It was the day after the Sekitomo High School festival,
and just over twenty kids from our class were gathered at an
okonomiyaki restaurant in Omiya.
"Ahem! Good evening, everybody! Thank you for joining
me here today!"
Izumi was standing in front of the group, giving a speech.
"Um, so the manga café and play organized by secondyear Class Two were both a stunning success. I feel very
gratified by the outcome…"
"Yuzu! Relax a little!" Kashiwazaki-san teased.
"Oh, um, okay?! Uh…"
Izumi was so nervous, she was talking like the principal or
something. She glanced around anxiously, stared at her left
palm for a second, nodded vigorously, then started talking
again. Something was definitely written on her hand.
"T-today we are celebrating with a combined school
festival party and Christmas party. Please enjoy yourselves…
um…"
"Seriously, chill out!"
"Uh, um…"
After practicing her speech and/or writing it on her hand,
her friend's heckling had thrown her off course.
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"It's cold out there, so please…um…"
"You can do this!"
"…Oh, I give up!!"
Apparently out of desperation, she raised the glass she
was holding over her head.
"Uh, cheers!!"
"Cheers!" everyone responded, clinking their glasses of
soda in response to her rambling toast.
It was December 24—Christmas Eve—and I was there
with everyone else to celebrate our school festival success.
The toast kicked off an outburst of excited chatter as the
party got going. We were seated around a long table set with
six hot plates for cooking the okonomiyaki pancakes, with
friends sitting together.
"Yeah! This is gonna be wild!"
Unfortunately, Takei was sitting to my right, and he
seemed to be shouting directly into my ear. I scowled, but
this only caused him to wrap his arm jovially around my
shoulder.
"So, Farm Boy, you're gonna let loose tonight, right?"
"Shut up, Takei."
"You're so mean!"
Since I don't feel nervous around Takei anymore, I'm very
honest with him. I might have been a little rude just then—
no, on second thought, that approach was probably perfect
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for Takei.
Mizusawa and Nakamura were sitting across from us,
with Tachibana, Kyoya Hashiguchi, and other jocks on either
side of them. Daichi Matsumoto, who also belongs to that
group, was to my left. Scanning my surroundings, I realized
I was the only one with an obviously lower strength in the
game of life, but I could crush them at Atafami, at least. Call
it a draw?
"Ah-ha-ha, you're so harsh to Takei, Tomozaki,"
Matsumoto said.
"Uh, oh, I am?" I sputtered, thrown off slightly by his
directness.
I wasn't mentally prepared for it, but apparently the jock
group was starting to feel that I belonged here simply
because I hung out with Nakamura's group. I wish they'd
stop. I'm not ready for the friend-of-a-friend-is-a-friend
thing yet.
The kids gathered around the long table were roughly
divided by gender, and the border between girls and guys
was nearby. That was probably because of Nakamura's
stronghold. Hinami's group—which included her, Mimimi,
Kashiwazaki-san, and Seno-san—was right by Takei. At the
moment, Izumi was there, too, stopping by in her role as
president of the festival organizing committee.
"Nice job with the festival, Yuzucchi!"
"Thanks, Takei!"
"You're gonna raise the roof with us, right, Yuzucchi?"
"Oh, um, of course?!"
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Undaunted, Takei had turned to Izumi on his right and
was chatting her up enthusiastically. Being a nice person,
she answered politely. High-caliber material right there.
"Nice! I'm gonna drink myself under the table tonight!
Refill!" Takei shouted, apparently drunk on cola.
"Uh, you know these are soft drinks, right?" Izumi joked.
"Chug it, Takei!" Nakamura jumped in.
"You know I will!!" he shot back.
Hinami and Izumi smiled and clapped, although they
looked slightly uncomfortable. I mean, why was he going to
chug a soda? The only thing he'll get is a minor sugar rush.
Man, I can already see these guys going overboard when
they get to university.
"Hanging back, eh, Director?"
I looked up at the sudden voice and saw Mizusawa smiling
directly at me from across the table. Shady as always. I
smiled back and shook my head.
"Uh, yeah…I can't keep up with that kind of thing," I said.
"Ha-ha-ha. Not surprised." Mizusawa seemed impressed
by Takei and the others. "I'm not so into it myself."
"You're not? Really?"
"Really. You don't think I'm that type, do you?"
"No…I guess not."
Even though he belongs to Nakamura's group, he tends to
keep his cool in situations like this. I've never really seen
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him messing around like a kid, which is probably a good
thing, because I can't even imagine how far off the rails
those other two would go without him around.
"But seriously, Fumiya."
"What?"
"That play was really good."
"Yeah? Thanks."
Suddenly, Mizusawa was getting all sincere on me, and his
expression was as cool as if he was talking about someone
neither of us knew. The play that Kikuchi-san wrote for the
school festival had been a smash hit—even subtracting my
personal bias. I was still feeling the aftereffects two days
later.
"…But aren't you kind of complimenting yourself? You
had a starring role!" I joked.
Mizusawa raised his eyebrows. "Technically, but I was just
a character doing what the script told me to do."
"A character… Yeah."
I can't help getting my guard up whenever I hear
Mizusawa say that word. Ever since the summer barbecue,
the idea of a player's perspective versus a character's
perspective has been haunting our conversations.
"Oh, I don't mean in that sense. You were the one fighting
the battle this time, after all."
"…Yeah…guess I was," I agreed haltingly.
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When Kikuchi-san had started floundering in her
attempts to be more like her "ideal," I went to Mizusawa for
advice, and he really helped me figure out a way to be useful.
After all that, there was no reason to mince words now.
Without Mizusawa's perspective as a person who was trying
to change from a player to a character, I'm fairly sure I
wouldn't have picked up on the emotions beneath Kikuchisan's ideal. And that was exactly why I felt I had to say one
more thing on the subject.
"Kikuchi-san was in the battle, too," I declared.
"Definitely," he said, smiling in admiration. Relaxed as
always, he glanced at her. Everyone had been invited to the
party, but it must have taken a lot of courage for her to show
up. She was sitting on the girls' side of the table, talking in a
low voice with the girl next to her.
"She's really changed," Mizusawa said.
"…Yeah."
I scratched behind my ear shyly as if Mizusawa had just
complimented me instead of her.
"I'm happy for you guys."
"How so?" I asked.
"When I read the final version of the script, I wasn't sure
what would happen…but since you're dating now, I guess
everything worked out," he said, cool as a cucumber.
I flinched slightly. Apparently, he'd caught on to the
underlying meaning of the script.
For me and Kikuchi-san, "On the Wings of the Unknown"
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was a special play, because it was about the way we looked at
the world.
"Uh, just how much did you figure out…?"
"Who knows? Maybe I'm just trying to trick you into
spilling the beans."
"Hey now…"
As usual, his aloof attitude had me tripping over my own
feet, but I wanted to hear his opinion. So far, no one had told
me what they thought about the play, or the characters, or
the ending. Specifically, I was curious to know what they had
read between the lines.
"But you noticed some stuff in the script?"
"Of course I did. I'm a smart guy."
"Yeah, yeah."
I brushed off his egotistical act, but I wanted to know
more. He might joke around when I try to tell him serious
stuff, but he would never hit me where it really hurt.
"What did you think when you read it?"
He paused for a second, still smiling. "Well, actually…I
thought it was pretty cruel of you to make me play that role."
"Wait, 'cruel'?"
The word caught me off guard.
"I mean, I was playing Libra, and Libra ended up with
Aoi, right?" He raised one eyebrow. "Libra was supposed to
be you, I assume?"
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"…So you did catch that."
I couldn't deny his guess. Mimimi had noticed, too. "On
the Wings of the Unknown" was about Kikuchi-san herself…
and Libra was me.
Mizusawa snickered, then sighed. "You know the truth… I
mean, you overheard me, right? When I was talking to Aoi
on our trip."
"…S-sorry about that."
"You don't have to apologize," he said, glancing at Hinami
before looking back at me. "But knowing that, you had me
and Aoi act out a story where you and Aoi get together."
"Uh…"
"Woe is Takahiro." He laughed.
"I said I'm sorry…"
"Ha-ha-ha! It doesn't really bother me," he said casually.
"In a sense, I'm jealous of you. Even if it was a play…people
don't normally get that deep into personal stuff." There was
a hint of emptiness in his eyes. "You were both as serious as
two people can be, right?"
Still, beneath the emptiness, I glimpsed the fire of pursuit.
Maybe that's why I answered so honestly.
"It was only when I faced the situation head-on that I
figured out what dating her meant to me."
"…Huh."
This time, he listened without any snarky comebacks and
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gave me a good, long stare. Finally, his face softened.
"Anyway, I'm glad things turned out well. When I thought
about that story ending the way it did…with the two of them
not together… Well, I didn't know what would happen with
you and her."
"S-sorry to make you worry."
"All's well that ends well. Good work, Fumiya. You can
thank me for everything."
"Hey, why'd you say that?" I wasn't going to let him get
away with that smooth little boast. I think I've gotten pretty
good at that sort of comeback by practicing comedy sketches
with Mimimi.
"Why? Well, you already admitted to copying my way of
talking, and I believe I did give you quite a bit of advice."
"Okay, fine, you did…"
Mizusawa chuckled, like my awkwardness amused him.
The way it annoyed me reminded me of Hinami.
"'Everything' might be an overstatement, but I'll take
credit for at least a third."
"No fair, how am I supposed to argue with a third?" I shot
back. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt he
actually had saved my butt about a third of the time. Damn,
does this mean I'm in debt to him?
"Seriously, though, I'm really happy for you."
"…Thanks."
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He looked away before continuing. "Try to stay together
for a while, okay? For me."
"Huh? What does that me—?" I started to ask, only to be
abruptly interrupted.
"What, what?! What are you and Farm Boy talking about,
Takahiro?"
I'd thought Takei was occupied with the girls, but
apparently not. Mizusawa turned toward him, and it was like
he'd flipped a switch and turned into a completely different
person.
"Oh, I was just saying how amazing the play was."
"Oh yeah!! I wanted to mention that! It was so good…"
Thanks to Takei's intrusion, the intimate atmosphere of a
moment earlier evaporated instantly. That was too bad,
because I was curious what Mizusawa meant by "for me."
But now that Takei had broken the ice, Hinami, Izumi, and
Mimimi were glancing over at us and getting ready to join
our conversation, so there was no way I could ask him about
it now. Guess it doesn't matter?
"I wanted to talk about the play, too! The story was so
awesome!" Izumi said innocently.
"I was great, wasn't I?" Hinami boasted.
"You were actually kinda scary!" Mimimi replied with a
grin. I'm pretty sure Hinami and Mimimi both knew what
the play was really about, but neither of them would bring it
up in a big group like this.
"If we're going to talk about the play, we should include
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Kikuchi-san. Kikuchi-san!" Izumi called.
"Huh? Oh, coming…!"
She joined us, and everyone started to talk about the play.
* * *
"I couldn't attend all the rehearsals because of my other
meetings, so you know when the backdrop switched to full
color? I was like, oh my god!" Izumi gushed.
"Oh yeah, that was Kikuchi-san's idea. We really busted
our butts to make it happen!" Hinami explained.
"I almost cried!" Kashiwazaki-san said, piling on
excitedly. "You thought of that, Kikuchi-san?"
"Um, yes, I did…"
"That's amazing! I don't really know what's what with this
stuff, but I think you could be a pro!"
"Wow…thank you so much…"
Kikuchi-san's voice trailed off in the face of this direct
compliment from someone of her status. When Seno-san
followed up with some of her own favorite parts, Kikuchisan's face grew even redder.
As I watched, I really was happy for her. Hinami and
Mizusawa and Mimimi and I were so affected by the play
partly because we guessed its true meaning. But
Kashiwazaki-san and Seno-san just enjoyed the story
Kikuchi-san had woven, without reading anything else into
it. Kikuchi-san's words, her world, had reached people who
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knew practically nothing about her.
"Mizusawa, you were incredible, too!"
"Ha-ha-ha. Turns out I can act, eh?"
"Ah-ha-ha! You're so annoying."
The conversation had shifted from the script to the acting.
Seno-san seemed like she was having fun talking to
Mizusawa. Her eyes don't glitter like that when she talks to
me. Behold, the player of a character.
"But weren't you surprised?" Hinami asked, steering the
conversation back to its original course.
Seno-san tilted her head curiously. "Surprised by what?"
"The ending—the part with the letter," Hinami said
nonchalantly, but I noticed both Mizusawa and Mimimi do a
double take. I'm sure my own reaction was even more
obvious.
"You mean…what happened with Alucia and Libra?"
Mimimi asked.
"Yeah," Hinami answered, nodding sincerely. She didn't
seem to be insinuating anything, but it struck me as
unnatural. For those of us who knew what the play really
meant, the topic was loaded. I mean, that scene was
essentially Kikuchi-san's way of rejecting me—and saying
she thought Hinami and I should end up together. That
scene.
"Oh, that…," Mizusawa said with a puzzled expression,
playing it safe. Mimimi glanced back and forth between
Hinami and me, then attempted to smile. She was probably
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trying to decide which direction to take the conversation in.
Meanwhile, Hinami was staring at Kikuchi-san with a
smile. Why had she focused attention on that scene so
suddenly? She probably knew that Mizusawa and Mimimi
knew what it meant, not to mention the fact that Kikuchisan and I were both here. The message in that scene would
have to be especially weighty for Hinami.
"Oh, I was totally surprised! I liked Kris, so I wanted her
to end up with Libra."
"You did? But it would have been so sad if Alucia ended
up all alone, so I think it was better that way!"
Kashiwazaki-san and Seno-san were debating the
question passionately. Their innocent opinions lightened the
mood and helped me breathe a little bit easier again.
"That was…difficult to work out, for sure," Kikuchi-san
said, clearly embarrassed by their comments. She glanced
quickly at me. Given that the models for her characters were
sitting right in front of her, I could see how she'd be
struggling right now. "But I decided that within the story,
that was how things should go…so I wrote it like that."
"Within the story?" Hinami interjected. I wasn't sure if
she meant anything more or if the perfect heroine was just
keeping the conversation going.
"I've gotta admit…I was convinced," Mizusawa said,
looking straight at Hinami.
"Wait, convinced of what?" Hinami asked, meeting his
gaze head-on.
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"That it was the right outcome."
I understood what he was saying, but that was exactly why
I didn't know how to respond. I mean, if he was saying it was
right that Libra and Alucia ended up together, that meant—
Mimimi's eyes darted to Kikuchi-san in confusion, and
Kikuchi-san gave me an uncomfortable glance. It was
Hinami who broke the silence.
"Really? I'm not so sure."
"And why is that?" Mizusawa asked.
"After all, Alucia wanted to become a powerful queen,"
she answered confidently. Of course, because it was Hinami,
the edges of her words were soft, and nothing she said would
make those listening feel awkward. "I thought Alucia would
be the most powerful queen in the world, always knowing
the right thing to do, but with that ending, I'm not so sure."
Why not?
"Alucia ended up with Libra, but I think she'll be weaker
that way."
It sounded to me like she was flat out rejecting the
character of Alucia that Kikuchi-san had created.
"…I can see what you're saying!" Kashiwazaki-san agreed.
Hinami smiled at her. "Right?" she answered amiably.
"But I'm not sure putting Libra together with Kris would
have been any better. Writing plays is hard!"
"Wow, I'm starting to imagine all sorts of stuff!"
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Hinami and Kashiwazaki-san continued with their fluffy
conversation. I'd missed my chance, and the heart of the
matter slipped away again before we could breach the
surface.
"And you know the scene where they fly on the dragon…"
After that, the conversation veered toward more simplistic
impressions, leaving behind the story's ending and true
meaning. But this wasn't the right situation to protest.
Still, I couldn't help dwelling on it, even as the
conversation flowed on and I made the requisite comments.
Mizusawa's question, Hinami's answer, and her rejection
of Alucia.
If that story and its themes didn't sit right with Hinami,
then what on earth was her ideal?
* * *
Twenty or thirty minutes passed, and the party was
winding down.
"I'm glad you came today," I said to Kikuchi-san, who was
taking a breather in her original seat. Everyone had been
switching places and talking with various groups.
"Tomozaki-kun?"
She turned toward me, her expression relaxing. That was
enough to make me happy. I grinned.
"Are you tired?" I asked.
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"Um…," she said, her eyes sparkling excitedly as she
searched for words. Finally, she nodded. "I'm tired, but…"
"Yeah?"
"I'm also really happy," she said with a wide, genuine
smile.
"Happy…? Oh, about that." I knew exactly what she
meant. "Everyone really loved the play, huh?"
"…Uh-huh." Her face flushed as she savored the moment.
"The play was all about things I like…so it feels like they
accepted me, too. My stomach is full of butterflies."
"Really?" I asked, smiling again.
"I'm not very good at chatting and making friends…but
I'm realizing now that this is another way to interact with
people."
"…Yeah, that makes sense," I answered.
I totally agreed. In the game of life, just living an ordinary
life is tough. Kikuchi-san isn't naturally good at playing by
its rules, but she'd found a way to do it that she was good at.
It was a beautiful thing.
"And…I feel like maybe I can become friends with the
people in class who enjoy the same things as me. One step at
a time."
"Ha-ha. You do, huh?" I paused and thought about that
for a moment. "Well, remember, you don't have to force
yourself."
"What do you mean?"
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I was taking care not to reject her idea. "I think I said this
when we were talking about the script…but not everyone has
to change to fit in with their surroundings. There's no rule
saying you have to make lots of friends."
"…Okay. Thank you," she said, smiling kindly.
"But if you want to do that, then I think it's great."
"I'll think about it."
"You can always talk to me if something's bothering you."
The emotion on her face then was happy and determined
at the same time. After a second, she looked up at me again.
"I know. I will," she said sincerely. That earnestness made
me so happy I couldn't help smiling again.
"Oh, I almost forgot," she said, raising her voice and
looking at me shyly. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Tomozaki-kun… Merry Christmas."
"Oh right," I said, suddenly remembering that it was
December 24. We'd only started dating two days earlier, but
this was nevertheless our first Christmas as a couple.
"Yeah… Merry Christmas."
"…Thank you."
Then it dawned on me. "Sorry, I didn't get you a present
or anything…"
From reading comics and stuff, I knew you were supposed
to give your girlfriend a present on Christmas Eve, but
Kikuchi-san just shook her head.
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"Oh, that's fine… We only started two days ago…"
I'm pretty sure she meant started dating, but she was too
shy to actually say the word. When I realized that, her
shyness spread to me, and I got this kind of restless, giggly
feeling.
"Um…"
"Y-yes?"
We both knew what was going on, but it was somehow
hard to say directly. I guess neither of us know the right
thing to do.
…In which case…
Isn't it the guy's job to take action? It was in the comics, of
course. I looked her in the eye and said, "Um…but we are
dating now. And we have plenty of time…"
I was struggling not to look away.
She nodded, blushing. "Y-yes, that's true…so…"
"Yeah?"
Then she took the plunge.
"…S-so next year, let's exchange presents."
"Huh?"
That meant we'd still be dating a year from now—my
heart thumped and my brain got scrambled. Wait a second
—I thought I was good at communicating now! But
Kikuchi-san always cheats.
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"Oh, uh, okay."
I looked away. Then I got worried she might think I was
lying, so I turned my attention back to her. She was pouting
slightly and glaring at me.
"…ise."
"What?"
She stuck out her pinkie, blushing. "Promise."
I looked at those glistening eyes peering up at me from
behind her bangs and at the pinkie extended toward me.
This wasn't the magic of an angel—it was a ritual offered by
an amazing real-life girl.
"Oh…okay. Promise."
I hooked my own pinkie onto hers, and we sealed our pact
like two little kids. What the heck? We've already held hands
a couple of times, so why did our fingers feel so unbearably
hot?
"—!"
We timidly pulled our hands back, both blushing.
"Your face is red, Kikuchi-san."
"Yours is, too!"
We stared at each other, then broke out laughing.
* * *
Before I knew it, the party was almost over. We just had to
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collect money from everyone and pay the bill.
"Is it free now?"
"Yup."
Izumi headed off to the bathroom as soon as Seno-san got
back from using it. The people who had already paid and
gotten ready to leave were sitting around chatting lazily or
standing outside waiting for the rest of the group to leave.
The mood was very chill.
Inside, Mimimi was hitting on Tama-chan by pretending
she was still hungry and asking for a café date, while
Nakamura and Mizusawa were messing around untying
Takei's shoes. Same old, same old.
But just then, I witnessed something unusual.
"…Huh?"
Two girls were standing outside the bathroom—Hinami
and Kikuchi-san.
"What's going on…?"
Those two didn't hang out much. And I don't think they
were waiting for their turn in the bathroom—no, they
seemed to be deep in discussion. About something pretty
serious, too, from what I could tell.
My guess was they were continuing the slightly personal
conversation Hinami had begun during the party. Still, it
was unusual for Hinami to show her icier side to anyone but
me.
A minute later, Izumi came out of the bathroom. She
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walked past Hinami and Kikuchi-san and headed to the
table where I was standing to get her bag. When she got
near, she glanced back at the two of them, apparently
puzzled.
"Hey, Tomozaki, are they friends?"
"…Huh? Oh," I said, looking toward the bathroom again.
"Yeah, that's not a pair I usually see together."
"Well, just now…," Izumi said, sounding worried.
"Yeah?"
"I overheard Kikuchi-san apologizing to Hinami." I could
tell she was suspicious.
"Really?" That wasn't what I would've assumed.
"Apologizing about what?"
"I don't know, but when I walked past, I heard her say,
'I'm sorry.' I didn't want to eavesdrop, so I came over here."
"…Oh."
It was unusual enough for the two of them to be talking,
but for Kikuchi-san to apologize…? I replayed the earlier
conversation about the script in my mind, but I couldn't find
anything specific worth apologizing for, so I just stood there,
staring vaguely in their direction.
Eventually, Izumi said, "Oh, here they come."
"Yeah."
The conversation apparently over, they were walking
toward us side by side. Hinami looked less serious now, and
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I didn't sense any tension.
"Is everyone ready to go?" she asked, looking at me and
Izumi like nothing had happened.
"Uh, uh-huh." I nodded, swept along by her casual
attitude.
"Should we go, then?" she replied before I had a chance to
bring up any of my questions, and the four of us left the
restaurant.
* * *
Outside, everyone was acting excited.
"Oooooh! It's snowing!"
Takei ran out into the street and waved his arms around.
"Snow…?"
Izumi and I exchanged glances. I stuck my hand out from
under the eaves of the restaurant and sure enough.
"It really is snowing!" I stared at the flakes accumulating
on my hand, surprised.
"Wait, it's really snow!" Izumi exclaimed happily, raising
both hands toward the sky.
"Oh yeah…I think the weather report did call for snow."
Kikuchi-san and I both stood quietly, looking up at the
dark Christmas Eve sky. Tiny white flakes danced through
the air, glittering in the lights of the avenue as they drifted
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softly onto us.
"It's so beautiful," Hinami said, smiling. Her expression
was gentle and full of a kind of all-embracing affection. As
usual, I had no idea if it reflected her genuine feelings or if it
was merely a mask. I hoped that at least in a moment like
this she would let the world see her real emotions.
Kikuchi-san was still gazing up at the sky, her gloved
hands held out palm up in front of her. Her expression was a
tiny bit more childlike and naive than usual. After a
moment, she captured a snowflake softly between her
fingers.
"…Isn't it amazing?"
She laughed, her breath white, and looked up at me.
"Yeah." I nodded, smiling back at her.
We weren't on a date, but still, snow on my first
Christmas with Kikuchi-san. Maybe it was pure coincidence,
a random encounter in the game of life.
But for some reason, I felt like the whole world was
wishing us well right then.
"A white Christmas," I mumbled, lost in the moment.
"It better stick! I wanna have a snowball fight! …
Whoops!" Takei shouted, demolishing my quiet reverie as he
slipped on a wet manhole cover and fell flat on his butt.
"Man, that hurt!"
This guy really knows how to ruin the moment.
"Shut up, Takei."
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"Geez, you're such a jerk sometimes!"
Which is why I told him exactly what I thought. He's
convenient when the mood gets dark, but sometimes he's a
total pest.
"So wanna go do karaoke now?" Nakamura suggested.
"Awesome idea! I'm in!" Takei answered, jumping right
on board.
Then they looked at me and Kikuchi-san and grinned.
"You two are coming, too, right?"
"What, to karaoke?" I asked, caught off guard by this
sudden development.
Nakamura nodded like it was totally obvious. "Yeah, right
now."
"Um…," I hedged. I didn't have a reason to say no, and it
might be fun to go since we were all hyper from the snow.
But Kikuchi-san was standing next to me, and I didn't know
if she would want to do something social. Actually, my guess
was she wouldn't. And it wouldn't be right to leave her alone.
As I was trying to decide what to do, Izumi interceded.
"Okay, Shuji, I'm sure we all want to go, but look at the
time," she scolded.
"What?"
She held out her phone toward us. It was already ten
o'clock. Incidentally, her home screen had a photo of a really
busty foreign woman on it, which made me newly aware of
how different our tastes are.
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"I swear…you're such a killjoy."
"Am not! I just don't want to get in trouble!"
Arguing against the background of snow, they made me
think of your stereotypical troublesome husband and
virtuous wife. I wanted to tell them to go on like that for the
rest of their lives. But Izumi was right—in Saitama, high
school students are forbidden from being out in public after
eleven at night. If you stay out past then, you get abducted
by Kobaton, our prefectural mascot.
"Let's do it another time. I mean, since we'll be studying
so hard next year, this is like our last winter break of high
school," Mizusawa said, jumping in to smooth over the
argument. Nakamura pouted silently for a second, then
acquiesced to the inevitable.
"Okay, fine…I guess."
"What?! But it's snowing!" Meanwhile, Takei was still
resisting, though his logic evaded me. "Wait, snow has
nothing to do with karaoke."
"Nope…," Nakamura said, leaving Takei without a
comeback. It's impossible to hate Takei because he gives in
so easily when he's wrong.
I glanced at Kikuchi-san. Nakamura, Hinami, Izumi, and
Mimimi were talking about when to do karaoke together.
Would she want to go with them?
"What do you want to do?"
"Huh?"
"Do you want to go out to karaoke with them?" I
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whispered. She hesitated, then looked me in the eye.
"Um, I'm not the best in big groups…so I'd rather not."
She was turning down my invitation, but definitely not in
a cold way.
"Okay," I said.
"But…I really like all of them, because they liked the play."
"Yeah," I said, smiling. It was important to respect her
wishes. She wasn't rejecting them, she was carving out her
own niche. She was simply saying that not everyone had to
enjoy the same things.
"You should go with them and have fun," she said.
"You don't mind?"
She shook her head. "No. I mean, those are your good
friends, right?"
"…Um, yeah."
It was embarrassing to be asked so directly, but I
answered honestly.
"I want you to have a good time," she said, smiling
cheerfully. "And tell me all about it afterward!" Her
expression was radiant and her tone kind.
"Okay, I will."
Suddenly, a freezing cold something hit me in the face.
"…Oof!"
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I spun around to find Takei laughing at me so hard I could
practically see down his throat. I touched the cold substance
on my face and clothes: snow. In other words…
"I'm gonna get you, asshole!" I shouted, glaring at him as
I scraped up the snow that was starting to accumulate in
colder corners of the street and packed it into a ball. You hit
me; I'll pay you back with interest. I'm not just gonna lie
down and take it. Such is the way of the gamer.
"Oh, so you wanna fight, Farm Boy?"
"I don't just play Atafami, you know. I play FPSs, too, and
I've got good aim."
"Uh, I didn't get that, but you're in, right?"
Izumi was listening in on our ugly battle of words with
dismay. "Guys are so immature!"
Kikuchi-san was watching from next to her, and she just
giggled.
* * *
"Ha-ha…he got me good."
Fifteen minutes later, Kikuchi-san and I were standing
under the eaves of a convenience store set back from the
street down a short flight of stairs. We'd just said good-bye
to the group after a round of mortal combat between me and
Takei—but now we were alone.
"Tee-hee. Yes, he did."
I hadn't been trying to get her alone. But after my defeat
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in the unexpected battle of snow scraped up from random
crevices and corners, I'd been lured by a suspiciously smiley
Mizusawa and Izumi over to the convenience store to buy
hot chocolate, and now here we were. I'm fairly sure they
ganged up on me so I'd make the most of this unusual white
Christmas situation. I was cursing them silently for
interfering—but yeah, I was happy to be alone with Kikuchisan.
"Your friends are fun to hang out with," Kikuchi-san said.
"Huh? Oh, they just like to mess around…"
"…Yes, but they're still fun."
A puff of white breath escaped her lips as she giggled. She
pressed one fluffy gloved hand to her mouth. Standing there
in the snow on Minamiginza Street with its shops and
restaurants, she looked both otherworldly and firmly
planted in reality. I wasn't looking at an angel or a fairy—I
was looking at a mystically beautiful human girl.
"So…should we head over to the station?"
"…Okay."
I took a step forward, matching my stride to hers. The
downtown had that peaceful atmosphere it gets just before
the new year, seasoned with the excitement of Christmas
Eve. As the white flakes swirled more and more thickly from
the sky, the streets began to look unfamiliar.
"Wow, I think it might actually stick," Kikuchi-san said.
"Yeah, maybe."
The snow melted on the asphalt, but it was slowly piling
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up on the seats of parked bicycles, the garbage cans next to
vending machines, and the trees and bushes outside the
station. At this rate, we might even wake up to a winter
wonderland the next morning.
"We're alone together…on Christmas Eve."
"Um, uh, yeah."
I could feel my face instantly flush at this unexpectedly
passionate statement from Kikuchi-san.
"I'm sorry, that was sudden… It's just—I feel so happy…"
"Oh yeah, of course. Um…so do I."
Our words were clumsy, but I'm sure they were honest.
We were a pair of lovers walking through the snowy city
on a sacred night. Definitely a first for me, and a special one.
Just walking along like that made me shy and happy and
satisfied all at the same time.
"…There are so many people out tonight," Kikuchi-san
said.
"Yeah."
Christmas music drifted from every shop and restaurant,
and I'm not sure, but there seemed to be an unusually large
number of couples among the crowd. In the past, that kind
of thing always made me feel lonely, but tonight, their
excitement was contagious. Maybe that's why even a
bottom-tier character like me had the urge to implement the
idea that suddenly popped into my head.
"Um, can you wait a second?"
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I scraped up some of the snow that had settled on the
bushes and trees and began to shape it between my hands. I
was being a little more careful than earlier when I made
snowballs to throw at Takei.
"Tomozaki-kun?"
The idea had come to me as the two of us were walking
through this holy night. True, we'd only been dating for two
days, so maybe it was inevitable that I wasn't prepared. Still,
not having anything to give her made me sad. So I gathered
up the snow and formed it into two little balls, smaller than
the palm of my hand. Kikuchi-san must have known by then
what I was up to. Since I had the snowball fight to thank for
the idea, I had to admit that maybe I should be grateful for
Takei's existence for the first time in my life. I placed one of
the balls on top of the other on my palm and held it out to
Kikuchi-san.
"Um, h-here's your Christmas present…?"
I didn't have much confidence in that statement.
The misshapen little creation sat on the tips of my fingers.
It didn't have a nose or eyes or mouth, but it was identifiably
a snowman. At least the bottom part was bigger than the top
one. Kikuchi-san stared at it, and after a few seconds, a
chuckle escaped her lips. She picked it up and set it on her
own hand. Then she beckoned for me to follow and squatted
down next to the base of a tree.
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"Let's put these on it."
She took off her gloves and picked up something from the
ground that looked like a seed. An innocent, happy smile on
her face, she pressed two of them onto the snowman.
"Oh, they're eyes."
"Tee-hee. Yes!"
Now the grotesque little snowman had one big eye and
one small one, which made it look even more homemade. It
was such a ridiculously amateurish job that as I stared at it, I
wanted to laugh.
"That's the ugliest snowman I've ever seen!"
"But he's so cute!"
"…He is."
We look at each other and burst out laughing. Even
though we were just being silly together, that brief moment
in time felt immeasurably precious.
"…Um, so…," I said, getting my nerve up to make a
proposal. "Want to take a photo with it?"
I wanted to preserve this moment forever.
"Yes!" she answered, bowling me over with her
excitement.
"Great! So…" With the camera skills I learned during my
Instagram assignment, I swiftly prepared to shoot the photo.
"Okay, ready!"
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"Okay!"
I snapped the three of us together: me, Kikuchi-san, and
the snowman.
"…Whew, not blurry."
"…What?"
For a second, Kikuchi-san seemed confused by my
comment, not realizing that blurry photos are my norm. But
that was fine. The important thing was that I got the picture.
"I'll send it to you later," I said.
"Yes, please do!"
We started walking toward the station again.
"Oh dear, I don't think they'll let him on the train," she
said regretfully.
"Ah-ha-ha. Sad but true."
Succumbing to inevitable reality, we set the snowman
down on the roots of a tree. We glanced at each other, then
both waved good-bye.
A moment later, we were at Omiya Station, and our time
together was over.
"Oh, um…," Kikuchi-san said in a determined tone. She
was looking up at me with moist eyes. "When can I see you
again…?"
"Um…"
Her voice and expression were much warmer than when
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we were around other people.
"Next time…I want to go out just the two of us…like we
are right now."
Her expression was expectant, like she was counting on
me for something. An ordinary glance from her was enough
to make me blush, so needless to say, this particular
expression turned me into a tongue-tied idiot.
"Uh, um…w-wait a second."
My heart melting beneath her gaze, I pulled up the
calendar on my phone and searched for a free day soon. I
wanted to see her again as much as she wanted to see me.
"…How about the day after tomorrow or the day after
that?"
"Oh, okay, then the day after tomorrow!"
She latched on to my suggestion in an excited, almost
anxious way.
"Ah-ha-ha, got it." Then I realized something. "…Oh."
Kikuchi-san tilted her head quizzically. As for what I'd
noticed when I looked at the calendar…
"I'm free on New Year's Day…" I tried to say it as casually
and confidently as possible. I mean, this was what I wanted,
after all. "Want to go to a shrine together?"
"Oh, I'd love to!" she said right away, nodding
enthusiastically.
"Ah-ha-ha… So we'll skip the day after tomorrow and get
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together on New Year's?" I said, figuring I'd better not
monopolize too much of her time. She caught her breath,
instantly crestfallen.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just that…" She paused for a moment, searching for
words before finally looking up at me with those moist eyes,
her cheeks flushed. "…I want to see you on both days."
Definitely not fair. How was I supposed to even think
when she said something like that?
"O-okay, then both. Let's meet both times," I said,
surrendering my heart completely.
"…Okay. I'm glad," she said, lowering her head.
"Uh…me too."
We were awkward, but we were sharing our feelings.
Simply arranging our next date turned me into a quivering
mess. The world right then truly was filled with color. I
couldn't help thinking that the photo we took, along with the
memory of this moment, was the best Christmas present I
could have hoped for.
* * *
We went through the ticket gate together. Since we live on
different train lines, this was where we would part ways.
"Well…I'll get in touch soon."
"O-okay."
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My heart still thumping, I watched her walk away, then
headed to the Saikyo Line platform. Images from earlier in
the day were flickering through my mind. I felt light and
happy—but also a little bit lonely.
I walked down the stairs to the platform and glanced at
the timetable. My train was scheduled to leave in a few
minutes.
I was still floating on air when it arrived and I stepped
aboard. As the train began to move, I looked out at the
snowy city streets. Suddenly, I remembered something
Izumi had said.
"I overheard Kikuchi-san apologizing to Hinami."
I never did get a chance to ask Kikuchi-san what the two
of them had been talking about. I hadn't wanted to ruin the
moment, but really, I felt like it wasn't my business.
Soon the train pulled into Kitayono Station. I left the
station and was walking slowly toward my house when—
"Ah!"
A notification buzzed on my phone. I took it out of my
pocket and saw that it was a LINE message from Kikuchisan. I opened the chat window right away.
[Thank you for today.
I'm not sure why, but I felt so happy and relaxed. It was
really fun.]
[When we were talking, and when we made our next
date…
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I realized we really are together, and my heart was
pounding so hard. I'm so looking forward to seeing you the
day after tomorrow and on New Year's Day.]
I felt like I was about to collapse to the ground in a dead
faint just from reading it. So unfair!
"—Erg!"
The streets of Kitayono were chilly, but the message from
Kikuchi-san and the photo we'd taken together felt hotter
than a hand warmer in my palm.