“What are you talking about?” she asked, checking her phone. Bored. “Sorry, I’m out of time.”
She turned toward the car.
“It’s simple,” Takumi said.
Nene grabbed the door handle.
“I, Takumi Fukuyama, love Nene Iwamizawa.”
Nene’s hand stopped, not pulling the handle.
“I forgot you all year long, so maybe you’ve already dumped me. If you have—then let me ask you out again.”
“……”
She didn’t respond.
She just stood there, grasping the handle.
“If you haven’t dumped me, then…let’s keep this thing going.”
“……”
Only silence answered.
“……”
Then she turned to look at him.
Her lips quivered.
“Why…?”
Her whisper almost inaudible.
“Why…?”
This one a bit louder, but still awfully quiet.
“Because I love you, Nene.”
Takumi put his feelings in words, speaking softly, slowly, but with infinite warmth. It sounded like he was feeling out his own emotions.
“Don’t…you lie to me,” Nene said, her head down. Was her voice shaking?
“I’m not.”
“You don’t mean that…!”
This time her voice definitely shook. Her shoulders, too—and probably her heart.
“I mean it!” Takumi insisted.
“How can you love me? I’m a disaster!”
A sudden burst of anger.
Her voice so loud it echoed.
A cry that grabbed your heart and squeezed it tight.
“I was so sure about my move to Tokyo! But I didn’t get any extra jobs! I’ve just got my name on the agency rolls, a model in name alone!”
“……”
This outpouring of emotion took Takumi’s words away.
And Sakuta’s.
It felt like Nene’s gloom was pressing down upon them.
She was a different person.
Same face, but someone he didn’t know was wearing that miniskirt Santa outfit.
“I thought I could do it! I thought I could be someone! But look at me. Look at the mess I made! I failed so hard that the best I could be was a fake Touko Kirishima!”
“…You’re Nene, right?” Takumi said. “Nene!”
She looked up, smiling feebly.
“Go on—laugh at me. I’m nobody!”
“I’d never do that!”
Takumi sounded legit mad himself. Not at Nene, of course. At himself, for not being there for her, at everything that drove her to this.
“……Just leave me alone.”
“I’ll laugh at anyone who laughs at you, Nene. Deal?”
“Sorry, Takumi. Nene Iwamizawa’s got nothing! My only option is to become Touko Kirishima.”
“I’m in love with you, Nene. Stay who you are!”
“But who am I?!”
“……”
That made him hesitate.
“If I knew who I was, none of this would have happened!”
“Still!”
Takumi started to respond emotionally.
But she just glared at him.
“I need to think I have it better than most,” she spat. “I might be a mess, but I still want to be someone!”
“……”
That shut Takumi down.
There was a very weighty silence.
But it did not last long.
Sakuta spoke up.
“See? You do know.”
“……”
Nene’s glare was like daggers.
“You know yourself perfectly well.”
“……”
“That was very Nene Iwamizawa. If you wanna be someone, go out and do it. Announce it or whatever.”
“Is that all you’ve got to say?” she asked with a scowl.
“I’m not done yet, no.”
“……”
Nene frowned. Clearly finding it hard to believe he could be so blunt. Sakuta pretended not to notice.
“You said you’ve got nothing, but that is some conceited bullshit.”
That one rattled even Takumi.
“…What are you driving at?” Nene snapped, not even concealing her irritation.
Being called conceited generally evokes that response.
“Iwamizawa, you’ve got Fukuyama,” Sakuta said, looking her right in the eye. “You’ve got someone you love who loves you back.”
He never broke eye contact.
And neither did she.
“……”
She didn’t reject his words. Didn’t take issue with them. Just listened.
“You can’t call a life like that a failure. You’ve got love.”
“…Is that all you’ve got to say?”
“Yep!”
He said this so cheerily Nene’s shoulders quivered. She wasn’t stifling her fury—but choking back a chuckle. She failed and a peal of laugher escaped.
“You, of all people? Going on about love?!”
Nene clapped her hands, clutched her stomach, and doubled over with laughter.
Takumi’s smile was rather forced.
When she recovered, Nene sniffed.
“Coming from you, that’s just sheer spite!”
Takumi nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, you’re just rubbing it in, man.”
“But fair enough. Look at things that way, and life would be a lot more fun.”
Nene wasn’t speaking to either of them, really. It was more like she was exploring her own feelings.
“So I guess I’ll put up with Takumi a while longer.”
This was almost a whisper.
But Sakuta heard it.
And so did Takumi.
“Whew!” he said, slumping to the ground.
“Oh, get up,” Nene said, holding out both hands. Takumi took them, and she pulled him upright.
“Things worked out?” Ikumi asked. She was right next to Sakuta.
“Can you see her, Akagi?”
“I can. A smiling miniskirt Santa.”
“Then that settles it.”
Sakuta was surprised by the relief in his voice. The threat to Mai should be gone now. The trip to Hokkaido had paid off. Happy endings.
“Wait,” Nene said, turning toward him, her expression grave. “I don’t think this is over.”
“What do you mean?”
They’d just solved the whole “Nene Iwamizawa calling herself Touko Kirishima” thing.
What else was there?
“I’m not the only one.”
“Huh?”
“There are more Touko Kirishimas.”
The was the last thing he’d expected to hear.
He understood her words.
But not what she meant by them. His mind wasn’t keeping up.
But he didn’t hesitate.
There were other Touko Kirishimas.
Mai was still in danger.
The moment he fully comprehended that, he turned and ran for the elevator.
“Azusagawa!” Takumi yelled.
“Sorry, in a hurry!” he said, not turning back.
“Where you going?”
“To Mai!”
“Then get in!” Nene yelled. “I’ll drive you!”
He stopped.
And turned around. Nene was getting into the car. Takumi was half in the passenger seat.
“Thanks!” he said and grabbed the back door.
He saw Ikumi hovering on the far side and said “Akagi, you come, too” as he climbed in.
She sat down a second later. Their doors closed as one. By the time they had their seat belts on, the car was pulling out.
“Tsujido, right?”
“Yeah.”
The navigator already had the destination plugged in.