CG 27: ???
THE day I could go to the shopping mall came sooner than expected. Kon had called my cell phone and invited me to go shopping for Valentine’s Day chocolate with her.
“When should we go? Want to head over to the mall after solfège on Saturday?”
I hesitated with my answer before throwing caution to the wind. “Could we go on Sunday instead? Do you already have plans then?”
“No, I don’t. Is there something special about Sunday?”
“There is and there isn’t… Ehehe. I’ll tell you all about it when we meet up.”
“Okay. Sunday it is then. I’ll pick you up.”
After hanging up, I clutched my cell phone to my chest and reveled in the excitement. I’m really looking forward to picking out chocolates with Kon! I was going to make chocolate for Dad again this year, but it’s too soon for me to give Tomoi homemade chocolate. Feeling grateful for Kon and her perfectly timed phone call, I contemplated what chocolate and ingredients to buy.
Tomoi said he likes alcohol, so maybe a whiskey bonbon would be a good fit for him. Oh and I should buy chocolates for Mr. Mizusawa, Mr. Nonaga, and Kou’s and Kon’s dads as thanks for all they do for me every year. Kou will definitely receive more chocolate than he can eat, and it’s not like he’d want cheap obligatory chocolate bought from the store anyway. And I can’t send any to Sou at this point.
Is it just me or is there a real problem with the average age of the men I’m giving chocolate to being decades older than me? Oh, well. Not like I can help it. Yeah, let’s just go with that.
Happily humming away, I sat in front of my desk.
What should I do if Rei’s information is solid and I bump into Tomoi on Sunday? It wouldn’t bother him if I said hi, right? I sure hope I get to see him.
Bubbling with energy, I sped through my homework at twice the usual speed. Crushes gave girls amazing powers. Now that I think about it, I get the feeling it was the same way for me in my past life too. The memory tickled the edge of my mind, but I shook my head hard. 2D crushes don’t count!
✦ ✦ ✦
♪♪♪
UNFORTUNATELY, it was snowing on Sunday.
Hanaka had already left the house, leaving me to try and dress up without her help while I waited for Kon. Afraid I looked weird, I kept going back to double-check my appearance in the mirror. Even I was amused by how stupid I was acting. Here I was, getting all excited and hopeful when there was no guarantee I’d see Tomoi at the mall.
Today I went for a long-sleeved, tight-fitting dress tied at my waist with a belt and long boots over my thigh-high socks. Aiming for a more mature look, I abandoned my usual up-do and let my hair fall around my shoulders after loosely curling it with the curler. Hearing the doorbell ring, I carefully navigated my way downstairs and to the front door—boots with heels were dangerous!
Because our destination was a public shopping mall in front of the train station Mr. Nonaga came to pick me up in a casual Lexus. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with me checking that Kou wasn’t inside first.
“Sorry for making you go out of your way for today, Kon.”
“I don’t mind at all. I was concerned about the bad weather, but it shouldn’t be a problem if we stay inside the mall.” Kon gently wiped the snow off my head and shoulders with a large handkerchief when I rushed inside the car next to her. “There you go. It’d be such a shame if your cute hairstyle was ruined by the wet snow.”
Kon had on a knit shirt and cardigan combo, paired with a Burberry plaid print pleated skirt. Her lace-up boots were totally adorable.
“It’s been so long since we last went shopping together.”
“You know what, I think you’re right. I feel like Kou has gotten in the way every other time.”
“Right? Is he at home today?”
“Nope. I think he’s busy catering to his fans again. If I remember right, he said something about going to an art museum with Riko and the girls.”
“Catering, huh? He puts in the hard hours even on the weekend!”
“He’s the one wrapping the noose around his own neck like that, so I’ve decided to let him be,” Kon laughed. “That reminds me, even at school he…” Kon started, going into stories about Kou and how he was digging his own grave when it came to his groupies.
I can just tell her about Tomoi while we have tea later, I thought as I listened to Kon’s stories with a big smile. She was much more talkative than usual today. The shopping mall was practically dead because of the bad weather keeping people home. Not everyone had the benefit of being driven here.
“It’s so nice being able to browse without anyone else around,” Kon exclaimed. She didn’t do well in crowds. It made me happy to learn about this side of her when I had always thought that she was a social butterfly.
“Honestly, I don’t like being in crowds either,” I admitted.
“Hehe. Isn’t that because you’re afraid an alien might be mixed in the crowd and you’d never be able to tell the difference?”
Kon’s teasing grin put a stop to all the gears in my mind.
That was undeniably the reason why I hated being around crowds. But the one time I’d confessed it to Eri, she made fun of me, saying, “No normal person thinks that way!” I had kept it to myself ever since.
“That’s why I told you to stop watching movies like that! Whenever you do, you come to my room in the middle of the night saying you’re too scared to go to the bathroom alone!”
“I can’t help it! The trailers always make me want to see it! Can I…sleep with you tonight?”
“My bed is too small! So no!”
Ever since I saw the horror movie about an alien that blended into human crowds and preyed upon them one by one, I’d developed an innate fear of being swept away by crowds. My older sister Hanaka watched that movie with me even though she’d complained about it.
But wait a minute. Hanaka was in middle school when I was in elementary school. Why is the hand holding mine in this memory so small and unreliable?
“—shiro! Mashiro!”
“Ack! You scared me!” Kon’s beautiful face was right in front of mine.
“What’s wrong? You were completely out of it just now.” Kon frowned when she saw me blinking back at her, confused.
“Hey, Kon? Did I tell you the reason why I hate crowds before? I can’t remember,” I asked her directly, bothered to no end by it. Kon’s expression crumbled as if she’d messed up big time. She quickly schooled her features and tilted her head at me.
“Yeah. I’d heard about it.”
“…You did?”
Her expression just now was the real answer. Kon had heard about it, just not from me.
Why are you lying to me?
That was the first key that resulted in unraveling the tight cord wrapped around my memories. The ends of that cord had been chopped off. All that was left was for me to figure out how to make it come undone.
This wasn’t a conversation worth prying into and ruining the day over, so I headed to the chocolate store to wrap up our shopping. Kon fell in line beside me as if nothing had happened.
We roamed around the brightly decorated Valentine’s Day chocolate section assessing and rejecting all sorts of chocolates together. Kon turned an envious gaze on me when I told her how I made chocolates at home every year.
“Lucky. I couldn’t cook even if my life depended on it. Mother and the chefs forbade me from ever entering the kitchen to cook.”
When I saw the disappointment clouding Kon’s features it instantly brought my family’s kitchen-destroyer to mind. She sounds just like Hanaka. Actually, this isn’t the first time I thought they were similar, is it?
When was it? Ah, right, when I was in the car heading to the Genda estate to hang out for the first time. I learned how Kon likes the idol group SAZE. I thought her tastes for fads were similar to Hanaka.
…I thought they were similar.
Cold sweat dripped down my back. Intense uneasiness washed over me. I felt like I was overlooking something very important. But I didn’t know what it was. Not knowing the source or meaning of what felt like a titanium door sealing away something deep in my heart tormented me.
…Stop it.
If I keep thinking, it’s going to activate another “attack.” I’d learned the signs from prior experience with the attacks. I held my hand to my head and forcefully changed my line of thought.
“Who are you buying chocolate for, Kon?” I asked, looking for a way out of my head.