Chapter Ten:
Northbound
IT WAS THE FIRST DAY of our class trip. We’d made it through security, and from there it was a short walk to our designated gate, down the long departures concourse that seemed to stretch on endlessly, past boarding lounges filled with passengers headed for other far-flung destinations. Out the thick glass windowpanes that lined one full side of the corridor, I could see several aircraft taxiing to the runway to await their turn for takeoff.
We’d shown up with time to spare before our early morning flight. Boarding was scheduled to begin in twenty minutes, and then we’d be climbing aboard our own airplane bound for New Chitose Airport. In the interim, the other sophomores from Tsubakioka High and I were sitting at the gate and killing time in whatever ways we pleased.
We were permitted to wear our normal clothes during the class trip—and in fact, not a single student had come in their school uniform. Everyone (the girls especially) was very excited for the rare chance to dress how they liked around their friends. We’d all lined up near the window and taken a group picture together when we got to the gate, but now everyone had dispersed to do their own thing. Some kids were chatting in their seats, while others had gone off to buy snacks and whatnot at the nearby stores and food vendors. Hasumi and I were in the former camp.
“Aw, man… I’m actually getting kinda nervous,” I said. “I forget, have you been on a plane before, Hasumi?”
“Yeah, but only once,” he replied. “Flew down to Okinawa back in junior high.”
“What was it like? Was there a lot of turbulence or whatever?”
“Yup, it got pretty shaky for a while there.”
“How bad are we talking?”
“Whole plane turned ninety degrees on its side one time.”
“Wait, seriously? I feel like you’d fall out of your chair at that point.”
“That’s what seatbelts are for, my man. Flight attendants always come by and make sure they’re tightly fastened before takeoff.”
“Ooh, got it… Makes sense.”
“Also, they make you take your shoes off before you even board the plane.”
“Really? What do you even do with them, then?”
“You’ve gotta put them in a little shoe baggie and carry ’em around with you… Wait, don’t tell me… You didn’t forget to bring your shoe baggie, Kamiki, did you?”
“What?! You mean they don’t provide them for you?!”
“Nope. But don’t worry—any of the stores here in the terminal will sell ’em.”
“Shoot. Guess I’d better go buy one right now, then…”
“Don’t bother. I just made all that stuff up.”
I smacked Hasumi hard on the shoulder.
Feeling nature calling all of a sudden, I stood up from my chair. There was still plenty of time left until we were set to board, so I went down the corridor to the men’s room and quickly did my business. Upon walking back out of the bathroom, I spotted Ushio and Hoshihara chatting with a group of girls from our class.
This was going to be Ushio’s first school field trip ever. Until recently, I’d been checking up on her periodically to gauge how anxious she might be feeling about it, and as far as I could tell there was nothing to worry about. Granted, the trip had hardly even begun, but based on how comfortable she appeared to be right now, she’d probably do just fine.
“Wait a minute…” said a voice from behind me, and I turned around.
The first thing I saw was an almost perfectly spherical head of hair, neatly trimmed into a short little bob. It was one of the girls from the other day: Nagi Nashimoto. She’d just come out of the women’s bathroom.
“I had a feeling that might be you, Kamiki-kun,” she said. “Recognize me this time?”
“H-hey there,” I said. “Yeah, of course I do…”
She’d approached me so abruptly and without warning that I was fumbling for words. Even if she hadn’t, I’d still probably feel a bit awkward conversing with her, given that she and I hardly knew each other at all.
“You’re not wearing your glasses today,” I noted.
“Yeah, I only wear those when I’m with Sera-kun,” she said. “Not for any particular reason, though. It’s just how I feel like dressing around him.”
“Oh, I see…”
I thought for sure it would be to hide her identity or something; I could imagine how a girl might not want the entire school finding out she was dating a guy like Sera. Having nothing else in particular to say, I nodded farewell and turned to walk away.
“You know,” she called after me, and I turned back around, “Sera-kun seems to have really taken a liking to you, Kamiki-kun.”
“To me? Nah. Pretty sure he just likes messing with me.”
“That’s how Sera-kun shows that he likes someone, though.”
“Oh, give me a break…”
What was he, a bratty little boy playing pranks on the girl he liked? No, that analogy was giving him too much credit—he was way more conniving.
I took a look around the immediate vicinity; if Nashimoto was here, then it stood to reason that Sera might not be too far away. “Is he not with you right now?”
“No? Just because we’re dating doesn’t mean we’re joined at the hip. I mean, you’re not hanging out with Tsukinoki-kun right now either, are you?”
“So you know about that, huh?”
“Duh. The whole school’s been talking about it all week.”
Ugh. I wished people would mind their own business and leave the two of us alone; I hated unwanted attention. But there was no point in me airing those petty grievances to Nashimoto, so all I could do was awkwardly laugh it off.
“Did I hear that Sera-kun was the one who spread the word about you two?” she continued. “Boy, that’s rough.”
“If you really feel bad for me, then why don’t you tell him off or something? I mean, you’re his girlfriend, right? I’m sure he’d listen to you.”
“What? No way. I can’t control that guy—are you kidding? You’re underestimating just how much of a loose cannon he can be. He’s basically a giant five-year-old.”
“That is not a very flattering comparison.”
It fit the bill, though. He had that stupid, smug little smile that might have been kind of endearing if it didn’t always mean he was getting up to some sort of mischief, plus the innocent-minded cruelty of a little boy who went around killing insects for fun and thought nothing of it. He really was like a child in many respects, for better or worse.
Okay, no. Maybe just for worse.
“Honestly, he might be the most free-spirited person I’ve ever met,” Nashimoto said in earnest, a hint of adoration in her tone. “Do you play RPGs, Sakuma-kun?”
“As in role-playing games? Yeah, I mean…every now and then…”
Wh-why the hell is this girl still talking to me? I’d never really pegged her as one for conversation, but maybe she just didn’t have any real friends in our class.
“So you know how in an RPG, you’ll sometimes get a dialogue choice where you have to pick from a set of answers? Like, ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ or ‘Help’ or ‘Refuse,’ or whatever it might be. And you know how they’ll sometimes pepper in funny dialogue options that you can tell right away would only make the situation worse? Like the game developers put them in as a joke or something?”
“Oh yeah—I know what you mean,” I replied. “The ones you’re always tempted to select just to see how the other characters might react, right?”
“Exactly. Or, like, the ones where the story won’t progress until you choose ‘Yes,’ but you can keep picking ‘No’ and get yourself stuck in an infinite dialogue loop.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah!”
“Sera-kun makes those kinds of choices, but in real life.”
A chill ran down my spine. Was this why she’d brought up RPGs?
“He’s not only a guy who’s true to his curious nature,” she said. “He’s curiosity incarnate. Because underneath it all, he’s effectively a little kid. But unlike a literal child, he actually has the power to make things happen. Once he gets an idea in his head, there’s nothing any of us can really do to stop him.”
Nashimoto kept on babbling. The way she spoke of Sera so fondly, even when discussing how abnormal he was, made me feel more skeeved out by the minute. My impression of her as a sane, sensible person was now crumbling to dust.
“Surprised you’d still want to date someone like that,” I said.
Nashimoto chuckled to herself. “I mean, you don’t meet guys like him every day, do you?”
“I guess that’s true, but still…”
Nashimoto checked her watch. “Looks like it’s almost boarding time. I’d better head back.”
She gave me a little wave goodbye, then walked off and joined up with a group of girls who had gathered nearby. I watched as she effortlessly assimilated herself into whatever conversation they were having, offering interjections here and there before bringing up a whole new topic and leading the discussion herself. I felt kind of embarrassed for assuming she might be an outcast in her class.
As I walked back toward Hasumi, a thought occurred to me.
“Does she genuinely think he’s a huge catch or something?”