Touko-san’s Worry

Fourth period’s lecture came to an end, and I was heading home alongside Ishida as usual. As we were about to pass through the JR ticket gates, Ishida suddenly paused, looking puzzled.

“Wait, isn’t that Kazumi-san?”

Following the direction of Ishida’s gaze, I spotted Kazumi-san walking toward the entrance of the Marunouchi Line.

“You’re right, that’s definitely her.”

“Why is she heading toward the Marunouchi Line?”

It was a perfectly valid question. Kazumi-san’s nearest station from home is Kemigawa Station on the JR Sobu Line. On normal days, she commutes using the local Sobu Line trains just like we do. We’ve bumped into each other on the way multiple times, so there was no mistaking it.

However, a single piece of information flashed across my mind—the story Touko-san had shared with me just a short while ago.

“Kazumi leased an apartment over in Nakano, and her boyfriend has effectively moved in with her.”

(Don’t tell me she’s planning to visit her boyfriend’s place right now?)

My feet came to a sudden halt.

(If Kazumi-san is on her way to see that guy…)

I felt a strong, nagging premonition that letting her go without intervening was a terrible mistake. But in the same breath, I realized there was absolutely nothing I could physically do. Kazumi-san hadn’t uttered a single word to me about this, and Touko-san had explicitly sworn me to secrecy. In the first place, regardless of who she chooses to date, absolutely no one possesses the right to stick their nose into her private business. There wasn’t a single thing I could accomplish here.

“Hey, Yuu. What’s the matter? Why did you suddenly freeze up?” Ishida’s voice snapped me back to reality.

“Ah? Oh, it’s nothing. No big deal.”

I forced my eyes back forward and passed straight through the JR ticket gates.

(It’s not a concrete fact that she’s meeting her boyfriend anyway,) I resolved to convince myself.

Once we boarded our train, Ishida initiated the conversation again.

“Did our club have any errands to buy supplies today?”

“I don’t believe so. Why do you ask?”

“Well, because Kazumi-san was heading toward the Marunouchi Line a second ago. Boarding the Marunouchi Line from here usually means a shopping trip to Ginza, right? If she was going to Shinjuku, taking the JR Chuo Line Rapid would be a hundred times faster.”

“Hmm… I suppose so.”

While keeping up the front, my mind automatically mapped out a different calculation.

(You can ride the Marunouchi Line straight to Nakano without a single transfer. If that’s the case, then as I thought…)

Driven by that growing undercurrent of anxiety, the words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

“Hey Ishida, what’s your actual take on Kazumi-san?”

Ishida looked completely blindsided by the question.

“Kazumi-san? Well, she’s remarkably reliable, for starters. She possesses a wonderfully refreshing, straightforward personality, and she always makes things crystal clear.”

(Exactly. And yet, that very same Kazumi-san allows herself to drag out a submissive relationship with a parasite piece of garbage…)

“Plus, she’s an undeniable beauty,” Ishida continued thoughtfully. “Her figure is spectacular, too. Granted, she can act a bit tomboyish sometimes, but that’s actually a massive chunk of her charm. To be honest, there are times when her subtle gestures give me a sudden spark of excitement.”

(Eh?)

Caught entirely off guard by his sudden confession, I found myself staring blankly, my eyes locked onto Ishida’s face.

“She’s incredibly easy to talk to, and she’s a type of girl I’ve never really encountered in my life before. Honestly, I think Kazumi-san might actually fit my personal preferences a hundred times more than Touko-senpai.”

“Are you serious?! You actually think about Kazumi-san that way? Don’t tell me you harbor feelings for her?” My eyes went wide with shock.

“Well, rather than saying I harbor feelings, it would be more accurate to say she’s constantly on my mind. Lately, I’ve noticed myself unconsciously tracking her with my eyes whenever she’s around.” Ishida gave his head an embarrassed scratch. This was the absolute first time I had ever heard him utter words like this.

“Wow. I was completely convinced your romantic interest was strictly limited to anime characters, honestly.”

“Yeah, me too. I’m actually a bit surprised by myself.”

“You never dropped a single hint until now, did you? From where I was standing, the dynamic between you two looked precisely like a classic comedy duo trading quips.”

“Talking with her just naturally dissolves into that kind of rhythm, you know? But I suppose that’s exactly why I find her so remarkably easy to talk to and thoroughly entertaining.”

“Have you ever thought about delivering a proper confession to her?”

“Not a chance. I have absolutely no intention of asking her out. I genuinely love the exact relationship I share with Kazumi-san right now—just being casual friends who can talk trash and laugh about stupid things together. I desperately don’t want to inject any heavy, serious drama into that dynamic.” Ishida offered his answer with a perfectly detached, breezy smile.

(That is a completely different world compared to my desperate urge to push my relationship with Touko-san forward. But I suppose that brand of affection is entirely viable too. It fits Ishida’s style down to a tee, come to think of it.)

Even as I calculated that thought, reflecting on the reality of Kazumi-san’s boyfriend left a heavy, suffocating cloud over my chest.

However, we were rapidly approaching a boundary where we could no longer afford to just sit back and watch.

The next day, the club gathered for a formal meeting, and I came face-to-face with Kazumi-san. The absolute first person to notice the anomaly was Mina-san, a third-year Economic major who shared the same department as Kazumi-san.

“Wait, Kazumi. What on earth happened to the side of your eye?”

Manami-san immediately pressed the attack right behind her.

“She’s right. It looks distinctly discolored. Is that a literal bruise?”

Hearing those words, my focus locked onto her face instantly. Sure enough, despite her desperate attempt to mask it with a heavy layer of foundation, a dark, bluish-black discoloration was visible right beside her left eye.

Kazumi-san quickly mirrored the gesture, placing a hand over the side of her left eye as she laughed it off.

“Ah, this? I had a clumsy moment yesterday and slammed right into the door at my place, you see. It ended up swelling into a nasty bruise. I thought it looked terribly uncool, so I tried to camouflage it with foundation, but I guess it’s still completely transparent if you look at it up close, huh?~”

She kept her front perfectly cheerful, flashing a bright smile. But could a mere accidental collision with a door genuinely inflict a dark bruise like that? In the first place, navigating a doorway doesn’t usually lead to impacting the exact quadrant beside your eye.

And above all else…

Touko-san was standing right beside her, her features twisted into a deeply worried expression as she stared intently at Kazumi-san.

(I desperately hope I’m spinning wild tall tales here, but… could that bruise have been explicitly inflicted by her boyfriend?…)

Sensing my intense gaze boring into her, Kazumi-san directed her laughter straight toward my quadrant.

“Man, I really am an absolute klutz sometimes, aren’t I? Ruining my world-class beauty over a silly blunder. You entirely agree, don’t you, Isshiki-kun?!”

“Ah… yes, indeed.”

Struck blank by the unfolding disaster, offering that empty agreement was the absolute best I could manage.