Three days had passed since I started practicing my layup,
and the sports tournament was here.
We were playing in a typical league, round-robin style,
and our class was doing great.
In the gym, I watched as Mizusawa cleanly slipped past
the guy defending him and scored a layup.
"Nice one, Takahiro!"
"Thanks!"
He was kicking butt. Teams were free to change up the
players on the court for every game, but he'd been in almost
all of them. Was he on the basketball team? He looked like
he might be, but I had a hard time remembering who played
what.
As for me, I still hadn't played a single game. Not much I
could do about that. You could tell just by looking at me that
I wouldn't be of much use. That said, I knew I'd get out there
at some point. According to the tournament rules, everyone
in class had to play at least one game. Good thing, since this
was a school event. So I'd get my turn eventually…right after
this game, in fact.
I was nervous. But I'd also done my best to work on my
layups like Hinami had told me, and I wanted to see if my
hard work would pay off in a real game. I was especially
curious because I hadn't had a chance to play any practice
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games. My gamer side was rearing its head again.
"Hey!"
"Whoa!"
I whipped my head around, reacting dramatically to the
sudden shout. It was Izumi, wearing a summery gym
uniform consisting of shorts and a T-shirt that was reflecting
the light from the window right into my eyes. Not that I
could tear my eyes away from her when she was showing so
much skin…
"How's it going over here?" she asked, bouncing over to
me. Izumi being Izumi, some other stuff bounced, too.
"Oh, um…we've got three games left including this one,
and if we win two of them, I guess we win the whole thing."
"Really? Wow!"
"Yeah…and…," I said, glancing at the court. "It looks like
we'll win this game, so we just need one more."
"Nice! You're almost there!"
"Yeah."
In other words, I had to play when the pressure was
highest. Glad I practiced.
"Sounds like we might get a double win!"
"Huh? So the girls are…?"
Izumi burst into a grin. "We won our last game, and
we've got one more to win the tournament!"
"No way!"
So the girls were set to go, too. Since softball games took
longer than basketball games, they were playing knockout
style, and the next game would decide everything.
"Yeah, we won the last game in the bottom of the ninth
when Erika hit a home run!"
"Konno…hit a home run…?"
I smiled, imagining the scene. Not long ago, she'd been
totally apathetic about the tournament, and now she hit a
home run? She must have been swinging as hard as she
could—talk about being motivated. When a leader goes for
it, they really go for it.
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"How's it going for you? Did you play yet?"
"Um, not yet… I'm up next," I said hesitantly.
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"Ooh, perfect timing! I came over to watch because the
game to decide third place in softball is happening before
ours."
"O-oh, really…?" I said, even though I wouldn't exactly
call the timing "perfect." I mean, I didn't want everyone to
see me hanging out under the basket waiting for
opportunities to make layups. Personally, I was satisfied
with the effort I put in, but it wouldn't exactly look cool.
Well, whatever. At least it might make for a good
conversation starter. No one was expecting much from me to
begin with.
Suddenly, I heard a whistle, and the game was over.
"Okay, one more to go," Mizusawa said, walking breezily
over to the normies. He usually acted so mature, but right
now he was grinning like a kid and acting extra friendly. The
sweat dripping down his chin and neck was glittering in the
summer sun like something out of a teen movie.
"Damn, why's he so good-looking…?"
Izumi laughed at my honest comment. "I think Hiro's
scored some points for himself at this tournament…," she
said, looking to the side with an amused smile. What? I
followed her gaze and saw Mizusawa in the center of a crowd
of girls gushing over his performance.
"…Figures."
Even I thought he was a near-perfect male specimen.
The girls must find him irresistible. The gods are unfair.
He looked over at us, waved casually, and headed our
way. His smile really was happier and more alive than usual
—maybe it was the adrenaline from the game. His giant grin
and his short, loose perm were so perfect together that I
could almost see beams of light radiating from him. He
walked right up to me, switched to a cooler smile, and
clapped me on the back.
"Okay, Fumiya, we're gonna win this, right?" he said,
looking out over the court. What a dependable guy.
"Uh, right."
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I could never imitate his aura by copying his words or
actions. It was something abstract that was born from
everything he did and his underlying confidence. I guess all I
could do was keep working on my expression and posture
and tone and stuff like that.
The next game was about to start. The team was
Mizusawa, Takei, Tachibana-kun, some guy I didn't really
know, and me.
"Okay, everyone! The game is starting!" shouted the
other class's captain, who was in charge of this court. A
second later, Mizusawa was striding onto the court. He was
incredibly energetic for just having played a game. I was
only a few seconds behind him. Okay, let's do this.
"Go, team!" Izumi yelled, grinning.
I smiled back and walked onto the court.
* * *
Shit. I'm not making any of these layups.
I waited under the basket in a panic. Five minutes had
already passed since the game began, and these tournament
games lasted only ten minutes. I'd done essentially nothing
so far. I'd be in big trouble if I stayed this way. Conversation
with the jocks would be out of the question.
Okay, early in the game, Takei had shouted, "It's all you,
Farm Boy!" and passed me the ball like he was throwing a
Frisbee to a dog, and I'd calmly nailed a perfect layup.
Hinami's instructions on the form, steps, and method for
assessing distance had paid off.
Mizusawa had shouted, "F-Fumiya?!" in shock, while
Takei freaked out and yelled, "Who are you, and what have
you done with Farm Boy?!"
Fine, I can understand why Mizusawa reacted that way,
but why'd Takei pass me the ball if he was so sure I'd miss
the shot? And me being me, I was admittedly smug about all
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my hard work paying off. So it was going great up until then.
But after that, someone started guarding me. I didn't
have the skills or strength to shake him off, and I turned into
a waste of court space. I hadn't touched the ball since. On
the bright side, an essentially useless player like myself was
now occupying one of the opposing team's players, so I
wasn't entirely worthless. In that sense, you could say my
work had paid off. Maybe?
Plus, the all-important game was turning out to be an
even match. Or more accurately—we were losing by three
points.
The problem didn't seem to be with our team, despite
the fact that Mizusawa was getting tired. Our opponents
were just really damn good. After all, even though Hinami
had said there wouldn't be man-to-man defense in the
tournament, they'd slapped someone on me the second I
made that first layup.
"Got it!" Mizusawa said, intercepting a pass. He sped
across the court and released the ball.
"Takei!"
"Nice pass! I'm on it!"
Takei smoothly caught the ball, dribbled dramatically
around the guy guarding him, raced over to the basket, and
scored with a crazy layup. With his build, speed, and totally
unnecessary flair, it almost looked like a dunk. Wow. That
was very impressive.
"Whooooooo!" The crowd went wild. A huge grin spread
across Takei's face, and he did a double thumbs-up. How is
he not embarrassed? I've never seen anyone follow up such a
cool move by being that uncool. Never change, Takei.
Someone tossed the ball back onto the court, and we
started playing again. Now we were just one point behind.
One more basket, and we'd be on top. I think we had about a
little over a minute left.
The other team had the ball to start. Their strategy
seemed to be just running down the clock. As the five of
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them tossed the ball back and forth at a healthy pace, they
showed no sign of aggressive offense.
Of course—it was the natural strategy, given they were
beating us and there wasn't much time on the clock. Some
people might call it cowardly, but there was nothing wrong
with using the rules to your advantage. They went on
passing the ball around the safest route.
And as time dragged on, defeat grew more certain.
Shit. If we don't do something, we'll lose. We were all
thinking the same thing when it happened.
Maybe it was a wild instinct, or maybe it was a wild
animal's ability to track objects in motion—whatever the
case, some sort of animal force seemed to be driving Takei as
he darted out like lightning and into the ball's path a couple
of steps away from him.
"Nice!" Mizusawa shouted with uncharacteristic
excitement.
But the ball slipped out of Takei's hands and bounced
across the court. No one was standing in its path. The closest
players to it were Takei, the guy guarding me, and me.
"Tch!" My guard glanced at me, clicked his tongue, and
ran toward the ball. I couldn't peel myself away from the
basket. The ball was now approximately halfway between
Takei and the other guy. It was bouncing toward us, so they
were probably going to get it.
"Yahhhh!"
But Takei was now a wild animal. Without any regard for
his own safety, he hurled himself at the ball and wrapped his
arms around it before his opponent had a chance.
"Defense!" the other team's leader shouted. They started
racing toward the basket where I was standing.
For the moment, though, I was the only one there.
"Tomozaki!!"
Still sprawled on the ground, Takei called my name—not
Farm Boy, but Tomozaki—and passed me the ball. When did
my school's sports tournament become the setting of a
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basketball manga, and how the hell did I end up starring in
its climax? Anyway, Takei passed me the ball with all his
heart, and I caught it.
We had around ten seconds left. This was truly our last
chance.
But I was a little too far away for a layup shot. I dribbled
a couple of feet, grabbed the ball in both hands, and got into
my layup position. If I missed, we'd lose.
Yup, if I missed, we'd lose.
Lose.
So yeah, of course the pressure would get to me.
"Ngaaaah!"
I might have been putting my all into it, but I'd still
practiced my layups for only three days. It was a rush job. I
wasn't good enough yet to do it automatically, but how could
I think through every single motion in a situation like this?
My feet wouldn't quite cooperate, and that was when one
guy from the other team reached the basket.
"Stop him!" one of his teammates screamed in a
bloodcurdling voice.
"Ah!"
Panicked, I stumbled over myself and lost my balance.
The ball slipped out of my hands and bounced off the
ground. Shit.
I struggled to move my tangled feet forward and
somehow catch the ball. But I was panicking, so I stumbled
again and flew forward onto the ground.
My opponent watched me in shock but kept running
toward the ball. I reached for it, and so did he. And then—
Still lying on the ground, I pulled the ball into my armpit
with one arm and grabbed the bottom of my opponent's
jersey with the other. I-if I could just pull myself up and pass
the ball…
Just then, I noticed that everyone, both on and off the
court, was staring at the ref. He blew his whistle.
"Uh, red team…!"
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Red team. That was us. The ref looked at me.
"Foul…and double dribble, and traveling…!"
Rahhhh!
The crowd erupted for a totally different reason than I
had intended.
* * *
I was standing on the side of the court after the game ended.
"Ha-ha-ha… Don't worry about it, man."
Mizusawa gave me a beautiful smile and thumped me on
the shoulder.
"G-gimme a break…"
I managed a listless comeback. Izumi giggled awkwardly.
And after she'd come over just to watch our game, too.
Takei, who was standing right in front of me, burst out
with laughter. "Farm Boy… I've never seen someone break
three rules at once!"
He was gripping his stomach and pointing at me, his
eyes teary.
"Shut up!" I shouted back, louder than usual because I
was so embarrassed. I didn't practice my comebacks for
these kinds of situations! A cluster of classmates standing
nearby burst into laughter, too. Well, at least I was reaching
a wider audience.
Tachibana had been watching and laughing nearby, too,
and he pulled himself together and walked over to us.
"Man, that was hilarious!"
"Aw, come on…," I said with melodramatic chagrin so it
was clear to him how I felt. He laughed even harder.
"Seriously, though, those guys were good. Not much you
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could do."
"Yeah," I said, still feeling a little guilty. "Good luck on
the last game."
"Leave it to me."
Tachibana grinned, patting my arm. He must be on the
basketball team if he was going to be in the crucial final
game. Maybe sometimes you can judge a book by its cover.
So if I was talking to the jock Tachibana, did that mean
my assignment wasn't a total failure? Uh…
As I was mulling that over, Tachibana sighed and gave
me a chill smile.
"Actually, you're surprisingly…"
"…Hmm?"
He was still smiling as he finished the sentence.
"…fun to talk to, Tomoshima-kun!"
"It's Tomozaki."
He still didn't remember my name.
* * *
After two more games between the other teams, the last
basketball game of the tournament began. This was the
home stretch, and our victory was depending on it.
Since the results would determine who won the whole
tournament, the area around the court was packed with
spectators. If we won, we'd take first place. If we lost, we'd
take second. In the latter case, our opponent for this game
wouldn't be the ones who took first—it would be the team we
had lost to, thanks to me, in our last game.
"Let's do this!"
Nakamura led the team onto the court.
The team was made up of Tachibana and two other
members of the basketball team, plus Mizusawa and
Nakamura. It said something about Nakamura's all-around
athleticism that he had been chosen for this elite team of the
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best players in our class even though he was on the soccer
team.
As I waited for the game to start, I saw a group of
students heading toward us from the baseball field. They
were the girls from our class, which meant their tournament
must be over. Izumi was leading the pack at a trot, waving at
the guys.
"We won the softball tournament!"
She was smiling with heartfelt happiness, but I could
also sense her dependability and leadership as the captain.
Hinami and Mimimi were behind her, waving and smiling at
us. Behind them was Erika Konno, wiping the glittering
sweat from her face as she chatted cheerfully with her crew.
As the guys in our class called back to Izumi, she shouted
toward the court.
"Shuji! No mercy if you lose!!"
Nakamura scratched his head and sleepily raised his
eyebrows, a hint of happiness in his expression.
"I know, I know. I'm on it."
He grinned a powerful, manly grin.
* * *
The final, decisive game was drawing to a close. Nakamura
had the ball. Dribbling, he glanced to the left and right,
mapping the defense—and then suddenly took off running.
He shook off his defense with pure speed and powerful
dribbles, and he was across the court in a flash. He didn't get
quite far enough to shoot, though. The other team had made
it to the basket first and blocked his path. At the very least,
he wouldn't be able to do a layup.
A second later, Nakamura stopped a few steps from the
defense and took a shooting position. He was just outside
the three-point line. Realizing what was going on, the
defense went for him, but he jumped backward out of their
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reach. A few seconds remained on the clock. At the peak of
his leap, he released the ball.
The ref blew his whistle. This shot was gonna be a buzzer
beater.
Under the full attention of the silent spectators and
players, the ball traced a slow, graceful arc against the
backdrop of the blue, late-summer sky beyond the windows.
And then very quietly, it swished through the basketball
hoop.
"Whoooo!"
The final score was twenty-three to eight—we would
have won with or without Nakamura's shot. That buzzer
beater wasn't deciding a super-close game; it was just
kicking them while they were down. We already knew who
would win after the first few minutes.
No surprises there. Our opponents in the nail-biter we'd
played just before had been the second-place team, and this
time, we had even better players on the court. Barring any
unforeseen circumstances, we were bound to win. Plus, our
opponents this time wouldn't get first place in the
tournament no matter what they did, so they probably
weren't that motivated. That's reality for you. Still, our
victory meant both the guys and girls won the tournament.
"We're number one!!"
Takei hadn't played the last game, despite being the
captain, but he still pointed to the ceiling and raised a
warlike shout as our leader. Nakamura and Mizusawa
followed suit and pointed at the ceiling, too, smiling happily.
Most of the girls from our class were crowded around, and
everyone was shouting and cheering. Hinami, Mimimi, and
Tama-chan had their arms around one another's shoulders.
Tama-chan had to stand on her tiptoes.
I glanced at Erika Konno. Her smile was more reserved,
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but I could tell she was happy. When Izumi threw her arms
around Konno's neck with a huge grin, Konno ruffled her
hair good-naturedly.
Wow. Everyone seemed to be having fun. I felt like the
whole class had come together as one. The old me never
would have done it, but I joined the crowd and tried
cheering a little myself. I wasn't sure, but it didn't feel like a
very good fit for me. Well, that's life. Not everyone has fun in
the same way.
"Nice job!"
Izumi pulled away from Konno and gave everyone a
captain-like word of congratulations.
"You guys won, too, right? Our class rules," Nakamura
said casually.
"We sure do!"
Izumi raised one hand to about head height. What was
she doing? As I was puzzling over this, Nakamura raised his
hand, too, and they met with a slap in midair against the
sun. Oh, a high five. I'd been watching, but I had no idea that
was coming. Those two really did think alike. Or was I just
clueless about normie culture? That was probably it.
I looked over at Takei and noticed he was staring
sorrowfully at his own palm. I get you, man. You're captain,
after all. Normally, the two captains would do the high five
here. Poor Takei.
The tournament over, we joined the closing ceremony
and then went back to our classroom. By the way, the closing
ceremony included a rousing speech from our new student
council president, Hinami. Watching her, I thought about
how each of us had our role to play.
* * *
A few hours later, Hinami, Mizusawa, Takei, Mimimi, and I
were heading to the train station from school, and we were
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peering around the corner from the shadows of a building. A
couple was walking side by side down the nearly empty
street—Izumi and Nakamura.
Yes, they were walking home from school together, and
we were tailing them.
"Well, well, I wonder what's going to happen!" Mimimi
said, clearly enjoying this.
"Yeah, me too," I said, thinking back to what had
happened after the tournament.
The whole class had been treated to ice cream as a
reward for taking first place. Apparently, Hinami had
conspired with Kawamura-sensei to buy it using student
council funds. Wait, is that allowed? Not that I mind.
The celebration went on for a couple of hours, until it
was time to go home.
Finally, Izumi took action.
She walked up to Nakamura while he was talking to
Mizusawa and Takei and abruptly made a proposition.
"Shuji… Wanna walk home together?"
Her boldness—her strength to do whatever she put her
mind to—had seemed to define her lately. Nakamura gave
her a short "Sure, whatever," which was his way of agreeing.
The rest of us, who had been listening from nearby,
made comments like, "Oh, okay, see you guys tomorrow,"
and started casually letting them know they could do what
they wanted. As soon as they left, we all huddled and
unanimously agreed we had to tail them. And here we were.
"What are they gonna do?!" Hinami whispered.
"This has got to be it. We had a double victory at the
tournament, and Yuzu even brought Shuji back to school
with the power of love," Mizusawa said.
"What are you talking about?" Mimimi asked, frowning.
"Oh…a lot happened while you were fooling around with
Tama," Mizusawa answered.
"What's that supposed to mean?! Details! Gimme the
rundown!"
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We filled her in on the events of the past couple weeks as
we kept following Izumi and Nakamura. Pretty soon, they
veered off the usual route home. We couldn't figure out why.
Which meant…?
Mimimi leaned forward, eyes sparkling. "Ooh, where are
they going?"
"Hey, get back, Mimimi! They'll see you," Hinami said,
pulling her back with an exasperated smile.
"I knew we shouldn't have brought her along…,"
Mizusawa joked.
"Well, aren't you a sassmaster today? If you're nitpicky
about everything, you'll never get a girlfriend!"
"Ha-ha-ha. I think girls like me fine."
"Really now? And yet you're still single, Takahiro!"
"Shut up. I just don't do things halfway. Anyway, look
who's talking. Where's your boyfriend?"
"I don't need one. I have Tama! Right, Tomozaki?"
"Wh-why are you asking me?"
While we were busy joking around, the two lovebirds
had headed for an empty park.
"Oh shit! It's getting real!"
Takei managed not to shout while he was jumping
around excitedly, but we still had to shush him for being way
too loud. He got all depressed and looked down with
apologetic, silent grief. C-come on, man, don't get
depressed!
Anyway, I recognized the park they'd walked into. It was
the same place I'd been practicing layups. Was Nakamura
going for a bittersweet romantic scene? Maybe he'd say
something like If I can make this shot, be my girlfriend! Or
maybe not.
We followed them into the park, whispering excitedly
and sticking to the trees around the edge, where we'd have a
view of the central area. The two of them sat down next to
each other on a bench facing the entrance.
"Damn, they're looking this way. We can't get any
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closer." Mizusawa sounded disappointed.
"…Wait," I said as he made a move to put down his
school bag.
"Huh?" He looked at me expectantly as I nodded and
pointed across the path.
"There's another entrance over there. If we go to that
side, we can get a lot closer."
"No way!"
"Yeah."
I'd have never guessed my layup practice would pay off
in this way, but I had a fairly good sense of the park's layout.
I gave a thumbs-up, and Mimimi thumped my back and
whispered, "Nice!" It hurt, which meant she was in a good
mood.
We crept around the park, went through the other
entrance, and stealthily approached. We ended up in the
shadow of an equipment shed a couple of yards from the
bench, and if we strained our ears, we could just make out
what they were saying. After a quick glance at one another,
we focused on eavesdropping.
"…Right! And then Aoi took over as pitcher for the rest of
the game!"
Izumi was talking, and she'd just revealed something
new to me. I didn't know Hinami had pitched the end of the
winning game. I looked at her, and she gave me a goofy You
got me! smile. As always, her perfect-heroine expressions
made you want to laugh.
"Ha-ha-ha. She's always so pushy, huh?"
"Well, thanks to her, we won!"
I almost burst out laughing at Nakamura's refreshing
description of Hinami. He was right; if someone asked me
whether she was pushy, I'd have to say yes. Not only was she
the student council president and the class leader, but she
was also the pitcher in the final game of the tournament?
That she managed to do it without being obnoxious was a
testament to her well-balanced personality. Of course, from
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my perspective, she was nothing but obnoxious.
"You didn't do so bad yourself, huh?" Nakamura said
bluntly. We looked at one another and sniggered. Even now
he was playing it cool.
"Um…," Izumi answered haltingly. "Uh, yeah. I guess."
"Hmm…"
"Hey, that didn't sound like you."
Nakamura gave a sudden, offhand smile. "What's that
supposed to mean? What am I supposed to sound like?"
"Uh, um…meaner?"
"Hey, jerk!"
With that, Nakamura clamped his hand on the top of
Izumi's head.
"Ow, ow, ow!"
"Are you saying I'm mean?"
Izumi grabbed Nakamura's arm with both hands, but he
didn't let go. She was squealing but not really trying to push
him off. And after a little while of that…
"So you wanna go out with me?"
"Eeeek?!"
Izumi yelped at Nakamura's abrupt question, and I
almost did, too. I clapped both hands over my mouth, and
when I had calmed down, I realized everyone aside from
Takei had their hands over their mouths, too. Takei's mouth
was covered by Hinami's hand. Huh? …Had she instantly
recognized the danger and covered hers and his at the same
time? If so, it was an excellent decision.
Anyway, what the heck just happened? Things went from
zero to a hundred in about one second. They'd been
dragging along forever, and now all of a sudden, they were
leaps and bounds ahead of what any of us expected. On the
other hand, it seemed in character for Nakamura.
He went on, as cool and blunt as ever.
"What was that noise? You sound ridiculous."
"H-hey, no, I don't!"
"Well, what's your answer?" he said irritably.
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Seriously, what was his deal? He took forever to tell her
how he felt, then once he did, he acted all cocky and superior
about it. Or was it just a top-tier thing? Geez, dude.
"Um…when you say 'go out'…"
"Huh? I mean, nothing will change, really."
"R-right…"
Izumi looked down silently for a minute. I couldn't see
her face, but I could imagine how red it must be. The silence
continued. Nakamura was sitting with his knees spread,
looking casually away from her. How did he emit such a
powerful aura of unconcern that I could read it from behind?
Finally, Izumi turned to face him.
"…Yes, I'd like to. Because I like you, too."
Her voice was strong and grounded, but I could make
out an excited heat in it, too. We crouched there in the shade
of the equipment shed, our hands still over our mouths,
looking at one another with satisfaction.
"…Okay, then."
Maybe to hide his shyness, Nakamura stood up and
started walking toward the main park entrance. "Wait!"
Izumi shouted. He turned toward her. A second before he
did, Hinami and Mizusawa pulled us behind the shed. Ggood job, guys.
"What?"
Hiding behind the shed, we could only hear them.
"It's just…I said I liked you, too …but you never actually
said how you felt. And I don't want to put words in your
mouth or anything…"
She sounded faintly nervous, but I could tell she was
trying very hard to sound extremely nonchalant.
"…Huh? What are you talking about?"
Nakamura was trying to stay blunt, but I also thought I
could hear his cool facade breaking down, little by little.
Finally, we heard the sound of something like sand or gravel
crunching underfoot. I didn't know who it was.
"I just…want to know."
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Izumi's voice was so earnest, like she had gathered all
her strength to get the words out.
Silence.
The wind blew, fluttering Mimimi's and Hinami's hair.
There was a dry sound like falling leaves scuttling across the
ground.
The wind stopped. I heard that gravel sound again.
"I like you, too."
The summer heat had died down now, replaced by the
cool, pleasant air of late September.
"I'm glad."
Izumi's reply was soft and short, but overflowing with a
happy sweetness. Behind the shed, we looked at one another
wide-eyed, breath held and hands still over our mouths.
Then we all nodded, although I had no idea what it was
supposed to mean.
"Let's get going."
"…Okay!"
After Izumi's short, satisfied answer, we heard two sets
of footsteps retreating. We stayed there for a moment as
their lingering happiness wafted through the park.
"They're gone…!"
Mimimi looked around at us impatiently. Hinami poked
her head out from behind the shed, surveyed the scene, then
looked back at us and nodded. All clear. We all let out our
breath.
"Sh-Shuji! Way to go, dude!" Takei gushed as soon as he
was released, although his voice was a little tight. Hinami
looked at him and smiled.
"Yeah, it sure took them long enough!"
Her tone conveyed a mixture of exasperation,
amusement, and affection. I didn't want to think about how
much of it was her acting. Scary.
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"Young love in bloom before our eyes! I've gotta keep
up!"
Mimimi, who for some reason was taking a competitive
approach to the situation, pounded my back as I crouched in
the shadows. Ouch!
"Hey, that hurts! …But yeah, guess the drama's over."
I sighed. Maybe life wasn't so bad after all if there were
happy endings like this. This game did have its good points.
Suddenly, I heard someone laughing behind me.
"…To their long and happy life together!" I could see a
touch of chagrin in Mizusawa's smile as he joked, but he still
looked like he was having the most fun of any of us.
* * *
"So actually…we're dating now."
The next morning in class, Izumi announced her news,
her face beet red. Nakamura was standing next to her.
"What?! Seriously?! Congratulations!"
Following Hinami's lead, we all pretended we had no
idea what had happened the day before. Her performance
was perfect, of course.
"Who said something first?! Nakamu?!"
"I don't think Shuji has it in him!"
Mimimi and Mizusawa joined in with equally perfect,
teasing performances.
"Shut up. Who cares anyway?"
Nakamura was being as cocky as ever. He could be so
annoying.
"Wow, I never would have expected this!"
"Y-yeah! Congratulations, Izumi and Nakamura!"
While everyone else was busy being smooth, Takei and I
offered our clumsy reactions. Cut us some slack, okay? At
least it wasn't enough for them to guess we'd seen the whole
thing.
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"Thanks!"
"Enough already. It's not like anything's gonna change."
While Izumi answered with honest appreciation,
Nakamura abruptly tried to change the subject, probably out
of embarrassment. They were definitely an odd couple, but
in my opinion, that made them just right for each other.
Soon, the whole class knew and started congratulating
the new couple. The general mood had been pushing for
them to get together, so some people were even like, "Took
you long enough!"
As I was thinking the other day, the whole thing ended
without anything bad happening to anyone. Everyone was
satisfied, and the mood was good. Life would go on as usual.
And everyone lived happily ever after—
—or not. I was about to learn that the game of life wasn't
quite that sweet.