Tsukinoki-senpai glanced at her watch then turned to me. “Welp. The club’s officially all yours, President Nukumizu. I’m off to cry over grades and try not to get held back in a brave new world.”
“I’m excited for you,” I said. “Not the getting held back part.”
“Glad one of us is.” She furrowed her brow anxiously. “I only made up my mind to leave Toyohashi last fall.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, well, I’m a locally grown sorta girl. Big part of me wanted to stick around, be that weirdo who pops into club every now and then just to freak you guys out.” She looked around at us. “But you all inspired me to aim a little bit higher. Be a senpai you can be proud of, I guess.” She laughed at herself, chuckling a few times, then dropped the smile and looked away.
Tamaki-senpai put a hand on her shoulder. “Time we got going, Koto. Guys, thanks again. Can’t wait to read what you all wrote.”
“Right. Yeah.” Tsukinoki-senpai looked back at us. “Thank you, everyone. Really. I’ll wait till after I’m done moving to read so I can really appreciate it.” When she did, she was smiling again. In her confident, devil-may-care way.
They climbed back into the van, waving. But just before shutting her door, Tsukinoki-senpai looked back and pointed at us. At all of us. “High school doesn’t last forever! Y’all live your lives, and live them to the fullest! No regrets!”
And then they were off. Just like that. We watched in silence as the minivan rumbled out of view. Not ten minutes they’d been here. And now they were gone. A clean break. I didn’t mind it.
“Anyway, think I’mma go run,” Yakishio piped up, ending the moment. “Wanna join, Yana-chan?”
Yanami’s eyes went wide as saucers as she bit into her second strip of kombu. “Why me?!”
“You’re eating kombu. Don’t people on diets eat kombu? Can’t do any better than running if you wanna lose weight!”
“Yeah, no. I’m not built for that. My knees have been a bit achy lately.”
Foreshadowing, that. I saw my chance to retreat and seized it.
I noticed Komari next to me. Had the same idea, I bet. I sidled closer and furtively handed her a small package.
She eyed me. “Wh-what?”
“Your birthday’s tomorrow, right? You got me something for mine. Fair’s fair.”
“Huh?!” she yipped.
I forced it into her hands. Turned away. “It’s just a key chain. Star sand. Don’t open the bottle.”
“Th-thanks…” She fidgeted for a while before going still. Did that mean she liked it? I hoped it did.
I started to walk away before this could get more awkward, but she grabbed hold of my blazer. “Yeah?”
“I-I’m… I’m mad. Just so you know.” Because I’d bought her present while on a date with Yakishio? Knew it. Stupid. Bad idea. She squeezed harder. “Y-you can’t just agree to stuff like this. Races. With the c-club at stake.”
Ah. That too. “But hey, all’s well that ends… You’re right. Sorry.”
If ever there was a time I deserved a bit of harsh language, it was now.
“A-and no more cheating,” she pouted.
Hey, the go-home club never happened. Mere allegations. I wasn’t gonna dig my own grave by trying to explain that, so I kept my mouth shut. Komari kept clinging.
That was when I noticed that we had an audience. “What’s going on back there? Who cheated?”
“Talking about the club, Yanami-san. Tell her, Komari.”
A little verbal abuse and we’d be back to business as usual. Misunderstanding begone.
“I-it’s between us,” she murmured. Fidgeting.
Why? Why would she do this to me? I could see the fuse shortening in Yanami’s eyes.
Yakishio peered over her at us. “Nukkun cheated? With me? Was yesterday cheating?!”
“Yakishio!” I blurted. “For the love of God!”
That set Yanami off. “I knew you two were up to something in the nurse’s office! Cheater! I told you no head starts, you little sneak!”
“Nothing happened, I swear! Say something, Yakishio!” I pleaded. I realized my mistake too late.
From over Yanami’s shoulder, invisible to her, Yakishio’s lips spread into an impish sneer. “I dunno, it was between us and all. Don’t really wanna go airing our dirty laundry, y’know?”
Komari’s grip on my blazer became a vice. “D-die.”
Why? Why were they like this?
Yanami thrust her half-eaten kelp at me. “Speak now or rest in peace.”
“T-talk. Then take a walk. Off a cliff.”
“Don’t worry, Nukkun. I’ll take our secret to the grave.”
I looked to the sky, for I had no allies on Earth. Cottony clouds looked down at our scuffle with impartial ambivalence. And I sighed. For this was my life now.
Maybe I should’ve thrown that race.
Literature Club Activity Report, Special Issue: Yakishio Lemon—Thump, Thump, Thump
Thump, thump, thump.
I’m fast. Faster than my friends. Faster than my Papa. My Mama likes it when I run fast. When I look behind me, she smiles at me. So I ran more. I ran faster.
Thump, thump, thump.
I like it when Mama smiles, so I ran with all sorts of people in a big city. Fast people. But I was always faster. I look behind me, and everyone smiles. Because I’m faster. So I try harder.
Thump, thump, thump.
I like it when everyone smiles, so I ran with even more people in an even bigger city. But they were faster. I ran hard, because I wanted to win, but they were faster. I tried. I tried hard. But they were faster. I’m scared to look behind me. What if they’re not smiling? That makes me sad, and it makes me cry.
A little turtle finds me one day while I’m crying in the shade. It wants to race. It’s slower than me. It keeps losing, but it still wants to race me. I ask it why. Is it not scared of losing? It says it is, but it runs anyway, because I’m crying.
We run a lot. Eventually, I forget to cry, and then I can run alone again.
I don’t look behind me anymore. I’m not scared. I don’t need to. I know they’re there. They’ve always been, and they want me to run. So I keep thump, thump, thumping along.