It was the second half of second semester, a weekend in the
midst of preparations for the school festival. Yuzu Izumi was
worried.
"Something seems weird lately!"
She was sipping a caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks
and baring her heart to Mutsumi Kawaguchi, who was
sitting across from her.
"Oh, I'm sure he's just tired," Kawaguchi said blandly.
"Maybe…," Izumi pouted. A turquoise necklace peeked
out from the collar of her low-cut shirt.
"You just have to deal for now, don't you?"
"We haven't even been dating for six months! I asked
him to hang out today, and all he said was that he's busy
again…" Izumi sighed. She was worrying about the fact that
her boyfriend, Shuji Nakamura, hadn't wanted to hang out
much lately.
"Shuji-kun does seem like the type who gets bored easily.
What can you do?"
"Don't say that! You're making me more worried…,"
Izumi pleaded.
Kawaguchi frowned. "Oh, I don't think he's cheating on
you."
"Stop it! Don't say that, either!"
Kawaguchi laughed. "Ah-ha-ha. What's the problem? I
said I didn't think he was!"
"I just don't wanna hear the word!" Izumi flopped onto
the table.
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
"Oh, come on. Fine, I'm sorry."
"Give me some real advice already!"
Kawaguchi's failure to take her seriously was only
making Izumi feel more jealous. But the truth was, she was
going out with Nakamura way less often lately. Every time
Izumi asked him to do something, he said he was busy or he
had plans, which made her very nervous. She'd asked him
out again in hopes of having a good talk, but he turned her
down again. And so the downward spiral continued.
"Guys have their own way of dating, right?"
"Hmm… Maybe that's it?"
"I really don't know."
"Ugh, you're driving me nuts!" Izumi shouted, her face
screwed up in frustration.
"You're funny, Yuzu."
"I am not!"
But from the outside, she seemed like she was
overanxious—she didn't have to take the problem so
seriously yet.
* * *
But then the whole situation changed.
"Hey, Yuzu! Did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
Class hadn't started yet, but she was already at her desk.
She turned toward Kawaguchi's voice and saw that her
friend looked more serious than usual.
"Wh-what's wrong?"
Kawaguchi's expression whipped up her worries, and she
lowered her voice so only Izumi could hear her.
"I heard someone saw him."
"S-saw who?"
"Um…Shuji-kun, with…"
Izumi's heart skipped a beat. "With…who?" Anxious as
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
she was, her mind had already imagined the worst. She
hoped desperately that her friend would say something
unimportant.
But Kawaguchi was grave.
"They saw Shuji-kun walking with another girl."
"What…?"
Izumi felt a little hole growing in her heart. Her face
went slack, and her mind slipped into chaos over what to do.
"Were they alone?"
"Yeah."
But she didn't know for sure yet; she couldn't say it was
the scenario she'd been fearing. Striving to stay calm, she
asked Kawaguchi a few more questions.
"When did it happen?"
"This past Sunday."
"…That's…"
Sunday—the very same day Nakamura had turned down
Izumi's invitation. The same day she'd complained about it
to Kawaguchi.
Meanwhile, he'd been with another girl.
"…Where?"
"Um, Ma-chan in the next class over is the one who said
she saw them, I guess at Laketown."
"…Oh."
Dark clouds filled Izumi's heart. Koshigaya Laketown
was the big mall where students often went for dates on the
weekend.
"Maybe it was someone else?"
"I don't think so. She said she was really close to them."
"Oh."
"But it could have been someone who looked like him…"
"Yeah… Okay, thanks." Izumi felt like she was choking.
Like a bowling ball had been dropped on her chest.
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
Kawaguchi peered worriedly into her face. "…What are
you going to do?" she asked softly.
"Um…" Izumi wasn't sure.
How should she react to news like this?
If he told her he'd been doing something else on Sunday
and sent her a photo to prove it, she could rest assured that
the whole thing was a big misunderstanding.
It was also possible he'd gone to Laketown but that the
girl was just a friend. Maybe they'd been in a group and just
happened to end up alone together at that moment. If they'd
specifically been hanging out one-on-one, she'd want him to
tell her the honest truth, even though she did feel it was a
slightly odd thing to do given that he had a girlfriend. Of
course, she wasn't happy, but she didn't want to tie him
down.
"I…"
Problem was, she wasn't sure if she should ask him
directly.
The question itself would suggest she didn't trust him,
and digging into every detail of what he did when they
weren't together might seem controlling, even if they were
exclusive. She didn't like any of that. She just wanted a
relationship where they trusted each other without having to
be nosy.
"…I'm going to trust him a little longer."
"Hmm…okay." Kawaguchi wasn't going to make any
more comments.
And so Izumi pushed aside the seed of doubt in her heart
and went through the school day the way she always did.
* * *
"…Geez."
It was the following weekend, and Izumi was sighing as
she reread a LINE chat with Nakamura.
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
[You free next Saturday?]
[i've got plans]
[Gotcha, okay!]
This was the third time in a row he'd turned down an
invitation from her.
Before, he'd usually made some time for her on either
Saturday or Sunday, and on most holidays during the week,
they went somewhere together. Now, suddenly, this.
She wasn't sure if the scenario she most feared was
playing out. But she also couldn't fathom why else this
would be happening.
In a hazy, unsettled mood, Izumi lay her head on her
pillow and sighed. Her warm, moist breath bounced off her
pillow and left her cheek damp.
"…I better get ready."
She got up, took a shower, pulled on a thick, white, offthe-shoulder sweater and a tight gray checkered skirt, and
did her makeup.
She stopped in the entryway to pull on her coat and tall
black boots, then headed off to the station.
She took the train to Omiya.
"Hi!"
"Oh, hi!"
"Heya!"
When she arrived at the bronze statue of Toto-chan the
squirrel outside the east exit, Kawaguchi and Mao Kamimae
were already waiting for her. A few minutes later, Erika
Konno joined them. The group of four headed for the Arche
building by the west exit.
"Man, it's cold today."
"Yeah," Kawaguchi agreed as Konno rubbed her hands
together.
"I should have worn thicker tights!"
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
Chatting about nothing in particular, they made their
way into the building. Izumi tried to forget about her worries
by concentrating on the conversation, but she couldn't stop
thinking about Nakamura.
* * *
"This is so cute!" Izumi cried.
"Didn't you just buy something like that, Yuzu?" replied
Kamimae.
"Did I? What do you mean?"
"Remember, that black fluffy thing?"
The two girls were scrutinizing some clothes.
"No way, this is totally different! That one was fluffy, but
this one is fuzzy."
"Not sure I see the difference…" Kamimae gave the
overly discerning Izumi a confused look.
"Yuzu," Konno called, "come over here for a second."
"Huh?"
Konno was standing in front of a mirror, wearing a black
motorcycle jacket. She did a twirl to give Izumi a 360 view as
she approached.
"Whatcha think?"
Her tone was casual, but the fact that she'd called Izumi
over just to ask her opinion was a sign of how much she
trusted her fashion sense. Pleased by the gesture, Izumi gave
the jacket a hard look.
The tight, fake leather fit Konno perfectly, making her
already slender form look even more sleek.
"It looks amazing on you! But…"
"What's up?"
"You've got such a nice shape, so I think a shorter one
might be even better."
Konno gave a satisfied nod. "Could be. Thanks!"
She shrugged off the jacket, replaced it on the rack, and
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
started rifling through the clothes again. Times like this, you
could never really tell whether Konno would be cooperative
or not, but Izumi liked that about her.
Suddenly she spotted another jacket.
"Hey, Erika, how about this one?"
"I'll try it on."
"Sounds good."
On the surface, Izumi appeared to be having just as
much fun as always on their shopping trip, but inside, her
anxiety bubbled relentlessly.
What was Nakamura doing right now?
* * *
The four of them worked their way down from the top floor
of the Arche building, and when they'd finished shopping,
they headed over to a popular pancake shop. With branches
in Harajuku and Shibuya, it was famous for its melt-in-yourmouth pancakes.
A short while after they sat down and ordered, the waiter
delivered four soufflé-like concoctions. They looked rich and
delicious.
Kamimae couldn't contain her excitement. "Oh my god!
I've gotta get a picture of this!" She started snapping photos
from every angle with her phone. "It looks amazing!"
"Oh, good idea."
The other three pulled out their phones and started
snapping, showing one another their shots. Of course, taking
pictures of the pancakes was standard procedure for four
high school girls; there were actually a couple of other
groups doing the same thing right next to them.
"Oooh, that's a good one, Yuzu!" Konno sounded
impressed.
"Right?!"
"You always take the best pictures."
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
"Lemme see!" Kawaguchi leaned over to see Izumi's
screen, interrupting her chummy exchange with Konno.
"Ooh, yeah! Send it to me later!"
"Sure!"
Once the photo shoot was over, they moved on to eating.
"Let's dig in!"
Izumi drenched her pancake in maple syrup, and the
golden, glittering liquid ran down the sides and pooled on
her plate. Just watching the syrup flowing over the edges,
she could tell how soft the pancake was.
The four girls watched it as it glittered like a jewel.
"Damn, this makes a great picture, too," Konno blurted
out.
"Yeah!"
"I was thinking the same thing!"
Another pancake photo shoot began.
* * *
There was a recent topic that none of the four girls
mentioned, but all of them faintly sensed it was taboo.
"How are things going with Hashiguchi lately,
Mutsumi?" Kamimae asked.
"Um, well…we went to Disneyland the other day,"
Kawaguchi said shyly.
"Really? Just the two of you?"
"Um… Uh-huh…"
"What?! That's, like, a date!" Kamimae shouted
excitedly.
"Did he say he wanted to start going out?" Konno asked.
"No…we just hung out like usual and then went home."
"What is he, in junior high or something?" Smacking her
lips, Konno smiled at Kawaguchi.
"Y-yeah, I know… What do you think is going on?"
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
Kawaguchi asked uncertainly.
Izumi gulped down a bite of pancake before answering.
"Hashiguchi seems like the safety-first type to me…"
They were happily chatting away about their respective
love lives when the taboo first reared its head—the taboo of
Izumi and Nakamura.
They were talking about romance, so it would have been
natural for the conversation to turn to Izumi and
Nakamura's relationship, but no one mentioned it. They
couldn't mention it.
Even though Izumi, Kawaguchi, and Kamimae couldn't
stop talking about the suspicious Nakamura sighting when
the three of them were alone, now that Konno was there,
they couldn't say a word.
The conversation had to make detours around the
subject, so every now and then there were awkward pauses
as they all searched for a different, non-Nakamura-related
topic.
"…Um…"
"So…"
This was just such a moment. Kawaguchi and Kamimae
both sensed that the conversation was about to turn toward
Izumi, and they were trying to find a different course. There
was a subtle discomfort in the air, but since they couldn't
talk about why, that only made the tension worse.
"…Hey," Konno suddenly said.
"Yeah?" Izumi answered.
Without any obvious emotion, Konno went on in a
natural tone.
"How are things with you lately? You and Shuji?"
The air froze. The very person who had established the
taboo had just broken it.
The other three looked at one another, searching for the
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
right thing to say.
"Um, well—"
But Konno interrupted again. "I don't know why you're
tiptoeing around—I really don't care." Her face gave little
away as she looked at Izumi.
Her words were blunt, but there was a hint of kindness
to them; she was trying to ease the friction that clung to the
group like frost. This was a considerate gesture from the
class queen. The truth was, she couldn't possibly not care,
but her friendship with Izumi seemed to have won out.
Izumi gulped before finally nodding slowly.
"Okay… Sorry for being weird about it."
"Honestly? I'd rather you just come out and talk about it
already!" Konno said, raising one eyebrow. It wasn't a kind
or gentle expression, but she didn't look displeased.
"Well then…there's something I want to ask your advice
on, if you don't mind."
With that, Izumi started to explain the current situation
with Nakamura.
* * *
"Seriously?"
"Yeah…"
Izumi had just finished telling Konno about how they
hardly ever went out anymore and how he'd been spotted
with another girl.
"Geez. That's super sketchy." Konno looked more than a
little surprised.
"You think so, too? …Oh man." Izumi looked down, her
face dark.
"I don't think that's what's going on, Yuzu!"
"Yeah! Shuji-kun wouldn't do something like that!"
Kamimae and Kawaguchi tried to pull Izumi out of her
funk.
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
"No, this is pretty serious. Shuji definitely has it in him."
Konno decisively contradicted the other two.
"Y-yeah…I agree."
Izumi and Konno were aligned now, and the two of them
frowned solemnly.
Kawaguchi and Kamimae watched them, whispering to
each other.
"Aren't those two supposed to like Shuji-kun…?"
"Yeah, I wonder why they're so suspicious of him…"
They looked at each other, struggling to understand.
Izumi and Konno ignored them.
"So he turned you down again today, right? What if you
asked him what he's doing right now? Send him a LINE."
"Won't he think I'm being clingy?"
"Yeah, he might. So…" Konno looked over at Kawaguchi
and Kamimae. "One of you should ask him."
"Oh, good idea!"
"Obviously."
The concept was simple. Instead of Izumi asking
directly, one of the other girls could ask casually and then
relay whatever he said in reply. Konno's group and
Nakamura's group were on friendly terms, at least until a big
blowup, so either Kawaguchi or Kamimae could easily get in
touch with Nakamura without arousing much suspicion.
"But what should I ask him?"
"Um, lend me your phone for a second, okay?" Before
waiting for an answer, Konno grabbed Kawaguchi's phone.
"Uh, go ahead, I guess."
"Hmm…"
Giving her permission after the fact, Kawaguchi watched
as Konno started typing on her phone like she had every
right to do so. The hierarchy between them was obvious.
Konno opened a chat window with Nakamura on
Kawaguchi's LINE account and typed in, [What are you up
to?] After getting Kawaguchi's okay, she hit send.
Next she tapped the ATTACH PHOTO button and sent him
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
one of the pictures they'd taken earlier of their pancakes. It
was a slightly wide-view shot that included her own pancake,
with part of Kamimae's body and some of the other
pancakes.
Once she confirmed that it had been sent, she typed in,
[Look what we got!]
"That should do it."
"Wow." Kamimae was impressed.
"Drawing him out, huh?" Kawaguchi said with
satisfaction.
Konno had asked what he was doing, then sent a photo
that showed her own answer. She didn't directly ask him to
send a picture, but a similar message and picture would be
the natural response.
"He'll probably send back a picture. Although this is
Shuji we're talking about, so he might ignore the hint."
"Ah-ha-ha…I could see that."
Izumi chuckled, but she was really grateful she could
count on Konno to step in to help her worries. This was a
huge favor, even though Izumi was dating the same person
she'd had a crush on herself. Konno wasn't entirely selfish.
She could be really scary, and Izumi still believed the
bullying she'd done was wrong, but she couldn't help liking
her all the same.
"Oh, look, he read it," Konno said.
"What?!" Izumi answered, surprised. She was partly
nervous about how he would respond and partly a bit
jealous. He never read her LINE messages that quickly.
"Wonder what he'll say!"
Kawaguchi sounded a little excited. Izumi was worried,
but Kawaguchi didn't have much skin in the game. Plus, they
weren't even sure Nakamura was cheating. Overall, she was
optimistic about the situation.
After a brief wait, Nakamura answered. As they'd hoped,
he responded with a picture.
The photo was of Takahiro Mizusawa eating a
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
hamburger at a diner. There was a short message, too:
[burgers with takahiro]
"So that's what he's up to!" Izumi said with a relieved
sigh.
"See? I told you you worry too much!" Kawaguchi
thumped Izumi's shoulder and grinned.
"Yeah, he's, like, head over heels for you. He'd never
cheat," Kamimae piled on cheerfully.
"R-right? I'm sorry for making such a big deal, guys…,"
Izumi had started to say, when Konno noticed something.
"Wait a second. Look." She set the phone on the table
and zoomed in on one part of the photo.
"…No way."
"Seriously?"
"Oh my God."
Whatever it was, it was bad news.
Konno was pointing at an iPhone with an obviously girly
case.
"That doesn't belong to Shuji or Takahiro, does it?"
Izumi asked, despite knowing the obvious answer.
"Nope," Konno said calmly, frowning. "Well, Takahiro is
there, too, and just because a girl's there doesn't mean he's
cheating…"
"…Yeah." Izumi nodded and completed the thought.
"But…why is he hiding it?"
* * *
After that, the four of them had a lively debate about the
photo.
"He'd only hide it if he was doing something suspicious!
And it's even worse that he tried to hide it in a message to
me!" Kawaguchi said.
Konno tilted her head. "He sent it to you, but I bet he
guessed you might be with Yuzu."
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
"Yeah, could be. I didn't say who I was with."
Konno nodded. "Plus, don't you think it's weird that
there are two guys, Shuji and Takahiro, but only one girl? I
bet another girl is with them."
Kawaguchi gaped in surprise at Konno's deduction. "You
mean like one of those matchmaking parties?"
"Yeah," said Konno. "Look, we're talking about Shuji and
Casahiro. It's totally possible. Also, Takei isn't with them."
"Ah-ha-ha. 'Casahiro'?" Kamimae laughed at the sketchy
nickname.
"…Ugh…" Izumi was growing more depressed by the
second, but she had every reason to. Her boyfriend was with
another girl, and he'd basically lied about it.
Konno patted her shoulder with a half smile. "We still
don't know anything yet. Maybe he just doesn't want to go to
all the trouble of explaining… But I don't think it's a good
idea to be too trusting. You might just get hurt later on."
"…Yeah, you're right." Izumi's expression remained
dark.
Konno looked at her and thought for a second. "Well, if
it's bothering you, ask Takahiro about it when you get home
tonight. Ask him who he was with. If we ask Shuji right now
whose phone that is, it'll be too nosy."
Izumi's face brightened slightly. "Good idea. He
probably wouldn't mind."
"If he tells you they were with a girl, you'll know it was
just a friend. But if he says it was just him and Shuji, you'll
know Hiro is in on it, too."
"…Yeah, I'll do that." Izumi nodded with determination.
"Thank you, Erika."
"No worries," Konno said casually—but she was trying to
make up her mind about something.
Call it a girl's intuition or maybe a queen's premonition
—but she did have a feeling.
Should she say it to Izumi or not?
If you ask me, you'd be better off not knowing.
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
* * *
That night, Izumi lay on her bed holding her phone with
sweaty hands.
A LINE chat window was open on the screen.
The name in the "To" field was Takahiro Mizusawa.
A million thoughts were running through her mind as
she typed.
Should she pretend she hadn't noticed and just chat
randomly? But that would be weird given the timing, and
Mizusawa was sharp. There was a very good possibility he'd
notice something was up.
So should she just come clean and tell him honestly that
she was worried?
But if she did that, he might tell Nakamura. And that
might make him think she was clingy, which she didn't want.
She decided on a third approach, typed in the words, and
hit send.
[Hey!
You and Shuji had a guy's day out today, right?]
That was it—a very simple message.
He'd have a hard time reading her intentions from just
that, wouldn't he?
Pressing her hands to her chest to slow her beating
heart, she opened her home page and waited for his answer.
If he told her another girl had been with them, she was
in the clear.
But if he implied it was just the two of them—she was in
trouble.
She tossed her phone onto a corner of the bed and
slipped under the covers. As soon as she did, she heard the
chime for a new message. She flinched at the speed of his
response.
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
Hurriedly flipping back the cover and grabbing her
phone, she looked down at the screen.
This is what the message said.
[Yeah
Why?]
She quietly slipped back under the covers.
* * *
A few days passed. Izumi had gotten a message from
Nakamura, and she was ignoring it.
He hadn't said anything else—she'd simply ended the
chat without responding to his question. She'd been vaguely
cold toward him at school, but he hadn't brought it up. In
fact, her actions were so subtle they hardly even counted as
ignoring him.
He probably doesn't even care that I didn't respond,
Izumi thought to herself.
When Nakamura was even a little bit late in responding
to one of her messages, she got jealous, but when she left his
message unanswered for days, he didn't even seem to notice.
The whole thing made her sad and lonely, almost
desperate. What had she been doing these past months?
"Aaaaaargh!"
She buried her mouth in her pillow and screamed. But
instead of releasing her emotions, she only felt more
anxious.
"…Erg."
She thought back over her relationship with Nakamura.
The time he asked her out in the park.
The weekend she squeezed his hand.
The first time they went to his house alone.
The warmth of his hand when he poked her teasingly in
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
the forehead. The look on his face when he thought she
didn't know he was looking at her.
She couldn't help thinking of him at the smallest
opportunity.
She was always the one chasing him, always worrying
that he would run off somewhere if she didn't keep hold of
him.
Of course he looked at other girls. Like whoever was with
him when he sent the photo to Kawaguchi.
What kind of girl does that iPhone belong to? What does
she wear? Does she look like me? Or is she completely
different?
…Is she prettier than me?
The thoughts went round and round Izumi's mind until
finally she couldn't stand it.
"Blrghhhh!!!"
She screamed into her pillow again, even louder this
time.
* * *
It happened the next day.
Izumi's phone buzzed early in the morning.
Woken up by the vibration, she saw the word Shuji on
the screen. It was a LINE call from Nakamura.
"…Really?"
She was suddenly wide awake, and her stomach was in
knots. They hadn't messaged each other at all the past few
days. Just before that, she'd learned about his suspicious
behavior and the possibility of another girl.
And now this call.
She couldn't help thinking it all pointed to one thing.
This is it.
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
She hesitated to answer, staring at the screen.
If she ran away now, nothing would change. She would
just put off the inevitable. But she still couldn't bring herself
to answer.
When the buzzing stopped, she assumed he'd given up.
"…Ugh, I hate this."
She desperately tried to think with her still-sleepy head.
What should she do? What should she say?
How could she escape the horrible fate waiting for her?
Before she could come up with an answer, her phone
rang again.
Her heart was pounding so hard she couldn't believe
she'd been asleep only moments before. She didn't want to
talk to him. But she had to do something, or the anxiety
would crush her. This time, she answered in the hopes of
just getting it over with.
"…Hello?" she said, making an effort to sound normal.
The voice on the other end was even more cheerful than
usual, which struck her as thoughtless, even cruel.
"…Hey."
"What's going on?"
"Uh…"
His voice was low. Meanwhile, she was trying to cover up
her feelings with a fake normal tone. This was embarrassing.
He went on, haltingly. "Do you…have time to…get
together and talk right now?"
"…What?"
Her ominous hunch turned into certainty. He was asking
to talk without saying what it was about.
"Why?"
He was silent for a moment, then answered a little more
forcefully. "You can guess, can't you?"
Izumi's heart froze. Yes, she certainly could. "Um…
yeah."
"So can you come over to my place?"
She was sure now—he was going to dump her. She could
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
sense the life draining out of her voice as a powerful wave of
regret overtook her.
Why had she done that? After she saw the picture, after
she'd checked with Mizusawa, why had she let her
meaningless pride and competitiveness win? Why hadn't she
answered his LINE message?
What if she'd just done something about it once she
sensed him drifting away? Maybe they wouldn't have
reached this point.
"…I hate this."
The shaking that she'd been struggling to control
overtook her, and her emotions reached her words.
"What?"
"I said I hate this!!" she shouted.
"…What are you talking about?" Nakamura said
grumpily.
"I just hate it! You know what I mean! I know you
understand the word hate!"
"I mean, yeah, but… What?"
"I'm not going," she said desperately. "I don't want to
hear what you have to say, so I'm not going. I'm staying
home all day."
"Who are you and what have you done with Yuzu
Izumi?"
"I am Yuzu Izumi," she said childishly, and she
immediately regretted it. The more they talked, the worse
she felt.
"…Then I'll come to you."
"Huh?"
"I'll call you when I get to the station."
"Wait…"
"Okay, later…"
"Wait!"
He hung up.
"…Crap."
Her phone beeped.
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
She'd forgotten to charge it the night before, and the red
battery symbol on the screen was telling her she only had
five percent left.
"Ahhh—!!"
She tried to release her stress by screaming so loudly
even her pillow couldn't absorb the sound, but all she could
do was wait for Nakamura to call again.
* * *
[i'm on the 10:24 train]
His message arrived.
Now that her fate was sealed, Izumi calmly closed the
LINE app. She plugged her phone into the charger and stuck
it under her pillow so she wouldn't get even more worked
up.
Then she curled up on her bed and waited. Her mind
was blank, but then…
What was he planning to say when he broke her heart?
Would he forgive her if she refused to let him go? Forgive
what? Was he just bored with her? If she said she didn't
want to break up, would that make her clingy?
She battered herself with unanswerable questions until
just after ten.
"…I better go soon."
She wasn't wearing any makeup, but she put in a pair of
colored contact lenses that made her black eyes look bigger.
As for clothes, she couldn't help choosing carefully even at a
moment like this. After all, Nakamura would be seeing her.
She smiled cynically at herself.
She arrived at the station at around 10:20, wrapped her
scarf around her neck so it covered half her face, and waited.
A few minutes passed.
For the first time in a while, his familiar form appeared
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
on the stairs.
"Ah…"
Tears were already pricking at her eyes, just seeing him.
She'd felt this tightness in her chest before—when she
was waiting for his response on LINE after they'd been apart
for a while or when he turned down one of her invitations.
Her mind filled with anxiety.
But the second she saw his face, all her emotions flipflopped like the pieces on an Othello board—and her
affection for him took control.
I hate this. I hate it. I don't want it to end.
She pushed down the urge to just turn and run. Pulling
her scarf up even farther, she hid behind the soft fabric. She
was sure her tears would spill over if she just stood there in
the cold with all these feelings, and she didn't want him to
see her so weak.
Under her scarf, she bit her lip and forced herself not to
cry.
Nakamura was right in front of her now. "Hey… Haven't
seen you in a while." He avoided her eyes, seeming
uncharacteristically unsure how to act.
"…Yeah."
But Izumi stared into his face anyway. Maybe it was
because she wanted to burn the image of my boyfriend,
Nakamura into her memory.
"This isn't the greatest spot… Wanna go over there?" He
indicated a bench at the park across from the station.
They'd sat on that bench countless times since they
started dating, talking about topics both unimportant and
important. So many memories had been made there.
"…Okay." Izumi nodded and trailed after him.
They sat down next to each other. A dusty, dry wind
whipped the bare branches of the trees around.
They were silent for a moment.
Then Nakamura broached the topic. "Well…," he began
slowly, his hands in his pockets.
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
Izumi sat and waited for him to go on, sure that he was
about to pull out an invisible dagger and sever their
relationship.
"Wait!!" she shouted, desperate to intercept him. "I
can't!! I don't want to break up!!"
Heedless of what he or anyone else might think, she told
him the truth. Nakamura stared at her in a daze.
She didn't care if her struggle was useless. She didn't
care if he thought she was clingy. The only thing she knew
was that everything inside her wanted to hold on to this
relationship.
"I know I'm an idiot, and I'm always getting in your way,
but I still…"
The dam broke and her tears spilled out as she shouted
the rest of her sentence.
"I still love you!!"
Silence.
She didn't take her eyes off him. But what was going on?
Something was wrong with his reaction. Like her
brutally honest words had had no effect on him, like—
"No, listen."
Izumi could never have imagined what he was about to
say.
"Happy birthday."
Izumi sat there gaping in silence. "…What?"
Nakamura smiled wryly. "…I have no idea what's going
on in your head, but…" He was holding out his hand with a
little package wrapped in cute paper balanced on his palm.
"Today's your birthday, right? I just wanted to give you your
present. Geez." He sounded irritated, but his smile was
teasing.
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
Izumi thought back on how he'd been acting lately, and
on everything that had happened since they first met.
Suddenly the whole story fell into place—and she screamed.
"Aaaaaaaaah—?!"
* * *
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Nakamura seemed to find the whole situation hilarious.
"It's not funny! I was really worried!"
"Damn. You were right about being an idiot."
Izumi couldn't argue with him, so she just blushed and
groaned.
"The reason I couldn't hang out lately is that I was
getting a friend of Takahiro's to help me pick out a present
for you."
"So that girly phone in the picture you sent was…"
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
"Hers. We met her at a school festival we went to a while
ago. There's nothing going on."
"Ohhhh…" Izumi was so embarrassed, she couldn't even
look at Nakamura's face. "And when you said on the phone
that I should know why you wanted to get together…"
"Ha-ha-ha! I meant because today was your birthday."
"True…"
It was so obvious now that her behavior before seemed
completely irrational. She'd completely forgotten. She had
nothing to say.
Nakamura wiped away the tears from laughing so hard
and rolled his eyes. "Oh man, who forgets their own
birthday?"
"Shut up!"
Using her sleeve to roughly wipe away the tears that she
didn't even know why she was shedding, she let all her
emotions show. All her embarrassment was gone, and she
glared at him with the eyes of a wild animal.
Nakamura looked back at her gently and sighed.
"Listen…I'm not interested in anyone else. So stop worrying
every time anything happens."
"Uh…"
"Okay?"
His piercing gaze was as honest and straightforward as
always.
He's always so simple and childish, but then he uses it to
get to me! Izumi thought to herself. "…Okay. Got it."
Somehow, he'd gotten her agreement. He gave a satisfied
smile. "What, has no one else wished you happy birthday
yet?"
"Huh?"
She'd been so depressed she hadn't even charged her
phone, and after he called that morning, looking at messages
from anyone else was out of the question.
She opened her LINE app.
"…Oh."
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
It was filled with messages from Konno, Kawaguchi,
Kamimae, Hinami, Nanami, and other friends.
"Crap." Her eyes were full of tears again.
"What's up?"
"I was dying, and now I'm suddenly so happy it's like my
brain can't keep up."
It was like the Othello pieces had been flipped from
black to white and then to rainbow colors.
"Ha-ha-ha. You really are crazy."
This had to be the worst and best birthday she'd ever
had, Izumi thought.
"So what if I am?!"
And so it turned out that Yuzu Izumi's bout of
depression had all been for nothing.
"Aaargh, I can't take it! I'm so happy!!"
Her usual smile had returned to her face.