Yume shut the door behind her, a sheepish smile on her face, and then came over to me and gave me the hair dryer. She sat down with her back to me while I plugged in the hair dryer and turned it on. Her elegant hair swayed like the long leaves of a willow tree as the hot air blew on it.
I ran my fingers through her hair, getting rid of any tangles I came across. Her hair was so smooth and softer than silk, it felt calming to touch like this. This honestly isn’t too bad. I’d spent almost all of the last year in turmoil, but now it was the exact opposite. I felt as stable as an old tree with a thick trunk. That sense of security was strengthened with Yume by my side, but sometimes she made my heart beat faster too. Honestly, I was in an ideal situation.
The sound of the frogs once again reached my ears, and peaceful silence filled the old room. There was no reason for either of us to fear a silence between us, though.
“How’s that?” I asked, turning off the hair dryer.
“Yeah, it’s good,” she said, feeling her hair before suddenly leaning back against me.
I could feel the warmth from her delicate body and the faint heat from her hair.
“Warm?” she asked.
“Yeah, kinda.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist, and she rested her head against my shoulder. I felt the silky warmth of her hair against my cheek. I began to hold her even tighter against me and she turned so that our cheeks were touching. From there, I simply turned my neck a bit to kiss her.
“Did you forget Madoka-san’s warning?” she asked, a bemused look in her eye.
“I’m not going too far.”
“You think so? Mm...”
This time, I gently nibbled on her ear that was peeking out through her hair. Yume’s body twisted as if it tickled.
“How was your second time coming to the family reunion?” I asked in a lowered voice, keeping my mouth by her ear.
“I think I feel more comfortable here now... Mm. Last year was pretty crazy, so it was hard to know what to do, but... Hnn. I think both mom and I feel more part of the family now... Mmn. Stop doing that while I’m talking...”
She was complaining, but Yume was the type who was fun to tease because she didn’t actually hate what I was doing.
But that being said, I couldn’t go too overboard here. I lessened my grip on her waist so I wasn’t clinging to her as much.
“Ow!” Yume said, looking up, wincing.
“Oh, sorry. Did I get your hair?”
“Yeah, I should tie it up.”
“I’ll help.”
Yume split her hair into two bunches and put one over each of her shoulders. She tied the right side with a scrunchie, while I did the left side. It was a little hard to do from my current position behind her, though, because our arms got in the way of each other. Girls with long hair really have it rough. It’s always a whole thing to wash their hair and tie it up. I can’t even imagine having to do this day in and day out. It sounds so annoying, I couldn’t deal...
“Oh.”
Ponytail.
“Hm? Something wrong?” Yume asked, turning around after noticing that my hands had stopped.
“Ponytail...” I was stunned, but I was able to choke out the word.
“Huh?”
“When do you use a ponytail?”
I figured it out. I know what was bugging me about what I heard from Minami-san’s and Kawanami’s stories. This is the hang-up. I moved away from Yume and frantically got my phone while stating what was probably obvious.
“There’s no way she slept with a ponytail...”
Kogure Kawanami: Ponytail and Skirt
I was currently having a nice, calm evening, and it was all thanks to Irido. When we were leaving Ichijoji after finishing karaokeing, I got a call from Irido, and I heard his theory. Judging from the situation, he said that there was a low chance that anything happened between Minami and me. The way he explained everything made it very easy for me to accept his theory. This left me feeling very relieved and free, allowing me to regain my composure.
Though I still wasn’t sure what had happened to my memories from last night, I was just happy to know that nothing had happened between us. Most likely, the way she’d been trying to lead me on today was just her usual exposure therapy. I mean, she’s not always going to announce that she’s doing it ahead of time.
After eating dinner and then taking a bath, I refreshed myself with a cool, citrus soda. But as I did, I heard my phone ringing. Is someone calling about the reunion tomorrow? I took out my phone and was surprised to see that it was Irido again. Hm? What’re you doing, man? Just forget about me and do some fun things with Irido-san. I pressed the accept button and brought my phone to my ear.
“Hello? What’s up?”
“Kawanami, I want you to check something for me.” I was taken aback by the serious tone in his voice. What’s going on? “I want you to look on top of your desk, by your pillow, or under your pillow, under your bed, your covers—just somewhere around there for something that isn’t usually there.”
“Huh? What’re you talking about?”
“If it’s what I’m thinking, then it’ll be something that you definitely don’t own, and it contradicts something you said.”
I have absolutely no clue what he’s talking about, but judging by how serious he’s acting, I’ll listen to him. I went to my room and checked around my desk where my laptop was, but of course, I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.
I mean, I’m pretty sure I would notice if there was something in my room I definitely don’t own. So then that just leaves around my bed. Since it was summer, I was using a thinner blanket and began shaking it, but nothing really came out. I knelt on the ground, checking under the bed, but I didn’t see anything. Finally, I looked under my pillow, and...
“Oh.”
I found something underneath my pillow...
“I found a purple ribbon.”
“Is there a hair tie too?”
“Yeah, with the ribbon...”
“I thought as much,” Irido said.
This wasn’t something that I hadn’t seen before, but it was definitely something I didn’t own. This is what she uses to tie her hair.
“Kawanami...I’m gonna say something kinda frightening,” Irido continued. “You told me that when you woke up, you saw a ponytail and a skirt, right?”
“Y-Yeah... I was kinda half asleep, but I remember that much at least...”
“So, Yume actually spoke with Minami-san, and she said that when she woke up in your bed, she panicked and put on her clothes and ran out of your place.”
First time I’m hearing this. If she put on clothes, does that mean she wasn’t wearing any in my bed?
“And?” I asked.
“You don’t realize what I’m saying? She didn’t mention once that she tied her hair up.”
I felt a chill run down my spine, and it wasn’t from the soda.
“Minami-san’s always wearing a ponytail, but she at least lets her hair down in bed ’cause it’s hard to sleep with one. I can’t imagine that she’d sleep while wearing a ponytail, meaning that when she woke up in your bed, her hair was down, and then she panicked, got dressed, and ran out of your place. She didn’t have the time to tie her hair up.”
“W-Wait... But I saw someone with a ponytail leave my room!”
“So why are Minami-san’s hair tie and ribbon in your room?”
I was holding the very evidence he spoke of. She couldn’t have tied her hair up without these. When she left my room, she wasn’t wearing a ponytail.
“The skirt part is suspicious too. Minami-san didn’t say anything about getting dressed before leaving your room, but before leaving your place. For example, if she left her clothes in your living room, then there was no way you could’ve seen what she was wearing when she left.”
I had no clue what was happening. What does this mean? What the heck is going on?!
“Minami-san didn’t check to see if you were awake, and you didn’t check to confirm that the person leaving your room was Minami-san. Also, neither of you can confirm if both of the things you witnessed happened at the same time.”
Minami left my room. I saw a ponytail leaving my room. If these two events weren’t the same, then...
“There’s one thing I can think happened,” Irido said. “The girl you saw wasn’t Minami-san. The girl you saw came after she left and was someone completely different. Someone else came into your room while you were sleeping.” Any warmth left from the bath I’d just taken had completely disappeared. I felt frozen to my core. “Do you have any idea who that could be? Someone who might’ve been at your house at that time?”
I do. They were just at my house recently too. I even hung out with them today. “Irido... I’ll talk to you later. Thanks.”
“Kawanami—”
I hung up and put my phone down on my desk. They were someone who was different than they were in middle school and not comfortable around girls. They were always hanging around us, but they didn’t come into the bathroom with us.
Makoto Koyama—the one girl at yesterday’s mini reunion.
Suddenly I felt hives breaking out on my skin, and a strong wave of nausea knocked me back on my bed.
Her saying she’d go to ramen if I was going, her asking if I was dating Minami, her saying that I could go to her if I had any problems... I had no doubt now. Makoto had been in my room. Makoto was... And then everything went dark in my head, like someone flipped a breaker.