Fancy ornaments and baubles glistened in the glass case. Shiratama-san gasped in delight. “Look at how pretty they are. What do you think that necklace is? Amethyst?”
“Uh, yeah. Could be.”
Shiratama-san had brought me to a jewelry store. Same mall. The whole place stank of “you can’t afford this.”
She frowned at me. “Sorry. I don’t mean to bore you.”
“Er, I’m not bored. It’s interesting. I’d never come here on my own.”
“Really? You’re so kind.” She beamed.
For the record, I hadn’t gone along with her because I had an ulterior motive or anything. She was struggling to get along with the other girls. I just wanted to lend a hand. Truly. Cross my heart.
But I wasn’t fooling myself. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. She grinned as she ogled the glitzy accessories. Her shoulder-length hair framed a small, cherubic, yet somehow mature face. Though matching Yanami in height, she was so petite she looked as if she might shatter like porcelain at the faintest touch, sort of like Komari. But unlike Komari, she had a prominent figure that her clothing accentuated. Her features and proportions reminded me of Yakishio. Her perfect skin reminded me of Shikiya-san.
This girl was cuteness incarnate. I couldn’t even blame Yanami for being jealous, really. Don’t get me wrong—Yanami was pretty too, but she was also a lot of other things.
“What’s your birthstone?” she asked.
“Huh? Uh, I was born in December.” I went down the list provided by the store, and right then my phone went off. Again. I’d lost count of how many times it had done that. I had zero doubt it was Yanami. I went for it, but Shiratama-san held my hand still. “U-um.”
“I want you to myself. Just for now. Is that wrong?”
“I, um, well, n-no? I-I guess not?”
“Then a few more minutes won’t hurt, will it?” She bumped her shoulder against mine, guiding me further into the store. “Your birthstone is tanzanite. It represents intelligence and maturity. Sounds just like you, doesn’t it?”
“Y-yup. I get that a lot.”
I swallowed. Was this really happening? Had my spring finally sprung? Was it finally my turn to peak?
No. Unlikely. I remembered who I was—a total dweeb. And her? She was one of the cutest girls I’d ever met. Maybe if I was hot, like the protagonist of some light novel, I’d believe it. But I knew who I was. And someone like me was just along for the ride that was Shiratama-san’s story.
“Let’s see. What’s mine?” she mused.
“Shiratama-san,” I said. “Did you need something from me?”
Her smile twitched ever so slightly. A flaw quickly plastered over with a rejuvenated, somehow even sweeter glow. “I’m okay. Really. I know I got a little pessimistic earlier, but I just needed to get it off my chest.”
“Okay. Then are you waiting on someone?”
Her expression crumbled, and it didn’t return that time. Surprise and confusion filled in the cracks instead. “I… What?”
“You’ve only been pretending to look at accessories. You keep looking around like you’re expecting someone, and for whatever reason you keep pulling me back whenever I try to leave.”
“I’m just…” Her lips shut tight. Her legs shook like they wanted to run, but she was just barely holding them in place.
“Hey, I don’t mean to turn this into an interrogation, but I can only help if you’re open with me.”
Shiratama-san clutched her chest and hung her head. No one said anything for a long while. But when I finally tried to…
“Riko? Is that you?”
Shiratama-san’s head shot up at the voice I didn’t recognize. At the end of her gaze stood a young woman in her mid-twenties maybe, with mellow features and a face that could only be described as one thing: cute.
It didn’t take a detective.
Weakened and hardly audible, Shiratama-san murmured, “Oneechan…”
But it wasn’t the appearance of Shiratama Riko’s older sister that surprised me the most. It was the man standing next to her.
“You’re Nukumizu-kun,” he said. “Class C, right? What are you doing here with Riko-chan?”
It was Tanaka-sensei. Tsuwabuki Japanese teacher. And in the middle of this odd family reunion was me.
The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. But Shiratama Riko was quick to recover. Looping her arm around mine and practically throwing herself at me, she blurted, “He’s my boyfriend!”
Huh. Huh?! We were dating?! Since when?! I searched my brain for gaps in my memory to little success, but it would certainly explain her bringing me here. The mushy junk we’d been up to, what could we be other than a pair of lovebirds? Yeah, I could roll with this.
Shiratama-san’s sister froze up for several seconds. “Your boyfriend? I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”
“I’m sorry. I know. You’ve just been so busy with the wedding, I never had a chance to tell you.” She beamed, as if to close the door on any and all doubts.
Her sister looked at me, still a little shaken. “And how long have you two, um, been together?”
“Uh, it’s sort of a…Schrodinger’s Cat situation,” I said.
“Don’t put him on the spot like that, Oneechan.”
Shiratama-san hugged me tighter and pouted.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. You just surprised me, Riko,” said her sister. “Still…”
“I’m a high schooler now. You had a crush on Tanaka-sensei at my age, didn’t you?”
“Riko!” Her sister’s face turned bright red. The cuteness was hereditary.
Tanaka-sensei put a hand on her shoulder and smiled softly. “We should get going, Minori-san.”
“But Yuuji-san…”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Sorry to butt in, kids. We’ll be on our way.” He guided her away like a patient parent would a child.
All I could do was stand there in perpetual shock until they were out of sight. And then I kept standing. It was the sensation pressing against my arm that brought me back. Soft. Girl smell good.
“Was she your…?”
She nodded. “My sister, yes.”
“Tanaka-sensei was with her.”
“They’re engaged.”
That explained their acquaintance. But did it explain Nan-JUS? What exactly had that been? It felt like I was still missing something.
Shiratama-san squeezed my arm. She was practically clinging now. In a whisper of a voice, she said, “Let’s go somewhere private.”