xxddmm

Chapter 16 - Unexpected double date.

It was a completely ordinary afternoon, right around the Bon Festival.
Not a single cloud in the sky, and it's even the hottest day of the year so far -- the perfect weather for the pool.

Which is why, as promised, Ta~kun and I came here to swim!
The weather? Perfect! New swimsuit? Check! Mentally prepared? Totally!
Today's the day I pull my Oops, my leg cramped move and finally get that heart-pounding, close-call mouth-to-mouth moment! (Well, you know, just enough to keep it safe...)

...Or so I thought. I'd psyched myself up for it, ran through the whole thing a million times in my head.

Shunya: "Wow, seriously, what are the odds? Running into you at the pool, Shirasaka!"
Chiyuki: "Right? And Takamura-kun too! It's been since graduation, hasn't it?"
Yuu: "Uh... yeah, yeah, that's right."
Hikari: "R...right..."

And now, here we are -- four of us -- sitting in some random café.
Yep, thanks to a few unforeseen circumstances, we bailed from the pool in under an hour.

Shunya: "I mean, Shirasaka, you were cute before, but wow, you've gotten even cuter! My eyes weren't lying back in junior high, huh?"
Chiyuki: "Seriously, Shunya! Are you really ignoring your girlfriend right in front of her just to hit on another girl?"
Yuu: "Ha, haha..."
Hikari: "........."

The ones chatting us up right now are this random couple from our middle-school days, not exactly friends of ours.

So yeah, our long-awaited pool date got completely derailed by a run-in with this complicated couple from back in middle school, and now it's somehow turned into a double date at a café.

This might sound confusing, so let me explain: the guy, Mizunuma Shunya-kun, was actually my classmate in ninth grade -- and one of three guys who confessed to me at graduation.

Back then, though, it wasn't like I turned Shunya down because I was into Ta~kun or anything. I just didn't care about romance at all; I was completely focused on the excitement of starting high school. So my no thanks was more like an obvious choice than a heartfelt decision.

Chiyuki: "Takamura-kun... you haven't changed much, have you? Oh, except you got taller, maybe?"
Shunya: "You're doing the same, Chiyuki! You're a lot more upbeat than usual."
Yuu: "Well, I mean... I don't think I've changed at all."
Hikari: "......(sip)"

Anyway, the real problem isn't Mizunuma -- it's her, this girl... Matsuyama Chiyuki-san.
She was Ta~kun's classmate back in ninth grade.

And, she was one of those girls to him, y'know, Mr. not super popular type, but always had one or two fans in the class Ta~kun.

At the time, I remember thinking, Oh, okay, whatever. But now? Now that my feelings for him have totally transformed, there's no way I can just sit back and relax.
I'm sipping on the last few melting ice cubes in my coffee, eyes glued to her, sending every silent, glaring, signal of stay away I possibly can.

Yuu: "Still can't believe you two are dating now, Matsuyama and Mizunuma..."
Shunya: "Right? We barely even talked in junior high, didn't we? Me and Chiyuki."
Chiyuki: "We were never even in the same class, Shunya~."
Hikari: ".........(sip, sip)"

Seriously, what the heck!?
How'd they both end up pairing off like the leftover puzzle pieces?!

Meanwhile, for me, for me......
I've been by Ta~kun's side since elementary school. We were even in the same class up to second year of junior high.
And still! Still, we haven't even kissed!

Yuu_ "Wait, so you two go to the same high school now?"
Shunya: "Yeah. Right when we started, all the people from our old junior high kind of grouped together, so... it just happened, I guess."
Chiyuki"At first, I was like, Wait, was this guy even at our school? you know?"
Hikari: "...(sip, sip, sip)"

And on top of that, how'd they both move on that fast, like it's already some cute, little memory for them?
Doesn't that mean they got together right after we turned them down?

Shunya: "Geez, Chiyuki, you really don't hold back, do you?"
Chiyuki: "Oh, please, there's no use pretending now! We're way past that stage."
Yuu: "Haha... well, I mean, you guys look great together, so I'd say it works out."
Hikari: "...(siiip)"

Still...
He... Ta~kun, he really knows how to keep things mature in moments like this.

Usually, I'm the one people think of as social between the two of us.
But right now, I'm the only one here feeling totally out of place, like the odd one out. All I can do is sit here, watching this ideal couple I'd wanted to become, feeling left behind.

Shunya: "But you know, I knew it, Takamura!"
Yuu: "Huh? Knew what?"
Chiyuki: "Oh, c'mon, don't act dumb. You and Shirasaka-san -- you two were dating, weren't you? Since back then?"
Hikari: "...?! (spit-take)"

I'd been zoning out, just watching them, and then that comment totally blindsided me and made me choke on my drink.

Shunya: "I mean, there were already rumors back in junior high, so it's not like it's a surprise or anything."
Chiyuki: "Yeah, but Shirasaka-san was pretty popular, so I guess you had to keep it quiet back then, huh?"
Hikari: "Wh-whoa, w-w-w-w-wait, that's not...!"

I fumble to keep the melting ice cube from slipping down my throat, desperately trying to jump in before they just go and decide this all on their own.

We definitely weren't dating back in junior high.
Honestly, we're not even dating now, as pathetic as that is.
And, only oneme of us actually has feelings for the other.

I mean, I'm always dropping by his house practically every day.
We even go out together to places like the pool.
And, actually, we're planning to hit up the summer festival in the neighborhood after this.
But, yeah... only oneme of us actually has feelings for the other.

Ugh... just thinking about it makes me want to cry.
Honestly, if I actually said that out loud, I'd burst into tears. Probably. Definitely.

But then...

Yuu: "Don't worry about us. Today's about you two. Tell us more about how you got together."
Hikari: "Ta... Yuu-kun?"

Even with all these wrong assumptions being tossed our way, he's totally unbothered.
He keeps his calm, gentle smile, never showing a hint of being shaken, always taking the high road.

And he neither confirms nor denies anything.

I mean, it's not like it'd be easy to just deny everything here in front of these two, with all our complicated history.
If he were to bluntly deny it, it'd probably just lead to more awkward questions like, Then what were you two, anyway?

So maybe, yeah... maybe his choice to just let it slide is the smartest one here.

But still... something feels off.
The look on his face right now, it seems like a forced smile, a mask he's putting on...

Shunya: "Oh, come on, Takamura, tell us about you two! So, did it start back in junior high? Or was it more like us, getting close once you were in the same class in high school?"
Hikari: "Huh? Oh, no, we... we aren't in the same..."
Chiyuki: "Takamura-kun really worked hard, though! He even applied to get into the same high school as you, Shirasaka-san. The grades he needed were a real challenge, too."
Hikari: "...Wha...?"
Yuu: "...(crunch!)"

The sound of ice being crushed didn't come from me.
It came from the person sitting next to me -- the one who'd just been smiling calmly until a second ago.

Shunya: "Wow, you really went for it, huh, Takamura? But hey, good for you. It paid off, right?"
Chiyuki: "Hey, hey, isn't your school pretty chill with rules? Tell us more about what it's like there!"

............
............

After that, I barely remember what the four of us talked about.

Probably because I wasn't really listening...
Wait, what? He... never told me that...

It makes sense that Matsuyama-san, who was in the same class as him in ninth grade, would know.
And it makes sense that I, who was in a different class, wouldn't.

The high school I'd already gotten into early by recommendation, the one I was supposed to attend.
He'd applied to that school, too -- pushing through, even though the odds were against him.

But now, we're at different schools.
And all this time, I'd thought it was because he'd been accepted to his first choice. That's what I'd always been told, up until now.

Yuu: "......"
Hikari: "......"

From the side, I can see him looking visibly shaken.
His face is covered in sweat -- cold sweat, nervous sweat, all of it.

And yet... the way I'm reacting to his panic feels...
Entirely different. Like I don't even know how to process this.

I'm Shirasaka Hikari, sixteen years old......

No, hold on a second!
After this, we're supposed to go home, change into our yukatas, and head to the summer festival together!?