Phew, I made it before it started raining, Nishikata thought as he let out a sigh of relief. He peered through the glass pane windows lining the walls of the entrance hall. He squirmed at the sound of water splashing on the grey pavement outside. He turned his head toward the rest of the hallway and made his way through the rows of cedar wood shoe lockers - also known as getabako -placed in front of him. He scanned through each group of locker cubbies one by one, sniffing at the smell of freshly cut wood.
But amidst the smell of wood, he noticed another scent moving into his nostrils. Wait, is that-Nishikata interrupted his thought with brooding eyes and took another sniff. He tightened his shoulders and bent his knees to form a crouching position. It smells like Takagi-san's perfume from yesterday, Nishikata concluded, shifting his eyes from side to side and probing for one of Takagi's teasing traps. He tip-toed to the far end of the locker roomand scanned the hallways. His search ended in vain. No one was in sight, not even Takagi-San.
Nishikata put his index finger below his nose and pondered for a moment, Takagi-San must have been here just moments before me. He extended his finger to his nose took another sniff. His heart fluttered like birds beating their wings, attempting to take flight. He relaxed his posture and brought his right hand to his heart. "Wow, Takagi-san's perfume smells great,"Nishikatasaid with a light chuckle. His cheeks bloomed a bright red, his breath caught in his throat. He placed his right hand on his cheek. Why do I like Takagi's scent so much? Nishikata questioned.
No sooner did he ask himself did his thoughts dissipate like puffs of steam. He shook his head back and forth. He looked up to the clock that hung on the wall beyond the rows of getabako. "It's 8:25,"Nishikata told himself. He let out a grunt with narrowed eyes. "Damn you Takagi-San, don't make me late today," he murmured to himself, the hallways replying with silence. He straightened his back and walked up to his small getabako. He extended his hands and pulled the cubby door open. He stepped out of his outdoor shoes and retrieved his indoor shoes - uwagutsu - from his locker.
Just as he began to put his outdoor shoes away, Nishikata heard a low, rumbling growl travel to his right ear, piercing the hallway's silence. The growl grew louder and louder, reverberating in his ears like a black bear ready to devour its prey. His grip on his outdoor shoes grew weak, causing him to drop them onto the tiled floor. The sneakers made a thumping sound as his hands trembled and his heartbeat accelerated. With each growl, his lips trembled and his head formed a cold sweat.
"Takagi-san, is that you?" Nishikata stammered, hoping for dear life that she was behind him, "I know you like teasing me, but if it's you, this isn't funny anymore," his voice trailed off, the growls growing louder with a creeping crescendo. He rotated his head over his shoulder, praying that Takagi was behind him. However, he did not encounter Takagi's soft voice, warm smile or her silky brunette hair.
Instead, he saw what appeared to be a brown-haired boy drenched in water, the pouring rain soaking his hair. The boy was hunched over, the water dripping from his soaked hair onto the floor. Cascading water droplets formed puddles that flowed to Nishikata's trembling feet. The boy let out a resounding growl that echoed throughout the locker room. The boy's body then lumbered forward and collapsed with a loud thud, scattering water droplets from the puddles he formed. Nishikata's eyes opened wide, letting out a frightful scream that echoed the school walls.
"Someone, help! I need a nurse!" Nishikata cried out, but no one could hear him scream. Nishikata rushed to the motionless boy on the floor and laid his hands on his back and shoulders. With all his strength, he shifted the boy onto his side. He reached his hands towards the boy's head and gave it a gentle turn. He let out an audible gasp, having figured out the boy's identity.
"Hamaguchi?!" Nishikata cried out in horror. He grabbed Hamaguchi's sides and propped his body against the getabako. His head shook back and forth between Hamaguchi's slumped body and the hallways beyond. His mind played a tug-of-war, between staying by Hamaguchi's side and running to the nurse's office to get help. But with not a moment to spare, he rose from the floor, focused his gaze on the hallway, and made a mad dash towards the nurse's office.
Nishikata sprinted through the empty hallway. The Westminster Bells chimed through his ears like ghostly bells welcoming Shinigami, the Japanese Grim Reaper, to the school. He imagined the lights around him turning a pale green and a deep, cackling voice from behind beckoning Hamaguchi to be spirited away. By the end of the chimes, he slid to a screeching halt, arriving at the entrance to the nurse's office. He jumped into the office, his arm clinging to the door frame.
After a few seconds of accelerated breathing, he looked up and gasped. A woman wearing a silky, black ponytail that flowed to her shoulders appeared in front of him. Her sudden appearance caused him to jump in the air and let out a shriek of fright. The woman was the on-duty nurse for the morning. She wore a buttoned white shirt accompanied by a white lab coat and dark blue pants. The nurse wore a blue bow in her hair and dark blue glasses that sparkled with the light. Her warm smile and round eyes gave off an aura of calm that penetrated Nishikata's weary soul. Nishikata felt his breathing slow and his chests begin to relax. His legs, however, retained their jittery disposition and his pupils continued to spin in all directions.
The nurse noticed his shaking body and apologized in a soothing voice, "I'm sorry for startling you. Is there something wrong?" He turned his head up towards the nurse. He could only manage a handful of indiscernible stutters as his legs continued to quake. The nurse stood in front of Nishikata and crouched to his height. She then motioned to him with her hand going up and down, "I want you to take a few deep breaths for me. Everything will be okay, and I will help you as best as I can."
Nishikata timed his breathing along with the nurse's hand motions. He closed his eyes and felt his chest expand and contract. The nurse's motions calmed his breathing further and slowed his shaking legs. He then massaged his chest, feeling her presence seep into the deepest crevices of his heart. He could feel her replacing the ghostly figure in his mind with a warm, welcoming light that soothed his weary soul.
In the next instant, he recalled Hamaguchi's slumped body at the main entrance hall. His eyes popped back open and he retracted his hand from his chest. He then pointed his hand with a laser-like accuracy towards the entrance hall. "My, my friend! He's slumped on the floor! Can you please help him?!" He blurted with a piercing crack in his voice. The nurse's gaze focused on the direction he pointed and she dashed out of her office towards the main entrance hall.
Nishikata followed her from a few yards behind. He and the nurse arrived at the entrance hall. There, they saw Hamaguchi sitting on the floor, his clothes and hair still drenched from the pouring rain. He let out an empathic sigh of relief seeing that Hamaguchi was awake. He saw the nurse arrive at Hamaguchi's side and crouch beside him. He saw the nurse lay her hand on Hamaguchi's shoulder and help him regain his footing. He leaned his head towards the nurse and Hamaguchi to make out their conversation. However, the nurse noticed his efforts to help and turned her head toward him.
"I'll take care of things from here; you can head back to class now," the nurse responded to Nishikata's gestures with an assuring smile. She pulled from her pocket a spare late slip that Nishikata took from her hands. He turned towards the hallways where he would be walking to class. He turned his head back towards Hamaguchi once more and resumed walking back in the direction of his classroom
Nishikata stood outside of the nurse's office after English class came to a close. During class, Takagi remained her usual teasing self, poking fun at him non-stop about White Day. One phrase she uttered rung through his ears like a gong.
"Hey Nishikata, you held my hand for so long yesterday!" Takagi giggled in his mind."You were so cute!" Takagi finished with another giggle.
Nevertheless, he emitted a sigh of relief and drooped his shoulders at the office's entrance. Takagi had just walked onward to food tech class while he remained standing at the entrance to the nurse's office. Thank goodness Takagi-san didn't ask me too many questions about this morning, he assured himself.
Inside the nurse's office, Nishikata tiptoed across the tiled floor with his uwagutsu, making sure not to disturb the silence that filled the atmosphere. Well, at least I just had to deal with the teasing, he closed his eyes, sighing in relief. It's one thing to explain being late for school. It's another thing having to discuss this whole issue with Takagi-san face to face, he continued his train of thought, scratching the back of his head and letting off a sheepish chuckle. What if Takagi-san teases me about keeping this a secret? he concluded, allowing his train of thought to come to a complete stop.
Nishikata stood still by the wooden reception desk situated to his right. He turned his head to his sides to look around the nurse's office, seeing that the nurse was nowhere to be found. A sky-blue colour pigmented the office walls. The hue gave off a warm, bright atmosphere contrasting the grey sky and pouring rains beyond the glass window at the back of the office. A cabinet, a metal sink, and a single examination table were present, all by the back wall. A single door matching the colour of the wall was also present to the left of the wooden counter.
He crept his way through the cabinets and medical equipment and towards the examination bed where Hamaguchi lay. Once he arrived at the examination table, Nishikata turned his face towards Hamaguchi's upper body and scanned his head. He's asleep, Nishikata whispered to himself, "I know the nurse said she'd take care of Hamaguchi, but this whole thing still worries me."
Just as he was about to speak to Hamaguchi, the school nurse walked in from an adjacent room and stood beside him. Nishikata turned his head towards the school nurse, who gave him a comforting smile.
"Hello, are you here to check up on your friend?" The nurse asked in a light, soothing voice. Nishikata turned his head towards her, feeling the chains of fear lifting from his shoulders with each utterance. He felt his body relax more and more with each of her words and gave an affirming nod. The nurse nodded back in return and gave Nishikata a warm smile. "Your friend will be good to go by lunch. It seems he's been exhausted after what I think are a few nights of restless sleep," the nurse assured with her gentle voice. "Being out in the rain certainly didn't help matters, so I gave him a fresh change of clothes and prepared some miso soup," the nurse concluded in her light voice. He gave out a relieved smile, grateful that Hamaguchi was okay.
He gave a bow to the nurse and gave his thanks for her help, "Thank you. It must have been hard carrying him to your office, seeing that everyone else already made their way to class and I was going to be late."
The nurse nodded and replied with her warm smile, "Well, you certainly did the right thing to help. Thank you for bringing him to my attention."
Nishikata let out one last smile before he picked up his bag and walked away from the examination table. Thank goodness he'll be okay. He thought with a relieved smile. However, an unanswered question soon popped up in his mind. But what was he doing out in the rain like that? he pondered, stroking his chin with his fingers as he walked out of the nurse's office and towards his next class
A few hours passed since Nishikata checked on Hamaguchi at the nurse's office. Lunch hour had arrived, and he sat alone on a wooden bench situated in a back corner. A few yards away multiple students stood around engaging in chit-chat. Amidst the chatter, Nishikata closed his eyes and reflected, Well, the nurse said Hamaguchi would be okay by lunch. He paused, patting his hand on his leg. But where is he? I haven't seen him at all so far, he pondered. He opened his eyes and scanned the hallway in search of his scruffy-haired friend, but to no avail.
However, Nishikata spotted two of his other friends walking together in his direction. One of his friends - Kimura - was a burly teenage boy having a buzz cut, a wide grin on his face, and a rice ball, onigiri, in his hand. His other friend - Takao - was a lanky teenage boy with two buck teeth, cackling about something that Nishikata couldn't discern. Oh, maybe Kimura and Takao spotted Hamaguchi. Maybe I can ask them about him, he mused to himself.
Nishikata turned his head upward towards Kimura and Takao, the both of them now standing by his hunched figure. He raised his hand to greet the two friends, but Kimura was the first to greet him with a hand wave. "Oh hey, Nishikata!" Kimura bellowed with his deep resonating voice. He held a large rice ball, called onigiri, in his left hand and took his first bite out of his appetizer.
"Nishikata!" Takao called out with his nasal voice. "Why were you really late for class?" he remarked, fixing his glasses and shaking his head. Nishikata sat up straight, Takao's question causing him to raise his eyebrows and his eyes to wander away from Takao's gaze.
"Ohh, well," Nishikata paused, waving his hands about, "Hamaguchi was drenched and he fainted, so I ran to the nurse's office to get some help!" he added with a lingering stammer. He turned his head towards Takao to gauge his satisfaction, but he received a disappointing glance instead.
Takao folded his arms and rolled his eyes. He tilted his head and responded with a tight, half-hearted nod and a smirk, "Really?" he spoke, retaining his rigid posture. "Yes, we saw the late slip, but did Hamaguchi really faint?" he continued with a chortle. "I mean, you didn't get lovesick daydreaming about your beloved Takagi-san after White Day, were you?" He chuckled, slapping his right leg with his hand.
"Oh right! Yesterday was White Day!" Kimura added, grabbing another onigiri from his black school bag and chuckling. Nishikata observed Kimura's chuckles as he chewed on his second onigiri and Takao's chortles with his own body frozen in place. He felt his face getting hotter and his cheeks turning a bright red as their laughs continued. Nishikata let out a few grunts to object, but Takao continued to laugh.
"Your face says it all Nishikata; you must have had a special White Day, didn't you?" Takao declared, walking up to him, and patting his shoulder.
"Did you actually confess?! Atta boy! I never thought you'd have it in you!" Kimura guffawed, giving him a resounding thumbs up. Nishikata jumped up from his bench and opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't form any words. Instead, he found himself scratching his neck and curling his toes.
The growing embarrassment, however, dissipated into thin air when Nishikata peered beyond Takao's lanky body. He pointed his finger up towards Takao's shoulder where a silhouette approached his two friends from behind their backs. The silhouette appeared hunched over, with traces of brown hair emerging from the shadows as it crept closer and closer towards Takao from behind his back.
Nishikata felt his finger quiver and screamed with loud alarm, "Takao, turn around! Someone is behind you!"
Takao kept his arms crossed and shook his head with a teasing chuckle, "Oh come on Nishikata, you're not changing the topic that-" Just before Takao could finish his statement, he felt a slow tap on his shoulder from behind, causing him to jump and let out a freakish yelp. Nishikata took a deep, exasperated breath and shook his head.
He looked over Takao's shoulder to meet Hamaguchi's tired gaze. "Hamaguchi! You're alright!" Nishikata exclaimed, slapping Hamaguchi's left shoulder. Takao and Kimura widened their eyes and their mouths dropped in unison. Meanwhile, Hamaguchi produced a single, droning grunt. His incoherent grunt caused Nishikata's voice to falter. Nishikata stood in front of Hamaguchi and reached out his hand to steady him. "Hamaguchi, are you okay?" he asked with concern filling his voice.
Hamaguchi let out another groan. His eyes were as lifeless as a zombie's. His nonverbal groans enhanced the zombie look he exuded on his face. Nishikata scratched his head and bit his lip. In unison, Takao and Kimura, off to Nishikata's left, also scratched their heads. A still, awkward silence soon crept into the back corner.
"Umm, Hamaguchi, what happened?" Kimura asked, breaking the silence. Hamaguchi responded with a drawn out grunt followed by him shrugging his shoulders. " Did you get beat up at soccer practice?!" he exclaimed.
Takao turned his head towards Kimura, shouting and pointing his finger, "Kimura! Why are you asking the poor man so many questions?!" Just as Takao finished scolding Kimura, Hamaguchi's head wobbled left and right. Nishikata perked up at Hamaguchi's response. Meanwhile, Takao's eyes sparkled, recognizing Kimura's ingenious plan to extract information from Hamaguchi. The trio of boys turned their heads to each other, locked their eyes together, and nodded in unison.
"Hamaguchi, were you late for school today?" Takao asked a question of his own. Hamaguchi's head staggered, giving off a decisive nod.
"Hamaguchi, did you sleep in last night?" Kimura questioned him next. Hamaguchi expressed another nod. Kimura turned to see Takao peer out of the window, who pointed at the pouring rain.
"Did you get stuck out in the rain, Hamaguchi?" Takao asked, his finger pointed straight at Hamaguchi. Hamaguchi responded with another nod and a grunt.
"Hamaguchi, how are you feeling now?" Nishikata asked, scratching his head. However, Hamaguchi gave no response. Kimura turned his head to one side, squishing his eyebrows. Takao scratched his chin, wondering what questions he could ask instead.
"Nishikata, you're only supposed to be asking yes or no questions," Kimura explained before he asked another question, "Hamaguchi, are you okay?" Hamaguchi responded with a defeated sigh and slumped shoulders. Kimura turned his head towards Takao and commented, "Well, I guess something happened." Takao nodded in agreement.
"Hey Hamaguchi, did something happen on your way to school?" Takao asked, stroking his chin. Hamaguchi responded with another groan and a nod.
As Kimura and Takao continued trading questions back and forth, Nishikata let out an annoyed groan. Are we really going to be asking questions to Hamaguchi for the rest of the lunch period? Nishikata griped to himself. He turned his head towards Hamaguchi, seeing him give out a string of head shakes. Hmmm, looks like Kimura and Takao are hitting a wall with the questions. Maybe they'll finally leave him alone. He mused.
Nishikata didn't pay attention to the string of questions his friends were asking, but he did recall one thing: that neither of them was asking about a certain someone. Wow, for all the flack I get about Takagi-san, I'm really surprised they didn't ask him about Houjou yet, he bemoaned in his mind. This might end the long string of questions if I'm right, he concluded with a smug expression on his face. He pointed his finger towards Hamaguchi and asked with a shout,
"Hamaguchi, did something happen between you and Houjou-?" Just before Nishikata could finish his question, his face turning pale as Hamaguchi turned his head towards him.
Nishikata let out a loud gulp and sweat dropped from his forehead as Hamaguchi narrowed his eyes and shook his clenched fist at Nishikata, "You keep Houjou out of this!" Hamaguchi shouted. Nishikata's jaw dropped and his eyes widened in horror as Hamaguchi turned his glare towards Kimura and Takao and continued to shake his fist. "Stop asking me questions, and leave me alone!" Hamaguchi growled. He ground his teeth as his face turned red. Nishikata jerked his head back and his eyes widened. He could only look on as Hamaguchi turned his body and stomped away.
Takao and Kimura shrugged and sat down on the bench to enjoy their lunches side by side. Nishikata remained standing, his eyes lingering on Hamaguchi stomping down the hallway. Nishikata slumped his body downward and looked at his feet. Hamaguchi, what happened between you and Houjou? He thought, letting out a deep sigh. He looked up from the floor and focused his gaze towards the hallway. "I have to figure this out," Nishikata whispered.