The Case of Takafumi Yokozawa Vol. 2

Short story 1

Hiyo had been making quite a fuss since some time before in front of the television, watching the video streaming across the screen which showed the earlier Field Day festivities as recorded with a hand-held video camera that Kirishima had borrowed.

“Ah, look look!! There you are, Oniichan!”

“Yeah yeah, I see…” Yokozawa grimaced, glancing off to the side to catch sight of himself on screen, standing at the start line. Looking at himself like this, it was easy to see he was a good decade younger than most of the other fathers who’d been standing beside him—a fact made all the more embarrassing by how uncharacteristically fired up he’d been at the time.

“Oniichan~! Do your best~!!”

“What do you mean do your best? You know how it turns out!”

“Oh come on, It doesn’t hurt to cheer you on! Ah—are you blushing, Oniichan??”

“No.” Of course he wasn’t; it was only that he couldn’t stand this. The reason Yokozawa had participated in the parent-guardian obstacle race in the first place had been because Kirishima had been saddled with some work he couldn’t get out of at the last minute. While Hiyori hadn’t protested one bit even after her father had informed her he couldn’t take part in her school’s Field Day activities, she’d been overjoyed to learn that Yokozawa would go in his stead.

Once he’d offered to participate, though, Yokozawa had vowed that he wouldn’t embarrass himself, and so, well out of sight of Kirishima or Hiyori, Yokozawa had been running laps every morning and doing a bit of muscle training to prep for this day.

In the end, Kirishima had finished lunching with his author in time to make the afternoon program, but he could hardly run dressed as he was in a suit and dress shoes, so Yokozawa still had to take part.

At the sound of the pistol, Yokozawa had taken off at a dash, clearing the obstacles one by one, easily becoming the first to reach a small table where several cards lay face down. Without hesitating, he picked up the card nearest his feet—and reflexively glanced in a certain direction. Immediately afterward, though, he recovered his senses and shifted in place to face the opposite direction, taking off running again.

“Kyaa!! Oniichan, you’re so cool!”

Yokozawa was now off and running towards where Hiyori was sitting with the other 5th graders. Leaning down, he lifted up Hiyori from where she sat on the front row and took off again towards where the teachers acting as judges were stationed, running with all his might. After having them stamp his card as proof that he’d cleared the task, he then headed for the goal, leaving the other participants in the dust as he crossed the finish line. Hiyori, whose eyes had gone wide with surprise when Yokozawa had scooped her up, was all grins, thrilled that Yokozawa had managed to nab first place.

“You were amazing Oniichan! But you really gave me a start when you picked me up!”

“I didn’t have much choice in the matter—I had to just grab you and go!”

“Hehe, yup! All my friends were totally jealous, too! They said I was like a princess!”

Just as Yokozawa allowed himself a moment of relief at his image disappearing from the screen, though, Kirishima cut in with the one question he absolutely didn’t want to entertain right now: “That reminds me—what was written on that card anyways?”

“…That’s a secret.”

“What? What’s it matter—tell me! Hey—Hiyo, what did it say?”

“Can’t tell you, Papa! It’s mine and Oniichan’s little secret~! And—I’ve got plans with Yuki-chan tomorrow, so I’m off to bed! G’night!”