Chapter 16
The next morning.
“Damn it...”
When I wiggled my toes, the space between my big toe and second toe stung.
Frowning deeply, I looked at my phone.
[Matsuda-kun, what are you doing?]
Miyuki's message had arrived.
Was this the first time she'd ever been the one to ask what I was doing?
I'd hurt my foot from wearing geta too long, but it had been a meaningful day, and she'd even messaged me first, so let's call it an honorable wound.
I rubbed my eyes and tapped away.
[I just woke up.]
[It's already eleven? What time did you go to bed last night?]
Her reply came incredibly quickly.
Could I take that to mean she'd been waiting for my message?
I had a feeling today was going to be fun.
[I went straight to sleep as soon as I got back, but when I woke up, it was already this late. What are you doing?]
[I just went to the hair salon with Tetsuya-kun.]
What the fuck. She'd gone to the hair salon with him, just the two of them?
So much for today being fun. It was nothing but gloomy.
[Did you get your hair cut?]
[I didn't. Only Tetsuya-kun did. Really short.]
[So that awful mop is finally gone?]
[Yeah. It looks really refreshing. But I think I liked Tetsuya-kun's old hair better. Want me to show you a picture?]
[Send it.]
It wasn't long before the picture Miyuki sent arrived.
It was a picture of the two of them standing pressed right up against each other and making V-signs.
It was fucking annoying seeing Tetsuya's shitty head touching Miyuki's as she smiled innocently, but there was something funny about it.
Tetsuya's hairstyle looked similar to mine.
‘It doesn't suit him at all.’
Different hairstyles suited different head shapes, but Tetsuya hadn't thought about that and had trimmed the sides short like I had.
Tetsuya's head was a little taller at the sides, with a gentle curve.
As a result, his side hair rose slightly like a mushroom.
Could he have felt something like jealousy toward me because of what happened yesterday?
If so, Tetsuya had kicked the ball straight into his own goal.
He'd directly eliminated one of his own distinctive features.
I sent her a message while cackling to myself like a lunatic.
[Not great. It might at least look decent if he flattened the sides and spiked the bangs. Does Miura have any wax at home?]
[I don't know either, but probably not? Tetsuya doesn't really care about hairstyles... But is it really that bad? I think it looks fine...]
[If it really looked fine, you wouldn't have said you liked Miura's old hair better.]
[That's a fair point. Then, when we study next week, could you explain to Tetsuya-kun how to apply wax and stuff?]
I had absolutely no reason to do that.
Anyway, judging by Miyuki's reaction yesterday, I figured the two of us could easily have a meal together now.
There was a good chance she'd accept, so it was worth trying.
[I'll think about it. What are you doing, anyway?]
[I'm at home.]
[Do you have any other plans?]
[No.]
[Have you showered?]
[Why on earth are you asking that? What are you imagining?]
She now automatically assumed I was having lewd thoughts.
It was sad. She wasn't wrong, though.
[Did you or didn't you? Just answer that.]
[I did.]
[Why are you making such a fuss about it already?]
[Because I went out and came back?]
I tousled my hair roughly.
Why did I keep pathetically testing the waters? Had I caught it from Tetsuya?
I shouldn't do this. I needed to just ask her directly.
[Did you eat with Miura?]
[No, we parted without eating. I'm going to eat at home now.]
[Don't eat. Come out and eat with me.]
[Now?]
[Yeah. Meet me at the station near that strange used-bookstore.]
[Matsuda-kun. You shouldn't just announce things as if they're decided. Aren't you supposed to ask what the other person wants first?]
[Let's eat. I'm hungry.]
[You should ask politely.]
[Food.]
[.... Fine. I'll get ready and head out.]
I clenched my fist when I received her message accepting.
I knew it had been right to invite her in my own way instead of cowering and merely watching her reaction.
I sprang up from my futon and ran to the bathroom.
**
“Matsuda-kun!”
Miyuki waved brightly from a distance.
I sauntered over to Miyuki, then grimaced when I saw the long skirt she was wearing.
“You wear that skirt all the time. Doesn't it feel stuffy?”
“Yeah. It's comfortable.”
If she ever dated me, I'd make her wear miniskirts and hot pants that revealed her thighs.
Tight-fitting T-shirts would be a given, and I'd have her wear a black bra underneath so it showed through faintly.
Then I'd secretly grope her ass while watching Tetsuya squirm at how sexy she'd become.
After that, we'd go into a love hotel and have a sloppy romp while I mocked Tetsuya's reaction.
“How many of those do you have at home?”
“Five.”
“That's a lot... Let's hurry. I'm starving to dea... I mean, I'm hungry.”
“What are we eating?”
“I was thinking ramen, but is there anything else you want?”
“No, I like ramen too. But, Matsuda-kun, you're going to order vegetables separately and eat them too, right?”
“That's blasphemy against greasy food.”
Miyuki shook her head as if she'd had enough.
“Yeah... At least you're not eating soy-sauce egg rice... I suppose ramen counts as health food to you...”
Don't give up, Miyuki.
Pack lunches for the sake of my health.
We bickered our way to a ramen restaurant like old friends who had known each other for years.
After we sat at a table and ordered, I saw Miyuki prop her chin up with one hand, press a straw beneath her nose, and pout her lips.
She tended to do that when she had a lot on her mind.
Something seemed to be bothering her.
I wanted to ask, but decided to leave her alone.
I was fiddling with my phone to pass the time when Miyuki tapped my spot with her finger, making me look up.
“Why?”
“Matsuda-kun, the fireworks were pretty yesterday, weren't they?”
I silently celebrated when I heard Miyuki's words.
The fact that she was asking the same question again meant she was thinking about what had happened during the fireworks.
She was confused about whether I'd meant that she was pretty or had been talking about the fireworks.
What she'd just done was her way of recalling what happened yesterday.
I shrugged and answered simply.
“Yeah.”
“Which one was prettiest? Purple?”
Purple had appeared in the middle... It was the color that burst alongside yellow when I looked away from Miyuki.
Even so, she was specifically bringing up purple?
There was no other explanation than that she was testing me.
I wasn't going to fall for her foxlike scheme.
I'll make my feelings clear right after I leave the club when vacation ends.
The feelings I'd developed after fifteen years of sticking together were farther from love, but closer than friendship.
I wasn't ready yet to tear down the sturdy tower that had formed in the hearts of you two.
Instead, I'll work hard during summer vacation, so just feel something slightly ambiguous yet subtly sweet toward me... something like that.
At least I'd fallen into Dokiaka near the beginning, before Miyuki and Tetsuya's relationship had grown even closer.
If I'd arrived after some time had passed, I would've missed the most important event—the sexual-assault incident—and gone through hell.
I was exhausted just imagining it.
“Weren't they all pretty?”
“Yeah... They were all pretty.”
“Anyway, you two went to the hair salon without me?”
“Ah, I'm sorry. I was going to ask you to come, but... Tetsuya-kun said he was eating out with his family...”
Could that really be true?
Or was it an excuse Tetsuya had deliberately made up to avoid me?
It was probably a combination of both.
Miyuki and Tetsuya knew each other's families well and lived in the same neighborhood.
If Miyuki happened to meet Tetsuya's family and ask whether they'd gone out to eat, the truth would come out immediately.
No matter how stupid Tetsuya was, it would be difficult for him to tell a lie that would be exposed so quickly.
Besides, I'd asked Tetsuya to go to the hair salon with me.
Even so, the fact that he'd gone with Miyuki alone today despite that meant he was worried about me.
Tetsuya seemed to be starting to feel threatened, but I wasn't worried at all.
The reason became clear when I thought about the ending of Dokiaka.
I had been furious about it back then... but after coming here, I felt grateful for that situation instead of angry.
“What are you thinking so hard about? Are you sulking?”
I came to my senses at Miyuki's follow-up question and asked in return.
“Do I look like that kind of guy?”
“Yeah. Matsuda-kun can be a little childish.”
“That sounds like an indirect way of calling me immature.”
“One of Matsuda-kun's problems is that you're negative about everything.”
Miyuki began teasing me with a beaming smile.
As the subject of the fireworks quietly faded away, the strange atmosphere between us returned to normal.
**
After enjoying our ramen, we didn't part ways at the subway station. Instead, we walked to Miyuki's neighborhood and talked along the way.
My scraped foot stung, but I could endure anything for the sake of spending time with Miyuki.
“What did you do on weekends before you met us?”
Ken Matsuda would visit an upscale soapland in Kabukicho on weekends.
He was a regular, and when he couldn't be bothered to go, he would call a deriheru, an outcall service.
No matter how casually I acted, there was no way I could tell her that.
I'd just make something up.
“I drank with the guys... played pool... stuff like that. Why are you digging into the past all of a sudden?”
“You and Tetsuya-kun lived in a different world from me, after all. So I was curious.”
As you said, I really had come from a different world.
“It was an embarrassing period, so you don't need to know the details.”
“I think realizing that is proof you've matured.”
If you keep giving me nothing but carrots, I'll just get conceited, you know?
You should crack the whip a little, too.
Pretending the praise embarrassed me, I cleared my throat and changed the subject.
“The weather's nice today, isn't it?”
“Yeah. The breeze is cool, and the sky is pretty too.”
“Want to take a picture together?”
“A picture? Sure.”
Miyuki readily accepted my offer and took her phone out of her crossbody bag.
I didn't like the cute character keychain dangling from its edge.
It would've been perfect if it had been my initials, a caricature, or some kind of chibi drawing instead.
Miyuki looked around, then moved toward a spot where the scenery would probably look good in the shot.
Then she gestured for me to hurry over.
I approached Miyuki and stood beside her, then posed the moment she opened the camera app.
Unlike the mischievous or delinquent expressions I'd shown until now, I wore a serious expression with a faint smile and just a little intensity in my eyes.
I also remembered to frame the shot like the pictures Miyuki and Tetsuya had taken together.
Then I saw Miyuki's pupils shift toward me on the phone's screen.
This was the first time she'd seen me make an expression like this, right? It would be a refreshing change.
“Should we move closer? Your profile is getting cut off.”
At my nonchalant question, Miyuki, who had been lost in thought, stammered out a reply.
“Huh? Ah... yeah... Shall we move a little closer?”
I moved close enough for our side hair to touch.
This seemed like a similar composition to the one in the picture she'd taken with Tetsuya.
When Miyuki went home, I hoped she'd compare the picture we'd taken today with the one she'd taken with Tetsuya.
Because she was so close, the scent of Miyuki's shampoo filled my nose.
Later, I'd share not only shampoo with her, but body wash too.
Despite finding a good spot for the picture, the screen showed nothing but our faces.
Even so, Miyuki didn't say anything.
She merely adjusted her clothes and composed her expression.
Miyuki glanced at me and said,
“So... shall we take it?”
“L-le's ta-ke it...”
Maybe my inability to speak properly because I was smiling made me look funny, because Miyuki let out a small laugh.
Then, seeing my expression gradually fall apart, she quickly put on a bright smile and placed her finger on the shutter button.
Click-!
Just as that strange atmosphere born in the ramen restaurant returned, we took our first memorable selfie.