Book 2: Chapter 2 |
May 1 (Friday)
May 1 (Friday), 8:14 AM
Kokone gave me the cold shoulder when I said good morning to her today.
Normally, she’s the one approaching me, but for some reason, she’s keeping her distance, almost on purpose, and talking to our other classmates. Her eyes dart over my way every so often, though, almost as if she’s frightened of me.
I have absolutely no clue what’s going on here. What in the world could be causing her to act like this? At this rate, I probably won’t get to enjoy a nice chat before class with my friends, so I munch on a cheese Umaibo so I have an excuse not to talk to anyone.
“Did you do something to Kiri?”
That’s Daiya for you—firing off the question point-blank without a care in the world for the inner workings of my heart.
“…Not that I know of.”
“Huh… Okay then, let me fill you in on a little secret.”
Does Daiya know what’s gotten into Kokone this morning?
“It’s the first time she’s had to take exams during her first year of middle school. She got too into studying the night before and ended up going into the tests with barely any sleep. Well, since she wore herself out, Kiri ended up nodding off during her third-period exam. Nobody would’ve noticed if she’d simply breathed like other people do when they drift off, but nope, that idiot had to start sleep-talking in the middle of a silent classroom. She was like: ‘I can’t fit into the plugsuit; it’s too tight…’”
“…Uh, Daiya? Why are you telling me this?”
“Why do you think? I’m giving you some heavy ammo to use on Kiri. It takes a lot to make her dislike someone. Now’s your chance to really get her to hate you and break away from her for good. You’re almost there now. All you need to do is mention what I’ve just told you, and you’re home free.”
“Um, that’s not exactly what I’m hoping for, to be honest… Besides, that story sounds more cute than embarrassing to me.”
“Well, that’s where the cuteness stops. It gets even more hilarious. You still have yet to hear about her epic drooling.”
I suspect I’m not going to like what comes next, so I shut my mouth and try to plug my ears. Unfortunately for me, Daiya is too quick and yanks my hands away from my head.
“No, I don’t want to hear any more!!”
“That’s not it; forget about that crap. Take a look over there.”
I turn in the direction Daiya is pointing and find Otonashi talking with a male student outside the classroom door. She looks like she’s in a foul mood, to say the least.
Facing off with her is a boy with intelligent almond-shaped eyes behind a pair of black-framed glasses: Ryu Miyazaki, our class president. Unlike Daiya, who was chosen as the first-year president because of his test scores, Miyazaki actually takes his role seriously. He’s a model student but not a stick-in-the-mud, and he’s pretty much universally popular with everyone in class as a leader we can count on.
I sidle up to the two of them with more than a little reluctance. Truth be told, I find it somewhat difficult to deal with Miyazaki’s overwhelming confidence sometimes.
“…What’s going on?” I ask, and the two turn to face me.
“Oh, it’s you, Kazuki. I’m trying to enter the classroom, but he won’t let me through.”
“Of course I won’t. What makes you think you can just waltz right into the homeroom of your upperclassmen? It would be another story at lunchtime, though.”
Now that he mentions it, Otonashi almost never comes here aside from lunch break. She was probably trying to show at least the bare minimum of decorum.
“All you want to do is drag Hoshino off somewhere, right?”
“What I do with Kazuki doesn’t matter.”
“Oh, it does. Don’t forget that I’m the class president. Part of my duties is to watch over my classmates. Besides, first period is about to begin. If he goes off with you, he’ll be late for class.”
“As if I care. He and I have something more important to attend to.”
For a moment, I have no idea what Otonashi’s talking about, but I soon realize that only one thing could be so important.
It must have to do with the Box. That takes priority over everything else for me, too.
“Um…hey, Miyazaki? I, uh, actually do need to go,” I say.
Miyazaki knits his brows and begins staring intently at me, like he’s sizing me up. I can’t help but recoil under such an unforgiving inspection.
“Do you do whatever Otonashi says?”
“N-no, but…”
“You’re pathetic. How about you try thinking for yourself instead of letting some girl drag you around like a dog on a leash?”
“Hey, who the hell do you think you are? You talk as if Kazuki has no will of his own.”
Otonashi jumps into the fray. The corners of Miyazaki’s mouth twitch upward in a smirk at her rebuttal.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you mad at me for insulting your lover boy here? Oh, or maybe you didn’t like the implication that you’re selfishly leading him along by the nose?”
“You…”
Otonashi’s glare is ice-cold; Miyazaki’s smile is thin.
“If you’ve got something to say about it, then—”
“You’re doing this on purpose.”
Miyazaki stops short at Otonashi’s words.
“Your position as class president is a rather poor excuse for giving us so much trouble, don’t you think? Nothing we did ever bothered you before, so why now all of a sudden? You’re practically on the verge of stopping us by force. Are you trying to come up with some shoddy premise to keep bothering us from now on?”
“…I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“That’s all well and good, if you actually don’t. I can’t help but get a bit edgy in these situations, so it jumped out at me. If I’m mistaken, we can let it go at that, and if not, I can keep you in check.”
In stunned silence, I watch the two of them go at it. Where did that come from?
“Let’s go, Kazuki.” And with that, Otonashi leads me away.
“Uh, okay…”
Miyazaki quietly gazes at Otonashi’s grip on my hand with a slightly wooden expression. Normally, I barely have anything to do with him, so it does seem odd that he would come after us like that.
Otonashi leads me out of the classroom and straight into Haruaki, who seems to be returning from a trip to the bathroom, along with Asami, who must’ve come here hot on Otonashi’s heels.
“Yo, what’s up, Hosshi? You guys eloping or something?”
“……Eloping……”
Thanks to Haruaki’s incurably clueless remark, Asami’s gaze latches on to our linked hands. It slides up a little, until her narrowed eyes are considering me… It’s really freaking me out.
“Hey, what’s the matter, Rikocchi? You’re acting weird today,” Haruaki comments.
That nickname would usually bother Asami, but today, she only has eyes for me.
“A-Asami has been kinda off since yesterday, Haruaki,” I reply.
“Huh, is that so?” Haruaki really is an airhead if he can forget yesterday just like that.
“…Miss Maria.”
“Sorry, but we don’t have time today.”
Otonashi brusquely dismisses Asami with barely a glance before turning away, leaving the other girl hanging her head in dejection.
Without moving a muscle, Asami begins muttering to herself.
“……I hope the people on those hidden message boards drag your name through the mud… I hope they bury you under a pile of photoshopped pictures that strip away every last shred of dignity you have…”
Hey, come on now, it’s not my fault Otonashi is in such a bad mood!
May 1 (Friday), 8:31AM
We’re back behind the school, just like we were yesterday.
“I’m sure you already know what I want to talk to you about,” Otonashi says, leaning against the wall.
I swallow and nod. She must have discovered something new about the Box someone’s been using recently.
“I have a few questions for you.”
“Okay.”
“Why are we here together now?”
“Why…? I thought it was because being near me is best for you, right? Since it means you’re more likely to encounter O again.”
“…Correct.”
I don’t think anything was wrong with my answer, but for some reason, Otonashi only frowns.
“Wait. So you fully understand your position in all this, and you haven’t gotten the wrong idea about what we’re doing?”
“…Huh? What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on! …No, it’s okay. You’re not the type to say something like that unless you mean it. I have to answer sincerely, too. I just wanted to escape from that. Kazuki, I—”
“Hold on a sec.”
Otonashi’s voice grows rough after I cut her off. “Why did you stop me?!”
“I-I’m sorry… But what are we talking about here? I thought this was all about the Box.”
“The Box…? What’re you saying? Of course it’s important, but you must know I brought you back here to talk about our phone call yesterday.”
“What phone call yesterday?”
“Ah, yesterday, you—” Otonashi stops short, wide-eyed, for a moment, then swallows. “…I see. It’s like that message two days ago. No, but… I’ve spent too much time with you for that. There’s no way it could work over the phone…”
“Otonashi…?”
“Kazuki, I need to ask you something else.” Otonashi stops whispering and asks me loud and clear, “Did you…make a confession to me on the phone yesterday?”
A confession?
As in, “I love you—will you go out with me?”
“Yesterday, you told me over the phone that you were going to profess your love to me again in person tomorrow, and by that I mean today.”
“I-I’d never say that…”
“I know you wouldn’t. I realize that now upon reflection.”
“O-of course I wouldn’t! How could you even think I’d do something like that…?!”
“If you’re so certain, check your call history.”
I agree to Otonashi’s calm request and pull out my phone to look over my outgoing calls.
The name at the very top is Maria Otonashi.
The time stamp is May 1, 1:49 AM.
That’s impossible. I should’ve been asleep then. I don’t remember calling her.
“Yesterday, you… No, I guess technically it would’ve been today. At any rate, you called me right before two in the morning and told me you were in love with me. I know that for a fact.”
There is no way I would ever pull something like that. At the same time, Otonashi wouldn’t stage a show like this just to mess with my head.
Either way, I know I didn’t do it. I’m absolutely sure of that.
“I don’t know how they’re doing it, but it has to be someone’s idea of a prank, don’t you think?”
“A prank, huh…? So you’re proposing that someone co-opted your cell phone and professed his love to me as you just for a laugh?”
It does sound a little far-fetched, but I can’t think of anything else. I’m about to say so when Otonashi continues.
“The voice was exactly the same as yours.”
“What?”
Otonashi presses onward while I stand there gaping like an idiot.
“Unless you have some long-lost twin brother out there, I can say that with absolute confidence. It was unquestionably you.”
“Y-you must have heard wrong. Maybe you just assumed you were hearing me since the call came from my number… That’s got to be it…”
“Kazuki, I’ve spent almost an entire lifetime with you. It’s ridiculous to think I wouldn’t recognize your voice when I hear it.”
Given the utter certainty on Otonashi’s face, I know there’s no way she could’ve been mistaken.
But if that’s the case, the only possible conclusion is that I really did say those things to her, isn’t it? No, there’s no way. Otonashi is positive it was my voice on the phone, but I’m just as positive that I would never call and pour out my heart to her like that. That doesn’t change the fact that the call happened, though.
“None of this fits together…”
“You’re right. The contradictions are simply too great for any normal explanation. The only possible answer is…”
Yes.
The incongruities are impossible. That’s why…
“This has to be the work of a Box.”
The word sits like a heavy weight on my chest. The fear welling up inside is almost unbearable, even though we still don’t have the slightest idea of what we’re facing.
“We have to devise a plan right away. The owner is clearly targeting us and seems to be hostile as well.”
“What should I do…?”
“Good question… I need some time to assess the situation. For now, hang tight until I come up with something. I’ll work out a game plan for how we should proceed.”
I nod quietly.
“That’s all for now. I’m going back to class,” she says.
Otonashi turns away and leaves without even a glance back in my direction.
May 1 (Friday), 9:32 AM
I time my return to the classroom to coincide with our first-period break, only to find Kokone standing watch beside the doorway like some sort of guardian deity.
Our eyes meet, and for some reason, she’s glaring at me. Her face is slightly flushed and red—maybe she’s angry.
“…I waited for you…”
“Huh?”
“I was waiting for you to come talk to me!” Clearly upset, Kokone starts shouting. “But you were out there skipping first period with that other girl! What the hell?! I don’t get you at all! You don’t make any sense, Kazu!”
From my perspective, there is no discernible reason why she should be so worked up, but for the time being, I decide to keep my mouth shut.
That only makes things worse, though, as Kokone groans, “Nnngh!” and pushes me up against the wall of the hallway.
“Uh…I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?!”
“Huh? …S-sorry.”
“I said, why are you apologizing?!”
Kokone gets even more up in my face as I stand there bewildered.
“Or maybe you have something you want to apologize for! Are you trying to erase what you did with an apology? Don’t you know how awful that is?! W-well…actually, that would make things easier for me, but…”
“J-just hold on… What’s all this about?”
We’re really talking past each other here, exactly like the conversation I had with Otonashi.
…Wait. Hold on a second. Does that mean…?
“Why are you being so dumb?! You have to know! C’mon… You…”
Kokone’s face flushes an even-deeper red, until the tips of her ears are practically glowing.
If this is going where I think it is, I don’t want to hear any more. But nope, Kokone checks to makes sure no one else is around, leans in, and whispers, “I’m talking about how you called me yesterday…and said you liked me.”
What the…? I said I liked Kokone?
At a complete loss for words, I fall into silence. Kokone looks up at me through her lashes.
“And it’s just that…I…”
Her gaze lowers uncomfortably. Maybe she read something into my reaction. Her mouth works silently as if she’s having trouble finding the right words, before she eventually continues.
“I’m sorry… I-it’s just that I don’t know what to think… I mean…I’ve always considered you a friend, and I thought you felt the same way about me. And…not that it really matters, but…there’s Daiya to think about, too.”
Mustering her courage, Kokone clenches her fists and focuses on me.
“…Wait for me. I’m not sure when I’ll have an answer for you, but wait a bit… I’m sorry.”
There is genuine pain on her face, and it threatens to break my heart. I want to cry out to her that it wasn’t me who said those things, but I know it would be pointless to explain. In fact, it would only make things worse.
Kokone misinterprets my agonized expression, and her mouth forms a grim line identical to mine. She spins on her heel and hurries back to the classroom.
Once she’s completely out of sight, I mutter under my breath, “I think of you as a friend, too.”
My hands ball into fists.
Suddenly, something occurs to me, and I pull out my phone and check my outgoing call history… Why didn’t I think of this before? There it is, at 1:29 in the morning on May 1.
Right under Maria Otonashi is the name Kokone Kirino.