CH 3

Wednesday. To escape from the sun that was blazing down harder than yesterday, we came to the same empty classroom once more and ate nagashi somen. [TLN: fine white noodles]

The story goes back to a while ago.

“A-kun, I’ll show you what I can do today!”

Mitsumine, who declared such to me at the station early in the morning, diligently turned up at the empty classroom after school. She was extremely frustrated after being thrashed badly at yesterday’s battle, and the first thing she said when we met in the morning was, “Um, are we doing something today too?”

Fufu. Bingo. My tactics succeeded in being favourable.

So, today we were playing Pop-Up Pirate again, with the rule being that the winner gets to eat somen, and as such, Mitsumine was very enthusiastic.

“Hey! Aren’t those my somen!”

“It’s your fault for losing~. It’s just the survival of the fittest. There’s no meat, but ah, as expected eating somen at school makes it even more delicious!”

Today too, she had to glare at me with teary eyes as I ate.

On the contrary, despite the crushing defeat yesterday, why did she think that she’d magically get stronger after only a day had passed? Actually, there is a small trick to this game but… I won’t tell her about it.

By the way, the reason today’s wager is not on pizza but somen instead is because pizza is high in calories, not to mention, it’s also not very kind to my wallet. On the other hand, somen is kind in both of those factors.

So, we decided to have nagashi somen to feel the summer anyway. It was fortunate that one of my friends happened to have brought a machine to school that could make it.

I was lucky to have a friend who violated the school rules and just  left his stuff at school as a matter of course. Hurray for scumbags. And of course, hurray for somen.

After all, no Japanese summer is complete without somen.

Furthermore, both of us had skipped lunch today, so we were even more excited than yesterday. Of course, Mitsumine, who’d been losing for a while now, was staring at me reproachfully.

No, seriously, why are you so weak at this?

“Yep, it’s Mitsumine’s loss again. I hope this somen is still delicious. Your stomach must be grumbling pitifully huh~, are you starving~?”

“…I hate this!! Why are you so strong!”

“That’s because I’m the champion of Pop-Up Pirate.”

“Ha!? It sounds hella lame, but I kinda wanna be one now!”

Shouting that, Mitsumine threw her toy sword away. Looking at her facial expression now made me happy, because she looked much more lively than before.

Of course, the doll-like, idol-like smile you see in the hallway is beautiful, too. It’s so perfect that you can’t help but admire it.

“…………So, what do you want to do? Do you want to stop here?”

“What’s with that, are you trying to quit while you’re ahead!? Of course I’m going one more time! Ba–ka! A-kun you baka——!”

As expected, the unyielding Mitsumine is even cuter.

“Ah~, I ate well.”

“…………”

“My body is tired from the blazing sun. Having the mentsuyu in this weather is just amazing! And then, the tradition of the summer, ice cream cups makes its entrance!”

“………………”

“This is truly a feeling of summer…!”

“Shaddup…”

After the somen tournament ended with me winning by a landslide, we bought ice cream cups from a nearby convenience store and chatted in the empty classroom.

“What’s with that passion for summer?”

“Eh, on the contrary, it’s summer you know? Summer is beginning, you know?? Summer won’t wait a single second for us you know!?”

“It’s sweltering so stop.”

“Yes.”

Yes, my lord! [TLN: he said it in engrish]

Nonetheless, it’s summer you know, summer. When you think about high school students, you think of youth. And when you think about youth, you think of summer. Most of the youth events happen in the summer. Rather, when I appealed to Mitsumine that it shouldn’t be ‘whether’ I should be passionate about summer, it should be ‘when’ should I be passionate, she looked at me with an exasperated look on her face.

“…A-kun, I understand your passion for summer. But summer isn’t that great, it’s just hot and sticky.”

“Uuu. Then Mitsumine, where do you plan on going during summer? Are you staying at home all summer?”

“D-don’t look at me with your judging eyes like I’m some pitiful person! I’m not a shut-in or a loner! Even I have a lot of places I want to go to during the summer, you know!?”

“…Haa.”

“What’s with your doubtful gaze!?”

Mitsumine said in a vexing manner, then tapped on her smartphone. Then, with a smug face, she showed the phone screen to me.

“Nowadays, high school students don’t play around outside anymore. It’s the age of the aquarium, A-kun.”

“…………To just wander around?”

“It’s not just for wandering around! The aquarium isn’t just for kids you know!? You can see refreshing and beautiful things. Look here, the waddling of penguins and Goma-chan’s Feeding Time, wouldn’t you want to see that? And the special event is the summer limited Fantasy Jellyfish Rumu. It’s definitely beautiful!”

Mitsumine pointed at the aquarium website with glittering eyes. But I wonder if she had noticed that at the bottom of the Jellyfish Rumu event page, it was written that the event was scheduled to start next Saturday.

Seeing this, I recalled back to when she said, “Is there a point in asking this to a person who’s about to die?” with a dark and distant expression, and I almost choked up.

To my eyes, Mitsumine, who was talking in front of me, looked quite relaxed. But I wondered if I could just accept this as it is and be at ease.

What is she thinking about in her mind right now, talking about a future where she may not exist? Doesn’t she find it scary to talk about the future?

As I stared intently at Mitsumine, she turned towards me with a puzzled expression.

When I saw that, I shut off all my chaotic thoughts.

Aah, that’s right. That’s how it is. Right now, all I should think about is how to postpone Mitsumine’s suicide and make it go away. It would be fine to think about difficult things only after the success of that strategy.

“Oooh, hearing Mitsumine talk about it, I’m getting interested too! I’m super curious about the jellyfish!”

So, with the brightest voice and expression I’ve ever had in my life, I pointed to the website of ‘Fantasy Jellyfish Rumu’ to hide the scheduled date from Mitsumine.

I hope that like this, she doesn’t notice anything until next week. And then like this, I hope she ends up living for a long time.

“…Really?”

“Yes. I’m really interested in the aquarium, as expected it’s a must in the summer. My way of thinking was too shallow.”

“………… Are you sure it’s not unreasonable?”

“Good grief!! Look, I’m a man who’s a sucker for marine life you know?”

“No, I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“We should definitely go together. I’m going to learn so much about jellyfish biology before then!”

I just recently bought a picture book of marine life, and I’m sure my love for marine life is not untrue. Maybe. It’s a small price to pay for the credit and title that comes with it for about 1,700 yen.

“Why are you so determined to go…?”

“Ehh? Because I want to go on a date with Mitsumine?”

“Geez, stop joking around!!”

I am not joking though, not even a little bit. It would be better if she looks at it like this instead, that way I can divert her attention away from the schedule. Thinking this, I spent about 10 minutes talking about my love for aquariums.

“As I was saying, I think that aquariums are seriously mysterious. Especially the jellyfish. Jellyfish Rumu. Ahh, I really want to go——”

“…………Then, let’s go.”

“Eh.”

Mitsumine muttered in a small, fleeting voice.

“I said I’ll go with you to the aquarium.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously, though, if you make too much noise while I’m exploring the aquarium, you’ll be dismissed on the spot.”

“I understand!! It was my intention to quietly watch the fish anyway!”

“I have no trust in those words though…”

Mitsumine said as if it was a pain, and started looking through the aquarium website. Then, she took a screenshot of the pictures of the goods at the souvenir corner and put them in a folder called ‘Things to buy’.

I wonder if she noticed that the corners of her mouth were raising into a grin and that her phone’s screen was visible from the side.

She hasn’t noticed, has she… What’s with this cute creature?

“Then Mitsumine, it’s a promise. Let’s make a pinky swear on it.”

“A-kun, how old are you?”

“I’m seventeen!”

“Then why are you talking like you’re with an older friend…”

It’s cold. It’s a sub-zero gaze. But I can’t give up because of such a trivial thing.

Definitely, certainly. It’s not just that I want a guarantee of a few days to go get my pearls, I want a guarantee of two weeks. I want to delay her as long as possible.

“Even my older friends make promises with their pinkies~~”

As I said that, I held out my little finger to Mitsumine, and she looked at me with a very dubious expression. However, perhaps losing to my pressure, she pulled her slender finger away from the phone and gently brought it closer.

“…………Nn!”

I twirled my pinky around her thin fingers with light force. The only sounds were the uselessly loud cicada voices coming from outside, which made my back tense up.

“Pinky swear, Mitsumine will definitely go to see Jellyfish Rumu with me!”

“…………”

“And if she lies———”

What if this promise turned out to be a lie? If so, then Mitsumine and I would never be able to go to the aquarium again, or even meet, or talk to each other.

“Mitsumine will buy me a high-class steak lunch.”

As if to shake off the cruel thoughts that had crossed my mind, I smiled with my entire face, trying to be normal.

“Isn’t that just because A-kun wants to eat a high-class steak lunch?”

If this promise turns out to be a lie, I’ll never be able to eat a steak lunch.

How could I say such a thing? Mitsumine laughed exasperatedly and to her, I replied in a carefree tone, “Hehehe, did you find out? Not from a chain store, I want a proper one that’s worth more than 3000 yen!”