Kaname laughed mockingly. “Yeah, right,” she scoffed. “And the minute he opens his mouth, it becomes clear he lives in the worlds of Mission: Impossible and Platoon.”
“So you’re really not going?”
“Yeah, why waste my time?” Once her bag was stuffed with school supplies, Kaname stood up. “I’ve got student council business today, so I’ll be stuck here a while. Head on without me?”
“Yeah... guess I will.”
“See you tomorrow, then.”
They waved to each other as they parted ways in the hall.
Ten minutes later, behind one of the gym’s pillars...
“Kana-chan!”
“Yeek!” Kaname seized up as someone called her from behind. “K-Kyoko! Don’t scare me like that!” she hissed.
Kyoko was grinning wickedly. “Oho? I thought you had student council business.”
“I... I thought that’s what it was, but Hayashimizu-senpai just sent me to check in on Sousuke!” She paused. “Really!”
“Really?” Kyoko’s expression was skeptical.
Kaname averted her eyes. “A-Anyway, you’re one to talk. I thought you were heading home early?”
“Changed my mind.”
“You did, huh? Well, aren’t you a charmer...” said Kaname, trailing off as she peeked out from behind the support to see what was happening in the space behind the Jindai High gym.
The area in question couldn’t be seen from the school building itself. It was lined with hydrangea and azalea bushes, and it tended to be pretty abandoned after class. Except, about ten meters away from the support they were hiding behind...
“Hey, it’s her!” Kyoko whispered, peeking out to look. Beneath a cherry tree—green in mid-May—stood a second-year girl. Her layered chestnut hair curled inward at her shoulders, and she had a voluptuous figure.
Kaname twitched and said, “H-Hey... she’s kinda pretty.” The girl also had that palpably bashful, vulnerable air unique to girls in love. Kaname, who was always stomping around with tightly balled fists, had to doff her hat to the girl’s overall charm.
“That’s Saeki Ena from Class 1. She took second place in the Miss Jindai High School contest at the school festival last year,” Kyoko said.
“She did, huh? How ’bout that.”
Kaname hadn’t taken part in said contest herself. She’d stayed up the whole night before getting things ready, then passed out cold in the student council storeroom. The boys from her class had tried to get her to participate, but had they seen her snoring away in her tracksuit, they might have rescinded their nominations.
“Well... she’s pretty enough, from a male perspective. But I’ll bet she’s got beauty supplies where her brains should be,” Kaname said viciously.
Kyoko shook her head once again. “I hear she’s smart too. Placed fifth in last year’s finals.”
“Geh. D-Dammit...” Kaname herself had placed 160th, exactly in the middle of their grade’s 320 students. She always did great in English and social studies, but science and literature tended to drag her down.
“Sagara-kun is still a no-show though,” Kyoko muttered thoughtfully. The fidgeting Saeki Ena stood alone behind the gym, and there was no sign whatsoever that the man she was waiting for was on the way. “He said he was coming, right?”
“He said he would prepare, actually...” said Kaname.
“Prepare? How?”
“Dunno. Maybe he’s picking up a tank or a battle mech or something.”
“Could be,” Kyoko said with a chuckle. “Anyway, let’s wait and see!”
“Hmm. Yeah, sure.” The girls grabbed their bags and squatted down to settle in.
Six o’clock came and went, but Sousuke never showed.
“It’s getting late,” Kaname breathed. The crimson light of sunset was starting to shift into dusky purple, and the voices of the sports clubs at practice faded as electric lights snapped on around the gym. “You think he’s coming?”
“Dunno. It’s been two hours, right? Ahh...” Kyoko let out a little yawn. “I’m getting hungry. Maybe I’ll head home...”
“Yeah? See you tomorrow, then.”
“You should go too, Kana-chan. I really don’t think Sagara-kun’s coming.”
It was a reasonable opinion, but Kaname folded her arms and said, after a moment’s consideration, “Think I’ll stay a while longer.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m off. Just don’t give yourself a cold, okay?”
Once Kyoko was gone, Kaname reevaluated the situation behind the gym. Saeki Ena was still standing there, her back was to the wall, her eyes pointed down. She looked heartbreakingly lonely. She’d been waiting two hours, after all. Kaname could almost hear her thinking, He’s probably not coming. Yet she kept on waiting. And still, Sousuke didn’t come.
Another hour passed. Seven o’clock came and went. Night fell.
Guess he really did just go home, Kaname thought. At some point, her irritation with Saeki Ena had transformed into a strange form of sympathy. She felt an irrationally despondent feeling growing in her chest, as if she were the one who’d been stood up.
He’s such a creep. She felt angry, too. Sousuke might have been violent and reckless, but Kaname had always believed he was a genuinely nice guy. How could he do this to someone? But just as she’d had that thought...
“Hey, look. Someone’s still out here,” came a male voice.
“Oh? Who is it?”
“Whoa! What a cutie pie!”
“What’s up, babe?”
They didn’t seem to be talking about Kaname. Instead, she just watched as the small group of male students appeared at the back of the gym to surround Saeki Ena.
“Um... I...” the girl stammered.
Ignoring the clear discomfort in her eyes, the men continued on. “You’re from Class 1, right? Saeki-san, was it?”
“It’s not safe here at night. You might run into guys like us.”
“Yeah. And we might do something like this!” One of them seized Saeki Ena in his arms.
“S-Stop it!” she cried.
The men just laughed.
“‘Wahhh! S-Stop it!’” one mocked in falsetto. “You hear that? Boy, that shit gets me hot!”
“Damn, how’s a guy supposed to keep it in his pants?” The men forced her against the wall, flicking her hair and her skirt in a half-joking manner.
“Ah, shit...” Kaname breathed. Every school had its bad kids, and even Jindai’s relatively calm and welcoming student body was no exception. These jerks were particularly infamous in the region. At this rate...
Should I go out and yell at them? she wondered. Yeah, right, as if they’d listen to me...
Should I run off and call for help? But the light in the teachers’ office is out...
Should I turn around and walk away?
Kaname paused for a second.
That might be the smartest choice... It’s not like I owe her anything. This doesn’t fall under my vice-presidential duties. And besides, she’s...
“Yeah... who am I kidding? Dammit,” Kaname grumbled. Having put an end to that train of thought, she sprang out from behind the support and shouted, “Hold it!”
“Huh?” The men turned to look at her. The shadows cast by the lamplight made their faces look even more wicked than usual.