CHAPTER NINETEEN – AFTER-SCHOOL AFTERGLOW (MoniKenta)
". . . and then I just accompanied her outside the mall after we ate dinner. She said she was gonna be waiting for her family's driver to pick her up, as usual. She told me that she had a good time, and that she, uh, you know . . . she said that she was looking forward to more meet-ups like that."
As Kenta finished speaking, he didn't know whether to puff out his chest proudly or scratch his head embarrassedly. Daisuke and Naoki kept staring at him, too engrossed with excitement at his story to continue eating. Naoki was smirking a little, while Daisuke looked to be holding in a gleeful laugh at his expense. Kenta frowned at them both.
"Say what you gotta say," he grumbled.
As if on cue, Daisuke began laughing out loud, while Naoki chuckled more modestly. "I knew it, I knew you dolts were gonna laugh," Kenta snapped. "Alright, let it all out."
"No, wait, we're not laughing because it's funny!" said Daisuke in between his laughs. "No, really! We're proud of you, man! We weren't expecting things to go that way with you two!"
"I agree. Well done, Kenta," said Naoki with a nod. "You've definitely made a lot of progress with Monika."
"Hey, it's not like I was trying to ask her out or anything to begin with, alright?" Kenta retorted. "I mean, of course, I would if I could, b-but—"
"Go for it, man!" Daisuke cut in. "Seriously, she went to the movies with you, ate out with you, and all that. That has to mean something, right?"
"Not to mention that she was also evidently excited enough that she decided to meet up with you a day earlier," Naoki pointed out. "I'm certain she enjoys your presence more than anyone else's company right now."
"I dunno about that," Kenta mumbled. "It's not like she hasn't got any other friends, right?"
"Yeah, but does she go out with them the same way she does with you?" asked Daisuke. "And think about it; it's always only the two of you. No common friends, no classmates, just you and her. That means something."
"S-Stop making it sound all weird, okay?" said Kenta, his ears turning red. "I'm thinking about all these things, don't you dolts worry. I just d-don't wanna get my hopes up or assume t-too much. . ."
Indeed, Kenta would be lying if he said that he had never given the past few days he had spent with Monika some deep thinking. After their Saturday outing—again, he still couldn't bring himself to say that it was a date—his feelings for Monika grew even more. Even now, he could not get her sweet voice, her piercing emerald eyes, and her perfectly featured face out of his mind, nor could he even begin to fathom how lucky he was with everything. Daisuke and Naoki were both right in a sense that Monika seemed to enjoy his company a lot, even if he had already seen this for himself during the time they spent together. He did, however, keep the more personal things the two of them had discussed to himself, such as the issue Monika had with her parents and the bit about her past admirers. Even so, he knew that Monika must trust him well enough to tell him about them.
Daisuke's right, all this must mean something, but . . . Kenta sighed. Every time he started getting glimmers of hope about Monika, the memories of his past dealings with girls always came up to dampen his spirits. He sensed that if he chose to take that one step forward into what could be a whole new horizon, he would only muck everything up like he did in the past, and that was the last thing that he wanted to happen with Monika.
Kenta decided to forego discussing that for now. He speared a piece of pork cutlet from his lunch tray, took a bite, and spoke up as he chewed. "Alright, that's enough about me, you dolts. How about you two start telling me about your girlfriends instead of listening to me talking about Monika all the time?"
"For the nth time, Kenta, Yuri's not my girlfriend," said Naoki.
"And Natsuki's not my girlfriend," Daisuke chimed in as he chewed his own mouthful of fish and rice from a bento box. "I mean, I'll admit, Natsuki's a really neat girl, but—"
"Really neat, eh?" Kenta chuckled. "For all I know, you might be going out with her already, like Naoki over here with Yuri. Didn't he tell you? They started going out a couple of weeks ago!"
"Wait, you're dating Yuri?!" asked Daisuke, shifting his glance towards Naoki.
"I wouldn't call it 'dating,' Daisuke," replied Naoki as he shot Kenta a pointed look. "It's just a couple of book café hangouts after school, casual stuff and—"
"Ah, don't be shy about it, Naoki, we'll support you!" Kenta interjected affably. "As long as you give us some really good details on every date you two go on, that is!"
"Come to think of it, don't you usually eat lunch with Natsuki most of the time now, Daisuke?" Naoki inquired as he took a sip of apple juice. "Why are you here?"
"She's with a few classmates of ours in the library for their group presentation at Moral Studies later," said Daisuke. "She told me that she'll be fine for today even if I'm not around."
"Do you miss her already, Daisuke?" asked Kenta jokingly.
To his surprise, instead of brushing off the question like Naoki does, Daisuke shrugged and replied, "Well, to be honest, I kinda do. I mean, this isn't the first time we don't get to read manga because of school stuff, but since yesterday, she's been acting a bit, er . . . odd."
"Yesterday?" said Naoki.
Daisuke's face flushed a little. "Yeah, I . . . I went with her downtown yesterday to buy some stuff for our other projects," he replied a bit quietly.
Kenta guffawed as he slapped his hand on their cafeteria table. "Oh, man, I knew Naoki's not the only one here who's making moves!" he said gleefully. "Looks like you two have some beans to spill every week from now on! I didn't know you even had it in you, Daisuke!"
"Well, I dunno about t-that," Daisuke began.
"No, no buts, no exceptions!" Kenta went on. "I'm out here sharing more than I need to with you two dolts, so it's only fitting that you return the favor! I ain't gonna share anymore if you two—"
"Kenta?"
Kenta stopped dead as he recognized that sweet, melodious voice. He slowly craned his head around. Half-expected, half-unanticipated, Monika was standing there in her complete beauty. His glee evaporated in an instant, now replaced by a mixture of embarrassment and excitement. In a flash, he sat up straighter and cleared his throat, smiling awkwardly back. "H-Hello, Monika!"
Monika turned her gaze towards Daisuke and Naoki, who were now trying to hold back their laughs at this new turn of events. "Hello, you two! Do you mind if I sit with you guys for a while? I just need to talk to Kenta about something."
"Oh, sure, go right ahead, Monika!" replied Daisuke, gesturing at the empty space next to Kenta, who bit his lip as his face turned red.
"Thank you!"
Kenta turned to face Monika as she sat down. Like at the movies, she seemed to have no trouble sitting next to him once again, nor did she seem to find it any trouble to have Daisuke and Naoki present. Kenta avoided his best friends' gazes, knowing that they would probably be tempted to burst out laughing at his expense at the moment.
"W-What is it?" he stammered at her.
"Well, it might be too much to ask, in all honesty," Monika began, but he cut her off.
"No, it's t-totally fine with me, whatever it is! Remember, I told y-you before that if you need help with anything, a-anything at all, you can come to me!"
He said these words with a manly flourish, yet he couldn't help but feel even more nervous, especially with an audience of two watching. Still, he knew better than to back out on his word to the girl of his dreams.
Monika still looked unsure. "Yes, but . . . are you sure it'll be alright with you?"
Kenta pounded his chest lightly with his fist. "Just say the word!" Across the table, Daisuke sniggered.
"Um, okay, if you say so," said Monika, relenting with a smile. "You see, a few new members from our debate club will be competing in an interschool competition next week. Their topic will be about the implementation of extra sports activities in the Physical Education syllabi for middle schools and high schools across the country. We'll be helping our club members prepare for the debate partly by surveying students, and that includes those with athletic backgrounds and an interest in sports. We'll then use the data we'll be getting as part of the demography assessment that they will use to back up their arguments in the competition."
Though a few words in Monika's statement sounded rather alien to him, Kenta understood most of what she had said. "I see," he replied. "What do you need f-from me?"
"Well, I know that you're good at sports, and you told me before that you used to have some athletic background back in middle school," Monika went on, "so I figured it would be good if you took part of our survey. Will that be okay with you?"
Kenta swallowed nervously. True enough, he did have some considerable sports prowess—something that many students in their year knew about—as well as an athletic background from being part of the basketball varsity team back in middle school, which he had told Monika about as a random topic during one of their text conversations in the past. He was, however, intimidated by the idea of being surveyed about such things for many reasons.
"Uh, it's okay with me, I g-guess!" he replied. "But I, ah . . . won't I mess a-anything up?"
"Of course you won't, silly!" said Monika. "It's just a survey—you don't have to worry about getting anything wrong, okay?"
"Oh, really?" Kenta didn't know whether to feel relieved or even more anxious. Still, he knew that he had to press on. "Um, w-well, if you say so, then I'll have a g-go at it!"
Monika's emerald eyes lit up further. "Great!" she said elatedly. "Just meet me at our clubroom after class, okay? You know where it is, right?"
"How could I forget?" said Kenta with a grin. "S-See you then!"
"Sure thing!" said Monika, beaming at him before taking her leave with a nod at Daisuke and Naoki. When she was out of sight, Kenta turned back to his friends. As he had expected, they were looking at him with wide, knowing grins on their faces.
"Don't even think about opening your mouths, you dolts," he grumbled sheepishly.
Around three hours later, Kenta made his way to the debate club's room, passing by other students who were now making their way out of their classrooms and going home. He knew the way based from experience, when Monika asked him to help her move some extra armchairs into the clubroom for a few lower-year students that wanted to join the debate club. He walked quietly, wondering what to expect from the interview or survey or whatever it was that he would be taking part of. In no time at all, he arrived outside the clubroom's door. He knocked three times and opened the door quietly, looking around inside.
Monika was sitting at one side of the room with four other members of the debate club, conversing with them seriously. On another end of the room, there were a couple of other members who were busy reading from a bunch of papers and notebooks, their faces bearing looks of deep concentration. The sound of the door opening, however, made everyone look up from whatever it was that they were doing, making Kenta feel even more self-conscious.
"Ah, there you are, Kenta!" said Monika happily. She excused herself from her fellow members and stood up from her chair, making her way towards him. "Come in, come in!"
As Kenta entered the clubroom, he shifted his feet nervously. The last time he had entered here to deposit the extra armchairs Monika had asked him to retrieve, there had been only two other members inside as the other members had not arrived yet. Now, it felt as if he was stepping into the lions' den, especially with the stares coming his way.
"We've already surveyed a few students before you arrived," Monika said as she led Kenta towards an empty seat. "Looks like you'll be the last for today. Just wait for me here, alright? I'll go get the survey."
"S-Sure thing!" replied Kenta.
Monika made her way back to the other club members as Kenta sat down. To pass the time, he looked around the room, taking in its sights and being careful not to stare at anyone directly. In a room full of undoubtedly intelligent students whose job it was to compete with other smart students from other schools in verbal arguments, never before had he felt so out of place.
Monika returned shortly, carrying some papers in her hand. "So," she said cheerfully, "are you ready?"
"Yeah, sure!" replied Kenta with a supplementary nod. "So how is this gonna go?"
"Like I said at lunchtime, you're just going to be answering the questions on the survey we prepared." Monika placed the papers on the armrest of Kenta's seat, smoothing them out as she did so. "It's just three pages, so it won't be too long. Most of the questions require simple answers like "Yes" or "No," but there are a few questions there that need a more detailed answer from you—a couple of sentences will do, though longer ones are also appreciated. I hope that won't be too much trouble to you!"
"No, it's alright!" said Kenta. In spite of Monika's words, he couldn't help but feel like he was about to answer a difficult test. Still, there was no going back now. "I'll take care of this in no time at all!"
Monika smiled. "Thank you! If you have any questions, feel free to approach me or anyone here, okay?"
"Alright, no problemo!"
He reached inside his backpack and took out a pen to begin answering the survey. Monika, on the other hand, returned to her seat next to the other debate club members, and they resumed speaking in a low voice, as if careful not to disturb Kenta or the other members who were busy. Kenta looked over the survey and saw that most of the questions asked whether or not he wholly agreed or disagreed with the statements presented. Shrugging, he began reading and answering.
True to what Monika said, most of the questions were related to the implementation of extra sports activities in schools across Japan, and a student's academic and personal interest with Physical Education and sports. As a sports lover and athletically inclined student, Kenta was totally fine with the idea of having more hours devoted to Physical Education in a class week, which would mean less time to spend on books, lectures and written tests. He did, however, also remember the plight of students like Yuri who struggled with P.E. and wondered just how they would react to an increase of P.E. in school.
Soon, Kenta stumbled across one of the questions that Monika had pointed out, the ones that needed an answer of at least two sentences. He tapped his pen against the paper as he began thinking. As he looked around the clubroom vacantly, he saw Monika excuse herself from the others once again, stand up and leave the clubroom. Before she went, she glanced over at him and mouthed "Be right back!" with a smile. Kenta smiled back and gave her a thumbs-up. As soon as she left, he continued staring around the room, wondering how best to articulate his thoughts on the survey without sounding too lazy or uninterested. As he did so, however, something caught his attention.
Three of the male club members that Monika had been talking to were watching him as they stood by. They were no longer talking to one another, presumably since Monika left the room for a moment. Their arms were folded across their chests, and their faces . . . Kenta stopped as he saw the kind of looks they were giving him.
Contempt.
When they caught sight of Kenta looking back at them, they began chuckling rather derisively and shaking their heads. Kenta frowned as he looked away, wondering if he was somehow being deliberately mocked. For all he knew, they could be simply talking to each other when he caught sight of them, but the looks that they were giving him before could not be mistaken for anything else. Try as he might, even as he looked back at the survey and focused intently on the words there, he could not help but be bothered by it all.
Before he could reply or do anything else, however, Monika reentered the classroom. She sauntered over to him and said cordially, "Hello, Kenta! How's the survey going so far?"
"Just a few more questions," said Kenta. In spite of the irksome feeling he had, Monika's timely return and presence eased his feelings considerably.
At that moment, another voice spoke up. "So, Monika, shall we continue our little discussion earlier?"
Kenta looked up to see one of the three boys who had been discreetly mocking him. He was slightly taller than Monika, with short auburn hair, pale blue eyes that seemed to bear a permanently lazy look, and a handsome, pointed face. There was an air of intellectual superiority about him similar to the one Naoki possessed, telling Kenta that this was no junior club member. His arms were still folded across his chest as he gave Kenta a very short sideways glance.
"Oh, Kenta, allow me to introduce Takeo Kimura, from 4-A," said Monika, gesturing towards the boy. "He's the vice president of our club."
Takeo smiled. The gesture, however, did not reach his eyes—they stared rather coldly at him. "Charmed," was all Takeo said.
". . . Pleasedtameetcha," replied Kenta slowly. In spite of the usual greeting he often said to people he had just met, he felt anything but pleased at that moment.
"Kenta's a good friend of mine, and one of the people I know who love sports," Monika told Takeo. "That's why I thought he'd be able to help us with our data-gathering."
"Yes, I'm sure he'll do just fine," said Takeo. "Of course, it would've been better if we surveyed more official athletes instead of ordinary students, but still, a more common demographic wouldn't hurt. And I'm sure we'll be able to find some use for his . . . insights."
He said all of this with a pleasant tone that seemed to border on mockery, something that Kenta didn't fail to notice. Monika paused for a bit before speaking, as if she noticed the sardonic tone behind Takeo's voice as well. Instead of being suspicious, however, Monika seemed to take Takeo's tone as humoring. "Of course we'll be able to do that," she said. "That's what we'll do with the opinions we've gathered from everyone we've surveyed, right?"
"Of course, of course," he said lazily. "I'm in no place to judge your decisions, Monika. I'm just a little curious about why you chose him to take the survey."
Him. The way Takeo said the word irked Kenta further.
"Well, Kenta's a former basketball player in middle school, so I believe he has enough experience with what we're looking for," said Monika lightly. "Isn't that right, Kenta?"
"Yeah, that's right," Kenta replied. He glared determinedly at Takeo, who merely shrugged.
"I see." Takeo chuckled a little. "Anyway, whenever you're ready, Monika. The discussion?"
"Yes, yes," said Monika. With that, Takeo turned and made his way back to where he was standing earlier, not even giving Kenta another glance. Monika turned to Kenta and smiled. "Just give the papers to me when you're done, alright?"
"Sure," replied Kenta. As he watched Monika go back to her seat, he gave Takeo's back one more glare before he resumed answering.
Around ten minutes later, he was walking along the corridors with Monika, who seemed to be in a good mood. They had left behind most of the other debate club members after she had finished talking to the others. Kenta waited dutifully for her outside the clubroom, not wishing to stay for a minute longer in the same place with someone like Takeo.
"I hope our junior members win with the data we've gathered for them," said Monika as they walked. The corridors were now almost devoid of students, as nearly everyone else had gone on home already. "Thank you so much again for taking the time to participate in our survey, Kenta. It'll save us a lot of work in the future, especially since classwork is starting to pick up nowadays."
"My pleasure," said Kenta with a small smile. "I hope I wrote something worthwhile there for you guys to use," he added sheepishly.
"Oh, it's okay," said Monika, smiling. "I'm positive that you put in some interesting input for us!"
"I dunno about that, but I did put effort into it!" said Kenta. "I mean, it won't do if I just give you all half-baked opinions to go by, right?"
"Well, people often do that with surveys because they think the ones who made them won't put that much effort into reading what they have to say," Monika remarked. "Of course, that's not the case with us, so we definitely appreciate it if we get honest and serious answers instead of things like 'It's okay, I guess,' or 'Keep it up.'"
"Don't worry, I made sure I didn't put anything like that," Kenta assured her.
Though Monika's presence gave his mood some relief, he still felt rankled at what happened earlier. Though very little words were spoken between him and the debate club's vice president, Kenta could feel just how much contempt and dislike Takeo had for him. As to why that is, however, he did not yet know.
"So, that Takeo guy is in 4-A, right?" he inquired. "If he's one year ahead of us, why's he just the vice president of your club?"
Monika looked at him. "Why, do you think I'm not a good club president?" she asked sternly.
"No, I didn't m-mean it like that!" said Kenta hastily, completely caught off guard by the gaze Monika was now giving him. "I just, uh, you k-know—"
"It's okay, I was just messing with you," said Monika, giggling as her eyes softened.
Kenta sagged with relief. "I thought I offended y-you there."
Monika laughed again before she went on. "When our former president chose the other club officers last year, Takeo and I were the candidates for vice president. I had slightly better academic credentials than he did, though, so I was given the position. When our president graduated, I was next in line for this year, so here I am now."
"I see," Kenta mumbled as the two of them descended down the stairs. "I didn't r-realize you were new to all t-this."
"Yeah, and it's pretty tough, just like I told you before." Monika let out a sigh. "It's nothing but politics and budget and all that jazz since I joined. The problem is that the debate club's one of the larger clubs in the school—those members you've seen so far are only just part of a group of about thirty or so. Because of this, there's always something to tackle and discuss, just like what Takeo and I were talking about earlier. It's really hard to take care of all this while I'm trying to maintain my grades, but of course, I can't back out, not when I'm already the president. They expect much from me. Everyone does."
As she spoke, her voice took on a sadder and more tired note, as if the weight of her duties as a model student and the debate club president began weighing down her very being tangibly. Kenta looked at her, noticing this change in her tone and feeling concerned.
"You d-don't have to take on everything on your own," he said. "You know that, right?"
"Yes, but . . . who knows, maybe I like shouldering everything alone without taking a break because I've grown so used to it all," Monika stated. "At this point, it's like a permanent part of my life now. I know that's not the case, but . . . it feels that way sometimes. I'm not someone who likes to complain, but like I said before, that doesn't mean I don't get tired of it all."
She slowed down her pace as she walked, letting out a sigh. "Ah, I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm complaining too much again," she said apologetically.
"No, I understand," Kenta told her. "Just remember that if you n-need any help, anything at all, you can always come to me, alright? It doesn't matter what it's about—I'll help you with it. I know that you're one of t-the best students in the school, but sometimes, even the b-best of us need help. Besides, we'll be able to work faster if we do it as a team, with no one left behind. That's one lesson I learned from sports, and it's something that I always keep in mind."
Monika smiled appreciatively at him. "Sometimes, you just keep surprising me with your wisdom, Kenta."
Kenta scratched his head, his face burning as it flushed. "W-Wisdom?"
"Yes, and don't you dare say that you don't have wisdom!" replied Monika amusedly, giggling a little at his reaction. "Wisdom doesn't have to be too philosophical or intellectual to be effective. I don't know if I've told you this before, Kenta, but your simple words can hold just as much meaning as the proverbs the world has."
"Ah, well, um . . . that's . . . thanks," said Kenta awkwardly, his blush deepening. Monika giggled again.
Soon, the two of them exited the school and walked along the smooth brick pathway leading to the gates. The late afternoon sun cast everything in a faint orange glow. Some students were still lounging around on the stone benches or underneath the trees that lined the pathway.
"So . . . are you excited for this Friday?" Monika asked him as they exited the gates and made their way towards the nearest waiting shed, where she would be waiting for her driver.
Kenta looked at her blankly. "This Friday?"
Monika pouted. "Our weekly hangout."
"Oh! Right, s-sorry about that," Kenta cried out, laughing nervously. Monika laughed alongside him. "Um, where d'you w-wanna go?"
"There you go again, Kenta," said Monika, pouting once more. "What did I say last time? It doesn't matter where we go as long as . . . ?"
Kenta let out an embarrassed sigh as he realized what she meant. "R-Right, it doesn't matter where we go—"
"—as long as I'm with you," Monika finished for him unexpectedly.
A sudden silence followed her words. Kenta stared at her, processing what she had just said in his mind. His face slowly grew hotter with every passing second as he dwelt on her statement. He felt his heart starting to race, thumping madly against his chest and nearly drowning out any noise from his hearing. Remarkably, Monika was starting to blush as well as she suddenly realized what she had just said out loud.
"I . . . Um, I mean . . ."
It was such a rare sight for Kenta to see Monika be this flustered. Her normally relaxed and cordial disposition was now tinged with bashfulness, causing her to struggle with her words. She looked as if she did not know whether to laugh or turn away or keep going. In a way, however, it made her look even more beautiful than she already was. It was as if Kenta was seeing another side of her that he didn't know even existed for such a confident and elegant girl.
"What I meant to s-say is that I really enjoy your company no matter where we go, and you know that, right, K-Kenta?" Monika stammered after a few more seconds of hesitancy.
". . . Y-Y-Yeah, I know," replied Kenta, wondering who among the two of them had the redder face right now. "Besides, t-that's how I feel as well."
With nothing else to say to one another, the two of them smiled at each other before looking away, opting to wait in silence for Monika's driver to arrive. Still, the light mood that followed Monika's surprising statement lingered palpably in the air between them. As far as Kenta was concerned, it was as if the negative experience he had earlier at the clubroom never happened. As long as he was with Monika, the world just seems to right itself.
Daisuke's right. All this must mean something.