Because I Have to Block the Bridge

The three-person table in the cafeteria was complete again at noon on Tuesday.

Morishita Ran set her udon on the table and sat down, snapped apart her chopsticks, and stirred the bowl twice. "Curry again yesterday?"

"Curry's fast." Kiryu Yume scooped up a spoonful and shoved it into his mouth.

Yamamura Miki was tearing apart a piece of bread beside them. Morishita Ran glanced at her, then looked back at Kiryu Yume. "You two ate together?"

"Mm." Yamamura Miki's voice was very soft.

Morishita Ran picked up a bundle of udon and blew on it without replying.

"You took leave yesterday." Kiryu Yume set his spoon by the edge of his tray and looked up at her. "Headache?"

"Mm. I lay around all day. I'm fine now." She picked up a slice of fish cake, put it in her mouth, and chewed slowly.

"Did you take medicine?"

Morishita Ran's chopsticks paused. She lifted her eyes and glanced at him. "I did. I'm much better already."

Kiryu Yume reached into the side pocket of his backpack, felt around, and pulled out a Shiba Inu charm, placing it beside Yamamura Miki's hand.

"...Thank you." Yamamura Miki cradled the Shiba Inu in her palm and turned it over to inspect the loose thread on its belly. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly. She lowered her head and tried to clip it onto her backpack zipper, but failed twice.

Morishita Ran reached over and fastened it for her. Then she withdrew her hand and continued eating her noodles, her eyes fixed on the bowl without looking at Kiryu Yume.

The napkin on the table had two indents pressed into it by her chopsticks.

Kiryu Yume lowered his head and took two bites of curry rice when something suddenly stepped on his calf beneath the table.

He looked down.

Morishita Ran's right foot had slipped out of her canvas shoe. Her sole, wrapped in black tights, rested against the outside of his calf, the arch curving faintly along the line of his pant leg.

The black tights carried a thin, mirror-like sheen under the cafeteria lights, unbroken from ankle to toe, like a chocolate-glazed cake cast in one piece. The light slid from the front of her calf to the top of her foot, then lingered in the tiny wrinkles where her toes curled.

Her toes curled once inside the stocking, then relaxed. The fibers gave off the faintest rustle with the movement of her toe joints. The bone of her ankle made a small curve beneath the black tights, while the knit at her Achilles tendon stretched slightly, its color a shade lighter than the rest.

"What about mine?" Morishita Ran said.

Kiryu Yume looked up. She was lifting a slice of fish cake to her mouth, her cheeks puffing slightly as she chewed twice. Her expression was exactly the same as usual.

"What about yours?"

"A charm. You gave Miki one, and there's one on your own backpack." She chewed her fish cake twice more. Under the table, that black-stockinged foot stepped on his calf again, this time with a little force. Her toes lightly ground against his shin through her tights and his uniform pants, the stockings brushing the fabric with a muted swishing sound.

Kiryu Yume reached into his pocket. The strap of a dark blue felt cat was tangled around his key ring. He tried twice to untangle it, failed, and simply pulled out the entire key ring and set it beside her tray.

As Morishita Ran lowered her head to look at the cat, Kiryu Yume leaned slightly closer and brought his mouth near her ear. Her hair carried a very faint laundry-detergent scent.

"Morishita Mom." His voice was low enough for only the two of them to hear, and the tips of his own ears were hot.

Morishita Ran's shoulders stiffened for half a second. She picked up the cat, and color slowly crept from her collarbone to the roots of her ears. It did not stop there, burning all the way to her earlobes. She blinked, blushed for an instant, then lowered her head and turned the cat over, gently pinching one of its ears.

The black-stockinged foot withdrew from his calf beneath the table. Her toes curled into a ball inside the stocking before slowly loosening, the tights making the faintest rustle.

"...Good boy." Her voice was softer than usual, so low Kiryu Yume almost missed it. The final syllable floated upward slightly.

Kiryu Yume's breathing stalled for half a beat. He had been ready to get stepped on or cursed at, but when those words—good boy—fell from her lips, he nearly forgot to swallow the curry in his mouth. He lowered his head and continued eating, his ears burning too. He missed the curry chunks on his tray twice with his spoon.

Morishita Ran turned the cat back over. Her ears were still pink as her fingers stroked its head back and forth, before she clipped it onto her backpack zipper.

"Not bad."

"Just not bad?"

"What do you want to hear?" She picked up her chopsticks again and took a mouthful of noodles, her cheeks puffing as she chewed twice and swallowed. There was still a trace of pink at her ears. "Eat your curry."

The curry in his mouth no longer had any flavor. Kiryu Yume lowered his head and took a few bites. After eating a few mouthfuls of noodles, Morishita Ran suddenly spoke.

"There's a little over a week until midterms. Have you studied math?"

"I haven't even opened the section on quadratic functions."

"You barely passed last time. Don't slip below the line this time."

"I know. What about you?"

"I got several reading questions wrong. I'll look through some reference books later."

"I got several reading questions wrong too." Yamamura Miki opened her bread bag. "I eliminate two out of four options, then somehow always pick the wrong one out of the last two."

"That passage wasn't actually difficult. The questions were just tricky. I'll take a look during lunch break later." Morishita Ran slurped in her noodles.

After they finished eating, Kiryu Yume stood up. "I'm going to the vending machine for drinks. What do you want?"

"Strawberry milk," Morishita Ran said.

"...Water is fine for me." Yamamura Miki folded up her bread bag and put it on her empty tray.

"Wait here."

There were not many people around the vending machines by the cafeteria entrance. Kiryu Yume walked over and was about to scan his student ID when someone called him from behind.

"Kiryu."

Ichinose Honami emerged from the cafeteria's side entrance, holding a half-eaten curry bun. The breeze through the hall had mussed up her short golden hair, and a tiny breadcrumb still clung to the corner of her mouth. When she saw Kiryu Yume at the vending machine, she crossed the distance in two or three quick steps.

"You're buying drinks too?"

"I'm bringing some back for friends." Kiryu Yume bought two bottles of strawberry milk and one bottle of mineral water.

"Friends?" Ichinose Honami shoved the last bite of bread into her mouth, chewed it several times, and swallowed. "Morishita and Yamamura, right? Your table was directly in front of me. It would've been hard not to notice."

She crumpled the bread bag into a ball and tossed it into the trash, then used her student ID to buy a bottle of milk. "I didn't have time to line up at lunch, so I grabbed some bread and went back to grade papers."

She leaned beside the vending machine and took a drink. Kiryu Yume hugged the three bottles to his chest and was about to leave.

"You ranked first in the entire school on the entrance exam, right?"

Ichinose Honami froze for a moment. Milk nearly spilled from the corner of her mouth, and she hurriedly wiped it with the back of her hand. "Why ask that out of nowhere? Being first in the school isn't exactly a great topic of conversation."

"I was curious. I've never seen how the top student in the school studies."

Ichinose Honami smiled and spun the bottle cap with her fingers. "It's nothing special. English is about how much you read. Every night before bed, I read an English news article. I copy words I don't know onto little cards and look at them while brushing my teeth the next day. Math is just doing problems. When I get one wrong, I don't skip it—I redo every step until I can get it right without looking at the answer."

"Every day?"

"Every day. Once you get used to it, it doesn't feel tiring. If I don't read one day, I can't sleep instead." She tossed her empty bottle into the recycling bin, then took a piece of paper folded into a small square from her pocket and handed it to him. "The fifty most common unfamiliar words in English reading, ranked by how often they appear in past exam papers. You guys in Class A have a strong foundation, but vocabulary has nothing to do with class. Take it."

Kiryu Yume freed one hand, unfolded it, and scanned it. The words were packed tightly together, each marked with its meaning and frequency of appearance.

"You're incredibly thorough. Where do you even find the time?"

"When I get tired of grading papers, I organize things like this to clear my head." She checked her watch. "I have to get back. I still need to hand out the papers. I still owe you that drink I said I'd treat you to last time."

"Next time."

"Okay, I'll keep it on the tab." She took a few steps toward the stairs, then turned back. "Does the cafeteria still have fried tofu?"

"Yeah, at the far-left counter."

"Then I'll get a serving before going back to class." She jogged back into the cafeteria.

Kiryu Yume returned to the table with the three bottles. He set the mineral water beside Yamamura Miki's hand and pushed the strawberry milk toward Morishita Ran.

"That took a while." Morishita Ran unscrewed the cap and took a sip.

"I ran into Ichinose and talked for a bit."

"Ichinose Honami from Class B?"

"Mm."

Morishita Ran screwed the cap back on, then unscrewed it again without replying. Yamamura Miki held her bottle of mineral water in both hands and took little sips. Afterward, she set it beside the Shiba Inu charm. A bead of condensation dripped from the bottle and hung from the Shiba Inu's ear.

The three of them carried their trays to return them, then left the cafeteria and headed toward the classroom. The breeze in the corridor was strong. Morishita Ran hooked the hair blown against her lips behind her ear with a finger, the dark blue cat on her backpack zipper swinging back and forth.

After the second afternoon class, Kiryu Yume went to the vending machine to buy water. There was barely anyone in the hall; most students were slumped over their desks catching up on sleep during the break. He reached the machine, took out his student ID, and was about to scan it when someone came over from the side.

Kushida Kikyo was carrying an empty cup. Several strands of her light brown short hair clung to her temples, her uniform sleeves were rolled above her elbows, and there were two dusty smudges on her arm. She did not slow when she saw Kiryu Yume. She walked straight over, bought a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed it, drank nearly half of it in one go, and leaned against the machine with a breath.

"What were you moving?" Kiryu Yume bought a bottle of green tea.

"Sports equipment. We had to move everything out of the equipment room and wipe it all down." She wiped the droplets from her chin with the back of her hand, glanced at the dusty marks on her arm, patted them twice without getting them off, and could not be bothered to care.

Kiryu Yume opened his green tea and took a sip. She leaned against the machine drinking water, with half an arm's distance between them. The vending machine hummed.

"...You come out to buy water during breaks too." Kushida Kikyo spoke first.

"I was thirsty."

"Same."

After several seconds of silence, she placed her cup on top of the vending machine to free her hands and pulled down the rolled-up sleeves, smoothing the cuffs twice with her fingers.

"That name we talked about last time," Kiryu Yume said.

Kushida Kikyo's hand paused. "...What?"

"Admit it when no one's around."

She finished adjusting her sleeves, picked up her cup again, and did not look at him. "What happens if I admit it? Are you going to call me that now?"

"There's no one around."

Kushida Kikyo's cup stopped at her lips. She swallowed her water, and color slowly spread across her ears in exactly the same spot as last time.

"...Whatever."

"Kushida Mom."

She did not answer. Her fingers rubbed along the rim of the cup twice before she lightly set its base against the top of the vending machine.

"...What is wrong with you?" Her voice was quiet as she took a sip from the cup and tightened the cap.

"Why do you insist on calling me that?" she asked.

Kiryu Yume took a drink of green tea. "Because I have to block the bridge."

Kushida Kikyo froze with her cup at her lips. She blinked twice, her lips parting before closing again.

"?"

"I asked why you call me Mom, and you tell me you have to block the bridge?" She set the cup on top of the vending machine, turned to face him, and her expression swung between confusion and irritation several times before settling into a look that did not know where to begin scolding him. "Do those two things have anything to do with each other?"

"No."

Kushida Kikyo took a deep breath, her lips twitching.

"...You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

Kiryu Yume screwed on the cap of his green tea, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

Kushida Kikyo took that entire smile into her eyes, drank all the water in her cup in one go, and tightened the cap.

"...You're insane." Her voice was very low, but the tone was completely different from when she had cursed him last time.

She picked up her cup, turned around, and walked away. After two steps, she paused without turning back, pushed open the corridor door, and returned to the classroom building.

Kiryu Yume finished the last sip of green tea, tightened the cap, and tossed it into the recycling bin.

When he returned to the classroom, Morishita Ran was lying facedown on a desk in the back row, her face buried in her arms. Her backpack hung from the side of the desk, the dark blue cat dangling from its zipper and swaying softly with her breathing.

Yamamura Miki sat at the desk in front of her, looking down as she flipped through her notebook. The Shiba Inu's ears on her backpack zipper were slightly crooked.

Kiryu Yume sat down and set his backpack aside. There was an extra strawberry candy on the corner of his desk, its wrapper crumpled beside his pencil case.

Without turning around, he reached out, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. Just as he bit through half of it, the leg of his chair was kicked by someone's right foot.

The force was exactly like the hand that had poked his waist on the first day of school. But this time, after the kick, it did not immediately pull back. The tip of a canvas shoe rested lightly against his chair leg for a second before moving away.