When I arrived at Ichika-cho Station, Sako—my blonde childhood friend—was leaning against a pillar just outside the ticket gate, hands shoved into her blazer pockets.
Sako really makes that kind of look work...
As I approached, Sako noticed me and raised a hand.
“Yo, Takuto.”
She’s been using that greeting a lot lately, Sakohasu.
“Hey. What’s up? Are you waiting for someone?”
“Hah. Obviously I was waiting for you, Takuto.”
“I see...”
Then shouldn't we have just gone home together?
By the way, that initial 'Hah' was the version where the end of the word doesn't go up like 'Huh?'. Sakossh is as flat as ever, huh? ...I mean her accent.
“Wanna go to Mac?”
This wasn't a declaration that 'I don't go to Mac,' but an invitation.
“My sister is making dinner, so I can't really eat anything. Is that okay?”
“You can just drink a shake. Why are you even asking? You always go along so easily when anyone else invites you.”
“Could you not make me sound so loose?”
“It's not like I think you're some common existence like a 'Pawn' in Shogi.”
“That's a foot soldier...”
What is with that classic (?) joke?
“You're not exactly a King either... maybe more like a Rook or a Bishop.”
“Eh, that's a pretty high evaluation...”
“You used to be the 'Osho' King. Now there's a theory you're the 'Gyokusho' King.”
“Yeah, enough with the Shogi.”
Wait, is Sako-san being unusually talkative today?
We moved to the McDonald's in front of the station (yes, there's even a Mac in front of Ichika-cho Station!), and both Sako and I ended up ordering coffee and sitting down.
“Erina was really angry.”
“Eh, why?”
“She said, 'Why didn't such a good song pass?'”
“Ah...”
I looked down so Sako wouldn't see and smiled slightly.
Since that song started out as something I made for Erina-san, just hearing her say that makes me feel somewhat saved.
“And she said she was really sorry.”
“Sorry...? Why that too?”
“She said, 'I should have told more people about it, but I thought this song would be fine on its own.' ...Well, Erina acts like an influencer, after all.”
A light smile escaped me. 'Acts like,' she says.
“But I'm happy she thought 'this song would be fine.' Though I'm pretty doubtful if Erina-san's followers would even like amane. They seem more like... they'd like K-POP or something.”
“True.”
Sako took a sip of her coffee and, without turning her face toward me, asked,
“...So, what did that woman say?”
She asked as if it were a casual thing.
“That woman... Ichikawa said, 'I guess I was getting ahead of myself before I knew it, I was being conceited.'”
“I see. ...Conceited.”
Sako whispered the word to herself, as if quietly ruminating on it.
“She's always been getting ahead of herself, though. Probably since the moment she was born.”
“Hey...”
“But I see. Conceited, huh. ...Anything else?”
“No, not really. She just said we have to do our best for the December Lock-on.”
“I see. Well, that's fine then.”
She gave a small 'hmph' and put her lips to her coffee again.
“Did you wait for me because you wanted to hear that?”
“Not really. Don't say it like I'm worried about a woman like her.”
Her sentence structure was getting a bit messy.
“It's just, you know. You and I are somewhat used to this kind of thing from the brass band competitions. I was wondering... if Ichikawa-san might feel like she's been rejected.”
“Ah...”
It seems Sako was worried that Ichikawa might end up like she did when she first became unable to sing. No matter what she says, she really does care about Ichikawa.
“Well, she's definitely depressed, but I don't think she goes so far as to feel rejected. I don't know the truth for sure, though.”
“I see.”
Sako let out a self-deprecating sigh.
“Even if I say I'm used to losing, it's not like I didn't feel anything. During the competitions and this time too.”
“...Yeah.”
Because of her expressionless face, Sako used to be blamed by those around her, saying things like, 'Hasu-san, don't you feel anything?' If you ask me, Sako was the one playing perfectly without mistakes, while the ones blaming her were the ones making mistakes, so I didn't get what they were on about.
It was probably like the talk Azuma had during summer vacation about 'the group that does music for the sake of the club versus the group that does the club for the sake of music.'
“It might be unavoidable... but I can't say 'it's unavoidable' this time.”
'It's unavoidable.'
That was a phrase Sako had been conscious of once before.
Back when things were awkward between the three of them because Erina-san confessed to Hazama, Sako muttered 'it's unavoidable' as if giving up on everything. I told her, 'I don't really want to let Sako say "it's unavoidable" too much.'
However, Sako had repaired the relationship by telling Erina, 'It's unavoidable that I love Erina, too.'
The reason why Sako can't say it's unavoidable this time.
It must be.
“Hey, Takuto.”
Sako looks straight at me.
'Please. About Erina... I can't do it alone anymore...'
She has the same face she had that dawn when I made her 'Omamori.'
Whenever she looks at me with that face and asks for something, it's always for someone other than herself.
“...I'll try talking to Azuma tomorrow.”
“Yeah, thank you.”
It seems my anticipation was correct, as Sako raised the corners of her mouth by a fraction of a millimeter.
“That part of you, Takuto... I can't quit it.”
“...Am I something you 'quit' or something?”
“It's fine that you went out of your way to make time for just the two of us, but what's with telling me the whole story behind it?”
The next day, during lunch break.
Azuma, who had come to the studio, smiled and raised an eyebrow in exasperation.