Chapter 129

Rehearsals for the play had begun during the break. It seemed like quite a lot of preparation time for a play set to open in December. “It’s the same for everyone in every club,” Fushimi said quickly. Her voice was cold. It was rare to see her make that expression at school. Her attitude was probably due to the two of them being childhood friends. “You’ve got it so good, Hina… Now that you’re done with filming for the school festival, you get to laze around every day. I wish I had time to relax.” Himeji shook her head despairingly, but this was all just an act meant to further provoke Fushimi. “Just quit, then.” “It is my job, and I refuse to give up.” “Well, okay.” Fushimi turned away sulkily, her cheeks all puffed out. “Himeji, please,” I said. “Quit it, already.” I knew she was just trying to get back at the other girl. It had all begun when Fushimi, who was more experienced, helped Himeji with her acting during filming for the school festival. Fushimi had been arrogant and rude, and Himeji still held a grudge over it. “As usual, you always choose her over me.” Himeji pouted and pulled her desk away from mine. “That’s not—” Just as I was trying to defend myself, Torigoe came over, weaving her way through the new gap. “Hey, there. Arguing first thing in the morning, huh?” she said, looking fed up. “Yo,” I said, returning the greeting, then motioned for her to sit in an empty seat whose owner had yet to arrive. “I’ve done nothing, by the way. It’s all between Fushimi and Himeji.” “That’s your problem—you do nothing,” Torigoe said, sitting down. “Good morning, Shii!” Fushimi smiled and waved. “Morning, Hiina.” Her full name was Shizuka Torigoe—hence, Shii. Mana’s nickname is more accurate, though, I thought as I watched them talk. She looks more like a Shizu than like a Shii. “How did your film turn out?” Torigoe asked. “I’m content with my work, but I’m not sure the judges will find it interesting.” “Show it to me sometime.” “Sure. I could send you the file.” I could feel Fushimi staring at us. “Oh, okay… Actually, no. If you don’t mind, I’ll drop by your house…” Torigoe cast a quick glance at Fushimi. “Sure, if you’d prefer,” I said. “You coming, too, Fushimi?” Fushimi gently shook her head. Her swaying hair gave off the clean scent of her shampoo. “No, I’ll watch it another time.” Strange. Fushimi was usually adamant about getting a look at stuff like this. “Can I come over today after school?” Torigoe asked. “Are you free?” I nodded. “Man, I’m starting to get nervous.” “Oh right—it’ll be your first time watching something that’s all done.” The school festival film was still in the editing stages, so this would be my first time showing someone a final version of something I’d made. “So you really managed to finish it,” Torigoe said, as if confirming. “I would’ve had more time if it weren’t for our hellish amount of homework.” “That’s your fault for not doing it sooner.” Fushimi pouted. “I still can’t believe I wound up finishing all the assignments on time as a result.” “What do you mean?” said Fushimi, chuckling. “That’s what you should’ve done in the first place.” Torigoe smiled, too. Then Waka, our homeroom teacher, quickly greeted the class and took us to the school gym for the opening ceremony. “Takayan, Takayan.” Deguchi tapped my shoulder, and I turned around. He was the only guy in class I could call my friend. His eyes were just as narrow as they’d been before break. “What happened to the video of the beach trip?” he asked. I’d promised him I would put together a video of the time we all went to the beach together. I’d completely forgotten. “Sorry, I’ve been busy with other things.” “No worries. But keep in mind,” he said with a grin, “I might treat you to a meal, depending on how well it turns out…” He must have been really excited about it. I knew he was hoping for a lot of bikini shots of the girls, but I was going to give everyone a copy, so I wouldn’t be making any weird edits or anything. No meal was worth risking the girls’ judgment, as far as I was concerned. Sorry, Deguchi. After the ceremony, we headed back to the classroom. Normally, students spent this time deciding what to do for the school festival. But since our class was already past that stage, I simply reported my progress to the others. School ended early. It wasn’t even noon yet. Himeji had rehearsal, and Fushimi went to her thespian academy. Torigoe and I had nothing else to do, so we headed to my house to watch my film, as promised. It was still hot out. The inside of the chilly train was like a different dimension. It was deserted at this time of day, too, so we got to sit side by side. “Sorry about asking to see it so suddenly,” said Torigoe. “It’s fine. I wanted someone else’s opinion anyway.” Mana’s reaction had been generally positive, but I wondered what Fushimi would think. “Somehow it feels like a waste to go straight home after getting out of school so much earlier than everyone else,” she said. “Yeah, I get that.” “Oh, by the way, I don’t know the first thing about movies, so don’t expect anything too insightful.” “I feel like you’d just go for the jugular if you found it boring… Right, Torigoe?” I could picture it already. She smiled faintly. Maybe she’d seen my expression cloud over as I spoke. “I wouldn’t be that harsh about something you worked so hard on.” “Oh, thank goodness.” “Probably.” “Probably?!” I could already hear her murmuring, How did it turn out this crappy when the screenplay was so good? “I’m joking.” She laughed, causing our shoulders to bump. I flinched, and she blinked at me, just as bewildered as I was. “S-sorry,” I said. “I-it’s fine,” she replied. Then her voice changed. “I should be asking you to pay up for the privilege of brushing shoulders with me, Ryou!” “What’s gotten into you, Torigoe?” I widened my eyes. She blushed, then said, “Well, since it already happened, I’ll let you have some more.” Huh…? Though she’d already moved away, she pushed her shoulder back against mine. I blinked repeatedly, confused. But then Torigoe went back to normal. “……That’s what Himeji would say… Don’t you think?” she whispered softly. “O-oh… I get it.” I did not get it. Why was she doing a Himeji impersonation? “I heard about how Hiina and you started talking again.” “The groper thing?” “Yeah. If I were about to get groped, would you save me, too?” Torigoe looked at me with upturned eyes, though the gesture lacked confidence. “Well, obviously.” “Even though you turned me down?” She stared at me from up close, the look in her eyes oddly serious. I suddenly realized where I was and looked away. “That doesn’t matter. But I guess I’d probably call the police first.” “W-well, I suppose so.” “And then I’d find a way to buy time until they got there.” “A solid plan, but not exactly what I was hoping for…” Torigoe hung her head. We finally arrived at the station closest to my house and made our way past the ticket gates. We plunged out into the humid air, squinting in the sunlight as we made our way, side by side, to my house. “I’m just saying,” she began, “if someone swooped in to save me and it turned out to be the guy I liked… Even imagining it makes my heart skip a beat, you know?” I was a little surprised that even Torigoe got excited over stuff like that. She was a girl, too, I supposed, though that should have been obvious. “…What?” she said. Apparently, I’d started staring at her without meaning to. “Nothing.” I shook my head nervously. “You have common sense, morals, and smarts, and yet you’re hopelessly dense when it comes to romance. Is there some reason you’re like this, Takamori?” “A reason? Uh…lack of experience?” “But I don’t have any experience, either. I’m so easy, all it took to make me fall for you was eating lunch together.” “You’re being too down on yourself, Torigoe. How am I supposed to respond?” “It’s true, isn’t it?” Don’t say stuff like that with a straight face. “This is impossible. Just stop.” When I finally threw in the towel, Torigoe let out a laugh like a sigh. What was this, exactly? Unlike with Fushimi or Himeji, I didn’t feel like I had to think so hard about how I acted around Torigoe. Torigoe met me in high school, which meant she only knew me as a loner with no redeeming qualities or interests to speak of. For that reason, I didn’t feel like I had to impress her. “You already turned me down, so there’s no need for me to act cool,” she said. “I can just be myself…” “So you feel at ease around me because you don’t have to put up a front?” “Exactly.” She nodded. “I get it. There’s no need for me to put on an act with you. I can take it easy, say whatever I’m thinking.” I nodded a few times to myself. Then Torigoe disappeared from my side. I turned back and saw her looking down, blushing. “What’s wrong?” “T-Takamori… Did you really mean that?” “Yes. Why?” “Oh, um, it’s just…uh…” Torigoe fidgeted, pulling at her uniform, combing her fingers through her hair, and smoothing down her bangs restlessly. “Doesn’t that mean that…you…like me?” Like me. Like me…? Like her? Like her… “Huh?” I had to repeat the words to myself for a while to fully process them. “Uh. Err. No, it’s nothing. Forget it. I-I’m just delirious. Just fantasies going around in my head. Sorry for blurting out something so crazy!” Torigoe waved her arms up and down frantically. She hurried out in front of me, then changed the subject. Her voice sounded unnaturally high. “So are you choosing humanities or sciences?” She didn’t even wait for me to say anything. Clearly, she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. At our school, the students were split into humanities and sciences starting from October of their second year. That was next month for us. “Humanities,” I replied. “Same here.” …And that was where the conversation ended. For a while, we fell into silence. When we reached my house, Torigoe was still red all the way up to her ears. We went to my room, and I turned on the AC and asked her to sit down. She didn’t say anything, and I felt as though she was observing my every movement. I unplugged my laptop, booted it up, and handed it to her.