"They say bad things about her, but she's beautiful, and beautiful girls
are popular. Though, I don't get it, personally."
"I see."
"But she told him—the guy who confessed, that is."
"…Told him what?"
"She said, 'I'm the bad girl everyone says I am, and I'm not interested
in dating anyone.'"
Maru put on a high-pitched voice as if to mimic her. He was making
light of the story, but it was clear he didn't have a good impression of
Ayase.
"Any chance the guy might be exaggerating?"
"I can't be a hundred percent sure, but probably not. And he isn't the
only one who's said things about her. I've heard similar stories from guys
on other teams."
"Each story by itself leaves room for doubt, but put them all together,
and they make for strong evidence, huh?"
"That's what I'm saying."
People didn't always tell the truth, but I thought it was very likely
Maru was right about Ayase's responses to the boys who had confessed to
her.
"Hmm… It's like Pandora…," I said.
I felt like I'd opened Pandora's box.
According to The Chemistry of Men and Women, you should first get to
know the other person. I'd wanted to learn about Ayase to help me figure
out how to interact with her, but now it seemed like I had even more to
worry about.
Were the rumors true?
If so, did Akiko and Dad know?
And if they didn't, should I tell them about it now that we were a
family?
…No.
I didn't like the idea of telling on someone without any proof or
supporting evidence. And even if the rumors were true, I wasn't interested
in meddling in someone else's affairs. So what if Ayase dated men for
money? If they each had something the other wanted, they were free to do
whatever they pleased. It was none of my business what she did.
Now that she was part of my family, things were a little more
complicated, but I didn't want to criticize her, even if it was all true. My only thought was that it would be sad if there was something in her life
that had driven her to do things like that.
"So, Asamura. Your turn."
"…What are you talking about?"
"I laid my cards on the table. Now you do the same. Why are you
suddenly asking me about Ayase?"
"Oh. Well, you can think what you want."
"What? Don't brush me off—you're just making me curious."
"It's not that I won't tell. I can't say anything more. I wish you'd get
the message."
"Hey, don't think you can distract me by quoting a line from a
manga… Geez. Some friend you are. And after I told you what you
wanted to know."
Maru complained under his breath, but he didn't push further. He knew
when to quit. That was the good thing about Tomokazu Maru.
I glanced at the back of his head as he began preparing for first period;
then I turned my attention to the window. I saw a reflection of myself
leaning my cheek on my palm, looking bored as I thought absently about
Ayase.
I was glad we weren't in the same class. If I was able to see her
whenever I wanted, I'd never break free from this strange, anxious feeling.
I knew I'd feel it again when I got home, but it was human nature to
want to delay the inevitable as much as possible.
The moment I'd wanted to delay came much sooner than expected—two
hours later, to be precise.
Fate is merciless.
We had physical education class during third period every Monday,
and the timing couldn't have been worse.
Sports Day was coming up, and classes paired up and had PE together
to conduct practice games. These joint classes were beginning that very
day.
"Okay, here goes! My secret weapon, the Great Soaring Serve! Take
that!"
We were on the school tennis court, and under a blanket of thick, gray
clouds, a carefree voice called out the names of fancy techniques, like the
kind you might read about in manga.
The voice belonged to a female student in gym clothes, swinging away with her racket. She was petite, and her hair was dyed reddish-brown. She
looked like a redheaded hamster moving restlessly around the court.
She was in a different class, but even I knew her name—Maaya
Narasaka.
She was her class's representative. You might call her energetic if you
were being nice. If you weren't, you might say she was loud and
obnoxious.
She was cheerful to a fault, like she'd been doused with an energy
drink, and a total mother-hen type. Maybe thanks to that and to her
charming, cute face, she had friends throughout the school. She was living
life to the fullest—an extrovert among extroverts.
Naturally, she also had a network of friends in my class and often came
by to chat with them. That was why even a guy like me, who had nothing
to do with school gossip, knew who she was.
Maaya Narasaka hit the ball into the sky, and it soared up as if sucked
into the clouds. Her competitor, the spectators, and everyone else lost sight
of it. They all held their breath as they awaited the moment when the ball
would rip back through the clouds and strike like a missile.
One second… Two… Three…
"Hey, where the heck were you aiming? The ball's gone!" Maaya's
opponent cried out after her amazing out-of-the-park home run.
"Ah-ha-ha! Sorry!"
"Geez. Why do you hit the ball so hard? You can't even control it."
"Because it's cool! Heh-heh!"
"'Heh-heh' my ass, you little show-off! Take this!"
"Aaahhh! Please, anything but a noogie!"
Maaya laughed as her opponent put her in a headlock and rubbed her
knuckles into the other girl's head.
Cute girls playing around made for a pretty picture, and it had most of
the guys in my class entranced, their eyes glued to the exchange.
But not me. I paid no attention to the lovely ladies. My eyes were
focused elsewhere—on an individual leaning unobtrusively against the
chain-link fence off in one corner of the court.
With no racket in hand, she was listening to something on her
earphones, the cables coming out of her pocket, while she stared aimlessly
at nothing.
It was Ayase.
She wasn't even trying to hide that she was skipping class. She stood clearly out in the open, blending into the scenery as if she belonged there.
No one seemed to think her out of place, and neither the students nor the
PE teacher appeared likely to reprimand her.