I wanted so darn badly to yell that, but this seemed so important to her that I couldn’t bring myself to rain on her parade. This was what it meant to be popular, and I guessed this was also what it meant to get dragged into someone else’s business. Huh. Being a popular girl’s not all fun and games, was it?
Takada-san detoxed herself as she talked and then extended a hand to me with a clear smile. “And that is all thanks to you,” she said. “Amaori-san, you are really such a lovely person, albeit a rather odd one. Still. Thank you very much. I am glad we had the opportunity to meet.”
“Y-yeah, no problem.”
I quickly took Takada-san’s hand. It was a perfectly girlish hand. She, too, was another person whose life had been turned upside down by Oduka Mai. A wave of sympathy washed over me. First Satsuki-san, then Hanatori-san, and now a third victim had been added to the list. Wait, shouldn’t I count too? Eh, best not to think about it too deeply. Ajisai-san was waiting.
“O-okay,” I said, “I think I’d better get going now.”
“And yet we cannot relive the same dreams we once had when we were young,” Takada-san went on. “The little girl who yearned for such a glamorous career is no more. But instead, I now have wonderful friends who cherish me dearly. Ironically, I would never have discovered that if not for Oduka Mai.” She giggled.
Wait, what?
“Suzuran-san, I must have caused you no end of trouble. But you’ve saved me repeatedly with your simple kindness.”
“Oh, Himi-chan… It means so much to me to hear you say that,” Haga-san gushed.
Oh god, was this the start of the Takada Himiko Story: Season 2 or something?!
“Now that I think about it, meeting you—”
And hold the phone. Was it absolutely necessary for them to have this conversation right in front of me? I legit had things to do, people! No more depositing your feelings in the bank of Amaori Renako. I didn’t offer that service any longer!
I stuck my hand out to interrupt. “Hold on, please,” I said desperately. “Hey, uh, hold on please! Listen, I’ll call in someone to stand in for me. You can tell all this to her.”
And then I placed a call. Please, please let her be somewhere on campus still!
My life fundamentally refused to go the way I wanted it to at times like this, but today was different, because I was keeping Ajisai-san waiting. My action had Ajisai-san’s blessing!
“Heya!” said the girl who picked up the phone. “What’s poppin’, Rena-chin?”
“Kaho-chan, please do me a favor! Come rescue me!”
“Huh?”
And thus I (by offering Kaho-chan as a replacement me) broke out of Takada-san and co.’s siege. Kaho-chan was going to be furious at me for this, I figured. But oh well! I’d apologize to her a ton later once it was all over.
I dashed up the stairs to the roof. God, at this point, I didn’t even feel the urge to run away any longer. I’m sorry! That really was just my imagination running wild! Please, God, quit giving me your divine punishment.
Maybe Ajisai-san was a real stickler for time, and she’d been like “If someone doesn’t value every second of their time, then I don’t want to spend a second around them,” and already gone home. Maybe this was the end of our relationship. Please, Ajisai-san! I begged. Please still be here!
Almost on the verge of tears, I grabbed the knob and threw the door open. Was Ajisai-san there?! She was! She stood behind the railing, her hair waving in the wind.
“Oh, Rena-chan,” she said, with a small wave and a smile lacking so much as an iota of unhappiness. She was just practically bursting with cuteness.
When I saw her, for some reason I couldn’t fathom, I felt oddly moved. “Ajisai-san!”
My shadow lengthened as I staggered out onto the roof. It wasn’t just that she was adorable bathed in the afternoon light. She looked really, incredibly beautiful.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” I said.
“Oh no, don’t worry about it.” She smiled as if it really was no big deal at all. “Honestly, I’m really fine with having to wait a little, because I live with the kiddos. And then when I’m late, I call and let them know to come meet me, so it’s nothing to worry about.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry. And here I was trying to do my best so that I’d never make you feel lonely like this again…”
“I wasn’t lonely, though.” She put her hand on her chest and grinned. “Because I was thinking about you the whole time.”
“Ajisai-san…”
I stopped in front of her, so close that we could touch if we each reached out.
Ajisai-san giggled. “To be honest, I was just thinking about going to wait for you in the classroom. But I thought other people might see me, so I decided to stay up here.”
“R-really?”
“Mm-hmm. You know, this brings me back. Remember the time you told me you liked me over and over again? I can’t believe that was already half a year ago.”
“O-oh, wow.”
That must have been the time I tracked Mai down to the hotel in Akasaka. Back then, I was terrified of turning down people’s invitations, so I’d frantically tried to ensure Ajisai-san wouldn’t get the wrong idea. Hey, wait a minute. That was one of those things best kept buried in the past.
“Hey, you know what?” Ajisai-san said timidly. Her cheeks were red, the same color as the setting sun. “I think that was when I started to…see you in a certain light.”
“Really…?”
“It’s funny, don’t you think? Girls tell each other they like one another all the time. But I guess, like, there was something so real about the way you said it.” She placed both hands across her chest as if that was where she stored all the important things she had to say. “It made me realize you really, really actually liked me. And so that’s why the reverse happened. That’s when I started catching feelings for you.”
“Y-you’re making me blush.”
This was such an embarrassing memory for me that I wanted to completely forget about it, but man. She saw me like that, huh? Looking back on it, I really had cared for Ajisai-san at the time, but I didn’t think of her in a girlfriend kind of way. Still, remember what Ajisai-san said to me? Maybe my definition of a best friend was what some other people would define as a girlfriend. So, if it made everyone happy…what’s the harm in dating, you know? I’d chilled out about that. The way I cared for her now wasn’t any different than it used to be. And besides…we now got to do things we couldn’t unless we were dating. That was nerve-racking, sure. But I didn’t entirely dislike it.
“Rena-chan, you’re bright red.”
Well, that’s because Ajisai-san was smiling all too cutely. Hiding my embarrassment, I half-heartedly shot back, “P-pot, meet kettle.”
“Huh?”
She put her hands to her cheeks, her eyes wide. That, too, was ridiculously adorable. For a moment, we grinned at each other before she said, almost wheedlingly, “Can we hold hands?”
“Sure.”
I put my hand out, and she covered it with both of hers. Her hands trembled. Maybe it was the nerves.
“I mean, we’re girlfriends, after all,” she said.
“Yeah.”
Ajisai-san and I were the same height, so she looked into my eyes. There was so much affection in them, all aimed at me, but I didn’t turn away this time.
I squeezed her hand back. “Yeah. We’re dating.”
“Mm-hmm.” Ajisai-san closed her eyes, those eyes that were more beautiful than any sunset, and giggled. “I really like you, Rena-chan.”
She took a step forward to close the distance between us. She tilted her head up slightly and slowly moved in, just like the time on the Ferris wheel. But, unlike that time on the Ferris wheel, I closed my eyes.
Sure, maybe we’d run into big problems later on down the line. That wouldn’t change my desire to do right by her—this girl more precious than any other person in the world, my girlfriend. Ajisai-san.
A soft sensation grazed my lips. My eyes snapped open.
“Ajisai-san!” I cried. She squeaked as I pulled her petite frame into a tight hug. “I like you too, Ajiisai-san. I really, really like you! I care for you so, so much!”
As I spoke to her, enfolded in her scent and hair, Ajisai-san flushed a bright red. But she met my eye and laughed. “I like you too, Rena-chan. I love everything about you.”
Now it was her turn to hug me, and for a few moments we stood there in each other’s arms. The setting sun, as we watched it from our vantage point on the rooftop, shone like a jewel. With all the love in my heart for her, I felt like now I could soar up, up and away through the sky…but that’s probably just me exaggerating, don’t you think?