X X X
“Man, that was fun,” one of Aizawa’s friends exclaimed.
“But wow, Shigure won by one hell of a lead,” the other noted.
“I’m dying here. Never thought I’d lose at bowling,” Aizawa lamented with a sigh.
“Aha. And you’re usually so good at co-ed sports, Ai. Only co-ed sports, though.”
We walked along a pedestrian bridge that led to the train station and reminisced about our recent bowling experience. It was already 7:00PM. Because we were quickly approaching the summer solstice, the tail-end of the lengthening days still burned crimson in the darkness. Before long, night would fall in earnest.
Naturally, this crowd wasn’t the type to disperse just because it was getting late, so the conversation turned to plans for the evening.
“Hey, what should we do now?” one of the girls asked.
A boy who’d arrived later than me chimed in by mimicking throwing back a drink. “Do you even have to ask? What else is there to do on a Saturday night?”
“Get turnt!” everyone cried in unison.
Obviously, they weren’t talking about getting jacked up on bubble tea, and I didn’t exactly feel like tagging along. It probably came as no big surprise, but I’d never had a drop of alcohol in my life. I had no idea how it would affect me, and I wasn’t willing to find out in front of strangers.
“Then let’s stop by the convenience store and head over to Masa’s place,” Aizawa suggested. “You coming with us, Shigure?”
It went without saying that this group had been hunting down some sort of prey like me, so I just didn’t want to let my guard down. There was no doubt they were planning to drag me into their little circle, get me drunk, and have their way with me. That was probably the fastest way of “conquering” a young girl with shyness befitting her age.
But in this particular case, I’d come here with that plan in mind, and it was time to pull it off. I’d “interacted” with Aizawa enough to justify liking him, so there was no reason to needlessly kill my brain cells. I’d pull him away from the rest of the group and seduce him. It was a win-win situation, since it shortened the meaningless process on his end. as well. He would have no reason to refuse.
“Listen,” I said, turning to face Aizawa. I was about to continue when I noticed something in the park below us and froze up. “Huh...?”
My field of vision lurched, as though struck by lightning, and my heart pounded so strongly inside my chest that I feared it might burst out. Sweat erupted from every pore, much like after stepping into a sauna. Yet, at the same time, the core of my body froze, and I was assaulted in chills.
I feel... sick...
I unthinkingly clamped a hand over my mouth as my organs revolted inside my body. Something far, far denser than gastric fluids boiled at the bottom of my stomach. Whatever it was, it threatened to spew from my mouth at any given moment.
Why... huh? Why am I... over something like... this...
“Huh? What’s wrong? Hey Shigure, you’re coming with us, right? We’re buddies now, aren’t we?” Aizawa asked.
“Urgh...” I groaned.
“Shigure? What are you staring at?”
“Sorry, but I seem to be feeling a little under the weather. I’m gonna go home,” I apologized.
“No way!” one of the girls protested. “You looked fine just a minute ago, cutie!”
“Yeah!” one of the guys agreed. “You’re our MVP! You can’t just bail on us!”
“Don’t worry—we’re not busting out any of the hard stuff.”
“Exactly. The night’s just getting started!”
“Hey, cut that shit out,” Aizawa rebuked his friends. “You do look pretty pale, so I won’t force you to come with us. Still, it’ll be a pain in the ass to ride the train if you’re feeling that crappy. I know a good place to rest around here—c’mon, let’s go.”
Aizawa wrapped an arm around my shoulders. In other words, if things didn’t go according to plan, he’d get forceful.
I had no interest in love or romance. I found them to be the most absurd, abhorrent things in this world. So naturally, I wasn’t too fixated on my virginity either. Someday, I would lose it to no one in particular. Whoever that ended up being wasn’t much of an issue. Even the most ill-reputable sort of playboy would do... At least, that’s what I had always thought.
For some reason, though, right now...
Everything about him disgusted me, from his breath on my hair and his hand on my shoulder, to his vulgar desires directed at my body. Everything.
“Well then, let’s go,” Aizawa repeated. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you.”
“I said... I’m going... home,” I murmured.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you,” he asked, his grip around my shoulder tightening. I felt his nails digging into my skin. “You’re not getting away,” the gesture asserted.
At that moment, my body moved of its own accord. I crouched to free myself from Aizawa’s grip and spun sideways. My horizontal kick skimmed the ground and swept Aizawa’s legs out from under him. As he fell backward, I lifted my knee and raised my foot up in the air. Once he’d made contact with the ground—looking dumbfoundedly up at the sky—I brought my foot down a hair’s width away from his face. The heel of my sandle buckled and broke off, unable to withstand the sudden force.
“I said I’m going home!” I shouted at him.
No one from the group chased after me.
✦ ✦ ✦
X X X
The air around the group had frozen over, consumed by Shigure’s scream. As she fled, her back becoming a pinprick in the distance, it finally began to thaw. Office workers and cram school students—the latter of which were attending seminars in front of the station—were starting their journeys back home. Amidst this hubbub, Aizawa’s friends gathered around his fallen body.
“H-Hey, you still with us, Ai?” one asked.
“That was legit scary. What’s with her, suddenly blowing a fuse like that? Totally unladylike.”
“What should we do, Aizawa? Chase after her?”
“Huh? You wanna kidnap her?”
In response to these comments, Aizawa shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine. We weren’t really hitting it off, even from day one. Also...”
“Also?”
“I think... I just came a little.”
“What the hell, man?!” everyone shouted in unison.