Chapter 3

It took me more than a month to find out that Niou had broken up with his girlfriend, even later than Sanada Genichiro, who never cared about such news. So much so that when I secretly went to Yagyu to ask, I was criticized for being too slow. Let me clarify, I'm definitely not a slow person; I can judge a stranger's emotions through subtle gestures. The reason this happened was simply because I hadn't had much chance to run into Niou since the holidays started.

It's because he doesn't like ramen.

Yesterday afternoon, after the competition ended and I returned to school, the coach held a brief meeting, leaving a few of the senior students behind. I left the department office with my bag, ready to go home. I was in a good mood because I had won the competition, and I was even considering whether to take a detour to the bookstore to buy this month's mystery magazine and take a look at the newcomer award-winning work that made Yagyu Hiroshi so angry.

During the summer vacation, I usually leave school around this time and run into Sanada and Yukimura, and occasionally Yanagi. I've hardly ever seen anyone practice for longer than them. But surprisingly, I ran into Niou at the school gate. As usual, he was walking slowly about ten meters ahead of me with his back bent, so I quickened my pace and patted him on the shoulder.

"Why are you alone so late?" I asked.

"It's my turn to be on duty today." Renwang turned around. He looked like someone who hadn't seen the sun in ages, but in the sunset he looked like a blank sheet of paper. That is to say, his color and shape were like a blank sheet of paper. Last semester, he grew three centimeters taller during the physical test, but his weight was still that astonishing sixty-something kilograms. Looking at him now, I wondered if he was even close to sixty-two kilograms.

"Hmm..." I hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to follow my curiosity and ask directly, "What happened to you?"

"Puri," he said, squinting at me with a half-smile, then letting out a long sigh, straightening up, and looking up at the sky, "Okada, do you know the word 'bitter summer'?"

"The symptoms are loss of appetite and gradual weight loss due to rising temperatures," he was probably trying to change the subject, but I played along and answered him first, "It's been quite hot lately."

"Every year I wonder why summer is so long," he said, leaning against the railing next to the bus stop, his back to the setting sun. "Why does the sunshine last so long, and why does evening come so late?"

Those who know Niou know that he is the kind of magical creature who is afraid of nothing but heat and sun. I used to doubt whether he was lying when he said he was born in the south.

I tried to use the Wikipedia-style explanation I just gave to explain the knowledge about the Tropic of Cancer, hoping to salvage the conversation that seemed to be heading in a less optimistic direction. However, joking around is not my forte. My curiosity and mystery-solving instincts made me start recalling all the details related to Nioh as if I were solving a case. I wanted to deduce the reason for his abnormal state.

But he lowered his head, remained silent for half a minute, and then directly revealed the answer to me: "I broke up with my boyfriend."

I let out a silent "Ah," and silently thought to myself, "No wonder it turned out this way." Then I patted his shoulder again and said, "It will pass."

"I know," Niou said, as if talking to himself, "it's just hard to understand."

I called Yagyu that evening. He must have sensed that my tone was more driven by curiosity than concern for my friend, so he didn't say much. But I guessed he probably didn't know much either. Finally, he cleared his throat and said to me, "If you're so curious now, you should have gone to Kamakura that night."

The most lively event in Kanagawa Prefecture during the summer is the Kamakura Fireworks Festival in early July. Although it's not a large-scale event, it always attracts many young people because it's located by the sea. However, I'm practically a local, and Fujisawa is very close to Kamakura, just a short train ride away. So, fireworks aren't anything special to me, and they don't feel like a ritual or anything romantic.

Before the holiday, someone in class asked if anyone wanted to go together. A few people probably said yes. I turned around and knocked on Yagyu's desk behind me, asking if he was interested. I also asked Sanada, who sat next to me, but he shook his head decisively. Yagyu replied that he might bring his sister, but he had also made plans with Niou, and his senior would be coming too.

This senior is the one who broke up with Niou the day before the fireworks festival. Yagyu and I witnessed almost the entire process of Niou and her getting to know each other and falling in love. Niou Masaharu does seem a bit unpredictable, but he is actually a reliable and serious person. After all, he is the kind of person who has the patience to work out a problem using four blackboards. Plus, with his good looks, it's not surprising that a senior likes him.

But I know very little about what happened after they started dating. The whispers among the boys in high school were far more numerous than I imagined. I admit I'm a bit overly curious, but I also know that some things are better left unsaid. Perhaps for Niou, that period wasn't even a particularly special story; like many high school students his age, he met someone interesting and took that step. Back then, just like today, Niou leaned against the railing by the bus stop and told me and Yagyu that this was the first time he'd ever liked someone. I only believed him seven-tenths; the remaining three-tenths were still uncertain. Later, they got together, and I naturally believed one more point based on the facts.

It might be a bit inappropriate to say, but I only truly believed it when they broke up.

I didn't realize at all that my happiness for Niou when he said "I like her" was real, and that my loneliness when he said "I broke up" was also real.

I think I underestimated the concept of "liking".

The air conditioner in the room was still not working, but Dad said the store had just replaced the freezer and told me to hang in there a little longer.

After taking a cold shower, I lay on the balcony enjoying the sea breeze. Listening to what Liu Sheng said, it made me seem like I was someone who didn't care about my friends and only knew how to gossip. With a slightly protesting tone, I replied, "People who have just broken up need comfort. Can you please stop misinterpreting my good intentions so maliciously?"

"Never mind then," Yagyu chuckled on the other end of the phone, "but my point is that you should go to the fireworks festival this year."

"You know, if Master calls urgently, I'll go even if it means going through fire and water, right?" As I replied as if it were a joke, I didn't know what the key point Liu Sheng was talking about was. Besides, he sometimes spoke in a way that was ambiguous or completely cryptic. If I took every word to heart, it would only cause me trouble.

"Yes, whatever you say is right." He even turned around and brushed me off.

I scoffed and was about to say something more when Liu Sheng spoke up again, "It'll be fine after summer."

"But every summer is so long." I used Niou's words.

"Because..." Yagyu hesitated, then changed the subject, "Did you see the poster? 'Witness for the Prosecution' is being re-released in theaters next week."

"You saw it? Are you inviting me to a movie?" I started the conversation.

"As long as you watch it with me, that's fine." He said goodnight to me and then hung up the phone.

Back in my room, I lay down on the tatami mat, my hands behind my head, staring at a barely noticeable hole in the ceiling that hadn't been patched. Actually, I was still bothered by that unanswered "because," so I frowned and sat up. No, I was really bothered by it. He seemed to have deliberately revealed only half the riddle, not telling me the question yet. He must be messing with me. Who was this blind fool who insisted on giving Yagyu Hiroshi the title of a gentleman? That person couldn't possibly be his friend. I bet my Japanese language grades for next semester on that.

He chooses to say what is necessary and simply doesn't say what is unnecessary. Talking to Yagyu is never an easy thing, and I can hardly resist the urge to know what he is trying to say.

Yagyu considered his earlier use of "because" a mistake. He placed the phone back on the table, glanced at the box wrapped in washi paper beside him, shook his head twice, then looked at it again before opening a drawer and gently placing the phone inside. If it had any real value, he probably would have said something like, after "you should go," "If you come, I can give it to you and tell you something."

As a result, he was kept on the beach all night by Niou, who rarely showed his frustration. Fortunately, he had met Aunt Yukimura earlier, who helped take care of his sister and eventually took her home. The two big boys sat on the beach. The fireworks show had long ended. Niou spoke intermittently and mostly watched the sea in silence. Yagyu fell asleep twice during the show, and when he opened his eyes again, the sun had already risen.

"Nature is truly ruthless." Niou shielded his eyes from the light with his hand, his arm covered in a row of mosquito bites.

"Yes." Liu Sheng stretched, and the box fell out of his shirt pocket.

He remembered that neither he nor Niou had seen the person who was supposed to come yesterday. However, Niou had been notified the day before, while he had been notified on the spot. They had originally agreed to meet at the tram station, and he received an email on his phone five minutes before the agreed time.

Emergency! I'm on the bus before yours. My master needs to see me. Have fun, and please say hello to my sister, my senior, and me for me.

The hand holding his sister stiffened slightly. Niou, standing beside him, glanced at him, put his hands in his pockets, looked to the side, and chuckled, seemingly unsurprised.

Just like how Yagyu had just sat down on the bed and then saw a new email on his phone, he thought that if he didn't know this, he would never have had this "not surprised at all" reaction.

I lost. What else are you going to say?

What I meant to say is that I really can't handle a high school student who's heartbroken by myself.

Yagyu and Niou learned a lot about the skill of speaking logically but not entirely truthfully.

Then you should send Niou to the Sanada family. I think Genichiro's iron fist and love can save him.

You're right, that's what I should do.

You should all go and be "saved" together, Yagyu thought to himself.

When I put my phone down again, I felt a little better. To some extent, I'm just a naive kid who needs a result for everything. Niou must have done a lot of things I'd never seen before and said a lot of things I'd never heard before. Looking at it this way, I really should have gone. Having missed those shining moments, I don't know when I'll catch him off guard again.

I rolled over, and the tatami mat warmed up from my body heat. I rolled around a couple of times and sat by the window. I agree, it's really hot in the summer.