85. Weekend, in a place unknown to him.

September 27th, Sunday morning.

Battling the soreness that suffused her body, the girl climbed out of bed and instinctively shrank her neck; her back felt as though it had been struck by a bat, and in short, she was uncomfortable all over.

She sat blankly on her bed for five or six minutes, gradually regaining her senses, then dragged her tired self downstairs to freshen up.

After washing, she stood before the mirror, trying on one outfit after another but never quite satisfied. Thinking of that beautiful girl, she suddenly felt a pang of loss, pitying the heap of lovely long dresses strewn across her bed.

In the end, she donned tight sports pants and a nondescript gray hoodie, separated a lock of short hair and tied it up alone.

Swaying side to side, she reassessed her reflection in the mirror, shouldered her bag, and headed out.

The tram rocked gently as it traveled; seated inside, she caught her somewhat curled-up figure reflected in the glass opposite.

She pulled out her phone and sent a message to let the other know she was already on the tram; soon enough, she received a similar reply.

The meeting spot was, as always, Shibuya—a mere two stops from Jiyugaoka, easy and convenient.

Exiting Shibuya Station, she immediately spotted the girl standing before the statue of Hachiko: sleek long hair, elegant posture, a simple yet radiant dress—she was the very image of a princess straight out of a shoujo manga.

People around kept glancing at her, as if wondering what manner of boy such a girl might be waiting for.

In this atmosphere, she gripped the strap of her bag tightly against her chest and walked over, step by step.

Noticing her presence, the girl by the Hachiko statue broke into a joyful expression and waved in greeting.

"Sakurazaka, my junior~~"

"Sorry, Morino Hoshino, have you been waiting long?"

"Mm-mm~~ I just arrived myself."

Sakurazaka Saku scanned the attention cast on them and, feeling uneasy, pinched the hem of her hoodie: "Shall we go?"

Morino Hoshino looked at her junior with curiosity and followed at a gentle pace.

The weekend following the sports festival, the two girls met in private, skipping past the boy busy with his part-time job; it seemed a rather incredible thing.

But thinking back, their very first weekend outing had been orchestrated to drag Tsukimi Jinguuji along—now, they simply omitted that step.

And, truth be told, two girls together often interact more freely than when a boy is involved, provided both are so inclined.

They could enter shops meant solely for girls without hesitation, even peek out from behind dressing room curtains and gesture the other inside—nothing unusual about it.

Society is tolerant, almost expectant, of closeness between women; it is a sort of unspoken understanding.

Today's invitation had come from Morino Hoshino, with no special reason—she simply messaged Sakurazaka Saku asking if she wanted to go out on the weekend, and Saku agreed.

Thus, their meeting was perfectly natural, an everyday occurrence for high school girls.

The entire morning was spent wandering clothing stores—nothing more ordinary for girls their age.

If there was anything remarkable, it was that both were rare beauties. Morino Hoshino, a classic European-style beauty whose striking sky-blue hair often led people to mistake her for a foreigner.

Sakurazaka Saku, meanwhile, was the quintessential girl-next-door; though her figure was not especially prominent, the sun-kissed tan lent her a hint of sensual charm, and her legs were so well-proportioned that even passing girls couldn’t help but glance twice.

Walking side by side, they easily drew attention and, inevitably, attracted men hoping for their contact information.

Morino Hoshino handled it with practiced ease, firmly declining and then pulling Saku by the hand as they left.

Threading through the crowd, Saku glanced at the hand Hoshino held so tightly, recalling the photo she had seen last night in the class group chat.

Tsukimi Jinguuji certainly wasn’t in Class 2-A's group, so he had no idea. Saku, for reasons unknown even to herself, hadn’t questioned him, simply keeping it quietly to herself.

"Um...senior, my hand."

She couldn’t help but speak.

Hoshino looked back, released Saku’s hand.

Saku quietly placed her hand behind her back, feeling a bit lost.

"Mm...they probably won't catch up," Hoshino said, then smiled at Saku: "You’re so cute, Sakurazaka. Be careful, the boys who approach you aren’t simple."

Saku gazed at her, emotions flickering through her heart, finally blurting out:

"Did Tsukimi ever try to hit on you, too?"

Hoshino pondered for a moment, noticed Saku’s anxious gaze, and smiled: "Who knows? I forgot all about it ages ago."

To Saku’s ears, it sounded like a perfunctory answer.

Yet, oddly, she felt no dissatisfaction—perhaps because she could sense the sincerity in Hoshino, she accepted it calmly.

After wandering all morning, the two went to a nearby family restaurant.

Morino Hoshino was curious about everything, a marvelously odd girl who found even pouring a drink wondrous.

"Senior, have you really never been to a place like this?" Saku marveled.

"I told you before, my family used to be strict, so I hardly ever got to go out with peers. You might actually be the one I've hung out with most among girls my age."

Hoshino took a sip of her drink and immediately made a complicated face, grimacing as if the beverage tasted like muddy water after a forced kiss from a vampire.

"That’s what happens when you mix a bit of every drink together," Saku said, eyeing her as though she were an alien—seeing a high school girl mixing drinks in a family restaurant was rarer than seeing an extraterrestrial.

"There were so many drinks, of course I wanted to try each," Hoshino replied, unabashed.

"Why not just drink a cup of each?"

"That would make me fat."

Saku felt that they'd had similar conversations before, best not to dwell on it.

Their talk meandered, soon turning to their favorite works and notes, and before long, to the previous day's sports festival.

"Sakurazaka, you’re really amazing. How do you train to reach that level?"

"Coach says it’s all about talent. Without it, no amount of effort matters.

"Talent, effort, luck—none can be lacking."

"You’re very candid."

"I can’t say 'just work hard’—in sports, effort is something anyone can offer. If effort alone could win championships, no one would need to struggle.

"There will always be winners and losers; if someone laughs, someone else will cry. Everyone fights so they won’t be the one crying.

"So I won’t say effort is enough, and I don’t intend to lose to you, senior."

"Eh? Is this about the sports festival?"

Hoshino stirred her drink as usual, calmly looking at her junior.

Saku fell silent.

Sensing Saku’s mood was off, Hoshino didn't pursue the topic, but instead took a book from her bag and handed it to Saku.

"This week’s recommendation."

The weekly book exchange had originally been Saku’s excuse to approach Hoshino.

She wanted to understand what this person was thinking, wanted to know if she still had feelings for Saku’s childhood friend—rooted in twisted, ugly jealousy.

But what else could she do?

Because she liked him, she wanted to get close to her imagined rival, to probe her heart.

Best of all, she hoped to discover hidden darkness in Hoshino, so she could assert her own goodness.

But after getting to know her, this lofty student council president turned out to be a pure girl who’d never even been to a family restaurant.

She’d never gone to a batting center, never taken sticker photos—how could such a high school girl exist?

That’s why Saku felt so despondent.

Before her, Hoshino seemed to embody all that was lovely in the world, and so that boy...showed that expression.

When he was with her, his gentle eyes always hid a distance, a loneliness.

His apparent kindness was merely compromise.

Because she had been his first love, his childhood friend, the girl he once confessed to.

So Saku relied on this, constantly pressing him.

But she noticed that when the boy was beside Hoshino, that lonely look never appeared.

Maybe, she had been wrong from the start.

She’d accepted his proposal to be strangers at school, and from that moment, their paths diverged, their connection lost.

She could embrace him at will, kiss his neck, sneak into his bed, wield the rights of first love, of childhood friendship, binding him tightly, forcing him to hide everything and give her a compliant smile.

But when Saku saw last night’s photo, she was deeply shaken.

So he could smile like that, too.

"Sakurazaka?"

"...Yes."

Coming back to herself, Saku took from her bag her chosen book and notes, exchanged them with Hoshino.

Now, she couldn’t say if this ritual still meant anything.

Perhaps sensing Saku’s mood, Hoshino spoke gently: "You seem troubled.

"If you don’t mind, I can be your listener. Not to brag, but I’m quite experienced as a confidant—I promise I’m up to the task."

Saku wanted to retort that Hoshino was the source of her troubles, but then realized how shameful it was to blame others for her own worries.

She could see clearly that Hoshino was a kind senior, and that she meshed surprisingly well with her—their exchanged notes made that obvious.

Which was exactly why Saku felt so conflicted.

"It’s about Tsukimi Jinguuji, isn’t it?" Hoshino said bluntly.

Saku looked at her deeply, then slowly shook her head.

"It’s not about him—it’s about me."

"I see."

"Mm."

Hoshino could most likely see through some things, but didn’t press further; she wasn’t one to disrupt the mood, nor someone oblivious to it.

"In that case, will you keep me company this afternoon? Honestly, I feel like a senior who’s finished exams and gotten into college—ready to go wild."

"You haven’t graduated yet, have you?"

"But I’ve already been admitted."

"Admitted"—a word unfamiliar to Saku.

Something occurred to her, and she asked, "Morino Hoshino, what do you want to do in the future?"

"The future? Hmm... Well, I’ll go to university first, then think about what to do next, decide what kind of person I want to be. Why do you ask?"

Saku hesitated for a long time, but in the end could only force a smile: "University sounds great. I wonder if I can get into a decent school.

"No, honestly, with my grades, graduation might be a problem—how embarrassing if I have to repeat a year, haha."

She knew well enough; her grades weren’t good, barely managing to keep them average.

Hoshino, Tsukimi—both were geniuses destined to walk paths utterly different from hers.

She was a fool, knowing nothing but hard work.

No talent, no luck, just relentless effort—a fool, nothing more.

"I actually really envy you, Sakurazaka."

"...Eh?"

Hoshino stirred her drink with a straw, made a face of dread, steeled herself, and swallowed every last drop of the rainbow-colored liquid.

She stuck out her tongue, which was faintly tinted, grabbed the water and gulped it down, then perked up again.

"I’ve always obeyed my family in everything—my hobbies, favorite shows, the university I’ll attend, even the boys I like, all dictated by them.

"So when I see you worrying about your future, I can’t help but envy you—doesn’t it mean you have endless choices ahead?"

"Envy repeating a year?"

Hoshino was momentarily stunned: "Hahaha...Sakurazaka, sometimes you’re just like Tsukimi, a bit scatterbrained."

"Is that really a compliment?"

"Of course."

Looking at Hoshino’s smiling face, Saku hadn’t intended to smile, but found herself infected by the student council president’s laughter, and forced out a small smile of her own.

After a while, Hoshino gazed out the window, sighing deeply, as if pondering something.

"Sakurazaka...

"Will you tell me what you know?

"About me and Tsukimi Jinguuji...about us dating."

(End of chapter)