Special Project (cont.) II

Scene break.

Nothing to see here.

No really, nothing happened, so please get a move on before—

“Kocchan… Why is everyone looking at us like that?"

“Hmm? I have no idea what you’re talking about, Chujimoto Mari-chwan. Gahahaha!”

“......”

“Gahahahahahaha!”

Alright, fine…

Public Enemy Number One: A Screenplay.

Written by: The Boys of Class 1-F.

Starring: Mizuhara Kohei as the Public Enemy.

Summary: After flirting with Sakura Emi in class, the boys of 1-F (and some from other classes) now want to dispatch the Public Enemy through any means possible.

Introduction: School Cafeteria (Lunch Break).

Action!

Mari and the Public Enemy are waiting for their food at the cheap yet high-quality cafeteria (not the café, big distinction there—because the Public Enemy is poor and stupid and therefore cannot afford to eat good food on a daily basis), and flanking them on all sides are students from the lower half of the STD regime, and—

“Something is definitely going on,” Mari said. “I can tell by how stupid your face looks that you’re thinking of something dumb.”

“N-no! Nothing is wrong! I swear, I haven’t done anything… nothing at all!”

It was the truth!

Aside from the ‘nothing is wrong’ part, it was the truth!

No matter how you sliced it, it was Sakura’s choice too… So why was everyone looking at me like it was entirely my fault?!

“...Come on, really? First of all, you’re staring into the ceiling and refusing to make eye contact with anyone… Secondly, you’re holding your hands behind your head and whistling like some slapstick gag from a late 2000s anime. Have you forgotten what year it is? What’s next, a scene where you’re running to school with toast in your mouth?”

“Stop! I’m supposed to be the 4th-wall breaker within our pairing! Don’t go changing the established character dynamics this far into the draft, please!”

And while we’re at it, yes, the running late to school gag was indeed old school—but what did it have to do with my situation?

My predicament?

“Just be honest,” Mari pleaded. "Can't you just tell me what's going on?"

“...Khh!”

Truthfully, I did want to tell her—except I couldn’t see what expression Mari had thanks to my neck stretching exercise. Realistically, her intentions could’ve ranged from anything between genuine worry to blackmail.

After all, it was Mari I was dealing with here.

The fake yuri, fake genki girl, fake-hot-because-she’s-actually-pure-cold childhood friend… with an acting showreel as diverse as that, you could never be sure the façade she was wearing was the real one based on sound cues alone. You had to dig deep into the body language.

And more importantly…

“Just so you know, it has nothing to do with Emi-san, alright! Get off her case!”

Wait.

Why?!

Did I hate myself that much?!

Ah, I screwed up...

“Emi… san?” Mari asked, her head tilting so violently it actually made an audible crack.

“Kyeh!”

I have no idea what Japanese consonant that was supposed to be, but the point is I was scared.

“I figured it had to do with Sakura Emi… but seriously, are you an idiot? Mizuhara-san, are you positively semi-abled?”

“Please, don’t go into last name mode during my time of need!”

And no ableist comments!

“Or do you just not trust me?”

“That’s… um. Well…”

...What did she expect?

How could I trust anyone in this situation?

One moment I’m flirting with my classmate, the next I have to beg someone to spend lunch break with me just so I have a witness in case I get jumped on by some first-year dudes.

Talk about ‘unfortunate circumstances’!

And the worst part was that I couldn’t even get into contact with Emi because the boys were cordoning her off from me… like I was some sex offender.

She was the one who offered to give me her panties!

“Come on, this is totally unfair!”

“Even though I tried my best to warn you?”

“Wh-what? You did it in the most cryptic way possible, it barely counts!”

“Are you serious… Mou!”

Punch.

I felt a tiny fist of fury land on my chest.

Of course, it didn’t hurt at all. But we were in public, and I knew everyone was already staring at me, and so...

The emotional and reputational damage...

“After all that talk, you still managed to let yourself get played by her? Do you just not care about my opinions, or what?”

“Played? She didn’t play me! The guys are just being—”

“Make eye contact with someone when you’re talking to them!”

Goddamnit, fine!

I personally thought it’d be quite funny to have manga panels of me yelling at the ceiling for an entire exchange… but well, nevermind! Who cares about that anyway?

She told me to do it, and so I did.

Reluctantly, I brought my gaze down to match Mari’s, and almost instantly…

Almost instantly—

I noticed something was wrong.

“...Khh.”

My breath escaped me.

It was an electrical impulse fired directly from the neurons in my body, wired straight to my brain—an instruction I had no choice but to obey.

I couldn’t force any air back into my body. 

A vacuum had formed around the two of us.

“Wait, I’m sorry... Let’s both calm down. I didn’t mean to—”

“Kocchan.” 

In the corners of Mari’s eyes, I could see tears pooling up. 

"Just stop,” she said. “You don't have to say anything."

Smile in pain.

……

It wasn’t the first time I’d been forced to witness this image.

—Tell me you love me too.

Just before spring break.

An immutable memory.

“Mari, I… ah, shit.”

I couldn’t form a coherent sentence.

My thoughts were reduced into physiological reactions like anxiety or fear. No words, only rising blood pressure.

And though the silence was already unbearably loud—deafening enough such that my brain was tuning out the ambient noise of a cafeteria packed with first-year students with all eyes on us…

Her next phrase felt earth-shatteringly thunderous.

Soul-crushing.

“But it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”

Just like that, an ominous feeling enveloped my entire body.

Mari was no longer looking at me—instead, her shoulders were facing away, and using the palms of her hands as supports she tried to stave off a river that was threatening to break through its dam at any moment.

Two crumbling pillars holding up the weight of an entire world.

I’d been through this situation before.

So logically, I knew what the outcome would be.

I wouldn’t understand what Mari truly felt or what the mystery boiled down to—and any remnants of tension would be discarded by an emotional reset of our relationship. I’d attribute her distrust of Sakura Emi to pure jealousy or the fact that she liked me and leave it at that.

After Kocchan, what name would she call me next? What persona would come after her current stint as a cheerful, bubbly girl?

How many times did I have to ignore her before I’d learn my lesson?

How many times would we have to go through this cycle?

For the rest of eternity?

“No, it doesn’t have to be this way.”

“H-huh?”

“You’re important to me, Mari.”

Looking at me with brown eyes more desperate than I could put into words, Mari stood there motionlessly like a still life.

Like a doll.

One with rounded features, a picture-perfect face, and a voice so saccharinely sweet you would believe it if I said she was a voice actress. Someone undeniably beautiful.

And though some might take offense at my likening her to a doll, I completely stand by that analogy. Yes, this might come off as arrogance since I’m implying my rejection was what turned her ‘lifeless’, and sure, I obviously don’t have the best track record for judging people at this point of the story—but I knew Tsujimoto Mari better than anyone else.

For ten years, I’d known her, and I knew swapping between masks like a con artist wasn’t her true self.

Mari never antagonised others for shallow reasons.

“I have a dumb suggestion to make,” I said.

“W-what is it?”

Grabbing her wrist, I ignored the pounding in my chest and continued speaking.

“Screw the cafeteria, let’s go somewhere else.”

She felt so weak in my hands—like she would crumble into fine dust at any moment.

If that was the case, all the more I wasn’t allowed to hesitate.

I had to be decisive.

Or risk losing her forever.

“B-but we paid for the meal tickets already,” she protested.

“It’s just 300 points. You have a lot of points, don’t you? Being in Class A and all that.”

“...I’ve spent a lot of them buying makeup.”

“Then I’ll cover the 300.”

“…...”

She weakly averted her gaze. “But still…”

“But still, I’m in Class F, so I shouldn’t be wasting points? Is 300 yen really important to either of us? I don’t really give a shit. Come on, now.”

“Kocch—ahhhh!”

Dragging Mari behind me, I began to sprint out of the cafeteria.

There was no resistance on her part.

In fact, she seemed to be running as fast as she could—perhaps to spur me on, or perhaps out of apathy.

We made it past the faces of confused students, then the entrance to the cafeteria, and then the exit of the school building in a frenzied sprint—even so, I didn’t want to stop running.

Now we were in the Kitazawa urban jungle.

The one with only young trees and tiny shrubs. The one which I had so desperately wanted to see sakura blossoms in.

I didn’t stop running.

We didn’t stop running.

“Where are you taking me?” she yelled.

“My place! I’m going to cook for you, like old times!”

“Huh?!”

“You heard me!

“But what about classes?!”

“School can suck a dick!”

“…No, stop. Stop!”

At that moment, her body which had been so light before suddenly gained density—like some phenomenon you’d study in astrophysics—and so our run was brought to a screeching halt on the same path I’d used to commute to school.

I froze.

My arm still attached to hers, I dumbly spoke. “M-Mari? What’s wrong?”

“You… are…”

Between heaving breaths, it took all of her willpower to force out her words.

What she said here would make or break me.

All I could do was hope.

“Such... an asshole!”

“......”

I felt like throwing up.

“You think you’re cool," she continued. "But really… you’re just an idiot!”

Wait.

"Huh?"

"Don't make me repeat myself, idiot!"

...Was she just angry that I swore or something? Her word choice felt so anticlimactic—like she wasn’t feeling the drama I was.

“B-but why? I thought I was doing well?”

“No girl can run for the same intensity and duration as a guy! At least, not me! Use your brain!”

“...Oh.”

Breaking free of my grip, Mari proceeded to pant with her hands on her knees.

“Haah… And now I’m going to get all sweaty in my uniform, idiot…”

“......”

I stood there like a true idiot watching Mari catch her breath.

Oh right.

I could have just told her everything instead of making it a scene from a shoujo manga. Uh...

I'll admit, I was in Class F for a reason.

Though one plus from this situation would be this: Now that I’m getting a good look at her… you know, it feels easier to admit I’ve been disingenuous with my descriptions so far. Mari was the 20th most attractive girl in the cohort for a reason, so logically speaking... 

Actually, that’s still a cop-out. I shouldn’t have to be shy anymore.

“We didn’t have to run, Kohei-san. All you had to do was explain it to me…”

“Yeah, um, that makes sense.”

“Idiot Kohei.”

“I’m sorry.”

"I would have gladly followed you, no matter what. You didn't have to be so dramatic."

"...I'm sorry."

So.

This is my attempt at delivering my thoughts about Tsujimoto Mari in a succinct manner.

I think, at that moment, you could boil everything down to this: I felt like... Maybe it wasn't so difficult to see Mari as a woman after all.

“But I forgive you,” she smiled. “So, what are we having for lunch?”