The window rattled open. We’d circled all the way around the balcony to the meeting room on the other side of the building—where we’d searched for Shiratama-san just earlier—and managed to slip back inside.
I crossed the room and pressed my ear against the door. Nobody on the other side. I exited and gestured to Shiratama-san to follow me into the hallway. It was a straight shot, then a hard left. Peeking around the corner, I could see the stairs just a few agonizing meters away. Even further down was the suite we’d just escaped from, but all we had to do was get down those stairs and we’d be at the front entrance. We’d have to grit our teeth and sprint for it, but we could make it.
Problem was, Yanami was still right there at the top of the stairs, surrounded by middle-aged women. They had multiplied.
“Look at you, Riko-chan! You’ve gotten so big!” one clucked.
“You’re like a different person, all that meat on your bones!” yapped another. “It’s a good look, dear.”
Still holding out, it seemed. Our eyes met. My brain was instantly flooded with mean words and abuse. Didn’t she know staring was rude? Yanami started making her way in my direction. I shook my head and pointed behind me. She froze, thankfully getting my intended message, then cocked her head. I pointed to the stairs next.
For a moment, she didn’t move. Her eyes shut tight, then shot open again. “Does anybody else want to see my sister’s dress?!” she blurted. In her own voice.
The women were stunned.
“Oh, dear, what happened to your cute little voice?”
“You’re a Tsuwabuki student now, Riko-chan. Best mind your tone so nobody takes you for a simpleton.”
“I do want to see Minori-chan’s dress, though!”
The gaggle moved, with Yanami at the center. Our escape route was clear. Shiratama-san and I nodded to each other, then hurried along. In our hearts, we held the hero that was Yanami. Her sacrifice would not be forgotten.
By some miracle, the stairs were clear. We sprinted the whole way down and started the mad dash for the front door—until something made me stumble to a stop. Shiratama-san bumped right into me.
“What?” she asked. “We just have to go. Make a run for it.”
“It’s, uh…” I peeked around the corner.
Shiratama-san did the same, then flung herself back just as fast. “Dad?!”
The man himself, Mr. Shiratama, was right where we needed to go, engaged in conversation. If I hadn’t seen his picture ahead of time, we’d have been screwed just now. Shiratama-san pressed her hand to her chest, practically hyperventilating.
“We’re not going to let your dad see you,” I said. “We’ll just have to wait for him to leave.”
“Right. Okay.”
Then it hit me. The person he was talking to was a staff member I recognized from the open house. And the bride’s father was supposed to escort Shiratama-san’s sister to the chapel once the ceremony started, which we were only twenty-five minutes out from. Meaning Mr. Shiratama’s next destination was very likely the bridal suite.
The voices drew nearer. From above, a separate set of voices approached. I recognized them as the group of young men who’d forced us out the window earlier.
“President!” Shiratama-san hissed. She clung to my shirt, the color draining from her face.
Talk about a rock and a hard place. We had to run somewhere, and back to the second floor was the preferable option between the two, but then where would we go? I had to get Shiratama-san out of here at least. As long as she—
“E-e-excuse me! H-has anyone seen a c-c-cat run through here?!”
Everyone’s eyes went to the blubbering, shouting girl. It was Komari. And she was doing her damndest, despite the incessant warnings from staff, to block Shiratama’s father’s way.
The man, no less flustered than she, smiled calmly at her. “Just breathe, okay? You’ve lost your cat? I can’t say I’ve seen any, but tell me what I should look out for.”
“I-it has really bad manners and e-eats everything it sees! We have to find it q-quick!”
Was its name Yanami? Joking aside, her distraction was working. Staff started scattering and questioning guests for information.
“I-it went that way!” Komari shouted. “T-to the kitchen! Quick!”
“All right, all right, no need to shove,” the man said.
With Komari’s encouragement, Shiratama’s father and all the staff made for the kitchen. All to find a cat that did not exist. Shockingly, the way was now clear, but the footsteps from above were getting closer.
I grabbed Shiratama-san’s hand, and we dashed. Past guests. Through the door. Past yet more confused guests in the parking lot. Not our most subtle performance, me running with a girl in a wedding dress in tow, but we didn’t have the luxury to care. I was following along the building’s perimeter, making for an alleyway, when Shiratama-san pulled her hand away.
✦ ✦ ✦
“My shoe!” she exclaimed. It had fallen back at the door. But in the time it took me to question whether or not to fetch it, staff were already on our tail. Just because it wouldn’t be fair for things to go too well.
No time to think. I swept Shiratama-san up in my arms and bolted. “President?!”
“Close your eyes! About to hit the hedges!” With her cradled in my arms, I slipped through the gap between buildings. She was heavier than Kaju, but compared to Yanami? I might as well have been hauling pillows.
I barreled through that convenient little hole Asagumo-san had found by pure coincidence. Shiratama-san let out a cute yelp. I kept running.
✦ ✦ ✦
I stared up at the Kirinoki drama club room’s ceiling as my chest heaved up and down. We’d made it. We’d made it, right? I hadn’t actually bothered turning around to check. I just ran. It was a miracle we made it this far, but the miracle had run out. My lungs and legs burned. My back and arms ached.
“Feel free to put me down.”
“Huh?!” Greeting me back on planet Earth was Shiratama-san’s face, right next to mine. I quickly released her. “Sorry. You okay? Hurt anywhere?”
“Not a scratch on me, thanks to you.”
I strained my ears. No sign of pursuers. Just the usual hustle of the sports clubs and the din of the band.
“I think we’re in the clear,” I said.
“Looks like it. We can breathe.” Shiratama-san reached for my head and picked off a leaf.
We were alone in the dim room. Me, and my kouhai in a wedding dress. I backed up, scratching my face. “Only fifteen minutes left. You’d better get changed.”
“Bit of a shame to take it off so soon, isn’t it?” She looked down at it sadly and did a twirl. The sequins twinkled. “How do I look?”
“Um, didn’t you already ask that?”
“I’m asking again.”
She was being oddly forward. I didn’t argue. “You look nice.”
“Elaborate.” She leaned forward and turned her eyes up insistently. No getting out of this until I spelled it out. I’d played my fair share of dating sims.
“Cute. You look cute. There,” I said brusquely. “You got two. No more.”
For some reason, my attitude didn’t dampen her mood. Quite the opposite.
Shiratama-san slowly put her arms up to my shoulders. “Wanna kiss?”
Kiss. Kiss? That thing they did at the end of every rom-com? But that wasn’t right. These days, some rebels went as far as doing it chapter one.
Kiss. Kiss?! Us?! Here?! Now?!
✦ ✦ ✦
I launched myself backward. A little harder than I probably meant to. “Y-you shouldn’t joke about that, Shiratama-san!”
“Do you want to or not?” Her head titled alluringly.
“N-no.”
“What? Really? Okay, I guess.” Her arms fell back to her sides.
Huh. Wait, was she not joking? What? What volume were we on again? My brain couldn’t keep up with this.
She went to the changing area. “Gonna get dressed. I’ll go to the ceremony like a good girl.”
“O-okay.”
No way. Get a grip. Of course it was a joke. What else could it have been? If I’d taken her seriously, all that awaited me would have been a lawsuit. I knew how these things worked.
Shiratama-san glanced back at me as she pulled the curtain aside. “I didn’t think that you were…”
“Huh?! That I’m what?!” My voice cracked.
She giggled. “Such a coward.” Then pulled the curtain shut.