A Mock Date With Toko-senpai!

We headed further north to “Suzume-iwa” (Sparrow Rock) near Taito Station. It’s located just south of the southern tip of Kujukuri Beach and is also known as “Meoto-iwa” (The Married Couple Rocks). On a small sandy beach, a rock shaped like a slice of cake juts out into the sea.

“This will be our last spot,” I said as I got out of the car. It was already 4:00 PM.

“We really traveled all over, didn’t we? We’ve almost done a full lap of the Boso Peninsula,” Toko-senpai remarked, stepping out after me. Looking around, there wasn’t another soul in sight. Before us lay a small, cove-like beach. To the left towered the cake-shaped Sparrow Rock. Since the tide was out, it looked easy enough to climb.

“Want to try climbing it?”

“Eh? Isn’t it dangerous?”

“The slope isn’t that steep; it’ll be fine.”

I walked to the base of the rock and offered her my hand. She gripped it timidly. On the landward side, Sparrow Rock was covered in accumulated soil and grass, making the ascent relatively easy. We reached the top in no time. The side of the rock facing the sea was a vertical drop. Peering down, the deep blue water—suddenly deep—washed against the stone in swirling eddies.

“Don’t go too close to the edge, it’s dangerous,” Toko-senpai warned, so I stepped back a bit. The eastern sky was already beginning to darken. Near the horizon, a few stars were visible; the brightest was likely Venus. Looking the other way, the sun was about to sink behind the peaks of the Boso mountains. We sat down side-by-side on top of Sparrow Rock to watch the sunset.

“Thank you for spending the whole day with me today.”

When I said that, Toko-senpai gave a small, smiling nod.

“You’re very welcome. Thank you as well.” She looked up with a bright expression. “Today was so much fun! Honestly, I enjoyed this more than my dates with Tetsuya. I felt like I could be my true self!”

I gave a wry smile. “But if I were your real boyfriend, wouldn’t mentioning your ex’s name be a point against me?”

“Maybe so,” she said, hugging her knees with both arms. “But to tell you the truth… today, I felt a little jealous of Karen-san. Thinking, ‘She always gets to go on dates like this with you.’”

For a moment, I didn’t know how to respond. But I didn’t want Toko-senpai to feel that way.

“I don’t go to places like this with Karen. She likes places where she can shop or spots that are trending.”

“Is that so? Well, I suppose that’s normal for most people.”

Hearing that, I wondered what kind of dates she went on with Kamokura. But I couldn’t ask that. I decided to ask something else instead.

“You mentioned before that ‘couples hit a point at three months where they consider breaking up.’ Did that never happen for you?”

Toko-senpai rested her chin on her knees, thinking. “Hmm… I had my doubts even before then, but I wondered if I was just being selfish. Tetsuya once told me, ‘Toko, you’re too demanding. How can you have complaints about me?’”

Wow. The “popular, handsome guy” logic really is something else.

“Plus, it was right around midterms, so we had some distance. After that was summer break with circle events and such. I thought, ‘If we break up now, it’ll be awkward later, so I’ll wait and see a bit longer.’”

“And what happened after you ‘waited and saw’?”

Toko-senpai was silent for a while.

“Tetsuya’s lonely side… and the way he’s always putting up a front even though he hates being alone. Seeing that made me think, ‘I want to be there for him’…”
I regretted asking the question.

“You have a friend like Ishida-kun, right? Someone you can talk to about anything and who helps you when you’re in trouble. But Tetsuya doesn’t have anyone like that. He can be the center of any group, but there’s no one he can truly lean on…”

Toko-senpai’s voice was almost a whisper.

“That might be why he wants to surround himself with so many things. Like ‘sunny’ friends he can party with, or girls who will fawn over him…”

I watched her profile in silence. Then, she murmured self-deprecatingly:

“Maybe I was just one of those accessories, too. An accessory that looks good and that he can show off to others…”

She buried her face in her knees.

“The truth is, I had a vague feeling Tetsuya was cheating. But usually, he’s very kind to me and prioritizes me. Maybe I was subconsciously trying not to see it. If you hadn’t been there for this incident, I probably would have kept looking the other way.”

I didn’t know what to say to her.

“To Tetsuya, maybe wearing other accessories is only natural. I guess I just wasn’t charming enough on my own.”

“That’s not true!” I denied it firmly. “Toko-senpai, you are incredibly charming.”
But she looked at me with sad eyes. “That’s just talking about my looks, right? I mean as a girl…”

“You are charming as a woman, too. That’s why I asked you to come with me today—to tell you that.”

I pulled out my smartphone and brought up the photos I had taken of her throughout the day.

“I took photos of the moments today where I thought you were wonderful. Please, look at them.”

I leaned in closer so our shoulders almost touched as we looked at the screen together.

Toko-senpai looking up at the stone Buddha in awe at Mount Nokogiri; Toko-senpai walking fearfully at the View into Hell; Toko-senpai with her hair blowing in the sea breeze on the beach; Toko-senpai peering at fish in the tide pools; that accidental moment where we fell and ended up embracing; her figure silhouetted against the horizon; her smiling while playing with the little boy; her looking delighted while licking her soft-serve ice cream.

Every single one captured her natural charm.

“I think Toko-senpai’s natural self, her natural smile, and the way she naturally treats people is the cutest. That’s why you’re at your cutest just being yourself. You are charming when you’re honest with your emotions.”

“…Thank you…”

Her profile, as she gazed intensely at the photos, glowed orange in the setting sun. Then, in a small but clear voice, she said:

“I’m happier with these than any photo anyone has ever taken of me. Happier than if a professional photographer had taken them.”

After leaving Sparrow Rock, we took the Togane Road and returned to our hometown of Chiba City. Just as we started, Toko-senpai got off at JR Kemigawahama Station.

“Well then, see you at school.”

She stepped out of the car.

“Yes. Thank you so much for today.”

“No, thank you. I had a wonderful time.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

She had exited the car, but she didn’t close the door, staying in that position.

Is there something else?

I looked at her, and she stared back at me.

“Isshiki-kun, about today’s date…”

“Yes?”

After a brief pause, she spoke with resolve.

“Yeah, I’ll give you a ‘Yu’! Like the ‘Yu’ in Isshiki Yu!” (Note: Yu can mean “excellent” or “superior” in Japanese grading.)

She gave a brilliant smile.

“Well then, goodnight!”

Without waiting for my reply, she slammed the door shut.

…Today’s “date,” huh…

I sat in the car, where the faint scent of her perfume still lingered, lost in thought.