CHAPTER TWO Kenta Is in His Room The day after Kura stuck me with his request, I was heading to the cafeteria at lunch break with Yuuko, Yua, Kazuki, Kaito, Haru, and Nanase. All the popular kids in Year Two, Class Five, in other words. When I looked around, I could see that several new second-years I didn’t know had taken up noisy positions at the tables. Since our school’s cafeteria is kind of small, there’s an unwritten rule that first-years aren’t allowed to sit down to eat, unless they’re super popular. There was no punishment for breaking this rule, of course, but all the first-years tended to stick to it out of an awareness of the school hierarchy. Most of them took their school lunch out to the courtyard or the classroom to eat. As long as they returned their plates and eating utensils, none of the staff cared. So the privilege of being able to eat in the school cafeteria was something new and exciting to a lot of kids who had been first-years only as recently as two weeks ago. As for my group, we had obviously been eating in the cafeteria the whole time, and we were a little taken aback as we were reminded of how it was a year ago. The cafeteria was at its fullest in April, but the numbers tended to taper off around second semester. By the time third semester rolled around, there were a lot of empty seats. We had come straight from class, and yet most of the tables were already filled. The only empty one was located in the farthest corner, which everyone knew was basically permanently reserved for a group of the most popular kids in third year. But that was last year. They were gone now. “Boy, it’s crowded. I guess a lot of first-years felt like cafeteria lunch today.” Yuuko had been mindlessly seating herself in the cafeteria all through first year and hadn’t noticed how unusual that was. Typical Yuuko. Kazuki rolled his eyes. “Uh, no, it’s mostly second-years like us. I’m not asking you to remember names, but you could at least learn to identify faces. You’re gonna make all the boys cry. They’ve been staring at you since you came in. You talk to complete strangers like they’re your best friends; you could at least try to remember who some of them are.” “What? But you’re nice to all the girls, too, Kazuki.” “No, it’s Saku who sweet-talks everyone. I pick and choose.” “Wow, that’s…kinda awful.” “You might see it that way. But sometimes in this world, you have to be cruel to be kind.” “You know, Kazuki, sometimes I have no idea what you’re talking about.” That table’s free, so let’s sit there. Kazuki and Yuuko sat themselves down at the far table, operating on basic logic. The others all joined them and flopped down casually at the table, too. As we settled ourselves down at the sacred table, whose location identified its users as the chosen few, there was a hushed murmur across the cafeteria. As if everyone was thinking, Ah yeah, that checks out. Our group sat down without much ado, but I knew that starting tomorrow this table would always remain empty and waiting for us. And that we would always make sure to choose this table to sit at. It suited me fine. There was no need to scope out a different spot. Thus, the perks of one petty unspoken high school rule had just been inherited by our group. “What’s everyone eating? I’m having the katsudon, jumbo size, obviously!” The dish Haru had just mentioned was popular among the guys in the sports teams. It was pretty calorific. A mountain of white rice soaked in special sauce, then covered with two big pieces of breaded, deep-fried pork drenched in the same sauce. Unless you ordered the jumbo, in which case you got three pieces. By the way, if you order katsudon in Fukui, you get the sauce-soaked version every time. I guess in other prefectures it’s normal to get it served with egg, but in Fukui, if you want egg you gotta ask for “katsudon with egg,” or you’ll be disappointed. But we Fukui-ites rarely order that. I love the stuff. I would totally order it as my last meal. When I was a kid, we took a family trip to Tokyo, and I ordered it at a highway rest area. I got a nasty shock when it arrived dripping with egg. Yua blinked rapidly in response to Haru’s remark as she set down the tray of waters she’d gotten for everyone. “Haru, you sure can eat a lot for someone so skinny. I ordered that last year in the regular size, and I had to give up halfway through. Asano had to finish it for me.” “Whoo! Thanks for the water, Ucchi! But yeah, I can really pack it away. I have breakfast in the morning, then after early club practice, I always eat a rice ball. Then once after-school practice is done, I always pick up a steamed pork bun or a hot dog on a stick at the convenience store. Oh, and then there’s dinner when I get home. I mean, that’s just high school sports club life, though, isn’t it?” Nanase made a face. “Er, no, it’s just you. Normal girls learn to fear the repercussions of that. I’ll order the Fuji Lunch, I guess. With only a small serving of rice and extra salad.” Yua handed Nanase her glass of water. “I think I’ll have the same,” she mumbled. Today’s lunch special was Hamburg steak with grated daikon radish and ponzu sauce. Following strong pressure from the female student body, our school serves extra salad for those who order a smaller portion of rice. Sadly, they rejected the requests of male students who pushed for a “less salad, extra rice” option. Yuuko, meanwhile, always had a decent appetite. “Oh, won’t you be hungry later? I’ll have katsudon as well. Just the normal portion, though.” Nanase raised an eyebrow at this. “Er, what?! I figured you’d be the super-calorie-conscious type, Yuuko. Is tennis club really that much of a hard-core workout?” “Oh, not at all. Sure, we have our medal-hungry maniacs, but a lot of people just play for fun! I’m one of those. Anyway, I don’t really factor my activity levels into what I eat. I just eat whatever I want, whenever I want. I don’t like to over-complicate things!” “Oh my gosh. Ucchi, can we punch her?” For some reason, Nanase nudged Yua, who had just finished distributing the waters. “Oh, I totally get how you feel, Yuzuki-chan! But we can’t allow ourselves to get mad, mon! We gotta rise above, mon!” Who are you, Kumamon? I watched as Nanase and Yua threw their arms around each other in solidarity against some perceived injustice. Female friendships. They’re a beautiful thing. We bought lunch tickets, picked up our orders at the counter, and then returned to the table. Kazuki and I both ordered a dish that was right up there with katsudon on the popularity scale: chilled ramen. Jumbo size, of course. To be honest, it’s just soy-sauce-flavored ramen served cold, and it’s not actually all that good. And yet I found myself addicted to it. The addiction took over a lot of the guy students, but for some reason, girls never ordered it. Just another Fuji High mystery, I guess. “Cheers to our new class!” Yuuko led us all in a toast, and we all cheered as we clinked glasses together. Water glasses, of course. Then, between bites of his pork and rice, Kaito started talking with his mouth full. “So, Yuzuki, Haru, how’d you like your new class? It’s all the same old stuff for us, but you’re transplants from Class Three, right?” Haru was packing it away, too. “It’s only the second day, dude. Anyway, I can adjust to just about anything, so yeah, I’m having fun! Besides, I already knew Chitose and Mizushino from before. And Ucchi and Yuuko are easy to get along with. And I bet we’ll be the group to beat in the inter-class sports tournaments!” Meanwhile, Nanase finished delicately swallowing a bite of her Hamburg steak and put her chopsticks down before speaking. “I feel the same way. But it’s also daunting. There are so many new people I’ve never spoken to before.” “Oh yeah. There are so many people who I’ve never even seen before, either!” Yuuko commented lazily. Kazuki rolled his eyes. “Er, that’s not the same thing. You just have selective amnesia when it comes to people’s faces. As we already discussed.” “Oh, shut up, Kazuki. This afternoon we’ve got math, biology, and English, right? Ugh, I’ve got a headache already. Is it time to go home yet?” I joined in, seamlessly picking up the rhythm of the conversation. “Well, that’s what you get in an elite school.” I paused for a second before continuing. “By the way… Has anyone here ever felt like just not coming to school?” ““Why? All the sports are here,”” Haru and Kaito answered in unison. “All the cute girls are here,” Kazuki added. “Are you okay, Saku?” Yuuko asked. “Are you having a post-puberty crisis?” “All right, all right, I guess I phrased that wrong.” I wanted to face-palm, just a little. I was figuring I could get their opinions on Kenta Yamazaki’s situation in a subtle, sneaky way, but what was the point of asking popular kids about something like that? They were far too popular to relate. Ah, but perhaps I just overestimated their intelligence. Maybe if I simplified the question, they’d handle it a little better. “Okay, so say there was someone who didn’t want to come to school, now, why might that be?” Kaito and Haru answered first. “You mean an absentee student? I don’t really know, but I guess bullying?” “Maybe things aren’t going well in their school club. You know, some of the upperclassmen can be too harsh sometimes. You wouldn’t really call it bullying, but sometimes kids don’t see eye to eye with their teammates.” Both of them had provided uncharacteristically sound arguments. And from the sounds of it, common ones, too. Kazuki offered his own idea, eyes narrowed. “Well, this is an elite school, so maybe they can’t keep up with classes? Maybe the stress of the entrance-exam cramming broke them? This school’s full of kids who were at the top of their class in junior high, then got here and discovered they were actually completely average in comparison. What do you think, Yuuko?” Based on Kura’s intel, I didn’t think that was it. But maybe Yamazaki himself wasn’t happy with his average grades. It was possible. “I think it has to be romance-related! You know, it’s super sad when the person you like doesn’t like you back. Or even worse, flat out rejects you! Or even worse than that—starts dating someone else! I know I wouldn’t want to come to school.” That was a very Yuuko response. Not that I really expected her to be able to fathom why someone might be refusing to attend school, of course. But usually it would be because of friendship issues, problems with schoolwork, or an after-school club, right? The three big things that plague every high school kid to some degree, at some point or other. “Even if they’re skipping school, it doesn’t necessarily mean that school is the source of the trouble.” This hypothesis came from Nanase. “I mean, if something bad happens in your home life, for example, you might not have the willpower left to go to school. You might be too scared to interact with anyone, whether at school or outside it.” I found this concept interesting. We popular kids tended to think of school as the center of the universe, but I guess there were some kids who had other stuff going on. But Yuuko took the opposing stance. “That’s weird, though. If I had something bad going on at home, I’d want to come to school even more so I could see my friends.” “That’s because school is a safe space for you. But some people don’t care much for school to begin with, so they focus on their home life. And then if things go wrong with those relationships at home, it might have a knock-on effect that stops them from wanting to interact with people at school, too.” “I see,” said Yuuko. “So it’s like when your favorite mascara is sold out at the drugstore. You can’t just buy another brand as easy as that. And if people say your makeup sucks, you’ll start overthinking your whole routine, and it’ll become this huge complex!” “…I guess that analogy tracks, technically,” Nanase replied. “I’m gonna give you that one.” Their contributions to the conversation had distracted everyone to the point where no one thought to question why I’d brought up this topic to begin with. Good. Still, all this posturing and conjecture wasn’t getting me anywhere. I was going to have to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. In the meantime, I applied myself to my chilled ramen. Yep. It tasted the same as ever. It was just soy-sauce-flavored ramen. Only cold. “Chitose!” After lunch, we were heading back to the classroom when Nanase called my name. We came to a stop in the hallway. Since we were bringing up the rear anyway, none of the others noticed and just kept on walking. “What’s up?” I asked. “Did you want to separate me from Yuuko and Yua so you could ask me on a date?” “Oh yeah? A surprise attack like that might be good, I guess.” Nanase giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. She didn’t seem flustered or indignant at all. Her hair fell forward in front of her ears in an elfin sort of way, like a fairytale sprite from a children’s story. Man, she was cute. “But right now I have something else I want to talk to you about. That thing you brought up over lunch… Are you having some kind of issue, Chitose?” So she noticed. I mean, it’s weird, isn’t it? Why would a popular kid like me even bring up kids not coming to school? Still, while this mission of Kura’s wasn’t exactly something I wanted to make widespread public knowledge, I didn’t need to go to desperate lengths to hide it from my friends, either. Also, Kura hadn’t told me to keep my mouth shut. That had to mean it was cool for me to talk about it, right? “Kura asked me to do something for him. You noticed we’re missing a student today—and yesterday, too? His name’s Kenta Yamazaki. Apparently, he stopped coming to school around the end of last semester.” “So he wants you to go convince this kid to come back to school? Boy, it’s hard being Mr. Popular, isn’t it?” “Tell me about it. Anyway, I won’t be able to help him if I don’t find out what his damage is, so I’m going to go see him after school. Still, I don’t see how a class prez he hasn’t even met is supposed to convince him.” “Hmm…” Nanase frowned thoughtfully, tapping her chin with one finger. It was sort of a theatrical gesture, but somehow it suited her and made her look even more beautiful. Weird. “I could go with you if you like? I can get my club buddies to cover for me. It might go down better if you bring someone with you, after all.” I knew Nanase and I were birds of a feather. I hadn’t even told her much at all, but she still came to the same conclusion I did. “Thanks, Nanase. But I think you and I are too similar. Things are still in the early stages, and I wanna gather some more info. So I’ve already asked someone else.” “I see. I guess I should butt out. If you’re sure, then okay. But just know you can call on me anytime.” Nanase gave me a cheeky grin. “I go the extra mile for the guys I like.” “…Can I interpret that to mean whatever I’d like it to mean?” “Nope!” “Damn, you’re good!” She made an X with her fingers, and then with a smirk she left, taking her C cups with her. After seventh period, I was waiting by the bike racks when Yua came running out around five minutes late. She didn’t seem to notice me, since she paused for a second, pulled out a compact mirror, and fixed her hair. I smiled a little. “Sorry, did you wait long?” “…Oh no, I just got here. Actually, I lied. I was here half an hour ago, just dying to see you. Tee-hee!” “Wow, now I’m not sorry at all.” Yua gave me a mock scowl, fanning her face with her hand. “All cool with music club?” “Yup. It was a free practice day anyway. I just said I had stuff to take care of.” Last night, when I made that phone call, it was to Yua’s phone. I told her about the situation and asked her to come with me to Yamazaki’s house. I mean, I could have gone alone, but for reasons both good and bad, I tend to stand out. And there are a lot of kids who sneer at the mere mention of the name Saku Chitose. Mostly other guys. …Sob. Anyway, if Yamazaki was one of those guys, there was a high probability I’d be met at the door with a “Whaddaya want, you man-slut shithead?” I think Nanase offered to come with me to prevent something like that from happening. However, Nanase was also school royalty. If Yamazaki was one of those “Die, normies!” kinda types, bringing her with me would be counterproductive. Worst case, he’d be like, “I get it; you two normie scumbags are trying to convince everyone what good people you are, is that your game? Go to hell!” …Wait a minute, who said I have to help this guy again? Anyway, that aside, I couldn’t bring Yuuko with me for similar reasons. And also because she had no filter. So that brings us to Yua. She’s the least standout member of our group, and she doesn’t give off too much of that popular, normie vibe. She gets along well with the mousier girls, too, and she knew how not to get too close too fast without seeming cold. Even people she hadn’t met before tended to like her from the start. And I had another crafty reason for bringing a girl with me, too. I mean, think about it. No guy wants to show his bad side in front of a pretty girl, right? “Saku?” “…It’s a compliment, really, when you think about it, Yua. Being a girl who’s a bit plain, I mean.” “Er, I have no idea what you were just thinking about, but I know it’s something rude. Anyway, Yamazaki’s house is kind of far. How are we gonna get there?” “I’ve gotcha covered. I borrowed Kaito’s bike. He said it’s cool as long as we return it before club practice ends.” Yua and I walked to and from school since we liked the riverbank path, but most kids at our school—most kids in Fukui Prefecture, really—travel to high school by bicycle. The only ones who don’t are the ones who live pretty close to school or those who live so far away they’ve gotta take the train. And I have to add, Kaito’s choice of the classic granny bike didn’t mean he was uncool. For some reason, every kid in Fukui has a granny bike as his or her ride of choice, rather than a mountain bike or hybrid. As a fun fact, every guy in Fukui, regardless of height, lowers his bike seat down to its lowest setting. “But I don’t have a bicycle.” “We’ll ride double. It’s a granny bike, so there’ll be plenty of room.” I unlocked Kaito’s bike and was fiddling with the seat as I spoke. “But what if a police officer sees us? They’ll tell us to get off.” “Listen, Yua. Riding double with a girl on a bicycle is a rite of passage for every high school boy. I know, I know, it’s dangerous, it’s frowned upon, it’s technically illegal, and people get all heated about it on online forums. But don’t you think it sucks to bash people where they can’t defend themselves? Kura said something super philosophical about that the other day.” “Yeah, and we all know that Mr. Iwanami’s personal life is a colossal disaster…” Huh, she had a point. Still, that was no reason to be deterred. “Well, I for one think it’s sad we might graduate never having participated in the classic high school custom of riding double on a bike. Anyway, if anyone gets mad at us, all we have to do is apologize.” “Well, that’s not really the issue that’s holding me up…” “Actually, when you think about it, the combined weight of two passengers on a bike has to slow you down, so it’s totally safer. And the brakes have been recently serviced. As long as we go at a nice steady pace, we’ll be way safer than we would be on a racing bicycle. And we can get off and push whenever there’s a lot of pedestrians around.” “It won’t be that heavy. I didn’t have a big lunch today, after all.” Yua pouted and sat down on the bike’s rear luggage rack, legs to one side. “Kaito’s bike has one of those footrests that stick out of the back wheel where the chain is, see? You’ll be more comfortable if you put your feet there, on either side of the bike. It’ll be easier to sit on the luggage rack that way, too.” Adding one of those footrests to a bicycle was an easy customization and made it much more comfortable for a passenger to sit behind the rider on the bike. Popular kids in Fukui have been adding footrests to their bicycles since way back, and recently the trend had seen something of a revival. “I am not doing that in this skirt.” “Well, it’s your call. But you’d better hold on tight to my shoulders or waist, or it’ll be dangerous.” “Huh?” Yua looked intimidated for a few moments, then she reluctantly reached out and grasped my shoulders with her fingertips. “You don’t have to touch me like I’m a dirty dishrag.” All this prevaricating was getting us nowhere. I grabbed Yua’s hands and repositioned them to hold my shoulders more firmly. Her fingers felt slimmer than I had imagined and were cool to the touch. Her grip on my shoulders was surprisingly strong now, too. It kinda hurt. Slowly, easily, I started pedaling. We headed off down the narrow side street that ran in the opposite direction to the river path. There weren’t any students out and about here. It wasn’t even close to getting dark yet, but for some reason, there was no one around. We rode for around ten minutes before we came out onto a wider road, and the town disappeared on us. To the left and right, there were only rice fields. You’ve never seen such a quintessential Fukui countryside scene. The fields were still brown and a bit sad, but come next month, they’d be filled with shallow water, rippling pleasantly in the warm May winds. “Your back…” Yua finally loosened up on her death grip and said something. “Your back, Saku… It’s much wider and more muscular than I thought… Very masculine.” “Well, I used to be the best baseball player in the prefecture, you know. You may not believe me, but I’ve always ranked first during the school athletic tests, ever since elementary school. I even beat out Kaito and Kazuki.” “I know. I saw one of your games out on the athletic field last summer, from the classroom window. I was having band practice.” “Before we became the great buddies we are now? Have you always been a secret fan of mine, Yua?” “…Hmm, maybe I have.” Then, hesitantly, as if fumbling about in the dark, Yua switched her grip from my shoulders to my waist. It tickled a little, but I faced front and kept pedaling at the same pace and cadence so it didn’t show. “Is something on your mind, Saku?” “Yeah. I’m thinking about how best to execute a sudden tactical brake so I can get some boob-to-back action.” “…” “I apologize, I apologize. Can you please stop squeezing my jugular?” “You are such a jerk.” Huffing, Yua put her arms around my waist again. “I know, I know, but never mind me. We’re here to help Kenta Yamazaki. Did you have any ideas while we were all discussing things at lunch?” “Hmm, I thought about it, but without any hints to go on, it’s impossible to guess what could be wrong. I guess we just have to press ahead and ask him ourself.” “I think you mean ourselves.” We arrived at Yamazaki’s house with some help from my phone’s GPS. It was just a boring, ordinary house with a tiled roof. It wasn’t particularly new, but it wasn’t particularly old, either. It was probably built in the eighties. You can’t walk fifty meters in any direction in Fukui without seeing at least one house like this. (In the suburban areas, at least.) It had a faded wooden nameplate on the gate that said YAMAZAKI. I let Yua off in front of the house, then parked the bike at the end of the bike rack. Yua shot me a “What now?” sort of look. Without hesitation, I went up to the door and rang the doorbell. Ding-dong. I could hear the doorbell ringing inside the house. I quickly fastened the top button of my shirt and straightened my tie. Then I grabbed Yua’s hand and made her stand beside me. We stood there for around ten seconds before we heard a voice from inside. “…Hello?” the person asked suspiciously. “Hello! I’m Saku Chitose, a friend of Kenta’s. We’re in the same class in second year. I’m going to be class president this year, so I brought some class handouts for him!” I was polite, but not so polite as to sound phony. I faced the security camera and gave it my best “Trust me” smile. At the same time, I gently whacked Yua on the back, where the camera couldn’t see, cueing her to speak, too. “Hello, I’m Yua Uchida. Kenta hasn’t been coming to school lately, so we were a bit worried and wanted to see if he was feeling okay!” Classic Yua. She was a little more reserved and polite than I was, but with a friendly, caring air. Yes, yes, that’s why I brought you, Yua! “Oh my, to go to such trouble…! Hold on just a second!” We could hear a commotion inside, with plenty of rustling and clanking. Then we heard footsteps running to the door. It sounded like Yamazaki’s mom was doing a rush-job cleanup. “Thank you for waiting! I’m Kenta’s mother.” The face that appeared at the door belonged to a woman in her late forties. She was slim, in a bony sort of way. The skin on her cheeks and the backs of her hands looked worn-out, and her hair was peppered with gray streaks and seemed to have been hastily smoothed down. She looked us both up and down as if appraising us quickly, then refocused her gaze on our faces. “We’re sorry for the sudden intrusion. Is this a bad time?” I bowed politely to Mrs. Yamazaki, giving her the old winning smile. Beside me, Yua lowered her head as well. “Oh my, of course not! I apologize for the mess, but please do come in.” Mrs. Yamazaki’s voice had gone up two octaves as she ushered us in and gave us both a pair of slippers. I figured one octave was because she was stunned to discover that her son really did seem to have friends who gave a damn, and the other was because it was obvious to anyone that Yua and I were probably two of the best-looking kids in our school. It’s handy being attractive at times like this. You can bypass the whole process of earning people’s trust after you meet them. They just give it to you. And while parents tend to recoil when teachers pay home visits, their kid’s friends don’t have that same intimidating effect. So it was no surprise that Mrs. Yamazaki was being so welcoming. I guess that’s another reason why Kura put me up to this. She showed us into the living room, and we sat down on the sofa. Mrs. Yamazaki then served us black tea, from teabags and not leaves. Yua asked for milk in hers, but I had mine straight. “Ah, before I forget. Here are the handouts we got today.” I pulled out a bunch of handouts I’d gotten from Kura. Mrs. Yamazaki took them, sighing as she scanned them quickly. “I’m really sorry for all the trouble my son is causing…” I ignored her, folding my hands solemnly in my lap and clearing my throat hesitantly. “How is Kenta, though? We’ve all been worried. We weren’t sure how to reach out, and then time just kept marching on… I really wish we could have come sooner.” “You’re so sweet to be concerned. But I don’t even know what to say to him myself, to be honest with you.” Mrs. Yamazaki lifted her head and looked at me. “But the important thing is that Kenta has friends like you, who care. As his mother, I’m so happy to know that. I always worry that he’s all alone at school.” I’d heard he had “friends with mutual interests” at school, so it wasn’t like him being alone and friendless was the problem. I bet his so-called friends didn’t turn heads when they walked down the hallways like we did, though. “So Kenta won’t even talk to you, his mother? About, uh, the reason why he won’t come to school?” Yua spoke hesitantly. “It’s embarrassing to admit, but he never tells me anything. He just suddenly announced in January of this year that he didn’t want to go anymore, and then he locked himself up in his room. I put trays of food outside his door at meal times, and he does eat them, so at least there’s that. And I can tell he’s been roaming around the house while I’m out shopping—or late at night when everyone’s asleep.” “It’s a relief to know he’s eating properly.” The atmosphere was getting more and more depressing, but Yua was trying to keep it light. “I’m really sorry… Oh, for a cute young girl like you to have to concern herself with this…” Yua looked guilty all of a sudden, so I quickly jumped in. “But you know, for kids our age, there’s nothing more embarrassing than telling your troubles to your parents. So it makes sense he hasn’t confided in you. I’d be more worried about him if he spent every day putting everything on you.” I kept my tone light and easy-breezy. “You…you may be right. He’s my own son, but I don’t understand him at all…” “Well, that’s no surprise. We don’t know ourselves at this age, you know? But would you allow us to try to talk to Kenta? If possible, just us two. If you’re nearby, he might not want to talk.” “Oh, I was just about to ask if you’d talk to him. But I have to warn you, he may be very rude to you as well. When his teacher came by the other day, he said, ‘I’m not interested! Get rid of him!’…” “My apologies for saying so, but a teacher is just like a parent. There are some things high schoolers can only admit to other high schoolers, you know? He might be rude to us, too, but we won’t give up. We’ll keep coming back. I want to graduate with Kenta, all of us together. So would you be okay letting us handle this situation and not saying anything more about it yourself?” Mrs. Yamazaki gasped and nodded, eyes filling with tears. …Hook, line, and sinker. “…You could be a scam artist.” As we headed up the stairs to Yamazaki’s room on the second floor, Yua hissed at me. “Wow, that’s mean. I didn’t tell a single lie.” “You said we’re his friends.” “That was just common sense to win her over.” “You said we’ve been worried about him.” “I have. Ever since yesterday at lunch. I actually wish we’d come earlier. The situation seems very dire.” “You said we’d keep coming back! You said you want to graduate with him!” “I do. ’Cause otherwise, Kura is never gonna let me off the hook.” “Saku, did your mother never teach you about how you shouldn’t talk back?” We reached the second floor and stopped outside the door at the end of the short hallway. Yua gave me another “What now?” look, but I just knocked on the door. Knock, knock, knock. Three slow knocks. I had gotten his mother to tell me the kind of knock she usually used. A pair of unfamiliar voices calling out all of a sudden might give the guy a heart attack. Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. I waited a few seconds before repeating the knock. Knock, knock, knock. “Shut up! I can hear you! What do you want?!” An answer finally came after the fourth knock. “Hey, man. It’s Saku Chitose from Year Two, Class Five. We’re in the same class, right, Yamazaki? ’Sup, homeroom homie? Our new teacher, Mr. Iwanami, asked me to bring you some handouts. But since I’m here, you feel like talking?” I started off light and casual. After a few moments, the voice from the room barked a very confused “What?!” “Saku…Chitose?” He sounded like he was still trying to process what was going on. He and I had never even spoken before, so this must have been very out of the blue for him. “What? Why? Why are you here, you man-slut shithead?” Welp. Time to murder him. I lifted my foot to kick the door in, but Yua grabbed me. “Chill out.” She whispered in my ear, giving me some of that boob-to-back action I’d been joking about on the bike. I put my foot down quickly. “Yamazaki, hi,” she said. “I’m Yua Uchida, I’m in Class Five with you this year, too. Sorry to show up so suddenly like this. When we heard you hadn’t been to school in a while, we were both worried…” “Uchida…? Aren’t you one of Chitose’s harem skanks?” …Hey, Yua? That saxophone of yours is a fine instrument, meant for bringing joy to music lovers with its sophisticated sound. It is not a weapon meant for bludgeoning a certain potty-mouthed shut-in to death. Okay? “Chill out,” I whispered in her ear, restraining her. “I don’t agree with your descriptions of us, but yeah, we’re the Chitose and Uchida you’re thinking of. Anyway, instead of shouting through the door, why don’t you open it? It’s okay; we’re not here to lecture you about coming back to school or anything.” “What? I’ve got nothin’ to say to a pair of dirty normies like you. Are you kidding me right now? Chitose, you dragged a girl here to win points with her by pretending to care about poor, underprivileged me? I bet the teacher forced you to come here, and you’re hating every second of it!” Hate to say it, but he was right on the money. Ah, but things were also going exactly as I expected. Disappointing, really. “I’d be lying if I said the teacher wasn’t involved in this at all, but that’s not the main reason we’re here. We just wanna talk, Yamazaki. You know a lot about anime and light novels, right? Recently, I’ve started getting into that stuff, too.” “Oh, here we go. A normie dips his toes into the world of otaku culture and thinks he’s sooo cultured and original! I bet you’ve never seen any anime that wasn’t some mainstream movie! Okay, if you’re really so interested, tell me which of these titles you’ve read!” Then Kenta began reeling off a long list of titles like he was chanting some kind of curse. I caught a few of them: In the School Social Order, I’m Right at the Bottom! and I’m an Otaku Geek with a Hot Girlfriend! Honestly, I hadn’t heard of any of them, but I wasn’t sure if they were even real titles or if he was being sarcastic. “…Sorry, no dice. I guess to you I would be a bandwagon jumper. You know them, Uchida?” I looked at Yua, but she shook her head. “Sorry, Yamazaki. I don’t really know much about light novels. I haven’t read any of those. But they do sound interesting; could you maybe lend me some?” “Uh… I don’t think a popular, normie girl like you would enjoy them.” Yamazaki had been a complete jerk through this whole conversation, but now he seemed to have remembered that he was talking to a girl—and a cute one at that. And Yua was being super polite, so perhaps that had disarmed him somewhat. “Oh really? Well, I’ve read a few of the more popular boys’ manga. I’d like to see your bookshelves, Yamazaki!” “Uh, no… My room’s a mess…” “Then let’s chat through the door like this. If that makes it easier for you, I don’t mind at all!” “Uh, but I don’t know what the bubbly kids like to talk about.” I was glad he’d simmered down some, but we were still just going around in circles here. “Actually, I’m more low-key compared to Chitose. I wish I was better at making conversation, too, but I tend to go blank, heh. Sorry I’m not a better conversationalist, Yamazaki.” “Uh, no… From what I’ve seen of you at school, you’re a total girly-girl normie.” “You think so? Maybe I’m just surrounded by people who stand out that way? But it sounds like you’re the type who prefers time to yourself over rowdy groups, right?” “Uh…yeah.” “I envy you. You have the peace and quiet to really get absorbed in your interests.” Up until now, I’d been leaving the talking up to Yua, but I had to interject. “Yamazaki, I’m glad you and Yua seem to have hit it off. How about if just the two of you chat for a while? No need to hold back. Yua and I hang out so often we have nothing to talk about these days anyway.” “…Are you kidding me? Could you be any more of a supercilious dick? ‘Here’s my woman, you can borrow her for a while’…? I don’t want one of the used sluts from your harem anyway!” “Ah, my bad, man. I didn’t mean it like that. Oh well, never mind.” Actually, I totally did mean it like that. I was baiting him on purpose. Another sucker. Like mother, like son. Anyway, listening to their conversation gave me some ideas as to what might be the root cause behind Yamazaki’s abnormality. Meanwhile, Yua was about ready to hit me with her sax for that little offer I just made, so it was about time to call it. “All right, well, we’re leaving now. We’ll come back again next week.” “Don’t ever come to my house again, you shithead man-slut.” Oh, I’ll be back, all right! And next time, I’ll bring my baseball bat! We told Yamazaki’s mom he wouldn’t open up to us after all, either, and left after receiving her profound thanks anyway. We also let her know we’d be back next week. Outside, I looked up at Yamazaki’s window, figuring he would probably be watching us. But the curtains remained drawn. Then we headed back to school to return Kaito’s bike. “So what do you think, Yua? Did you glean anything interesting from your conversation with him?” “Honestly, it cracked me up to hear him call you a shithead man-slut. But how dare he call me a harem slut!” “Yeah, it would have maybe made more sense the other way around, right? …Ack! Stop! I told you—don’t squeeze my jugular!” Yua let go and refastened her arms around my waist. “Honestly, though, I didn’t really get a very positive impression of him. I don’t like to label people this way, but it was so obvious from our conversation that I can’t help it. He’s like the most stereotypical otaku you’ve ever seen, isn’t he? I mean, obviously he’s going through something, but that’s no excuse to be so nasty and rude to someone he’s never even met before.” “Yeah, I agree.” Personally, I was used to it. But Yua had not yet experienced an unprovoked attack from someone she barely knows. It’s par for the course when you’re a member of the in crowd, but it doesn’t feel great. Still, she held up well under the circumstances. “Did you notice anything, Saku?” “Hmm, yes, something very important. He hates my guts.” “Yeah, I kinda picked up on that.” “Waahhhhh…” I pretended to bawl like a baby. Yua unhooked one arm from around my waist and thumped me on the back soothingly. “There, there. You’ve still got your looks, Saku.” “Nice save. Very classic.” I couldn’t see Yua’s face, but it sounded like she was stifling a laugh. The squeaking of the old bike’s wheels sounded like laughter, too. The setting sun was dying the clouds all kinds of colors—from apricot pink, to deep orange, to burnt sienna, and then finally indigo blue. It went through a whole spectrum. Beautiful, like something out of a movie. The shadows of the boy and girl riding double on the bicycle grew longer, too. They stretched into eternity—or at least into the rice fields. The textbook young-love scene. That was like something out of a movie, too. It felt like Yua and I could keep riding forever, never stopping, going wherever the road took us. One Tuesday around a week after my first visit to Kenta Yamazaki’s house, I was chilling by the bike rack after school, waiting. My upper eyelids were playfully kissing my lower ones, like tentative lovers. Then they started smooching. What I’m trying to say is that I was tired. “Saku!” Ah, here came Yuuko, D cups a-jiggling, one arm waving, her high voice snapping me awake. If any other guys caught a glimpse of this scene…Yuuko running joyfully to meet me…they would want to kill me. In fact, they’d immediately start plotting my demise. Death by fire? Water? An anvil to the head? What would be best? “Thanks for agreeing to come with.” “Not at all! Anything for you, Saku! So all we’re going to do is convince this Ken-something Yama-what’sit to come back to school, right?” “It’s Kenta Yamazaki. Don’t act like such an airhead.” I’d been mulling it over and asked Yuuko to come along this time. After explaining the gist of it to her, of course. Yua was nice and all that, but that was exactly why I couldn’t keep using her as my partner in this little endeavor. Last time had made that clear. Before, my objective was to gather information. So bringing Yua along had been the right decision. But now I needed a cunning strategy going forward. If I was going toe-to-toe with that twisted, complicated, broody guy, I needed a clear display of power. To borrow Kura’s words, I’m great at analyzing a situation and acting accordingly. “It’s too far to walk, so I borrowed Kaito’s bike.” “Oh, you did? Cool, cool!” Without a moment’s hesitation, Yuuko hopped onto the bike in a standing position, feet on the hub steps, hands gripping my shoulders. “Tallyho!” “Hey, have some dignity. You can’t stand up in a skirt that short. Everyone will see your panties.” “Oh, but this is how riding double works! Anyway, what do I care if some randos see my underwear?” “If you’re that cool with showing them off, perhaps I could have a glance?” “No, you don’t get to look, Saku. You’re special.” “Usually the special ones get to see.” “Only when the timing is special, too.” Ah, Yuuko, sneaky, sneaky. I kicked away the bike stand, and we set off with Yuuko yelling “Wahoo!” and “Put the pedal to the metal!” Then she suddenly leaned forward, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. I could smell her sweet body spray and feel her impossibly silky hair against my cheek. She was giving me serious boob-to-back action, too. Please stop that, Miss. Or I’ll never be able to get off this bike. “You don’t smell as sweaty compared to last year.” Yuuko’s voice was right in my ear. “Yeah, ’cause I quit baseball club.” “Aw, boo! I used to like your post-sports stink. And I wanted to have more chances to cheer you on at games.” Yuuko sat down on the luggage rack, probably tired from standing. This time, she put her arms around my waist. Because of my blazer, I didn’t get to feel the softness of her cheek pressing against my back. “So, Yuuko, after hearing about Kenta Yamazaki, do you have any ideas?” “Uh, I’m not good at stuff like that. I don’t even know. But you’ll figure it out somehow, Saku! You’re my hero, after all!” “Hmm. Well, all I want you to do is just say whatever comes into that pretty head of yours. I’ll follow your cues.” “Sure thing.” What does it take to be considered a hero? And is that something you have to keep living up to your whole life through? I mulled it over as Kenta Yamazaki’s house appeared in the distance, growing closer and closer. Knock, knock, knock, knock. No point emulating Yamazaki’s mom’s knock this time. I just rapped on Yamazaki’s bedroom door the way I normally would. Speaking of his mom, apparently Yamazaki told her, “Those freaks are not my friends. Don’t let them in next time.” But clearly, Mrs. Yamazaki trusted in the power of school friendship over the words of her own son. We told her she could leave it all to us. Oh yeah, she wanted to be off the hook. She’d balked a little at first when I showed up with Yuuko, a girl twice as beautiful and showy as Yua. But with her natural charms, Yuuko soon won her over, and before long, it was like watching a loving aunt coo over her very own niece. “Yamazaki, it’s Chitose again. I told you I’d be back this week, remember?” There was no response from beyond the door. Actually, to be more precise, there was a sudden silence from beyond the door. “Uh, maybe the silent treatment would work if we didn’t know if you were in there, but we know you never leave this room, so what’s the point? But fine, if you’re not going to talk to me, I’ll just entertain you instead by rapping the Heart Sutra! I’ve gotten kind of into it lately. Ready? Yo, yo!” Shut-in or not, the kid was still a student of the elite Fuji High. He would know what the Heart Sutra was. Then I heard him speak, sounding crabbier than ever before. “…Shut up. I told her not to let you in. You seriously came back?” “Ouch. We’re your friends. We’re worried about you. Or at least, that’s what your mom thinks.” “So you used your pretty-boy face to charm my mom, huh? Of course she’d believe whatever crap you told her over her own son. Is…is Uchida out there?” Ah, so she’s graduated from “Chitose’s Harem Slut” to “Uchida,” has she? Yua, you really tugged on the guy’s heartstrings. I bet he’s been mentally replaying that precious five minutes of chitchat with you all week long. Still, too bad. Have to get on with things. “No, Yua had music club and couldn’t come.” “…See? You popular normie jerks are all like that. She only came to win points with you. Then she got bored and dropped it. I freaking knew that would happen.” Yamazaki was sulking. Ah, he was so easy to read. Made my job a lot simpler. “Yua’s not like that. She really was worried about you. If she didn’t have club, she would have come for sure. But today I brought a different girl with me.” Yuuko took a step closer to the door. “Hello! I’m Yuuko Hiiragi; we’re in the same class. I heard you’re skipping school? That’s not good. You okay?” Her voice was perky and lighthearted, a total sucker punch. “…” There was a long pause of about ten to fifteen seconds. “…H-Hiiragi?! That Hiiragi?! Queen Skank of the Chitose Harem? What’s your game, bringing a floozy like that here? You trying to show off to your groupies?!” He was underestimating me and how popular I was with girls. I knew I was hot stuff, and I sure didn’t need to assert dominance over a little shut-in like him to prove it. Also, I was embarrassed for him. No one uses terminology like floozy, harem, or groupies in real life. Unless they’re trying to be ironic. “…Saku, what’s a harem skank? What’s a floozy?” “When he says harem skank, he means close, personal female friend. And a floozy is, uh, a loose woman, I guess.” Yuuko and I were whispering together. “Hey! I’ll admit to being a harem skank, but I draw the line at floozy! I’m only loose for Saku, got it?” Well, that’s good to hear! Kenta Yamazaki did not like this. “Yeah, you’ve gotta say that in front of Chitose. But everyone talks about you. You’ve done it with that Mizushino kid and that Asano kid from your group, too!” “I have not! Kazuki and Kaito are my good friends! Saku’s the only one I might date. Anyway, who is ‘everyone’? Tell me. Explain yourself!” “Everyone is…everyone. The whole school was talking about it.” “I need names. If there are too many, then just tell me the name of the person you heard it from directly. So. Who told you?” “…I don’t remember. But there’s no smoke without fire. No slut rumors without slutting.” “Let’s talk about you, then. You’re a sweaty, shut-in high school no-show, obsessed with anime and light novels! I bet you’re a pedo! See, I can make up nasty rumors, too! Now, why don’t you open that door and show your face? We came all the way here; it’s the least you can do!” Yamazaki fell silent. Yuuko was giving it to him straight and undiluted, and what’s worse, she had a point. He didn’t really have a leg to stand on. If only he could own up to his flaws, there might be hope for him yet. “Don’t push your normie values on me. I didn’t ask you to come talk to me. I’m not bothering anyone anyway, so just leave me alone!” “Uh, no. You are bothering a lot of people. You’re bothering your poor mom and dad, your old homeroom teacher, your current homeroom teacher, Kura, Ucchi last week, and now me! Everyone’s worried about you; everyone’s trying to help you and taking time out of their busy lives to come and see you!” Yuuko paused for breath before continuing. “And the person you’re bothering most of all with your sulking and skulking in your room is our new class president, Saku! If you really don’t want to bother others or have anyone else worrying about you, then get your ass back to school, get your ass back to class, and freakin’ graduate!” Finish him, Yuuko! This was excellent entertainment. I wish I’d brought up some of Mrs. Yamazaki’s tea for refreshment. She’d upgraded to tea leaves since my last visit. But Yamazaki himself still wasn’t backing down. “Say what you like, but everything you’re doing is really for your precious Chitose, isn’t it? You and Uchida might be here to win points with him, but you don’t give a damn about me, do you? This is why people hate you!” “Uh, excuse me, what’s wrong with caring for a friend? I came here because my friend Saku asked me to. That’s what you do when you have friends; you want to help them out! So yeah, I do want to ‘win points,’ if that’s how you wanna put it. If Saku wasn’t the one who asked, you really think I’d be here trying to convince some nobody I’ve never met to come back to school? What do I care?!” “See? See? You normie scum rely on trampling us geeks to claw your way to the top of the hierarchy. Then you only pretend to care to make yourselves look virtuous! Once you’ve won points with whoever you’re trying to impress, you drop us!” “Ugh, you’re impossible to have a conversation with! Like I literally just said! What the heck is wrong with that? Everyone wants to put on their best self when they’re around someone they like! And I’m not gonna lead other guys on when I’ve got a boyfriend!” Yuuko had her face pressed up against the door, scowling with fury, probably picturing the guy she was arguing with. “What I’m saying is: Don’t pretend like you’re interested in them in the first place! Being nice to guys will give them the wrong idea! Then you laugh with all your buddies, like, whoops, I was only being nice, and then he fell in love with me! Just leave us the hell alone! And you’re being played, yourself! You think Chitose likes you? Hah! He’s like that with all the girls! Including Uchida!” “What’s that? So you’re admitting that a girl was nice to you once, and then in all your pimply, inexperienced glory you asked her out, and she turned you down? That’s it? If you think it’s only okay to be nice to people you’re romantically interested in, you’re never gonna make any friends, you know!” “I didn’t…say that…” Ah, it was all making sense now. The reason why none of his friends at school knew what was wrong with him. He had fallen for a girl outside of school. A girl who was actually popular, and he lost her to a guy who was equally popular. Yuuko shot me a glance, then faced the door again. “Also, I know that Saku is nice to all the girls, and that a lot of them like him! But it’s not just girls—he’s nice to everyone! I admire that about him! That’s why all I want is to be his number one someday! If he ended up dating another girl, yeah, I’d be crushed. Maybe I’d even take some time off school. But it would just show that I didn’t end up being the type of girl he likes! That wouldn’t be his fault for being nice to me, though! I’d never blame him, not even for one second!” “…” Kenta Yamazaki had fallen silent. Ah, I really did make the best decision bringing Yuuko here. Last week when I left this house, I had two options open to me. The first was to continue to wear the mask of niceness with Yua at my side and keep coming by week after week until he finally opened his heart to us. Once he let us in, Yua would soothe him and cajole him back to school. Based on what I’d just seen, I’d give it about a 20 percent chance of success. The other option was to find the root of the problem and deal with it directly. Classic and clear-cut, if also extremely annoying. The first way would be effective, yes. And low effort. But it would have only been a makeshift solution. He probably would have gotten fixated on Yua, confessed his love to her, and then been shot down in a sweaty mess of pubescent disillusionment. And using Yua as bait that way…just wasn’t a very beautiful solution to me. I had chosen the second option. But that required getting our shut-in friend to spill his guts. Yua and I, working in tandem, could have pulled it off (maybe), but it would be time-consuming. I needed Yuuko to cut through the bullshit. It was obvious Yamazaki had a chip on his shoulder about “normies” and popular kids. My bringing Yua seemed to get him really steamed, especially when I was being ultra-nice to him in front of her. He hated that. I figured that if I brought the school princess herself, Miss Popularity Yuuko, with me, she would enrage old Yamazaki until he blew up and spilled his guts in a blaze of self-pitying vitriol. But to be honest, I never expected it to go quite this well. “Yuuko, calm down. I understand how you feel, but you should take a step back, go downstairs, and pull yourself together. I’ll talk to Kenta.” I gave Yuuko a “That’ll do” kind of smile and dropped her a wink for good measure. She gave me a billion-dollar smile back, plus a saucy wink of her own. I watched as Yuuko clattered down the stairs, and then I called out to Yamazaki. “All right, I see what the situation is now. But I think I can help you.” “…Oh, is this the part where the generous, popular normie helps out the geeky, lovelorn otaku? Spare me! How dare you look down on me like that!” Goodness, what a pill he was being. When you start feeling like people are looking down on you, perhaps you should start by asking yourself if it’s not just because you’re looking up at them. Hmm? “Anyway, can you open the door? This whole shouting-back-and-forth thing is getting old. Come down and have tea with your mom and Yuuko. Your mom will supply the teacups, and Yuuko will supply the D cups, if you get what I’m sayin’.” “Go die! I’m never opening this door.” “Never? No matter what?” “I just told you: I ain’t openin’ it! Get lost, you slutty man-whore shithead!” …I think I’ve earned the right to get a little angry by now, wouldn’t you say? I went next door into what looked like the parents’ bedroom. Then I stepped out onto the balcony, which connected to Yamazaki’s. The curtains were closed tight in his room. I tried the window, but it was clearly locked. Guess I made the right choice bringing you with me after all, eh? I removed my metal baseball bat from the carry bag I had slung over my shoulder. The weight of it in my hands felt nice and familiar, and the grip was just right. The balcony itself wasn’t very wide, so I didn’t have enough room for a full swing, but… Batter up. Player number nine, Chitose. Sorry to have to use you for something like this, old friend. I stretched my arms out in front, then readied the bat. I focused on my target. It was the same routine I’d done so many times when I stepped into the batter’s box. I counted to three, loosened up, then swung the bat with all my might. Crash!!! Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle… The crash was much more muted than I’d been expecting. And the sound of the breaking glass was almost musical. And thus ended the life of Yamazaki’s faithful window glass. It didn’t come close to knocking a ball into the outfield, but still, that felt good. I did feel a little bad for the glass. I hope you get reincarnated as one of those glass marbles you find in old-fashioned soda bottles, to someday meet the lips of a young, fresh, high school beauty like Yuuko, I thought to myself. “What. The. Hell?!” A half-hysterical yell came from inside the room. Understandable. I’d be taken aback, too, if someone busted their way in through my bedroom window. The drama was warranted. Careful not to cut my arm on the jagged pieces remaining in the frame, I reached through and unlocked the sliding door. Then I pushed it open, parted the curtains, and stepped carefully into the room, bat slung over my shoulder. “You’re completely crazy! This is a criminal act! You’re a criminal!” I shrugged, unfazed by his dramatic reaction. “Oh, don’t you know the song? ‘Laugh Maker’? By the band Bump of Chicken? ‘You can’t be serious! I hear the window on the other side break as you take an iron pipe with a tearful face. I’ve come here to bring you a smile.’ It’s a sweet song. Kind of an oldie now, though. I’ll play it for you sometime.” “What the hell are you talking about?! Are you for real right now? What is wrong with you?!”
Chapter 6
51 min read