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Everyone used to call me the reincarnation of Jean-Henri Fabre, the father of modern entomology.

When I was in third grade, my cicada life-cycle observation diary won the town fair’s top prize. I think that was the time when I was the most popular in my life. Everyone called me the "Insect Professor," and I was the center of everyone's attention.

The reason that I got such a fantastic nickname was because of my family.

That’s right! The Tamura family has three sons.

Everyone in my town knows about the genius eldest son, the athletic all-rounder youngest son, and the ordinary middle son. That ordinary middle son is indeed me.

My smart and bright older brother is the pride of my parents; my active and cheerful younger brother is everyone’s darling. Of course, with these two attention-catching sons, my family was always bustling with excitement.

Whenever our family became that lively, the ordinary me was always pushed aside. No matter which photo albums you opened, you would find me with my arms crossed at my chest or my finger resting on my chin, observing my brothers and my parents (who had their heads spinning from my brothers) from the sidelines.

Now that I think about this carefully, the one thing that I developed from being in the Tamura family was my keen observation skills… I think.

Unfortunately, time is cruel. As the years passed, one by one my friends outgrew insect-loving hobbies. Instead of trading beetles, they traded monsters in video games. Instead of sharing news about where one could catch grasshoppers, they now shared news on which bookstores had the newest manga and magazines. Finally, field guides to insects were replaced with 《The Mysteries of Human Body: A Guide to Identifying Male and Female Body Parts》…

I lost my only medal.

It probably started around that time! I didn't know if my relatives were doing this out of kindness to comfort me or what, but I increasingly began to hear things like this:

“Yukisada will definitely grow up to be a very impressive man!”

The Auntie next door also said:

“You are definitely going to be very successful one day!”

Even my homeroom teacher was no exception.

“Yukisada, I know very well that you have potential…”

…in other words, she meant, “even though you don't amount to anything right now…”

Ahem! I don’t need you people to tell me that. I know the truth myself. Thus right now, after studying insects, my second hobby became studying ancient folk stories and customs.

By the way, I'm very interested in the social customs of the Kamakura period at the moment — things like dark-brown dyed hitatares[1] and samurai-eboshi[2]. And you can’t discuss this topic without mentioning the armor, helmet, white toodoshi, and red toodoshi[3] … these garments are beautiful, extravagant yet majestic, and decorated with indescribable subtlety. The true spirit of the Japanese man can be found in this clothing style.

Ah ah, hmmm … Hmm?!

I was about to take action—

But then, tragedy struck.

It happened last night.

At first, I was only flipping through an ancient customs fact book. As I was reading it, I became nostalgic about that time period. A character. Wandering and visiting Kamakura. Before I realized it, I was holding my older brother’s bamboo sword in front of my room’s mirror, and posing like a samurai in the middle of the night—

I pulled out the bamboo sword in my hand:

“I am indeed Tamura Yukisada. Come, let us duel!” [4]

I uttered under my breath.

Just at that moment, my room door suddenly opened in response. The owner of the bamboo stick—my elder brother—appeared at the door!

“Hey! Do you have my dictionary? …what are you doing?”


Kya—

Last night, I almost screamed then.

Whenever I think about that incident, my face becomes red hot. I get so embarrassed that I act like a girl and cover my face with my hands. I could only comfort myself by thinking: I'm already lucky. I've done things even more shameful than this… ahh… but….

“Hey, Tamura. Were you listening to my question?”

Someone shook my shoulders a few times and pulled me back to reality. When I lifted my head, I saw an unremarkable yet familiar face. This was my good friend ever since the days I was called the "Insect Professor". His name is Takaura.

“Hey, Takaura.”

“…Haa? You weren't listening to my question at all!”

Takaura sighed exasperatedly and then pointed his finger towards my nose.

“I'll say it again, so listen to me this time. Hmm— Do you know what “time” it is?”

Takaura looked dubious with his hesitant expression and head titled slightly sideways. It was a mystery to me what he was trying to accomplish. But I didn't want others to think I had Alzheimer's disease or something, so I tried to answer the question:

“Right now, it’s the second half of lunch break.”

“I'm not asking you that! Can you think… like… calendar-wise?”

“Calendar-wise? Then it's July?”

By the way, the final exam was in two weeks. After final exams was summer vacation. From the perspective of a student taking exams, you could say that right now was the crucial moment.

“No! You really are dumb! You don’t understand at all, do you? The correct answer is, “The last summer of junior high school life”!”

“…mu~n…”

I fell into a daze and habitually started to chew my pencil. I moved my gaze towards the windows.

The last summer of junior high school life? In this world, there isn't a person who is sentimental enough to have that marked on their calendar.

Outside the window, the high-noon summer sky was boundlessly clear. The dazzling bright, light blue sky made me feel refreshed. The sound of cicadas could be heard near and far … oh, what a scene! The symphony of crickets and cicadas.

As I listened to their summer symphony, my hand started to play around with my pencil. On my desk was a half-finished school survey form[5]. Today was the deadline to hand it in.

When I was halfway through filling out the form, the scene from last night suddenly appeared in my mind. Because it was too embarrassing, I stopped writing.

I had already written down my first-choice potential high school. My class year, class name, seat number, and my signature were left to be filled in.

Ta - mura - Yuki - sada!

…Not that I'm boasting, but I have to say this is an impressive name! Even though no one's ever told me this, I always think to myself: this name sounds a bit like a samurai’s name.

After I filled in everything, I gave my form to Takaura. To be honest, he's always wanted to be the class representative (who knew he'd actually end up becoming a candidate for the job?). He's a pervert who can even enjoy boring work like collecting survey forms.

“Ok, Tamura handed in his form, let’s check his name off. Hmm, it looks like there are still some people who haven't turned theirs in … no, no, no, that’s not important. Back to the topic! The last summer of junior high school life!”

This truly perverted kid winked his eyes and leaned towards me. Even if you wanted me to say something more, but—

“…So what? I can only answer you with this phrase. If that’s an acceptable answer, then please by all mean continue on!”

Rather than continuing this discussion, I would rather pick my nose. As a matter of fact, I'll go do that.

“Agghh, you don’t understand at all, do you! Don’t give me lame answers like “so what?”. You should have noticed, right? If you keep on spacing out like this, you'll be completely left behind!”

Takaura suddenly grabbed my hands. They were passionately hot hands. For a moment, the two of us gazed at each other… sparks were glinting in our eyes… huh?

“I'll be… left behind?”

“You've never even noticed you were left behind! Look at this!”

Takaura pulled a piece of paper folded three times out of his shirt pocket. When he opened it up, I saw it was an A4-size contact list. In the list were the names, phone numbers, and addresses of the students in this class. I backed up a bit.

“…wow, you actually carry this thing around everywhere? You are way too dangerous…”

“Look again closely. The main focus is these lines!”

Takaura pointed at the lines he probably drew himself. The pencil lines connected the neatly spaced names together.

“First up is this couple. Here, Suzuki Chikato and… here, Nomura. Listen, you'll be shocked by this. These two people have been dating since last month!”

“Wh-what?!”

Upon hearing this mortifying news, my upper body naturally straightened itself and leaned forward. You mean this actually happened?! That “Old Hag” Suzuki Chikato with “33B Alley Cat” [6]Nomura? These two people are having lovey-dovey smoochy moments with each other?

“U-unimaginable!”

“Unacceptable, right?”

While ignoring the awestruck me, Takaura’s mechanical pencil kept on producing uncomfortable scratching sounds as Takaura darkened the line connecting Suzuki and Nomura together.

“It’s too early to be surprised. Hayashi and Kobayashi, Amano and Ishioka—even shocking couplings like these have appeared! I think these two over here became a couple right at the start of this month. And then you have him with her… her with him… this one is together with Yokoyama from the class next door… and… those two broke up already. These two broke up as well… and these two are are together… something like that."

The class contact list… no, calling this sheet of paper a “Relationship Map” was closer to the truth. My eyes followed the mechanical pencil’s movements, and I almost became dizzy just by watching. Most of the lines connected two names together. Some lines stopped halfway through, some lines advanced in zigzag movements, others lead to multiple names, and some were unidirectional only. All these lines went in all sorts of random directions.

They avoided a few specific names, however.

“Wh-when did the situation degenerate to this point?”

I could not help but lift my shaking finger, put it on the paper, and softly touch the empty and awkward area around my name (and Takaura's). This was a very very crushing truth. Along with a few scarce others, my name (and Takaura's) had been completely isolated from that tangled mess of complex black lines. Our names stood out so much that I couldn't help but feel depressed. So that was why! Now, I couldn't disagree with the truth. I (and Takaura) have indeed been left behind. While I had been picking my nose moronically, these complex lines had already interconnected my fellow classmates.

“’This is our last summer vacation in junior high school! If we don’t leave ourselves some wonderful memories to reminisce over later in life, this will be horrible!’ — I heard the girls saying this. Most of them started to vigorously search for sweethearts at the end of last month, the rest did so at the beginning of this month… In other words, a confession craze is spreading all around us.”

Confession!

“...Craze?”

“Don’t show that strange look. Haven’t you felt it? The mood: ‘If now is my only chance to be successful, then now is the time to do it.’ Even if you get rejected, once you graduate you won’t see each other anymore. On the other hand, if they say yes, you'll have a wonderful summer waiting for you. Moreover, regardless of how long the relationship lasts—according to the female students, you get assigned into different groups based on whether you've had love experience.”

“…what groups?”

“Well I know exactly what the girls mean! When you look at this contact list, don’t you feel like we've already been separated into two different camps?”

I looked at the relationship map, and I instantly understood what this kid was saying. The first group was those who had their names buried in the whirlpool of black lines. The other group was people like Takaura and myself. The space around our names was totally clear and far away from the mess.

In other words…

“One side has good luck with relationships, and the other side has no luck at all…”[7]

“Exactly! In other words, it's the popular and the unpopular. You and I have extremely unremarkable looks and personalities, so we're the kind of nobodies that nobody will notice…”

“Obviously we're on the unpopular side…”

Sa….sa….[8]

“Oh, it sucks to be on ‘this side’ of the camp, right? You won't accept this, right? If we continue the way we are, by the time we're 20 we'll still be virgins, by 30 we'll still be single, by 40 our heads will go bald, by 50, eh, hmm…”

I gasped. How would my future turn out? By the time I reached 50, what kind of tragedy would await me?!

“Forget it. Anyway, I definitely don't want to reach that sorry state! Therefore, I will board this fashion trend and get a girlfriend! Then, right before getting into high school and starting the next stage of my life, I will join ‘the other side’! This is my plan!”

—At that moment, my body almost collapsed.

“You know…”

“Tamura! Are you willing to be like this forever?”

“It is true that I don’t want to be like this…”

No matter how unremarkable I was, I was still a normal puberty-driven male student. If I could to choose between being “in a relationship” and being “isolated from relationships”, of course I would prefer the former category. I'd lift my head high and walk down that sunny road known as “life”.

But!

“…Takaura, our world is actually very small. To us, this town…no, this classroom is basically our whole world, right?”

“Ha? Yeah, something like that… why'd you ask that all of a sudden?”

I answered Takaura with a nod and slowly stood up. And then:

“You just said that you wanted to get a girlfriend, right? Why don’t you open your eyes and look carefully. In our world, these are your potential girlfriend candidates! Look at them!”

We looked around the familiar square classroom.

「Really, that’s really disgusting… as your friend… I recommend that you go to the hospital… Don't you get hungry?」

See…

「Yesterday I went to Shizuka-senpai's home (she's one year older than me). I met a guy… he was driving a toreeraa (trailer truck)… he drank a bottle of miruku (powder milk) all in one go…」

As I said…

「I feel so energetic right now I think I am going to break down (*laugh*). If my other personalities (Kurenai - Seiryuu - Choya [9]) came out right now, you girls would be dead (*laugh*). You girls better not make me angry (*laugh*). My smiling face is very scary~~ that’s what everyone says (*laugh*).」

…do you understand now?

“How’s that, Takaura. This is—”

“Ha?! Was that Tamura just staring at us?”

“No way?! What are you looking at? You need to pay money to look at us!”

—This was the true face of our female classmates.

I couldn't even finish my sentence. I just collapsed onto my desk silently. What’s going on? Was this a zoo? How was I supposed to become attracted to these people, fall in love, and confess to them? Where was my true ‘soul mate’? Could someone tell me where she was—?

“Ta-Tamura, pull yourself together! This is only a light wound!”

“…I can’t go on any further… you can go on alone to the 'other side'… don’t worry about me… I'll stay on ‘this side’ for the rest… of my life…”

“Tamura! Don’t die on me!”

“……Fare… well……”

Ahhh, what a short life. I slowly closed my eyes as darkness began to consume my solitary heart—

“Bu-fuu?!”

Panic!

Out of nowhere, an unidentified flying object suddenly covered my whole face. I was so surprised that I snatched at it by reflex.

“What the heck is this?!”

I stood up from my seat.

“Fu~a”

Suddenly there was a strange sound.

It was as if time became suspended.

The distance was so close that I could vaguely feel the warmth of a body.

About 10 centimeters in front of my nose—

That person was standing there.

And then.

“……sorry”

Our eyes levels were almost even.

Her lips, which were so small that one couldn't help but doubt oneself, were opened slightly. The sound that came from her mouth was so soft that one couldn't feel any emotion from it.

Sorry, she said.


“…That… Excuse me?”

That… Excuse me?


“I… that… that's my form. The wind blew it here.”

I… that… that's my form. The wind… eh?


“Ah?! My-my gosh!”

By the time I realized it, it was too late. The unknown object that covered my face— it only took one glance to know that the paper was the school survey form. The form was currently being crushed in my hand into a crumbled ball of paper.

“I am so sorry—"

What’s her name—oh yeah, her name is…

“S-Sorry… Matsuzawa.”

…That’s the right name, right? Matsuzawa… really… what a strange name… indeed.

Matsuzawa Komaki.

On her pale and small face, her brown eyes were glittering strangely. Those two eyes were staring straight at me. I couldn't help but stare back at those glass-marble-like pupils.

“I'll straighten up this form right away.”

Before I realized what was going on, I had already begun to unravel that crumbled ball of a survey form—

“……It’s okay.”

She took away the form. No, the form was hers to begin with. She took back the form.

Without hesitation, Matsuzawa handed the almost scrap-paper-like crumbled form to Takaura and walked back to her seat next to the windows. She moved through through the narrow gaps between the desks. Her hips under her skirt were as small as a child’s. Her ankles, dressed in the socks of the school uniform, looked just like the legs of an antelope. Her thin shoulders, her delicate back and… could a small body like hers actually have organs in it? Does she even have to go to the bathroom?

“……Wait wait. Tamura? When will you snap out of it?”

Her shoulder-length hair, softy afloat on the light wind and shimmering under the sunny sky, looked amazing. I think this hairstyle is called a Bob Cut. As Matsuzawa returned to her seat, her fabulous hair drifted behind her. Afterwards, she looked out the windows with disinterest.

“Tamura— Hey— Tamuraaa!”

She never spoke loudly, and she never hung around those rude people. Matsuzawa always just sat there alone, gazing up towards the sky. Even when the light wind disheveled her hair, she remained indifferent; she looked just like a clay doll.

Wait....

Wait wait wait!

She's here!

Matsuzawa Komaki.

After entering ninth grade[10], this was the first time she was in my class. Before that, I never even knew she existed. From what I heard, she moved to our town when she entered junior high school. She was a mysterious girl with an unknown past. Actually, her grades were amazingly good—I knew this because after starting ninth grade, our grade’s mock exam results were always posted.

There was someone like Matsuzawa is in this class?

This was the first time I spoke to her.

This was the first time I looked at her from such a short distance.

What was it? Those brilliant eyes, that pale and smooth skin so clear and flawless that it seemed like her skin glowed. Was the light so bright that I dared not move my eyes away?

When I finally came about:

“It is my fault.”

I apologized.

“Until today, I've never noticed you before.”

“Tamura— wake up— your eyes are goggling—“

“I never knew that you were such a perfect girl… Hey, Takaura, Matsuzawa is really cute!”

“…Eh. Are you serious?”

I finally turned my head around and looked at Takaura’s unremarkable face that I had completely ignored earlier.

“Of course I am serious! What would I gain from lying? She's really cute. Look, just her delicate movements set her apart from anyone else!”

As I was about to point my finger towards her:

“!”

Matsuzawa sneezed intensely.

“Wow, what a powerful sneeze. She's covering her nose……a runny nose? Just as what I'd expect from Matsuzawa, her handkerchief is pink.”

“Tamura, you haven’t…”

“I will change that ‘you haven’t’ into reality! I will step into the 'Other Side’ with her!”

I half giggled, and unhesitantly announced this declaration. Even though I heard a strange sound coming from Takaura’s throat, who cared about him! Matsuzawa was just too perfect! I was really sorry that I had never noticed her until today… wait a second?!

“Damn it! Let me see that relationship map!”

I suddenly realized something. I hurriedly snatched the map away from Takaura’s hands. For such a perfect girl, don’t tell me that some other male student had already tainted her with his dirty hands?!

“Very good… safe!”

The name “Matsuzawa Komaki” didn't have any offensive black lines around it. I relaxed instantly. I was very nervous earlier. Now all I had to do was connect her name and my name together—with a thick, thick line!

“Tamura, you know… Matsuzawa isn't as ‘safe’ as you think she is…”

“Aggghhh, shut up! Stop bothering Matsuzawa and me!”

“Think about it… Matsuzawa is really cute, that’s true. But, why is she on the ‘unpopular’ side of the camp? Don’t you think that’s very strange?”

“What strange luck!”

“Don’t you think that there must be some sort of logic behind it? We're unpopular because we don’t stand out. But what about Matsuzawa? What do you think it is for her?”

“Destiny!”

“I'm being very serious here. I advise that you give up on her while you can. Matsuzawa is not a character you can go for. At most, she's a weirdo who is there just to push the plot forward. Even if you can get into dialogue mode with her, there won't be any event CGs. She doesn’t even have moving facial sprites. There's no way of getting to her ending because right from the start, her plot route doesn’t exist.”

“…You sure are fluent with this game jargon.’

“Be quiet. Hm, I will show you. I really shouldn’t do this, but…”

While trying to shield his actions with his body, Takaura unfolded the crumbled sheet of paper—which was Matsuzawa’s survey form—then, he showed it to me. Just as I was about to complain to this rouge class representative about how immoral his actions were, I stopped—

“Hmmm?”

For just an instant, Matsuzawa’s private personal information was uncovered.

Before I could comprehend the meaning of the words on the form, Takaura took the form away. He lowered his voice and asked me whether I understood. But, what I just saw was not something one could understand the first time reading it.

I started to think back to what was written in the entry box for her first-choice school.

The phase, “Return to my home planet high school”—no, wait a second. The words, “High School”, were already printed on the form. Therefore… what?


“Return to my home planet?”


I slightly tilted my head as I tried my best to comprehend the meaning of that phase. Takaura, with his already lowered voice, lightly poked my arm:

“…Let me tell you something beforehand. That girl has written the same thing on her forms multiple times already. No matter how harshly the homeroom teacher lectures her, she still does the same thing every time. The incident even turned into gossip in our grade. Everyone knows about this.”

“…Home… planet…”

“To be frank, this is why people stay away from Matsuzawa. So you better give up. She—”

Stop, Takaura. I made a hushing sound to stop Takaura from continuing.

“Say no more. I com~pletely understand now. So that was why.”

“…Sigh. Normal girls can be found everywhere, so why don’t you...”

“Matsuzawa has such a funny sense of humor!”

Takaura just tripped in a classic fashion. But, I didn't have time to care about his lame performance. ‘Return to my home planet’. How romantic, how affectionate, and how lovely Matsuzawa was! If even Takaura was trying to talk me out of going after her, that meant I didn't have to worry about having a huge group of competitors! Yes, Matsuzawa! This was the best!

“Sigh…”

Takaura sighed deeply and lowered his head. Sorry man, while you waste your time sighing, I'll go ahead and join the 'other side' first.

Because, no matter how much you try to argue, now really was “the last summer of junior high school life”!

Part 2

The moment my alarm clock went off, I sprang out of bed.

On this dreary blue morning, I washed my face with twice the diligence and brushed my teeth with twice the attentiveness. Then, I applied some of my bro's hair gel on my bangs and admired myself in the mirror.

"Matsuzawa, please go out with me!"

I raised the corners of my mouth, and practiced a smile. Yes!

I changed into my uniform. After everything was ready, I briskly flew down the stairs to the living room on the first floor. On the way, a strong aroma filled my nose. This was the scent of the miso soup we had every day.

Probably because she heard my footsteps from the kitchen, my mother turned her head.

"Good mor— …oh!"

Her astonished expression.

"I thought you were your older brother! Why are you up so early today?"

"Hmmpphhh! Starting today, this is the time I'm gonna leave the house. Better be prepared!"

"Really… Oh dear! The pot's going to burn!"

My mother completely missed the new confidence I specifically put into my posture… agh, what was with her? I hurriedly sat down at the table, helped myself to some rice, and picked up my chopsticks after saying, "Itadakimasu"[11].

"Hey, why don't you help me wake up your older brother and Takayuki! Your older brother said he has to attend the student council morning session, since the TV committee wanted him to go."

"As expected of of the best former class president there ever was!"

"Speaking of Takayuki, don't you remember he has that? The Brazil Invitational. Since he was selected again, there's no way he can attend baseball practice for now. At the very least, he needs to let his coach know."

"Brazil… So this year he's focusing on soccer?"

"Really, I think things are starting to get hectic again! Hey, if you're not going to help wake them up for me, hurry up and finish your breakfast. Aghh—I'm so busy! Is Dad still sleeping?"

"I'm full, I'm leaving!"

"Oh? You're really leaving now? Why?"

Why? Good question. I'll answer you then!

"Starting today, I'm going to run a marathon at school every day! See ya later!"

I put my mother muttering, "What a strange child", behind me, and I skipped across the stairs of our front porch in a spurt of energy. I headed towards the early morning streets.

The time was only seven o'clock. Although the sunlight was getting harsh, thankfully there was a cool breeze, so it wasn't too hot.

With huge strides forward, I traveled three times my usual speed on the usual route to school, practically running and jumping all the way. The goal was the familiar school gate. My chest felt restless, so I couldn't slow down. My mind was filled with the ambition to reach the destination sooner, so I was wholeheartedly focused on swinging my legs in tandem. This was probably the first time I ever wanted to get to to school so early.

There was only one reason! And that was because Matsuzawa was there.

"H-H-Hey..."

"Mreooow!?"

I unconsciously got a little spooked. I happened to run into a cat that hissed like it had encountered some terrible thing. But I couldn't control myself that much.

Every morning, it looked like Matsuzawa would go jogging by herself.

The person who told me this intelligence was actually Takaura. Although he had repeatedly urged me to "give up on Matsuzawa", he confronted me at homeroom before going home—

"I can't decide if you two might actually be suited for each other. After thinking about it, I realized this might become quite interesting…"

He finally changed his mind. Afterwards, he kindly told me some great news he heard from the girls in the class. According to his source, Masuzu was formerly a member of the track and field club before quitting this year. Speaking of which, I never knew that. I promise! Even if I join the "other side", I will always love this Takaura who supported me all the way!

As I passed the school gates, I charged straight into the entrance stairs and sprinted in the hallways deficient of the usual sounds of people talking. I entered my deserted and silent classroom and put down my bag. Finding it too troublesome to go to the locker room, I changed into gym clothes on the spot, and then headed for the athletic fields.

Then—

"Matsuzawa ......"

Found her! She really was here! A wonderful kind of ticklish feeling seemed to well up inside my body, and it made me want to roll over the floor and celebrate.

Dressed in gym clothes, Matsukawa ran effortlessly like the wind, looking weightless as if she didn't feel the slightest pull of gravity.

Far away. The sun shined on the side of her face. The glare of the sun streaked over the curve of her nose, just like a solar eclipse.

I entered the track, and prepared to catch up with her. Matsukawa seemed like she hadn't noticed me, so in order to run beside her, needed to start quickly. Was I nervous? Of course not.

Last night I rehearsed it once. 「Yo, what a coincidence!」 —I would effortlessly start the conversation from behind her. Matsuzawa would be shocked and look back. 「Ah! Tamura-kun. How are you?」 「I just suddenly wanted to go for a run.」 …After that, the conversation would automatically expand on its own, and we'd chat more and more enthusiastically. But since I wasn't nervous or rushed, I'd maintain an indifferent expression and casually throw in a finishing line, 「I guess it's about time. We'll be late to class!」. Then, I'd turn to leave. And from behind me: 「Huh? I still wanted to talk with you more… that's weird? That shouldn't be the case… this is my first time… having this kind of feeling…」. I was convinced Matsukawa would act just like that.

Perfect.

But now there was another problem—

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump ——me. [12]

Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump ——Matsuzawa.

"Huh? Why…"

—Why can't I catch up to Matsuzawa? Aaah, Matsuzawa, you're too amazing. Even your running speed is that fast!

What should I do?!

The distance between us didn't shorten at all. I looked at Matsuzawa's back as I thought about a plan. That being said, since this was an O-shaped track, wouldn't we run in a circle? Right, yes!

Very honorably, I made a shortcut across the track. Although this was a deviation from my plan, I might as well try approaching Matsuzawa from the side. Subsequently—

"Yo! Matsuzawa!"

"Mhn?!"

I said hello. At that moment, I saw Matsuzawa shudder and spring from the ground at least ten centimeters high. She really was a cute little girl!

"What a coincidence! Good morning!"

Wearing a beaming smile, I closed in on Matsuzawa from the side.

"G-good… good morning…"

A happy feeling accumulated in my chest. This was my first greeting with Matsuzawa! I didn't know why Komatsu circled round and round along the outside edge of the track, but I followed her and circled round and round. [13]

"Do you... always start running at this time?"

"Hh…? Mhn…"

"How… long… do you keep running laps…?"

"Until it's time..."

"What... what... time is that?"

"…about eight o'clock."

"I see…"

I see… eight o'clock? So we're still going to run for forty minutes? At this speed? Like this!? That's incredible!

But!

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump… … thump… … thump … ...

I can't do it.

"Hu-huff, huff, huffff......"

By the time I noticed, the distance from Matsuzawa's back was even further out of my reach.

In the end, my feet came to a stop, and I violently inhaled and exhaled. I almost died! While I stood there stupidly out of breath, I thoroughly began to understand what a hopeless gap there was between our physical abilities.

Ah... m-my eyes are getting blurry.


"You didn't have a chance. She's a track and field club member, after all… for someone one-hundred percent in the Go-Home Club[14] like you, you'd have to train a hundred years before you got close!"

This was really pitiful, but when I was about to quietly slip into the classroom, I got anemic. Finally, the student prefect had to send me to the infirmary.

Trying to avoid Matsuzawa's eyes, I returned to the classroom. The first class was almost about to begin. At that moment, Takaura presented a huge package in front of me.

"I had foreseen this would happen! So, here, take it. I'm counting on you!"

"What is this?"

"Something I got from my dad's study. Anyway, no one's using it, so I'll lend it to you! Mhm, good luck! I'm cheering for you. I've really start to hope more and more from the bottom of my heart, that you'll end up together with Matsuzawa—it'll be a good laugh!

Takaura.

I love you.


"Hmfph! Hmfph! Hmfph!" [15]

Just for you!

Matsuzawa and I will become sweethearts that will spread therapeutic laughter to humans, just for you to see!

"Hmfph! Hmfph! Hmfph!"

"Hey!! Yukisada, my dictionary... What are you doing?"

Yo! Brother! You're looking for a dictionary today too? Just go buy another!

"When you see it, you should know what it is. Hmfph! Hmfph! Hmfph!"

"I'm asking you because I don't know…"

"You intend to apply to one of the world-renown Former Imperial Universities[16], but you don't even know this? I really admire a kamikaze pilot[17] like you. I'm tell you, this is an exercise board![18]

"I wasn't asking you that… Could it be, that you're exercising?"

"Yes!"

I spread out my legs as if squatting in horse-stance, waved a snowboard-like plank at my brother in tiger-style, and smiled.[19]

"I heard people say that doing this exercise for five minutes is equivalent to doing a hundred sit-ups! Hmfph! Hmfph! Hmfph!"

"Aren't you going to be taking exams soon? Go study…"

"I don't have that much free time! If you want to know why, it's because this is the crucial moment that will determine my future in a lifetime of love! I have this feeling!"

"That's because... you… just want to avoid studying for exams!"

"Who cares! Hmfph! Hmfph! Hmfph!"

"Well, do what you want… we're having sukiyaki for dinner, so you better hurry down. Takayuki's been in position since ages ago, so if you're not careful he'll eat everything spotless!"

"Did you say sukiyaki? Yesssss! Let's go eat!"

I threw the exercise board to the side, and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I'll continue my efforts after eating my fill.

"Yo, Matsuzawa! See you tomorrow!"—just like the first time I said hello to her, Matsuzawa had reacted with a "Mhn?!" and jumped ten centimeters from the ground. You know, I was doing all this exercise for her.

In other words—

I failed yesterday because I couldn't catch up to Matsuzawa. Just that!

"I'll just get there early and wait for her."


The time was half past six o'clock.

I had changed into gym clothes, and was sitting on the stairs of the athletic complex entrance waiting for Matsuzawa.

If there was a more meaningful way to spend this time, it wouldn't be so hard to get up early. But the the period we spent running was my only opportunity to hear Matsuzawa's voice.

Even if I wanted to talk to her in the classroom, Matsuzawa would always be too shy and escape like a fish slipping away. Saying an awkward, surprised hello was her limit. Basically, the time we spent running in the morning was very valuable, because Matsuzawa had no place to run away to. This makes me sound like the bad guy, but I can't help it! I just want to talk to her!

The was only one thing that worried me. Would she give up coming to morning runs because of me? Judging from her attitude yesterday, I couldn't confidently say she wouldn't. Even so, I didn't have any alternatives, so I intended to wait for her here in either case.

I leaned my chin on my knees, and looked towards the morning sky.

The midsummer morning sun was already shining, forewarning the torrid heat to come by midday. The crowd of cumulonimbus clouds could not be overlooked. Today, the weather would certainly be great.

"Mhn…"

Without warning, I heard an anguished sound from behind me. I immediately turned around and revealed the beaming smile that I had practiced. She had come, surely enough!

"Hey, you're late! Matsuzawa, I thought you weren't coming today!"

"W-Why…?"

Today, a few handfuls of Matsuzawa's hair were sticking up, probably flattened while she was sleeping. The hem of her sweatpants were slightly rolled up, vaguely revealing those slender ankles. Because she looked so cute, and her presence was so reassuring, I kept giggling incessantly.

"Did you forget? Yesterday, I said, 「See you tomorrow!」. By the way, your response was, 「Mhn」!"

"Hhn-hm…"

"What? Hey, aren't we gonna run? Why you are still dawdling along? Hurry up!"

"S-Stret-…"

"If we don't stretch first… then…?"

"Mmhn…"

This girl! I really didn't mean to steal her credit.

"As expected of Matsuzawa… I really admire your perceptiveness!"

"No..."

Noting my movements from the side, Matsuzawa nervously began to stretch her arms and legs. I imitated her motions, and started some "deep" stretches.

Such delicate and round knees! Her slender wrists looked like they might break from just a touch. Her ultra-white cheeks, huge eyes, etc… and her curved upper body. The collar to her T-shirt was slightly open, which made it seem like one could yet couldn't see inside. It really really really really bothered me.

"I'm going……"

Matsuzawa quickly broke into a run! Waaait, like this, coming here early would have been pointless. I followed suite and hurriedly started running.

"Is 「I'm going」 supposed to be some sort of joke? You shy girl!"

"......"

Today I also followed tightly behind her.

Maybe my muscles had already grown from all my training. Compared to yesterday, the running felt relatively easier.

"Today, will you tell me why you run every morning?"

Matsuzawa's eyebrows drooped like the kanji, 「八」[20], and she tilted her head with a look of distress. But I wouldn't let go of her so easily. I repeatedly stared at the side of her face, 「Hmm?」 「Hmm?」, and did this annoyingly until she answered me. When we finally entered the second lap—


"There's not much to do at home…"


Just as I almost forgot what my question was, Masuzu finally answered me. So now was the time to give chase!

"Mhm, Mhm. So then? So then?"

"Eh…"

"So then what? Hm?"

"Mnn……"

"There's not much to do, so then what?"

I had to keep pursuing further! I wanted to enter the depths of her heart! Until she answered, I wouldn't let her go! As for what inspired me to do things to this extent… even I didn't know myself. But I won't stop. Matsuzawa was probably very bewildered right now. Only when we reached the third lap did she finally speak again.


"Because when I run… it eliminates the pressure… and my head… it naturally becomes blank…"


"Hahaha!"

I couldn't help but laugh cheerfully (athlete mode), even though I wasn't sure if Matsuzawa's shoulders were shaking because she was a little scared.

"Just like me… In order to relieve the pressure from running, I study really hard! Y-Yesterday, I actually studied… for four hours!"

This was the truth.

After I tossed away the exercise board, I was so tired that I basically wasn't human anymore. In the end, I finally staggered to my desk, and threw myself into the books. For someone like me who had a body made for the Go-Home Club, I really hated exercise—though, having said that, my grades weren't good at all.

"Huuff, ah, haaa… haa…"

"Tamura-kun......"

"Wh… what?"

"I'm just about finished warming up, so I'm going to start running. I'm probably too fast for beginners. To be honest, I think it'll be difficult for you."

"Hey."

Warm-up exercise?

About finished?

What did that mean?

It had taken all of my best effort to run like this.

For a moment I couldn't understand what Matsuzawa meant—but, in short, was she concerned about me?

Are you an angel who descended to Earth?

"Yesterday... you went to the infirmary, right? At this rate, that'll happen again..."

So that was it.

But, Angel Matsuzawa, even if you tell me those things now—

"It's… too… late..."

By now, you're—

I began to pant with unsightly gasps as I started to slowly fall behind. The sight of Matsuzawa's back became increasingly distant. My feet stopped listening to me—they really were useless. Though honestly, after one day of training, I couldn't actually expect to see results in my muscles… right? And to begin with, what was the relationship between abdominal muscles and running? N-No, now was not the time to think about those things.

"If you stop right away, it'll hurt more… I think, it'll be better if you just slow down."

Matsuzawa came back to tell me. Even so, I still wanted to run next to her, and I wanted to work my hardest to catch up to her.

But, when the distance between the two of us reached about half the entire track, I gave up.

"Aaaghh, this… is good enough…"

After taking a deep breath, I slowed down the speed of my strides until my body felt relaxed. Finally, my breathing became more regular. Though, you couldn't quite call jogging at this speed actual running. Besides, Matsuzawa's back was growing even more distant.

But, I still felt good.

With the sky so blue, the wind blowing against my sweaty body felt very comfortable. Also, Matsuzawa and I were the only ones sharing this lonely track.

Ah, it felt so good—

Not bad at all.

Listening to Matsuzawa's footsteps, I finally caught her rhythm and ran at exactly half of her tempo. Although it was still rather challenging, I gradually began to acquire a constant pace… ah!

This was perfect.

When the time comes, Matsuzawa will slowly draw closer on the full circle and lap me again!

Part 3

When it was time for goodbye, I’d say "See you tomorrow!" When we met, I’d say "You're late!".

A week passed like this, and eventually I started to say 「Mambo!」[21] to match Matsuzwa's 「Mhn!?」.

As for the running, it was still the same.

We'd start running together, and not after long, I'd be left behind. Every time she passed me around the circle, I'd grasp at the opportunity to talk to her. Like, 「Yesterday's lunch was horrible」 「This morning a cat glared at me」 「What blood type are you?」.

「There’s a scar on your elbow!」. And after that Matsuzawa would pass me, muttering 「Mhm」 「Eh」 「Ah」 in reply.

And as soon as it reached eight o’clock, we’d part ways at the athletic fields. Matsuzawa would disappear in the direction of the girl’s locker room without a trace. Just like this, we gradually grew closer to each other.

Really...

Honestly, I felt there was something fishy. Something was fishy about this—!

As I thought blankly about this, I stared out the classroom window towards the sky. I figured Matsuzawa was probably rushing home right now.

It was half past four o’clock in the afternoon, and school had ended long ago.

The sky was still very bright, and the choruses of the Aburazemi cicadas[22] emulated the grandeur of the Japanese style. It was about time for the Higurashi cicadas to appear, but it might have been too bright outside right now to hear them sing.

But, even so, he was late.

I had been waiting for Takaura, who was in a student council meeting for thirty minutes already. If I had known I was going to wait this long, I wouldn’t have agreed so easily to wait for him.

I made a resolution. If another ten minutes passed without a trace of him, I’d go home first. These few days I had been waking up early every day, so I was really sleepy right now.

"Yawwwwwwnnnnnn..."

I gave a big yawn as I decided to go to sleep. I wiped the tears from my eyes, and lazily placed my hand on the table to cushion my chin.

But right when I did that—

Something like the sound of a shrill screech crashed open the door with a 「bang」.

“That—that scared me to death?! What’s going on? Something terrible?”

“Extremely—terrible! Does that girl have something wrong with her brain?”

“That [1] behavior of hers is scary enough!”

This was a group of girls that were considered some of the noisy ones in class. I shrugged my shoulders with disdain. Really… couldn’t they learn from Matsuzawa a little bit?

“Oh, it’s Tamura!”

“Mhn?”

After being pointed out so suddenly, I acted like Matsuzawa and jumped ten centimeters into the air with a low cry.

“Heyyy you. You’ve been rather close to Matsuzawa lately, right? ”

Before I knew it, I was completely surrounded by these three girls. The strong stench of their perfume made me want to throw up. This was a nuisance! A nuisance!

“What’s wrong with being with Matsuzawa?! Stop being jealous!”

“Eh, what are you talking about?! Don’t badmouth us!”

“Fine by me. I’m saying, why don’t you ask Matsuzawa herself? Ask her why she isn’t applying for high school!”

“She has the brains too! I just don’t get what she’s thinking? Is her family really poor?”

As for me—

“Hn?”

I did it like Matsuzawa again.

Because of the strong odor of the perfume, my ability to think logically was impaired. The same line kept circling in my head.

Not going… to apply for high school—who was this?

Matsuzawa.

“This…”

My tongue refused to listen to me. I stopped completely. I re-begun my sentence.

“How is that possible… doesn’t Matsuzawa often get the highest scores in the entire grade? Even if her family were dirt poor, with scholarships, she could go anywhere!”

What was with...

What was with this girl talking rubbish. And, what did I say after that?

“Hmph—looks like Tamura didn’t know. Matsuzawa… she made a huge scene about not applying to high school. We were passing by the staff office, so we happened to hear it. It nearly scared us to death. The teacher was completely out of control, and the two of them were having a huge fight. We could hear them from miles away!”

“What did she say? Something along the lines of, 「tests and high school have nothing to do with me, I don’t want any of it!」...”

“The atmosphere was really horrible…”

“It was dreadful. Matsuzawa shouting like that… it was my first time seeing that. It almost looked like she was about to cry. So horrible—”

“I'm not sure if she said something weird like 「return to my home planet」 again. She’s at this age, and she’s still blurting out things like that. Don’t you think that’s dreadful?”

I was speechless.

My mind was in complete chaos, and I couldn’t move an inch. I only listened to their words. My brain seemed like it was paralyzed, and I found it extremely difficult to understand what these people were saying.

They said there was a “fight”?

Matsuzawa? Had a fight with the teacher?

Shouting… and even cried?

“Is what you say… actually true…?”

As I asked this, thoughts flew wildly around my heart. How this was possible? How could “that” quiet Matsuzawa do something like this?

If that was true, didn’t that mean—?

“Just tell me—you—was it real?”

“I don’t know why—when we’re talking about Matsuzawa, it’s not enough to describe her as weird. She manages to get things to such a disagreeable state.”

So if that was the case—from Matsuzawa’s perspective, wasn’t she in really really really really dreadful trouble?

I finally understood. And at that instant—

By reflex, I instinctively started moving. They said it was at the staff room! I burst out of the classroom without even turning my head back.

Just fifteen minutes ago, we had said “goodbye” just like usual. When she heard my voice coming from behind her, Matsuzawa had held her breath and returned a 「Mhn」. To go along with her, I half-jokingly replied, 「Mambo」. Matsuzawa looked completely distressed, and left the classroom as if fleeing. I had thought she was already on her way home.

Why was Matsuzawa having a fight in the staff office… with the teacher? There was my first question too: why didn’t she want to apply to high school?

What was going on?

“Ah!”

I didn’t know whether to call this good timing or bad timing—

On the stairs of the hallway, Matsuzawa had just appeared at the corner of the staircase. We were about to run head-on into each other because Matsuzawa happened to be coming down the stairs.

But when I saw Matsuzawa, I unexpectedly couldn’t force any words out. That was because Matsuzawa was crying.

She was emotionally unstable. Both of her cheeks were red, her hair was a mess, her mouth was distorted, and clumps of tears were pouring from her eyes.

Even the way she breathed, I couldn’t forget it.

“Matsuzawa! You! How long do you intend to keep doing this—”

The person who rushed out with his slippers pitter-pattering on the floor was the teacher. He had probably chased Matsuzawa the entire way.

“Tamura… aren’t you in the Go-Home Club? Go home already! Did you hear me!?”

Matsuzawa looked at me with dismay, as if she were being judged. She gave hoarse, rasping noises that seemed to come from the depths of her throat, as she choked on her sobs.

This entire time, I wasn’t able to move a step. I couldn’t even breath. All I could do was stare at Matsuzawa’s face.

We stayed like this. For three whole seconds.

But then the deathly silence was hewn apart. With her face lowered, Matsuzawa pushed me aside and escaped in a burst of energy. In a flash, she disappeared down the stairs without a trace. It happened so fast, even lighting couldn’t compare in terms of speed.

The teacher followed suite, and I was the only one left standing there like an idiot, blankly protruding there from the ground like a pole.

Just like an idiot.

That scene, was something I was not supposed to see—


Without even changing my uniform, I collapsed on my bed. It had already been two hours. I stared at the ceiling and didn’t move a muscle, just like a dead person.

I had been thinking ever since then.

At the same time, I had been regretting everything.

When I had rushed to Matsuzawa’s side, did I think I could do something for her? Or did I merely want to do something for her?

If I had done something then, all I did was stare at Matsuzawa’s crying face. Stare. That’s all. And I probably hurt her too! Just by using my own two eyes.

In this world, there aren’t many people who want to be seen in that state.

But I had bluntly charged in there with all my clothes, and I just stood there like a pole… in the very end. After that, I fled from the scene like I was running away, grabbed my bag, and flew home.

“Uwuuuuughh…”

I couldn’t bear it.

I couldn’t bear my own powerlessness.

I couldn’t bear how tormented my heart felt, and I clutched my head and buried myself under my sheets. Under a complete cover of darkness, I bawled sobs non-stop.

I couldn’t erase from my memory the way Matsuzawa had looked at me then. Her creased eyebrows, distorted mouth, and reddened cheeks streaked with tears!

I couldn’t call it anything close to cute. It looked something like a demon’s[23] child. Just looking at her face delivered deep spasms of pain to the heart.

It wasn’t something she wanted to show me.

To Matsuzawa, I definitely was not a person she wanted to show that face to. Definitely not!

“Uwuuuuughh…”

I didn’t know what to do. All I did was burry myself deeper into my blanket. With my body curled up, I clutched at my head. From the depths of my abdomen, bitter and pained feelings difficult to describe with words welled up to my throat. I only continuously sobbed, moaning incessantly.

And then—

I didn’t care how the evening passed. The next day came on its own.


Early in the morning.

The sky at six thirty in the morning was clear and cloudless.

I sat at the steps that I normally sat at, and looked up towards the sky as usual. I was waiting for Matsuzawa to come. After I tied my shoes, everything I needed to run was ready.

In the end, this was all I could do.

This was the conclusion at arrived at after I spent an entire night moaning, distressed, and reflecting about this.

Although I was afraid of seeing Matsuzawa, I thought about what I’d do if she never came in the mornings again. I also thought about the inverse—if I stopped showing up, Matsuzawa would probably not care so much. But thinking about that made me utterly afraid. I didn’t want to become “that kind of person”. But I also didn’t want to become the other kind of guy who casually said goodbye one day, and then never appeared again. Because if I ran away like that, I’d have to spend the rest of my life avoiding Matsuzawa. In Matsuzawa’s eyes, I’d look like some kid who was gave up just when things started getting difficult.

So I decided—

“If you have the guts, then come, Matsuzawa…!”

As I looked up towards the bright sky, I patted my cheeks. Today, the wind was rather strong, and the clouds in the sky moved very quickly, skirting across the pale blue sky.

I stared at the sky, and tightened my lips. I decided. I’d do it like usual and wait here. I would wait here for Matsuzawa.

It’d probably turn extremely awkward! I wouldn’t know what to say and become speechless! But even so, I knew I had to sit here like this, waiting for that girl to arrive.

I had already resolved myself.

“Matsuzawa… if you don’t come in five minutes, I’m going to go pick you up!”


“Mhn…”


“Mambo...!”

I only noticed her after my lungs responded by reflex.

“Yo, you’re late!”

I firmly turned my head back, and threw everything I had into a beaming smile.

That girl was right there!

She was actually right there!

She was wearing the gym clothes I recognized, and her face looked exasperated as usual as she stood there. Her snow white face and silky drifting hair were the same as always.

How should I put it? I felt relieved. All the hundred anxieties I had brooded over disappeared instantly as soon as I saw Matsuzawa, almost like a joke.

Great.

In short, that was how I felt. Really great. To be able to see Matsuzawa’s usual peaceful face, it was great.

Afterwards, we peacefully finished the usual stretching exercises, we peacefully walked onto the track, and peacefully began to run at a leisurely pace, like always.

But then, suddenly it happened.

“Yesterday, I was startled.”

“!?”

My heart seizured for a moment.

Matsuzawa was talking to me as we ran. On a normal day, she would have silently accelerated, and left me behind not after long!

“Eh? Um… that’s no surprise...”

I was honestly shocked. I was acting like Matsuzawa in front of Matsuzawa.

“Tamura-kun… was startled, right? To see my tear-stricken face…”

“You’re talking about me?”

“*Ponder*” Matsuzawa nodded. When she continued on, her voice was absolutely tiny.

“So… I thought you wouldn’t be coming anymore…”

With the movement of the wind, the tail end of her sentence disintegrated into the air. I strained to listen to her, but I couldn’t pick up a trace of her words.

But, Matsuzawa momentarily sank into silence. She only continued with her slow-moving run, side-by-side next to me. This was first time Matsuzawa took the initiative to talk to me. I knew this at the very least.

“I’m sorry…”

I decided I definitely wouldn’t run away.

“Yesterday, I heard some of your private information. To put it together… I heard about you not wanting to apply to high school, and how you got into a fight. I’m sorry…!”

I tried to answer Matsuzawa as honestly and sincerely as possible. This was Matsuzawa's first time starting the conversation with me, so I wanted to use my truest and most honest self to speak with her. I omitted all the excuses and justifications. It took a great deal of difficulty to squeeze these few words out.

Matsuzawa stayed silent for quite a bit.

Huff, huff, huff. Only the sounds of regular breathing persisted for a while. But not long afterwards:

“I think, you didn’t need to apologize…”

Her almost flat voice dissolved in the wind. She continued:

“But, that… there are some discrepancies.”

After she said tha

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