Chapter Thirty-Two
Today was supposed to be the last warm day of the season. After that, winter would take hold. So today was the perfect day for a date. Only I wished I hadn't agreed to it, because I didn't think of Yuuko in that way. She was nothing more than a friend.
Still, I shoved off for the meeting spot Yuuko and I had agreed on. It was a short walk from my house, about fifteen minutes, and I used that time to try to get into the frame of mind for being on a date. But as I could tell so far, it wasn't going to happen.
I didn't want to date Yuuko. We were too alike. In that, there were never any surprises when it came to the two of us doing anything together. Whether it was practicing tennis or talking about our studies, everything always turned out as expected. It was boring. Boring was one thing I couldn't tolerate anymore. And then there was Kotoko…
I made it to the spot without a hitch in the plan. Yuuko stood waiting by a street light and cracked a smile when she saw me.
"Irie-kun!" She called over to me and strutted to my side.
"Have you been waiting long?" I asked her.
"No, I just got here a few minutes ago."
I searched for something else to say, coming up with, "That dress looks nice on you."
"Really? Thank you." Yuuko said.
"We should get going now." I said. Yuuko nodded.
On the way to the movie theater, she talked about the movie we were seeing. It was some kind of romance. I couldn't fully listen to the explanation as I was paying much more attention to behind us.
A girl in a light pink dress, big sunglasses, and a head scarf scuttled along next to a chubby man hiding his face behind an opened map. Kotoko and Sudo.
I should have known those two weren't dating. And with the way they were following us, it appeared Sudo was way more interested in Yuuko. Kotoko saw me turn around and dodged behind the map. I chuckled at how obvious she was.
"What's so funny?" Yuuko asked me. I wiped the grin off my face.
"Nothing."
All the way there, the two of them hid themselves behind trees, used disguised voices, and never once put down the map. I figured I might have a bit of fun with this.
At the movie theater, Yuuko and I showed our tickets and went to have a seat. I watched Kotoko and Sudo bumble in.
"Can we have seats right behind those two?" Kotoko asked. Yuuko and I disappeared into the theater.
A minute or two later, a noisy couple squeezed into the seats behind us.
"Hey, that's my foot!" Someone complained.
"Sorry, sorry." Kotoko said. Sudo munched on popcorn and slurped a drink.
That was all that was heard of them in the first twenty minutes of the movie. This was where I started to mess with them.
I reached out to lay my hand over Yuuko's and pieces of popcorn came flying at my head, interrupting the movement.
"Oh no, I'm spilling my pop corn."
"Watch out, dear."
I fought back a laugh so hard in the middle of the theater. What did those two think they were doing? More importantly, did they really think I didn't know who they were? Kotoko had to have cooked up this scheme.
For the next half an hour, they whispered to each other unsparingly, getting shooshed many times and even causing Yuuko to tell them to quiet down.
They settled down and Yuuko went to lay her head on my shoulder. I wondered what those clowns would do now. A pamphlet stuck in between her head and my shoulder. Yuuko shot back to her seat and snuck another irritated look at Kotoko and Sudo. He obscured his face behind his own pamphlet and Kotoko ducked to reach for hers.
"Oops, I dropped my booklet."
The rest of the movie, they were shameless, stifling laughs and throwing popcorn if Yuuko made a move. It was clear to see that Yuuko was disturbed at the least, but I was considerably more entertained by them than the movie.
I was thankful when it ended. Thinking I'd let the date go on farther, I said, "Would you like to go get something to eat? There's a cafe up the street."
"That would be great."
Sudo and Kotoko waited for us again and then followed us out the theater, down the street, and into the cafe.
They scurried into seats a few yards from us and concealed themselves behind the menus. It was all so silly.
"That couple behind us at the movie was so rude, weren't they?" Yuuko said as she picked up her menu.
"Yes, they were," I decided to take a hit at Kotoko, "Dumb, too." Yuuko was quiet for a moment, then she put down the menu.
"You know, I've liked you since junior high. I thought for sure you would apply to other colleges, but when I heard you were using the escalator, I was so happy. I thought it was fate for us to go to the same college." She told me, but I only half-heard. Those few yards away, Kotoko was looking hopeless. I cracked up very shortly.
"Really?" I said.
"So, Irie-kun… what type of girls do you like?" I found the opportunity to play with Kotoko again as her and Sudo eavesdropped.
"Well, let me see… I like beautiful girls with a nice body, and she has to be smart," I almost finished, "Oh, and she has to be good at cooking." I looked over inconspicuously to find Kotoko with her face scrunched up in a frown, defeated. But Yuuko was the opposite of that.
"I see…" She said with a smirk, "Then it sounds like we'd be the perfect couple."
"It does." I said.
Sudo and Kotoko went a little nuts. He whispered something to her and took off, leaving Kotoko alone at the table and looking dejected. Maybe I'd gone a little too far with messing with her. Sudo returned.
Yuuko and I ordered coffees and spent the rest of the time talking about the movie and a report she recently thought she could have done better on despite having been awarded a 97% mark on it.
We finished up and I payed. Kotoko and Sudo followed us again, and on the way out the door of the cafe, Yuuko said, "This has been nice. Walk me back?"
"Of course." I said. On the way out, Kotoko was sluggish. I felt sort of bad.
A block into the route back, I noticed Kotoko and Sudo even farther away. Kotoko looked pretty upset. She turned to go the opposite direction as me and Yuuko, running into a rather brutish man and spilling her drink on him.
"That was a very expensive shirt!" I heard him shout. Several people stopped and turned to stare at him and Kotoko.
"I'm sorry…" she whimpered.
Yuuko also turned to watch, "Is that Aihara and Sudo?" She said.
"We'll pay for the dry cleaning." Sudo said and reached into his back pocket. He held out some money.
"You think that is enough?" The man stepped up close to Kotoko. Too close, "You're cute, you know… we could go back to my office and discuss some stuff." He grabbed her wrist and Kotoko looked terrified. My temper flared.
Adrenaline sent me over to them to help and get that filthy man away from her. Yuuko followed me.
"Let's go." He said. Kotoko tried to pry his hand off of her.
"No! Let go of me!"
"You heard her… let go," I said to the man, "With a shirt that cheap, there's no need to discuss anything."
He turned his beady eyes on me and threw Kotoko's arm away. She rubbed her wrist. I was made angrier by the fact that he was so much bigger and stronger that he might've hurt her.
"What did you say?" He growled at me. In a snap, he threw a punch that was so slow that I dodged it without a problem. He tried again and this time I caught a whiff of alcohol.
The man stumbled and sent himself to the ground. He dragged himself up sloppily. Looking around for any means of defense, I found a woman with a tennis racket. I reached over and plucked it from her hands and handed it to Sudo.
"Now you can show Yuuko how great you are." I said in a low voice.
The man regrouped himself and I took Kotoko's hand in mine. We split from the scene. Behind us, Sudo charged at the brute.
Kotoko and I sped down the walkway toward the river. We turned onto the bridge and continued to the other side where we stopped at the guard rail.
"I think we're far enough." I said through jagged breaths.
She leaned against the rail and peered over to me.
"Did you know we were following you?" She asked me and looked shamefaced.
"You two are so obvious, I would have to have been blind to not notice." I said.
"Sudo-san is in love with Matsumoto, you know." I positioned myself on the rail next to her.
"I know now. Until today, I really thought you and Sudo were in a relationship," I said, regretting that I'd ever thought it and that I'd gone on a date with Yuuko because of it, "But I realized when I found you two tailing us. It was so funny to watch."
Lines formed on Kotoko's forehead and she pressed her lips together.
"I'm sorry… I just couldn't help it when I found out you two were going on a date," She held her gaze on her feet, "But if you're in love with Matsumoto-san, I've just ruined your date."
The only reason I'd had any fun on the date was because of her tagging along… probably because I would rather have gone on a date with Kotoko. And it looked like now was the only time I could bring her somewhere without it being obvious.
"Do you want to go somewhere with me?"
"What?" Kotoko's eyes rounded into saucers as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She gaped at me without an answer.
"Fine. I'm going home then." I started to leave.
"Wait! I do!" She swept up to me and smiled so widely one would've thought she'd just won the lottery.
My heart leapt into my throat. I felt the urge to kiss her, but shoved it away. I couldn't. Not with the chance of my mother finding out and planning a wedding.
"Where are we going?" She said.
"Just follow me." I said. With the place being so close, I thought it was perfect. Farther down the way, there was a tourist spot with a nice view of the river. She was so simple, I was sure she'd love it.
For a few blocks, she walked silently and with a grin tugging at her lips the entire time.
At the turn, she took off with a, "Wow!" She ran around the bend like she was seeing the river for the first time in her life.
"It's so beautiful!" I left her to get food from a stand and let her get acquainted with the view. A few minutes later, I returned to the bend with a bag of food. I found her sitting on a bench and sat. I held the bag out to her.
"Your dinner." I said. She took a hamburger out of the bag and unwrapped it carefully with a look of awe.
So simple.
"This is the best." She said after one bite. Licking her lips, she went for another.
"Everything tastes good when you're hungry." I said.
She giggled, "Thanks for the food."
Kotoko went to the rail to finish it off and I followed her. The sun went orange as it began to set for the night.
"My life never used to be very hard," I started, "But every day since you gave me that love letter, there's been one issue after the next," She peered at me like she wasn't surprised to be hearing this, "I think you're a trial that was given to me."
"A trial?"
"And because I wasn't used to it, I ran away from it…"
"Don't treat me like a disease." She pouted.
I continued, "But I've realized my life is more interesting when there's a challenge. Thanks for that."
She seemed confused, "What?"
"It's okay if you don't understand."
"I do understand. I'm not that stupid," She huffed, "You were trying to run away from me before, but now…" I almost felt caught. I hoped she couldn't figure it out. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything, "You're not running away anymore. Right?"
"What I meant was I don't mind having you around." I said.
"You mean you don't hate me?" She asked and I could hear how genuine a question it was. I'd had no idea she really thought I hated her.
"No, I don't hate you." She gazed at me happily, and then she started to cry.
I reached into my pocket and handed her my handkerchief.
"Thanks." She said and wiped her eyes with it. Even with her being such a mess, I couldn't stop staring at her. How could a person be so blind, to not see that I didn't hate her until I said it? Any other girl would have put the pieces together by now. But not this one.
…
We got home after dark. My mother was at the door waiting, the price I would pay for being a little late and coming home with Kotoko.
"Where were you guys?" She assessed Kotoko's dress.
"Out." I said, already on the stairs to get away from her.
"On a date with my future daughter-in-law? You should have told me so I could take pictures!" My mother whined. I grinded my teeth.
"And why would I want you to take pictures?"
"So there's something to show at the wedding, of course. I only have a few pictures of you two together." I bit back my tongue and continued up the stairs. My mother was so overbearing. I couldn't take her. It was to the point I almost didn't want to come home anymore… and now she had something else to badger me about, because surely Kotoko would tell my mother it was a date. And I didn't want to be here when that happened. I had to get out.
I put away my bag in my bedroom and went back downstairs to find my mother and father in the sitting room, speaking in whispers.
"I want to talk." I said to them.
"Yes, Naoki?" My father said. I sat opposite them.
"How old were you when you moved out?" I asked him. He scratched his head.
"I was about nineteen. Why?"
"Because I think it's time I did," My mother scowled at me, "I want to move out and live alone, at least for a while."
"No. I don't agree with it," My mother crossed her arms, "Kotoko just came back! Now you want to leave?"
"Come on, honey. Young men his age need to experience this kind of thing. It might not be a bad idea for him to live on his own. I say give it a try."
"Thank you." I stood. My mother rampaged on and on with an argument, but it was settled. I was determined to get away from my mother. Kotoko may have only just come back a couple of weeks ago, but I needed to go, if not only to be away from my mother, but to also sort out how I felt about her and maybe figure out what I was doing with my life.
