I felt like I was on the verge of passing out. So instead, I gave up trying to buy my CD and hurried out of the store.
Sorry, Zuka, but I just can’t take it.
Not to suggest that I was stupid enough to think I actually had a chance with her, but still… His gleeful smile floated to the forefront of my mind. How was I going to break the news to him?
No offense, but I don’t think ice cream is enough to get her to spill the beans on this one.
Despite having finished my midterms, I remained unable to sleep for the next three nights following this revelation.
By Sunday, the last day of my four-day weekend, I still hadn’t figured out how I was going to face Miki-san or Zuka. Instead of answering the email he sent me, I lay perfectly still on my bed. What if I flat-out told him what I’d heard the other day? What would he say?
I deleted my half-written reply and closed my eyes. I pictured Miki-san’s bright smile…the scent of Bilien…her clean white shoes… My mind refused to stop agonizing over it. But thinking about it wasn’t going to solve anything—I needed to take action. Yes, it had taken me three full days to reach this conclusion.
So I got dressed, went outside, and started getting my exercise for the day. My feet carried me back to the book and music store, eager for a rematch. I wasn’t in the mood to listen to anything, of course, and it was possible Zuka had already bought the CD himself by this point, but I couldn’t think of anything else to do.
Fortunately, Miki-san never went to this store, and Zuka was probably still busy with club practice. There were two different high school supply stores, one on the east side and one on the west side, and everyone generally stuck to their local store. Miki-san lived on the east side, while Looney, Zuka, Miyazato-san, and myself all lived on the west side. So there was no chance that someone from the east side would come all the way out here—or so I thought.
Then I remembered the time I ran into her at my local corner store, and I put two and two together.
Speak of the devil, and she will appear.
The store’s automatic doors slid open, and someone walked out, accompanied by a gust of cold air.
“Wh-wh-whoa!”
Miki-san jumped backwards, exclamation point flashing overhead. A royal blue bookstore bag dangled from her hand. My heart thumped in my chest. I was so thrown off rhythm, I tripped over my tongue even more than usual.
“Good, uh, g-g-good m-morning…”
“Ha ha! What’s wrong? Did I scare you?”
Says the girl who nearly jumped out of her skin. But she deigned to ignore this and teased me instead, complete with her signature nasally laugh.
“Uh, yeah, totally,” I replied. As I nodded, I caught a glimpse of her pristine white sneakers. I could smell a faint whiff of Bilien mixed in with the store’s air conditioning.
Ah. Now I get it.
An exclamation point popped over her head. “Are you here to look at CDs? Zuka told me there’s a new one coming out or something.”
His smile flashed through my mind.
“Yeah. Wh-what about you? What brings you all the way to the west side?”
“Oh, uh…”
“Meeting up with…K-Kuroda-san? Or…Zuka, maybe?”
The words left my lips before I could stop them. Normally I’d never ask prying questions—I didn’t have the guts. But I wanted to know the truth behind Kuroda-san’s “top secret info,” even if it meant I might get hurt.
An interrobang rose up over her head. She wasn’t confused; she was struggling to think of an answer.
“Uhhh, well…um… First, let’s go back inside! We’re letting all the cold air out.”
She was obviously trying to change the subject, but her expression still matched her punctuation, and her uncertainty was palpable. She simply wasn’t the lying type.
I recognized the thrill in her eyes—the mixed fear and excitement of getting caught.
I took five steps forward and heard the automatic doors shut behind me. It was the weekend, so the store was packed. On a whim, we moved to the area with the least amount of traffic: the corner spot by the entrance with all the capsule toy vending machines. It was a cramped little nook, and the close proximity made my heart flutter. Meanwhile, Miki-san didn’t speak a word, and I was terrified to think she might hear the thumping in my chest.
My chance had come, and due to a mix of sleep deprivation and extreme tension and probably some other stuff, believe it or not, I actually went for it. My first move, in terms of pro wrestling, was to throw her into the ring ropes.
“So, uh, M-Miki-san…”
“Hmm?” A question mark appeared overhead.
“Is…is something…going on with you…lately?”
Her question mark changed to an exclamation point. Was she simply surprised? Or was she a tiny bit happy, too? If so…then perhaps I had nothing to be afraid of. Perhaps it was safe to speak my mind. Perhaps everyone else had figured it out a long time ago and I just never knew until now.
“Say, um…”
“Yeah?”
Then, at last, I asked her: “You’ve been using a different shampoo, right?”
A giant exclamation point popped up over her head. Her eyes flew open, and she stared at me, joy written all over her face. But I couldn’t bear to look at her for a single second longer. I was afraid of what might be written on my face.
Unfortunately, Miki-san was the type to take my plans and drop-kick them into outer space. Luckily for me, however, today she was feeling a tiny bit more generous than usual. She grabbed me by the shoulders and gazed at me, point-blank. I froze, staring back at her like a deer in the headlights of a speeding semi-truck.
Her cheeks looked faintly flushed—was it from the excitement? As for me, I was pretty sure my whole face looked like a tomato. Her long eyelashes fluttered mere inches from mine.
“Well?” she demanded.
“…Huh?”
“Don’t you have…something else to say?”
Something else? Like what?
I mean…I could think of one thing, sure. Normally I’d never be able to say it, but…if I told myself I might never get a second chance, maybe I could…let it slip…
Meanwhile, Miki-san waited patiently for my something else, her passionate emotions flashing just overhead. Then something inside me snapped. If it was a war of attrition, then I had well and truly lost.
I just needed to say a few more words. Miki-san, I’m in love with…
“Mi…Mi…Mi…”
“Yeah?”
“Mi…Miyazato-san uses that same shampoo, doesn’t she?”
Figures. Of course I didn’t have the guts. How pathetic.
Words cannot express the amount of disappointment I felt toward myself in that moment. But unfortunately for me, I had chosen the exact wrong moment to hang my head in defeat…because the next thing I knew, Miki-san’s shoulder had slammed an uppercut into my chin.
I reeled backwards, and the ceiling came into view, followed by the biggest whiff of Bilien I had smelled thus far. That was when I realized that Miki-san had thrown her arms around me. My whole body throbbed.
“M-Miki-san! We’re in publ—”
But she refused to pull away.
“THANK YOU SO MUCH!” she shouted into my ear.
Uh…for what?
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was so scared I was gonna run out of time!”
“Sorry, uh…what’s…?”
At this, she finally pulled her arms away from my neck. But she didn’t show even a tiny hint of embarrassment; instead, her eyes practically blazed with glee.
“Now Miyazato-chan can come back to school!”
“…M-Miyazato-san?”
My voice was breathy and trembling in the wake of her body heat.
“Yeah! See, she and I agreed that if I could find out for sure that you didn’t hate her, she’d come back to school! God, what a relief. I thought maybe your sinuses were too congested to smell anything, which is why I kept asking you about your health all the time, but I didn’t want to be too obvious. Was it too obvious?”
“Wait, wh-what? Wh-why would I hate Miyazato-san?”
“That’s what I want to know!”
Just like that, her expression shifted to a sharp glare. She was so wild and unpredictable, I couldn’t keep up. Sure, I could see her punctuation, but it didn’t help me parse her crazy mood swings.