Chapter 1
Only the Bird Chirping in the Morning Knows What Happened at Night
Mizuto Irido: In the Midst of a Cultural Summer
It was now summer. The only thing keeping the depressing heat away while listening to an annoying chorus of bugs was the air conditioning. This was what modern summer culture had become. Going to the rivers and mountains had become outdated. Why go anywhere and expend your energy when the most comfortable place to be was your own room? As I armed myself with arguments against leaving the comfort of inside, I tried to recover the energy I’d expended yesterday.
“Ah!” Chikuma yelped from beside me.
We were playing a video game on the TV, and I’d sent his character flying off the stage to win the match.
“Whaddya wanna do?” I asked him casually, my controller in hand and the results screen staring him down.
“Rematch...”
So we reselected our characters and jumped into another round.
It was Obon and, as usual, our family had returned to the Tanesato house in the countryside. Chikuma had grown a little since the last time I’d seen him, but it didn’t look like he’d changed too much on the inside—he was still shy and reserved. This only seemed to make him more prideful when it came to the things he actually liked. I could relate to him...both metaphorically and literally, because we were actually related.
Last year, I would have never thought I’d play games with him. I found myself marveling at how what I’d thought to be useless training in games with Isana and Kawanami was now bearing fruit. I was playing games with my little cousin, sitting cross-legged on the tatami, while enjoying the cool air from the air conditioning. I, honestly, was pretty okay with this situation. Maybe this year I won’t even get to some of the books and they’ll stay unread.
In the next moment, I sent Chikuma’s character flying off stage again. So how’re you gonna recover? I tried to read his strategy and guard the edge when I heard a voice from behind me.
“Mizuto, Chikuma-kun, there you guys are.”
“Ah,” the two of us said in unison as I whiffed my edge guard and he mistimed his recovery move, leading both of us to die, but since I was a little lower than him, I died first and lost.
As we froze in place, a girl with long, black hair came in between the two of us.
“Natsume-obaachan cut some watermelon. Do you two want any?” Yume asked, smiling as she looked at me.
Meanwhile, Chikuma moved a little away from Yume, embarrassed.
“We’ll eat here. This is a duel between men.”
“‘A duel between men’? We’re in the twenty-first century.”
“Sorry, a duel between two humans.”
Yume giggled. “Why is that the part that you fix? Trying to be PC?”
For some reason, it seemed that Chikuma was sneaking glances at her. Is it possible that he’s already figured out that we’re dating?
“Well, if you’re so concerned about PC culture, then come to the kitchen and get it yourself. It wouldn’t be right for women to serve you food, right?”
“Good point.”
When I started to stand, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Hm?
“Give me a sec,” I said, looking at my phone and seeing an unexpected name displayed. “Kawanami...?”
LINE messages were normal from him, but an actual phone call? I couldn’t even remember the last time he called me. What could he be calling about? I accepted the call and brought the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
On the other end of the phone, I could hear a ragged, desperate voice.
“Irido! Help me!”
Kogure Kawanami: A Guy’s Memories
Someone was here. I wasn’t sure if I could tell because of the sound of their breathing or the rustling of their clothes, but it was like a pebble had been thrown at me in my half asleep state. Who is it? Did mom or dad come home?
Then I heard footsteps moving away from me, but I could hear them clearer now and they were much faster, as if they were running. Then I heard the door open. Why are they leaving without saying anything? It should’ve been obvious I was asleep without them having to come all the way to my bed to check... But then a certain thought crossed my mind, causing me to slowly open my eyes.
My vision was barely coming into focus, so I still couldn’t really make out what I should’ve been able to. I felt like a newborn, only able to recognize movement but not actually see it in detail. There was a ponytail bouncing from side to side and a swish of a skirt. But then the door shut and I was left staring at it in silence for a little.
Minami...? It took me ten seconds longer than it should’ve to finally realize that the ponytail belonged to Akatsuki Minami. She was my troublesome childhood friend, but that didn’t explain why she’d been in my room. She hasn’t been staying over here that much recently, so why’d she come here?
As I continued to process everything that’d happened, my mind became clearer, and I felt something off. Why does it feel so breezy? I couldn’t help but note the sensation of my blanket on my bare skin. That’s right. Bare skin, without anything in between. I flipped over my blanket and found that I was in nothing but my boxers. I’d been sleeping in nothing but my boxers.
It was already August, so we were right in the middle of summer break. Did I sleep like this because of how bad summers are here in Kyoto? Or maybe I took off my clothes while sleeping. But more importantly...when and how did I fall asleep?
As I listened to the sound of the insects chirping in the morning, I sat up in my bed, put my hand on my head, and tried thinking, but I kept coming up blank. I couldn’t remember anything about last night. If anything, I felt remnants of a fatigue that sat deep in my chest. I can’t remember last night. I’m naked. Minami was in my room for some reason. From these clues, I can conclude that...
“Mn... Go ahead...”
“Mm... Ko-kun!”
I fell silent remembering these snippets of sound. Though it was the apex of heat during the summer, I felt my body growing cold to the bone.
No, it’s too early to fall into despair. I wiped off my sweat with a towel and decided to at least get some clothes on. I put on shorts and a T-shirt. While I was at it, I folded up the pajamas that were for some reason messily thrown across the floor and stuffed them into a drawer. As I did, I noticed the garbage can next to my bed. If the situation I feared most had occurred last night, then...
I nervously checked inside and found a receipt from a convenience store, the lid to an instant noodles cup, and some balled up tissues. I picked up the one on top. I’m pretty sure I blew my nose into this and nothing else. Nothing strange to see here in the garbage can...
I couldn’t exactly relax yet, though. The most important thing for me to do right now was remember what’d happened last night. I left my room to go into the living room, and there I saw the remnants of a party. There were plates with half-eaten food and opened bags of snacks. This was just kinda how it was when you essentially lived by yourself because both of your parents were pretty much always at work. It wasn’t anything strange for the living room to be messy, but it wasn’t a mess that I’d made by myself.
“Oh, right. Makoto and the others were over.”
I was beginning to remember how I’d had a hangout with some middle school friends. There was a bigger party planned for our full class of twenty tomorrow, and this had been kinda like a mini reunion. I picked up all the empty bags of snacks I could on my way into the kitchen. The sink was filled with cups and utensils that’d been tossed in there like trash. As I thought about how I needed to put them into the dishwasher, I threw the crumbs of the snacks into the bag for recycling. It was only then that I realized something. Inside the bag, I saw an unfamiliar, empty can. I pulled it out and my eyes narrowed as I discovered that it was beer. Since my parents drank in the house, it wasn’t exactly strange for there to be beer here, but it was a different brand than the ones that they drank.
“No... No way.”
Suddenly I was getting an explanation for the fatigue and lack of memories. Though I wasn’t exactly an honor student, I wasn’t a delinquent. Rakuro, the high school I attended, was a private prep school. If it was ever found out that I drank, even if it was on summer vacation, I could be expelled.
“Did they bring it?”
I put the can back in the bag and then decided that it’d be best to hear this straight from the horse’s mouth. But when I went back to my room to look for my phone, I couldn’t find it. Now that I think about it, I usually leave it by my pillow when I sleep, but I didn’t see it when I woke up. I tilted my head before going back to the living room, and saw it lying on the rug we’d taken out for winter but had never put away.
“Oh, there it is.”
Why’s it here? I picked up my phone and noticed a stain in the rug. Ugh, so dirty. Did someone spill something here? Regardless, I went ahead to check my phone. I’m pretty sure we made a LINE group.
Shoma: Be there soon
Sota: I got some gifts!
The last message sent was yesterday at 1:42 p.m. Right. That’s ’cause we were meeting here at two... I thought about it a little bit before sending a new message.
Kogure: Hey, everyone get home okay?
My thinking was that if anyone was at my house late, then one of them might’ve gotten caught and questioned if they left drunk. After waiting a little bit, I saw one read receipt and then got an answer not too long after.
Yamato: Okay is...a relative term depending on what you mean.
Kogure: Yeah, yeah. So is that a yes?
Yamato: Shoma tried to pee outside and we didn’t even drink! Cracked me up!
Dude... Shoma, you’re a high schooler. Why are you trying to expose yourself in public? But wait, we didn’t drink?
Kogure: You guys didn’t drink? I thought you brought booze?
Yamato: You don’t remember? Did you drink? Sota brought some but we decided not to drink because your high school’s uptight. Remember?
So they didn’t drink? Does that mean I didn’t either? If so, then...
“Why don’t I remember anything?”
Even if I couldn’t remember what’d happened yesterday, it didn’t negate the fact that I was hungry. I was out of bread, so I decided to go out and buy breakfast. My first instinct was to go to the supermarket, but it was just early enough in the morning that they weren’t open yet, so I decided to go to a convenience store first. Awaiting me there was a run-in with someone who’d been thinking the same thing.
“Ah...”
“Ah.”
Akatsuki Minami was in the snacks section of the convenience store. Her jaw dropped when she saw me and I froze. As I stood there frozen, it dawned on me that if I wanted to know about last night, then I should ask someone who had actually been in my room. I was probably blowing things out of proportion. Up until now there’d been a lot of times things seemed on the risky side, but we’d never crossed that one line. Saying it like that kinda made me annoyed at how much of a coward I sounded like. I just have to ask her casually about her being in my room this morning. With that in mind, I decided to start with a greeting, but I closed my mouth no sooner than I opened it upon seeing her sheepishly begin to laugh.
“Ah... Heh heh... Morning, Ko-kun.”
“O-Oh yeah. Morning.”
Hm? Wait. Did she just call me “Ko-kun?” Usually she called me by my last name. I mean, sure, sometimes she switches back to how she used to call me, but that’s only on special occasions, and when she wants to make me remember how we used to date in the past...
“You gettin’ breakfast too?”
“Hmm? O-Oh. Yeah.”
“I recommend this one, then. It’s good and healthy.”
As she spoke, I noticed that she had her hand on her back as if she were supporting herself. I was freaking out, but I knew I had to ask her.
“Is there...somethin’ wrong with your back?”
“Oh, well...y’know. Don’t worry, though.”
I felt a cold sweat on my back. The way she was calling me by my old nickname, her pained back, the weird way she was acting...it was all nothing I needed to worry about, right? There was no way that we’d crossed that line, right? I could feel my body temperature drop. I was getting so frightened of that blank in my memories. What did I do last night?
I grabbed a random sweet bread and left the convenience store. There was only one person I could think of who knew about the weird circumstances between me and Minami and could have a calm, levelheaded conversation with me. At this point, I couldn’t handle this on my own. Just when I felt as if I were being crushed by the overwhelming sense of isolation, I pressed the call button.
“Hello?”
“Irido! Help me!”
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