Thus came a sudden declaration of war. Inside the classroom, Iihoshi-san pointed at me, with a vexed expression on her face. Where did that come from? Did I sexually harass her without realizing? Just looking at her is safe, right? I mean, I wasnât staring either, just looking at her normally.
âWhat should I do for you to forgive me?â
âNo need to apologize. I was just not going all out.â
âUmâŠ? So, the fault is with you, Iihoshi-san?â
âNope, itâs all yours, Sajou-kun.â
âSomeone save meeeee!?â
This is what I mean! At least tell me why youâre angry! I just got my reputation up, Iihoshi-san! A crude personality would be much more comfortable in this caseâŠBig Sisâ attitude makes it really easy to understand, which is greatâŠWell, not exactly great.
âHmm, what happened?â
âWhat are you doingâŠâ
âWhat did you do now?â
âSajou, you moron~â
As if they heard me thinking that, the other peeps from the class approached us. Also, why is me messing up the premise? 70% were just annoyed at me, whereas 30% were actually interested. This ainât some circus, okay. The class rep and I were just in a heatedâ
âY-Youâre not fair, Sajou-kun! Screaming your love in the middle of the classroomâŠ!â
âI wasnât doing any of that.â
Whatâs wrong with class rep today? Sheâs prioritizing her feelings rather than rationalityâŠWhere did the girl go that I saw like an adultâŠAs I was in the center of attentionâor rather, in the corner of the classroom at my own seat, Shirai-san and the other classmates arrived as wellâŠNo but seriously, why are you all coming over here!?
âWhat are youâŠAhh, are you talking about yesterday?â
âYesterday? What happened, Maichi?â
Standing behind Shirai, Saitou-san showed a wry smile, seemingly the one person who understood best what exactly was going on. Seeing her talk in such a girly fashion despite knowing sheâs part of the tea ceremony club is greeting quite the great gap, not gonna lie. But, enough about that. Great follow-up there, Ashida. Hit some great spikes todayâŠof course, not on me. On the enemyâs court.
âShe was pushed down by Airi-chan after all.â
âMore detail, please.â
âSpeak.â
âSajocchi, Yamazaki, sit.â
Iâm not a dog, okay. I just reflexively spoke up when the calm and proper Saitou-san said the words âpushed downâ. I wouldnât ask for such greater detailâNatsukawa-san? The way you glare at me like that almost reminds me of Big Sis, you know!? You have the eyes of Big Sis who would see me on the sofa, just saying âMoveâ while shoving me off!
âFor crying out loudâŠYesterday when everyone came over to play, Airi just jumped at Iihoshi-san.â
âOh my, how could that have happened?â
âWho knowsâŠBut, she definitely mentioned your name after thatâŠâ
âShe told me âWeaker than Sajo~ââŠâ
âHah, I won.â
âThatâs not the problem here! You were both pushed over!â
So itâs my fault? Well, I feel oddly relieved, so I donât mind it being my fault. Also, didnât she just say âI wonât loseâ? Fightâs on, should we charge into each other? Ah, Iâm sorry.
âMore importantly, did Sajou-kun meet Airi-chan!?â
âIn London at nightâŠit was a fateful encounter.â
âThat girlâs five.â
It was a moonlit nightâHey, donât look at me and Natsukawa like that. I didnât ask for it, and itâs definitely a bother for Natsukawa. Also, are you really going to complain about who Iâm flirting with? Iâm not a handsome guy or anything, right.
âThatâs unexpected. I always thought that Natsukawa-san kept her guard up quite high when it came to Sajou-kunâŠâ
âWasnât she all âI definitely wonât let you meet her!â beforeâŠ?â
âEh? Ah, wellâŠâ
Gazes all over gathered on Natsukawa. Personally speaking, I didnât think it was anything that needed hiding, but seeing Natsukawa fidget nervously and look towards me in search of assistance, I couldnât help butâŠWait, weâre keeping this a secret? A secret just between the two of us? That sounds mighty delicious. Can you not make my heart skip a beat like that? Iâm getting convulsions.
âAhhhâŠWell, you know. I was out shopping, when I suddenly saw the Kano sisters1 walk towards me. That happens a lot, right?â
âSheâs five.â
I messed up. To think that the first sisters popping up in my mind would be these twoâŠThereâs no way I would ever run into them either. Never even saw a luxurious flat from the inside. Not to mention that these two donât even resemble Natsukawa.
âWellâŠbecause of her bad luck, Airi-chan happened to run into me.â
âIâm shocked you can say that so indifferentlyâŠâ
I say it like that, but in reality I was invited there. Never would have imagined that such a day would come for me. Even now, it still doesnât feel real. After all, Natsukawa probably still sees me as a botherâŠAlthough it doesnât look that wayâŠBut, reality isâŠ
âNatsukawa basically goes âAh, he saw meâ, to which I respond âThis is pretty awkwardâ, and freeze up.â
âThatâs a more proper train of thought than I assumed!?â
âThen Airi-chan grabs me.â
âWhy!?â
âThen we were both wrestling with strength about equal.â
âSheâs five.â
Youâre wrongâŠAiri-chanâs weapon isnât her muscle power correlating to her age, but rather her endless endurance and will to never give upâŠ! Why am I so desperate to win against her?
ââSo, because the selfish me wasnât there, Iihoshi-san became my stand-in.â
Following that, my days of observing the situation around Natsukawa related to Blondie continued. However, Claumaty didnât contact her ever since. After learning of the âeast and westâ rumour, it was clear where this awkward atmosphere came from. As of right now, thereâs rumours here and there coming up from clubs about members being unfriendly with each other. That being said, since both Natsukawa and I are in the go-home club, we donât know anything regarding that. Ashida said that the volleyball club doesnât have any west-side students either. Saitou-sanâs tea ceremony club apparently works on the acquaintance principle, so they donât talk too much.
Information is a weapon after all, and although Iâm worried about Natsukawa, I want to avoid trouble as best as possible. Iâll never know when something will happen again, so Iâll be on the watch about that. Oh, arenât I actually more adaptable than usual? Haha.
ââŠâŠHaa.â
The rainâs on the strong side of things today. Summer is baptism. Talking about the rainy season, you generally think of June, but these rainy seasons actually often continue into July and August. Even if you protect yourself with an umbrella, the ground is still all wet and slippery. Because of that, the time spent at school is pretty much ruined because of your drenched socks, building up frustration with every step.
Walking my way to school, I was humming a popular song with the rain falling as a musical accompaniment. The rain hitting my umbrella completely drowned out my voice. The moisture, this unpleasant feeling, this karaoke-esque feeling healed it allâhey now, didnât that sound like a poem just now?
With these pointless thoughts in mind, I heard the sound of a large truck approaching me from behind. I need to get out of the wayâWell, I was on the sidewalk, so I donât need to worryâŠâŠNo, wait a second?
âCrapââ
*
âThe dripping manâŠâ
âBoth his eyes and face look deadâŠâ
The tension went reminiscent of a miracle ball-esque fork ball. It fell so much that it landed a straight hit directly into the catcherâs balls. Quite the powerful word. If that happened, let alone his baseball career, his life as a man would be over.
âIâm out of luck, huhâŠâ
I was attacked by mayhem caused by the water. Ashidaâs grossed out expression was a mental attack in the style of a spike. I didnât expect to get handkerchiefs or towels handed to me at every corner. Yamazaki, how long did you keep that towel in your bag?
Adding to that, the dirt and sand that splattered on me I could only wipe away, not completely wash off. You know this sense of discomfort when you wash the tableware with detergent, and this bit of dirt wonât get off no matter what.
âIâm shocked you have your jersey with you, itâs summer alreadyâŠNot to mention an unopened one.â
âBecause I donât have anything to wear for a few consecutive daysâŠAt the beginning of spring, you basically had enough with just one, right.â
âAlso, thereâs still the price tag on there.â
â3980 yenâŠSo thatâs my value right nowâŠâ
âWhaâŠâ
âAhh, I totally get it~ When youâre down, youâre down for good~â
âUrkâŠâ
âThat sure gave off a dull soundâŠâ
My forehead fell down on the desk ahead of me. It hurt, but it also didnât. More than anything, I just didnât care. Even without the rain, thereâs just times where I feel that way. The only good thing about this is Natsukawaâs faint kindness.
âThis is purely because of your bad luck, right.â
âWhy would a truck drive by there on a rainy day of all timesâŠâ
âProbably to annoy the people on the sidewalkâŠâ
Is having a truck drive this close to the residential district really a good idea? Iâd make sense if theyâre some moving company, but that was clearly just the logistics-typeâŠ
ââŠâŠâŠâ
âWha, eh, Wataru!? Donât just sleep, at least remove the price tag first!â
âEh? He fell asleep? Like this?â
âHeâs faster at falling asleep than AiriâŠâ
Iâm not sleepingâŠBut, this ainât half bad. Resting my head like this is much more comfortable. The more I move, the more I feel my drenched underwear glued to my skin.
Despite the first period not even having started yet, I already feel exhaustedâŠIs it a mental problem? Maybe I should watch some cat or dog videosâŠBut, I donât wanna watch videos on mobile dataâŠMom will get angry at meâŠ
Ahh, I canât muster up any motivation. Is there no switch I can flick for thatâŠ? Well, it doesnât matter if there isnât. Iâll just wait for my clothes to dry.
*
There was a cup. Inside a pure white space, I could see a transparent cup, and I was only staring down at it. Then, a faucet appeared. Itâs a stylish one you would see in a new family home. The handle was turned upwards, pouring water into the cup as if to entice me. I could tell how the cup was happy about that.
Then, the water stopped. An amount comfortable to drink was inside the cup. Since I might as well, I tried reaching out for it with my hand, but my hand didnât even appear in my view. I was left baffled, but that cup still seemed satisfied. I could see a bit of steam rising from that cup. I tried touching the cup with the hand I couldnât see, but there was no heat. When I held my hand above the cup, I could feel the warmth on my palm. Is the watterâŠevaporating?
There I realized that the stylish faucet was gone. At the same time, the water inside the cup started to vanish like the speed of reality was upped to 100x. I could even hear the cup screaming âWait, donât go!â, desperately begging for the water to stay.
Slowly but steadily, the leftover water reached the bottom of the cup, leaving it completely empty. It felt like the cup was tormented with grief. It was screaming and lamenting. âWhy, why would youâŠâ, and so on. Watching this, I felt a sharp pain assault my chest.
This time continued for a bit longer. The cup stayed empty. It seemed like time went by faster in this space. I watched the cup dry up completely. The cup accepted its fate, and almost seemed like it was sitting still in wait.
There, I heard the sound of water. I raised my head, and the cup seemed shocked as well. I looked around and searched for the faucet. Then, it appeared right above the cup. Different from before, it was a rusty faucet, the one you would see in a public park, and yet the cup seemed happy nonetheless.
Right after that, water came gushing out of the faucet. The cup was delighted for a moment, but after the water started to flow out of the cup because it couldnât contain anymore, it started to panic. âThatâs enough, donât pour me any moreâ, the cup pleaded, but the water came gushing into it endlessly.
As if the faucet wasnât satisfied just yet, almost like it was saying âMore, accept moreâ, it kept pouring more and more. I donât get why he would be so forceful. The cup ended up angry at the faucet.
The gush of water grew weaker. Looking at the faucet, I could see water leaks next to opening where the water came from. That must have happened because it was rusty, and the gush of water was probably too much for it to bear.
I was curious, and looked over at the cup. The cup was overflowing with water, and averted its âfaceâ like it was sulking. It probably didnât have the time or leisure to look up at the faucet.
More time passed, until the sound of water coming from the faucet changed. Looking up, I saw the exact moment the spout blew off. Broken, more parts and water came gushing out. I tried to stop it, and reached out for it with my hand, but my hand wasnât shown again. Itâs almost like I didnât even exist in this space.
Of course, the cup realized as well. Shocked because of the incoming amount of water, the cup looked up, and was baffled to see the faucet ended up like that. The cup called out to the faucet with an âAre you okay?â, but that voice didnât reach the faucet.
Right as the faucet broke, the cup regained its posture. The water stopped overflowing, and it seemed to have grown the ability to care for the faucet. Seeing this, the broken faucet seemed happy.
The water stopped. It looked like the faucet changed shape, blocking off the water by itself. The passion from before had now vanished. It seemed like a being with no consciousnessâjust like a broken faucet.
At the same time, the cup was humming to itself, seemingly in a great mood. It wasnât even doing anything, but the water inside the cup gently shook left and right. I grew worried if that was really the right thing to do. At the same time, the water started evaporating again. However, the cup didnât even realize this.
The water started to vanish. When about half of it was gone, the cup finally realized. It panicked, but it couldnât stop the water from vanishing. Different from the stylish faucet before, the broken and rusty one stayed over it. The cup must have felt fulfilled being full to the brim with water, because it didnât allow the water to vanish.
Stop, donât go, I need water. Without water, Iâ
The water vanished. The cup started crying. Tears might have been streaming there, but there was no saddened expression to see. Even though it was quiet in this atmosphere, I could hear the cup wailing. Watching this, my chest started to hurt again. I could only watch the fate of the cup, unable to do anything myself.
The cup didnât stop crying. Even though the water was drying out entirely, the cup asked for more. Isnât there no other chance but to accept its own fate? Because this is the only way for things to end? Thatâs how reality works, right?
Thatâs all I thought. I didnât even put it into wordsâand yet, as if that message reached the cup, it turned towards me. The cup seemed shocked, and closed off its consciousness.