Sports Day

Shoji didn’t approach me again the rest of the day. Hopefully he didn’t realize it was me from all of that… I erased my number before I had even written half of it. There’s no way he would think it’s me when the number could have played out differently… right?

I had to tell Kishi in the library. He looked surprised too. But then he said,

“Well… does it really matter though? Why did you want to hide your identity in the first place…? Because of your…”

“Right… I guess I just thought I had to keep my identity hidden while being Rose. But if my issues are resolved with my face…”

“Like I said, do whatever’s comfortable. I never want to force you to do something you don’t want to do.”

“Yeah… Thanks.”

Yuasa quietly sat across from us. I looked away from him.

“I’ve come to apologize. You didn’t cry again, did you?”

His words are still awful… I’m going to ignore him.

“Come on… I had to ask, you know. The answer is still killing me but I guess if it bothers you that much, I’ll try to be quiet about it.”

I still didn’t say anything or look at him.

“Let me give you more of my wise advice. Since you seem so worried about your face, let me say that it’s human nature to judge each other’s appearances. But as long as you worry about yourself, it shouldn’t matter what others think of your face. You hiding it just makes me curious. But if you flaunt it, I won’t care so much anymore.”

I shook my head and pretended to be really into the book in front of me.

“Well, I’ve said what I wanted to. I’ll take my leave.”

When he stood up, I watched him walk away. Finally…

“I think… he wants to get along with you…” Kishi whispered to me.

I looked at him, confused. “He just wants to bother me. Haven’t I told you before? He doesn’t want to get along with anyone.”

“I remember everything you said… But it still seems that way to me.”

“Well, I’d rather not get along with him… If he changes his attitude, then maybe we could get along better. I don’t think he will though.”

“Right…”

After I went home that day, I thought about Yuasa and Shoji. There’s no way Yuasa and I will ever get along… It’s impossible… I hope if I continue to ignore him, he’ll leave me alone. And Shoji… He really shocked me. I don’t really want to talk to him either. He shouldn’t have gone looking for me like that.

I really thought using Rose as an alias and talking to these boys would be a good and fun thing to do… But I should have known better. Of course they’d be curious about my identity, of course they’d come looking for me. I should stop using that alias now…

Since Kishi has at least accepted me for what I look like and who I am, I don’t really need anyone else. My father has always supported me and now I have a great friend who does too. As long as I have them, I don’t need to hide behind Rose to try to make friends. I’m satisfied with having them in my life and I think that’ll be enough.

Everyone at school was preparing for sports day. The students of each class had to sign up for the activities involved. My class had many volunteers, following Yorikane or being inspired by him to actively participate. I didn’t volunteer for anything specific, but I had to join the girls for a tug of war competition between classes.

Soon sports day came. I had to wear my PE uniform with a ribbon around my head representing my class. Our color was red. It was weird seeing Yorikane without anything yellow on… But the earrings in his ears were gold and shone in the sunlight, causing them to look just as bright as his usual yellow jacket.

I stood in the hot sun as the activities began on the large field between the school’s buildings. Each class cheered for their friends and acquaintances. Akemi, the student council president, narrated everything with the other members of the student council from under a shaded seating area. I noticed Shoji handing out cups of water and letting students relax in other shaded areas.

Kishi was participating in a ball toss with his class and when he saw me, he gave me a short wave. I gave a small one in return and smiled.

“Was that the first year Horiuchi-kun? Was he just waving at us?” I heard my classmates talking behind me. It was a group of girls.

“I’ve seen him a few times but he’s really cute! I think I might become a fan!”

“What about Miya-kun?”

“I can be a fan of multiple people at the same time, you know.”

“I’m staying loyal to Miya-kun. I hope he’ll realize my feelings one day.”

“Keep dreaming, he’s just kind to everyone. I heard he’s never dated anyone.”

“Well, I’m going to change that!”

Dating… Of course I’d like to date someone someday. I was afraid my appearance was too horrendous to be loved. But Kishi helped me realize that my face isn’t that bad… I’m sure there still has to be someone specific who will be alright with a girl with faded scars. Will there be anyone as attractive as the four hotties who will like me like that though…?

The longer the activities dragged on, the hotter I felt. Doing sports day just before Summer was a bad decision. I swear it’s even more boiling than in Fall. My long black hair soaks up all of the sun and makes me feel like I’m on fire. If I had the guts, I would totally cut my hair much shorter than it is now… Akemi’s hair is shorter and I think I’d like that hairstyle.

I gently pulled my bangs off my sweaty face and let them fall again while the next activity was announced.

“Now we’ll begin the scavenger hunt! Those participating in this activity, please come get your slip of paper that says what item you’ll be looking for from yours truly!”

I looked over at Akemi to see Yorikane approaching her with other students. Right, he volunteered for this activity. I watched him receive his paper. Once everyone had one, they looked at it and ran off to find the item. Yorikane turned around and looked at me.

I quickly looked away. No, he wasn’t looking at me, why would he be? But as I looked up again, he was clearly running in my direction. I could only watch him approach until he was right in front of me.

“Shiotani-san! I need something, will you let me take it?”

Why me… What do I have that he needs? He can’t even directly tell me what it is since those are the rules of the scavenger hunt…

“Come on, please? I want to win this!”

I have no choice… I nodded and then braced myself.

“Thanks, I promise I’ll give them back!” After saying that, he pulled the glasses off my face and ran off.

I was startled for a moment and covered my face instinctively. My glasses… Why did he have to take my glasses?! My scars, they… they…

No… They’re fine… I still have my bangs covering my face too… I tried to calm myself down. Then I slowly took my hands off my face.

“Yorikane Miya from class 2-1 is the winner of the scavenger hunt!”

I came back to my senses with Akemi’s announcement. At least I didn’t cause him to lose… The rest of the class would have hated me. I took a few deep breaths to calm my heart further. Yorikane began to run back to me. But watching him again, I got a bad feeling.

He wasn’t looking where he was going and soon he ran into another student. He almost fell, dropping my glasses and stepping on them to catch himself. He apologized to the student with a smile and then leaned down to pick up my glasses. He cradled them in his hands, looking up at me with a sorry expression.

I can’t believe it… He broke my glasses… Of course it was an accident. But now I can’t wear them. I have to go the rest of the day without them.

“I’m so sorry, Shiotani-san… I’ll pay for new ones…!”

I held my broken glasses after he had given them back to me. Seeing the broken glass, and seeing something clearly for once, something not through those clouded lenses, I came to a conclusion.

I shook my head. “It’s alright… I didn’t need them anyway…”

“Oh… Oh? Really? I’d still be willing to compensate you in a different way.”

“It’s really fine…”

“Well… Let me know if you change your mind!”

I nodded.

After that, the activities continued for a little bit longer. Once sports day was over, I felt relieved. There was cleanup to do and some helped while others snuck away into the air conditioned school. I helped a little bit with picking up any trash on the ground before trying to sneak away myself.

“Saki!”

I stopped when I heard my name being called. It was Kishi who was trying to catch up with me. I waited for him.

“Saki! Today was fun, huh?” he beamed. Then he noticed. “Where are your glasses…?”

I pulled the broken pair out of my pocket and showed him.

“Oh no… What happened?”

“It’s fine,” I told him. “I don’t need them anyway… This is probably a good thing…”

“I see… Are you going to throw them away?”

“Yeah, I should…”

Just then, Yuasa popped up out of nowhere. Because of course he does… I looked away from him.

“What happened to your glasses?” he asked.

I just shook my head.

“Are you still giving me the silent treatment? That’s something that children do, you know.”

I glared at him.

“Are you going to get a new pair?” he pointed to the glasses in my hand.

“...no…” I replied.

“I’m glad. Now you just need to get rid of those bangs.”

I glared at him a second time. Then I put my hand with the glasses out for him. “You tried to take them once. You can have them now if you want.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What would I do with a broken pair of horrendous glasses?”

I shrugged. “You can throw them away.”

“Now you’re just giving me your trash.”

“I can throw it away for you, Saki,” Kishi chimed in. I look at him for a moment before opening my mouth.

But Yuasa stole my glasses before I could say anything. “Just throw these damn things away already,” he said. He stormed off to the nearest trash can and dropped them in. He really hates them…

After that interaction, we decided to go inside and change back into our regular uniforms. We were allowed to go home once we had done that. There was homework related to sports day and we were supposed to write an essay about the importance of the event and what our favorite activity was. I wanted to get home and shower first…

Although one good thing came out of sports day, an even worse thing was going to follow. I had no idea of the danger approaching.