She hesitated.
“What are you doing?!”
She still couldn’t fire.
Ihara was clinging to Sousuke’s gun with a desperate look in his eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to shoot him. Her mind rebelled against her wishes in a way she’d never felt before.
After all, Ihara-kun’s my comrade. Isn’t there some way to finish off Sousuke without hitting him? Is there no way to spare the ally who trusts me?!
It was just a single, fleeting thought. And... thinking back later, in those few seconds, maybe Sousuke could have thrown Ihara off and shot back at Kaname. In that second, which passed by in slow motion, Sousuke was looking at her. He was noticing the reticence in Kaname’s eyes. Somehow, she felt like he was saying to her, “This is what I meant. Do you understand?”
“Chidori-san!” came Ihara’s voice again.
This time, it snapped her back to reality. Oh, right, she remembered, it’s just an airsoft gun. “Sorry!” Kaname swallowed hard and pulled the trigger. Thirty BBs rained down on Sousuke and Ihara.
Ihara and the others were delighted by their amazing underdog victory. They’d beaten the Sagara Sousuke, after all, and now their club would be official. The boys were walking on air.
“Even the mighty may fall, I suppose,” Hayashimizu chuckled.
Sousuke looked a bit sheepish. “I suppose so,” he said with a shrug.
“It’s fine. It’s not as if I was severely opposed to acknowledging their club. You did well today.”
“Thank you, sir.”
And that was the end of the match. Hayashimizu treated them to an all-you-can-eat yakiniku banquet on the way home. Kitano Kazumi, who had gotten off of work by that point, joined them, which pleased the boys even more. Holding their large beer steins (most actually containing oolong tea) in one hand, they sang and drank and hollered.
Kaname and Sousuke sat next to each other at the end of the table, a bit away from the party.
“Hey,” she said, “about before...”
“What?”
“I think I get it now.”
“Hmm. Really?” asked Sousuke, running one hand along the edge of his bowl, which was filled with kalbi kuppa.
“Yeah... so I hope you’ll forget about what happened before,” said Kaname, peering sidelong at his expression.
Sousuke, who was eating with an expression of great satisfaction, swallowed and then responded lightly. “Yes. I’ll forget it.”
“Thanks. It all seems a little too easy, though...”
“Not an issue.”
“Oh, well. Here,” she said invitingly, “the loin is cooked up.”
“Hmm...”
“It’s best when it’s still a little raw at the center. Remember that.”
“I will.” After adding the spicy sauce, he took a bite of the piping hot barbecue. After swallowing it down, Sousuke whispered, “It’s good.”
“Right? Heh heh...” said Kaname, giving him the first unreserved smile she’d shown him in a while.
[The End]