CHIHAYA
Chitose showed up in time to join us for our omurice dinner. While we cleaned up and tried out a cheesecake recipe, she fiddled around on her laptop at the table. When we started laying out the karuta cards, she huffed and took herself off to her bedroom.
As she left she warned me, "Don't even think about eating that cheesecake. You'll get fat and have to quit modeling."
Arata watched her go, her wavy hair bouncing against her back. Finally he asked, "Is your sister jealous of you?"
"Huh? No way!" I responded automatically. I was busy considering a different card placement.
"How is her career doing?"
"About the same, I guess. She does lots of magazine work, but her dramas haven't been that successful for some reason."
"You don't think it bothers her that you're starting to model too? Not to mention you were on TV earlier this year."
He finally had my attention. "You think it bothers her?"
He shrugged. "Maybe."
"Huh. I hadn't considered it. You know, Chitose has always been the one in the spotlight. I guess for me she'll always be the shining star."
He smiled at that. "I remember. I wonder if she knows."
Come to think of it, I really hadn't talked with her much lately. Arata was probably right. "Mm." I nodded agreement. Then I stopped short. "Hey! You're not trying to distract me again, are you? Getting me thinking about this stuff…" I gave him a suspicious look.
He laughed easily. "No. But I'll have to remember to try that."
"Oh, you!" I growled.
We eventually settled down and had our match. I got some good momentum partway through, but it ended with him ahead as usual.
As we sat up from our bows, I said, "Agh! I'm too tired to even be mad that you won again." I flopped forward and rested my head on my hands, my hair helpfully making a curtain to block out the light. Just five minutes…
Some time later, a low voice penetrated my consciousness. "Chihaya." With my eyes closed, I heard a gusty sigh from above me and felt him gently stroking my hair. "Every time it gets harder." He sounded sad.
I figured out that my head was resting in Arata's lap. I felt warm and happy and loved, like a little kitten with its doting owner. I didn't want to move. I lingered a while longer, enjoying the feel of his fingers in my hair.
I wondered about the girl he'd mentioned earlier. It didn't surprise me that Arata could be so devoted. He was always so single-minded, so pure in a way. But when we were in school together that year, I never would have guessed he was thinking about some girl. He always seemed content spending time with me and Taichi.
But there was a lot I didn't know about his time in Fukui. Maybe she lives there and that's why they didn't work out…because he moved away. I wonder if he might run into her again one day.
His intense gaze replayed in my mind. "She is." It sounded as if he still knew her. In fact, I couldn't put my finger on it at the time, but the way he said it…it made me feel self-conscious, almost like I should know whom he was talking about.
Something clicked into place. A girl from elementary school. It didn't work out-because he moved away? A girl he still knows and admires.
My heart raced. Am I imagining it? Is it possible he means…me?
The ache in my shoulder had grown impossible to ignore, so I shifted and pulled myself up to a sitting position.
"Oh, you're awake," Arata commented.
I kept my eyes on the tatami, embarassed by my recent thoughts. "Mm, just barely."
His low chuckle stirred my heart. "Do I have to carry you to the bedroom?"
He was teasing, but the images that popped into my mind were all too enticing. My face grew warm. "N-no, I'm okay," I said, avoiding eye contact as I stood.
He finished stacking the cards in their box and placed them on the table while I turned off the lights. Soon I was out of the bath and putting together my things for the next day. I waited until I heard Arata enter the bathroom, and then stole into my bedroom to retrieve my clothes for tomorrow.
My heart picked up at the sight of his masculine things lying about in my room. It was kind of intimate.
I liked the idea of our lives intersecting. Maybe one day…
I shook my head, trying to clear it. I dumped my school attire back in Chitose's room and went to put a change of clothes in my bag in the living room. I decided to get a glass of water while I was there, and then figured I should get one for Arata as well, since I hadn't been a very good hostess at the end of the evening—falling asleep like that.
I placed the glass on the desk beside my bed. As I left the room I nearly collided with Arata and spilled some of my drink on his t-shirt. "Oh! Sorry!" I cried, hastily wiping at the stain on his chest with one end of the towel he was carrying.
I heard but didn't register background noises coming from downstairs. Arata grabbed my wrist, stopping me from swiping at his shirt. "Chihaya," he said. "It's fine."
Startled, I raised my eyes from the smooth plane of his chest to see the anxious look on his face. Before I could respond, I heard choking noises from the top of the stairwell. Dad's eyes were huge.
Arata hastily let go of my arm. "Ayase-san," he snapped to attention, greeting my dad with a small bow.
I turned and asked, "Oh, how was the show?" I saw Arata slip past me into the bedroom, so I called after him, "I left a glass of water for you there."
Dad was holding his head. Must have a headache, I guess. "Just…go on to bed now," he said weakly. "Please."
-0-0-0-0-
During lunch break, I made my way through the crowded corridor. One hand held a paper that flapped as my arms swung, the other a meat bun I was nibbling on. As I walked, I recalled my last glimpse of Arata earlier in the day.
The train we were riding rounded the bend that came just before our stop. As I checked for my phone and school bag, Taichi told Arata, "This next station is where we get off." Arata nodded acknowledgement, and Taichi added. "Have a safe trip home."
"And good luck on your interview today," I said. "Let us know how it goes."
I sat on the edge of my seat, angled to see Arata's face where he sat next to me. He summoned a smile and nodded again. As the train slowed, announcing our station, he rose alongside us.
He squeezed Taichi's shoulder, a trace of melancholy creeping into his expression. "Take care." Taichi gave him a nod and a small smile. My teammate looked anxiously over his shoulder at me, and then went to wait next to the doors, his back to us.
Arata turned to me next. "Thanks for everything," he said. My eyes roamed over his face, trying to memorize the deep blue of his eyes, that long straight nose, his sharp chin, his lips…..
"I'm really glad you could come," I managed to get out. Now that it was time to part, everything in me was screaming for him not to leave. It had been so fun-playing together, cooking together, even riding the subway together.
I wanted to throw my arms around him and hug him, but it felt like there were a hundred eyes watching us. Instead, we looked hungrily into one another's stare, feeling every inch of the space that separated us.
I heard the doors hiss open and jerked to life. Like a switch, when I said the word, "Bye," my eyes began to fill. I turned away quickly, moving robotically toward the exit and onto the platform. I had to stop for a moment to wipe tears that had collected on my lashes. I couldn't help taking a last look back. He was still standing, his head ducked so he could peer out the window. As the train pulled away, his eyes were fastened on me.
"Excuse me," an irritated male voice cut into my thoughts.
"Huh?" Looking over my shoulder, I recognized one of the second-year teachers. "Oh, sorry!" I realized I'd been parked in front of the door to the teachers' offices, lost in my memories. I swiftly opened the door and stepped inside, searching the rows of desks.
I marched up to my target. Her graying head, hair in its typical bun, turned to see who was disturbing her.
"Ms. Miyauchi-sensei," I said. "I have my Career Form." I thrust the paper toward her. As she took it, I bowed and declared stoutly, "Please take care of me."
I heard the sound of the paper crinkling as she reviewed it. "A P.E. teacher," she said with some surprise.
I stared at my toes as she deliberated in silence for a moment. Finally she spoke, her raspy voice firm with resolve. "Have a seat, Ayase-san. We have a lot of work to do."
-0-0-0-0-
TAICHI
I pulled on my t-shirt with a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness that's over with," I mumbled to the empty room.
My class had decided to put on a short play for the festival—an adaptation of Swan Lake—and guess who they decided just had to play the part of the prince?
It was too embarrassing to contemplate, but memorizing the lines was easy enough, and thankfully the girls in class were kept occupied making swan costumes for themselves. My swan princess, the girl who played opposite me, was in the drama club, so she could carry the acting, but she had a disturbing tendency to think my lines might mean something in real life. And they didn't.
I gathered up the princely garments I'd just discarded and peeked through the door into the hallway. No sign of my would-be princess. In fact, I could just slip in behind that person carrying a huge wad of black fabric and keep pretty well hidden on my way to the drama club room. As they passed by, I did just that.
I needed to return my costume, and then I'd be free to visit the other classes and hang out as I liked. As I mentally ran through some of the offerings my friends had mentioned, my eyes finally registered that I knew the person I was following. A dainty build, square shoulders, and coppery hair that bounced in a bob above the nape of her pale neck...
"Yama-chan is that you?" I hurried my pace to catch up and look for her face behind the folds of fabric.
What I could see of her expression revealed surprise. "Taichi-kun, where did you come from?"
"What's all this? Here, hold up a minute. Let me help." She stopped and I fumbled with some of the fabric, taking a wad into my arms. I could now see her face above her load.
"Thanks!" She smiled. "I have to return this to the drama club room."
"Oh, perfect. I have to go there myself." We passed mostly empty classrooms on this wing, although one room did have some band instruments lying around. "What did your class do?"
"They have a haunted house going. This," she lifted the mound in her arms, "was part of the fortune-telling booth we set up. But they've closed down that part now so we can take turns going to visit the other classes."
"Good idea," I said. We were approaching the drama club room and I could hear voices from within. I winced. One of them was my swan princess. I contemplated bailing and asking Rion to return my costume. Nah, that would be cowardly. Instead I followed her inside, trying to hide behind her and my fabric.
"And this one guy asked for my autograph," my co-star was trilling happily.
Racks hung with costumes stood here and there, and large pieces of sets leaned against the walls. A few boas and random garments lay on the floor. Rion deposited her load near a corner where several plastic tubs lay open on the floor. I followed suit. The conversation behind me cut off abruptly.
"Mashima-kun, there you are!" my co-star simpered. "I wondered where you'd disappeared to."
Rion glanced up from folding fabric long enough to give her an annoyed look.
I joined my co-star and another of the girls in our class, placing my costume in a pile with the others. "The clean-up crew is supposed to put these away, right?" I confirmed with them.
"Yes, Honoka-chan told me they'd be by later. They're going to visit some of the booths first. Actually," a purr entered her voice, "Ayumi-chan and I were just about to go take a look around. You should join us."
My mind quickly played out that scenario. We start off a threesome and then somehow Ayumi gets pulled away, leaving me in the clutches of my princess…
"Ah," I stalled. "Sorry, but I promised Yama-chan I'd help her fold these, uh, things."
"Oh, she wouldn't mind, I'm sure…"
I interrupted her. "And in return she promised to walk around with me afterward," I improvised.
My classmates looked irritated. "Fine then." Good, she got the message. My former nemesis turned on her heel, calling over her shoulder, "Later."
As the door closed, I heaved a sigh and returned my attention to Rion. She gave me an amused look.
"Don't even," I grumbled, taking one end of a piece of fabric and trying to match it with its mate.
Loftily, she said, "I didn't say a word."
"Hmm."
"So you're really going to help me finish up here?"
"Sure, why not?" Give the girls some lead time in case they get second thoughts…
"Well, in that case it would be a lot easier if we worked together." She stood and took the other side of what I was messing with (I now recognized it as a heavy, black curtain), and we made several folds in tandem. We walked our two ends together, and I slipped my fingers under hers. Her eyes met mine as she relinquished the drape to me. I finished folding it down to a manageable size.
While she readied another curtain for us, I placed it in one of the storage bins. We continued in that vein, working companionably together and catching up on what we'd heard about the festival so far. When we'd put away the last one, she held up her palm. I obliged her with a high-five. "Teamwork!" she declared.
I chuckled and headed for the door. I paused just outside it. I didn't have any particular plans for the rest of the day, and hanging out with Rion was pretty fun. She was comfortable and had an unexpected sense of humor. Plus she might keep other girls at bay…
"Are you free now?" I asked. "You want to walk around?" I felt a little uncomfortable asking, since it was kind of a couple thing to do, but she'd been cool with the 'just friends' thing ever since our heated conversation the first day of club.
For a second, I thought I saw her eyes soften, but she quickly adopted a carefree attitude. "Well," she cocked her head to one side. "I did promise to…in return for your help, you know." She teased.
"Oi," I groaned. I offered her an out. "Well, you don't have to, if you don't want to," I said sincerely.
She rewarded me with a small smile, those amber eyes sparkling. "All right. Lead on."
