part2 (1/2)

Girls Blue Part 2 (pg 57-104)

Back in grade 10, I really went all out Not inpretty I learned to h the use of Aipuchi, I learned how to put on eyeliner and mascara, I learned how to dye my hair so that the dye would be all even, and I was a bit elated to be honest When I put onoff, and a beautifulI felt really happy about that

I wasn’t the Yoshi+mura Riho with the small, one-lidded eyes anyht was bold and beautiful, and I was satisfied

Looking back on it noent pretty overboard If you look at ht away It’s one of those things that is clear as day to see I was really gaudy I didn’t put on any foundation because I had confidence in es around raph, Misaki comments:

“How disgraceful,”

I agree Showered by the natural light pouring in through the classroom s, the me with the caked on audy

Fortunately, I realized the error of ht makeup Even then, I’m pretty satisfied with my so-so pretty looks

At any rate, back in my caked-makeup days, I stopped by the supere chain store that had stores nationwide, and it had everything frooods to food Misaki and Ayana ith me I don’t even remember anymore what it was that I wanted to buy Every shelf and roere lined with stuff, and it was overfloith goods We were going around the clothes and general goods sections of the store even though we didn’t plan to buy anything fro a bit of noise

Misaki was the first to notice

“Hey, don’t you get this feeling like so us?”

“Huh?”

Misaki asked whether I felt soaze clashed with the gaze of the person atching us

It was a blue unifored lady as an e mole on the side of her nose

“She’s watching to ”

Misaki whispers I lifted my chin in the direction of the security camera that was located on top of a shelf

“No way, don’t those things work? So what, the old lady employees have to do the surveillance?”

“Maybe they get them to trail after those who look especially suspicious?”

I don’t knohy, but Misaki winked at me Ayana’s cheeks puffed up

“That pissesto shoplift?”

“Ayana, you don’t use a word like ‘think’ for so like that”

“Then how’re you supposed to say it?”

“You’re supposed to say that they’re ‘suspicious’ of us”

“Oh right I shouldn’t expected any less froot in japanese wasn’t a fluke, huh?”

While Ayana was being ied lady continued to watch us with shi+fting eyes It wasn’t really obvious She pretended to be organizing the goods on the shelves, and whilearound the boxes of hair dye, she watched us It wasn’t obvious, but it was pretty funny It’s laughable It s

“Our uniforms and Riho are to blame”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“These uniforms They probably think that if we’re students fro to shoplift And not only that, but with your caked-onlike that”

“If they could spot the shoplifters from the face and uniforms alone, then they wouldn’t have to work so hard”

Ayana says with a serious look on her face That was pretty funny Snickering, we decided to play along with the oods on the shelves, and at tied lady folloithout fail There were other girls froht just be that she was given a special assignh schoolers froh When I

When we got to the snack section, I was hungry I was really planning on getting so of potato chips, and I looked aroundhalf her body with a shelf, and she was peering over at us Like a kid watching each custoly watched us I’d reached h, ere already drunk with laughter We were practically rolling with laughter even though it wasn’t that funny Everyday was just fun for us like that Even if it was just so on their ass, or so onto the floor, or the goat that the far around the school grounds, we found it all hilarious It h our asses off The saed lady with the per over at us intently with her body half hidden by the shelves It easily crossed over the minimum limit of e’d consider funny

I covered my face and crouched down It was so funny that I couldn’t even talk Misaki even crouched down besidedown her face She was laughing so hard that she had to put her hand on her leg to keep herself upright

“This is so funny, I’m about to pee myself”

That h even harder We could hardly breathe, and we seriously thought we hter

The one as able to return back to nor the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes, her face returned to a serious one as if she’d never even laughed in the first place, and she pulled out a small camera from the inside of her pocket of her school uniform

“Let’s take a photo to commemorate the day!”

She readies the s around this camera that she’s dubbed “Mr Pocket” It’s not that she loves being in pictures–it’s just that she loves taking them

The scenery, the people, the contents of her lunch, the back figure of a stray dog, the caterpillar hanging off of the branch of a cherry blosso division…she takes photos of anything and everything The only thing she doesn’t take, is pictures of herself Apparently, she doesn’t like the way she appears in photos She even hates being in purikura shots I asked her why nuraphs suck the soul of a person, basically, soht’ve said

At any rate, thanks to Misaki, I’ve got piles and piles of rowth

“I’ the photo”

“All righty”

In front of the chips section, Ayana and I soes off Two ti the photos, thethere in theat us with a puzzled look on her face Misaki turns Mr Pocket in her direction

“Excuse me, but can I take a photo of you?”

The flash goes off

“Thank you very much!”

She waves to the wo The photos that resulted fro of snacks are really colourful Red, yellow, blue, green–the potato chips bags which are lined up on the shelves according to their color, look like they’re just lined up norround of a photo, becoarish, and fun Ayana and I were n in front of a toy castle I still have that photo posted up in my room

“Geez”

Every time Misaki coer

“We’re not THAT immature that we’d shoplift”

“Yeah, and it’s not like we’re that bored”

I add Shoplifting is so that bored, immature brats do We’re not that immature, nor are we that bored

We shorten the skirts of our school uniform, wear loose socks, have a tendency to step on the heel of our loafers, don’t study, hang around the convenience store, and can be pretty noisy, but we don’t shoplift We don’t prostitute ourselves either We hate sht even be worthy of being given an award from the Mothers’ association for the Healthy Developoody children’ aren’t the roles we’re expected to fulfill, apparently

“They always pressure roles onto us that match our outer appearance”

That’s what she said The one who said that was, of course, Misaki I forgot when, but being the goody-goody students that ere, ere for so up the trash that was strewn around the train station

Kei-kun threay the package froot mad at him I would’ve beenaway his yakisoba bread packaging on the ground like that That’s so la, and he even picked up a coke can along with it

“Hey, this is the one I threay yesterday So what? They don’t have anyone cleaning this place up?”

Now that he rounds around the train station are always really dirty My roohly clean it once a ered in an instant I started gathering together the cans rolling on the ground, and brought it over to the trash can

On top of that, I also picked up the waste paper that was beside the trash can Suu-chan did the saoody that ould clean up the whole place, and it’s not like we had that kind of tiation to do so either But, we ended up being praised by some old lady we’d never seen before who had just happened to be passing by She told us how ad like she was going to come over to pat our heads at any moment, so we quickly dispersed And what do you know, that incident ended up being written up in the editorial column of the local paper

The title read “The Heart-Warers Whom I Saw at The Train Station”

It began with: “I saw teenagers picking up the trash around the train station They were silently cleaning it up on their oithout being ordered to by anyone” It continued on: “Those teenagers earing the school uniforh school that is rumoured to be a place ra up trash It touched e based on appearances, but this ers like this can be found anywhere” And ooes on to conclude: “Rather than the students of university preparation oriented high schools that are engrossed in exarades, these studentsfuture, what society needs is not scholastic abilities, but rather, generous hearts”

It was a fine piece of writing But it was also hilarious The lady who submitted the piece, and the newspaper that published this–they’re both worth a laugh We weren’t ‘cleaning up silently’ We just picked up so school uniforh, I don’t think the old lady who submitted this piece would’ve been as touched It’s the saed lady orked at the super half of her body with the shelves As it turns out, the picking up of trash by feers who totally look as if they’d shoplift or prostitute the story Everyone loves stories like that They love kind, tear-jerking, courageous, beautiful stories like that

That’s why you shouldn’t let your guard down That’s what Misaki et sucked in by a beautiful story, you won’t be able to escape from it

For Mutsuki, it’s the role of the player who promises victory to the departed coach, for us, it’s the role of the youth who’ve yet to lose their big-heartedness despite their inability to exceed in their studies, for the students who’re in university prep-oriented schools, it’s the role of the exhausted elite who spends day-in-day out in an exarade on’t be able to escape from these roles I don’t want to be restrained by these roles I don’t want to act the role expected of me I want to expand the role of theto the script to the acting I want to kick to the wayside all those who shove roles onto me and orderin someone else’s story

That’s why, you can’t let your guard down

The cell phone rang Kei-kun lets out a whoop and pu

“hello? Oh, I’ht away”

Suu-chan’s expression clouds up

“Who was that from?”

“A friend That o Fujimoto, thanks for the meal”

He gave a wave to Suu-chan, and after bowing deeply to Kisaragi, Kei-kun left

“Don’t you think Kei-kun’s been spending a lot of ti out lately?”

Misaki co at her

“Yeah…it’s not really that he’s gotten into a habit of it…it’s er, you know?”

“I can’t believe he’d choose his friends over his girlfriend though I think that’s just disgusting, don’t you think so too, Riho?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Well, before you and Takurou-kun broke up, you snapped at hi out with his friends instead of you He probably du on him too much about it”

“Misaki, that’s going a bit far I’et mad if you say anymore”

“Why don’t you? I warned you that if you coonna make a run for it”

“Well yeah, but I wasn’t being annoying I just said what I wanted to say”

“That’s what I ”

“I don’t care if I’ what I really want to say, I’d rather be dumped”

“Huh, but for so your head over your relationshi+p Enough to get a stomach ache from it”

She really is impressive She always knohich buttons to press She’s a genius I don’t knohat use it’ll be for her to have such a skill, but it’s really a God-given gift It probably won’t be of any use to her though

Kisaragi stands up waveringly He let out a deep sigh as he held the bill in his hand Misaki smiled thinly

“Looks like you’re the loser today”

“The five ame”

I comment

“Kisaragi-kun, you’ll have other chances in the future”

Suu-chan coi counts the contents of his wallet, and let out an even deeper sigh

The rain had stopped The rain that had been co had let up, the clouds dispersed, and the light of summer washed the city The air feels nice This is a town rich with green The abundant trees create pockets of shade throughout the town, and it preserves the coolness The cicadas that had co Thewith the light, the cooler the breeze that blows across the city

In our town, the suh the suin, the sky today reminded me already of Fall

“What are you going to do afteryou graduate?”

Suu-chan asked on a whim I don’t knoho shethe stone pavement of shi+roya left are the stone walls covered in moss

A s glides so low that it alh up into the air before disappearing It was as if it was showing off to those who couldn’t fly what they wereout on

“Are you going to go on to university? Or are you going to find a job?”

She stops One black-winged dragonfly has its wings spread on Suu-chan’s shoulder It’s going to be the season for dragonflies soon

“What about you, Suu-chan?”

I repeated the question back to her I know it’s a cowardly , or when I don’t want to answer the question, I use thisit up Misaki shrugs

“I don’t know”

Suu-chan simply shakes her head

“Suu-chan, you could advance to university since you’re smart”

“Yeah…but I don’t think I’d be able to get into a public university, and my parents told me private schools are out because they cost too much money”

Suu-chan’s fao, they made more than one hundred types of screws They even had around twenty employees Now, there are only Suu-chan’s parents and a man named Imai-san left

“They’re not doing too well They said they didn’t kno uess that means university’s out for me”

“Work’s gonna be out too, you know”

Misaki lifted her gaze up to the sky as if tracing the path of the s

“It’s super tough for high schoolers to find full time jobs these days Especially from our school–no company even co to university or technical school are flooding into the jobs that high school graduates used to do There are lots of people who graduated this year who’re just lazing around and doing nothing because they couldn’t find jobs”

After saying all that, Misaki realized she went a bit too far, even for her, so she adds:

“But Suu-chan, you’re the top scorer of our grade I think you’ll be able to find a job somehow”

Misaki said this in a calm manner that was unlike her

“Yeah, but it’s not like I have a drea really that I want to beco hassle to be told stuff like ‘find a job’ If only I could stay a student of Inanohara forever…”

Turning to Suu-chan, I nod in agrees to stay like this forever If only ti by, I wish it could just go in circles Then, we could always be as we are now

Soh, I wish I could leave it all Leave this town for somewhere far beyond, and find a me that’s completely unlike the me that exists now I think that too I wonder if there’s a spell that could grantsuch complete opposite wishes possible to have at the same time?

I glanced over at Misaki’s side profile with her pointed chin

I wonder how it is for Misaki?

I wonder how she plans to live her life with her fragile, weakly body and her tough and stubborn spirit?

“What about you, Kisaragi?”

Misaki turns on her heels, and faced Kisaragi, who had been walking right behind us

“Me?”

“Yes, you Have you ever thought about what you want to do in the future?”

“Sure, I have Lots”

Misaki’s eyes, which were already big, opened up even further My eyes were in the sai had been thinking seriously about his future With us staring at hii’s not a bad looking guy If you had to put him in one coluood catch–a “hot guy” If he just became more conscious of himself and invested more time into the way he looks, that is He always dyes his hair half-heartedly on a whi do with the roots black and the ends brown Not only that, but it’s all frizzy because he doesn’t care for it Even when it co, there’s always some patches of stubble that he misses, and it’s unseemly, really

Misaki and I’ve been talking about how one day, we should hold Kisaragi down and re-dye his hair, foa

So I thought that just as he is in his looks, he would be equally half-hearted about his way of thinking and living And yet here he was…

“Well then, we’d love to hear it”

Misaki folds her arms

“Well, it’s not really that big of a deal that’d warrant telling somebody ‘bout it”

“Okay everyone, gather around!”

I stood beside Kisaragi and whistled Being surrounded by three girls, Kisaragi tries to step backwards Putting a hand on his shoulder, I pull him forward

“Ri-Riho, stop it! If soonna be able to face Mutsuki”

“What are you planning on doing withhome about in the first place Now, spit it out What’ve you been thinking?”

“Well…so it’s like, the future, right? Um, it involves Mutsuki”

“Mutsuki?”

“Right He’s probably–no, for sure going to turn pro, right? When he does that, he’s gonna get loads in his contract, right? Like a million?”

“What does Mutsuki’s contract have to do with you?”

“It does It’s ‘cause we made a promise”

“About what?”

“That if either of us turns pro and got our hands on a lot of money, that ould split it”

“When did you make that promise?”

“Back in elementary school”

That rei and Mutsuki were both in the local Sports Boys’ Scouts Mutsuki was crazy about baseball even back then Kisaragi played soccer I rei showedaround on his shoulder and leg as if it were alive It was almost sunset

For a writing for grade 6, Mutsuki graduated after writing: “My dream is to become a professional baseball player” One year later, I wonder what it was that Kisaragi wrote as being his dream? I don’t remember I don’t even remember what I wrote down in mine

“Mutsuki isn’t one to break his promises, so I think he’ll definitely split that contractthat 500,000 as my funds…”

“Yeah?”

“I’ on an adventure trip What do you think?”

“Huh? What’s that? What do you mean by an ‘adventure trip’?”

“Well, I have lots of stuff planned, but I guess I’ll start off with a ‘Great Journey’”

We looked at each other We didn’t expect an English phrase to come from his mouth

“I’ve heard of that That’s the show that has this doctor who’s also an explorer spending years trekking and cycling fro backwards of the route that huht track?”

Suu-chan cocked her head in an uncertain ers

“Bingo! We shouldn’t have expected any less froantic journey A 50,000 kilometre journey Sounds cool, don’t you think?”

“But, soht? That’d make you a pallid imitation”

“ ‘Pallid imitation’…? Riho, you’re really old school, you know that? No high schooler today would use a terirl”

I griue

“Just drop it, all right? I was asking you a serious question What’s so ‘gigantic’ about that?”

“Well, I’m serious too”

“How old are you anyway? Can’t you be a little more realistic?”

“That ht not be so bad”

Misaki lets out a snap with her fingers It sounds better than when Kisaragi did it

“Thatof mankind I’m in!”

“Misaki, this isn’t a bus You can’t just hop on like that”

“But, I think that sounds nice too You know, like going on a journey…I’d like to go someplace away too”

Suu-chan stretched her hand into the air as if grasping for so

“Geez, you three are just like, totally trying to run away from the reality of the situation How pathetic”

“Whoa, Riho You’re such a realist You really should watch out for that”

“What are you talking about?”

“If you’re too focused on the reality of things, then you’re gonna get crushed With our school being the school that it is, it practically rules out being able to advance to university, and we don’t even knoe’ll be able to find jobs It’s not like we’re particularly stunning in looks either We don’t have any as In other words, we’re stuck on a sinking shi+p If you really face the facts, you’ll get depressed and feel like dying”

Misaki lightly patted the trunk of a cherry blossom tree that was indicated to be around ten years old

“These branches are the perfect size to hang yourself from, Riho”

“Thanks When you hang yourself, I pros for you”

“Hey—listen toabout originally anyway I’ll start froonia It’ll be 50,000 kilometres from there to Tanzania in East Africa 50,000 kms”

“I really wonder if he’s going to get a million bucks?”

Me being the realist that I am, I honed in on the part of the story that was the closest to reality

“It’ll probably be eveninto factor the bribes and stuff that he’s probably gonna get, the total will probably be somewhere around 3 million”

Misaki holds up three fingers Even though she doesn’t admit it, Misaki’s a realist too She knows that we’re not the residents of some la-la dream land

“Sounds great Then I guess I could con a million off of Mutsuki and make one”

“Make a what?”

This ti the questions

“A reverse hareuys and have them wait on me What do you think?”

“That’d be tiring”

Misaki shakes her head in distaste

“Yeah, but if you get pregnant from it, then that really would be the birth of mankind–literally”

Suu-chan pats her stomach with a slap

“Hey, c’ an explorer sounds awesome? Have you ever heard of the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia? Of course you haven’t It’s a, you know 120 kms of pure white Earth stretched out before you”

“How many 10,000 piles would 3 mill make?”

“I would be satisfied with 30 I really could use that today”

“Are you guys listening? It’s pure white! It’s white all along the horizon”

We began walking under the cherry blosso whatever came to our minds The wind blows The ss fly The droplets that drip from the branches disperse with a sparkle

“Ah”

I let out a brief cry Suu-chan noticed it right away too

“It’s a rainbow”

The vivid rainbow is stretched out across the sky And, like an apparition, there’s another faintly outlined rainbow right on top

“It’s a double rainbow”

We saw sohthe beautiful rainbow, nothing changes Our reality is still that we’re stuck on a sinking shi+p Unless this is a dream world, the double rainboon’t be a proh, I feel a bit happy

Maybe I should let Mutsuki know?

That thought came to my mind on a whim

“The rainbow’s appeared Soht happen”

Maybe I should send him a text like that?

“All righty”

Kisaragi joins his feet together and jumps He lands on the puddle that’s a few ets on our skirts It also gets on our legs and arms It’s cold We jumped too There are numerous puddles all around us

Splash!+

Su-chan lets out a shriek while laughing Misaki leans against a cherry blossoaze up at the rainbow

Suet a tan I should exposethe su the beach I don’t care if ins to peel from the sun exposure I don’t even care if I can’t prevent wrinkles because of it As for the future? Well I’ll just throw it to the wayside for now

“Let’s go to the beach”

I thrust out a fist

“Yeah, let’s!”

Suu-chan was the first to react She bumped fists with me

“Well what’s the point in seeing you guys in swim suits?”

Kisaragi slapped my fist with an open hand

“What about you, Misaki?”

Misaki turns around slowly She has a face void of blood like that of a doll’s

“I’ I hate the beach”

And while continuing to gaze at us, she takes a step backwards Behind her is a doard slope with thick grass And at the bottom is a row of roofs of people’s houses It’s a pretty steep hill Misaki’s loafer digs into the sureen Suu-chan gulps

“Misaki, watch out!”

Pushi+ng aside s forward Grabbing her ar down from her hand

“What are you doing? It’s dangerous around here If you slip, you’re gonna fall all the way down”

Misaki clings onto Kisaragi Misaki with her thin body, fits easily in Kisaragi’s arht disappear into thin air She leaned her head against Kisaragi’s shoulder, and closes her eyes For only a brief h After that brief moment, she recovers, and she pushed herself away fro She nods towards the slope with her jaw

“There’s…a dead cat”