Golden Time:Volume6 Chapter3

Status: Incomplete

30% completed (estimated)

   

Golden Time 6: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

That town's station was far from Banri's normal stomping grounds, but according to the map was still barely within city limits. But as Banri left the ticket gate the word "Dejima" welled up in the back of his mind like the scum on a hot pot made from cheap pork, forever unable to disappear. This place, its appearance, its culture and everything else about it seemed to have been taken over by its neighboring prefectures. The black and brown heads of the people meandering before him as far as he could see all along the straight riverbank. Desolate fields. The black shadows of apartment and condominium towers. The white lights of electric lamps in every direction. A gas tank so large it made one nervous for no reason.

Shouting "Me! Right now! I'm in Tokyo!" with all his might, he jumped up, as if his head was hitting the ceiling of "localness" and punching straight through. This was a trap that many young people heading up to Tokyo fell into. Even though he should have been excited to come to Tokyo, he always found the area around his hometown railway station to be visibly more prosperous.

He returned his gaze to his hand. Checking the time on his cell phone, Banri stood impatiently alone in the middle of the hustle and bustle. No sooner had he stepped off the train on to the platform and had been swallowed up as if by a swirling mass of people crowded together, his steps turned slow and sluggish. Had he known it would be so crowded, he would have given himself more time. It seemed he had not taken a few things into account.

Just outside the ticket gate, a banner for this evening's fireworks display hung overhead, several young station employees, sweating so much they seemed to have been doused in water, were directing people to the exit with a loudspeaker. "It will be very crowded today because of the fireworks display! If you are coming to the venue, then go to the left of the ticket gate! Please go to the left! ...It seemed virtually everyone was going to the left. But whether the exit was blocked, or the occasional person was jostling to go to the right, the neither spacious nor impressive station was even more crowded than during rush hour.

A dangerous weapon zipped past Banri's nose, which was on the edge of oxygen deficiency. Right before his eyes, a group of girls was laughing noisily and imitating the station worker's way of speaking, "Wow! This is sooo good!" "Bwah hah ha!" They were dressed in yukatas and the pins stuck in their dumpling buns of hair were aimed straight at his eyes. Having no choice, he fought back using his cell-phone as a shield. But then "Ugh!" his feet got stepped on. "Oof...!" by beach sandals. The other one was wearing clogs.

He had a bad feeling about this.

Shortly after sunset, the train Banri was on was already packed with groups of young people in yukata and parents with children. With all the excitement, the train cars were like a tea-house for wild animals, filled with a deafening roar, and this wasn't even the main event yet. The posters inside the cars were all about the fireworks display. At that point, as he finally wondered (no way...), almost everybody on board got off the train at this station, the same station as Banri was going to. Naturally, the station premises were crowded. And every few minutes more and more people arrived from other places, and he was sure they would keep on coming in large quantities.

There was no point in complaining, as they were all in the same boat. Banri headed slowly with everybody else taking their time heading for the exit stairs. He was just managing to escape from the station, but as for the surface of the road, the crush of people on top of it, the straight path leading to the venue on the riverside was so crowded with people that one could not even see the markings on the road. Head after head, a single butt-crack, no, that was another head.

In amazed wonderment, the word "incredible..." escaped his mouth without his meaning it to. Do you guys like fireworks that much? That much? You like it that much? Fireworks.

Before Banri's impatient eyes, a group of rough-looking middle and high school girls all dressed like men in jinbei deployed themselves in a beautiful fan shape, blocking his way. "What!? My phone's got no signal!" Their faces looked demonic as they made a horrible racket. Then there was that couple over to the side, the two of them wearing disgusting yukatas made of a strangely thin and glistening cloth, like lamé. At the launch of a shell, Boom!, perhaps because they were already excited, when they walked together their butts wrinkled in unison. The woman had put so much effort into her long, red fingernails that they looked just like five hot peppers on display. The man's five fingers were digging excessively into the knot of the sash around her yukata. Banri couldn't stand the sight of it.

At first he'd been told to meet up at the train station exit, but in the afternoon he'd received a message from Kosshi-senpai, and it was changed so they would meet up separately at the destination. Banri thought that was the right thing to do. Even if they had met up there, the members of Omaken would probably have spent an eternity meeting up and separating, being pushed and shoved over and over again for no good reason.

Eventually, beyond the human wave, he could see the gate leading to the steps up the riverbank. The stalls, painted in bright colors and emitting almost violent smells, were lined up all along the steps and down the slope, with signs of "Takoyaki", "Yakisoba", "Beef Skewers", "Ikayaki" and "Explosive Monja (what in the world is that...?)". Here and there were clearly unsavory types, with all sorts of designs seemingly etched into their bodies, with dark, evil eyes and menacing voices calling out, "Hey, you there, come over here!" "I'm gonna kill ya, suckaa!" It was not a deception to call it a 'fireworks display,' but it was entirely a festival. It wasn't just a great gathering. It was a festival. And festivals were the natural occasions to which to summon the Omaken.

His ears deafened by the noise and the sound of generators, pushing through as if dividing the people flowing along the stalls, Banri finally tumbled out of the maelstrom. Once he walked one street in from the one right along the levee, he came out to a street lined with tall, skinny pencil-towers and old buildings where he could finally walk normally. People could be seen here and there, mostly on the outside of the buildings and on the balconies, waiting in anticipation for the fireworks to start.

Many of the bars and restaurants along the street had signs saying “Full” or “Reserved”, but before long he spotted the name of the place he was looking for, and gently opened the glass door.

The waiter told him that the whole floor had been reserved for the day, but when he replied that he was part of the Japanese Festival Research Club, he was directed to go up to the roof using a narrow staircase at the back of the restaurant.

Up to the third floor, it all seemed to be for customers, but after that, with beer cases and mops here and there, it was suddenly all business. But he’d been told to go to the roof, so he guessed it was all right. Immediately feeling uneasy, he climbed the stairs, the soles of his flip-flops sometimes sticking strangely, he felt a bit like a cockroach climbing the steps.

When put his weight against the heavy iron door to open it, there he was, outside. The space opened out and he felt the soft wind caressing his cheeks.

He had come out on the roof of the building.

The space, concealed by a simple fence, was fairly large. The view of the riverbank was entirely unobstructed, with a large expanse of hazy deep blue sky in front of him that had yet to darken. When he considered how many spectators were crowded below, this place was indeed close to paradise.

A breeze smelling a bit like fish, perhaps due to the river right in front of him, blew quite comfortably over his sweaty T-shirt. It was still summer in the daytime, but it cooled off as the sun set, and it definitely seemed like the change of season was underway.

There were a few tables placed together on the concrete floor, and a few small chairs, most of them still stacked on top of one another.

It seemed that most of the senior members of Omaken were already there. As first year novices, this situation should not have happened.

But the seniors all had their backs turned to Banri, bent over in front of the fence working on something, and seemed to not have noticed him. For some reason they were holding a miniature light bulb cable like those used for Christmas decorations. Even though it was a special place from which to view the fireworks, they seemed to be trying to brighten up the rather bleak space by fixing crawling flickering lights to the fence.

Trying to make up for having arrived late as if he were the boss rather than the lowest man on the totem pole,

"Sorry about that! I'm late! But I'm here to help!"

He approached them half at a run, and spoke the loudest he could. Whereupon,

"Ah......"

An older female student turned around and when she saw Banri, raised her voice in a strange way. Squatting shoulder to shoulder, the older students, who had been working together happily until then, turned at the sound of her voice, noticed Banri, and suddenly fell silent.

Inside of 0.3 seconds, Banri could guess why. This atmosphere. The averted gazes. The senior's lips wanting to say something... gathering information. Complete. Thought. Yes, understanding. QED. A 19-year-old's body has lightning reflexes. Banri's right hand immediately responds to a command from his brain and shoots downward. He grabbed his crotch with a speed and boldness that would make even the most experienced teacher of the exhibitionist arts shudder. It was more important to fix the situation than to be shy about it. How's that for judgement? And it was cool. If it had been a better time, he would have imparted this knowledge on all the world... resolution first, shame later! He was a man of the world! But,

"...What the?"

Not touching with his right hand the warm space he had expected, rather he felt the metal fixture that had been well and properly closed. Running his fingers over it, he mouthed, "What... the?" as he ran his fingers over his crotch again and took a peek down there.

The zipper he had thought was open was closed quite securely. "Am I... an idiot!?" Then why are the seniors looking at me like that!?

"Eh!? What is this...!?"

There was no answer to Banri's question. And then he noticed that Linda's face was not among those lined up along the fence. There were only the seniors, staring at Banri with unreadable expressions.

Those eyes... were they pitying him? And yet somehow... were they half showing kindness? What's more, was that a spoonful of "Hey, why'd that guy touch his crotch just now?" ...were they disgusted...?

N, no! It's not like that! Banri panicked.

"I didn't just touch my crotch! I, I was just checking if my zipper was open! I mean, what is...?"

In the end, no one answered.

"Really, what is it!? Why are you all looking at me like that when it's not even unzipped!?"

But no matter how far you go, it was one person against many. Worse, a first year against all the second and third-years together. Before them, he was far too inferior.

Banri lost all judgement and his cool, and simply freaked out. No matter in which era he had been born, even were he royalty, he would never attain even the level of roadside grass, a tiny existence not edible, useless as fodder, and having no use save it be as an ordinary roadside backdrop. He would be very difficult to point out or even make a fuss about...

"Nah, never mind..."

The senior who first looked at Banri and said something strange turned to him and smiled awkwardly. Standing up with an electric cable in his hand, he was dressed in a beautiful yukata, perhaps because he was going to be wearing it for the Awa Odori dance. All of the other seniors were dressed in colorful yukatas. And then, with a gentle manner he had not seen from them before,

"Come here, Tada Banri."

"We'll all do it together. Let's install this perfectly before the fourth-years get here!"

"Don't forget these lanterns!"

Saying, "He he heh..." "Look, look..." "Come here, come here..." they beckoned him to come. He was as nervous as if he were going down a road deserted of everything but ghosts, his sweat soaking the back seat of a taxicab.

Incidentally, with the sole exception of Kouko, the women were called "giants" behind their backs. The word "giants" means a group of greedy, arrogant and unscrupulous people. Omaken consisted of men, Giants and one golden robo-girl. The giants were ghosts already, frankly.

"...No way!"

And,

"That's scary!"

"Why...?"

When they approached him, dragging the electric light cable in their hands, Banri automatically said, "Look now! Now I'm scared! That's scary!" and tried to run away. But the shop's roof wasn't wide enough for him to escape, and he was easily surrounded.

"Y, you're not usually like this! There is got to be something wrong with you!"

"There's nothing weird about us... right..."

"Hey... this is fun, isn't it...?"

"Yeah, its fun... the Omaken is fun, yeah..."

The upperclassmen cheerfully wrapped electric lights around Banri's paralyzed body. The captured Banri turned into an stupid, round, illuminated man. Wrapped all the way to his forehead like Christ with his crown of thorns, the gathered lights shone annoyingly through his eyelids. In addition, he was made to hold in each hand an original Omaken red and white lantern. He wondered when they were made, as they were magnificently done.

"Okay now, please sit here..."

"It's the best seat in the house..."

He was invited to sit in one of the seats lined up against the fence, or more precisely, he was half thrown there as he twinkled. It came to him in a flash.

"Huh... Could this be some sort of trick...!?"

The countdown suddenly starts. He wondered whether his chair would explode when it reached 'zero' and he would become a firework that blossomed in the night sky one step ahead of the others? He wondered if body parts violently scattered by an explosion and falling on the heads of innocent people gathered for the festival would be classified as a practical joke. He wondered if they would laugh at that.

That, or, at "Zero!" would he plunge forwards from the chair, the only clothes he was wearing be snagged by a hook and left behind, and he be thrown out into the crowd completely naked under the shining illuminations, blooming in a fireworks hall of shame? If he fell the wrong way he would become a laughing stock, but for now, should he run away before the countdown starts?

Unable to imagine any other possibilities, the frightened and blinking Banri's shoulder,

"Hey you! Whatcha been up to lately!?"

"Eeek...!"

Only his first word was in Kabuki style, then after that like from some refreshingly trendy drama, the smiling Kosshii-senpai suddenly embraced him from behind. Behind him were smiling third-year senior guys. Even in this gathering dusk, everyone was strangely dark and shiny.

"......La, lately... well, I've been... kind of like that...!"

"Like that!? ...Is that sooo!? Yeeaah!"

Kosshii-senpai, while bathing in Banri's idiotic light and flashing his idiotic darkness, stretched deliberately like a bad actor whose script said, "Senpai / One big stretch." Then he leaned his back against the fence, in front and to the side of Banri, who was facing the riverbank. "Senpai / Lean against the fence and smile." He held a plastic bag containing a big box of something in one hand, but Banri was not interested in it at all.

"Oh, this? That's right, I forgot. It's for you,"

Kosshi-senpai acted all theatrical, coldly turning his gaze away while suddenly sucking in his cheeks, he scratched the resultant hollow with his index finger while pushing it out from inside with his tongue,

"Let's do this!"

Intoning something like "KaanCHI!", he suddenly threw the box at Banri. He was relieved from the bottom of his heart that no more words followed, but on the contrary, that was all he could be relieved about.

If this had been a television drama, it would have probably been enhanced with computer graphics, showing the box describing an arc through the air and landing neatly in Banri's hand, but unfortunately, this was reality. Caught by surprise, unable to move, both of his hands caught by the paper lanterns, the cardboard box came flying surprisingly fast at him. Aaaah! It hit him on the jaw as he was ducking down.

"Agh......!"

What fell into his lap with a bounce was Okinawan sea-salt flavored chinsokou . Fifty-two pieces to the box (a lot). ...Oh, I see, he went there. Something to do with the third-year volunteers.

"......Kosshii-sempai, that, that hurt!"

"Well, what can I say?"

He wasn't listening. At all.

"Tada Banri and Robo-girl, isn't that what you are to us? Kinda like a fertilized egg!"

"......"

He truly, from the bottom of his heart, had no idea what to make of that. He felt as if he had turned to stone. A stone unable to understand what was spoken to it, unable to reply back, a stone from which water spilled from a crack. What the water wrote on the surface of the rock, he could not tell.

While dripping water from such a rock in his psychological inner world, Banri was deeply disappointed that Linda was not there. If only she were here, she could probably keep Kosshii-sempai in check and get some sort of resolution to the situation, but she wasn't here, and was perhaps delayed.

The Okinawan shortbread still fallen in his lap, Banri blinked stupidly. As he was blinking,

He repeated weakly, "Fe, fertilized egg...?"

"It's sort of like two lifeforms becoming one. It's always like you two come as a set!"

But this guy, Kosshii-senpai. Was he always unreasonable like this?

"........ Why isn't Linda-senpai here...?"

"Let's forget about her for now! She said she was on her way here from her parent's house, but she said the Toukaidou Shinkansen got delayed and now their schedule is all messed up, so let's set that aside for now!"

"Eh, from Shizuoka? She went home?"

"I told you to forget about her! I'm talking about you! Don't go running away!"

Somehow a thought came to Banri's mind. Had everything about his accident and what happened afterwards been leaked to the upperclassmen? No, but there was no way. Denying it, his head tilted more and more to the side. There was no way it was possible, and even if it were, he would never understand why.

"......Umm, I really don't understand it all, but isn't it about time you explained the reasons for this situation?"

"We don't really need an explanation. Right, guys!? We don't need one!"

Having left a single freshman behind as scenery, glittering in the wide open sky, the seniors loudly raised their voices and nodded to each other. They gave each other meaningful glances, and anxious glances in Banri's direction, but nobody said anything definite. He really didn't understand why. What in the world had come over the Omaken all of a sudden? Why were the seniors suddenly treating him with this kind of strange attitude?

The last time the members got together was in August, in that hot hellhole that was Saitama. We performed the Awa Odori, and once that was safely done and over, they'd passed the bottle around and he'd excused himself a bit early... maybe he'd done something careless that time?

Having approached right in front of Banri without him noticing, Kosshii-senpai suddenly grabbed his tee-shirt at the shoulders with both hands. Taken by surprise in his recollections, Banri was shaken. His brain was shocked, and he could not think.

"Anyway, what I want to say is, you and Robogirl both, we all... want to wrap our arms around you both! That's all! Gently, warmly, as if we were pie-dough, we of Omaken want to wrap you two freshmen up! This pie crust would be soft, but would never crumble! We might be nice and crunchy, but we would never crumble! Do you understand!? Understand!"

When he replied that he didn't understand, Kosshii-senpai backed away, a little irritated.

"You don't understand!? You're an idiot! So, anyway, there it is! ...You know what I mean!"

He didn't know... he gotten accidentally tongue-tied and had become a real idiot.

"Huh!? Jeez, you're really stupid...! So... look at this!"

Kosshii-senpai looked away once and licked his lips. He looked around at the other members' faces for a moment, then they nodded to each other in a small, tense way. He was going to have to say something difficult. He would say it. He would say it all. Raising his eyebrows in a sign of readiness rising plainly from his entire being, he looked at Banri, sucked in his breath and,

"......Things really get awkward whenever someone quits! Such things shouldn't happen!"

He struck Banri lightly on the shoulder as if to cover up something. Ouch, but rather than saying "ouch", his mouth already hanging open, Banri tilted his head with a foolish look on his face.

"You two are ingredients in the pie we call Omaken! You are already one with us! And even if you are no longer a couple, it doesn't mean you will lose the bond of being friends in Omaken! Right!? That's how it is! Everyone!"

Oooh! Their voices rang out once again, more certain than before. "Let's cheer up Tada Banri!" they said, and applauded him, which naturally turned into rhythmic clapping. "Taada!" cheered one side. "Banri!" cheered the other. "Taada!" "Banri!" "Taada!" "Banri!"...... The Omaken were always prepared for this sort of call and response.

"......Huh? Broke... up? What're you talking about?"

Banri still hadn't made the connection. He was forced to blink by the illuminations he was wrapped up in, but finally, little by little, belatedly, "Huh..." it came to him in a flash. As if a chisel were continually pounding the words "split up" into a crack in the rock and had finally broken through to the soft, half-living core, Banri understood what was going on.

By some chance.

Had these people come to the conclusion that he and Kouko... had broken up? Was this what their mysterious tension was all about? Were they afraid they were about to lose their only first-years? "Ah, I see!" he nodded without thinking, nodding in understanding. This this wasn't some sort of prank after all, and this chair wasn't going to explode, nor fly forward while stripping off his clothes. Well then, we're good... no, no, no! Confused and shaking his head,

"......That's no good! What is this!? Why have you suddenly started talking like this!? There's no way we're breaking..."

It was with that perfect timing.

The sound of the knob being turned on the door leading to the stairs inside the shop made everyone turn their heads. The heavy door squealed as it finally, somewhat hesitantly, opened.

"Excuse me! I wound up running late... uff, this thing is heavy......"

Losing her battle against the door's weight, the door slammed shut. Her voice quickly faded out, but it was certainly Kouko's voice.

"Ko, Kouko!? Are you okay!?"

Banri tried to stand up, but the lanterns in his hands and the electric cords wrapped around his body made it difficult for him to move quickly. And he still hadn't been able to clear up the misunderstandings of the upperclassmen.

"It's Robogirl...!"

"That was Robogirl just now!"

"Aah! That Robogirl's back from the heart repair shop!"

"Hey guys! Let's all give a warm welcome to our broken Robogirl!"

"Whoaa!"

The seniors all raised their fists high one time, left where they were and dashed for the exit door. Because Banri had been comforted sufficiently, and the chisukou cookies already turned over to him, then they'd probably made up their minds. Banri had been left behind, but he staggered along, blinking in the cheerful illumination, but he still managed to get up and follow the upperclassmen's backs.

"I said you're wrong! Our break-up..."

Just as he was about to clear up their strange misunderstanding, the door opened wide. Kosshii-senpai pulled the heavy iron door open from this side.

On the other side of the open door,

"Th, thank you Senpai! I'm really sorry for showing up so late! I got swept up in a wave of people and wound up coming here!"

Kouko......? But? ......She's here......?

Everyone was a loss for words. Banri moaned too, unable to say anything... summer (was over).

On the rooftop, which had been noisy the whole time, there suddenly fell a moment of silence. Only the sound of the wind and the clamour of the world below was alive and noisy, as there had been some mistake.

"......Eh? Umm......? What? Is this place... all right? Ah, Banri... eh? What? What is it?"

Several seconds passed, Kouko tilting her head much like Banri had a few short moments before, nobody able to say anything, when finally,

"......Please restrain yourselves!"

Kosshii-senpai sank into a crouch as if for leg stretching exercises, his face composed as if posing for a camera. The right half of his body was pulled back, the left half extended forward. He greeted her formally. Th, that was it. Nothing else. One by one the other seniors said, "Please restrain yourselves!" "Please restrain yourselves!", and even Banri, like an idiot still in the twinkling lights repeated, "Please restrain yourselves!"

Having received a formal greeting from a dozen or so members of Omaken, a woman resembling Kouko stood there, frozen in the doorway with a bewildered look on her face.

"......Eh, what should I do? ......Please restrain yourselves......?"

For the moment, she followed Kosshii-senpai's example, extending one hand more or less as he had. For his part, he was in superb form, not moving in the slightest.

"Thank you very much for having behaved yourselves! I am Koshino, and my nickname is Kosshii. With all due respect, Miss Robogirl, the young man that follows you around has something to say!"

With the hand that was not extended, he signaled to Banri behind him to move. Strangely enough, Banri had no problem understanding what Kosshii-senpai was trying to tell him. He gulped it down freely, like water streaming from the rocks or mapo tofu stuffed into a fat man's mouth. Still with his legs spread wide (as the Illumination Man, no less) Banri stepped out before the upperclassmen and sticking out his chest in a pose like Michael Jackson, with his lower lip sticking out towards that Kouko-like person,

"You are not a Yakuza lady!"

He said it loudly.

"Whaa...!?"

That wasn't it. Really. He couldn't diss her!

Kouko appeared there in a yukata, looking like a gangster's wife. She was wearing heavy, old-fashioned thick makeup that made her look like she was going to pick up a pistol at any moment. Her face was painted with pure white greasepaint, with frighteningly dark shadows. Her black eyebrows looked as if they had been drawn with a brush. The silver bridge of her nose rose in the middle of her face with a tremendous three-dimensional effect, and her lips were drawn in the style of the Showa period with blue, purple and pink rouge. Prepare yourself!

She was wearing a stylish linen yukata, probably a high-end item, with the collar open in a daring way impossible for an amateur to get away with. Her excessively soft hair was swept fully back and tied way down low. What an airhead! If you're going to shoot, then shoot!

Holding her hair back from her nape with her fingertip with the air of a forty-something person, Kouko said, "It's all a lie!"

She said it without shame or hesitation. Whether lying or not, as she acted the part of the gangster lady to the utmost.

"I mean, they had thought that we had broken up."

"Whaaa!?"

Her second denial was muffled when a strong wind slammed the door shut.

"That's how rumors spread."

"Yeah, that surprised me! To think they thought we had broken up."

Setting aside her showing up all at once in heavy makeup from the Showa period,

"Well, actually, yesterday was a close call."

"No it wasn't, no it wasn't!"

Kouko shook her head, saying she wasn't in that much danger. As she shook her head, she was trying to tear off some paper packing tape from her fingertip. Not knowing how to remove it, she used all her strength, tearing off the altogether too long, sticky, disgusting tape wrapped around her arms up to her elbows, then wrapping it around the fence railing.

"...And with that, you're all set."

The section so wrapped looked too big, turning into what looked like a praying mantis egg sack. The feeling she'd done a bad job was so strong that Banri instinctively wanted to tear it all down and redo it, no questions asked. But one of the upperclassmen happened to pass behind them, saying "What? Are you guys still doing that? Aren't you out of time?" He panicked, and quickly said, "Excuse me, I'll hurry up!" and started working on the next part. Banri would place the string of lights in place on the fence and hold them down, and then Kouko would tape them in place. The two first-years were both late, and their work so slow and useless, they were in quite a fix.

<~~30% Completed~~>

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