Akari's magazine

“Mom! I’m home!”

I took off my shoes and put them in the closet.

“Sora, welcome back.”

She came to greet me, her hands still covered in food.

“I assume you’re already cooking.”

She looked at herself before answering.

“Haha, yeah, exactly.”

She wiped them on her apron—not a good idea, since she’d just washed it.

But I decided to let it slide.

“Come on, come to the table.”

“Is it ready already? Fantastic.”

You could say a lot about my mom’s cooking, but you couldn’t say it wasn’t good.

As soon as I sat down, I started devouring everything.

“S-sora, aren’t you eating a little too fast?”

“What…? Hmm… What do you mean?”

I admit it, I was eating too eagerly.

But I had a good reason.

“Do you have anything to do today? Maybe with Haru?”

She started eating too.

“Well…”

I swallowed.

I certainly can’t tell her about the magazine.

“I have a lot of homework to do.”

I fiddled with my chopsticks.

“You know… studying, reviewing.”

“Sure, sure.”

I don’t think she believed me.

A little while later, I finished eating.

“Well, thanks so much for lunch.”

“I’m going to my room.”

I made a quick getaway before she could ask me for details I didn’t have.

“Bed, sweet bed!”

I threw myself onto it.

After everything that had happened, I was exhausted.

I lay there staring at the ceiling.

Today was crazy...

Me running into Akari, everything that happened with her.

I looked over at my backpack.

Well.... It would be a waste of money not to read it.

I opened it, but not to take out my textbooks.

“There it is!”

The magazine’s title was: Models of the Moment, Interviews, and New Locations.

“How many girls in bikinis can there be in a single magazine?!”

I was surprised by the number.

“Wait, could it be that Akari too…”

And yes, that thought put me at a crossroads.

“Should I look or not?”

“Damn it, fine, just a quick peek.”

I finally found the page about her.

Luckily, she wasn’t in a swimsuit.

“Thank goodness, I’ll be able to look her in the face tomorrow.”

“Let’s see...”

The magazine included a few anecdotes about her.

“Haha, so she hates cherries.”

The article about her wasn’t too long.

The final part, however, made me jump.

“No! No! No!”

Now I get it.

Knock, knock.

“Sora, is everything okay?”

My mom knocked.

“Y-yeah, yeah, sorry.”

I’ve made a mess of things.

I read that part over and over, hoping I was wrong.

“So she has a photo shoot today.”

I started connecting the dots.

That means...

I didn’t like the way things were falling into place.

“Is that why she didn’t want anyone to know about her knee?!”

“Was she afraid they’d make a fuss?”

I put down the magazine.

Damn... I’m screwed, totally screwed.

I’d already apologized to her, but....

I certainly didn’t expect to have undermined her work.

I stood frozen, then a flash of genius struck me.

Sort of.

“Maybe he’ll know what to do!”

I grabbed my phone and dialed his number.

“Haru!”

“Hi, Sora.”

His voice sounded strange; he was probably munching on something.

“Listen… Today, when I hit Akari…”

“You mean when you ran her over.”

He was blunt, but not rude.

“Whatever you call it, just listen to me.”

“You said I messed up. Why?”

Part of me hoped the magazine was wrong.

“Because she has a photo shoot today.”

My blood ran cold.

“It would’ve been a disaster if I’d hurt her.”

I couldn’t answer him.

“Sora, are you there?”

“H-how did you know?”

The question just slipped out.

“The soccer team talks about her a lot; apparently she’s famous, haha.”

I didn’t find it funny at all.

My mind presented me with two choices: apologize to her again or pretend nothing happened.

Well… She said herself that it didn’t matter.

I couldn’t convince myself of that.

“Haru, I’m home.”

The voice came from the other end of the phone.

“Sora, I have to go now.”

His tone changed.

“Okay… All right.”

I figured he was just in a hurry.

He hung up.

I’ve never been to his house since I’ve known him…

I should go there someday.

I flopped down on the mattress.

“There’s nothing I can do about it; what’s done is done.”

I closed my eyes.

I might as well do what I told Mom.

“Studying a little won’t hurt.”

I sat down at the desk and picked up my English book.

“Sooner or later, I’ll learn this language.”

I muttered, trying to figure out what was written there.

managed to get through it for the night.

“Great, now I can officially call myself an English expert.”

I was totally lying to myself.

I grabbed my backpack and started packing what I needed for tomorrow.

Maybe it was because it was evening or because I was tired.

But I didn't realize that instead of my history textbook, I had packed Akari's magazine.

“Done!”

I stretched out thoroughly.

“Better take a bath now.”

I left the room, unaware of what would happen the following day.