“Is this right...?” said Icchi as he stepped out of the dressing room with unconcealed concern on his face.
I didn’t think he had anything to worry about, though.
He was clad in a long-sleeved shirt made out of jersey fabric with breast pockets as details. His fitted long pants clung to his legs. He wore a thin overcoat over it all that reached his knees. Even I, a layman when it came to fashion, could somehow tell that the rather loose top helped make his skin-tight pants look good.
“You look great, Icchi!”
Compared to his crazy getup from a few minutes ago, he was like a different person. This outfit made him look undeniably handsome, and it even got on my nerves a bit.
“I knew it would look good on you!” exclaimed Tanikita-san. “Just what I expected! I’m not even one bit surprised! A guy as tall as you can just toss on an overcoat and it looks just fine! What are you, a lamppost?! Man, it’s so boring how predictable this was! Try not to hit your head too much when going through doorways, yeah?!”
Tanikita-san’s breathing was rough as she had her outburst. It seemed like the fact that she’d done a better job making an outfit for Icchi than she’d thought had agitated her.
“No kidding! That’s a nice outfit, Ijichi-kun,” Runa added as she clapped her hands.
Seeing her do that made me feel a bit conflicted. I’d never thought I’d bear such an emotion toward Icchi.
“What, really? This is good? Are you serious, Kasshi?” Icchi asked.
“Y-Yeah. It suits you really well.”
My seal of approval finally caused a look of relief to appear on Icchi’s face.
“Okay... But man, clothes are expensive. I counted how much this would all cost while I put it on, and it was eighteen thousand yen.”
That’s a math guy for you.
“I can lend you some money! How much are you short?”
Icchi lightly shook his head. “Well, my folks gave me twenty thousand to buy new clothes while I was in Shibuya, so I can afford it... It just feels like a waste to spend so much on these. I was planning to secretly buy games with that money.”
“Y-You can’t do that, Icchi! Your parents would be disappointed!”
It seemed that Icchi’s mom and dad weren’t happy with their son going out in such a getup either.
“It’s not a waste either!” I continued. “You might decide to show your face as Cheerful Yusuke sometime, right?! Wouldn’t Kids look up to you if they saw you dressed well?!”
I was getting unusually desperate, but I was eager to do at least something about my friend’s clothing that made it embarrassing to walk with him. In addition, I wanted to bring him and Tanikita-san together, since he was totally overwhelmed by her going weirdly out of control. I figured that getting him to buy the clothes she’d picked for him was the only way to fix things.
“Well... I guess I’ll buy them, if you insist...”
Whether my feelings had actually reached him or not, Icchi reluctantly agreed.
“Thank you!” said the clerk behind us as we left the store.
Having taken us up on our unanimous suggestion that Icchi change into his new clothes then and there, Icchi now looked completely different as he walked through Shibuya. The ZARA bag in his hand contained the crazy getup he’d had on until a short while ago. The bag must’ve been freaking out over the unexpected intruders.
“You really think this will make sure Kids don’t make fun of me?” Icchi asked. His whole body made his restlessness clear.
“Yeah. You’ll definitely be all right,” I said. “On a serious note, though, you should think calmly if you want to show your face or not. You know what kinda world we live in... People might start all kinds of rumors about you.”
“Well, I know the risks. Some Kids keep telling me I really shouldn’t show my face.”
Icchi was known as “Cheerful Yusuke” on Twitter. That was apparently where Kids talked to him.
“But we’re introverts, you know? And unlike you, I don’t have a hot girlfriend. I’ve always lived a life away from people’s eyes. But now that I’ve finally become an Active Kid and there are people who make a big deal about me... Am I really not allowed to get carried away, even a little bit?”
“Well, I get how you feel...”
Suddenly, Icchi poked me with his elbow. “Hey, check that out,” he said.
He was pointing at a showy blonde gyaru across the street who was walking in our general direction. Of particular note was her outfit: her tight, knit minidress that almost showed her underwear lines was sexy enough, but the chest area was open in a semicylindrical shape that showed off her cleavage.
You’d expect pretty much any guy to do a double take at the sight of such a stimulating outfit. The same went for me, of course, even if I didn’t move my head to do so. I was glad Runa was walking in front of me.
After turning to stare at the gyaru with her cleavage out as she walked away from us, Icchi sighed as if his eyes had had their fill.
“I hope I get to do an older girl like that—someone who probably has a lot of experience. Even if I never got to have sex again afterward.”
He hadn’t said that all that loudly, but it was enough to reach Tanikita-san and Runa as they walked in front of us. The former turned around in apparent reaction to what he’d said.
Tanikita’s face was seething with anger. “Ew, creep! This is why virgins are unbearable! How disgusting can you be?! Can you just stop breathing already?! And get buried too! Fly through Brazil on your way to the moon!”
Seriously?! Was that really called for?!
“Akariiiii!!!” Runa yelled, smiling as tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn’t play mediator between the two anymore.
Since I was aware of Tanikita-san’s crush on Icchi, I knew she’d only said this out of jealousy. Icchi, however, was utterly bewildered. He’d taken it as one hundred percent pure trash talk.
“S-So what...? Virgins can’t even have dreams now? It’s a virgin’s dream to have a beautiful, experienced girl take the lead...” Icchi grumbled in a quiet voice after Tanikita-san turned to face forward again. “And why’s she just assuming I’m a virgin, anyway? I may be an introvert, but it’s not okay to look down on people so much.”
“Oh...”
I’m sorry, Icchi, this one’s on me! When Tanikita-san had fallen in love at first sight with Icchi Ver. 2.0 despite wanting a nonvirgin for a boyfriend, I’d told her that Icchi was a virgin.
“W-Well, you were in that crazy...I mean, that sustainable getup, and that must’ve been why she assumed you’re unpopular!” I said.
“‘Sustainable.’ Yeah, right. I heard you say ‘crazy.’”
“B-But you’re okay wearing what you are now! You look so cool that nobody would think you’re a virgin!”
“Really...?”
Icchi looked pleased all of a sudden.
“That’s right! C’mon, it’s the weekend, let’s only think about fun things!”
“Well, I guess you’re right,” Icchi replied in a clear voice.
It sounded like he’d already moved on from what had just happened. That was something I quite liked about him.
But...that was precisely why I could tell he was still deeply hurt by Tanikita-san having shot him down. It had made him avoid school for most of a month and lose a lot of weight.
He sighed. “Man, that gyaru was so sexy...” It seemed he’d decided to only think about fun things now and his voice was much quieter than before. “Sexy gyaru are great... I thought the demon gyaru was like that too. Who could’ve thought she was actually so pure and devoted? It’s a bit of a letdown. I wanted her to toy with us.”
“W-Well, even that gyaru we just saw might be pure on the inside...”
As I gave my needlessly serious reply, I noticed that a brooding look had come over Icchi’s face at some point.
“When I said that to Nisshi the other day, he got angry and told me not to talk about Yamana-san that way.”
I could imagine getting upset if someone talked like that about a girl you liked. I’d be uncomfortable with hearing something like that about Runa too.
“Hey, Kasshi,” Icchi suddenly began, looking at me with a serious face. I couldn’t tell what he had on his mind. “Does Nisshi have a crush on the demon gyaru?”
Caught off guard by him hitting the nail on the head, I couldn’t keep my eyes from wandering. “I-I don’t know... Why don’t you ask him?”
“I don’t want to. I’m afraid he’ll get angry again.” Icchi turned to face forward. “Everyone’s scary...when it comes to love talk.”
“That’s just how serious everyone is about love.”
“It must be nice when you can be serious about it.”
His offhand manner of saying that made me nervous. “C-C’mon... Weren’t you serious about Tanikita-san too? You even confessed to her...”
“Don’t bring that up... I’d rather forget that ever happened...” Icchi gave me a weary look and then cast his eyes downward. “KEN’s enough for me for now.”
It seemed safe to say that for the time being, Runa’s plan to bring Tanikita-san and Icchi together had ended in complete failure.
***
“Haah... That didn’t go well at all,” Runa said as she drooped her shoulders. We were riding the train home after having parted with Tanikita-san and Icchi. “I wonder why Akari’s gotta be like that? He’s totally gonna hate her.”
“Well... Maybe the timing’s just bad,” I replied. “You know how timing can be important when it comes to love.”
I might not have understood that concept back in the day.
My first-ever confession had ended in failure. And when I’d met her again four years later, Kurose-san had fallen in love with me, but that time, it’d been my turn to reject her.
People’s feelings and situations would change all the time.
The fact was probably that only those who fell in love with someone who was currently interested in them could have a happy relationship.
The scar that Tanikita-san had left on Icchi when she’d rejected him had yet to heal. She was surely aware of it too, and her guilt prevented her from being honest. Such was my conclusion after watching those two today.
“Gotta say, though, Tanikita-san sure loves fashion. I hope she can become a stylist or a designer for real,” I said, changing the topic to distract Runa from her lingering dejection.
“Ah, yeah. I guess we have to fill out those career aspiration surveys soon...”
I’d managed to take her mind off that one thing, but Runa’s expression was still clouded over.
“By the way, what’s Ijichi-kun gonna do after we graduate?” she asked.
“He’s going to college. He said he wants to be an architect, so he’s looking into colleges with appropriate majors.”
Even KEN surely wouldn’t expect Icchi to connect his in-game interests to a real-world profession.
“I see. And you’re going to Houo, right? I guess everyone’s decided already...” she said. “Wow, you guys...”
Yamana-san wanted to go to a nail tech school, and Kurose-san would go to college to become an editor. It was certainly true that the people around Runa were steadily deciding on their futures.
“What about becoming a model? Like Tanikita-san suggested,” I said jokingly, trying to stop the mood from growing too heavy.
“Well...” Runa began, but without her usual energy, “I’ve never given clothes shopping much thought like how Akari does.” Leaning on the handrail next to the door, she gazed out the window of the train.
It was gradually starting to get dark as the sun began to set.
“I’ll see some cute clothes on Instagram and go buy them. Or if a store clerk recommends something cute to me, I’ll try it on and buy it just like that... That’s how it always goes.”
“Isn’t that because anything looks good on you? I think you have what it takes to become a model,” I said.
While she was of average height, she had long arms and legs. Her proportions were well-balanced. And, of course, she was cute.
“Well... I’d be happy if that was the case. But it’s a fact that I just don’t think about it.” With an anxious expression appearing on her face, Runa looked at me for a moment. “Maybe I’m kinda cute and have a good figure—so what? All models are like that. Even I can’t imagine that a carefree girl who doesn’t think about anything and doesn’t put any effort into making herself look her best would succeed so easily in modeling.”
Hearing that, I realized that Runa had put more thought into becoming a model than I’d expected. It was proof that she was starting to seriously contemplate her future as best she could.
“In that case, if you did become a model, you could just resolve to work hard from that point on. You could figure out what you’d need to succeed and do your best...”
“Yeah, I guess... Successful people are probably all like that,” replied Runa, hanging her head. She then lifted it a bit. “I think the problem is that I don’t feel like working hard. At least not when it comes to being a model or being in showbiz...”
The sound of the train jostling around drowned out Runa’s voice here and there, which made me realize just how quietly she had been speaking.
Looking away from the window, Runa lowered her gaze to the spot in front of her feet. “When I was six, we had to write our dreams for the future to go into our yearbook. I put down ‘wife.’”
I listened in silence, imagining how Runa had looked at the age of six.
“I was the only one in my class who put that. Our teacher didn’t seem to like it much and asked if I was really okay with it. She said that I could become an astronaut or a baker or something else and a wife. She was normally very kind, like an older sister, but in that moment? She was kinda scary... I didn’t know why she was saying such things to me, so I cried. I didn’t want to be an astronaut or a baker—I just wanted to be a wife.”
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