Episode Twelve
The bell rang through the classroom and I stretched out fully. Finally, lunch. Having English and physics back to back at the start of the week felt like a particular kind of cruelty.
“President — what was that just now?”
A classmate I’d barely exchanged more than greetings with spoke to me out of nowhere, and I felt myself stretch even further somehow.
“Who knows… ha ha.”
I laughed it off and gathered my textbooks. Go and ask Ao about that.
“Hey hey~! Yuna, you’re coming with me~”
Fuuka swept in with her light brown hair swaying, grabbed my hand with cheerful force, and marched me out into the corridor.
“Thanks.”
“Mm — let’s eat in the courtyard today.”
Fuuka wanting to eat outside was unusual. She always said moving around was a waste of time and never ate anywhere but the classroom. Maybe there was a storm coming tomorrow.
I went back to collect my lunch bag and followed her out, and she stopped at a quiet corner of the courtyard.
“It’s warm today, isn’t it.”
Even in the shade the damp heat found you. I wanted to take off my knit vest, but I didn’t want to mess up my hair doing it.
“The courtyard — that’s unusual for you. Something up?”
I settled down beside her and took out my lunchbox. Yellow and brown and green — three colours lined up neatly in the small box, and I felt quietly pleased with myself.
“Something’s up with you, isn’t it~”
Did she have me all figured out? Her eyes were fixed on my lunchbox as usual, but there was something different in her voice.
“Open up.”
I loaded a spoonful with all three colours and rice and held it up to her mouth. She’d eaten the food I’d gotten up early to make before I’d even had a chance — a little gratitude wouldn’t go amiss.
“That’s incredible~! Sweet egg is always the right choice, isn’t it.”
“Agreed.”
I put a spoonful of the sweet egg in my own mouth too, then noticed something and stared at the spoon for a moment.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just — thank you.”
“Sure. I don’t know what’s going on for you, but you’ve seemed off since Friday.”
“…Yeah.”
“I can’t say nothing’s happening — but there’s been some family stuff. Things not quite working out.”
“Not not working out like we’re fighting or anything, I don’t mean that.”
I rushed to correct the words that had slipped out.
“Obviously.”
“I can’t really understand how hard things are for you. But — being in second year of high school and suddenly getting a new mum and a little sister out of nowhere is a lot. I think.”
“And you’re kind, Yuna. Even if they say you’re family, I bet you’ve been putting on a front inside the house the whole time.”
“Am I right?”
“You know me too well. More or less.”
Half right and half wrong. It’s not kindness that makes it painful. It’s the wrongness of my own feelings that’s making it painful.
“When things settle down a bit, tell me about your little sister. I’ve been kept in suspense this whole time and I want to know what she’s like.”
“Ah — yeah. Eventually.”
Something in my vague answer must have told her enough, because Fuuka didn’t push any further into the subject.
Maybe it was the heat, but I didn’t have much of an appetite. The lunch that was left over I fed to Fuuka one mouthful at a time. It wasn’t bad, but whether it was as good as I’d like — I wasn’t sure. Even so, watching her eyes light up with each bite, something in me that had been wound tight started to loosen, just a little.
“I’ve been thinking about doing a study sleepover… but coming to your place is probably off the table now, right~”
“That might be a bit much at the moment.”
“Thought so~…”
I watched Fuuka agonise dramatically out of the corner of my eye and tried to think of an alternative.
Up until now, whenever exams got close, we’d use a weekend day for Fuuka to come and stay at mine so I could help her study. Midterms were next month, and I’d been planning to do the same — but my place wasn’t going to work anymore. It wouldn’t be fair on Shiho-san, and I didn’t want Fuuka to find out about Ao yet.
“What about your place?”
“That’s fine with me, but there are the little ones…”
She let out a sound even more pained than before and buried her head in her hands. She might be a gyaru who barely paid attention in class, but at home she was a big sister to a primary school brother and sister. Maybe I should be picking up some pointers on how to be a sister from Fuuka. Not that I had any idea where to start.
“Well, think about it. I don’t mind the little ones being around — but it depends on your mum’s schedule too.”
“If the sleepover doesn’t end up working, I can help you study on the days I don’t have student council.”
“Genius! An actual goddess! See, this is why Yuna is going to make such a great wife~”
“Hey — can we just get married? I’ll be the housewife, you handle the job.”
I pushed a strawberry from the small container I’d packed into her open mouth. She said something through a mouthful but she looked happy enough, so it was fine.
“Hey — do you have a boyfriend, Fuuka?”
The thought surfaced and I said it before I’d thought it through. It might have been a bit out of nowhere, but this was Fuuka, so it probably didn’t matter.
“Excuse me?! Of course not!”
“Really. I’d have thought you would.”
“What’s that supposed to mean…”
A strong gust of wind came through and I reached down to hold my skirt in place. There was probably nobody looking, but better to be safe. Student council president and all.
“What about you, Yuna — have you got a boyfriend or something?”
“Maybe that would have been better.”
“What’s that supposed to mean. Just say it properly~”
The straw Fuuka was holding made the sound of an empty carton. I always heard that sound in the classroom — out here in the courtyard it sounded somehow different.
Ao and Fuuka. Both of them my classmates, both of them genuinely lovely. With Fuuka I can be completely myself without thinking about it. With Ao I’m still nervous even now, and I can’t show her who I really am. They should be similar, but what I feel when I’m with each of them is completely different.
I let out a small quiet breath so Fuuka wouldn’t hear it, and put the last strawberry in my mouth.