Chapter 1: The hated riajuu has great influence over the school (Part 10)

That night, I lay in bed, diligently tapping away at my phone. There were several group LINEs that I’d been part of since first year, personal invitations or consultations, and greeting messages from girls in my class who I had exchanged IDs with for the first time earlier today.

For the groups or people I had no interest in, friendly enough to not let them know they were being a bother, but at the same time, drawing a line well enough so as to not be misunderstood. For those who I wanted to get to know even better than I did now, a little more intimate. Just like sorting out vegetables for shipping.

For riajuu just like us, the lines of relationships we didn’t even ask for are drawn before we know it, and the interrelations are so complicatedly entwined that we don’t have the motivation to untie them. Most of them are one-way arrows of「like」or「die」from the other party which we’re constantly wanting to cut off, but on rare occasions there are traps which can instantly lead to a huge explosion, so we can’t be careless.

Once you put on a smiling face, you can’t remove that mask, at least not until you graduate and are scattered apart.

After taking about thirty minutes to finish my work on the assembly line, I finally opened the messages from my friends.

First up was Kaito.

『Oh great Saku, god of boobs, what cup size do you think the breasts of our basketball club’s pride and joy Nanase Yuzuki’s are?』

『Umu, verily those are a set of springy bowl-shaped D-cups.』

『And what of Yuuko’s?』

『Know that they are pair of soft hemispherical E’s.』

『As expected of a god!!』

Kaito’s really an idiot, huh. The ‘Read’ indicator came up so fast, it’s like he was impatiently waiting for my reply.

The message from Kazuki was simple.

『What’s the plan for tomorrow’s lunch?』

『School cafeteria, I guess. Let’s invite Nanase and Haru too.』

Yuuko’s had an excessive number of emojis and stamps.

『Darling (multiple hearts). Let’s do our best as class reps, okay? (lots of sparkly things)』

『(many thumbs ups). (lots of hearts).』

The content of Nanase’s was a little unexpected, but in a way, just like her.

『I’ve been thinking about you, Chitose-kun. Let’s talk a lot more from now on.』

『As for me, I’ve also been thinking about you, Nanase. Talk a lot we will!!』

For some reason, Haru’s message was a close-up photo of a frankfurter.

『Feeling great today, the meat is good!』

『At least make it a selfie like a modern-day girl…』

Now then.

I temporarily placed my phone on the side table by my bed and went out on the balcony. In the sky floated a perfectly circular moon that looked like it had been shaped precisely with a compass.

Surprisingly warm even at this time, the air was filled with the aroma of a night in spring. Perhaps because it was linked to memories of my childhood, I felt fidgety and restless on April nights, with the feeling that something new was about to begin.

A countryside night. It was 10pm, when all the people on the road had long been sucked into some house, and even the sounds of cars were sparse. Half of them were already dreaming, and another half were just one step away from doing so. It was during this air-pocket-like time that I suddenly had a thought.

Am I correctly existing in this town? In this somewhat artificial-looking corner of the world, am I doing a good job at playing the role assigned to me? For example, if I were to crack and disappear like a soap bubble tomorrow, would it carve into someone’s heart a memory of pain, scars, love and regret torn to shreds, and a craze-inducing loneliness, carved so deep so that it could never fade or be stained again?

A tiny countryside, a tiny highschool, and within, a group of reclining, tiny riajuu. No matter how much we run, we might only be running together in circles, in a miniature boxed garden with no actual way out.

For whatever reason, I gently extended a hand towards the moon shining high in the sky, as if to estimate the distance between me and it.

I thought about Yamazaki Kenta-kun.

What are you thinking about right now?

If perhaps you are looking at this moon, do you see the same moon that I am seeing?

I went back to my room, picked up my phone, and made a call.

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