“Ah.”
I wasn’t sure whether it was Haruhi or Asahina-san that made that cry.
Like a spinning bullet, the ball didn’t quite follow its intended trajectory. One of the opposition linebackers leapt forward, but could not quite intercept it. A turnover was barely avoided as the ball hit through his fingertips, but now the ball had changed course after being slowed down forcefully, falling toward a position no one had predicted.
It was in this moment!
I saw Nagato, the near immobile Buddhist statue, begin to make her move.
“…”
She placed her fingers on the edge of her hood and pulled it over, covering her face. But the hood did not cover her mouth, and so the sight of her lips chanting rapidly did not escape my attention.
“…”
Nagato was definitely chanting something very quickly.
I only saw this from the corner of my eye, as most of my attention was focused on the intense battle on the field.
“Whoa!”
I instinctively leaned forward, my eyes widening.
This was because I noticed the ball had changed direction, and it was falling toward the spot that Nakagawa was charging towards at an amazing pace. At the center of my gaze, Nakagawa made a dazzling leap, grabbed hold of the ball in mid air, and then attempted to make a safe landing…
…and failed.
At the same time as Nakagawa had leapt up, the opposing cornerback covering him also made a superb leap. He had only one target, and that was the ball which everyone on the pitch see as second only to their lives.
Like a long jump athlete, that cornerback jumped into the air after running for some distance, just as Nakagawa was reaching for the ball. As humans do not possess wings, they could not move around the air as freely as they might wish, and so after the cornerback jumped as strongly as he could, he subsequently went into free fall, crashing right into Nakagawa. The kinetic energy instantly went down to zero. Seeing how both players were flung backwards, one can imagine how huge the impact was.
The opposing cornerback spun 90 degrees and fell to the field on his back; the defenseless Nakagawa, however, spun forward beautifully and landed on his head.
“Wah?”
This exclamation came from Asahina-san who looked stunned.
I too gave a cry, as Nakagawa had landed in the worst possible way for a human being. Just like the victims of the Tombstone Piledriver, or the Inugami Clan, he landed with his head first. However, for the wrestler, there was a wrestling platform, for the victim of the Inugami Clan, he at least landed in a swamp, but for Nakagawa, the cold and hard ground received him.
(Yokomizo Seishi - Japanese detective fiction writer, best known for his Kindaichi Kosuke series. The later manga series, Kindaichi Case Files, stars Kindaichi Hajime, the grandson of Kosuke. In one of the Kindaichi Kosuke stories, Inugami Clan (Only Japanese wiki available) - The victim was found with his head buried in the swamp.)
The sound which I dreaded hearing came to our ears a beat after the image was transmitted to our eyes.
“Thud!”
It was good that he was wearing a helmet, otherwise judging from that loud thudding noise, I can bet that his skull would certainly be shattered.
The referee blew his whistle and stopped the match. Nakagawa lay there motionless. Nakagawa grabbed the ball tightly as though he was grabbing hold of some precious memento from his family and stopped moving… or rather, he didn’t even move a single inch. The atmosphere was so tense it wasn’t even funny.
“Is he alright?”
Haruhi asked with a stern look with her face over the fence.
“Wah~~,”
As though watching a gory scene from a horror movie, Asahina-san hid behind Haruhi’s shoulder,
“Ah, here comes the stretcher,”
She said in a worrying voice.
Surrounded by his teammates, Nakagawa was now carried up the emergency stretcher and brought away from the field. Despite this, his fingers still clung tightly onto the ball, his never-say-die attitude sure was admirable. If this battle casualty did not inspire Nakagawa’s teammates to victory, then I don’t believe anything else would.
Lying on the stretcher with his helmet taken off, Nakagawa’s situation wasn’t as bad as expected. He did respond to the cries from around him, and he nodded to every question that was asked. Though he tried to sit up but fell down again, at least he was still breathing.
“I guess it was a minor concussion,”
Koizumi attempts to explain the situation,
“I guess we don’t have to worry too much, as this sort of accident is common in this kind of sport.”
You’re not a doctor, and you’re standing so far away, so don’t act like a damn expert. It would be good if you were correct, but the head is very fragile, you know. The coach and consultant teacher seemed just as concerned as I was. A few moments later, the siren of the ambulance could be heard approaching.
“Your friend sure is unlucky,”
Haruhi said with a sigh,
“He wanted to make an impression in front of Yuki but instead got himself injured. I guess he was too eager that he didn’t expect things to go wrong.”
She seemed rather sympathetic to Nakagawa. Does she really want to arrange for Nakagawa and Nagato to be together? Then how come you were so quick to refuse the Computer Research Group President’s request to borrow Nagato?
After hearing me say that, Haruhi replied,
“Kyon, though I personally think love is a kind of disease, I’m not the sort to get in the way of people’s pursuit of romance just for the fun of it. After all, everyone’s view of happiness is their own,”
I wonder if Nagato should be considered lucky to be loved by Nakagawa?
“Though I may think a person is extremely unlucky, as long as that person thinks she is happy, then she must be happy,”
I shrugged my shoulders and allowed Haruhi’s romance philosophy in my left ear and out of my right. I’m sorry, if Asahina-san’s boyfriend turns out to be an absolute moron, even if Asahina-san’s happy with it, I’m not sure I would be able to wish them the best of luck. In fact, I might even try to stop their relationship from developing any further. But then, I’m sure no one would blame me.
“I hope your friend’s all right,”
Asahina-san said and placed her palms together in front of her fur coat. Her prayers looked genuine and were hardly pretentious. That’s the sort of nice person she is. With Asahina-san’s prayers, even if one were to suffer from bone fractures all over, he would definitely be healed in less than thirty minutes, so Nakagawa’s going to be fine.
Finally, the paramedics arrived and placed Nakagawa into the ambulance. They were so careful in handling the stretcher, it’s as though they were carrying a box marked “Fragile - Handle with Care”.
After placing Nakagawa inside the ambulance and shutting the doors, the sirens begin to sound once again. The ambulance drove off, with the red beacon on top slowly fading into the distance.
Nagato, who was five times more silent than usual today, stared at the departing ambulance with her obsidian-like eyes, as though trying to prove the existence of Redshift with her naked eyes.
So, now what?
Nakagawa’s show of affection for Nagato has been called off due to the unexpected withdrawal of its main star, and we have lost any interest in watching the resumed game all the way to the end anymore. As the weather was freezing, and the original objective was now non-existent, there was no longer any reason for us to remain here any longer, since our intended target had now been sent to the hospital.
“We can go to the hospital, too,”
Haruhi made the suggestion,
“If our intended target had gone to the hospital, if we follow him, we can continue this love story. After all, it would make perfect sense for Yuki to be worried and come pay him a visit. Your friend would be grateful as well. Besides, there’s heating inside the hospital, right
? So what do you think of this idea?”
To be honest, Haruhi’s instant idea wasn’t bad at all, but I didn’t feel like going back to the hospital again. Ever since I met Haruhi, my psychological scars have been increasing.
“Don’t you care about your friend? Let me tell you this, when you were carried off in the ambulance, I was worried to death. But that’s only because we’re friends,”
Haruhi forcefully pulled my hand and said roughly,
“Besides, it was you who started all this trouble this time,”
Walking away from the field with me, Haruhi then stopped again,
“Oh yeah, which hospital did that ambulance go to?”
How the hell should I know?
“Let me check,”
Raising his hand, Koizumi smiled and accepted this task,
“Please wait for a while, it’ll take a minute or so,”
After turning his back to us and walking for a few steps, Koizumi pushed a few buttons on his phone and spoke softly, then listened to what the other side said. About a minute later, he hung up and walked towards us with a smile,
“I found out which hospital he was sent to,”
I have no idea which number he called to inquire, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t 119.
“It’s a hospital we’re all very familiar with. I’m sure you all know how to get there without me saying,”
A wave of rememberance came over me, my mind instantly thought of the monotonous dialog, the red apples, and the cheerful smile Koizumi had given me.
“Yes, it’s that one. The general hospital which you stayed in before,”
The one whose warden happens to be a friend of your uncle’s? I stared at Koizumi. This has got to be a coincidence, otherwise…
“It’s a coincidence,”
Noticing my alligator eyes, he began to giggle,
“No, it’s true, it really is a coincidence. I was surprised as well, honest.”
You don’t have to smile so cheerfully. This doesn’t change the fact that I still don’t trust you.
“Then, let’s all head to that hospital! Might as well call a taxi! Since there are five of us, if we divide it between ourselves, the fare ought to be cheap,”
Haruhi quickly began to take charge of the situation.
“Suzumiya-san, I think it’s about time we have a meeting for our coming field trip to the snow mountain. These two can take care of the visit, while you, Asahina-san and myself would stay behind to prepare for the trip, how about that? Because we have yet to sort out the departure date, what luggage to bring and other minor details. We won’t have much time if we don’t take care of these soon.”
But after hearing Koizumi’s suggestion, Haruhi remained hesitant,
“Huh? Really?”
“Yes,”
Koizumi continued his persuasion,
“It’s almost New Year’s Eve. Organizing a New Year’s activity in the snow mountain mansion is a major event. I had wanted to gather the SOS Brigade to meet for the winter field trip today, but I didn’t expect this extra event in our itinerary,”
Well, sorry about that.
“Oh no, I don’t mean to blame you at all. On the contrary, I should be the one who’s apologizing. I’ll leave Nagato-san in your hands, so please hurry up and go meet with Nakagawa-san in the hospital. As to what to do there, I’ll let you decide the best course of action. I would wait at the usual coffee shop with Suzumiya-san and Asahina-san, you can come there after the visit… Is that fine with you, Suzumiya-san?”
Haruhi remained silent for a while and then said with a frown,
“Hmm, you’re right. I wouldn’t be much help going to the hospital. And Kyon’s friend is only interested in Yuki anyway,”
She looked extremely reluctant,
“Alright, Kyon, you can go visit your friend with Yuki. If he could write such a love letter, he would probably be dancing like wild after looking at Yuki for five seconds.”
After that, Haruhi pointed at me and said with a pouting look,
“But remember to report everything in detail to me afterwards! You hear?”
And so, we all took a bus back to our gathering spot. From there, we split into two parties. Nagato and I would ride another bus to the private hospital, while the remaining three would continue to be regular customers of the nearby coffee shop.
Nagato never turned her head around once as we parted ways, but I suddenly had an urge to look back. I saw Haruhi and the others also turning around and looking at us, and Haruhi was also making some sign language with her arms as they went further and further. I didn’t delve into what she was implying with that strange body language as I turned back to look at my companion, who had buried herself inside her thick hooded coat.
How should I put this…
To put it simply, the inquiries I had were now wrapped tightly around my heart like barnacles. The first question concerns Nakagawa, who had fallen in love with Nagato at first sight. Why was it that he happened to get injured in the game? The second was in regard to what Koizumi had said to me back at the gathering spot, “You sure do have a lot of extraordinary friends”. I was particularly bothered by that word “extraordinary”. I would readily admit that I have no friends that possess any weird characteristics; if there were any, then it would have to be Koizumi. Just what did he mean when he said Nakagawa was “extraordinary”?
Another point that cannot be ignored was the mysterious incantation Nagato made. Nakagawa’s accident happened just after Nagato had recited her spell. Even a dull person, as long as he has memory of such events, would be able to link these two together. As someone who could make a stand-in batter like me make three consecutive home runs, Nagato was capable of doing such a thing.
“…”
Nagato buried her face within the hood of her coat and said nothing, but very soon the answer would be revealed.
Upon inquiring at reception, we learned that Nakagawa had completed his treatment and had been transferred to his ward. Though his injury was minor, he still needed to be hospitalized for further observation. I walked with Nagato, who followed me like a ghost possessing its host, and entered the corridor leading towards the ward that the receptionist had indicated.
After a few steps, we had arrived before the ward. Nakagawa was staying in a six-person room.
“Nakagawa, you okay?”
“Hey Kyon!”
My former classmate wore a light blue hospital gown and was lying on the bed. Nakagawa’s face looked vaguely familiar to me; he still has his crew cut. He sat up straight like a panda who just woke up from his nap.
“You came just in time, I just finished my treatment. The doctor said I still need to stay for one night just to make sure. I probably injured my neck when I fell, that was why I felt like throwing up. Fortunately the doctor said it was just a minor concussion. I gave the coach a call as well, telling him I would be out by tomorrow, so they don’t need to come and see me…”
As he seems immersed in talking non-stop, he suddenly noticed the ghost that was standing behind me, and his eyes widened as a result,
“I, is that… c, could it possibly be…”
It’s not possibly, it’s definitely,
“This is Nagato. Nagato Yuki. I thought it’d cheer you up, so I brought her along.”
“Ahhhh…!”
“I’m Nakagawa!”
He roared as he introduced himself,
“Naka as in Nakahara Chuya, and Gawa as in Kawamura (note: the “k” in kawa becomes hardened to a “g” when preceded with another word in front so it’s not a typo)! My name is Nakagawa! I wish to be friends with you!”
He said reverentially like a daimyo meeting his shogun for the first time.
“Nagato Yuki.”
Without any cheerfulness in her voice, she plainly reported her name. She didn’t take off her hooded coat, she even kept her hood on her head. I couldn’t take it any longer, so I flicked that hood that was covering her face over to her
back. After coming all the way to see him, it’d be a pity if she left without even showing her face.
Nagato remained silent, but simply stared at Nakagawa, who was looking stunned. After about ten seconds,
“Huh? …Ah~”
Nakagawa was the first to change his expression, he gave a surprised look,
“You’re… Nagato-san, right?”
“Yes.” Nagato replied.
“Were you the one that Kyon walked with early in spring this year…?”
“Correct.”
“The one that often goes to the supermarket before the station…?”
“Correct.”
“Really… is that so…”
Nakagawa’s face became sullen. I would have thought he would cry tears of joy or would be so moved that he would faint, but it was neither. Instead the atmosphere was now becoming unexpectedly stiff.
Nagato was now looking at Nakagawa with eyes that seemed to be observing the immobile flatfish in an aquarium; at the same time I also noticed that Nakagawa was looking at Nagato as though staring at a manhole cover on the road.
These two individuals had gotten into a staring battle all of a sudden. Very soon, one of them showed signs of frailty. As expected, Nakagawa was the first to move his eyes away.
“…Kyon,”
Though Nakagawa spoke softly, I guess the other patients in the ward could all hear him clearly, but only I could see him moving his fingers discreetly, gesturing me to come over to him.
“What is it?”
“There’s something… er, I need to talk about it with you alone. So… could you please… ask…”
Seeing as how he kept looking at Nagato, I understood at once. He wanted to tell me something, but didn’t want Nagato to hear it.
I turned towards Nagato…
“Is that so?”
There was no way the two of them could be telepathically linked, yet Nagato gracefully turned, walking out of the ward at the pace of a luggage conveyor belt.
Once the door was shut, Nakagawa breathed a sigh of relief,
“That girl… is that really Nagato-san? Is that her?”
Volume 6 - The Wavering of Suzumiya Haruhi Page 11