“Well, if that’s all it is.”
Then his eyes softened teasingly.
“Things are going well with Kotobuki, huh?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Well, then. The guys are crazy about her, though, so you better prepare yourself for when the news gets out. They’re going to hate you.”
“Urk. You’re probably right.”
“Well, that’s the problem with having something nice.”
Then Akutagawa told me about how he had gone to the hospital to visit Miu yesterday. Apparently she was working hard and getting progressively better. She might be able to leave the hospital sometime in the spring. Of course, she’d have to go back to the hospital for physical therapy, and there was still the issue of which of her parents she was going to live with.
“I think she wants to rent a place and live on her own. She was telling me she wanted to start studying again, even if she had to go to night school or online classes. She’s in negotiations with her folks right now. I’m sure it’s difficult for her, but I hope I can be of some help to her.”
“Wow… Miu’s really doing a lot, huh?”
When I listened to him talk about Miu, I felt a faint pain. An ache as if the scars that lingered on my heart were being pressed by a finger. But stronger than that was my joy because Miu was facing the future and moving toward it. Warm feelings welled up in me.
“Tell her if there’s anything I can do, just ask.”
With a placid smile, Akutagawa nodded and said, “Will do.”
Then he drew his eyebrows together and his face turned suddenly sour.
“Actually, I’m against her getting a place. A young girl living on her own has a lot of issues to deal with. And there are a lot of good-for-nothing guys like Sakurai out there.”
His voice was prickly. It was strange to see Akutagawa expressing so much displeasure for another person.
“Ryuto didn’t come to see her again, did he?”
My question made Akutagawa’s face twist even more with jealousy.
“Yeah, he did. This weekend he came with some outrageous bouquet he said a girl at a florist’s just gave to him. Asakura looked irritated, but he kept chattering at her, totally oblivious. Finally he told her that she fits his style and tried to convince her to go out with him.”
“What?! Ryuto’s going out with Takeda!”
Just the other day, I’d seen him with his elbows on the checkout desk in the library, talking to Takeda. I’d been flabbergasted by that.
Ryuto must have worked the head librarian over somehow because he’d started brazenly visiting the library. He wore a jacket over his uniform, so I guess he hadn’t been exposed as belonging to another school yet, but he stood out anyway because he was tall and his features and the aura he gave off were both so dazzling.
The girls would whisper: “Y’know, I’ve been seeing that guy a lot lately. I wonder what year he’s in. He’s sooo hot.” “Maybe we should say something to him.” “But that girl at the desk looks like she’s his girlfriend.” That just made me even more nervous.
With an incorrigible smile, Ryuto had said, “Well, I’m goin’ out with Chee an’ all. If you like a girl, you wanna see her every day.”
And then to ask Miu if she wanted to go out—he hadn’t changed at all! What about Takeda?
“I pointed that out, too. And he said he’d be going out with Takeda, too. Without even blinking. And there’s more. I heard a girl from another school came to the library the other day and slapped Sakurai.”
“Whoa…”
I’d actually witnessed a girl hitting Ryuto before. Although he’d brushed it off, like he was used to it. Was he doing the same thing at our school now? And in the library of all places! But Kotobuki hadn’t said a word about it.
“I heard he got into it with that third-year Himekura, too.”
“Maki?!”
I was even more blown away by that and had to clarify.
“At the library? Maki went to the library?”
Akutagawa nodded, his brow furrowed.
“I heard she decked him right in the face.”
“Are you serious?!”
My eyes bugged out. Kotobuki hadn’t mentioned that, either!
According to Akutagawa, Maki had smiled brightly and then immediately left the library. He said Ryuto had been knocked back and fallen to the ground and that he’d looked upset.
Upset—that part tugged at me. Ryuto, the one who reveled in the battles, who grinned and said, “I’m a masochist,” even when girls hit him or told him off.
Ah, but Ryuto and Maki didn’t get along.
Maybe because they were so similar, both in appearance and in personality, they seemed to consider each other natural enemies. Even at Maki’s villa over the summer, there had been an altercation. Maki had dealt Ryuto a kick and knocked him to the floor then, too. And I was pretty sure he’d shouted, “Bully!” at her.
“I’m sure Ryuto said something that made Maki mad. It’s his own fault.”
“Absolutely. By the end of things yesterday, I wanted to hit him, too. Not that that’s a surprise. But of course, no matter what Sakurai said, Asakura wouldn’t engage him.”
Akutagawa really was annoyed.
What are you doing, Ryuto? Actually, what does Takeda think about how you’re acting? Thinking about it made my brain feel muddled.
When I asked Kotobuki about it during a break between classes, her face stiffened and her eyes darted around in distress before she dropped her head.
“It’s true. All that stuff did happen, but… it… it looks like it doesn’t bother Takeda.”
“Oh.”
“She was talking about it and laughing. She said, ‘It’s ’cos Ryu has lots of girlfriends.’ ”
“Hmmm…”
Kotobuki stole a worried glance at me as I murmured, my face grim.
“Did you hear about it from Sakurai? Have you seen him?”
“Huh? No, Akutagawa told me.”
“Oh…”
Kotobuki’s face was still somber. It got to me, so—
“Uh, I’m not like Ryuto. You know that, right? I only have one girlfriend,” I rambled inadvertently.
Instantly, she turned bright red.
“Ack! What’re you talking about?! I wasn’t asking that, obviously! You moron.”
She pursed her lips and turned her face away.
“A-anyway, I promised Mori and the others that I would go eat grilled pancakes with them, so I can’t go home with you…”
I nodded with a smile.
“That’s fine. You have to make time for your friends, too.”
“Urk…” Kotobuki choked and she looked up at me. “Hey, are you mad that I told Mori?”
“Why would I be mad?”
“Well, I mean… I just thought you might not like it.”
“No way. After all, I told Akutagawa that we’re going out.”
When I said that, Kotobuki’s face shone.
“Really! So you told him about us?”
“Do you want to go somewhere on Sunday? Are you free?”
“Yup, I’m free.”
“Where should we go, then? Is there somewhere you’ve been wanting to go?”
“I…”
Kotobuki’s eyes glistened again.
“I want to see your house.”
“My house?”
“I-i-i-i-if you don’t want me to, that’s okay. It’s not like I have to see it. We could go to the movies or the aquarium or whatever. I totally don’t—”
A chuckle slipped out of me.
“It’s fine. There’s pretty much nothing in my room, but if you don’t mind that, you can come over on Sunday.”
She looked up at me, and her face was bursting with sunshine. A candid, girlish smile spread to fill it.
“Okay! Thanks. I definitely will.”
After school, I watched Kotobuki leave the classroom with Mori and her friends, looking happy, then went to the b
ook club room.
When I opened the door, to my utter exasperation, yet again today the book girl, with her long braids, dressed in her school uniform, sat with her feet drawn up on a fold-up chair, reading a book she had spread open on her lap. When Tohko saw me, she beamed.
“You’re here again?”
“Why would you say that to me? After I stole a few precious minutes between studying for exams to come see you.”
“You came yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, too. I’m running low on gratitude.”
“Grrr, you’re no fun at all.”
Tohko pouted.
“But it’s perfect timing. There’s something I wanted to ask about Ryuto—”
“Konoha? Could I come over to your house this weekend?”
“Wha—?” I said stupidly. I’m sure my face was equally blank.
Why did she want to come over all of a sudden? And on the weekend to boot?
“I was thinking I ought to visit your house at least once. What do you think?”
“What do you mean what do I think? I mean…”
Tohko looked at me pleasantly.
“Do you have plans?”
“No.”
“Then it’s settled. I’ll come by your house at two o’clock on Saturday.”
While I struggled through my daze, Tohko’s visit was swiftly decided.
I wasn’t able to ask about Ryuto. Or rather, I completely forgot to continue with my question.
And so it was that Tohko was to come to my house on Saturday and Kotobuki on Sunday.
Ack… what was I going to I tell my mother?
“Oh, that Amano girl?”
On Friday night when I told my mother that Tohko was coming over, she responded with an embarrassingly overblown reaction.
“My, my, my, I can’t believe the girl who’s done so much for you is coming over!”
She was so excited, her eyes sparkling in a shockingly girlish way.
“It’s thanks to her that you’ve cheered up. I’ve never done more than answer the phone when she calls, but I’ve been impressed at how polite and upstanding a young lady she is. I’ve wanted to meet her for the longest time. We owe her so much.”
“It’s not that big of a deal.”
Since my mother was in such a stir, even my father, who often went out for business on Saturdays, was seized with curiosity and wound up declaring, “What’s this? The girl who helped Konoha is coming over? Well, then, maybe I should be here tomorrow, too.”
“Mommy, who’s coming over?”
“Ho-ho. Someone very important to your big brother,” I heard her tell my elementary school–aged sister, Maika, her voice spilling over with joy. I thought my face might burst into flames.
“Mom! It’s not like that!”
“Look at how embarrassed you are, Konoha. Oh, I can’t wait for tomorrow. Her voice is so pretty. She’s a very slender and lovely young lady, isn’t she?”
“How do you know what Tohko looks like?”
“Of course I would. When I was cleaning your room, I saw a photo of her. She has long braids and she was wearing a swimsuit—isn’t that her?”
She said it offhandedly, but I was horrified.
Was that one of the ones Itagaki from the photography club had forced me to buy, with Tohko in a swimsuit or gym clothes or whatever? The ones I had bought an entire set of because her chest was so absolutely flat that I couldn’t bear to let her be exposed?
“I don’t have that for any perverted reasons! It was purely out of obligation! Besides, now he can’t give them to people!! I had to take them.”
Even my father was grinning at me trying so desperately to defend myself. Then Maika asked me, “What does perverted mean?” in her innocent voice, and I choked.
My mother was full of enthusiasm, saying, “What should I make for snacks? I’ll have to go get ingredients in the morning. Oh, do you think she’ll stay for dinner? You do your mother a favor and invite Amano to dinner, Konoha.”
“I… don’t think she can do dinner. And really, you don’t need to bother with snacks, either.”
“What? But why?”
“She… she doesn’t eat much. She only eats about a sheet of paper for lunch. I think her stomach is smaller than most people’s.”
It was true that she lived off paper, so it wasn’t like I was outright lying.
“Oh… I suppose that’s why she’s so thin,” my mother murmured disappointedly.
“Someone’s coming over on Sunday, too, so you can cook for them.”
“Oh? A friend?”
“Uh… someone from my class.”
It was so hard to tell her that it was the girl I was dating. Added to the fact that it was another girl coming over the very next day after Tohko was visiting.
“Who is it? Akutagawa?”
“No, not Akutagawa…”
“So you have more friends now! We really do have Amano to thank. Oh, but if it’s a boy, he’s going to eat a lot. I should make filling food.”
As my mother gleefully planned the menu, I found it impossible to tell her that it was a girl coming over.
The next day, Saturday, was a bright winter day with a clear sky.
“Hello. I’m Tohko Amano, president of the book club. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Tohko came over dressed in a navy duffle coat over her school uniform—not a detail different from usual—and greeted us formally at the front door.
Her voice was soft and restrained, too. Her gaze was open and unaffected, and there was not a hair out of place in her long, tightly woven braids or a pleat amiss on the hem of her skirt. At the sight of the sage, old-fashioned beauty that was Tohko, my father and mother both gasped in deep admiration.
“Come in, come in. I’m Konoha’s mother. Thank you for all you’ve done for him.”
“I’m Konoha’s father. I hope you’ll continue keeping an eye on our son.”
I watched as both of my parents bowed deeply to Tohko, and then all I wanted was to get out of there.
“Hello, my name is Maika.”
Maika gave a neat bow, too.
“Hello there, Maika.”
Tohko knelt down to bring her eyes to Maika’s level to greet her, and my parents looked on with even greater approval.
Tohko had brought a paper bag that she now held out to my mother.
“I made some cream puffs, and I’d like for all of you to have them. I’ve heard that you’re very good at cooking, ma’am, so I hope you don’t compare them to yours. But I enjoy making sweets, too,” she said, acting bashful.
I felt light-headed. She’d never made sweets in her life! How important was it to her to show off?!
My mother was moved as she accepted the cream puffs.
“Well! What a very polite and elegant young woman you are. And you’re even prettier than in your picture.”
“My picture?”
Tohko quirked her head to one side mildly.
I grabbed her arm before the fact that I had photos of her in a swimsuit could be revealed.
“Okay, Mom, now you’ve met! Let’s go to my room, Tohko.”
I went upstairs, dragging along a very confused Tohko, and as soon as I closed my door, I broke out in a sweat.
“Konoha! That was so rude to your family.”
“Don’t you mean, that was such a performance? That was almost criminal fraud! Where did you buy those cream puffs?”
“How rude. I made them myself, out of a book.”
“Wha—? You mean you didn’t just buy some and put them in a new box?”
Tohko bonked me on the head.
“I would never do that.”
“You’re saying you know how to make sweets?”
“Heh-heh. Nothing is impossible for a book girl. I gave you those madeleines I made in home ec and that seasoned rice salad, remember?”
“We did that together. All you did was measure the butter and wash the carrots.”
; “I also mixed in the butter and peeled the carrots! Y’know, if you eat my handmade cream puffs, they’ll be so good they’ll make you weep.”
As we engaged in our conversation, utterly unchanged from when we were in the clubroom, my door sloooowly opened.
Tohko quickly brought her performance back out with a giggle.
“That’s how it stands, Konoha.”
What was standing where now? Maika was watching us from behind the door, her eyes wide.
When Tohko realized that our visitor was a girl in elementary school, she dropped her shoulders back, pulled her face into a smile, and walked over to Maika.
Maika stared straight up at her. I guess it was weird for her to see a girl other than our mother in the house.
Tohko crouched down and smiled, just like she’d done before.
“What’s wrong, Maika?”
“… Are you… the preznent?”
“That’s right. I’m Konoha’s beautiful, reliable president who’s great at cooking and also a book girl.”
“That’s going a little far.”
“A book girl?”
“Yup. That means a girl who loves books so much she wants to eat them up.”
Maika tilted her head in confusion. Then she suddenly murmured “oh!” and turned around and pattered down the hall.
“Wouldn’t it make it easier for an elementary school kid to understand if you just told her you’re a goblin?”
“How mean! I am not a goblin.”
Just as Tohko had swung her arm over her head, Maika returned with flushed cheeks, cradling a picture book in her arms.
Tohko quickly hid her fist behind her back.
“Here.”
Maika held the book out.
“You’re like Anne, Miss Preznent.”
The book was an edition of Anne of Green Gables written for little kids. There was a girl with braids wearing an old-fashioned dress and smiling on the cover.
Tohko smiled fondly at it. A pretty smile like a violet touched her lips.
“Oh, this book looks delicious,” she murmured in a gentle voice that suggested some memory she treasured was surfacing in her mind.
“This tastes good?”
“Oh yes, Anne of Green Gables is like an all-you-can-eat cake buffet, with the flavors of all kinds of desserts in it. There’s a tart piled high with freshly picked strawberries on top of custard. A charlotte with soft Bavarian cream surrounded on every side by slender, finger-shaped biscuits. A torte with layers of bittersweet caramel and sugary chocolate… The part where Anne refuses to be nice and can’t help snapping after she stops speaking to Gilbert is exactly like a sweetly sour lemon meringue pie.”
Book Girl and the Scribe Who Faced God, Part 1 Page 2