A Hot Gimmick Afterstory

Chapter 3

"So that will be one 'Kya! Honey Honey Special' parfait?" says the waiter in a neat white uniform.

My friends, Akane and I are occupying a six seater table at a sunny dessert café near Takazono High School. The best thing about being a final year student are the free study periods in the middle of the day. Akane, though, decided to traunt school after finding out this morning her class would be having a relief teacher today. Among our tea and parfaits are the forms we need to submit to our homeroom teachers by tomorrow afternoon: what job goals we have in mind for ourselves, which universities or colleges we want to get into, that sort of thing.

My form is still completely blank, aside from some light smudges where the words have been rubbed out over and over. I didn't realise it until now, but Mom, Akane, school and now Ryoki advise me on everything, from what to have for breakfast to the model of phone to buy when I started senior high school. Gosh, even in deciding on my dessert I went with what my friends picked. It's a parfait piled with rainbow cornflakes, vanilla ice cream, blueberries, chocolate pieces and strawberries, filling up a tall clear glass that reflects the sunlight beautifully. But come to think of it, if I'd been sitting here alone, just perhaps, I would have been happy with an anmitsu.

"Lucky Akane!" my friend Mai says, "No forms or college for you this year", and she pushes her parfait towards my sister. Mai's dessert is topped with vanilla ice cream while Akane's has matcha, and they have to taste at least a little of everything on the table. She smiles and turns to Subaru, sitting opposite her. You wouldn't figure those two out for a couple at first glance. Subaru, a meekly spoken guy who always heads outside with a comfortable jumper and beanie. Akane, in her brand-name coat and spunky, gleaming hair. He looks up from his college intentions form, which he's been staring glumly at until now, pen in hand, but he smiles back at her.

Just then I hear my ringtone playing in my coat pocket. Probably it's Mom, to ask me to pick something up from the grocery store on the way back. I sure regret telling her about my free periods now. I flip open my phone.

"Incoming call: Ryoki Tachibana."

My heart flips. Whether from fear or excitement, I can't tell.

"Hello?" I answer.

I flinch as a roaring sound rushes into my ear from his end of the phone. It's the sound of crowds talking and an announcement for train doors closing.

"Oi! Are you answering me or what!" Ryoki sounds clear over the noise.

"Oh...hi Ryoki!" I say, but really I'm trying to work out his mood, fast. A train means he's probably had a long journey, so he'd be tired. And did he eat? For good measure I'll say he didn't, so he's in a really bad mood.

"First time you hear from me in two weeks, and you sound like that?"

"Er...welcome back, Ryoki!" I say, glancing nervously from window to window.

"Meet me at Ikebukuro station," Ryoki continues. "You've got a free study session, right?"

"You remembered?" I say, feeling a genuine smile growing on my face now.

"Duh!" he replies. "You think I've got a fishbowl for a memory like you?!"

My grip tightens around my phone and I deflate.

"But you erm, never replied when I sent you my schedule-"

"So? Think I'm blind just because I said nothing?" he snaps. "Get over here!"

"About that...I'm out having dessert with some friends-" I begin to explain, fidgeting with the charm hanging off my phone.

"Fine, stay with your friends then! Doesn't matter that you haven't seen me in weeks and those ditzy old faces you can see anytime in class!"

"No, that's not what-"

"Then stop wasting time!" he snaps. "I'm waiting just for you!" And the line drops.

I sigh and hurriedly finish off the rest of my dessert.

"Sorry guys," I say, pulling my purse out and fishing out the cost of my dessert. "I gotta go. Next time!" And I hurry outside.

"Hatsumi." Akane's followed me out of the café, spoon still sticking out of her mouth. "You know, if you let Ryoki do and say whatever he wants, he'll just keep doing it and worse." She looks at me with those bright, sparkling eyes that I can't help but envy.

"Is that...what you do to Subaru?" I say suddenly, looking at the ground and feeling my shoulders droop under the weight of my bag. "That's...going be a problem, if you keep going like that."

She crosses her arms.

"I love Subaru more than any of those dweebs who think I'm some sparkly toy," she says. "But if he has a problem with me, he'd better just say it." I think back to that teddy bear that Akane makes sure is always by her side before she falls asleep. Could that be what Ryoki is like, when I'm not there to see?

Akane's face gives me no hint on what she thinks I should do, and she soon heads back into the café. I hesitate, and then break into a run towards the nearest train station.

Why, when I think of him, do I feel only dread? Sometimes, I used to get this warm, affectionate feeling when he suddenly wasn't mean, for a change, and the hint of a softer, caring side came out in him. Why was that such a big deal? "Ryoki is mean, Ryoki is dominating, Ryoki is terrible," I think for most of the time, "but if there's any chance at all that Ryoki could be kind, then I should believe in that part of him."

I purchase a ticket to Ikebukuro station, and hurry through the barricades, puffing for breath. In a few minutes, I squeeze myself into a crowded train. My phone vibrates with incoming message after message, but it's so packed that it's too hard to pull it out and answer.

As I grip the handholds, I struggle to keep my balance as whole towns whoosh by.