Precious Friendships (Shizune Bad End, Sisterhood plot) [Ch88 @ 28/2/25: Unpredictability is my Game!]

[ShizuneFan2019]

I'd say that setting up a relationship in less than a month is fast, but then I remembered the actual timeframe of KS where relationships are basically established in even less amount of time. [\quote]

Yup, I had exactly the same thought in mind when I planned the whole plot. And a relationship in such a short time will inevitably run into multiple issues, which will turn into excellent writing material

Congratulations to your Miki. It will be interesting as hell to see how they'll meet Hisao with Shizune xD

I'm already writing that chapter, and it's going to be awesome. The sheer number of characters and their now extremely complicated relationships mean I need to write carefully and check many times in order to not make a contradiction.

[ShizuneFan2019]

Chapter 85: Shiina, Hicchan, and Sweetie

Mmm… Mmm…

Lying down on my bed with my eyes closed, I allow my body to fully relax, enjoying every thrust of pleasure my boyfriend is offering me.

Sss… Sss…

The pleasure is building up fast, and my valiant attempt to suppress any embarrassing static moan from my mouth fails miserably. I expect my brain to be whited out in a matter of seconds.

My boyfriend leans in and joins lips with me. This implies he’s close to the limit too. I naturally embrace him, anticipating the final moments of our intimate act.

The waves of sensation are so strong that my whole body quivers, and I hug him tight to briefly enter the world of euphoria with him.

Exhausted, I lie flat with my arms spread wide. My boyfriend lies on top of me for a while before rolling to my right side to recover his energy. We promised to have another session later in the evening, but given how strong the ending we’ve just experienced, I might not be able to take another one.

He cups my face and offers me another intimate kiss. Thanks, dear, for giving me a wonderful evening. We haven’t had one for like a month.

[It’s time.]

Really? I turn my head towards the alarm clock. Indeed, we need to get ourselves ready. I can’t believe we’ve already spent so much time on the bed.

[You’re right. Let’s go.]

So I don’t get to enjoy the aftermath to full. It’s fine. I’m satisfied already. We can always repeat the act, provided that we’re able to handle it.

After cleaning everything up, we put on our pajamas (as a regular visitor, he has a couple of them in my wardrobe) and sit in front of our respective laptop computers. We both open the instant message application, and, after I create a chat group, I invite our mutual friend into the group while my boyfriend joins my session. We both grab an apple from the fruit plate and take a bite while waiting for her connection. Soon, a text pops out from the chat box.

{Hi~~}

It should be 7:30 in the morning in America. We only have like thirty minutes before Shiina leaves for school. If she allows, we can engage in a video chat, though I opt not to do it for extensive amount of time because the internet speed here is not ideal, and both the frame jumps and the delay across the other side of the globe make sign language communication extremely awkward for both of us. But there’s another reason for not using sign language, even though it’s my preferred medium of communication. It depends on her school arrangement for the day.

{Hey there, Misha!}

Misha, the name which was essentially equivalent to the word “friend” in my Yamaku years until the exchange student arrived. When I first got to know her, I regarded her use of a nickname in even formal situations a childish decision. One day I interrogated her about her refusal of using her real name of Shiina (at that time I was not yet the Student Council President, so I wasn’t in a position to enforce a rule onto her), but the interrogation concluded without a satisfactory answer. Since then, due to the fact that we share a common interest (i.e. I need a translator, and she wants to become a sign language teacher), I dropped the issue and instead focus on developing a friendship with her, allowing her to use her nickname as requested.

{Hi Shicchan~!}

And, for the same reason, I’ve been willing to endure her use of a nickname on me. It was silly, but at least it didn’t affect my conversation with others during my realm in Yamaku, since I couldn’t hear how my classmates were referring to me anyway. That was until I learned how to lip-read, but by that time Shiina’s already gone. At least people have been addressing me properly since then.

{Hi, it’s been some time! How are you doing?}

When my boyfriend ate with me last week, we engaged in a conversation about Shiina and her use of nicknames. Since we’re now officially adults, it’s more appropriate for us to address each other with first names, especially in formal situations. For our case, the use of “–chan” is too childish to be used in introductions. In fact, one purpose of this morning’s talk is to persuade her to stop using those nicknames in front of others. As for Shiina’s case, I suggested using her original name during the conversation, but my boyfriend objected my proposal for a rather unexpected reason: Apparently “Shiina” will the name of a major antagonist in a soon-to-be released video game* that involves a prosecutor trying to solve cases with available clues and interrogations. I’d like to play that game during the summer break by the way. Anyway, he doesn’t like the idea of associating Shiina with a cold-blooded murderer, so we’re not going to change the way we call her. However, that doesn’t stop me from addressing her Shiina in my mind. (*Note: The name in the English translation is actually “Shih-na”, but the Japanese name is the same. The game was released in Japan in May 2009, which is the same time as this chapter.)

{Hi Hicchan~!! I’m doing great! I just had a parfait for breakfast! Yay~!!}

I still don’t approve of her food choices, and I’m not sure if having those for breakfast is beneficial for the stomach. I’m pretty sure my soulmate is sharing the same thought as mine, so I deliver him a smirk and a light shrug while biting on my healthy apple, which he responds by spreading his hands wide with a helpless expression before typing an encouraging reply without judgment.

{Sounds like you had a wonderful breakfast!}

I last saw Shiina a couple of weeks ago when she visited Japan for my birthday party. She took leave from school, flew here, attended the party, and stayed the night in a hotel (because I reserved my apartment for spending the night with my boyfriend). She then visited Kasshoku the next day, spent some time in the Student Council room chatting with Sakura and my fellow members, and slept in my apartment. She traveled to Saitama for her friends on Friday, spent the whole Saturday walking around Tokyo with me, and returned to America on Sunday.

{So, how was yesterday? Boring classes again?}

{Yeah, but they’re are much better this month! I have more practical sessions!}

Since then, I haven’t really talked to her on the computer, prioritizing instead on Student Council business, studies, and spending time with my newly acquired boyfriend. Even though I no longer constantly need a translator in Japan, and we’re separated by distance, I know that it not an excuse for me to drop contact with my best friend.

{Practicals, huh. Tell us more about it.}

{It’s a school for the disabled, similar to Yamaku. I was assigned to translate lectures to students with hearing conditions alongside one of my classmates Mia, taking turns by alternating between lecture sessions. There’s another classmate, Serena, who alternates the translation task with us, and one of us stays in the academic building standing by after class in case any student needs help outside of classes.}

{I see. Isn’t it more like internship than practicals?}

{Yes, pretty much, except that we only have practicals every other day. We have theoretical sessions when we don’t have practicals.}

{It should be really fun, right?}

{Yup! Though I’m still getting used to switching languages at will. Several times a student caught me using a JSL sign that means something else in ASL.}

This is exactly what I’m worried about. When Shiina was still in Yamaku, we primarily used JSL as the communication medium, and only switched to ASL scarcely when joking or if we needed to convey confidential information that we couldn’t afford to disclose to my boyfriend or staff members. Now that she’s migrated to America, ASL becomes her main sign language medium, and thus several times during our conversations two weeks ago I spotted her signing ASL before quickly changing to JSL. And this is the reason I refrain from clicking the “video chat” button; if we talk in JSL this morning, she’s going to face trouble if she does have a practical session today, which sounds likely since she implied she had classes yesterday.

My boyfriend turns his head towards me for help. Oh yeah, he knows nothing about those abbreviations. I should provide him with a briefing.

[What are JSL and ASL?]

[Japanese Sign Language and American Sign Language. Just like Japanese and English.]

[Ah I see! I never realize sign language itself also has different languages.]

Adjusting my glasses, I give my boyfriend a playful smirk.

[I can teach you ASL if you like.]

My shuddering boyfriend is visibly intimidated by my offer of potentially leaking Shiina-related confidential material in exchange for learning another language.

[No thanks! English is already tough enough for me!]

I nod, satisfied with his wise decision, and return to the computer to confirm my deduction.

{I know. So, are you having practicals today?}

{Yup! And I think I’m with Serena today!}

Yeah, no video chat today, unfortunately. By the way, another reason I always think twice about talking to her in sign language on her duty days is that I don’t want to place her hands additional burden; typing is much less tiring than sign language.

{Great! I wish you all the best in your translations. And your career in general.}

{Thanks, Hicchan~!!}

My part-time roommate turns towards me and gives me a nod, which I duly return. We’re short on time. We should deliver the message across right now, and we reached a consensus in advance that he’ll be the one to initiate the discussion.

{Hey Misha, there’s something in our minds that we’d like to discuss with you, and we hope that you can listen to us.}

{Uh… Sure~!!! Misha can take any advice~ Especially if it’s from Hicchan and Shicchan!!}

Sigh… Too many “-chan”’s!

{Well, I did type the word “career”, didn’t I? I don’t know about you, but when you attended Shizune’s birthday party earlier this month, don’t you also feel like time flies, and we’re already entering adulthood?}

{Yup! And you two can finally consume alcohol! And you’re right, we have our careers to worry about. So, what’s the advice about my career you’re giving me?}

{No, we’re fine with your career choices. What I’m trying to say is, accept it or not, we’re already adults. Officially. Which means we need to behave more like adults.}

{We do, huh. You’re probably right, Hicchan~~}

{That’s why we’re advising you to refrain from addressing us with nicknames in front of others. If it’s just the three of us, we can accept it; but not anymore when we’re with friends or parents. Sorry for being direct, but I hope it’s okay for you.}

As we wait for her reply, he shoots me a doubtful glance, probably hoping for an approval. I give him an assuring nod in response. Shiina told us that Americans tend to be more direct, and I hope she’s gotten used to it.

[I hope she takes it well.]

[I’m sure she will.]

Another reason I don’t want Shiina to use the nickname on my boyfriend is that I’d like to use that nickname exclusively. My relationship with him is not quite the same as hers with him after all.

{Wahahahahaha~!!!!! Okay Okay!! You don’t want me to call you Hicchan in front of your classmates, right? Awwwww~ But Hicchan is so cute!! You look just like a Hicchan!! But~!!! If you don’t want to, I won’t!! I just said I’ll take any advice, so I should stick to my promise, right? Right~!! Wahahahahaha~!!!!!}

A glance towards “Hicchan” confirms to me that he’s sweating hard. He shakes his head helplessly.

[Well, at least she seems to take the advice relatively well.]

He’s right. We’ll inevitably need to keep reminding her when we introduce our friends to her, but at least we’ve managed to bring the message across. Speaking of friends, the Yamaku Festival is a couple of weeks from now. I wonder if she’ll return for the occasion. If so, she’d better address us properly in front of Mutou.

{We’ll be grateful if you do that. By the way, how did your weekend go?}

Two days ago, Hideaki and I traveled to Gifu prefecture to visit mom, and I had Hicchan tagging along with me to greet her formally as her potential future son-in-law. When we informed dad about our short trip, he unexpectedly offered to drive us there and spend some time hanging out with us. It was not yet the appropriate moment to reveal the identity of my boyfriend to him, so I lied to him that we’re going shopping with mom in order to discourage him from joining. Instead, the four of us went on a picnic, and we had a fantastic time on a piece of grassland. Possibly due to Hicchan’s previous effort during my stay in the hospital, my mom treated him with a great deal of respect; the fact that Hicchan’s bought my mom appropriate gift, with my suggestions in advance, helped as well. I’d say Hicchan has been blending well with my family. Well, that’s not accounting for dad, of course. A surprise during the picnic was that Hideaki has improved a lot in his sign language; apparently he has been self-studying really hard, and he has had mom practice with him.

{Wahahahahaha~~~ But man~!! Should I tell Shicchan about it? I don’t know! But Shicchan’s my best friend, right? Right~! I should tell Shicchan!! Okay, okay!!! Wahahahahaha!!!}

The way this girl can directly type what she’s thinking in her simple head is mind-boggling. She’s also completely neglecting Hicchan’s advice, although admittedly we aren’t in a formal situation.

{Yeah~ So~ I went on a date with my classmate.}

A date, huh. Two weeks ago when Shiina was in Japan, she told me she had a date a few weeks prior, the day before I roped Hicchan into kissing me in the Student Council room. That date went well until after dinner.

{A date? Is he handsome? How was it?}

{Sigh… Hicchan, tell me. Are all boys perverted guys who only think about sex? They treat you well, bring you to dinner, watch a movie with you, bring you to a shopping mall, and then they invite you to spend the night with them.}

Oh boy, that’s exactly what she told me about her last date. She had a great dinner with her date (I think she had another parfait or something similar), watched a movie with him, then the boy attempted to drag her into a hotel.

{Well, as a boy I can tell you I’m not. I read an article the other day that says men think about sex with a frequency of once every 43 seconds on average, but no, I certainly won’t go for a new date just to have sex. So, what happened? Did he bring you to a hotel or something like that?}

I don’t think about sex every 43 seconds, but I do have a pretty strong sex drive. I guess boys are not the only gender that can be perverted. Flashbacks of what I did back in Saitama appear in my mind.

{Yeah, he tried to persuade me into spending the night with him in a hotel, but I rejected him. He got a little annoyed, like, he treated me dinner and movie and everything, so he thought I was obliged to go to bed with him. I said no, gave him my share of the cost and phoned Daniela drive me back home. While waiting for her to come, I wish I had driven my own car instead of riding his! Luckily Daniela was free that evening, so she arrived in no time.}

Good job, Shiina. I’m proud of you.

{I think you did the correct thing, Misha.}

{Thanks Hicchan~_… But my previous date ended up pretty much the same way! I don’t know, is it an American thing? The boys here seem to prefer open relationship.}

{Open relationship?}

{Yup~ Like, you can have sex with whoever you want, even if you’ve a boyfriend or girlfriend. Or even a spouse. I asked several of my classmates and friends. Most of them don’t mind this kind of relationship~.}

I never stayed in America, so I can’t judge. Perhaps Misha is the kind of girl who looks easy to be coaxed into bed with an offer of a parfait? Or is it a college-only thing? Young people tend to love more freedom.

{I see, Misha. I’ve never been to America, so I can’t help you on that. Though I don’t think there’s anything wrong with rejecting sex offer from a date; protecting yourself is important. Instead of going on random dates, maybe you should be patient finding somebody who truly likes you. Maybe find a Japanese?}

Instead of controlling the conversation as I usually do, this time I’m allowing Hicchan to do most of the talking because he hasn’t talked to her for quite a while (he last saw her in the birthday party). And I’m still a little tired after the intimacy from earlier, so I’m happy to let my boyfriend do most of the typing for me. But because it’s been quite a while since I last typed, I decide it’s time to chip in.

{So, have you met any Japanese in school?}

After typing, I reflexively try to grab a book from the corner of my desk to study before putting my hand down to focus my priority on my best friend rather than multi-tasking like I’ve been doing all the time.

{No, Shicchan. Most internationals are Chinese, but most of them study either math or computer and are huge nerds who don’t come out of their rooms often (and even when they do, they look dirty without shaving or showering). Many of them are post-graduates by the way.}

Well that’s quite a difference from my impression on Alvin. I guess Hong Kong and mainland China are not quite the same, at least in terms of the people. But I’m sure not all Chinese are as dirty as she describes. We don’t want to make stereotypes, regardless of their nations.

{Misha, you shouldn’t hurry to find a random boyfriend just because everybody around has one. A suitable soulmate is way more important.}

{Hisao’s right. I recommend you to focus on your practical training. If you can become the best sign language teacher in the world, high quality boys will go after you.}

Shiina, I’ll be truly happy for you if you can find yourself a high quality boyfriend, especially since unlike me, you have no disability. At least not a known one.

{Thank you, Shicchan and Hicchan~. I won’t go on random dates any more. I’ll study hard. I’m a student after all. Right? Right! Wahahahahaha~!!!!}

A year ago, that was around two months after she migrated to America for the second time in her life, Shiina told me she went on a trip with friends right before a test day. She promised me to focus on her studies instead of spending time on entertainment. I suppose this forgetful girl has to be reminded of her promise from time to time.

{I mean, Misha, we’re not saying you can’t go on any date. Shizune’s talking about focusing on schoolwork and career instead of rushing yourself into a potentially unhealthy relationship, such as the one you just shared with us. And if Americans aren’t your cup of tea, perhaps you should come back to Japan after you get your certification.}

{Then we’ll be able to see each other again! Frequently!}

{Thank you~!! Actually Nat gave me a similar advice too~. I’m not ruling out the possibility of going back to Japan~.}

That would be excellent! Although she would have to get used to teaching JSL.

{You mean Natalie, your Venezuelan roommate whom we met in the Ocean Park the other day?}

{Yup! Like my case, she prefers a boyfriend who originates from the South American region. At least one with a Hispanic culture.}

{Yeah, I do believe that in general, it’s better to have a partner with a similar background, although we do see occasional successful cases of cross-culture blending from time to time. The pair of Alvin and ‘Nako immediately comes to mind. By the way, ‘Nako is Iwanako in short. I was recalled the other day by a former schoolmate that we all called her ‘Nako in my former high school.}

About “occasional successful cases of cross-culture blending”, I think about Uncle Hiroyuki and Aunt Karla at once; Hideaki told me the other day that the two apparently had to go through a great deal of tribulations. I wish Alvin and his girlfriend all the best if they can go all the way to the red carpet.

{Hmm~ Anyway~ I’ll worry about it later!!! Gotta focus on schoolwork!! And if I do need to return to Japan, I will~!!! Happily~!! Wahahahahaha!!!!!}

{Yup, that’s the correct mindset. Oh yeah, speaking of ‘Nako, I almost forgot. Since we don’t have much time left, I should do this now.}

Looking at the clock, we’ve already chatted for more than 20 minutes. Time really flies when you talk to friends, especially with all the typing and wait. But I wonder what Hicchan is up to. It seems like he’s searching for something on his laptop.

{Here it is. ‘Nako wants me to share with you this little music piece. Remember during the birthday party, the three of us had a reminiscence about the Yamaku Student Council? Turns out ‘Nako kind of overheard our conversation a bit, and, after taking a picture of the three of us, apparently some kind of musical inspiration came to her. Accordingly, she composed a small music piece about the three of us, titled “Student Council”. I’m sharing the midi file to you.}

I can understand why he didn’t share this piece of news with me: From his perspective, I cannot hear it, so he’d rather not mention it. But what he doesn’t know is that I can still enjoy music, just in a different way.

{Yup. I’ve got it~ Let’s hear what Iwa-chan composed for us~}

As Shiina listens to Iwanako’s work, Hicchan turns to me and signs apologetically.

[Sorry that I don’t know how to convey the music to you.]

[No worries. Can you play the music, and let me use your laptop? And if you have it, I want the music score on display as well.]

Unsurprisingly he’s amazed by my willingness to participate in this little event. In my experience, most people, including Hicchan, tend to avoid talking about music in front of me because they think such a topic must be irrelevant to me. I understand that they’re just trying not to so-called “rub salt into my wounds”.

[Really? You can perceive music?]

[Yes, although obviously my experience is different from yours. I mainly perceive the vibrations and the beats. This is why I prefer reading the music score at the same time, as I can refer to the beats while the laptop vibrates.]

[Excellent! I never knew my girlfriend would enjoy music!]

Amused by his reply, I walk over to my boyfriend’s laptop as it displays the music score Iwanako sent through e-mail. Opting to enhance the “hearing” experience, I retrieve a pair of small amplifiers from the third drawer and plug it into the laptop. Hicchan starts playing the music and uses his finger to trace the music score as I place my hands on the two white amplifiers. Even though Hicchan is doing a less than ideal job of tracing the music score, I’m able to get a feeling of what the music “sounds” like:
xxxxxxx- xxxx-xx- xxxxxxx- xxxx--x-
x---x-xx x-x----- x-xx-x-x x----xxx
x-xx---x x-xx-x-x x---xxxx --------

From the vibration I can feel that it is a calm music piece, and beat-wise it’s quite comfortable, but I’ll need Shiina’s input on the quality of the melody.

The chat box on Hicchan’s laptop alerts us there’s a new message, so after the music stops playing, I return to my own laptop to read Shiina’s reply.

{The music’s awesome! I love how calm and joyful the melody is, exactly the feeling when we’re hanging out in the Student Council room~!! Of course, except when Shicchan’s urging us to complete tasks way before the deadline~!! Wahahahahaha~~!!!}

{Yeah, we should have two pieces of music for the Student Council. This one is for the usual chilling out. I’ll ask ‘Nako to compose an exciting one, with the title of “Student Council: Meeting deadlines”.}

Okay, I don’t expect my former subordinates to gang up and tease me like that. But somehow I like the idea of having two themes for my favorite organization.

[You can ask her if you want to. I have no rebuttal.]

{Wahahahahaha~~~!! That’d be great, Hicchan! I’m looking forward to it!}

{I’m gonna do that! Well unfortunately I think it’s time for you to go to school.}

{Oh yeah~ Awwwww~ I’d like to hear more from you two!! I haven’t asked you about the weekend!! But no worries, we can still chat next week, right? Right~!!}

{Sure. See you soon.}

After terminating the chat group, I close my laptop and, deciding to exercise my brain a little before further physical activity, take out a Risk board from the second drawer.

[Let’s play a game before we go for another session!]

After throwing away both of our eaten apples, my boyfriend comes over to kiss me on my forehead before starting to arrange his pieces. But before he can do that, his phone gets his attention; apparently his phone rings. As a potent Risk player, I quickly set everything up on the board before heading towards the bathroom: I need to clean myself up, specifically I’ve got to wipe off his discharge from earlier. I love the warm feeling, and I certainly don’t mind receiving another dose of love in an hour or so.

Man, just the thought of getting that dose makes me lick my lips, my “lower lips” yearning for a round two. But I’ll give my partner time to recover his strength.

Peeking out from the bathroom, looks like he’s done with the call. Let’s play Risk!

[It was ‘Nako. She’s set everything up for the upcoming reunion.]

Ah! The reunion. We briefly discussed the issue last week. I offered to join the reunion to help calming down a potentially high tension encounter.

[When will it be?]

[The coming Sunday. Noon. She’s booked a party room in Midori University. Are you okay with the arrangement?]

Midori, huh. Emi’s other practical training venue and, of course, the university Iwanako is studying in. It’ll be the first time both of us visit that school.

[Yes, I’m fine with it. So, how many will come?]

[‘Nako and her boyfriend, and all four of my former classmates. Apparently Shin will bring his girlfriend. I never knew he got himself a girlfriend; I’m curious.]

A girlfriend? Hmm, my combative spirit awakens and is burning up!

[Then I’ll need to wear my best clothes! I’m not losing to her!]

[The battle of girlfriends, huh. I hope it doesn’t end up with a fight. Physically.]

[It doesn’t always have to be a fight. We can settle things on the game board instead.]

[If that’s the case, you don’t need to pick your best clothes. Just sleep well, or bring a Risk board.]

[Nope. Appearance is very important. If I beat her in terms of feminine beauty, my opponent might get flustered and make the wrong moves!]

[As you wish. I do think bringing a few board games is a great idea. I just hope we won’t end up throwing chess pieces at one another.]

[Seriously, is it really going to be that bad?]

[I have no clue. I’m really nervous. And I still can’t formulate a satisfactory apology of any sort.]

[We’ll worry about it later. But can you tell me about your former schoolmates before we attend the reunion?]

[Yeah, of course. First is Shin who’s bringing his girlfriend. We’ve known each other for a year only, but we were in the same primary school. He always wears a light brown zip-up jacket with black pants and dark shoes, with a sleeveless shirt underneath. He has short hair like an explosion. He always called me a “damn fool”, and I called him a “jerk” in return. He offered me a lot of anime and manga, some of which are still in my possession.]

[Okay, I’ve got an idea. Who else?]

[Then it’s Mai, the girl I’ve known since primary school. She’s quite rebellious and combative. Her parents run a ramen shop, and she loves curry. She usually wears a jacket that’s too big for herself, something like a black polo shirt, and with knee-high boots. Her hair is down to her shoulders and chest, like Hanako. She enjoyed playing arcade games with me.]

[I see. The next one?]

[Takumi. I’ve known him since junior high school. He has a slender build and longer hair than usual boys. He’s usually not very out-spoken, but he can talk a lot if you’re familiar enough with him. I don’t hang out with him too often because he’s closer to Shin than me. Sometimes he can lose his train of thought, resulting in his signature blank stare.]

[Got it. And finally?]

[You met her earlier. Kai. I always called her Shrimp because she just looks so small to me.]

[If you call her Shrimp, then how about me?]

[Hey, that was from years ago! As for you…]

Putting his phone down onto his laptop, Hicchan comes over and cups my face.

“Thanks for reminding me. Misha taught me a word in English: ‘???’. I should start calling you that.”

I can’t lip-read that word, so I take his hands off to create a distance in order to sign properly.

[What’s that word again? In sign?]

[That’s S-W-E-E-T-I-E.]

[When did Misha teach you that word? Didn’t you last meet her in my birthday party?]

[She sent an e-mail to me in private after we told her our news. She suggested me to call you ‘Sweetie’ instead of ‘Shicchan’, even though I never called you ‘Shicchan’.]

Yeah, I can visualize that simple-minded Shiina would assume that others are also using nicknames like she does. ‘Sweetie’ seems a bit silly, but I’m okay with it provided that he uses it in private. It’s funny that the boy who isn’t quite potent in English gets to give me an “English name”.

[Sweetie is fine. Provided that I call you Hicchan.]

My boyfriend freezes for a second before a chuckle turns into a bitter laugh.

“Hahaha… alright, alright. Whatever, sweetie.”

Then, before I can make another sign, he grabs my hands, put them down, and cup my face to join lips with me. Raising my head to take his kiss, I smell the fragrance of fresh apple in his breath. I’m sure I must taste like apple as well. Then, just when I’m about to break away in order to start the Risk game, he pulls me closer and slips his left hand into my pink pajamas.

The closed distance means I can only sign with one hand.

[Don’t you need a rest?]

Hicchan pulls away from the kiss and shakes his head while looking directly into my eyes.

“The apple helped. Thanks a lot.”

So, with the Risk board still untouched, and the glass panda figurine he bought me way back in the Ocean Park staring at us through the reflection of the moonlight, we opt to play the second round of a more physical game instead, a decision both of my pairs of lips will agree with. If time allows, we may even go for a third round; but I’m not planning to stretch ourselves too much because we’ll have a busy day tomorrow. Sakura and Student Council business will be waiting for me, while Hicchan will be in the final stage of his preparation for a JUSC title defense.

Two reunions are waiting for us: Iwanako’s gathering in a few days, and the Yamaku Festival will be the Sunday afterwards. This means I don’t get to introduce Hicchan to my dad until mid-June, when my free time is further restricted due to resuming duty in Tanpopo Education Center.

“Are you okay?”

Oops, he caught me thinking about stuff. Okay, enough brain activity. Back to action we go.

[I’m fine. Lie down, I’ll serve you.]

Chapter 86: Rooftop Adventure

[ShizuneFan2019]

Chapter 86: Rooftop Adventure

After taking a quick shower, I exit the bathroom to see my friends already done.

“Are you going to have dinner with us?”

Oops! Forgot to tell them not to wait for me.

“I’m sorry! I’m booked tonight. See you on Monday!”

“It’s alright. See you on Monday then.”

Waving them goodbye, I take a quick look at my phone, noting that I still have some time left, so I can walk at a slower pace towards the bus station.

I’m relieved that the wound isn’t hurting anymore.

Due to the accident last week, there is a slight modification to the schedule of my exchange program. I’ll be staying here for another two weeks, ending on a Friday. Which is awesome, as I get to hang around with my friends a bit longer.

And I’m glad that, except the schedule change and a few students dropping out, nothing notable was affected by the accident. I still run with trainees as usual, and they still invite me for dinner afterwards. A life like this is enjoyable.

Sadly, everything will end two weeks from now. Then I’ll be back in my hometown diving into more books and taking more exams.

During my visit to the Nurse last Friday, he briefly discussed with me my upcoming schedule after the exchange program. The goal is to graduate before next April. I still need more hours of practical training in addition to several exams which I don’t remember the name of. One of them is coming up in August, and once I return to my college, I will be thrown into a crash course to prepare for it. Then I can take a one-month break before, well, studying more.

And then, after graduating, maybe I can get myself hired by Yamaku. Which is good, at least in terms of job security. And I can see mom often. But Shizune’s words the other day remind me that I can aim higher. A Physical Education teacher has a potential to earn more, although I’ll need to study (damn, books again!) for a teaching certificate. An alternative is a gym trainer, which is also fun.

Or perhaps I can think about what Takumi suggested last week: Becoming a Paralympic gold medalist.

I don’t know! There are so many choices available, I’ve a hard time making my decision! Even though I tend not to worry about these kind of stuff until they come, I’ll eventually have to choose a path, and that might require early planning, according to that damn jerk Nurse.

Yet, everything might change very soon. All my options and the Nurse’s plans might be thrown out of the window if I get myself a boyfriend within two weeks. Well, that is, if I can get over with my trust issues to maintain a relationship long enough until graduation.

I was shell-shocked when Takumi showed up in front of my hotel, fulfilling his promise of escorting me to my hometown. We had a fantastic Friday accompanying each other, eating dessert in the train and walking around the campus after my leg check. During the trip, we hatched an interesting plan of breaking into the roof of Midori University. After the training session with him yesterday, he revealed to me that he has stalked the guards and has garnered enough information to carry out the plan with me tonight. Being an adventurous girl that I am, it is natural for me to accept his invitation.

And it is exactly where I’m heading right now. I’ll first have dinner with this boyfriend material of mine in a school café. Then, well, I trust him because he seems to be the kind who makes a lot of preparations.

I don’t have a plan for it yet, but I might confess to him on the roof. I like this boy. He’s been treating me so well, especially on Friday. He doesn’t seem to mind my loss of legs. And most importantly, he’s interested in me as well. Even though I’m older than him, I think he’s still a great match.

On the other hand, I know I’m leaving this place two weeks from now. I don’t know how well I can do long-distance, even though we’re still living in Japan. Perhaps I can find a job here after I graduate next April, but it will most likely involve studying for a teaching certificate.

I should worry about it later. First of all, I need to not get caught this evening.

---

Peeping into the small window of the door in front of us, I lean closer towards my trainee and whisper.

“Has he not come yet?”

“He’s probably slacking off. Don’t worry, he’s come here for four straight days. There’s no way he’s going to skip the patrol tonight.”

Assuming that nobody has thought about the crazy idea we’re trying to implement, I can understand why the guard is slacking off: It’s a pointless job.

“Alright. Let’s stay alert then.”

We’re now at the end of a corridor of the sixth floor of the Science Faculty. To be more precise, we’re in the small space between two doors leading to the corridor and the stairs respectively. This is the perfect hiding place to wait for the guard because rarely anybody uses this path; the laboratory next to us is deserted, and there are other sets of stairs in the corridor giving access to more parts of the campus. Takumi told me during our briefing before action that he only came across with one lost student throughout his four days of stalking.

During dinner with my boyfriend material, he gave me a briefing on tonight’s mission. Using a map, he introduced to me about the geographic details about the university: Situated on top of a small mountain, the university consists of an administration building in the middle with different faculties scattered around the campus. The Science Faculty, where we’re currently in, is the tallest building, which is to the north of the admin. The track field is to the east, and the amenities building is to the south. We naturally choose the Science Faculty as our target in order to obtain the best possible view.

From his four-day stalking of the guards, he has concluded that the door to the roof is not locked, but you need to push a bar to open it. The alarm will sound if you push the bar, so the guards use a hand-held device to disable it before pushing. They seem to consistently patrol the roof area at 8 o’clock and 11 o’clock in the evening, and for each timeslot every day the guards have been the same persons. The guard responsible for the 8pm shift is easy to take advantage of because once he opens the door, he leaves it wide open (since Midori has been around for a long time, most doors haven’t been installed with hinges to close automatically) and always begins his patrol with the left side. After observing the pattern, Takumi has successfully sneaked through the door without being noticed.

The one uncertainty in this mission is the escape route. Takumi didn’t stay in the roof long enough to figure out another way out, so we’re pretty much relying on the 11pm shift if we can’t find a route downstairs. Which means we might need to spend a maximum of three hours on the roof. I hope we don’t need to do so.

For this excursion, Takumi has brought with us several useful tools. Torch is a necessity as the roof could be dark if there is no light source around. Food and water, to survive if in case something goes south. Folded umbrella, if it happens to rain. A coat for each of us, if the temperature drops during night time. Rope and gloves, in case we need to climb down. A foldable mat that we can sit on. And, finally, masks, which we’re currently wearing, so that we’re less likely to be recognized if we get ourselves exposed during our escape. I also wrapped my golden hair into a bun to further help the cause.

I feel like I’m kind of crazy to follow with the stupid plan, but on the other hand this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’m most likely not entering a university, and I’m leaving this place in two weeks.

“Here he comes!”

Reacting to the news, I try to peek closer into the window, but am stopped by my partner as he orders me to wait. Yeah, the guard can also see us from the other side. We can only glance occasionally until he turns around.

“Okay, he’s going up! Prepare to move!”

Now that we’re safe to peek, I can see the guard taking out a device from his pocket and touches a switch at the left wall next to the door. Then he opens the door, leaves it open, and steps inside.

“Let’s go!”

My partner pushes the door open, and we carefully climb the stairs in front of us until we reach the door. After making sure that the guard is out of sight, we step into the roof and immediately head to the right side. There is no artificial light source here, but the moon provides us with enough luminance to signal to each other. Takumi points to a metal box at a corner, and we proceed to hide behind the box.

This is so much fun!

The box is pretty small, which means we must stay very close in order not to be seen. Naturally, we grab each other by the shoulder and are almost hugging, causing my heart to beat really fast. I haven’t had such close body contact with a member of the opposite sex since breaking up with my ex-boyfriend, and my body tells me it loves the warmth provided by this gentleman.

Am I already in love?

The guard eventually comes to our side, and we try our best to stay very still so that we, or our shadows if there are any, won’t be discovered. I hope the guard doesn’t have something like an infrared detector to check the temperature around!

We hear footsteps getting further, and after a while we hear the door closed. Yes! We’ve accomplished the first step of our mission!

Takumi signals me to remain hidden while he goes out to check, making sure the guard is indeed gone. A minute after, he comes back and gives me an okay sign.

“You can come out now.”

“Yes, Takumi! We did it!”

After exchanging high-fives with the boyfriend material and removing our masks, we proceed to explore the deserted place in front of us. There aren’t much here except a few tools and some wires that we need to be careful not to trip over. There is no fence, but a short wall acting as a guard, though it’s very easy to climb over. Carefully positioning ourselves so that we won’t accidentally fall, we take a look at the surroundings.

“What a beautiful view!”

The small lights from all the academic buildings scattered around the campus, plus the lamplights along the roads, form a castle-like view of the university in front of our eyes. I never thought a university could look like a castle! To the north of us (Takumi taking out a compass to confirm the directions) is a children’s park. To the east of us is the track field and a piece of grassland beyond. And to the west of us is a city with obviously more lights. Evening wind blows like a soothing breeze, dissipating some of the heat we gathered during the wait between the doors and the increase in heart beat while hiding behind the box.

Summer is coming fast. And love is coming fast too.

My hand is stuffed with something. It’s a piece of chocolate.

“Have a snack. We could be here for a while.”

“Thanks!”

Takumi takes out the foldable mat from his backpack and spreads it apart. Then he tosses me a can of juice, which I easily catch. Picnic on the roof. This time in a university instead of Yamaku. With someone I like. Enjoyable.

“D’you feel cold?”

“Nope! It’s pretty comfortable up here.”

With the stunning view in front of us, we sit side by side consuming our snacks and drinks enjoying a rare moment together while taking advantage of the fact that nobody will be around.

There’s a question I’ve wanted to ask for some time. Now should be a good chance.

“Hey Takumi?”

“Yes, what’s up?”

“You never told me. What major are you studying?”

“Oh. Didn’t I tell you already? (I shake my head) No? I studied Social Science last year. Now I’m doing Psychology. But I find it really tough because there’s a whole lot to recite.”

“Psychology, huh. Interesting! (Wicked smile) Can you guess what I’m thinking right now?”

Takumi hurries to wave his hands.

“Of course not! I only started last month! And I’m really struggling to understand the concepts. I wonder if I should switch to another major after this term.”

“Uh huh. What alternatives do you have in mind?”

“I’m thinking about social work, but psychology is actually harder to get into, so I’m not sure if I want to forfeit my current major for something that could be easier. In fact, I’ve booked an appointment next week with my career advisor.”

“I see. So, what do you want to do after you graduate?”

“They say that there are two major paths I can take if I continue to study psychology. I can choose to become a psychiatrist, which mainly deals with people with mental disorders. Or I can try becoming a psychologist, which deals mostly with theories and models. There are very few psychologists, which means I might get famous if I become one. But I’m leaning towards psychiatrist at the moment.”

Speaking of mental disorders, the first person that pops out of my mind is Ikezawa. I heard that she had been seeing a therapist before she graduated from Yamaku.

“Perhaps you can become a therapist. Yamaku has one, for example.”

“Yup, I’m considering that path. But, as I said, I don’t know if I can handle it. I’m not giving up just yet though. At least not without a fight. The good thing is that I haven’t taken a big exam yet, so it’s not like I’m already behind in schoolwork.”

“That’s the spirit, Takumi! I’m also the kind who don’t give up easily.”

“You surely are! You’re working so hard on becoming a physical trainer. But how about you? Where do you want to work after you graduate? There are quite a few paths you can choose. Are you going back to Yamaku? Seems like a logical option.”

If I really decide to work in Yamaku, are you going to find a job nearby too?

“I could! Or I can become a Physical Education teacher! I haven’t decided yet!”

But there’s something hilarious I want to share with him.

“I just thought of something really funny. You know, in schools they sometimes do career surveys. They give you a piece of paper, and you can write down your favorite job and the reason. What did you write?”

“Hmm… Yeah, I remember one in middle school. Honestly at that time I didn’t even fully understand what a career means. I might have ended up copying my neighbor, like, pilot? Sorry, I kind of forgot.”

“Three guesses what I wrote at that time?”

“Hmm… If you say funny, it’s probably not something really serious. Astronaut?”

“Nope.”

“How close? Is it warm or cold?”

“Pretty cold.”

“Hmm… Let me see. Funny jobs… Aha! A hiker! You know, climb the tallest mountains in the world and wave a Japan flag on the top.”

“Nope, but it’s of a similar nature. Going on adventures.”

“Okay. Hmm… Ah! A diver! Explore deep underwater caves and go face to face with sea behemoths like sharks and whales!”

“Almost, Takumi! I wrote down ‘Pirate’!”

“Ah, I see! Finding treasure maps, battling against other pirates, and solving puzzles to finally secure the gold and silver deep inside ancient caves in deserted islands. What an interesting career! But why did you choose it, I mean, of all jobs?”

“Well I’ve got the legs for it already, so I just kind of figured…”

“Ah I get it. That’s really cool, Emi!”

“Before the Nurse and I started working on my physical trainer career, I used to be somewhat serious about it.”

“Really?”

The psychology major looks amused as I clear my throat to pretend to be a pirate.

“’Just you wait. I’ll be the terror of the high seas! I’ll show you all!’ I even worked on my pirate voice!”

I spring up and begin swaggering up and down the rooftop shouting orders.

“Yarr, me hearties, give ‘em a broadside with the long guns! We’ll wear their guts for garters!”

“Do you even know what that means?”

His unexpected interruption stops me in my tracks.

“Not really. But it’s all in the delivery!”

Takumi shakes his head in amusement as I sit back down on the mat.

“If we knew each other earlier, I wouldn’t mind enrolling a pirate university with you! If one of those exists, that is.”

We share a laugh as another breeze blows by. The heat we gathered earlier already gone, I’m feeling slightly cold right now, so I brace myself a little bit.

“Here you go.”

The coat he offers me is a bit oversized, but I don’t mind. It’s not like I have another choice. He’s so nice.

Maybe it’s time to push things forward.

Instead of taking the coat from him, I offer him my arm and allow him to come over and put on the coat for me, which he meticulously obliges.

“Thanks, Takumi.”

“You’re welcome. I think I need to put on mine as well.”

As he gets himself dressed, I take a look at my phone. It’s 8:45. We’ve been here for 45 minutes already. Time surely flies when you’re with somebody you like.

“Hey, Takumi.”

“Hmm?”

Once he’s done, I face him directly and, after releasing the bind on my hair so that it returns to a ponytail, put my hands behind my back.

“If you’re going to kiss me, you should probably do it soon. We’ll need to search for an escape route soon.”

Takumi has his mouth hanging open in shock. Even though he might have planned to confess to me here, the psychology major probably didn’t predict me going so direct.

“Uh…”

“You were thinking about it, weren’t you?”

I sit up straight on the picnic mat, bringing my face level with him.

“I’d probably enjoy it, you know? You’re a really… Well…”

He tries to say something, but stops before uttering a word in favor of letting me continue my confession.

“If you hadn’t figured it out by now, I think I’ve developed a bit of a crush on you. You’re going to have to do something about that.”

His blush tells me he probably hasn’t gotten a girlfriend before. Unable to search for another word, he simply grins. Okay, if you have no experience, I can take the initiative. So, I wrap my arms around his neck, and he responds by moving his arms around my waist. His hands are shaking, which tells me he’s really nervous.

But hey, didn’t you plan the whole thing? And the trip last Friday too. Anyway…

His lips taste like… chocolate. Of course, we had that as a snack a while ago. I lean into the kiss, and my arms tighten around the back of his head, making sure that he doesn’t pull away. Not that there’s any danger of that.

There’s a sweet feeling in my gut. The world falls away. There’s just me, and him, and this mat. His arms tighten, drawing my waist closer, and I’m entranced by the feel of him. I inhale his chocolate-flavored scent, my mind trying desperately to memorize everything about how he tastes, how he smells, how he feels.

Suddenly we hear something like a door opening in the general direction of front left, and we break the kiss. It’s obviously not the door we sneaked past earlier, as it’s to my back. With careful steps, we approach the source of the noise, and we hear ruffling sounds followed by footsteps. Before we can find ourselves a hiding place, two youngsters, apparently a boy and a girl, appear in our sights.

The four of us just stand here, surprised about the presence of the other party. I try to search for something to say, but the boy opposite to us speaks first.

“Uh… So you’re also coming to enjoy the evening, huh.”

“Yeah…”

Under the moonlight, I can see that the boy is quite tall, even taller than Hisao, and has a slim build like Takumi. The girl is also tall, slim, with a ponytail like mine. Knowing that they’re probably not guards, I breathe a sigh of relief.

“How did you get here? You don’t happen to have the keys to the hatch, do you?”

“Uh… no. We kind of sneaked in during the guard’s patrol.”

“Wow. Amazing stuff. Deserves a round of applause, right?”

The slim girl next to him smiles in amusement under the dim moonlight.

“Yes, except that we’re not gonna do that. We might get heard.”

My new boyfriend wastes no time to bring up the obvious and crucial topic.

“So, is there a hatch somewhere over there?”

The boy takes a quick look towards presumably his girlfriend before giving us a nonchalant shrug.

“Well, there’s no point saying no, so I’ll spoil it. There’s a hatch over there on the ground around the corner, but it needs a key to open. And I’ve got the key.”

“Really? How did you get the key?”

“As fellow daring roof explorers, I guess I can tell you without harm. My dad’s a locksmith, so I’m good at looking into keyholes and making keys. A quick peep into the keyhole with a torch, remembering the details, then just went to my dad’s workshop and tada, I’ve got myself the roof key!”

So obviously they’ve been using this place as their dating spot for some time.

“Great stuff, dude. Well, I don’t think you two come here to enjoy our presence. Do you mind if we go down the hatch?”

“Sure, why not? But I’m not sharing the key with you, so once you go down, you can’t come back up. Well, at least not until the next patrol.”

“It’s fine. We’ve enjoyed this place long enough, right?”

Takumi turns to me, and I nod in response with a delightful grin.

“Yup! I think that’s enough for us. It’s getting a bit cold here too.”

“Alright then. We’ll collect the mat over there, and then we’ll be on our way.”

“Sure. We’ll see you guys around then.”

Eager to leave the scene to provide the couple full access to their dating spot, we grab our belongings and head towards the aforementioned hatch and climb down, closing the hatch behind us.

Oh well, the torch and the rope didn’t find their use tonight. Nor did my running skill get put to use. I was half-expecting the need to use the rope to climb down to a window on the sixth floor. No such thrilling escape for us.

But we’ve achieved so much up there already.

We carefully climb down the ladder associated to the hatch and, after wearing our masks and making sure nobody’s around, push open a door to find ourselves back in the corridor of the sixth floor.

“Let’s exit the building!”

Yeah, we don’t want to hang around any further. Fortunately this floor is so quiet to the point that you might suspect there are ghosts around, but we take full advantage of the lack of witnesses here by swiftly heading towards the elevator to the ground. After exiting the building, we walk a distance towards the general direction of the school gate before removing our masks for good.

“How was the adventure, Emi?”

“Well, it wasn’t really that exciting, but I loved the time we spent up there.”

Now that the adventure is over, there’s something we need to sort out before I head back to my hotel. We have to address what we were doing before the hatch opened.

“Uhm… Well, if you don’t mind, I think we need to talk.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

So we find ourselves a bench somewhere nearby to sit on, making sure that it’s not near any bushes or else we’ll be attacked by mosquitoes.

“So… well… I don’t know how to start, but…”

I can save him some struggling time, but it’s quite funny to see him so embarrassed, so I let him gather his words. And he does owe me a confession.

“Dammit! I’ll just fire it off. Emi, I like you! I want to be your boyfriend!”

Even under the dim lamplights, I can see his face blushing like a red apple. His struggle is so hilarious that I can’t help but burst out into giggles.

“Hahahaha…”

As the giggles turn into a laughing fit, my whole body shaking from the end of my amputated legs to my head, my partner scratches his head in embarrassment.

“Uh…”

Alright, alright, I know this is too much, but I can’t resist it. Hahaha…

“Sorry… Can’t… resist it. No, you’re so funny to look at. But, ahem, yeah, welcome aboard, my fellow pirate!”

“Uh… I don’t speak any pirate language.”

“Me neither! It doesn’t matter, does it?”

“No. Uh… I just… I’m not sure what to do or say…”

He’s so funny. I’m most certain I am his first girlfriend.

“You don’t need to do anything. Just give me a kiss.”

“But we’re in a school ground. I don’t think this is appropriate.”

“Wasn’t the roof technically a school ground too?”

“Yeah, but there was nobody around. Except when that couple came.”

“You’re scared of being seen, are you?”

“I don’t know, I just feel embarrassed.”

“Alright then. Bring me outside of the school, then we can do anything we want.”

“Good idea. I can escort you to the hotel as well. It’s getting late, you know.”

“Thanks a lot.”

Accordingly we stand up, and, even though I want to hold his hand right now, based on what he just said, I’ll refrain from it until we’ve exited Midori.

“Emi… you know… There’s something I want to confess to you.”

“Uh huh?”

“I already fell in love with you when I first met you in the track field. But I felt like you’re so pretty and popular, you must already have a boyfriend.”

Even though it’s true that I’m decently popular, both in Yamaku and in my two schools of exchange program, my habit of always keeping a social distance from others had been hindering me from knowing a boyfriend. That was until the accident last Monday, when his touch of warmth electrified me.

“I don’t choose my relationships randomly, Takumi.”

“Which is awesome, Emi. I’m happy to know you.”

“Me too!”

Okay! So, everything went as smooth as we’ve hope for tonight! And maybe there’ll be a change to my future career path as well. But that’s a problem for future Emi. The current Emi should focus on enjoying some male company after missing it for a few years. I’m probably calling off the home trip tomorrow in favor of spending time with my new boyfriend, if he is free.

“Hey Takumi, are you free tomorrow or Sunday?”

“I’m free tomorrow for a date if you want to. About Sunday… oh yeah…”

He turns towards me and gives me a warm smile.

“Uh… Sunday?”

“I’ve got an invitation. Maybe you can…”

Chapter 87: Reunion Shocker

[ShizuneFan2019]

Chapter 87: Reunion Shocker

“Hey guys, food is ready.”

Hearing Alvin’s voice, ‘Nako and I immediately rush to the door and open it, my girlfriend following us closely behind. We share his huge load of food and carry the boxes all the way to the bench at the end of the room.

“Thanks so much, Alvin.”

“It’s nothing. We should have enough for everybody.”

“Let’s distribute the food across the table for easy access.”

Accordingly, we spread the boxes apart and put each dish adjacent to each other. Until everyone arrives, we should keep the boxes closed in order to preserve the food’s temperature. The paper plates, plastic forks, spoons, and chopsticks should be placed near the edge of the table, while the dessert should be moved to a separate table. The same configuration was used in both Sakura’s Student Council party and Shizune’s birthday party.

“We’re done! See if it’s okay, Alvin.”

“It looks good.”

For today’s reunion, ‘Nako has reserved a party room in the amenities building of Midori University, where Shizune and I are visiting for the first time. It’s five minutes to noon, which means the others should be arriving at any moment.

A pat on my left shoulder, and the female voice of my host appears from behind.

“So, Hisao, are you ready to face your former classmates?”

“Nope, I’m never ready for it.”

My former crush pouts in disappointment with a gesture similar to Emi’s.

“Awwwww…”

Another assuring pat, this time from a boy, on my right shoulder.

“Hey Hisao, we’re here to support you.”

“Alvin’s right. If something happens, at least we’ve got a boy here to help out.”

The only reply I can make is a helpless shrug. But before ‘Nako can encourage me further, the door flies open.

“Hey guys!”

The familiar voice is easily recognizable as Takumi’s, which makes sense as he’s a student in this university, probably leading the rest of the group. We naturally walk towards the door to welcome our guest (well technically I should be the guest instead), who reveals that he’s holding hands with a girl…

Oh. My. Goodness.

Takumi’s girlfriend is a short, slim cutie with golden ponytail, wearing a pink shirt, and I’m quite sure, unless she has a secret twin sister, that she is wearing prosthetic legs beneath her trousers.

She looks shocked too, realizing her boyfriend’s former high school friend is me.

‘Nako told me last night Takumi would be bringing a guest; he didn’t tell us he’s coming with a girlfriend.

Actually, what surprises me the most isn’t the fact that Emi is Takumi’s girlfriend. ‘Nako already informed me Takumi’s crush on her the other day in Kasshoku. I’m shocked by that he chooses to bring her to this “special” occasion, plus the fact that he managed to grab hold of her hand so quickly.

Takumi looks puzzled by our surprised expression and the awkward silence, but before any of us can say a word, the door swings open again, revealing Shin, who’s, as expected, also holding hands with a girl.

“Hey everyone.”

But when the identity of his girlfriend is revealed, both Emi and I get even more shocked. Shin’s partner is a tall, brown-skinned lady with long hair all the way down to her waist, and her left hand is a stump.

What. In. The. World. Has. Happened!?

Before any of the former Yamaku students in the room can settle themselves down from the huge surprise, the door swings open once again, and in comes Shrimp and the childhood friend I had played so many shooting games against, Mai.

“Hi everyone… What’s wrong?”

Good question. How do we even start?

Well, I feel like I’m the core component of this whole mess, and nobody else is better suited to say something than me.

The only feasible way I can think of to continue this now extremely awkward gathering is to neglect all the revelations and all the past events for just a second, and distract everybody’s attention by greeting my former classmates with a smile. Enlighten me if there’s a better way to handle this situation.

“Uh… nothing. Nice to see you again, Takumi.”

I approach the friend with a slender build (you never changed, pal) who has apparently cut his hair short (well this is a change), and extend my hand. I hope he’s not too angry with me.

It seems like my wish is granted, as he, possibly having seen through what I’m trying to do with the distraction, returns my handshake and pats my shoulder with his other hand.

“Welcome back, dude. And this is my girlfriend, Emi Ibarazaki.”

Of course I know this name, but I pretend to not know this person for now. I have a feeling that he’s bringing his girlfriend to not lose to me, because I’m attending this gathering with my own girl.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Ibarazaki. I’m Nisao Nakai.”

My physical trainer is unsurprisingly shocked by my politeness, but she brushes the shock off swiftly and shake hands with me. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see ‘Nako putting her finger on her lips, signaling to Shrimp who looks perplexed by why neither Emi nor I say a word about us being high school friends, the fact she must know after attending the Kasshoku dinner gathering a couple of weeks ago.

I should introduce my girlfriend to Takumi and his mate.

“And this is my girlfriend, Shizune Hakamichi. She’s deaf and mute, so you might need to use pen and paper to talk to her, or you can ask me to translate her sign language to you.”

After Takumi shakes hands with the Vice President, Emi once again plays along by pretending not to have known her. I wonder how long we can keep playing on this act.

The next in line is Shin, my former friend who’s, as usual, wearing a light brown zip-up jacket, black pants, and dark shoes. His short hair is still like an explosion. You’ve never changed, buddy.

“And nice to see you too, Shin.”

Instead of returning my handshake, Shin crosses his arms and stares at me coldly as if I was thirty minutes late in the gathering.

“Dude, I thought you forgot about us already!”

That’s bad, and I have no proper response. But before I can apologize, Takumi comes to the rescue by approaching his friend.

“No, Shin, don’t do that.”

Possibly giving face to Takumi, and also possibly due to the fact that his girlfriend is standing next to him, he gives in and offers me the shortest handshake he can possibly manage.

“This is my girlfriend, Miki Miura.”

Seeing that Emi has been playing along, the used-to-be countrygirl is sensible enough not to make a fuss in this occasion. After exchanging formal greetings with my former crush, I move on towards the remaining member of the group. Mai, contrary to Shin, is way more enthusiastic about the reunion. According to ‘Nako, she’s never been angry with me.

“Great to see you again, Hisao! Welcome back!”

She actually hugs me. But since I need to respect Shizune’s presence, I can only return her hug briefly. She is then greeted by my girlfriend while I shake hands with Shrimp.

Now what?

I shoot a glance towards the host of the party, and fortunately ‘Nako is quick enough to pick up the cue.

“Um… Welcome to our reunion… err… we’ve got a lot of food here, and you guys are probably hungry already! So… enjoy yourselves!”

A very awkward opening speech, although I admit that the best way to break ice is food; I did that with ‘Nako herself too after I sliced an apple for her the other day. The context in that meeting couldn’t be more different though.

“Um… And just one rule for today’s gathering. No fighting. Okay? So, yeah, let’s dig in!”

I guess I just have to eat lunch with everybody and see what happens. But before I can start moving towards the food table, Takumi pats Shin on his shoulder.

“Shin, I’d like to have a word with you. Hisao, you come with me. Mai, ‘Nako, I want both of you as well.”

“Uh… are you sure?”

“Yes. Come with me.”

I have no choice but to follow; rejecting his offer would probably lead to something really bad. Shin reluctantly follows Takumi’s footsteps, and ‘Nako signals to her boyfriend to help the remaining four girls towards the food table before joining us. The friend who just got his haircut leads the four of us towards a corner of the party room. He brings over chairs for us to sit on, forming a circle. I pay extra attention not to sit next to the guy who’s still angry with me, and I end up sitting between ‘Nako and Takumi.

“Everybody’s hungry, so I’ll get to the point right away.”

Taking a glance towards me, Emi’s boyfriend continues his speech.

“I’m on a mission today. The mission is to spend a peaceful afternoon with everyone.”

Shin crosses his arms again right after sitting down; he still looks pissed. Everybody else is silent.

“So… I want to start by telling you guys about my girlfriend Emi.”

He points a finger towards the food table where Emi is picking up her favorite lunch before continuing.

“’Nako and Kai know about it already. She’s disabled. She lost her legs, and she’s currently using a pair of prosthetic legs to walk.”

Shin and Mai are the only ones in the whole gathering who don’t know about this fact. What a coincidence that Shin’s girlfriend also has missing limbs!

“We only met for a few weeks, and we started dating a couple of days ago.”

‘Nako nods and smiles at him. I want to congratulate him for finding such a wonderful, cheerful girl, but we need to deal with the current issue first.

“Sorry ‘Nako, I told you I was bringing a guest. I actually wanted to surprise you with my new relationship, but apparently it didn’t work out as intended.”

‘Nako opens her mouth to say something, but doesn’t seem to find the appropriate words in this particular situation. I’m sure this conversation would have been much better without Shin around, but he’s a vital member of the group that cannot be ignored. On the other hand, even though the initial greeting was fine, I might still have issues to sort out with Mai and Takumi.

The atmosphere is very awkward, and I have a feeling Shin’s patience is running out.

“Shin, I know you want to say something, but please let me finish. I’m not done yet.”

I wonder what he wants to say.

“Before Emi and I started dating, I visited her hometown once, escorting her to her high school for a leg check.”

That’s a big revelation! He actually visited Yamaku! And Emi did hurt her leg back then! Shizune’s hunch was correct after all.

“And inside her high school of the disabled, I saw many students with their various disabilities. Blind, deaf, lost an arm, walking in a weird way, riding on a wheelchair… Sorry no offence Hisao, but it was really painful to watch.”

Shin nods; he has a disabled girlfriend himself. I wonder how he met Miki.

I still can’t digest the fact that two of my Before Yamaku friends are dating my former classmates. But now that Miki has a boyfriend of her own, my interaction with her probably won’t be as bad. Right, I still need to wrap things up with her eventually, and today seems to be a good occasion, assuming I can get back on relatively better terms with these three.

“I retreated to a garden after witnessing the disabled students, being unable to watch anymore. I was fortunate to be in the school for only half a day; I can’t imagine how Hisao managed to stay in that kind of school for a whole year.”

Takumi obviously doesn’t know, or already forgot, the name of my high school.

“Shin, this is my point. I experienced firsthand how difficult it was for Hisao to be sent to a school of disabled. If I were sent to a school like that, I would’ve been mad. I would’ve gone insane and been sent to a mental hospital.”

He turns to me and continues.

“Hisao, it had to be exceptionally tough on you. I admit that I indeed was angry with you, and Shin does too, for your treatment to us in the hospital, the disconnections after you got transferred, and your negligence of ‘Nako’s letter. But after that trip with Emi, I started to understand a little bit the ordeal you’ve come through. And it must have taken you a great deal of courage to call for this reunion.”

He turns back to Shin, who has released his arms after hearing his words.

“Shin, Hisao is here not to get scolded.”

Miki’s boyfriend lets out a deep sigh and leans back on his chair with his hands behind his head.

“You’ve got a point, Takumi. Yeah, both Miki and I had a heck of a past, and we made a promise to each other that we’ll forget about everything that has happened to us and move on. I do want to stick with my words, even though it’s easier said than done.”

The “Miki’s past” he mentioned is probably related to me, although she most likely didn’t mention my name when she talked with her boyfriend.

“I guess none of us were mature enough at that time to deal with those event properly. We weren’t even adults.”

“Yeah, how can I not agree with you, Mai? Okay then, Hisao, I forgive you. Well, at least I’ll try to.”

That’s a big step towards reconciliation, although we’re still far away from restoring our friendship to the state before the accident. Thanks for your kind words, Takumi.

“Thank you Shin. Um… I guess I need to spill it out one way or another, so I should do it right now…”

‘Nako already knows half of the secret, but I bet she doesn’t know the other half.

“In fact…”

I take a glance towards a table on the other side of the room, where the four girls are chatting happily (Shizune using the computer thing that she greeted my parents with), a stark contrast from the serious atmosphere in this circle.

“I know both Emi and Miki. They were my high school friends.”

“What???”

All four of my Before Yamaku friends respond in unison, causing the other group to turn towards us. I immediately give them a hush in an attempt to avoid suspicions, and lean towards the center of the circle. My friends follow my gesture, and Takumi is the first to speak up. By speaking up I mean whisper.

“So Yamaku was the high school you transferred to?”

“Yes, and I met Shizune there. You see, the three girls know each other. That’s why they’re chatting so happily. They’re having their own reunion already.”

“Oh… That’s where the initial shock came from! That made so much sense… Wait! Then ‘Nako must have known about it too, since you two were back in contact since last year.”

“Yes. Emi’s actually a physical trainer in Kasshoku. I confronted Hisao about her. I asked him if Emi has a disability; I actually asked him for you, because I know you have a crush on her. He said Emi does have a disability, but he wouldn’t tell me what it is, because of, err…”

“Patient confidentiality, ‘Nako.”

“Yes, that, and he said we would have to find it out ourselves. But, you know, Takumi, before we had a chance to confront her about it, she kind of…”

“Yeah, in that accident. Oh man! I didn’t know so much has happened between my connection with Emi and you guys.”

“Hold on, ‘Nako. Accident?”

“Yes, the accident that blew Emi’s cover. Don’t tell me you don’t know about it.”

“No! I didn’t know any accident!”

“I thought she told you about it already, Hisao!”

“No! She told me she had a sore knee. Shizune believed there was something else to it, but Emi refused to elaborate.”

“Aha! Well, I can fill you in. It was Monday, two weeks ago. I think the 18th. We’re in the training session. A soccer ball hit her hard on her leg, causing her prosthetic leg to dislodge. She fell, got a scratch and a wound. Takumi carried her to the sidelines. I think that’s the moment you two got hooked up with each other.”

‘Nako’s schoolmate gives her a thumbs-up for the correct guess.

“Yup. That’s right!”

“No wonder she was limping so badly that afternoon!”

“But I’m surprised she masked the whole thing from you two. Aren’t you both her acquaintances? Why didn’t she tell you the truth?”

I don’t know, Takumi, but based on my experience with this little ponytail, I’ve a feeling that being her boyfriend won’t be that easy. Well, it’s not to say being Shizune’s boyfriend is easy either.

“Yeah, Emi’s the kind that doesn’t reveal much of her secrets. In fact, I always feel like my friendship with Emi is kind of superficial. Like, she makes a lot of small talks and half-jokes, which are perfect to fill silences. But she also doesn’t necessarily tell you a lot about herself. Well, I’m not her boyfriend, so I’m not in the position to judge. Maybe you’re her boyfriend so she’ll be more open towards you. But I just want to give you a heads-up, especially since you two haven’t known each other for long, that you shouldn’t be surprised if she isn’t that honest towards you. Well, honest in terms of her own situation, not the cheating aspect. Again, I’m no expertise in the topic of Emi’s heart.”

“Gotcha. Thanks for the advice, buddy.”

“But what about Shin’s girlfriend? She’s from Yamaku too?”

“Yeah. She was actually my classmate, sitting in the front row, in front of the teacher. She’s a good friend of Emi, and a great runner. They participated in the Track Meet together. And she’s now in Tokyo studying fashion design in a vocational training center…”

Takumi instantly reacts and interrupts my report.

“Which must be where you’re studying in, right, Shin?”

“Correct. We’re classmates. And that’s how we met each other.”

“The world is so small, isn’t it?”

“A little too small, if you ask me.”

All the boys in the circle lean back into our chairs, still digesting the fact that our girlfriends are all disabled and studied in the same high school. The links between the ten participants of this gathering are so complicated that it will take like an hour for us to explain them to an outsider.

“Alright then. Hisao, Shin is right. We need to move on from everything happened two years ago. Again, I want a peaceful afternoon, and hopefully we as adults can pick up what we left behind, starting from today. No more blames, complaints, apologies, those sort of things. Shin, are you alright with this?”

I’ve a feeling that Takumi’s wish won’t be easily granted, but at least the attitude is correct, and I should hold the same attitude as well.

“No objection about that matter, Takumi. However, there’s something else I need to talk to Hisao alone. So, if you’re okay with it, I suggest you guys go and have lunch, and I’ll drag him outside to talk.”

‘Nako frowns, worrying that Shin might not control his emotions.

“Don’t start a fight, okay?”

“I’ll try not to. Come with me.”

Shin and I rise to our feet and head towards the door, while the others can only watch on. I have a good idea what he’s up to.

After closing the door behind us, Shin leads me to an empty bench several meters away and takes a seat. Zipping down his jacket to reveal a runner shirt that’s apparently designed by his girlfriend, my former classmate who helped ‘Nako out after the accident crosses his arms again and doesn’t hesitate to fire bullets straight at me.

“I’m not holding any punches, okay? Miki told me about an exchange student she met in her final year. That said student had a crush on her, but when she reciprocated his feelings, that guy told her he wasn’t yet ready for a relationship. Then, all of a sudden, that same guy who said he wasn’t ready to date a girl sent Miki a text message, telling her he has already chosen another girl to be his girlfriend. Do you happen to know that jerk who studied in the same high school as hers?”

Yeah, that was the “past” Miki told her boyfriend about. Now that all the links have been revealed, I ought to fill him in with the details. Well, some of them.

“It’s complicated. You see? I got myself tangled up with Shizune in a pretty messy relationship with a lot of ups and downs. At some point we stopped talking to each other, but a few key events later, we became inseparable. But then one day something happened, and she got pissed with me. I tried to salvage our friendship, but the prospects became dim after she rejected talking to me. That’s when I seriously looked into developing something with Miki…”

Understandably, my former classmate doesn’t quite approve of my explanation, and decides to interrupt before I can finish.

“Damn fool, you really messed up big time. I tell you what, you suck. You’ve chased that chick for like two years, and she had been giving you lukewarm response, playing you around like a toy. For your reference, I got to hold Miki’s hand one month after we got to know each other. One month, dude! Yeah, sure, now you’ve finally got the deaf girlfriend you’ve been after, on paper. If I were you, I’d seriously doubt if she has an ulterior motive for dating you. Who knows, she might be just using you as a shield to dodge one of her annoying pursuers.”

I don’t think he’s got the right idea, but I prefer not to disclose the details of my relationship with Shizune, especially the mistake I made.

“Anyway, I admit I truly considered going for Miki. But then before I could make a move, Shizune turned her arms back onto me. And that’s the whole story.”

I never had high expectations for this gathering in the first place, and until the start of the gathering I had absolutely no intention of blending with the Before Yamaku group again (maybe except Shrimp). But now that the situation has changed with two new couples revealed, I need to consider doing what ‘Nako wants me to do.

“You made a girl cry. How are you going to pay for it?”

I’ll let him vent out all his anger, wait for him to calm down, and then… we’ll see.

“I’ll sort things out with her later.”

“That doesn’t sound very promising, dude. Who knows, tomorrow you might get dumped again, and then you suddenly want to turn yourself back to Miki.”

“No, I promise you I won’t steal your girlfriend.”

Still crossing his arms, Shin stares at me with a pair of doubting and analyzing eyes. Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have joined this gathering in the first place.

“Hmph! Why do I have to believe you or your girlfriend? One look at her and I can tell she’s a heck of a hrny slt. Who knows how many sugar daddies that b*tch is hiding from you?”

I really shouldn’t have been here.

“I think you’re out of line, Shin.”

“Yeah? Didn’t you learn sign language with that b*tch in order to talk to her? Who knows what’s really behind those signs? And who knows if she’s secretly not deaf, just pretending to be deaf in school? Do you have her medical report? …”

‘Nako asked me not to start a fight with him, but I don’t think I can take his assault any more. Standing up from my seat, I point at his filthy mouth and shout, even at the risk of being overheard by the rest of the group.

“That’s enough, Shin! I can’t let you insult my girlfriend any further!”

Raising from his own seat and lifting his fist, he announces that when he said he wouldn’t hold any punches, he means it literally.

“I don’t care about your girlfriend ONE bit, and I don’t care if you get dumped. But don’t you dare touch MINE, or these fists of mine are more than happy to send you back to the hospital again!”

I reflexively hold my arms in front of my face and brace myself in anticipation of his physical assault when the sudden appearance of a hand to my shoulder and a stump to Shin’s stop both of us in our respective tracks.

“C’mon, calm down, calm down, boys.”

“(Together) Miki!”

“Knew it’d happen. C’mon guys, listen to me for a bit okay?”

Unwilling to make a mess in front of her, we both back off a bit and retrieve our fists, but still staring daggers at each other. Meanwhile, my former crush unexpectedly throws me a playful wink. I wonder what she’s up to.

“Hisao, you know what? Shizune apologized to me just now. Can you believe it? The President actually says sorry! The first time ever! Damn you Hisao, you surely changed her a lot!”

The way she abruptly sways the conversation towards something that seems completely irrelevant makes me unable to formulate a proper response. Shin is equally speechless as his girlfriend continues.

“Look, here’s the proof, boy. She gave this to me immediately after you two left the room.”

The fashion designer retrieves an envelope from her brown crossbody handbag and opens it as we watch in silence. From the cover, it’s clearly my girlfriend’s writing, and it appears that she has the letter prepared in advance. When I stayed in her apartment on Tuesday, I briefly talked with her about my issue with Miki. She must have written the letter after our discussion.

“Not gonna show you guys the content, but basically she apologized for not giving me a warning call before making a move in the… ‘game’, so to speak. Yeah, like always, she defends herself like a lawyer, blah blah blah, but, hey, she said sorry.”

Yeah, treating even the acquisition of a boyfriend as a “game”. How fitting for her. And who knows, even this piece of apologetic note could be a game for her, to humiliate her defeated opponent while citing from rulebooks to defend herself perfectly like a champ. Perhaps Shin’s earlier comment about her playing with me like a toy is not outright wrong. However, I truly believe that, being an expert in ethics as she is, Shizune is not going to cheat on me with potential sugar daddies, even though I have to admit she does possess a strong sex drive.

Miki pats me lightly on my shoulder and turns to her boyfriend.

“Shin, we’re dealing with a nice boy here. I know a little bit of history about him. He’s… just a little unlucky, I’d say. And without him, I wouldn’t have become what I am right now. See, even his girlfriend has apologized. So, how ‘bout you treat him some respect, will ya?”

I’m surprised Miki actually speaks for me despite our history. Her kind words don’t seem to work, however, as Shin still trains an analytical pair of eyes at me while folding his hands.

“I just can’t trust this jerk, you know.”

It looks like no matter what Miki or I say, Shin’s not going to make friends with me today. Miki leans closer towards her boyfriend, gives him a kiss on his cheek, and throws me a helpless look.

“Well, it looks like we need to stop talking for a while, Hisao. Shin, I promise you, I won’t talk to him until you allow, okay?”

My former best friend huffs and silently says “Don’t you ever fcking touch my girlfriend!” while pointing a finger directly at me. I respond with a silent “Don’t you ever fcking insult my girlfriend!”

“C’mon, guys. Shin, if you keep doing that, I’m gonna have to shut your mouth by demonstrating French Kiss with you in front of Hisao.”

That hilarious comment by the former countrygirl completely blows our minds as I can see Shin silently lips a “what the f*ck” before turning his head around while waving a hand. Well, the conversation is certainly over.

“I’ll be on my way then.”

Without waiting for a reply, I turn around to reenter the gathering venue while leaving the couple to demonstrate whatever intimate act they opt for in front of air.

(Part 2)

[ShizuneFan2019]

(Chapter 87 cont'd)

With the Shin issue being put aside for now, let’s try to re-establish some sort of bond with the other Before Yamaku members. But first of all, let’s grab myself some food. I’m hungry.

Anticipating Shin’s imminent arrival at the food table and trying to avoid crossing paths with him while picking my food, I quickly grab my utensils and proceed to sweep across the collection of food available in front of me. In the process, I see ‘Nako and Takumi finished with their selection while Mai is still choosing her food.

Mai should be a great candidate for a bond, considering how enthusiastic she was when greeting me.

“Hey there, Mai.”

My former classmate turns towards me and grins, her plate full of brown curry. Something’s never changed.

“It’s been some time, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, I suppose. Um…”

“Don’t apologize. I don’t want to hear that sh_t anymore.”

I didn’t expect her to put everything aside so easily. I’ll take it though.

“Well, if you say so…”

“Just like Takumi, I’m here on a mission too. I need to know you again as a new friend, Hisao Nakai.”

Placing her utensils on her plate, she extends a handshake with a grin, which I’m happy to return.

Standing in front of me is Mai Morikawa, a “girl in black” whom I’ve known since primary school. Hair down to her shoulders, black eyes, a pair of white earrings, a red necklace, black jacket, black belt, black knee-high boots, she’s still exactly how I’ve been portraying her before my transfer. As an only child myself who didn’t have many companions to play with during my younger days, I often treated her as a sister of mine. The emphasis here is sister, not more than that.

“So, vocational training center, huh.”

Instead of replying, Mai points towards an empty corner of the room. From nearby we find two chairs to move there and sit down on. She eats a spoonful of her curry and gives me (or, rather, the food) a thumbs-up. Expected. Before the gang arrived, Alvin and ‘Nako told me that they chose high-class food for this gathering. I’m planning to share some of the cost so that the couple won’t go broke.

“That’s right, although a different one from Shin’s. Mine is more to the north-west. Around 20 minutes by bus from his.”

The fried noodles are also excellent. The couple certainly knows their food.

“I currently work in Tokyo on Saturdays, although the location is closer to Chiba. It’s a tutorial center.”

“You’re working in Tokyo? And yet we’ve never met each other there? Kinda crazy to think about, huh.”

Imagine if I had come across with her in Tokyo. It would have been so embarrassing.

“Yeah. So, what subject are you studying in?”

“Hotel management.”

That’s completely different from Shin’s Fashion Design, his subject inferred by him being Miki’s classmate.

“Interesting. What does it do?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. Managing a hotel. From frontdesk to room cleaning, from car parking for customers to the buffet. Basically, every service you can think of in a hotel.”

“Isn’t it like home economics, then?”

“It’s a bit different. You need to consider the financial side of the matter as well. How much to charge for a night, how much for each gym service, the brand of towels and cleaning equipment, types of food served in the restaurant, wages of the chef and frontdesk staff, again, everything you can think of. It’s kind of like home economics plus economics.”

“That’s new to me. I suppose you need to do practical training in real hotels then?”

“Yup. In fact, I’ll be out of town for a month, starting in two weeks.”

Practical training. Misha’s case immediately comes to my mind. Shizune and I had a talk with her earlier in the week, and it sounds like she’s enjoying her program. If I want to become a teacher, I’ll have to apply for a practical training session some time in the near future.

“And where will the practical training be?”

“Okinawa. One of the best tourist spots in the world. It makes sense that there are a lot of hotels in that area, doesn’t it?”

I’ve always wanted to go on holiday in Okinawa once! If only my parents had the money to finance such a trip! But hey, maybe I can pull it off with Shizune later.

“It does. Sunshine and beaches. Ideal place for holidays.”

“Exactly. I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be a memorable experience.”

“But what are you going to do in Okinawa? I mean, you just mentioned so many tasks a hotel manager must take care of. You don’t do everything right off the bat, do you?”

“You’re right. I’m going to serve frontdesk and pick up phone calls for a week. Then, depending on my performance, I might be assigned to more complicated tasks such as food management, facilities, and preparation of special events.”

Frontdesk, huh. It is at this moment I finally notice that she’s put on slight makeup. I’m glad that she’s at least treating this gathering as a somewhat important event.

“Got it. But I’m curious. Why did you choose this subject in the first place?”

My girl-in-black friend throws me a playful wink and a grin.

“Simple, Hisao. What do you wear as a hotel manager? Formal. Specifically, you wear black. Suits me well, no? And you get to work in a dazzling, golden, and fully air-conditioned environment. In the customer rooms you might even get to appreciate a beautiful seaside view while tidying things up. So, why not?”

I’m not gonna lie, but the way she describes her job does make the occupation sound quite attractive. Yet hotel manager isn’t the only job you can work in a hotel.

“I guess so. But I’m curious why you chose hotel management over other jobs that also allow you to work in a hotel, say, an accountant.”

The curry lover takes another spoonful of her favorite food, then rolls her eyes on me before gulping down half of her cup of juice.

“You jerk! Didn’t you forget… Oh wait, yeah, you probably don’t know. Sorry, yeah, that makes sense. But still… You know, I don’t choose a vocational training center for no reason, do I?”

Oops. I totally forgot about the common perception that you need a university degree to take on professional jobs such as an accountant. Apparently, this is not entirely true; Shizune revealed to me the other day that her cousin Akira managed to become a lawyer without a degree, an achievement my girlfriend has admired even as of today.

“Sorry, Mai. ’Nako gave me a briefing the other day. The two of you didn’t enter a university. I forgot that most accountants have a degree. That’s my bad.”

“So you know, huh. I wanna call you a jerk, but in retrospect it was my own fault, considering ‘Nako managed to get in. I suppose ‘Nako told you everything, did she?”

“I know that ‘Nako got bullied in class. Shin tried to help. Took several blows from a bully. That boy got expelled from the school. That’s all I know.”

“Yeah. So you don’t know what happened afterwards?”

“No. I asked her if you and Shin were in the same university as hers, and that was when she told me you two weren’t in one.”

“I see. Well, you’re probably curious why Shin was so angry with you. I’ll fill you in.”

She briefly sweeps across the room as I follow her sight, noting that Shin and his girlfriend are done with their food selection and are chatting with ‘Nako at the opposite corner of the room.

“You just said the bully got ejected from the school. In fact, that bully wasn’t the only one who received punishment for the act.”

I take a moment to digest her words while finishing my chicken wing before putting my left hand on my head as I realize her implication.

“Ah… no wonder! Did Shin get ejected as well? That was so unfair!”

“Unfair was unfair, but he didn’t get expelled. He received a detention. I was completely shocked. He’s my best friend. You know…”

“Wow. I never knew things got so messy after… that…”

“Yeah. After that, neither of us were in a mood to study, even though we knew exams were around the corner. You left us. ‘Nako was bullied. Shin took a penalty. Takumi wasn’t as involved but no doubt he was affected too. How on earth could I possibly focus? At one point I did want to blame you for everything, but I knew deep in my heart it was my own fault for not studying. Especially after ‘Nako got in.”

“Man, it’s gonna be a hard one for me to take, Mai. But I’m curious. How did ‘Nako pull it off? She must’ve been living in fear until school ended.”

“You. You were the answer.”

“Me? But why?”

“She was determined. She knew she caused the accident. The only way she could’ve redeemed herself was to study a medical subject in order to find a cure for you. That’s her motivation. She tried to apply for doctor, but her grades said no, so she settled for Pharmacy instead. In retrospect, I should’ve had the same kind of motivation as hers. But I failed. I let my emotions get the best of me. But fortunately, I still managed to find a career that suits me.”

I see! No wonder ‘Nako actively contacted me after watching my heart acting up on television! She was still worried about my condition.

“Man! I need time to digest everything.”

“Expected. Two whole years of blank for you to fill in. Take your time. Meanwhile, how about you fill me in? How was your life there? And your girlfriend?”

Those I can explain easily. I tell Mai about my first week in Yamaku, how the duo roped me into the Student Council, the Tanabata, our first breakup (although very briefly), the exams, the scholarship, Shizune’s hospitalization, and finally how we rekindled our romance. By the time I finish, our meals are also done.

“I think that’s all I can say.”

“What a journey. I can’t believe you hooked up with such a hottie.”

“It wasn’t without cost, though. Sign language is no joke. I can teach you some if you want to.”

“Ew… No thanks. But still can’t believe you could get so committed to one thing. You never really committed to anything, you know. Not even in arcade games.”

Yeah, I could never win against her in the arcade center. Given my scarce visits after the accident (though I did go there with my Sweetie last week), I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do so.

“It might sound cliché, but maybe it’s indeed the power of love. Even until now, I’ve got no other explanation to why I chose that route. In retrospect, the most logical, reasonable route to take after my transfer would be to apologize to ‘Nako and maybe we could’ve started a long-distance, but it is what it is.”

“You lose your mind when you’re in love. Congrats, anyway.”

“As I told you, the first couple of weeks there were downright awful for me. But Shizune’s presence changed everything. Now I don’t regret…”

“HEY GUYS!”

Alvin’s loud voice from behind catches our attention as we turn to him. It looks like ‘Nako, who’s standing next to her boyfriend, has something to say.

“Well, I suppose everybody is done with your lunch. We’ve booked the room for several more hours, so you can enjoy your dessert any time. We’ve got some board games right there, and you can use the amenities in this building such as badminton, table tennis, and snooker. But since this is a gathering, we’ve prepared a few activities for you all to participate together before you play your own games. So how about we sit in a circle in front of me here?”

I’m fine with the activities, as long as I don’t sit next to Shin or his girlfriend, or get paired with either of them in the games.

With a casual shrug, I point a finger towards the couple, signaling to Mai that we should join the activities and catch up later. Then I offer to help Mai dispose of her empty plate and other stuff. After throwing everything away into the rubbish bin, I notice Shizune signing to me, offering me a seat next to her and Alvin. Good choice, Sweetie. Next to my girlfriend sits Emi, who’s sitting next to her boyfriend. The other members also find their seats as ‘Nako the host starts the first game.

“Have you ever heard of the game called ‘Sea Turtle Soup’?”

I haven’t, and Shizune likewise has no idea. It seems like only Takumi has some knowledge of the game.

“I heard about it in university, but never joined one.”

“So nobody ever played one before? The proper name of the game is ‘Situation Puzzle’. We call it ‘Sea Turtle Soup’ because the puzzle bearing that title is one of the most iconic of that type. Basically, Alvin and I will present you all a mysterious situation. You guys need to keep asking us questions trying to reveal parts of the puzzle, and I’m only allowed to answer ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘irrelevant’. Your task is to, based on the clues given and our answers to your questions, figure out what happened.”

Sounds interesting.

“We’ve prepared a couple of situations, and Alvin said he has an extra one for all of us. But let’s do a couple of warm-ups first, okay? To avoid everybody asking questions simultaneously, let’s start from Alvin’s right side, which is Hisao. We’ll follow the order for at least one round. Okay?”

So I get to ask the first question. Alright then. I hope I don’t mess up.

“This is a very simple case. A man entered a boutique on the seventh floor of a mall and ordered ten full sets of formal wear. The boutique owner measured his size, from the shoes, trousers, sleeves, and, finally, the neck. She then marked down ‘size 16’ for his shirt. The man responded, ‘But I always wear size 14’, to which the owner replied, ‘If you wear 14, you’ll feel headache, nauseous, and might even faint’. Upon hearing that, the man seemed to realize something. His face turned pale, and he subsequently jumped down from the seventh floor of the mall to his death. Question: Why did he commit suicide?”

It’s my turn to ask a question. Hmm…

“Did he order ‘size 14’ for another expensive clothing?”

“No.”

Oh well, no extra clue. It’s now Shizune’s turn.

[Was he feeling dizzy and nauseous when he was in the boutique?]

After I translate the question to ‘Nako, she nods.

“Yes.”

It’s Emi’s turn next.

“Um… Did he see a doctor?” “No.”

“You said he ordered ten full sets of formal wear. Was he going for work?” “No.”

Not going for work? It could be an important hint.

“Did he have any terminal illness?” “No. It’s irrelevant anyway.”

“Was he in any emotional trouble?” “Irrelevant.”

“Did the man visit the shop before?” “No.”

It’s Shrimp’s turn, and then we’ve completed one round of interrogation. It’ll be my turn after that, if nobody interrupts.

“Okay, I’ve got an idea. Did he ask somebody else about the headache and the like?”

‘Nako instantly lights up at Shrimp’s question with a “Yes”. Shrimp then immediately jumps up from her seat in excitement.

“I think I know what happened!”

Huh? So fast? I don’t even have a single clue!

“Tell us about it, Kai.”

“Since the man had been wearing size 14, he must have had the headache issue for some time. He must have asked, not a doctor, but somebody else, like, a fake doctor? About his problem. That guy told them he had a terminal illness and would only have like a few weeks left. In order to enjoy his last moments, he spent all his money on luxurious items including the ten sets of formal wear, until the shop owner told him the truth that his issue was merely due to wearing a wrong size. He realized that he just wasted most of his money for nothing, so he killed himself.”

“Bingo! That was exactly what happened!”

Shrimp jumps up and down to celebrate her success as we all clap our hands. Wow. Shrimp managed to figure everything out from those little clues? She’s awesome in this game! The story was hilarious, and I would never have come up with such a plot.

“Now the second warm-up. A man pushed his wife, along with many others, away in order to get onto a lifeboat which is fully loaded. On the sinking ship, the wife shouted something to the husband, but she was seen smiling. What did she say, and what happened? Let’s start with Kai this time around.”

“Hmm… Was the wife being sarcastic?” “No.”

“Will the woman be saved?” “No.”

“Okay… then, will the man be safe?” “Yes.”

My imminent task is to figure out what sensible question to ask.

“Did the woman sacrifice herself for her husband?”

‘Nako pauses for a moment before replying to the boy who’s still angry with me. At least Shin still seems to be enjoying the gathering despite the shout earlier.

“Well, the man pushed her, so it doesn’t qualify as a sacrifice. But since she didn’t fight back or take any counteraction, you can say she’s sacrificing. So, I guess yes.”

“Is she suffering from, say, a terminal illness?” “Yes.”

Upon the revelation of this key information, Takumi and Shrimp shout simultaneously in excitement as I’m still pretty much in the dark.

“I know what happened!”

“Takumi, since I gave out the solution last time, I’ll let you do it this time.”

“Okay. Actually I don’t have all the pieces, but I’ll try. Apparently the wife had been inflicted with a terminal disease, so when the ship was sinking and there was only one lifeboat left, the woman decided to sacrifice herself by allowing her husband to board the lifeboat, since she was dying anyway. The wife would be shouting, for example, ‘Thank you’ or ‘Take care of yourself’!”

“Your story is at least partially correct, but you’re missing a few critical pieces.”

It looks like Shrimp is up to the rescue.

“I’ll fill the gaps, Takumi. We need to consider why the boat trip took place. Since the woman was dying, the boat ride must have been a farewell trip bestowed by her loving husband, to give each other a fond memory before her inevitable death. But their trip was cut short because of an accident causing the ship to sink. There were not enough lifeboats, and obviously everybody wanted to live, so the man had to push through in order to find himself a seat. But if the husband was so loving to his wife to orchestrate that final trip with her, I’d say he didn’t even mind dying with her. Which implies he probably had something even more important than his wife to take care of in the world, such that he couldn’t afford to die with her. In view of this, the content of the woman’s quote is now clear: ‘Take care of our kids,’ because the man must bear the sole responsibility of raising their children.”

Shrimp probably reads a lot of romantic fiction. I remembered when she and ‘Nako talked about my relationship with my Sweetie, she said my story was romantic. I wonder if she and Hanako could join a reading club together.

“You did it again! Absolutely amazing! Nice job, Kai!”

That’s just insane analytic skills from the energetic lady. The only thing everybody in the circle can do is to clap their hands. It turns out I didn’t even get to ask a question in this warm-up.

“Okay. We’re done with the warm-ups. Now let’s move on to the real stuff. Are you guys ready? Alvin, maybe you read the question for me.”

‘Nako hands her boyfriend a piece of paper to read as I wonder whether Shrimp will score all the questions for us.

“On a huge piece of grassland, with virtually nothing else within a mile, the police discovered a corpse of a male. He was almost naked, only on his underwear. There was blood from his head and multiple parts of his body, and his arms were broken. Next to his right hand was half a piece of an unlit match. Other than that, there was virtually nothing else on the scene, not even footsteps. There has been no rain these few days. Question: What happened to the man?”

Wow. This is a tough question. And I once again get to start. I don’t think this “advantage” of mine means anything though.

“Was he transported here after dying?” “No.”

[Any stab wound in his head?] “No.”

“So, did he fall from a high place?” “Yes.”

Nice deduction, Emi. This clue is going to help.

“Did he fall from an airplane?” “No.”

“A helicopter, then?” “No.”

Huh. I wonder from what he was dropped down.

“Was it a suicide?”

‘Nako ponders on the seemingly easy yes-no question for a moment before giving her boyfriend an unsure look, apparently asking for his take. Alvin shrugs casually before giving his opinion.

“I’d say yes, but it’s kind of ambiguous. Alright, I’ll make an exception to the yes-no rule for once. The man was actually forced to commit suicide.”

Forced to commit suicide? I’ve never heard of that. Wait, isn’t it equivalent to sacrificing for somebody else? There could be an accident!

“Was the temperature very hot?” “Irrelevant.”

It’s now Shrimp’s turn, and I can see her eyes sparking with excitement. Did she already figure the puzzle out?

“Hot air balloon?” “Yes.”

“I know what happened! But… I don’t wanna spoil the fun. You guys go on.”

Okay… well, technically it’s my turn now, but I’m still in the dark. My Sweetie, however, pokes me from the right and signs to me.

[I’ve got an idea. See if it makes sense. The man was on a hot air balloon trip with several others. He was sacrificed by being thrown out of the balloon because of overloading. This explains why there’s no trace in the scene.]

[But why was he naked?]

[Hmm… Ah, yes, because they threw away their clothing beforehand to try to reduce weight. Apparently that wasn’t enough.]

[I see! Then the match… Oh yeah, it makes so much sense now!]

The discussion with my girlfriend reveals the solution. No doubt Shrimp has already had it figured out. I’m amazed how fast her brain is.

“I think Shizune and I have this figured out.”

“Tell us then.”

“The man was on a hot air balloon trip with his friends, but fuel ran out and the basket was overloaded. They threw away their clothing to reduce weight, but that wasn’t enough. In despair, they had to sacrifice somebody by throwing them out of the balloon. One piece of match was broken in half and mixed with several other matches for drawing lots. The unfortunate man drew the broken match and therefore was sacrificed.”

“Correct! Did you get the same conclusion, Shrimp?”

“Yup! Great job, you two.”

My girlfriend and I finally solved one! We receive claps as the couple sitting next to me prepares the next puzzle. This time ‘Nako is the one to speak.

“Next question. The dead body of a young boy around 25 years old was found at the edge of a lake. There was a surveillance camera nearby, revealing to the police that he had jumped into the lake on his own accord. During investigation, the police found an old fisherman who talked to the boy before he committed suicide. The boy asked the man why the fish he caught had no seaweed, to which the fisherman replied that the lake never had seaweed. Question: Why did the boy kill himself?”

This second problem turned out to be exceptionally difficult, costing us fifteen minutes to solve. The only useful clue was the seaweed. We knew there probably was an accident before, but it was hard to figure out questions that could give us leads. It took us a couple of rounds of interrogation before Miki finally broke through for us with the insane idea of associating the seaweed with a girl’s hair (her long hair probably contributed to the idea). This time it was Emi who first solved the puzzle (though I wonder if Shrimp already knew the answer but chose to keep silent): The boy was riding on a boat with his girlfriend before an accident caused the girl to fall into the water. The boy jumped into the lake in an attempt to save the girl, but his legs were stuck in a pile of seaweed, or so he thought. It took him great effort to wiggle himself out of the seaweed and swim back to the water surface to breathe. He then tried searching in the water again, but to no avail. Disappointed, he left the lake. The next day, he returned to the lake to see whether the girl survived. He saw a fisherman and questioned him why the fish he caught had no seaweed. When the fisherman told him the lake never had seaweed, he realized that the seaweed from yesterday was his girlfriend’s hair; he could’ve saved her had he not wiggle himself out of “trouble”. In despair, he decided to end his own life.

The last question is supposed to be asked by Alvin, but we have been sitting on our chairs long enough that some of us need a break. Moreover, we’ve spent more time than expected on the puzzles already; with the limited amount of time left for the gathering, some of us understandably want to try out the amenities nearby instead. So we have Alvin tell us the situation and we will figure the puzzle out as homework.

“A middle-aged man was found dead in his luxurious mansion. He was discovered because there was a strong foul smell coming from the mansion. The police entered the home and determined that he had hung himself dead. Curiously, after the corpse was removed, the foul smell didn’t go away, and its source was never found. In order to rule out the possibility of a murder fabricated as a fake suicide, the police investigated his ties and discovered that he divorced a woman a month ago and was living with his new girlfriend before his death. The police tracked down the divorced woman and visited her multi-million-dollar house. She was shocked to hear the news. She told the police that she and her ex-husband were living in the same house she’s currently residing in until she was divorced a month ago. Initially her ex-husband was able to take the house since his lawyer was better, but after a few weeks, he was willing to sell the house to his ex-wife for a lower price. Therefore, the woman was able to move back into the house. Noticing a few tiny holes above the windows, the police realized there was more to the case. But after further investigation, they confirmed that the man indeed died on his own accord. Question: Why did the man kill himself?”

We’ll solve this bizarre case later. For now, let’s try out the facilities in Midori. They should be similar to those available in Kasshoku, but today I’ll be exercising with my Before Yamaku friends. Before that, though, I need to use the bathroom.

It seems like Takumi is having the same idea, as we’re heading the same direction. Great, as we do have some catching up to do. Wish me luck.

“Hey there, Takumi.”

The slender boy turns around, grins, and pats me on my shoulder.

“It’s been two years. Glad to see you in better shape.”

I’m glad that two years after he visited me in the hospital, I have a much better body to show him, thanks to all the exercises with my girlfriend and my former physical trainer who’s now his girlfriend. Given what Takumi said at the beginning of the gathering, I don’t think he wants to talk about the events two years ago. I give him a silent nod and offer to walk the distance towards the restroom together.

“Thanks for the kind words earlier. Can’t believe you visited Yamaku before.”

“Yeah I did. I was actually thinking if you studied in a high school similar to that. Turns out you were in the exact high school I visited.”

“The world is so small, isn’t it?”

“Indeed. By the way, thank you for pulling the strings for me and Emi.”

“It was ‘Nako. She did everything. I only confirmed her suspicions.”

“That counts too, even though it didn’t matter in the end. When somebody does you a favor, you always show them gratitude, regardless of the result, right?”

I hope he’s not being sarcastic; my former classmates did take their time to visit me in the hospital after all, and what a fantastic gratitude I offered them in return. I need to redirect the topic as far away from the danger zone as possible, and the first thing I can think of is his girlfriend.

“I guess. So, Emi, huh. Congratulations.”

“Yeah. I’m so happy that I was accepted into Midori University to meet her.”

University. That’s a great target to sway the conversation towards.

“I’m curious. Why did you choose Midori instead of Kasshoku? Isn’t Kasshoku much closer to your hometown? Or our hometown?”

Takumi reacts to my seemingly innocent question with an expression of “you got me” before entering the bathroom. After making sure nobody’s around, he whispers to me as we head to the bowl.

“Because Kasshoku doesn’t have a medical faculty.”

“What? You’re studying as a doctor? Amazing!”

“No. Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m studying Psychology.”

“But why? …Hold on. It can’t be…”

As I finish relieving myself, realizing that he just revealed to me a big secret, I stare at him with an unbelievable expression.

“‘Nako?”

He nonchalantly shrugs as he also finishes, heading towards the tap.

“Yeah.”

He’s trying to make it as casual as possible, but the implication that he once had a crush towards my former pursuer before Alvin took her away does not escape my ears. I’m glad that he managed to find himself another nice girl, so he doesn’t have to lick his wounds anymore. The fact that he is willing to share with me his secret, given that he normally isn’t very outspoken, implies he truly wants to rebuild a friendship with me, which is great.

“Never knew about it.”

“Even Shin doesn’t know. Don’t tell anybody, okay?”

“Sure, my lips are sealed. At least you have another one now.”

“It’s true. How about you? If I were you, I would’ve chosen a school near Yamaku. You’d be free from home, and you wouldn’t see any of us there.”

When Shizune and I considered our university of choice, I was the one who first suggested Kasshoku University because it’s close to my home. Shizune initially wanted to try the prestigious Tokyo University, but after the Center Test results we quickly deduced that we wouldn’t be accepted unless we chose unpopular subjects, which could negatively affect our future career choices. We would rather be the top students in Kasshoku than the bottom in Tokyo.

“Financial reasons, buddy. My medical expense cannot be neglected. I cannot afford to spend additional money on housing.”

Upon mentioning my condition, even indirectly, the slender boy gets a little awkward and stares at the end of the corridor blankly. I’ve gotten used to similar reactions from my university classmates.

“Sorry.”

I can imagine how uneasy he was when he visited Yamaku the other day.

“Don’t be. Pro tip: Treat the disabled as if they were normal people. Your girlfriend included. This is what I learned in Yamaku.”

“Thanks, buddy. Hey, it looks like your girlfriend is waving at you in the badminton court. See if you want to join.”

Shifting my sight towards the badminton court to my right, it looks like my Sweetie has already set up a badminton game with Emi, and they’re inviting their boyfriends into the game. This is the first time I see Emi playing a different sport from running.

“Sure. Why not?”

“Can you handle the exercise?”

The conversation with Takumi, despite him being surprisingly friendly towards me, has been admittedly still a bit uneasy, so the girls’ presence provides us with a nice buffer to soften the atmosphere.

“I won’t chase down every ball, so as long as you don’t play like an absolute jerk by placing short balls after long balls, I should be fine.”

“No worries. Let’s go.”

Accordingly, we enter the court, receive our badminton rackets from our respective girlfriends, and stand opposite to each other on the left side of the court. Takumi fires off the first shot towards me. His shot is accurately placed right on top of my head, so I have no trouble redirecting the shuttle towards Emi, who jumps up and hits a shot down the line towards my partner. She digs out the shuttle towards Takumi, who takes a few steps backward to hit his shot towards me, but the shuttle lands beyond the tramlines. I pick up the shuttle and casually hit it towards Emi.

Other than that shouting scene with Shin, this gathering has been better than expected. At least I get to reconnect with two of my Before Yamaku friends. Last night ‘Nako gave me a call, saying that she has known about the Yamaku Festival next week through Takumi, who apparently received an invitation from his girlfriend. ‘Nako suggested that if today’s gathering happens to be a success, we can invite everybody in the group to the Festival together. ‘Nako herself has expressed a strong desire to visit my former high school. Based on what has been going on, I think we can make the invitation after the gathering, and I don’t care one bit about Shin’s response.

It was a correct decision to bring my girlfriend to the gathering. With her around, I feel much safer interacting with others, even those I have had trouble with. I don’t care about Shin’s filthy comments about Shizune; my Sweetie is the best.

Chapter 88: Captain of My Soul

[ShizuneFan2019]

Chapter 88: Captain of My Soul

“HURRAY!!!!”

As everybody in the computer room turns their eyes towards my noisy classmate, I hurry to remind the blonde to keep her voice down with a “please calm down” gesture while personally demonstrating the correct speaking volume in a room.

“W-what’s the matter?”

The future journalist gives me a thumbs-up while continuing to speak in a volume that, despite already dropped by around 30 percent, still doesn’t require Lilly’s sharp ears to eavesdrop.

“The professor’s approved of our proposal! Yay!!”

“You mean the exercise machines?”

“Yup! Congrats, buddy! And thanks, I suppose. It was your idea after all!”

The “exercise machine” proposal involves a project assignment about the pros and cons of health-related products announced by the professor a couple of weeks ago. Due to some technical issues, the official assignment document wasn’t released until last week, and we had one week to decide our topic and propose it to the professor through the medium of an online submission system. Yesterday we were told to login to the system from time to time to check whether our topic is approved or not. I checked early this morning and the system said “pending”, so I thought the result wouldn’t come for another day and hence I didn’t bother to check again after the morning classes. Turns out Naomi has me covered while I’m printing out lecture notes for the afternoon.

So being an early riser can sometimes be a disadvantage. Who would’ve thought so!

“G-great. So, when s-should we start the p-project?”

“Hey buddy! We’ve got like two hours before lunch, don’t we? I think we should start working on it right now!”

“R-right now?”

“D’you have any problems with that?”

“N-no. I’m just s-surprised that you didn’t p-push it until one w-week before the deadline, like last time.”

In the previous project which was due last week, Naomi delayed working on it until like the final days. Fortunately I had done my part in advance and prepared materials for her to write; otherwise we would’ve missed the deadline. I think my diligence could be one of the reasons she has chosen me to be her project partner throughout the term.

“Nah, I’ve learned from my mistakes, buddy. But s’ry for the last one though.”

“That’s o-okay. So, according to our p-proposal outline, s-should we start with the introduction?”

“Yup! And we’re obviously going to search the web for a formal definition.”

It’s always a good practice to check the formal definition on the web in order to make sure we don’t stray from our topic or miss out on some elementary information. And since we’re officially working on the project, we need to further lower our speaking volume so that we don’t spoil key information to potential fellow classmates who could be using computers in the same room.

“I’ve g-got it here. So… An exercise machine is any machine used for physical exercise. These range from simple spring-like devices to computerized electromechanical devices to recirculating-stream swimming pools.”

“Wait. Pools, huh. We’ve never considered that in our project. Yeah, I think Yamaku’s got something like that in the pools.”

“B-but we’re not traveling all the way back to Yamaku to c-check on it, are we? And we c-can’t get into the pool anyway.”

“We can send an e-mail to Misha in America for information. Or we can do something this Sunday.”

“S-Sunday?”

“The Yamaku Festival! You forgot about your high school already, buddy?”

Oh! The Yamaku Festival! I never considered the fact that I can participate the gathering as a graduate!

In the first three years as a Yamaku student, I had treated the Festival as nothing more than a cue to hide in my own room or the library. In my fourth year though, as a mandatory assignment of her treatment plan, Miss Yumi dragged me out of my room to participate in the Festival and write about the stalls. I completed the photo-taking part of the assignment in the morning and spent the afternoon writing the article before playing video games with my former Newspaper Club members. I still remember winning a race against Naomi and losing a Pokémon battle to Jun. Now that I’m a graduate, I think I can attend the Festival with relative ease, as long as I’m accompanied by the right people.

“You’re right, Naomi. O-okay, we can go together. Along with Lilly.”

“Yup! We’ll have lots of fun! I’ve already called Jun, and she promised to be there. And Natsume too. We can talk in the Newspaper Club, and I can resume my Editor in Chief position for a few hours! Hahaha…”

“I’m not s-sure if we can enter the r-room…”

My blonde project partner wags a finger to indicate she has things already planned out, and I haven’t been catching up with her in the Yamaku reunion department.

“I can pull the strings, buddy. The current Editor in Chief is my friend after all.”

I mean, what kind of newspaper can you produce in a few hours?

“Uh huh.”

Naomi pats me on my left shoulder in mild anger.

“Not uh huh! Buddy! I lost my position for two months, and I’ve missed it so dearly already! Yup! I’ve decided! I’ll write something! I’ll try to make a new issue in a few hours! I’ll have Jun and Natsume help me out! And you too, buddy! Let’s do this!”

Uh… I’m not sure whether I should get myself involved, but on the other hand I don’t want to spoil her mood. She’s already slightly riled up at my lukewarm response.

“O-okay… I can t-try to help. But shouldn’t we f-focus on the project first?”

“Oh yeah. Of course. I can do the newspaper thing tomorrow. Where are we? The definition, right?”

The computer in front of me has already switched to wallpaper display, so I move the mouse a little to get back to the definition.

“Y-yes. Most exercise machines incorporate an ergometer. An ergometer is an apparatus for measuring the work a person exerts while exercising as used in training or cardiac stress tests or other medical tests. Uh… as in our p-proposal, we’ll dive into two m-main types of machines: Resistance machines, and Endless-path machines.”

“Yup, and we already made a consensus to focus mainly on the machines that are popular and readily available in… let’s see, yup, I’ve got the proposal here… in schools, gymnasiums, clubhouses, hotels, and rehabilitation centers. And speaking of Yamaku, I think we should include amenities for the disabled too.”

“I agree. O-okay, I will write the introduction part. Please k-kindly provide me with real-life photos of exercise m-machines in the above places.”

“Yup, got it. For schools, we’ll check out the gym in our school in a minute. For gymnasiums, I can ask my parents for help, as they go to gyms regularly. For hotels, I’m gonna ask Emi for help, as she’s now living in a hotel. For clubhouses…”

“I’ll ask K-Karla. She can take p-pictures for us.”

“Good. And for the rehab centers part, we’ll do Yamaku on Sunday.”

“O-okay. Next, we should d-discuss the pros and cons of exercise m-machines.”

“Correct, and I’ll write this part. Let’s review the proposal. Pros of exercise machines: Can perform exercises regardless of weather and temperature, easily accessible, contains various settings and optimizations, and statistics available. Cons: No fresh air, repair cost, safety concerns including misuse of equipment and treadmill issues, equipment needs to be sanitized, and not all sports can be substituted.”

“I think t-that’s already quite a l-lot to write about.”

“I agree. Including pictures, I think I can write, like, six pages or so.”

“And afterwards, w-we’re supposed to compare different t-types and models of exercise machines. We l-list out several criteria and c-check each machine against the list. I’ve already w-written a tentative list last night. It’s in my bag.”

I rummage through my bag, retrieve the note I wrote last night, and hand it to my project partner for approval.

“Hmm… Looks good. I can’t think of any other item right now, but we can always add one when we get to the gym.”

“Y-yes. We will write some d-discussions based on the data we’ve collected. And finally a conclusion.”

“Excellent, buddy! If things go according to plan, we should ace our assignment!”

“H-hopefully.”

“Alright! So, shall we go to the gym right now?”

“Let me c-collect the printing first, o-okay?”

Working on a project with Naomi is so much fun, if you manage to make her work way before the deadline.

---

After gently blowing air into the bowl of noodle in front of me to cool it down, I try out the new product of the cafeteria with a pair of chopsticks while my lunch partner keeps eating in relative silence.

She hasn’t spoken one word since we sit down across each other after buying our respective meals. Her facial expression tells me if I don’t initiate something, this lunch meeting is going to end without a conversation.

“L-Lilly, is something b-bothering you?”

Putting down her fork, the tall blonde lets out a heavy sigh before burying her head into her hands. She hasn’t been in a good mood since Sunday night, and so far I’ve chosen to give her space instead of asking. But since she chose to have lunch with me, I feel like I can take the initiative.

Accordingly, I get up from my seat and gently caress my elder sister’s blonde hair, an act I certainly wouldn’t do before I submitted the adoption document issued by my new father.

“You c-can tell me. I’m your younger s-sister after all.”

It probably still takes time for both of us to adapt to our new relationship: We’re officially sisters.

My lunch partner meekly nods, lifts her head, and starts to regroup herself in front of me and the rest of the cafeteria. I’ve, as always, chosen to sit at a corner, so nobody has noticed us yet.

“A proper lady takes care of her own appearance in public. Father is correct.”

I should stay by her side for the moment. She probably wants my proximity.

“I heard the s-statement from Hiro too.”

Lilly nods, and, to obey our father’s words, she sits upright and regains her composure.

“I had a discussion with my advisor this morning. She confirmed to me that my road towards my dream career will be extremely tough, if not outright unfeasible.”

“Y-your advisor?”

“You know what my dream career is, do you not?”

I still vividly remember the afternoon I first joined the physical course, when Hisao revealed to Lilly and her boyfriend that they can’t be teachers at the same school if they do get married in the future.

“English teacher?”

“Correct. It was my first formal meeting with my advisor. When I told her my primary career of choice, she informed me that, while historically a significant number of graduates in the English Faculty have chosen the education sector as their career choice, according to her experience in meeting with clients, most schools are reluctant to invest resources to accommodate the disabled, especially someone with my condition.”

It is reasonable that she gets to meet her advisor formally in her second year since we don’t decide on our majors in our first year of study. I’ll have to eventually meet mine next year, and I don’t know how I can talk to them comfortably.

“I see… So, what k-kind of career did she s-suggest to you?”

“She told me that typical jobs for the blind or people with sight impairment include physical massage therapist, like a certain sportsman called Akiyama who won a sports program several years ago. Or a musician, because blind people tend to have sharp ears. A career in teaching is probably more feasible in the Western society, where people are more open-minded towards disabilities, but in Japan, the work environment is not as accommodating. As an example, you cannot expect a school to build a tactile pavement on the entire schoolground just for your cause.”

The discrimination event she told me last year immediately comes to my mind.

“S-so, does it m-mean you need to teach in S-Scotland or America?”

Which means she will need to cut off basically all the ties she’s managed here and either go back to Karla’s hometown or reunite with the rest of our family, leaving me behind. Lilly obviously knows what my question implies, and she wraps her quivering left arm around my waist. Usually this gesture is used by my motherly elder sister to comfort me, but this time she’s probably using me as a crutch.

“I don’t know, Hanako. I… really don’t know…”

My noodles should be getting cold, but I’ve got no more appetite. Digesting Lilly’s words and recalling her account of the discriminating incident last year while the cafeteria starts getting busy, a question about the Kasshoku administration naturally comes to my mind. I wonder if Lilly has gotten any information from staff members.

“S-so… if being a t-teacher in Japan is not supposed to be an option for you, then w-why did the university accepted you in the f-first place?”

Lilly nods and hugs me slightly tighter. I wonder if she told her boyfriend about the meeting this morning.

“Yes. The advisor revealed to me that when the English Department accepted me, they expected me to follow a career of a writer, composing fictions and novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and the Harry Potter series. Another option for me is a translator, although if I do choose to go down that path, then I probably need at least a minor degree in translation.”

If she really wants to become a teacher in Japan, she most likely has to settle for a disabled school like Yamaku, which has facilities geared towards the disabled. Tatsuya can find a school nearby to teach, but it might be an issue if that school is far away from his hometown.

As for my own career choice, I talked to Karla the other day, who suggested that I could aim for a content writer because I wouldn’t need to show my face and make a speech to the public. If Lilly does decide to become a writer, then we can potentially become colleagues. On the other hand, even though I never contacted my school advisor, I did have a brief discussion with Miss Ibuki last week about Kozuki and the Ibukis’ dream of starting an orphanage. I can become a counselor like Miss Ibuki, and perhaps work along with her and her cousin if they do get their business running, but I’ll most likely need a minor degree in social studies or the like.

If Lilly and I do choose a career path involving the acquisition of a minor degree over our four-year university span, we need to plan as soon as possible. This is especially true for Lilly since she is already in her second year. Preferably she should start taking courses in the upcoming term, and perhaps consider overloading a little bit.

Come to think of it, like in my case, Kozuki might also want a minor degree in social studies as well, because his major, English Literature, is unrelated to counseling. He’s most likely aware of this fact, and he could already be taking related courses.

Shizune told me the other day she’s studying for two majors: Accounting and Finance. Hisao also said he’s considering a minor degree in Mathematics in addition to his Physics major.

So almost everybody around me is trying to get two degrees in four years.

“T-thank you for t-telling me all these. How about Tatsuya? D-did he know about your appointment t-today?”

Upon the mentioning of her boyfriend, my blonde sister’s face drops even more.

“Actually, the appointment I made this morning was because of him.”

Really? Did they have an argument? No wonder she called me for lunch instead of him! And fortunately Naomi chose to hang around with Hisao’s classmates in search of a boyfriend instead of tagging along with me, or this lunch gathering would’ve become extremely awkward.

“W-what happened?”

“We went on a date on Sunday. Everything was fine until the end when we talked about our future career choices. We didn’t part on very good terms, and I haven’t contacted him since then.”

“Did he make a c-comment about your career?”

“In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been angry with him. He said something similar to what the advisor told me, that realistically it is not an easy task to find a school that can accommodate me. He added that since we will not be allowed to teach in the same school after marrying anyway, perhaps I can consider another career in the first place. But being an English teacher has been my dream for years, and I’m not ready to give it up just yet. In the end we couldn’t reach a consensus, so we parted ways right after dinner.”

No wonder she looked a bit down when she returned home that evening! She hid it pretty well, but being her new younger sister and confidant, I had no trouble sensing that something had gotten wrong. But I didn’t say anything, electing to allow her to tell me voluntarily.

“After cooling myself down, I realized that he had a solid argument. But I wanted to try my luck against the advisor; maybe she would say something different from my boyfriend and hence invalidate his point. And that was the reason I booked the appointment this morning. Unfortunately for me, it turned out the reality was inclined towards my boyfriend’s side.”

So, having a boyfriend is not always tight hugs and sweet kisses.

“It m-must be a huge b-blow for you.”

Still in a sitting position, Lilly gently puts her right arm around my waist, meeting her left fingers behind me. Then she pulls her head next to my tummy and leans herself against me as I, in deep sympathy, place my right arm across her shoulders, allowing my sister to use my body as a source of comfort.

“Thank you for understanding, Hanako.”

We stay like this for a few minutes. Unfortunately we can’t afford to continue because both of us have classes in the next hour, and my sister obviously has to take her time to walk back to the English Faculty. So we release each other and, while Lilly regroups herself, I take both of our lunches to the microwave and return to our seats with reheated food.

“S-so, w-what are you going to do next?”

The ace student in the English Faculty looks satisfied by the warm food in front of her. Due to our time limit, and perhaps being really hungry, she takes several spoons of her rice at once and uncharacteristically responds to my question with a mouth half-filled with rice.

“I’m leaning towards going for the minor degree, then decide in my fourth year.”

I don’t want her to choke herself, so I raise no further question and allow both of us to eat in peace until we’re done with our main courses.

If Lilly also decides to study a minor degree, we’ll become extremely busy. We probably won’t have much time to go for extra-curricular activities, and she’ll need to sacrifice some dating time with her boyfriend, assuming that their argument can be resolved soon. The sacrifice is likely to be worth it though, considering that both of us having a disability, it is beneficial for us to get as many credentials as possible in order to strive. I wonder if Naomi will eventually do the same.

“Who knows, perhaps he can find a great offer near Yamaku, and all problems can be resolved, assuming Yamaku has a place for me.”

“It w-would be p-perfect for you two.”

“Or perhaps we part ways after we graduate.”

Being still single, I’m, of course, not in a position to comment on Lilly’s relationship. So I remain silent while drinking from my cup of tea. A downside of becoming her sister and roommate is that I’m starting to get even more addicted to caffeine than in my Yamaku days. Perhaps I need to start controlling my tea intake next week.

“Or if somebody hires me big for a translation job? I’ll leave my options open. I think this is the best I can do for the moment.”

So I realize today that not having a boyfriend has its own advantage: You’re relatively free to make your career and life decisions. Miss Ibuki told me something related to this point the other day, referencing her own experience.

I can’t help but think about Kozuki. Managing an orphanage together is great, but how about my journalist career? Do I want to sacrifice my career to accommodate my potential boyfriend, or will I follow Miss Ibuki’s footsteps of giving up a relationship to realize my own dream?

Despite having considered telling Lilly about my special conversation with Kozuki during Akira’s gathering the other day, I never had the courage to tell her everything. When she asked me about my billiard game with Kozuki after we returned to our apartment, I only gave her the generic reply of “it was great; I am happy to make a friend”. She never brought up the fact that he was my online chess partner, and I likewise didn’t utter another word about him. Since that evening, I’ve been seeing my fellow orphan in the track field and the evening club activity as usual, but we never exchanged more than a few words. Miss Ibuki, after hearing from me about my encounter with her cousin, went on with the project of increasing my self-confidence. I admit I haven’t made much of a progress just yet, but she’s been allowing me to take my time. And even though she said she’d be happy if I can become her cousin’s girlfriend, she chooses not to interfere with us, allowing things to happen naturally.

Speaking of self-confidence, I notice that my stuttering has returned since last week. My failures in Miss Ibuki’s project probably contribute to some of it, but I know that a significant cause to the problem is the fact that, despite spending a wonderful evening on the pool table with him, my relationship with Kozuki surprisingly hasn’t gone any further since that gathering. He never really talked to me, and I likewise didn’t dare to open up a topic. I’m still hesitant about his business idea of managing an orphanage with me. More importantly, I’m still left with the question of whether he treats me as a potential business partner or a love interest.

Just staying silent isn’t going to get me anywhere. I’ll see him again this evening in the Chess and Bridge Club. Maybe I should take some action tonight.

Despite obviously stressed and riled up by her boyfriend’s comment, Lilly still emanates a soothing aura that makes me lose track of time. And when I finally remember to take a look at my phone, it’s already like ten minutes until class. We will need to continue our discussion in our shared apartment tonight.

“It’s time to go, Lilly.”

Okay, I admit I lost track of time mainly because I was thinking about Kozuki, not because of Lilly.

“Oh my! Did we spend so much time in the cafeteria already?”

“I can help you towards the classroom if you need.”

Usually my stuttering is gone in emergency situations like this, and then it returns after things subside. Luckily I don’t need to see Miss Ibuki today; Miss Yumi had said that after a couple of months, my visits to my counselor can be less frequent.

“The service will not be required, Hanako. I would rather be safe than hurry and cause an accident.”

“O-okay then. I’ll see you in the afternoon.”

Accordingly, after cleaning up both trays, we bid farewells to each other and head back to our respective faculties. I need to run a bit to make sure I can occupy the corner seats. Fortunately, my other classmates are already used to my timid behavior and are kind enough to “reserve” those seats for me and Naomi by not sitting on them, although it’s much more likely that they’re already accustomed to their own seats.

If I can’t become Kozuki’s girlfriend at the end of this term, I need to know a friend in class before term ends. Oh no. I still haven’t attempted the assignment.

---

Staring at a hand containing the King, Queen, 10, 7, and 4 of Spades, the 10 and 3 of Hearts, the Ace, Jack, and 5 of Diamonds, and the King, Jack, and 9 of Clubs, I quickly calculate the number of “high card points” in my hand to be 14. The distribution is 5-2-3-3. After my right-hand opponent, South, passes his turn, I know that I, as West, should open the bidding. The bidding system we’re using, Standard American Yellow Card or SAYC, says that there is only one feasible bidding I can make.

“One Spade.”

My left-hand opponent passes his turn, so it is up to my fellow orphan, as East, to respond to my opening bid.

“Two Diamonds.”

This guarantees at least 10 points and four Diamonds. He probably doesn’t have support in Spades, or he would’ve bid Two or Three Spades. In this situation, I’m pretty much forced to make a bid that I don’t like, but I’ve got no other alternative.

“Two Notrump.”

I hate this bid because I have no guard in Hearts. I can only hope that my partner has something to offer in that suit.

“Three Notrump.”

Everybody passes. Now that I’ve just become the Declarer, I’m really nervous that he’s has nothing in Hearts. My worry deepens when my left-hand opponent leads the 5 of Hearts. And when my partner shows his hand of the 9 and 8 of Spades, the King, Queen, and 6 of Hearts, the King, Queen, 9, 7, and 2 of Diamonds, and the Queen, 8, and 5 of Clubs, I feel like I’m probably not making this contract.

In the session last week, I was told that in a Notrump contract, I should first count the winners. Assuming the opposing Diamonds aren’t distributed awkwardly, I should have 5 Diamond tricks. After forcing out the Ace of Hearts and the Ace of Clubs, I can only get 3 additional tricks for a total of 8. I need 9 tricks, so this means I must tackle Spades no matter what. If I can get 3 tricks in Spades, I don’t need to play any Clubs.

I play the King from Dummy. South takes the trick with the Ace as I follow suit with the 3. South continues with another Heart, and after following suit with the 10, I, remembering what Kozuki taught me about the hold-up play, allow my opponents to take this trick with the Jack. The third Heart is led, and I am forced to take this trick with Dummy’s Queen as I discard a Spade.

The situation is pretty clear. Dummy, South, and I should have no more Hearts. If North manages to get the lead, the contract will go down. With only one Heart trick on hand, there is no point in playing Clubs. I lead the 9 of Spades from Dummy and, after South follows with the 5, my only choice is to play the King, hoping that the Ace is not in North’s hand. My wish is granted, as North displays the 3. But then I realize that if I want to get back to Dummy, I need to cash all my Diamond tricks. So I play five Diamond tricks ending in Dummy, me discarding a Spade and a Club. Then I lead Dummy’s remaining Spade and South takes the trick with the Ace while I joyfully follow with the 4. My celebration is short-lived, however, as South then leads a Club to North’s Ace, and North cashes two Heart tricks to put the contract down one. Oh well, I tried my best.

“Sorry partner.”

“No problem. You played well. I was probably a bit too aggressive in the bidding. Now let’s review the hand, shall we?”

Everyone in the table shows our hands as Kozuki, who has played Bridge for a few years, leads the three Bridge novices, me included, into a group discussion.

“Let’s start with the bidding. West’s One Spade bid is correct, with five Spades and 14 points. My bid of Two Diamonds promises 10 points or more, with at least four Diamonds. The Two Notrump bid is also correct; it was the only bid West could have made. My Three Notrump bid is admittedly a bit aggressive. Even though I have 12 points which, adding West’s minimum of 13 results in 25 in total, the nominal minimum for a Three Notrump contract, I have no Aces on hand, which decreases my hand’s value a bit. I was hoping that my 5-card Diamond suit and the 9’s and 8’s could be of help. But it didn’t work out in the end. I don’t really regret my bid, however, because, as we introduced last week, Three Notrump grants much higher points than Partscore contracts. It is usually worth the risk to try for a better score, especially if you and your partner are skilled players.”

Kozuki first invited me to watch a Bridge game with him during last Tuesday’s club meeting. He then aggregated a few students, including me, who are interested in Bridge and started a small tutorial session. I found Bridge a lot of fun, so I stuck with Kozuki on Thursday for another session.

“Now let’s move on to the play. The lead was normal, as North has five Hearts, and the fourth-best lead of the 5 is correct. Before playing a card from Dummy, it is necessary to assess the situation. Other than a 5-0 Diamond split, West should have 5 Diamond tricks. Clubs should give 2 tricks, for a total of 7. Now, since North leads his fourth-best, this means he must have at least an honor in Hearts. If he has the Ace, then the contract is assured by playing the King from Dummy because Hearts will then yield two tricks. If he has the Jack, then West only gets one trick no matter what she does. If this happens, then the only hope for West is for South to have both the Ace of Spades and Ace of Clubs, which is highly unlikely as he would have 12 points, almost enough to open the bidding. To conclude, playing the King from Dummy is correct.”

It's good to hear that my Bridge teacher agrees with my play, although he analyzes the situation more thoroughly.

“Unfortunately for West, South does have the Ace of Hearts. At this point the contract pretty much becomes hopeless. The play afterwards doesn’t matter much. As long as North and South keep playing Hearts and North has at least one Ace, they will always defeat the contract.”

Kozuki wags a finger to indicate he is not done yet.

“But does it mean East and West were wrong? Let’s review our conclusion. The contract was certain if North had the Ace of Hearts. After he led the fourth-best Heart, we could assume that he had at least an honor in Hearts. There were only three scenarios: He had both honors, he had the Ace, or he had the Jack. In two out of three cases, the contract was assured. Therefore, East and West had at least two-thirds chance to make the contract. Plus the slim chance of North having all three aces, we had a more than 70 percent chance in this one, which justified my Three Notrump bid. This is Bridge. You get unlucky at times, but in the long run, probabilities will even out, and the team who takes the most reasonable amount of risk will most likely win the contest.”

No wonder they say Bridge is a great leisure activity for math people. I think Hisao will like this game.

“Let’s move on to the next board, shall we?”

After several more boards, we need to unfortunately end our gathering as it’s already 9:30. Time flies when you play games! I need to pick Lilly up in the library, and say hi to Hisao who’s a librarian on duty today. The other Bridge table is also cleaning up; it is the experienced group. Perhaps in a few months, I can join that table too.

It turns out Kozuki is merely a member, not an executive, of the Chess and Bridge Club. But he’s well experienced at Bridge, to the point that the executives are glad to allow him to conduct his own Bridge tutorial while they either play in the experienced group or teach other board games to club members.

“That’s all the time we have today. See you all on Thursday!”

I don’t regret joining this club at all. Playing games as an extra-curricular activity is fun, especially when one of the club members is my potential love interest.

Speaking of Kozuki, I’ve got something to do with him. We were never alone this evening (obviously, because Bridge needs four people), so I couldn’t say a word in private to him. Now is the best chance.

An executive member approaches our table to grab the bidding boxes and cards to store them in the cabinet at the back of the room. Club members collect their belongings and exit the room one by one. After grabbing my bag and, determined to do something about my returning stuttering, I take a deep breath and approach the English major from behind when he unexpectedly turns around and pre-empts me before I can stutter out a word.

“Miss Hanako, I’d like to have a word with you. Are you available for a short talk?”

I don’t know what he wants to talk to me. It could be about his orphanage dream. Anyway, I should allow him the opportunity to talk.

“Y-yes. I uhm… Please allow me to t-text Lilly first. She’s s-still in the l-library.”

“Sure. It will be just a few minutes. I can escort you to the library afterwards if you allow; I’ll say hi to Lilly too.”

It’s been a couple of weeks since the two of us can talk alone. I need to treasure this rare opportunity.

“O-okay.”

Accordingly, after I take out my phone and send Lilly a message (I installed an application on her phone to read text messages aloud), my Bridge teacher leads me to an empty bench outside the club room and invites me to take a seat next to him as the executives lock the door.

“So, Miss Hanako, it’s getting late, so I’ll head straight to the point, if you don’t mind.”

“N-no.”

“Miss Hanako, I was wondering if you could become my partner.”

!!!

I cannot suppress a gasp in response to the orphan’s choice of confessing to me right here and right now. I feel my face turning bright red as he continues.

“Ahem. I mean, Bridge partner.”

Uh… okay, so it wasn’t a confession after all. You’re overly dramatic, Kozuki!

But it makes a lot of sense. In the Bridge world, they just call their regular teammates “partners”. No need to specify “Bridge partners”.

“B-but I’m just a n-novice…”

“I used to have a partner for around half a year, but he has just graduated and moved to another city, so I’ve been left without a partner for a few months. I appreciate your skills in both Chess and Bridge. Your logic and analyzing abilities are amazing. I know you’re still learning Bridge, but I have no doubt that you’ll become an expert in no time. Do you want to train with me?”

Training with him will mean we have even more private time to get along, but I wonder if things will really work out so well.

“But I c-can’t guarantee you any r-result. Am I r-really worth spending all the time t-training for?”

My clubmate gives me a reassuring nod as half of the lights in the corridor get turned off. We should leave this place soon.

“I am actually honored to be your partner, Miss Hanako. As I mentioned last time, you’re a beautiful woman. You motivated me. Remember my dream of owning an orphanage? I actually plan to teach kids Chess and Bridge so that they play less video games and get better at mathematics. I’m by no means forcing you into my plan; of course it would be awesome if you do. But at least having a partner… uhm… a Bridge partner, will provide me a step further towards my dream. The fact that playing games is fun, especially with such a wonderful girl, is a huge bonus.”

I am overjoyed that he praises me so much, but on the other hand he still has been treating me as a business partner.

“T-thanks. Okay, I’ll try.”

But I like this boy. I want something other than, or more than, just a business partner.

“Thank you so much, Miss Hanako. As I just said, I am honored to be your playmate. For now, please kindly continue to join the club gatherings as usual. Then, after like another month of training, we can try joining the experienced group with the executives. Afterwards, we can talk about attending competitions.”

But the question is, how to deliver the message across?

“Okay.”

“It’s decided. Thank you, Miss Hanako. It’s getting late. I should bother you no further and escort you to the library, if you wish.”

He proceeds to stand up, giving me an expectant smile.

I can delay things to the next gathering, but I’m afraid I’ll just continue to delay it once Thursday comes.

Be the captain of my soul!

“Wait!”

“Yes, Miss Hanako?”

“Um… Um…”

He has been praising me. I should be confident of myself. Miss Ibuki’s words from weeks ago still ring over my head. I am a beautiful woman.

I can do it. I can take the initiative.

“How do you… feel about me?”

My face must have turned bright red, but I’m really proud to be able to confess to my crush like this.

He looks a bit surprised at my sudden question. He sits back down, pauses for a while, before giving his reply.

“Miss Hanako, after spending time physically with you for around two months, I have confirmed my earlier impression towards you as a beautiful caring woman who, though sometimes a bit shy, is never shy to help others, even placing others’ needs above her own. And in these couple of months, I further identify you as a clever playmate with great ideas for tactics and plans, in addition to being a fast learner. Now that you’ve joined a rich family with two fabulous sisters, I believe you will have a fantastic future, regardless of whether you want to become my business partner or not. This is how I feel about you.”

To be honest, I am very surprised that, even when facing such a direct question, he still manages to, intentionally or not, redirect the conversation towards the business side.

“You are really dedicated to your dream, aren’t you?”

Kozuki thinks for a few seconds before nodding.

“Yes. I think I am heavily influenced by my adopted parents. They always tell me to focus on my dream and my career first. Then other matters will fall into place eventually. This is why I always have the word ‘orphanage’ all over my head.”

In other words, no dating before graduation.

His values echo those of Miss Ibuki’s parents. That’s not a surprise, as they’re raised in the same root family after all.

So, the topic of a boyfriend is temporarily out of the picture.

At least he doesn’t deny he likes me.

“I understand. Thank you for your kind comment. I do admire your ambition. I don’t know whether I want to dedicate myself to opening an orphanage yet; It is too early for me to decide. I will probably leave the decision to the future, maybe a couple of years later. I would like to leave my options open for the moment.”

“I understand. No need to hurry. You can think about it later. So, shall I escort you to the library?”

Some accompany won’t hurt, even though he’s not my boyfriend.

“Thanks.”

So I head towards Lilly with a lot more self-confidence than during lunch. The confidence boost should be enough to get rid of my stuttering for a while.

But if I do want to become my crush’s girlfriend, I probably will have to commit myself to his business, which might involve giving up my own dream. And I will need to wait until at least graduation.

He is a fantastic person, and a great match for me. But the time is not right. Meeting the right person at the wrong time. I’ve read such plot many times in the library, and now it’s my turn.

Oh well, it is what it is. At least I think I can finally tell Lilly everything.

Chapter 89: Disabled by the Disabled