Chapter 3

"Goooood morning!"

When his voice cracked grossly, Minori immediately turned around.

In the cold of midwinter, a group of fluffed-up sparrows moved from

inside the azalea bush next to them to Ryuuji and Minori's feet. He didn't

know what they were so passionately pecking at, but they all started

hammering away rapidly at the asphalt.

"Yo! Yo! Ma!"

Startled by Minori's buoyant voice, they all scattered into the air.

The weather was clear, and the sun came at them blindingly on that

below-freezing morning. The beams of light made Minori's round cheeks

light up as she struck a salute.

Ryuuji squinted his eyes and looked back at her, though he felt like

lowering his head. He wanted to turn his eyes down, but he desperately

raised them up. He tried very hard to move his faltering mouth. If he ran

away now, it'd end up being like yesterday.

"So a-about yesterday…uh, sorry. Uh, um…it ended up seeming like

I was ignoring you."

Minori waited for him to finish his awkward apology.

"Whatchu talkin' about, Takasu-kun? Seriously, just stop that!"

She gave him a good look at her white teeth as she smiled. As her

face wrinkled from the grin, she looked like a radiant sunflower that had

bloomed in the middle of winter. She rewrapped her tartan-checked scarf,

pushed up her slightly shorter bangs, and shifted up the heavy-looking

sports bag on her shoulder.

"I just thought you had a stomachache or something!"

She seemed to leap forward as she approached him by a step. She

probably didn't actually think that, but understood the awkwardness that

caused Ryuuji to run. "So, doesn't matta' to me at all!"

Even so, Minori smiled, and Ryuuji smiled for her, too. For the first

time in what seemed like forever, they faced each other. They were exactly

a meter apart.

"It did ache a little…actually."

"Wow, what a shocking confession."

His smile wasn't manufactured. There were no lies or tricks or

deceptions.

He smiled so he could ride through it, so that after being rejected, he

could head forward. Ride this out and smile, let the storm finish, and wait

for the next scene. He had seen it on TV once. Supposedly when kids and

adults were involved in the same accident, the kids would sometimes make

it through with unexpectedly fewer injuries than the adults. They could do

that because their bodies were still flexible. They would be sent flying and

hit the hard ground, but survive with minimal damage to their bodies. Their

flexibility alone would act as a cushion to protect their lives.

Using the same logic, he would smile and smile as much as he

needed and flexibly take it in, he thought. He would be as pliable as he

could. If he took everything seriously, he really would be pulverized.

Smile, Takasu Ryuuji. Smile, Kushieda Minori, he commanded, but

that didn't seem to actually translate onto his face. Minori seemed taken

aback.

"Whoa!"

It was fine as long as the kids were smiling.

He recalled Taiga's face from long ago. I ain't dead yet… the vision

of Tiger said as she put a doughnut ring over her head and smiled.

As for the real Taiga…

"Minoriiiin! Good morning!"

She completely ignored Ryuuji's existence, waving her hand from the

other side of the crosswalk, where the light was red. "Yooo yooo!" Minori

waved both of her hands back.

Taiga awkwardly waved around both her arms and her legs. "Yooo

yooo yooo!" The young salaryman also waiting for the light behind Taiga

seemed appalled as he watched her wiggling dance in silence.

What an embarrassment, Ryuuji thought.

"Yooo yooo yooo! Yooooo!" For some reason, Minori became even

more enthusiastic. "Yo yo yo! Good morning yo! Good mor-yo-ning! Goodyo mor-yo-ning yo! Ahh!"

She swung around the bag on her shoulder and vigorously mimed a

DJ move. Minori held a headphone only she could feel with one hand and a

record only she could see with the other. She scratched it and made it

squeal. Facing the floor only she could perceive, she raised her voice to a

falsetto to rile up the crowd. "Haaah! Aaah!"

"Minorin, what do you think you're doing?! That's weird!"

Taiga laughed from the opposite side of the road. The unsettled

salaryman at her back stared at Minori this time. Then, the man noticed that

next to the crazy Minori was Ryuuji, with a face that looked like a depiction

of the demon Asura that a cursed sculptor had carved with a bloodstained

chisel. Slowly, the man's eyes turned away.

It wasn't that Ryuuji was thinking, "If you look at my girl Kushieda

like that then, why, I'll—I'll—I'll kill ya!" He was just genuinely taken

aback by DJ Minori.

"Give it a rest, Kushieda… You're embarrassing other people. I'm

going to go ahead of you."

"Whyyy? I'll go with you."

"No. It's hard to keep up with you and Taiga."

He had dispelled the awkwardness of the other day. That was enough

for now. Ryuuji started to hurriedly walk ahead.

"Ohh! Minorin, Ryuuji's running! Grab him!" Taiga wailed from the

other side of the light.

It wasn't just Ryuuji who didn't understand what Taiga was getting

at. "Huh?! I need to grab him?!" Minori questioned back.

"Yeah!" Taiga replied.

Ryuuji's eyes met with Minori's when she turned around, and he

reflexively whipped the other way. Minori was also acting on reflex as she

reached out a hand to him before he could escape. His cold hand and hers

hit each other. Minori's fingers latched on to Ryuuji's.

"Ack!"

She held his fingers for barely a fleeting second.

Naturally, Ryuuji leapt up. He was so surprised, he couldn't even

yell. He felt like he had been struck by a bolt of lightning that worked itself

from his fingertips all the way down to his tailbone. However, Minori was

the one who let go first.

Ahh! She might have even said. Or it might have been, Gyaa!

Minori's fingers went limp. She pulled her hand to her chest as

though she had been burned and enveloped it in her other hand. Her face

was red. It was as though Ryuuji had done something wrong to her or she

was scared. Her mouth was set in a line. She leered at him.

"Ahh, damn it, don't underestimate me!" she barked. She reached out

her hand again for a second try.

"Deeeetaaaaaaiiiiiiinnnnn!" she yelled self-importantly, but all she

grabbed was the cuff of his school jacket…and only the very edge of it to

boot. He would have been able to shake her off just by lifting his arm, but

Ryuuji simply let himself be detained. Actually, to be more accurate, he was

just so shocked that he couldn't move.

At that point, the light turned green. Taiga looked right and left and

right again one more time before she started running. She looked at Ryuuji

as Minori held him by the sleeve, and then she looked at Minori. After that,

she smiled.

"You got caught, so you get to hold the bags!"

"Whoa?!"

She threw her bag at Ryuuji. The bag traced a parabola, and Ryuuji

caught it without thinking about it. Taiga pointed at Ryuuji and danced

slightly. "Hah!" Having lightened her load, she spread her arms out to the

sides like an airplane.

"He fell for it! He fell for it! I'm heading out first!"

Her skirt billowed as she ran away.

"You're going first… Wait, Taiga, you've got to be kidding me!

What?! What am I supposed to do with this?! You're seriously making me

carry it?!"

The bag Taiga had left in his hand wasn't really that heavy, but he

was bitter. First she teased him for being a dog and a bug, and now she

made him her bag carrier—even if she did it so he could walk to school

with Minori, couldn't she have accomplished that some other way?

He watched her disappear into the distance in mute amazement.

"This is your fault, Kushieda. Why did you have to catch me?"

Ryuuji looked at Minori. Minori, in her own way, was dumbfounded where

she stood.

"That Taiga…Taiga…Taiga…" she repeated like a prayer. Suddenly,

she shook herself like a wet dog, and her eyes went wide. She swung her

arm around coolly, like a hero that was about to change into their costume.

Then she brought her fist up to her chest. "No…this isn't a big deal. Now!

Give me a cord!"

"A cord?" said Ryuuji.

"I mean one of these!"

She took one of the two handles of the bag that Ryuuji was holding.

The bag hung between them, almost as though they were small kids holding

a shopping bag.

"All right. Seriously, Taiga's just hopeless. I'll finish her off when we

get to school."

She grinned up at him from a close distance. Her cheek had the

texture of a peach, and the smell of her hair… Ryuuji froze now, of all

times.

"Right!"

"Uh…yeah!"

They swiftly decided to finish off Taiga right then and there.

As they walked, Minori said, "Oh, time out." She pulled out gloves

from her pocket and put them on her hands. Still not saying anything, she

rubbed her hands together. "Okay!" She once again took up half the bag.

Now that he was suddenly alone with her, he couldn't escape

anymore. It really wouldn't have been appropriate for him to run now. He

wouldn't do that. As Ryuuji walked, he attempted to strike up a natural

conversation. Like an idiot, he tried to calculate the right time to talk. "Ah,

I, uh…"

"Hm? You trying to get me in my pressure point?"

"No. I…I just think your hair looks pretty neat."

He'd finally said it.

"Oh, si. I wanted to make it shorter, but the beautician said that I've

got a large crown, and I shouldn't go short. She said my hair is stiff, so it'd

probably stick out and make my head look super big. She kind of scared me

out of it."

She kept facing forward. As she breathed out white, Minori's voice

lowered as though she were a little disappointed. "I wanted to get a pixie

cut, though. I wanted it to actually be kind of like…like a man's! I wanted it

to have a force behind it. Like a boy cut! Like a bowl cut! …No that's not

right… Like an undercut! That's wrong, too…"

"Well, maybe it would have looked good short?"

Minori raised her face and looked at Ryuuji. She smiled and said,

"Yeah, you're right." She used one knit-gloved hand to lightly push up her

hair several times. "When I was in elementary school, I pretty much had a

buzz cut. I went with my little brother to this place called The Barber. They

really only cut hair for men, but he'd just shear everything off with the

clippers. My nickname used to be Mister Lady."

"Really…well that's… Mister Lady… Wait, you've got a brother?

He's a high school baseball player, right?"

"Yeah. He's one year younger. Their school is pretty good, and they

go to the Koshien Stadium championships pretty often. Of course, he's not

one of the main players, but next year he might pitch at the Koshien mound.

I can't believe that jerk's a pitcher."

"Wow, I had no idea. That's pretty amazing. You must be proud of

him."

"Well, I'm super jealous of him. Ahhh, when we were in little league,

I was way ahead of him. Now I'm just like a lamb chop that can't even get a

shear."

"I think you'll be fine without that. Actually, you mean a lamb, not a

lamb chop, right?"

"Oh, Takasu-kun, you said such a shockingly lame thing that I've got

static in my hair."

"It's because you're playing with your hair with gloves," he said back

as he side-eyed Minori. Her hair was standing on end. He saw her neck

peek from under her scarf and thought, It really would have been fine short.

That was when he noticed it. At some point, he'd become able to

smile without making a conscious effort. He could walk next to Minori

while holding the bag with her. He had gathered up the pieces of his

shattered heart and squeezed them together, like making a rice ball. He

wouldn't run. He would hold his ground.

He was sure he could keep going like this. It was almost as though

nothing had happened. It was like he could start afresh.

Right. The upcoming school trip was another chance. That was when

he would slowly come to face her.

If he did that during the trip, just as Taiga had told him, there was a

chance he could get a different answer from Minori.

Ryuuji believed it. The time was right to have courage and face

forward.

"Okay, let's finish off Taiga! Where'd she go?!"

"She's not here. How about the bathroom? The lockers?"

"We'll find her even if we have to turn over every blade of grass!

This is punishment! It's Hamburger Hill!"

No sooner had they gotten to the classroom than Minori had started to

huff and puff as she began looking around for Taiga. Though he was a little

exasperated, Ryuuji was with her after having agreed to it earlier.

At that point, he locked eyes with Ami, who it seemed had arrived at

school earlier. Ami was chit-chatting with Maya, Nanako, and the other

girls who surrounded her. Seeing Minori arrive with Ryuuji, she turned

toward them with slightly narrowed eyes. However, before he could

understand her expression, Minori also noticed Ami.

"Oh! Ahmin-senpai! It's the first time I've seen you this year! Have

you seen that girl Taiga?"

"Oh my, good morning, Minori-chan. I haven't seen Tiger but…well,

how do I put this, it's like, ugh."

Right, Takasu-kun, she kept going.

He wondered what would happen if he walked right over there and

just gave her a double slap. What're you trying to say?! He wouldn't do it,

but he wanted to. What in the world was she suddenly trying to start?

"Ugh?"

He didn't know what she was trying to say, but he knew the words

aimed directly at Minori were meant to be prickly, and they had left Minori

standing stock-still. He wasn't sure he knew what was going on, so he

ended up just standing stock-still, too.

"Well, I wonder what it could mean. What could it be?"

Like a ripple, something stirred delicately between Ami and Minori.

At that time, Taiga, who had no idea what was going on, came into the

classroom through the hallway.

"Oh! Found Taiga!"

That ripple was drowned in their normal, everyday life.

***

They had their long homeroom that afternoon.

Leaving the class to Kitamura, the bachelorette (age 30) was reading

some thick magazine… If you looked really, really closely, it was a free

housing information magazine you could get at the station. She was

completely in her own world. The groups in the class were also in leisure

mode and filling up on their lunches. There were even a few of them

already dozing off.

"Now, we're going to start the long homeroom. Stop messing around

and open your eyes, everyone." Kitamura started talking from the teacher's

platform, but he also seemed relaxed somehow, and there wasn't any power

behind his words.

"Today's the day we're going to decide on groups for the school trip

you've all been waiting for."

We haven't been waiting for it, someone heckled. Kitamura, who

probably wasn't waiting for the trip either anyway, didn't say anything

back.

"We're making eight-person groups with four girls and four boys

each."

He started writing on the blackboard in squiggling script. The 4, 4, 8

he wrote was slanted and distorted.

In the lax classroom, Ryuuji was the only one with a grim expression,

his spine ramrod-straight. He felt like a swordsman, but he looked like a

delinquent. He was trying to be enthusiastic, but he was worried about the

atmosphere of the class.

To Ryuuji, the school trip was an incredibly important affair. There

wouldn't be any other opportunities to revive his relationship with Minori

after this. But the class seemed lifeless, like they hated the idea. A few of

them even whispered here and there that they would rather have the class

trip canceled. Naturally, no one seemed to want to go to a snowy mountain

in the middle of the winter.

"Okay, let's start making the groups. During this time, we'll make a

list of names to present."

At Kitamura's lackadaisical order, some of the students started to

stand up and walk around as they exchanged dull conversation.

"Ah well, this is so lame."

"Ugh, let's pair up."

"Hey, Takasu. We're teaming up, right? Also that idiot and—"

Noto trotted (uncutely) over to Ryuuji's seat. Then he pointed at

Haruta, who was sleeping out of disappointment that the Okinawa trip had

been canceled. His eyes had rolled up into his head to the point that they

could see the whites.

"Plus the master!" Noto pointed.

"Add me in, too," Kitamura was saying as he waved his hand

gracefully like a politician in an election from the teacher's platform.

"Now we've got four—boy team complete!"

As Ryuuji looked at the happy-looking otter's face, he felt a little like

he had been saved. They wouldn't have the added flair of the sky, sea, and

sightseeing anymore for the school trip, but if he were with his friends, he

would be having more than enough fun. If he wanted to make the trip

fruitful, then he would need to take the lead. He would need to show them

he was having fun and make his friends excited, too.

He cocked his chin up. He'd put them out of their misery…no, he

meant he'd end their misery. Ryuuji's eyes glinted as he opened them wide

—he wasn't mimicking the face of a raptor going after an otter, though.

"Right! All we've got left is the girl team."

He wasn't mimicking a pervert ogling the girl team, either. He

wanted to be in the same group as Minori. That was all he desired.

However, in a move completely unrelated to Ryuuji's motives, Noto

prodded at Ryuuji's elbow and laughed uncutely. "Nah ha ha ha!"

"Let's pair up with Tiger's group! We'll put Kitamura and Tiger in

the same group, right?!"

"You're still trying to do that…"

"We're going on such a plain ski trip. Don't you want to add a little

spice with some love?"

Ryuuji sighed. His enthusiasm disappeared into the air with the

carbon dioxide he exhaled. Even though he wanted everyone to be excited,

he was already getting tired of Noto playing matchmaker half in jest to get

Kitamura and Taiga together.

Of course, he wanted Taiga and Kitamura in the same group. If that

happened, Taiga would also be happy. But…how should he put this? He felt

like it was so unnecessary having people who weren't even involved trying

to make a big deal about deliberately manufacturing ways to get them

together. If Taiga needed any help, then she only needed it from Ryuuji.

Someone like Noto would never understand Taiga's complex, weird

personality and behavior patterns, anyway.

Ryuuji tried to say, "You rubbernecker!" or "Get your neck out of

other people's business!" but got distracted. A little ways away, two girls

clung to each other. Their faces were smooshed together.

"It's such a boring trip, but if you're there with me, I'm sure it'll be

fun!"

"Yeah, I feel exactly the same, Minoriiiin!"

Minori and Taiga were passionately talking to each other. They were

completely joined at the hip. In other words, if he were in the same group as

Taiga, then he would automatically be in the same group as Minori. He

didn't know how he hadn't realized such a simple thing. If he just entrusted

himself to Noto's scheme, then everything would come right together.

Regardless…

"You rubbernecker! Get your neck out of other people's business!"

"What?! But don't you think it'd be fun? It'd be super funny for sure

if Tiger and Kitamura ended up dating. Kitamura's probably on the verge of

forgetting the patriarch at any second, and Tiger's in love with Kitamura, so

it'd be like she's finally getting her chance!"

"I'm saying you shouldn't butt in!"

"Takasu, you're so… Well, it doesn't matter. Actually, Tiger and

Kushieda haven't got any other girls with them, right? What are we going to

do for the other two? I wonder if Ami-chan would join us? That'd be

amazing."

You mean that girl who started off the morning spouting gibberish

and then ignored me the rest of the day since she hates me because I'm an

idiot? You mean that Ami-chan? Ryuuji casually looked around the

classroom and found Ami, who was forming one part of the usual it-girl

trifecta. For some reason, Maya was getting worked up, saying, "Yeah, why

not, let's invite them!"

Ami faltered, "What? Seriously?" Nanako was looking at the two in

amusement. Around the three of them, groups of boys were holding

themselves in check and just speechlessly watching. All the boys were

putting off an I-want-them-to-be-in-our-group aura.

Nope, not gonna happen. Ryuuji shook his head at Noto.

"No way," he said. "Kawashima and Taiga actually hate each other's

guts, and even if they didn't, she's always in a group of three with Kihara

and Kashii anyway. We'd be off by one."

"Oh, you're right. But it would have been a great plan with Kitamura

and Tiger and me and Ami-chan."

"Pull your head out of your butt and stop spouting the impossible."

"What? In my imagination, I can spread my wings and be free in the

skies as I fly! Hey, Kushieda 'n' Tiger! Would you join us?!"

Getting carried away, he waved his hand as he headed over to them.

Minori and Taiga glared at him in jest.

"What do you wanna do, Taiga? Looks like some men are heading

over to see if they can join our ranks."

"How about we slash him shoulder to hip, Minorin?"

Translated loosely, that was probably a yes.

Taiga casually looked over at Ryuuji, took a glance at Minori, and

once again returned her gaze to him. It was as though she were saying, Look

at you, getting into the same group as Minorin. Ryuuji returned the look—

well, he didn't exactly, but he did try to indicate, You got in the same group

with Kitamura, too. He was about to try pointing casually at Kitamura on

the teacher's platform.

"Hey, Maruo! Will you join our group?!"

Oh no. His eyes peeled open.

He had been careless, and Maya had found her opening to happily

slip over to Kitamura on the teacher's platform. Kitamura, being Kitamura,

didn't know they were joining Taiga's group.

"Yeah, sure," he readily nodded. At this rate, they'd end up doublebooked.

"Huh?! Wait, wait, master, what do you think you're doing!"

Noto headed over to the teacher's platform in a fluster, cutting

between Kitamura and Maya with ragged karate chops.

"Nuh-uh, nope, not gonna happen! Get away from each other! Break

it up! Sorry Kihara, but Master Kitamura is in our group, and we already

promised to join Tiger's group!"

"What?! Seriously?!"

Actually, who said we needed you?! Clear to the point it was scary,

those words seemed to be written on Maya's face as she looked at Noto. As

far as Maya was concerned, Ryuuji, Haruta, and every non-Kitamura person

in the group was probably unnecessary.

Noto pushily put his arm around Kitamura's shoulders. "Let's go,

let's make the group listings and write out our names." He quickly tried to

lead Kitamura away. Maya reached out an agitated hand.

"You've got Maruo-kun, Noto-kun, Takasu-kun and Haruta-kun in

your group, right?"

Nanako, who had been watching the situation together with Ami

from a distance, approached them. When her calm voice intercepted them,

it seemed to have power behind it, and Noto stopped walking without

thinking.

"Then in that case, I think you have to ask the other members what

their opinions are. Hey, Haruta-kun, wake up. Wake…up!"

As though she were breathing life back into him, Nanako spoke

sweetly to Haruta in his unconscious state. He was like a corpse as he slept.

He was the seventeen-year-old Sir Sleeps-a-lot. He wouldn't wake up if an

elephant stepped on him. And yet, Haruta's white eyes slowly regained their

consciousness.

"Hey, Haruta-kun… Who do you like better, us or those girls?"

"Huah…?"

Haruta's eyes first went to Nanako and Ami, then to Maya. Next, he

looked at Taiga and Minori, whom Nanako was pointing to.

"Uhhhn…you…"

He started to walk unsteadily as though drawn to Nanako.

"Well, thanks. You can go back to sleep now…forever…

permanently…"

Nanako rotated her finger in circles in front of Haruta's eyes. Haruta

stared intently at her finger and his eyes moved over and over in a circle.

Then he simply collapsed right onto the floor.

Ami said in a small voice, "You're amazing, Nanako."

Maya applauded. "That was super spiritual."

"Haruta's brain is on the level of a dragonfly's…"

Is our friend a dragonfly? Is he? Noto whispered in sadness. Ryuuji

dodged the question as he tried to wake up the pitiful Haruta.

Maya glared at Noto, as though saying, Now what'll you do? Noto

narrowed his eyes at Maya while Kitamura stayed sandwiched between

them. Taiga and Minori seemed unable to follow the developments and

were looking at each other in worry. Kitamura seemed even more worried.

He realized that the situation had come about because of his carefree

response and rubbed at the bridge of his nose where his glasses rested.

Ryuuji understood that Maya wanted to be paired with her beloved

Maruo, aka Kitamura, but did Ami want that? He glanced sneakily at Ami

to see what she was doing. If she partnered with Kitamura, she would need

to be in the same group as Ryuuji—the one she claimed to hate because he

was stupid. Maybe she really did intend to skip out? Maybe she wouldn't go

on the once-in-a-lifetime school trip?

Ami, who might not have noticed Ryuuji's gaze or who might just be

ignoring it, was only looking at Maya.

"Huh?! Wait a second, isn't this just perfect?!"

At that point, the ever-popular Kitamura realized an important fact

and raised his voice.

"Kihara and you guys make up a group of three, right? And Kushieda

and Taiga make two. We have sixteen boys and seventeen girls in our class,

so one group needs to have four boys and five girls. Isn't that a relief? We

figured it all out!"

Whaaat?! The one who raised her voice to the ceiling was Maya.

She'd attained her goal of being in the same group as Kitamura, but her

wide, apricot-shaped eyes were confused as they looked at Taiga. In Maya's

imagination, now that the patriarch was out of the picture, the last boss to

defeat in her battle for Kitamura was Aisaka Taiga.

On the other side of things, Taiga wasn't even looking at Kitamura,

even though they were in the same group.

"Huuh?! I have to be with you?!" Ami exclaimed. "I don't want to

though! Oh, right, we could just have only Minori join our group! Then you

could be a lone Tiger and just wander around by yourself!"

"How about you go around looking for your own tribe, Dimhuahua?

Oh, look, look, I think there's someone right there you'd get along with."

"Why are you lumping me together with the spinster (age 30)?!"

Taiga and Ami, busy sparring verbally, didn't notice Maya's

complicated gaze. Eventually Maya quietly approached Ryuuji, who she

must have decided was an ally.

"This'll be a struggle for both of us, right? But we have to keep at it!

Actually, that Noto! That Noto guy…! He's sooo infuriating!"

As though trying to get his sympathy, she opened her eyes wide at

him.

"Um, you must be misunderstanding something. It's not really like

Taiga is my cru—"

He tried to tell it to her straight, but Maya already stopped listening.

"Maruo! Let's write the list out together!" She followed after Kitamura,

running at him like a bullet.

Ryuuji breathed out a sigh as he watched her and then somehow

mustered his composure.

"You're having a fight again?! Let's be nice, Ahmin!"

"Oh, of course I'm fine with you, Minori-chan. ♥ Taiga's the one

who's a nuisance!"

"Your partner, Dimhuahua, is writing in red pen in a real estate

magazine. Why don't you go help her out?"

"Like I said, why is my partner the spinster (age 30)?!"

They were making a ruckus like usual. Taiga, Ami, and then Minori's

voices were soaring into his ears. Everything's like normal. As he realized

he didn't see any changes in Ami and Minori's relationship, Ryuuji

breathed a sigh of relief.

***

Hee hee hee.

"…?"

He had a dream where all the girls were laughing.

In the lingering laughter, Ryuuji slowly opened his heavy eyes from

where he was curled up under the covers. He looked at his clock to check

the time and was struck with horror for a moment.

It was nine in the morning, but it was Sunday, so he could sleep in.

He had plans, but they weren't meeting up until way later.

He closed his eyes again and tried to bury himself back into the

covers.

"He definitely hasn't noticed yet, right?"

"Yeah, he's going back to sleep."

His eyes opened with such force they might have torn apart. It wasn't

that his memories of being a demon lord in another life had awakened

within him—he'd just heard some people talking nearby.

The curtains were left open a good fifteen centimeters, and through

that gap, instead of the morning light, he had a perfect view of the window

of Taiga's condo. He saw two faces there.

"Whoa?!"

"Oh, he's awake!"

"Oh no! He saw us!"

He got up, opened the curtains to check what was going on in the

reality outside his dreams, and almost collapsed. He somehow righted

himself and promptly closed the curtains.

Just now what what what what what…whoa! It only took a moment

for him to be clearly awakened to the fact that what had just happened

wasn't a dream, but reality.

"Ryuuji! You can't escape from reality! Get up!"

"Hey, Taiga. He looks sleepy. That's kind of harsh."

Taiga and Minori had been peeping at him while he slept. On this

day, of all days, he was a mess—he was wearing the most linty, pilled set of

pajamas he owned. Plus, with the worst timing…

"Oh dear…I just heard Taiga-chan's voice…"

Normally dead asleep, his mother Yasuko came out of the bathroom.

Staggering like a zombie, she headed unsteadily into her son's room. He

tried to keep her at bay, but she got on the bed and flung open the curtains

he had only just closed, so everything was exposed.

"Ohh. ★ It really is Taiga-chan. ★ Oh, nice to meet your friend. ★"

She waved her hand in a carefree manner at the peeping couple.

"Ya-chan, good morning! Minorin, that's Ryuuji's mom."

"Good morning to you! Oh dear! I'm Kushieda! Oh dear! Sorry for

doing something so unreasonable, Ms. Takasu! Oh dear! To Bomba! Oh

dear! To Bomba! Oh—"

"Minorin, you'll burst a vessel in your head."

It was true that on that morning, Yasuko had a bomba hair style that

could only be described as something a country bumpkin would have. She

hadn't washed out her half-updo, which she had hardened like a rock with

hairspray, before bed. It always ended up like that when she didn't. At least

she had washed off her makeup. Yasuko smiled, her soft cheeks bouncing

like mochi. She sniffled.

"Naugh, Ryuu-chaaan, I'm cowld."

"It's 'cause you opened the windows up all the way! Put something

on…wait, eek…noooo!"

Even her son was taken aback at the way she looked. She was in a

barely-there bra and pilled wool underwear. Oh no, this won't do. It'll look

exactly like we're a family of perverts. Ryuuji panicked and closed the

curtains. Fsssshht!

"Oh, right! Let's all eat breakfast together. ★ Ryuu-chan will make

it."

Fshhht! Yasuko pushed aside her son and opened the curtains, still in

only her bra.

"We can't, Ya-chan. Actually, we already made breakfast, and we're

eating it after this."

"Oh, you did? But I'm so lonely…"

Taiga, leaning her elbows on the windowsill next to Minori, giggled.

"We got together early, and we're spending our morning together,

right, Minorin?"

"Yay! That's how it is, so we'll see you later, Takasu-kun."

Right—the school trip group had promised to meet at Taiga's house

at lunch. They needed to make a guidebook for school and couldn't meet at

the family restaurant because they needed to use a computer. In a rare

moment for her, Taiga had offered up her house. It seemed Minori had also

come to the condo by herself early in the morning.

Ryuuji casually hid Yasuko with his shoulders and also hid his own

pilled pajamas with the curtain as he looked at Taiga.

"You're going to have Kushieda help clean your place, aren't you?

You probably haven't even done any spring cleaning. It's definitely dirty…

hmph!"

It probably sounded like he held a grudge, and that was correct.

Ryuuji had told her several times that he'd come over to help with spring

cleaning, but for some reason or other, Taiga kept making excuses to reject

him. It was enough to make his face go Devilman.

"Whomp whomp. You're wrong. My whole condo is sparkling clean

from floor to ceiling. It might even be cleaner than your place. Right,

Minorin, isn't it clean?"

Yeah, yeah! Minori nodded.

"That's a lie! There's no way! You don't have anyone to clean…"

"I do. The Duskin Merry Maids did it. Ahh, it was such an ordeal.

Yesterday, four old maids came in and took three hours scrubbing here and

there and who-knows-where…"

"Wha…at?!"

Did she mean those thorough Merry Maids who cost at least thirty

thousand yen? Did she mean to say that those pros had cleaned the bottom

of the laundry machine, the curtain rails, the air conditioner filter, and

everything Ryuuji had been eyeing for so long?

"The skills of a real pro are definitely on another level. Well, Ryuuji,

you can just take your time coming in later. Minorin and I are going to

relish our breakfast, and then we're going to the Uniqlo at the station

building at ten and buying Heattech tank tops and tights to bring on the

school trip… In other words, it's girl time, and you'd better not come."

"Oh, Taiga, it just dinged. Looks like the bread is toasted."

"Really?! We need to eat it while it's still hot! Bye, Ryuuji!"

The two of them pitter-pattered away from the window and

disappeared. At some point, Yasuko had flopped over on her son's bed and

was back asleep in a position that was painful to look at.

Ryuuji's fingers trembled where they were on the window frame.

She's hired the Duskin…Merry Maids? He looked at the Takasu stick

that he used to clean the window frame. The Merry Maids probably had

such amazing cleaning supplies. They probably used electricity to their

heart's content and scrubbed at Taiga's condo with mechanical appliances.

Those maids had stepped into Ryuuji's domain using money-wasting

techniques on all the things he had been letting develop for spring cleaning.

Those Merry Maids… Those damn Merry Maids! Ryuuji chewed

bitterly on his lip and rubbed at the window frame with his pilled pajama

sleeve. Yasuko had left fingerprints on it!

At the movement of her son jiggling around, Yasuko fell right off the

mattress.

Whoa. The word seemed to float above the group sitting around the

low glass table.

"I'm going to bring the computer and printer from my bedroom, so

wait here. Minorin, could you help me carry the cables and power supply?"

"Okay."

Taiga took along Minori and left the living room. No sooner had she

done that than everyone burst out talking.

"Wait, wait, wait a second! Isn't this room amazing?! It's basically

the same size as my place!"

"This must be a condo, right? The furniture is super cute, too… She

said she lived alone, but maybe she's like super rich? I'd become her

roommate anytime if she wanted."

"Me too! Me too! Me too!"

Maya was there in a turtleneck, miniskirt, and leggings. Whether it

was a coincidence or not, Nanako subtly matched her with a turtleneck,

dress, and leggings. Ryuuji passed around floor cushions to each of them

and, at the sight of the excited girls, nostalgically remembered his own

reaction to the condo.

Kyaah, what an amazing condo, how luxurious… When he stepped

into it on that first morning, Ryuuji had been enchanted as he looked around

the room. And then—"Ugh!" He had stopped in his tracks, close to

throwing up at the rotting smell coming from the kitchen. This is terrible. I

need to do something. And so, he had started cleaning—in other words, that

was definitely when his and Taiga's destinies had first intersected. If that

smell did him in and he ran home, where would they be now?

"It's like something that'd be in a magazine… Actually, Takasu-kun,

could you stop wiping everything we touch?"

"Oh, sorry. It's a bad habit…"

He had unconsciously been wiping up the glass the girls touched with

the towel he had in hand. No matter whether they were the Merry Maids or

not, they couldn't do this full-detail support cleaning.

"Whoa! That's a huge TV!"

"The lights are huge, too!"

They gasped at the TV and gawked at the chandelier. Noto and

Kitamura, who were taken aback by every little thing, looked like they were

having fun, too. Then Kitamura turned to Ryuuji.

"I'd heard about it before, but you were serious about Aisaka's house

being right next to yours."

"Huh, next to yours?! Takasu-kun, do you live in this condo, too?!

Amazing!"

At Maya's overexaggerated voice, he shook his head. No, no, no, no,

no, that'll never happen!

"My house is the rental next door. The windows face each other

exactly. Well, that's the thing that connected me and Taiga together and

made us close… I guess not close, but it made us get to know each other…

like normal in the classroom."

"Guess you two are inseparable, whether you like it or not."

Noto's words were probably right, in the end, so Ryuuji nodded.

Ami sat next to Maya in her skinny jeans, her long legs folded and

sprawled out in boredom. The pale skin above the cleavage of her knitted

top was adorned by a delicate gold chain necklace.

Making a guidebook was a boring and simple task. Ami, who

normally would never participate in something like that, had been

threatened by Taiga into coming.

"If you're thinking of skipping the menial work," she said, "then we

might have a DVD appreciation day at my house. Are you okay with that?"

It was likely the DVDs Taiga meant were the ones he only heard about

in rumor, which starred Kawashima Ami and were produced at the

command of Aisaka Taiga. It was titled "One Hundred Impressions in

Quick Succession."

"Hey, isn't this amazing?! Anyone could look cute if they wore this

princess-y thing!"

Haruta, whom Ryuuji could no longer see at that point, had appeared

in a ridiculous getup. At some point, he had gotten into Taiga's walk-in

closet and was now wearing a brand-name overdress that probably cost one

hundred thousand yen. Under that, of course, he had messily layered on a

ton of fluffy lace underskirts that cost several tens of thousands of more

yen.

What a huge idiot…

At the very moment everyone thought that, a small shadow flew

through the air like a flying squirrel. That shadow quickly pulled the clothes

off the idiot and slapped his cheeks.

"Ah! Ah!"

Then, as a finishing touch, the shadow hit him so hard with the corner

of the computer that his head might have caved in.

"Everyone! We have to burn all these clothes to a crisp! They're

biohazards!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" said Ryuuji. "That's a waste—mottainai! What do

you think you're saying? Haruta just wore them for a second! Actually,

more importantly, you idiot! Computers aren't blunt weapons! Are you sure

you didn't break it?!"

"Calm down, it's the type of computer where you can drop it from

two meters and it'll be fine."

"Taka-chan…were…weren't you supposed to be worrying about

me?" Tears came spewing from Haruta's eyes.

The members of the group addressed Haruta in gentle voices:

"You're the one who was wrong."

"You reap what you sow."

"I'd rather you stay unconscious."

Holding the printer, Minori inferred what happened to Haruta and

offered him a silent prayer.

"Now, Haruta's quieted down, so let's start making the school trip

guidebook! All together now! Bow!"

When it came to taking charge, Kitamura had no competition. They

all bowed and clapped.

"It needs to be on B5-sized paper and six pages long, not including

the cover sheet. Four pages need to be research done prior to the trip…and

that's the part we're going to work on now. I drew from other guidebooks

by researching the history of the land. For the rest of the book, we can write

our own impressions. Apparently, we're going to put them all together for

the whole school's class yearbook, and then we're giving copies to the

parents. I was thinking we could at least use it as a reference, so I borrowed

last year's book."

"Nothing less expected from the master! Good job! If we just copy

this, we probably wouldn't even get caught, right?"

"Huh? Noto, of course we couldn't do that. What's the use of copying

the history of Okinawa? Are you like actually a super big idiot?" Maya was

cold to Noto.

They opened the booklet and peeked into it.

"Ahhh…" Their listless voices rang out at practically the same time.

The third years' memories of Okinawa were just too dazzling for

them. The research pages were nothing, but the impressions pages were so

blinding it made their eyes squint. The skies and seas were so blue they

didn't seem real, and the beach was a glittering pure white. They had gone

the year before in the middle of winter in January as well, but everyone was

wearing merry Uminchu calligraphy T-shirts, baseball caps, and had towels

around their necks under the brilliant, glittering sun, with faces that said

"It's hot!" "It's too bright!" They were slurping up Okinawa soba and

nibbling on sata andagi doughnuts. There was even a picture of them on an

isolated island like they had seen on TV, being pulled by buffalo.

"Ngh?!" Noto's voice suddenly went shrill. He slammed the book

closed. They raised their faces in surprise to look at Noto. "N-nothing…"

He was being very suspicious.

"No, this isn't suspicious! But, we can't reference this anyway, so

let's stop looking at it! Let's think about what we're actually going to do!

Anyway, let's ask Google-sensei about something! Uhh, where's the

computer's AC adapter…"

"Whaaat's going on, Noto-kun? What did you see just now? That was

suuuper suspicious… It was right around this page, wasn't it?"

"Ah, wait a sec, Ami-chan!"

Ami stole the booklet from Noto where he sat across from her, with

the low table between them. She grinned as she turned back to the earlier

page. As long as it wasn't making the boring lame guidebook, anything

probably would have been amusing to her.

"Oh! Oh my my my my! Oh my…so it's this."

"What is it?" said Kitamura. "Does it have anything to do with me?"

"Hey wait, just stop it," Noto whispered to Ami.

But Ami wasn't listening. She pouted happily and looked steadily at

her childhood friend as she said in a low voice, almost as though speaking

to herself, "Yuusaku's the only one I can't show this to."

"What… But actually, what is it? This is going to bother me. Let me

see."

"Well, if you say so, Yuusaku, then I guess I've got to show you. I

wonder what you'll think… Don't blame me if you end up crying…"

"Seems like you want me to… What's wrong with that picture of the

buffalo—whoa!"

As soon as he looked at it, Kitamura froze. Everyone, wondering

what it could possibly be, looked at it. Then they understood.

It was a picture of a certain group on a tour, being pulled by the

buffalo as they crossed the remote island. Under the dazzling blue sky on

the beach, a long-haired girl was left by herself on the luggage rack while

everyone else walked happily into the shallows with the buffalo.

The girl left behind on the luggage rack had her hand on her hip and

was laughing out loud. She seemed to arrogantly look on at the progress of

things. It felt like they might hear her voice even now. Daah ha ha ha ha ha

haaa! It was an incredibly manly voice and a hearty laugh.

In other words, the king on the luggage rack was everyone's former

beloved patriarch, Kano Sumire.

"Whoa, that must be a shock. It must be, right? The person who so

grandly rejected you in the end is suddenly right here in this picture. Poor

Yuusaku, you okay?"

"Wh-why wouldn't I be?"

"So you're okay, that's good! Come to think of it, have you gotten

any response from Kano-senpai? Maybe she's got a boyfriend in America

right around now?"

"The president got to school…to MIT and was admitted… That's what

I heard from her younger sister…"

"Huuh. So she's a university girl who skipped a grade! Aha! That's

so cool! But what's Ehm Ah-ee Tee? Is it about as elite as Tokyo University

in Japan? Is it like Ivy League? Yuusaku, why don't you just take the

college entrance exams there, too? I've got no idea how American schools

work!"

"…I wonder where the AC adapter is…"

Kitamura had been defeated by his childhood friend's merciless and

completely obvious sadistic attack. He turned his back to everyone and

started fiddling around with the computer cables that Taiga had brought in.

"I-Is this the AC adapter? I'm sure it must be this! And the socket, the

socket… Where do you have a socket…" Noto, who started the whole

mess, awkwardly stood up and began wandering around the condo.

"…"

Maya and Nanako were looking at each other with delicate

expressions. For reasons no other person could fathom, Minori was sticking

out her front teeth and looking at Kitamura from the corner of her eye. As

for Taiga…

"Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! You! Huge! Idiot!" she said in a low voice.

She was hitting Ami with both her arms.

"What? I think it's his fault for being so depressed just because of

that little thing. I was just making him stronger. Look, it's like Kaatsu

training."

It seemed that Ami didn't care one bit that her childhood friend was

feeling down. "Kaatsu!" she said as she gripped her hand into a fist.

Haruta finally came back to consciousness. "Where am I? Is this my

room?"

He was the same as usual, no changes whatsoever.

As for Ryuuji, he passionately whispered to his friend in his mind, I

really understand how you feel. Though Kitamura didn't know, they had

both had their hearts broken. Little things could make their wounds reopen

and sting. Ryuuji wasn't unfamiliar with that feeling.

"I'm going to put on the tea! Let's eat something and keep going! We

can just relax and get things done! Okay!" he said with a loud cry and got

up.

"I'm going to share these with everyone. They're madeleines from

home. Actually, that seems like a lot for one person to handle? I, the

wandering waitress Kushieda, shall help with something."

"Right, that'll be great. Could you look for cups for the tea? We need

three more."

At the luxurious kitchen island that was installed at the back of the

living room, Ryuuji's heart beat a little faster at the reinforcements that had

arrived. He somehow calmed the beating in his chest.

Minori put the box of madeleines, which seemed to have been a gift,

down in the kitchen. "Okay, okay," she answered and opened the cupboard

to start rummaging through it.

"Hmmm, looks like there aren't any teacups. Would mugs work?"

"That'd be fine."

"Here ya go. Oh, this one's cute. It could hold a lot of tea. I'm going

to call dibs on this one."

With expected skill, she grabbed three mugs in one hand and lined

them up in front of Ryuuji. She poked at one with her fingertip. The large

orange mug with a whale drawn on it was one which he was sure Taiga had

gotten by collecting and trading in stickers from convenience store breads.

Minori looked up at Ryuuji's face and grinned.

"What should we do with the madeleines? It's kind of too much to go

as far as to put them on a plate. How about we just leave 'em in the box and

slap them on the table?"

"I…I guess that's fine."

"I know, right?!"

She didn't notice Ryuuji suddenly staggering right next to her. He

stood there almost defenselessly as they nearly rubbed elbows. She opened

the package and the box.

"M-m-m-m-mado-ma-ma-ma-madole-l-l-l-l-l-lein."

Minori shook her butt and started rapping. She grabbed the

individually wrapped madeleines one after another and put more and more

of them out in a row on the marble counter.

"Wait…you…weren't you going to just slap them down in the box?"

"Hm?! Ohhh, you're right!"

Was she just on autopilot? Ryuuji watched Minori panic and put the

madeleines back in the box. He wanted to laugh.

Compared to him, trying to hide his trembling fingers while he

dropped tea bags into the cups, Minori's autopilot might have been an

attempt to act natural. She was in an unfussy outfit that consisted of a zipup parka and jeans. "Oh no, I wasn't thinking," she muttered. Her lips were

flushed like a soft, light peach. Her round forehead, her cheeks, and her

chin were, too.

"Hey, Golgo…"

"My name isn't Golgo…"

"Then I'll be Golgo… Don't stand behind me…"

"I'm not…"

Everything about her was pretty as always, and she had stolen his

eyes. Minori stared at him, so Ryuuji put up both his hands, embarrassed,

and turned his eyes away.

"Then fine… Actually, I broke the box when I opened it. We really

do need a tray, I just saw one in here."

Minori smiled a little as she finished joking around. She seemed to be

talking to herself as she opened the cupboard along the wall and brought out

the silver tray she was looking for. "Hm, this is pretty heavy. Is this like a

really good one? Is it expensive? I wonder if it's okay to use. Hey, Taiga."

Taiga immediately turned around to face her. Her tartan checked

dress fluttered as she made her way to the kitchen.

"What's wrong? You need me for something?"

"This silver tray, can we use it? I want to bring out the madeleines on

it."

"What? Of course you can use that thing. I thought there was

something wrong."

"Well, look, sometimes these things can be shockingly expensive.

That's what I was thinking. Hey, hey, actually—"

Minori lined the madeleines up on the tray as she suddenly grinned

and looked at Ryuuji's face and Taiga's in turn.

"The cupboard and tableware are looking super organized. Takasu's

been organizing things, and he's been doing such a great job. It's been a

while since I've been here, and I'm just so impressed."

"It's tidy because I asked the Merry Maids to clean…"

Is it really? It is really. With the island kitchen between them, Minori

and Taiga were posed in the same way, like sisters, and smiled as they

looked at each other. They really do get along, Ryuuji thought as he poured

hot water from the boiling T-Fal kettle into the cups. Before he realized it,

he was completely out of the loop.

"But I think it's a big deal how Takasu-kun was managing things

around here. It's been over a year since the last time I came by to clean

things, right? You don't have as many unnecessary things, and it's gotten

easier to keep up. That's all I'm saying. You have to make sure you show

your appreciation to Takasu-kun."

"He just did it because he likes to. Like to the point he'd rather thank

me, right Ryuuji?"

Taiga glanced at him, and he noticed her look.

This is a dangerous direction we're moving in, Taiga seemed to want

to say. The course of the conversation was definitely progressing in the

direction of "Taiga definitively needs Takasu-kun or she just can't make it."

Please do something. Taiga's gaze was nervous and perplexed, but, to be

honest, Ryuuji didn't know what to do.

"Well, it's definitely thanks to Takasu-kun. I know it! That's because

I'm God!"

The only thing he could do was pretend to focus on making the tea

and smile painfully. Now that Minori had said, Because I'm God! there was

no way he could argue back.

"Aisaka, could I have a moment? We can't get online anymore. The

wireless LAN is acting weird."

"Oh, really? But it was connected just now."

Help had been sent from heaven. Though it wasn't that serious of an

issue, Kitamura had called Taiga over. With an obviously relieved

expression, Taiga left the kitchen with Kitamura, who was wearing Uniqlo

from head to toe as he did most days.

Minori, however, kept up the conversation with Ryuuji.

"I really do think that. Last year this place was filled with garbage,

and no matter how many times I cleaned it, it wouldn't last a week. It was

such a terrible mess!"

She kept talking without missing a beat. Ryuuji suddenly had a sense

of incongruity.

"You hadn't come by this place for over a year even though you're so

close?"

Come to think of it, hasn't Minori said something about this before?

"Well, that's—look…about before, with Taiga's dad, with what

happened, I got in a fight with Taiga. We at least made up, but for some

reason or another, since then… I didn't want to step in too close and make

another mistake, since I didn't know what would happen. That's what I was

thinking."

"Right… I remember now."

Ryuuji listened to Minori's words and automatically thought of

himself. Stepping in too close. Wasn't that exactly what he was doing?

Taiga was in the process of challenging herself to make it on her own, and

she'd stopped coming over to his house or asking him to do chores for her.

"In other words, you did a good job…is what I want to say, Takasukun."

Minori hit him in the arm, like a guy would do to another guy.

Normally, he would be happy at that touch, but right now, more importantly,

how had he done a good job? He tried to ask her, but Minori was already

starting to prepare the milk and sugar with her usual adeptness. As though

trying to resolutely say, Our conversation is over! she turned her back to

him.

Ryuuji closed his mouth. He wiped away the moisture in the kitchen

with a dry towel. Everyone in the living room had abandoned the computer

that wouldn't connect and started to chitchat. Kitamura and Taiga were the

only ones attempting to turn the router set next to the wall on and off. They

were seated on the carpet and working hard to somehow restart it.

Why you, Ryuuji suddenly thought. Just when had Taiga become able

to sit that close to Kitamura? It was such a petty thought.

"Hey, Takasu-kun?"

"Don't stand behind me…"

"Don't steal my joke…"

Minori pushed her hair behind her ear and grinned. She was looking

up at Ryuuji. He didn't know how long she had been watching him.

"So, um, about the school trip. I'm kind of looking forward to it…

Actually, I'm really looking forward to it."

Hiding what was in his heart, Ryuuji scowled successfully. "Geh! Are

you serious? We're just going skiing."

"I'm good at skiing. I'm like Shimizu Akira. And besides that, this is

like the last of it. It's the last thing we're doing together as class 2-C. Ahh…

this class was super fun, so I feel kind of lonely. Don't you feel like that,

too?"

Checking how the tea was turning out, Minori half-closed her eyes

and looked at the bottoms of the nine lined-up cups.

"I was thinking it'd be nice if everyone could always stay like this."

Always? Everyone? Like this? In other words—he grasped onto

something but then got distracted.

From a ways away, Kitamura and Taiga's whispered conversation

came to his ears by chance.

Really?

Yeah. So, I'd rather…

…then I'll…

Huh? Then…but why? Did something actually happen?

He didn't know what they were talking about, but it didn't seem like

it was about the internet. Kitamura looked hurt. Taiga didn't falter or seem

flustered as she looked into Kitamura's face. She was smiling at him

naturally in concern. She was peering into his eyes in worry.

The two of them looked natural as they drew near each other. They

looked close—almost as though they had been close friends for years. But

really, at what point did she—

"Right. Of course."

The part of the conversation he had caught disappeared as though it

had been an unraveled knot.

"It'd be nice if it just stayed like this forever," Ryuuji answered,

mostly unconsciously, and started to line up the saucers for the tea on the

tray. He absorbed himself in the work.

Maybe the knot really had unraveled and disappeared, or tightened

and tightened until it became so small it was invisible. No one knew which

it was.

They collected information about the ski resort they were visiting and

researched about the weather and the specialty products the region was

known for. In the end, the nine of them didn't finish the pre-investigation on

that Sunday but kept going until the next weekend. The honors student

Kitamura had just been too full of vigor in the end.

Then, the days passed.