“Nice try. It’s never ‘nothing’ with you.”
He laughed. Not his cheerful, charming sort of laugh, but an awkward one, and I contemplated the meaning behind the look on his face.
“Seriously, Looney, it’s nothing you gotta worry about, so like…”
“So what?”
“So quit digging around and just have fun, okay? What’s with that comment you made at dinner?”
This was what I couldn’t stand about him. To conceal my displeasure, I boarded the elevator as soon as it arrived back at the first floor.
“I mean, if you’re planning on asking somebody out, then that’s a different story.”
“My heart is wholly dedicated to you, my prince. That’s why I’m terrified you’re going to give that bell to someone else.”
“Ha ha ha! Thanks. But for real, there’s nothing you need to worry about.”
The elevator came to a stop. Third floor.
“Okay, well, see you tomorrow. Have a good night.” He waved goodbye.
“I will,” I replied.
But judging from the sound of my voice, one thing was for sure: I wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight.
In the end, I didn’t fall asleep until early the next morning. I laid there on my side and listened to music as I watched the clock tick; the last thing I remembered was seeing the hour hand between 4 and 5. Then Miki-chan woke me up at 6:30, wearing her cute little PJs. I pretended to be half-asleep so I could wrap my arms around her and push her down to the ground; the punch I received in return helped wake me up. Then we ate breakfast, filed onto the bus, arrived at the beach, and boarded a boat, all before noon.
While we were on the boat, while we were walking along the beach, while we were enjoying the Okinawan folk songs and plenty of other interesting sights and sounds, my mind kept drifting back to last night.
Why did he go out of his way to say that? His heart rate was steady the entire time, just like always, so maybe it sincerely wasn’t a big deal to him. But even then, why tell me? Nine times out of ten, people said “There’s nothing you need to worry about” when what they meant was “I don’t want you to worry about it.” But now that I thought about it, when I first asked him about it that morning, his heart rate fluctuated… Did that mean he simply didn’t want me worrying about it? This brought me back to my original question: who was tied to his bell?
“You’re zoning out again. Are you sleepy? Because I sure am,” my prince yawned beside me.
It was the afternoon of the second day. We had just finished eating lunch, and now we were at the aquarium. My prince and I were standing side by side, just the two of us, looking at the fish tanks. We were supposed to stay with our assigned groups, but Miyazato-chan and I had worked together to separate him and Kyou. Now Kyou and Miki-chan were standing a short distance away, talking and looking at the fish.
Nice. Enjoy your little aquarium date. Heck, give her a bell while you’re at it. But as far as I could see, that didn’t seem to be happening. So I waited until Miyazato-chan left to go to the restroom and then struck up a conversation with my prince.
“Yeah, uh, something you said kept me up all night. Look…” I pouted my lips as though I were genuinely bothered by it. Then I shot a furtive glance at him and hung my head. “Are you planning to…give it…to someone?”
He shook his head like he wasn’t even paying attention to my performance.
“Like I said, it’s nothing you gotta…”
He stopped short. I followed the direction of his gaze to find Miyazato-chan on her way back from the restroom. She was wearing a white shirt and blue skirt—had she given her outfit a nautical theme on purpose? Either way, it complemented her short stature.
“What’s wrong? Do I have a stain somewhere?” Miyazato-chan looked down at herself and then started touching her face.
My prince smiled amiably. “No, no. I was just thinking—your outfit reminds me of shaved ice. Doesn’t it, Looney?”
“…Oh, yes. Downright delicious. I could gobble you up.”
Then she laughed, and I found myself grateful that she had opened up to us. She was a good girl, and I liked her a great deal. Unlike me, she didn’t disguise herself as someone else. And if my prince didn’t want Miyazato-chan knowing about his bell, then he was out of his mind to try to pretend it was “nothing.”
Was she who he was planning to give it to? They were both in the same group during the Culture Festival, so they did seem to be more friendly these days. Could I get him to spill the beans somehow? Generally, I tried to do whatever I could, because it was the things I didn’t do that I usually ended up regretting. And anything I could get out of him would be a net positive.
As we walked along the designated route, we came upon a giant fish tank. Up ahead, Miki-chan was shrieking about how “awesome” it was. As for me, I had decided to make some comment to my prince about how this aquarium was “beautiful” and/or “the perfect place for a date.”
“You know—”
“Looney! Look! Isn’t it incredible?!”
Unfortunately, Miki-chan’s excitement foiled this plan. She ran over, grabbed me by the arm, and dragged me away. I didn’t even need to look at her chest to know that her heart was racing; I could feel it through her skin. Truth be told, she was hurting me a tiny bit. But she was so happy, I couldn’t bring myself to stop her. And naturally, I wasn’t going to prioritize my conversation with my prince, either.
The moment I actively chose to go with Miki-chan, I caught a glimpse of him smiling in amusement.
“That. Was. AMAZING!”
That night, Miki-chan continued to gush and swoon about the aquarium like a little kid at Christmas. It was adorable. Once she started raving, no one could stop her. That said, someone like Kyou probably could have listened to her for hours without ever getting tired. I certainly could have.
“Man… Maybe I should be a teacher when I grow up…”
“Not an aquarium attendant?” my prince retorted.
“No! I mean, the teachers get to come here every year!” she argued, pointing at him with her chopsticks. Her table manners left something to be desired.
“That’s the dumbest reason I’ve ever heard. Classic Mickey.”
Then she dropped a karate chop on his shoulder.
Fortunately, I was relieved to see that Kyou was smart enough to suspect there was something more to this interaction beyond simple frustration. But at the same time, his heart rate pissed me off. If he was so nervous about it, then why didn’t he take immediate action? If I were in Kyou’s shoes…
But perhaps all of my meddling and projecting had earned me some bad karma.
After dinner, I took a shower and then looked over the schedule for tomorrow. Then my fellow roommates started talking about boys, so I decided to do some more meddling by promoting Kyou as much as possible. But that was when the spotlight turned to me.
“Looney, I never hear you talk about guys at all. Are you planning to give a bell to anyone?” asked one of the…ahem…more experienced girls in our class. She wasn’t just asking to be polite, either; I could tell from the look on her face that she was genuinely curious. Normally she was a pretty level-headed person, but for some reason her heart was beating a little faster… Then I looked around and realized this applied to Miki-chan and Miyazato-chan, too. Maybe it was normal for your pulse to quicken during a field trip at night. Maybe I was the weird one.
But since they were all kind enough to pay any attention to a total snoozefest like me, I decided to reward them with an honest answer.
“Nah, I’m not interested. Solitude breeds creativity, you know. Heh heh heh… I can’t have any men getting in the way.”
I didn’t know how they’d chosen to interpret this, but either way, they laughed. That said, although this was generally how I dodged most questions, tonight it didn’t quite work.
“But what about Zuka-kun? You keep hanging all over him and calling him your ‘prince,’ right?”
Interesting. I guess we’re really going there. Still, I had no reason to panic. I had already anticipated this question, and as such, I had prepared a few different answers. Which one fit the mood best? I paused to think about it—but then, surprisingly, Miyazato-chan vouched for me.
“Yeah… I was totally shocked at first. But the more I watched, the more I realized you’re just doing it for the laughs.”
It was a good answer, mostly because I was able to shrug the whole thing off with a simple “Yeah, something like that” without actually admitting to anything myself. That way I could deny any romantic implications while still leaving something unsaid.
“Aww, is that it?”
The other girls sighed, and Miki-chan laughed out loud. “Ha ha! Gimme a break! I can’t even imagine Looney and Zuka together. If I tried, I’d probably bust a gut laughing!”
Chuckling, she flopped down onto her futon. Then, as I watched, she suddenly fell silent, staring up at the ceiling, her lips still curled in a smile.