Kokoro Connect

“But, Yaegas.h.i.+, I think what you did is still a bit too much,” said Fujis.h.i.+ma Maiko, sitting beside Taichi’s head on the bench.

“To help a cat who crawled up a tree and couldn’t come back down by climbing the tree yourself, and to hold the cat in your arms when it was about to fall...and end up falling down on the floor, acting as the cus.h.i.+on for the cat—I would only see these things in a virtual world.”

“But I couldn’t help it.”

Even if it was him, he wouldn’t do this if his desires weren’t unleashed.

“Anyway, it’s great to see you without a scratch. That tree was quite high. If someone were to get hurt during an outdoor learning activity, my reputation as the cla.s.s president will be negatively affected.”

Fujis.h.i.+ma let out a deep sigh of helplessness.

“I’m sorry for giving you trouble.”

“But I now do understand why you would be popular. Although you’re an idiot from whatever perspective I look at, I can’t help being touched when having to see you do this in real time. This doesn’t mean I’m mesmerised by you. Please don’t mistake my words. I’m not such a frivolous woman,” Fujis.h.i.+ma added and let out an icy laugh.

My...Taichi didn’t know how to respond to her.

“Forget it. Oh, it’s Inaba. Wuaghh!”

Inaba, nowhere to be seen until just then, had come back. Taichi also turned his head to look at Inaba, but Fujis.h.i.+ma was blocking his view, so he couldn’t figure out why she had exclaimed.

“Yeah. Although it isn’t much of a deal, I think I shouldn’t be in the way. My instinct as the priest of love is telling me it’s time I leave. Let’s meet in a while, Yaegas.h.i.+.”

“Hey, Fujis.h.i.+ma. What do you mean?”

Having left a line of great implication, Fujis.h.i.+ma left Taichi.

“What the heck?” murmured Taichi.

Inaba looked at Taichi from above.

“Hey, Ina...”

Taichi wanted to call her originally, but then stopped.

Inaba’s face was soaked with sweat, her hair tousled; a few strands of hair stuck on her cheeks, her panting face accentuated her ragged appearance, which was stunning. Perhaps owing to her falling down, her black coat was stuck with dried leaves and wood pieces, and there were scratches on her sleeves.

And the most important thing was that s.h.i.+mmering water droplets slid off from Inaba Himeko’s eyes.

Taichi had never seen Himeko cry.

Taichi had seen her about to cry, but even when they were about to face Nagase’s death, she didn’t cry for everyone and faced it courageously. [1]

Inaba was now sobbing, her eyes red, sniveling.

How worried had he let Inaba become?

Trying his best to lift himself, Taichi apologised to her, “I’m sorry, Inaba! Please don’t cry! I didn’t hurt myself...Wuagh!”

Inaba gave Taichi’s abdomen an elbow blow, a blow like no other.

“Wuaghh. Wuaghh. Wait! You’re overdoing it. That one really hurt me.”

He almost wanted to vomit the curry he had eaten, but managed to withstand it.

“Fu...fu...I almost thought I would die. How did you...”

“Stop letting those around you to worry about you, you idiot!”

Having said that, Inaba let go of the residual energy she had and plopped down on the floor.

She didn’t care whether it would dirty her clothes. She sat on the floor weakly, crying over her s.h.i.+vering and thin shoulders.

How fragile and weak. She looked as if she was about to collapse. Anyone seeing her would surely feel tender affection towards her.

Taichi lightly placed his hand on Inaba’s shoulders. He gently touched her so as to prevent it from irritating her.

Then, Inaba wiped her tears and said softly and lowly, “After the outdoor learning activity ends and we get back to school, I have something to tell you. Let’s meet at the back yard of the east building.”

After the outdoor learning activity had ended, Inaba and the others returned to school by bus.

Owing to her disarrayed look, some came to ask her for what happened, but Inaba brushed them off nicely.

After they were dismissed, Inaba caught Iori, telling her what she planned to do. Iori quietly nodded in response, and wished her good luck.

“Can I really do it?” Inaba asked, but Iori quickly replied, “This is the easiness I have as the advantageous one.” Oh, how haughty she sounded...anyway, Inaba said thank you to her from the depths of her heart.

Inaba could now be proud that she had befriended Nagase Iori. She also told Iori of her pride, though she cried, “Ina-Inaban, this doesn’t sound like you. I-I just feel so embarra.s.sed” and quickly took off. Inaba hoped it wasn’t a result of her desires being unleashed.

As these matters were dealt with, time had pa.s.sed faster than she had expected. Taichi was so honest that he must be still waiting for her. She felt really sorry towards him.

Walking to the backyard of the east building, Inaba walked in the school with her uniform. It felt a bit miraculous.

Inaba turned around the corner and reached their rendezvous point.

Taichi was standing there.

He was standing, with his back facing towards her.

Inaba slightly decelerated her footsteps.

Although she planned to do so, she ended up walking gingerly and timidly like an idiot. She was about to call for him anyway, so why had it become so difficult for her now?

Their distance shortened.

He hadn’t noticed her yet.

Their distance shortened again.

He hadn’t noticed her yet.

Crack!

Inaba carelessly snapped a branch. She could feel her heart skip a beat.

Sensing the sound, Yaegas.h.i.+ Taichi turned his head around.

“Y-Yo, Inaba.”

Having greeted her stiffly, Taichi flew towards Inaba.

Don’t come.

Come, but don’t run.

She was about to approach him, so he hoped Taichi would stand there and wait for her.

These unreasonable requests dashed across Inaba’s mind, but Taichi didn’t care. He just approached her gradually and stopped.

From her rough approximation, their distance was a bit more than one metre.

What an idiot. She sounded as if she was writing a poem.

“Do you have something to tell me?” asked Taichi.

Please wait for a while. I still have some mental preparation to do.

Inaba stared at Taichi, inhaled, and...she couldn’t speak for some reason.

She averted her eyes off of Taichi for a moment.

What the heck? Why?

Why was she scared when she had reached this stage?

Nevertheless, she couldn’t advance if she didn’t speak. If she kept it like this, her feelings would not be conveyed. It was her who hadn’t said anything, yet she was infuriated at others for not understanding her. Her arguments for herself sounded too illogical.

Nevertheless...

If she really were to say it now, the relations.h.i.+p they had now would, because of this, be destroyed. There was no turning back once she said this. She, as well as people around her, may get hurt.

And the most important thing was she might be denied. If this happened, she wouldn’t know if she could stand up again and advance.

This action was risky, and it brought pain with it.

Nevertheless...

She had decided.

She only had to tell him her feelings. Everything would end after that. Even if scared, she had to say it out loud. She had to confess her feelings without constant escaping, hiding, giving up, and getting afraid.

So what should she say now? Strange. Speaking of which, she hadn’t thought of where to begin explaining. How much should she explain? What should she do to let Taichi understand her feelings? Which line should she pick? Which word should she use? What was the reason? What was the excuse? What should she do to convey it successfully? Just, what should she do?

She began to become a mess. She began to feel dizzy, her blood swis.h.i.+ng and swas.h.i.+ng. She didn’t know what was happening to her. Her mind had collapsed. Her theories had lost their meanings. She had to say it out now, but she was at a loss. She had no strength left to think of what to say, nor did she have the confidence to say them.

It was enough. She only had to say one thing. She only had to say the most important thing. Is it only three words? Three words are enough. They are enough to do the job. So let my mouth move...

“I love you.”

Ahah. She said it at last.

Taichi received the heaviest three words in his life. It was only three words, yet the feelings within had the most genuine confession. At the same time, all of the following doubts ran through his mind.

Is this for real? Why? Why did Inaba say this so suddenly now? How about Nagase? Inaba has always thought of letting Nagase and I become a couple! What will other relations.h.i.+ps transform into?

Taichi had thought about it actually.

Although it was only a thought, he told himself it had only been a misunderstanding.

Taichi had always thought it was only his own fabrication.

This was because he couldn’t find a reason for Inaba to love him. It was obvious that Inaba was superior to him.

This didn’t mean he was worse than Nagase or others, but he had always felt Inaba was more like an adult, so Taichi had always believed this wouldn’t happen.

Speaking from some sense, Inaba had also been a person he respected. Although Inaba was not perfect and flawless and had her weak side, which Taichi could understand, he had still taken Inaba as a powerful being who would teach him a lot of things.

What could he give to Inaba who was so powerful?

Taichi had always been so deeply convinced of this.

He was, indeed, a stubborn person who would only think of himself.

Had he truly considered the feelings of others?

Had he only forced his own ideals, wishes, or beliefs of what was right on others?

Taichi looked at Inaba, who was s.h.i.+vering and averting her eyes. She looked nervous and scared at the same time. She was the Inaba who squeezed out the magical three words after a long silence.

Taichi had never realised Inaba loved him so much.

After all, he wouldn’t know if she didn’t tell him—this was one thing, but if he had to tell himself that he didn’t feel a thing before that, he was wrong. He had to be observant of others. He had to do this since he wasn’t living on his own.

This was when Taichi came back to his senses.

In front of him, Inaba, s.h.i.+vering had a red face, her eyes lowered.

Rats. He hadn’t made any response. He shouldn’t have let her wait for him for so long!

The impact was so huge that some part of his thinking processes died.

Taichi was confused. His head was in a panic. Nagase, the matters of their club, and other matters of their cla.s.s rolled through his mind. There were many options in his mind, and he could see the results stretching from these options. All of them were ones that may bring a huge impact to them.

Inaba suddenly lifted her head.

Although her round, teary eyes were s.h.i.+vering, her thin, long eyes caught Taichi directly.

All other things in this world vanished instantly.

Taichi only wanted to accept Inaba’s feelings bluntly, and tell her his.

Taichi commenced, “I...am glad to hear you say you love me, Inaba. I am truly, from the depths of my heart, proud. ”

Taichi stopped for a while and continued, “But now, I still love Nagase.”

He wanted to stay at the smile Nagase had at the moment. , Yaegas.h.i.+ Taichi. After all, two wonderful ladies have fallen in love with you!”

Inaba spit out her tongue, smiling maliciously.

“W-Wait! Hold on a minute! I’ll be troubled! I’ll really be troubled! Tell me. What should I do?”

“Don’t ask me, idiot.”

As Inaba said that, she walked close to Taichi, stopping before she was about to hit him.

She placed her left hand on Taichi’s right shoulder and closing in her face to Taichi’s left ear.

The two of them were so close that they could already feel each other sticking to the other person. Inaba’s warmth spewed from her mouth, embracing Taichi’s ear.

“See for yourself! I’ll make you can’t help but fall deep in love with me!”

Inaba’s voice directly reverberated in his mind as if Inaba was eroding him.

“Also, you’ve done that to me once anyway. It’s the same if you do it another time, isn’t it?”

Inaba grasped Taichi’s chin, pus.h.i.+ng her face towards Taichi’s.

Her beautiful, black hair. Her long, thin eyes. Her slender eyelashes.

Their lips were about to touch each other.

It was very hot and soft.

When these senses had gone into them, they removed their lips immediately.

“This is my first strike. I’ll go to the clubroom next week. Thanks a bunch.”

Inaba showed a smile like fooling someone around and licked her lips.

To be honest, Taichi’s heart had accelerated to such a fast speed he felt he might die.

Leaving Taichi at a loss, Inaba left with her back facing to Taichi.

She left elegantly and at ease, lest he realise her dirty heart would explode at any moment.

However she thought, she couldn’t stop her footsteps from accelerating.

Be that as it may, she still suppressed herself from running before she turned the corner of the building.

The moment she turned the corner, she dashed off.

Dash. Dash. Dash. She dashed with a speed she had never run with.

Or she should say she had run too much today. She was an introvert, so her muscles would sore a lot for a moment, but it didn’t matter.

Inaba escaped to a dim corner in the north building.

Having used a second to check no one was around, she sat down on the floor.

“Ah...How embarra.s.sing...I’m about to die...I really kissed him.”

She cried on the floor alone. Then, she burst into laughter: “Aha. Haha. Ahahahaha!”

Her lips still had Taichi’s touch.

What should she do? Should she wipe it off? Should she lick it? Should she spit?

Her body was so hothothothothot. Her chest was so painfulpainfulpainfulpainfulpainfulpainfulpainfulpainful. She felt she was about to vomit. Was this the feeling of love?

Everything was under the control of her feelings. She couldn’t think rationally anymore; she slowly became an idiot.

Ahah, still...

...it felt surprisingly nice.