“I swear, I have no idea. Anyway, we’re talking about the kind of girl who keeps her feelings bottled up inside. Remember when she decided she could solve her problems by skipping school?”
“Dude, don’t insult her.”
“I’m not! I’m just saying, we still don’t know why she did that—I can only hope she’ll open up to us about it someday. But when someone like her starts acting out, there’s usually something serious behind it. Does Kyou have any idea what it is?”
“I asked him, and he said no.”
He was pretty depressed about it, too. Not good, considering Mickey’s picnic was tomorrow.
“Maybe the whole thing is a misunderstanding and they just don’t realize it. A comedy of errors, if you will. Or maybe you had your way with Miyazato-chan and didn’t give her the proper aftercare.”
“You know, I’m devastated that you think I would do that.”
“You totally would! You know if she made the first move, you’d totally go for it. You’re too nice. And too stupid.”
I couldn’t really argue with that, so I didn’t. No comment.
“That being said, you don’t usually come to me for advice. Normally, you walk around with a smug smirk like you’ve got it all figured out.”
“No, I don’t. To both.” There was no point in me lying to her, so I figured I’d just be honest. “Generally speaking, I figure it’s for the best if I only do the stuff I know I’m good at and stay away from everything else. But this time around, I want to get to the bottom of this—for my own sake and no one else’s.”
She didn’t respond.
“But I’m clueless, remember? So I thought maybe you could give me a hint.”
“A drowning man will clutch at a lunatic, as they say. Now I get it… At last, you’re no longer my prince.”
“Dude, I was never your prince to begin with.”
I laughed at her stupid joke, and yet, she didn’t laugh with me. She just kept flipping through the pages of her guidebook, though I couldn’t tell if she was actually reading it.
“You’ve always been the kind of arrogant prince who thinks you can solve other people’s problems. And lately, I’ve actually started to come around to you. But when it comes to Miyazato-chan…she deserves your desperate side, Zuka.”
For the first time ever, Looney had addressed me by my nickname. I stared back in shock. At this, she finally laughed.
“Let’s get back to the library.”
At her prompting, I returned my guidebook to the shelf and contemplated every word she said.
And for some reason, from that day forward, she never called me her “prince” again.
On the day of the cherry blossom picnic, I made enough yakisoba for five people, then set it in a basket, along with a blue tarp. Then I hopped astride my faithful old bike.
This year, the picnic was located at a big park on the west side of town, which made sense, since most of the people who were attending lived on that side. Maybe if the one east-sider was Elle, things would be different, but since it was Mickey, she insisted she could just ride her bike over—and she looked pretty eager about it, too. She was a dumb jock, just like me.
As I rode my bike down the street, I could see all sorts of pips floating over the heads of the people I passed. It was a pleasant, sunny Saturday, and sadness-clubs were a bit less common than usual…and yet, despite the perfect picnic weather, I spotted Kyou waiting at the crosswalk with his usual gloomy expression.
“Yo!”
“Oh… Hey, Zuka.”
He greeted me casually, like always, and his sadness wilted slightly. He was probably worried he might bump into Elle on the street. Not just because it would be “extremely awkward,” but because he didn’t want her to feel miserable being around him.
The signal turned green, and together we set off across the street. Silently, I prayed that today would work out. As we pedaled, Kyou’s sadness continued to shrink; maybe I was helping him take his mind off of things.
“So Zuka, what’d you make?”
“Huh? Oh, just some yakisoba. You know the premade, ‘just add water’ kind they sell at the store? I bought that and put some extra veggies in it. What about you?”
“…Also yakisoba.”
“Uh oh.”
“Let’s pretend we didn’t ask.”
“Right you are.”
Luckily, since Looney and Elle would be there, our meal probably wouldn’t end up turning into a sea of brown… Then it hit me: what if Elle’s sadness grew so heavy that she couldn’t bear to show up today? I hadn’t considered the possibility, and now I was scared.
But just then, I spotted a figure up ahead that put these worries to pasture. Without looking at Kyou, I raced to catch up with Elle on her bike.
“Hey there, Elle!” I called out from behind her. She flinched, snuck a glance over her shoulder and then slowed to a stop. Likewise, we hopped off our bikes.
“Morning, Zuka-kun. Morning, Kyou-kun.”
“Uh…g-good morning, Miyazato-san!” Kyou stammered, reminiscent of whenever he spoke to Mickey, except this time he was nervous for a different reason. Elle’s smile didn’t waver, but her pip did. The sadness-club that floated over her head before we arrived was now swelling even larger. It was downright massive now.
Fortunately, Kyou probably couldn’t detect this shift in her emotions. As for me, I’d been kinda hoping time would solve this problem, but it didn’t seem that way. Despite what Kyou claimed, something must have happened between him and her to cause her sadness. And I wanted to know exactly what it was.
But first, the three of us decided to stop by Looney’s house near the park to pick her up, because she had asked—or rather, demanded—that we come by in the event that we arrived early. With me in the lead, the three of us set off on our bikes once more. Behind me, the other two didn’t say a word, and for the first time, I understood what Kyou meant by extremely awkward. It was so strange—just a few days ago, they were like two peas in a pod, to the point that Mickey thought they should hook up.
Wait a minute. That can’t be it…can it?
What came to mind was a possibility that none of us would enjoy.
Right as I shook the thoughts away, however, we arrived at Looney’s house. We rang the doorbell, and a short time later she walked out in a hoodie and jeans, carrying a bright blue portable cooler.
“Morning! Oh, and feel free to park your bikes here in the yard.”
We did as requested, and then set off on foot to our destination.
The park was filled with far more people than I’d expected. I was so sure everyone would be tired of cherry blossoms by mid-April, but apparently not. Picnic lovers abounded.
Together, we headed for our arranged meetup spot: the fountain. We were nowhere near close when we heard someone shout “HEY GUYS!” Instantly, I knew it was Mickey. Sure enough, there she was, sitting on the edge of the fountain and waving eagerly.
“Good morning!”
“I see you’re early today.”
“I’m so happy I ended up making it in time!”
No, seriously, you’re really early. I was going to say this out loud, but then Mickey beamed at Elle, and Elle smiled back, and her sadness-club shrank a little, so I decided not to ruin the moment.
Although there were a lot of people here, the park itself was pretty expansive. And though the spots under the trees were taken, we still managed to find a decent place to lay down our tarp. Kyou and I handled that part while the girls unpacked their paper plates and what have you.
At last, our flower-viewing party was underway…but neither Elle nor Kyou looked all that excited. I followed Looney’s gaze and realized she was watching the two of them.
And so began a tense day of tiptoeing and probing…plus one oblivious idiot, of course.
“EVERYTHING’S BROWN!” Mickey shouted even more loudly than usual, cheerfully clapping Kyou on the back so hard that a nearby flock of pigeons got spooked and flew away. Naturally, it was Looney and I who conspired to get him to sit right next to her in the first place. Normally, he would have been nervously excited about it, but today it seemed his concern about Elle had won out. I wasn’t sure if anyone else could tell, but to me, he seemed depressed, as did Elle herself.
That aside, the situation we found ourselves in was kinda hilarious. Together, Kyou and I had brought enough yakisoba for a total of ten people, Mickey had brought fried chicken, and as I expected, Elle had brought something slightly fancier: Salisbury steaks simmered in beef demi-glace. Every single one of these things was brown.