Chapter 149

She cocked her head as if trying to put her thoughts in order. Then she looked up. “Oh, crap! I’m getting in the way here!” “We already finished singing, so not reall—” “Shut it,” she interrupted me. “…I’m gonna tell everyone to stay in the big room!” “No! Please! There’s no need!” Torigoe shouted, pulling Mana back down as she tried to stand up. She wound up yanking so hard that Mana fell on top of me. “Bwegh?!” Fushimi arrived at the door right on time to stare at us. “What are you three doing?” She blinked, watching us in a daze. “It’s all Bubby’s fault…,” Mana said, her eyes practically spinning. “ManaMana, you’re so heavy…,” Torigoe said. She, too, was crushed beneath the other girl. “Ah, uh… Nothing…,” I said, pushing Mana away in an attempt to smooth things over. “What’s up?” “I was going to fill everyone’s drinks,” Fushimi replied. “I’ll help you out.” Apparently, she was planning to carry everyone’s drinks all by herself. “Thanks, Ryou.” We left the room and walked to the end of the hallway. “I’m going to make swamp water for Ai.” Fushimi snickered. “How old are you?” You mean you’re going to mix everything in the fountain, right? Himeji’s just gonna make fun of you for being childish. “Ryou, I want to request a song from you.” “Me? Is it something I’d be able to sing?” “I’m sure you know it.” She told me the title, and I immediately recognized it. It was a mellow love song that was popular back when we were in middle school. It was pretty easy to sing. “That’s the one that goes like, ‘Hey Rina, I needed nothing else but you,’ right?” “Yes, yes. And I want you to secretly change the name ‘Rina’ to ‘Hina,’ okay?” Her eyes lit up as she made the request. “Isn’t that something couples do?” “Will you do it when we’re a couple, then?” It seemed like she was half joking, and I wasn’t sure how to respond. Fushimi blinked her round eyes, fluttering her long lashes and grinning at my confusion. “Uh… W-well, I guess so,” I said at last. “Yay!” She pumped her fist in the air a couple times. “Back on topic,” I said. “What drinks should we get for everyone?” “Oh, crap. I forgot.” She stuck out her tongue. “Should we go back and ask them?” “Yes, sorry about that.” “Don’t worry about it.” Fushimi locked arms with me as we walked down the short hallway. When I looked over at her, she had a huge smile on her face. Shizuka Torigoe All of a sudden, Hiina and Takamori were gone. ManaMana told me they went to grab drinks for everyone. “How was Bubby’s singing?” she asked. “All right. Not particularly good or bad.” “Oh, I see,” she replied, sounding deeply interested. I asked why she wanted to know, and she told me the two of them had never gone to karaoke together. This wasn’t too surprising, though. It’d be weirder if they had. A brother and sister going to karaoke all by themselves seemed a little suspicious. Himeji showed up at the small room’s door and called in, “Mana, you’re next.” “All right!” ManaMana stood up and left, and Himeji came in to take her place. “You couple of rascals.” Himeji narrowed her eyes and pinched my cheek. “Ow.” “He didn’t even listen to my song, and then he ran off with Hina. I swear, that boy…” She sighed. I rubbed my smarting cheek. You just wanted him to hear you sing! “I asked Ryou, and apparently he doesn’t remember anything about Hina’s mom,” she continued. “I see.” The diary on Hiina’s desk talked a lot about the Takamoris. I’d told Himeji everything I could remember about it, including my conclusion that Takamori’s incredible romantic ineptitude likely stemmed from trauma involving Hiina and her mother. After that, we’d formed a temporary alliance. We hadn’t made any detailed plans, though. We’d simply decided to see how things played out, and when one of us got the chance, they’d lead Hiina away while the other stayed by Takamori’s side. “…That woman went way too far, don’t you think?” Himeji said. “Why lash out against a child like that?” Hiina’s mother, Satomi Ashihara, had been childhood friends with Takamori’s father. They were once a couple but ended up separating after Ms. Ashihara’s work as a celebrity increased and they began to grow apart. Though she still had feelings for him after they broke up, Takamori’s father wound up marrying his mother. Ms. Ashihara must’ve hated Takamori. She must’ve thought he was the reason she couldn’t rekindle her relationship with his father. She’d married and had Hiina out of spite, then divorced. According to Himeji, she had almost zero involvement in raising her child. “Hina doesn’t really like you.” That was what Ms. Ashihara had told a young Takamori. Going by the diary, it seemed she later regretted her actions. But that didn’t change the fact that she’d unfairly lashed out at her ex’s son. “If what you said is true, Takamori and Hiina were super close back then,” I said. “Obviously, he’d be shocked to hear something like that from her mom.” “And that caused his weird feelings about women,” Himeji added. I nodded. “If he says he doesn’t remember, it must be subconscious.” “So he has a subconscious distrust of women?” “To put it simply, he has no problems being friends with us, but the moment he senses the tiniest shred of romance…” …he’d gently steer the situation in a different direction so as to not wreck our friendship. Takamori wasn’t dense—he was too sensitive. “We had feelings for each other back in middle school, though, so I don’t think it was that big a deal at the time. The trauma must’ve gotten worse as he grew up.” “Admittedly, it does make a bit of sense why she would get so mad,” I said. “Going from what the diary said, they broke up because she was getting more work. He dumped her because they were going through a rough patch, then immediately found a new girlfriend…and married Takamori’s mom.” “Are you trying to say Ryou’s mom cucked her?” “Could you please mind your language?” It didn’t feel right to use a word like that for real-life people we knew. “Am I wrong, though?” “Right or wrong, from her point of view, it must have felt like Takamori’s mom stole the man she loved from her. And then Takamori was born—her romantic rival’s child.” “So she let her emotions get the better of her. That’s a little selfish, don’t you think? I mean, she got married to another man right away and gave birth to Hina, didn’t she? Does she even have any right to be mad?” “…This is just my assumption, but I think she got with Fushimi’s dad out of spite.” “You think she was trying to tell Takamori’s dad, ‘Look, I don’t need you, I can marry someone even better’? That’s such a…macho line of thinking. Not uncommon for narcissistic celebrities, though.” Himeji shook her head sadly. …Does she realize she’s talking about herself? “But she regretted what she said to Takamori,” I countered. “That doesn’t make it right.” “I know. I’m just stating the facts.” Himeji was fuming, though I couldn’t tell if it was because she was a part of that celebrity world herself, or because she was Hiina’s and Takamori’s childhood friend. “That woman only used Hina and her dad as tools for licking her wounded ego. It sounds like she was a pretty bad mother, and she divorced Hina’s father right away, too.” Himeji was being pretty harsh. I didn’t know if what she was saying was true, but it did make sense. If she was right, then Hiina must’ve been looking for something to connect her to the people she held dear. With her mom, it was acting. With Takamori, it was the promises they’d made. It’d be so much easier if I could just see her as a rival. But I was too close to her for that. I’d become her friend. “But that seals the deal. Hina is not a good partner for Takamori.” I respected the way Himeji could declare that like it was an obvious fact. She was so self-confident—it was her way or the highway, and she wasn’t too shy to say it. The look in her eyes made it clear she thought that she was the one for Takamori. “You really love him, huh, Himeji?” “Bwuh?!” She started choking. Was it really so surprising for me to say that? “You okay?” I asked. “I—I didn’t mean it that way.” Sure, sure, Miss Tsundere. She was red in the face—was it from choking or was she just embarrassed? Don’t look at me like that, you sneaky, adorable little brat. “What did you mean, then?” “Uh……” She looked away. I felt the need to poke fun at her. “We’re allies now. You gotta be honest or I’ll make you my wingman.” “Wha…?!” She pouted and whined like a puppy “F-f-fine…… I’ll be your wingman if you want.” I chuckled at her stubbornness. Yeah, right. You’d never. Is it so hard for you to be honest? When she first arrived, she’d thrown everything into disarray. But the more I got to know her, the more I realized what a cute, fun girl she was. I felt like I could give Takamori my blessing no matter who he picked in the end, whether that was Hiina or Himeji.