Encore

“So…you believe them?”

“Believe…” he stopped.

“Well, you said they were rumors, right?”

“Initially, but like I said, we had credible accounts.”

“Credible…I know you two were classmates in high school, but have you asked him yourself?”

A moment of silence. “On several occasions. And my friends and I over several years picked up on it; I must admit, the first month I was acquainted with him, I must have shared a similar perspective as yours.”

“You’re right, I’ve gotten to know Iwasaki-kun over the past month. But from all my interactions with him, I have a hard time believing what you’re suggesting is true.”

Another period of silence.

Sato continued. “Sure, he is pretty shy. He likes being alone. Grumpy at times too…” Alright Sato. Did you compare notes with Lafon or something?

“But he’s also reliable, thoughtful, kind, and always willing to help. He’s everything you’d want as a friend.”

“That’s kind of you.” Yoshino exhaled, and I could barely make out a couple of chuckles.

“I don’t find it funny.”

“Ah, forget it then. My apologies for overreacting.” Yoshino replied, his polite mannerisms returning. He must have been seething!

“Alright then. Don’t go around spreading misinformation,” she warned. I paused as the conversation continued, yet I sensed from their footsteps that either Sato or Yoshino was walking away…or from my perspective, towards where I was! Crap.

After hearing the footsteps approaching, I quietly turned and headed back, passing by the bathroom and taking the correct turn to the room.

Once inside, I was greeted by Lafon and Watson, now enjoying an array of food platters presumably ordered by the club leaders. Or, it was Lafon digging in while Watson looked on with interest and mild concern.

“Took your sweet time, Iwasaki.”

“Yeah, maybe it was something I ate.” I waved off.

“See, Elise, stop eating all the finger food here.”

“It’s surprisingly good, though.” Lafon scoffed. “And it’s hors d'oeuvres. You should know–”

“You know I’m not Quebecois–”

“Unfortunate.”

“Ah…I meant something I ate before karaoke.” I took one of the food. “The..uh… hors d’oeuvres should be fine.”

“Thank you, Iwasaki.”

As the two of them continued their bickering, I took a long sip from my drink, warding off the rise in temperature of my face I had tried to keep at bay until this point.

That was insanely close in the hallway—what was even that conversation? What did Yoshino even say to Sato in terms of these ‘rumors’.

Never mind that, Sato will be back any moment now. Need to act like I didn’t hear a thing….But I can’t just completely forget about it–

“Welcome back, Serina!”

“Serina, try some of these.”

“Yo,” I waved, as Sato sat back down. Keep it cool, Ryuuto.

“Hey!!”

The room kept going with the karaoke for another hour, and eventually, most people had left for the night.

The four of us were preparing to leave, as the last of the clubmates had waved goodbye to us. It was right around the time Tachibana said the room was booked until, so likely in another ten minutes or so, we would be politely ushered home.

Interestingly, we haven’t seen Tachibana or the other upperclassmen in a while.

My mind was still occupied predominantly by that private talk…But I felt I kept it under wraps by enjoying the rest of the karaoke, as much as I could given the circumstances.

Watson opened the door, with Lafon behind her. I got up, but before making it a couple of steps, I felt a light tug on my sleeve.

“Iwasaki-kun, you have a moment?”

“Sure, Sato-san–” I pivoted to Lafon while Watson was already down the hallway. “We’ll meet up with you two in a bit.”

Lafon nodded and made her way towards Watson. “Ah, Chloe, there was a gelato place I wanted to check out, Serina and Iwasaki will meet us there after they use the restroom –”

“Gotcha! And just check out?–I’m not carrying bags of gelato back to the dorms again–”

Their voices faded away as I closed the door behind me, sitting back down next to Sato.

“Those two.” I chuckled.

“Dummy.”

“Huh?”

“Those two guys from your high school; did you get along with them?”

“No.” Hell no.

She took a deep breath, composing herself before opening her mouth. “They’re assholes, especially Yoshino.” She shifted her gaze. “He told me before he left privately about rumors, and they didn’t make sense. Like abusing power in the student council, coercing classmates, harassing people–”

A familiar phrase…even coming from her, those words landed at my feet, dealing zero emotional damage.

“I told him off, of course. I wanted to say a lot more, but I held back.” She looked back at me, her gaze wavering ever so slightly. “But I kept thinking— how did you put up with them in school?”

I pursed my lips. “After a while, it didn’t bother me anymore—it’s okay–”

“Sorry, Iwasaki-kun, but it’s not,” her hair moved to hide her face, but behind the locks of hair I noticed glistening…wait, was she crying?

“It’s not okay….why would they….even now–” her hands rose to wipe her eyes, revealing her tear-stained face.

“Sato-san…”

“It must hurt to keep it bottled up–”

Her tears…they were not out of pity. And I’ve seen people cry their crocodile tears. I really wasn’t expecting her to burst into tears now….and at a loss for how I go about it—

Her breathing slowed, and she brushed the hair from her face.

“I get it. Even if they say you abuse power, that you extort and harass classmates …or that you’re an airheaded attention whore, easy with guys, and a homewrecker…”

She smiled, tears still flowing down her cheeks.

“Ya gotta be strong and push through it, right?”

“...”

We sat in silence, as my mind attempted to piece together what she had conveyed. As my coherent thoughts melted into a puddle, I envisioned Sato in high school, faceless classmates whispering behind her back. Refusing to crumple, she smiled and carried on. She was talking about herself, wasn’t she….

My body reacted before my mind had registered the motions, and I was rushed back to reality; my arms had wrapped around her, her head slowly resting on my shoulder.

“Thank you.”

“Mm.”

Sato….I was at a loss for words.

***

At some point in time, after the hug and we both regained composure, I felt it was time to disclose some previously withheld information–

“I have to be honest…I kinda walked by the conversation before.”

“Hahh??” She blinked. “So…”

“Up until you said something about misinformation–” I scratched my head. “But, I really appreciate what you said about me to him—”

“The…reliable, thoughtful, kind part?”

“Yeah…” I nodded, steeling myself to get my thoughts out. “It’s hard to put into words…..but it means a lot to me.”

She grinned. “Mhm, and I meant it one hundred percent!”

“Even the loner, grumpy, shy bit?”

“Ahahaha…” She pivoted. “Well, for the times you get to make fun of my poor Japanese skills, cooking skills, sense of direction, spatial awareness,and  tendency to babble about astrophysics–”

Is she just roasting herself at this point?

Suddenly, a knock on the door disrupted our banter. It must be the staff, as the time for the room was over. I went to open the door, and was surprised to see Gotou standing on the other side.

“Gotou-senpai?”

“Hey, Iwasaki-kun, Sato-san,” Gotou waved as he looked around the room. “Looks like most people left, but we actually extended the time for both rooms. Or…more like–”

“Yuuuki–kuun,” a voice bellowed from behind him. That was most definitely Tachibana. “Come back here!!! The party just startedddd!”

“Kaichou, this way to the room! We can’t make a ruckus in the halls and get kicked out again–” Again?

“So if you and anyone else around want to continue, go ahead! Don’t worry about us!” He smiled and darted to assist his club members with an inebriated Tachibana.

“Wanna call Watson and Lafon back?”

She had her phone in her hand. “You read my mind!”

***

“Karaoke and gelato. An unexpectedly good combination.” I agree, Lafon. 

Sato tossed the mic towards me. “Your turn, Iwasaki-kun!” 

I was out of popular non-lovey-dovey songs at this point!  "Me?" 

“C’mon, what’s your best song?”

“I suppose…” I scrolled the list of songs, stopping at one that I recognized well. This one, Kaede would sing all the time….and annoyed me a lot at first. But it eventually grew on me. The lyrics don’t necessarily convey a love story as I originally assumed; more so to being genuine to yourself and those close to you. At this point, I probably have the lyrics memorized.

As I sang the song, I looked around the room and at the three of them, who had turned on their camera lights on their smartphones and waved them to the rhythm. Sato had a wide smile on her face, swinging her phone from side to side, listening intently and enjoying the song.

“It's not just that I like you, you know–” I sang, still looking at her, my brain short-circuiting after registering what had happened. What were those lyrics?? Wasn’t this not a love song–I must have forgotten this lyric was from this song—

The three of them started giggling as I fumbled the next lyric, before getting back on track.

Thank goodness they didn’t understand.

Finishing the song, I exhaled in relief. They clapped enthusiastically, especially Sato.

She seemed to really like it. 

Even when I goofed that one lyric because—

~It's not just that I like you, you know~