Kokoro Connect Volume 6: Nise Random E-Book

Sadanatsu Anda

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Kokoro Connect
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 304

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Kokoro Connect Volume 6: Nise Random

Leseprobe

Date: x/xx

Weather: Cloudy

Today I met—

No! No I didn’t! What am I saying? I take it back! I don’t know what you’re talking about! Never happened!

It can’t have been real, so it must’ve been a dream. Yeah, just a dream. There’s no way something like that would exist in real life. My world hasn’t changed. Not a bit.

Today was just another ordinary day. And it’ll be nothing but ordinary tomorrow, and the day after that, and all the days after that.

Not that I LIKE ordinary, mind you. But I’ll take ordinary over

THAT.

I should go to bed early tonight. I’m exhausted, and the fatigue is making me all weird. I’ll just save it for tomorrow! Tomorrow will be a better day, and then everything will go back to normal, and then I’ll forget all about it. Good night!

I’m not worthy.

Chapter 1: The Sports Festival

“Alright, people, let’s talk about the Sports Festival!”

It was early June. Behind the teacher’s lectern stood Setouchi Kaoru, president of Class 2-B at Yamaboshi High School. During this Monday sixth period homeroom, they were sitting down to discuss the athletic event that would take place a month from now at the start of July.

“Everyone gather around your assigned sports committee representative. For the boys, that’s Watase-kun. Girls, you’ve got Kurihara-san!”

Already Setouchi seemed right at home in her new role as class president. Her cartilage piercings glittered against her short dark hair, affording her the respectability of an honors student juxtaposed with the aesthetic of a trendsetter.

At her command, the students all rose from their seats, Yaegashi Taichi included.

“That time of year already, huh? Man, the Sports Festival always gets me pumped! You know what I mean, Yaegashi-kun?” asked Nakayama Mariko, a cheerful girl known for her trademark high pigtails.

“Totally,” Taichi agreed, nodding.

“That’s it? Just a one-word reply? C’mon!”

Her pushy personality left something to be desired, and admittedly he wasn’t entirely comfortable around her, but as she was good friends with Nagase, he frequently found himself roped into conversations with her.

“S-Sorry...”

“Grrrr... That’s still just one word! Throw me a bone here, would you? Let’s hear those dulcet tones! Don’t save it all for Inaba-san!”

But then, someone tackled Nakayama from behind.

“Gotcha! Well, well... You two look like you’re getting along, eh?”

This picturesque little moment was intensified further with the addition of Nagase Iori, president of the Cultural Research Club and generally considered the most beautiful girl in their grade, wrapping her arms protectively around Nakayama. These days she wore her long hair down, and lately it felt like her personality had matured to match her more refined hairstyle.

“You jelly? Me and Yaegashi-kun are besties now.”

“What?! Besties?! Then me and Taichi are SUPER besties! We went through a whole year of club stuff together!”

But Taichi had to think that “club stuff” was putting it far too lightly—and yet here they were, smiling. His friendship with Nagase had survived. What else mattered? In that sense, maybe it really was just “club stuff.”

And should that threat rear its ugly head once more, they would join forces to fight it, just as they always had.

“Earth to Taichi! Come in, Taichi! How can you possibly zone out when you’ve got two total babes right in front of you?! Wait, I get it... Other girls don’t catch your eye now that you’ve got your wifey Inaban, huh?”

“Wifey?! I shoulda known! Ol’ Yaegashi-kun’s gotta be head over heels for that cutie!”

“What’s that? You wanna bury yourself in a harem of cute girls?! Me too!” shouted Kiriyama Yui, fellow member of the Cultural Research Club. Why she felt the need to broadcast this was a mystery.

With her petite frame, long silky reddish-brown hair, and an eternal love of all things cute, Kiriyama was the paragon of a girly-girl... except she was also a veteran of girls’ full-contact karate.

“Nobody said that...” Taichi muttered.

“They didn’t? Dang... And here I thought I’d found someone who could understand me...”

“You know, sometimes I really worry about you, Kiriyama,” he commented. Normally she was fairly level-headed, but that all went out the window the second someone said the word cute within earshot.

There, Taichi and the girls each went their separate ways. As he headed over to meet up with the other guys, their newly minted sports rep Watase Shingo (soccer player, good-looking and popular) called out to him.

“Gimme a break, dude. You can’t even walk to my desk without talking to some girls first?”

“Quit showing off!” someone shouted.

“Trade me! Name your price!” someone else hollered.

“Okay, first things first,” called the girls’ representative, Kurihara Yukina. Tall and slender, she was close friends with Kiriyama. But despite what her bleached hair and thick makeup might otherwise suggest, she was no airhead; on the contrary, Kurihara was a good student who devoted a lot of her time and energy to the track team.

She raised her hand in the air to get everyone’s attention—including the boys, apparently. “Let’s make one thing clear: Are we trying to win this?”

“Hell yeah!” a few students shouted in unison, followed by murmurs of agreement.

“Why wouldn’t we? The winning team gets some sweet perks come Culture Festival time!” Nakayama exclaimed.

At Yamaboshi High School, the Sports Festival was a competitive school-wide event wherein each team consisted of one class chosen from each of the three grade levels, for a total of three classes per team. The winning team was then granted special privileges to be redeemed during the Culture Festival, such as the freedom to hold any exhibit, as well as first dibs on event space, and so on.

“Yeah! If we win this, it’ll make the Culture Festival ten times better!”

“I mean, if we gotta do it anyway, why not at least try?”

“It’ll be more fun for all of us if we try to win!”

“Alright, everyone, settle down. I can tell we’re all passionate about this,” Kurihara called, shushing the crowd.

“Come on, Yukina, you’re our representative! You’re supposed to be setting an example for the rest of us! You can’t just phone it in!” Kiriyama scoffed.

“Yes, yes, I know. For the record, you’re the whole reason I wanted to set the record straight about this.”

“Me? How come?”

But Kurihara ignored her and turned back to the others. “Alright ladies, if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that we should enter the Goddess of War Kiriyama in every competition. So, that’s one slot filled.”

“Wha...?! Hold on a minute! You can’t just decide these things without asking me! And where did ‘Goddess of War’ come from?!”

But despite Kiriyama’s flailing, everyone else was already nodding—

“Whawha...?! Seriously, you guys, I can’t be in all of them! There’s a limit to how many solo competitions each person can enter! It’s against the rules!”

“Don’t worry. We’ll list you as ‘Masked Kiriyama 1’ and ‘Masked Kiriyama 2’ for some of them.”

“Oh, do you guys need a mask? If so, I can lend you the one I’ve got in my bookbag,” Taichi cut in. “It’s a replica from the shortest world champion in WWE history, Rey Mysterio, a San Diego native who—”

“You know that’s not allowed, Yukina! And Taichi, don’t like, go around telling people you bring masks to school! You’re weirding me out!”

Damn... I was hoping I could gush about him a little more...

“I guess we’ll put the Masked Kiriyama thing on the backburner for now...”

“Not ‘for now’! Forever!”

As Kiriyama’s little comedy routine with Kurihara came to a close, the guys and girls turned back to their separate discussions.

“Okay, guys... So the girls might already be doing this, but I think our plan should be to prioritize the jocks and enter them in competitions where they can net us some points. Then we’ll take the average guys like Yaegashi and use them to fill the gaps, and then the rest of you can kinda go wherever. Sound good?” Watase asked.

The others nodded, especially the jocks.

“Sounds good!”

“I’ll do the relay race!”

“Maybe I could do capture the flag...”

“Yeah, feel free to put me wherever you need me,” Taichi agreed.

“You guys don’t mind, right?” Watase asked the less athletically-gifted guys in the crowd.

“Oh, uh, sure.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s cool.”

“Alrighty! First, let’s start with the competition worth the most points: the infamous Yamaboshi High School co-ed cavalry battle...”

Once everyone had been assigned to at least one event, the students all returned to their desks, and Setouchi moved back behind the teacher’s lectern.

“Okay, everyone! Now it’s time to choose our representatives for the cheerleading competition.”

At Yamaboshi, the cheerleading competition was the centerpiece of the entire Sports Festival. It wasn’t just a performance—it was a huge opportunity to win points for one’s team. In recent years, students had generally put a lot of effort into the planning, with rehearsals starting a solid month before the big day. These rehearsals were then overseen and directed by a handful of guys and girls chosen as representatives for each grade level.

“...anddd Yaegashi. Alright, now we’ve got our three boys. As for the ladies, we’ve got Kiriyama, Nagase... Anyone else want to volunteer?”

This was where they hit a snag.

“You do it!”

“No way, I can’t direct the whole thing!”

“What about you, Nakayama-chan?”

“Mmm... I’m not the athletic type, y’know...”

“I’d be willing, but the rules don’t allow it since I’m already on the committee...” Kurihara mused.

“Same here, since I’m class president. Hmm... What do we do...?” Setouchi folded her arms in contemplation.

That was when the bell rang, rousing 2-B’s class advisor Gotou Ryuuzen from his slumber. He had summarily passed out at his desk after dumping all the responsibility on Setouchi.

“Wuh...? Ack, look at the time! Are we all set to go? Let’s—”

“No, sir, we’re not done.”

“Are you kidding me?! But it’s time to go home!”

“How is this a surprise to you?! If you want to go home so badly, then help me out! We need to decide on one more girl to join the representatives for the cheerleading competition!”

Gotou had served as Taichi’s class advisor back during his first year at Yamaboshi; he also supervised the Cultural Research Club. In both cases, he was often stunningly derelict. (At this point, it was a wonder he wasn’t fired for incompetence.)

“Rrgh... Let’s see. Right now you’ve got Nagase and Kiriyama... Hmm, feels like you’re missing someone... Oh, I know! Fujishima! It’s gotta be Fujishima!”

“...What? Me?”

Fujishima Maiko looked up in surprise. While she had filled the role of president of Class 1-C last year, she had since been demoted to mere constituent of 2-B.

At the time, she was a brilliant leader who oozed charisma. Back then she would have almost certainly been a key figure in this discussion, but these days she tended to keep her head down.

“I... I can’t do that... Surely there’s someone better-suited to the role...”

The class fell silent. An awkward tension hung in the air as they all waited for someone else to say something. Then, finally, Nagase spoke up:

“W-Well, uh... I support the idea, personally! I think it’d be fun! And with your talent, we’d win no problem, y’know, since the majority of our class are athletes anyways!”

“Y-Yeah! I agree! We need you to do this, Fujishima-san! You’re our only hope!” Watase chimed in.

From there, things began to snowball:

“Oh man, we could actually win...”

“I think we’ve really got a chance!”

“Let’s give it all we’ve got!”

“Yeah!”

“Awesome!”

Class 2-B had been fairly enthusiastic about the Sports Festival from the outset, but now the whole room was burning with the drive to win. Everyone was staring passionately at Fujishima.

“Oh... W-Well... In that case... I guess I’ll do it...”

Instantly, the room exploded in applause. For a second Taichi worried they were pressuring her to concede against her will, but one look at her shy smile and he knew that wasn’t the case.

“Heh... For the record, I didn’t nominate Fujishima just because I’m lazy and she already proved herself to be hyper-competent last year. You see, as your teacher, it’s my job to help students who have lost their self-confidence by giving them the chance to—”

“Quiet, you. Some of us have to get to club practice,” Setouchi growled. Evidently her glare was still just as vicious as it was during her rebel days.

“Yes, ma’am. Shutting up now. Sorry, Setouchi-san.”

“Alright, that’s that settled! Nice work, everyone!”

And with that, homeroom came to an end.

Meanwhile, Fujishima’s eyes widened in realization. “Wait... Did Nagase-san just interact with me of her own volition...? Does that mean she’s ready to accept my love?! WOOHOO!”

“Wh... Where the heck did that come from?! L-Look, you’ve got the wrong idea, Fujishima-san! S-Stop! Don’t lick your lips like that! Aaaaaaagh!”

□■□■□

School had ended for the day, and the five original members of the CRC—plus their two first-year newbies—were all sitting around the tables in Rec Hall Room 401.

“What?! Chee-hee and Shino-chan are gonna be on the same team as Inaban?!” Nagase exclaimed.

“Apparently,” answered Chihiro in a flat voice.

With his messy, asymmetrical hairstyle, pointed features, and reticent personality, Uwa Chihiro seemed at first glance like the average emo kid—but while his facial structure may not have been the most masculine, his body was well-toned from years of karate at the same dojo Kiriyama attended. And it was that connection with Kiriyama that first brought him to the CRC. Now here he sat, an official member of the club.

“C’mon, is that all you’ve got to say? Not even a ‘Whoa, that’s crazy’ or anything?! You’re so frigid!”

“It isn’t ‘crazy,’ though. There was always a chance our classes would end up on the same team.”

“Boooo... Chee-hee’s no fun. Right, Shino-chan?”

“Oh, yes, he’s rather dull. That said, it’s possible he was acting like a buzzkill on purpose in order to be the ‘combo breaker’ for comedic effect. In that sense, perhaps he was trying to play along after all. Doesn’t change the fact that he failed, of course.”

“Holy crap, Shino-chan! Talk about a sick burn!”

“O-Oh... Was it? Everyone keeps saying I’m ‘overly honest’ and ‘surprisingly harsh,’ so I was trying to be more considerate this time...”

“Sheesh! I guess those catty quips must come naturally to you!”

Enjouji Shino was the other new recruit. With her poofy chin-length hair and timid nature, she was reminiscent of a Pomeranian puppy—but nevertheless, she knew how to speak her mind.

Now that more than a month had passed, Taichi’s initial hesitation towards the new members had faded, and he saw them as a natural addition to the club. Hopefully they felt the same way.

“Hell yeah! This is gonna be rad!” Aoki shouted, his wavy hair bouncing in time with the movements of his lanky frame. “Me, Inabacchan, Chihiro, and Shino-chan on Green Team, and Taichi, Yui, an’ Iori-chan on Red Team! It’ll be great to go head-to-head!”

“Well, we still have the other team to worry about, and the whole school is in on it, so it’s not like we’re directly competing with each other, per se,” Taichi corrected him.

“Hmmm...” Nagase glanced from Taichi to Chihiro and back.

“What?” Taichi asked.

“Oh, I was just thinking... You two are both so calm and rational all the time... Kinda feels like we’ve got two of the same guy.”

“What? I’m nothing like him!” Taichi insisted. All of a sudden, it felt like his position in the club was being threatened. “You agree with me, right, Kiriyama?”

“Oh, uh, yeah! You’ve got your good points, just like Chihiro has his... so yeah!”

“Look me in the eye when you say that! At least pretend you believe it! Are you trying to hurt my feelings?!”

“I wouldn’t say the two of us are that alike. For one thing, I’m not a natural-born player.”

“Are you trying to suggest that I am?! Because I’m NOT!”

“I’m really digging all this energy, Taichi! Keep it up and you’ll establish your own separate identity in no time!”

“Is that what you think I’m trying to do?! Is this my life now?!”

The thought of being seen as that desperate killed his motivation to try to be more energetic... but without it, they would see him as a dupe of Chihiro... He was well and truly caught between a rock and a hard place.

“That’s the spirit, guys! Both of you try to get into the game a little more! Woooo!” Aoki cheered.

Beside him, Kiriyama sighed. “I’m just glad there aren’t two Aokis. I can barely tolerate one of them as it is... You know what I mean, Shino-chan?”

“Oh, yes. That would be downright obnoxious.”

“You weren’t trying to be considerate at all just now, were you?! You’ll try for Chihiro, but not for me?!”

“Come to think of it, Inaban, why are you so quiet? You can hear us putting Taichi through the wringer over here, right?” Nagase asked one Inaba Himeko, who had seemingly fallen into thought.

Concealed beneath strands of jet-black hair, her somber expression was alluring enough to make Taichi’s heart skip a beat. Though she was the same age as he was, Inaba had a mature appeal—less “cute” and more “beautiful”—and as her boyfriend, it was something he had come to deeply appreciate about her.

“Yeah, but I don’t care what anyone else thinks. Taichi will always be number one in my heart.”

Though it wouldn’t be right for him to comment on the matter, seeing as he was her boyfriend and all, everyone else claimed that she was currently in some kind of lovesick puppy mode, which Nagase generally referred to as “Ina-bashful Syndrome.”

“Meanwhile, Inaban’s personality has changed completely! Love is powerful... or maybe we have Taichi to thank!”

“Who, me? That’s flattering... Hahaha...” Taichi laughed bashfully.

At this, Chihiro turned to Nagase. “Nagase-san, I demand that you withdraw your earlier statement. I am nowhere near as stupid as Taichi-san.”

“Wh... Stupid?! I’m not stupid!” My grades are pretty good, just FYI!

“I don’t know, Taichi-senpai. That response just now was pretty stupid.”

“You’re really vicious, you know that, Enjouji?!” Worst of all, he knew she was just being honest, so he couldn’t find it in him to hold it against her. Instead, he turned to Inaba. “Alright, I’m starting to worry about you. You okay? Something got you down?”

“Well... umm...” Inaba shifted in her seat, awkwardly averting her gaze.

“You know you don’t have to hold anything back. Or if you’re not comfortable talking about it here, you can always message me later.”

“Thanks, Taichi.” She smiled softly, and he could feel just how much she trusted him.

“Hrrrk... I’m gonna barf!” Nagase joked, hunched over as she pretended to vomit.

“So, uh, anyway...” Inaba continued, still a little hesitant, “I guess this makes us rivals in the Sports Festival, huh?”

“Yeah, so?”

“What do you mean, ‘yeah, so?!’ How can you possibly bear to fight your beloved?!”

“I mean... It’s just the Sports Festival...”

“Just the Sports Festival?! Is that all our relationship amounts to?!”

While he appreciated just how protective she was of their relationship, her anxiety could be downright insufferable at times. (It was still really cute, though.)

“Taichi-kun, wipe that pervy smile off your face and snap Inaban out of it!” Nagase cut in.

“HEY! My smile is not pervy!”

“Okay then... Horny?”

“It’s not horny, either! Our relationship is pure!”

“Yeah, right!” Nagase laughed.

Meanwhile, Taichi turned back to Inaba. “Look, don’t hold back on my account. We’ll compete fair and square, alright?”

“Are you sure...? If I go all-out, I could make the other teams’ star players mysteriously turn up absent on the big day...”

“Were you listening?! I said compete fair and square!”

He had a feeling he didn’t want to know how she planned to make them “turn up absent”...

“O-Okay, you have my word... Then I guess I won’t be holding back! Lest you forget, I’ve never been a big fan of losing, you know! I’ll crush my enemies! Go big or go home!”

At this point, it was starting to feel like Inaba had multiple personalities.

“Hell yeah! Inabacchan’s all fired up! Now we’re gonna win for sure!” Aoki cheered.

“Forgetting something, Aoki? We’ve got Goddess of War Kiriyama on our side!” Nagase retorted, her eyes sparkling at this challenge.

“Yeah! As long as I’m around, you guys are—Look, Iori, can you please just drop the ‘Goddess of War’ thing? It’s, like, totally not cute!”

“D-Don’t worry, Yui-senpai! You’ll always be cute to me!”

“Awwww! Thank you, Shino-chan! Nngh... How can I fight the Green Team if you’re on it...?”

“Heh heh heh... And so the naive little girl could not withstand the might of the great Shino...”

“Inaba, why are you talking like a narrator in a movie...?” Taichi retorted. Why is everyone so hyped up about this?

“Chee-hee, get in on this!” Nagase commanded. “Tell her she’s cute! You know she’s a sucker for a handsome face!”

“Excuse you! I am NOT a sucker for his face, thank you very much!”

“Nagase, why are you ganging up on Kiriyama? She’s on our team!”

“Oh crap!”

“Fine, fine, I’ll say it.” For some reason, even grumpy Chihiro decided to play along with them. “You’re really cute, Yui-san.”

“What the... Chihiro-kun?! Wh... It almost sounded like you meant it, you dummy! Stop screwing with me! God, my face is like on fire! You little punk... You’re pretty cute yourself! Tee-hee!” She swayed her shoulders, fidgeting bashfully.

This was the precise moment Aoki chose to shout:

“Yui! You’re looking adorable today, as usual!”

“Oh. Yeah, I know.”

“That’s it?! That’s all I get?!”

“You say it to me all the time! I’m used to it by now!”

Chihiro glanced at Kiriyama, then sighed to himself. “These idiots, getting all worked up over some stupid Sports Festival...”

“Your enthusiasm could use some work, Chihiro!” Aoki scolded. “You’re a representative for your class’s cheerleading competition, aren’tcha?!”

“Yes, but only because I lost at rock-paper-scissors, as I explained to you before. I’m just not one of the lucky ones, sad to say... Uh, Taichi-san? Can I help you?”

“Don’t worry, Chihiro. I’m pretty bad at rock-paper-scissors, too. Maybe we are alike after all.”

“I don’t need your sympathy for this. And get your hand off my shoulder.”

Sheesh, you’re no fun...

“Either way, as your fellow teammate, I think you oughta commit to it a little harder, Chihiro! Wait, I know... If you need a little more motivation, how about we all make a bet, as a club?” Aoki asked.

Instantly, Nagase took the bait. “Sounds fun! We’re pretty evenly matched, after all! Alright, let’s see... How about this? Whichever team scores more points earns the right to give an order to a person of their choice on the losing team. Just one order, though!”

“I’m in!” Kiriyama declared.

“D-Do we have to obey the order, no matter what...?” Enjouji asked nervously.

“You betcha!”

“Oh god, no... Then that means... if I screw this up... I could get sold off to a foreign country and never see Japan again...!”

“I think you’re overestimating the danger here,” Taichi retorted. No human trafficking, please, for the love of god.

“Don’t worry, Shino-chan! We just gotta win! And then we can order Taichi or Iori-chan or Yui to do whatever we want!” Aoki consoled her.

“Huh...? Y-You mean... I could make Taichi-senpai whisper in my ear... and have him say whatever I want...? ALRIGHT, LET’S DO THIS!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You’ve only been with us a month, Enjouji! It’s way too early for you to have a personality meltdown!”

That said, it was possible there were still sides to her that the rest of them had yet to discover. Regardless, her... fondness... for voices (Taichi’s in particular) was certainly something.

This passion of hers proved to be infectious, because Inaba broke into a dreamy smile. “Then that means... Yes... At last, I’ll take Taichi there... and then we’ll... Eeeek! I’m too embarrassed to say any more!”

“Wowie, Inaban’s a naughty girl! Maybe we should start calling her Nympho-ban!”

“Nagase! Don’t talk about my girlfriend like that!”

Before they knew it, the time flew by. And though they’d spent it just sitting around, there was never a dull moment.

At one point, Taichi realized that Chihiro had gone quiet, staring at his hands. For a moment, he started to worry that he wasn’t having a good time—but when he glanced over, he found the boy biting back laughter. All at once, relief flooded Taichi’s chest. Evidently he was enjoying himself after all—

But then Chihiro’s lip curled in a smirk.

Chapter 2: Temptation

Date: x/xx

Weather: Sunny

Kinda not looking forward to the Sports Festival... because I know I’ll just end up being dead weight.

Today we had a big discussion about it during homeroom, and (un)fortunately(?), nobody in my class is really invested in it. Knowing this makes me feel better. And then I start to hate myself. I HATE that I feel so relieved. I need to be better.

Everybody was bored during the discussion, and I could tell that they were all low-key trying to weasel out of having to do anything challenging by dumping it on other people instead. It was so hard to watch...

I really wanted to volunteer, but I couldn’t possibly raise my hand. Not with everyone else acting like THAT. I didn’t have a choice. So instead I told myself I’d just wait for someone else to do it.

I looked around the room and waited. Waited for someone who wasn’t me to raise their hand. But nobody did.

Meanwhile, it seems like our senpai are all WAY more invested in this than we are, and it kills me inside because I KNOW we’re going to drag them down. There’s just nothing I can do about everyone else in my class.

I wish I could do something. But I can’t, so I guess that doesn’t matter.

I’ll try harder next time. I’ll just wait for the right moment.

+++

The next day after school, the clubroom was lively as Yaegashi Taichi and the others entertained themselves with their own independent activities.

“Alright gang, let’s call it a day!” club president Nagase Iori declared with a grin.

That day, the six of them (Inaba Himeko was unable to attend due to a prior engagement) had briefly discussed the upcoming issue of the Culture Bulletin. Now they were headed home.

One by one, each of them split off to go their own separate ways... and by the time the train arrived at Taichi’s station, he was all alone.

Tucking his commuter pass back into his bookbag, he passed through the turnstiles. A pleasant breeze brushed his cheek, and he stretched lightly. He could smell something sweet—probably from the bakery in the station square—and his stomach rumbled, but he decided not to splurge today. He’d only just gotten his allowance money for this month, and he needed it to last. So instead Taichi headed to the bicycle parking rack.

Summer was just a month away, and the weather was getting warmer and warmer.

Ahead of him, he could see two high school students walking down the street, holding hands. He watched them for a moment, then pictured himself and Inaba in their place.

Ever since the two of them made it official, Taichi had started to pay closer attention to random couples on the street, observing them, comparing their relationship to his own, making note of things for future reference.

Next the girl curled her arm around the guy’s bicep—the exact sort of thing Inaba liked to do. Maybe I don’t need to be so uptight about PDA stuff... but still, it’s kinda cringey... and what if it makes someone uncomfortable? Not like we could do it in the clubroom, either... Not after everything we’ve gone through—especially with Nagase—

[———]

Somewhere in the distance—in the far recesses of his mind—he thought he heard a tiny, faint sound. A voice. In his head. But this was merely a blip of abnormality, and it was gone before he ever became conscious of it.

He felt someone behind him, so he turned... and there she stood. Nagase Iori.

“What the...? What are you doing here, Nagase?” Taichi asked, dumbfounded. She lived in a different town entirely, so she had broken away from the group fairly early on... or so he seemed to remember. Did she have some sort of errand to run around here? If so, she hadn’t mentioned it... and yet, here she was.

“Just wanted to... talk to you about something. Are you free?”

The goddess of Yamaboshi was gazing up at him, batting her lashes.

“I mean... can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

...Did I just turn her down? Why would I do that? He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that his mouth was moving on autopilot before his brain could catch up. For some reason, he felt a strong, visceral discomfort... as though his animal instincts were telling him it wasn’t safe to be here.

“Why? Do you have somewhere you need to be?”

“Well, no... I don’t have plans or anything... Okay, sure.” God, I’m so stupid. Nagase needs to talk to me—why would I turn her down for no reason? Obviously it’s gotta be important or else she would’ve just called or emailed! What is wrong with me?

“Wanna grab a table at a diner or something?”

“No, that’s okay. Here’s fine.”

“Oh... Alright then.”

The breeze carried a hint of a summery scent as it rustled Nagase’s long, silky hair. Around them, the first trappings of dusk began to fall—a frighteningly perfect match for the despondent look on her face. Some of the passersby glanced back at her on their way to the turnstiles, as if they were captivated by the sight.

Her eyes fixated directly onto his, making him tremble down to his core.

“What if I told you... I’m still not over it?”

All at once, a hush fell over the train station, almost as though the two of them had been transported to a world all their own. Then the illusion faded, and Taichi snapped back to reality.

“Wh... Uhh... Not over what, exactly?” His voice shook—why? What was there to be afraid of?

“You. I’m not over you, Yaegashi Taichi.”

Why this? Why now?

Her lips curled into a dreamy, bewitching smile with the barest hint of loneliness.

Meanwhile, Taichi reeled. This was all too sudden... or was it? He had already processed what she’d said, but for some reason, he didn’t want to accept it. Why? Because... it was just too hard to believe.

“What are you... talking about?” Clinging to the faintest shred of hope, Taichi forced the words out of his throat.

But real life, as it turned out, was merciless.

“Taichi... I still love you.”

I thought we made a clean break, but maybe not... No, of course not. After all, what romance was complete without complications?

And so that beautiful fiction came to an end... and harsh reality returned once more.

□■□■□

The next morning, Taichi arrived at school feeling unusually tense. After all, Nagase had confessed to still being in love with him, and now he was probably going to have to interact with her in class.

Yesterday, after she’d said her piece, she walked off without waiting for an answer... almost like a declaration of war.

—I’m not over you, Yaegashi Taichi. I still love you.

He’d thought all the loose ends were tied up, but apparently they weren’t, and it came as such a shock that he failed to respond at all. He had so many questions... and absolutely no idea what to do about this. Mainly he wanted to know how this conversation had gone between Nagase and Inaba.

Though the two of them had both fallen in love with him around the same time, they didn’t let anything or anyone get in the way of their friendship, not even Taichi himself. And if prior experience was anything to go by, Nagase must’ve already had the entire “I’m still in love with him” talk with Inaba before she ever floated it past him...

He looked over at Nagase’s desk. Evidently she had yet to arrive—

“G’day, mate!”

“Waaaagh?!”

Speak of the devil. Out of nowhere, he heard her voice directly behind him.

“Jeez! You okay, Taichi? You really let out a yelp there!”

“Oh, uh... It’s nothing... G-Good morning...”

“Oookay... What’s gotten into you today?”

“W-Well...” Can you blame me, considering what you said to me yesterday? But he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. Now was not the time to bring it up again.

“Anyways, it’s really hot out today, am I right? I’m glad these summer uniforms are less bulky, but personally I’m tempted to take it another step further, if you catch my drift.” She grabbed the hem of her vest and flapped it against the short-sleeved blouse she wore beneath, ventilating herself. “It’s gettin’ hot in here... Hm hm hm hm hm hmmm...”

She was her usual sparkling self... to an insane degree. Almost like she’d completely forgotten what went down between them yesterday. But Taichi knew she could be an exceptional actress when she wanted to be, and he understood that was what she was doing now.

“Bonjour, Iori! Good morning! It’s a real scorcher out there, huh?! Morning, Yaegashi-kun!” called Nakayama Mariko as she walked over, her pigtails bouncing.

“Bonjour, Nakayama-chan! I’m sweating buckets already!” Nagase replied cheerfully.

“...Wait, what the? What’s the matter, Yaegashi-kun? You’re not giving me the cold shoulder, are ya, pal?”

“No, of course not. Good morning, Nakayama.”

“Hmmm... You seem kinda out of it, Yaegashi-kun. You’re gonna throw me off my game! Actually, on second thought, probably not. Oh, Yui-chan, good morning!”

“Oh, Yui’s here! Yui! Wait until I tell you about my day yesterday!”

And with that, the two girls dashed away, leaving Taichi behind. Only then did he realize he’d broken out in a cold sweat.

Once they were gone, Watase Shingo walked up, as if on cue. “Sup, Yaegashi. Look, dude, I’ve been thinking. You know how girls tend to flock to you for some reason? Maybe if I hang around you, I’ll have more opportunities to talk to girls... specifically Fujishima-san. I mean, not that I have trouble talking to girls or anything, but when it comes to her... Wait, what’s with that look? Bro, she’s not gonna come talk to us if you’re over here looking like a grump!”

Unfortunately, he lacked the composure to make one of his usual witty retorts.

What was Nagase thinking?

How did she expect him to react?

And what was he supposed to do with these feelings that by all accounts should have been dead and buried?

After school that day, the cheerleading representatives from each grade were scheduled to have their first rehearsal. And after summarily losing a round of rock-paper-scissors held between the six representatives of 2-B, Taichi was chosen to stand in for them at a prep meeting during lunch.

He hastily finished his food, then headed off to the meetup location.

On the way, he thought he heard a voice in the back of his mind—

“Have you given any thought to what I said yesterday? Y’know, my feelings for you?”

Goosebumps shot up his arms. There she was, in a corridor in the North Wing. Once again, it was like she popped out of nowhere.

This part of the building was reserved for special purpose classrooms, and as such, hardly anyone would ever come here of their own volition, much less during lunch. Normally Nagase would be eating right about now. This was no coincidence—she had intentionally followed him to a more private part of the school in order to talk to him.

He took it all in: her symmetrical features, her summer uniform worn over her perfect figure, her stunning smile... Wait, what? What was there to smile about right now?

“I’m... not sure what you want me to say, Nagase.”

“I’m not playing around with you here.”

Instantly her expression turned serious, captivating him. Something told him he could never escape her. Her flawless beauty felt like a threat.

“Look, Nagase, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden? This is just so random... I can’t understand...”

“Were you even paying attention, Taichi?”

What was that