Plate 3:
Kiss
Scene 1
IT WAS A BRIGHT Sunday morning. In the Jinnais’ living room, Enta’s grandmother sipped her tea as she always did. Across from her sat Otone, decked out in fishing gear, polishing her rod as she yelled, “Entaaa! Breakfast!”
The television behind the old woman was tuned to its usual channel, Asakusa Sara TV. It was almost time for the lucky selfie horoscope segment to begin.
“Morning…”
Enta stifled a yawn as he entered the room, still dressed in his summer pajamas. He hadn’t slept at all the night before. He plopped himself down at the floor table, only to wrinkle his nose in disgust when he caught sight of breakfast. “Ugh, fish again?”
He skillfully snapped up the fish in his chopsticks and dangled it in the air, its body split wide open to reveal the finely cooked meat inside.
Otone said sharply, “Kiss!”
“Kiss?!” he shrieked back, instinctively dropping the fish.
Why—how does she know?!
Otone, having noticed how flustered her brother was, casually added, “Not kiss, I said kisu. You know, the fish? Sillago? We dried it overnight.”
“Huh? O-oh, the fish… I panicked for a second there.” Enta regained his composure and returned the fish to the plate. “Is this another present from that boyfriend of yours?”
“That’s right. My attractive, picture-perfect boyfriend who’s a master at preparing fish. I’m off in a few to go on another fishing date with him!” Despite her tomboyish appearance, Otone lived for romance. Romance, she claimed, gave her energy to get through the day. She seemed to glow as she talked about her boyfriend.
Although Enta was used to her gushing, he found it especially annoying this morning. Annoying enough that he was tempted to take a dig at her. “I just wish your boyfriend worked at a butcher’s instead of the fish market.”
“That’s uncalled for! If this were soccer, I’d give you a yellow card!” Otone huffed.
Enta ignored her and lifted his miso soup bowl to his lips. On the television, Sara’s lucky selfie roulette wheel came to a stop.
“Smooch, smooch! It’s a kiss, dish! ✩”
“Bwah?!” Enta choked, spewing his soup.
“Did you hear that? A kiss! Maybe he’ll kiss me today on our date?! Or maybe I should be the one to initiate it? Hee!”
As Otone prattled and Enta coughed, the girl in the television smiled and said, “Okay then, have a wonderful day, and may lots of luck be dished your way! ✩”
While the tunnel beneath the west side of the Azuma Bridge remained unobstructed, the east side tunnel was sealed off completely. This made it an optimal spot for Enta’s training; there was barely any foot traffic, and the area was spacious.
His Sunday schedule was practically a fixed routine by now. After eating breakfast, he would come here, clean up any trash he found, and then begin training with the soccer ball he brought with him. He was normally so engrossed in training that he’d lose track of time juggling the ball on his legs. Today, however, he felt too gloomy to concentrate the way he usually did.
He sighed and glanced back at the sealed tunnel. A picture of a soccer goal had been painted onto the stone wall. He approached, ghosting his fingers over the lines. The painting was four years old now, and was beginning to peel and fade.
I love Kazuki, he thought. I don’t remember when it started, but it’s like I’ve carried these feelings with me forever. I refuse to accept that Kazuki’s quit soccer.
At ten years old, Enta stood out in school. He’d spent the better part of his childhood living overseas, thanks to his parents’ jobs. His older sister was so charismatic she could make friends anywhere, regardless of language barriers. Enta, on the other hand, was incredibly shy. He constantly cried to his concerned parents that he wanted to go back home to Japan.
He managed to hitch a ride back a few years later with his sister, who said she wanted to get a teaching license, and they moved to Asakusa to live with their grandmother. Instead of a happy homecoming, Enta’s classmates were reserved and aloof toward him—a familiar situation to most Japanese children returning from abroad. Perhaps they were merely curious about him and his background, and Enta misinterpreted their intentions. Regardless of whether it was a misunderstanding, it broke the introverted boy’s heart.
After school, Enta always sat in a shady spot overlooking the school grounds, where he could read his soccer magazine in peace. The boisterous sounds of his classmates playing soccer carried easily to him. Enta was too shy to approach and ask to play. He was left with no choice but to hug his knees to his chest and watch. He’d always played by himself when he lived abroad, so it wasn’t like he knew how to be part of a team anyway.
Kazuki was the one who finally outstretched a hand to him. When he told Kazuki that he loved soccer but was only a beginner, the other boy smiled and responded that he just started playing too.
“I’m sure we can become a golden duo someday, just like the characters from that manga!” Kazuki said. The other boy wore a blue friendship bracelet tied around his right ankle, the same kind worn by Enta’s favorite soccer player.
Enta accepted his outstretched hand and from there, they began practicing daily, just the two of them. Soon after, they discovered this empty area near the base of the Azuma Bridge. The two young boys painted a small soccer goal on the stone, and it became their secret practice field.
They were recognized (by both themselves and others) as the “Golden Duo,” in part thanks to Otone’s influence as she had trained to become a junior high P.E. teacher. They even had a special pose they would both strike during matches after Enta passed the ball and Kazuki scored. It was the pose their favorite soccer player always used. Their motto was, “Dishing it out!”
Several months ago, however, Kazuki decided to leave soccer behind. The blue friendship bracelet on his right ankle disappeared at the same time. Enta, wanting to respect his friend’s feelings, watched and said nothing as Kazuki stopped participating in the club. He was sure that Kazuki just needed a break, and would come back to the club eventually.
Kazuki and I have been the Golden Duo ever since we were little, he thought. I know him better than anyone else. I want to pass to him and watch him score again.
Enta produced a small box from his pocket. It was a new friendship bracelet he bought for Kazuki. Just when he planned to gift it to his friend, Kazuki submitted his club withdrawal form.
“Once Kazuki fulfills his wish using the Wishing Plates, I can give him this and we can go back to being the Golden Duo again. I don’t need anything else but that.”
Images from his kiss with Kazuki the night before popped into his mind. Kazuki awoke right after but had no memory of what Enta had done. Enta should’ve been relieved that he hadn’t been caught, but a part of him felt disappointed. That was probably why he’d taken out his frustration on Otone this morning.
Looking at his sister—the way she loved unapologetically and faced everything head on—was like looking straight at the sun. She was too bright. Of course, that often led her to flat-out rejection, but she never carried the pain for long. Instead, that hurt fueled her determination to make the next relationship succeed.
Enta always believed he could never do that—until he realized how much he wished Kazuki had caught him in the act of kissing him. Now he just felt utterly pathetic.
“Why the heck did I have to go and kiss him? Ugh!”
“I-It’s closed!”
Kazuki was back at work searching for the lucky selfie item of the day. Decked out in his Sara outfit, he was currently standing in front of a specialty kisu fish store called Markiss’s Riverside Fish Market. The owner of the store, Markiss Gimmemore, was said to be unrivaled in his ability to cut and handle kisu fish. A huge sign hung over his store with the slogan, “Eat a kisu and improve your ability to kiss-u too!”
Incidentally, there were rumors that the man was so incredibly handsome that he offered an additional service at his shop—women could take pictures with him as he hugged them from behind. He was basically an idol at this point, his business booming with female customers barging in daily.