Itobayashi Akane
“None had the right to decide The Girl’s happy ending save for The Girl herself.”
GIRL’S MARCH, PAPERBACK EDITION, PAGE 257, LINE 16
MORNING DAWNED as Akane was reading Girl’s March. Her heart was very much at peace. Normally she would take care to get enough sleep in preparation for the next day, but in this case there was no need to let her body recover, since she would have the day off tomorrow.
With a clear mind, she gazed through the window at the vermilion sunrise.
Once the proper time came, she donned an expression that suggested she had only just woken up, then encountered her family in the living room and ate almost all of the hearty breakfast they had prepared for her. Then she brushed her teeth, went back into her room to change into her uniform, and did her hair and makeup the same as always. Once she pulled on her coat and picked up her bookbag with the oversized plush, the completed look was rather adorable, if she did say so herself. Would they like her today? She gave herself one last scan in the full-length mirror, twirled her skirt, and left her room.
“Headed out!” she called lazily to her mother’s turned back as she stood in the kitchen washing dishes in the sink. By the time the woman turned to reply, Akane was already facing away, putting her shoes on.
Outside, the sky was clear, and the weather was the warmest it had been in days. On the walk to the subway station, she was joined by the familiar sights of students from other schools, office workers, and neighborhood cats.
Akane always ended up in the same train car as a fellow classmate, but today they encountered each other at the entrance. There was no mutually agreed-upon plan, but they just so happened to stand next to each other every morning and chat all the way to the classroom. It was an unspoken agreement, and it was fun.
As soon as she entered her classroom, someone called Akane’s nickname. She looked over at the nearby group of girls and saw her friend Miyu beckoning. Dropping her bookbag off at her desk, Akane walked over, and one of the other friendly girls lit up with a big smile. The group hassled her until she finally admitted that she had started a relationship with her longtime crush.
“Oh my god, congrats!”
The girl shyly recounted the story of how it happened—a story that she must have repeated a dozen times that day—while Akane listened intently. Unfortunately, this early-morning good news was cut short with the arrival of their homeroom teacher, who was uncommonly strict about romance among students. (According to a different teacher, it was a personal grudge.) To avoid both the needless concern and the inevitable lecture, their class had an unspoken rule: don’t talk about dating.
From first to fourth period, Akane attended her classes like always—listening to the teachers, taking notes, occasionally zoning out. Fourth period was gym class, and at first she was worried her sleep deprivation would pose a problem. But the time flew by as she swung her badminton racket, and before she knew it, the bell was ringing.
At lunch, the girl with the new boyfriend was still the focus of conversation among Akane’s clique. Apparently, the two had met at work. The rest of the girls eagerly asked questions, even when they already knew the answers, and the newly minted girlfriend was more than happy to answer them. To an outside observer, it might have sounded like they were coaching her through a press conference—but not a single one of them complained.
During cleaning time, Akane was assigned to take out the trash in the art room. Along the way, she crossed paths with Uemura Tatsuaki as he was disposing of the trash from somewhere else. As usual, he averted his eyes and flinched away from her, so she ignored him.
Fifth and sixth period gave Akane some trouble, since she was never very good at math or physics. Normally, she could get through it by slowing down and thinking it over, but that wasn’t an option today. Since the same thing had happened that one time she went to school after spending the night at her boyfriend’s house, she could only assume the root cause was the lack of sleep.
Ultimately, she couldn’t wrap her head around the lesson of the day. Gracefully accepting this, she closed her textbook. “Science makes no sense,” she said randomly to Miyu, making her laugh.
After school, her clique was chatting about their plans for the day when someone suggested that they all grab dessert together. This included both Akane and Miyu, and while the two of them had gotten crepes together just the other day, that was no reason to decline the offer. Waving goodbye to the three friends who had work or dates scheduled, everyone else headed off to the busy district full of people.
To escape the stink of the streets, they fled into a cafe they had previously visited as a group. Each of them ordered cake and drinks, took their first bites, gave their reviews, and traded plates. Once this taste-test tournament was over, Miyu let out a sigh. “I’m so glad their relationship worked out.”
Akane knew Miyu was the sort of kindhearted person who could celebrate someone else’s happiness even when the girl in question wasn’t around. She also knew that Miyu’s words carried more than one meaning.
“Tell me about it! She’s so fragile, I seriously don’t know what we would have done if he said no.”
“Yup, I wish I could thank him myself. But if he dumps her after cuffing season, I’ll kill him.”
“Ugh, I know guys like that…”
“By the way, ladies…I know it’s early, but does anyone else have plans for the holidays?” Akane asked playfully, her eyes twinkling.
The other three reacted to this in different ways befitting their personalities, but as an overall theme, the prospects were dire.
“Welcome to the single club, Bayashi! We’re so very happy to have you!”
“Why, thank you very much, my dear, but I’m afraid I’m not here by choice!”
Donning the theatrical air of snobby aristocrats, Miyu and Akane bantered back and forth. It was Miyu’s favorite running gag, and Akane would occasionally play along.
All jokes aside, it was revealed that none of the four girls present had plans on Christmas. After some negotiation, it was decided that they would have a slumber party at Miyu’s house, which was the most convenient venue for a multitude of reasons. But Miyu was the type who was always starved for company, so to Akane this was a relief.