Three

- Why didn’t you tell me sooner?

- I found that the boxes are missing the moment you did.

- Who came in here first?

- I did.

- Do you remember if the boxes were here?

- The truth is that I don’t. I didn’t pay attention to them until you said that you can’t find the box you brought here.

- What was inside the box?

- There was equipment of the movie club.

- That means three clubs are involved in this.

- It’s strange. One of our boxes is still here. Why did it not disappear too?

- The boxes must be inside the school. Maybe a student took them.

- I have to inform the others immediately.

- I’ll come with you.

- Wait, I’m coming too! Everyone else, keep working!

- Hayate and the drawing club aren’t at fault. But who is? How will we explain this to the movie club?

- Sakurai, you seem to be responsible for the drawing club, but you aren’t the president.

- That’s right, I’m the vice president.

- Where is the president?

- She is on vacation.

- I see. I’m going to explain the situation to the movie club. Sakurai, come with me.

- Yes! Nakano – kun, stay here. I’ll come this way again.

First, Haruhi – san’s bike disappeared, and now these boxes.

- I hope the president of the movie club is a sensible person.

- Why are you saying that?

- Well, I know who he is. But I never talked to him before. I’ve heard a lot too.

- Don’t make me nervous without reason, Shun. This is Nakano – kun, the person I helped the other day.

- Nice to meet you. I’m Hamamura Shun.

- Nice to meet you too.

- So you’re telling me that the box with our equipment disappeared.

- Yes. We’re sorry.

- We’re sorry! It was in our club room with other two boxes. But only one of our boxes is missing.

- What was inside those two boxes?

- Paintings and tools.

- Have you searched for the boxes?

- No.

- It’s more likely that they are inside the school, so let’s search for them.

- What do you mean saying ‘more likely’? They’re inside the school for sure.

- How do you know that? It’s easy for someone to take them out of school.

- Are you suspecting a student of stealing those boxes?

- Of course. There is no way anyone else did.

Shun, Nakano – kun and me started playing against the three second years. Nakano – kun was pretty good even though he said he never played a whole three-ex-three game before. Surprisingly, our team won. I believe this happened, because the second years were exhausted. Shun said the same thing, but then he subjoined that a win is a win regardless the circumstances. Well, we were tired too.

- Why does everyone in this club call each other by their first name?

- It’s a habit, of a kind.

- You could call each other by your last names without honorifics.

- We thought about that too. But there are two brothers in our club, so we decided to call each other by our first names.

Yoshio is a first year too. Did they decide that in two months?

Then, Raijin and Sakurai – san came and told Shun, the second years, Hideyoshi, Nakano – kun and me to search for the boxes inside the school. Of course, they were searching with us. Sakurai – san told two girls of the drawing club to search with us too. The searching would be more tiring, if Sakurai – san didn’t have a plan of where everyone would search. Eleven people were searching for the two boxes, but we didn’t find them. Raijin and Sakurai – san went to inform the movie club, where they learned that three of them were also searching, but didn’t find them.

- I almost forgot about it.

- What is it, Shun?

- Hey, everyone. Hayate is inviting us to his house tomorrow!

- Really?

- Shun, this isn’t one of your pranks, right?

Did Shun pull a prank like this before I join the club? This isn’t a prank, though. But I wasn’t the one to invite them either, so I guess it stands to reason that they are doubting his words.

- No, it’s true. I’m inviting you all.

- We’ll come then. Right, guys? Is there anyone who can’t make it?

But, what Shun did and they don’t believe him?

- We’ll all come. But where is your house?

- I know where his house is. Just come to school and we’ll go together.

- Okay. I’ll inform Raijin later.

- Nakano – kun, you come too.

- Okay, sure.

- Nakano – kun, we’re going back.

- Oh, Raijin and Sakurai – san came.

- I’m leaving. See you tomorrow.

- Yeah, bye.

I’m glad Nakano – kun will come to my place with the others tomorrow.

- What Shun did?

- Are you curious?

- Well…

- I’ll tell you myself. I told them to meet up at Giichi’s place because I thought there was a basketball court nearby. So we all went there. Suddenly Giichi came out with his headphones and a bottle of water, because he was going for a jog. I still remember his reaction. The bottle fell from his hand and he asked ‘What are you guys doing here?’.

- We didn’t imagine Shun would do that.

- He is the demon’s underling after all.

- Who is the demon?

- Raijin.

Aren’t they afraid in case Raijin hear them?

- He doesn’t pull pranks like Shun does though.

We were stressed out cause of the disappearance of the boxes. So after that, we left.

- The basketball club will go on a trip on Monday.

- You’ll go.

- What? Why does everyone decide for me?

- Isn’t that obvious, Hayate – kun? Because you’ll never decide for yourself.

- Does it really seem that way?

- Yes. So here you go! I’ve made the decision for you!

- Yes, aunt.

Shun did the same thing. Does he think the same way aunt does? Does he think that I can’t make a decision for myself? I want to go. Eh? Then, why can’t I tell that to anyone? Is it that I don’t want to admit it? Why can’t I admit it? I know that I don’t do what I want to for a long time. I don’t know what I want anymore.

There were times I thought there was a lot of noise, but it was really quiet in reality. The voices inside my head were louder than the sounds I made when I was playing the drums.

- Your face is the same every morning. It’s like you don’t expect me to wait for you.

I can agree with that.

- Get used to it already. There will be not a day that I’ll not wait for you this entire summer. What time should we come to your place?

- What about at 6:00pm?

Shun said that he’ll inform the others about it and was very quiet the whole time until we entered the basketball court.

- Nakano – kun!? What are you doing here?

- I had free time, so I came to train with you.

- What about the drawing club?

- Sakurai – san knows that I’m here.

We trained with Nakano – kun that day. Raijin was telling him to pass some exercises. He ran ten rounds around the court, while we were running forty. I’m better at that lately. We started playing a game with Shun, Nakano – kun, Giichi, Kei and me in our team. Jona, Kazue, Akio, Hideyoshi and Takeo were in the other team. Shun scored only two three-pointers. At the same time he was passing the ball to me for some reason. I don’t know why he was doing that so frequently, but I didn’t score.

- Hayate, what are you going to do now?

- I was thinking to go to the library. Many days have passed since I went.

Now that I think about it, Shun was with me that time. He seems busy with Raijin now, so I’ll ask him if he wants to come with me another day.

- I’ll come with you, if that’s alright with you.

- Eh? Do you really want to come?

- I don’t know where your place is and I don’t have anything to do, so I thought that maybe I could hang out with you all day.

- Okay.

- Is Nakano – kun leaving too?

- Yes. I had a lot of fun today. Thank you.

- You can train with us any day you want. I’ll tell Shun that you two left, okay?

- Yes. Thanks, Takeo.

- Later!

I’m reading a detective novel this time. Nakano – kun is sitting next to me flipping through a book with a lot of pictures.

He told me that he is doing it to inspire his artworks. I have the opinion that reading books is helping too. So I told him to read a paragraph I liked. In the end, he read more than this paragraph. He gave the book back to me, telling me that he got an idea. I was happy that I could help him. We didn’t stay at the library for many hours, because I had to help aunt with the preparations. But I didn’t expect Nakano – kun to come with me.

- I’m Nakano Tsukiya. Nice to meet you!

- I’m Hayate – kun’s aunt! You can call me Mizuki – san!

- Okay.

Do you agree with her too?

- Could you go buy some things I need, Hayate – kun?

- Sure.

- I’ll go with him.

- Do you not mind?

- No. I’ll help, since I’m here.

- Thanks.

We went to the supermarket and we cut the list in two. I was lucky that the word ‘juice’ was written on the piece of paper I was holding.

- Are you done with yours?

- Yes. Let’s pay and leave.

- I forgot to tell you that your garden is beautiful.

- Thanks to my aunt.

She is the one attending to it, because I go to the school every morning.

- Are you back already? Let me take the bags you’re holding, Nakano – kun.

- It’s okay. Where can I put them?

- Put them on the table. I don’t need you to do anything else for me.

- We’ll be in my room then.

I should clean up a little. My room is a bit of a mess.

When I was returning from school, I was still practicing the drums. So I didn’t have enough time to clean up.

I hope it isn’t as bad as I remember it.

When I opened the door, I felt relieved. I didn’t have to do anything than to tidy my shoes and throw away some papers.

- A photo?

Did I forget it out of the drawer?

- Ah, my bad. It’s only one more paper.

That startled me.

- When will the others come?

- At 6:00pm. I’m going to drink some water. Do you want me to bring you some too?

- Yes.

When I went back to my room, he was trying the drumsticks on the drums.

- I was wondering how it would sound.

- You can try them more if you want.

- Can you play them?

- Yes.

- Really? Could you play a little right now?

I don’t like playing in front of others so much. But, what’s the harm? I guess I can play a little.

I played a part of a song I like.

- Did you like it?

- You are very good at it! How many songs can you play?

- I don’t know. I practice a lot on my own with different types of songs. It’s improvisation though. I play differently every time.

- Can you play a song I like?

- I’ll try.

It was the first time I listened to the song he suggested, so it was more difficult for me. But I told him that I’ll exercise on it.

- The others will be here shortly, so let’s help aunt until they arrive.

- Okay.

Aunt told us to carry two tables outside. Fortunately, they weren’t as heavy as they looked.

- I think something is missing.

She must be referring to the juices I didn’t buy.

- Hayate – kun, do you remember what?

- If you forgot about it, that just means that it wasn’t that important.

- I guess you’re right.

It’s a little strange. I think there was juice available at every party I remember.

- I’m sorry Hayate – kun. I forgot something. I will be back in a while.

Nakano – kun ran to the road.

It must be something really important. It’s already hot and he’s running. I think when he’s back, he will be sweating like crazy. I hope he didn’t lose anything. We have the boxes to worry about. Many people are involved in this.

- I saw Nakano – kun running just now.

- Ah, Shun. Come in.

A girl appeared in front of Shun.

- Hayate – kun!

- She wanted to come. I hope it’s not a problem.

- No, no.

- Did something happen to Nakano – kun?

- He said he forgot something. Where are the others?

- I told them where your place is instead. It would be a pain waiting for everyone outside the school.

- You’re right. Wait a minute. I’ll bring the chairs.

After bringing the chairs, I brought them ice cream.

- It’s yummy!

- I’m glad you like it!

- It isn’t shop-bought, right?

- Yes, I made it.

- How?

- I cut the watermelon and the bananas to pieces. Then I put them in the freezer and after that in the blender with a little of milk and maple syrup. And it’s done.

- It’s really good. I’ll try make it one day.

- Don’t forget to give me some, when you make it, Shun!

- I won’t forget it.

- You can make it without the watermelon too. Now that I think about it, you can make it with every fruit you want.

- Make it with strawberries, Shun!

- Okay.

- What? Did you not wait for me?

- Raijin – kun!

- Hello, Nara – chan!

- Nara knows all the members of the basketball club. But Raijin the most.

It figures. Raijin and Shun are friends from elementary school. So Raijin probably met Nara – chan when she was still a baby.

- How cute! A girl!

Aunt, this isn’t the first time you are meeting a girl this age.

- What’s your name?

- I’m Nara!

- She’s my sister.

- Really? Nice to meet you! I’m Hayate – kun’s aunt! You can call me Mizuki – san!

- Okay!

- Where is Nakano – kun?

- He left for a while. He’ll come again. This is Raijin. He’s the president of the basketball club.

- Nice to meet you.

- I hope Hayate – kun is doing his best, because he’s good at it.

- Don’t worry, he’s training with all of us every day. He is improving.

- Glad to hear it!

- Do you want ice cream?

- No, a glass of water is fine.

- Bring us one too!

Nakano – kun and Sakurai – san came together. I didn’t expect Sakurai – san to come. Nakano – kun probably told her about the meeting.

- She wouldn’t know where to go, if I hadn’t rushed back.

Sakurai – san is the one Nakano – kun forgot?

When I went out to the garden, almost all the members had arrived.

- Hello everyone!

Lastly, Kei came with Haruhi – san. I didn’t expect Haruhi – san to come either. But I knew all of them, so it was fine.

I met a lot of people. And everyone is here. Why are you not? But that's a stupid question. I know why.

- Before I left for a while, Hayate – kun played the drums a little. He is playing them well!

- Now I want to see you play them too.

- This is what I tell him all the time! That he’s good! He has private lessons every Sunday. Ogawa – sensei is his teacher and he told me days ago that Hayate – kun refused to participate in a competition.

- Why?

- Hayate – kun, we want to see you there!

- Shun, what do you say?

- My opinion is that he can do as he likes. He is the one who plays the drums. He played for Nakano – kun earlier, so if he wants he’ll play for all of us some day.

I’m speechless yet again. That was a nice reply, Shun!

Aunt left a jug with juice inside. I thought I didn’t buy any. Don’t tell me! Did Nakano – kun buy and I didn’t notice it at the checkout? Oh, right! Shun! Eck! He is looking at me! It’s not my fault!

- I noticed that we didn’t have juice, so I went outside a while ago and bought oranges!

Oranges? It’s fresh juice! Thank God! Shun looks happy.

- Good choice, aunt.

- Hm?

Aunt didn’t understand anything, but everyone else did and was laughing.

- But you’ll come to the trip on Monday, right?

- Yes.

- Don’t forget that it’s a three-day trip.

- Okay.

Thank you, Jona. If you hadn’t said anything, I would still think that it was a one-day trip.

- Speaking of it, everyone in the movie club know about our trip. Their president told me that after we come back, we’ll have to help them.

- What will we have to do?

- We’ll have to bring bottles of water for them. That’s because that day will be one of the hottest days of summer…

Vrr! Vrr!

Is this my cell phone ringing?

- Why are you both looking for your cell phone?

- Our cell phones have the same dial tone. This is the second time we got confused with it.

Shun doesn’t pick up. This has happened a lot of times before. Raijin is staring at him.

- I’m leaving for a while.

- Okay.

Raijin raised his hand showing Shun his three fingers. The number three. What does he mean by that?

It seemed that Shun understood what Raijin meant to say and was mad when he left.

- Yo!

- You again?

- Are you not happy to see us again?

- What do you want? Are you still not satisfied enough?

- We’ll never be. By the way, did you lose something?

- What question is that? Why are you asking…

- The bike we stole the other day wasn’t enough.

- …You bastards!

- Shun, don’t get angry. Tho it’s too late to say that.

- How did you steal them?

- You were paying us, remember? We didn’t use that money to buy useless stuff. We paid someone and that person brought the boxes for us. It was easy-peasy.

- Tch.

- What was that?

- It’s nothing. What do you want?

- Continue to pay us.

- When are you going to return them?

- That’s got nothing to do with you. But if you want them back soon, you better pay us more than before.

- Are you leaving already? You know you can’t run away from us.

- …Scums.