We watched Mr. Chibiki’s car drive off and were just retreating back inside when—
“Sakakibara—hold on.”
Mei stopped me.
“Thank you for what you did.”
“Wha—?” The question slipped out of me.
“When they were saying all that stuff about me in the dining hall.”
“Oh, you don’t need to…”
We were standing on the porch outside the front door. A little rain was blowing in. The only illumination was a dim porch light. It backlit Mei perfectly, so I couldn’t really tell what expression she wore as she looked at me.
“It wasn’t just me. Mochizuki and Teshigawara were…”
“Thanks,” she repeated, almost in a whisper, then she took a step closer to me. “Will you come over later?”
Once again a “Wha—?” escaped me.
“No one’s sharing my room with me.”
There were five girls on the trip. When they split up two to a room, there was one left over. And of course, Mei was that one.
“I’m in room two-twenty-three. On the opposite end from your room.”
“…Do you think I should?”
“I told you there was something I’d tell you later, remember? I want to keep that promise.”
“…Okay.”
“And also…”
Just then, over Mei’s shoulder, I saw Teshigawara. He was standing in front of the door, ogling us with a “well, well!” look on his face.
I got flustered and before Mei could finish, I said, “Okay, okay. I get it.”
“How about ten o’clock or so?”
“Okay. I’ll be there.”
“All right.”
Mei turned smoothly on her heel and went back into the building by herself. I waited a few seconds, then followed her inside. Just as I’d expected, as soon as I was inside the front door, Teshigawara pounced.
“Hey, there.”
He thumped me on the back.
“Major score, Sakaki. I heard you guys planning your little rendezvous.”
“Hold it, what do you mean ‘rendezvous’? It’s not like that.”
“Don’t get so embarrassed! I’ll never tell a soul.”
“Cut it out. You’re just making stuff up. Me and her have something serious to talk about, okay?”
“A serious talk about your future together?”
Teshigawara’s unrelenting needling got me kind of irritated, so I told him, “Seriously, I’m getting angry.”
He just put his hands in the air with a jovial “Woah, woah.” But…
At some point I had detected that, despite the way he was acting and talking, there wasn’t the slightest hint of a smile in his eyes.