“Returning home in the morning with Takuto.”
“Don’t say it in such a misleading way...”
I retorted to the line Sako said with an expressionless face while shoving her hands into her pockets. Well, it is the truth, but...
After the four of us watched the sunrise at Inokashira Park, Ichikawa saw us off at Kichijoji Station. She and Azuma went in one direction, while Sako and I headed home together in the early morning air—a strange mixture of refreshing and lethargic.
“...By the way, Sako-san?”
“What?”
I asked the question that had been weighing on my mind for the past dozen or so hours.
“...Why did you wear my hoodie today?”
“Ah, you caught me.”
Contrasting her flat expression, Sako playfully stuck out her tongue.
“I mean, of course I’d notice, it’s mine... I just couldn’t call you out on it in front of Ichikawa...”
“Funny.”
Sako said it was funny (apparently) without laughing at all.
I hadn't shown her my casual clothes except during the summer training camp, and since I mostly use this hoodie as sleepwear, no one would have known it was mine unless I said something.
There was a possibility that a certain skill-holder had read the situation, but Sako was wearing it so naturally—literally as if it were her own—that it didn't seem to strike anyone as odd.
Even so, I was quite anxious about it until the discussion heated up.
“Were you planning to return it?”
“I thought about it, but I can't return a hoodie I've been wearing all day, and I don't want to because it's cold.”
“I see...”
Well, I figured she didn't really intend to give it back, so whatever...
While chatting like that, we made a few transfers and eventually boarded a nearly empty train heading toward Ichinatsu Town, sitting side by side.
“Yawn...”
Despite it being a normal train, the seats were surprisingly plush, and a yawn escaped me.
“Takuto, you can sleep. I'll wake you up when we get to Ichinatsu Town Station.”
“No, what about you, Sako? You haven't slept a wink since yesterday, right? Aren't you tired?”
“...Yeah, I'm fine.”
For some reason, Sako averted her eyes, looking slightly awkward.
“...Lately, I don't get very sleepy.”
“Eh, you mean you're not sleeping?”
I couldn't help but frown.
“It's not that I don't sleep, but... even when I get into bed, I feel a bit restless and can't fall asleep. Then I start thinking, ‘I can't sleep, I can't sleep,’ which makes me even more wide awake. I end up overthinking, and once I'm completely exhausted from thinking, I eventually drift off for a little bit.”
“Seriously...?”
I’ve had that experience a few times myself. Like when I'm too excited, or when idle thoughts fill the room and won't let me rest.
But...
“Since when has ‘lately’ been?”
“Since about the week before last.”
I knew it.
If it was just once in a while, it wouldn't be a huge deal, but if it’s been going on for two weeks, it’s bound to affect her health.
“Is it because you're worried about Erina-san...?”
“...Probably. Honestly, I can't think of anything else.”
“Right...”
I thought that by gifting a song to Erina-san, even if it was too optimistic to expect things to go ‘back to normal,’ we could at least find a compromise for the relationship between the three dance club members so Erina-san wouldn't push herself too hard.
But perhaps I was being too leisurely about it.
The live show is this Saturday, but the recording won't be until much later.
While providing a source of support for Erina-san by giving her a song is something that needs a preparation period, repairing the relationship between Sako and Erina-san might not be able to wait that long.
I’m worried about Sako’s health, and something negative is probably building up on Erina-san’s side as well.
“Hey, don't you think it's better to resolve this before the live show? Like, talking to Erina-san...”
“...But Erina doesn't want to talk.”
“That's not...”
I stopped mid-sentence. I didn't feel I had the right to irresponsibly say, ‘That’s not true.’
“But...”
I hesitated, wondering what I should convey to her.
“But I’m simply worried about your health, Sako. ...Especially with the band's live show coming up soon.”
At my words, which were full of defensive qualifiers, the corners of Sako's mouth lifted by a fraction of a millimeter.
“...The other day, you said you didn't want to make me say ‘it can't be helped,’ right, Takuto?”
“Oh, yeah...”
That was probably when I walked her home after we had curry at my place.
“But the new song we made today... ‘Song of Tomorrow’ also had the phrase ‘it can't be helped’ in it.”
I quietly recalled the lyrics of 'Song of Tomorrow.'
* * *
I want to be with you the most
It can't be helped, right? Because I'm close to what's precious
* * *
“That's true...”
Those lyrics were surely a play on a passage from 'My Song.'
“Maybe there are that kind of ‘it can't be helped’ moments too.”
“Hmm...?”
While I was trying to figure out what she meant,
“Really, there are so many things that can't be helped, Takuto.”
She said the same thing she did that day.
“Alright. I'll talk to Erina tomorrow after club activities. Even if she tries to run away, I'll chase her persistently. ...Even if she tells me to go home, I'll wait for her at the main gate even if I'm not invited.”
“...I see.”
I didn't quite understand the overly specific situational description, but there must be something that only Sako and Erina-san understand.
“Hey, Takuto. ...Do you think it will go well?”
Sako looked into my eyes as if pleading, as if clinging to me.
I knew the word I should say was probably ‘It’ll be fine.’
Even so, even now, I couldn't say anything irresponsible, so I dodged the question.
“Well, I wonder...”
“Takuto...”
Then, to Sako, who narrowed her eyes in disappointment, I promised only what I could take responsibility for.
“No matter what happens between you two, I’ll stay the same as I’ve always been with both you and Erina-san.”
“...Haha.”
Sako let out a small laugh.
“...Promise me. With both of us, okay?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded.
“Don't leave Erina... all alone.”
“...Yeah.”
I nodded again, deeper than before.
“...Good.”
Though she remained almost expressionless, I felt like her upturned eyebrows softened downward by a fraction of a millimeter.
“Now, I’m going to listen to today’s demo, so you sleep, Takuto. Don’t talk to me.”
“Why are you suddenly so salty...?”
Ignoring my retort, Sako put in her earphones and, for some reason, pulled her hoodie's hood deep over her eyes.
I could no longer see her expression.
First a Pikachu mask, and now a hoodie...?
I smiled faintly and shifted my gaze out the window.
The rhythmic swaying of the train soon brought on a wave of sleepiness.
The sound of the doors closing with a hiss reached me.
I snapped my eyes open.
“Whoa...”
The train was just now departing Ichinatsu Town Station.
Crap, I have to get off at the next station and head back...
I was about to look at Sako to ask why she didn't wake me up, when I felt a weight leaning against my right shoulder.
...The source of the weight was a blonde head wrapped in a hood.
“Hey, Sako.”
“Zzz...”
When I called out to her, she stirred slightly but continued to breathe in a comfortable sleep.
“Sigh...”
I quietly took out my smartphone and checked how long it would take to reach the final station.
I doubled that time in my head to calculate how long Sako could continue her peaceful sleep.