The class unanimously decided that Yano was the culprit behind the shoe incident. Naturally, I had no idea what the truth was, and so I could neither confirm nor deny. I merely went along with the flow.
During gym class, standing behind the net that divided the gymnasium’s court in two, Nakagawa and the other girls ganged up on Yano. The game of the day was dodgeball, and Yano became the target of relentless, skull-thumping throws, over and over again. But what could I do? There was no point in dwelling on it. Nor on the fact that Iguchi appeared to be watching the other girls with distress. I needed to think about something more useful.
After we finished eating our lunches at midday break, Kasai and I were washing our hands in the restroom while everyone else headed out to the field. I asked him, as though I had only just happened to remember: “Oh yeah, so, is Motoda seriously gonna try to go after that kaiju?”
Motoda himself was in the classroom napping, perhaps to replenish his energy stores for club activities later.
Kasai smiled, amused. “I mean, he said he was, but he’s an idiot. There was already that whole thing about him getting into a fight with a first-year on the baseball team, ahaha.”
A fight? That was the first I was hearing of it.
“Like, he seemed happy when he said there wasn’t any morning practice, but I’m pretty sure he started something and they just wouldn’t let him play. Sucks for him, but that’s just too funny,” he said, lowering his voice. He slapped my shoulder, smiling.
So that was why he was in the classroom so early. That was calamitous. For Yano.
“So when’s he gonna do it?”
“No idea. I mean, it’s not like there really is a kaiju.”
Didn’t seem like I was going to get any more information out of him. It annoyed me a little how flippant he was being, but after thinking about it for a minute, I realized that his attitude was normal. I was the one acting weird.
“You really care that much, Acchi?” Kasai asked. “Don’t tell me he’s got even you hooked.”
“I’m not gonna sneak into the school.”
“’Course not, you’re too serious.”
“That’s right, I’m not like you, Kasai.”
“Wha?”
His expression suddenly darkened. That happened now and then. It was pretty rare, but occasionally, when I messed with Kasai, he would suddenly make a very unhappy face. Everyone gets pissed off now and then, but seeing that sort of expression on someone as carefree as Kasai made me nervous.
“I mean, uh…”
He laughed then. “Ahaha, seriously man, what is with you, Acchi?”
Kasai smiled wider than before, slapping me again on the shoulder as though he had seen the fear come across on my face and simply found it funny. That calmed me down in a hurry.
It also just so happened that the one person who could always brighten up Kasai’s mood was passing by as we left the restroom. It was perfect timing, both for Kasai and for me. It was Midorikawa, who was walking towards the cafeteria. I got the impression that she brought her own lunch every day, but maybe she was on the way to buy some juice or something.
“Yo,” Kasai called energetically from behind her. “Midorikawa, you off to the snack counter?”
Despite his enthusiasm, she turned languidly, with no hint of surprise. She nodded with a simple “Mm.”
Any normal person, at this point, might have offered up at least a “What about you two?” But if you waited for something like that from Midorikawa, you’d be there until sundown. Perhaps realizing this, or perhaps just wishing to prolong the conversation, Kasai continued to speak, his voice slightly higher than normal.
“By the way, Midorikawa, have you heard? Apparently a kaiju’s been showing up around here lately.”
Midorikawa tilted her head and said nothing. Her way of saying no. There were times, now and then, when I really wondered whether she could even say anything other than “Mm,” but she always managed a proper reply when the teachers called on her in class.
“Apparently, there’s a kaiju that comes out at night. Honestly, I don’t believe it.”
“Mm.”
“A bunch of people say they’ve seen it, though. You have any interest in things like that, Midorikawa?”
“Mm.”
“Whoa, seriously? I’m surprised, ahaha. Well then, if I hear anything else, I’ll let you know.”
“Mm.”
“Anyway, we’re gonna go play soccer. Sorry for interruptin’ you.”
“Mm,” she said, which perhaps meant, “Yes, you did interrupt me.” She gave a nod, and, as though she deemed the conversation over, turned her back and left without another word. It seemed awfully rude, but Kasai was grinning and in high spirits, so I guess that was fine.
We finally headed to the entrance, me walking alongside Kasai, whose mood was fully restored. The other guys had already started playing. “C’mon, hurry up!” Kasai demanded, dragging me along. Pretty presumptuous for someone who had caused the delay himself. We arrived quickly at the shoe box designated for our class, finding someone already there.
“Oh hey, Nakagawa. Don’t usually see you go outside.”
Kasai was already opening the door of his own shoe locker as he spoke to her and perhaps didn’t see what Nakagawa was holding in her hands. I did, and realized why she was standing there. Maybe that’s why the two of us locked eyes for a moment before I averted my gaze.
“Are you two going to play soccer?” Nakagawa asked, not appearing at all concerned with being caught.
“Yeah. What about you?”
It was then, as Kasai shoved his feet into his athletic shoes and looked up at Nakagawa, that he seemed to finally notice what she was holding in her hands.
“Whoa, what the heck?!”
Nakagawa laughed. It was a pair of shoes, gripped in a cleaning cloth, along with a box cutter.
“I thought it was time for a little payback,” she said in a lilting tone, looking from Kasai to me. This time, I averted my gaze in time.
“Ah, those are hers, huh?” I asked.
“That’s right!”
Nakagawa seemed overjoyed at my confirmation. It was very much like seeing a princess who had been lauded by her subjects before the eyes of a handsome prince.
I guess she was certain that Yano was the culprit. As I mulled over this conviction, which the rest of the class seemed to agree with, Kasai gave a rather impressed-sounding, “Oh?”
Nakagawa’s eyes flicked immediately back to him.
“So, you’re sure, then?” he asked.
“Hm?”
“You figured out for sure that she was the one who did that to your shoes?” he asked innocently, putting to words what I could not.
Her lips pursed.
“Well, there’s no evidence, but it’s obvious, isn’t it?”
Evidence, huh? Seemed like a lot of people liked playing detective these days.
It was not at all strange for her to come to this conclusion, given what had happened with Iguchi, I thought, but Kasai did not appear to agree.
“Then it’s kinda soon for that, isn’t it?”
I don’t think that Nakagawa was expecting such a reply. It was surprising even to me. Though he would never do anything to her directly, I assumed that Kasai harbored a deep-seated hatred for Yano. Where he differed from the others in our class was that he didn’t hate her out of some herd mentality or a sense of unity or even justice, but because she had hurt someone he cherished, pure and simple. Thus, I figured that he was indifferent to all the things that others did around him.
Doubtless, Nakagawa never thought she would be admonished by a classmate about something regarding Yano—and especially not Kasai. “Y-yes, I guess you’re right,” she muttered, smiling only with her lips. She dropped Yano’s shoes on the spot, passed between us, and left.
Guess she was embarrassed, I thought as I watched her walk away.
“All right, let’s get goin’,” said Kasai.
“Yeah.”
As I followed behind Kasai, I silently thanked him—not for the fact that Yano’s shoes had made it out of this unscathed but for chasing Nakagawa away.
To be honest, I had never been very fond of her. Maybe it was because her good looks gave her confidence or something, but she was the kind of person who had no qualms about harming those whom she deemed below her. Even before the class came to hate Yano as a whole, Nakagawa would talk to Yano in that wheedling voice of hers and then make fun of whatever Yano had said with the girls she actually was friends with. Moreover, Yano was not her only target; Iguchi and other weak-willed classmates were all fodder for her ridicule.
All the better that she was hurt by Kasai, I thought, who she thought so highly of. If it hurt her a bit to be admonished, that was for the best, whether she took it as being over her lack of morals or because she’d leapt to conclusions.
When I thought of how Nakagawa’s gaze trembled, despite all that bravado of hers, my heart felt just a little bit lighter.
At the same time, I realized how stupid it was for everyone to wish for someone else to get hurt. Instead, I wished for Kasai—who was jovial and emotional but possessed a sharp sense of judgment—to have his prayers finally be heard. In other words, I hoped Midorikawa would have slightly better communication skills from here on out.
The day finished with no other major incident to speak of. The only other things that happened were eraser crumbs being tossed at Yano during class and Takao’s missing bike being discovered in the nearby river.