Golden Time:Volume1 Chapter5
Status: Incomplete
15% completed (estimated)
Golden Time 1: Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Tada Banri has spotted me.
Being made fun of in a strangely confused moment in time while that long-missed seductive bell was ringing, while gasping in pain, Banri certainly saw me that day. And I saw him too.
The present and the past connecting in the middle of that bridge, Banri and I, our eyes met for only a moment. Mine, or possibly Banri's, maybe both side's mistake in vision, a bad guess, an accidental misunderstanding, a mysterious illusion, a common daydream, what he thought didn't matter. Nothing mattered.
Anyway, the memory of that moment in my past certainly exists. This phenomenon, whatever you might call it, as far as I'm concerned, is real.
Serenely, Kouko said she was trying to collect the objective facts.
"To summarize them, Mitsuo and I are bound by fate. That is to say, it's been proven over and over again."
With a thump, she put a big paper bag from a department store, packed full of stuff, on the table in front of Banri. The table shaking and creaking from the weight, an older gentleman next to them, an espresso in one hand, briefly looked towards them. "Excuse me...", Banri bowing his head in a working class sort of way.
A little before three in the afternoon, walking from campus a short distance to the café--- which had now become outrageously memorable, the shop where they served café-au-lait in bowls. Thinking that perhaps they shouldn't go there a second time, they peeked into other cafes but found them completely full, and they finally settled down here, where they thought they might be able to have a quiet conversation.
"If I can pile up enough objective truth before his eyes, I think even Mitsuo would not be able to avoid his responsibility. ...And you could say, being a little law-school-ish would good right now, eh?"
Holding her bowl in both hands, sipping café-au-lait as if it were soup, Kouko could be seen smiling.
Taking his bowl in both hands like she was, Banri stared at her.
"...I couldn't get out even though I'd had enough of the lecture."
As if asking "What was that?", Kouko raised one of her beautifully cared-for eyebrows and looked back at Banri's eyes.
Between deep red lips, a line of pure white teeth. Smooth cheeks. The skin about her eyes was stretched smoothly. From her slim fingers, neatly manicured, to the line from her hips to her crossed legs, she was perfect in every way. Calmly returning her café-au-lait bowl to it's saucer, she looked out the window, elegantly composed.
Since that "worst day", when they'd escaped their awful situation, four days had passed. Having taken a break, it seemed that Kouko had gotten back on her feet. However.
"Well then, Kaga-san, are you really feeling better now? With how you were feeling Wednesday and all, not attending and looking like you were going to fail the class! All the first years but you have been getting perfect attendance."
"I just had to have a little time. Alone, by myself, thinking. And I arrived at a conclusion that of course I did the right thing. It wasn't a mistake. It was just right. ...As long as I keep to my plans, things will have to work out!"
Finally up to the task, even if only in front of Banri, as if acting the part of "the Perfect Kaga Kouko", she slowly raised her chin and smiled with her whole face. He could not discover even one flaw, not one spot on her creamy white throat.
With Kouko at long last back to school, just like that, Banri was even more high spirited than he had been worried before.
Wounded by Yanagisawa's cold attitude, confused by Chinami's entry into the fray, and along the way, embarrassed by the Extras, he had felt that she must certainly have been feeling down. Those four days, Banri had been really worried about Kouko. The day before, he had even called out to Linda when he spotted her in the lobby, and while leaving out the details, consulted with her about what to do about Kouko.
Banri said to Linda, "She seems to be lost, because she's so clumsy at it she's ashamed to join the Extras. Pressuring her won't do any good. But, it would be boring without a partner.", nodding to her. She replied, "If Kouko was so inclined, of course they would be happy, she would always be welcome, and it's OK if she's a bit confused up until when she agrees to join." Simply calling Kouko to be his partner, just that much was making Banri feel strangely embarrassed.
"What were you thinking about? There's no mistaking Mitsuo and I are bound together, just not completely yet. There's proof, such that nobody can evade, perfect proof."
Kouko was stubborn to the end.
Her straight-blown hair spilled right down her back, held by a hairband wrapped in a deep gray and purple satin design. In her dark brown hair, it really looked pretty. Then,
"Justice will be mine!"
She nodded vigorously, showing her enthusiasm. She was wearing a snow white blouse. Emphasizing the courtroom style, she had on a slender, mannish vest. And a black tie. And a black miniskirt, black tights and black high heels. She had the evidence stuffed in a paper bag, and carried a high-class brand of briefcase. Together with how she threw her head back, today's Kouko really, how can you say it? ... She seemed to be doing an impression of a sexy lawyer.
Banri even now didn't understand where Kouko got her certainty. The proof, the proof, she was saying, but in reality up to this point, seeing the so-called 'satisfactory relationship' that Yanagisawa and Kouko made, he didn't think there was such a thing in this world as pulling out "objective facts".
Rather, he didn't think a man's heart could be moved to one's own convenience.
Though thinking about it, he didn't want to say anything negative to this Kouko, just barely returned, finally, from getting back on her feet.
"Wellll...", carefully saying little, resting his chin on his hand, Banri's cellphone buzzed.
It was a text from Yanagisawa.
"Yana-ssan said the lecture is over. He's coming this way now."
"Did he happen to ask you if I was here too?"
"Yes, yes, he did", said Banri, nodding. Though it seemed she was coming to school, after the lecture they hadn't spoken but a bit. "What're we doing?", was all Kouko had said along the way.
Once he came alongside Banri, Yanagisawa answered frankly, "I wanted to talk with Kouko too, amongst other things." While he was speaking that way, he gave a brief glance full of meaning that even Banri wasn't fool enough to not notice. He couldn't recall even one time that Yanagisawa had actually wanted to talk with Kouko.
As if she were satisfied, Kouko's back became even straighter.
"Look at this, will you? Perfect. Of course, you've been worrying about me, for a long time. You've repented of how coldly you've were treating me. And then, little by little, unknown to yourself, I have filled up your heart. That is quite according to our perfect scenario."
Then as she were just remembering it, she took out a hand mirror from her pouch, looked into it, double-checking her beautiful perfection. Eyes upturned, blinking repeatedly, trying to make a smile from ear to ear, then nodding as if in approval, she put away the mirror.
This latest development startled Banri.
"Ka, Kaga-san, well... of course you aren't going back again!? And then, there's that, look here, rather than waiting in vain for Yana-ssan, once in a blue moon..."
"What are you saying? At long last, after waiting for him, I've can present my evidence to him."
With a smile quickly put back in place, saying "That's true, isn't it?", he had no choice but to shut his mouth once more.
Really, calling Yanagisawa here like this was bad. He had yielded to Kouko's excessive self-confidence, though she couldn't deal with being rejected over and over again.
Hoping for something like progress with Kouko, perhaps... no, never, won't happen.
Yanagisawa was planning to turn her down once and for all, here.
Besides, it seemed to Banri that during the time she was away from school, Yanagisawa and Chinami’s relationship had been making progress, little by little. Even at the club drinking parties, it seemed, the two of them had had plenty of time to themselves. Since Yanagisawa knew all too well that Banri was supporting Kouko, he felt no need to mention it. In fact, he would not have been surprised if they were actually starting to go out together.
"...Anyways... shouldn’t you not be getting your hopes up?"
Timidly, that was all he tried to say.
If he were untactful, Yanagisawa might have planned to come here together with Chinami. And then in front of Banri and Kouko, they would slap her with the announcement they were a couple. If such a thing were to happen, what would Kouko wind up doing? Becoming perfect, and then, ...what would she become, really? For certain sorry, standing petrified, in a strange cold sweat.
As for Banri, since such a Kouko's near future worried him, he couldn't just decide things were getting uncomfortable around here and take his leave, claiming "This has nothing to do with me."
"Why? He didn't just come here this way perfectly. There's plenty of evidence."
Looking strangely hesitant, Kouko looked back at Banri's face, handling her paper bag as if it were something valuable.
"But it's 'proof'... otherwise why would I have brought it with me?"
And saying, "He's come!", she sat facing the doorway, her eyes shining.
"Mitsuo! Over here!"
When she stood up with a flourish, like an actress, the old man next to them, apparently unable to deal with the noise, finally got up and moved over to the counter. "Sorry, really...", muttered Banri in a small voice that could hardly be heard.
Yanagisawa, his hair hanging down partway down the sides of his face, was standing in the entrance to the café. Raising his voice when he saw Kouko's face,
"Been a while, hasn't it?"
It seemed as if he were shrugging his shoulders while saying it. Chinami wasn't there, so Banri was able to relax for the time being. As he walked over to them, he jammed a knit cap he'd taken off into a pocket of his faded jeans. The heels of his well worn Red Wing boots made the floorboard creak.
Throwing her shoulders back, Kouko took a step towards Yanagisawa, keeping her perfect smile directed at him.
"Won't you sit down? What would you like to order? Mr. Defendant."
"Oh be quiet. Excuse me, could I have some coffee? Be normal."
"Hmph, you only just got here."
"I won't try to escape nor hide. You have nothing to be afraid of."
"Hey, what're you trying to say? Did I even set you free, or discover you hiding?"
<~~15% Completed~~>
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