Chapter 245 - 245: I, Tsushima Kagami, do not need to explain my actions to the likes of you! (15K)

Another ten minutes by cab from the amusement park back to the mall.

At least the roads were clear the whole way, no traffic.

Tsushima Kagami kept checking his phone in the back seat. Yukinoshita Shizuku had sent several messages.

"The movie's over, where are you?"

"You're not still in the bathroom, are you?"

"Should I come find you?"

The last one read:

"I'm waiting for you in the lobby."

Kagami fired off a reply.

"I'm out, heading to the lobby now. Stay right there."

The moment the car pulled up at the mall entrance, he threw a large bill at the driver and bolted, not even waiting for change.

He charged through the front doors, caught an elevator just as it came down, rode it straight to the fourth floor, and sprinted the rest of the way to the cinema lobby.

Yukinoshita Shizuku stood quietly in the center of it.

Kagami skidded to a stop in front of her and doubled over, gulping air.

"What on earth—"

Shizuku took in the sweat plastering his hair down and frowned.

"Why are you drenched again? You said you were going to the bathroom."

"Bathroom… too crowded… had to line up…" Kagami got out between breaths.

"So I went somewhere else."

Shizuku reached out and patted his back gently.

"All right, all right. No rush. Just breathe."

Her palm was warm. Through the thin cotton of his T-shirt he could feel the heat of it.

Once his breathing had steadied a little, she spoke again.

"The movie finished. I watched the whole thing by myself."

There was a thread of disappointment under the words. He heard it.

"I'm sorry."

"I—"

"It's fine." Shizuku cut him off and took his hand of her own accord.

"You can't help it if you're not feeling well."

"Come on. Let's go get lunch."

Her hand was soft, her palm warm.

She led him toward the restaurant floor, and everything Kagami felt churned together at once, sweet and bitter and sour all mixed up.

They reached the dining level.

The entire floor was restaurants, the air thick with the smell of food.

Seared steak, the sharp bite of curry, the smoky char of grilled meat — all of it braided together into something that made your stomach growl.

Shizuku walked slowly, scanning the storefronts on either side.

"What do you want to eat?"

Kagami was about to answer when a very familiar voice came from behind him.

"Senpai! Want to try this place?"

"Their steak and pasta are really good, and there's a promotion on!"

Kagami went rigid.

He knew that voice far too well.

Slowly, he turned his head.

Of course.

PA-ko stood at the door of a restaurant with a stack of flyers in her hand and a brilliant smile on her face.

And beside her stood Hiroi Kikuri and Shimizu Nayotake.

The three of them were lined up, flyers in hand, looking every bit like part-timers on handout duty.

"What are you three doing here?" Kagami's voice came out tight.

"Part-time work." PA-ko waved the flyers.

"This place just opened and they're running a promotion. We're helping hand out flyers."

That was when Shizuku spoke up.

"Seika isn't with you today?"

"Don't the four of you usually take these jobs together?"

Something in Kagami's chest dropped like a stone.

He'd almost forgotten about Seika Ijichi.

PA-ko and Hiroi Kikuri traded a glance.

Then Kikuri said, "Seika had something to take care of today, so she couldn't come."

Kagami noticed it.

As she said it, her eyes flicked toward him — casually, and not casually at all.

And not just hers.

PA-ko's and Shimizu Nayotake's gazes drifted over him too, light as feathers and twice as heavy.

Cold sweat broke out down his back.

No way…

They couldn't know something, could they?

Shizuku missed all of these delicate little signals entirely.

She took the flyer PA-ko offered and looked it over.

"Let's try this one, then."

"Right this way, please, please!"

PA-ko pulled the door open with enthusiasm and swept out an arm in welcome.

Shizuku and Kagami went in and took a table by the window.

Once they'd ordered, Shizuku set down the menu and looked at him.

Under that steady gaze Kagami started to squirm.

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to ask if you're still feeling sick."

"Mm, much better now."

"It's just—"

Halfway through the sentence he stood up.

"What's wrong?" Shizuku looked up at him.

"I just remembered."

"There's something I need to tell Nayotake and the others. I'll be right back."

Shizuku looked him in the eye.

"Be quick, then. Otherwise the food will go cold."

Something in that look made the hair on his neck stand up.

"Mm. Right back."

Out in the corridor, Kagami found the three of them near the escalator, chatting. The moment they saw him emerge, all three produced the same subtle smile.

"Well, well. Senpai." Kikuri grinned at him.

"Why'd you come out? Shouldn't you be having lunch with Shizuku-senpai?"

A vein at Kagami's temple twitched.

"You three…" He dropped his voice. "You know something, don't you?"

"Know what?" PA-ko blinked at him, the picture of innocence.

"I mean—"

He got that far and had no idea how to finish.

It was Shimizu Nayotake who spoke, softly. "You've got other things to do, haven't you? Don't worry about us."

Kagami drew a long breath, said nothing more, turned, and ran back toward the theaters.

Sayuri's movie had ended too. She was standing in the lobby waiting for him.

She held the half-finished bucket of popcorn, feeding herself one kernel at a time out of sheer boredom.

When she saw him coming her eyes lit up — then dimmed again.

Because his hands were empty.

"The figure… you didn't get it after all?"

Kagami stopped in front of her, braced his hands on his knees, and hauled in a few breaths.

Then he lifted his head, guilt written all over his face. "Sorry. They were sold out."

Sayuri looked just as guilty. "I'm the one who should be apologizing."

"If I hadn't asked Kagami out today, you could have bought it…"

Her eyes went red as she spoke, tears gathering at the corners.

Seeing her like that felt like another knife going in.

"I'm the one who forgot the release date. It has nothing to do with you."

"It's all my—"

Sayuri, red-eyed, hadn't finished the sentence when that familiar voice piped up behind them again.

"Senpai! The curry rice here is amazing. Why not take Sayuri-senpai to try it?"

Kagami turned around.

PA-ko and the other two. Again.

When had they followed him?

Kikuri held up a flyer for a restaurant, smiling sweetly at Kagami and Sayuri.

Sayuri looked surprised. "What are you all doing here?"

"Part-time job."

This time Kikuri did the explaining, still smiling. "We're handing out flyers for this restaurant. Their curry rice is seriously incredible."

And as she said it, she winked at Kagami.

Watching her eyes, one thing became absolutely certain to him.

They knew.

They knew he was running four dates at once.

But then…

Why weren't they blowing his cover?

If anything, they seemed to be covering for him.

What were they after?

Forget it — no time to think about it!

Kagami took the flyer, gave it a look, and turned to Sayuri.

"Let me buy you curry rice as an apology?"

Sayuri, who had been busy blaming herself a second ago, brightened at once.

"Sure! Let's try their curry, then."

Kagami stopped paying attention to Nayotake and the others.

The two of them went in and sat down — and Kagami immediately stood back up.

He looked at Sayuri, then had to turn his face away.

"I just remembered something I need to tell PA-ko and the others. I'll be right back."

"Order whatever you want. I'll have the same as you."

Sayuri, already studying the menu, nodded.

"Be quick, then. Curry's no good once it's cold."

"Mm."

Kagami stepped out of the restaurant.

Shimizu Nayotake and the other two were in the corridor, passing flyers to shoppers.

They glanced over at him and smiled faintly, as if they'd known all along he'd be coming out.

Kagami started to say something. In the end he said nothing at all.

Ignoring the three pairs of eyes on him, he ran off toward Seika Ijichi.

He arrived at the live house.

The band's set had ended long ago.

Seika Ijichi sat alone at the bar with a drink in her hand.

She stirred the straw around the glass, ice clinking softly.

"Sorry. I missed the show."

At the sound of his voice her eyes brightened, and she turned around.

"All finished with your errand?"

Kagami walked up and stood there, looking down at her.

The light above the bar fell across her face, casting a small shadow under her eyelids.

Her lashes were long and lowered, and he couldn't read what lay beneath them.

"Seika. I'm sorry."

She raised her head and smiled at him. "What is there to be sorry for?"

"I was happy enough that you came with me at all."

"Getting an urgent call is perfectly normal. If someone had to reach you on your phone personally, it must have been important."

There wasn't a trace of strain in her smile.

Which only made the guilt worse.

"Seika—"

"Really, it's fine." She cut him off.

"Don't worry about me. Go take care of your business."

"I'll head home once I finish this drink."

She bent her head and took a sip, the straw gurgling at the bottom of the glass.

Kagami stood silent for a moment.

"It's done. All of it."

He put out his hand.

"Come on. Lunch is on me."

Seika looked up at the offered hand and hesitated.

Then she laid hers in it.

Kagami closed his fingers around it and led her out of the live house, back toward the mall.

They'd barely stepped through the mall entrance when the familiar voice struck again.

"Senpai! The sushi here is really good. And they have private booths for two — want to give it a try?"

The corner of Kagami's mouth twitched.

Of course.

Shimizu Nayotake stood at the entrance with a flyer in her hand, smiling pleasantly at him and Seika Ijichi.

Beside her, PA-ko and Hiroi Kikuri each held a stack of flyers.

Grinning like two foxes who'd made off with the chickens.

The instant Seika saw them, her face went scarlet.

Clearly she hadn't imagined running into Kikuri and PA-ko here of all places.

Which meant they'd seen her in the gyaru JK outfit.

"And I'm holding Kagami's hand right now…"

She opened her mouth, wanting to explain.

"Seika, you look so pretty today." Kikuri beamed at her.

"The gyaru style really suits you."

Seika's face went redder still, and whatever explanation she'd had died in her throat, too embarrassing to voice.

Kagami sucked in a breath and snatched the flyer out of Nayotake's hand.

"We'll eat here!"

Then he towed Seika off toward the sushi place without looking back.

Behind him came the smothered laughter of Kikuri and PA-ko.

The sushi place was a conveyor-belt chain restaurant.

The interior was clean and bright, the belt turning slowly along the counter.

Plates of every color rode past on it, each color a different price bracket.

Kagami and Seika took a corner seat.

They sat facing each other with the slow-moving belt between them.

The flush hadn't quite faded from Seika's cheeks. She kept her head down, saying nothing, fingers fiddling absently with the soy sauce bottle.

"You must be starving after waiting that long."

"Eat plenty. It's my treat."

Kagami kept plucking plates off the belt, anything that looked like it might suit her taste.

"Ah, I can't eat this much!"

"Then take whatever you like yourself. Don't hold back."

"Otherwise I'll just keep piling them up until you finish every one!"

"O-okay. I won't hold back, then."

And with her cheeks pink, Seika started picking out the sushi she liked and eating.

Kagami took a plate of his own and poured some soy sauce.

He put a piece of salmon in his mouth and chewed mechanically.

His head was a mess.

PA-ko and the other two definitely knew everything.

Their showing up at this mall today was no coincidence.

They were covering for him — but why?

What did they want? What were they after?

"Tsushima?"

Seika's voice pulled him back to earth.

"Hm?"

"Aren't you eating?" She pointed at the plates in front of him. "You've only had two."

He looked down. She was right — he'd barely touched anything.

He was deliberately saving room. There was still lunch with Shizuku and Sayuri to get through.

"I'm… not that hungry."

"You eat more."

Seika gave him a look but didn't press, and put a piece of eel sushi in her mouth.

She ate with great seriousness, in small careful bites.

Her cheeks puffed out slightly, like a little hamster's.

Kagami watched her, something unsaid hovering behind his eyes.

Seika seemed to catch it. She dabbed the corner of her mouth with a napkin.

"Thank you for coming with me, and for treating me to sushi this nice," she said gently.

"If you've got somewhere to be, go on ahead."

"Don't worry about me."

Kagami looked into her eyes.

There was a trace of regret in them, a trace of reluctance to let him go.

But mostly there was understanding, and forgiveness.

He almost said it — It's fine, I'm staying with you.

The words got as far as his teeth and went back down.

Reason told him: see one of them safely off first.

Then everything after would go more smoothly.

Shizuku and Sayuri and Koharu were still waiting.

But like this…

If he did it like this…

He looked at Seika's smile.

Kagami set his jaw and was about to say I'll get going, then.

And a voice spoke up right at his ear.

"Seika, Senpai, why not go here for fun?"

Kagami turned his head.

PA-ko and the other two had, at some point, occupied the seats right next to theirs.

Each of them had a drink in front of her. They'd clearly been sitting there a while.

Kikuri slapped a flyer down on the table and tapped one of the listings with her finger.

Kagami glanced down, and his pupils contracted.

The water park surfing attraction.

The address was—

The very amusement park where he had a date with Hiratsuka Shizuka today!

"I recommend this water park surfing thing." Kikuri smiled brightly.

"It's a lot of fun, and there happens to be a discount running today."

Seika looked at the flyer, then at Kagami.

He could read it in her eyes: she wanted to go.

And he could read the other thing too: she didn't want to be a burden to him.

He looked at her, then at the three knowing smiles across from him.

To hell with it!

Nayotake and the others seemed determined to help him anyway.

Then let him die trying!

Kagami pulled in a deep breath and made a decision.

He took out his wallet, drew three ten-thousand-yen bills, and slapped them on the table.

He slid them across to the three of them.

"My treat."

Then he stood, pulled Seika up by the hand, and left.

Out on the street, Kagami flagged down a cab.

He leaned in and spoke to Seika inside.

"I've still got something to take care of. I'll come as soon as it's done."

"Go wait for me at the attraction itself — don't wait at the park gates."

"Go straight to the surfing ride. Got it?"

Seika looked into his eyes, then nodded.

"Mm. I'll wait for you there."

"Good."

Kagami shut the door.

In the instant it closed, the corners of her mouth curved up into a sweet little smile.

He watched the taxi disappear, then turned and ran back into the mall.

He hurried to Shizuku's restaurant, pushed the door open, and found the window table.

Shizuku was sitting there. The steak in front of her was already cut up.

But she'd hardly eaten any of it. Most of it was still on the plate.

When she saw him come back, she looked up, a note of complaint in her voice.

"Any later and it really would have gone cold."

"Sorry, sorry."

Kagami sat down, picked up his knife and fork, and started eating.

The steak was on the cool side, but it still tasted good.

He shoveled it in in big mouthfuls, thinking the whole time about the curry rice he still had to eat with Sayuri.

He was already getting full.

But he didn't dare stop.

"Why are you eating so fast?" Shizuku frowned at the sight of him wolfing it down.

"Slow down. Nobody's going to steal it."

"Mm-hm."

He mumbled agreement without slowing at all.

A few bites later, the fullness hit.

His stomach felt packed solid, and every swallow made it worse.

He put down the knife and fork and took a mouthful of water.

"Why'd you stop?"

"I'm… full," Kagami said awkwardly.

"You normally eat far more than this." Shizuku's fine eyebrows drew together.

"Is your stomach still bothering you?"

"We should just go to a hospital after all."

Shizuku was already rising to drag him off to one when three people dropped into the empty seats beside them.

She looked up. PA-ko, Hiroi Kikuri and Shimizu Nayotake. Again.

"You three…" Shizuku said, taken aback.

PA-ko pulled a flyer out of her pocket, laid it on the table, and pushed it across to Kagami.

"Senpai, that surprise you asked us to arrange? It's all ready."

Kagami looked down. Sure enough — a flyer for that same amusement park.

"I hear this tunnel train ride is the most popular attraction with couples," PA-ko said, a sly edge in her voice.

She looked at the two of them and went on.

"And the tickets are already bought."

Shimizu Nayotake produced two park tickets from her bag and set them on the table.

Shizuku looked at the tickets, then at Kagami.

Surprise flashed through her eyes.

"You went out earlier… for this?"

All he could do was nod, embarrassed. "Mm. Ah. Yeah, that's it."

Shizuku remembered what PA-ko had just said — most popular attraction with couples — and two spots of color rose in her cheeks.

"Honestly."

"If you wanted to go you could have just said so, instead of being all mysterious about it."

"Well, I… I didn't get to watch the movie with you properly."

"So I thought I'd make it up to you."

Shizuku picked up the tickets and glanced at the three girls.

Then, hesitating, back at Kagami.

"But your stomach—"

"It's fine now, really." Kagami patted his belly.

"Really?"

"Really. Unless you don't want to go?"

"I do, I do!"

Shizuku's fingers tightened around the tickets.

"If you're honestly all right, then let's go together." She said it a little shyly.

"Then we're leaving right now!"

Kagami stood, looked at the three underclassmen, and pulled three more ten-thousand-yen bills from his wallet.

"My treat. Take it."

They didn't stand on ceremony. They took the money and chirped, "Thank you, Senpai," all smiles.

Kagami got up, took Shizuku's hand, and walked out of the restaurant.

At the mall entrance he hailed a cab and opened the door.

"Go on ahead to that part of the park and wait for me."

"I've… still got one thing to do. I'll come find you as soon as it's done."

Shizuku looked at him with a flicker of doubt. "What thing?"

"It's… ah, it'll be quick, I promise."

"Then I'll get out and wait with you."

She started to climb back out of the cab.

"No no no, getting in and then getting straight back out is rude."

Kagami threw an awkward look at the driver up front.

The driver turned his head and gave him a small smile.

"Anyway, go and wait for me there."

"Be good."

Shizuku thought about it and finally nodded.

"Hurry, then."

"I'll be right behind you."

The door shut, and the taxi merged into traffic and vanished from sight.

Kagami turned and ran back into the mall, up to the fourth floor, to Sayuri's restaurant.

She was still sitting there. The curry rice in front of her had gone cold, a thin film of oil congealed on top.

She had her chin propped in both hands, staring idly out the window, and only turned at the sound of footsteps.

"You're back!"

"All done?"

"Mm."

Kagami sat down and picked up a spoon.

"Hurry and eat, it's gone cold."

"That's okay. Even cold, it tastes good with Kagami here."

Sayuri said it with a smile, scooped up a spoonful of curry, and ate it with obvious relish.

Watching how content she looked was like being jabbed with needles.

He couldn't take much more of this.

He picked up his spoon too and put a mouthful of curry rice in his mouth.

His stomach was already stretched past its limit, but he forced himself to swallow.

One bite. Two. Three…

Every one felt like torture.

Sayuri ate fast. The big plate of curry was scraped clean before long.

She put down her spoon and patted her stomach in satisfaction.

Then she looked at him.

"Why are you eating so slowly?"

"I'm… taking my time. Savoring it."

He dragged up a smile and shoveled in another spoonful.

He was very close to throwing up.

But bite by bite, he got most of it down.

And just as he was forcing the last mouthful past his teeth, that familiar voice arrived once more.

"Senpai. Sayuri."

Kagami raised his head.

Of course.

Shimizu Nayotake stood beside the table with a ticket in her hand.

"I already checked for Senpai."

"This amusement park has the carousel Sayuri likes, too."

"And the line's short, so you can ride it right away."

Sayuri took the ticket and looked at it, delighted.

"A carousel? How did you know I like carousels?"

She turned to Kagami, her eyes full of astonishment and something warmer.

"I've never told anyone I like carousels. How did you know?"

Kagami's mouth opened, and nothing came out.

He'd only found out himself thirty seconds ago…

But that was not something he could say.

"I… guessed."

"Don't all girls like carousels?"

Sayuri tilted her head and studied him, seemingly willing to accept that.

But there was still a shadow of doubt in her eyes.

"You don't like them?" Kagami asked quickly, smiling, before she could dwell on it.

"Ah, I do!"

"Then let's get going right now."

"Yay!"

Sayuri bounced right out of her chair.

Then she looked over at Nayotake. "Is everyone coming along?"

Kagami pulled three more ten-thousand-yen bills from his wallet, slapped them down, and pushed them toward Nayotake.

"Same as before."

Then he took Sayuri's hand.

"They've still got their part-time job, so they can't come."

Sayuri let herself be pulled up, her hand swallowed in his.

Warm. Big.

She looked down at their joined hands, and the curve of her mouth kept growing.

Every question forgotten.

Every doubt beside the point.

He was holding her hand. That was enough.

Once Kagami and Sayuri had gone, Nayotake and the other two came out of the restaurant as well.

And just then Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko strolled over.

Five of them stood watching Kagami and Sayuri's retreating backs.

"Is… is this really okay?"

The moment Hiroi Kikuri was face to face with the two older girls, her social anxiety kicked in.

Her voice shrank to a timid little thread as she asked the two masterminds behind all of this.

Kosaka Akane smiled faintly.

"Things that come too easily never get treasured properly."

"Besides, we're helping."

Machida Sonoko chimed in, smiling too.

"And it's rather nice to see Kagami in a state for once."

Akane checked her wristwatch.

"All right. About time we headed over as well."

In the taxi, Sayuri leaned against Kagami's shoulder, a faint smile on her lips.

Her hand was still in his. On the sly, she laced their fingers together.

Feeling the warmth of their palms blend into one.

Kagami, utterly oblivious, was busy working out how to handle what came next.

The taxi reached the amusement park and he pulled Sayuri out.

He stole a glance toward the main gate in the distance and let out a breath.

Good — neither Shizuku nor Seika had decided to wait by the entrance.

Then he took Sayuri's hand and jogged her all the way to the carousel section.

Luckily the park was big, with the attraction zones spaced well apart.

Running into each other along the way was unlikely.

Which meant Shimizu Nayotake, Hiroi Kikuri and PA-ko had planned all this well in advance.

They arrived at the carousel.

Just as Nayotake had said, the line was short.

Five or six minutes and it was their turn.

And the tickets she'd bought were for a two-person seat.

Sayuri sat in front, Kagami behind her.

"Hold on tight, okay? Don't fall off."

Sayuri had noticed he wasn't holding her waist, and sounded worried.

"Oh. Right."

That snapped him out of his thoughts, and he set both hands lightly at her waist.

In that same instant, Sayuri's face flushed scarlet.

Once everyone was seated, the carousel began to turn.

To the lilt of bright music, the horses rose and fell like something moving through clouds.

The world around them blurred.

The colored lights, the wheeling horses, the laughter of children — all of it might have belonged to another world entirely.

Sayuri closed her eyes, a contented smile on her lips.

Then she turned her head to look back at him.

"I'm so happy."

Kagami looked at her profile, and something complicated welled up in him.

She was so happy. So satisfied.

And he was nothing but guilt and dread all the way through.

I am never doing this again!

He swore it silently to himself.

While he was lost in that thought, the carousel spun through its last few rotations, the music faded, and it slowed to a stop.

Sayuri sounded reluctant. "That was so fast. It's over already?"

"Kagami, let's ride it again?"

"Sorry, Sayuri. I need to hit the bathroom."

"Wait for me a minute, and then we'll ride it together again, okay?"

"Go on, then. I'll wait here."

She pointed at a bench nearby.

Kagami looked at her, then nodded.

"Okay. I'll be quick."

He turned and ran, Sayuri's voice chasing after him.

"Slow down, don't trip!"

He didn't look back, just waved a hand over his shoulder.

Getting from the carousel to the roller coaster meant crossing the entire park.

Kagami checked his watch as he ran.

It had been over an hour.

Had Hiratsuka Shizuka already ridden it by herself?

He picked up his pace, cut through a stand of cherry trees, skirted the Ferris wheel, crossed a small plaza — and finally, at a distance, spotted the roller coaster's queue.

Hiratsuka Shizuka stood at the very front of the line with two tickets in hand, in the act of waving the people behind her forward.

Everyone around her was in a pair or a group. She was the only one standing alone.

Something struck Kagami hard in the chest.

"Shizuka!" he shouted.

She turned and saw him running toward her, soaked in sweat, gasping for air.

A smile broke across her face, and she waved the tickets at him.

"Hurry! We're up!"

Kagami reached her and bent double, hauling in air.

"What took you so long?" She reached over and patted his back.

"I was starting to think you weren't coming back."

"There was… a huge line over there," he said in pieces.

"Couldn't get anything to eat for ages…"

"Then my stomach acted up… so I had to find a bathroom…"

Hiratsuka looked at the state of him and laughed.

"Stomachaches, bathroom trips, all morning long. Did you eat something bad?"

"Maybe."

Kagami straightened and wiped his forehead.

"You must have been waiting forever."

"Not that long," she said, smiling.

"Your timing's perfect."

A staff member came over, checked their tickets, and guided them onto the coaster.

Kagami sat down and gripped the safety bar across his chest with both hands. His palms were already going damp.

Hiratsuka sat beside him and buckled in.

She turned to look at him.

"You don't look great. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." He forced out a smile.

"Just a little… nervous."

"Ha! Don't be scared, I'm right here."

The departure bell rang.

The train eased forward and began its slow climb up the track.

Kagami's breathing turned shallow and fast.

Sweat kept pooling in his palms until the bar was slick with it.

Higher and higher, until you could look out over the whole park.

Kagami didn't dare look.

His eyes were squeezed shut, his lips pressed to a thin line, his whole body rigid as stone.

"Kagami?" Hiratsuka's voice came from beside him, edged with concern.

"Don't tell me you're… afraid of heights?"

He was about to answer when the train crested the peak.

It hung there for one second, as if the entire world had stopped.

And then it plunged.

Wind screamed past his ears; screams rose and fell all around.

Weightlessness sent everything in his stomach surging up his throat.

Kagami kept his eyes shut and his teeth clamped, unable to make a sound.

Beside him, Hiratsuka threw both arms in the air and whooped.

"Yahoo!"

She was laughing, delighted, utterly free.

Kagami lived inside the terror of that free fall, and every second lasted a year.

"Is it over?"

Eyes still shut, he asked it half to Hiratsuka and half to himself.

"Not yet." Her voice reached him, warm with laughter.

The train climbed again, and dropped again.

"Now?"

"Not yet."

Another dive.

"Not yet."

"Not yet."

"Not yet."

Every time Kagami asked, "Is it over?"

Hiratsuka would grip his hand tight and say, "Not yet."

He had no idea how long it went on.

Maybe a century. Maybe a few minutes.

At last the train slid back into the station.

The instant the safety bar lifted, Kagami practically fell out of his seat and crawled clear.

He staggered to the nearest trash can and bent over it.

And threw up everything he had.

Steak. Curry rice. Sushi.

Everything he'd eaten that morning came surging back up and out in one go.

His stomach heaved and heaved; tears and snot ran down his face together.

There was no dignity left in him at all.

Hiratsuka caught up and saw the state of him.

The smile fell off her face, replaced by deep guilt and worry.

"Kagami…"

She crouched and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you all right?"

He waved a hand, meaning to say I'm fine.

The words never made it out — another wave of nausea rolled up.

He bent over and retched again.

"Oh no, this is my fault."

"I should have asked whether you were afraid of heights in the first place."

Watching him suffer, Hiratsuka's eyes went red with panic.

"Wait right here. I'll go buy you water — don't move."

And she took off at a run toward a shop in the distance.

Kagami slumped to the ground against the trash can, eyes closed, breathing hard.

There was nothing left in his stomach, but the nausea hadn't gone.

It kept rolling through him in waves.

He felt like he was dying.

And then a bottle of water appeared in front of his face.

"Here."

Kagami opened his eyes.

A teddy bear was standing over him — round belly, plush all over.

It held a bottle of mineral water in one paw and a fat bunch of multicolored balloons in the other.

The bear's head had been taken off, revealing Shimizu Nayotake's delicate face.

Beside her stood Hiroi Kikuri and PA-ko in matching mascot suits.

Both of them carrying their bear heads under their arms as they came over.

"What are you three doing here too?"

"Part-time job," Nayotake said flatly.

Then she pointed off to one side.

Over at the rest area in the distance, Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko were walking toward him as well.

Looking at all of it, Kagami started to laugh.

He took the bottle, twisted off the cap, and drank.

He rinsed his mouth and spat into the trash can.

Then took another mouthful and swallowed it slowly.

Cool water slid down his throat into his stomach and carried off some of the burning.

"Laugh if you want to."

"No, that's not—" Kikuri stumbled over the words. "We really did come to help you, Senpai."

PA-ko and Kikuri together got Kagami onto a nearby bench.

Nayotake crouched down and took a pack of wet wipes from Akane and Sonoko as they arrived.

She pulled one out and gently wiped the mess from the corners of his mouth.

Kagami leaned back against the bench, eyes shut, and let out a long breath.

All around him: children shrieking with laughter, the machinery of the rides grinding away, music drifting over from somewhere.

Only his own world had turned into complete chaos.

"Honestly. Pull yourself together."

"The date isn't over yet."

Kagami looked up at Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko as they walked over, and gave them a helpless, bitter smile.

"So it was you two behind all this after all."

Akane and Sonoko took in just how wrecked he looked.

They sounded a touch guilty.

"We were helping you."

"How were we supposed to know you'd end up like this?"

Kagami nodded along.

"Right. How did I end up like this."

"I really should just come clean and do a dogeza."

"Absolutely not!" Akane and Sonoko said it at the same time.

Kagami blinked.

"…What?"

"After all this, shouldn't I apologize?"

The two of them looked at each other.

"You haven't been caught yet, have you?"

"But I feel so guilty. I don't want to keep going like this."

Bang!

Kagami watched Kosaka Akane plant one foot on the bench beside him.

And before he could react, she had him by the collar.

"You weren't feeling guilty yesterday."

"You weren't feeling guilty five minutes ago."

"And now you're guilty?"

"You're the one who chose the multi-date route."

"So you're going to see every last route through to the end!"

"I don't like a Kagami who backs down."

"Once you've decided, even if it's wrong—"

"Even if it damns you forever, you hold your head up and believe you were right."

"And you keep going!"

"Uh, that sounds like a way to die."

Still, after Akane's speech, Kagami did feel a little steadier.

"You think you won't die the other way?" Machida Sonoko said, arms folded, smiling.

"Ah. Right."

"If I do a dogeza, though, surely everyone will forgive me?"

Kagami looked at Akane and Sonoko, then over at Nayotake, and then back at Kikuri, who was standing behind him massaging his temples.

All of them were watching him with the same weighted expression.

"D-don't look at me like that."

"It's terrifying…"

"So there you have it, Kagami-kun."

"If you'd rather not run into something even more terrifying—"

"I strongly advise you to see this date through."

"After all, you chose it yourself."

"The consequences may be horrific, but you are not allowed to quit halfway!"

Kosaka Akane slowly let go of his collar.

Machida Sonoko added, "Besides, we've all put in a lot of work for you."

"That makes us accomplices."

"You don't get to drop the whole thing on your own and walk away."

She was right. Even if he ended up apologizing—

He had to carry this date all the way to the end first.

Tsushima Kagami — dig up the nerve and the guts you had yesterday!

Kagami slapped his own cheeks.

Then he looked around at all of them.

"I understand."

"I only wanted all of them to be happy."

"I've done nothing wrong!"

Watching this sudden surge of confidence, Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko began to feel less confident themselves.

"Um. It's fine to feel a little guilty, you know."

"Why should I feel guilty?"

"I timed everything perfectly."

"Every one of them could have had a perfect date."

"But things kept refusing to go the way they should."

"So I'm not the one who's wrong."

"The world is wrong!"

"That's it. The world is the one at fault!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Don't worry, Senpai."

"If the dates fail, I'll apologize then!"

"Thank you for the encouragement, Senpai."

"And thank you, Nayotake."

"And you too, Kikuri."

"Ah, right — where's PA-ko?"

The others watched him and could not begin to imagine what kind of internal pep talk had just happened in there.

He'd clearly gone completely off the rails.

Hiroi Kikuri answered awkwardly. "PA-ko's on lookout by the path."

Right then PA-ko came running back.

"Shizuka-senpai's on her way over!"

Nayotake and Kikuri hurriedly jammed their bear heads back on.

Akane and Sonoko, still worried about Kagami, gave him a parting cheer.

"Do your best!"

And then hurried off.

Once all of them had scattered, Kagami braced himself and watched Hiratsuka Shizuka coming toward him.

And from over by the Ferris wheel came a muffled cry of "Help!"

Followed by a crowd bursting apart in every direction, screaming.

Kagami and Hiratsuka both turned to look.

A man was stumbling toward them, his mouth full of blood.

Blood was running from his abdomen too.

He was running their way in blind panic.

"H-help me!"

And behind him came a sweet-faced young woman.

She was chewing something. Then she slowly swallowed it.

And smiled faintly in the man's direction, a thin line of blood sliding out from the corner of that smile.

In her hand was a dripping fruit knife, and she was walking after him, unhurried.

"Say."

"Yahiko-kun."

"Didn't you just tell me that everything of yours belongs to me?"

"Your tongue."

"Your hands."

"Your lungs."

"Your heart and your liver."

"So why are you running away?"

Maybe it was the stab wound in his belly and the blood loss.

Maybe the pain was simply unbearable. Either way, he hadn't gotten far before he crashed to the ground.

He twisted around in terror to look at the woman closing in on him.

"Mei…"

"Don't… don't come any closer."

The woman called Mei kept walking, slow and steady, toward the man called Yahiko.

She tilted her head, honestly puzzled.

"Up on the Ferris wheel just now, didn't you say you wanted to be with me forever, Yahiko?"

And then a smile of absolute bliss spread across her face.

"I was so happy…"

"When I heard you say that, I was so, so happy."

"You finally accepted me."

"Don't be afraid."

"It won't hurt."

"This way we can be together forever."

The man's face grew worse and worse as he listened.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead; his lips had gone blue.

Nobody was coming to help him.

All he could do was drag himself along the ground with everything he had.

And when he felt the last of his strength going—

He looked back at the woman called Mei.

"You crazy bitch!"

"It was an act! That's all it ever was!"

"How stupid do you have to be to take it seriously?"

"I'm a host! A host!"

"Who believes a single word a host says?"

Maybe he'd lost his mind. Maybe he thought it might actually work.

Either way, he'd gone into full confession mode.

But the woman didn't get angry. She simply stopped where she was.

And started to cry, smiling.

"I know."

"I know you were lying to me."

"I spent every yen I earned on bottles for you at your club."

"And when the money ran out, you said you'd find me a job."

"It turned out to mean adult videos. I did that too."

"I knew you were taking a cut. And still, every single night, I brought that money straight back to you."

"After all of that, why won't you accept me?"

"You idiot! Because the one I like is Yumi!"

"Not you, you psycho!"

The woman listened, then dragged the blood-slick hand holding the knife across her own face.

Wiping the tears away.

And smiled again, faintly.

With the blood at the corner of her mouth, it was a genuinely unsettling sight.

"I've known about you and Yumi for ages, too."

"Then— then why the hell are you still clinging to me?"

The man's voice was thinning out now.

The woman looked at him with sorrowful eyes.

"Because once you love someone, you can't let go anymore."

And with that, Mei started walking toward him again, slowly.

"Please stop running."

"I'll be quick. It won't hurt."

"Yahiko, just become mine forever!"

On the last word the grief in her face flipped straight into raving madness.

And her slow steps broke into a run.

She was on him in an instant.

She lined the fruit knife up with his back, right where his heart was.

Her eyes burned; a besotted smile hung on her lips.

"It'll be over soon."

"Soon Yahiko will belong to me and only me."

"Yahiko's heart will be mine forever."

"Forever and ever!"

And she drove the raised knife down at his back.

The man let out a last wail, as if he could feel death arriving.

Just as the blade was about to sink in—

A foot came out of nowhere and slammed into her wrist.

Her hand sprang open on reflex, and the knife went spinning away.

Kagami quickly kicked the knife farther off.

Then he looked at her.

"A man like that isn't worth dirtying your hands over."

"Miss."

The woman dropped onto the ground, legs folded under her.

Tears ran down her face, blankly.

Without so much as a sob.

She just wept and wiped at her eyes with hands covered in blood.

Until her whole face was smeared with it.

Kagami looked helplessly around him.

The other guests were only interested in running.

Security and the police hadn't arrived yet.

And the man had been crawling straight toward him this whole time.

He'd almost reached his feet. Not stepping in hadn't really been an option.

Even setting aside saving some scumbag host—

He couldn't just stand there and let this yandere girl take a life over trash like that.

And at the absolute minimum—

If he watched a man die right in front of him, he'd be having nightmares for months.

Security and the police finally came hurrying in.

They looked at the woman sitting on the ground with blood all over her face, and at the man lying there somewhere between alive and dead.

And at Kagami standing off to one side.

In the end they called an ambulance with one hand while questioning Kagami about what had happened.

By then every guest in the park had formed rings of onlookers, hanging back and gawking from a safe distance.

Once Kagami had answered their questions—

He was about to leave.

Hiratsuka Shizuka, whom he'd told to keep her distance, came jogging over.

She grabbed his arm and looked him up and down.

"Kagami, are you hurt?"

He was about to say he was fine.

And then he heard three voices from three directions.

"Kagami!"

"Kagami!"

"Kagami!"

And there they were — Yukinoshita Shizuku, Sayuri and Seika Ijichi.

All three shoving through the crowd toward him in alarm.

They hadn't gotten more than a few steps before each noticed the others.

The three of them came to a stop in front of Kagami.

And then it was four of them, looking at each other, and looking at each other again.

"What are you doing here?"

All four said it at the same time.

"I'm on a date with Kagami today."

All four said that at the same time too.

Then the four of them were silent for a long moment, and slowly turned their heads to look at Kagami.

He looked back at four pairs of eyes with the light gone out of them.

And thought, without warning, of the young woman named Mei…

His scalp went numb.

Of course. There'd been a stabbing this serious inside the park.

Every ride had been shut down, and everyone had come to gawk at the commotion.

So all of them had drifted over with the crowd.

He'd saved a man and then failed to get out fast enough. That was Kagami's fatal mistake.

Or maybe… this was karma for saving a piece of human garbage?

Oh, come on — since when does saving a life dock you karma points!

"Kagami. What exactly is going on here?"

Four voices, in a register he had never once heard from any of them, wove together into an invisible hand around his throat.

It felt like something was squeezing his neck shut. Breathing got difficult.

That was when he thought of Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko.

Right — if he could just point at those two, maybe his sentence would get commuted a little.

Kagami's eyes darted around the crowd.

No sign of Akane or Sonoko anywhere!

Then he spotted the three bear mascots that were Nayotake and the others.

They seemed to notice his gaze too, and — he couldn't tell whether it was Kikuri or PA-ko — one of them promptly grabbed the other two and fled!

A pair of ice-cold hands settled on Kagami's head.

And turned his wandering gaze firmly back to the front.

Only then did he realize it was Yukinoshita Shizuku.

"What is going on?"

"Kagami?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka, Seika Ijichi and Sayuri leaned in as well, their eyes closing in on him.

He could see the light gone from all four pairs of eyes, replaced by something like tangled coils of thread.

As if at any moment they might swallow him whole.

A shudder went through him.

He'd been telling himself that worst case, he'd just do a dogeza.

But Akane and Sonoko's loaded smiles had been right after all.

A dogeza was not going to solve this.

He'd overestimated his own charm.

"Kagami. Aren't you going to explain?"

Hiratsuka leaned in, her voice cold now.

"That's right. Kagami only asked me out, didn't he?"

Sayuri pressed closer still — close enough that Kagami felt he could count her pores.

Because he no longer dared to look her in the eyes.

"Kagami. That business you said you had to take care of — it isn't what I'm thinking, is it?"

Seika Ijichi pressed her forehead against his.

Terrifying!

Terrifying!

Terrifying!

What was he supposed to do?

Komoe-sensei, Yan-sensei, Kinue-nee!

The dogeza isn't going to work!

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

"We won't get angry, you know."

"What kind of girls do you take us for?"

"Just explain properly and we'll believe you."

"Why are you sweating?"

"You haven't done anything to wrong us, right?"

"Say something." "Kagami-kun!"

The four of them ran out of patience at the exact same instant and said it in perfect unison.

"I…"

"Hm?"

The second he started to speak, four gazes locked onto him like clamps.

He swallowed the words right back down.

Then he glanced behind him at the man being loaded onto the ambulance, forgotten by everyone.

He swallowed hard.

No!

This was how you died!

He thought of what Kosaka Akane had said.

"Even if you're wrong, keep being wrong and never take it back!"

Right!

This was no time to fall into the trap of proving his own innocence.

There was no explaining any of it anyway.

Which meant he had to go on the offensive!

Kagami started pumping himself up, silently and furiously.

Tsushima Kagami, you did nothing wrong!

And just before the last thread of the girls' patience snapped—

He finally spoke.

"That's right. I'm dating all four of you at once!"

There wasn't a shred of guilt in his tone, and not the faintest hint of apology.

He declared it like a man in the right.

It stopped all four of them cold — none of them had time to start blaming him.

Kagami pressed on.

"I did nothing wrong! The world is what's wrong!"

"If some cosmic accident hadn't made all four of you pick the same day, this never would have happened."

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Was I supposed to turn you down?"

"If I'd rejected three of you to go on a date with one—"

"Would any of you have been happy with that?"

At that, all four of them lowered their heads.

Kagami went around lifting each of their chins in turn.

"Don't look down!"

"Answer me!"

"Look in my eyes!"

"Hm?"

The dead lightlessness in their eyes began, slowly, to clear.

And something apologetic crept in.

Kagami knew right then that he was going to survive this!

Strike while the iron was hot. Don't let them come back to their senses!

So he kept going in the same righteous tone.

"All I wanted was for none of you to be hurt."

"So the one at fault isn't me. It's the world!"

"And now you're all questioning me like this?"

"Do you have any idea how long it took me to plan this out?"

"Do you have any idea what kind of moral agony I've been through?"

"I'm hurt."

"I'm disappointed."

All four heads snapped up.

Kagami watched the apology and the guilt in their eyes swell larger and larger.

They were on the verge of crying.

He gave himself another private pep talk.

Keep it up, Tsushima Kagami!

Just like that. Do not admit fault.

And absolutely do not explain anything.

Otherwise they'd decide he was easy to push around.

And he'd be under their thumbs for the rest of his life.

"Kagami…"

All four said it in unison again.

"We're s—"

Before the apology could get out, Kagami cut them off.

"Kagami this, Kagami that!"

"Would any of you even have listened if I'd explained?"

"Hmph!"

He gave a scornful little laugh.

Then turned his back on all of them and stood there with his hands clasped behind him.

In all my life, Tsushima Kagami has never owed the likes of you an explanation!

Play along or don't. I'm leaving.

With that, he shook their hands off him.

And prepared to make a break for it.

It would be very bad if they came to their senses.

And right then, an assistant inspector from the Metropolitan Police Department who'd just arrived called out to stop him.

"You're Tsushima-kun, correct?"

"Ah — yes."

Only then did Kagami's feet stop moving.

The assistant inspector continued.

"Since you were the one who stopped the assailant—"

"We'll need to trouble you to come back to headquarters and give a statement."

"Ah. All right."

The inspector gestured politely toward the cars.

Kagami was to ride with them.

At that moment another officer was bringing the handcuffed woman called Mei toward a second patrol car.

And just as she passed by Kagami—

Before he or the inspector could react—

Mei somehow twisted free of the officer at her side.

She snatched the fruit knife that had just been photographed and was about to be bagged as evidence.

And drove it into Kagami's side, straight through.

It was as if the woman had suddenly come back to life.

She stared at him, wild-eyed and raving.

"It's your fault I can't be with Yahiko!"

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

It happened far too fast.

Nobody had imagined that this woman — who a minute earlier had been sitting there hollowed out, silently crying, who had gone quietly into custody when the police came — would suddenly go berserk and attack the boy whose kindness had spared her a far heavier charge.

"Kagami!"

Only then did Yukinoshita Shizuku, Hiratsuka Shizuka, Seika Ijichi and Sayuri surface from their shock.

Screaming his name until their throats tore.

The woman was dragged off him by the other officers.

A savage pain flared through Kagami's side.

He touched it, and his hand came away covered in blood.

He looked up at the four of them running toward him in tears.

In the distance, Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko, who had vanished earlier, came sprinting back with the three little bear mascots.

Little by little his vision began to swim.

He could no longer make out what the people around him were saying.

And out of nowhere he remembered the curse fortune he'd drawn on the school trip.

So this was where it came true.

Looking at the girls around him, crying, refusing to be pulled away no matter how the police and nurses tried—

Kagami only smiled a little.

"Ha. So being a scumbag really does come back to bite you."

____

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