Editing Golden Time:Volume5 Chapter4

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==Golden Time 5: Chapter 4==
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===Chapter 4===

[[Image:Golden Time vol05 181.jpg|thumb]]
The handsome guy was saying, "You have two options.  Pick one."

"This harmless little thing I bought that for third year of middle school.  This not so harmless little thing was given to me as a present from the boss, who said 'It looks good on you, so I bought it!  Hm!'"

With that, already, he naturally and probably had no choice but to choose the harmless Nakasan model.

"...Yana-ssan, didn't you think from the start 'I probably have to pick the dangerous one the boss gave me'...?"

"Perhaps.  Surprisingly, Banri said it looked like I wore it well."

"You're making too much of it.  Ah, I'm glad you gave it to me here this evening.  If you'd given it to me tomorrow, on site, you'd have no choice but to wear it."

"Would it have been more entertaining that way?"

He decided to borrow the aforementioned harmless one on the right.  Plain deep blue, it was nothing more than simple and sober.  Even trying to take it in hand and look at it closely, it was nothing special, truly innocuous.  Shall we just call it a young man's school swimsuit?  Because of its utter lack of design, it didn't feel particularly old-fashioned even though a few years had passed.  It didn't give off that embarrassing feeling like it had been chosen for a middle-schooler.  If he were go through and borrow this one, he felt it would be received warmly.

On the other hand, the left-hand one.  The dangerous one.  It was a Speedo.  Even for the storage of one's average parts, the smooth, slippery cloth texture had so much trouble keeping its shape it was disgusting.  The uneven features on the edge of standing out for all to see, glittering in shiny rainbow colors, it was truly and deeply disgusting.

Choosing this one for Mitsuo, the boss had grabbed it, handed it to the store clerk and paid the bill, his lustful gaze piercing Mitsuo the whole time.  Mitsuo said he hasn't worn it yet, but it somehow felt like it was no longer pure.  That's how disgusting it felt.
 
"Well, I'll borrow this for tomorrow, okay?  I mean, I wonder if I should try it now as a test?  I don't have anything to wear under the swimsuit, so if anything shows I'm sorry.  Okay?"

"What, don't you have a supporter?  I only enough for myself."

"Eh?  And I can't just use nothing?"

"Well... it's always better to have something..."

Mitsuo looked concerned.  Pushing up his hair, which appeared to be cut a little on the short side, eyebrows raised pensively, he was the very image of a young master of the martial arts.  He stood on his knees, his glance keen like that of an eagle, or a falcon.  Those eyes, that back, those tightened, narrow lips.  Saying "We will ambush the enemy lord this evening and put him to the sword!  Prepare yourselves!" as if they were prepared, hidden in some dark alley.

However, what he was doing right now was looking back and forth between his friend Banri's nether region and the two swimsuits.

"...It's come to me all at once!  You can put on that seven-color speedo rather than the supporter.  It's not as dangerous as what I'll be wearing tonight."

He handed the two swimsuits over to Banri.

"Dude!  As you'd expect, old man, I trust you!  I'll try one on top of the other!  Then, if you don't mind, I'll take a look through that box.  There's all sorts of stuff in there."

"Oh, thank you."

Of course, not wanting to expose himself before his friend in this not very spacious room, Banri took the two borrowed swimsuits and headed for the bathroom.  All smiles, Mitsuo happily turned away from Banri and took down the box that been placed on a stool.

That figure behind him was a sturdy as a Greek sculpture.  Beautiful, you might even say.

Turning on the bathroom light, he went inside, closed the door and took off his T-shirt.  The difference between Mitsuo's style, which he had just observed, and his own body as reflected at the moment in the mirror, frankly could not be helped.  In spite of being the same as humans, as men, as Japanese people and even about the same age, why were their shapes so different?

Mitsuo, who he was seeing clearly for the first time in a while, had become even more handsome than he had been even back when they were undergoing their exams.  He knew that he continued to work for the Boss… that mysterious, overweight slave trafficker who prepared young people for events, however bizarre they seemed to be.  As for the costs, the boss treated them as fringe benefits for his employees.  He even invited them to the gym.  For that reason, even more than before, his muscular appearance could be seen sculpted deeply and clearly, even through a simple T-shirt.  He had a hunch he really could pass for a model.

Stripping down, the boyfriend changed into the swimming suit.  Just how popular do those handsome guys on the beach get?  To look at him, Two Dimensions possessed a surprisingly tall and slim figure.  If the three guys were lined up in a row, he probably wouldn't compare well, and it would be embarrassing.

Looking down on his jeans as he undressed, Banri thought, 'I'm going to work out too!'  It was already too late for tomorrow, but in any case for the next time.  Of course, having been born male, though he wasn't talking about Kosshi-senpai's body, he wanted to be reasonably strong and bulked out.  That is, if he was going to try on a swimming suit, there was no need to take off anything above that.

Tomorrow was the day they'd promised to go to the beach.

Banri didn't have a swimsuit.

He might have had one back at his home in Shizuoka, but he was reluctant to call and bother them with talk of returning home.  Nonetheless, not having the extra money to go and buy a new one, he decided to ask Mitsuo if he had one he could borrow.  Taking the opportunity to swap some contraband with him, this evening, Banri invited Mitsuo over to his room.

He'd hadn't seen Mitsuo's face since then.

That time being after he'd gone to Chinami's house.  Since they'd spotted him and Linda entering into that izakaya the film studies group frequented.

...That shocked him.  Really.

Taking off everything down to his shorts, one person nude and free.  The shock of that day was brought back to his heart clearly and completely.  Though he thought he was trying not to think about it anymore, the memory was still as vivid as ever.

The four of them at that time were at a loss for words.  The looked at each other's faces like idiots, standing there in the street, frozen in place.

What came to Banri's mind at first was "What sort of a matchup is that?"  Why were Mitsuo and Linda together, just the two of them?  From the very start, didn't the two have nothing in common?  Thinking that way, he immediately remembered.  It was their part-time job.  The job for the Boss.  Banri had dropped out already, but Mitsuo had continued playing the "decorated hunk" for many events.

But when he thought about it, Mitsuo for a while now, strangely, gave the impression of getting along with Linda.  ...Those two really became close to each other quickly.  And to think that Mitsuo had such an ability to take action from the start.

Mitsuo was an exceptionally fine looking looking rascal, with a good character, but in his approach to the opposite sex, he was surprisingly clumsy and impatient.  At the very least, that was the impression that had firmed up inside of Banri.

But even so, there was this situation.

Mitsuo and Linda looking quite friendly indeed, their faces close as they seemed to be enjoying themselves talking, the two of them entering the izakaya.  They seemed to be developing a relationship without telling anyone, without letting anybody know.

Of course there was no way they could enter the same shop right after them.  ...No, now that he thought about it, they might have been able to enter there.  Separately, they was under no obligation to hold back, nor reason to do so.  But at that time everyone was surprised, and they could not think it through calmly, so in the end they chose to take seats in a boring chain izakaya not far away.

For the time being, without even waiting for the toast he'd asked for, Banri was aware of his own heart shaking horribly at the spectacle he'd witnessed.  The hand holding his beer mug was numb.  He could hardly tell the flavor of the beer.

...What in the world was the connection between those two?

To Banri's eyes, it seemed a rather close relationship.  Yanagisawa wasn't saying a thing about it.  Neither was Linda.  ...No, they had no particular reason to report to him.  Besides, his relationship with Linda was nothing more than that between a senior and a junior in a club.  They had no connection beyond that.  And yet, wasn't it strange that he was feeling so upset?

Still, having been the means by which the two met, having a relationship without him knowing... that might be exaggerating, but at the least, it had developed to where the two would go out together to drink.  Wasn't that fact something normally worth getting upset about?

It wasn't so much what he thought about Linda, he was simply surprised, that was all.  Or rather, it was Mitsuo who surprised him.  Where'd he get the ability to act with such stealth!?  That's what it was.  Really.

That's it.  Besides, not everyone is surprised.  Nobody who knew those two people would be surprised at them getting together.

So now, seeing that his shaking with all his might was not entirely unnatural, that it was not proof there were thoughts about Linda in his heart after all... Banri peeked over at Kouko, seated next to him in the box seat, to see her expression.

Kouko was peeking at Banri's expression too... no, she was glaring.  She was looking at him so hard people would call it a glare.

He asked, "Eh, what?" and she replied "Eh, what is it?" back at him.  When he asked, "No, what?" she said, "No, what?"  Did he have an echo?

Perhaps she perceived that she was upset too when she saw that Banri was upset.  That, plus something along the line of "Mitsuo!?  With Linda-senpai!?"

Thinking about it, Banri figured he couldn't let Kouko know that he was upset over the matter after all.  Even when you know there's nothing going on, being made to look at idiotic face of a boyfriend upset over such things could not be pleasant.

In fact, there was something between himself and Linda that he could not easily explain, and he had once before made Kouko cry.  Overcoming it, she now continued to go out with him.  As for Linda, she continued to associate with him as if this clumsy piece of junk human were nothing to be concerned about.  For Banri, an immeasurable conflict and difficulty was down there, without a doubt.  He had to respond to such faith and perseverance on the part of Kouko.  For that reason, in this situation he could not show how upset he was.

Besides, even if Kouko realized that he was upset, she would not ask for the details.  Certainly not now, with no intention of bringing up the crush she once had.  Just as with Linda and himself, the past was the past.  That was all.  ...It was the same for both of them.

He thought that Kouko had to think so too.

The two of them still exchanging glances, Kouko held her peace and said nothing.

Wondering why it was that it seemed like the side who first averted their eyes was the loser, Banri also gazed Kouko's beautiful eyelashes, not moving, as if it were a test of willpower.

I'm not upset.  I'm not remembering the past.  Don't be suspicious that I might be remembering the past.  I must not be suspicious that you're being suspicious that I might be  remembering the past.  Don't be suspicious that I'm suspicious that you're suspicious that I might be remembering...  Cut that out!  Really, stop it.  Don't go thinking deeply about it.

Averting his eyes from Kouko's first, Banri forced himself not to think as he tried to stuff his cheeks with a Pollack omelette he'd brought with him.  And at almost the same time, the heretofore silent Two Dimensions started to speak.

"...Were those two dating...?"

He said.

''Plop,'' a chopstick's worth of omelette fell from Banri's chopsticks.  He wasn't upset at what Two Dimensions said, but it was an unfortunate blunder.  ...Truly.

He tried to pick it up with his fingers and finish eating it, but saying "Don't, Banri," Kouko pushed his hand away.  She quickly wiped it up with a napkin.

The food lost to his sight, Banri said,

"...Shall we... just go and ask them point blank?  We could call them up right now, if you'd like.  Kinda like... 'We just spotted you two just now.'"

He tentatively tried making a suggestion of that sort.

Rather than giving free rein to his imagination, he though it would be simpler to just say what he plainly saw.  In the spirit of "don't think." 

Kouko was still watching Banri's face with a complicated expression, neither laughing nor criticizing him.  Thinking he should say something, Two Dimensions got on board right away.  Taking the iPhone he'd placed on the table,

"...Shall we do like that?  Shall we?  Shall we try that?"

He immediately started to set his finger to the screen, but it was Chinami who stopped his hand.  Setting the iPhone down as it was before, she uttered one word: "Stop."

Chinami, who up to that point had said nothing particular but her order, was clutching her half mug with both hands like a small animal, he thought.

"We girls, ...urp"

When she came to herself, there was only one swallow left in her mug, and her lips were white with foam.  She really drank fast with that too small body of hers.

"Excuse me for having burped.  I've had a thought.  Yana didn't say anything to us girls, not even to explain himself.  So let's stop asking weird questions.  Don't do unnecessary things from out of left field, and let's just be quiet for a while."

It was the grown-up thing to say.  What's more, in an unusual turn of events, Kouko agreed.  They wondered if she was still in movie mode.

"I agree with Ultrasonic.  Let's forget what we just saw, zip our mouths, and quietly watch over Mitsuo as if nothing had happened."

"Ooh, well said, Kaga-cha."

"Shall we look for an ejected brainstem?"

"...-san, if you will.  From now on we girls will be 'Watch Over Mitsuo Club'."

"For sure.  To the club's formation, cheers!"

The two girls clacked their mugs together in a manly fashion, holding their second toast of the day.  Her little finger elegantly extended, Kouko drank down her beer.  Chinami's mug was empty long ago.

"Excuse me, another round please!  ...You nice guys over there.  How about it?  Wanna join us?"

"Urp...!  Another for me too!  You'll join us, right?  Of course you will."

As they had the employee take their empty mugs from them, the awkward Banri, the assistant going all out in the shadows, and the insecure leader behind the scenes Two Dimensions, both looking like henchmen from the very start, were unable to express any firm objection.  Facing each other in the narrow box seating, the two guys had no choice but to nod and say "Yes" in unison.  Besides, if they were to look at it from Mitsuo's point of view, he would probably not want to be told this and that.  As you might expect.

And like that, two cups filled to the brim waited for the arrival of the two, and celebrated once more the formation of the group of four, saying "Cheers!" in chorus.  The "Watch Over Mitsuo" club started their secret work...

"Hey, Banrii.  Which of those guys is better?"

Come to think of it, wouldn't Chinami have known about Linda?  I wasn't thinking of asking her to investigate at this late date, when we'd told her not to pry earlier.

"Banrii?  Aren't you done changing clothes yet?"

Mitsuo, not knowing anything more, calling from the other side of the door like a boyfriend.  Banri, who had been lost in thought, coming to and lifting his face,

"Eh?  Excuse me, but what?  What about?"

Stop thinking!  Watch over Mitsuo!  Opening the door with renewed determination, he stepped out from the narrow batch unit into the room.  Then,

"Whoa!?  Wha, what is this, Banri!?  What's wrong!?"

"Ah!  Sorry, I messed up!"

No good.  He hadn't just come out fully nude, had he?  Drawing back inside in a hurry and closing the door, putting on something thin at hand,

"Phew, Yana-ssan didn't get to see my pure, naked body."

"...Wa, wasn't even that quite a splendid degree of exposure!?  Is that okay!?"

"What's that?"

Banri walked in front of Mitsuo wearing the rainbow boomerang.  It was hardly different from being nude.  At any rate, the one who was actually watching was me.

"So, you wanted to hear which one, didn't you?  Hm?  Which one?  Eh?  You going to take a look at the half naked old man?"

"I wanted to ask you about the cereal and such in that kitchen of yours, but... why suddenly are you suddenly looking at me so kindly... it's like I'm being enveloped."

"Is that what it seems like?"

His own figure reflected in the full length mirror was just like a poor version of <span class="plainlinks">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshio_Kojima Kojima Yoshio]</span>.  Lowering his ability to think to where he was effectively insentient, Banri fell to all fours on the flooring and broke into a twisting dance "badda bum badda bum badda bum, yeah!" 

"I wonder why... I have the feeling that even before I was born into this world I knew you would probably do that."

Mitsuo calmed waited, not stopping, not laughing, for Banri to finish with his dance.  He thought it audacious in spite of being watched over from one side, but of course it was more than half a joke.

"Yeah, cereal.  That's what I thought I'd share with you.  Have some."

"Hurray!  But will you have anything left for yourself?  Is it okay to let me have so much?"

"I've got enough.  It's fine, it's alright.  Because they sent me so awfully much.  I mean, it feels like our Mieko is now enthusiastically sending a portion for you too."

"Ah, then I'm really grateful.  My noodle stockpile had just ran dry, so express my thanks to Mistress Mieko once more, without fail.  Because she's always saving me."

"Aye aye, understood."

"Which reminds me.  The next time you call home, could you pass me the line for a bit?  Then I'll be able to say thanks directly.  Ah, now if you don't mind... isn't it already late?  It's gotten past nine."

While acting strangely like a well raised young man demonstrating his honesty, Mitsuo sat on the floor and stuffed the cereal boxes and instant noodles into the plastic bags he'd brought with him.  Chuckling to himself, he looked really happy.

Mitsuo was from the start a childhood friend of Kouko's.  They were from the same neighborhood, and had gone to the same private school.  In short, he should have been a man in the same rich environment, blessed with the same level of richness, but because he had a dispute with his parents as to which college to attend, he was cut off from any assistance apart from tuition.  Someday, he would announce a new style of clothing where when you look over your shoulder, there's nothing there at all behind... that's how poor he'd become, but...

"Which reminds me, Yana-ssan, are you still out of money?  Lately they've been hiring for all sorts of part time jobs."

"Well, I suppose.  They only give part-time pay, but the rent's always the same.  It's huge, every month.  But compared to before, it's a huge return to financial health for now.  Thanks to that, I can even go to the beach!  Oh I hope tomorrow's weather's nice."

Suddenly Mitsuo turned and looked back at the half-naked Banri.  Turning his gaze sharply away from the dangerous boomerang curve he asked,

"Come to think of it, just why did you decide to go out of the blue like this?  You just randomly talked and decided on this?  I'm glad you accidentally chose a day I don't have to work. ...By accident."

"It wasn't all of a sudden.  I'd promised her since before summer vacation that we'd go to the beach.  I mean, weren't you there at that moment?  Back when I first spoke after my fever broke."

"You're right.  ...Ah, that's a shame, really.  Even though back then Linda-senpai said she'd go too."

...Yeah, she did.

Earlier, when everybody had come to visit Banri when he'd fallen sick, was when they'd first talked about the beach.  At that time, Mitsuo had included Linda amongst those who would be going.  And Kouko too.

Who wasn't included...

"Oka-chan seemed lonely, so we had planned to cheer her up."

Oka Chinami must have been pleased to some extent with Mitsuo.

"...Chinami?  Why?"

Banri was lost for a moment wondering whether it was a good idea to explain somebody's household circumstances.  ...Separately, though she didn't seem to be hiding anything, was that all right?  Leaving out the details, he cut to the chase.

"Well, with both of Oka-chan's parents returning to their hometown, starting next month she'll be living on her own.  It was all of a sudden, so it seems the cleanup was quite a lot of work."

"Seriously?  Weren't they from Fukuoka?  ...Hey, is that so?  I didn't know that."

"I suppose you haven't met them?  Oka-chan said she hadn't been going out with you lately."

"...Though if that's how things were turning out, it would have been nice if she'd said something.  I have more experience living alone, and I could give her some pointers."

He thought he'd been trying to say that.  It wouldn't leave his mouth.  But Banri thought so.  

He thought that Chinami tried to tell Mitsuo about her tough situation.  So she would have tried to get in contact with him, and to visit him.  She tried to meet up.

But he thought that after being turned down, Chinami was probably just staring up at the ceiling by herself.  The ceiling of "my house", becoming empty, quiet and abandoned.  She was probably enduring this last lonely summer lying down on the rug.

"Well, but if it's Chinami, she's probably okay.  She has a strong character.  She probably has a lot in reserve yet.  She's strong, and a winner by nature.  She won't suffer from things like loneliness in her lifetime."

Mitsuo took a box of cereal in hand and looked over the nutritional information.  Banri wondered if he ought to take it away, in large part because he disagreed with Mitsuo.

He wondered why this guy couldn't seem to think in any way other than "If it's Chinami, she'll be okay", "If it's Chinami, she won't be lonely."  Banri thought it wasn't like that at all because of how the house looked, and from seeing Chinami's face in profile, gazing vacantly at the ceiling.  Because of the deep shadow he'd seen in her large eyes when he said "lonely."

...As for Mitsuo, was that so?  He hadn't seen it, so how could he know?

He hadn't seen Chinami that night, distanced from Mitsuo, crying that night with noodles on her face.

"Well, in that case when I see her tomorrow, shall I try talking with her a bit?"

"Yeah.  ...Talk with her," Banri added strongly.  "Seriously."

As a popular, cute, clever, even brash person, one of those chosen girls who had it all.  Wearing an expression like "I am one of those girls!" she lived the good life.  Her face said "I live the good life!"

But in fact, not having the strongest of characters that she was thought to have, she was seen by Banri to be "an awkward person who showed her weaknesses."  Because of that, Chinami was perhaps at a loss.  He thought she'd lost many things.

"But I wanted to invite Linda-senpai too.  But because she told me that just now she was returning to her parent's home, I didn't try to call her."

"...Oh?"

On the one hand, this guy.  Being watched over with care, Yanagisawa Mitsuo.

Up to now, though he never showed his face from being so crazy busy, when Linda-senpai was gone back home, he was readily available.

"...But really, is that really okay?  One upperclassman in a bunch of freshmen might feel a little out of place.  Besides, Yana-ssan, at that time you left Oka-chan out of the head count."

"...Well, I suppose there's that too.  ...By the way, I wonder where Linda-senpai is from?  Do you know?"

Answering "Well," Banri looked away for a bit.  He saw himself in the dressing mirror once more.

However you looked at it, in the end he was half naked.  He was in a borrowed boomerang, not at all skin-tight.  If nothing else happened, it would quietly fall in only a few seconds.

"Hey, Banri."

Lifting the plastic bag to see whether it was torn or not, Mitsuo called out to Banri.  Banri looked back at him.

"Just now, I've noticed one bit of manly behavior about you."

"......What?"

Smoothly standing up, Mitsuo answered "Who knows?"  On his beautifully well ordered (to the point of seeming something made by hand) small face there was a smile.  Just like a mean face he'd seen somewhere.  It could even have been Kouko's big brother.

"If you aren't aware, then there's no point.  You'll realize it someday, and when the day comes you see it face to face, we'll think about it together."



<span style="font-size: 300%;"><center>* * *</center></span>


According to last night's weather report, it would be sunny, then cloudy.  Around Tokyo it would be 32 degrees (90F).  Since it was likely to turn out to be hot summer day everywhere, they cautioned about strong ultraviolet radiation and the possibility of heatstroke.

It should have been a perfect day for going to the beach, but...

"What's the deal?  Hasn't it clouded over pretty badly?"

"Sure has..."

The two of them automatically looked up at the sky.

At the time Banri left his place, the deep blue summer sky peeked through between the clouds, but he got the feeling the clouds were increasing considerably as he rode inside the train.  On top of that, they went gray, the clouds thick and heavy, as if they were hanging low overhead.  The summer-like radiance of the sunlight were blocked entirely from view.

Muttering "I probably won't need this," Kouko lowered her parasol and closed it up.  She really didn't need to use this UV cutting monster of a parasol.

Banri and Kouko were standing a little west from the bus terminal they normally used.

Their plan had become this: Two Dimensions would drive, first picking the two of them up, then shortly Chinami, and finally Mitsuo.

"Two Dimensions is running a little late.  I wonder what happened?"

Kouko, who had been peeking at her watch, had her hair braided up today, and unusually, was wearing an ankle-length resort style orange floral one piece dress.  Perhaps out of concern for burying them in the sand, she wasn't wearing high heels but rather cork-soled beaded sandals.

On her white shoulders, along with the strap of her dress, another bright turquoise blue strap peeked out.

"Huh... Kouko, are you maybe wearing a swimsuit under that?"

"Of course!  A bikini!"

"Ooh, a bikini!  ...I mean, you brought a proper change of clothes?"

"I brought it!  Naturally I wouldn't skip that sort of thing... what?  Hearing that makes me uneasy all of a sudden."

Lowering the oversized bag she carried under her arm, Kouko suddenly rummaged around inside.  And then, "Got it.  I'm okay."

"And you?  You wearing a jockstrap under those jeans?"

"A swim suit!  A Speedo!"

"Waah, a Speedo!  ...Re, really?  I mean, did you bring a proper change of underwear?"

"Yes, I brought them!  Ah, I mean, worrying more about the shorts..."

Banri took down his daypack and automatically checked inside.  Good.  He's brought along three different kinds.  When the sharp-eyed Kouko spotted a plain navy blue one by accident, 

"What's that?  Isn't that one of Mitsuo's swimsuits?"

Of course.  She's a pro stalker.  Those eyes can't be fooled.

"Yes.  I borrowed it yesterday.  Because I didn't have a swimsuit."

"It thought that might be so.  ...I mean, it doesn't really matter, but... if you saw each other yesterday, did Mitsuo say anything?"

"Like what?"

Her big eyes suddenly looking around uncomfortably, Kouko seemed unusually tongue-tied.  When those eyelids fluttered, great drops of polarized light lame sparkled.  If the sun had been shining more brightly, they surely would have shone even more dazzlingly pretty.  Under these skies, all you could say about Kouko's expression was that it, too, was clouded over.

"...You mean about ‘that time'?  If it's about that, then weren't we going to quietly watch over him?  Yana-ssan didn't say anything, and naturally I didn't say anything either."

"We did, didn't we?  I know.  I understand, but, something like this... things grow vague in many ways."

It was fifteen minutes past the promised time, but Two Dimensions didn't appear.  They were standing side by side still, as there was no place to sit in the bus terminal, nearly empty at that time of the morning.

"Ah.  To be a little more clear, my being vague on the topic has nothing to do with my having any lingering affections towards Mitsuo."

"......I wasn't really thinking about things like that."

He really hadn't been thinking of that.  But, seeing Kouko's anxious gaze, he found himself thinking just what Kouko thought of him.  Was Kouko thinking that he would be so intolerant of her behavior?

Quite the contrary.  He had decided at the most profound level to stop thinking if anything caught his attention.  So was he going to walk that unsteady ground again at this late date?

Nevertheless, as if to make doubly sure,

"Because I'm already yours now.  Don't worry, okay?"

Like that.

I. Now.  Already. ...What was it, being stuck in that way of speaking?  It felt like there was meaning behind it.

You.  Before.  Still.   ...Was he reading too much into it?  But, that's how he felt.

No, let's stop this.  Really, let's stop.  It was the morning they were finally going to the beach.

Had he not looked forward to having fun with Kouko this whole summer long?  He didn't want to ruin the mood by making ridiculous accusations.  He would make today the shining highlight of the summer.  Even if the weather was letting them down, even if Two Dimensions was a little late in showing up, such things were all right.  Anyway, he wanted to have a fun day.  He wanted to give Kouko the best time he could.

Banri laughed and took Kouko's hand.  Kouko looked up at Banri's smiling face, entwined her fingers tightly in his, and smiled back at him, looking a little embarrassed.

"I am not worried, not one bit, about things like that!  Let's forget about such things and have a lot of fun today."

Upon giving such a strong declaration,

"Yeah, that's right!  I've really been looking forward to this!"

Kouko laughed and nodded at him.  After all, they had to be like this.  They had to be somewhat idiotic lovers, laughing together.

"Let's go roast and eat corn, squid and all that like crazy!  Yakisoba too!  Then after that, let the waves swallow us up together!"

"Yes!  ...But I'm a little worried about Ultrasound.  Seeing Mitsuo with Linda-senpai right in front of her, I wonder if Ultrasound is feeling all right..."

His knees collapsed under him.  Why, Kouko?  Why do you swing from long awaited excitement to that topic again?

Unaware of Banri's thoughts, Kouko sighed.  It was as if out of boredom, she had stepped into a cinematic version of the world. 

"Though I don't like that Ultrasonic at all, I mean, I hate her, but I can imagine her feelings.  Faced with the one-sided, ardent love of Mitsuo, she rejected him flatly once.  And just when she wondered if she could tolerate his presence, or smugly thought she had room to breathe, this happened!"

Having become quite excited, Kouiko let go of Banri's hands and spread hers wide.

"Because she was slow, a mature, older woman stole him away!  That has to hurt!  I mean, Ultrasonic, jeez is she slow!  She is missing something critical!  After all, did you see her?  Her face when she saw Mitsuo!?  That was a face in utter shock!  I mean, she wasn't expecting to see somebody like Linda-senpai appear before Mitsuo, was she?  Linda-senpai is a wonderful person, and anyone who met her would come to like her!  Isn't that right!?  That's right!"

"..."

Tada Banri said nothing.

He wondered if perhaps he had been indirectly blamed for something.  ...Why now?  In such a place as this.  Let's go to the sea, I mean, this morning.  Why bring up this topic we should have finished already,  that should have been over with?  What in the world was her intention?

Kouko had a far-away look in her eyes.  Perhaps she was seeing a place 50,000 light years away from Banri's thoughts.  And then,

"With respect to the partner he had decided to part ways with, Mitsuo has no forgiveness whatsoever.  I know that well.  I know, no matter what..."

Why was she painting such a sentimental picture of a broken heart for Mitsuo before him now?  Banri automatically lowered the daypack from his shoulders to his feet and turned to face Kouko.

"You know, Kouko..."

"Eh?  Whaat?"

At that very moment, a car horn suddenly sounded, sounding like an incredibly angry voice.  Beeped at like that, the two of them jumped up in unison.


Looking seriously upset, Two Dimensions exclaimed "Don't you ever check your phone!?  Ever!?  Not even when you're twenty minutes late meeting up!"

Sitting side by side in the back seat, Banri and Kouko shrugged their shoulders uncomfortably.

"And why are you sitting like you're in a taxi!?  That's what you look like at times!  It feels like you don't show me any consideration!"

...The two of them had misunderstood where they were going to meet up.

The promise was "the fixed route bus terminal."  The place where Banri and Kouko found themselves standing in a doubtful mood was a shuttle bus terminal providing direct service to a local hotel.  At any rate, it was the first time they'd been there.  When they met up at the ticket gate, right in front of them they saw a sign with the word "bus."  They were completely convinced they were at the meeting place.

Banri thought that even if their promised time was past, bothering him while driving would be bad too, especially if they were late, and so he didn't try to contact him.  And absorbed in talking with Kouko, he never noticed his cell phone ringing, stuffed deep in his day-pack as it was.  ...Normally it would be stuffed in his back pocket, but while they were riding the train he worried it would get banged up, and so shoved it into a corner of his pack and shortly forgot all about it.

At that moment, unable to find a place where he could stop for a moment, Two Dimensions continued driving around so he wouldn't cause problems for the other busses and cars.  Turning towards the shuttle bus terminal "just in case", he finally spotted Banri and Kouko.  Which is when he flipped out.

Forced to take a considerable detour so he could more efficiently pick up his friends, Two Dimensions had left his house pretty early, and even though it was early, he was in a pretty bad state already.

"Jeez, even though I hurried up because the roads looked crowded!  Aahh, and the weather's not looking doubtful... these aren't good omens, not from the very start."

He drove on sullenly.  So that's how it was turning out.  And they were entirely to blame.

"We're sorry, really.  We regret that it happened."

"Won't you have a mint?"

Holding a mint she'd taken out in the palm of her hand (a grand service) Kouko leaned towards the driver's seat and tried to reach it to Two Dimension's mouth, but suddenly turned her face away with a groan.

"Two, Two Dimensions, I just got hit in the face by a hot wind coming from your air conditioner..."

"Yep!  The A/C unit in this car is messed up!  You have a problem with that!?"

No... was there anything else you could say?  Indeed, he had been thinking the air conditioning wasn't cooling off inside the car at all.

They were already thirty minutes behind schedule.

When they texted her to say they were running late between this and that, Chinami replied "Well, I'm already stuck with this, so I'm killing time in a nearby coffee shop."  When they arrived at the promised location, they sent a text telling her they'd arrived, but this time there was no answer.  And Chinami didn't appear.  When Banri tried to call her on the phone,

"What the?  It's turned into 'Dear Customer, is the number you are trying to reach is currently outside our service area...?'  Maybe she doesn't realize her phone's out of service."

"Are you serious...!?"

Two Dimensions scowled at them horribly.  No, even if he can't see me... thought Banri as he nodded for now, but...

"Isn't Ultrasonic in a coffee shop around here?  Just a moment.  I'll try peeking into the nearly shops."

Perhaps because she wanted to escape from the even more irritated Two Dimensions, in a move unusual for her, lightly took her cellphone and got out of the car.

The two boys had no choice but to wait for the two girls, but it was taking longer than they'd thought.  Under pressure from Two Dimensions, who was losing his patience, Banri tried to call Kouko, but this time even Kouko was somewhere out of service.

"It's incredible, this indecent magnetic field between us..."

Though it wasn't Chinami's fault, time ticked onwards and Two Dimensions' displeasure continued to increase.  By the time Kouko finally brought Chinami back to the car with her, fifteen minutes had passed.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Two Dimensions!  Scoot over, Banri!"

"Morning!  Sorry, in the end I made you wait～!  I didn't notice I'd wound up in a semi-basement seat～!"

"I found Ultrasonic right away, but then we had to go to the bathroom and so we wound up late."

"There was a long line of people, we had to wait so long～"

"Really.  And there was only one girl's bathroom."

"If there'd only been two～"

"For sure～"

Somehow the two of them like a pair of badger sisters returning to their den, they quickly got in the back seat.  Aah, this is like a taxi again... but when Two Dimensions turned around to complain,

"Ooh... Oka-chan, isn't that a skirt you're wearing...!?"

"Yes, so it's easier for me to change!  I'm wearing my swimsuit underneath!  Ehe!"

"Got it!  All right, let's get moving!"

In fact, quite unlike himself, upon seeing Chinami's skirted form, he seemed willing to forgive the whole world.  Suddenly smiling in good humor, he pulled himself back together and gripped the steering wheel.  While Banri found himself packed yet tighter, he found himself grateful for the sight of Chinami's slender white knees.  Those knees bestowed a blessing of calm on the savage Two Dimensions.

Chinami was wearing a slim one-piece dress of a T-shirt-like material, wore her usual Birkenstocks and carried a large plastic tote-bag.  He long hair was done up very cutely in braids.  Her cheeks without makeup were as smooth as peaches, her sparkling eyes as dark as the cosmos.  Her voice, anime.  Despite himself, it didn't seem Two Dimensions could resist such uncommon cuteness.

As if his earlier irritation were a lie,

"Is that so... so under your skirt is a bathing so, eh?  By the way, is it a school swimsuit?"

"It's Chinami's normal swimsuit."

"Incidentally, Chinami hasn't forgotten her panties, has she?"

"Chinami doesn't forget things like that."

"That so, that so..."

Suddenly playing so familiarly while holding on to the steering wheel, he seemed to be enjoying the three dimensional world.

But the honeymoon didn't last for long.  Their schedule had gotten pushed back by an hour, and they had gotten nicely stuck in traffic.  Getting caught like crazy by traffic signals, Two Dimensions was shouting to himself "Are you kidding me!?"

Running late for this reason and that, it was 11am before they picked up Mitsuo.  What's more, they were still inside the Tokyo metro area, though it was normally still another two hours to get to the beach.

Even so, Yanagisawa Mitsuo, not angry to have been kept waiting,

"Hey dudes, that took a while!  Hooray, I get to ride shotgun!"

Smiling brightly, the handsome guy slid in next to Two Dimensions.  He greeted him too, "Hey guy, long time no see, eh?" smiling as if he had no idea they'd seen him only a few days earlier.

He greeted Banri as usual too, "How you doing!?"  ...Just, well, if he was deceiving them, then he was deceiving them.  The awkward feelings when he'd left the day before had not yet been forgotten.  Mitsuo had left as he was, in a bad mood, with an expression oddly like "did he know?"  What in the world he wanted to say was hard to tell.  Nonetheless, today was the day of their long awaited trip to the beach.  Banri and Mitsuo both played innocent and laughed together.

For her part, Kouko turned into a robot. "Long time, no see, Yanao... no, Mitsuo..." her face too nice, as she'd painted it on.  If she didn't smile nastily at Mitsuo with a face like an ice demon, she wasn't Kouko.

"Oh.  What's up, Kouko?  You have a stutter?"

"Eh... No, I'm not.  I'm not, right, Ultrasonic!?  Look, you haven't seen each other in in a while, right?  Right?  Right!"

She poked Chinami next to her with her elbow, rapid fire like a machine gun.  While the sudden force shook her, she smiled like a soft, fluttery fairy.

"Long time, no see, Yana!  You been okay?  We old timers've been missing you at the drinking parties!"

We live together in space and time, of course.  Looking at bit annoyed, Mitsuo twisted around to face Chinami.

"Uh... rather, apart from that.  Weren't you having a rough time there, Chinami?  It sounded like you had a lot on your plate.  Well, since you can generally deal with anything that comes your way, I wasn't too worried..."

"Eh?  What're you talking about?"

Puzzled, Chinami looked back at him, her head tilted to the side.

"I heard a little about it from Banri yesterday."

"Huh?  Nothing's really going on."

"...No, but, starting next month you..."

"Ahaha, it's nothing worth telling you about, so don't worry about it!  Hey, Kaga-san, could you give me one of those mints you had just now, they were strangely delicious!"

While passing one of the mints to Chinami's hand, Kouko, shifting only her eyes, glanced into Banri's eyes carefully.   Banri being who he was, he didn't know where to look, so for the moment he focused on Kouko's lower eyelashes.

It may have been awkward for Mitsuo to just start talking on his own with Chinami that way.  That he had talked with Mitsuo was now revealed, and maybe Chinami was angry... or perhaps this was just Chinami's attitude towards Mitsuo right now...  In the driver's seat, 2D kept his face calmly blank.  He concentrated on his driving and on the beautiful scenery outside.

"What's going on?  Why so formal?  Hey, wasn't Chinami awfully cold with me just now?"

Even though Mitsuo had asked everyone within the car, nobody answered.  Everyone in the "watch over Mitsuo" club, Banri included, seemed to be searching for the right words to say.

For several seconds, an awkward silence filled the narrow, enclosed space.  Prepared to sacrifice himself, Banri tried to answer.

"Not at all!   It was perfectly normal!  That's what I think!  Don't you think so!?  Because you should!"

It was pretty much an imitation of Kouko's characteristic pushy way of speaking... that is, a gag, but nobody got the joke.  In a strangely lonely voice, Mitsuo made the brief comment, "I don't think so."

The mood inside the car was excessively heavy.  It felt like they were being suffocated.  Was the hot air coming out from the broken air conditioner to blame for this?  Anyway, something wasn't going right.  It felt like gears meshing incorrectly, rolling the wrong way, or in the wrong direction.

He tried to peek over towards Chinami.  A mint rolling around in her mouth, Chinami stared out the window with her usual expression.  She had decided to watch over Mitsuo, but he supposed there were some things that just cannot be excused.  What had happened to the unrequited love he'd had until a few days ago?  Did it change into something else?  That, plus that "in your case, I wasn't too worried" comment.  Banri didn't think it was that, either.  It might not have been reasonable to speak to her that way and expect her to be in a good mood.

Kouko's gaze flickered back and forth between the profile of Chinami, and the backside of her childhood friend's head.  Occasionally, on the back-beat of her flickering glances, she secretly glanced at Banri too.  He wondered if she was arbitrarily wondering about Chinami's state of mind, her "Tale of Unrequited Love – The Mitsuo Edition", or whether Banri himself was worrying about it.  Was that why Kouko continued to shake her head back and forth at such a tempo?  Inside his mind, Banri jokingly said "This isn't a tennis match!"

Two Dimensions, driving the car, seemed intent on pretending it was no concern of his.  Unused to driving on crowded roads, looking about ready to lose his patience, getting cut off and having to step on the brakes repeatedly, he looked annoyed.

Mitsuo fell silent, sensing the awkward mood surrounding him, feeling as if he were being shunned.

Banri leaned back into his seat, feeling exhausted already.  He was feeling like that even though they'd not even arrived yet. 

Even though it was the day they'd long awaited, their long awaited trip to the sea, why like this, he wondered why wasn't it turning out well.  Was it 'that', after all?  Was it a curse?  Was there somebody who had a grudge against him, who cursed this summer against him?  But he couldn't come up with anything.  He couldn't remember having angered anyone.  Perhaps the previous Tada Banri had done something?  Had he forget to pay some bill while bouncing around from one place to the next?  In photographs he looked as harmless a fool as ever was made, and when he thought about it seriously, that sort of surprisingly vicious thing seemed foolishness.

"...Huh!?  ...Hey...!"

Without thinking, Banri sat up.  With the same timing, Oka-chan looked outside and raised her voice, letting out a sad "uwaa..."

''Drip, drip...'' Large raindrops suddenly began striking the window glass.



<span style="font-size: 300%;"><center>* * *</center></span>


Nobody opened their mouth.

As for Banri, it wasn't so much that he thought he didn't want to say anything, but rather that he had simply lost the moment to say something.  The others were surely thinking the same thing, but even so, the silence continued a bit too long.

In spite of Two Dimensions' driving, the boring traffic finally cleared and they arrived at the beach they set out for.  It had been three and a half hours since they'd picked up Mitsuo and started off.  What's more, there was the rain.  It continued to fall.

As if wanting to storm in and yell at the Japanese Weather Agency, "What was that forecast!?" it was a truly awful, heavy rain.

Banri also now thought it would have been better to turn back when it started.  Wishful thinking that it might stop soon, and perhaps the fear that it would break up their fellowship, caused them to decide to keep on with their plans to play together, the five of them.

That was clearly a mistake.  Far from being at the point of breaking up, Banri looked around in the heavy silence.

Whether Kouko was sleeping or not, she was leaning against Banri's shoulder, her eyes closed.  On that side, Chinami was silent, her face pressed against the window glass.  Mitsuo may really have been asleep.  In any case, he hadn't heard that particular voice the past two hours.  Two Dimensions appeared to be listlessly fiddling with his iPhone.  The stereo was broken, there was no television and the A/C was all screwed up.

With nobody else heading for the sea in weather like this, they were expecting the traffic jam to clear up any moment, when suddenly there was an accident and the road got even more crowded.  They lost sight of where they should turn back and continued to move forward.  In the end, they reached their destination, the empty parking lot at the beach.

Normally about now, the wide space would be packed with lines of cars, but instead there were only a few cars.  The ground nearly submerged by the heavy rain, the raindrops splashing so much it was hard to see the ground for all the splatter.

As things were, if anybody had murmured "shouldn't we just go back the way we came?" they would have done it at once.  But, as nobody said anything, time simply passed without them doing anything.

Banri thought, for now, that having driven the whole time Two Dimensions needed a break, but he wasn't sure that so much silence was giving him any rest at all.

Secretly, he caught his breath.

Outside the window, the rain billowed heavily.

The sea was in sight.  ...Before them were the bleak and stormy seas, the wave crests breaking whitely against the shore, the curtain of the horrible downpour.

Sometimes it was like the raindrops themselves were booming, slamming against them from the side.  The wind was strong too.

Half-warm air continued to blow from the A/C.  As if to choke him, Banri's tee-shirt pressed down heavily at the base of his throat.  He felt randomly stressed, wondering if he was getting enough oxygen.  But if they were to open the window, they'd be drenched instantly, so they couldn't do that.

...I want out of here.

His forehead pressed against the window glass, Banri looked at the stormy scene outside.  It was as if he were trapped in a cage.

Depressed, he closed his eyes.  This hurts.  I want out already.  I know I'm safe in here, but I want out.  Having my legs cramped up like this hurts.  And my neck hurts from being hunched over.  I can't even move my mouth.

I want to escape.

"......"

He opened his eyes.

He had a feeling he knew this situation.  What was it...?  Oh yeah.  It was kind of like that.

This situation felt strangely like when he was hospitalized, those days when he was being watched over as a patient who had attempted suicide.  In a white hospital room, on a white bed, Banri had suffered painfully.  He had been completely lost to himself, entirely powerless, unable to escape and unable to see a way to get out of there.

He was saved on a rainy night.

That light he had spotted in the dark.

Chasing after the starlight, rushing out at the sign of escape, fearfully starting to run, and then Banri had taken back his freedom of spirit.  He remembered how to move, how to use his body, and his soul returned to him.

If it weren't for that sign, he would surely have been useless.  Banri believed that he would have become entirely useless, and would have quietly come to an end.

Linda.

...That person, for sure, even if he brought up the topic once more, would probably persist in saying "I don't know.  It must be an accidental resemblance."  She wasn't going to say "Oh, about that time?  I wanted to meet up with you, you know.  You got the idea to come here to Tokyo because I called you that time, eh?  I'm glad we could meet again..." not after all this time.

That's fine.  Really, it's okay.

The hope that Linda gave him, was just like flames running across the ground.  Hot and blazing bright.  The burning flames had given him the energy to return to life once more.

That was what Linda had done for me.

She gave me that person, the Banri of today, the Banri here this instant.  Because that person gave me "now", Banri exists in this place.  And because he existed now, Banri could make more and more connections to those around him in this present.

Next time Banri would be the one sending the signal.

"Kouko"

He tried poking the back of the fallen limp white hand beside him.  Her long eyelashes fluttering, Kouko opened her bleary eyes.  She looked at Banri.

"Did you sleep?  Are you okay?"

"......Yeah."

He understood that next to Kouko Chinami was stirring, as if stretching.  He understood that Mitsuo and Two Dimensions were for some reason listening to Banri's voice breaking the long silence.  Koukose gave a big yawn and,

"...What'll I do?  I need to go to the bathroom."

She drew close to Banri's ear and spoke.  Two Dimensions, who seemed to hear perfectly, turned around, his neck cracking as he did so.

"We don't have an umbrella.  Though for now, there seems to be a restroom over there..."

He pointed towards the parking lot entrance.  There was definitely a public restroom there, but the heavy rain blowing at an angle across the sandy surface was like a bad joke.  Kouko looked outside for a while, and at last as if exhausted buried her nose in Banri's shoulder.  When he asked if it was a phantom urge, the answer was "it's real, it's real!"  When he pushed up her white forehead with his finger, Kouko frowned as if she were annoyed.

"Did you wear your swimsuit?" 

"......Yes."

Looking at Banri's laughing face, she opened wide her sleepy, half closed eyes.

"Ba, Banri?  What're you thinking...?  Eh?  Are you kidding?  You are, right?"

Banri said "You caught me!" and laughed even more.  That was Kouko, his girlfriend, for sure.  She'd read him like a book.  She'd understood, as he'd expected she would.  In the narrow confines of the car, he took off his T-shirt and unbuttoned his jeans.  He lowered his zipper and thought, "Oh, it's only the boomerang there..." but having come that far already, he didn't care.

"Well then, let's go!"

"Eh!?  You, you aren't serious, are you!?"

"I mean it!  We're going to the restroom together now!  If you're slow you get left behind!  Clothes off!  Hurry up and get those clothes off!  You've got three seconds left!"

"Eh!?  Eh, eh, eeeeh!?"

"Threee!  Twooo!"

Lifting his butt from the seat, he pulled his jeans down to the ankles in one motion.  At the gaudy, rainbow color, he was pierced by Kouko's and then by Chinami's gaze next to her.

"One!"

"Ah ah ah ah wait wait wait!  I'm going too!  We'll go together!  Wait, Banri!"
[[Image:Golden Time vol05 224.jpg|thumb]]

In a mad rush, Kouko too suddenly threw off hyer one-piece maxi.  In the gloomy interior of the car, her pure white skin and mature-looking blue bikini suddenly stood out vividly.

"...GO!  Make a run for it......!"

He took Kouko by the hand, practically dragging her out.  He pushed open the car door.  In boomerang and sandals, they flew out into the downpour.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

It was probably only a few steps, more or less.

But the wind and rain were more than he'd expected.  The two of them got caught by the puddles, and they nearly made them fall over.  Shouting and holding each other's arms, they somehow managed to gain their footing.

"Pfft!  Ffff!  It was this bad!?"

"No way!  My hair, my makeup, kyaaaaa!"

Like being under a cold shower opened wide, out in the wind, Banri and Kouko looked at each other's faces.  It was pretty awful.  Sopping wet, their hair was soaked all at once.

"...Uff, puh, puhaha...... wahahahahahahaha!"

"Ahaha...!  Ahahahahahaha!  Enough!  What is this, what already, what're we doing!"

You couldn't help but laugh.  Two people, arm in arm in swimming suits in the middle of a parking lot, laughing like idiots while being tormented by a horrible storm.

"I, I didn't think it would be this bad!  Awful!"

"We're the strange couple!  The worst, far the worst...!"

"Kouko, that head!  It'll go down in history for awful!"

"And whose fault is that!?  Jeez, I hate it.  But, ahahahahahaha!  It hurts, and I'm drowning!"

Gaping, their faces dripping, complaining as if crying, they bumped into each other as if embracing.  They clung to each other so hard they could hardly breathe, and kept on laughing.

The back door of the car they'd jumped out of still open,

"Awesome..."

Chinami, laughing and clutching her O-Camera, was recording the idiot couple using enhanced imaging.  When he noticed, Banri flashed her a peace sign.

"Awesome, NOT!  Nobody's out here watching, so you come on too!"

"Hm!?  Eh!?  Ho, hold on!  Hey, hey, hey!"

Having turned into something like a sopping wet female Tarzan, Kouko gave a twisted grin.  She pulled Chinami out by the arm.

"Seriously, hold on!  O-Camera!  Ah...!"

The petite Chinami was being dragged out forcibly into the pouring rain.  Leaving her precious o-camera behind in the seat, already desperate, Chinami twisted around and threw off her one-piece dress.

Practically carried out by Kouko, now having become a simple black swimsuited form, Chinami's entire body was stuck by the heavy rain shower.  Having no choice but to laugh like the idiot couple,

"On top of everything it's freezing!  Are you two idiots!?"

She laughed while shouting abuse at them.  Kouko and Chinami hanging from Banri's two arms, he spun them around.  Two rain-drenched, swimsuited girls innocently sticking to his arms... he couldn't think and his feet were tangling up.  He shouted "Stop, stop, stop it!" in a falsetto.

Mitsuo and 2D, who seemed to have been left behind, stared at the three of them as if in amazement.

"Uu... ah, what's that!?"

"Crap!  That Banri, he's not wearing a jock-strap!"

"That's no good!  Banri, that thing is purely symbolic!"

"He'll get arrested like that!  Jeez, we have no choice!  Let's go out, 2D!"

"Aye!"

Throwing off their shirts and jumping outside, the two guys struck a nice pose.  Superbly in sync, their outstretched hands clasped and perfectly crossing over Banri's nether region, hiding it for him.

"Un, uncle!  2D!  You guys, for me!?"

"Of course we did!  By swiftly taking possession of your dangling bits, the crime-constituting conditions of embezzlement have been completely met!"

"But what makes Yana-ssan your uncle!?"

"He just is, you idiot!  Don't talk back!  Whoa, you guys!"

At that moment from behind the three guys embracing each other out of sheer energy, Kouko shrieked.  Banri turned around in a panic,

"What happened, Kouko!?  Did you wet yourself!?"

She shouted, "I just slipped, you idiot!"

He'd been called an idiot for the first time by a girl with her backside in a puddle.



<span style="font-size: 300%;"><center>* * *</center></span>


Even though the rain gradually subsided, it kept raining until the sun set.

Even so, finding a stand meant for surfers and facing the sea, Banri and the others watched the sea get rougher and the surfers going crazy as they lined up and ate hot ramen.  In a long narrow shop with nothing but a counter, they went with the crowd and sat in a line.  Soy sauce, miso, tonkotsu, salt, hot & sour: while each dug in to their heart's content, the five of them filled their thoroughly chilled bellies.

Unfortunately, there not being any corn, squid nor even yakisoba left, the guys were forced to eat shaved ice afterwards.  Their lips deep purple from the cold while they whispered it about it being wickedly awesome, Kouko and Chinami sipped hot cocoa, their wet hair spilling over towels placed around their shoulders as if they'd just come from the bath.

At any rate, since they'd arrived late, no sooner had they kicked back on the tatami and started chatting idly, closing time rolled around, they were kicked out and they headed for a beachside family restaurant.

By the time they finished dinner and returned to the parking lot, it was already dark.

It had stopped raining, and now it was a horribly muggy evening.

"Oh, I'm tired... what'll we do?  I ate so much I've gotten sleepy.  Nobody sleep; if it gets quiet I'm pretty sure I'll fall into a trance."

As he got into the driver's seat, Two Dimensions rubbed his eyes.  First one up this morning, driving almost the whole time, and various irritations along the way, he was probably quite worn out.

Kouko tapped him on the shoulder,

"Actually, I have a driver's license.  Shall I drive on the way back?"

"Look here," she said as she pulled her license out of her wallet.  Banri hadn't known that Kouko could drive.  Mitsuo, who'd known her the longest, was surprised.

"Really?  That would really help, but is it okay?"

"You look like you're in bad shape.  It's okay, count on me."

That nervous Kouko driving... Banri felt a little uneasy, but without a license he couldn't say anything.

"Then shall I ride shotgun?  Then Two Dimensions can go in back and sleep."

"I will let you do that for sure.  I'm at my limit.  I am sooo tired... yawn..."

At Banri's words, Two Dimensions yawned and headed for the back seat.  Two petite Chinami sat between the two guys, Banri in the passenger seat, and in the driver's seat Kouko.

"Okay then everybody, let's go!"

In high spirits, Kouko put the car into motion.

Surprisingly, Banri quickly realized that she was a decent driver.  Her starts and stops were smooth, she didn't speed, and she drove courteously.

"She drives much better than I expected," commented Mitsuo from the back seat.

Perhaps due to the unexpectedly good driving, Two Dimensions had fallen asleep right away and was snoring lightly.  Probably because they was tired, and they were keeping quiet so as not to awake him, after about an hour had gone by Mitsuo's face settled into a handsome sleeping expression.  Chinami chattered for a while about this and that, but before they knew it she leaned against Two Dimensions' shoulder and the soft sound of her breathing while sleeping could be heard.

Inside the car at night, with only the sounds of their friends breathing while sleeping,

"Ah, everybody's fallen asleep."

Holding tightly to the steering wheel, Kouko shrugged softly.

"Did you have fun?  Kouko, aren't you tired?"

In fact, Banri was rather tired too.  Desperately trying to keep his mind from wandering, he talked with Kouko.  That was the job of the person riding shotgun.  Anyway, keep your eyes open the whole time.  Keep talking with the driver.

"We had fun.  Somehow."

"Though I wondered how it would turn out.  I thought we were done for when it started to rain."

"Really.  That was awful."

The two of them laughed together.  Their laughter quietly melted into the darkness.

"...Being able to come to the sea was fun.  ...I'm glad we could come together."

"Yeah.  I'm glad.  It was fun.  We made some good memories of this summer.  We really had fun.  Right now it feels like the best summer in my life."

"Really?  Isn't that saying too much?  ...Well, summer isn't over yet.  Thinking of which, when was it you were going to Barcelona?"

"Next week.  But I want to go with you."

"Didn't we already talk about it?  I told you to go ahead, and bring me something back."

"...But I really do want to go with you.  Because..."

The orange street lights flashed by at fixed intervals.

There were no oncoming cars, and the road at night was dark and quiet.

Banri had intended to continue talking with Kouko as he was, but suddenly his body seemed to float upwards, and his limbs seemed to become numb and heavy.

I can't.  I might fall asleep now.  ...Even though he thought so, his body wouldn't move.

His limbs had become like dead weights, having lost their strength, not obeying his will, Banri heard with his own ears his own snores as if they were something happening somewhere far away.  Ah, I cannot... this is serious... I must not...

On the inside of his completely closed and tightly stuck together eyelids, the fun scenes of the day spun past him bewilderingly.  Kouko's face laughing out loud.  A blue swimsuit with a adult design.  Friends in high spirits.  Oka-chan insisting they challenge the surf, Two Dimensions running furiously down the sandy beach with her and the two of them making a sudden about face.  As they shook their heads and shouted "No way, no way, no way!"  And when Mitsuo caught it, he laughed so hard he fell from his chair.  Kouko laughed to death seeing the foolishness... they had fun.  Really.

Without a pause, the remnants of his memories sped up, as if they were spinning in reverse.  The awkward silence of the morning, the morning rendezvous, waking up, the TV he was watching before going to sleep, returning from Mitsuo's, hopping to put on the boomerang... more and more, the speed increased.

Yesterday, the day before that, before, longer ago.  The day in July when he kissed Kouko in the rain.  May and the huge drinking party.  Chaotic April, unused to living alone, in Tokyo, at the Entrance Ceremony, the welcoming parties.  March in Shizuoka, preparing to leave home.  February and the announcement he had passed the exams.  January, in front of his relatives, fighting with his father who was against his going up to Tokyo.  Before that studying for the exams... meeting over and over again with his parents and the doctors... being released from the hospital... the white room he was hospitalized in... suddenly, Banri recognized that voice.

(You can't, you can't, you can't!  You can't do like this!)

It was a sobbing voice.  Somebody was crying, and there was an awful lot of noise.

(I wasn't expecting this!  I didn't want something like this to happen!)

That person crying and running around.  And running around, a door opens.  When that person opened the door, on the other side, his memories spread out wide like a landscape, as if they'd been cut off at the door.  Receiving lectures in college, immersed in practices for Awa Odori, checking the time for the Shinkansen in Shizuoka Station, wandering around with Mitsuo.  Kouko's crimson lips.  Two Dimensions studying in the school cafeteria at middle day.  Oka-chan seated on a bench.  Kosshi-senpai flirting with Linda yet again.

The door opened like crazy.  Then it closed, and the next door was opened.

(Somebody save me!)

Screaming while frantically opening countless doors, that person had the same face as my own.  But he didn't notice that I was here, and it felt like I was separated from the world by a thick film.

(Somebody!)

And then one more door opened.


A girl with long hair turned around before Banri's eyes.

She put on her helmet, fastened it tightly with a strap under her chin and turned the key.  The scooter's motor started.  It made a rather idiotic noise.  As if it were slipping through a crack in the sound,

"I'm telling you to do your best!  ...There's not much else I can say."

She was silent for a few seconds, then took another breath.  Then,




Brace yourself!




"....ngh!"

He planted his feet.

It happened before he could even open his eyes.  In a dream, Banri twisted his whole body from the passenger seat, reached out his foot and stomped on the brake with all his might.

When he opened his eyes, Kouko's chin had fallen to her chest, her grip on the steering wheel was entirely gone and the car was swerving far to the right and nearing the guard rail.  Quicker than he could raise his voice, his seatbelt bit into him so hard it jolted his body.

The car completely lost control from the sudden braking.  Kouko, her eyes now open, screamed as she turned the steering wheel at once.  Banri shouted too, his feet firmly planted on the brake.  Making a terrific noise, the car body tilted to one side.  Even though he wondered if it wasn't going to flip over, it didn't lose balance, but even so, it wound up facing the opposite direction.

If there had been a car coming towards them at the time, the maybe all of them... the timing.

"...Wha, what!?  What was that just now!?  Eh...!?"

Two Dimensions' voice felt as if it were echoing from a far distant planet.

As for Banri, "...Ngh...ngh..."

He looked at Kouko's hands.  He was choking.  He couldn't breathe.

Kouko's hands holding tight to the steering wheel were shaking so badly he could hear them rattling.  And not just her hands.  Her teeth chattering, shoulders trembling, her back, her knees and feet shaking, Kouko's eyes were so wide they were ready to fall out of their sockets.

"Banri, Banri, wait, Banri," Kouko kept moaning from deep in her throat.


<div style="text-align: right; direction: ltr; margin-left: 1em;">The End</div>

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