Side Story: The Legend of the Lucky Palmtop Tiger

He was on the third floor of the old school building.

Even though it was after classes had ended, there was no sign of any

students in that dim hallway. Under broken, fluorescent lighting, Tomiie

Kouta walked with a gloomy expression illuminated by the lights'

cheerless, flickering buzz.

He finally arrived at a door. A scrap of notebook paper was stuck

against it with scotch tape, scribbled on with pencil.

It said, "Student Council Room."

Ahhhh, Kouta sighed. With dark eyes, he looked down at the old

doorknob. He came by this place every day, and for what…?

"DAAAH HAHAHAHA!"

"…That's got to be the president."

He was in danger of being blown away by the mere power of the

overly hearty laugh that resonated from behind the door, but he stood his

ground. He automatically pictured that laughter's source.

What came to mind was their trustworthy personality and, on

occasion, strict paternal love… the popular nicknames of "godfather" and

"patriarch" were all too fitting for this very "masculine" person. It wasn't

that Kouta hated their style, but sometimes, it was a little much…

"Excuse me."

…It happened at the same time he opened the door and stepped in.

"Ohh! You're late, my first-year lad! Hurry up and sit, sit!"

"…Phew."

It had been several weeks since they'd met, but he still hadn't gotten

used to the owner of that laugh.

"What's wrong? That was a pretty lifeless response." Tsk. He heard a

tongue click, but immediately after came a show of white teeth and a

generous laugh. "Have a bite of this," said the manly individual in question,

and threw a snack at him.

That macho soul in fact had the incredibly feminine name of Kanou

Sumire.

But there was more to her than that.

"President, sorry for the intrusion, but it's about the data from the

previous year's proposed budget."

"Right, I'll see that, give it here."

Slip… the black, silky strands of her hair spilled softly over her

delicate shoulders. Her downcast eyes and pale Japanese complexion were

just a skin she wore.

The student body president, Kanou Sumire.

Since enrolling in the school, she had been a hardcore honors student

who never wavered from her position at the top of the class. In addition, she

had a little sister, Kanou Sakura, who was two years younger than her and a

first year in the same school. Among the students, they were known as the

Kanou sisters. In other words, Sumire was the president, the patriarch, and

the elder of the Kanou sisters.

"Hey, Kouta. You were eating by yourself again today, weren't you? I

passed by your class and saw it with my own two eyes—you all by

yourself."

"…Please leave it be."

Perched at a window seat, holding papers in one hand, Sumire was

staring at Kouta with a grin on her face…while manspreading. It seemed

she had no intention to leave it be.

"So you still haven't made aaany friends. We're almost at the end of

May, you realize? It's been two whole months since school started."

There was no consideration in the cherry-blossom-colored lips that

spoke those words. Kouta was silent. He turned his back to Sumire and

dropped his eyes to the activity log.

"You're a first-year lad, yet you're an outcast."

"Now, now, president." The one who threw him a lifeline was the

second-year vice president, Kitamura Yuusaku. With his silver-rimmed,

severe glasses glinting, he jumped into the conversation with a gentle tone.

"Kouta enrolled one month late, so he hasn't even been here for a full

month."

"Right, that was how it went down!" Sumire slapped her hands

together in understanding. "What was it again—you were hit by a car right

before our enrollment ceremony, right?"

"…No. I was hit by the car on the day before the ceremony at my

first choice school."

"Right, right, let's see—oh right, your neighbor's house caught on

fire and when they hosed it down, your own house was flooded…"

"That was the day before a school trip in middle school. The day

before the ceremony, what I thought was a horrible stomachache was

actually my appendix. When I went out to a restaurant to celebrate, it

ruptured, and I ended up pulling down other people's tables as I collapsed

—"

"Yes! And then you were hospitalized for a month!"

With the President's finger pointing at him, Kouta could only keep

silent and look down. The next words Sumire let lose were ones he already

knew were coming.

"You sure are an unlucky fellow!" Daaahahahahaha!

…What was so funny, exactly?

"President, you're laughing too much. You'll make Kouta feel bad."

That hearty laugh—strong enough to even bring on a rebuke from

Kitamura—continued to resound. It got to the point that even the clerks

going about their duties (both of them second years, older than him) had

quivering shoulders while pretending to be engrossed in their work.

If you're going to laugh, then laugh. Kouta sulkily pouted and turned

away. Sorry for being so unlucky. But what could he do? That was just the

way it was.

Whenever Kouta's fate was in the balance, the scales inevitably came

down on the side of trouble. It had been that way from the moment he'd

dropped into this world to the present day. Incidentally, the moment he

came out crying from his mother's womb, his father's video camera ran out

of batteries, and the doctor, distracted by that, missed the moment his

mother had finished her difficult task and dropped the newborn Kouta past

her crotch.

The trouble had just continued to the present day. At any rate, he'd

made the unfortunate decision to join this student council of his own free

will.

***

It was shortly after entering high school—his entrance delayed

because of the particular circumstances of his life—when Kouta noticed he

was in limbo in his class. For starters, he didn't have a cheerful personality.

He'd thought he might join a club to make friends, but the invitation season

for new members was long past, and the opportunity to join was completely

robbed from him.

Although he wasn't despised, trying to endure the class recesses

without a single friend was incredibly taxing. One day, as he was thinking

about what he could do, a poster had appeared in front of Kouta's eyes.

"Wanted: General Affairs members! Big welcome to new students!

Join the Student Council!"

General Affairs… basically, that probably means helping with

paperwork, he thought. It wasn't like he had an interest in helping with desk

work for the student council. But the words big welcome to new students

seemed to sparkle in Kouta's eyes for that moment. It was like the last door

on the last train that he was already late to ride was still open—that was the

feeling he had.

He just needed to get to know the other first year students in General

Affairs. And maybe, if he became Tomiie Kouta of the student council, he

would be able to escape his current station as a nonexistent waste of air.

That was the thought.

He summoned his courage and headed to the student council room.

Even now, he could clearly remember how he felt as he opened that door

for the first time.

A beautiful, black-haired Yamato Nadeshiko—the concept of the

ideal Japanese woman—turned around as though surprised. That he would

be able to work on student council activities with such a beauty was beyond

his expectations. It was a rare moment—he almost thought he was lucky.

But then the beauty said, "Yo!" and lifted her fist at him in a manly way.

She plunked down on her chair with her legs splayed. "You're a first year,

right?! Something wrong? Go on, grab a seat!" Thump! She kicked an open

seat for him.

…Flub. The strength left his knees. The one who'd been lying in wait

for Kouta was a tough guy—wearing a Yamato Nadeshiko skin.

There weren't any other first years in General Affairs, and for

starters, when he reported his student council position to his homeroom

teacher, she hadn't even known about it. "Huh? You went into General

Affairs?"

On the other hand, he couldn't just quit because the truth of the

student council had been a little bit different from his arbitrary expectations.

So Kouta made sure to go to the student council room every day after

school, where he was the only student working on troublesome, daily

minutiae.

This really wasn't meant for him.

"Aaahh… I'd love to touch that Palmtop Tiger…" It slipped right out

of him…mixed with a sigh. He'd only meant to think it to himself.

"…Hm?" Kitamura reacted first. "What did you just say about the

Palmtop Tiger?"

"Kitamura-senpai, does that mean you've heard about it?"

"Don't answer a question with a question." Sumire's affectionate

whip—the corner of her notebook—prodded the top of Kouta's head.

"Ow! Hey, what gives? I can't help it! I'm just curious about it,

okay?"

The corner of the notebook dug in deeper, sawing rapidly into

Kouta's head.

"Aaah, that burns!"

"Don't underestimate the notebook. Pulp is the essence of mighty

trees. So spit it out, why do you want to touch the Tiger?"

"Y-you're relentless… my classmates were talking about it, okay?"

When you touch the Palmtop Tiger, you'll be blessed with good

fortune for the next three years until graduation!

Kouta had heard about it being one of the seven wonders of the

school right at the same time Sumire had seen him alone that day during

lunch break. Even though he hadn't been intentionally listening to the

conversation behind him, it had caught his ears all the same.

"Hmph. Unlucky. You wanted to touch the Palmtop Tiger, but since

you weren't friends, you couldn't bring yourself to ask for details. Just how

shy are you, anyway?!"

Kouta turned his back on Sumire and muttered darkly, "It's fine.

Please leave it be. I was just curious, that's all. I wasn't serious. It's

probably no better than a good luck charm anyway."

"No, you're wrong." Kitamura's voice suddenly reverberated loudly

through the room. "Nah, this tiger's real. I've seen the Palmtop Tiger

before."

"Huh?! Really?!"

Sumire oddly didn't seem surprised, either. She put up a graceful

hand. "I've seen the Palmtop Tiger, too."

The other members exchanged glances, and following the president,

raised their hands. "Yup." "Me too." "And me."

"Senpai, you've all seen the Palmtop with your own eyes?"

"Yeah, the Palmtop is especially notorious among the second years.

…But the Legend of the Lucky Palmtop Tiger? Guess the legend gets

bigger with each retelling. To think the Palmtop's been made into such a big

deal…"

Kitamura chuckled. He looked like he could hardly handle it. Every

member except for Sumire had an odd grin.

"…Uhhh, guys, what's so funny?" Kouta couldn't quite decode what

was going on. He glanced around, vainly trying to get a feel for what was

happening.

"I've got it!" Sumire suddenly raised her voice. "Kouta, you have to

touch the Palmtop Tiger."

"…Huh?"

"An unlucky fellow like you in our group is a liability. Your bad luck

might affect the whole student council. So consider this a presidential order.

You absolutely must touch the Palmtop Tiger and cure your misfortune."

"Even if you tell me to do that, I don't even know what the Palmtop

Tiger is."

"You can just ask your classmates. Start tomorrow off by gathering

information, first thing!"

"This seems like a fool's errand…"

"Excuse me?"

In front of Sumire's sharp, piercing eyes, Kitamura once again

jumped in with a "Now, now." He went on, "It'd be difficult to have him do

it so suddenly. Kouta, first off, we'll give you a hint. In my class, the

second-year class C, there's a certain person named Kushieda who you can

visit. Out of everyone I know within this school, she's the one who knows

the most about the Palmtop Tiger."

"That was…Kushieda…senpai?"

Yeah, Kitamura nodded. He flashed an appealing smile as he looked

down at Kouta.

"…Kitamura-senpai."

"Hm?"

"You seem like you're having a lot of fun, for some reason."

"Yeah, I might be."

It was always kind of hard to understand what was in the bottom of

those intelligent eyes, behind those glasses. Even now, all smiles, he

seemed to look through Kouta, piercing him with a straight, silent gaze.

Kouta thought of Kitamura as a kind upperclassman. Maybe it was

because he was Sumire's right-hand man, but he felt there was something

up with the group gathered in the student council room.

After all, he had a predisposition for super bad luck. He decided to

play dumb, but as he stared at the upperclassmen's faces, there was

suspicion in his eyes.

***

Okay, Kouta. First, the Palmtop Tiger is real. And second, the

Palmtop's a ferocious terror that isn't going to be easy to touch.

As a special favor, Sumire had given him a hint. But with a hint that

small, he still couldn't tell what the Palmtop Tiger was, or what form it

would take. In cases like this, it would normally be something like a bronze

statue, right?

"…Honestly, this is just coercion, at this point…"

It was the next day. Rather obediently, he stood in front of the door to

the second-year class C.

After all, Sumire had given him the forceful warning—if you ignore a

presidential order, you'll be in trouble.

"Uhh, in other words…you mean I'd be fired?" What else could it be,

anyway?

"No. I'd force you to become the next student body president."

"Wouldn't the next student president be a current second year?"

"Congratulations on becoming the first-ever first year president!"

"Yeah, I'd rather not…"

And so he lowered his gloomy face and unsteadily made his way to a

classroom of upperclassmen all by himself. He peeked into the classroom

for a while without revealing himself, but he was at a loss when he couldn't

find Kitamura, who he was depending on. It seemed that all he could do

was ask someone to bring out the person named Kushieda.

"Um, excuse me."

"Yes?"

He put all his effort into flagging down an upperclassman girl who

happened to be walking by.

"What is it?" The person who turned around had a bright smile on her

face. Her kind-looking brown eyes turned to Kouta—

her round cheeks were lit up with a grin, and her pink lips were lustrous and

shiny. From head to toe, she was too bright. Straightforward, honest, and

healthy, she was completely different from a certain tough guy.

"Uh, umm…it's, I'm looking for someone named Kushieda-senpai

—"

"Yessss!"

"In…this…class…?"

He looked at her hand, which she had stretched to reach toward the

heavens. Kouta tilted his head for a while. Umm, I guess since she said,

"Yesss!" and stretched up her hand, this development means…

"I'm Kushieda!"

"Oh."

Of cooourse. She was cute, but a little strange. He felt his spirits sink

again. Everyone he had come across so far seemed a little weird, but that

was probably just because his natural bad luck was a siren call to them.

"Hey you, don't just say 'Oh!' Don't leave someone hanging!" She

acted awfully familiar—she pushed one of his shoulders and he wobbled

dangerously. But he somehow held his ground and kept facing forward.

"Kitamura-senpai said the he would introduce us…" From the sheer

desire to avoid being teased by Sumire, he took on the challenge that was

Kushieda.

"Kitamura-kun? Nu-uh, he didn't say anything to me."

"Uhh…"

No way. As he recalled Kitamura's bespectacled face, Kouta faltered.

This meant that he had to tell her about the circumstances of his search for

the Palmtop Tiger, starting from the very beginning, here and now. That

was a little embarrassing. He was a first year going out of his way to a

classroom of upperclassmen to ask, "Excuse me, do you know where the

'Palmtop Tiger' is?" That kind of made him seem like he was actually

serious about it, and that was a little awkward…

"Yo, Kushieda! This is Tomiie Kouta, a first year. He's looking into

the Palmtop Tiger, so I told him about you. I told him that was a subject

Kushieda knows all about! Anyway, see ya!"

…And then, like a gust of wind, Kitamura passed by and easily

explained everything that had been embarrassing. And left.

Then Kouta noticed something. "Huh?"

Without so much as a warning, Kushieda's eyes simultaneously

turned harsh and dark. "You're looking into the Palmtop Tiger, are you…?"

"…Senpai, your tone of voice is kind of…"

"Shut yer yap." To cut off Kouta's escape route, Kushieda leaned

against the doorway and stretched her arm across to the wall. Her bright

smile was no more, now completely withdrawn. Her head tilted, chin out,

slightly crooked…

"And what are you planning on doing after looking into the Palmtop

Tiger…?" She spoke in a low, husky voice and stared at him searchingly.

"Ahh, that's…I'm going to touch it…"

"Touch it? You're going to touch it? You want to touch it. So you

want to touch it."

"…That was four times you said that. Uhh, well…"

Huff, Kushieda's prolonged exhalation shifted Kouta's bangs. "Do

you have insurance? You're gonna need real good insurance—injury

insurance."

"I do have that, actually." Honestly, for someone who was born with

a predisposition toward bad luck like him, having several kinds of insurance

was a given—plans with fully maxed out policies for any and all

contingencies.

Uh-huh, Kushieda listened to that response and nodded deeply.

"Listen here, young one…it seems you still don't know what kind of thing

the Palmtop Tiger really is…"

"Uhh. But that's why I came to ask."

"No matter what you hear from this old hag's lips, you still won't

understand… the one thing this hag can tell you is… the 'Palmtop' part of

the Palmtop Tiger's name is referring to its size…"

Hag? Kouta didn't follow.

A noise exploded right in front of him. "Ack! Cough! Cough, cough,

cough!"

"K-Kushieda-senpai, are you okay? …Huuuh?!"

…GOGH! As though she were calling out the great painter's name,

the self-styled hag Kushieda mussed up her hair, slipped down, and

collapsed to one knee.

"Um, this is a performance, right? You're joking, right?"

"This hag…is done for. You can ask…about the rest…from the one

named…Takasu…"

And then in the hallway during their break, she pretended to fall over

flat as though she were dead. Her skirt also flipped up, exposing her white

underwear and butt for the whole world to see, but she didn't make any

signs that she was in a rush to fix it. Normally this would be incredibly

lucky, enough to give him a nosebleed, but… What should I do? I've gotten

mixed up with someone weird, and not just a little weird, either…

"…Um…who's Takasu?"

The passing classmates just stepped over Kushieda's body. Finally

one girl said, "Hey, watch your underwear. Underwear!" and fixed the

flipped-up skirt. But even then, Kushieda remained collapsed on the ground

as she aimed a finger towards one corner of the classroom. Over there,

several second-year boys were having fun chatting.

Guh. Kouta swallowed his breath. Within that group, one person had

noticed him and turned around.

"…Kushieda, what are you doing?"

Shall I beat you to a pulp?

The guy's voice held that kind of tone. That sharp gaze was no

amateur's. His mean-looking features were twisted in irritation. He

fidgeted, menacing everyone in his vicinity with the incredibly dangerous

aura that exuded from his whole body. Why was there such a transcendent

delinquent in this tiny high school?

Then it came to him.

This delinquent was definitely Takasu.

Kouta's fortunes always flowed in the least desirable direction, so

that definitely had to be Takasu. I think I'm good, I'll go back to my class.

Kouta was quick in coming to that appropriate conclusion, but…

"Takasu-kun…this young'un seems to have business with ya…"

"Wha?!"

Just a moment too soon, Kushieda, who should have been dead,

politely called Takasu over.

The one who replied "Whaaaat?" was, unsurprisingly, that delinquent

boy. His eyes glinted, and his chair screeched as he stood. He wasn't that

large, but the power emanating from his body as he stood up was terrible

enough that the air behind him seemed to warp.

Licking his dry lips to moisten them, Takasu approached. At full

speed, on long strides, he stepped, stepped, stepped over.

"Eeek!" Reflexively, Kouta turned on his heels. He jumped to change

direction and tried to make a dash for it, when…

"Ah!"

"…Tsk!"

He felt a hard impact against his chest. He had run into someone.

Tottering, he turned around. "I'm sorry!"

"…Oww…"

…Flustered, he lowered his head and tried to start running away, but

it seemed the crash was a bigger deal than he'd initially thought. In a corner

of the hallway, a petite girl was crouched down. It seemed Kouta had sent

her flying with the force of the collision, sending her tumbling to the

ground. Surprised, he tried going over to her.

"Ah!"

…Squish. He felt something below his foot—probably what that girl

had been holding. It was a sandwich, its toppings strewn through the

hallway. He'd stepped on just one part of it. But Takasu was drawing closer,

and the girl was still crouching. He didn't have time to spare for bread. At

any rate, he could at least help the girl. He extended his arm. "Are you

ok…?"

His words were stolen from him.

Her small body was enveloped by her long, doll-like hair. She quietly

brought up her face and turned her gaze to Kouta.

Her ivory profile looked almost transparent.

Her wondrous eyes glittered as though reflecting the color of the

cosmos itself.

Her small, rosebud lips were open.

Through a gap in her disheveled hair, he caught a glance of an

intensely bewitching face. For a moment, he nearly even forgot to breathe.

"…Wh…whoa."

It struck him with all the force of a lightning bolt to the head. Kouta

instantly forgot whatever destiny might soon befall him. Instead he was

drawn into those entrancing eyes. Going into those eyes was a dangerous

act, like jumping naked into a starlit sky—so captivated was he that he lost

all track of his surroundings. He didn't know anything—he didn't know

why the nearby second-year students had frozen, or why they had

collectively swallowed their breaths.

He only knew about the beauty before his eyes.

"Run!"

"…Huh?!"

It was Takasu.

At some point, the delinquent Takasu had approached and jumped in

front of him. He was blocking the girl with his body, as though to hide her

away. He had the most terrifying look in the world on his face…

"Hurry! If you value your life, you need to go now!"

"…Huh?"

Takasu was shouting. He shooed Kouta away with a move of one

hand. "Don't just stand there! Go!"

"Y-yes sir!"

It was undoubtedly a threat. Still not quite understanding what was

happening, Kouta couldn't resist Takasu's command. He could only run,

leaving the girl behind.

***

Basically, the girl had been taken captive.

Looking back on how things had unfolded, Kouta came to that

conclusion. She had been forcibly caged like a bird by that delinquent

Takasu. Did his reign of terror know no bounds? He didn't know about the

details, but it was surely something like that.

"…I wish I could help her."

Haaah… He loosed a heartfelt sigh, there in the post-school-day

student council room.

Two people's gazes turned sideways to watch Kouta, not too quick,

not too slow. It was like they stared straight through him.

"As expected from Kouta." The one who muttered that with such

strange admiration was Sumire.

Beside her, arms folded, was Kitamura. He chimed in, too. "You

seem to naturally head toward misfortune. You rush towards it like it's

drawing you in… maybe sometimes it's in a slightly different direction

from what we expect, but it's like you're always running blindly into bad

luck."

Yes, yes. The other members agreed, too. A strange kind of solidarity

was born in the cramped room.

"…Well, please, go right ahead. You can say whatever's on your

mind about me." Being excluded from the conversation by his

upperclassmen, Kouta turned to show them the back of his head.

To put it bluntly, Kouta wasn't afraid of bad luck at that moment. On

the contrary, Kouta would put himself in the way of any misfortune if he

could help that beautiful, second-year girl. He would suffer any bad luck, he

thought, if it was for her—in short, he was smitten.

Even now, he deeply regretted having left the girl in that place. He

was willing to face the misfortune of putting himself on that delinquent's

radar—no, he was willing to have a full on confrontation with him. If he

could endure a little pain to achieve the best-case scenario, his true happy

ending would be waiting for him, after all.

"President, I'll do it." Kouta abruptly lifted his face and looked

firmly into Sumire's apricot eyes. Sumire was brought to silence for a

moment, but after a while, she slowly shook her head.

"Don't. Don't get eager. Don't do anything unnecessary. I just felt a

chill run through me… now that I have a thorough understanding of your

unlucky predisposition, I'm starting to think you should limit your mobility

to a restricted area."

"No! I'm going to do it. I'll definitely follow through. I'll go and

save that poor prisoner. And then, I'll touch the Palmtop Tiger and be

blessed! We'll touch it together, so that we can be blessed together… after

all, you were the one who told me to do this in the first place, president."

"…Well, I don't remember saying a single word telling you to save

that poor soul."

But Kouta was lost in a daydream, too far gone to listen to anyone

else. He was recalling that white profile. Those misty, starry eyes. The

expression that looked as though it were spun out of delicate glass. Like a

fairy, she had a soft outline. There wasn't anyone else like her in the whole

world.

"Umm. Kouta, you know, I'd like you to listen for a sec."

"Please leave it be."

He didn't even turn away from Kitamura's voice as it tried to break

his warm fantasy. Kouta was immersed—he was a resident of the world of

dreams. His mind was wrapped vividly in the vision of him, that person,

and the Palmtop Tiger, the fortunate trinity.

"Ahh, it's fine. It's fine, Kitamura, please just leave it be. It's come to

this, so please let it go wherever it leads."

Even Sumire's blunt voice didn't reach Kouta's ears.

"Kouta said he wants us to leave it alone, and he's at the point where

he's refused to listen to our advice, too. Let's just let him do the best he

can."

"…Are you sure? Well…I guess it'll be fine."

***

Th-there!

Kouta resisted the urge to exclaim out loud. For a little while now, he

had been passing by the front of second-year class C in order to avoid

standing out. He'd done it several times now, coming from both sides of the

hallway. Casually peeking in through the window, he finally found the

person he was looking for. He was lucky he hadn't been caught by

Kushieda or Takasu.

He hid himself along the corner of the wall and ruminated over his

fleeting glance at her. Even though it was break time, she was alone in her

seat and not talking to anyone. Her small shoulders shook from the

loneliness, like a fragrant rose. She doesn't have friends, either… just like

me, Kouta thought for a moment, but then immediately shook his head.

It was definitely that jealous Takasu—he must have forbidden her

from letting anyone get too close. He'd threatened her; there was no

mistaking it. That Takasu. Just how small could his heart be?

"…Just hold out a little longer. I'll get the Palmtop Tiger soon and

come for you," he muttered in a small voice. Once again, trying to act as

casually as possible, he started walking down the hallway. He put his hands

in his pockets and grasped the present he had gotten for her in the palm of

his hand. He had just bought it—a still-hot can of coffee.

It would have been best if he could give it to her by hand, but they

didn't have that kind of relationship yet. So, for now, it would be from an

anonymous benefactor.

"…There!"

Go! He released the hot can of coffee with miraculous skill from his

spot near the window, aiming at his beloved girl. The scene playing out in

his head was: "Here, drink it!" "Huh?" Shoot! Tumble tumble tumble…bop!

"It… it's warm…" and then she'd squeeze the can between her hands…

Just like in his vision, the can traced a pretty line as it tumbled through the

air directly toward her head. After he watched it go that far, he dashed

away.

WHAM, came a sound from behind Kouta, but he was in a delirium

as he ran. He didn't even notice, let alone stop. Even Kouta himself didn't

believe he could have made such a brazen move. He couldn't believe

someone shy like him could do something so pompous that it might as well

have been from a TV drama. Ahhh, he sighed. Now that he knew this love,

he was becoming more and more of a man. He held his flushing cheeks in

his hands, smiling slightly as he ran away.

The hot can of coffee had a deep meaning to Kouta. Sometime I'll

give you something warmer… something even more heartwarming as a

present, okay? That was right. In other words, what he would give her was

daily bliss. He meant to release her from Takasu.

With things going like this, the day when he and his rescued damsel

would touch the Palmtop Tiger wasn't far. Hand in hand, with their cheeks

touching, they would take the image of the palm-top-sized tiger—or

whatever it was—and would caress it together. "Let's be blessed together

♥" he would say. "Yeah ♥," she would say back.

"…I can't believe it. I'm finally going to have some luck coming my

way."

Kouta shivered in delight.

***

"Tsk."

He was soon shivering for an entirely different reason. The two

oscillations canceled each other out then and there, after school. He had

been passing time alone in the student council room like always, and when

he finally thought of going home, he saw something in front of the shoe

racks.

Kouta found a methodically folded loose-leaf sheet of paper nestled

in his shoe cubby. It seemed to be addressed to him. Wondering what it

might be for, he opened it. His heart suddenly froze.

On the note, written in scrawled letters, was just one phrase.

Careful on your way home tonight.

—Takasu, second year-C

Someone spoke. "Oh?"

"Wah!"

Kouta jumped at the voice, but instead of standing, he backed into the

shoe racks, producing a loud racket.

"Wh-what is it?! Sh-shouldn't you be at your club?!"

"I have today off."

Despite Kouta's rude tone, Kitamura's gentle smile was unwavering.

He glanced at the paper in Kouta's hand. "Did you get a warning from

Takasu? He sure goes out of his way," he muttered, as though it were a joke.

"It's not the time for that! Basically, th-this is…this is bad, right?"

"It basically says something like be careful going home tonight,

right? Takasu's a kind guy, giving a warning like this to an underclassman

he doesn't even know."

Kouta didn't even have the strength to respond to Kitamura's

incredible optimism. Careful on your way home at night was pretty much a

stock threat from the mafia, wasn't it? If you get up to anything strange, it

won't be tolerated, be prepared, was what it meant.

"Yeah…"

Chills ran down his spine. Although he had been prepared to fight

Takasu for her, now that it came to this, he remembered those glinting,

dangerous eyes, and couldn't stop his whole body from shaking.

For a guy with crazy eyes like that, a surprise attack on an innocent

underclassman would be as easy as breathing. He would definitely brandish

a polished wooden sword or something like that and wave it around, aiming

to take Kouta's life.

"Well then, see ya tomorrow."

Leaving Kouta scared and alone, Kitamura heartlessly went ahead out

of the school building. Reflexively, Kouta tried to stop Kitamura. "…Wait!"

He clenched his extended hand into a fist.

In his heart was the girl's fragile profile. He had decided to save her

from her own misfortune, hadn't he? Then he couldn't get scared by every

little thing, especially not by something as small as Takasu's threat. He

couldn't ask Kitamura for help.

He would school himself to extreme patience. He'd toughen up.

Kouta crumpled up the paper after a single breath, and then, without taking

a good look at his surroundings, tossed it toward where the waste basket

should have been.

"Wahaha, it's all good! I just threw it away!"

"You seem to be having fun."

He turned towards the bitter voice. A little ways away, he saw

Sumire.

"President, what are you doing?"

"I got an earful of your talk just now."

On top of her head was a single piece of crumpled paper, sitting in

place because of her amazing balance. Sumire frowned as she furrowed her

brow.

"If this were a pebble or something else, my temple would have gone

up in a fountain of blood and I'd have suffered an unsightly death."

"Ahh… and if it were a plate, you would've turned into a kappa."

After vaguely nodding, Kouta finally grasped the situation. The thing

on top of Sumire's head is the trash I just tried to throw away.

"…President, you're pretty unlucky, yourself. Normally, a paper has

no business staying put like that."

I'm very sorry. He went over to Sumire, took the paper off her head,

held it up, and this time tried to get it into the waste bin. But suddenly he

burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, what you looked like a second ago… ahaha, it was like

this!"

He'd won out against Takasu's threat. That feeling manifested in

Kouta as a kind of strange elation. He plopped the paper onto his head and

turned himself back towards Sumire. It was a pretty boneheaded

reproduction, but he still couldn't stop laughing.

Sumire's expression didn't change. She just watched Kouta the whole

time.

He had just enough self-awareness to think Ah, this isn't good, but

then he kept right on going. "You're eighteen, hahahaha, but you had trash

on your head!"

The fit of laughter made his body shake so much that the trash began

to fall, grazing the tip of his nose on its way down, but he couldn't stop.

"Hahahahaha, ahahaha, haha…haaa!"

He finally took a breath. The fit had gone on for a full minute. He

bent and picked up the trash and again threw it into the waste basket. Then,

he wiped the sweat that had formed on his brow from having laughed too

hard.

"Well, then, see you." He turned his back to Sumire and tried to start

walking home.

"Kouta."

The one who firmly grabbed his shoulder was Sumire.

"What is it?"

A grin. The smiling, living Japanese doll dropped a key into Kouta's

hand.

"This is the key to the student council room. Just now, I was on my

way to return it to the vice-principal's office, but I forgot a very important

matter. There's a locker, right? Inside it are nearly one hundred historical

logs of student council activities. We need to put a printed sticker on each

one to label those activities by fiscal year. We need stickers on the front

cover, stickers on the back cover, and we need to organize them to be easy

to see. Today. I leave this up to you, General-Affairs-kun."

"…What? Right now? All by myself?"

"That's right. I'll check it tomorrow morning, and if they're not all

done… You understand, right? Well then, get to work."

"But that's impossible."

"Try your best."

He could see the word "anger" glinting inside her double lidded,

beautiful eyes. Sumire waved a white hand at him on her way out.

***

It took him over three hours before he finally finished the work he'd

been ordered to do.

By then, the sun had decisively gone down, and it was already

evening. He left the school gates and crossed the large street. It was well

into the evening around the time he headed out, and the neighborhood

streets were devoid of people.

Kouta busied himself with hustling down the asphalt road, its length

illuminated by the streetlamps. Careful on your way home tonight—the

gloomy road randomly reminded him of that brief message.

This isn't something to be scared about, he'd sworn to himself. He'd

resolved to look straight ahead, but when he was actually walking down a

road at night, he couldn't help but worry about his surroundings. Was it

always this quiet? He didn't sense the presence of any people in front of

him or behind him at all.

In spite of himself, he was close to freezing up on the spot.

"…No. I haven't really done anything yet," he muttered to himself in

a small voice, and to overcome his unease, he lifted his face in

determination. That's right, there was nothing to worry about. There wasn't

any reason to fear. He really had been threatened, but he hadn't done

anything since then…but…

"Uwah!"

…A bush rustled. Nearly scared to death, Kouta leapt to the side. He

tried making an immediate break for it to run away, but…

"Mrrroww."

…He heard a faint mewl.

"Oh…oh, it's just a cat."

As though lost in the shadows, the pitch black kitten poked its head

out from the bush. Only its cute, tiptoeing front feet were white, like it was

wearing socks.

Looking up at Kouta's face as he caught his breath, the cat mewled at

him one more time to curry his favor. Then it stuck its tail straight up into

the air and edged up to him on its tiny booted legs.

It was so adorable that Kouta forgot his fears. His eyes lit up in

delight. When he put out his fingers and called to the kitten, it pressed its

head happily against his ankles.

"Ah, stop, stop, you'll get fur on me… oh, right."

He remembered that he still had the leftover tail of a fried mackerel

inside his bento box. Kouta crouched then and there and took out the bento

box from his bag. While dodging the kitten's playful pawing, he took off

the box's band and top, and picked up the tail with the tips of his fingers.

It would be bad if he got fur on his uniform, and he couldn't just

horse around here for long. So, as a parting gift, he thought of throwing the

tail into the bush the kitten had come from. The kitten would probably go

back trying to chase it, so he'd just leave it at that and go home.

"Right—here, here, I'll give it to you now. There!"

He threw it diagonally in front of him—or he tried to. But the golden

eyes of the kitten were looking past Kouta. The tail flew perfectly out of his

hand and straight behind him.

Oh no, Kouta muttered, but the kitten ignored him and ran off after it.

"Mrrawr…!" Suddenly, all the hair on the kitten's body stood on end.

It reached Kouta's knee, raised fur puffing it up to three times its original

size. It arched its back, lowered its ears, and stepped backwards, trembling.

Then, like a bouncing ball, it jumped into the bush.

"Huh? You don't want it?"

I wonder what happened? He stood up and turned around to retrieve

the thrown fish tail.

"…"

He lost his voice.

There stood the girl.

There stood that person—his beloved—the half-eaten tail stuck,

stunningly, between her eyes.

"…Tomiie…Kouta…"

Like a low, low growl, her horribly monotone voice seemed to crawl

along the ground. He knew immediately he should apologize—but this

sudden meeting scattered his thoughts off into the night. He couldn't even

ask her how she knew his name.

That girl's eyes. That gaze.

"You know…I was thinking of forgiving you."

From within an obscure corner of his head, numbed by panic, Kouta

thought… That's weird.

That long hair, beautiful face, and the delicate body—it was

unmistakably that girl. It was the one with his undying love—the prisoner.

But why did it feel so weird?

"It didn't seem like you bumped into me or stepped on my sandwich

on purpose…and you're also Kitamura-kun's kouhai. I was thinking of

forgiving you, which is rare and generous for me."

When he looked at the sweet spring breeze of a girl that he'd

encountered in that nighttime street, he thought for a moment that she was

shaking.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah…?"

So why was it that he couldn't stop shaking, now that he was facing

her?

"And then when you hit me in the head with that coffee, I thought I

could just tolerate it and hold myself back. That was because Kitamura-kun

apologized. He said to just let it go. Now that I think about it, it seems like

Kitamura-kun was too easy on you…and I was too easy on you, too."

The girl's shadow wavered and lengthened.

Kouta's whole body froze, and he took an unconscious step back.

Her eyes were like a cave painted black with darkness.

Kouta, no longer able to even breathe, tried desperately to understand

the situation. "Uhhh…huh? H-huh?"

"Takasu Ryuuji also tried to stop me. 'He's a new student, so don't do

anything terrible,' he said. So me being here was a total coincidence. This

art exercise I was doing went on forever, so I was late going home…and

you happened to be walking ahead of me."

"Th-that's strange," Kouta muttered in a feeble monologue. "When I

just turned around there wasn't anyone there… oh, maybe… right, she's so

small I didn't notice…?"

He meant to speak just to himself, but it seemed that his words had

also reached the ears of that petite girl. He saw her white cheeks grow

tense. That didn't bode well…

"Right. Uh, yeah…that's right."

The girl slowly peeled off the tail that had been stuck skillfully

between her eyes. She looked at it just for a moment, and then, as she

exhaled, her lips distorted into a smile. "Hrmph!"

Splitch! She hurled it towards Kouta's feet with a terrific force.

Struck silent, he leapt back. The tail gouged the asphalt like a bullet. The

sock-wearing kitten stared at it from within the bush and tried to quietly

reach out its front paw…

"Tomiie…Kouta…"

He shook at that delicate voice, its sound like a poisonous harp being

strummed in hell.

"Even an incredibly generous person like me has limits to how much

she can take." Without a sound, she lifted her face. Her eyes bore straight

through Kouta.

"…Eek…"

His feet became tangled.

He fell to his butt.

The eyes of the person who looked down at him were dyed in

madness—the color of bloodlust.

The glinting eyes emitted the scent of blood. It was the mad gleam of

a starved animal. They said one thing. "There's my prey." If that beast could

bite him—kill him—then it would eat him. It would cut through his flesh

and feast on his guts. That ferocious, growling voice matched her gruesome

smile.

"I won't forgive you…"

Her mouth, bursting with the color of blood, was just like that of a

raging tiger.

"Huh…? T-tiger…? Uh…"

Terrifying, ferocious… tiny… palm-sized…?

"…the Palmtop…Tiger…?"

At that precise moment, his thoughts went blank.

A young man's shriek echoed throughout the neighborhood, until

finally, it faded away.

***

It was seven-fifteen in the morning.

There was no sign of the other students yet. Kouta was unseen as he

went to the hatchway of the second year's shoe rack.

Second year class C, the girls' shoe rack, at the very top, the one

furthest to the left.

Holding the paper bag with both his hands, he tried to stick it in just

as he'd been commanded. But he couldn't get it to fit, so he tried smoothing

it out, as though he were refolding an umbrella.

A tomato, bacon, and cheese sandwich, which was the most popular

option at the sandwich shop called "Maruya" near the north station

entrance, a joint that sold ten limited edition sandwich boxes. A glazebaked chicken sandwich was the second most popular item. Then the silky

and genuine custard and café-au-lait-flavored puddings that were only sold

at the local convenience store. A three-pack of vanilla bean yogurt. Oneliter-sized milk carton.

He knew there shouldn't have been a mistake in the contents. He'd

checked them like his life depended on it.

He once again pushed in the more-or-less compact bag, and this time

his offering was neatly finished. Finally, he checked the position of the

cubby one more time, and the nametag…

"Ha…hahaha…"

…and then he fell right down onto his knees. The girl really was the

legendary Palmtop Tiger in the flesh. After all, her name was Aisaka Taiga.

Taiga… the palmtop-sized Taiga-san.

"…Just who thought up this stupid nickname…?"

He lost his strength to laugh and squatted under the Palmtop Tiger's

shoe cubby. The specific variety of things he had left in dedication were the

items she'd requested as an apology.

"Huh? Kouta, what are you doing here at this time…?"

He turned to the voice that came from behind him.

"…Buh!" He looked up vacantly at Kitamura, who let out a spurt of

laughter.

"Y-you… that face! Did Aisaka do you in?!"

"See for yourself… senpai, what are you here for? Is it club stuff?"

"Yeah, it's for my cl-club…ha….ha!"

"Bwahahahaha," he guffawed at Kouta, so hard he was letting his spit

fly. Kouta didn't have the strength to respond. For now, and for a while,

he'd have this face, and he'd have to live with it.

The other night, after thoroughly having her way pushing him

around, with Kouta still completely under her control, the Palmtop Taiga

had said, "A naive idiot like you needs the power of feng shui to live!"

Thus, Kouta's face. With his nose as the center, it had a compass

drawn on it in bold sharpie. His chin was north, with seven more lines for

all the directions. She had drawn the arrows in freehand, styled like a Feng

Shui compass. Whether he rubbed or washed it, it was a compass designed

to find true bliss—and it wouldn't disappear.

"It was a reaaaaaaally terrible experience. She really is a tiger. A wild

animal that no one should touch. She's a dangerous person, so dangerous

that she was infamous enough to have a legend about her… and, senpai,

you knew all of that, and you still spurred me on."

"We didn't intend for that to happen. That's why I tried to tell you,

but you told me to just leave it be, didn't you? And then the president also

said to leave it alone."

"Would you agree to do anything if it was the president who told you

to?"

Well, for the most part, yes. Kitamura uh-huhed and nodded,

expression perfectly normal.

"Bwahahaha!" Another burst of laughter. "But still, your face! It's

like a big scrunchy butthole!"

"I-If you want to laugh, go ahead… I was the stupid one for taking

your and the president's words seriously. Anyway, I know the Palmtop

Tiger's actual identity, but who were those people? Kushieda-senpai and…"

"Kushieda, even though she looks like that, is Taiga's best friend."

"F-friend?! Those two together! Friends! That's a shocking

development, is what that is. Then is that scary Takasu-senpai the Palmtop

Tiger's… is he her friend, too? I-is he her… boyfriend?"

When he asked that, Kitamura suddenly withdrew his smile. "Do you

really want to know? Unfortunately, even I can't answer that. The

relationship those two have is one of the seven wonders of the school, after

all."

"What? Ahh, forget it!"

In the end, he had just been toyed with by the student council

members. They were just teasing him. He understood that well enough.

In indignation, Kouta turned his back to Kitamura and started

running. My face is a butt now, anyway. I'm just predisposed to being

unlucky, anyway!

"Ah, Kouta! Wait!"

Like I'm going to turn around. He completely ignored Kitamura's

voice and just kept running.

"The Palmtop Tiger touched you, right?! How is it—do you feel like

you've been blessed with happiness?!"

"—Tch!"

Without a word, he went up the stairs and cut off that question. He at

least didn't want to answer in the negative. Oh, that was right—he really

had touched the Palmtop Tiger. She had sat on top of him, and he had been

trying to push back the sharpie she'd tried to force on his face, and really

put up a desperate fight. But then he had completely lost the battle of

strength. He couldn't put up any resistance against that tiny girl at all.

Just what's with that girl? It seemed like he only ever got strange

people appearing around him. Shaking off frustrated tears, the unlucky

Kouta ran down the hallway. At its end, he jumped into what should have

been an empty classroom.

"Ah…"

Panicked, he covered his face with his hands. But, it seemed it was

too late.

Several of his classmates, who were at school early for some reason,

looked up at his face with sounds of surprise.

And of course they would. If a compass-faced boy suddenly

appeared, anyone would be surprised. Kouta, halfway to despair, walked to

his seat with his graffiti-covered face completely exposed. Now he would

be even more out of place in this class… Then…

"Wahahahaha! Tomiie, what happened to your face?!"

"Let us see, let us see, what were you doing?!"

…The bright sounds of laughter suddenly surrounded Kouta. His

classmates approached him with outstretched fingers and roughly—though

not enough to hurt him—rubbed at Kouta's cheeks.

"Ah, that's, this is—"

"Huh, what's that? What happened?"

"Say it, come on, out with it! How did you get like this?!"

Kouta's desk was surrounded. They were waiting with sparkling eyes

for Kouta to talk. They were pretty much saying, just what did you get

yourself involved in?! What could have possibly landed you in a stupid

situation like this?

"Well, it's like this…"

Kouta faced the people who were leaning over him and started

briskly chatting away. He started at the very beginning. They thought the

story was way cooler than he thought they would. The further along he got

in his retelling, the more the interjections increased. "Whoa!" "You

serious?!" "Wow!"

Kouta had truly confronted the legendary Palmtop Tiger, after all.

He had even touched her.

***

He was on the third floor of the old school building.

"See you again tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see you!"

Noisily separating from his classmates, Kouta quickly walked down

the hallway.

He'd just been thinking, maybe it's time to quit General Affairs. But

at present, his feet were taking him straight to the student council room. He

thought he might continue for a little longer. He had things he wanted to say

to those spiteful upperclassmen.

I touched the Palmtop Tiger, he would say.

And actually, some nice things happened, too, he would say.

Anyway, even if he told them about the good things, Sumire would

say, "You mean trivial things happened." She'd probably laugh, but…he

was so happy! After entering school late this last month, he'd finally had

found people to talk to. He was so happy he almost wanted to believe in the

Palmtop Tiger's blessing. Just today, he felt he'd laughed about three times

as much as he had in the month before.

So, with eyes a little brighter than normal, he pushed open the

familiar door. He kind of felt like he was starting a new life, and he

expected nothing less.

"Sorry I'm late… uwah!"

In that instant, his eyes were hit by the flash of a glaring light, and he

turned his face away, flustered. What was that just now…?

"F-flash?!"

"Correct! One more for posterity!"

Just as he barely opened his eyes, Sumire flashed him again from the

opposite side of the room with her digital camera. Behind her, hard at work

as usual, were the second-year duo of the secretary and manager of General

Affairs.

"Well done, president!"

Next to Sumire stood Kitamura, applauding.

"Wh…what are you doing?!"

"I heard about your face, so I wanted to preserve the memory. …

Yeah, but really, just…bwahaha! That face!"

Daahahahahahaha! Naahahahahaha!

The laughter that rang out from the student body president was two

times manlier than usual. Of course it would end up like this, just before

Kouta lost his nerve…

"Ah, I had a good laugh! See, I've got a picture to remember it now,

so hurry up and wipe that off!" Sumire threw a small tube to Kouta while

wiping away her tears.

"What is this?"

"It's supposed to be the best makeup remover on the market. At any

rate, the stuff can supposedly be used to take off nail polish. If this doesn't

work then you'll have to go to a dermatologist. Here, take this too."

She also threw a towel at him, and Kouta was pushed forward from

his back. Normally he would just say "yes, yes, I got it" in a scene like this,

but…

"…President."

"What?"

He turned around and said it. "You're a kind person, aren't you?"

Suddenly Sumire's eyes went round. Those lips forgot their next

sentence and opened slightly—and Kouta just left the room. While walking

down the hallway, he subtly pumped his face.

"I won…!"

For Sumire to make that face…yes, it was the first time he had

confused that 'tough guy' and silenced her. He'd left her at a loss for words.

For some reason, he was in bit of a good mood. He was still the

compass-faced boy, but today of all days, things were going very smoothly

for him. After touching the Palmtop Tiger, he may really have gotten luck

on his side.

It might have been because of that thought, but he didn't resent the

Palmtop Tiger for putting him through this. Though, of course, he was

scared of her. He definitely didn't want to come across her a second time.

"Well, a beauty is still a beauty, after all's said and done."

He'd seen the Palmtop Tiger up close. Even though she was

terrifying, she was still a beautiful girl of the highest caliber. He felt he

could kind of understand why all his upperclassmen called her by that

name. She's scary—you don't want to get involved with her, you don't want

to make her angry, but you can't just be afraid and ignore her.

Since we can't ignore her, let's all look at the pretty girl from a

distance and equal footing—from this safety zone. Anyone who went out of

the safety zone and approached her would be attacked. In his misfortune,

Kouta had unwittingly taken one step too far. And the result of that was his

punishment as the compass-faced boy.

So then, now that he understood everything, what was Kouta to do?

He decided to stay in the safety zone.

He decided that no matter how unlucky he might be, no matter what

kind of situation he might find himself in, he would stay at a distance from

the Palmtop Tiger. He'd stay where he couldn't make her any angrier and

just continue to secretly watch her. The cozy safety zone doesn't seem so

bad. With those complex thoughts in mind, he would finally start his high

school life.

Humming to match his mood, Kouta went to the hallway restroom

and threw the window open wide, full of resolve. His enthusiasm was his

undoing.

"Oh no!"

He'd dropped the tube he'd gotten from Sumire outside. Flustered, he

leaned forward, looked down, and froze. Of course it would end up like

this. Regardless of whether he had taken refuge in the safety zone, his bad

luck could easily overcome such a small roadblock.

"Ow, owow, owowow…"

She was under the open window.

With a look like a demon, she clutched her head. With the small tube

in hand, the girl slowly looking up at him was…

The Palmtop Tiger.