Plate 7:
Balls
Scene 1
“YOU HAVE TOO MANY THINGS you hate, Reo.”
The young Reo furrowed his brows. “So? Got a problem with it?”
“I didn’t say that. But…”
Reo hated the rain, he hated the rich, he hated adults, he hated baths, he hated brand new T-shirts, he hated studying. Basically, he hated everything.
“Then what is it?” Reo demanded.
“I hate when you say you ‘hate’ things,” the other boy answered honestly.
Reo stiffened. Tears came spilling from his eyes. “Huh… Wha…?”
“Reo?! Are you hurt?!”
“I-I don’t know…” Confused, he clawed at his chest. “It hurts right here… O-ouch. That hurts, Mabu!”
“Sorry.” Mabu, desperate to stop Reo’s tears, scrubbed at the other boy’s face with more force than he intended. The area around Reo’s eyes was turning red. “Reo, let’s make a promise.”
“A promise?”
“A promise not to say the word ‘hate’ anymore.”
“What kind of promise is that?” muttered Reo.
“I don’t want to hear that you hate everything, and I don’t want to see you cry. So let’s just stop saying the word ‘hate’ from now on.”
Exasperated, Reo finally agreed. “Okay, fine. But, just so you know, I would never use that word for you, Mabu.” The two exchanged a pinky promise with their tiny fingers.
Such was the dream of a day long past.
Asakusa’s streets were empty late at night, nothing like the hustle and bustle of the afternoon. An ominous aura emanated from exit eight of Asakusa Metro, which led to an underground shopping district. A sign hung above the entrance, boasting an adorable otter mascot character called Otter Boy-kun. It shone so brightly that the image seemed to imprint itself on the eyes.
This underground shopping district was Japan’s oldest. The Showa period had had a lasting impact on the architecture of the bar quarter, where something was currently taking place.
“It’s hot. Can’t we stop yet?”
Between the saccharine scent of something baking and the steam that permeated the air, it was difficult to breathe inside the dimly lit establishment. The heat of the gas burner illuminated the side of Mabu’s face, giving it an eerie, pale silhouette that glowed in the dark.
A clear, deep voice whispered in his ear. “Odd-er… Don’t you think it’s a bit too soon?”
“But I can’t stand it anymore,” said Mabu.
“Odd-er… You never have any self-restraint.”
“Please…don’t tease me…!”
“If you’re going to complain, then try doing it yourself,” the otter urged. Its tone seemed to indicate it saw right through Mabu.
Ga-chang! There was a clang as metal clapped against metal, and a puff of steam shot up into the air.
“Aah…”
“Odd-er. See, I told you. It was too early.”
“My apologies.” Mabu’s gaze was fixed on the ningyo-yaki. The little baked doll cake failed to maintain its form, its batter collapsing. How many times had he failed now?
As if satisfied that the result was just as it had foreseen, the red shadow seemed to smile as it brushed its own hand over Mabu’s white one. “Odd-er. It seems some fine-tuning is in order. Let me see inside your body again.”
“Please, I want to become the person he’s hoping for. Quickly.” Maintenance was a matter of life or death for Mabu.
“Mabu. My poor, beautiful doll.”
As Mabu lay on a table, the shadow slid its practiced hands over his chest. Unable to endure it, he closed his eyes.
The hands that touched his hollow heart—to whom did they really belong?
It was a sunny morning, and Asakusa TV was playing in the Asakusa Otter Police Box. Reo carried a strainer full of boiled broccoli over to the table. Steam was still rising off of them as he cheerfully dished them into his bowl of instant yakisoba.
“Heh heh heh, and now my perfect breakfast is ready~!♪” Reo customized his yakisoba by layering broccoli over it until the noodles were barely visible, then blanketing the whole thing in a gratuitous helping of mayonnaise. “Now to dig in.”
“Thank you for the food.”
Reo quirked an eyebrow at the other man. “Huh?” He peered over at Mabu, who similarly was eating his own bowl of instant yakisoba, and clumsily clicked his tongue. “Knock it off. There’s no point in you eating that.”
“Thanks to that last round of maintenance, I can eat now.” But being capable of eating and actually enjoying the food were two completely different things. Mabu’s pale face as he chewed was outright painful to watch.
“Fine.” Reo acquiesced. “And? You think you’ll win my approval by showing me that you can eat my favorite food?”
Mabu swallowed after much difficulty, bits of food still plastered to the sides of his mouth. He listened to Reo’s words with a blank look in his eyes.
“You can dress it up to look as realistic as you like, but it doesn’t mean anything. Everything that comes from you is a lie.”
A lie. A fake. Empty. A doll. Those were all words Mabu heard many times before.
“Regardless, there’s someone I care about, and that makes things like this important to me,” said Mabu.
“Yeah, yeah, I know all too well who it is you really care about.”
As Reo spat back at him, Mabu lifted his face. “Reo, I…”
“Enough. More importantly, don’t say anything about what you saw yesterday. Not even to that precious, precious otter of yours.”
“…Okay.” Mabu’s reply echoed hollowly in the refreshing morning sunlight.
Scene 2
“THANKS FOR THE delicious meal!” Kazuki and Haruka’s voices echoed together in the Yasakas’ living room.
Ever since they rescued Haruka from the grip of the Otter Empire, Kazuki managed to finally return to his old self. The experience must have been terrifying for Haruka, so they asked Keppi to erase the memory from his mind—scrubbing it away like so much gunk on a plate. Meanwhile, Kazuki and his friends could still remember the struggle in great detail.
Kazuki slipped his arms through the sleeves of his blue-bordered summer clothing for the first time in a long time, and then said good morning to his family in the living room. They sat around the table to eat breakfast together, surrounded by the warm scent of happiness.
Sara’s dreamy voice droned on from the television. “Well then, have a wonderful day, and may you have lots of luck dished your way! ✩”
The summer sun cast a refracted reflection on the surface of the Sumida River. Nyantaro meowed as she chowed down on Fishtopia.
“Kazu-chan, there’s something I need to give you.” Haruka was perched on the embankment wall as he rummaged through his pocket. He produced the sachet that belonged to Kazuki’s mother. “That day, she said to give it to you.”
“Could you keep it for me, Haruka?”
“What? But…”
“Right now, I just want to be connected to the people closest to me,” Kazuki explained. He didn’t intend to discard his past, which was why he wanted Haruka to keep it for him.
“Am I included in that? And Mom and Dad too?” Haruka looked anxious.
Kazuki grinned back, as if to comfort him. “Yeah, do you even have to ask?” He patted his younger brother’s head.
“Ehehe, I’m glad to hear it!”
It was a casual moment of physical contact. Haruka had waited for this for so long.
“Got it? You only get to experience this summer once, so don’t waste a moment of it! Laugh, cry, do backflips, whatever you want!” Otone’s cheerful voice reverberated through the Asakusa Sara Junior High School classroom. “Let’s make the most of it, whether we’re playing games or doing homework! Yeaah!” She pumped her fist in the air, all kitted out for summer in her straw hat, bug-catching net, and watermelon pool floatie.
And with that, their end-of-term ceremony was at an end. Tomorrow, the long-awaited summer break would begin.
“It’s been a long time since we did this,” said Kazuki.
Enta replied, “You got that right.”
The two boys were kicking a soccer ball at the base of the east end of the Azuma Bridge. Enta had defended this place on Kazuki’s behalf and was still processing the joy he felt at them being able to play together. “Did you talk to my sister yet about rejoining the soccer team?”
“Yeah. I’ll be joining you guys again next term.” Kazuki had a bright look on his face as he spoke, not a single shadow in sight.
Enta was worried after everything that happened—Kazuki’s cross-dressing being discovered at the handshake event, the secret of his birth parents being divulged when their consciousnesses joined in Sarazanmai, and then to top it all off, Haruka being kidnapped by the Otter Empire. But this summer promised to be a fun one.
“All right! Then let’s get some special training in during break, just the two of us!” Enta channeled a bit too much enthusiasm as he kicked the ball, and it sailed in the wrong direction.
Kazuki chased it down to where it stopped at the riverbank. As he picked it up, he noticed a silhouette on the red bridge above. “Tooooi!”
Toi paused mid-shuffle, unused to hearing his name called that way. He glanced down from the guardrail and spotted Kazuki waving at him.
“Heeey! Toooooi! Come over here!”
“…You’re being chummy,” Toi commented. As usual, he was taken off guard by Kazuki’s friendliness—the way he slipped past all Toi’s walls. Seeing the soccer ball in Kazuki’s arms and the blue friendship bracelet around his right ankle, he seemed to guess what was going on. “You’re starting soccer again?”