Chapter 117 – The Sun and the Comet

 

As the day of the exam was getting closer, the atmosphere between the third years was getting more tense.

 

I wasn’t feeling different from any of them. On the train, I would try to increase my English vocabulary and whenever I got home, I would try to solve the past exams’ questions. My mock exam’s results were good enough, but I had no intention to let that go over my head.

 

By this time, we’ve changed into our winter uniform because the cold season is approaching. Spring, summer, autumn and winter, the season changed as such this year and next year, we would experience the same thing all over again.

 

They held the cultural festival again this year, but I wasn’t involved in it. Me and the rest of the third year students had to focus on studying, after all. Though, some of them lent a hand when they weren’t busy. They held another fashion festival this year and like last year, they invited me to participate. I declined their invitation. There was no point to participate as he wouldn’t be there to see me.

 

On the day of the festival, I slowly walked through the school grounds while taking a look at the various events. This would be my last time to attend an event this big as a high school student.

 

Last year, I spent the festival with Sui. I still didn’t remember him, but I remembered that last year I wasn’t alone like today.

 

“Arina-chan.”

 

I turned around at that familiar voice.

 

There was a woman, standing in the corridor where the visitors were passing by.

 

“Akakusa-sensei…”

 

She was Akakusa-sensei, dressed in casual clothes.

 

Sensei seemed to be happy to see me but, gradually, her expression turned gloomy.

 

“What’s wrong, Arina-chan? Where’s Sui-kun?”

“Sensei… Sui is… Sui is…”

 

Then, I started to cry. The tears I had been holding back were flushed out like a river as I buried my face into Sensei’s chest.

 

*   *   *.

 

We sat down on a bench in the courtyard as we watched the various stalls and the people passing by.

 

We didn’t speak the entire time as Sensei was waiting for me to calm down without asking anything. I rubbed my eyes, before taking a deep breath.

 

“Sui is currently in the hospital… He is in a coma right now…”

“How did that?…”

“High blood pressure… They said that his heart and breathing stopped for a while. They managed to avoid the worst case scenario but, due to his brain failing to receive enough oxygen during that period, it received severe damage… Right now, he’s still unconscious… This has been going on since the summer vacation…”

“Hypoxic encephalopathy… Lack of oxygen… I understand that, but how did he get high blood pressure in the first place?”

“…Too much salt intake. This is the aftereffect of him drinking too much tomato juice…”

“What? I know he loves tomatoes, but did he really drink that much?”

“He drank several cans a day, Sensei… Too much is an understatement…”

 

She leaned back as she looked up at the sky. Then, she closed her eyes and fell silent.

 

“…Have you remembered about Sui-kun?”
“You know about my memory loss?”
“Sui-kun told me about it. Before the spring break, didn’t I talk with you two in the infirmary? When I told you two about my transfer?”

“Yeah, we did.”

“After you left the room back then, he told me about it… I was so surprised when I heard it… By the looks of it, it seems that you haven’t remembered about him.”

 

She had a pained look on her face as she said that.

 

“Sensei?”

“I remember the conversation I had with him back then…”

 

I wanted to ask what kind of conversation they had, but I couldn’t.

 

“So, how’s your school life? Have you learned how to treat other people better?”

“Yes. My school life has been fun lately. Too bad, I have to focus on studying nowadays though…”

“Is that so? That’s great. I’ve been worrying about you two ever since I transferred away. I wanted to visit you two during the sports festival, but I was too busy to come. I guess my only worry right now is your sleeping prince, huh?”

“M-My sleeping prince?”

“Hehe, I’m jealous of you. If only I met my prince back when I was in high school.”

“How about your co-workers at your new school, Sensei? Are the men there not good enough for you?”

“Children shouldn’t pry into adult’s matter, Arina-chan.”

“I turned eighteen this summer, though…”

“You’re ten years younger than me, you’re pretty much a child to me. Jeez, thinking about my age is making me feel depressed…”

 

She said that in an exasperated voice. Even though she looked young enough, it seemed like she was having a hard time with the reality of her getting older as time passed by. On the contrary, I wanted to become older as soon as possible. There were so many things that children like me couldn’t do after all and I wanted to finally become free.

 

“Arina-chan.”

 

Sensei turned to me. Her voice sounded serious.

 

“You don’t need to worry, Sui-kun will wake up one day.”

“I know, I believe in him.”

“You two remind me of the sun and the comet.”

“Huh?”

“Hiwa Arina, Hi (日/sun) from Hiwa (日羽) and Sakaki Sui, Sui (彗) from Suisei (彗星/comet). Comets would usually approach the sun, then it will go away after it gets close enough but, later on, it will definitely go back to the same sun to approach it once again. The process takes a really long time though.”

“That’s a romantic way of putting it… I never thought about it that way before…”

“Of course, you didn’t. You know, Arina-chan, I love romance stories. I love to fantasize about this kind of thing… Now, I’m feeling really jealous of you, Arina-chan. Can you introduce me to a good man that you know?~”
“Sensei, I’m a high school student…”

“I’m kidding.”

 

She let out a giggle before standing up.

 

“In any case, do your best for your entrance exam, Arina-chan. I know you’re going through a lot, but you still have to do your best. Remember that Sui-kun is also cheering for you in his dreams.”

“Thank you for your words, Sensei. I hope that you’ll be able to find a prince of your own too…”

“Thank you.”

 

She started to walk away from me.

 

I remembered everything that she had done for me clearly. She listened to me properly when I told her about my condition. She complied with my requests and even gave me a hand whenever I needed to. I remembered every conversation I had with her.

 

I wonder if she ever got curious about my memory loss? Was she worried that I’d forget about her? I wanted to ask her that, but I didn’t have the heart to.

 

After that, I helped my class when my shift came around. When my shift was over, I would sit on the grass outside while enjoying the gentle breeze. With my earphones in my ears, I watched over the people who were passing by listlessly. I had been busy studying for the past few months, a relaxing moment like this was rare. I decided to not think about anything that could stress me out.

 

*   *   *

 

After the festival was over, our usual daily life began. Between the current time and the time for the exam to start, there wouldn’t be any big events anymore.

 

According to the annual school year schedule, the upcoming important events for us would be the center exam, application period for secondary exam, winter break and finally, the graduation ceremony. Lately, the teachers had only been parroting the same words over and over, ‘Focus on the exam’, ‘Your remaining time here is crucial’ and so on.

 

Their words made me realize that I was standing at a crossroad. The weight of my choice here was far heavier than back when I took the high school entrance exam.

 

Taboo words began to circulate among the third years as the air became colder. Winter hadn’t come around yet, but the atmosphere was just as cold as the winter wind.

 

I managed to keep a good performance on the various mock exams with my straight A’s.

 

My teachers kept encouraging me to keep it up or even work harder if I could. Meanwhile, my mom prioritized my well being. She would cheer me on and occasionally gave me warm cocoa. ‘Don’t overwork yourself and get sick, okay?’, she would keep telling me that.

 

November came and everyone had pretty much decided on their career paths.

 

Some of them even found a place they wanted to work in or received a recommendation to attend the university of their choices. Among those guys were Tsuru, not to anyone’s surprise.

 

“You’re amazing.”

“Of course I am. Do you think my first rank streak is a fluke?”

 

She managed to pass the AO exam and was admitted to Keio University’s Faculty of Law. I knew that she was aiming for a prestigious university, but I never imagined that she would be admitted to Keio.

 

The day her acceptance was announced, everyone was congratulating her, so it was hard to talk with her. I had to wait until the next day before I could do it.

 

“It’s nothing much. You can do this much if you take the exam yourself. Why didn’t you take it?”

“My grade is high enough, but everything else is… You know…”

“Ah, I see…”

 

Honestly, I could probably pass the exam questions no problem, but I had a bad track record in my school life. During the first year, I was a problem kid, the other girls hated me and my tongue was problematic, to say the least. During the second year, I was unsociable, though meeting Sui made me better somehow, but it wasn’t enough to drive the problem kid stigma away. On top of that, I wasn’t a part of any clubs. I didn’t join any of the school committees, nor did I win any inter school competition. There were more bad things in my track record compared to the good things.

 

“I didn’t get the chance to tell you this yesterday, but congratulations, Tsuru. I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you! Now, I have so much free time until the time we graduate! I can help you with anything, studying or whatnot, just ask me if you need my help! I’ll be there for you 24/7!”
“I’ll be counting on you then.”

 

When she heard my words, she showed me her smug face as she clapped her hands.

 

Suddenly, a boy approached us.

 

“Woah, it’s the runner up boy, what’s up?”

 

He was Namakura Takazo. I hadn’t seen him since the sports festival.

 

The boy was standing in front of us, his fists were shaking.

 

“Niwatari Tsuru. I… Ugh, damn…”

“What? What are you trying to say? If it isn’t important, can you leave us alone? We’re having our lunches here.”

 

Tsuru gave him a glare. Meanwhile, the boy was gritting his teeth in frustration. What was wrong with him?

 

I turned my gaze to Tsuru and let out a murmur.

 

“Maybe he’s trying to confess to you?”

 

I said that nonchalantly and Tsuru only passed it off as a joke.

 

But after hearing my words, Takazo looked extremely troubled.

 

“Shut up, Hiwa Arina! I didn’t come here with such impure feelings!”

“Then why are you here?”

“I told you to shut up! I’m only here to congratulate Niwatari Tsuru!”

 

Thinking that it would be troublesome if I were to retort to him, I decided to shut my mouth.

 

Takazo then turned to Tsuru and pointed at her.

 

“This is frustrating, but congratulations are in order, Niwatari Tsuru! It’s my loss!”

“I don’t care.”

“And, I like you!”

“Huh?”

 

Tsuru’s face instantly turned ugly.

 

“I say, I like you!”

“But I don’t like you!”

“…Hiwa Arina, come with me!”

 

I thought he was confessing to Tsuru, but why did he call out to me instead? My brain that had been overworked from studying couldn’t comprehend his bizarre actions.

 

Tsuru told me not to go, but I had a feeling that he was going to ask something important, so I followed him despite my confusion.

 

“What was that all about?”
“Forget about that. I actually came for a different reason than that.”
“So, you don’t like Tsuru?”

“…I do, but we aren’t talking about that now. I want to know about Sui. You like him, don’t you? I’ve been waiting for the right moment to ask you about this, I think I’ve waited long enough for you to calm down.”

 

That explained things. But the way he worded everything made me sympathize a little with Tsuru’s hostility toward him.

 

I explained to him about Sui’s condition.

 

“Thank you for telling me. That cleared my confusion. I’ve heard the rumors about him here and there, but I had no way to confirm it.”

“I see.”

“I’m indebted to Sui. The sports festival was the best time of my life. Thanks to him, I was able to enjoy running for the first time in my life.”

“You were riding a bike, though.”

“I wasn’t only talking about the relay itself. I enjoyed our time practicing together thoroughly too. Thank you for everything.”

 

He seemed satisfied after saying all that. After that, he walked away.

 

As soon as I returned to my seat, Tsuru, in her agitation, called out to me.

 

“What’s with that guy? Did he harass you?”

“He didn’t, don’t worry. Be kind to him, he likes you so much, after all.”

“NO! A freak who’s only thinking about studying like him isn’t my type!”

“Poor guy.”