"Goooood morning!"
When his voice cracked grossly, Minori immediately turned around.
In the cold of midwinter, a group of fluffed-up sparrows moved from
inside the azalea bush next to them to Ryuuji and Minori's feet. He didn't
know what they were so passionately pecking at, but they all started
hammering away rapidly at the asphalt.
"Yo! Yo! Ma!"
Startled by Minori's buoyant voice, they all scattered into the air.
The weather was clear, and the sun came at them blindingly on that
below-freezing morning. The beams of light made Minori's round cheeks
light up as she struck a salute.
Ryuuji squinted his eyes and looked back at her, though he felt like
lowering his head. He wanted to turn his eyes down, but he desperately
raised them up. He tried very hard to move his faltering mouth. If he ran
away now, it'd end up being like yesterday.
"So a-about yesterday…uh, sorry. Uh, um…it ended up seeming like
I was ignoring you."
Minori waited for him to finish his awkward apology.
"Whatchu talkin' about, Takasu-kun? Seriously, just stop that!"
She gave him a good look at her white teeth as she smiled. As her
face wrinkled from the grin, she looked like a radiant sunflower that had
bloomed in the middle of winter. She rewrapped her tartan-checked scarf,
pushed up her slightly shorter bangs, and shifted up the heavy-looking
sports bag on her shoulder.
"I just thought you had a stomachache or something!"
She seemed to leap forward as she approached him by a step. She
probably didn't actually think that, but understood the awkwardness that
caused Ryuuji to run. "So, doesn't matta' to me at all!"
Even so, Minori smiled, and Ryuuji smiled for her, too. For the first
time in what seemed like forever, they faced each other. They were exactly
a meter apart.
"It did ache a little…actually."
"Wow, what a shocking confession."
His smile wasn't manufactured. There were no lies or tricks or
deceptions.
He smiled so he could ride through it, so that after being rejected, he
could head forward. Ride this out and smile, let the storm finish, and wait
for the next scene. He had seen it on TV once. Supposedly when kids and
adults were involved in the same accident, the kids would sometimes make
it through with unexpectedly fewer injuries than the adults. They could do
that because their bodies were still flexible. They would be sent flying and
hit the hard ground, but survive with minimal damage to their bodies. Their
flexibility alone would act as a cushion to protect their lives.
Using the same logic, he would smile and smile as much as he
needed and flexibly take it in, he thought. He would be as pliable as he
could. If he took everything seriously, he really would be pulverized.
Smile, Takasu Ryuuji. Smile, Kushieda Minori, he commanded, but
that didn't seem to actually translate onto his face. Minori seemed taken
aback.
"Whoa!"
It was fine as long as the kids were smiling.
He recalled Taiga's face from long ago. I ain't dead yet… the vision
of Tiger said as she put a doughnut ring over her head and smiled.
As for the real Taiga…
"Minoriiiin! Good morning!"
She completely ignored Ryuuji's existence, waving her hand from the
other side of the crosswalk, where the light was red. "Yooo yooo!" Minori
waved both of her hands back.
Taiga awkwardly waved around both her arms and her legs. "Yooo
yooo yooo!" The young salaryman also waiting for the light behind Taiga
seemed appalled as he watched her wiggling dance in silence.
What an embarrassment, Ryuuji thought.
"Yooo yooo yooo! Yooooo!" For some reason, Minori became even
more enthusiastic. "Yo yo yo! Good morning yo! Good mor-yo-ning! Goodyo mor-yo-ning yo! Ahh!"
She swung around the bag on her shoulder and vigorously mimed a
DJ move. Minori held a headphone only she could feel with one hand and a
record only she could see with the other. She scratched it and made it
squeal. Facing the floor only she could perceive, she raised her voice to a
falsetto to rile up the crowd. "Haaah! Aaah!"
"Minorin, what do you think you're doing?! That's weird!"
Taiga laughed from the opposite side of the road. The unsettled
salaryman at her back stared at Minori this time. Then, the man noticed that
next to the crazy Minori was Ryuuji, with a face that looked like a depiction
of the demon Asura that a cursed sculptor had carved with a bloodstained
chisel. Slowly, the man's eyes turned away.
It wasn't that Ryuuji was thinking, "If you look at my girl Kushieda
like that then, why, I'll—I'll—I'll kill ya!" He was just genuinely taken
aback by DJ Minori.
"Give it a rest, Kushieda… You're embarrassing other people. I'm
going to go ahead of you."
"Whyyy? I'll go with you."
"No. It's hard to keep up with you and Taiga."
He had dispelled the awkwardness of the other day. That was enough
for now. Ryuuji started to hurriedly walk ahead.
"Ohh! Minorin, Ryuuji's running! Grab him!" Taiga wailed from the
other side of the light.
It wasn't just Ryuuji who didn't understand what Taiga was getting
at. "Huh?! I need to grab him?!" Minori questioned back.
"Yeah!" Taiga replied.
Ryuuji's eyes met with Minori's when she turned around, and he
reflexively whipped the other way. Minori was also acting on reflex as she
reached out a hand to him before he could escape. His cold hand and hers
hit each other. Minori's fingers latched on to Ryuuji's.
"Ack!"
She held his fingers for barely a fleeting second.
Naturally, Ryuuji leapt up. He was so surprised, he couldn't even
yell. He felt like he had been struck by a bolt of lightning that worked itself
from his fingertips all the way down to his tailbone. However, Minori was
the one who let go first.
Ahh! She might have even said. Or it might have been, Gyaa!
Minori's fingers went limp. She pulled her hand to her chest as
though she had been burned and enveloped it in her other hand. Her face
was red. It was as though Ryuuji had done something wrong to her or she
was scared. Her mouth was set in a line. She leered at him.
"Ahh, damn it, don't underestimate me!" she barked. She reached out
her hand again for a second try.
"Deeeetaaaaaaiiiiiiinnnnn!" she yelled self-importantly, but all she
grabbed was the cuff of his school jacket…and only the very edge of it to
boot. He would have been able to shake her off just by lifting his arm, but
Ryuuji simply let himself be detained. Actually, to be more accurate, he was
just so shocked that he couldn't move.
At that point, the light turned green. Taiga looked right and left and
right again one more time before she started running. She looked at Ryuuji
as Minori held him by the sleeve, and then she looked at Minori. After that,
she smiled.
"You got caught, so you get to hold the bags!"
"Whoa?!"
She threw her bag at Ryuuji. The bag traced a parabola, and Ryuuji
caught it without thinking about it. Taiga pointed at Ryuuji and danced
slightly. "Hah!" Having lightened her load, she spread her arms out to the
sides like an airplane.
"He fell for it! He fell for it! I'm heading out first!"
Her skirt billowed as she ran away.
"You're going first… Wait, Taiga, you've got to be kidding me!
What?! What am I supposed to do with this?! You're seriously making me
carry it?!"
The bag Taiga had left in his hand wasn't really that heavy, but he
was bitter. First she teased him for being a dog and a bug, and now she
made him her bag carrier—even if she did it so he could walk to school
with Minori, couldn't she have accomplished that some other way?
He watched her disappear into the distance in mute amazement.
"This is your fault, Kushieda. Why did you have to catch me?"
Ryuuji looked at Minori. Minori, in her own way, was dumbfounded where
she stood.
"That Taiga…Taiga…Taiga…" she repeated like a prayer. Suddenly,
she shook herself like a wet dog, and her eyes went wide. She swung her
arm around coolly, like a hero that was about to change into their costume.
Then she brought her fist up to her chest. "No…this isn't a big deal. Now!
Give me a cord!"
"A cord?" said Ryuuji.
"I mean one of these!"
She took one of the two handles of the bag that Ryuuji was holding.
The bag hung between them, almost as though they were small kids holding
a shopping bag.
"All right. Seriously, Taiga's just hopeless. I'll finish her off when we
get to school."
She grinned up at him from a close distance. Her cheek had the
texture of a peach, and the smell of her hair… Ryuuji froze now, of all
times.
"Right!"
"Uh…yeah!"
They swiftly decided to finish off Taiga right then and there.
As they walked, Minori said, "Oh, time out." She pulled out gloves
from her pocket and put them on her hands. Still not saying anything, she
rubbed her hands together. "Okay!" She once again took up half the bag.
Now that he was suddenly alone with her, he couldn't escape
anymore. It really wouldn't have been appropriate for him to run now. He
wouldn't do that. As Ryuuji walked, he attempted to strike up a natural
conversation. Like an idiot, he tried to calculate the right time to talk. "Ah,
I, uh…"
"Hm? You trying to get me in my pressure point?"
"No. I…I just think your hair looks pretty neat."
He'd finally said it.
"Oh, si. I wanted to make it shorter, but the beautician said that I've
got a large crown, and I shouldn't go short. She said my hair is stiff, so it'd
probably stick out and make my head look super big. She kind of scared me
out of it."
She kept facing forward. As she breathed out white, Minori's voice
lowered as though she were a little disappointed. "I wanted to get a pixie
cut, though. I wanted it to actually be kind of like…like a man's! I wanted it
to have a force behind it. Like a boy cut! Like a bowl cut! …No that's not
right… Like an undercut! That's wrong, too…"
"Well, maybe it would have looked good short?"
Minori raised her face and looked at Ryuuji. She smiled and said,
"Yeah, you're right." She used one knit-gloved hand to lightly push up her
hair several times. "When I was in elementary school, I pretty much had a
buzz cut. I went with my little brother to this place called The Barber. They
really only cut hair for men, but he'd just shear everything off with the
clippers. My nickname used to be Mister Lady."
"Really…well that's… Mister Lady… Wait, you've got a brother?
He's a high school baseball player, right?"
"Yeah. He's one year younger. Their school is pretty good, and they
go to the Koshien Stadium championships pretty often. Of course, he's not
one of the main players, but next year he might pitch at the Koshien mound.
I can't believe that jerk's a pitcher."
"Wow, I had no idea. That's pretty amazing. You must be proud of
him."
"Well, I'm super jealous of him. Ahhh, when we were in little league,
I was way ahead of him. Now I'm just like a lamb chop that can't even get a
shear."
"I think you'll be fine without that. Actually, you mean a lamb, not a
lamb chop, right?"
"Oh, Takasu-kun, you said such a shockingly lame thing that I've got
static in my hair."
"It's because you're playing with your hair with gloves," he said back
as he side-eyed Minori. Her hair was standing on end. He saw her neck
peek from under her scarf and thought, It really would have been fine short.
That was when he noticed it. At some point, he'd become able to
smile without making a conscious effort. He could walk next to Minori
while holding the bag with her. He had gathered up the pieces of his
shattered heart and squeezed them together, like making a rice ball. He
wouldn't run. He would hold his ground.
He was sure he could keep going like this. It was almost as though
nothing had happened. It was like he could start afresh.
Right. The upcoming school trip was another chance. That was when
he would slowly come to face her.
If he did that during the trip, just as Taiga had told him, there was a
chance he could get a different answer from Minori.
Ryuuji believed it. The time was right to have courage and face
forward.
"Okay, let's finish off Taiga! Where'd she go?!"
"She's not here. How about the bathroom? The lockers?"
"We'll find her even if we have to turn over every blade of grass!
This is punishment! It's Hamburger Hill!"
No sooner had they gotten to the classroom than Minori had started to
huff and puff as she began looking around for Taiga. Though he was a little
exasperated, Ryuuji was with her after having agreed to it earlier.
At that point, he locked eyes with Ami, who it seemed had arrived at
school earlier. Ami was chit-chatting with Maya, Nanako, and the other
girls who surrounded her. Seeing Minori arrive with Ryuuji, she turned
toward them with slightly narrowed eyes. However, before he could
understand her expression, Minori also noticed Ami.
"Oh! Ahmin-senpai! It's the first time I've seen you this year! Have
you seen that girl Taiga?"
"Oh my, good morning, Minori-chan. I haven't seen Tiger but…well,
how do I put this, it's like, ugh."
Right, Takasu-kun, she kept going.
He wondered what would happen if he walked right over there and
just gave her a double slap. What're you trying to say?! He wouldn't do it,
but he wanted to. What in the world was she suddenly trying to start?
"Ugh?"
He didn't know what she was trying to say, but he knew the words
aimed directly at Minori were meant to be prickly, and they had left Minori
standing stock-still. He wasn't sure he knew what was going on, so he
ended up just standing stock-still, too.
"Well, I wonder what it could mean. What could it be?"
Like a ripple, something stirred delicately between Ami and Minori.
At that time, Taiga, who had no idea what was going on, came into the
classroom through the hallway.
"Oh! Found Taiga!"
That ripple was drowned in their normal, everyday life.
***
They had their long homeroom that afternoon.
Leaving the class to Kitamura, the bachelorette (age 30) was reading
some thick magazine… If you looked really, really closely, it was a free
housing information magazine you could get at the station. She was
completely in her own world. The groups in the class were also in leisure
mode and filling up on their lunches. There were even a few of them
already dozing off.
"Now, we're going to start the long homeroom. Stop messing around
and open your eyes, everyone." Kitamura started talking from the teacher's
platform, but he also seemed relaxed somehow, and there wasn't any power
behind his words.
"Today's the day we're going to decide on groups for the school trip
you've all been waiting for."
We haven't been waiting for it, someone heckled. Kitamura, who
probably wasn't waiting for the trip either anyway, didn't say anything
back.
"We're making eight-person groups with four girls and four boys
each."
He started writing on the blackboard in squiggling script. The 4, 4, 8
he wrote was slanted and distorted.
In the lax classroom, Ryuuji was the only one with a grim expression,
his spine ramrod-straight. He felt like a swordsman, but he looked like a
delinquent. He was trying to be enthusiastic, but he was worried about the
atmosphere of the class.
To Ryuuji, the school trip was an incredibly important affair. There
wouldn't be any other opportunities to revive his relationship with Minori
after this. But the class seemed lifeless, like they hated the idea. A few of
them even whispered here and there that they would rather have the class
trip canceled. Naturally, no one seemed to want to go to a snowy mountain
in the middle of the winter.
"Okay, let's start making the groups. During this time, we'll make a
list of names to present."
At Kitamura's lackadaisical order, some of the students started to
stand up and walk around as they exchanged dull conversation.
"Ah well, this is so lame."
"Ugh, let's pair up."
"Hey, Takasu. We're teaming up, right? Also that idiot and—"
Noto trotted (uncutely) over to Ryuuji's seat. Then he pointed at
Haruta, who was sleeping out of disappointment that the Okinawa trip had
been canceled. His eyes had rolled up into his head to the point that they
could see the whites.
"Plus the master!" Noto pointed.
"Add me in, too," Kitamura was saying as he waved his hand
gracefully like a politician in an election from the teacher's platform.
"Now we've got four—boy team complete!"
As Ryuuji looked at the happy-looking otter's face, he felt a little like
he had been saved. They wouldn't have the added flair of the sky, sea, and
sightseeing anymore for the school trip, but if he were with his friends, he
would be having more than enough fun. If he wanted to make the trip
fruitful, then he would need to take the lead. He would need to show them
he was having fun and make his friends excited, too.
He cocked his chin up. He'd put them out of their misery…no, he
meant he'd end their misery. Ryuuji's eyes glinted as he opened them wide
—he wasn't mimicking the face of a raptor going after an otter, though.
"Right! All we've got left is the girl team."
He wasn't mimicking a pervert ogling the girl team, either. He
wanted to be in the same group as Minori. That was all he desired.
However, in a move completely unrelated to Ryuuji's motives, Noto
prodded at Ryuuji's elbow and laughed uncutely. "Nah ha ha ha!"
"Let's pair up with Tiger's group! We'll put Kitamura and Tiger in
the same group, right?!"
"You're still trying to do that…"
"We're going on such a plain ski trip. Don't you want to add a little
spice with some love?"
Ryuuji sighed. His enthusiasm disappeared into the air with the
carbon dioxide he exhaled. Even though he wanted everyone to be excited,
he was already getting tired of Noto playing matchmaker half in jest to get
Kitamura and Taiga together.
Of course, he wanted Taiga and Kitamura in the same group. If that
happened, Taiga would also be happy. But…how should he put this? He felt
like it was so unnecessary having people who weren't even involved trying
to make a big deal about deliberately manufacturing ways to get them
together. If Taiga needed any help, then she only needed it from Ryuuji.
Someone like Noto would never understand Taiga's complex, weird
personality and behavior patterns, anyway.
Ryuuji tried to say, "You rubbernecker!" or "Get your neck out of
other people's business!" but got distracted. A little ways away, two girls
clung to each other. Their faces were smooshed together.
"It's such a boring trip, but if you're there with me, I'm sure it'll be
fun!"
"Yeah, I feel exactly the same, Minoriiiin!"
Minori and Taiga were passionately talking to each other. They were
completely joined at the hip. In other words, if he were in the same group as
Taiga, then he would automatically be in the same group as Minori. He
didn't know how he hadn't realized such a simple thing. If he just entrusted
himself to Noto's scheme, then everything would come right together.
Regardless…
"You rubbernecker! Get your neck out of other people's business!"
"What?! But don't you think it'd be fun? It'd be super funny for sure
if Tiger and Kitamura ended up dating. Kitamura's probably on the verge of
forgetting the patriarch at any second, and Tiger's in love with Kitamura, so
it'd be like she's finally getting her chance!"
"I'm saying you shouldn't butt in!"
"Takasu, you're so… Well, it doesn't matter. Actually, Tiger and
Kushieda haven't got any other girls with them, right? What are we going to
do for the other two? I wonder if Ami-chan would join us? That'd be
amazing."
You mean that girl who started off the morning spouting gibberish
and then ignored me the rest of the day since she hates me because I'm an
idiot? You mean that Ami-chan? Ryuuji casually looked around the
classroom and found Ami, who was forming one part of the usual it-girl
trifecta. For some reason, Maya was getting worked up, saying, "Yeah, why
not, let's invite them!"
Ami faltered, "What? Seriously?" Nanako was looking at the two in
amusement. Around the three of them, groups of boys were holding
themselves in check and just speechlessly watching. All the boys were
putting off an I-want-them-to-be-in-our-group aura.
Nope, not gonna happen. Ryuuji shook his head at Noto.
"No way," he said. "Kawashima and Taiga actually hate each other's
guts, and even if they didn't, she's always in a group of three with Kihara
and Kashii anyway. We'd be off by one."
"Oh, you're right. But it would have been a great plan with Kitamura
and Tiger and me and Ami-chan."
"Pull your head out of your butt and stop spouting the impossible."
"What? In my imagination, I can spread my wings and be free in the
skies as I fly! Hey, Kushieda 'n' Tiger! Would you join us?!"
Getting carried away, he waved his hand as he headed over to them.
Minori and Taiga glared at him in jest.
"What do you wanna do, Taiga? Looks like some men are heading
over to see if they can join our ranks."
"How about we slash him shoulder to hip, Minorin?"
Translated loosely, that was probably a yes.
Taiga casually looked over at Ryuuji, took a glance at Minori, and
once again returned her gaze to him. It was as though she were saying, Look
at you, getting into the same group as Minorin. Ryuuji returned the look—
well, he didn't exactly, but he did try to indicate, You got in the same group
with Kitamura, too. He was about to try pointing casually at Kitamura on
the teacher's platform.
"Hey, Maruo! Will you join our group?!"
Oh no. His eyes peeled open.
He had been careless, and Maya had found her opening to happily
slip over to Kitamura on the teacher's platform. Kitamura, being Kitamura,
didn't know they were joining Taiga's group.
"Yeah, sure," he readily nodded. At this rate, they'd end up doublebooked.
"Huh?! Wait, wait, master, what do you think you're doing!"
Noto headed over to the teacher's platform in a fluster, cutting
between Kitamura and Maya with ragged karate chops.
"Nuh-uh, nope, not gonna happen! Get away from each other! Break
it up! Sorry Kihara, but Master Kitamura is in our group, and we already
promised to join Tiger's group!"
"What?! Seriously?!"
Actually, who said we needed you?! Clear to the point it was scary,
those words seemed to be written on Maya's face as she looked at Noto. As
far as Maya was concerned, Ryuuji, Haruta, and every non-Kitamura person
in the group was probably unnecessary.
Noto pushily put his arm around Kitamura's shoulders. "Let's go,
let's make the group listings and write out our names." He quickly tried to
lead Kitamura away. Maya reached out an agitated hand.
"You've got Maruo-kun, Noto-kun, Takasu-kun and Haruta-kun in
your group, right?"
Nanako, who had been watching the situation together with Ami
from a distance, approached them. When her calm voice intercepted them,
it seemed to have power behind it, and Noto stopped walking without
thinking.
"Then in that case, I think you have to ask the other members what
their opinions are. Hey, Haruta-kun, wake up. Wake…up!"
As though she were breathing life back into him, Nanako spoke
sweetly to Haruta in his unconscious state. He was like a corpse as he slept.
He was the seventeen-year-old Sir Sleeps-a-lot. He wouldn't wake up if an
elephant stepped on him. And yet, Haruta's white eyes slowly regained their
consciousness.
"Hey, Haruta-kun… Who do you like better, us or those girls?"
"Huah…?"
Haruta's eyes first went to Nanako and Ami, then to Maya. Next, he
looked at Taiga and Minori, whom Nanako was pointing to.
"Uhhhn…you…"
He started to walk unsteadily as though drawn to Nanako.
"Well, thanks. You can go back to sleep now…forever…
permanently…"
Nanako rotated her finger in circles in front of Haruta's eyes. Haruta
stared intently at her finger and his eyes moved over and over in a circle.
Then he simply collapsed right onto the floor.
Ami said in a small voice, "You're amazing, Nanako."
Maya applauded. "That was super spiritual."
"Haruta's brain is on the level of a dragonfly's…"
Is our friend a dragonfly? Is he? Noto whispered in sadness. Ryuuji
dodged the question as he tried to wake up the pitiful Haruta.
Maya glared at Noto, as though saying, Now what'll you do? Noto
narrowed his eyes at Maya while Kitamura stayed sandwiched between
them. Taiga and Minori seemed unable to follow the developments and
were looking at each other in worry. Kitamura seemed even more worried.
He realized that the situation had come about because of his carefree
response and rubbed at the bridge of his nose where his glasses rested.
Ryuuji understood that Maya wanted to be paired with her beloved
Maruo, aka Kitamura, but did Ami want that? He glanced sneakily at Ami
to see what she was doing. If she partnered with Kitamura, she would need
to be in the same group as Ryuuji—the one she claimed to hate because he
was stupid. Maybe she really did intend to skip out? Maybe she wouldn't go
on the once-in-a-lifetime school trip?
Ami, who might not have noticed Ryuuji's gaze or who might just be
ignoring it, was only looking at Maya.
"Huh?! Wait a second, isn't this just perfect?!"
At that point, the ever-popular Kitamura realized an important fact
and raised his voice.
"Kihara and you guys make up a group of three, right? And Kushieda
and Taiga make two. We have sixteen boys and seventeen girls in our class,
so one group needs to have four boys and five girls. Isn't that a relief? We
figured it all out!"
Whaaat?! The one who raised her voice to the ceiling was Maya.
She'd attained her goal of being in the same group as Kitamura, but her
wide, apricot-shaped eyes were confused as they looked at Taiga. In Maya's
imagination, now that the patriarch was out of the picture, the last boss to
defeat in her battle for Kitamura was Aisaka Taiga.
On the other side of things, Taiga wasn't even looking at Kitamura,
even though they were in the same group.
"Huuh?! I have to be with you?!" Ami exclaimed. "I don't want to
though! Oh, right, we could just have only Minori join our group! Then you
could be a lone Tiger and just wander around by yourself!"
"How about you go around looking for your own tribe, Dimhuahua?
Oh, look, look, I think there's someone right there you'd get along with."
"Why are you lumping me together with the spinster (age 30)?!"
Taiga and Ami, busy sparring verbally, didn't notice Maya's
complicated gaze. Eventually Maya quietly approached Ryuuji, who she
must have decided was an ally.
"This'll be a struggle for both of us, right? But we have to keep at it!
Actually, that Noto! That Noto guy…! He's sooo infuriating!"
As though trying to get his sympathy, she opened her eyes wide at
him.
"Um, you must be misunderstanding something. It's not really like
Taiga is my cru—"
He tried to tell it to her straight, but Maya already stopped listening.
"Maruo! Let's write the list out together!" She followed after Kitamura,
running at him like a bullet.
Ryuuji breathed out a sigh as he watched her and then somehow
mustered his composure.
"You're having a fight again?! Let's be nice, Ahmin!"
"Oh, of course I'm fine with you, Minori-chan. ♥ Taiga's the one
who's a nuisance!"
"Your partner, Dimhuahua, is writing in red pen in a real estate
magazine. Why don't you go help her out?"
"Like I said, why is my partner the spinster (age 30)?!"
They were making a ruckus like usual. Taiga, Ami, and then Minori's
voices were soaring into his ears. Everything's like normal. As he realized
he didn't see any changes in Ami and Minori's relationship, Ryuuji
breathed a sigh of relief.
***
Hee hee hee.
"…?"
He had a dream where all the girls were laughing.
In the lingering laughter, Ryuuji slowly opened his heavy eyes from
where he was curled up under the covers. He looked at his clock to check
the time and was struck with horror for a moment.
It was nine in the morning, but it was Sunday, so he could sleep in.
He had plans, but they weren't meeting up until way later.
He closed his eyes again and tried to bury himself back into the
covers.
"He definitely hasn't noticed yet, right?"
"Yeah, he's going back to sleep."
His eyes opened with such force they might have torn apart. It wasn't
that his memories of being a demon lord in another life had awakened
within him—he'd just heard some people talking nearby.
The curtains were left open a good fifteen centimeters, and through
that gap, instead of the morning light, he had a perfect view of the window
of Taiga's condo. He saw two faces there.
"Whoa?!"
"Oh, he's awake!"
"Oh no! He saw us!"
He got up, opened the curtains to check what was going on in the
reality outside his dreams, and almost collapsed. He somehow righted
himself and promptly closed the curtains.
Just now what what what what what…whoa! It only took a moment
for him to be clearly awakened to the fact that what had just happened
wasn't a dream, but reality.
"Ryuuji! You can't escape from reality! Get up!"
"Hey, Taiga. He looks sleepy. That's kind of harsh."
Taiga and Minori had been peeping at him while he slept. On this
day, of all days, he was a mess—he was wearing the most linty, pilled set of
pajamas he owned. Plus, with the worst timing…
"Oh dear…I just heard Taiga-chan's voice…"
Normally dead asleep, his mother Yasuko came out of the bathroom.
Staggering like a zombie, she headed unsteadily into her son's room. He
tried to keep her at bay, but she got on the bed and flung open the curtains
he had only just closed, so everything was exposed.
"Ohh. ★ It really is Taiga-chan. ★ Oh, nice to meet your friend. ★"
She waved her hand in a carefree manner at the peeping couple.
"Ya-chan, good morning! Minorin, that's Ryuuji's mom."
"Good morning to you! Oh dear! I'm Kushieda! Oh dear! Sorry for
doing something so unreasonable, Ms. Takasu! Oh dear! To Bomba! Oh
dear! To Bomba! Oh—"
"Minorin, you'll burst a vessel in your head."
It was true that on that morning, Yasuko had a bomba hair style that
could only be described as something a country bumpkin would have. She
hadn't washed out her half-updo, which she had hardened like a rock with
hairspray, before bed. It always ended up like that when she didn't. At least
she had washed off her makeup. Yasuko smiled, her soft cheeks bouncing
like mochi. She sniffled.
"Naugh, Ryuu-chaaan, I'm cowld."
"It's 'cause you opened the windows up all the way! Put something
on…wait, eek…noooo!"
Even her son was taken aback at the way she looked. She was in a
barely-there bra and pilled wool underwear. Oh no, this won't do. It'll look
exactly like we're a family of perverts. Ryuuji panicked and closed the
curtains. Fsssshht!
"Oh, right! Let's all eat breakfast together. ★ Ryuu-chan will make
it."
Fshhht! Yasuko pushed aside her son and opened the curtains, still in
only her bra.
"We can't, Ya-chan. Actually, we already made breakfast, and we're
eating it after this."
"Oh, you did? But I'm so lonely…"
Taiga, leaning her elbows on the windowsill next to Minori, giggled.
"We got together early, and we're spending our morning together,
right, Minorin?"
"Yay! That's how it is, so we'll see you later, Takasu-kun."
Right—the school trip group had promised to meet at Taiga's house
at lunch. They needed to make a guidebook for school and couldn't meet at
the family restaurant because they needed to use a computer. In a rare
moment for her, Taiga had offered up her house. It seemed Minori had also
come to the condo by herself early in the morning.
Ryuuji casually hid Yasuko with his shoulders and also hid his own
pilled pajamas with the curtain as he looked at Taiga.
"You're going to have Kushieda help clean your place, aren't you?
You probably haven't even done any spring cleaning. It's definitely dirty…
hmph!"
It probably sounded like he held a grudge, and that was correct.
Ryuuji had told her several times that he'd come over to help with spring
cleaning, but for some reason or other, Taiga kept making excuses to reject
him. It was enough to make his face go Devilman.
"Whomp whomp. You're wrong. My whole condo is sparkling clean
from floor to ceiling. It might even be cleaner than your place. Right,
Minorin, isn't it clean?"
Yeah, yeah! Minori nodded.
"That's a lie! There's no way! You don't have anyone to clean…"
"I do. The Duskin Merry Maids did it. Ahh, it was such an ordeal.
Yesterday, four old maids came in and took three hours scrubbing here and
there and who-knows-where…"
"Wha…at?!"
Did she mean those thorough Merry Maids who cost at least thirty
thousand yen? Did she mean to say that those pros had cleaned the bottom
of the laundry machine, the curtain rails, the air conditioner filter, and
everything Ryuuji had been eyeing for so long?
"The skills of a real pro are definitely on another level. Well, Ryuuji,
you can just take your time coming in later. Minorin and I are going to
relish our breakfast, and then we're going to the Uniqlo at the station
building at ten and buying Heattech tank tops and tights to bring on the
school trip… In other words, it's girl time, and you'd better not come."
"Oh, Taiga, it just dinged. Looks like the bread is toasted."
"Really?! We need to eat it while it's still hot! Bye, Ryuuji!"
The two of them pitter-pattered away from the window and
disappeared. At some point, Yasuko had flopped over on her son's bed and
was back asleep in a position that was painful to look at.
Ryuuji's fingers trembled where they were on the window frame.
She's hired the Duskin…Merry Maids? He looked at the Takasu stick
that he used to clean the window frame. The Merry Maids probably had
such amazing cleaning supplies. They probably used electricity to their
heart's content and scrubbed at Taiga's condo with mechanical appliances.
Those maids had stepped into Ryuuji's domain using money-wasting
techniques on all the things he had been letting develop for spring cleaning.
Those Merry Maids… Those damn Merry Maids! Ryuuji chewed
bitterly on his lip and rubbed at the window frame with his pilled pajama
sleeve. Yasuko had left fingerprints on it!
At the movement of her son jiggling around, Yasuko fell right off the
mattress.
Whoa. The word seemed to float above the group sitting around the
low glass table.
"I'm going to bring the computer and printer from my bedroom, so
wait here. Minorin, could you help me carry the cables and power supply?"
"Okay."
Taiga took along Minori and left the living room. No sooner had she
done that than everyone burst out talking.
"Wait, wait, wait a second! Isn't this room amazing?! It's basically
the same size as my place!"
"This must be a condo, right? The furniture is super cute, too… She
said she lived alone, but maybe she's like super rich? I'd become her
roommate anytime if she wanted."
"Me too! Me too! Me too!"
Maya was there in a turtleneck, miniskirt, and leggings. Whether it
was a coincidence or not, Nanako subtly matched her with a turtleneck,
dress, and leggings. Ryuuji passed around floor cushions to each of them
and, at the sight of the excited girls, nostalgically remembered his own
reaction to the condo.
Kyaah, what an amazing condo, how luxurious… When he stepped
into it on that first morning, Ryuuji had been enchanted as he looked around
the room. And then—"Ugh!" He had stopped in his tracks, close to
throwing up at the rotting smell coming from the kitchen. This is terrible. I
need to do something. And so, he had started cleaning—in other words, that
was definitely when his and Taiga's destinies had first intersected. If that
smell did him in and he ran home, where would they be now?
"It's like something that'd be in a magazine… Actually, Takasu-kun,
could you stop wiping everything we touch?"
"Oh, sorry. It's a bad habit…"
He had unconsciously been wiping up the glass the girls touched with
the towel he had in hand. No matter whether they were the Merry Maids or
not, they couldn't do this full-detail support cleaning.
"Whoa! That's a huge TV!"
"The lights are huge, too!"
They gasped at the TV and gawked at the chandelier. Noto and
Kitamura, who were taken aback by every little thing, looked like they were
having fun, too. Then Kitamura turned to Ryuuji.
"I'd heard about it before, but you were serious about Aisaka's house
being right next to yours."
"Huh, next to yours?! Takasu-kun, do you live in this condo, too?!
Amazing!"
At Maya's overexaggerated voice, he shook his head. No, no, no, no,
no, that'll never happen!
"My house is the rental next door. The windows face each other
exactly. Well, that's the thing that connected me and Taiga together and
made us close… I guess not close, but it made us get to know each other…
like normal in the classroom."
"Guess you two are inseparable, whether you like it or not."
Noto's words were probably right, in the end, so Ryuuji nodded.
Ami sat next to Maya in her skinny jeans, her long legs folded and
sprawled out in boredom. The pale skin above the cleavage of her knitted
top was adorned by a delicate gold chain necklace.
Making a guidebook was a boring and simple task. Ami, who
normally would never participate in something like that, had been
threatened by Taiga into coming.
"If you're thinking of skipping the menial work," she said, "then we
might have a DVD appreciation day at my house. Are you okay with that?"
It was likely the DVDs Taiga meant were the ones he only heard about
in rumor, which starred Kawashima Ami and were produced at the
command of Aisaka Taiga. It was titled "One Hundred Impressions in
Quick Succession."
"Hey, isn't this amazing?! Anyone could look cute if they wore this
princess-y thing!"
Haruta, whom Ryuuji could no longer see at that point, had appeared
in a ridiculous getup. At some point, he had gotten into Taiga's walk-in
closet and was now wearing a brand-name overdress that probably cost one
hundred thousand yen. Under that, of course, he had messily layered on a
ton of fluffy lace underskirts that cost several tens of thousands of more
yen.
What a huge idiot…
At the very moment everyone thought that, a small shadow flew
through the air like a flying squirrel. That shadow quickly pulled the clothes
off the idiot and slapped his cheeks.
"Ah! Ah!"
Then, as a finishing touch, the shadow hit him so hard with the corner
of the computer that his head might have caved in.
"Everyone! We have to burn all these clothes to a crisp! They're
biohazards!"
"Hey, hey, hey!" said Ryuuji. "That's a waste—mottainai! What do
you think you're saying? Haruta just wore them for a second! Actually,
more importantly, you idiot! Computers aren't blunt weapons! Are you sure
you didn't break it?!"
"Calm down, it's the type of computer where you can drop it from
two meters and it'll be fine."
"Taka-chan…were…weren't you supposed to be worrying about
me?" Tears came spewing from Haruta's eyes.
The members of the group addressed Haruta in gentle voices:
"You're the one who was wrong."
"You reap what you sow."
"I'd rather you stay unconscious."
Holding the printer, Minori inferred what happened to Haruta and
offered him a silent prayer.
"Now, Haruta's quieted down, so let's start making the school trip
guidebook! All together now! Bow!"
When it came to taking charge, Kitamura had no competition. They
all bowed and clapped.
"It needs to be on B5-sized paper and six pages long, not including
the cover sheet. Four pages need to be research done prior to the trip…and
that's the part we're going to work on now. I drew from other guidebooks
by researching the history of the land. For the rest of the book, we can write
our own impressions. Apparently, we're going to put them all together for
the whole school's class yearbook, and then we're giving copies to the
parents. I was thinking we could at least use it as a reference, so I borrowed
last year's book."
"Nothing less expected from the master! Good job! If we just copy
this, we probably wouldn't even get caught, right?"
"Huh? Noto, of course we couldn't do that. What's the use of copying
the history of Okinawa? Are you like actually a super big idiot?" Maya was
cold to Noto.
They opened the booklet and peeked into it.
"Ahhh…" Their listless voices rang out at practically the same time.
The third years' memories of Okinawa were just too dazzling for
them. The research pages were nothing, but the impressions pages were so
blinding it made their eyes squint. The skies and seas were so blue they
didn't seem real, and the beach was a glittering pure white. They had gone
the year before in the middle of winter in January as well, but everyone was
wearing merry Uminchu calligraphy T-shirts, baseball caps, and had towels
around their necks under the brilliant, glittering sun, with faces that said
"It's hot!" "It's too bright!" They were slurping up Okinawa soba and
nibbling on sata andagi doughnuts. There was even a picture of them on an
isolated island like they had seen on TV, being pulled by buffalo.
"Ngh?!" Noto's voice suddenly went shrill. He slammed the book
closed. They raised their faces in surprise to look at Noto. "N-nothing…"
He was being very suspicious.
"No, this isn't suspicious! But, we can't reference this anyway, so
let's stop looking at it! Let's think about what we're actually going to do!
Anyway, let's ask Google-sensei about something! Uhh, where's the
computer's AC adapter…"
"Whaaat's going on, Noto-kun? What did you see just now? That was
suuuper suspicious… It was right around this page, wasn't it?"
"Ah, wait a sec, Ami-chan!"
Ami stole the booklet from Noto where he sat across from her, with
the low table between them. She grinned as she turned back to the earlier
page. As long as it wasn't making the boring lame guidebook, anything
probably would have been amusing to her.
"Oh! Oh my my my my! Oh my…so it's this."
"What is it?" said Kitamura. "Does it have anything to do with me?"
"Hey wait, just stop it," Noto whispered to Ami.
But Ami wasn't listening. She pouted happily and looked steadily at
her childhood friend as she said in a low voice, almost as though speaking
to herself, "Yuusaku's the only one I can't show this to."
"What… But actually, what is it? This is going to bother me. Let me
see."
"Well, if you say so, Yuusaku, then I guess I've got to show you. I
wonder what you'll think… Don't blame me if you end up crying…"
"Seems like you want me to… What's wrong with that picture of the
buffalo—whoa!"
As soon as he looked at it, Kitamura froze. Everyone, wondering
what it could possibly be, looked at it. Then they understood.
It was a picture of a certain group on a tour, being pulled by the
buffalo as they crossed the remote island. Under the dazzling blue sky on
the beach, a long-haired girl was left by herself on the luggage rack while
everyone else walked happily into the shallows with the buffalo.
The girl left behind on the luggage rack had her hand on her hip and
was laughing out loud. She seemed to arrogantly look on at the progress of
things. It felt like they might hear her voice even now. Daah ha ha ha ha ha
haaa! It was an incredibly manly voice and a hearty laugh.
In other words, the king on the luggage rack was everyone's former
beloved patriarch, Kano Sumire.
"Whoa, that must be a shock. It must be, right? The person who so
grandly rejected you in the end is suddenly right here in this picture. Poor
Yuusaku, you okay?"
"Wh-why wouldn't I be?"
"So you're okay, that's good! Come to think of it, have you gotten
any response from Kano-senpai? Maybe she's got a boyfriend in America
right around now?"
"The president got to school…to MIT and was admitted… That's what
I heard from her younger sister…"
"Huuh. So she's a university girl who skipped a grade! Aha! That's
so cool! But what's Ehm Ah-ee Tee? Is it about as elite as Tokyo University
in Japan? Is it like Ivy League? Yuusaku, why don't you just take the
college entrance exams there, too? I've got no idea how American schools
work!"
"…I wonder where the AC adapter is…"
Kitamura had been defeated by his childhood friend's merciless and
completely obvious sadistic attack. He turned his back to everyone and
started fiddling around with the computer cables that Taiga had brought in.
"I-Is this the AC adapter? I'm sure it must be this! And the socket, the
socket… Where do you have a socket…" Noto, who started the whole
mess, awkwardly stood up and began wandering around the condo.
"…"
Maya and Nanako were looking at each other with delicate
expressions. For reasons no other person could fathom, Minori was sticking
out her front teeth and looking at Kitamura from the corner of her eye. As
for Taiga…
"Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! You! Huge! Idiot!" she said in a low voice.
She was hitting Ami with both her arms.
"What? I think it's his fault for being so depressed just because of
that little thing. I was just making him stronger. Look, it's like Kaatsu
training."
It seemed that Ami didn't care one bit that her childhood friend was
feeling down. "Kaatsu!" she said as she gripped her hand into a fist.
Haruta finally came back to consciousness. "Where am I? Is this my
room?"
He was the same as usual, no changes whatsoever.
As for Ryuuji, he passionately whispered to his friend in his mind, I
really understand how you feel. Though Kitamura didn't know, they had
both had their hearts broken. Little things could make their wounds reopen
and sting. Ryuuji wasn't unfamiliar with that feeling.
"I'm going to put on the tea! Let's eat something and keep going! We
can just relax and get things done! Okay!" he said with a loud cry and got
up.
"I'm going to share these with everyone. They're madeleines from
home. Actually, that seems like a lot for one person to handle? I, the
wandering waitress Kushieda, shall help with something."
"Right, that'll be great. Could you look for cups for the tea? We need
three more."
At the luxurious kitchen island that was installed at the back of the
living room, Ryuuji's heart beat a little faster at the reinforcements that had
arrived. He somehow calmed the beating in his chest.
Minori put the box of madeleines, which seemed to have been a gift,
down in the kitchen. "Okay, okay," she answered and opened the cupboard
to start rummaging through it.
"Hmmm, looks like there aren't any teacups. Would mugs work?"
"That'd be fine."
"Here ya go. Oh, this one's cute. It could hold a lot of tea. I'm going
to call dibs on this one."
With expected skill, she grabbed three mugs in one hand and lined
them up in front of Ryuuji. She poked at one with her fingertip. The large
orange mug with a whale drawn on it was one which he was sure Taiga had
gotten by collecting and trading in stickers from convenience store breads.
Minori looked up at Ryuuji's face and grinned.
"What should we do with the madeleines? It's kind of too much to go
as far as to put them on a plate. How about we just leave 'em in the box and
slap them on the table?"
"I…I guess that's fine."
"I know, right?!"
She didn't notice Ryuuji suddenly staggering right next to her. He
stood there almost defenselessly as they nearly rubbed elbows. She opened
the package and the box.
"M-m-m-m-mado-ma-ma-ma-madole-l-l-l-l-l-lein."
Minori shook her butt and started rapping. She grabbed the
individually wrapped madeleines one after another and put more and more
of them out in a row on the marble counter.
"Wait…you…weren't you going to just slap them down in the box?"
"Hm?! Ohhh, you're right!"
Was she just on autopilot? Ryuuji watched Minori panic and put the
madeleines back in the box. He wanted to laugh.
Compared to him, trying to hide his trembling fingers while he
dropped tea bags into the cups, Minori's autopilot might have been an
attempt to act natural. She was in an unfussy outfit that consisted of a zipup parka and jeans. "Oh no, I wasn't thinking," she muttered. Her lips were
flushed like a soft, light peach. Her round forehead, her cheeks, and her
chin were, too.
"Hey, Golgo…"
"My name isn't Golgo…"
"Then I'll be Golgo… Don't stand behind me…"
"I'm not…"
Everything about her was pretty as always, and she had stolen his
eyes. Minori stared at him, so Ryuuji put up both his hands, embarrassed,
and turned his eyes away.
"Then fine… Actually, I broke the box when I opened it. We really
do need a tray, I just saw one in here."
Minori smiled a little as she finished joking around. She seemed to be
talking to herself as she opened the cupboard along the wall and brought out
the silver tray she was looking for. "Hm, this is pretty heavy. Is this like a
really good one? Is it expensive? I wonder if it's okay to use. Hey, Taiga."
Taiga immediately turned around to face her. Her tartan checked
dress fluttered as she made her way to the kitchen.
"What's wrong? You need me for something?"
"This silver tray, can we use it? I want to bring out the madeleines on
it."
"What? Of course you can use that thing. I thought there was
something wrong."
"Well, look, sometimes these things can be shockingly expensive.
That's what I was thinking. Hey, hey, actually—"
Minori lined the madeleines up on the tray as she suddenly grinned
and looked at Ryuuji's face and Taiga's in turn.
"The cupboard and tableware are looking super organized. Takasu's
been organizing things, and he's been doing such a great job. It's been a
while since I've been here, and I'm just so impressed."
"It's tidy because I asked the Merry Maids to clean…"
Is it really? It is really. With the island kitchen between them, Minori
and Taiga were posed in the same way, like sisters, and smiled as they
looked at each other. They really do get along, Ryuuji thought as he poured
hot water from the boiling T-Fal kettle into the cups. Before he realized it,
he was completely out of the loop.
"But I think it's a big deal how Takasu-kun was managing things
around here. It's been over a year since the last time I came by to clean
things, right? You don't have as many unnecessary things, and it's gotten
easier to keep up. That's all I'm saying. You have to make sure you show
your appreciation to Takasu-kun."
"He just did it because he likes to. Like to the point he'd rather thank
me, right Ryuuji?"
Taiga glanced at him, and he noticed her look.
This is a dangerous direction we're moving in, Taiga seemed to want
to say. The course of the conversation was definitely progressing in the
direction of "Taiga definitively needs Takasu-kun or she just can't make it."
Please do something. Taiga's gaze was nervous and perplexed, but, to be
honest, Ryuuji didn't know what to do.
"Well, it's definitely thanks to Takasu-kun. I know it! That's because
I'm God!"
The only thing he could do was pretend to focus on making the tea
and smile painfully. Now that Minori had said, Because I'm God! there was
no way he could argue back.
"Aisaka, could I have a moment? We can't get online anymore. The
wireless LAN is acting weird."
"Oh, really? But it was connected just now."
Help had been sent from heaven. Though it wasn't that serious of an
issue, Kitamura had called Taiga over. With an obviously relieved
expression, Taiga left the kitchen with Kitamura, who was wearing Uniqlo
from head to toe as he did most days.
Minori, however, kept up the conversation with Ryuuji.
"I really do think that. Last year this place was filled with garbage,
and no matter how many times I cleaned it, it wouldn't last a week. It was
such a terrible mess!"
She kept talking without missing a beat. Ryuuji suddenly had a sense
of incongruity.
"You hadn't come by this place for over a year even though you're so
close?"
Come to think of it, hasn't Minori said something about this before?
"Well, that's—look…about before, with Taiga's dad, with what
happened, I got in a fight with Taiga. We at least made up, but for some
reason or another, since then… I didn't want to step in too close and make
another mistake, since I didn't know what would happen. That's what I was
thinking."
"Right… I remember now."
Ryuuji listened to Minori's words and automatically thought of
himself. Stepping in too close. Wasn't that exactly what he was doing?
Taiga was in the process of challenging herself to make it on her own, and
she'd stopped coming over to his house or asking him to do chores for her.
"In other words, you did a good job…is what I want to say, Takasukun."
Minori hit him in the arm, like a guy would do to another guy.
Normally, he would be happy at that touch, but right now, more importantly,
how had he done a good job? He tried to ask her, but Minori was already
starting to prepare the milk and sugar with her usual adeptness. As though
trying to resolutely say, Our conversation is over! she turned her back to
him.
Ryuuji closed his mouth. He wiped away the moisture in the kitchen
with a dry towel. Everyone in the living room had abandoned the computer
that wouldn't connect and started to chitchat. Kitamura and Taiga were the
only ones attempting to turn the router set next to the wall on and off. They
were seated on the carpet and working hard to somehow restart it.
Why you, Ryuuji suddenly thought. Just when had Taiga become able
to sit that close to Kitamura? It was such a petty thought.
"Hey, Takasu-kun?"
"Don't stand behind me…"
"Don't steal my joke…"
Minori pushed her hair behind her ear and grinned. She was looking
up at Ryuuji. He didn't know how long she had been watching him.
"So, um, about the school trip. I'm kind of looking forward to it…
Actually, I'm really looking forward to it."
Hiding what was in his heart, Ryuuji scowled successfully. "Geh! Are
you serious? We're just going skiing."
"I'm good at skiing. I'm like Shimizu Akira. And besides that, this is
like the last of it. It's the last thing we're doing together as class 2-C. Ahh…
this class was super fun, so I feel kind of lonely. Don't you feel like that,
too?"
Checking how the tea was turning out, Minori half-closed her eyes
and looked at the bottoms of the nine lined-up cups.
"I was thinking it'd be nice if everyone could always stay like this."
Always? Everyone? Like this? In other words—he grasped onto
something but then got distracted.
From a ways away, Kitamura and Taiga's whispered conversation
came to his ears by chance.
Really?
Yeah. So, I'd rather…
…then I'll…
Huh? Then…but why? Did something actually happen?
He didn't know what they were talking about, but it didn't seem like
it was about the internet. Kitamura looked hurt. Taiga didn't falter or seem
flustered as she looked into Kitamura's face. She was smiling at him
naturally in concern. She was peering into his eyes in worry.
The two of them looked natural as they drew near each other. They
looked close—almost as though they had been close friends for years. But
really, at what point did she—
"Right. Of course."
The part of the conversation he had caught disappeared as though it
had been an unraveled knot.
"It'd be nice if it just stayed like this forever," Ryuuji answered,
mostly unconsciously, and started to line up the saucers for the tea on the
tray. He absorbed himself in the work.
Maybe the knot really had unraveled and disappeared, or tightened
and tightened until it became so small it was invisible. No one knew which
it was.
They collected information about the ski resort they were visiting and
researched about the weather and the specialty products the region was
known for. In the end, the nine of them didn't finish the pre-investigation on
that Sunday but kept going until the next weekend. The honors student
Kitamura had just been too full of vigor in the end.
Then, the days passed.