself, though.
"It's just... Well, I don't think I'm qualified to reject someone. I think
it might be presumptuous of me, but...but..."
Sakura appeared overwhelmed by guilt, for some reason.
"You have nothing to apologize for. When you get down to it, this
crush is one-sided. There's nothing strange about turning someone down if
you don't feel the same way. In this situation, there's no such thing as being
unqualified." I spoke with some force, not wanting her to misunderstand.
The rain was still coming down hard. I thought it should stop soon, but
there was no telling when Yamauchi would show up.
"It's best if I head back now, I think," I said.
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"N-no! If you're not here, Ayanokouji-kun, I won't be able to say
anything. So, please..."
Sakura grabbed my sleeve tight.
"Please don't leave me alone," she pleaded.
"If that's your preference," I replied. Sakura had helped me many times
before, after all. I decided I should return the favor.
About fifteen minutes later, Yamauchi arrived, his expression much
stiffer than I had ever seen.
"Wh-why are you here, Ayanokouji?" he asked.
"Sorry. Sakura said she didn't have the courage to talk to you alone, so
she asked me to stay. Don't mind me."
I'm sure Yamauchi didn't feel comfortable having me there. However,
he had no choice except to deal with it. He looked suspicious, but then,
focused his attention on Sakura.
"S-sorry to have kept you waiting. So, did you read my letter?"
"Yes. Um. Please, let me ask you one thing."
"Sure, anything."
Sakura grabbed her skirt and spoke as though she was squeezing her
voice out of her throat. "Wh-why do you like...me? Plenty of people are
cuter than me."
"I like you , Sakura!" Yamauchi shouted. Sakura flinched in response.
"S-sorry. I didn't mean to shout. S-so, what's your answer?"
Listening in, I could see a number of potential ways to handle the
situation. But Yamauchi was so incredibly nervous, his heart about to leap
out of his chest, that he probably couldn't think of any of them, let alone pick
the best option.
"I...I'm sorry!" sputtered Sakura, bowing deeply, her eyes slightly red.
An awkward answer for an awkward confession. Yamauchi's last spark of
hope crumbled to dust and blew away.
"I, it's just, w-well, I can't, um, return your feelings," Sakura added. It
must have taken her a lot of courage to unleash those words.
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"I see," Yamauchi replied.
It sounded as though he was desperately trying to digest what had
happened. His voice shook, just like Sakura's. I couldn't bring myself to
laugh at him.
"Thank you, Sakura. For coming all the way here, um, to tell me in
person," he added.
"G-goodbye!" Sakura, no longer able to bear the situation, bowed and
ran away.
"Ah," sighed Yamauchi.
He extended his arm weakly, as if to try to catch Sakura as she left. I
couldn't do anything but stand there quietly, watching the first romance I
ever saw in person break down. Yamauchi endured the frustration in silence
for a few minutes, but eventually, he lifted his head and looked at me. Maybe
he was going to take his anger out on me instead?
"M-man, talk about embarrassing. Getting rejected by a girl in front of
your buddy. I feel like my face is on fire." Yamauchi sighed, not blaming me
at all. I still saw the shock of rejection on his face, but that wasn't all.
"Whew. It's like... How do I even put it? I almost feel relieved, you know?"
Yamauchi sounded nearly cheerful now.
"Like, I was a real idiot. I was just causing Sakura trouble. She tried so
carefully not to hurt me, a guy she didn't like. I feel incredibly guilty. I mean,
I'm free to like her and all, but I've learned that conveying your feelings to
someone comes with responsibility."
I realized that Yamauchi's clothes were wet. Clearly, he'd been
standing outside well before he and Sakura had arranged to meet. Perhaps
he'd been contemplating the confession nervously.
"You're not as upset as I thought you'd be," I said.
"Well, it's a shock, but it's not all that bad. Sakura's cute, and I wanted
her to be my girlfriend. But I was just looking at her face and her body, you
know? That's a cheap thing to do. I think, like, I didn't really love her. If I
really liked her, I would've felt worse when she rejected me."
I didn't dare say anything. I just listened quietly.
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"That's why I'm moving on. I'll find a girl that I really like."
Apparently, Yamauchi had matured a bit after Sakura rejected him. In record
time, too. "I'm grateful to you, Ayanokouji. Sorry for involving you in
something so weird."
"It's okay, because...we're friends," I replied.
"Here, I'll lend you this. You said you wanted to borrow a phone,
right?"
"Didn't you say it depended on your confession being successful?"
"I'm making an exception. But you better return it right away," he
added.
With that, Yamauchi ran off after Sakura. That was when I noticed rays
of sunlight shining down through the spaces between the rainclouds.
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Chapter 6:
A Gathering
Between Classes
"I t's so hot today."
How many times had I said that this summer? Still, it really was hot, no
way around it. Even if saying so out loud made you feel hotter, you couldn't
stop yourself. Just thinking the words didn't help. Cicadas were probably the
only creatures who preferred this sweltering heat.
Heat aside, I'd gotten caught up in yet another unusual incident. If the
other guys knew about this situation, they probably wouldn't be happy with
me at all. It was a very nasty problem.
Well, let's start from the beginning.
A tree-lined path a short distance from the dormitory led to the school.
If you went off that path, you'd find a rest area. That's where I was. It was a
popular spot to sit down and chat. There were several benches and vending
machines, the view was great, and many students frequented it in the early
spring.
The heat made this a rare off-season period for the rest area. It was
completely deserted, which turned it into a perfect spot for a clandestine
meeting.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting."
As I sat on the bench, Karuizawa Kei walked toward me. She shaded
her eyes from the blinding sunlight with a hand and looked at the sky.
"So hot," she muttered. Apparently, we were of one mind on the
subject.
Karuizawa's long ponytail bobbed as she sat down next to me. She
wore an unusually casual outfit: jeans and a simple shirt. Even so, the outfit
looked coordinated and stylish. I supposed girls had to prioritize fashion no
matter how hot it was, which had to be tough.
"I know you're busy right now. Sorry for dragging you out like this," I
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said.
"Are you being sarcastic? I played around too much this summer. I
don't have any points to spend, so I've just been hanging out in my room."
"Do you have plans tomorrow?" I asked.
"I can't really do anything without money. I'll probably be sleeping." It
sounded like Karuizawa really was indulging herself this summer.
"You should get a lot of points next month, though. I mean, after the
last test."
During the exam on the cruise ship, Karuizawa—who'd been the VIP
—had worked together with me. We managed to keep her identity secret until
the test ended. Because of that, Karuizawa would receive 500,000 points as a
reward come September.
"Yeah, I guess. I've picked out the clothes and accessories and stuff I
want to get. But is it really okay to use all the points like that? Isn't it better
to save some?"
"You can hold yourself back?" I asked, teasing her a little. She puffed
out her cheeks and glared at me.
"Well, it's not that simple. When I have points, they seem to last less
than a week," she muttered.
Karuizawa mimed counting all the things she wanted on her fingers.
She was out of fingers in no time. Just how many things did she plan to get
anyway?
"But, like, even I know how important private points are. The school
system's really weird, right? You get, like, this ridiculously huge amount of
points during special exams and stuff. Everyone else is wondering about that,
too," she observed.
The regular student body was finally starting to suspect that something
was up, apparently. I supposed that was natural. If you suddenly received a
large sum of money, you'd question the school's motives. You'd consider the
possibility that private points weren't just meant for use on one's private
desires.
"That's true. Some students might get as many as 1,000,000 or
2,000,000 points," I said.
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