It was all Hase's fault. Really. He had invited Fujimiya, Shogo, and Saki over for some kind of sleepover but Shogo had declined, saying that he, like other normal people, didn't want to spend the night with Hase Yuuki. He quickly changed his mind when Yamagishi Saki said that she'd be attending. His excuse? He didn't have anything better to do
He told her she couldn't go to the mixer that her friends had invited her to. When she asked why, his only answer was, "The ghost of the karaoke bar doesn't like anyone with the letter Y in their names." Well that surely scared her…more than he had expected.
It was a simple arrangement. He'd take her out for crepes after school then study together at his house. Yet he couldn't help but feel incredibly restless. When he arrived to school the morning before their little arrangement, Saki had asked him about why he was so tired. Well he couldn't tell her about his worrying so instead, he said, "It's that time of the month for guys." She didn't understand.
It's not like he wanted to help her with all the summer homework she had carelessly forgotten about. It's just that he got annoyed by all those calls. In truth she only called him once right before school started again.
How did he even get her number she wonders. She doesn't remember giving it to him….then again, she doesn't remember a lot of things. When she finally decides to ask him about it, he looks away and says, "I wasn't looking specifically for it. I was just cleaning up my desk and found my primary school phonebook." Her primary school had a phonebook?
He had a pattern, she notes. Every day, he'd be at school early and pretend to sleep during class. She'd see him secretly taking notes all the time. "It was just that one time when I really didn't get the formula," he muttered. She doesn't believe it but lets it go.
He had a bad habit of looking out for others. He'd keep telling himself to stop but ends up secretly taking notes in class just in case Yamagishi or Yuuki didn't understand…like usual. He tells himself that he's just bored.
The beach. He hates it. He always did. It was too sunny and there were too many people. When he heard that Yamagishi was going with Fujimiya and Hase, he remembers that she can't swim and goes along, telling everyone that his air conditioner broke and needed something to cool himself down.
Swimming was an elective for all the male students. Shogo was an average swimmer. Hase, not so much. On the day of the Just For Fun Race, Yamagishi and Fujimiya go to watch the two swim. Shogo, as much as he'd hate to admit it, was nervous. Nervous that Yamagishi was in the crowd watching him. Let's just say he ended up swimming faster than usual and won.
They have a special game. One where he tries to hit her head and have her try to block his attack hopelessly. What brought on the game? No, it's not because it's fun, he tries to convince himself. It's because her reflexes are as slow as hell and she'd die without his amazing training.
There was one thing to have a sweet tooth but committing suicide was a whole other thing. When Yamagishi and Fujimiya spoke about going to an All You Can Eat cake buffet, he knew how much Yamagishi would try to stuff in her mouth so he told her that she needed to improve in math and he'd tutor her.
It was her birthday. He didn't forget but it seemed like the others did. She didn't remind anyone but she didn't forget either. "Happy birthday," he muttered, giving her a simple card. She asked how he knew. He doesn't say that he's been counting down since three months ago.
He had a favorite food like everyone else. When Yamagishi asked him, he told her it was Pocky. She asked him why he liked it. He told her that it was good. She asked him if they could play the pocky game together. He asked her if she could stop asking questions.
Snow. He called it cold hell. She called it fluffy happiness. He hated the cold. She loved it. When Yamagishi asked Shogo to build a snowman with her, he complies, saying that he got locked out of his house.
The first time Shogo's oldest sister, Anko, meets Saki, she could barely contain her excitement. She "borrows" Saki for the whole day, shopping and doing whatever girls do. Later, she apologizes for interrupting their date while Shogo tells her, "It's not a date. She just needed help in math."
She was really good at sculpting. Shogo had noticed that before though…during their beach trip. She had made a sand turtle. During art that day, she was sculpting out of clay. She tells him that it's a rose and that she hopes one day, someone will give her a pretty rose. He goes to the florist later and tells Saki that his sister wanted a rose but then realized she was allergic so instead, he gave it to his small friend.
The first time Saki meets Shogo's youngest sister was a disaster. She had ran around the park screaming that her beloved older brother went around the street picking up small girls. But really, he was just pushing Saki on the swings like she asked. Not that he wanted to.
Saki's father, Yamagishi Kento glared at Shogo. They had decided that they'd take her tutoring to her house that day. Her father took Shogo to a separate room and by the time they finished their little "chat" Shogo realized he had a new fear but he couldn't tell her that.
So maybe giving her candy on White's Day was not such a good idea. Saki was overjoyed but having to explain it to Hase was a pain. Shogo had said it was just obligatory chocolate but Hase asked him why he didn't give it to others if it was. He replied, "If I had the money to buy every girl candy in this school, I would've bought myself a plane ticket to America so I wouldn't have to talk to you."
It was obvious that Shogo's fan girls had grown and it was obvious that they were getting more annoying by the day. One day, Ai asked him that if he had a bunch of other girls to hang out with, why was Saki so special? His reply? Well actually he couldn't (and wouldn't) because he was already out the door…with Saki of course.
Truth or dare was a stupid game. It had people wring out dark secrets from him or make him do awful things. So when Hase asks Shogo about who he likes, he has no choice but to answer, "Myself," while glancing a little at Yamagishi later.
She didn't like ghosts. That was for sure. During their summer trip, Fujimiya had somehow convinced everyone that there was a ghost in their cabin. For the whole night, Saki had clung on to Shogo. He told himself that it wasn't because he was always kind to her but he pitied her and let her cling on to him. Right….that was it.
Every girl loved shopping so he wasn't surprised when Yamagishi asked him to tag along. It wasn't a date of course….not like he wanted it to be. "You're going on a date with Yamagishi-san?!" shouted Hase. Shogo punched him hard before trying to hide his face that was turning bright red.
Jealousy. A sin. Yet Shogo couldn't help but feel jealous when he saw Saki and another guy…so when Saki left, he threatened Mystery Boy A and left it at that. Before he left, he made sure to tell him that he wasn't in love with Yamagishi Saki or anything.
Kiryu Shogo and KiryuSaki sat comfortably on the couch with their three year old daughter, Nadeshiko or Nade-chan for short. "I always wanted a fancy ring like mommy's!" shouted Nade-chan happily, "Did daddy get it for her?" Her mother nods happily, as her father turns away, embarrassed.
"It was only because she'd forget about a ring if someone else gave it to her," says Shogo. Nade-chan did not understand at that time.