Chapter 16 – Her Face Wasn’t Red Because of the Sunset
There was something I’d forgotten.
A middle school friend of mine, Yoshiki Kishihara, had asked when our school’s cultural festival was.
Well, he was a busy guy himself, so it wasn’t like I needed to reply immediately. But since I’d remembered, I might as well find out now.
September was already well underway. The chorus of cicadas was fading day by day, yet the sunlight still carried enough heat to remind me of summer. It would be a while before anyone started switching to winter uniforms.
By the time I arrived at school, I’d already worked up enough sweat to count as a warm-up. I stepped into the classroom, where the air conditioner was set to twenty-seven degrees—a temperature that made it impossible to tell whether the room was actually cool or not.
The recent seat change was still fresh enough that my new desk hadn’t quite started feeling like my own.
When I walked over to it, I found Yuki Ohira already in the seat behind mine, calmly reading something.
Thinking I’d ask her about the festival schedule, I set my school bag on my desk and turned toward her.
Looking closer, what she was holding wasn’t a book.
It was a planner.
“What is it?”
She closed it with a soft snap and placed it on her desk before looking up at me.
Maybe she’d been raised with one of those lessons about always looking people in the eye when speaking, because her gaze met mine directly and never wavered.
Though her cheeks were slightly red.
“Being handsome really is a crime.”
With a joking grin, I brushed back my bangs and struck the most pretentious pose I could manage.
“Do you consider yourself handsome, Morigami-kun?”
“Don’t take it seriously.”
I’d only been joking, but she’d answered with complete sincerity. Not knowing how to respond, I gave up and sat down.
“No. My sense of aesthetics seems rather dull compared to most people’s. Honestly, I can’t tell who’s handsome or who’s cute.”
“I was kidding. Just messing around a little. Your face was red, so I got carried away. Please stop.”
“My face is red?”
She unconsciously touched her own cheek.
“I can’t tell myself. But if you think I’m blushing because I was looking at you, then you’re mistaken.”
“I know that.”
There was no way I’d seriously believe she’d turned red because of me.
“So? What did you need?” she asked. “Surely you weren’t staring at me just to make that joke.”
She was the same girl who told me not to act overly familiar with her at school.
If that really had been my only reason, I would’ve deserved whatever scolding followed.
“I wanted to know the exact dates of this year’s cultural festival.”
“The cultural festival? One moment.”
As she spoke, she reopened the planner she’d just set down.
“Let’s see…”
Murmuring to herself, she flipped through the pages before stopping at one.
“It’s November twelfth and thirteenth.”
“November twelfth and thirteenth, got it.”
After saving the dates in my phone, I noticed her quietly chuckling.
“Sorry,” she said. “It was just unexpected.”
“What was?”
“You seem like someone who’s looking forward to school events, Morigami-kun.”
“Of course. If you don’t enjoy school events, you’re missing out. They’re basically just sanctioned opportunities to have fun. If it’s playtime, you should go all in.”
“Even so, the teachers will be announcing the dates soon. The fact that you went out of your way to ask me means you’re pretty excited.”
“Ah. Well, a friend from middle school wants to come.”
There was no reason to hide it, so I answered honestly.
“I don’t really get the impression you’re close with many people at school besides Konoe-kun. Are you the type who has a lot of friends outside of school?”
“I’m the type who barely has any friends at all. Don’t make me say it out loud. It’s depressing.”
“Hmm.”
After a brief pause, she continued.
“Could this friend perhaps be your girlfriend?”
“Do I look like I have a girlfriend?”
“I don’t think so.”
The answer came instantly.
Then, after a slight beat, she added,
“Well, it’s not as though someone like you could get a girlfriend in the first place. Anyone who liked you would have to be extraordinarily strange.”
“Isn’t that kind of harsh?”
“I believe it’s a fair assessment.”
That was brutal.
All I’d done was ask about the festival schedule, and somehow I’d gotten poisoned with one of her verbal darts. Maybe she was in a bad mood today.
If I kept talking to her, I wasn’t sure my heart could survive the damage.
“Thanks for telling me,” I said, turning back toward the front.
At that moment, I thought I heard a faint cough from the seat behind me.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Man, that hit the spot. New personal record today.”
School was over, and Shogo and I had stopped by a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant near the highway close to school.
We often killed time together after classes.
Sometimes we’d go to karaoke or bowling—somewhere active. Other times we’d just grab food, like today. Usually that meant ramen, but for once we’d gone with sushi.
“Seriously, how do you eat that much when you’re not even in a sports club anymore?”
Stepping out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk beside the highway, I looked at the receipt again in disbelief.
More than five thousand yen between the two of us.
That was excessive.
And Shogo alone had eaten thirty plates, plus a bowl of ramen.
What kind of monster stomach did he have?
“I used to be on the baseball team. Baseball players are supposed to eat.”
“It’s not too late. Take up judo or sumo.”
“I’ll do it if you do.”
“Can you honestly picture me doing either of those?”
“Nope.”
Laughing loudly, he smacked me on the back several times.
“But honestly, even without joining a club, this kind of high school life isn’t bad. Hanging out after school and all that. It’s way more fun than I imagined when I decided to quit sports after middle school.”
“Yeah.”
I nodded.
“Maybe that’s thanks to you.”
“Oh? Akira actually thanked me? Guess hell’s freezing over.”
“It’d be hilarious if it really snowed because of that.”
We continued our meaningless conversation until we reached my apartment building.
“See ya, Akira. Tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Later.”
Shogo raised a hand and headed north.
He commuted by train, and the station was in that direction.
Whenever we hung out near school, this was usually where we split up.
The time was 6:21 PM.
Sunset was arriving a little earlier each day, but it was still bright outside. In winter it’d already be dark by now.
That was one of the things I liked about summer—the long daylight hours.
Beneath the orange sky, I pulled out my key and headed toward the entrance as usual.
Then I noticed something strange.
“Seriously? That’s careless.”
A key with a cute cat keychain was still sticking out of the auto-lock entrance.
Who in the world entered the building like that?
Some drunk person?
But even then, the entrance key and apartment key were the same. They wouldn’t have been able to get into their room without it.
Leaving it there completely defeated the purpose of having an auto-lock system.
I pulled the key out and was wondering what to do with it when—
“Excuse me.”
A familiar voice reached me.
“Ohira?”
The person emerging from inside the building was Yuki Ohira, still wearing her school uniform.
Her face was strikingly red.
Maybe it was just the sunset reflecting on her.
“Ah… it was you…”
“Is this yours?”
I held up the cat keychain.
She nodded.
Since I already knew she lived in the building, there was little doubt the key belonged to her, so I handed it over.
“Leaving the auto-lock key in the door doesn’t seem like the kind of mistake you’d make. Did you only notice once you got to your apartment?”
“Yes… When I tried to unlock my door, it wasn’t there… I was already inside the building, so… I knew it had to be here…”
“Good thing I found it.”
I threw in the comment with a deliberately smug tone, hoping to get a little payback.
“That’s true.”
She brushed it off effortlessly.
Her ability to ignore sarcasm was honestly impressive.
Since we both lived on the fifth floor, we got into the elevator together.
It was already waiting on the first floor—probably because she’d just ridden it down—so we stepped right in.
Then I noticed something.
“Are you feeling sick?”
Inside the elevator, the redness in her face stood out even more.
Earlier I’d assumed it was the sunset, but apparently not.
And now that I looked closer, I could see her breathing heavily.
Concerned, I spoke up.
“I’m just a little tired. That’s all.”
“Really?”
“Yes. My condition isn’t serious enough for you to worry about me.”
The elevator reached the fifth floor.
The doors opened.
As Ohira stepped forward—
“Ah…”
Her foot caught.
She nearly fell.
“Whoa.”
I immediately caught her with my arm.
The moment I did, I realized two things through the fabric of her uniform.
She was drenched in sweat.
And she was burning up.
“Someone who’s fine doesn’t nearly collapse getting out of an elevator. And they definitely aren’t this hot.”
“I-I’m… fine…”
“No, you’re not.”
I answered firmly.
“I’ll take you to your bed. Give me your key.”
Hearing the seriousness in my voice, she finally stopped resisting.
As if she’d reached her limit, she quietly handed me the key.
I took it, supported her weight, and led Yuki Ohira into her apartment.
