The Westminster Bells chimed once again across the school grounds. The end of the penultimate school week drew nigh. Amidst all the chatter among the students at the getabako, Hamaguchi slipped on his outdoor shoes. On a day as sunny and blue as this one, he would normally seek Houjou out in the hallways and invite her to walk somewhere with him.
This time, however, he couldn't entertain the thought. Earlier at lunch hour, he caught a glimpse of Houjou's narrowed eyes as the two walked towards each other in the hallways. As he walked past her, he was sure he heard her say something ruthless about him under her breath. That was enough to send shivers down his spine on a warm, sunny spring day.
Hamaguchi slunk out of the school building. All he wanted to do was trudge home alone. He considered walking home with Nishikata, but he formed a mental image of a girl with long, silky dark-brown hair. The laughs and giggles of Nishikata's beloved were enough for him to swat the idea away with his hands. Then there was Takao and Kimura. Hearing their names spring forth caused him to perish the thought. His skull seized at the idea of enduring their snickers as they basked in his misfortune. As for Nakai, Mano's narrowed eyes acted like do not trespass signs for him.
With every one of his friends accounted for, he came to a simple conclusion: in under no circumstances would he walk home with anyone else today. With that decided, he kept his head down to stay underneath the crowds of students. Under his breath, he prayed that no one he knew would notice him.
He slogged along the grey pavement that formed his route home. Along the way, he encountered the same junction where he gave his chocolate gift to Houjou on White Day. His slog drew to a halt. As he stood at the junction, he heard his voice on that fateful day echo through his ears:
"Best of luck, Nishikata!"
His own words caused him to wince. Bowing his head low, his hands squeezed his cheeks, letting out an anguished groan. "What was I thinking?! It's me who needs luck now!" he exclaimed, turning his head back to the sky and letting out a cry.
Letting out a long sigh, Hamaguchi continued his slug towards home. His shoulders sagged down and his mouth remained shut the rest of the way. Once he arrived home, he bowed his head low. Twisting the doorknob open, he kept his gaze glued to the floor. Not even his mom's shouts of 'Welcome home!' could make him turn his head up. All he wanted to do was go back into his bedroom with his schoolbag in hand.
And that he did. Hamaguchi sulked his way up the stairs and into his bedroom. His mother's protests about his lack of greeting zipped through one ear and out the other. Once he reached his room, he closed the door behind him. His bedroom retained much of the tidiness it sported at the end of White Day. His action figures remained in place on the wooden shelves at the far side of the room. His bed also remained free of clutter. Finally, his Shinji Okazaki-signed jersey continued to hang upright on the far wall.
The scruffy-haired boy turned his gaze towards his bed. The sunlight shone rays of light through his window and onto his mattress, beckoning him to lie down and rest. Hearing the call of the sun's rays, he sauntered towards the light and tossed his schoolbag onto his bed. Following his bag's lead, he tossed himself onto his bed and landed beside his bag back first.
His mattress shook upon his landing, vibrating the floor below. The hardwood floors reacted with a shock, causing a football to roll out from under his bed. The football sported an Adidas logo, with lines of red and black forming triangles atop a white background. The ball was a size 4, a size smaller than the standard footballs used in competitive matches. Pieces of dust covered the ball across the top, greying the ball's sharp colours.
Hamaguchi reached for his football with his hands and picked it up. He blew on his football with a heave, blowing off the dust that stuck. The dust dispersed across his room, causing him to place his arm on his mouth and to give out wheezing coughs. After shaking his head to recover, he turned his gaze back to his footballing relic and sighed.
"Wow, I've been looking for this football for a while!" he laughed with a grin. "I thought I'd never see you again!" he exclaimed with a hearty shout. As he paused, he let his voice ring through his room. His eyes grew wider and his mouth formed a giddy smile. His heart thumped with each beat, a feeling he hadn't experienced since Valentine's Day. "Wow!" he shouted to himself with a laugh. " I can't believe it was under my bed this whole time!" gushed the middle schoolboy.
He hugged his ball as if it were his favourite plushie. After half a minute, he let go of his embrace, setting his football down on his bed. A contented sigh passed through his lips. His eyes soon grew heavy, and his pillow called out to him. After such a tumultuous week, all he wanted to do was rest his head on his white pillow.
Well, all my tests are done, and there isn't much to do now since I can't see Houjou again, he frowned, shrugging his shoulders. He set his head onto his pillow and lay on his back. His eyelids now shut tight, his mind taking him to an earlier, familiar time.
"Ugh," A 10-year old Hamaguchi groaned. His eyelids lifted, but he mustered just enough strength to keep his eyes open halfway. The LED lights on the ceiling emitted a piercing white light that travelled to his face. His eyelids retreated back to its shut position, squeezing tight to protect his pupils from the blinding lights. "Uhh, where am I?" he questioned himself. "What happened?" another question parted from his lips. He could feel chills crawling down his spine and his brain whirling like he was inside a centrifuge. A small red bump on his forehead released stinging waves of pain that coursed through his head. With each pulse, he massaged his head with his fingers. His efforts did little to ease the pain.
With his eyes still closed and his head throbbing, his ears became the only window to the world around him. They began by catching the sounds of shoes tapping on the floor alongside a cacophony of voices. His eyebrows raised as he captured his mother's voice among the sounds. He also distinguished the voices of two other people among the chatter. Despite his successes, he couldn't make out the conversation taking place.
But he didn't have to. The voices now grew silent. He heard a pair of footsteps walk towards the bed on which he lay. The sound of a man clearing his throat then made its way to his ears. The man then began to speak.
"Your son has a concussion," a man's voice stated. Hamaguchi's ears perked up. As his head throbbed, he tied two and two together with proverbial strings of rope that resisted his every pull.
I'm in the hospital, aren't I? Hamaguchi concluded, and that was my doctor, wasn't it? he continued, his head throbbing at the revelation he just produced. Despite his doctor's soft demeanour, his words range steady and true in his thoughts. His throbbing head released a jolt of pain in reply, causing Hamaguchi to grunt aloud. Accompanying his grunts were the sounds of shoes shuffling across the room and rushing water from the tap. After the flow of tap water ceased, Hamaguchi's eyes squinted when he felt a cold, wet sensation press against his head.
"It seems that while he scored the winning goal for his team, he smacked his head against the goal post," the man's voice continued. Hamaguchi shook the hospital bed and gasped aloud. He turned his head away from the voices by his bedside. His mind drifted to the internal cheers pouring forth from his heart, veiling the doctor's explanations and his parents' morose sighs.
"We're in the final!" Hamaguchi shouted at the top of his lungs, interrupting his doctor. Another jolt of pain ambushed his loud celebrations. "Oww!" He cried out at the top of his lungs. The sounds of concern followed, filling the room. After his cry, Hamaguchi felt a gentle hand patting and stroking his shoulders.
"Shh, you need to rest, Hamaguchi-kun," the doctor's voice hushed the injured boy. Heeding the call to calm, Hamaguchi let out a gentle moan and let his jaw relax.
"As I was saying, the impact Hamaguchi sustained when he knocked his head against the post was fairly severe. As a result, he's become much more sensitive to light than usual. Furthermore, the bruise on his head causes throbbing migraines to form," the doctor explained. His diagnosis flowed through Hamaguchi's ears and seeped into his thoughts. His throbbing head followed up his realization by producing another throb, forcing him to release another yelp from his lips. The same gentle hands patted his shoulders once more.
"Shh, everything will be okay Hamaguchi," the doctor reassured him. Once Hamaguchi's voice stilled, he turned his head back to the others in the room and continued his explanation. "Thankfully, his CT scans came back negative. He didn't suffer any damage to his skull, save for a noticeable bruise," the doctor spoke, his words causing Hamaguchi's parents and the others in the room to let out sighs of relief. "Nevertheless, his injury will mean that he has to rest at home for at least a week," the doctor concluded.
Despite the positive news, the prognosis struck Hamaguchi's heart. The junior regional finals for football were a week away. With the brainpower he could muster, his mind raced forward, clunking along as the dull throbbing continued inside his skull. But, my team needs me! Hamaguchi's thoughts sputtered, grasping for anything that could change his prognosis.
His eyes jumped to life, his lungs filling with air as his body adjusted to his surroundings. In the few seconds his eyes were open, he made out the outlines of people sitting on the chairs. His parents were the first people he noticed. He then painted an image of his doctor, a man with a crew cut wearing a white lab coat. He also traced the outlines of two other adults and a girl his age sitting with her parents.
But before he could see more, his field of vision whirred and twisted side to side. His head shifted back and forth, struggling to keep balance. The nauseating experience grew more vivid as his vision blurred. Not wanting to exacerbate his nausea, Hamaguchi shut his eyes once more. He then felt the same gentle hand tapping on his shoulder. Gentle hushes flowed into his ears, reassuring him again and calling for calm.
Hamaguchi's eyes closed once more. The outline of the girl who sat among the people in his hospital room next emerged in his inner view. Just thinking about her wavy brown hair was enough to make him wince. Oh yeah, Houjou, Hamaguchi moaned. Why did she have to-, the throb on his forehead sent off a pang that cut his question short. With his thoughts tossed to the wayside, he let out one last groan, kept his eyes shut, and snored on the hospital bed where he lay.
The young Hamaguchi lay on his bed at home on Monday, the next day. His pillow propped up his head and his white bedsheets cushioned him in place. A cold towel also rested on top of his bumpy head. Despite his attempts to let his mind wander to greener pastures, rocky roads kept getting in his way. The bump protruding from his forehead continued to release pains that throbbed like banging Taiko drums. Each bang of the drum caused him to let out groans that buzzed through his room.
To his right, his room's lone clock emanated its red light. Hamaguchi opened his eyes halfway to see its lines outline the time. 4:00 pm, he sighed. He raised his arms and set them back down on his bed. Frozen on his bed, Hamaguchi sighed with despondence. Being out for a few weeks with a horrible headache is one thing, he thought. A pang on his skull created a roadblock that decimated his train of thought. "Owww!" he yelled in pain. It's another thing to miss the finals. His mind seized up in pain once again as his train of thought shook in its ruins and gave out one last puff of smoke.
Then, a creak of the door seeped into his ears. His eyes still closed, he couldn't figure out who would want to enter his room at such an hour, aside from his mother. He opened his eyes halfway, noting a short figure emerging from the hallway. His heart contracted as he traced the figure's wavy brown hair and the stacks of paper in her hands.
"Hey Hamaguchi, I brought today's school stuff for you!" Houjou called out to him. With what little strength he could muster, he let out a groan of acknowledgement. Still, her voice blared into his ears, vibrating his sore forehead. The Taiko drums in his head banged together in a boisterous song, pounding his head all the more. His throbbing head prevented him from seeing the sunny smile glued on her face.
With each bang of his head, his eyelids squeezed even tighter. His groans now filled the room. Underneath his groans, he could hear the sound of feet walking across the wooden floor. The tapping sound grew louder and louder towards his right ear. Moments later the taps came to a stop, as did his groans. A puff of air flew across his right cheek, causing Hamaguchi to press his right hand against his cheek. As he pressed his right cheek, a whisper made its way into his ear.
"I'm sorry for shouting, Hamaguchi," Houjou apologized. Her voice soothed his ears like a gentle stream of water. "I wrote notes for you today. Is it okay if I put them on your desk?" she asked, fixing her hair behind her ears. With his eyes still closed, he released his cheek from his hand's grasp, allowing his hand to form a thumbs up of approval.
He again heard the sounds of footsteps brushing against the wooden floor. Once the footsteps came to a stop, his ears captured the sounds of paper stacked atop his desk. "Thanks, Houjou," he assured her with a sigh. With his gratitude rang Bonsho bells that added to the blasting rhythms of the Taiko drums, reminding him of his concussed state. The chaotic melodies roaring inside his heart caused him to let out another pained groan. Then, a set of prancing footsteps rushed into his ears. Afterwards, another waft of air brushed his cheeks.
"Oh no, are you okay Hamaguchi?" Houjou gasped. Her voice grew faint as she whispered. "Is there anything else I can do to help?" she probed. Hamaguchi let her voice seep into his ears. Her softest syllables percolated into his bumpy forehead, each one forming a tingle. The tingles soothed the blows that his musical ensemble clashed within his head, one by one.
Hamaguchi inhaled and exhaled as far and long as he could. Moments later, he let out a snore. One snore soon followed after another as he dozed off to sleep. If he had stayed awake for just a few more moments, he would have heard Houjou letting out a soft giggle of relief.
Hamaguchi's days in bed slogged through the spring week, each day following the same routine. Each day, his mother would spoon-feed him a Japanese bento box meal. The smell of cooked sausages, fermented vegetables, and steamed rice would accompany each of his mother's calls. At first, his face warmed to the scents of the food provided. Smelling his sausages tingled his brain like a bell ringing the arrival of his favourite food. But as the days went on, even the smell of cooked sausage made his stomach churn from eating the same meal every day.
In between meals, a gentle silence hovered across the room. His eyes would sting like daggers each time he opened his eyes to the warm lights emitting from his ceiling's light bulbs. His head continued to twist and twirl as if he were riding a never-ending rollercoaster ride. Being unable to get off the ride, he had little choice but to keep himself confined to his bed. Before he slept each night, he uttered his prayers to his ancestors, hoping above all else that he would be released from his homely prison.
Despite the monotony of his routine, the few minutes of Houjou visiting his room provided him respite from the tedium of his recovery. On Tuesday night, she entered the room while Hamaguchi's mother was feeding him his meal. The incident caused an indelible blush to form on his face as she giggled. On Wednesday after school, she brought small pieces of candy alongside her study notes. On Friday, she slipped a homemade greeting card within the stacks of history notes she prepared for Hamaguchi. On its front, the greeting card had a Maneki cat drawn on a folded piece of white paper. On top of the cat were the kanji words for 'Get Well Soon!' written with black ink.
But soon, Sunday would arrive. The day of the junior football championships was here, but Hamaguchi remained confined to his bed. Unlike his earlier days, he sat on his bed with his eyes open. His thoughts also revved closer to his usual rate. His thoughts could now hone in on getting worked up about his team's performance against their bitter rivals from Okayama. However, his head continued to release throbs that reminded him of his concussed state.
The sounds of a single set of footsteps creaking the hardwood floor flowed through Hamaguchi's ears. Then, the door to his room creaked open halfway. Hamaguchi turned his gaze towards the door. "Huh, who would come in this early?" He asked himself, stroking his chin with his right hand. A girl's head popped up from the other side of the doorway, answering his question.
"Hey, Hamaguchi!" Houjou greeted with a hand wave and a wide, spritely smile on her face. She stepped into his room with her dark brown, unbraided, and wavy hair. She wore a pair of glasses and adorned a pair of dark green shorts and a dark green T-shirt. Her shirt had the words 'Tonosho Town' written on top of an azalea-shaped logo, both drawn in white.
Hamaguchi waved his hand back at his childhood friend with a sheepish chuckle, each one forming a thin veil over his racing mind. Wait, why's Houjou back so early? Did our team lose by the mercy rule? What if there was another injury? Maybe she's trying to hide the fact that Okayama spanked us because I wasn't there! He then conjured worst-case scenario after worst-case scenario like a sports broadcaster compiling a lowlight reel. His head released a throbbing pain, causing his stomach to churn. He closed his eyes, clenching his stomach with his left hand and pressing his head with his right hand.
Houjou's gasp zipped through his ears. In turn, he opened his eyes and let out a gasp of his own. He turned his head to his right, where he saw her scuttle towards his writing desk. "Wait, Houjou!" Hamaguchi called out to her, but she brought back his chair.
She plopped herself down on his chair and sat by his bedside. "What, Hamaguchi, is there something wrong? Do you need me to get anything for you?" Houjou asked, stumbling through her words. Hamaguchi's eyes widened, observing her back jerking from side to side, her arms shaking to and fro as she extended them towards Hamaguchi's arm. Her breaths rushed forward with hyperventilation, causing him to do the same as he waved his hands.
"Houjou, Houjou! Everything's okay!" Hamaguchi pleaded. As his ears caught her sighing with relief, he let out a sigh of relief. "I was just wondering why you came here so early. It's only 4:00 pm after all!" he noted, pointing his finger at his alarm clock.
Hamaguchi's gaze remained on Houjou, but he failed to notice the slight blush forming on her face. He jumped back as she wagged her head. "Well, don't worry about that right now! I'm here to check up on you!" she exclaimed with a stutter and a deeper blush that grew on her face.
"But what about the game?!" shrilled Hamaguchi. Houjou's face grew red, her head now turned away from him. Cold sweats began to form on his head. "You didn't keep track of the score, didn't you?" Hamaguchi hesitated. He scratched his neck and narrowed his eyes towards Houjou. Her silence told him everything.
"Well, not really," replied a demure Houjou, turning her face away from his gaze. Hamaguchi lurched back as she then turned her head back towards him like a zap. "But that's not the point!" she exclaimed, moving her hands in step with her words. "I'm here to see if you're feeling better," she frowned, her voice trailing off with her utterance.
"Well I am feeling better, I guess," he sighed in reply. "I can see things alright, at least. Plus, my headaches aren't as bad," he elaborated. He placed his right hand on his forehead. The bump on his forehead produced another throb. While letting out another groan, he turned his head towards the ceiling, his eyes growing droopy and his jaw dropping partway.
A longer sigh then passed his lips. He drew itself into a lifeless trance, broken only by Houjou's pointed observation. "Hamaguchi, you're not happy about something, aren't you?" she frowned as she ran her hands through her hair. Hamaguchi lowered his head, turning his gaze towards her gentle eyes.
"What are you talking about?" Hamaguchi stammered, crossing his arms. He narrowed his eyes, slipped his legs out of his bedsheets, and crossed his legs. He humphed towards his friend, letting his frown do all the talking for him.
"Hamaguchi, you always sigh when you're not happy about something," she observed. Her finger point was like that of an attorney raising an objection with sound evidence. The motion caused the scruffy boy to droop his arms, lower his head, and straighten his feet along his bed.
"Well," Hamaguchi hesitated, "it's just-" he continued, tapping his chin with his finger.
"Hamaguchi, is this because you can't play today?" she interrupted, closing in on his face.
Hamaguchi turned his head towards Houjou but jumped back with a yelp at how close her face was to his. Feeling a rush of blood rush to his cheeks, he closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. "I guess you could say that," he moaned, his hands muffling his voice. How did she get so good at reading me? he moaned again, his head releasing another throb.
"Look, I know you were really excited about playing for the finals today. After all, you scored the winning goal for your team just before you clonked your head. But you need to rest too. You won't help your team if you're playing with a headache, especially if you make your injury even worse than it is now," Houjou explained. Her words slowed his racing heart like a mother singing a lullaby to her crying baby.
"I know you're right, Houjou, but I still feel useless sitting here on my bed while my team plays without me," sighed a frowning Hamaguchi. As he closed his eyes, he grabbed his left shoulder with his right hand and stooped his head downwards.
Just then, he felt a pat on his back and a girly voice whispering into his ear. "Hamaguchi, not being able to play in the finals doesn't make you useless. You're still the most valuable player on your team. After all, you're the best striker in the school," reassured Houjou. His eyes remained closed, but her words continued to play a soothing, melodious tune in his heart. "In fact, I'd say that if you didn't head the ball into the net like you did last week, Tonosho Town probably wouldn't be playing today. Even if no one else says it, you're by far the most valuable player to me," she concluded. She drew her verbal composition to a close with an admiring chuckle.
Hamaguchi nodded along with every sentence she uttered. By the end of her speech, he felt his heart accelerate once again, each beat bursting with a lighter bounce to its steps. His stomach fluttered like butterflies flapping their wings to take flight. Not even the throbs from his bruised head could stop his thoughts from soaring inside himself. Instead, the throb injected a different thought into his brain, Wow, is it just me or does she look even cuter than usual?
Hamaguchi stared at Houjou as if his eyes beheld the most beautiful pearl the world could produce. Alongside his dazed eyes, his mouth released light giggles that danced across the room. A hand wave flew across his face, breaking up his trance.
"Hamaguchi, are you still listening?" she interrogated with narrowed eyes and puffed cheeks. The flustered boy shook his head and returned himself to Earth, replying with a brisk nod. Drawing herself back to her chair, she began her encore with a swipe of her right index finger and a declaration, "Anyway, even if you don't believe me, I know for a fact that you mean a lot to your team."
Her words jumped at Hamaguchi like a Jack-in-a-box. In turn, he jumped to life, straightening his back and lifting his head level with the horizon. Wait, she barely interacts with my teammates, he recalled. Scratching his chin, he raised a question to her, "Wait, how do you know that if you've barely interacted with them?"
She responded to Hamaguchi's inquiry with a giggle, "You'll see Hamaguchi. You'll see." She followed up her playful smile by turning her head towards the door. With a hand wave, she called to the hallways outside, "Hey guys! Get in here!"
At that moment, loud thumps of footsteps walking on the hardwood floor roared through the hallway. A group of fifteen boys wearing dark green shorts and shirts crowded into the room like a stampede with smiles all around. Hamaguchi gasped when one of the boys in the crowd entered the room. The boy hoisted a large golden trophy above the other players which sported a football on top.
"No way, you guys won?!" Hamaguchi shouted at the crowd.
The crowd of boys responded with a hoot and holler, pumping their fists to the ceiling. "We sure did!" One of the players declared with a wide smile on his face.
"Our team kicked their butts 3-0! We told ourselves we had to win for you Hamaguchi, especially after you helped us get to the finals with your head!" Another boy cried out with glee.
"We even brought the game ball for you, Hamaguchi! We all voted for you as our man of the match!" A boy smaller than the others appeared by his bedside, speaking with a warm smile on his face. The game ball was size 4. It sported an Adidas logo marked with lines of red and black that formed triangles atop a white background.
Following the group of boys was a man wearing a dark green cap, a dark green tracksuit, and black pants. The boys surrounding Hamaguchi shuffled their bodies to make room for him. The man, wearing a whistle around his neck, walked up to Hamaguchi and gave him a gentle pat. "Hey Hamaguchi, if you're wondering why we're here, you have Houjou to thank. She stormed one of our team meetings, begging us to show our support for you! We were already planning it since we heard what happened at the hospital, but she was insistent on her request!" the man bellowed, letting out a hearty laugh.
Hamaguchi's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as far as it could. "Coach, coach!" he shouted, placing his hands on his head and stuttering about.
He turned his head towards Houjou, who stood by his side since the boys entered the room. "Houjou..." was the only word that passed from his lips, his pupils transforming into stars.
The Bonsho bells tolled their vibrant tones across the expanse of Hamaguchi's subconscious. It was time to rise, and rise he did. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. Hmmm, back in my room again huh? he noted as he shifted his bottom and rested his back by the wall. With his back on the wall, he turned his head towards the football on his bed. Pressing on the ball with his hands caused the ball to compress inward a centimetre.
"The junior finals. Yeah, I remember that day. We may have won that game, but that was also the day I fell in love with you, Houjou," he said, referring himself to his memory with a sad smile. "She used to be so kind then," he reminisced.
Visions of her smiling face and bubbly complexion passed through his field of view. Inside his room, he imagined Houjou standing at different parts of the room. With each image of her, she uttered something that he remembered her saying in his past.
"I don't know football that much, but you got a signature from a famous guy. That's really cool!" a Houjou no older than 8 years of age pointed at his signed Okazaki jersey.
After that, an 11-year old Houjou stood by his trophy collection opposite his bed and to the left of his bedroom door. "Wow, Hamaguchi. I enjoy seeing all your trophies, but this MVP trophy really sticks out from the rest. You deserved it," she complimented, brushing his trophy with a duster.
One other picture then emerged at the other side of his room inside the recesses of his mind. In the picture, he and Houjou sat together on a series of wooden planks stacked on top of each other. The two scratched their heads and gave each other sheepish chuckles.
Breaking the awkward silence, she turned her head towards him and inquired, "Why don't you join the football team? You're taller than the rest of the guys. You also used to play a lot in elementary school." A momentary pause returned between the pair. "Honestly, I missed seeing you play," she finished with a blush forming on her face.
The image dissipated like mist. With that recollection, he turned his head towards the ceiling and dropped his jaws with a lifeless moan. Placing his hands on his head, he let out a deep moan before dropping his hands back onto his Adidas football.
"It's so weird. I don't remember her being cold all her life, yet she's been acting coldly ever since we got to middle school," he followed up his moan with a deflated sigh. "Even then, she still acted nice to me once in a while."
Recounting her warmth and joviality caused him to massage his temples with another groan. "But are you still there, Houjou?" his mouth parted his question into the air.