A/N: Sorry that this chapter took so long to publish. Anyway, if you're feeling intimidated by the chapter lengths, consider the page breaks as bookmarks where you can resume the chapter if you need a breather! With that in mind, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Hamaguchi was about a kilometre away from the party venue for his class's sixth-grade fall party. He walked with a confident trot, donning a dark blue buttoned shirt matched with a pair of black jeans. His outfit contrasted Suzu's exacting instructions, which called for a plain T-shirt and ripped jeans. Any consideration he had of her remonstration was met with his dismissive chuckle. He guessed that Suzu would wear something nicer to take the spotlight. He didn't want to let that happen. He deserved the attention. After all his hard work and training, he was finally a part of the popular circle at school.
He walked on with his head held high. His ears were plugged in with a pair of earphones that blasted the bass on full. His feet trotted on and his arms swayed in step with the steady beat. He couldn't help it; he was going through every song ever composed by his favourite J-pop star, Yoasobi. Her debut single "Racing into the Night" left his heart overflowing with a deep affection for the droning beats that lulled him into a deep trance. It was no different with the song playing on his MP3 player presently.
With "The Swallow" playing from his portable MP3 player, he imagined himself flying high like a bird, letting the breeze brush against the tips of his wings. Who could blame him? He was the superstar who scored the winning goal. That goal gave their team the coveted regional trophy, a leg up over the team's previous best of being runners-up the year before. He was finally getting the recognition he deserved. And he was going to celebrate it with his best friend by his side.
He became so immersed in the swallow's song that it caused him to walk past the gated entrance to the party venue. He shook his head and doubled back to the iron gate, taking backward steps until he was parallel to the iron-clad entrance.
Hamaguchi lowered his gaze, peeking through the thin metal bars to see if anyone was there. When he didn't see anyone he glanced over toward the clock embedded in the brick wall
Its hands told him that he was 5 minutes early. He didn't like pausing his MP3 player in the middle of a song. Since he had some time to kill, he allowed "The Swallow" to run to completion. Closing his eyes gently he allowed the song's beating rhythm to enter the forefront of his mind.
Once the flute played its final E-flat note and flew away his eyes followed suit and fluttered open. Back in a neutral state, he took a moment to familiarise himself with his surroundings. He began by brushing his hand against the shiny, black gate that stood before him. As he did so, his eyes grew wide, observing intently the sight ahead of him.
Beyond the gate was a building twice the size of his rickety wooden residence both in width and length. He could see giant trimmed hedges dotting the property, a lightly-coloured cedar wooden floor, and glossy windows installed across the extravagant, wooden abode. Even so, the house's interior remained obscured to him, even as he strained his head against the spaces between the gate.
He was, however, able to gaze upon the roof more clearly with the setting sun off to his left. No signs of wear and tear could be spotted among the individual tiles that comprised the shingles. When seen as a single entity, the shingled roof reminded him of the dunes of Totori where he sledded down with a surfboard ahead of his parents. The dune's smooth curves brewed up a swoon from his lips. He closed his eyes for a moment, imagining him and his crush holding hands while on the dunes overlooking the Sea of Japan. If only she had come along with him.
She had jumped in all manner of directions the night before with cheers that vibrated his ears. He may have been chatting with her over the phone, but he could hear the thuds of her feet against the floor over the receiver. He couldn't forget the gleeful giggles and titters she expressed either.
"Hamaguchi! Guess what? I'm going to Suzu's party tomorrow! She personally got in touch with me after school today and told me to come along! She's even made me a special guest! And you know what? The best part is that I have something special planned for you there! I can't tell you what it is yet, but I know you'll be so happy to see me at the party this weekend!"
A pressure point grew on his cheek, snapping Houjou's thoughts out of his mind. The strain on his cheeks and jaw caused him to jerk his head away from the gate. He stumbled a few steps along the pavement and released a grunt once he came to a stop. With a vigorous shake of his head, Hamaguchi walked back to the gate and straightened his posture.
Once by the gate, Hamaguchi lowered his head at a slight angle. As he observed the ground, a gasp escaped from his lips. His pupils honed in on the lawn of pristine grass that covered the area between him and the house. The lawn must have stretched for at least a few metres. Despite its large, imposing size, no stray blade could be found. Every one of them stood up straight at the same height as all the others.
The blades of lush, green grass caused Hamaguchi's legs to buckle. The setting sun emitted its last wave of heat, causing him to produce droplets of sweat that trickled down his forehead. The sight in front of him was one for sore eyes to behold. Not even his best efforts to mow his yard with his mother's rackety lawn mower could generate grass as prim and proper as the ones laying before him. How anyone would want to prepare their grass like so was beyond his comprehension.
Hamaguchi pulled out a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat off his forehead. As he stood himself back up to compose himself, a new image had arisen inside him. It was one of himself and Houjou being the lone blades of grass towering above the others.
By holding the largest sphere of influence, Suzu found it easy to have everyone conform to her ways at school. Whatever she said was gospel, the final word. A beaming excitement glowed inside him. He wanted to be the one to bring Suzu down a peg. No matter how much Suzu would try to mow him and Houjou down, they would just stand right back up to oppose her.
A glance away from the grass led Hamaguchi to a golden bell with a rope hanging from it. With no one to be seen anywhere, he tugged on the rope. The bell packed a clamorous clang with each tug that rang in his ears. Its ringing sound was loud enough for a figure to emerge from the back end of the house.
Hamaguchi squinted his eyes toward the growing figure. Each step the person took towards him brought more clarity to its physical features. The person's black hair stretched down to their shoulders, flowing like the pristine Denpo River beyond the house. Their hair made it easy for him to figure out who it was that approached him. It was Suzu in the flesh.
As she walked closer, her outfit projected her as the point of convergence for the evening party. Her red shirt radiated against the cloudy, darkening sky. She wore a short pair of blue denim shorts and walked on the winding pavement with a pair of light brown sandals. Her earrings glistened against the lights that shone from the lantern poles on the stony path where she walked. Her getup left Hamaguchi stroking his chin with an expectant nod. Since she was the hostess, he thought she would have worn something flashy for tonight.
He brushed off the thought as quickly as he could. It was time for the real test. He was always able to exude his confidence on the football pitch and around Houjou. But there was no time like the present to puff his chest. He flicked his hair to the side and sported a confident grin. As he pressed down his brown tufts they rebelled, springing back up into their usual spiky, unkempt mess. He let out a groan as he tousled his hair, attempting to smooth it back into place. No matter how much gel he combed into his hair it remained thick and bushy. He scratched his head and looked from side to side, hoping no one would exclude him from the party altogether.
An air of apprehension hung over his head. Even with the most confident of temperaments, he still didn't look like the other guys who received most of Suzu's attention. His ruffled look left him pondering what the other kids with their suave, gelled hair would say about him, especially Sotsuke - his strike partner. Moreover, Suzu still didn't stop bullying Houjou, the subject of his deep affection.
As the night arrived, Hamaguchi spent a significant portion of his mental faculties pushing back against the tides of fear crashing against him. Despite his hair staying its jumbled mess, Hamaguchi pressed his hair once more against his head with a toothy grin. As his hair sprung back out to its natural state, he figured that maybe he could become a trendsetter with his look. As silly as it sounded, doing so would help cement himself among the popular cliques. But whether he could enter that realm hinged on how he interacted with the incoming Suzu.
After a few more seconds of waiting saw Hamaguchi meet her eye-to-eye at the gate. "Hey, Hamaguchi!" Suzu greeted him with a chuckle. "Give me a moment while I open this gate for you, okay?" Her hand drifted behind the gate and with a sudden click, the gates sprung to life, opening by themselves. Hamaguchi's mouth gaped open loosely as the gates opened, granting him privileged access to an entirely new world.
Suzu chuckled, putting her hand to her mouth. "Oh Hamaguchi, if you think this is impressive just wait till you see the courtyard," Suzu remarked, putting her hand on her hip. amber eyes complemented her toothy grin. Underneath her smile, he swore he could have heard her releasing a hiss from between her teeth. Did he hear her sound so sinister? Or was he imagining things?
A series of pinching sensations flowed through the veins in his arms, causing him to retract his arms to his sides. With each pinch, a round of questions about the whole event nagged him like multitudes of people poking his back. For one, why didn't she want him to pick her up for the party? He walked over to her place to pick her up, only for her mother to tell him that she had gone her way to the party. Then there was the matter of Suzu treating her like a special guest. After all the bullying she did to him, why the sudden change in tone? Finally, why wasn't he notified about any of this? Suzu had told him that he would be the star of the show for his footballing heroics, not Houjou.
But Hamaguchi knew he had to brush away his fears for now. He needed to talk with his best friend's bully. It was now time for him to show what he had to offer. It was time to join the party and let his confidence flow.
"Come on in, hero boy!" invited Suzu with a sharp, beaming smile. Her dramatic hand gestures flowed gracefully in the direction of the party.
"Awesome," Hamaguchi replied as eagerly as he could with a sheepish smile.
Hamaguchi stood in place. He tried to take his first confident step forward, but his knees quaked instead. It was the first time he had ever hung out with Suzu outside of school. Already, he found himself under the blades of a blade armed to trim him down to size. The imposing home that stood behind her augmented her mystique and her bravado. Her richly coloured red shirt, combined with her amber eyes, imposed unto him a euphoric fire unmatched in any of his previous interactions.
"What are you waiting for? You're here for the party, right?" Suzu prodded with a half-confused look. She signalled him with her right hand to take a step forward through the gate.
He shook his head in response. Another round of sweat began accumulating on his forehead. The cooling temperature was no match for the heat that his body was releasing. Not wanting to leave Suzu waiting, he took out his wrinkling handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Just as he took his first step across the gate, Suzu reached into her pocket and handed him a pink handkerchief. "Hamaguchi, take this please," she commanded, losing the colour she expressed in her voice beforehand.
Hamaguchi chuckled back, his lips releasing a meagre "sure" in reply. He put his wrinkled cloth away and frantically dabbed his forehead. Once he was finished, he tried to fold her handkerchief back to its perfectly folded state like before. His hands, struggling to hold still, fumbled her cloth, causing it to drift to the ground.
Seeing Suzu narrow her eyes and raise an eyebrow with an annoyed huff was enough for him to his cheeks with an abashed grin. "Sorry Suzu, let me get that for you," Hamaguchi said as he bent down to pick up the cloth lying on the pavement.
"No, no let me get that," Suzu replied with an exasperated grunt. Hamaguchi stood back up and rubbed the back of his head, eager not to cross her any further.
Suzu closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she placed her dirty handkerchief back into her jean pocket. "Let's forget about that, okay?" Suzu chuckled with hesitancy. Even so, she regained the peppiness in her voice once she clapped her hands clean of any dust on her fingers, "Anyway, welcome to my home! If I remember correctly, this is your first time at my place, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is." This wasn't good. He already had a bad start fumbling her handkerchief. Now, he was speaking below his usual tone of voice. His utterances became little more than the squeaks of a mouse running away from its feline prey.
"Hmmm, is everything alright? You sound a bit unsure about something," Suzu noted with a teasing chuckle. She turned her head to flash her jewel-filled studs attached to her right earlobe. The light from the lanterns reflected off her studs as she turned her head. Its rays were so blinding they caused him to shield his eyes with his arm.
"Hey, don't look so startled! I'm going to give you the best treats for the party. You'll get to hang out with me and enjoy the riches I have to offer here. Oh, you don't have to thank me either! You deserve it after scoring the game-winning goal for our school! That alone deserves a big reward in my eyes!"
Hamaguchi looked on beyond Suzu as she raved on and on. It was clear that she was talking about something related to him. He couldn't be quite sure; he was too busy looking beyond her shoulder towards the field behind her home.
Unfortunately, he didn't find what he was looking for. There was no sign of Houjou anyway on the fields. He took another detailed look around him, trying ever so subtly to turn his head back towards the road behind him. It would have been too obvious that he wasn't paying attention if he were caught. That said, there was no sign of Houjou there either.
"Yeah, thanks a lot. You're truly awesome for setting all this up," Hamaguchi answered, his right hand forming a shaky thumbs-up. He hoped that his gesture would be enough for Suzu to not notice he didn't hear a single word of what she said.
It seemed to work. "Well, thank you! Anyway, I don't want you standing around here with the sky getting dark! Let's bring you over to where the rest of the cool kids are! Come with me!" Suzu chimed back. Hamaguchi could have sworn that she released another mischievous snicker as she motioned him with her hands. He couldn't dwell on his speculations for long. Suzu had already turned around and taken her first steps back toward the party. He didn't want to keep the hostess waiting.
Houjou's absence continued to gnaw at his skin. He took another good look around the premises. With Suzu's home so large, he knew he didn't scout the whole area yet. Even so, his search left him wandering around once again. There was still no Houjou to be found.
Perhaps she was late to the party. Maybe she was already enjoying the pristine waters that Suzu's pool offered. She may have also changed her mind and decided to not come. To that last suggestion, Hamaguchi shook his head. No, there was no way she would pass up the opportunity to be at the party. Especially with how excited she was the night before.
As Hamaguchi closed the book on his latest thought bubble, he found his eyes startled by blinding beams of light. He could have sworn that the lanterns by the gate weren't nearly as bright as the lanterns that shone where he was at the back of the field. Shielding his eyes from the light with his arm did nothing to assuage the piercing glares.
It didn't help that Suzu was egging him on again, "Is the light too bright for you? Sorry about that. I love having bright lights for the party, so I hope you'll get used to it!"
His normal walking pace slowed to a cautious tip-toe. He struggled to even see Suzu's figure with the intensity of the light. Thankfully, looking down at the ground was enough for him to see the stony pavement on where he walked.
Another few paces onward was enough for him to be relieved of the shining light. The sight in front of him caused his jaw to drop and his hands to be glued atop his head. A row of green and red plants lined the wooden fence installed at the far end of the backyard about 10 feet away from the home. Absorbing his mother's expertise in gardening helped him identify Japanese maples accompanied by oriental poppies and lined alongside timber bamboo trees.
But the pool that stretched half the length of the home represented the backyard's central feature. A fresh waft of chlorine stung his nostrils, leaving him coughing into the crook of his arm. He stuck his toe out to dip it into the water and pulled it back instantly. A shiver ran up his body causing his hair to stand up on end. The water was ice cold, nothing like the lukewarm pool at Tonosho Junior High.
A series of lights slightly dimmer than the one that greeted him lit a dark red and blue hue onto the pool's pristine waters. Accompanied by a drumming bass, the pool area created a hypnotic scene for anyone who wanted to hang with the party's popular crowds.
It was by this pool where the vast majority of party-goers stood around, attracted to the flashy, yet relaxing atmosphere. And who could blame them? The music of the newest J-pop superstar blared through the loudspeakers by the pool. As much as Hamaguchi despised Suzu for bullying his love interest, he found himself humming eagerly along with the song's melody.
The melodic trance in his ears was interrupted by Suzu's girlish shout and a wink, "Hamaguchi, join us by the pool! That's where everyone hangs out."
"Hey, hero boy! Come on down here and hang with us!" a boy shouted at him just as Suzu finished motioning to him. He was immersed in the pool water wearing only his black swim trunks.
Hamaguchi shivered at the thought, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't like cold water but that would make him look like a wuss in front of the entire gang. Hamaguchi walked over to them, attempting to strike up a conversation, his arms still crossed against his body. This was his moment and he couldn't falter now. What could a little cold water do?
Hamaguchi's eyes beamed and his mouth grew into an open smile. It was his team's primary playmaker in the pool. They got along when they could, but even in the team lockers, his teammate gave him a cold shrug and a nod after every game, win or lose. Seeing his fellow star acknowledge his existence was equivalent to injecting an adrenaline rush into his veins.
"Hey, Sotsuke! I didn't bring my trunks, but I'll be right there!" replied Hamaguchi as he walked towards the pool.
As the music played on, Hamaguchi found himself drawn toward the lights and the crowds as well. The sounds of twenty of the most popular students in the grade chattering amongst themselves soaked him in the party atmosphere. By the time Hamaguchi walked over to the crowds of students at the pool, he found himself drawn in. The realisation had begun to dawn on him. He was finally among the most popular students in the grade. He was in.
The dusky sky darkened into a pitch black, lightened only by shades of grey that patched the sky and obscured the stars from view. In the pool, several kids were splashing in time with the bass chugging from the loudspeakers. The shouts of another group of children playing ultimate frisbee could be heard from the eastern side of the abode. While Suzu's two butlers were present to monitor things, the children were fast becoming an unruly group to deal with.
Hamaguchi wasn't thinking much about the party's descent into chaos. He was more delighted that his gamble of wearing something fancier was paying off. As the party progressed, he found himself surrounded by a sea of boys and girls who immediately pointed out the decorum he exuded. Ignoring his ruffled hair, the crowd of classmates showered him with praises for his pivotal role in his team repeating as regional champions. Drinks and foods were brought before him like a king awaiting his feast. With each moment, the overwhelming deluge of praise grew intoxicating to him.
Not even in last year's regional finals was he showered with such praises. Sure, his whole team visited him when he suffered from his concussion. But just as suddenly as his team's gratitude flowed did it cease in the days after they won the finals. Not so tonight, Hamaguchi affirmed inwardly. He soaked himself in the music and basked in the blessings that flowed from his classmates. Instead of being a mere accessory, he was the centrepiece. And the girls had let it be known. They stood in wait to have even a moment to speak with him, the brightest star of the party.
Admittedly, Hamaguchi had little intention to spend any time with the girls. He was having too much fun laughing and jumping about with the boys. But even as he was surrounded by the clamorous, pugnacious cheers of his colleagues, he could still hear the girls exchanging light swoons and giggles. He wanted to. They were as refreshing as the pool water beside him and delectable as the diet coke he drank before entering the dance floor.
And it showed. He found himself laughing heartily and pumped his hand with the beat as the music played on. The next set of songs was bass-heavy, ornamented with a driving melody. His teammates added to the festive atmosphere, dancing along with him in a circle while he and Sotsuke jumped about in the centre together.
The dancing went on like this for some time. But how long it was precise, Hamaguchi wasn't sure. All he considered was his sweat-covered forehead and the loss of air in his lungs.
"Geez, I need a moment to catch my breath!" Hamaguchi huffed to the others. With his teammates considerate enough to allow an opening, he slid himself out off the dance floor and sat himself down on a pool chair overlooking the pool beyond. Even with the music blaring in the background, he found his heart rate slowing little by little as he spread his legs and hummed happily with the music.
His peace wouldn't last long. "Wow, Hamaguchi! I had a feeling you'd like the music I had on show tonight, but not this much!" Suzu chimed in as she walked away from the dance floor and by Hamaguchi's pool chair. "You were going all out with the rest of the team back there! I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself!"
"Yeah, this music sure was amazing! Yoasobi is my favourite artist," Hamaguchi smiled back, placing his hands on the back of his head.
"Really? She's my favourite artist too," Suzu responded, flicking her silky black hair.
Hamaguchi shrugged back with a brief, knowing smirk. It was nice that she liked Yoasobi, but he couldn't dismiss the half-hearted chuckle that accompanied her declaration. He always kept his distance from Suzu, but he knew she loved puffing herself up. When his class grew obsessed with Beyblades, it was she who was the first to buy one. He couldn't forget how much she loved showing off its rarity either.
The idea of testing Suzu's knowledge of Yoasobi became an appealing prospect. Was she really a Yoasobi fan? He wasn't the only person to whom Suzu had claimed knowledge and enthusiasm. For the first bit of the party, he overheard her raving about Yoasobi and how her father knew an insider well enough to get previews of her latest albums. The statement caused him to raise his eyes; she was never one to leak anything as pivotal as that. He knew that well enough from the interviews she gave in magazines and on TV.
Was she lying about everything? He'd love to know. He knew as much about Yoasobi as he knew about his Premier League football. He had enough questions he could ask that only a true Yoasobi fan would answer. With her standing by him with such a haughty smirk, he figured it would be the perfect chance to see how much she truly knew. To expose her as the liar she was and elevate himself in front of his friends left him licking at his chops.
But just as he was about to ask Suzu an easy question about the J-pop star, another song began to play from the speakers. After playing a series of other J-pop artists, the playlist had come back to another one of Yoasobi's songs. The first notes of the song caused Hamaguchi's heart to freeze. After a thumping first beat, "Romance" - as it was called - rushed at him like the trains in the song's music video.
His face grew pale against the backdrop of the night sky. How long had he been enjoying himself at the party? How far did the clock hands move while he danced with his teammates? How late had it gotten?
The questions seared through his confidence like a piercing samurai blade. His breathing sped on as if the song was playing at twice the speed. As his mind listed more and more unanswered questions, one rang out bright as the lights he encountered when he first entered the party venue. The blinding question caused his legs to spring forward toward the pool.
As Hamaguchi jolted up from the pool chair, Suzu jumped back and pulled back her hands. She gasped with a mix of shock and disgust plastered on her face, "Ahh, Hamaguchi! Don't scare me like that!"
"Where's Houjou? I thought you invited her!" Hamaguchi asked with a stammer. His voice grew light-pitched with every syllable as if he had seen a ghastly ghost. The sweat from his forehead had returned, his heart pounded as heavy as the bass from the song, and his wide-open eyes trembled in Suzu's presence.
Before he stopped to consider the ramifications of his sudden turn in behaviour, he found himself running away from the pool party and towards the black gate. "Houjou! Where are you?" he cried out at the top of his lungs. He sprinted with all his might across the pool. His shoes - having already lost some of their grips - left him slipping in the puddles of water by the pool. His classmates looked on with raised eyebrows and halted their dancing, snickering at the unseemly boy.
Along the way, the blinding lights greeted Hamaguchi once again as he rushed to find his best friend. The electric hum of the lights made his eardrums pound. He closed his eyes to shield the light with his eyelids, but that caused him to lose his sense of direction. Amid his meandering run, he bumped into Sotsuke, who was carrying a glass of cola. Hamaguchi's heavy bump against Sotsuke's hand resulted in a splash of coke landing on his white T-shirt. A dark brown stain grew on Sotsuke's shirt. Sotsuke pointed his finger at him, looking visibly annoyed.
"Hamaguchi, what was that for? Come back-"
"Sorry, Sotsuke! I have to go! I'll get you a new shirt!" Hamaguchi ran off, failing to register even a peep of his voice in his ears. He was lucky that his teammate only reprimanded him with an eye roll as he ran off.
Rapid pants escaped his mouth as he ran. Even as he ran past the lights, the swathes of blinding, white light left him with a piercing headache. His legs carried him in a winding manner. Step by step, he felt his sneakers pushing against the evenly trimmed and straight grass he encountered earlier in the evening. The blades of grass that stood upright so neatly grew squished, ruining the picturesque scene.
Despite his aimless sprint, Hamaguchi found himself at the front gate. A second quick look around the premises after he regained his sight left his chest aching for breath. Houjou was still nowhere to be found. He clenched his fingers against the steely black gate, feeling for any way to manoeuvre the iron gate open. With a little bit of luck, he found his hands pressing a set of buttons on the side of the gate. The gate swung open, granting him freedom into the winding roads before him, toward's Houjou.
"Hamaguchi, where are you going so early?" Suzu shouted from a distance. "We still have so much celebrating to do!"
Her voice grew louder in his head with each cry. He wanted to plug his ears from the throbbing music and Suzu's nasally voice. He wanted silence away from the party, but his head clanged at him with the question of Houjou's whereabouts.
"Hey, don't tell me you're really leaving the party now!" Suzu snorted, her eyes squinting and her nose scrunching up.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that! You told me that Houjou would be here by now, and she isn't. I want to check up on her," Hamaguchi bit back with a terse reply, followed by a heavy growl.
"Hey, don't tell me you're trying to find that mouse! She probably changed her mind and decided not to come!" Suzu shouted back. Her reddening face revealed a furious side of her that Hamaguchi had never seen before. He always knew her for her composure, so to see her so rattled was novel. None of that changed his vexations over his burgeoning dispute with her.
"I know her well enough to know that she wouldn't just change her mind like that without telling me-"
"Ugh, don't tell me you're in love with that rodent! What does she even offer you anyway? I'm giving you all the popularity and praise that you could ask for, and you're going to dump all that for someone so naive and stupid!" shouted Suzu, Her seething anger was palpable.
Hamaguchi could tell she was filling herself up with utter shock with her wide eyes and erratic hand gestures. A pang of resentment rose in his chest. He looked back at the light-filled courtyard behind her. Squinting a little closer he could see his teammates tussling with each other on the turf, seeming to forget about him entirely. Turning his head he glanced out into the night sky, which was empty and still. But in that stillness was his lively, joyful best friend. As much as he considered pondering the possibility of staying, her last words were the last straw.
He had hoped that he and Houjou would be the stars coming together underneath the night sky. But alas, it was not to be. And Hamaguchi knew it. With another growl, he bit back with scathing words of his own, "Well then, your ego must be as fat as an elephant, since you're so scared of a so-called mouse."
Suzu stood in place, placing her hand over her gaping mouth. The size of the bombshell his talkback wrought wasn't lost on Hamaguchi. While he wasn't one to want to call names, he justified it as a defence against the verbal assault that Suzu procured.
He allowed his verbal assault to continue. "You know what? You told me I would be able to enjoy the party with Houjou, Suzu-san. You know she's my best friend, and yet you won't stop bullying her for some weird, messed up reason. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you did something to mess her up tonight. That's something only a parasite would do."
Suzu slowly retracted her hand from her mouth. Instead of an agape mouth, she formed a knowing chuckle. Combined with her narrowed eyes, Hamaguchi was left gasping at how unfazed she was even after his fightback. "So, you really are in love with the ugly mouse, aren't you Hamaguchi?" she hissed, emphasising the word 'love'.
"Well, no, it's nothing like that, but-"
"I can tell, Hamaguchi-kun. If you want to be as immature and tiny as her, by all means, go ahead. But I'll make sure you'll be treated the same as that mouse, especially by your teammates," Suzu growled, puffing her chest and pushing Hamaguchi outside of her premises.
"Wait what?" Hamaguchi gasped as he found himself shoved. Just as he finished his inquiry, he heard the gate slam shut behind him. The sounds of metal clashing against each other rang through his ears.
"Shut it. If you're going to spend your days smooching towards someone like her, you're not worth my time, Hamaguchi-kun," Suzu scowled from the other side of the gate. But she wasn't done. "You make me laugh. You love that pest ever so dearly, yet I didn't see you checking to see if she called you," she finished with a dismissive chuckle and a flippant hand wave. She then turned around and walked back to the pool party, her back turned on him.
Hamaguchi stood lifeless in the darkness. Off in the distance, the sounds of cracking fireworks blared out. Its red hues doubled as fumes from an incoming fire originating from the residents of the luxurious estate. With no way to re-enter the party, he felt his whole body turn around. Without a second thought, Hamaguchi walked away from the venue and towards Tonosho Town.
Hamaguchi's walk turned into a sprint. The heavy bass that dropped on each beat grew weaker and fainter with each step away from the venue. As he ran along the Denpo River, the towering mansion that stood before him grew smaller with each backward glance he took.
But unlike the mesmerising beats and the imposing mansion, the scowls from Suzu and Sotsuke pursued him with relentless zeal. Their jeers said it all. He had steered himself out of their universe but was hit with their venomous words that seared into his heart. Not even his stellar footballing career would change that.
He found it all too easy to imagine what the following days would look like for him. It would begin with his classmates murmuring every time he walked past them to get to his seat. The student cliques standing around in a circle would up the ante by mocking him with endless chanting. They wouldn't be just any chants. No, he was sure they would sing a mocking ballad that told of his romance with Houjou, the supposedly ugly, unpopular girl.
As Hamaguchi ran past the gates and onto the road returning to Tonosho Town, he conjured more snapshots of what was to come for himself. With his soccer team, he played through a scenario where his footballing ventures turned for the worse. If none of his teammates would pass the ball to him as the target man, he wouldn't bag in the goals. If he didn't score goals, his coach would bench him. No more play time, no point in staying on the team. As much as Hamaguchi didn't want to admit it, he had to accept that such a fate was indeed growing in likelihood.
With the alleyways coming closer into view, those thoughts dissipated like the mist. His pupils scattered to and fro and his head swivelled in turn, both straining to decipher which direction Houjou could have gone. Compounding his conundrum was the fact that he became surrounded by a blinding blackness that obscured the roads ahead.
The series of lantern-covered lights dispersed along the alleyways and the occasional street light did what it could to glow the streets below. Unfortunately for him, the lights failed to beat back the nightfall deep into those paths. The pools of yellow light that coloured those grounds left him squinting his eyes, straining to make sense of where he was going. As much as he appreciated their shine, the lanterns and streetlights weren't nearly enough to help him decide on a path for his ongoing search.
With little information available to him and without so much of a second thought, he rotated his torso to his right. There, he encountered a long road jutting beyond the alleyways surrounded by rickety homes and stores. There, the street lights shone just enough light for it to reflect off the waters of the Denpo River. The river's glow left him sighing with relief. He was still on the main road, but a new fact dawned on him amid the nightly darkness. He was still at least a few kilometres away from the town centre.
Not willing to get himself lost within the poorly lit alleyways, Hamaguchi sprinted forward along the main road beside Denpo River. Its rippling glimmer reflected in his pupils. A light gasp left his lips. Concurrently, he allowed himself to slow his sprint into a light jog and then into a walk. Before he knew it, he came to a complete stop.
Hamaguchi glued his gaze to the ripples that the river formed, brightened by the street lights and the stars above. Away from the rambunctious crowds, beaming lights, and booming music, he found Houjou crawling back into his mind. The myriad of missed calls haunted him like the occasional breeze that tapped his back with irregular frequency. His own words to her a few days before the party coursed inside of him with each gust of wind:
"I will be your samurai, Houjou."
"Call me when you need me, and I'll be there."
"You can count on me!"
His words caused shivers to roll down his spine despite the warm late summer air filling the atmosphere. He sat himself down on the side of the road by the river and folded his legs towards his stomach. Giving off a morose sigh, he felt his throat tightening against the collar of his shirt. He tried to relieve some of the pressure by unbuttoning his top button and pulling at his collar, but it only made the feeling worse.
A wave of questions filled his thoughts. Why didn't Houjou end up coming to the party? What exactly did Suzu do to her, if anything? Where was she now?
The round of questioning compelled him to reach for his phone in his pocket. He took it out as swiftly as he could and awoke it from its slumber. He punched a series of numbers that would take him on the line to Houjou's phone. After punching in the number, he dialled in and held up his phone to his ear.
*Bring*
*Bring*
*Bring*
Then a click. Followed by a voice from the other side,
"Hello, you have reached Houjou's cell! Hamaguchi, if it's you then I'll-"
Hamaguchi hung up the phone and shook his head. As cute as her message was, he was hoping he wouldn't be forwarded to her answering machine. He tried again. Perhaps she was in the middle of a late-night chore. Another set of three brings projected from his phone's speaker. The same outcome persisted: a single click followed by her automated reply.
He pulled his left hand into his pocket and grabbed his smartphone. Reaching his lock screen, he could see a barrage of missed call notifications popping up with sudden rapidity. With each notification, the words 3 Houjou 3 were written all over. The time on his phone's clock served as an indictment against him: 9:30 pm.
He double-checked his notifications tab, anxious to see how many times Houjou had called him during the party. The calls started coming at 7:00 pm and persisted once every fifteen minutes. One small detail in his call history stuck out to him. The calls came to a stop right at the stroke of 9:00 pm. That was when he confronted Suzu about the absence of the one he gushed over so dearly.
Yet he recalled no ring entering his ears at that time. With rapidly blinking eyes, he swiped his phone to check his settings. What he saw left him scratching his head all the more. His phone's sound notifications were indeed on at that time. With a look through his other settings, he noticed a small detail that caused his face to grow pale once more: only two bars were present in his signal icon.
Did Suzu's house really have no signal at all? He couldn't fathom it. She was home to one of the richest homes in the whole town. Yet that was exactly what his phone suggested. The music may have been deafening, but he was doubly sure there were no notifications, no rings, and no beeps of any kind until his exit.
The lack of signal grew worrisome to his fainting heart. He had to get in touch with Houjou somehow. He could only imagine the horrors that would befall him if he couldn't explain himself on time. Perhaps it was already too late, but he had to try again. With frantic breaths, Hamaguchi tried to call Houjou's cell once more.
This time, a single ring rang out before making way for Houjou's interrogative voice, "Hello?"
"Houjou! I'm so sorry-"
"Hamaguchi, stop calling me right now and leave me alone. I'll see you later."
"But Houjou, let me explain-"
His phone released a single clicking sound before returning to the main menu. Her voice was as cold as ice. Her murmur at the end flavoured her icy words with a hint of mourning. Regardless of her feelings, the outcome was the same. His pleas had fallen on deaf ears.
Hamaguchi pushed the power button on his smartphone and put it to sleep. His mouth became agape and his eyes grew listless as he looked on at the river Denpo. It was a first for him. Sure, he had frustrated and irritated her with his brashness and his obnoxiousness at times in the past. Those times, she would come around and let it go.
This time, however, felt different. His heart grew heavy and his chest contorted within himself. With each water splash from the river ahead, the same three phrases he uttered to Houjou rang through his mind, one by one.
"I will be your samurai."
"Call me, and I'll be there."
"You can count on me!"
Those words rang hollowly inside his drying heart. The glimpses of his own voice, tinged with Houjou's anger, left him forming droplets of sweat that flowed from his forehead. His lower legs tightened, his shinbone crying out with a pain that sizzled up to his kneecaps in his contracted state. The pounding sensation left him gasping for air, his breath becoming more depleted by the second.
Each of these sensations grew bigger and rang louder inside of him. Topping off the oncoming rush of his senses was her voice which he imagined. Tearful and gentle as it was, her mouth burst forth an exclamation that clanged his head like a Bonsho bell, "Hamaguchi, why didn't you pick up the phone?"
With what little strength he had left, Hamaguchi straightened his legs and got up with a lugubrious motion. His knees grew flimsy with the first step he took and didn't straighten after taking another step. By the time he returned to the pavement of the main road, the sounds of gentle, sploshing water left him. The soundless night returned, and Hamaguchi was left alone once more, without even a peep to accompany him.
Hamaguchi looked around with wide eyes and gasped in short sharp breaths. His body froze in place causing him to hold his rigid hand against his chin. His numbing feet crunched against a small pothole where stony pieces of gravel resided. The crunch of his shoes caused his head to tilt from side to side. Perhaps with some might, he could at least hear a faint twinge of Houjou's voice off in the distance.
Alas, her voice was nowhere to be heard. Perhaps he could find some way to hear any sound to tickle his ears. Anything that would tell him he wasn't alone was all he asked. That too proved to be elusive. Even the few light poles above the street where he stood did little to illuminate more than a fraction of the path in front of him.
He couldn't stand the silence or the darkness much longer. He wanted to sprint back home, run up to his room, and crawl into his bed. As much as he tried to push his legs to walk onward, he found them staying limp. The best he could muster was a slide of his new running shoes against the grey gravel. He would have to settle with what little movement he could produce, he supposed. There was little else he could do in the middle of the lifeless road.
Whatever happened with Houjou, he figured he wouldn't find out that night. Especially not after the terse remarks she uttered in reply. He wouldn't be able to tell her about his phone signal being lost at the party venue that night either. Would he be able to tell her about it in the coming days? He didn't know. He could try, but after making such big promises about protecting her and picking up the phone, how could he explain the lack of signal he got?
Upon reaching that question, Hamaguchi felt his brain shutting down. Was there any point? He had striven to gain the love of both his classmates and Houjou with this party. By the end of it all, he found his brain toast, his classmates turned away, and Houjou lost.
Treading onward like an undead creature, he filled the silent air with groans of his own. His feet dragged themselves across the ground, making crackling sounds with each slide. It was all he could do to finish his trek. And that he did all the way back to his homestead, without his best friend in sight.
A/N: This was by far the most difficult chapter to write, even without the delays. I felt quite anguished writing this, so much so that I wished I could just make things better in an instant. But that's not how life goes a lot of the time. Here's hoping this will be the worst of it though. We're about to enter the finale arc after all. I'm already working on Chapter 16 as we speak, so see you soon!