I talked to Naruse again three days later, after test prep school. He offered to come to where I was, so we met at a family restaurant near my school.
“Thank you for making time for me, Hino,” he said. “I know you must be busy. Are you sure it’s okay for the two of us to meet like this? I forgot to ask if you had a boyfriend, in case he minds.”
“There’s no need to worry about that. I’ve never had a boyfriend, so it’s all good. Also, you don’t have to call me by my last name.”
“Should I call you Maori, then?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
We sat down facing each other, and after the initial formalities, we dived straight into the reason we were there.
“So, about that boyfriend Izumi had in high school…I really have no clue what you’re talking about. How did you learn about him?”
“Well…,” he began timidly. He told me about his initial gaffe, when he told Izumi he bet she’d never had a passionate love affair, and her answer, and their fake relationship. All of this surprised me, but one thing in particular caught my attention.
“She told me the same thing when I asked her out as when she cut things off. She doesn’t like nice guys.”
It was the same thing I’d written down in my journal.
• Hates nice people.
• Doesn’t get along with people who are good at housework.
• No to anyone good at cooking.
• Doesn’t like considerate people.
• Incompatible with people who value their family.
• Looking for someone who’s not serious.
There was also what she’d said the other day: I’d prefer someone who’s not younger than me. I wondered if that had something to do with Naruse. I ultimately decided not to mention it to him and instead talked about the conditions she’d mentioned before. Naruse pondered this for a few moments before summing it up.
“So it’s possible that the guy she dated in high school wasn’t nice, was bad at housework and cooking, was inconsiderate, didn’t value his family, and wasn’t serious.”
I’d had the same thought. The problem was, who in the world would fall for someone like that?
“If Izumi did have a boyfriend in high school… And if she still can’t forget him…,” I mused.
“Yes?”
“Then what if he was the opposite of everything she said? What if she still loves that person, and she can’t move on from him? Maybe she’s purposely trying to date someone who’s completely different.”
Naruse seemed to find this revelatory.
“That…could be what’s going on. There are times when she looks incredibly sad, like she’s suffering. Maybe she’s remembering her old boyfriend.”
That made me think. He was right that Izumi did look really sad sometimes. Was it because she was remembering her old love? But Naruse wasn’t likely to know anything more about it. My only options were to scour my journals for some kind of clue or ask Izumi directly. Another possibility was to ask some of our high school classmates, but I’d never told them about my amnesia. Even though I’d recovered, I still felt slightly wary of seeing them again
“I’m sorry to pull you into this,” Naruse said, perhaps guessing what I was thinking. “If I hadn’t approached you in the library, you would never have had to worry about this. It was thoughtless of me.”
I was quick to reassure him.
“Please don’t worry about that. I want to know more about her myself. I was thinking about something else right now.”
“Really? I know I might not be much help, but if there’s anything I can do, please let me know. I’ll do everything I can to help you.”
Having delivered this admirable speech, the young Naruse gave me a bright smile. It told me he was a sincere and warm-hearted person.
“You’re a nice guy, aren’t you.”
“Not at all. I’m only as nice as the next guy, and it doesn’t do anyone much good.”
For some reason, kind people always say things like that. Like they always see their own kindness as somehow inadequate or powerless, even though it’s the most noble quality imaginable. Like they genuinely feel they have nothing to offer.
But I couldn’t remember what situation from the past was giving me this sense of déjà vu. Maybe it was something that had happened when I had amnesia. No matter how much I shored up my own past with digital data, perhaps it was impossible to fully share in the feelings and thoughts of my past self. My mood grew darker as I ruminated on this.
“Thank you, Naruse. I’ll get in touch if I find out anything. Anyhow, since we’re here…”
So that he didn’t have to worry about me anymore, I made sure we had a pleasant chat. I took the opportunity to ask him about Izumi’s university persona. He mirrored my cheerfulness. According to him, Izumi engaged casually with her classmates just like she had in high school but basically kept to herself. He said everyone thought she was cool because of it. That sounded like her, I thought fondly.
“Sometimes, she hangs out on campus in places where no one else goes. I used to go looking for her just to be able to say hello.”
“That does sound like Izumi. And what does she do all by herself?”
“Reads books, thinks, and reads something that looks like a diary.”
“A diary? I didn’t realize she kept one.”
This was another side of her I was unaware of. It made me a little sad to realize how much I didn’t know about my best friend.
“…I know she was writing a novel, though,” I said, accidentally letting something slip.
“Really, a novel?” he asked.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to tell you that. It’s just…”
He smiled, seeming to sense my hesitation.
“It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone, and I won’t ask about it.”
“Thanks, it’s a relief to know that.”
As we smiled awkwardly at each other, Naruse seemed to realize something.
“Ahh,” he said.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just that Wataya said she had stayed up late writing once, and I wondered about it. I thought maybe she was working on something like a novel. Ah, I miss those days. That was before summer break.”
He smiled sadly. He’d said it was only a pretend relationship, but I could tell he genuinely liked her.
“Cheer up, Naruse.”
“I’m sorry to be so morose. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”
As if to demonstrate that he was okay, he told me about the dates they’d gone on. He said they’d seen the movie based on Keiko Nishikawa’s book.
“Izumi really loves that author,” I said.
“Seems like it. As far as I could tell from Nishikawa’s photo, Wataya even looks kind of like her. The cool type or something.”
“I know what you mean. By the way, Nishikawa is one of the judges for a new literary prize. Izumi told me about it.”
“A prize? That’s interesting… Wait a second. Those things have submission deadlines, right? Then maybe…”
He started to say something, then broke off with a smile and said, “Never mind.” I sensed his calm, gentle character in that smile.