บท 37: Saki Kawasaki problem (2)
I endured Miss Hiratsuka's lecture and chastisement for a little under an hour
before being allowed to head home. On my way back, I stopped by the
bookstore at the Marinpia shopping mall. After perusing the shelves, I bought
one book. My thousand-yen bill disappeared, leaving some change jingling
around in my wallet. After that, thinking I might study, I went to a café. But
apparently, everyone else had had the same thought, and the place was
packed with students. Right as I was considering bailing, I caught sight of a
familiar face.
Totsuka, in his gym uniform, was staring down a cake in the display case.
(On a side note, at our school, you're allowed to show up in either the regular
uniform or the gym outfit.) This sight, sweeter than whipped cream,
commanded my attention, and like ants swarming sugar, I was drawn toward
him. It's like in that song, the water over here is sweet! . No, wait, that was
fireflies.
"Okay, it's your turn to give me a problem, Yukinon."
And then there were two more familiar faces. Yuigahama and Yukinoshita
weren't wasting any time in the line for the cash register; they were studying
hard. "Then I'll give you one from Japanese. Complete the following idiom:
'If the wind blows…'"
"'…the Keiou Line stops'?"
Correction. This was just the Trans-Chiba Ultra Quiz. Also, Yuigahama's
answer was wrong. The correct answer was "…lately it's been avoiding a full
stop and just running slow."
Unsurprisingly, this mistake made Yukinoshita frown. "Incorrect. Next
question. This one is from geography. 'Name two local products of Chiba
prefecture.'"
The second hand of the clock prodded ticktock, ticktock. Yuigahama gulped, her expression serious. "Miso peanuts and…boiled peanuts?"
"Come on. Is this prefecture nothing but peanuts?"
"Ack! Oh, it's Hikki. I thought some weirdo had snuck up on me…"
Whoops. I'd been planning to come back another time, but jumping on
Yuigahama's error had trapped me in this stupidly long line. Damn it! Curse
my love for Chiba!
Yuigahama's dramatic reaction pulled Totsuka's attention toward us, and
a sunny smile blossomed across his face. "Hachiman! So you were invited to
study with us, too!" Beaming, he sidled up next to me. But of course, there
was no way anyone would have invited me along, and Yuigahama had this
awkward look on her face that said, I knew it…he's come to crash our party.
Hey, stop giving me that look. You're reminding me of my classmate's
birthday party back in elementary school. Even though I brought a present,
they'd had no chicken for me, and I almost cried.
"We didn't invite you to study with us, though. Did you want
something?"
"Yukinoshita, you don't have to state facts just to hurt me." Good grief, if
I were a little more emotionally fragile, this could really go south.
Specifically, I'd scream Yaaaagh! and hit you with a chair. I think I deserve a
thank-you for being so exceptionally strong.
"Uh, well…I thought about asking you to come, but the teacher called you
to her office, so…"
"Whatever. I don't really care." I was used to this stuff now.
"Did you come to study for the test, too, Hikigaya?" asked Yukinoshita.
"Yeah, I guess. You guys?"
"Of course. It's less than two weeks until exams now."
"Hey, before you study, you need to brush up on Chiba prefecture again.
Those questions you just gave her were freebies, weren't they?"
"I don't think they were freebies. Geography question: 'Name two local
products of Chiba prefecture,'" Yukinoshita asked in the exact same tone as
she'd used with Yuigahama, as if testing me.
"The correct answer is 'Chiba is famous for festivals and dancing.'"
"I said 'products,' didn't I?" And nobody knows the lyrics to 'Chiba
ondo.'" Yukinoshita shrank back, appalled.
Come on, you clearly know the lyrics. You're the appalling one. And by
the way, 'Chiba Ondo' is the Bon Odori of Chiba. Around here, it's about as big a deal as 'Nanohana Taisou.' People from Chiba can sing and dance both.
Also, there're no lyrics in 'Nanohana Taisou,' but for some reason, we can
sing it.
Meanwhile, the line to the register was advancing, and I was next.
Yuigahama gave me a sly smile. "Hikki, treat me! "
"Huh? Sure, I guess… What do you want to drink? Liquid sweetener?"
"Do you think I'm a beetle?! If you don't want to treat me, then just say
it!"
So she figured it out. Why would I ever treat her in the first place?
Watching our exchange, Yukinoshita released a short sigh. "You're an
embarrassment, so stop it. I don't appreciate that kind of behavior. People
who sponge off others are trash."
Yukinoshita and I were on the same page, for once. "Yeah. I hate people
like that, too."
"Huh?! Th-then I won't ask again!"
"I think it's fine as a joke between friends, though," I said. "Why don't
you just stick to doing it with your clique?"
"Yes, that's true," Yukinoshita agreed. "It's not my clique, so I wouldn't
mind."
"I can't believe you two don't consider me part of your clique!"
I watched from the side as Yuigahama tearfully clung to Yukinoshita.
Then it was my turn at the register. I ordered a coffee, which the cashier
quickly poured for me.
"Three hundred ninety yen, please."
I stuck my hand in my pocket, and that was when it hit me. A recent
memory suddenly bubbled up in my mind. I'd bought a light novel at the
bookstore, and then what happened…? I'd had exactly one thousand yen and
paid for the book, and the change was…
I didn't have enough money. But the coffee was already made, so I
couldn't refuse it. Smiling, I appealed to the pair behind me. "Sorry. I didn't
bring any money today. If you don't mind, can you treat me?"
"You're trash." Not missing a beat, Yukinoshita certified me as garbage,
and Yuigahama sighed, exasperation etched on her face.
"Agh, I guess I've got no choice."
Y-Yuigahama! Yes! What a goddess! Yuigahama saves! But Yukinoshita
takes full damage! "I'll order that coffee as my drink and pay for it, so why don't you have
some sweetener, Hikki?"
Who is this demon? This is less Ah! My Goddess and more Shin Megami
Tensei.
"H-Hachiman, I'll pay! So don't worry about it, okay?" Totsuka smiled
kindly at me. He was a goddamn angel. Just as I was about to embrace him,
Yukinoshita's chilly voice cut between us.
"Nothing good will come of spoiling him."
"You've never spoiled me before! How would you know?"
In the end, Totsuka paid for me. I thanked him and looked for a seat. I
figured I should do at least that much while the other three were waiting for
their orders. There was a party of four leaving, so I quickly snatched their
spot. I put my tray on the table, tossing my bag onto the seat. I flung it a little
too hard, though, and it slid down the long padded bench.
A pretty girl in a school uniform one table over quietly pushed it back to
me. As she performed this act of kindness without a single complaint, I
bowed in deference to her refined and modest attitude.
"Oh! It's you, Bro!" That beautiful girl was my sister, Komachi Hikigaya.
Still in her middle school uniform, a happy smile on her face, she waved at
me.
"What're you doing here?"
"Oh, I was just listening to Taishi talk about his troubles," she said,
turning back to the seat across from her. A middle school boy sat there in a
gakuran. He bobbed his head at me in greeting.
I reflexively went on guard. Why? Why was Komachi with a boy…?
"This is Taishi Kawasaki. I told you about him yesterday, right? The guy
whose sister's gone bad."
Now that she mentioned it, I seemed to remember her telling me
something like that. I hadn't been listening to most of it, and all I could
remember was 654, licks live boar. I wonder what the heck happened in
654…?
"So he was just asking me what he should do to get his sister back to
normal. Oh, that's it! You help him, too, Bro. You told me to tell you if I had
any problems."
Oh yeah. I seemed to remember running my mouth the day before and
saying something like Leave it to me and go ahead on the spur of the moment. Of course, I had every intention of going out of my way for my
sister, but I didn't have the slightest inclination to do anything for her friends,
much less her male friends. "Oh, I see. You know, though, I think he should
talk with his family first. I don't think it'd be too late if we regrouped after
that. Yeah, in fact, it's probably premature now." Maybe that smart-sounding
lip service would be enough to convince him. And maybe he'll get away from
Komachi and leave, I thought, making a show as if I knew what I was talking
about.
"Yeah, I know, but…lately she's always coming home late, and she
doesn't listen to our parents at all. And if I say anything, she's just like, 'It's
got nothing to do with you' and snaps at me…," Taishi said, head drooping.
He seemed quite worried about her. "You're the only person I can rely on,
Bro."
"You've got no business calling me 'Bro.'"
"You sound like a stubborn old man." A cold voice rained down on me
from behind. I turned to find that Yukinoshita and the others had already
arrived.
Komachi, judging that we were acquainted by the fact that we wore the
same uniforms, quickly adopted a businesslike smile. "Hey, how are you! I'm
Komachi Hikigaya. I'm so glad to meet my brother's friends," she declared,
bobbing her head in greeting. She's always had a special knack for putting on
a good "people face."
On the other hand, there was Taishi, who basically just lowered his head
to a middling angle in a half-baked excuse for greeting before stating his
name.
"You're Hachiman's sister? Nice to meet you. I'm his classmate, Saika
Totsuka."
"Oh, nice to meet you! Wow, you're so cute! Right, Bro?"
"Hmm, yeah. But he's a guy."
"Ha-ha! You're so funny. Don't troll me, Bro."
"Oh, um… I'm…a boy…," Totsuka stammered, shyly blushing and
averting his eyes.
Wait, was he really a boy at all?!
"Huh…? Really?" Komachi asked, poking her elbow into my side.
"Sorry, I'm not really sure anymore myself, but he's probably a guy.
Though he is cute."
"O-oh…" Her expression still half-incredulous, Komachi intently
scrutinized Totsuka's features. Every time she said, "Your eyelashes are
soooo long! Your skin is sooo pretty!" Totsuka, red-faced, fidgeted, as if
trying to escape her gaze.
He was so cute when he did that, I wanted nothing more than to watch
him, but I caught the S-save me! plea he was giving me and peeled Komachi
off him. "I think that's enough. And this is Yuigahama; that's Yukinoshita." I
briefly introduced them, and Komachi finally turned her attention to the girls.
When Komachi's eyes met hers, Yuigahama tittered and introduced
herself. "N-nice to meet you… I'm Hikki's classmate, Yui Yuigahama."
"Oh, nice to m—huh? Hmm…" Komachi stopped. She stared at
Yuigahama hard until sweat dribbled down Yuigahama's face, prompting her
to avert her eyes. Were they a snake and a frog or what? After they'd been
squaring off with each other for about three seconds, the silence was broken.
"Are you done?" Apparently, Yukinoshita was done dutifully waiting, as
she now cut between Komachi and Yuigahama with a frigid voice. Her tone
alone was enough to make them go quiet and acknowledge her. It was
amazing. Her cool, clear voice was very soft and sedate. But even so, you
could hear it distinctly. It was like trying to listen to the sound of fresh snow
gently piling on the ground. I think it would be accurate to portray the two
girls—rather than having fallen silent—as having had their collective breath
stolen away. Komachi opened her eyes wide, unable to look away from
Yukinoshita. From where I was sitting, for an instant, it looked as if she was
mesmerized.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Yukino Yukinoshita. I'm Hikigaya's… Hikigaya's
what, I wonder… We're neither classmates nor friends…so while it truly
pains me…acquaintances?"
"Why'd you have to say it 'pains you' and phrase it as a question?"
"No, perhaps acquaintance is fine. Though all I'm really acquainted with
is his name. To be precise, I don't want to be acquainted with any more than
that. Can you still say that I'm acquainted with him?"
What cruel remarks. But when you think about it, the definition of
acquaintance is vague. I get friend better, somehow. Can you call someone
an acquaintance after only having met them once? Then if you see someone
more than once, are they an acquaintance? How much information do you
need about someone to call them an acquaintance?
I think it's a bad idea to use a designation with a vague definition. In a
case like this, I thought it preferable to adopt more concrete terminology.
"Can't you just say we go to the same school or that we're schoolmates or
something?"
"I see… I shall amend my statement, then. I am Yukino Yukinoshita, and
while it pains me to say it, we attend the same school."
"So it still pains you, huh…?" Yeah, well you're a pain in the butt.
"But there's nothing else I could call you." Yukinoshita looked a little
stumped.
"Oh, no, what you two just said told me all I need to know about your
relationship, so it's okay," Komachi said kindly. It's nice that my sister
catches on so quickly, but I think she's lacking in sisterly love.
"Um, so what should I do, then?" asked Taishi.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah." I turned to find the kid apparently near the end of his
rope, his face troubled. Here I was feeling as if I'd been left out today, but it
must have been even more uncomfortable for him. The only one he knew
here was Komachi. It's really awkward getting dragged into some weird
scenario by someone who's just an acquaintance of an acquaintance, to say
nothing of the rest of us being older. You feel even more out of place and
reserved. You get self-conscious and avoid saying anything that could be
rude, and then everyone else is like, What's wrong? You're so quiet, and
things end up going the other way entirely. They start tiptoeing around you,
and you end up wanting to die. Then there's nothing you can do besides
pretend to listen, say things like Mm-hmm and Really? with a vague smile
tossed in every so often.
Taishi had actually tried his best to confide in us about something, though,
so that meant he had fairly strong communication skills. He was a boy with a
promising future. Not so promising that I'd let him have Komachi, though.
"Um…I'm Taishi Kawasaki. My older sister is a second-year at Soubu
High. Oh, her name is Saki Kawasaki. She's, like…a delinquent now, or I
guess you could say she's gone bad…"
I recalled hearing that name quite recently. Trying to remember when that
had been, I put a drop of milk in my coffee, and that's when a deluge of
memories assaulted me. The black-and-white contrast in my cup changed to
gradations of brown, stimulating my vision.
That's it! The black lace girl! "Saki Kawasaki from our class, huh?"
"Saki Kawasaki…" Yukinoshita looked puzzled as the name came to her
lips. Apparently, she didn't know her very well.
But Yuigahama was in our class, and so she clapped her hands. "Oh!
Kawasaki, right? She's kind of…a bad girl? Like, sorta the scary type."
"You're not friends?"
"Well, I have talked to her before, but…I guess maybe we're not
friends… And hey, don't ask girls questions like that. They're hard to
answer." Yuigahama was obfuscating. I guess there's all sorts of groups and
factions and associations and guilds and stuff between girls. Anyway, from
the way she talked, Kawasaki and Yuigahama's relationship probably wasn't
that close.
"I've never seen Kawasaki being friendly with anyone, though… I feel
like she's always looking out the window and zoning out."
"Yeah, I get that impression, too," Totsuka said, reminding me of how I'd
seen Kawasaki in the classroom. Her grayish eyes and how she watched the
clouds, alone, as they flowed by. Her mind was indeed elsewhere, focused on
something far away, someplace that wasn't there.
"When did your sister start turning into a delinquent?" asked Yukinoshita.
"Y-yes'm!" Taishi twitched at the unexpected question. Just so you know,
I'll add that it wasn't just that Yukinoshita was scary. Taishi was nervous
because a pretty older girl was talking to him. This is the correct response for
a middle school boy. If I were in middle school, I'd probably have felt the
same. Now that I'm in high school, though, she's just scary to me. "U-um…
she was able to get into Soubu High, so when she was in middle school, she
was a real serious student. Plus, she was pretty nice, and she cooked for me a
lot. She didn't change much in the first year of high school, either… It's only
been recently."
"So when she started second year?" I asked.
"Yes," Taishi confirmed.
Taking that in, Yukinoshita began pondering the question. "Can you think
of anything that has changed since she started second year?"
"I guess the easy answer would be changing classes? Since she changed to
Class F," I suggested.
"In other words, since she was put in your class."
"Hey, why are you saying it like I'm the cause? Am I a virus?"
"I'm not saying that. I think you have a persecution complex, Herpegaya.
"I heard that! I heard you call me a disease!"
"Slip of the tongue," Yukinoshita said, looking unconcerned.
Being treated like a disease unearthed some old trauma for me, so I really
wished she would stop. Just one touch and they'd be going:
It's Herpegaya!
Tag!
I just put up a barrier!
Little kids can be too cruel, am I right? Barriers don't work on
Herpegaya! they'd say… Just how powerful am I?
"But, like, when you say she comes home late and stuff, though, just how
late is that?" Yuigahama asked. "Like, I stay out pretty late, too. It's not that
weird for someone in high school."
"Oh, y-yes, I know, but…" Taishi turned away from her, flustered. This
was because, well, he was shy having an incredibly sexy woman talk to him.
This is a very middle school boy response. Now that I was in high school, I
didn't give a damn what I said to hos like her.
"But she comes home at, like, after five."
"That's more like morning," I observed. That'd make you late all right.
Even if you could get any sleep, you'd only manage about two hours.
"Y-your parents don't say anything…about her coming home that late?"
Totsuka fretted, concerned.
"No…both our parents work, and we have a younger brother and sister, so
they don't get on her case much. And because all three of them are out a lot,
they don't see each other very often… Well, it's a big family, so my parents
have their hands full just managing it all." Taishi answered Totsuka's
question relatively normally. Hmm, so middle school boys don't get
Totsuka's appeal yet. Now that I'm in high school, he's actually really cute.
"Even when they do see each other, they just get into fights, but if I say
anything, it's always just 'It's got nothing to do with you'…" Taishi's
shoulders slumped, and he seemed quite distraught.
"Family issues, hmm… Any family has them," said Yukinoshita, her
expression turning melancholy in a way I'd never seen before. It was as if she
was on the verge of tears, just like Taishi when he came to talk to us about
his problems… No, even moreso.
"Yukinoshita…," I started to say. Maybe a cloud had been hiding the sun,
because suddenly a shadow fell over her downturned face. I couldn't make out her expression very well. All I could see were her shoulders sagging
weakly, telling me she'd let out a short sigh.
"What is it?" she prodded, lifting her head, her cold expression unchanged
from its usual posture.
The sun had been obscured by clouds for only an instant. I still don't
know the meaning of that sigh. Perhaps I was the only one who'd noticed that
she seemed different in that instant. Taishi and the others carried on as if
nothing had happened.
"And that's not all… People from sort of…odd places keep calling her."
Taishi's statement prompted a question mark from Yuigahama. "Weird
places?"
"Yeah. A place called Angel or something, I think it's a business… The
manager calls her."
"What's weird about that?" Totsuka asked.
Taishi smacked the table. "I-I mean, it's called Angel! That's gotta be
sketchy!"
"Huh? I don't get that impression at all…," Yuigahama said, slightly
taken aback, but I understood perfectly.
Why, you ask? Because my eighth-grade-level naughty sensors were
telling me so. For example, let's try adding 'Kabuki-cho' to the word angel.
See, it sounds 50 percent sexier now. By the way, if you add super to it, too,
it becomes another 40 percent sexier. This was definitely a sexy sort of
business. This kid had potential, noticing something like that.
"Now, now, hold on and calm down, Taishi. I understand everything."
Taishi seemed happy that I got him. His eyes still fierce, he wiped them
and enveloped me in a warm embrace. "B-bro!"
"Ha-ha-ha, don't call me 'Bro,' all right? I'll kill you, okay?"
While us men were busily erecting firm bonds over what is known as
Eros, the girls, unperturbed, were settling on a proper course of action. "At
any rate, if she's working, then first we must ascertain where," Yukinoshita
strategized.
"Even if it isn't some dubious establishment as those idiots
suggest, it isn't good that she works there until dawn. We must find out
where this place is and make her resign as soon as possible."
"Hmm… But if we force her to quit, she might just start working again
somewhere else, you know?" Yuigahama said.
Komachi nodded. "It'd be like a viper and a mongoose, huh?"
"Are you trying to say whack-a-mole?" Yukinoshita corrected.
Oh, sister mine. Please refrain from shaming the Hikigaya name.
Yukinoshita is rolling her eyes here.
"In other words, you're saying that we must treat both the symptoms and
the root of the disease simultaneously." Yukinoshita drew her conclusion just
as I was finally prying Taishi off me.
"Hey, hold on a second. Are you expecting us to do something?"
"Why not? Saki Kawasaki is a student at our school, and given that her
younger brother's concern is related to her, I believe this falls within the
scope of Service Club activity."
"Bro." I felt some tiny jabs in my back. I turned to find Komachi smiling
sweetly. It was the smile she busted out when she wanted something. A long
time ago, my sister had gotten that same look on her face when I had spent
my Christmas wish on her. Why'd I have to ask Santa for Love and Berry
cards?
I couldn't fight Komachi. She held the ultimate trump card, which was
our parents' affection. Damn it, she was so uncute. "Fine," I conceded
reluctantly.
Taishi erupted in joy and fired off some high-speed bows. "Th-thank you!
Sorry, thank you so much!"
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