"You want to be a supehero? Haha, that's so childish!"
"Well I am a child… huh, Kin-chan? You're making a wish too? I thought you didn't believe in wishes?"
"W-well, I thought it wouldn't hurt to try…"
"Haha! So, what did you wish for, Kin-chan?"
"I wished…"
"Kusatsu-san?"
Huh? That wasn't the right voice.
"Um, Kusatsu-san, are you listening?"
Kinshiro blinked. He had snapped back from his reminiscing and found himself sitting at his desk in the student council room at Binan high school.
"Kusatsu-san, are you feeling okay?" Arima peered down at him with a look of concern on his gentle face. In his hand were several sheets of paper. Kinshiro remembered that Arima had been giving him a brief run-down of the plans for the schools upcoming cultural festival.
"I'm fine, Arima. Please continue." Kinshiro replied with a wave of his hand. From the set of couches facing each other a light yet snarky voice drifted up.
"President, you were spacing out? My, how sloppy!" Ayoka smiled, his lips pressed gently against the rim of a white porcelain teacup.
"What was that, Ayoka?" Kinshiro narrowed his eyes.
"Hmm? Oh, is your hearing going now too? What a shame!"
"Tch, I can assure you my hearing is just fine, Gero-"
"A-ah, now Kusatsu-san, as I was saying!" Arima quickly interrupted, sensing the storm that would start if he didn't step in. "All the classes have submitted their projects for the festival. All that's left is to decide what food stalls we are going to have and where we are going to place them."
Arima smiled and placed the papers in his onto the desk in front of Kinshiro.
"Naturally it is up to the student council to decide on these sorts of things." Kinshiro said as he picked up the lists of suggestions and scanned them. Dumplings, cakes, biscuits, takoyaki – the usual foods greeted him. None of these were original. Was it really too much of a strenuous task for those lesser beings to use the singular brain cell they seemed to possess and think up some original ideas?
"Are the suggestions as dull and ugly as last years?" Ayoka sighed, placing his teacup onto the sauce, asking even though he already knew the answer.
"What do you expect from vulgar, base creatures?" Kinshiro mumbled.
"Exactly! Which is why we must conquer this planet quickly and swiftly, da!" Lord Zunder said triumphantly as he wriggled up from inside Kinshiro's front pocket. "That is your destiny, Caerula Adamas!"
"Yes, Lord Zunder." Kinshiro replied earnestly.
"Yes, Lord Zunder." Ayoka mimicked, receiving a look from Arima.
But Kinshiro hadn't heard Ayoka's snarky mocking. His mind had long left the student council room and was back in his memories of that night.
Why? Why was he remembering all of this now? Had the avalanche of recent events – the discovery of alien life, the student council becoming the Earth Conquest club, the sudden and convenient appearance of the Battle Lovers – caused these unpleasant memories to resurface? Why couldn't he just burn that part of his past and forget it all.
Forget him.
Curse you, Atsushi Kingugawa.
The cafeteria was bustling with sound and activity as usual. From within their special secluded area the student council look on as students mingled, ate and chatted amongst themselves.
"Eh? Kusatsu-san? Are you not hungry? You've barely touched your lunch."
"Hm, ah…" Kinshiro blinked at the sound of Arima's voice and stared down at his untouched lunch. Had he been spacing out again? Darn it, this was so unlike him. If he didn't get a grip on himself soon Arima and Ayoka would be on his case and they certainly wouldn't drop the matter if they discovered a chink in his emotional armour – especially Ayoka.
"I'm fine, Arima. I think I just need some fresh air." Kinshiro said, standing up and excusing himself.
He briskly walked through the cafeteria and left the school. Making his way to a small courtyard-like area Kinshiro was relieved to see it was empty. Selecting a bench that was separate from the others and shaded by the large tree next to it Kinshiro sat himself down and covered his face with his hands. Now that he had a silent moment to himself he was aware that he wasn't feeling quite well. He felt little beads of cold sweat creep down his back and his forehead was hot. It was a warm afternoon without any wind so the air was still and hot and even in the shade Kinshiro could feel his body heating up.
Everything was spinning.
Was the world tipping?
No, he was falling. Falling forward. He was about to hit the hard ground. It was getting closer.
"President!"
A voice called to him. A warm voice, a calming voice, a familiar voice. An arm appeared underneath him, supporting his chest and stopping him from smacking into the ground. Kinshiro blinked, his vision somewhat blurred. But he could make out who the hazy shape holding him was.
It filled him with dread.
"President! Are you okay?" Atsushi asked him. Some distance behind him En Yufuin stood watching them with his usual blank expression. Kinshiro tried to shove Atsushi away but his arms felt so weak that he couldn't move them.
"Here, lie down for now." Atsushi carefully lay Kinshiro down on the bench. "Oh, I know!"
He quickly took off his blazer and fashioned it into a pillow, placing it under Kinshiro's head.
"En-chan, you can go ahead to class. I'll stay here with the president." He called over to his friend. En gave him a slightly irritated look then sighed.
"Alright. Just don't take too long, Atsushi." He shrugged then left the courtyard. Atsushi watched him go then turned back to Kinshiro, smiling gently. He placed his head on his forehead.
"Wow, you're pretty hot."
"W-what!" Kinshiro spluttered. Laying down had eased the pressure in his head and his sight had returned to normal.
"Your forehead. It's hot." Atsushi repeated as he rummaged in his school bag. "Hold on, I should have some water in here."
"R-right…" Kinshiro mumbled, looking away as his face turned pink. He was glad Atsushi hadn't noticed his mistake. But why did it have to be Atsushi? Out of everyone who could have found him like this he had to be the worst option.
No. That was a lie.
Out of everyone Atsushi was the best option. He wouldn't laugh, he would pity him, he wouldn't just leave – he really was kind. Kinshiro turned to look slight at Atsushi's profile. He studied his jaw line, his long eyelashes, his soft lips…
"Here!"
A bottle of water appeared in front of Kinshiro's face, which he hesitantly took. The cool water trickled down his throat and it seemed to refresh him slightly. Perhaps he had been severely dehydrated? He couldn't remember if he had drunk anything all day, not even his usual tea made by Arima. Ugh, how embarrassing. What kind of world conqueror forgets to keep hydrated?
"Are you feeling better?" Atsushi asked, bringing Kinshiro out of his self-loathing thoughts.
"Ah, y-yes. Much better." He nodded, looking away.
An awkward silence fell between them – which was to be expected. They hadn't talked for years, yet now here they were alone together. Various topics of conversation started to run through Kinshiro's head. He could ask how he was? No, way too basic and the conversation would die as soon as it begun. What about how his so-called club was doing? No, an awful idea. Having to listen to Atsushi talk about those lesser beings – that Yufuin one, especially - would only make him feel worse and sap away his will to live. While Kinshiro was running circles in his head Atsushi was the one to break the silence.
"Have you guys finished up the preparations for the cultural festival yet?" He asked.
"H-Huh?"
"The student council takes care of all the finishing details, don't you? I was wondering if you were finished? The cultural festival is next week, after all."
"We only have the food stalls left to decide on." Kinshiro mumbled. "All the ideas are too dull or overused."
Atsushi nodded along to his words. He then took on a thoughtful expression.
"But, I think that's a good thing- that they are all familiar I mean. People like things that they know, that they can recognise. It comforts them." Atsushi said, a warm smile spreading across his face. "I know that sounds a bit grand just for food, but I think that enjoying food that invokes a nostalgic feeling in people can help bring them closer and create a warm atmosphere…"
Atsushi trailed off, then blinked rapidly and blushed.
"Ah, s-sorry!" he laughed nervously, flapping his hands. "I bet that sounded weird! Um, but if you're looking for new ideas I think a curry stand would be a good idea…?"
Kinshiro couldn't help but stare at him. Finding comfort in being around something familiar, huh? Maybe that explained the strange sense of calm that had washed over him when Atsushi had begun to speak.
"Kingugawa-" He was about to speak but was interrupted by the ringing of the bell to signal the start of afternoon classes. What brilliant timing. Stupid bell.
"Ah, I guess we should get going. Are you okay to walk?" Atsushi asked, first looking up at the school then down to Kinshiro. He reached out his hand and gently touched his cheeks, which sent shivers shooting down Kinshiro's spine. "What's wrong? Your face is all red!"
"I'm fine!" Kinshiro quickly batted Atsushi's hand aside and sat up, keeping his face looking downwards. "You go on ahead – being late for class because of your soft heart is pathetic! And don't forget your blazer!"
"O-okay then." Atsushi took his blazer from Kinshiro and picked up his bag. He sensed that trying to persuade Kinshiro to walk with him would be a wasted effort so he turned around and began to walk to class, but after a few steps he looked back over his shoulder.
"Please take care of yourself, President. I'm sure your friends in the student council would want you to as well. Binan needs its student council." He smiled, then continued to walk away.
Kinshiro watched his back, hands clenching the edge of the bench seat. What a fool. Who wants to waste their time worrying about others? He didn't need the help of others, even if Atsushi hadn't shown up when he did Kinshiro knew he could have handled his dizzy spell easily. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. Yet he couldn't ignore the burning heat radiating from his face and the racing heartbeat pounding against his ribcage. Gently he touched the area on his cheek were Atsushi's fingers had just been and mouthed his name – "Atsushi…"
Finding comfort in being around something familiar?
Food can bring people closer?
"What did you wish for, Kin-chan?"
I just wanted… I wanted…
"Welcome to our café!"
"Come in, come in!"
"Red bean soup sold here! It tastes great!"
"Ugh, I rather go to a haunted house with a girl…"
The energetic voices of the students rang through the hallways of Binan as the cultural festival kicked into full swing.Cafes and haunted houses popped up inside classrooms and food stalls were set up outside the front of the school; the council had finally come to a decision about which ones to allow and where to set them up. Even though the food on offer was the same as it had been last year and the year before none of students seemed to mind in the slightest. It was just as Atsushi had said.
"… So that's why I think tofu is like a humble businessman."
"You always have good points to back up your beliefs, En-chan!"
Atsushi and En were walking around the food stalls together while on their break from their own class's activities, checking out what was on offer and buying a sample of everything under En's orders. They were about to head back into the school when a certain scent caught Atsushi's attention.
"En-chan, over here!" he grabbed En's arm and dragged him over to where the scent was coming from. He knew it. He couldn't mistake that spicy, invigorating smell. Curry!
"Oh, a curry stand? That's new." En mused as Atsushi bought some. He took a bite and felt the warmth flood his mouth. He was sure that a certain someone had allowed this to happen, and he wished he could tell them thank you. But the distance between them had stretched wide and seemed almost impossible to cross.
But perhaps one day one of them will be brave enough to take the first step across that chasm and close the distance? Until then, little gestures can send forth those thoughts and feelings that are too hard to express, like the taste of a good curry.