Chapter 5

"…Huh!"

Ryuuji shuddered and unintentionally threw his head back.

He had gone to school with Taiga, keeping a subtle amount of

distance between them as usual. Once they arrived in the classroom and

took their seats, Ami approached him. "Thank you for yesterday." But in

the light of that glittering, early summer morning, her face seemed haggard

and tired—strangely hollow.

"…Wh-what's wrong?"

"Nothing…it's just…" Her voice was also a bit hoarse. Her

appearance was completely different from the day before.

"How do I say this… you look…tired."

"I look that bad, huh…?" Haah… Face plain and pale, she gave a

pitiable sigh. Ami pulled up a nearby chair and propped her head on her

elbow as she sat at his desk. Melancholy wrinkles appeared on her brow.

"I guess I'm just still exhausted from yesterday…"

And then she planted her face down on the desk. Maybe from

shampoo or soap, or maybe even because she was wearing perfume, a sweet

smell gently drifted from her.

Ryuuji felt slightly uneasy. Both his eyes gleamed like a beast's. But

he feigned composure, and spoke chivalrously. "Well, you were in a pretty

scary situation yesterday. If you're a little exhausted, that's just to be

expected."

"It's not what you think." Ami suddenly raised her pale face and

looked straight at Ryuuji with her glassy, shining eyes. "At Aisaka Taiga's

condo… for about five hours… no, six hours…"

"D-did Taiga do something to you?!"

"She had me dance. And sing."

Dance? …Sing?

That was definitely not what Ryuuji expected. He tilted his head to

one side, baffled.

Ami breathed out. Phewww… Her gaze became distant, filled with

ennui.

"She threatened to throw me out if I didn't do what she said…and she

made me do…a thing…all night long…"

"Wh-what did she make you do?"

"An imitation medley. One hundred fifty impressions, all in

succession. She made me redo them until I got them perfect…Uganda…

Falcon…I want to die…" Ami groaned, muttering, and put her face back

down on Ryuuji's desk.

From a distance Haruta and Noto were whispering. "Noto-chi! Looks

like that guy's joined the bourgeoisie!" "We better make him rethink trying

to associate with us."

Ryuuji noticed them glaring with envy, but didn't engage with them.

"…She was merciless…!"

He recalled the smile Taiga wore when she'd invited Ami to her

condo—the one he'd assumed was kind. Then he remembered her mood

afterwards, when she was munching on the meunière salmon—like a wellfed bear about to go into hibernation. His heart froze.

When he looked over at Taiga and Minori, he saw that she was

laughing loudly even now. She was totally in a good mood. Once he got

that far, Ryuuji finally had a clear picture. When Taiga was in a good mood,

no matter what, someone else would be suffering in her shadow—just like

Ami was now, across from him.

What a terrifying person. Ryuuji looked at Taiga's pleasant profile

once again, and then…

"Can I have a second?"

Kitamura broke right into Taiga and Minori's conversation. Ryuuji

couldn't hear the contents of the conversation well enough to know just

what business Kitamura had with them, but there was no mistaking the

sudden rise in Taiga's mood.

He looked at Taiga, who, unable to look at Kitamura, was looking at

Minori…

"Matsumoto Seichou… Akechi Mitsuhide…"

Ryuuji looked back at Ami, who seemed to be recounting her

extended imitation repertoire. An old writer and a guy from ancient history?

How the heck did she do musical impressions of those guys?

They're both like creatures from heaven and hell.

Actually, it was even more complicated than that.

***

Soon enough, Ryuuji realized his mistake.

"Nuhhhhh!"

During afternoon break, Ryuuji had cheerfully taken his bento out of

his bag. Now he cut across the classroom to get the chopsticks he'd left in

his locker (which, of course, he had to wash every day). But then…

"What are you doing?! Guhhh!"

"…"

He suddenly found himself the victim of a murder.

The culprit was the sullenly silent Taiga. The murder weapon was an

ice-cold can of recently purchased oolong tea. As he passed by, she'd forced

it against the sensitive nape of his neck. Ryuuji stood on tiptoe and writhed.

"That's you, right?! If there's something you want to say just… gah! I

just said to stop tha—bwah!"

No matter how much he ran, Taiga persistently and forcefully pushed

the cold oolong tea at him. Even now, his squinting eyes made him look

about ready to snap. He gritted his back teeth, shifted his jaw, and ferocious

wrinkles formed on his nose.

Taiga said, "My heart feels like it's about to split wide open…!"

"Wh-what?!"

"I've got it tough!"

"Arrgh! Stop! I'm the one who's got it tough!"

Finally, he stole the can from her small hand and hoisted it up high

enough that Taiga couldn't reach it. Like a tiger in a zoo that was going stircrazy in captivity, Taiga paced around Ryuuji.

"I hate it, I hate it…! Why…?!" she continued grumbling to herself.

"What is it, what happened?"

"…Nngh, I hate it, but, but but…"

"Hey!"

"Nyahh!"

Reflexively, he pressed the cold can that was in his hand against

Taiga's nose. Taiga held her face and leaped back.

"What are you doing?!" She stood on her tiptoes, reached out her

arm, and pinched Ryuuji's cheek.

"Owwwwww!"

"Ugh…the grease on your face got on my hand!" Taiga seemed to

come back to herself.

"And your claw marks got on my face! Now, hurry up and say

whatever's on your mind, already. What are you so unhappy about?!"

"It's…"

Nng. Taiga contorted her face in frustration, bit her lip, and took a

breath. Finally, speaking softly and rapidly, she confessed what had made

her so dissatisfied as to try and murder Ryuuji. "This morning, Kitamurakun told me…to try and get along with Kawashima Ami. That I should

invite her to lunch…"

"Wh…" Ryuuji faltered, blinking once. "Why…?"

"That's what I want to know!"

Now he understood the feelings motivating all of Taiga's shouting.

No matter what, that invitation wasn't happening.

Kitamura had seen both their first fight at the family restaurant and

the attack she'd pulled off with Minori. So why would he ask for something

like that…? It couldn't be that Kitamura saw any chance of Taiga and Ami

getting along. If that were the case, he needed to get his glasses fixed, stat.

"That's… yeah… something nobody would be happy about." Ryuuji

let out a low groan and locked eyes with Taiga. She had the world's most

pitiful look on her face.

He did think he saw Kitamura talking to Taiga about something that

morning, but he couldn't have guessed it was this.

According to Taiga, this was apparently what he'd said:

"I know that Ami has a terrible personality, too. But no matter how

much time passes, if she only ever puts on an act, she'll never make any

real friends, right? So, Aisaka, because you know her true personality, I

want you and your best friend Kushieda to take care of Ami. Please,

Aisaka. To me, you're one of the few female friends I have who I can ask a

favor from."

So sayeth Kitamura.

"Aaaahh!"

After performing her rendition of Kitamura's words, Taiga's small

frame bent and writhed. It looked like there was no way for her to avoid

feeling very conflicted.

"I want to say no…but I can't… This is no laughing matter…

Kitamura-kun asked me… and why is he always worrying about that brat,

anyway…?! Uhhhhgh, nnnnggghh, hrrnnnngg…"

Groaning, Taiga held her head and ended up crouched at Ryuuji's

feet. Flustered, Ryuuji stooped closer to her.

"Hey, calm down. You'll give yourself an aneurysm or something."

"B-but…! Wait, but… he said we were friends…! We really were just

friends after all! I'm one of the few female friends he can count on… huh,

or maybe that's a good thing? …No! It's definitely not a good thing! But he

counts on me… am I happy? …No, I'm not!"

Ryuuji thoughtlessly breathed in her conflict. He rarely saw anyone

this troubled. He didn't have anything to say; he just watched her for a

while.

"Ahhh, but… but, but, but!"

Taiga shut her eyes and latched onto Ryuuji's sleeve. Her fingers

tightly gripped him, and she opened her mouth and gasped, breathing in and

out. Finally, she gave one big nod, and said "Uh-huh!"

It seemed she had finally made a decision.

"I'll endure the unendurable… I'll suffer the insufferable!"

"…Uh, quoting the Emperor might be a little much…but I think I get

you."

As Ryuuji nodded, Taiga stood up right in front of his eyes. With a

singular goal in mind, she briskly walked ahead with long strides.

"Come on. Time to eat."

Taiga stood in front of Kawashima Ami, who looked up at her with

her mouth halfway open.

Ami held her bento box at her seat and had just been about to stand

up. A little ways away, Maya and Nanako were waiting for her. "Amichaaan! Let's hurry up and go to the roof!"

"…Huh?" Ami blinked several times, dumbfounded—until finally it

seemed she had gotten back in her own rhythm. The smile she gave Taiga

was so pure it was downright spiteful. "What are you trying to say? I have

plans with Maya-chan and Nanako-chan."

"Shut up."

"…Wha…?!"

Taiga curbed Ami's protest with a shout. Like an animal, she growled

at the Maya-Nanako duo.

"Oh, I see. Well, if it's Aisaka who wants to eat with you, I guess we

can't do anything about it. Shall we go, Nanako?"

"Yup, it's out of our hands. Well, Ami-chan, we'll see you next time."

Without pondering things too deeply, not even seeming afraid of the

tiger's growl, the pair simply nodded and waved at Ami, like there was only

one inevitable outcome. The creature called the Palmtop Tiger was quite

possibly a being well understood by the other girls.

But of course, Ami wasn't going to just take it lying down.

"What are you thinking? What did you mean, 'come on?'"

"That you're going to come eat lunch with me."

"Huh?! That's a bad joke! Why would I do that with you?! …Hmph,

fine. Even if those two are gone, I have plenty of other friends—"

"Michael Jackson as a tour guide," Taiga unexpectedly muttered. You

might think she was muttering to herself, but then Ami went…

"Eek!"

"Mona Lisa taking a corner at two hundred kilometers per hour… Jrock star Tsunku ♂ desperately trying and failing to sing western music…

All these spectacles and more sit in the digital camera at my house. And just

in case you get any ideas, it's already all been burned onto a disc… off-site

backup! The title is 'Performed by That Model: ★ 150 Mysterious, Backto-Back Impressions.' Someday, sometime, if the whim so struck me, I

might carelessly release it to the public…"

"S-stop! Fine! I got it! I just need to eat with you, right?! That's all

you want?! Damn!"

Close to tears, Ami forgot to put on her mask. Recklessly cradling her

bento box, she transferred over to Taiga's seat.

There, Minori was already on standby. "Hey, Kawashima-kun. I

already went ahead and got started without you."

She brought a gigantic ribbon she was holding with her chopsticks up

to eye level. It seemed to be boiled konbu seaweed.

"Wh-what is it with you two…? Tsk…you're not making any sense."

"That's enough of that. Please have a seat here, be my guest."

Minori guided Ami to the seat at her left, and with her left arm,

firmly held onto Ami's shoulder. "Here, say 'ahh!'"

She brought the konbu to Ami's mouth.

"I'm telling you I don't want it!" Ami kept crying out, but…

"…Mmn…that's nice." Ryuuji unconsciously muttered out loud as he

watched the scene develop. Being close to Minori like that, having her say

ahh to him and spoiling him… if only she would gently deliver ribbon

konbu into his mouth… Ahh…

"Takasu, why are you sitting spaced out with your mouth open? Let's

go."

"…Hm? Huh? Where?"

Kitamura had come to stand next to him at some point and was

prodding him in the back. "Over to Ami and everyone. I asked Aisaka and

Kushieda to invite Ami to lunch. If I just asked them to do that and then

left, what kind of person would that make me?"

"Sure, but what does that have to do with me?"

"I can't just barge into a group of girls eating their bento all by

myself! I'm not that kind of guy."

It's you we're talking about here. You'd definitely be fine, Ryuuji

thought, but instead he said, "If you insist." In reality, he was beaming on

the inside as he followed behind Kitamura. He felt bad for Taiga, but this

was an unbelievable stroke of luck. If he could spend his lunch break with

Minori, enduring the sideshow of a tiger-vs.-Chihuahua showdown was

nothing.

"Yo, can we join you?"

"Oh, is that Kitamura-kun and Takasu-kun I see? Take a seat, take a

seat!"

The only one who welcomed the two boys when they broke into the

group of girls was a grinning Minori. Ami was right next to her, brow still

furrowed.

"Why? Why do things have to be like this…?" she muttered in

dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile, Taiga was completely…

"…"

…speechless. Feeling the presence of Kitamura suddenly sitting at

her right, she still couldn't turn to look at him. Her eyes seemed to melt, as

though she were in a trance. Her rosebud lips loosened, but…

"…Tsk."

Then she seemed to suddenly remember that Ami was diagonally

across from her, and she instantly scowled. But then she noticed Kitamura's

presence again and drooped—and then Ami's presence made her perk up—

and she went back and forth between the two emotions, trying to reconcile

them, until…

"A-amazing…"

Finally, incredibly, so remarkably that Ryuuji couldn't help but speak,

the right half of Taiga's face turned to Kitamura with an erotically lovesick

expression, while the left half wore an unpleasant look for Ami. The left

and right halves of her face were completely asymmetrical—a perfect

Baron Ashura.

It seemed her face and her spirit had both reached a balanced

equilibrium. Taiga didn't try to take on Ami as she ate, and her anxiety over

Kitamura wasn't dominant enough to make her hands shake. She was able

to smoothly open the top of her bento box. Her face was ridiculous, but

whether it was down to luck or something else, not one person in this group

was about to comment on it.

"Well, let's dig in. Eating with the girls every once in a while is nice,

too."

"…Does this mean that you were the one who planned this,

Yuusaku?"

"Hm? Whatever could you mean? Wooow, Kushieda, your bento is as

huge as ever! See Ami, look at it!"

"Heh heh heh, even though this bento looks huge, there's practically

nothing in it… See, this one's glass noodle, this one's konyaku."

As he watched Minori enjoy proudly displaying her side dishes,

Ryuuji reflected on the small joy he was experiencing himself. He didn't

mind at all that he wasn't participating in the conversation. Just being by

her side like this was enough to make him happy—in fact, it was more than

enough.

It had been about a month since the failure of their last "let's eat

bento together" plan, but this time it was different. He'd be able to eat bento

with Minori after all. Ahhh, I'm so glad Taiga and the Chihuahua don't get

along.

While deep in thought, he tried opening the lid to his bento, but then

stopped in realization. He was about to make exactly the same mistake as

last time. The contents of his bento were exactly the same as Taiga's.

Guess there's no helping it… He would have to stingily leave the top

in place to keep his side dishes hidden. But…

"Ahh, there really are kids who would do this sort of stuff! Now now,

why are you hiding that, Takasu-kun?!"

"Ah!"

Minori suddenly stole his lid. She had exposed his egg omelet rolls

interleaved with soybeans, a bacon and onion stir fry, and seaweed on top of

rice…a beautifully constructed, handmade bento that was exactly the same

as the one Taiga was already eating.

"…Uhh. …Yeah."

Minori compared the two bento and paused in thought for a moment.

"…Well, um, what was it again…? Hey. Takasu-kun, what's your

horoscope?" She casually returned the top.

"M-my sign is Pisces."

"Well I'm fine with any horoscope, as long as it's not an endoscope.

Just kidding!"

Ahahahahahaha!

But subtly, her eyes weren't laughing.

It seemed that Minori had discerned Ami and Taiga's subtle

animosity. Instead of provoking Taiga by expressing her doubts over Ryuuji

and Taiga's relationship, she had chosen to frantically think of a way to

protect the current miraculous balance.

"Wh-why would you talk about endoscopes while we're eating…?

And you didn't even tell us your sign."

"Sooorry! My sign is actually 'out of order!' ♥"

Somehow, those words had resulted in a natural, congenial

conversation between him and Minori. Then, at the very moment that he

celebrated his good luck, it happened.

Completely unnoticed, Ami's arm reached out across from Ryuuji

and unexpectedly pulled open his bento top again. Unable to react to her

speed, Ryuuji just froze.

"Why is your bento the exact same as Aisaka-san's bento? Come to

think of it, you two were together yesterday."

Taiga's eyebrows twitched.

At the same time, a hush fell over them, muffling the clamor of the

class lunch break.

"…Did you hear…?" "Oh, I heard…" "She took it to the one place

she never should have…"

Before long, low, fear-touched voices began surreptitiously

whispering.

"Huh? Wh-what? Why did it get so quiet all of a sudden? Did I do

something?"

Having just transferred, Ami didn't know.

A calamitous disaster awaited anyone who asked about the

relationship between the Palmtop Tiger and Ryuuji. Everyone in their whole

class had internalized this knowledge. That was why, even though everyone

wondered what type of relationship the two had…they would never speak

of it. The Palmtop Tiger said they weren't dating, so they weren't dating.

She demanded they never say anything so stupid again, so they never did.

But then the newcomer had gone and done it…

In the calm before the storm, no one dared to move their chopsticks.

The conversation remained frozen. Everyone had their ears pricked for the

Palmtop Tiger's next move. If they saw signs of her anger, they needed to

be ready for an immediate escape.

"…You're so weird. Does something like that bother you?"

The one who finally, quietly replied was Taiga herself.

Regaining the beauty of her normal, French-doll expression, she

spoke in a strangely quiet way in her usual monotone voice. "In that case, if

I do this, there should be no problem."

"Ah, my ben—"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Taiga suddenly reached out

her hand and stole Ryuuji's bento. She just brought it up to her mouth, and

MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH! …All his egg and his stir fry disappeared in

three seconds flat.

Munching with her cheeks completely full, she continued to eat and

chew, the food bulging at the sides of her mouth.

"Nuh froblem anahmoar, raight? …My bento is egg and stir fry.

Ryuuji has a seaweed bento."

She returned Ryuuji's now lonesome-looking bento box to his hands.

He heard sighs of relief around the classroom, and slowly, the liveliness of

their usual afternoon break started to return. It seemed they had somehow

averted the Palmtop Tiger's wrath.

The only casualty was Ryuuji.

"But…! My bento is…!"

Despite himself, Ryuuji was about ready to cry at this horrible

misfortune. But then a pair of chopsticks were extended across to him, and

he was blessed by a solitary meatball.

"Here. Now you have a meatball bento, Takasu-kun."

"K-Kawashima…!"

With an angel's smile, Ami had divided her side dish with him. But

still wearing that smile, she mercilessly rubbed salt in the wound. "Hey,

why do you just let Aisaka-san walk all over you like that? Does she have

something on you?"

I don't know if you would say she has something on me, exactly. I

have my reasons…and the timing and stuff just sort of lined up… But of

course he didn't manage to say that out loud. He just remained frozen and

speechless.

Taiga responded in his place. "You see, Ryuuji was my dog in a past

life. So he'll happily wag his tail and do anything his owner asks." She

spoke proudly, with a glamorous smile. "That's what brings a dog joy."

…He tried to refute her, but…

"You two are going on like that again—even though everyone knows

you're really star-crossed lovers, bound by fate!"

Apparently, based on whatever obscure set of metrics she was using,

Minori thought she could get away with a joke like that.

Ryuuji and Taiga's breathing synchronized…

"No way." "No way."

…And they both shook their heads.

Ami seemed to interpret that in her own way. "…Hmmm. You two

are close, then…" She faintly narrowed her eyes, muttering to herself in a

singsong voice. And though Ryuuji might have misheard, he thought he

caught her faint voice continuing—this is no fun for Ami-chan~!

Taiga snorted, looking about done with any attempts to engage with

Ami. She picked up her chopsticks and was about to go at her bento again,

but then…

"Wow—y'know, Aisaka, you sure do eat a whole lot! I think that's a

lot better than having to diet."

"…!"

Quite possibly at the shock from Kitamura's words, Taiga

unintentionally dropped her chopsticks.

Regardless of whether she was fat or thin, "you eat a lot" was the

same as a death sentence to a girl—especially when coming from someone

she was unrequitedly in love with.

Aaah… Ryuuji felt utterly exhausted as he quietly watched Taiga flap

her mouth open and closed.

***

Taiga's chance to dispel the nickname "gluttony girl" (though no one

was calling her that) came after school, immediately after the last bow.

"Heyyy, everyone, sorry! Please listen up for a second!"

Kitamura's voice echoed around the busy classroom. Those who were

beginning their preparations to go home raised their heads.

"Sooo, I think you are all aware that today the student council is

holding the traditional monthly volunteer town cleanup! But this time

around, the main force of third years are having their mock exams at school

tomorrow, so we have very few participants! I would like to extend an

invitation to everyone and also encourage you to please participate!"

…Let's go, let's go home. The students continued to prepare to leave,

pretending not to hear as they left in small groups. Naturally, Ryuuji was

among them. He didn't dislike cleaning, but this was different. No matter

how much effort he put in, the town could never be perfectly clean. He

already knew well enough that it would just leave him full of frustration.

This monthly volunteer town cleanup was in actuality intended for

those third years with questionable student records—as a route to salvation.

If suspect third years participated, they had a special menu of options

available when they sought letters of recommendation, from

"enthusiastically participated in volunteer activities" to "participated in

leadership," or in some cases, "their effort was remarkable." And so, other

than the student council members, most of the participants were normally

third years, along with a few rotating members of the sports clubs whose

participation was compulsory. The event was irrelevant to first and second

years who weren't in a sports club. No matter how many times Kitamura

called for participants, there was no way anyone would bother to raise their

hand to join—

"Oh, Takasu! So you'll come!"

"…Huh?!"

A strange phenomenon had occurred.

Compelled by some sort of force, Ryuuji's right hand was being

raised up high.

"Great, I'll be waiting. Change into your tracksuit and wait in front of

the school gates! This'll sure help me save face with the president… I

would have lost a lot of cred if I'd brought no one at all! Right, I already

added you to the list of names, so don't think you can back out now."

In high spirits, pen in one hand, Kitamura sauntered out of the

classroom with a spring in his step.

"Wa-wa-wait…hey!"

The one who was gripping Ryuuji's right hand and holding it up was

Taiga, who at some point had snuck up to his side. "Hmph!" She stomped.

She'd grabbed his elbow, and put his hand high, high up.

"Hey, hands off! Do you realize what you just did?! If I don't go

participate, it'll be officially counted as negligence, and I'll get docked

points on my extracurricular participation score!"

Taiga let him have his elbow back. Then, in front of Ryuuji's glaring

eyes, she started chewing on her fingernails. "I'll take responsibility for it.

I'll go along with you."

"Huh? …Wha?!"

Basically, the point was she wanted to participate, so she had taken

Ryuuji along for the ride. Embarrassed, Taiga's cheeks flushed a cherry

blossom pink. Playing with the ribbon of her uniform with her fingertips,

she muttered softly, "I don't want him to think I'm just a glutton… I want

him to think that I ate a lot to get energy so I could participate in the town

cleanup…"

"…You just want to spend some time with Kitamura, don't you?"

"…That's another way of looking at it…"

"Then you didn't have to bring me into it!"

"But I'm embarrassed! Just use your imagination, you dimwit!"

It happened at the moment he was trying to build up the intestinal

fortitude to respond to that horrible remark of hers. He felt a slight prod at

the back of his jacket, and when he turned around…

"Takasu-kun, you're going, too! I'm so glad!"

Minori was standing there. She had her bag and tracksuit in hand.

"This time, it's the girls' softball club's turn for compulsory

participation. They made me go because I'm president, even though I

thought it was such a paaaiiin. We're all in the same boat!"

On this day, too, her healthy smile illuminated Ryuuji's heart all at

once with bright sunlight. At the blinding rise in his body temperature,

Ryuuji was pretty much entranced. "I-Is that so…?"

"That's right. But I never could have guessed you would go and

volunteer on your own. Yeah, you're such a good kid! You've moved me!"

Whooaaa, she praised me…!

He desperately tried to hide his cheeks in his hands. They felt like

they were about to turn bright red. Ryuuji's eyes were seething, looking

murderous. He was embarrassed.

"Minorin, I decided I might as well go, too. Along with Ryuuji."

"Oh, really?! Well then, let's go change together! I'll wait in the

hall."

"Yeah, I'll be there soon."

The two of them stood side by side as they watched Minori's back.

Hu-humm, she hummed as she left the classroom.

"…Well, don't you have something to say?"

"…Th-thank you…!"

So long as you know, Taiga nodded, as though accepting his reaction.

"If I'd known Minorin was going, then I wouldn't have needed to invite

you."

"…I don't remember being invited, but I do remember you forcing

me to raise my hand."

No matter what they said, the two were in high spirits as they each

took their tracksuits and bags and left the classroom. Ryuuji headed to the

boys' locker room, and Taiga and Minori headed to the girls' locker room.

But no sooner had they started walking than a brilliantly sweet voice

stopped the three of them in their tracks. "Wait!"

Ryuuji turned around. For a moment, he felt like he needed to adjust

the glasses he wasn't wearing. Taiga must have felt the same. She turned,

fierce eyes wide open.

"…What?" she growled in a low voice.

"I'm glad I caught you! I decided to go, too! I just transferred, so I

want to hurry up and learn about all the school activities!" Kawashima Ami

grinned with the smile of an angel. She was unmoved by Taiga's glare.

"Uhh…did Kitamura tell you to come? Trust me, you'll be happier if

you stay behind—and it's not exactly something you'd really call a school

activity." In spite of himself, Ryuuji tried to give her real advice, but Ami

cutely shook her head, voicing her opposition.

"Yuusaku didn't tell me anything. I decided to participate myself.

And if I don't exercise, I'll get fat, right? Minori-chan?"

"Ohh, I see. This is part of your diet, got it." Minori wasn't even

surprised. She just nodded in acceptance.

Taiga watched from the side of her eye, and wrinkled her forehead,

unamused.

"Right, shall we go?" Ami reached out her slim arm as though about

to tuck it into Ryuuji's—or, at least, so he thought. Right before Ami

reached him, Taiga intervened.

"Gwah—"

"The girls' locker room is over here, newbie."

As though she were a gang leader, the gloomy-eyed Taiga firmly

grabbed the nape of Ami's neck with her right hand. Then she and Minori

just pulled Ami along, on the verge of choking, towards the girls' locker

room.

"I-I can walk by myself, Aisaka-san."

"It's fine, it's fine, I'll lead you over, Kawashima-san."

Unwittingly standing still while watching this devious exchange,

Ryuuji suddenly came back to himself. Isn't the boys' locker room in the

same direction? Recomposing himself, he started walking…and clutched at

his strangely clamorous heart.

Well, shall we go? Ami's expression as she tilted her head and looked

up at him was strangely sweet, brilliant, and pure… really, it was so cute it

could kill him. Regardless of her true nature.

She was a model, so of course she was cute, but there was no shaking

the fact that he'd seen something he liked. It made him a little happy. He

couldn't shake that straightforward feeling—only natural, for a boy.

***

"ALL RIGHT, you pansies! You've prepared yourselves, RIGHT?

You know perfectly well that I won't accept a single one of you slacking

off! We're going out with our heads held HIGH!"

The drill sergeant was under the thick cover of silvery overcast

clouds. Through the megaphone came a rapid, extremely macho voice. It

reverberated throughout the grounds. Then, beside the speaker, another

figure emerged.

"Today, as always, you've given us words that cut right to our hearts.

Give it up for our amazing president!"

Yeah, all right! The vice president of the student council, Kitamura,

put his hands together in applause.

After school, twenty or so students had gathered in front of the gates.

All wore the same uneasy expression. They were looking up at the boss of

the cleanup, who stood a level above them… in short, they looked up at

their student council president. The happy students trickling through on

their way home watched the scene in amusement as they passed by.

"…Wh-what is this…?" Seeing it for the first time, Ami was truly

shaken.

"…That's our student council president. None of the opposing

candidates got any votes—let's just say it's because of their aura of royal

authority."

"O-ohh…then this is definitely that person…"

"Come again?"

"Yuusaku told me something a while ago. That there was an amazing

upperclassman and they decided to join the student council or something

like that…"

"Have you donned your work gloves?! Have you seized your trash

bags?! Have you surveyed the terrain we march to clean?!"

Yeah, came their dolorous reply.

"You DUMBASSES!" The student body president stood with a wide

stance, head thrown back, white throat exposed. The voice from the

megaphone grew louder.

"Do not underestimate these streets! With that attitude, you'll end up

getting thrown off the boat, you IDIOTS! When you answer, you need to

give it your all!"

"YEEAHHHHHH!"

"Okay, SHUT YOUR TRAPS! So with that, let's start this month's

traditional town cleanup. Take care not to hurt yourself. If you're caught

eating something you bought on the job, there will be proper punishment!

…Though really, that just means don't get caught."

The president's lips contorted into a grin. The student body president

—the third year Kanou Sumire—flipped her sleek black hair with a cynical

smile.

Though she was clothed in a tracksuit, gloves, and long plastic boots,

she still cut a handsome figure. With her white skin and tapering eyes, her

hair that spilled in a black, silky bundle, and lips that were naturally scarlet

without lipstick…on the outside, she was a graceful Yamato Nadeshiko in

the flesh—the Japanese ideal of a perfect woman.

But what lay within was different.

"All right, then. We're going, you maggots! Your goal is one full bag

per person! Because we have fewer participants than usual, you should be

able to easily fulfill your quotas. Well, even though we're calling them

quotas, they're actually not really that rigid. Anyway, just don't show

anyone outside the school that you're undisciplined. Show the world your

volunteer spirit!"

Sumire was masculine to her core. Her leadership was unrivaled; she

was like a female general—no, to be perfectly honest—like a baron or

patriarch.

"…She's, like…super pretty, but…kind of…coarse, right…?" Ami

spoke in a low voice, beside Ryuuji. She hadn't failed to notice the glaring

rift between the boss's appearance and personality. She couldn't bring

herself to look away.

Everyone was like that at first. Ryuuji nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, but even though she looks like that, she's had the top grades in the

school since she enrolled. Supposedly, to the student council, she's like a

living legend—she turned around their financial situation in just one term."

"You sure know a lot about her, Takasu-kun."

"I'm just repeating what Kitamura told me."

Kitamura was strangely cheerful as he clapped at each word from the

beautiful patriarch on the platform. Maybe he was trying to rouse

everyone's spirits.

"…So she's the senior he's proud of, huh…?"

Ryuuji had the impression Kitamura would be a strong leader, but for

some reason he was equally faithful in his duties as a grunt.

But how must that have looked to Taiga? She was a little further off,

next to Minori, but Taiga looked completely taciturn and unhappy. He

couldn't tell if it was unconscious or on purpose, but she was shuffling

restlessly, writing the word "die" on the ground with the tip of her toe.

"Well, you have one hour, starting now! Be absolutely sure you're

not late for the rendezvous time! I won't release any of you until everyone

is here!"

As a follow-up to Sumire's voice shouting through the megaphone,

the student council members each blew a sharp whistle. The twenty

gathered students filtered through the school gates into the outside world,

sent out in search of trash.

There happened to be one person blended in with the group who was

seeking to cultivate a friendship with the vice president.

"The cleanup's scope is pretty broad… oh, I just got something right

off the bat." As he left the school gate, Ryuuji found an old magazine by the

school wall and bent down to grab it with his gloved hand.

"NO!"

He was grabbed by the elastic of his tracksuit and pulled back.

Whoever did it kept on pulling him, right at the waistband. He turned

around at that mild attack, tracksuit riding up, and found Minori behind him

with a stern expression. She waved her index finger back and forth as

though to scold him, clicking her tongue.

"Nuh-uh, Takasu-kun. Anywhere around the school is the third years'

turf. We underclassmen have to go out of the way on expeditions, that's

tradition."

"I-It is?"

"Yeah! Here, look!"

Minori pointed to a subdued girl who seemed to be a third year. "This

is why newbies mean trouble," the girl muttered, as she chucked the

magazine into her bag. It seemed like she was tired from studying from her

exams. Haaah… She breathed out a protracted sigh and braced her back

like an aching grandmother.

"I see…"

"Now, let us wee second years walk a bit more." Minori smiled.

Aaah, he felt like it was the first time in a while he had seen her real

smile. Minori's smile was like the sun. It was so bright, so radiant, so

honest that Ryuuji couldn't help but stare at it, enchanted. It was as though

he were getting a healthy sunburn on the dimples on his cheeks, on his

nose, and on his head. It was splendid. Just then, Ryuuji thought, her

brightness is drawing me in.

And the reason he thought that was because of what was happening

behind Minori's dazzling back.

"Oh, this trash looks exactly like you, Kawashima-san. It seems

you've added another trick to your repertoire of impressions."

"Oh stop, Aisaka-san, your jokes are too harsh! That's just so funny!

Oh, Aisaka-san, don't you think this piece of trash looks exactly like you?

Especially because of how unfortunately small it is."

Two dusky poison ivy blooms enjoyed themselves as they competed

to exchange sarcastic barbs. Just watching them was exhausting.

"…Taiga, stop. We're going, okay?"

He tapped Taiga's butt with his empty trash bag. Not the best way to

get them separated, but something was better than nothing.

"Don't touch my butt! …Ugh…so irritating…! Tsk." Taiga bared a

high-strung fang at Ryuuji and simply walked forward at a brisk pace. She

was actually probably worried about Kitamura and the student body

president. Ami, being Ami, also turned away from Taiga and crossed her

arms.

Minori seemed to have sensed something as she watched the two of

them carrying on. She lowered her voice and whispered to Ryuuji. "Hey,

listen. I was…kind of thinking about this at lunch, too, but do you feel like

there's some kind of bad blood between Taiga and Kawashima-san? Or is it

just me?"

Why now? he thought, but he couldn't leave Minori's question

unanswered. "Yeah, it seems like they don't see eye to eye on a lot of

things. They just don't seem to get along."

"I see! …So that's how it is. Gotcha."

Before long, the two of them started slowly walking side by side—

Ryuuji was so nervous he was shaking. Right now, I'm walking with Minori.

We're slowly passing under the fresh leaves—strolling down a grove just

like on a date. If you ignore the mob of tracksuits in front of and behind us,

it's exactly like a scene from a date. I never thought the day when this would

be a reality would come…

"So, about Taiga and Kawashima-san… Somehow, it seems like

Kawashima-san is completely different from the girl I initially thought she

was. I don't mean that in a bad way, exactly. I want Taiga to get along with

everyone, but that girl seems difficult in some ways, too… the two of them

paired together just might not work. Things get kind of complicated

between us girls." Minori nodded, expression slightly troubled.

Ryuuji also nodded back in the same way. Somehow, he had a hunch

that some strange solidarity had been born between him and Minori. If his

hunch were real, it would be his first direct "relationship" to her without

Taiga or Kitamura acting as intermediaries.

If that was the case, he needed to nurture it into something bigger—

Ryuuji suddenly sharpened his eyes, and in a rare move for him, went a bit

on the offensive. "I-I don't worry about Taiga too much, since because

you're here, K-Kushieda." His voice splintered a little, but there, he at least

spoke normally.

Minori laughed and looked up at Ryuuji. "That's what I should be

saying. I think that as long as you're here, Takasu-kun, Taiga will be okay."

As usual, he'd been misunderstood, although…that meant that on the

list of people Minori valued, Ryuuji was pretty high up. You might even say

he was favored. They smiled at each other, and their eyes locked. Again,

another step. He took just one more weighted step. This time he would say

it—if he was a man, he had to say it. His bloodshot eyes seethed with naked

emotion, and he cleared his tightened throat.

Taiga isn't the only one I want to be close to—I'd like to be closer to

you, too, Minori… That's what he would say. This was it. He softly licked

his dry lips and casually put his nervously shaking fists in his pockets. The

timing was natural, it wouldn't seem weird, and if worse came to worst, he

could play it off as though it were a joke. He could only do it now, only

now—

"Ta—"

"Ryuuji!"

BAM! He was forcefully thrown back.

"Ryuuji, it's terrible! What should I do?!"

"…"

His voice wouldn't come out. He regained his footing just as he was

on the verge of falling over. Though Taiga was still looking up at him,

Ryuuji couldn't say a word.

"Come here, quick! Over here!"

And just like that he was pulled into the shadow of an alleyway.

"Kitamura-kun has been beside that president this whole time! This

whooole time! He won't leave her! He's laughing it up like he's having the

time of his life and isn't noticing me at all! I worked up my courage and

tried telling him, I came with Ryuuji, but when I did that do you know what

he said?! 'Oh, I had no idea. I didn't notice, thank you! That helps!'—and

that was it. That was all he said! Is that what you say to the girl you once

confessed to?! Right?! What do you think?!" she went on a tirade, saying it

all in a single breath. Taiga pressed Ryuuji even more for an answer, "Do

you think it means…he definitely isn't interested?! Wh-what should I do?!

What do you think?! I won't get mad so just be honest!"

"I-I don't think…well, to be honest—"

"Yeah, yeah."

"I wish you would have left me alone… things were going well with

Kushieda…"

"…What's that?" From a looming distance, Taiga's expression filled

with quiet anger. "Even though things are going so badly for me, they were

going well for you?! Huh?! This is bold, even for you!"

"I-Is it so bad? Didn't you say you wouldn't get mad?!"

"I'll get as mad as I want! No, I won't forgive something like that! I

told you, didn't I? Until I get together with Kitamura-kun, I won't let you

be happy! You…heartless brute!"

Taiga the tyrannical stalked off straight out of the alleyway.

"Taiga, what's wrong? Just when I thought you'd appeared, you

vanished again."

"Minorin!" Taiga fell into the arms of Minori, who was standing

around without anything to do. She firmly wrapped her arms around her.

"I don't want to be here anymore… let's go away, just the two of us,

as far as our legs will take us!"

"Eloping? I can't say I dislike the idea." Minori's smile got full

marks for broadmindedness as she embraced Taiga's small shoulders.

Then, the two of them nestled close and walked off into the distance.

They didn't even turn back to Ryuuji once. They seemed strangely happy.

"D-damn it…" he groaned in frustration as he stood stock-still. Left

behind, Ryuuji could only watch as Minori's back grew more distant. And I

just made progress—

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?"

At the sudden words directed to him, he spun around like he'd been

hit. Ami was standing beside him, bowing slightly. It seemed she had come

out after Taiga, who she detested, had left.

"Aisaka-san bowled you over just now, right? I saw it. Were you

okay?"

"Uh…yeah, well…I'm used to it, anyway."

"Takasu-kun, you poor thing. Aisaka-san and Minori-chan aren't

around anymore, and I don't know where Yuusaku went either."

"Oh…right."

He suddenly noticed the other students, who were also restlessly

walking around, taking starry-eyed glances at Ami. Though they watched

the celebrated beauty with feverish eyes, 'that Takasu' was next to her, so

no one seemed able to talk to her. Outside of their class, the name Takasu

Ryuuji still was reckoned in the same standing as the Palmtop Tiger. They

were both synonymous with terror.

There were still a few girls who had the courage to walk by and

wave, saying "Ami-chaan." When Ami smiled and waved back, they

clamored in delight. But, Ami immediately turned her back to them.

"Well, looks like we're the leftovers, so let's work together and get

on with it! Hey, where do you want to try going?" She looked up at Ryuuji

with her dazzling angel's smile.

"Uhmm… Are you sure you don't want to go with those girls from

just now?"

"It's fine, it's fine, I don't know any of them anyway. I'll go with

you. That's right, how about we go towards the riverbank? That was part of

the cleanup area, right?"

"…I don't mind, but…"

Are you sure you want me to go with you? He didn't even get the

chance to ask, as Ami happily started walking with long strides. Then she

turned right around.

"Hey, you're going to be left behind!" Just like in a scene from a

movie, she held out a supple hand to him. Ryuuji couldn't just clasp it, so

he did the only thing he could and walked quickly to overtake Ami. He

looked exactly like the trope of a villainous guy acting bashful.

***

Wobble, wobble, wobble…the tip of the quivering stick finally caught

the plastic bottle on the water's edge.

"I-I got it…!"

"You can do it!"

Ryuuji pulled the empty bottle in against the current, and finally

breathed a sigh. He shook his arm, which was heavy from stretching it as

far as he could manage, and then dropped the bottle into the trash bag,

touching it as little as possible. One down.

"Aah…I'm about halfway there…"

"I'm about the same. We don't have too far to go, so let's show some

energy!"

At the Class A river that ran along the border of the town, Ryuuji and

Ami once again carefully started walking along the lower part of the

concrete levee, taking care to keep their sneakers dry. Under the greying

clouds, whether it was because no one was there to take care of them or

because they had been left to grow as they pleased, grassy patches sprouted

between the cracks of the concrete.

The grass gave off a slightly sickening smell alongside the odor of

the river water, which couldn't be described as clean. Walking in front of

Ami, Ryuuji secretly breathed in. The work had ended up even more lame

than he had imagined. The amount of trash in the bags they each held were

far from becoming one whole trash bag's worth. Even though the quota

wasn't strict, this probably still wouldn't be acceptable.

They had been searching on the promenade above the bank just

earlier, but they couldn't find any coveted bulky trash, and so ended up

coming all the way down to the shoreline. Then…

"Whoa…"

"Ahh!"

Swash, Ryuuji narrowly avoided the downwind splash of a wave and

turned to Ami. Ami also seemed to have been able to avoid the wave, but…

"Ugh… really… this is the absolute worst…"

Ryuuji gulped.

Her low mumble to herself approached irritation, and there were

deep, grim wrinkles rippling across her brow. They didn't suit her at all. On

top of Ryuuji being worn out, it seemed that Ami was getting tired, too. The

omens of her mask's impending failure were there.

The clouds certainly were dark, and the wind was strong. There

wasn't any work more boring than this. It was getting unpleasantly cold, but

they were far from finishing. They also hadn't collected enough trash. In

these circumstances, anyone other than Ami would normally have been in a

bad mood, too. On top of that, there was the incredibly delicate air between

the two of them. They couldn't keep up a conversation; it was awkward,

and Ryuuji, being shy, couldn't even tell a good joke. He already had his

hands full trying to keep his composure so she wouldn't think he was gross.

"A-are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah! I'm completely fine! This is fun, it's like exploring,

right?! I really like stuff like this!" She had stuck on that angel smile

without any problems, but the rift was still scary. Ryuuji felt he would have

been a lot more comfortable if she had just kept being in a bad mood.

"Hey…you don't have to push yourself so hard. You can rest if

you're tired. Even if we can't fill the quota, it's not like they're going to kill

us. And this is pretty hard for a girl, right?" That was Ryuuji giving it his all

trying to check her mood, but it only made her double down on the act.

"Oh no, I'm completely fine, I'm telling you!" While making a big

deal of waving her hand in front of her face, she looked up at him with her

Chihuahua eyes, which were radiating sparkles. She inclined her head while

spinning especially sweet words for him.

"I was thinking about this since way earlier, you know! That I wanted

a chance to have a nice relaxed chat with you, Ryuuji. So…awah!"

It happened then.

A strong gust of mischievous wind had disturbed the water's surface,

creating a larger wave than before. Ryuuji quickly ran away to the slope and

escaped the trouble, but Ami, down at water level, was too slow.

"…No…way…"

This was unfortunate.

"Are you okay?! I-I ran away by myself, but that was… what have

I…"

"…"

Even someone as versatile as Ami didn't seem to have the power to

recompose herself right now. She looked long and hard at her sopping wet

sneakers and at the hem of her tracksuit. She remained speechless and

expressionless as she stood.

"K-Kawashima…"

But finally, he saw the edges of Ami's lips lifting. Slowly,

mechanically. Like a machine. Though she raised a grim, shaking look at

him, he could see that she was trying her best to soften it.

"Ohh…"

She had a resolve that couldn't be dissolved. Slowly but surely, Ami

tried to regain her angelic mask, desperately, with great pain. Then, when

she had recomposed seventy percent of it…

"Eep—"

…Her pretty features once again froze over. On top of Ami's wet feet

—on top of her sneaker laces—some sort of blackish, moist, and weird

object wriggled and writhed. For about three full seconds, she just stared at

it.

"Eeee…"

And then she shrieked.

"NOOOOOOOOOO AAAHHHHHHHHHHH GET IT OFF GET IT

OFF GET IT OFFFF!" Outright screaming, Ami tumbled over. She flailed

her feet around.

"S-stop moving! Stop moving! Don't kick my face, they'll fall down!

You'll crush them!"

On her feet were two, no, three tadpoles with composed faces. As

Ami screamed on the brink of madness, nearly unconscious, Ryuuji

somehow got her shoes off.

"Salvaged!"

He was able to return the tiny tadpoles to the stream.

"…Wh…wha…wha."

But.

Collapsed on her back, Ami's face was in rigor mortis. She was out

of breath. Frozen over. Her hair was in terrible disarray, her legs were

carelessly spread out, her tracksuit was sopping wet up to her shins, and it

went without saying that her socks were covered in mud. "Kawashima

Ami-chan" was in a horrible, unbecoming condition.

Ryuuji hesitantly approached.

"I-I'll…put your shoes here. Okay. They're wet, but there aren't any

tadpoles on them anymore, okay?"

He quietly put the sneakers together by her feet. Ami's big eyes

swerved to look down at those shoes.

"Ah, ah, ah…"

Ami-chan, he heard her say in a very low mumble.

It only took another second after he heard that.

"AMI-CHAN-DOESN'T-WANT-TO-DO-THIS-ANYMOOOOOOOOOOOORE!"

Her white hands grabbed her shoes, and she chucked them straight

into the riverbank.

"…Wha…uwaahh…!"

Without thinking, Ryuuji covered his mouth with his hands. He

couldn't say anything more. The mask was off.

Ami huffed with her shoulders like a beast. Words poured out of her,

things like "I can't stand it anymore," and, "I really can't do this anymore,"

and, "Ami-chan is going home, I'm going home right now!" and on it went.

Until…

"AAH?!"

She turned and locked eyes with Ryuuji. She finally seemed to

remember his existence. For several seconds, the two of them stared at each

other without words.

"…Eheh!" Ami put her fists up to her mouth, and put on her pure and

deadly smile. "Just kidding! That's a joke, a joke! C'mon, Takasu-kun,

don't make such a scary face!"

You're the one who's scary… Of course, he couldn't actually say that.

Ami smiled as she turned back to him several times and laughed,

Eheheh. Still in her socks, she bravely went up the bank.

"Here I go, here I go… ahh! I found them! What a relief!"

In each hand, she was holding the shoes she herself had just thrown,

all smiles. With a forced sweetness in her voice, she dramatically turned

around. She put her shoes on then and there.

"Takasu-kun, do you want to race to the bank?"

"…Uhh…"

"The one who loses has to give the one who wins all their trash! Then

the winner has their quota filled! I'm gonna staaart—aaand GO!"

As Ryuuji watched Ami's back as she ran up the bank, he thought,

The winner gets the trash, but…you just left behind the trash bags.

He reluctantly took the two people's worth of trash bags in his hands

and quickly went up the bank. He couldn't keep up with her, but in this

case, it was his only option.

In the grass, Ami disappeared from his field of view. Right about

now, she was probably trying to desperately remake her broken mask where

no one could see. He thought about going a little more slowly.

"You're slooow!"

Then he saw her hop out from behind the grass onto the top of the

bank with her features completely composed, cute as can be.

"Takasu-kun, you lost! But, I'll keep helping you pick up trash, so

don't worry, you'll be fine!" she said in a bright voice as she looked down

at him. It seemed like she had fully regained her usual smile.

"…You don't have to keep doing that."

"Huh? Doing what?"

Contrary to her words, it was impossible to hide the bewilderment in

her wavering gaze—it was because Ami's eyes were too large. And then,

just like Ryuuji, she was too tired to remake herself in the way she intended.

"What's the point of it all? All this suffering and effort just to look a

little better in front of me? It's not like I'm going to tell anyone or anything.

So just go rest somewhere over there or head back early."

At those unintentionally blunt words, Ami's eyes became round with

puzzlement. "…What are you talking about? I don't understand what you

mean."

It seemed she was intent on seeing her charade through to the end.

Even though the mask had broken long ago, it didn't seem to be ordinary

brashness. But, Ryuuji's own brashness was a force to be reckoned with,

too. If anything, it was because he was taking care of the Palmtop Tiger day

in and day out.

"…If you really don't get it, that's fine, too. You can do what you

want. But I understand it even less than you do. Why are you forcing

yourself to participate in this boring cleanup? What's the point of it—to

doing this? Is there one?"

He didn't actually intend to accuse her of anything, but he couldn't

just not ask. He couldn't help but think the work involved in the cleanup

wasn't suited to someone who wanted to keep up an act. Ami didn't have to

go this far. She already had a good reputation spreading among the class.

But Ami muttered, "You don't understand the point?" Her smile

suddenly disappeared. "…You don't understand. Huh…"

Ryuuji stopped walking for a moment at that clear gaze. He found

himself unintentionally straining his eyes to better see what kind of

expression she had on, but the wind blew and scattered Ami's hair,

shrouding her face.

"It seems like you aren't as easy as I anticipated, Takasu-kun. This

sort of thing doesn't work on you…"

I just wanted to play around with that shrimp, but this messed me up

—he thought he heard derision in her hoarse voice.

"Huh? What were you playing at…?"

But, when he questioned her…

"Hm? Whaaat? That's how you heard it? That's weird, you must have

misheard." She tucked her hair behind her ear, and like an angel, smiled her

usual calm smile as she looked at Ryuuji. "I told you earlier, but the reason

why I'm here is that I wanted to have a nice, relaxed conversation with you,

Takasu-kun. Is that such a mysterious reason?"

Those sweet words, that beautiful smile… this was undoubtedly the

superficial Ami he was so used to. No matter what he said, he couldn't

seem to reach her. He just got the usual Ami, who looked down on other

people.

Ryuuji breathed in, deciding against asking any more questions. No

matter what he said, it wouldn't reach this Ami anyway. If she wanted to do

this, she could. It no longer had anything to do with him.

Then, suddenly Ami looked up at the sky. "…Was that rain…?"

Cold, heavy drops also fell on Ryuuji's cheeks.

"…This is ridiculous, isn't it…?"

They were beside the promenade, on a bench under a square gazebo.

Ami was holding her slender legs as she sat, muttering as though in a daze.

She had recovered her mask but hadn't been able to keep it on for

more than ten minutes—she didn't seem in any state to go on picking up

trash.

Just as Ami had said, the scene beyond the cover of the simply built

gazebo, its roof supported merely by posts, was ridiculous. They had

suddenly been assailed by torrential rain.

Massive clouds covered the sky, and even though it was around four,

a strange gloom engulfed the area. The downpour of slanting raindrops

violently gouged the soft earth like bullets. It had only been a few minutes

since it started, but here and there puddles were quickly forming, flowing

like small streams. The river was right below the embankment, but it looked

blurry and hazy.

The strong wind made the roof creak with its roar.

"…What if the roof just blows away…?"

"It won't." He tried to laugh it off, but it seemed Ami was actually

afraid.

"I wonder if we'll actually be okay…"

"With the way it's raining now, it'll probably stop in a few minutes."

Ryuuji leaned on a post as he spoke, but Ami's face remained gloomy

at his words. Her wet hair was plastered to her white cheeks. Now it didn't

matter whether this was her mask or true self. The delicate awkwardness

had been blown away in the face of the torrential rain, along with

everything else. Ami simply shivered slightly from the cold, anxiously

looking up at the moving sky. The tracksuit covering her thin shoulders was

also thoroughly drenched.

"…Achoo!"

It was a small sneeze, like a baby mouse's. It was completely

different from Taiga's weird, loud sneezes. It made him want to take off

what he was wearing and put it on her shoulders. But, Ryuuji's tracksuit

was just as wet as hers.

"Aren't you cold? …I have a trash bag I'm not using, so do you want

to wear that? I can open a hole for your head."

"Huh?! Like hell I'd do that!"

He was rejected in a flash. If Ami had had her mask on right now, she

would definitely have smiled and accepted it.

"…Right. You wouldn't want a trash bag poncho."

"I don't, I'd never. I wouldn't do anything like that! Seriously…

unbelievable." With a bratty snort, Ami turned away childishly.

If this were the normal Ami, she definitely wouldn't have shown how

sullen she was. It seemed that the mask, once cracked open, could easily be

shattered by some further incident. By (for example) a terrible, sudden burst

of freezing torrential rain.

"…This is definitely the tadpoles' curse." He tried to break up the

strained silence with something silly. Ami looked up at Ryuuji, unamused.

"…Why do I have to be cursed?"

"It's payback for putting their lives in danger, right?"

"But you saved them, didn't you, Takasu-kun?"

"…Well, in truth, I just pretended that I saved them, but I actually

threw them over there into the grass…"

"Huh?!"

Ami suddenly sat up straight, speechless. Her mouth hung half open

and her wide-open eyes seemed ready to overflow.

"…Hey, I'm obviously lying. Do I look like someone who could do

something like that?"

"Wh…what! Well! I was afraid you were serious for a second—I'm

here to tell you, Takasu-kun, that you look exactly like someone who could

do something like that!"

How rude.

"Hey, what's that all about? Sorry, but I'm actually a pretty nice guy.

Though I'm saying that about myself, which is kind of awkward… but I

actually like animals a lot and have an inko I hatched from an egg and take

very good care of."

"An inko as in a parakeet? …Is that the ugly perverted parakeet that

Aisaka Taiga was talking about?"

"I can't believe Taiga said that! She's actually a really charming and

good parakeet."

"Are there good and bad parakeets? What's its name?"

"Inko-chan."

"…"

Ami was silent for a moment.

"Ahahaha! What is that?!"

Suddenly, she laughed out loud. Not knowing what she meant,

Ryuuji's eyes sharpened with confusion as she pointed at him.

"Normal people wouldn't name it something like that! That's not a

real name, that's just what it is! You're weird, weird, weird, totally weiiird!"

"…Am I?"

"You bet you are!"

Ami swept up her wet and dripping hair, displaying the entirety of her

round forehead. Patting both hands together, she kept right on laughing. She

stamped her legs—she just couldn't help herself. "'Inko-chan!' What is

that?! Takasu-kun, you're completely different inside from what you look

like on the outside. Though you're nowhere near as bad as that president!"

She turned her eyes towards Ryuuji, brimming with tears from laughing too

hard.

But then…

"Oh, no."

Ami's laughter ended just as quickly as it had started. It was as

though someone had petrified her with a spell. Turned to stone, Ami looked

past Ryuuji at something far behind him. Her expression looked more like a

statue with every passing moment.

"What is it? Come on, hey! Kawashima!"

Without replying to Ryuuji, Ami ran out of the gazebo into the

torrential rain. Ryuuji couldn't keep pace with someone this inconsistent.

Ami didn't listen to him asking her to stop. She stooped and half-ran into

the overgrown grass, bending over to hide herself. She took the cold rain

head-on, but the distance between them grew and grew as she charged

onward regardless. He didn't understand what was going on, but he

couldn't just leave her alone, either.

"Wait!"

Ryuuji also jumped into the slanting rain. Then, once he caught up

with her, he forcefully grasped Ami from behind. Somehow he managed to

push her into a broken-down bike rack a ways out from the gazebo.

The bike rack at least had an iron roof, but the difference between it

and the gazebo was like heaven and earth. They were still exposed to the

wind and they didn't have anywhere to sit. Rusted bikes lay piled in a

messy heap right next to them.

"What's going on with you?! Why'd you go out into this rain on

purpose…?"

"Shh!"

"…!"

A cold hand reached out to the nape of Ryuuji's neck. Between the

coldness of her touch and Ami's close scent, Ryuuji couldn't speak, or

breathe.

She clung to him, leaning her weight on him. Then, she roughly

pushed him down into a crouch.

"Hey…wait…why…?"

"…Shh, because!"

Her body felt strangely cushiony and soft against him, but she was so

slender, almost fleeting. Where Ami's skin touched his, it felt so smooth he

thought he might melt into it.

But he couldn't do that. As his face turned a bright blood red, Ryuuji

grabbed a pole out of earnest and absolute desperation. He pulled himself

away to get free of Ami's leaning body weight. In the sweet smell of rain,

like a drowning man, Ryuuji sought to lose himself in the cold void and let

his breath escape him.

But he heard the faint whisper of a hoarse voice.

"…Let's hide like this…for a little…"

Then, Ami crouched and rounded herself up into a small ball. She

completely settled herself into Ryuuji's chest, as though using his body as a

shield. He was so close that he could see her pearly gray eyes and her long

eyelashes, which were wet and shimmering from the clear rain that clung to

them.

"Ah, ah, ah… wai-wai…th-this is…" At his wit's end, with a face so

red that it looked like it would spray blood at a pinprick, Ryuuji raised his

voice in embarrassment. If there was anyone who could act normally at

such a sudden, transcendental embrace—and with an incredibly pretty girl,

no less—he wanted to know who they were.

"…Over there…" she whispered in a small voice, pointing carefully

to show him. He was still in a dreamy state as he looked in that direction,

but the change came instantaneously. Ryuuji's boiling blood dropped to

below freezing in an instant, and he sunk down on his feet in a chill.

"…Th-that guy…"

Back at their original gazebo, the guy who'd just run in to escape the

rain was unpleasantly familiar.

The man folded up his umbrella and looked around. It was that guy

who looked like a college student at first glance, who, if he weren't carrying

a digital camera in this torrent, wouldn't have been so strangely

conspicuous.

Instinctively, Ryuuji had goosebumps. He exchanged his spot for

Ami's and managed to completely hide her.

"It's the weirdo from yesterday…right? Why would he be in a place

like this? It's too much to be a coincidence…"

"…Do you really think there's any chance it could be?"

"…"

He couldn't answer Ami's question. But no—it definitely couldn't be

a coincidence.

"He was waiting while I was at school…and followed us here…!"

A gross sensation slithered through Ryuuji. He shuddered

unconsciously—and that wasn't just because of the cold. "How would he

know the school you go to? You made it sound like he was a weird fan you

happened to run into yesterday."

"…Right, and he is, but…" Ami's faltering voice was mixed with

hesitation. He understood. Several times, she opened her mouth, but she

kept silent. She held her breath, sheltered within Ryuuji's arm. Just like that,

her body froze up.

"Say it. Now that it's come to this, you can't keep it a secret."

When he quickly jolted her cold shoulders, her back faintly shook.

Then, slowly, in a quiet voice, she finally spoke the words.

"Well…there's only one way to put it. That guy…is a stalker."

At the reverberation of those words, Ryuuji recalled the furious shout

Ami had given earlier in her treacherous fight with Taiga—you stalker! He

thought that might pretty much have been the one and only time Ami's

emotions were laid bare.

"Yesterday, how do I put this… I was too embarrassed to say it. I

don't want it to be a big deal…and that guy is an infamous nuisance in the

industry. Somehow, he researches you and appears around your house or

your parents' house or your school with camera in hand. He's been

prowling around after other magazine models besides me and causing

trouble."

"…For real…?"

At Ryuuji's grumble, Ami nodded, and then continued on. "The

reason I moved here was because of that guy. My mom is an entertainer,

right? My mom's office told me there were problems with a weird guy

prowling around our neighborhood…so I ended up coming here alone and

living with my relatives. My dad is also busy with work, so he couldn't

leave his office at the city center. But…I didn't think that this guy would

keep looking for me even after the move…"

"So that's how it is…"

"Yeah. I don't think I could have helped having to move, but…I'm

scared. I'm separated from my parents, and until this cools down, I took a

break from modeling work, and a break from the agency. So no one is here

to protect me…before, my manager would pick me up with a car but…ugh,

I can't believe it…I can't believe he would follow me all the way here…!"

That would be scary.

It was scary enough to make even him cold, and he was a guy. For

Ami, who was the target, it was probably so terrifying that he couldn't even

imagine.

He unconsciously held her more firmly with his arm.

"…Takasu-kun…"

"Until that guy gives up and goes, let's keep hiding."

He was a coward who couldn't bring himself to say I'll beat that guy

up, but even Ryuuji could at least hide with her. They both remained there,

trying to lower the sound of their breathing, huddled up together, waiting

for the time to pass.

But while the rain might have made some people give up, this guy

was still sitting on the bench. He started leisurely wiping his wet camera.

And during that time, the rain mercilessly changed directions. It blew

right into them. Ryuuji's tracksuit got wet and started to grow heavy. When

he was wondering just how long they'd need to stay like this, he heard a

voice.

"Heeey! Takasu-kuuun! Kawashima-saaan! That's weird, they're not

anywhere. But in this rain… what's goin' on with it? Taiga, aren't you

cold?"

"I'm fine. What about you, Minorin?"

"I'm totes fine! But I really do wonder where they got off to. There

was someone who saw them heading to the riverbank, too…"

"It's raining pretty hard, so I wonder if they went back halfway. What

if they already went back?"

"Wouldn't we have seen 'em if they were on their way back?"

In the increasing wind and rain, the voices they heard were no doubt

Minori and Taiga. He felt uncertain whether he could depend on those two.

He wasn't sure if he could trust that unpredictable pair—he wasn't sure

whether they'd been saved or if the situation had just gotten worse. But still,

without thinking Ryuuji turned…

"Hey, those voices are definitely Taiga's and Kushi… bwuh!"

He sputtered. Even though it was a time like this…

It was just such a terrible sight. Minori had opened a hole in a trash

bag and was wearing exactly the article of clothing they'd talked about

before—a merry see-through poncho.

And Taiga was using an extremely small, see-through takeout box

like an umbrella over her head.

"Hey, Minorin, those takoyaki from earlier weren't that hot. I know

it's a bit late, but I'm ticked off. Let's go give them a piece of our mind."

It was a takoyaki box…but it was somehow still keeping her

completely safe from the rain. Was it fine if she got aonori and katsuoboshi

stuck to her head? She really was actually stupid… no, if he laughed, his

abdominal muscles would… but then the tension diffused.

Peering up at Ryuuji, who was desperately trying to suppress a laugh,

Ami rebuked him with pinched lips. "Takasu-kun, you're kind of…

shaking."

"Sorry…I kind of got caught up…it's just that…a takoyaki box as an

umbrella is… Bwahaha!"

Hadn't he seen a goblin outfitted like that before? A Mizuki drawing

clearly formed in his mind.

But it seemed Ryuuji wasn't the only one who was inspired by the

odd sight. The stalker, still in the gazebo, suddenly turned around.

"A cute, pint-sized goblin discovery!"

He brought up his camera, rude as you please. But there was no way

that the queen of the beasts, the Palmtop Tiger, wouldn't notice that move.

"…A goblin… me?"

In an instant, Taiga's face twisted, baring fangs that thirsted for his

blood. She turned her brutal gaze directly at the place where the voice had

come from—the gazebo.

"You over there! I don't know what you're trying to do, but you're

pretty creepy! I didn't just hear a suspicious looking person like you calling

me a goblin, did I?!"

She licked her lips with a red tongue—when her bloodlust was up, it

didn't matter if she was dealing with someone she had never seen before, or

even some kind of pervert. She would go off on them without hesitation.

She rolled up the takoyaki container she was using as an umbrella in

her hands, and her simple sword was done. She gripped it firmly in both

hands, and brought her elbows into a sturdy stance.

"Rain like this will wash away all the evidence," she muttered, and

went right into a fierce dash.

"Huh? Wha, whoa!"

Still silent, sturdily holding her sword-carton, her face was that of an

ogress. She tore ahead at an unnatural speed. There was no way he wouldn't

be terrified of a mysterious goblin dashing full force towards him.

"Wh-what is this?!"

Flustered, the man grabbed his backpack. He barely got his umbrella

open before he turned his back to Taiga and started running.

Taiga just kept on pursuing. "I don't care who you are or where you

came from—whoa!"

Sploop. Her foot was helplessly stuck in the mud.

All this happened right in front of the dilapidated rack Ryuuji and

Ami were hiding by. Right before she was about to fall face first into the

mud…

"…Y-you…"

…Ryuuji jumped out into the middle of the rain. With miraculous

timing, he grabbed Taiga by the nape of her neck. He narrowly caught her

in midair, posed like an ensnared beast. "You klutz!"

Stuck in the same position, Taiga checked her feet. "…I-I thought I

was gonna fall for sure! I stopped breathing!"

She desperately clung to Ryuuji's arm, wet hair drooping to her waist.

She had a look on her face like a cat that had been hit by a car. She breathed

in a delicate, long breath.

"Don't go around chasing someone you don't know! Throw that

thing away! Toss it!" Ryuuji slapped the carton sword (or goblin umbrella)

from her hands. The top of her head seemed to smell a little like katsuboshi.

As he was intently and absentmindedly staring at the crown of her head,

Minori caught up to them.

"Taiga, what are you doing?! And wait, who the heck was that guy?!

And wait, Takasu-kun, where were you?!"

Her face seemed to have a giant question mark in the middle of it as

she wiped the mud off Taiga's face.

At that point, Ami, equally soaked, came on out. She stopped in front

of Minori, who turned in surprise.

"…And wait, where were you, Kawashima-san?!" She picked rotten

scraps of grass off Ami's shoulders.

"…"

A single droplet rolled down and fell from Ami's rain-soaked face.

***

"A stalker?!" While Kitamura shouted, he pushed up his drooping

glasses. "You didn't tell me about anything like that at all! You said you

were tired of modeling, and didn't like your school, and that your parents

didn't come home much!"

"…It was hard for me to tell you. Because if I told you, Yuusaku,

you'd just worry about me."

As he looked into the face of his childhood friend, who had grown

entirely too beautiful, Kitamura had a rare moment of hesitation.

As a thank you for participating in the cleanup, and to make it up to

them for getting soaked in the storm, Kitamura had invited them to a latenight fast food place. Although the rain had tapered off to a light sprinkle,

there still weren't many other customers on account of the bad weather.

After Ami finished telling Kitamura about her incredibly bleak

situation, for some reason, she turned her ivory face down in

embarrassment. Ryuuji, as a witness, refrained from making a statement as

he sat beside her. Minori furrowed her brow while looking at Ami in worry.

"…Oh…"

Taiga dribbled ketchup from the potato chip she was holding—

probably succumbing to the nervousness that came with Kitamura being

nearby. Ryuuji, still silent, pulled out the wet tissues he carried around for

Taiga's messes, and quickly wiped her skirt.

In a rare moment for the group surrounding the table, they were all

silent.

"Anyway, for now…"

The one who cut the fuse was Kitamura.

"We need to go to the police."

"I already talked to them," said Ami. "There seem to be other girls

with the agency who pressed charges against him, but that guy's really sly.

He doesn't leave any evidence of his identity. And it's not like the police

will start a real investigation over something this minor…"

"Then I'll catch him and bring him to the police myself. He's been

hanging around you, right? I'll talk to the other members and have them

help—"

"Don't, it's too dangerous. And something like that…it'd become too

big of a deal. It would cause trouble. You understand, right? Something like

this is too juicy a scandal. I could end up becoming a public 'victim,' which

would be entirely too much for me to endure. And if by any chance you or

anyone else got hurt, I couldn't handle the responsibility. And anyway, my

mom… I don't think my mom's agency would forgive me."

After being told that, even the righteous one among them grew silent.

Kitamura groaned in a low voice as he crossed his arms. "But if this keeps

up…"

"Right! That's it!"

Bringing up her pointer finger, Minori suddenly raised her voice. She

opened her eyes wide and told them, "This is our only option."

"The reason why they can't catch that guy is because they don't

know his identity, right? Then, let's stalk the stalker! While he's stalkerstalking Kawashima-san, we'll take pictures or video as evidence to bring

him down. We'll take that to the police, and have them figure out who he is,

and then have them catch him. That should be good, right?"

"Kushieda…! That's it! Amazing! As expected of the girls' softball

club president! No, right now, I feel like I could even hand over the boys'

club to you!"

"I know, right?! Give me the boys! I'll rearrange their bodies a little

and make it an all-girls division!"

"Ahaha, you really are a maniac!"

Kitamura and Minori were getting all riled up. They slapped their

hands together playfully, but Ryuuji couldn't help but cut in…even if he

wasn't sure whether he wanted to get involved "But wait a sec. Who would

do it?"

"Why not me?" Minori said without any pretension, taking Ryuuji

captive with her dazzling smile. "A friend of the belly is a friend of the

heart! I have enough room in both to help out with this."

Yay! She flashed a victory sign. Minori was truly kind. A goddess,

dropped to the earth amongst unworthy mortals. Ryuuji was moved by how

expansive her generosity could be. He held his hand to his mouth and his

eyes glinted madly.

Though he wasn't angry—he was just teary eyed.

"I-I'll do my best to help, too."

He didn't have confidence in his strength, but to have his beloved

Minori say something like that, and then for him to not say anything—he

couldn't do something so crude. His pride as a man wouldn't allow it. Then,

he took a glance at Taiga, whose presence seemed awfully subdued.

The Baron Ashura face was there again.

Ryuuji could more or less imagine why. The right half of her face

was jealous of Ami because of Kitamura's worry for her. The left side was

excited over the anticipation of potentially doing something with Kitamura.

Her whole body was afflicted by subtle worry for Minori, who was saying

she would help, and probably… just very, very slightly, there was just a hint

of worry for Ami.

…At least, he wanted to think there was. "Hey, Taiga." Really, if he

didn't send her a lifeline, she really would just turn to stone. "You're

definitely helping, too, right? You have a grudge against that guy, too. See,

he said that thing to you right? He said…"

"…Something terrible. He called me a goblin."

He couldn't give away that he'd been thinking of exactly those

words. Ryuuji nodded knowingly at her. "Then, you've gotta bring him

down."

For a moment she held her tongue and turned her gaze to Ryuuji. It

looked as though her anger at the incident and even her interest in it had

already evaporated. "…Right. …That makes sense. Yeah, let's do it. Ami, I

may not be able to stand you, but just this once, I'll fight with you."

Taiga turned to Ami, and nodded deeply at her once.

"Just now, our hearts became one!"

Beside Kitamura, who was so riled up from the tension he was about

to make a speech, Ami was afflicted with worry and her face was still

downcast as she bit her lip, unable to make a sound. Ryuuji noticed.

"Are you okay?" he asked her automatically. Ami raised her face as

though she'd suffered a physical blow. Then she quickly conjured up a

smile.

"…Uh, yeah! If everyone's going to help me, I'm back to 100%!

Thank you—you're all so dependable!"

Those strangely light words echoed emptily through the deserted

restaurant.