I just wanted to tell Kurumi how I felt—to describe this urge bubbling up in my chest.
“After you vanished, I had a really bad time,” I said.
Frustrations welled up inside me—the ones smoking hadn’t done anything to relieve.
“We got the festival back, but the soccer team captain’s still kissing up to the better students. That piece of garbage Furukawa reneged on his promises and chewed me out. My classmates saw that and suddenly started being kind to me. Someone even said ‘Isn’t that nice?’ I wanted to die on the spot.”
My true feelings, the ones I’d bottled up and buried, all came pouring out.
“I’m sure of it now. Everyone at this school is awful. I was wrong to ever worry about them. I never needed to feel guilty. There was no reason for me to hesitate.”
If someone asked me if I was having fun playing at revenge while everyone around me worked hard at their studies, I’d look them right in the eye and say, “Hell yeah!”
I didn’t care if it was childish. I had to walk the path of vengeance. I needed payback.
“Kurumi, I still feel the same way. I wanna mess up this awful school. I want to get revenge and force the faculty to change. But like you said, I’m a bit of a pussy.”
My vision was starting to blur, and my voice was shaking. But somehow, I kept going.
“You knew how much of a loser I was, but you still accepted me. That’s why I want to do this with you. I don’t want anyone else to end up like us, and I mean that the way you meant it.”
“……”
“I’m sorry I tried to cancel our plans for the festival, Kurumi. I’m sorry I thought the other lower-ranking students were the same as us. I was so wrong. I didn’t know anything.”
I paced myself, making sure I got everything across properly.
“Right now, I want revenge, from the bottom of my heart. I want to be with you, Kurumi.”
My words were direct, leaving no room for misunderstanding.
“I half-assed a lot of things, but I hope you can forgive me.”
A few seconds of silence passed as we held each other’s gaze. And then she laughed, listlessly.
“…I know I shouldn’t let you off the hook so easily. You’re weak—a total pushover. You’re a liability. I should really cut you loose.” She sniffed as tears welled in her eyes. “So why do I feel this way? Why am I so happy that you did something bad?”
A beat later, I saw that mean-spirited smile on her lips again.
“You coming back just made my day.”
“Kurumi…”
“All right! If you insist, I’ll let you back on board.” She rubbed her eyes with her arm and smiled through her tears at me. “You’re sure you prefer me to Yumi Tanaka? You’d rather have me than an ordinary girl?”
“I’d much rather have you, Kurumi Hoshimiya. I don’t want to be with anyone else.”
“Heh-heh. Glad to hear it! Let’s do this together. Let’s go as far as this impulse takes us.”
We each took a step closer to each other. Our foreheads bumped, and our noses rubbed together.
We were both saying a lot of cringey things. But I didn’t mind. I’d never been happier.
We knew how ugly this school was and how unprepared we both were. We knew that kissing wouldn’t solve a damn thing.
And yet—no, because we knew, we were happy. Pushing back against that misery brought us joy.
We stared into each other’s eyes, smiling.
“We really took the long road,” she said.
“Yeah.”
“It’s all because I cried, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s because I was an idiot.”
She sealed my lips, and our tongues began to wrestle. This made the bitter taste in my mouth turn ever so slightly sweeter.
“Mm… Gasp! Natsume…?”
I pulled away much faster than usual. We had to wrap this up fast.
It was hard to tell from the broadcast booth, but pandemonium was settling over the school. The fiendish arm of reality was closing in on us.
We had to bring this to the best possible end. It was time to employ my final plan.
“Kurumi, the teachers will be here any second. We’d better run.”
“…Can we get away?”
She looked worried, but I flashed her a confident grin. Then I picked up the cat-eared hat and placed it back on her head.
“Trust me. It was my job to plan our escape route.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Kurumi and I ditched the broadcast booth.
I looked both ways down the dreary hallway. The coast was still clear.
“Okay… No teachers or committee members in sight.”
They weren’t here yet, but they had to know where we were. We had no time to spare. We had to move.
“Kurumi, we’d better run.”
“R-right.”
I led the way, and we dashed off.
We’d been in a soundproof room, so we were only now hearing the ruckus. All sorts of voices were yelling over the ongoing stream of insults. The cheer of the festival had long since given way to an uproar.
On we ran, past the warning bar and to the stairs.
There were no shops near the broadcast booth and still no sign of anyone pursuing us.
“Natsume, the west stairs will get us to the entrance faster!”
“That’s not where we’re going. Odds are they’ll seal off the exits! If a crowd forms, we’ll be trapped. And—”
A roar cut me off.
“Hey! You two, stop!”
A teacher was running toward us from the west staircase.
“N-Natsume, what now? They’ll surround us!”
“Don’t worry, this way. Follow me.”
I took Kurumi’s hand and pulled her along.
I had no choice. The only way to get her out of here was to carry out a certain plan I’d been working on.
We took the stairs—not down, but up.
We climbed through the dim lighting two steps at a time. We passed a NO TRESPASSING sign and climbed higher still. We went all the way to the top and arrived at a metal door we both knew well.
“Um, Natsume? Why’d we come here?”
“Isn’t it obvious? We’re gonna jump off the roof and make our escape.”
“…Huh? Do you really mean that? Are you insane?”
Kurumi gaped at me, but I just nodded.
“Only crazy people seek vengeance.”
“No! No, no, no, that is not helping!”
In truth, she had nothing to be worried about. I wasn’t trying to commit suicide with her. I had a solid plan. As for the details… Well, she’d soon find out.
“C’mon, before they catch up.”
I grabbed the knob and turned it, slammed my shoulder into the door…
…and heard a clang. I’d forgotten something very important.
“Oh, crap.”
“Hmm? What is it, Natsume? What’s wrong?”
Kurumi looked worried, and I scratched my cheek.
“Uh, Kurumi… You don’t happen to have the rooftop key, do you? I forgot they locked it up.”
“……”
Kurumi’s jaw dropped.
I assumed, at first, that she was horrified… But apparently not.
As I started to slump, she snorted, then burst out laughing.
“Ha-ha-ha, you really are hopeless, Natsume! Of course I have the key.”
“What? Seriously? I was clutching at straws…”
Kurumi pulled a key out of her pocket and brandished it proudly.
“Of course I have a key to the roof. I’m the Stargazing Club president.”
Another puzzle piece snapped into place.
…Oh, that explains a lot.
✦ ✦ ✦
I’d always wondered who left the roof door unlocked. It had been Kurumi the whole time. Since the first day I went up there to smoke, we were destined to meet.
“Let’s go, Natsume.”
“…Yeah.”
I took the key from her and opened the door to the roof.