Chapter 11
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One Saturday in April, long after the cherry blossoms had faded, Kento was waiting for Ishizaka on the platform of Tokyo Station. When he saw Ishizaka come running up the stairs, he took off his baseball cap and waved it wildly.
“Hurry up, Mr. Ishizaka! Over here!”
Kento pounced onto the nearest train door and used his body to hold the door open until Ishizaka came tumbling in.
“Man, I think I put more effort into that run than I do for races.” Ishizaka took off his wrinkled suit jacket and dabbed at his sweaty forehead with his handkerchief.
“I thought thirty minutes would be enough to get me here, but it was really crowded at Big Sight. They were doing some kind of comic show or whatever. I couldn’t flag a taxi for the life of me, and the buses were at a standstill. It was hell.”
They checked their seat numbers, sat down, and finally let the tension leave them.
“I’m sorry for making you come out like this,” Kento apologized.
“Don’t mind it. I had errands to run in Tokyo, anyway.”
Ishizaka had come to Tokyo from Kochi for a medical equipment trade show held at the Big Sight venue in the Tokyo Bay area. The two had planned to meet on Saturday afternoon to visit the hospital in Shimizu where Orihara had been dispatched.
Kento put his baseball cap back on, pulled it low over his eyes, and also fished out a pair of sunglasses to put on. Ishizaka gave him a questioning look.
“Aren’t you hot? Why don’t you take that hat off?”
“No, it’s…”
“Oh, right, you’re a celebrity. I totally forgot,” Ishizaka began loudly, then quickly lowered his voice. “Sorry about that. I have a big voice.” As he spoke he pulled a Discman out of his bag. Kento watched as he took a Beatles CD out of it.
“I’m a Beatles fan,” Ishizaka said, winking.
“Wait a minute…”
Kento decided to throw the question out there.
“Mr. Ishizaka, did you ever play guitar with Yuri?”
“Yeah,” Ishizaka nodded. Kento knew his guess was right. These two had shared a connection deeper than that between teammates on the same track team. He remembered Orihara’s somewhat forlorn eyes when he taught Kento the guitar. Although he had felt a little jealous at the time, he had assumed Orihara was just reminiscing about an old friend he used to play music with.
He said he quit guitar and running at the same time.
Kento reckoned that Orihara must have harboured feelings for Ishizaka that were more than friendship. He gazed at Ishizaka’s profile and his pronounced features, a little intimidating but memorable nonetheless.
“I learned how to play the guitar from Yuri. Especially Beatles songs.”
“That’s great,” Ishizaka said, oblivious to Kento’s mixed feelings. “It’s nice to see the Beatles’ greatness passed onto young’uns like you.”
Kento took out a CD from his own backpack to show the man.
“Oh, is this your group’s CD?” Ishizaka asked.
“Yup. It’s our first album. Will you give it a listen?”
Ishizaka took the CD from Kento and put it into his Discman.
“I wrote the lyrics for ‘Sand Glass’, you know.”
Shortly after, Ishizaka took off his earphones, took out the CD and gave it back to Kento.
“It doesn’t really speak to me. I think I prefer the Beatles.”
“No need to be so mean,” Kento said in exaggerated disappointment. “It’s not fair to compare us to the Beatles. We’re doing our best, too, you know.”
“That you are,” Ishizaka gave a booming laugh and lowered his head in apology. “So, what time are we supposed to get there? What time have you promised to meet with Orihara? I’d like to get back within the day, if we can.” Ishizaka looked at his watch. Kento didn’t know what to say.
“Um… I actually haven’t told him that we’re coming.”
“What? Are you serious? What if we don’t get to see him?”
Kento had never thought of that. What if they went to visit Orihara out of the blue, and he turned out to be on a day off from his hospital duties? Kento had been too excited about seeing him to think of backup plans.
“Why haven’t you told him we’re coming?” Ishizaka’s eyes bulged as they looked at him. Kento decided to explain the details.
“I thought he wouldn’t want to see us if I mentioned my name.” He left out the part where they had had sex in the spur of the moment (though Kento didn’t think so), but Kento told him everything else ? about how he loved Orihara, and how Orihara had dismissed it as a childish infatuation.
Ishizaka folded his arms as he listened in, and once Kento finished speaking, he lapsed into thought. After a while, he sighed and glanced sideways at Kento.
“Which means you must be gay.”
Kento shook his head. “I’m not sure. All I know is one thing, and it’s that I love Yuri.”
Ishizaka hummed in thought. “To me, it seems like Orihara’s got the right mindset. But, well, any adult in his right mind would reject your confession, anyway.”
When Kento glared at him, Ishizaka waved his hand hastily. “No, that’s not what I meant. A year ago, you were still a kid, right? You can’t blame him for not taking you seriously. But what’s also true is that no one can negate what you’re feeling in your heart. This is a problem that you two have to discuss with each other.”
Ishizaka carried on, thinking as he spoke.
“I don’t know about giving my name, either. He feels guilt towards me. He might pretend he’s not there, just like he did to his brother.”
“You’re right, come to think of it.” Kento had thought of using Ishizaka’s name when asking to meet with Orihara, but he realized it wasn’t such a good idea after all. “What should we do, then?”
“Let’s see. We should say we’re just classmates from high school and gloss over the names. He might come out to meet us, wondering who we might be.”
The feeling of uncertainty still swelled inside Kento as he wondered if Orihara would still agree to listen to their story after meeting face-to-face.
“What if he sees us and gets angry and leaves?” Kento said with a gloomy face. Ishizaka laughed brightly and clapped his shoulder.
“Leave it to me. I have more life experience than you. Though I don’t have much to say when it comes to male relationships, if it’s between a man and a woman, I’ve got more experience under my belt. I’ve played the matchmaker more than a couple of times, you know. I think I can lend a guy a helping hand.”