Track 2: A Night Of The Night Owls
Several minutes later.
“Hah, hah, hah…”
I was still pushing my motorcycle along.
“Hah, hah…phew…”
Despite all the careful maintenance, my bike refused to start thanks to an unexpected engine problem. No matter how many times I pumped the kickstarter, it was as dead as a doornail.
Even though I can handle my own maintenance, there are, of course, limits: little faults that an amateur just wouldn’t notice. Whether it’s flowers or bikes, I think there’s a line where it stops being doable and goes into professional territory.
For today, there’s no helping it, so I’ll just have to push it home. I’ll head over to the local Kusakabe Motors tomorrow morning and—
“......, ......”
As I put together a plan in my head, I walked through the bustling Friday night, the streets alive with excitement for the weekend.
It’s legal to have a bike on the sidewalk if you’re pushing it, but since mine’s a big one, I stuck close to the edge and moved slowly so I wouldn’t get in anyone’s way.
“Hah… hah…, I’ll… take a… break…”
But just as I was about to reach HAMA House, I finally ran out of energy. My arms and legs were shaking from muscle fatigue. I had to stop, even just for a little while.
I parked the bike and put down the side stand. Thinking I’d get something sweet to drink, I looked around for a vending machine and—
“Ah…”
“Oh.”
Kiroku was walking towards me, carrying a plastic bag in one hand. He looked at me with wide eyes, and I was no doubt wearing the same expression.
And when our eyes met, I could have sworn Kiroku’s cheeks flushed red for some reason—but it was probably just my imagination, or a misunderstanding… I think.
“How come you’re out this late at night? Shopping?”
“I was… buying, ice cream…”
Kiroku murmured as he lifted the plastic bag.
I see, it’s hot tonight, and tomorrow is a holiday, so he must be enjoying staying up late. And there’s ice cream to go along with it too…mm, this must be what youth is. Must be nice. I wanted to be that kind of student—yeah…on my next day off, I’ll try spending it like that too.
As I nodded to myself in understanding, Kiroku let his eyes wander, looking a bit uneasy. He kept fiddling with the bag’s handle. …I wonder what’s wrong. Did I maybe make things awkward for him?
“Today’s… I…”
“Mhm?”
“I… a routine, just one… for the, first time…”
“Mhm…?”
“Nure… a lot, I… I admire…”
“???”
The nighttime bustle and the passing cars drowned out everything. On top of that, Kiroku’s voice kept getting quieter, so I couldn’t make out what he was saying.
But then again, asking him to repeat it felt awkward. Kiroku had gone silent after that, and it almost seemed like he didn’t want to say anything more. Besides, it was really my fault for not catching what he said in the first place, which made me feel like I’d been incredibly rude to him…
As if the tables had turned, I was the one fidgeting this time, and Kiroku let out a soft sigh.
It felt like I had annoyed him, and suddenly I began to panic inside my head—
“Ah… um… I’m looking forward to next time…”
“???”
“No… it’s nothing… please… forget I, said anything.”
“Got it.”
“Uh… stay, healthy… always…”
For some reason, he took an ice cream out of the bag and offered it to me.
“It kinda feels like we’re saying our last goodbyes.”
“No, I’m… not going, anywhere…”
“I see, that’s a relief…”
It seems Kiroku genuinely wishes for my health. But… why, I wonder? I think it must be related to what he said earlier, but I couldn’t hear it clearly… and if I ask, I might hurt him. That’s the one thing I want to avoid. Still… maybe I should just be honest. Apologize, and humbly ask if he could start from the beginning again, even though it’ll be awkward—
“......”
Maybe because I hadn’t shown any sign of taking the ice cream, Kiroku tried to pull his hand away with a sad look—but I quickly stopped him.
“Thank you. I really appreciate both the ice cream and the support. I’ll give it my all.”
“...Okay…!”
Kiroku’s face relaxed, and he looked so genuinely happy that I found myself even more at a loss for words.
The ice cream I looked at while silently prostrating myself to Kiroku in my mind was the famous Haagen-Dot’s new flavor: Strawberry Choco Mint. And it was the one I’d seen in the commercial, and gotten all excited about with Akuta. Something so extravagant… for someone like me.
And then—
“...!”
The fact that such a sweet treat of happiness had landed right in my hands—
“KYAA! Someone catch him! A purse snatcher!”
Just as that shout rang out from far away—
“Outta the way! Move!”
Someone came running in from the side, and—
“Wha–!”
He crashed into me with the full force of a body slam.
Yeah, just as I thought. In this position, I don’t think I can break the fall. I’m going down. It’s the yajirobe effect I’ve experienced many times before, no doubt about it. But—
“...!”
As I was knocked off balance and sent flying into the air, Kiroku reached out a hand to try and catch me—
“Ah.”
“Woah...!”
Unable to catch me properly, Kiroku and I collided—
“Wha–!?”
Like a line of falling dominoes, Kiroku toppled toward the purse snatcher—
“Kyaa!”
“Wah, ahhh!”
“Oof—”
“Woah!?”
—with the impact of something hitting the ground, and a scream. I heard the startled cries of three people. As I hurriedly lifted my head, I saw Kiroku sprawled on top of the purse snatcher, his eyes darting wildly.
The woman who had been robbed came running over to Kiroku.
“Th-thank you so much!”
“Eh, uh…?”
“You saved me! It was a bag with the shop’s earnings in it~!”
“I-I, uh, no…!”
“Kiroku, that was impressive.”
“N-no… I just…!”
The woman picked up the fallen bag, tears of gratitude welling in her eyes as she looked at Kiroku. A murmuring crowd began to gather, forming a circle around us.
Maybe he couldn’t handle the attention, because Kiroku went pale and quickly stood up. The purse snatcher, meanwhile, was completely out cold. He looked dazed, he must have landed badly.
“R-run…!”
“Run? You’re so modest, Kiroku. Well then…”
I can’t leave my bike here, so please go ahead.
As I was about to say that, Kiroku’s hand blocked me.
“I-I, will… push…!”
No sooner had he said it than Kiroku grabbed the bike and took off like lightning. I scrambled to keep up beside him, watching him closely.
He’s pushing a heavy bike, and yet he’s moving this fast… Is this some kind of adrenaline-fueled strength from embarrassment, or does he just naturally have that much physical potential…?
I couldn’t tell which it was, but one thing was clear: Kiroku was amazing. Good at drawing, strong, calm, and kind-hearted—he’d probably grow up to be someone truly remarkable.
The ice cream had stayed frozen, the store’s earnings were safe, and the woman was overjoyed. My nose stung, though. It seems I’d scraped it a little when I fell, but—
Even then, this is the perfect happy ending to tonight.
Leaving the awe-filled bustling behind us, Kiroku pushed the bike all the way back to the dorm without stopping once, showing me just how insanely strong his endurance was.
“So that’s what happened… I’m glad you weren’t hurt, Kiroku.”
“Mm…hm…”
Tao, who had put a bandage on the tip of my nose, shrugged and smiled.
“I’m a little annoyed that the culprit didn’t get hurt much, though.”
The one who greeted us when we arrived at the dorm was Tao. Well, “greeted” isn’t quite right. He had just come down to the dining room for an energy drink in the middle of his all-night gaming session, and we happened to run into him… would be more accurate.
“Hey, can I have some too? Thanks.”
“Yeah, …”
Tao, Kiroku, and I sat side by side on the sofa, enjoying the ice cream Kiroku had thoughtfully brought.
…I really think tonight was a great night. After such a perfect ending, to be able to eat ice cream like this…it’s almost like we’re just a bunch of close friends hanging out.
Maybe some bad luck will swing back my way…but this Haagen-Dot is just too good-quality, there’s no way it won’t be delicious. At this point, I guess I’ll have to discreetly do air squats and punish my body a bit to keep the balance…
“Hachinoya-san, are you… trembling or something?”
“N-no… don’t worry about it, I’m fine.”
On TV, there was some news about a Tokyo conglomerate acquiring a major overseas company or something like that. Next to the announcer, a corporate logo appeared shaped like five hearts linked together1, and Tao let out an “Ah” when he saw it.
“The heir of this conglomerate is the mayor of Tokyo Ward, Chihiro said.”
“Really?”
“This, flower… this logo… it’s famous, isn’t it?”
“They say it’s a katabami flower. It’s even used in family crests. I think it used to grow in clusters at the park near my place. Looks like clover, but it’s actually a completely different plant.”
“Katabami… we might not have ever handled it at our shop.”
“I think, it’s classified… as a weed…”
“If I remember right, it blooms yellow flowers.”
“Katabami… I wonder what its flower language is.”
“That’s fine, but Hachinoya-san, aren’t you still trembling a bit?”
With such trivial chatter, the night slowly deepened for those of us staying up late.