One cold morning at the station

It was the second half of second semester, a weekend in the

midst of preparations for the school festival. Yuzu Izumi was

worried.

"Something seems weird lately!"

She was sipping a caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks

and baring her heart to Mutsumi Kawaguchi, who was

sitting across from her.

"Oh, I'm sure he's just tired," Kawaguchi said blandly.

"Maybe…," Izumi pouted. A turquoise necklace peeked

out from the collar of her low-cut shirt.

"You just have to deal for now, don't you?"

"We haven't even been dating for six months! I asked

him to hang out today, and all he said was that he's busy

again…" Izumi sighed. She was worrying about the fact that

her boyfriend, Shuji Nakamura, hadn't wanted to hang out

much lately.

"Shuji-kun does seem like the type who gets bored easily.

What can you do?"

"Don't say that! You're making me more worried…,"

Izumi pleaded.

Kawaguchi frowned. "Oh, I don't think he's cheating on

you."

"Stop it! Don't say that, either!"

Kawaguchi laughed. "Ah-ha-ha. What's the problem? I

said I didn't think he was!"

"I just don't wanna hear the word!" Izumi flopped onto

the table.

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"Oh, come on. Fine, I'm sorry."

"Give me some real advice already!"

Kawaguchi's failure to take her seriously was only

making Izumi feel more jealous. But the truth was, she was

going out with Nakamura way less often lately. Every time

Izumi asked him to do something, he said he was busy or he

had plans, which made her very nervous. She'd asked him

out again in hopes of having a good talk, but he turned her

down again. And so the downward spiral continued.

"Guys have their own way of dating, right?"

"Hmm… Maybe that's it?"

"I really don't know."

"Ugh, you're driving me nuts!" Izumi shouted, her face

screwed up in frustration.

"You're funny, Yuzu."

"I am not!"

But from the outside, she seemed like she was

overanxious—she didn't have to take the problem so

seriously yet.

* * *

But then the whole situation changed.

"Hey, Yuzu! Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

Class hadn't started yet, but she was already at her desk.

She turned toward Kawaguchi's voice and saw that her

friend looked more serious than usual.

"Wh-what's wrong?"

Kawaguchi's expression whipped up her worries, and she

lowered her voice so only Izumi could hear her.

"I heard someone saw him."

"S-saw who?"

"Um…Shuji-kun, with…"

Izumi's heart skipped a beat. "With…who?" Anxious as

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she was, her mind had already imagined the worst. She

hoped desperately that her friend would say something

unimportant.

But Kawaguchi was grave.

"They saw Shuji-kun walking with another girl."

"What…?"

Izumi felt a little hole growing in her heart. Her face

went slack, and her mind slipped into chaos over what to do.

"Were they alone?"

"Yeah."

But she didn't know for sure yet; she couldn't say it was

the scenario she'd been fearing. Striving to stay calm, she

asked Kawaguchi a few more questions.

"When did it happen?"

"This past Sunday."

"…That's…"

Sunday—the very same day Nakamura had turned down

Izumi's invitation. The same day she'd complained about it

to Kawaguchi.

Meanwhile, he'd been with another girl.

"…Where?"

"Um, Ma-chan in the next class over is the one who said

she saw them, I guess at Laketown."

"…Oh."

Dark clouds filled Izumi's heart. Koshigaya Laketown

was the big mall where students often went for dates on the

weekend.

"Maybe it was someone else?"

"I don't think so. She said she was really close to them."

"Oh."

"But it could have been someone who looked like him…"

"Yeah… Okay, thanks." Izumi felt like she was choking.

Like a bowling ball had been dropped on her chest.

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Kawaguchi peered worriedly into her face. "…What are

you going to do?" she asked softly.

"Um…" Izumi wasn't sure.

How should she react to news like this?

If he told her he'd been doing something else on Sunday

and sent her a photo to prove it, she could rest assured that

the whole thing was a big misunderstanding.

It was also possible he'd gone to Laketown but that the

girl was just a friend. Maybe they'd been in a group and just

happened to end up alone together at that moment. If they'd

specifically been hanging out one-on-one, she'd want him to

tell her the honest truth, even though she did feel it was a

slightly odd thing to do given that he had a girlfriend. Of

course, she wasn't happy, but she didn't want to tie him

down.

"I…"

Problem was, she wasn't sure if she should ask him

directly.

The question itself would suggest she didn't trust him,

and digging into every detail of what he did when they

weren't together might seem controlling, even if they were

exclusive. She didn't like any of that. She just wanted a

relationship where they trusted each other without having to

be nosy.

"…I'm going to trust him a little longer."

"Hmm…okay." Kawaguchi wasn't going to make any

more comments.

And so Izumi pushed aside the seed of doubt in her heart

and went through the school day the way she always did.

* * *

"…Geez."

It was the following weekend, and Izumi was sighing as

she reread a LINE chat with Nakamura.

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[You free next Saturday?]

[i've got plans]

[Gotcha, okay!]

This was the third time in a row he'd turned down an

invitation from her.

Before, he'd usually made some time for her on either

Saturday or Sunday, and on most holidays during the week,

they went somewhere together. Now, suddenly, this.

She wasn't sure if the scenario she most feared was

playing out. But she also couldn't fathom why else this

would be happening.

In a hazy, unsettled mood, Izumi lay her head on her

pillow and sighed. Her warm, moist breath bounced off her

pillow and left her cheek damp.

"…I better get ready."

She got up, took a shower, pulled on a thick, white, offthe-shoulder sweater and a tight gray checkered skirt, and

did her makeup.

She stopped in the entryway to pull on her coat and tall

black boots, then headed off to the station.

She took the train to Omiya.

"Hi!"

"Oh, hi!"

"Heya!"

When she arrived at the bronze statue of Toto-chan the

squirrel outside the east exit, Kawaguchi and Mao Kamimae

were already waiting for her. A few minutes later, Erika

Konno joined them. The group of four headed for the Arche

building by the west exit.

"Man, it's cold today."

"Yeah," Kawaguchi agreed as Konno rubbed her hands

together.

"I should have worn thicker tights!"

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Chatting about nothing in particular, they made their

way into the building. Izumi tried to forget about her worries

by concentrating on the conversation, but she couldn't stop

thinking about Nakamura.

* * *

"This is so cute!" Izumi cried.

"Didn't you just buy something like that, Yuzu?" replied

Kamimae.

"Did I? What do you mean?"

"Remember, that black fluffy thing?"

The two girls were scrutinizing some clothes.

"No way, this is totally different! That one was fluffy, but

this one is fuzzy."

"Not sure I see the difference…" Kamimae gave the

overly discerning Izumi a confused look.

"Yuzu," Konno called, "come over here for a second."

"Huh?"

Konno was standing in front of a mirror, wearing a black

motorcycle jacket. She did a twirl to give Izumi a 360 view as

she approached.

"Whatcha think?"

Her tone was casual, but the fact that she'd called Izumi

over just to ask her opinion was a sign of how much she

trusted her fashion sense. Pleased by the gesture, Izumi gave

the jacket a hard look.

The tight, fake leather fit Konno perfectly, making her

already slender form look even more sleek.

"It looks amazing on you! But…"

"What's up?"

"You've got such a nice shape, so I think a shorter one

might be even better."

Konno gave a satisfied nod. "Could be. Thanks!"

She shrugged off the jacket, replaced it on the rack, and

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started rifling through the clothes again. Times like this, you

could never really tell whether Konno would be cooperative

or not, but Izumi liked that about her.

Suddenly she spotted another jacket.

"Hey, Erika, how about this one?"

"I'll try it on."

"Sounds good."

On the surface, Izumi appeared to be having just as

much fun as always on their shopping trip, but inside, her

anxiety bubbled relentlessly.

What was Nakamura doing right now?

* * *

The four of them worked their way down from the top floor

of the Arche building, and when they'd finished shopping,

they headed over to a popular pancake shop. With branches

in Harajuku and Shibuya, it was famous for its melt-in-yourmouth pancakes.

A short while after they sat down and ordered, the waiter

delivered four soufflé-like concoctions. They looked rich and

delicious.

Kamimae couldn't contain her excitement. "Oh my god!

I've gotta get a picture of this!" She started snapping photos

from every angle with her phone. "It looks amazing!"

"Oh, good idea."

The other three pulled out their phones and started

snapping, showing one another their shots. Of course, taking

pictures of the pancakes was standard procedure for four

high school girls; there were actually a couple of other

groups doing the same thing right next to them.

"Oooh, that's a good one, Yuzu!" Konno sounded

impressed.

"Right?!"

"You always take the best pictures."

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"Lemme see!" Kawaguchi leaned over to see Izumi's

screen, interrupting her chummy exchange with Konno.

"Ooh, yeah! Send it to me later!"

"Sure!"

Once the photo shoot was over, they moved on to eating.

"Let's dig in!"

Izumi drenched her pancake in maple syrup, and the

golden, glittering liquid ran down the sides and pooled on

her plate. Just watching the syrup flowing over the edges,

she could tell how soft the pancake was.

The four girls watched it as it glittered like a jewel.

"Damn, this makes a great picture, too," Konno blurted

out.

"Yeah!"

"I was thinking the same thing!"

Another pancake photo shoot began.

* * *

There was a recent topic that none of the four girls

mentioned, but all of them faintly sensed it was taboo.

"How are things going with Hashiguchi lately,

Mutsumi?" Kamimae asked.

"Um, well…we went to Disneyland the other day,"

Kawaguchi said shyly.

"Really? Just the two of you?"

"Um… Uh-huh…"

"What?! That's, like, a date!" Kamimae shouted

excitedly.

"Did he say he wanted to start going out?" Konno asked.

"No…we just hung out like usual and then went home."

"What is he, in junior high or something?" Smacking her

lips, Konno smiled at Kawaguchi.

"Y-yeah, I know… What do you think is going on?"

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Kawaguchi asked uncertainly.

Izumi gulped down a bite of pancake before answering.

"Hashiguchi seems like the safety-first type to me…"

They were happily chatting away about their respective

love lives when the taboo first reared its head—the taboo of

Izumi and Nakamura.

They were talking about romance, so it would have been

natural for the conversation to turn to Izumi and

Nakamura's relationship, but no one mentioned it. They

couldn't mention it.

Even though Izumi, Kawaguchi, and Kamimae couldn't

stop talking about the suspicious Nakamura sighting when

the three of them were alone, now that Konno was there,

they couldn't say a word.

The conversation had to make detours around the

subject, so every now and then there were awkward pauses

as they all searched for a different, non-Nakamura-related

topic.

"…Um…"

"So…"

This was just such a moment. Kawaguchi and Kamimae

both sensed that the conversation was about to turn toward

Izumi, and they were trying to find a different course. There

was a subtle discomfort in the air, but since they couldn't

talk about why, that only made the tension worse.

"…Hey," Konno suddenly said.

"Yeah?" Izumi answered.

Without any obvious emotion, Konno went on in a

natural tone.

"How are things with you lately? You and Shuji?"

The air froze. The very person who had established the

taboo had just broken it.

The other three looked at one another, searching for the

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right thing to say.

"Um, well—"

But Konno interrupted again. "I don't know why you're

tiptoeing around—I really don't care." Her face gave little

away as she looked at Izumi.

Her words were blunt, but there was a hint of kindness

to them; she was trying to ease the friction that clung to the

group like frost. This was a considerate gesture from the

class queen. The truth was, she couldn't possibly not care,

but her friendship with Izumi seemed to have won out.

Izumi gulped before finally nodding slowly.

"Okay… Sorry for being weird about it."

"Honestly? I'd rather you just come out and talk about it

already!" Konno said, raising one eyebrow. It wasn't a kind

or gentle expression, but she didn't look displeased.

"Well then…there's something I want to ask your advice

on, if you don't mind."

With that, Izumi started to explain the current situation

with Nakamura.

* * *

"Seriously?"

"Yeah…"

Izumi had just finished telling Konno about how they

hardly ever went out anymore and how he'd been spotted

with another girl.

"Geez. That's super sketchy." Konno looked more than a

little surprised.

"You think so, too? …Oh man." Izumi looked down, her

face dark.

"I don't think that's what's going on, Yuzu!"

"Yeah! Shuji-kun wouldn't do something like that!"

Kamimae and Kawaguchi tried to pull Izumi out of her

funk.

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"No, this is pretty serious. Shuji definitely has it in him."

Konno decisively contradicted the other two.

"Y-yeah…I agree."

Izumi and Konno were aligned now, and the two of them

frowned solemnly.

Kawaguchi and Kamimae watched them, whispering to

each other.

"Aren't those two supposed to like Shuji-kun…?"

"Yeah, I wonder why they're so suspicious of him…"

They looked at each other, struggling to understand.

Izumi and Konno ignored them.

"So he turned you down again today, right? What if you

asked him what he's doing right now? Send him a LINE."

"Won't he think I'm being clingy?"

"Yeah, he might. So…" Konno looked over at Kawaguchi

and Kamimae. "One of you should ask him."

"Oh, good idea!"

"Obviously."

The concept was simple. Instead of Izumi asking

directly, one of the other girls could ask casually and then

relay whatever he said in reply. Konno's group and

Nakamura's group were on friendly terms, at least until a big

blowup, so either Kawaguchi or Kamimae could easily get in

touch with Nakamura without arousing much suspicion.

"But what should I ask him?"

"Um, lend me your phone for a second, okay?" Before

waiting for an answer, Konno grabbed Kawaguchi's phone.

"Uh, go ahead, I guess."

"Hmm…"

Giving her permission after the fact, Kawaguchi watched

as Konno started typing on her phone like she had every

right to do so. The hierarchy between them was obvious.

Konno opened a chat window with Nakamura on

Kawaguchi's LINE account and typed in, [What are you up

to?] After getting Kawaguchi's okay, she hit send.

Next she tapped the ATTACH PHOTO button and sent him

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one of the pictures they'd taken earlier of their pancakes. It

was a slightly wide-view shot that included her own pancake,

with part of Kamimae's body and some of the other

pancakes.

Once she confirmed that it had been sent, she typed in,

[Look what we got!]

"That should do it."

"Wow." Kamimae was impressed.

"Drawing him out, huh?" Kawaguchi said with

satisfaction.

Konno had asked what he was doing, then sent a photo

that showed her own answer. She didn't directly ask him to

send a picture, but a similar message and picture would be

the natural response.

"He'll probably send back a picture. Although this is

Shuji we're talking about, so he might ignore the hint."

"Ah-ha-ha…I could see that."

Izumi chuckled, but she was really grateful she could

count on Konno to step in to help her worries. This was a

huge favor, even though Izumi was dating the same person

she'd had a crush on herself. Konno wasn't entirely selfish.

She could be really scary, and Izumi still believed the

bullying she'd done was wrong, but she couldn't help liking

her all the same.

"Oh, look, he read it," Konno said.

"What?!" Izumi answered, surprised. She was partly

nervous about how he would respond and partly a bit

jealous. He never read her LINE messages that quickly.

"Wonder what he'll say!"

Kawaguchi sounded a little excited. Izumi was worried,

but Kawaguchi didn't have much skin in the game. Plus, they

weren't even sure Nakamura was cheating. Overall, she was

optimistic about the situation.

After a brief wait, Nakamura answered. As they'd hoped,

he responded with a picture.

The photo was of Takahiro Mizusawa eating a

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hamburger at a diner. There was a short message, too:

[burgers with takahiro]

"So that's what he's up to!" Izumi said with a relieved

sigh.

"See? I told you you worry too much!" Kawaguchi

thumped Izumi's shoulder and grinned.

"Yeah, he's, like, head over heels for you. He'd never

cheat," Kamimae piled on cheerfully.

"R-right? I'm sorry for making such a big deal, guys…,"

Izumi had started to say, when Konno noticed something.

"Wait a second. Look." She set the phone on the table

and zoomed in on one part of the photo.

"…No way."

"Seriously?"

"Oh my God."

Whatever it was, it was bad news.

Konno was pointing at an iPhone with an obviously girly

case.

"That doesn't belong to Shuji or Takahiro, does it?"

Izumi asked, despite knowing the obvious answer.

"Nope," Konno said calmly, frowning. "Well, Takahiro is

there, too, and just because a girl's there doesn't mean he's

cheating…"

"…Yeah." Izumi nodded and completed the thought.

"But…why is he hiding it?"

* * *

After that, the four of them had a lively debate about the

photo.

"He'd only hide it if he was doing something suspicious!

And it's even worse that he tried to hide it in a message to

me!" Kawaguchi said.

Konno tilted her head. "He sent it to you, but I bet he

guessed you might be with Yuzu."

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"Yeah, could be. I didn't say who I was with."

Konno nodded. "Plus, don't you think it's weird that

there are two guys, Shuji and Takahiro, but only one girl? I

bet another girl is with them."

Kawaguchi gaped in surprise at Konno's deduction. "You

mean like one of those matchmaking parties?"

"Yeah," said Konno. "Look, we're talking about Shuji and

Casahiro. It's totally possible. Also, Takei isn't with them."

"Ah-ha-ha. 'Casahiro'?" Kamimae laughed at the sketchy

nickname.

"…Ugh…" Izumi was growing more depressed by the

second, but she had every reason to. Her boyfriend was with

another girl, and he'd basically lied about it.

Konno patted her shoulder with a half smile. "We still

don't know anything yet. Maybe he just doesn't want to go to

all the trouble of explaining… But I don't think it's a good

idea to be too trusting. You might just get hurt later on."

"…Yeah, you're right." Izumi's expression remained

dark.

Konno looked at her and thought for a second. "Well, if

it's bothering you, ask Takahiro about it when you get home

tonight. Ask him who he was with. If we ask Shuji right now

whose phone that is, it'll be too nosy."

Izumi's face brightened slightly. "Good idea. He

probably wouldn't mind."

"If he tells you they were with a girl, you'll know it was

just a friend. But if he says it was just him and Shuji, you'll

know Hiro is in on it, too."

"…Yeah, I'll do that." Izumi nodded with determination.

"Thank you, Erika."

"No worries," Konno said casually—but she was trying to

make up her mind about something.

Call it a girl's intuition or maybe a queen's premonition

—but she did have a feeling.

Should she say it to Izumi or not?

If you ask me, you'd be better off not knowing.

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* * *

That night, Izumi lay on her bed holding her phone with

sweaty hands.

A LINE chat window was open on the screen.

The name in the "To" field was Takahiro Mizusawa.

A million thoughts were running through her mind as

she typed.

Should she pretend she hadn't noticed and just chat

randomly? But that would be weird given the timing, and

Mizusawa was sharp. There was a very good possibility he'd

notice something was up.

So should she just come clean and tell him honestly that

she was worried?

But if she did that, he might tell Nakamura. And that

might make him think she was clingy, which she didn't want.

She decided on a third approach, typed in the words, and

hit send.

[Hey!

You and Shuji had a guy's day out today, right?]

That was it—a very simple message.

He'd have a hard time reading her intentions from just

that, wouldn't he?

Pressing her hands to her chest to slow her beating

heart, she opened her home page and waited for his answer.

If he told her another girl had been with them, she was

in the clear.

But if he implied it was just the two of them—she was in

trouble.

She tossed her phone onto a corner of the bed and

slipped under the covers. As soon as she did, she heard the

chime for a new message. She flinched at the speed of his

response.

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Hurriedly flipping back the cover and grabbing her

phone, she looked down at the screen.

This is what the message said.

[Yeah

Why?]

She quietly slipped back under the covers.

* * *

A few days passed. Izumi had gotten a message from

Nakamura, and she was ignoring it.

He hadn't said anything else—she'd simply ended the

chat without responding to his question. She'd been vaguely

cold toward him at school, but he hadn't brought it up. In

fact, her actions were so subtle they hardly even counted as

ignoring him.

He probably doesn't even care that I didn't respond,

Izumi thought to herself.

When Nakamura was even a little bit late in responding

to one of her messages, she got jealous, but when she left his

message unanswered for days, he didn't even seem to notice.

The whole thing made her sad and lonely, almost

desperate. What had she been doing these past months?

"Aaaaaargh!"

She buried her mouth in her pillow and screamed. But

instead of releasing her emotions, she only felt more

anxious.

"…Erg."

She thought back over her relationship with Nakamura.

The time he asked her out in the park.

The weekend she squeezed his hand.

The first time they went to his house alone.

The warmth of his hand when he poked her teasingly in

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the forehead. The look on his face when he thought she

didn't know he was looking at her.

She couldn't help thinking of him at the smallest

opportunity.

She was always the one chasing him, always worrying

that he would run off somewhere if she didn't keep hold of

him.

Of course he looked at other girls. Like whoever was with

him when he sent the photo to Kawaguchi.

What kind of girl does that iPhone belong to? What does

she wear? Does she look like me? Or is she completely

different?

…Is she prettier than me?

The thoughts went round and round Izumi's mind until

finally she couldn't stand it.

"Blrghhhh!!!"

She screamed into her pillow again, even louder this

time.

* * *

It happened the next day.

Izumi's phone buzzed early in the morning.

Woken up by the vibration, she saw the word Shuji on

the screen. It was a LINE call from Nakamura.

"…Really?"

She was suddenly wide awake, and her stomach was in

knots. They hadn't messaged each other at all the past few

days. Just before that, she'd learned about his suspicious

behavior and the possibility of another girl.

And now this call.

She couldn't help thinking it all pointed to one thing.

This is it.

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She hesitated to answer, staring at the screen.

If she ran away now, nothing would change. She would

just put off the inevitable. But she still couldn't bring herself

to answer.

When the buzzing stopped, she assumed he'd given up.

"…Ugh, I hate this."

She desperately tried to think with her still-sleepy head.

What should she do? What should she say?

How could she escape the horrible fate waiting for her?

Before she could come up with an answer, her phone

rang again.

Her heart was pounding so hard she couldn't believe

she'd been asleep only moments before. She didn't want to

talk to him. But she had to do something, or the anxiety

would crush her. This time, she answered in the hopes of

just getting it over with.

"…Hello?" she said, making an effort to sound normal.

The voice on the other end was even more cheerful than

usual, which struck her as thoughtless, even cruel.

"…Hey."

"What's going on?"

"Uh…"

His voice was low. Meanwhile, she was trying to cover up

her feelings with a fake normal tone. This was embarrassing.

He went on, haltingly. "Do you…have time to…get

together and talk right now?"

"…What?"

Her ominous hunch turned into certainty. He was asking

to talk without saying what it was about.

"Why?"

He was silent for a moment, then answered a little more

forcefully. "You can guess, can't you?"

Izumi's heart froze. Yes, she certainly could. "Um…

yeah."

"So can you come over to my place?"

She was sure now—he was going to dump her. She could

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sense the life draining out of her voice as a powerful wave of

regret overtook her.

Why had she done that? After she saw the picture, after

she'd checked with Mizusawa, why had she let her

meaningless pride and competitiveness win? Why hadn't she

answered his LINE message?

What if she'd just done something about it once she

sensed him drifting away? Maybe they wouldn't have

reached this point.

"…I hate this."

The shaking that she'd been struggling to control

overtook her, and her emotions reached her words.

"What?"

"I said I hate this!!" she shouted.

"…What are you talking about?" Nakamura said

grumpily.

"I just hate it! You know what I mean! I know you

understand the word hate!"

"I mean, yeah, but… What?"

"I'm not going," she said desperately. "I don't want to

hear what you have to say, so I'm not going. I'm staying

home all day."

"Who are you and what have you done with Yuzu

Izumi?"

"I am Yuzu Izumi," she said childishly, and she

immediately regretted it. The more they talked, the worse

she felt.

"…Then I'll come to you."

"Huh?"

"I'll call you when I get to the station."

"Wait…"

"Okay, later…"

"Wait!"

He hung up.

"…Crap."

Her phone beeped.

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She'd forgotten to charge it the night before, and the red

battery symbol on the screen was telling her she only had

five percent left.

"Ahhh—!!"

She tried to release her stress by screaming so loudly

even her pillow couldn't absorb the sound, but all she could

do was wait for Nakamura to call again.

* * *

[i'm on the 10:24 train]

His message arrived.

Now that her fate was sealed, Izumi calmly closed the

LINE app. She plugged her phone into the charger and stuck

it under her pillow so she wouldn't get even more worked

up.

Then she curled up on her bed and waited. Her mind

was blank, but then…

What was he planning to say when he broke her heart?

Would he forgive her if she refused to let him go? Forgive

what? Was he just bored with her? If she said she didn't

want to break up, would that make her clingy?

She battered herself with unanswerable questions until

just after ten.

"…I better go soon."

She wasn't wearing any makeup, but she put in a pair of

colored contact lenses that made her black eyes look bigger.

As for clothes, she couldn't help choosing carefully even at a

moment like this. After all, Nakamura would be seeing her.

She smiled cynically at herself.

She arrived at the station at around 10:20, wrapped her

scarf around her neck so it covered half her face, and waited.

A few minutes passed.

For the first time in a while, his familiar form appeared

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on the stairs.

"Ah…"

Tears were already pricking at her eyes, just seeing him.

She'd felt this tightness in her chest before—when she

was waiting for his response on LINE after they'd been apart

for a while or when he turned down one of her invitations.

Her mind filled with anxiety.

But the second she saw his face, all her emotions flipflopped like the pieces on an Othello board—and her

affection for him took control.

I hate this. I hate it. I don't want it to end.

She pushed down the urge to just turn and run. Pulling

her scarf up even farther, she hid behind the soft fabric. She

was sure her tears would spill over if she just stood there in

the cold with all these feelings, and she didn't want him to

see her so weak.

Under her scarf, she bit her lip and forced herself not to

cry.

Nakamura was right in front of her now. "Hey… Haven't

seen you in a while." He avoided her eyes, seeming

uncharacteristically unsure how to act.

"…Yeah."

But Izumi stared into his face anyway. Maybe it was

because she wanted to burn the image of my boyfriend,

Nakamura into her memory.

"This isn't the greatest spot… Wanna go over there?" He

indicated a bench at the park across from the station.

They'd sat on that bench countless times since they

started dating, talking about topics both unimportant and

important. So many memories had been made there.

"…Okay." Izumi nodded and trailed after him.

They sat down next to each other. A dusty, dry wind

whipped the bare branches of the trees around.

They were silent for a moment.

Then Nakamura broached the topic. "Well…," he began

slowly, his hands in his pockets.

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Izumi sat and waited for him to go on, sure that he was

about to pull out an invisible dagger and sever their

relationship.

"Wait!!" she shouted, desperate to intercept him. "I

can't!! I don't want to break up!!"

Heedless of what he or anyone else might think, she told

him the truth. Nakamura stared at her in a daze.

She didn't care if her struggle was useless. She didn't

care if he thought she was clingy. The only thing she knew

was that everything inside her wanted to hold on to this

relationship.

"I know I'm an idiot, and I'm always getting in your way,

but I still…"

The dam broke and her tears spilled out as she shouted

the rest of her sentence.

"I still love you!!"

Silence.

She didn't take her eyes off him. But what was going on?

Something was wrong with his reaction. Like her

brutally honest words had had no effect on him, like—

"No, listen."

Izumi could never have imagined what he was about to

say.

"Happy birthday."

Izumi sat there gaping in silence. "…What?"

Nakamura smiled wryly. "…I have no idea what's going

on in your head, but…" He was holding out his hand with a

little package wrapped in cute paper balanced on his palm.

"Today's your birthday, right? I just wanted to give you your

present. Geez." He sounded irritated, but his smile was

teasing.

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Izumi thought back on how he'd been acting lately, and

on everything that had happened since they first met.

Suddenly the whole story fell into place—and she screamed.

"Aaaaaaaaah—?!"

* * *

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Nakamura seemed to find the whole situation hilarious.

"It's not funny! I was really worried!"

"Damn. You were right about being an idiot."

Izumi couldn't argue with him, so she just blushed and

groaned.

"The reason I couldn't hang out lately is that I was

getting a friend of Takahiro's to help me pick out a present

for you."

"So that girly phone in the picture you sent was…"

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"Hers. We met her at a school festival we went to a while

ago. There's nothing going on."

"Ohhhh…" Izumi was so embarrassed, she couldn't even

look at Nakamura's face. "And when you said on the phone

that I should know why you wanted to get together…"

"Ha-ha-ha! I meant because today was your birthday."

"True…"

It was so obvious now that her behavior before seemed

completely irrational. She'd completely forgotten. She had

nothing to say.

Nakamura wiped away the tears from laughing so hard

and rolled his eyes. "Oh man, who forgets their own

birthday?"

"Shut up!"

Using her sleeve to roughly wipe away the tears that she

didn't even know why she was shedding, she let all her

emotions show. All her embarrassment was gone, and she

glared at him with the eyes of a wild animal.

Nakamura looked back at her gently and sighed.

"Listen…I'm not interested in anyone else. So stop worrying

every time anything happens."

"Uh…"

"Okay?"

His piercing gaze was as honest and straightforward as

always.

He's always so simple and childish, but then he uses it to

get to me! Izumi thought to herself. "…Okay. Got it."

Somehow, he'd gotten her agreement. He gave a satisfied

smile. "What, has no one else wished you happy birthday

yet?"

"Huh?"

She'd been so depressed she hadn't even charged her

phone, and after he called that morning, looking at messages

from anyone else was out of the question.

She opened her LINE app.

"…Oh."

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It was filled with messages from Konno, Kawaguchi,

Kamimae, Hinami, Nanami, and other friends.

"Crap." Her eyes were full of tears again.

"What's up?"

"I was dying, and now I'm suddenly so happy it's like my

brain can't keep up."

It was like the Othello pieces had been flipped from

black to white and then to rainbow colors.

"Ha-ha-ha. You really are crazy."

This had to be the worst and best birthday she'd ever

had, Izumi thought.

"So what if I am?!"

And so it turned out that Yuzu Izumi's bout of

depression had all been for nothing.

"Aaargh, I can't take it! I'm so happy!!"

Her usual smile had returned to her face.