Eventually, he turned around without a word. He took off his helmet very slowly. Our surroundings were immediately bathed in a blue light. I was too shocked to even scream.
“A… A… Al…” I backed away. My breaths were shuddering, and it took me too long, but in the end, I managed a scream.
X
“I HONESTLY DON’T MIND EITHER WAY.”
“Hmm… What to do?”
“I’m gonna finish up quick, so I won’t be long.”
“Okay. Then I guess I’ll wait at your place.” I took off my helmet. My hair was probably messed up. I pressed down on my hairline as firmly as I could over and over.
“Yeah, that’s probably for the best. Sorry about all this.”
“It’s not your fault. I’ll take the bus. Even though I’ll look pretty dumb hauling this thing around.”
“I am sorry. I’ll be as quick as I can.”
“I can’t believe you have to work so late.”
“Same. There’re some cup noodles you can have if you get too hungry. I grabbed a whole box of the kind you like.”
“Yay! Thanks! Catch ya later.”
I raised my hand and watched Kengo as he switched on his taillamp and rejoined the traffic lane. Then, I headed for the nearby bus stop, helmet hanging from my hand. Luckily, the next bus arrived at 8:10, and I was right on time. I got on board and took a seat. The bus and Kengo each set off along their different routes.
We’d tried going to that ramen place, but while we were waiting at a light, Kengo’s phone went off. He glanced at it, panicked, then pulled over to the side of the road to call whoever it was back. I knew it couldn’t be good news.
The call was from the school. It was something about some data that they needed right that second. Data that only “Hagio-sensei” knew the password for. Something like that.
“I understand. I’ll be there at once.” Kengo hung up the call and turned to face me.
He looked genuinely apologetic as he explained that he had to go back to the elementary school he worked at, but that it wouldn’t take long, so I could come with him and wait till he was done. Otherwise, we could give up on the ramen, and I could go wait at his place. It was up to me.
I didn’t mind either way, but I decided to go to his place. I didn’t know how I felt about it, though. I wasn’t mad or anything. It was more like I felt sorry for him being so busy, and I was worried about the effect it was having on his health. That, and we didn’t get much time together in the first place, so the situation kinda sucked. But it was fine. I’d wait for him.
I let the bus ferry me along for a while before getting off at the stop right outside Kengo’s apartment building. I hadn’t heard anything from him yet.
I used the spare key to get in, then pulled off my clothes. The exhaust fumes had made them kinda musty. I opened up the closet and changed into my usual loungewear, which was honestly closer to underwear: a camisole and some shorts.
I switched on the forty-inch TV to wait for Kengo to get in touch. He’d bought it in a flurry of excitement just after moving in. A few minutes passed, and he still hadn’t called, and my stomach was starting to hurt a little. It always happened when I got too hungry.
I got up and grabbed a pack of cup noodles from the kitchen cupboard. Tom yum flavor—it couldn’t be beat. I didn’t like how many calories were in it, but I could just have a smaller dinner.
I boiled the water in the electric kettle, poured it into the cup, and waited three minutes. While I waited, I decided to wash the dishes that were left in the sink. Kengo was one of those people who liked to have a proper breakfast, but it looked like he’d been in too much of a hurry that morning to wash everything up. There was the bowl he’d had his egg and rice in, his chopsticks, the small plate he’d had a side dish on, and the wooden bowl for his miso soup. They were all soaking in the washing-up bowl. I washed each one carefully and put them on the dish drainer.
I looked for a fork but couldn’t find one, so I wiped down the chopsticks I’d just washed and took them and the cup noodles back to the room. I wasn’t gonna wait—I pulled the lid back right away. That was when my eyes ended up glued to the TV I’d left on.
X
“I HONESTLY DON’T MIND EITHER WAY.”
“Hmm… What to do?”
“I’m gonna finish up quick, so I won’t be long.”
“Okay. Then I guess I’ll tag along with you.” I started to walk around the bike so I could get right back on the rear seat.
A sudden hand on my shoulder stopped me. “You can’t.”
“Huh?” I looked at Kengo. Maybe I heard him wrong?
“You can’t, Rara. You have to make a different choice.”
“What’s that mean? You said you didn’t mind either way.”
“Don’t choose him anymore. Change things. Make a different choice.”
“I don’t get what you’re saying. You okay, Kengo? Is the stress from work getting to you?”
“I can’t change my reality!”
His voice suddenly took on a forceful tone, making me freeze. Was he mad about something? Did I do something wrong? Or was Kengo misinterpreting something?
“Kengo—”
“I want this to change! But I can’t do anything about it! I just can’t! All I can do is exist here, in your world. Why?! Seriously, what the hell is… What am I s’posed to…”
“Um… Why don’t we just, uh… Okay, let’s just head to the school for now. You get your stuff done, and then we can take our time and talk things through. Everything’s gonna be okay.”
“We can’t!” Kengo cried sharply. He still had his helmet on. He fell to his knees and hunched over right in front of me.