Exposed

“Ah, the world is peaceful today, isn’t it?”  

“… ”  

“Don’t you think so, Aoi-kun?”  

“…No. There’s no such thing as peace in this world.”  

“I see. Difference in perspective, then. Can’t be helped.”  

“Um, could you move your feet?”  

“Nope. Not moving. After all, this is a punishment game.”  

Having lost a number-guessing game called Tagiron, I was now on all fours, serving as her chair.  

(Tl/n: TAGIRON is a logical deduction game played with Number Tiles and Question Cards. You win if you can guess all of your opponent’s tiles)

“Oh dear, this chair seems a bit off,” she said, and slapped my butt.  

“Ouch!”  

“My, my, such a vulgar sound you made. I don’t like it at all…”  

“… ”  

“Oh, even as a chair, you maintain that defiant attitude. Shall I stick my finger into the hole next to you?”  

“Hey! What if I actually wake up?!”  

“It doesn’t matter. I’m prepared to accept even the awakened you.”  

“… Thanks a lot. Well, to begin with, I’d prefer not to be awakened.” As I said that, her  finger accidentally slipped into the hole a bit.  

“Uhooi!”  

And thus, we spent the last day of summer vacation doing nonsensical things, preparing for school starting tomorrow.  

“By the way, Aoi-kun, have you ever been to Hokkaido?”  

“Nope. How about you, Marin-chan?”  

“Hmm, a few times! Sapporo is quite nice, you know? And Hakodate wasn’t bad either, although the wind is always strong there.”  

“I see. So, you can do quite a bit of sightseeing in Sapporo, huh?”  

“Yeah, sort of. It’s a shame we can’t go together. Oh, I got an idea. Let’s go on a trip to Hokkaido together in winter! It’s pretty fun, you know?”  

“Oh, winter in Hokkaido. It sounds cold but fun.”  

“Exactly! It’ll be like our graduation trip!”  

“Yeah.”  

“I’m looking forward to the school trip too! I wonder if it’s cold in Hokkaido in September?”  

Hokkaido, huh? I wonder what the average temperature in Sapporo is in September. As I fiddled with my phone, it seemed to be around 20 degrees Celsius, more or less. Even though it’s the end of summer, I didn’t expect the temperature to drop this much.

“Seems like it’s around 20 degrees. Depends on the location, though.”

“Hmm, sounds quite comfortable. Hey, even though we’ll have separate free time, let’s try to stick together as much as possible, okay?”

“To the extent that we don’t arouse suspicion. I mean, you even called me Aoi-kun in public the other day.”

“Well, you called me ‘Marin-chan’ too!”

“… … “

“Anyway, let’s agree to stay together without getting caught, okay?”

“Hmm,” Marin-chan pouted clearly dissatisfied.

◇ End of Summer Vacation – First Day of School

“…The end of summer vacation came too soon!” Kiyohito exclaimed, banging on my desk.

“Well, I had a pretty good time,” I replied.

“Geez, this is our last summer vacation! Our final moment of peace!”

“…But we have the school trip, don’t we?”

“Oh, right! I forgot about the school trip! Hahaha!”

He seemed so carefree, almost overly positive…

And just as another ordinary day was about to begin, a boy approached me and said, 

“Hey, is Shiozaki-san’s husband… Yamaguchi?”

“Huh?” Both Kiyohito and I exclaimed simultaneously.

“No, the other day I happened to see Shiozaki-san and Yamaguchi entering a high-rise building near the station.”

“Are you sure you didn’t mistake them for someone else?”

“Nah, they were calling each other by name. Aoi-kun and Marin-chan. I was really surprised. Who would’ve thought Yamaguchi was her husband?” The classroom fell silent, stunned by the revelation.

For Kiyohito, it must have felt like connecting the dots after witnessing the incident with the name calling the other day.

“Are you serious about this?”

“No, I just…”

“You knew how I felt… and you still did that?”

“I, it’s not like that…”

“My bad. I need some space from you for a while.” With that, Kiyohito left the classroom, looking disoriented.

“I, wait…” I tried to stop him, but I was prevented by the classmates who had gathered like spectators.

“What! Yamaguchi is her husband!? Seriously!?”

“How long have they been dating!?”

“They did it!? Are they doing it!?”

“So, Mr. Shiozaki is Mr. Yamaguchi!”

“Hey, what attracted her to Yamaguchi!?”

“Are they going on dates!? Did they have a wedding!?”

“They’re living together!?”

“Could it be they’re not actually dating!?”

There’s always someone asking overly intrusive questions.

And so, I watched as Kiyohito walked away, lost in the crowd.