Six: Curiouser and curiouser

“Stay with me…” Fujimoto sang, earning cheers from the rest of us. I was surprised to know that the man could sing. One wouldn’t think that someone as tall and overbearing as him would have a very gentle voice.

The numbers rolled on the screen and a score of 100 was revealed, along with the karaoke AI saying, “Perfect! You are a great singer!”

Some of us chanted “one hundred” in sync, while others stood up and gave Fujimoto multiple pats on the back. A bunch of laughter and chatter livened up the room, washing away any worries of mine that I had about hanging out with these people.

As I leaned over to grab a couple of fries from the center table, I noticed from the corner of my eye that Rin and Takahashi were laughing and giggling. I couldn’t help but feel curious about what those two were talking about. But before I could even stand and join in on their fun, Suzuki and Fujimoto sat at my left and right side, making it difficult for me to get up.

“Fujimoto, I never knew you were good at singing!” Suzuki cheerfully exclaimed. “Right, Ikeda?”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect that at all,” I added.

Fujimoto just laughed and waved his hand in front of him, to say that it was nothing. “I used to take singing lessons because my mom forced me to. She said it’s an important skill to have when you go to karaoke with friends.”

I chuckled at that remark and said, “I guess you’re right.”

Suzuki then took the remote from Eri, then passed it over to me. With a microphone in his other hand, he yelled, “Alright. Next, we have our class representative! Let’s go, Ikeda!”

Shocked, my mouth was left wide open and I repeatedly asked him if he wanted me to sing as well. Fujimoto mumbled that Suzuki is the type of person who doesn’t accept “no” for an answer, which forces me to just pick a song and get it over with. Eri sitting from across the table took the maracas and began shaking it, cheering for me. Others began shouting and whistling, eagerly waiting for me to start already.

Still, at the back of my head, my eyes were glued onto Rin and Takahashi.

“Great. So much for social anxiety. Now I have to sing in front of them?” I thought to myself.

I chose Lemon by Kenshi Yonezu then inputted it and waited for the music to start playing. As the song began, I noticed that Rin and Takahashi got up and left the room together, making me all the more curious about where those two were going. However, I couldn’t simply leave and chase after them, not right when I’ve got people here waiting for me to embarrass myself.

I gave up on my curiosity and just focused on singing the song and enjoying myself. Opportunities like these are rare, so I think it’s a good decision if I will step up from my game and get to know my classmates better with this.

As I finished my song, I excused myself to go to the toilet while the other girls sitting beside Eri took the remote along with the microphone, ready to take over the stage. I exited the room and looked for the toilet– that is to say, I didn’t have any other intentions of looking for Rin and Takahashi.

After finishing my business, I headed downstairs to buy myself something to drink. Below, I saw Rin and Takahashi sitting in the lounge talking to each other.

“Teruhiko!” Rin called for me, gesturing for me to come over.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked them as I walked to the vending machine to grab drinks for the three of us. Rin got up and approached me, taking one of the canned drinks from my hands.

“Not much. I’ll go back to the room now, I feel like singing again.” Rin smiled, opened the juice, and then left.

“See you, Rin!” Takahashi waved at Rin before fishing out her phone and probably replying to some messages as she busily typed away on it.

I looked over at her before handing over the other canned juice and taking a seat beside her. “Here.”

“Thanks, Teruhiko!” Takahashi beamed at me.

Thinking that it was the perfect timing, I mustered the courage to ask. “Hey, um, why do you call me Teruhiko? I don’t think we’re that close yet for you to call me by my given name.” I said.

“Hmm…” Takahashi closed her eyes and placed a finger on her chin, pretending to think. “You don’t think we’re friends?” She asked.

I was taken aback by what she said. Is she just calling people by their given names because she thinks they are friends already?

“I do think we’re friends but–”

“Nope, no ‘buts’. I’m not too fond of that weird culture thing where people call each other by their surnames. I like people’s names. They were specially given to us. So, I believe it’s better to call others using their given names.” Takahashi explained, opening the juice as she talked.

Then, she added, “And so, that means you have to call me Hana, Teruhiko!” Takahashi grinned widely, her eyes were sparkling just like how she looked in the little situation at the shoe lockers earlier in the afternoon. A wave of adrenaline hit me and I felt my cheeks slightly burning up.

“Cute.” I thought to myself again.

Takahashi then opened up a topic about how exhausted she honestly is because of the basketball club activities. But, even so, she enjoys spending time with her friends, especially with Eri, who was her best friend.

“Speaking of best friends, have you known Rin for a long time?” Takahashi asked.

I shared my story on how Rin and I met during last year’s opening ceremony and the whole pineapple on pizza interrogation moment. As I kept talking and sharing my story, I noticed how Takahashi was listening intently to me. Her nonverbal gestures gave all the signs that she was interested in the conversation, which got me thinking as to why or even how can someone at least pretend to want to listen to a boring topic like this. Perhaps I can learn from her if I want to be more socially adept.

“That’s shocking. I thought you were childhood friends or something, with the way Rin talked about you.” Takahashi commented.

“Oh? What did you guys talk about then?” I asked.

Takahashi stood up from the couch and readjusted her skirt, fixing the folded pleats. She turned around to look at me and just shrugged while half-smiling and half-smirking at me.

“Somebody’s curious about their B.F.F.,” Takahashi said in a sing-song manner.

“Anyway, it was nothing. We talked about random stuff, but it was mostly about how the coaches in school are quite annoying. They have weird tendencies to get mad easily, and that goes for most of them, too.” Takahashi paused to sit down again, then resumed, “You’re not in any clubs, right? Can I ask why?”

“There’s no particular reason.” I lied, suddenly getting flashbacks about Akemi.

Takahashi looked at me peculiarly and changed the topic about how her ankles hurt because they got twisted after someone from the basketball team accidentally pushed her earlier.

I wondered if she actually saw through my lie and deliberately switched the conversation to avoid any awkward interactions. But I doubted that it was that deep, and thought to myself that perhaps I was overthinking things again.

“Were my gym shoes okay?” I asked, remembering the negative thoughts I had from earlier.

“Yes! They were more than okay, thank you, again.” Takahashi said as she got back up to throw the cans in the bin.

“I guess I already paid you back for the cold tea from last week.” I chuckled.

Takahashi turned around and made another one of her fake thinking faces. “Hmmm, but this time I have to repay you for the shoes.”

“Don’t sweat it,” I assured her. “You don’t have to buy me shoes.”

“Ha-ha, funny. I’ll just buy you lunch or something one of these days, is that okay?” Takahashi asked as we headed back upstairs. I looked over at her and noticed how I can barely see her face now that I’m standing one step higher than her.

“Sure, thanks, Takahashi.”

“That’s Hana, to you, mister.” Takahashi, rather, Hana, sighed at me.