Chapter 89 - The Time When Things Will Change Someday
(1)
"Tomorrow, there's someone I want you to meet at Landmark Tower."
A sudden message from Ai-chan.
"Who?"
"Isshy from my class."
"Why do I have to meet him?"
"It seems Isshy actually likes you, Emi."
It was shocking.
I've been told people liked me before, but of all people, Ishihara-kun?
Agitation ran through me.
I know about Ishihara-kun.
In class, his grades are always near the top.
He's not a person with bad behavior, either.
He's just... a bit unreliable-feeling.
I knew he was in the same group as Ai-chan, but I wonder what kind of conversation led to this topic?
I couldn't imagine Ishihara-kun having a girl he liked.
And to think that it's me...
"Eguchi-san, is it okay if I turn off the lights?"
"Ah, sure."
The room goes dark.
Only the light from my smartphone remains.
How should I reply?
In middle school, I turned people down, saying I was too busy with entrance exam studies.
But my current school is also a preparatory school.
And our class is the one aiming for national and public universities.
We shouldn't be wasting our time on things like romance.
The one who overturned that entrance-examinee logic was Airi-chan.
With grades better than not just those in our class, but even those in the advanced track, she chose Humanities II for the reason that "I want to be with Toya-kun~."
She manages to balance both romance and academics.
Toya-kun. Meaning Katagiri Toya-kun, maintains a position slightly above the average score.
However, when it comes to soccer or basketball, he possesses outstanding talent.
He showed a glimpse of that talent in skiing, too.
People call him ordinary, but he's not ordinary at all.
Though usually, he can be described in a single word: dull.
Some mock them as an unbalanced couple, but that's just people's business.
I used to admire those two seeing them like that.
Even someone like me would like to try romance once or twice.
Interest had been piqued.
I wondered if trying romance might become a motivation for my studies.
After agonizing over it for a long time, I sent a reply to Ai-chan.
"Okay. I'll go say hello tomorrow morning."
(2)
The next morning's breakfast.
I had breakfast while mixing in with Ai-chan's group.
"I wonder what it's like, being a person who leaves this kind of thing to others and does nothing themselves?"
I wonder if it sounded like a sarcastic remark?
But I wanted to ask frankly.
"...I'm sorry."
He's exactly the kind of person I imagined.
Sorry for making you feel bad.
"Do you have anything else to say? If not, I'm going."
Just as I said that and tried to stand up from my seat.
"Regarding the hamburger steak at a certain family restaurant, if you eat it while convinced that 'this place tastes bad,' it really does taste bad, you know?"
A mysterious statement suddenly brought up by Katagiri-kun.
What kind of stupid thing is he...
While thinking that, I listened intently to his story.
Because the example was food, it sounded like a stupid story, but if you grasp the main point, it's quite an interesting story.
During that time, the essential Ishihara-kun didn't speak a single word, though.
"Sorry, this guy hasn't talked to girls much. I'll let him prepare a bit. Let's see, in Toya's way of putting it, the seasoning isn't there yet."
I wonder how you felt confident enough to confess with that state of affairs.
"Coming to someone right after they wake up in the morning... it's like eating meat raw, you know?"
Another mysterious statement from Katagiri-kun.
It's a fitting metaphor.
I became more interested in Katagiri-kun than Ishihara-kun, but I'm no match for Airi-chan, who is by his side.
(3)
Inside the bus.
Ai-chan tries to act as a good mediator.
When the conversation turns to his hobby of reading, he suddenly becomes loquacious.
It's a characteristic of a typical shy man.
Anyway, once that topic runs out, he'll probably go silent again, right?
I'll play along.
At least it seems I'll avoid being bored for the duration of the bus ride.
Our tastes in books mostly matched.
Ishihara-kun talking happily.
Just by watching that, I can feel that I'm doing something good.
Ai-chan and the others, and Airi-chan and the others, are doing something together happily.
I wonder if we look the same way?
...I'll ask.
"By the way, Ishihara-kun... is Isshy okay?"
"W-what?"
As expected, he is flustered.
"What part of me did you come to like?"
"Eh..."
Was it then?
"And with that, we have arrived at New Chitose Airport..."
When the bus guide finished the greeting, applause rang out.
Because of that applause, I couldn't tell what Ishihara-kun said.
Inside the airplane
After takeoff, I put on earphones and listen to the cabin announcement.
From the seat next to me, someone taps my shoulder.
"Emi-chan, Emi-chan. You're forgetting Isshy."
That Ishihara-kun is also listening to earphones next to her, though.
Ai-chan stood up and smacked Ishihara-kun on the head.
Realizing it, Ishihara-kun takes off his earphones.
"Honestly~ what kind of nerves do you have, leaving Emi-chan hanging to listen to the cabin announcement!"
Don't waste her goodwill, you idiot!
She was appealing with her eyes.
"A-ah, sorry."
"Isshy?"
I called Ishihara-kun's name.
"W-what?"
"Could you tell me the thing I asked in the bus earlier? I couldn't hear well because of the applause."
Now the topic is created.
All that's left is for you to say it from your own mouth.
"The part where you're kind and beautiful... I guess?"
I was disappointed.
In the end, you're only looking at my appearance.
As I thought, I shouldn't have done something so unlike me.
"Emi-chan. It's like that at first. I also started dating Eita because he's cute."
"Y-yeah, exactly. It would be troublesome if you were hit with a heavy reason from the start, right?"
Ai-chan and Eita-kun move to provide backup.
But from Ishihara-kun's mouth...
"I'm sorry."
No! What I want to hear isn't words of apology.
"It's presumptuous for someone like me to come to like another person, isn't it?"
Just how much do you have to belittle yourself to be satisfied?
It makes me look like the bad person.
"I thought that if I liked someone, something might change. I thought if I tried romance once or twice, high school life would change."
"Wa-wait, Emi-chan!?"
"T-this is bad, isn't it, Ai?"
"So that was a mistake..."
"W-wait, wait, wait!"
It was then.
"If you understand that, then why do you do things that make Airi cry! Do you still not get it!?"
Kanna-chan is angry about something.
"T-there goes Katagiri-kun stepping on a landmine again."
"Eh?"
"Katagiri-kun always upsets Airi's mood like that. Or rather, they don't mesh well..."
"Eeeh?"
"Even after dating for over four years, they still fight, so it's only natural to fight when they've only known each other for a day, right?"
I don't remember fighting.
Aren't both of them misunderstanding something?
Thinking that, I started to laugh.
"Fu, fufu..."
"Emi-chan, did you finally break?"
"Could I talk to him alone for a bit?"
Ai-chan looks blank.
"I mean, sure, but..."
"Isshy, come here for a second..."
I call him out into the aisle.
Isshy is frozen.
Is he nervous?
Is he frightened because he was called out?
It's okay, I didn't call you out to shake you down for money or anything.
"Where do you plan to go once we arrive in Tokyo?"
"E-everyone wants to go to Tokyo's Landmark Tower..."
"I see, so you intend to just go along with everyone, then? But I'm in a different group, so what will you do?"
"Ah... I haven't heard."
"What do you want?"
"I-if possible, together."
"You're saying that knowing there's a penalty for taking separate action, right?"
"Katagiri-kun and the others are taking separate action too."
I slammed both hands against the wall behind his back.
"Katagiri-kun and the others have nothing to do with this. Everyone else has nothing to do with this. I want to hear what you want to do."
"T-that's why, together... I'm sorry."
"Is that only for today?"
"Eh?"
Men are so slow.
"I thought that if I got a lover, something would change; I thought if I fell in love, school life would become fun."
But that was a big mistake. Because...
"It's not 'if I fall in love,' I realized that it's because I fall in love that things change. I realized that a lover is something you make after falling in love."
"Eguchi-san?"
"How do I look in your eyes right now? Beautiful? Kind?"
It seemed nodding was the most Isshy could manage.
"Right, then be prepared. From now on, I'll show you my true self perfectly, I'll make it so you can only see me. I'll definitely win you over. So, listen to me seriously."
"Yes, I'm listening."
"A good answer. First, I've come to like you. Do you want to know the reason?"
Isshy nods silently.
"First, that unreliability. It seems it tickled my maternal instincts. I felt like I wanted to protect you."
Isshy looks blank.
"Next, that lack of confidence; watching it makes me feel intensely irritated, I thought I wanted to beat it out of you from the very root."
Isshy was frightened.
"Finally, that frankness. I thought I was on the popular side, despite this. The way you show your true self without decorating it at all even in front of me. If you're doing it by calculation, it's impressive, but it seems that's not the case."
Is Isshy overcome with regret?
"Did I look kind? Actually, I'm not really like that..."
When I said that, at this point, Isshy finally spoke his own will for the first time.
"That part where you're not honest. I knew. In a sense, you're more self-deprecating than I am. 'Nothing good comes from getting involved with Eguchi-san.' That's what you want to say, right? But I don't hate that part of you either...!?"
A CA trying to pass through the aisle raised her voice.
I was pressing him against the wall and hugging him.
"I hate the way you're kind in such a pinpoint way."
"Sorry."
After composing myself in the restroom, I return to my seat.
"Hey, couldn't you reconsider a little more? He's not used to handling girls yet, or rather... I think this is probably the first girlfriend of his life."
As soon as I return, Ai-chan speaks to me.
"Is there any need to reconsider?"
"Eh?" Ai-chan says.
"I've decided to date him."
"No way!?"
"Seriously!?"
Eita-kun and Ai-chan had the same reaction.
"Why not just ask Isshy?"
"For real, Isshy!"
When Eita-kun says this to Isshy, Isshy is also surprised.
"Y-yeah, that's right..."
"Don't 'that's right' me! Lucky you, Isshy."
"T-thanks. I'll report it to Watanabe-kun and the others tonight."
"Why not report it later instead of tonight? You'll be acting together anyway, right?"
"Is it okay? Taking separate action... you said it earlier. That there's a penalty."
"Oh? Are you going to trample on the feelings of a girlfriend who wants to be with him?"
"It's no good, Isshy. The penalty doesn't matter. You just have to gather and return at the end!"
Poke!
Mizuta-sensei pokes Ai-chan from the seat behind.
"Even if you think it, don't put it into words. I told you not to involve adults in troublesome matters."
"Ye-es."
Love changed me.
And that love created a lover.
It's still only in form, though.
I'll definitely win him over someday.
That was the decision I made in my heart.