Chapter 4 – All My Lies to You
1
Sunday evening, Sakuta got home from work to find a message on the answering machine.
“Who could that be?”
Their father didn’t live with them, so he called sometimes to check in.
Figuring it was from him, Sakuta pressed the button.
“This is Mai Sakurajima. I’m back from Kagoshima. Just letting you know.”
That was not what he’d expected. She sounded more formal than usual, which was a delight in its own right.
He played it back again.
“This is Mai Sakurajima. I’m back from Kagoshima. Just letting you know.”
The answering machine happily let him hear Mai’s voice again.
He was about to press it a third time when he realized that would be pretty obnoxious.
Instead, he picked up the phone and punched in her cell number. From memory, of course.
She answered on the third ring.
“Who is it?”
“Me.”
“I know. Your number’s in my contacts. I was about to take a bath.”
She sounded annoyed, like it was his fault for choosing that moment to call. He chalked this up to the mysteries of the female mind.
“So you’re naked?”
“If I was, I wouldn’t have picked up.”
“Why not?”
“Only a pervert would talk to a boy while naked.”
She had a point there. Sakuta would rather she not do anything like that.
“So, what?” He could tell she clearly wanted to hurry up and take her bath.
“Welcome back, Mai.”
“……”
This seemed to rattle her a bit.
“Is that it?” she asked.
“That’s not the answer I was hoping for.”
“I’m not saying ‘I’m home.’”
Did saying it just now not count? Sakuta felt like it did, but maybe it didn’t for Mai.
As he was mulling that over, she said, “Bye,” and hung up.
You couldn’t tie her down.
Sure she’d never pick up if he dialed again, Sakuta put the receiver back on the hook, deciding to be satisfied with the knowledge she was safely back.
The next day was Monday, July 7. The day of the Star Festival—and a sunny day, not a cloud in the sky.
Sakuta turned the TV on while he ate breakfast.
“It seems like Orihime and Hikoboshi should be able to meet up safely!”
The male morning newscaster was always looking out for them like that.
The remainder of the weather report suggested that areas across the country were getting into the high eighties. The weather lady looked very pleased by this. Sakuta immediately lost all motivation.
If he could get away with it, he’d gladly skip school. But Sakuta had good reason not to. End-of-term exams started today.
Enduring the heat, Sakuta made it to school, where math and English exams lay in wait. He managed to answer everything on the math test, but the listening section of the English exam was a total wash. On his way home, he resolved to find a job that required absolutely no English.
Maybe he wasn’t meant to be Santa Claus.
The short walk to the station was filled with Minegahara students. It was even busier than usual, since the sports teams didn’t have practice during exams.
As he passed through the gates, Sakuta recognized someone up ahead.
Tomoe, wearing a backpack with the straps loose to hide her butt.
She had her head down, looking uncomfortable, and was dragging her feet. The three girls she was always with—Rena, Hinako, and Aya—were laughing about ten yards ahead.
It didn’t seem like Tomoe had stayed behind for something and was just now catching up. It looked more like the other girls knew Tomoe was there but were pretending they hadn’t noticed.
The gap between them looked intentional.
Sakuta immediately thought of what Yuuma had said last Friday.
“There’s some ugly rumors.”
Ugly was honestly a mild term for it.
“Like she’s easy or a slut or sleeping with you.”
This could be bad.
The tiny platform at Shichirigahama Station was packed with Minegahara students.
Tomoe was standing on the Fujisawa-bound side, at the far corner, looking very small. There was a little clearing around her, like she was surrounded by an invisible wall. They were all in the same place, but the air around Tomoe was different.
Sakuta used his pass and stepped through the gates, ignoring the stares to stand right by her side. He poked her in the cheek.
“Don’t look so gloomy,” he said.
“Senpai…”
Tomoe looked up for a moment but was too conscious of her surroundings to stay that way for long.
Sakuta joining her had only increased the amount of attention. But nobody was blatantly staring. It was all quick glances, wondering if the rumors were true.
People were laughing at them, fascinated by the gossip, looking down on people who’d stepped out of line.
This was an everyday thing for Sakuta. He didn’t think anything of it. But it was crushing Tomoe.
She was staring at her feet, and he could tell she was barely holding up. It was painfully clear she wanted to turn and run.
Like she was about to burst into tears.
This kind of attention was the one thing Tomoe was least equipped to handle. She’d been desperately reading the air to avoid anything like this happening. She’d even made Sakuta pretend to be her boyfriend to avoid this sort of embarrassment.
Like a whip across her back, a braying laugh came from behind them.
Tomoe quivered.
Irritation rising, Sakuta turned around to find three grinning third-year boys behind them. All three looked pretty trendy. Chains hanging off every hip. In the center of the group was Maesawa.
His eyes met Sakuta’s. He smirked.
“First-years put out for anyone these days.” He addressed the boys with him but spoke loud enough that everyone could hear. His eyes offered up a clear challenge to Sakuta.
A pretty lazy way to start a fight. This struck Sakuta as funny, so he laughed. Giving as good as he got was just basic manners.
“Ah?!” Maesawa snarled, his brow furrowing. Radiating fury, he took a couple steps toward Sakuta. “Did you just laugh at me?”
“I still am! What about it?”
“You think this is a joke?!”
Maesawa grabbed a handful of his shirt.
“I’m just openly mocking you.”
Someone down the platform laughed out loud.
An instantly later, a powerful punch caught Sakuta’s face. There was a dull thud. Sakuta staggered a few steps backward.
“Eek!”
That shriek was probably Tomoe.
Everything turned white. His left cheek went numb.
A few seconds later, a hot, throbbing pain surged across it. Maesawa was three inches taller than Sakuta, his physique honed from all that basketball, and his punch was even stronger than Sakuta had expected.
“Ow…”
A silence settled over the crowd of Minegahara students. Everyone held their breath. Tension filled the air.
Maesawa swung his arm back to unleash a follow-up.
“Senpai!”
Tomoe’s tiny body was suddenly standing between Sakuta and Maesawa.
“Don’t!” Sakuta yelled, grabbing her backpack and pulling her backward. The momentum of this left him standing where she’d been.
Tomoe must have caught Maesawa off guard, because he froze, fist in the air.
The crowd of rubberneckers didn’t dare blink.
Sakuta had planned to grin and bear it. But the pain in his cheek wasn’t going away, and he felt anger rising within him. The heat of it taking control.
“Senpai…,” Tomoe said, tugging his sleeve fretfully. Seeing her on the verge of tears made putting up with it seem stupid.
He took a big step forward and raised a fist.
Maesawa instantly put both arms up in a guard. That left his legs wide-open. Sakuta planted the tip of his shoe hard in Maesawa’s shin.
“Unh?!” A grunt of surprise and pain.
Maesawa quickly knelt down, clutching his injured right leg.
“That wasn’t fair!” he hissed, glaring balefully up at Sakuta.
“Rich, coming from you.”
Sakuta planted the sole of his foot on Maesawa’s face. Yakuza-style. It hit hard.
“Gah!”
Unable to catch himself, Maesawa fell on his ass and rolled across the platform.
He glared up at Sakuta, red with shame, anger, and mortification.
No one said anything. The shock of it all was so great, nobody knew how to react. They were all hanging on Sakuta’s next words.
Sakuta wasn’t about to play to the crowd’s wishes, but he chose the thing he thought Maesawa would least want to hear.
“Pathetic.”
A stir ran through the crowd. People were giggling.
“Who… Who…?!” Maesawa spluttered, too angry to complete the sentence. His lips flapped like a goldfish.
The two third-years with him stepped forward.
Sakuta ignored them. “You’d better wash your face, senpai,” he said.
“Huh?”
“I stepped in some dogshit yesterday.”
Maesawa quickly wiped his face with one hand. When the crowd saw him sniff that hand, another laugh went up.
The two third-years stopped advancing, keeping their distance. The shit barrier was a powerful force.
Sakuta looked around and saw a lot of students playing with their phones. Posting about it on social media, texting friends who’d missed the show.
And he saw Rena staring at him in shock. Hinako was in a panic next to her, and Aya was trying to calm her down.
“Th-this is bullshit!” Maesawa snarled, finally making it to his feet.
“That’s my line. You don’t wanna make a spectacle of yourself, don’t start a shitshow. It’s a pathetic way to live.”
“Bullshit!”
“You said that already.”
“……”
Apparently, his speech circuits had fried. Maesawa couldn’t think of any other words. He just kept muttering “Bullshit” like a broken record.
“Senpai, that’s enough,” Tomoe said. Her hands were clutching the back of Sakuta’s uniform. She seemed worried about the effect all this negative attention would have on Maeasawa. Given how much she hated that kind of scrutiny, it made sense she wouldn’t want it happening to anyone else, either.
But Sakuta wasn’t done yet.
“No, I got one more thing to say.” Sakuta glared down at Maesawa. “She’s sleeping with me? Ha! I’m a virgin.”
And with that he took Tomoe’s hand and pulled her out of the station. Each step they took got faster. Before he knew it, they were running.
Not because he thought Maesawa might be chasing them.
They were just both so wound up they couldn’t not run. Sakuta was almost giddy. He didn’t know why he was enjoying this so much. But his heart was racing.
“Senpai, you went a bit too far.”
“Did I?!”
“Way too far,” Tomoe said. But she was grinning the whole time they ran.
The sounds of the surf and the wind calmed their racing hearts.
The ugly feelings that had been building up inside cleared away.
The beach was magic like that.
Sakuta and Tomoe had fled the station and were walking west along the Shichirigahama sands. They could see Enoshima floating on the waters ahead, getting slowly closer.
“Wanna join me?” Tomoe suggested. She had her socks and shoes off and was enjoying the waves lapping at her feet. Sakuta was a couple of yards inland, walking just out of range of the surf.
“And who would carry my shoes?” he asked.
Tomoe had dropped her shoes and socks on the beach, and Sakuta was carrying them for her.
It was a weekday, but there were still a decent number of people on the beach. Families with little kids, groups of college students, grown-up couples…all laughing and playing in the surf. It was a beautiful day, and they were enjoying their first beach visit of the year. Everyone seemed happy.
“Senpai.”
“I’m not coming in!”
“Not that.” Tomoe pouted, puffing out her cheeks.
“Then what?”
“Thank you.”
“……”
“That made me really happy.”
“You’re welcome,” he said without emotion. His left cheek still hurt. It felt like it was on fire.
“I think I’m starting to understand what you said before.”
“Mm?”
“The thing about having the whole world against you but one person who needs you. Something like that anyway.”
“You don’t even remember it!”
“I really felt like your girlfriend there. Like I really mattered to you.”
The wind and the waves swept her delight to Sakuta’s ears.
“Well, we agreed to that for the rest of the term.”
Originally, it had been a “more than a senpai, less than a boyfriend” thing, but that last part had pretty much gone away.
“Most people wouldn’t go that far for a fake girlfriend. It wouldn’t be that important.”
“I’m a perfectionist.”
“You’re such a jamoke,” Tomoe said, unleashing her natural accent.
“A what now?”
“You ain’t even know that?” Tomoe scoffed. Then she looked proud. “I’ll help you out. It means you ain’t funny.”
“I didn’t mean it to be.”
They walked on, side by side.
“Koga.”
“Mm?”
“I should be thanking you. If you hadn’t stepped in, he’d have kicked my ass.”
Given Maesawa’s size advantage, another two or three punches would have taken all the fight out of Sakuta.
“But be more careful. If he’d hit you, you could have been really hurt.”
“I just got kinda desperate.”
“Well, you are the schoolgirl of justice.”
He remembered how they first met, when she’d mistaken him for a creep and tried to save a little girl, kicking him in the ass without a thought for the consequences.
That was Tomoe’s true nature, he thought.
When it got down to it, she’d moved before she had time to think. Driven by a need to do something.
Not a thing just anyone could do. Most people freeze up in a dangerous situation.
“Also, sorry.”
“For what?” She looked puzzled.
“I was pretty brutal with your friend’s crush.”
“Ohhhh, right. Crap.”
Tomoe stopped, a cloud passing over her face.
The waves lapped at her feet.
“No point thinking about it now,” Sakuta said.
“It’s your fault! Think with me!”
“I said I was sorry instead.”
“So irresponsible!” Tomoe wailed.
Then, her shoulders flinched. She pulled her phone out of her pocket. It must have vibrated.
“Oh, it’s from Rena…”
She stared at the screen, looking tense.
“What’s she say?”
“‘Sorry, I dunno what got into me.’”
“Oh?” Sakuta couldn’t help but grin.
“‘I’ve lost all respect for Maesawa.’”
“Well, that’s a real shame. Then again, if her crush can be ended by a little dogshit in the face, it wasn’t that strong.”
She’d been all about the surface appeal. If she’d really loved him, a single undignified moment would never have been enough to change that. Even that shame was still a part of him.
“‘We’re gonna study for exams. Wanna join us?’”
Well, at least everything was cleared up and they were friends again. Tomoe responded, and they went back and forth a few times. She was smiling again.
But even after she put the phone away, she seemed disinclined to leave the water.
“You aren’t going?”
“I said I wanna have you help me study.”
“And?”
She showed him her screen. There were posts from all three of her friends, containing no words—all just stamps with big grinning faces.
“Oh, right, senpai…”
“Mm?”
“There is one thing I want to say.”
She was fidgeting.
“You need to pee?”
“No!”
“Then what?”
“I—I…haven’t, either.”
“Haven’t what?”
He knew what she meant, but her evident embarrassment was so entertaining, Sakuta pretended not to. How would she explain herself?
He waited expectantly.
“I’m a virgin,” she said, looking up at him.
He couldn’t stop himself. He laughed out loud.
“Wh-why are you laughing?! That’s mean!”
She kicked water at him. Sakuta dodged.
“Don’t dodge!”
“Did you think I believed those rumors?”
“No, but if you did? I really didn’t want that.”
“Still, going straight to ‘I’m a virgin,’ just laying it out there?”
An elderly couple with a dog were passing right next to them.
“K-keep your voice down!”
“You said it first.”
“W-well…it thought it was best to be clear.”
“And it certainly is now! I’m not fussed about that stuff, either way.”
Sakuta started walking. Didn’t seem like they’d ever move on, otherwise.
“Ah! Wait!”
She came splashing after him.
Tomoe in the surf, and Sakuta on the beach, the distance between them never closing but never widening.
“But you said you’d had a boyfriend before?” he reminded her with a smirk.
“You know perfectly well that’s a lie,” she said, half-sheepish, half-annoyed.
“It didn’t seem all that unlikely.”
“I mean, everyone says they had a boyfriend in junior high. Rena, Hinako, Aya. Hinako’s still dating that same guy.”
“Hmm.”
“I didn’t volunteer the information! It was more like everyone just agreed I definitely had one. And it felt wrong to disagree, and…now here we are.”
“Ahhh.”
“And if I said I’d never dated anyone, I thought you’d look down on me.”
“Who is it you’re fighting?”
“I dunno.”
Probably the views of the world or the expectations people had for her. She was putting all kinds of work into protecting other people’s conceptions of “Tomoe Koga.”
A daily battle to make a version of her that nobody would dislike. A battle against something unseen…like the air.
“Uh, senpai…,” she said, giving him a sidelong glance even as she kicked the water.
“Mm?”
Sakuta was picking his way across the beach, trying not to trip on the sand.
“How can I ever repay you for this?”
The sound of her footsteps stopped.
He took a few more steps, then stopped and turned toward her.
She looked very serious. Waiting for his answer.
“I can’t believe you’re asking that with a straight face.”
“It’s a serious question.”
“I don’t need you repaying me. The Japan team made it out of the group stage just fine.”
The other day, they’d scored a huge win against a strong opponent, making it to the knockout stage. Four years of hard work had paid off, and their offense had exploded.
Tomoe had kept her promise and cheered them on the whole time. She’d shown him a picture of herself in the Japan team uniform, with the Japanese flag painted on her face.
“But…”
“If that’s not enough, come out with me this weekend.”
“Where?”
“I wanna buy my sister some clothes once my paycheck arrives, but I really don’t know what looks are ‘in.’”
“Okay…”
She’d agreed to it but didn’t seem satisfied. Like that wasn’t enough to pay him back.
“Fine, one more thing, then.”
“What?” she asked, a bit too eager.
“When the lie ends, we stay friends.”
“……”
She hadn’t been expecting that, and her eyes went wide. Then, she giggled, yet she didn’t seem satisfied.
“You don’t wanna?”
“I do, and I don’t.”
“Come again?”
Like something was bothering her, Tomoe put her hand to her heart, opening and closing it nervously.
“You don’t have to,” he said.
“No, you win. I’ll be your best friend.”
Tomoe’s smile gleamed beneath the summer sun.
“Just normal friends is fine.”
“Aww.”
Sakuta and Tomoe walked two stations’ worth of beach before finally boarding a train at Koshigoe Station.
They looked around the train before they sat down. Over an hour had passed since Sakuta’s fight with Maesawa, and there were hardly any Minegahara uniforms on board. Everyone had gone home early to prepare for tomorrow’s exams.
Tomoe looked very relieved.
They found empty seats and sat together. There was a group of college kids directly opposite, cheering as the train threaded its way between rows of homes.
“This is amazing!”
“They’re so close! We’re gonna hit!”
“Man, this is revolutionary.”
Doesn’t that word literally mean the opposite of what you’re trying to say? Just as he had that thought, his eyes met Tomoe’s. She must have been thinking the same thing, because she was grinning. This train ride was more nostalgic than new. The guy needed to work on his vocabulary.
“So where we gonna study, Koga?”
“Huh? We’re actually going to?”
“If we don’t, you’ll have lied to your friends.”
“…Are you any good at chemistry?”
She gave him a searching look.
“I feel confident I’m better than you.”
“That sounds insulting.”
“How so?”
“We’ll have to find out if it’s true.”
“Then you wanna come over?”
“Huh?”
“No parents around.”
“Uhhhh?!”
“Shhh, not so loud—we’re on the train.”
A bunch of eyes had turned toward them.
“B-but…I…I wasn’t ready for…still, uh…okay.”
A rapid flurry of expressions passed over Tomoe’s face, from panic to fluster to embarrassment, but in the end, she nodded.
“You’ve definitely got the wrong idea here.”
“I—I don’t! Don’t treat me like a child.”
“Well, you don’t want to take that first step toward being a grown-up.”
Sakuta spent the remaining minutes before they reached Fujisawa Station giving ten different reasons why he would never try anything with Tomoe. Tomoe sulked the whole time and deliberately stepped on his foot on the way off the train.
It was a ten-minute walk from the station to Sakuta’s apartment. There, they took the elevator to the fifth floor.
“I’m home!” he announced, opening the door.
Kaede poked her head out of the living room.
“Welcome ba—”
She made it halfway through, realized Sakuta wasn’t alone, and hid behind the doorframe. She peered at Tomoe like a small animal that has spotted its natural predator.
“You’ve brought another girl over?!” she asked.
This seemed like a smirch on his honor, so he ignored it.
“Come on in.”
“Th-thanks for having me,” Tomoe said. She bobbed her head and took off her shoes. She lined them up perfectly, and then Sakuta beckoned her into his room.
Before he could follow her, Kaede tugged at his sleeve.
“What?”
She stretched to whisper in his ear.
“If you’re going to escort a lady of the night to our domicile, you should warn me in advance.”
“Kaede, you’ve definitely got the wrong idea.”
Tomoe was hardly sexy enough to warrant such a description. Her hairstyle was too simple, her makeup light, and why in the world did she say domicile? No one had ever referred to their apartment in such lofty terms before.
“How much has she siphoned off you?”
“She’s Tomoe Koga, a kohai from school.”
“If you’re after younger women, you have me!”
“What are we talking about?”
“I’ll tell Mai!”
That was concerning. She had approved of the matter with Tomoe, but a play-by-play report would definitely hurt Her Majesty’s feelings.
“We’re gonna study for exams. We can talk later.”
He peeled Kaede off him and shut the door.
“Sit anywhere,” he said, waving at a cushion.
Tomoe sat down on her knees, formal Japanese–style. He set up a folding table in front of her.
“Your legs’ll go numb like that.”
“R-right.”
Minding the hem of her skirt, Tomoe shifted her legs to either side.
Sakuta sat across from her.
He opened a Modern Japanese textbook to prepare for the next day. Tomoe had her chemistry textbook and notes but didn’t seem to be focused on them. Her eyes were darting this way and that around his room. She turned red when she saw his bed. She then looked at his desk and hung her head.
Finally, she blurted, “I can’t!” and shoved her books back in her backpack. She tried to put it on but couldn’t get her arms through the straps.
“I-I’m gonna go study with Rena and the girls after all!” she said and dashed out of the room. “Th-thanks for having me!”
She was already out the door.
“Yo, Koga!” Sakuta shouted, chasing after her. He got one sandal on and took a half step outside.
She was already by the elevator. The bell rang as it reached their floor.
A moment later, the doors opened.
Tomoe tried to step in but stopped, gaping.
Someone was coming out.
“Ah!”
Sakuta gaped, too. A Minegahara uniform. Black tights despite the summer dress code. Mai.
Tomoe took Mai’s place on the elevator.
Mai glanced once at Sakuta and once back at Tomoe as the doors closed.
Then she walked toward Sakuta, her heels clicking.
“You two got awful friendly while I wasn’t looking.”
Her slim, pale finger poked him in the nose.
“She was bright red! What did you do to her?”
There was an accusation in her eyes.
“I tried to study with her.”
“Study what?”
“I went with Modern Japanese, and Koga with chemistry.”
“Hmph.”
Seemingly even more disgruntled, Mai increased the pressure behind her finger.
It seemed best to change the subject.
“Mai…did you bring us souvenirs?”
His eyes lit on the paper bag in her hands. Mai’s mood did not visibly improve, but she removed her finger.
“Yes,” she said as she shoved the bag into his hands.
He looked inside and saw impressive blocks of dried fish, some fish cakes, and a custard-filled sponge cake called kasutadon.
“These are all good cold, too.”
“Thank you.”
With that business taken care of, Mai turned around and headed back to the elevators.
“You aren’t coming in?”
“If I came in now, it would be like I’m in competition with that first-year.”
That kinda made sense and kinda didn’t, but she left anyway.
No point in just standing there. Sakuta went back inside and called Kaede out, and they ate the souvenirs together.
“These are good!”
“Yes, they are!”
2
The second day of final exams, Tuesday. Sakuta was called to the faculty office as soon as he arrived, taken to the guidance counselor’s office, and forced to take his exams alone.
He didn’t need to ask why. The cause was clearly the fight at Shichirigahama Station.
The station attendant must have phoned it in.
“During midterms, you make a huge fuss in the schoolyard, and now, during finals, you get in a fight. Do you have something against exams, Azusagawa?”
“I think we’d all be better off without them.”
“That’ll never happen.”
His homeroom teacher went through the motions of chewing him out but didn’t sound that upset. There were a lot of eyewitnesses, and it seemed like the extenuating circumstances had been reported accurately.
Especially the part where Maesawa had swung first.
The teacher concluded by warning him to be careful, but Sakuta wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be careful of. Dogshit on the road, perhaps.
Apparently, Maesawa hadn’t come to school at all.
After school, Sakuta left the guidance counselor’s office and found Tomoe waiting for him in the hall.
She looked apologetic, like it was her fault Sakuta was in trouble.
“How’d your exams go?” he asked.
“Awful.” Even her answer seemed downcast.
“Studying with your friends just turn into a family restaurant hangout?” he speculated.
He started walking, and she hastily followed.
“How’d your exams go?” she asked.
“Consistent.”
“Consistently good?”
“Consistently bad.”
“Well, at least we’re in this together.”
Camaraderie in bad exam results wasn’t going to make either of them better students, but Tomoe seemed relieved by it anyway.
“Oh, right, senpai, you’ve got to get a phone.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, I left suddenly yesterday, right? Then, um…I got worried what you thought about it.”
“I thought you were emotionally unstable.”
Tomoe’s face instantly turned red. Anger boiling over.
“Well, I want to follow up on that kind of thing faster!” she snapped, glaring at him. “And you got called to the faulty office, so I wanted to get in touch with you earlier…and I couldn’t focus on my tests at all.”
She seemed to be carrying a grudge here.
“But, uh…that’s all you thought?” she asked, seemingly reluctant.
“All about what?”
“You didn’t have any other thoughts on yesterday?”
“I didn’t really think about you at all.”
“That’s a horrible way to put it. But…okay.”
Tomoe whispered “Good” under her breath, looking relieved. Sakuta noticed her eyes seemed a little puffy.
“Were you up all night studying?”
If so, not being able to focus on the exams was a real tragedy.
“No, but why?”
“Your eyes are a bit panda.”
“You’re kidding?!” Tomoe yanked out a mirror and checked. “Argh, they are! I’ll fix that.”
She dashed off to the girls’ restroom. Always in a hurry.
Left on his own, Sakuta muttered to himself, “That looked more like she was crying her eyes out.”
On Wednesday, the midpoint of finals, Sakuta was able to take his exams in class.
He’d spotted Maesawa on the train on the way in. Seemed like he’d recovered from the shock. Their eyes met once, and the look of disgust on Maesawa’s face suggested he had not seen the error of his ways.
With both of them on board, the air on the train turned ugly fast, and people were whispering “Dogshit” all around. Some pointing at Sakuta, some at Maesawa. One or two people also said, “Virgin proclamation.” This was definitely intended to make fun of Sakuta, but he wasn’t at all upset by it.
That seemed to be the extent of it.
Considering the scale of the conflict, this response seemed kinda understated, but it was during exams, which helped divert attention. Everyone was too busy focusing on themselves to care about anything else.
But the one thing that was very clear was that everyone knew about Sakuta and Tomoe’s relationship now. Everyone knew the reason Sakuta fought Maesawa had been to protect Tomoe, which must have meant they were in love. There was no way they were dialing things back to “more than a senpai, less than a boyfriend” now.
Which also meant their idea of naturally drifting apart over summer vacation might not be convincing. They might need a clear, definitive reason for breaking up.
When he finished his exams, Sakuta stared out the window at the ocean, trying to think of one.
The skies grew uneasy Thursday morning, and the rain came in fits and spurts. Very unpleasant.
Afternoon rolled around, and there was no sign of it clearing up. The laundry he had hung out to dry in his room was not doing well.
“Quit looking around.”
Seated in Sakuta’s room beneath his laundry was, for some reason, Mai.
He’d enjoyed a leisurely lunch with Kaede and had just finished hanging up the laundry when she arrived.
“We’re studying for exams,” she’d informed him with an intimidating growl. Which brings us to the present.
They had the folding table set up in the middle of the room and were seated on adjacent sides of it. From that forty-five-degree angle, Mai did not appear to be in a good mood.
“Are you mad at me, Mai?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because you’re suddenly making me study.”
“Exams end tomorrow. I’m here to help you learn. Solve this problem.”
She pointed at a physics problem.
It involved the Doppler effect.
“You’ve got five minutes.”
A very Spartan approach.
“As long as I don’t fail…”
“Sakuta, are you thinking about your future at all?”
“My future is at your side.”
“……”
Mai silently clicked her mechanical pencil. She didn’t have a notebook ready, so this must have been for something besides writing. Like stabbing him.
It seemed safer to avoid more jokes.
“I do want to go to college.”
There were two conditions in his way. The first was a simple matter of academic performance. He couldn’t get into college if he couldn’t pass the entrance exams. The other condition was economic, given his family’s circumstances. His father had already dropped hints that private colleges would probably not be an option.
“You, Mai?”
“Same.”
“Not focusing on work?”
“I can do both. Always have.”
She was now.
“I’m looking at a public college in Yokohama.”
Whether run by the nation or the city, the bar for entry would be pretty high.
“You are a good student.”
She’d said she’d never scored below an eight.
“……”
Chin in hand, Mai gave him a long, searching look.
This felt deliberate, so he avoided her eyes.
“Don’t look away,” she scolded. “You want to go to the same school as me, right?”
That’s what he’d expected.
“Well, I don’t—”
“You want to.”
Smiling, she pointed the tip of her pencil at him.
“If I can.”
“Then study.”
“……”
“If it’s public, the burden on your parents’ resources won’t be too bad, and if it’s in Yokohama, you can commute from here.”
Mai was right. She’d already filled in all the moats. What happened to the winter campaign to take Osaka Castle? She’d skipped right ahead to the summer one.
“Yeah, well…”
“What’s your problem?”
“I’m just imagining how difficult it’ll be to achieve the required level of academic performance.”
Sakuta’s grades were thoroughly average. Rock solid on them sixes.
“But that is easily solved by you applying yourself.”
“And I don’t want to do that, which is why I’m resisting.”
“Even after what I said?”
“Honestly, I still haven’t heard a word about what you really want.”
Mai sat up at this, staring right into his eyes.
“If I said I want to go to the same school as you, would you be motivated?”
“……”
Mai’s cheeks were slightly flushed. She might be acting, but those words were still like an arrow through his heart.
“Wh-what?” she asked.
“I want to jump you right now.”
“I will stab you.”
He threw his hands up, surrendering. And then rolled over on the floor.
“No slacking!”
“I just can’t get motivated.”
“What if I teach you in that bunny-girl outfit?”
“That would be very motivating.”
What exactly did she want to teach him? His heart was racing in anticipation. But he also assumed this was just a joke.
“If you agree to study, I’ll put it on.”
“Really?”
Sakuta leaped to his feet.
Mai had already opened his closet. She pulled out the paper bag containing the bunny-girl outfit.
“I need to change. Get out.”
She really meant it.
He hadn’t dared dream of this moment. He was hardly going to blow this chance.
Without a word of protest, he left the room.
“Peep, and you die,” she growled.
And shut the door behind him.
Sakuta did as he was told, waiting patiently in the hall.
Mai was changing in Sakuta’s bedroom, just a thin door between them. Part of him wanted to fling it open, but he restrained himself.
There was no need for such risky actions. If he just waited, he would get to savor her bunny-girl outfit again. A moment of nudity versus a lengthy bunny-girl session… Sakuta chose the latter. He believed this was the right choice.
Kaede gave him a strange look while he waited, but he covered, saying he was feeding Nasuno.
It was a good fifteen-minute wait.
“Okay,” Mai called at last.
“Coming in,” he said, making sure.
“Go ahead.”
Once he heard that, he opened the door.
Mai was sitting in the same spot by the table, legs to one side.
But she was wearing a skin-tight black leotard. Black stockings on her long, slim legs. A bow tie on her throat. White cuffs on her wrists. A headband with bunny ears. The high heels alone were resting to one side, since she was indoors.
Mai’s outfit had changed, but everything else was the same.
“Go on, sit down.”
When Mai spoke, the ears wobbled.
Sakuta settled down across the table from her. Their knees bumped beneath it. Mai didn’t pull away. Apparently, this was an acceptable level of physical contact.
“Now study.”
As promised, Sakuta opened his notebook and read the problem in the textbook.
But before he knew it, his eyes were back on Mai. Her bare shoulders looked like they’d be smooth to the touch. The pale skin of her cleavage, swelling softly, forming a valley between. The tight indentation at her waist, the aesthetically pleasing curve of her hips and thighs. He could stare at her all day.
“Your hands aren’t moving.”
Mai reached out and poked him in the nose.
“Look at your textbook, not me.”
He thought she’d be mad, but that didn’t appear to be the case. She seemed to enjoy being the focus of his rapt attention.
“What’s this, Mai?”
“What’s what?”
“You don’t seem mad.”
“Should I be?”
“Something good happen?”
“No…I just figured I should try the carrot sometimes.”
Mai turned away and said something else. He couldn’t hear her.
“What?”
“I said, I didn’t think you’d get in a fight for her.”
“You saw what happened Monday?”
“Part of it. You did wash your shoe, right?”
“I made the dogshit thing up.”
“Oh. Argh, I don’t like it.”
This was hardly fair. It was a lot of work to stay on Her Majesty’s good side sometimes. He didn’t think this quite qualified as jealousy, but she was definitely displeased.
Mai let herself fall facedown on the table, glaring up at Sakuta. This really emphasized her cleavage.
“Stop staring at my boobs!”
“So basically, you’re just starved for attention.”
“Do you want to get punched?”
“Not the face!” He raised his hands, joke-guarding. She did a slow-mo punch and twisted her fist on his shoulder.
Then she sighed dramatically.
“Come on! Try to make me feel better!”
A tall order. Yet it just sounded right coming from her.
“Mai, do you have plans over summer vacation?”
“I’ll be working for half of it. You?”
“Mostly working, too. But the rest of my time, I’d love to spend with you. It is summer.”
“I can’t do pools and beaches.”
“Aww.”
“I mean it. I’m a celebrity.”
And not just any celebrity. She was a nationally famous actress. If she showed up in a swimsuit at a local beach or pool, she’d cause a small riot.
“Take your cute girlfriend to those,” Mai said, like it didn’t matter to her.
“Mai.”
“What?”
“I love you.”
Her hand reached out and twisted his cheek.
“Owwww.”
“Don’t cheat! You’re that first-year’s boyfriend right now.”
“Well, I saw this incredibly beautiful girl and couldn’t fight the impulse.”
“Don’t tell people you love them on impulse.”
It sounded like she was scolding him, but she was smiling. Her mood seemed to have improved. Or maybe she was just enjoying messing with him.
“Come on, study.”
“Aww.”
“You can’t sleep till you solve all these problems.”
There were a lot of physics equations on the page she pointed to. The price of the bunny-girl outfit was very high. But a promise was a promise…
3
After school on Friday, with the five days of finals complete, Tomoe kept her word and went shopping with Sakuta.
They took the JR Tokaido Line from Fujisawa Station.
About a twenty-minute ride.
Tomoe took a fashion magazine out of her backpack and pored over it, looking very serious. She was still going when they reached Yokohama Station.
This stop was huge and seemingly always under construction. They changed there for the Negishi Line.
One station down that line was Sakuragicho.
The Landmark Tower, which had recently become the second tallest building in Japan. An unmissably huge Ferris wheel. A very different type of harbor from Shichirigahama.
The sights here were the essence of what most people thought of as “Yokohama.” Yet you wouldn’t see anything like this if you stepped outside Yokohama Station.
“Senpai, you’re from Yokohama, right? Or was that just a rumor, too?”
“I’m from farther inland, out of sight of the sea, but Yokohama sprawls like that.”
Was she even listening? Tomoe had her phone out and was taking a picture of the far-off Ferris wheel. It might be a lie, but for this term only, they were a couple. She spared no effort to record these memories.
The first place Sakuta and Tomoe hit up was a large shopping mall a seven-or eight-minute walk from the station. A new place that had just opened a year before, it was all still very shiny.
It took them about half an hour to complete the necessary shopping. Sakuta’s designated budget had been approximately seven to eight thousand yen, so Tomoe helped him find a top and bottom that would be right for Kaede. The outfit was definitely the fashion of the day. And surprisingly affordable.
Since he had a little budget left over, he could aim for age appropriate underneath, too.
“Uh, Koga…”
“What?”
“What kind of underwear do you wear?”
“……”
“……”
“Huh?” She turned around and gaped at him.
“Are you not wearing any?”
“I am! Just normal… Why am I talking about this?! Why would you ask that?!”
“I just figured we should also get some underwear that a fifteen-year-old girl finds appropriate.”
“Your sister should buy that on her own!”
“Uh, so I didn’t mention this when you were over, but Kaede’s quite a homebody.”
“A homebody?” Tomoe blinked at him.
“A shut-in, basically. She was bullied in junior high.”
“Huh? What about your mom?”
“The mess with my sister was too much for her. We don’t live together. My father’s taking care of her.”
“……”
Tomoe studied his face closely.
“It finally makes sense.”
“What does?”
“That’s why you’re helping me.”
“You really are good at reading the air.”
There was no point in denying it now.
“You are, too. I thought at first you couldn’t, and that’s why you didn’t fit in, but you can figure it out just fine. You just choose to ignore it.”
“Do I?”
“You do.” Tomoe grinned and turned left. “You wait here.”
“Why?”
“J-just wait! Don’t you dare move!”
Tomoe took an escalator to the floor above.
He waited about fifteen minutes. When Tomoe came back, she was holding a blue plastic bag, too opaque to see what was inside.
“Here.”
She handed it to him, but when he started to loosen the drawstrings, she stopped him.
“No peeking!”
“Why not?”
“B-because they’re the same ones I have on.”
She smoothed down her skirt, fidgeting. Sakuta looked at her, then at the bag in his hand.
“Now I really want to look,” he said, tugging at the drawstrings again.
“No! Don’t! Argh, senpai! If you keep being such a perv, Sakurajima will dump you.”
“Huh?”
Why bring Mai into this?
“Somehow you’ve got a nationally famous actress interested in you. Don’t blow it!”
“Weren’t you insisting it was all in my head the other day?”
She hadn’t believed him. Tomoe had demanded to know if Mai had expressly said she loved him. This was while she was sick in the nurse’s office.
“But then I saw her show up at your apartment.”
“Oh yeah, she brought us some souvenirs.”
Tomoe had given up on studying and bumped into Mai on the elevator on her way out.
“I’ll help you with her, senpai! Make sure you two get together.”
“Whose fault is it we’re not together now?”
“Urp…th-that’s why I want to help!”
“Sure, thanks. I appreciate the thought… So what next? Anything you want to buy yourself?”
“Er…uh, mm. Mind if I check one thing?”
He followed Tomoe up a floor, and a world of color opened up before him. The swimsuit section. Swimsuits of all shapes and colors.
“I promised to go to the beach with the girls,” she said. “But my only swimsuit is the one the school makes us get… What will everyone wear?”
“Don’t you have one from junior high?”
“Why would I go back to that? Oh, how about this one?”
Looking slightly embarrassed, Tomoe picked up a frilly pink bikini.
She held it up against herself.
“Never been into padding.”
“It’s not for you!”
“Suits like that…”
Sakuta turned his attention to the curvy mannequin nearby for comparison. But his eyes lit on a blond beauty who put the mannequin to shame. A foreign bombshell so stunning his jaw dropped and he couldn’t help but stare. Curves for days.
Gorgeous blue eyes. Sexy lips. Her clothes utterly failed to hide the size of her chest or how tight her waist was. She was in a corner of the swimsuit section, speaking fluent Japanese, saying “How’s this? Or this?” to a slender girl with long black hair.
No, wait, the girl with long black hair wasn’t a girl, but a willowy man with a very androgynous face. More “beautiful boy” than “handsome.” He seemed about the same age as the blond.
This international couple was drawing attention from all over the store, not just Sakuta and Tomoe.
“What about this?”
“They’re all great,” her boyfriend said, clearly sick of it.
“No need to get all embarrassed! Nobody’s watching.”
Yeah, no, everyone was. And the boyfriend wasn’t embarrassed, he was just fed up. Was this relationship healthy?
“They’re all the same!”
“You mean you think I can make anything look good?” she asked, grinning mischievously.
That really reminded him of Mai. The particular confidence of a woman who knew exactly how beautiful she was. She was joking, but she also meant every word.
“Yeah,” he admitted. This seemed to catch her off guard. But then she smiled happily. The kind of brilliant smile that made the air around her brighten.
“Not often I get a compliment from you.”
“It’s merely a statement of fact,” he said, and then he started walking away like he just couldn’t take any more.
“Ah! Wait!” She went dashing after him, taking his arm despite his protests.
“I thought you went back to England? Why are you in Japan again?”
“I told you I have an exhibit here. And my parents are with me. You should come meet them tonight!”
“Wh-what?! That’s news to me!”
“I’m telling you now.”
Things seemed to be heating up, but since they were on the escalator now, Sakuta had no way of knowing the rest.
“Uh, so you see, Koga?” he said, turning back. “Once you fill out like that blond girl, you’ll be ready for a bikini.”
“I’ll never look like her!”
“I’d go with something like this instead.” He picked up a nearby suit.
It was a camisole type, covering everything up top from the chest to the waistline. The bottom was cut like a pair of shorts. On closer inspection, both top and bottom had two layers.
Tomoe stared at it for a long time, then put the suit back on the rack.
“I’ll think about it and buy something later,” she said.
When they finished shopping, Sakuta and Tomoe took a walk over to Yamashita Park. This was a pretty big park on the edge of the water. Tomoe took a ton of pictures, and occasionally they posed together, like a couple.
As the sun started setting, Tomoe pointed at the huge Ferris wheel. “Let’s finish with that,” she suggested.
The lights were making the city glow.
Their gondola slowly rose higher. They had a view of the entire harbor, drenched in the light of the sunset. Again, the phone came out, recording their date.
When she finished, Sakuta decided it was time to address the elephant in the room.
“So, Koga…”
“What?”
She was plastered to the glass, enraptured by the view.
“We need to figure out how we’re gonna break up.”
“Huh? Oh yeah…I know.”
She turned around, nodding. This suggested she was way ahead of him.
Knowledge of their relationship had spread through all corners of Minegahara. He’d even fought an upperclassman for her, so everyone thought they were pretty serious.
If their relationship just fizzled out over summer vacation, nobody would believe it. They needed to come up with a specific reason why things ended.
“Don’t worry—I’ve got a plan to dump you,” Tomoe said, like she’d thought of a fun new game.
“Wait, I’m the one getting dumped?”
“Yes, I realized you still weren’t over Sakurajima, and I broke up with you because of that.”
“That’s awfully close to home.”
“It ends with me slapping you and shouting, ‘I don’t need you!’”
“We have to act the whole thing out?”
“Reality is critical.”
“Hoo boy…”
“Make some time after the end-of-term ceremony. We’ll have our fight on the way home from a beach date.”
Tomoe smiled the whole time she explained the slap-Sakuta strategy.
While on a giant Ferris wheel filled with couples.
But things between them had never felt syrupy, the way it did with real couples. They’d never had to force the fake couple act, either.
If he had to put their relationship into words, they’d be a senpai and a kohai who got along. Somewhere along the line, they’d forged the kind of friendship where it was totally natural to tease each other.
He felt like the promise they’d made had already come true.
“When the lie ends, we stay friends.”
The way they acted together was definitely already there.
“Why are you grinning?”
“No reason.”
“Ugh, don’t play me like that!”
And Sakuta felt really comfortable with her.
4
With the final exams over, the mood in the school was like summer vacation had already arrived. Rejoicing or despairing over the exam scores aside, everyone was poised for escape, taking comfort in the knowledge they just had to survive this week.
With the local beaches officially open, it was impossible to sit in class diligently reviewing the exam answers.
The one saving grace was that the waves on Shichirigahama were pretty rough, and swimming wasn’t currently allowed. On days when the crowds were right outside the windows, students were poised to riot. But you only had to look left to see the Yuigahama beach and right to see Enoshima Eastside Beach.
The sight of far-off crowds and roofs of beach stalls made studying feel like a complete waste.
The teachers knew it as well and were just going through the motions.
Nobody cared.
Loads of students went off to swim the moment school let out. You could tell who, because they were all red with sunburn.
A typical summer sight at any seaside school.
The week passed peacefully.
The fake relationship with Tomoe went well. No one suspected a thing. Tomoe was getting along with her friends as well. She’d gone shopping with Rena, Hinako, and Aya on Sunday and bought a swimsuit. She told Sakuta about it at work.
“You want to see it, senpai?”
“Not really. More important, Koga…”
“How could anything be?!”
“My sister really liked the clothes you picked for her. Thanks.”
“Oh, sure. Good!”
“But I can’t believe you wear those panties.”
“Huh?! You saw them?!”
“I never would have suspected that was lurking beneath your skirt.”
“Th-they’re totally normal!”
Enjoying their time together, the final week of the term came to an end. And the last day, Friday, July 18, came all too soon and all too readily.
On the day of the end-of-term ceremony, Sakuta was woken by Kaede shaking him, as always.
“Morning, Kaede.”
“Good morning!”
They went to the living room, and he got breakfast ready. He flipped on the TV while he waited for the toast to finish, and it was showing highlights of the Fresh All-Star game from the night before. Crowds in a Nagasaki stadium cheering on two teams made of the best young players from each baseball league.
He and Kaede ate breakfast, absently watching it. At their feet, Nasuno munched happily away on a bowl of cat food.
“Summer vacation starts tomorrow, right?”
“And what does summer bring?”
“Watermelon!”
“I’ll bring one home.”
“It better be round!”
Eating an entire watermelon was a daunting task. They might have to foist some off on Mai, Sakuta thought. He got ready and left for school.
“Have fun!”
Kaede saw him off again.
On the train to school, he ran into Yuuma. They stood side by side, hanging on to straps above.
“You got summer plans, Sakuta?”
“Work.”
“Koga’s there, too!” Yuuma said, teasing him.
Sakuta ignored this. Yuuma had been baffled by their relationship at first but, after observing them together, seemed to have come around.
“You, Kunimi?”
“Work, practice, dates.”
“The essence of youth.”
“You’re one to talk!” Yuuma laughed, bumping his shoulder.
They chatted about this and that the rest of the way to school.
After morning homeroom, all students gathered in the gym for the ceremony. The principal’s well-intentioned speech fell on deaf ears—it was too hot to listen. Some students had brought in fans and were flapping them the whole time. Nobody yelled at them because the teachers were just as hot.
Back in his classroom, Sakuta sat through the final homeroom of the first term. The teacher read out each name in turn and handed over their report card.
Azusagawa was the first called, so he had no time to be nervous. The school used a ten-point rating system that soon brought reality crashing down on him.
His grades were basically the same as they always were. Thanks to Mai’s bunny-girl coaching, his physics grade was an eight, but everything else kept him at a thoroughly average six.
In the comment field, his teacher included a roundabout warning related to the incident with Maesawa. There was nothing else of interest.
The teacher wrapped up homeroom with a warning. “I know it’s summer, but don’t get carried away and hurt yourselves.” Teachers had been ending homerooms that way since elementary school.
The student on duty yelled, “Rise! Bow!” and a cheer went up. It was over. Finally. Emotions ran high.
Putting the commotion behind him, Sakuta left quickly.
The hall was filled with lingering students. It was a long vacation, and given they all had one another’s numbers, why not just go home? Was there some reason nobody did?
Since most students were taking their time, the road to the station was unusually empty. So was Shichirigahama Station itself. When Sakuta got there, there were maybe ten people around.
He walked down to where the first car on a Fujisawa-bound train stopped and waited for the train. Six more minutes.
Before it pulled in, Tomoe came running up.
“You beat me here!” she said.
They’d agreed to go to the beach today.
Their final date.
They’d decided to meet at the station.
Tomoe was fussing with the top of her skirt, like it wasn’t sitting right. She noticed his look.
“I changed into my swimsuit in the school changing room,” she offered before he could ask.
A classic seaside school trick. Students on different sports teams left the beaches, went back to school, and used the team showers. Yuuma had mentioned this last year.
“You’re leering, senpai.”
“I know.”
He could see pink through her uniform blouse.
“That was a hint that you should stop,” Tomoe chided, holding her marine tote bag up protectively.
While they were talking, the train rolled slowly into the station.
Sakuta and Tomoe left the train at the Enoden Enoshima Station and, in less than ten minutes, were on the Eastside beach. A long, gentle curve of sand that could get really crowded this time of year.
It was a weekday, though, so it was only locals and still pretty empty.
They split up by the stalls, and Sakuta changed into his trunks. He also put on a T-shirt. People tended to get the wrong idea if they saw the scars on his chest.
He dropped his things in a locker just as Tomoe emerged. Changing into her suit at school had certainly sped things up.
“Right, let’s swim!”
“Huh? No opinions?”
“I thought you didn’t want me looking.”
Sakuta recognized the suit she was wearing. It was the same one he’d held up when they were shopping together. She’d elected not to buy it then but had gone back with her friends and chosen that one anyway.
“I think it’s cute,” he said.
“D-don’t say cute!”
“Then what do you want me to say?”
“……”
Tomoe thought about it.
“…Cute, I guess?”
“You’re emotionally unstable again, Koga.”
“You know how girls’ minds work!”
“Not a whit.”
“Ah, shucks! You’re at it again!”
“Well, if we’re gonna shuck things, let’s get some corn on the cob.”
He turned around and headed for the stall.
“Oh! Me, too.”
Tomoe hurried back to his side.
Corn on the cob with the summer sun beating down on them was a treat like no other.
Midway through, there was a sudden shower, but everyone was at the beach to get wet anyway.
For lunch, they grabbed some yakisoba from the beach stall. While they waited for it to digest, he pulled Tomoe into the water, and once thoroughly drenched, they stared swimming again. When they were tired, they made castles in the sand.
“Which castle will survive the waves the longest?”
“The loser buys shaved ice!”
“No complaints later.”
“Same to you, senpai.”
Sakuta lost.
The deciding factor was the depression in the sand between the water and the castle. Tomoe had been sitting there while she worked and left a sizable butt-print, which had proved an effective moat.
“You’ve been saved by your butt, Koga.”
“Sh-shut up! You’re still buying!”
Tomoe had her hands on her rear again and was turning red.
A loss was a loss, so he paid for the shaved ice. Tomoe went with strawberry syrup, and Sakuta went with melon.
When the sun started setting, Sakuta and Tomoe sat on the beach, watching a five-or six-year-old boy and girl playing with a beach ball.
The girl’s powerful attacks had the boy reeling. He caught the ball with his face a lot.
“Senpai…”
“You hungry again?”
“Thanks for your help.”
“……”
“Okay,” Tomoe said, holding out her hand. “Let’s shake.”
“On what?”
“Good-byes.”
Sakuta wiped his hand on his T-shirt and took her hand. It felt very small.
“Ultimately, you still carried a candle for Sakurajima. I couldn’t deal with that, so I broke up with you,” Tomoe said, gazing out to sea like she was reading a story out loud.
“We don’t have to do the slap thing?”
“Let’s not and say we did. If I slapped you here, it would just be mega ungrateful.”
“Okay. Well…best of luck?”
He’d never been in a situation like this before, so he wasn’t really sure what to say.
“Mm.”
“Have a good vacation.”
“You, too. I hope Sakurajima says yes.”
“I’m very tenacious.”
Tomoe let go of his hand and stood.
“I’d better get going,” she said, smiling.
“Yeah, all this swimming really wore me out.” Sakuta staggered to his feet.
“You sound like an old man!” Tomoe laughed.
They headed to the lockers to get their things.
Once they’d changed, they boarded the Enoden and headed back to Fujisawa Station.
“You have plans for summer vacation, senpai?”
“I’m gonna do a whole lot of nothing.”
They chatted about nothing in particular…
Not one innuendo.
Friendly and fun to the very end.
A thoroughly enjoyable day, like one spent with a very good friend.
And thus their lie ended, without any students figuring it out.
And the joys of summer vacation arrived.
It all worked out because of you, senpai.
Now I’m okay.
I’ll be okay.
But…
…because you were here for me, I may have made one mistake.
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