He’d been working magic.
He’d done it for the used book sale. For the group. Maybe even for Ruri herself. He’d made it in the nick of time and saved her.
The hero had showed up after all.
“Eeeeek!” A shrill cry broke the silence. Ruri looked up to see Misuzu hopping excitedly in the library entrance.
“Ruru! Eee! Katagaki-kun! Hee hee hee!”
The meaning of her shrieks was unclear at best, but Ruri got the general idea. How was she going to explain any of this, exactly?
As Misuzu pranced into the room, the other library committee members began to trickle in behind her. It was odd; the message about the book sale being canceled went out yesterday, so there was no reason for them to be here instead of heading to their classrooms.
Finally, the committee’s chairman walked in and looked around the library at the others.
“What, you too?”
He reached into his bag and retrieved a few books. The others took that as their cue to open their backpacks and tote bags to take out their own contributions. There were novels, how-to guides, even coffee-table books—their size and content varied widely. Before long, they’d formed a nice pile on the check-out counter.
At the very end, Kadenokouji Misuzu triumphantly added a romance novel with a cover full of hearts, placing it ceremoniously on the pile like the crown at a coronation.
Ruri smiled. Her little adventure wasn’t quite over yet.
12.
NAOMI’S EYES slowly cracked open.
A thin curtain swayed in front of him. Through it, he could see the sky—a mix of blue and orange. It was either evening or dawn, but he had no idea which.
What time is it…?
If it was evening, the day was practically over. And if it was dawn, it was actually tomorrow. Either way, too much time had passed.
“Wait…” His eyes went wide. “The book sale!”
Naomi popped up to a sitting position, his heart pounding in his chest. Not good—he’d fallen asleep!
His mind finally managed to piece together where he was—in the side room in the library, lying on one of the couches. How many hours had he been here? Was the day already over? What had happened with the book sale?
“We couldn’t wake you up,” someone said.
Startled, Naomi turned toward the voice, and once again blinked in confusion. Ichigyou Ruri was sitting on the smaller sofa, looking as self-possessed as always with her usual calm expression on her face. But her outfit…that was another story.
She was wearing a frilly white apron over a bright blue dress. Her poofy skirt looked like it might flip up if she turned around too quickly, and he couldn’t even look at her tights without blushing. He recognized the look—it was a classic “Alice in Wonderland” costume. That didn’t help him make sense of the situation, though. Why was she wearing that?!
“I decided I’d sell as many books as possible,” Ruri said after a moment. It sounded like this was her attempt at explaining herself, and her tone suggested it hadn’t been an easy decision. Naomi had to assume that Misuzu had worn her down.
“Oh! Wait!” said Naomi, his mind finally jumping back to the most important topic. “Does that mean, uh…did the book sale…?” His voice trailed off hesitantly. All he could remember was handing over a single box of books to Ruri in the morning. He’d passed out immediately afterward. He had no idea how things had gone after that.
For all he knew, once the sale had been canceled, they hadn’t been able to reverse that decision. The box might be sitting under the front counter right now. Naomi stared at Ruri with all the fear of a defendant waiting for his verdict.
In response, she reached into the pocket of her apron and took out a piece of paper. She unfolded it carefully, then held it out dramatically for Naomi’s inspection.
Used Book Sale: SOLD OUT! Total Donations: 34,850 yen!
Naomi just stared at it blankly, then clenched his hands into fists. But just squeezing them tightly wasn’t enough—he threw his arms up in triumph.
I did it.
Pure joy pulsed through his veins. All the pain and exhaustion he’d endured the previous night melted from his mind.
I pulled it off. I didn’t give up for once, and it worked!
“Katagaki-san…” Naomi looked over at Ruri and started in surprise. She’d moved to the chair right next to his sofa; she was staring at him from only a few feet away.
“Thank you.” The words were simple, but her tone was heartfelt. Naomi could feel himself blushing. He understood, of course, that she was thanking him for finding that box of books. She had no idea that he’d spent all night making them with a magical glove. There wasn’t anything special about her gratitude.
“Hey, no problem,” he responded with a smile.
He’d assumed that would end the conversation, but for some reason, Ruri was still staring at him intently. She didn’t seem to feel they were done yet.
“Uhm, it’s not like I really did anything that—”
“Thank you very much,” Ruri interrupted with a shake of her head.
Then, she smiled at him.
Naomi didn’t have time to brace for impact. It took a few moments for him to even understand what he was feeling. The first symptom was purely physical; there was a wonderful warmth in his chest that showed no signs of fading. Finally, he managed to put words to it.
That smile was the most beautiful thing he’d seen in his entire life.
Melodramatic as it might sound, he knew he would never forget this moment. No matter what else happened, no matter how long he lived, he was going to treasure that smile forever.
“You know…” Naomi was a little surprised to hear his own voice. His mouth seemed like it was moving all on its own.
He wanted to say it. He really, truly did. His conscious mind was holding him back, though. Was there really a point to telling her now? Who knew what would happen? Everything might fall apart.
“I, uh…”
So what? Just say it. It’s the truth.
“I love you, Ichigyou-san.”
Naomi’s gaze fell to the floor as he spoke. He couldn’t bear to look at anything else in that moment—not at himself, and certainly not at her.
He’d said it.
He’d actually said it.
“I see,” Ruri replied.
Maybe this was what it felt like when a judge sentenced you to death.
“Well, it takes two people to have a relationship.”
Naomi’s eyes widened in surprise. These weren’t the words he’d been expecting to hear.
“I suppose…”
Slowly, cautiously, he looked up.
“We can give it a try together.”
That same smile was waiting for him.
There was a book sitting on the table in that side room; it was the beat-up old novel that had caught Naomi’s eye. Ruri had set it aside for him during the book sale.
The pocket inside its back cover still had that yellowed paper card sitting inside it. Scribbled across the neatly printed lines were the names of everyone who’d ever borrowed it, in order, starting from the top.
And on the very first line, in faded ink that was by now only barely legible, was the name Ichigyou Ruri.