The Meikun High group left the building after Aina’s return. The timing lined up nicely for them to head straight to Tokyo station and catch their bullet train. On the ride home, Eru once again sat alone in the front, with Aina and Aya behind her, and Kai and Nanaka behind them. There were a good number of people traveling with their families, perhaps owing to the fact that it was summer vacation. Maybe they’re going back to their homes in Niigata, Kai thought.
“Here you go,” Nanaka said, handing him a cookie that she had bought at a gift shop.
“Thanks,” Kai replied, as she got up to reach over the seats in front of her and pass the sweets around to the rest of the club’s members. “Are you sure?” he inquired. “Weren’t these supposed to be gifts?”
“I bought some for my family separately, so it’s okay!” she told him. “I wanted to eat these right away, so I bought them specifically for the train ride home.”
“I see.” In that case, there wasn’t any reason for him to decline. The chocolate cookie was so soft that it melted when he put it into his mouth. It was sweet, but comfortably mild. Perhaps the stressful environment he had been in a moment ago added to that feeling.
“Thanks, Kai-kun.”
“...Uhh?”
“I feel like I was supposed to be the one to stand up to her, as the club president.”
Kai realized she was talking about the last bit of conversation he’d had with Kongouin Mirei. “No, I basically just played right into her provocation...” he assured her. “I meant to put it more nicely...”
“I mean, she made fun of us,” Nanaka protested. “I don’t think you were in the wrong!”
“...No. It might have seemed that way on the surface, but I think she wasn’t actually badmouthing us,” Kai concluded. That’s why I wanted to restrain myself a bit more.
Nanaka tilted her head curiously and asked, “What do you mean?”
“This is just my personal theory,” he said as Nanaka nodded along, “but I think she was testing us.”
“...Does that mean she thought we weren’t motivated?”
“She was probably testing our motivation, too,” he agreed. However, that hadn’t been Mirei’s main point, which was why Kai had gotten so upset.
“Do you remember the goal she mentioned? ...She wanted to give it her all to win and overcome their bad reputation,” Kai reminded Nanaka. “I don’t think she was lying. So, they need to win. But their opponents were first-time participants at Summit and their social game was near the bottom of the rankings... Motivation aside, she questioned, ‘Will winning against people like us even mean anything?’”
“...What the heck,” Nanaka said, squeezing her hand into a fist.
“This is all my interpretation, though,” Kai said, all while thinking to himself, I should have stayed calm. No matter how intensely his heart boiled, he needed to keep his head cool.
“—Beginning, calm. The god of rational thought favors a cool abode. Do not let the blood rush to your head, Shiraseki.” Akane had often scolded him this way whenever he lost his temper. Kai wouldn’t have expected it, but he’d come to accept that he was quick to rise to emotional provocation. He was utterly hopeless when it came to conveying that through words and expression, but his feelings themselves were subject to the slightest trigger.
If Mirei had only questioned his resolve, he wouldn’t have gotten so upset. Kai had no idea how prepared the people at Kongouin Academy were—he didn’t know how serious they were, either, and that went both ways. For example, they had no idea what kind of determination Nanaka had. Mirei didn’t know, and yet she’d looked down on her anyway. That was why he couldn’t stay silent.
“...You know, Kai-kun...” For whatever reason, Nanaka seemed genuinely happy as she said, “You’re actually really passionate. Like that time you bit your thumb.”
Kai reflexively looked down at his right hand, thinking that this was a prime example of his hot-headedness.
“I really like that part about you.”
“............Huh?”
“Ah, th-tha-that’s not what I meant, okay?!” Nanaka rushed to assure him. “My friends in class said you were expressionless and hard to read, so...!”
“Oh, s-s-s-s-so th-that’s what you meant.” Kai stumbled through his sentence and sighed internally with disappointment. It was a fact that he was expressionless, so there wasn’t any use in letting her statement get him down, but humans are creatures whose greatest weakness is being confronted with the truth. Still, it would probably be terrifying to everybody if he were to suddenly start emoting after the end of summer break. What the hell? This is a lose-lose situation, he complained to himself.
“I-I keep telling them they’re wrong, but they don’t believe me... Maybe I should go ahead and tell them the thumb-biting story?” Nanaka mused.
“Uh, please, anything but that...” Their impression of Kai might change, but that would surely be from ‘quiet kid’ to ‘psychopath.’
“Aww... But I wouldn’t have guessed that Kongouin-san was thinking that,” Nanaka pointed out.
“I’m pretty sure that was the ‘rudeness’ she apologized for at the end.”
“I see... Hey, wait?” Nanaka put her pointer finger to her cheek and began to ponder. “But... if she apologized, then she’s not that bad of a person, right?”
“I’m not sure, but I think so, too. If she really were looking down on us, then she wouldn’t have apologized for it afterwards,” Kai agreed cautiously. “She probably just wanted to confirm that we were up to par.”
“...Hey, Kai-kun? Whenever a character like that shows up in a game... isn’t it usually a super powerful enemy?”
Kai could only muster a dry smile, thinking that it seemed Nanaka had caught his drift. Just as Kongouin Mirei had said, Meikun High was a fresh-off-the-farm country school that showed up to its first ever Summit with zero experience.
Kongouin Academy, on the other hand, was a regular participant. Manpower, experience, team coordination—everything was on different levels. To begin with, Kai and company had never competed in a development contest with their current members. On top of that—
“But I’m sure it’ll be fine!” Nanaka’s hands were balled up again, but this time they were overflowing with enthusiasm as she pumped them once in front of her chest. “Maybe ‘fine’ isn’t a good word... I mean, we’ve never even done this before! All we can do is try and give it our all!”
Her bright words, full of encouragement and bravery, shone a spotlight on the dark thoughts plaguing Kai’s mind that shocked him back into the present.
It was the same straightforward radiance as the sun suddenly appearing in front of his eyes. Nanaka is right, Kai thought. If you haven’t done it before, then all you can do is try. Dragging your feet because you have no experience will just leave you stuck in the same spot. He was supposed to know that already.
“...Kai-kun?”
“Oh, s-sorry.”
Nanaka squinted at him quizzically and then laughed. “You’re so funny, Kai-kun. I’ve never been in a development competition before, so I think I’ll be relying on you a lot... but I’ll do anything I can! How should we go about this all?”
“First... is coming up with a plan,” Kai reasoned. “He said we don’t need a project proposal, but that just meant he won’t judge us off of it, and it’s usually an important step to complete.”
“Then the project proposal it is!” declared Nanaka. “Should we all do it together? Or just the planners?”
“About that...” Kai took a small breath, held it, and let it go. If you haven’t done it before, then all you can do is try. Find your determination. “Can you give me two days to myself?”