Chapter 7: Gymnopédie
—After our two pairs reunited in the lobby of the inn at three o'clock.
Once evening rolled around, all the second-year students gathered in the grand dining hall for dinner.
Faced with a lavish Japanese-and-Western buffet spread, both Kashiwagi-san and Renji had stars in their eyes.
“Whoaaa, freshly carved roast beef incoming!”
“Ooh, look how beautifully plated the sashimi is too... This buffet is seriously restaurant-grade!”
In contrast to the two of them, Mizuki surveyed the dining hall with her usual calm, unbothered expression.
Sensing my gaze on her, she turned her head and tilted her chin slightly in question.
Silently signaling with my eyes that it was nothing, I glanced back toward the buffet tables.
“Amano-kun! Let's go grab some food together!”
Feeling a gentle tug on my yukata sleeve, I looked down to find Kashiwagi-san peering up at me with a bright smile.
“Oh—yeah, sure.”
I gave a quick nod.
Renji had already charged straight into the fray at the roast-beef carving station and vanished into the crowd.
Which left me standing beside Kashiwagi-san and Mizuki.
“Do you like sashimi, Yukimura-san? I read online that this inn gets its seafood delivered fresh from the coast every morning!”
“Really? I'll look forward to trying some, then.”
As Mizuki gave a polite nod, Kashiwagi-san beamed happily.
Watching the two of them walk side by side with their trays, I couldn't help blinking in surprise.
For some reason, the atmosphere between Kashiwagi-san and Mizuki felt noticeably warmer and more relaxed than it had yesterday afternoon.
Did something happen between the two of them last night...?
“What's the hold-up, Iori? Aren't you gonna eat?”
Balancing two plates piled high with food in both hands, Renji strolled back to our table grinning from ear to ear.
“You took way too much.”
Shaking my head at the mountain of roast beef and tempura on his tray, I sat down across from him as he clapped his hands together with a gusto “Let's eat!”
Making sure Kashiwagi-san and Mizuki were still over by the seafood counter out of earshot, I leaned across the table.
“So... how did things go on your end this afternoon?”
I did my best to keep my voice casual and uninterested.
Renji and Mizuki had spent half the day alone together at Fushimi Inari.
I wasn't worried about Mizuki wavering, obviously—but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious how their conversation had gone.
At my question, Renji paused with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, his eyes drifting off into the middle distance.
“...Yeah, bro, that fortress is completely impenetrable.”
“Impenetrable?”
“Look, I'm a red-blooded guy—I figured if the mood was right, I might try turning on the charm a little, you know? Forget having a shot; I realized within ten minutes that Yukimura-san is way out of my league to even flirt with.”
Giving an exaggerated shrug of defeat, Renji shook his head.
“...Since when do you talk like that?”
“Call it a difference in species or social standing, man—there's nothing a mortal guy can do in front of an aura like hers. That was the first time in my entire life I got so intimidated by a girl that I couldn't even crack a joke.”
Admitting total defeat, Renji drowned his sorrows in a massive bite of roast beef.
Hearing the most shameless playboy in our grade wave the white flag that unconditionally honestly left me a little stunned.
In the year and a half I had known him, I had never once seen him admit defeat with a girl so fast.
“Anyway, enough about my tragic defeat—what about you?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you! How did your solo shrine date with Kashiwagi-chan go?”
“Oh... that.”
I suppose it was only fair that he'd ask me back.
“—So when I asked to join your group, I intended for this school trip to be my final goodbye to my feelings. I figured if I could visit Kyoto with you just once... I could treasure it as one last memory and finally move on.”
Kashiwagi-san's confession on the forest path at Shimogamo Shrine echoed through my head.
For a brief second, I wondered if I should ask Renji for his advice—before immediately shaking the thought away.
...When my choice had already been made from the start, what was there to ask advice about?
“Nothing special happened. We just visited the shrines on the list and collected the pamphlets.”
“...Uh-huh. Sure.”
Thankfully, Renji didn't press me any further.
Instead, he fixed me with a half-exasperated, half-sympathetic look.
“You really don't have it easy either, do you, man?”
Muttering that with a quiet sigh, Renji went back to devouring his roast beef.
And silently, in the back of my head, I couldn't help agreeing with him.
◇
After eating our fill at the buffet, we headed back up to our guest room on the third floor.
The food had been top-notch from start to finish, and both Kashiwagi-san and Mizuki had seemed to enjoy the meal too.
That brought Day Two of our Kyoto trip to a close without any major disasters—
And I was just hoping we could spend a quiet, uneventful evening relaxing in our room when the sliding door clicked shut.
“—Alright, boys. I'm going to call Yukimura-san out and confess to her right now.”
The instant we stepped back into our room, Sugiuchi dropped the bombshell.
In a heartbeat, the relaxed post-dinner air in the room vanished.
“...Wait, right now?”
My hands froze halfway through tying the sash of my yukata.
Standing in the center of the tatami room with his arms crossed, Sugiuchi looked dead serious.
“S-Sugiuchi-kun?! Are you... truly going through with this tonight?!”
When Tanaka stammered the question in disbelief, Sugiuchi puffed out his chest and nodded firmly.
“Damn right I am. I've been in love with her for two solid years now. If I chicken out during our high school trip, I know I'm gonna regret it for the rest of my life.”
There wasn't a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
This wasn't some spur-of-the-moment dare fueled by school-trip excitement; he had genuinely steeled himself for this.
Having stood in those exact shoes at the cultural festival myself, I could tell at a glance how serious he was.
“...Sugiuchi.”
Before I realized it, I had spoken his name aloud.
“Yeah? What is it, Amano?”
Sugiuchi turned his head toward me—yet before I could figure out what I was even trying to say, another voice cut in.
“—Honestly, man, if I were you, I wouldn't do it.”
Leaning against the wall near the window, Renji spoke up.
Every pair of eyes in the room snapped toward him at once.
Gone was his usual breezy, playful lilt; his voice sounded unusually low and heavy.
“...And why the heck not, Miyama?”
Picking up on the strange weight in Renji's tone, Sugiuchi frowned at him.
“Uh... well, how do I put it...”
Uncharacteristically, Renji's eyes darted to the side as if he were struggling to choose his words.
He opened his mouth as though about to reveal something—then abruptly swallowed it back down.
“...Nah, never mind. Forget I said anything.”
“Huh?! Don't just drop something ominous like that and take it back!”
“I said it's nothing, man! You're going to confess to Yukimura-san, right? Look, the odds are ninety-nine percent you're gonna get shot down anyway, so go give it your best shot!”
“Wha—?! You never know until you try, dammit!”
Scratching the back of his head, Renji turned his gaze away toward the window.
Watching his profile, I felt a strange prickle of unease.
...Why did Renji try to stop him just now?
“Alright, wish me luck, boys! I'm off!”
Clenching both fists to psyche himself up, Sugiuchi marched out the door into the hallway.
Left behind on the tatami, Tanaka reached a dramatic hand toward the door calling “S-Sugiuchi-kun...!” to no avail.
As silence fell over the room, I looked back over at Renji.
“Well, then! Whaddaya say we go tag along too, Iori?”
Just like that, Renji's usual carefree grin was back on his face.
“Huh? Tag along where?”
“To spectate from the bushes, obviously! No way can we miss a live confession event this historic!”
“Seriously, man...?”
I opened my mouth to tell him how bad of manners eavesdropping was—and stopped.
Normally, I would have refused without a second thought. Tonight, however...
“...Yeah, alright. Let's go.”
“E-Even you, Amano-kun?!”
Ignoring Tanaka's scandalized gasp, Renji studied my face quietly for a fraction of a second before flashing a sharp grin.
“Now that's the spirit.”
Together, Renji and I slipped out of the room after Sugiuchi.
Trailing Sugiuchi at a discreet distance downstairs, we followed him out to a quiet corner of the courtyard garden away from the main building.
The December night wind bit sharply at our cheeks.
Illuminated by ground spotlights, the manicured pine trees stood out in stark relief against the darkness.
Ducking into the shadow of the covered wooden corridor, Renji and I peered out into the courtyard.
Near the center of the garden, two figures stood facing each other on the stone-paved path.
One was Sugiuchi, standing ramrod straight with his hands clenched at his sides.
And facing him was a breathtaking girl whose long black hair swayed gently in the night breeze.
“Y-Yukimura Mizuki-san!”
In a voice summoned from the very bottom of his lungs, Sugiuchi called out her full name.
“I'm in love with you! Please go out with me!”
...It was as straightforward and honest as a confession could possibly be.
No clever lines, no roundabout excuses—just pure, unadorned sincerity from a guy who had loved her from afar for two years.
I didn't feel the slightest urge to belittle him; I knew firsthand how terrifying it was to lay your heart bare like that.
For several seconds, only the rustle of the wind through the pine needles broke the silence.
Beside me in the shadows, Renji watched the two of them without a sound.
Then, smoothly and clearly, Mizuki spoke.
“I'm sorry.”
Her voice was completely calm and devoid of inflection.
At the rejection he had surely braced himself for, Sugiuchi's shoulders sagged heavily.
—However.
Mizuki didn't stop there.
“—Because I'm already dating someone.”
At those words—
Both my body... and Renji's right beside me... froze solid.
“—Eeeek?!”
At the exact same instant, a high-pitched squeak rang out from the opposite side of the courtyard.
Startled, I whipped my head toward the sound.
Peeking out from behind a wooden pillar across the garden was a familiar girl with chestnut-brown hair, who hurriedly ducked back into the shadows.
“...Kashiwagi-san?”
With her eyes wide as saucers, she clapped both hands over her mouth in mortified realization.
Whether by sheer coincidence or because she had noticed Mizuki stepping out, she had ended up witnessing the exact same scene from across the garden.
From behind the pillar, her wide, trembling eyes stared fixed on Mizuki.
Out on the stone path, meanwhile, Sugiuchi seemed too stunned by Mizuki's words to have even registered Kashiwagi-san's gasp.
After a long moment, he bowed his head low as if fighting to keep his composure.
“...I see. Sorry... I had no idea you already had a boyfriend.”
“No, don't apologize.”
“Thank you for coming out here to hear me out tonight.”
“Of course.”
Mizuki gave a small, polite nod.
Lifting his head, Sugiuchi forced a brief, rueful smile before turning on his heel and walking briskly back toward the main building.
After watching his retreating figure disappear inside, I turned my gaze back toward the courtyard.
Right then, Mizuki's eyes shifted—and looked straight into the shadow of the corridor where I was hiding.
Bathed in the pale garden lights, her lips curved into the faintest private smile before she looked away.
Turning gracefully, she walked over toward the pillar on the opposite side where Kashiwagi-san was still frozen.
“U-Um, Yukimura-san, I'm so sorry—!”
As Kashiwagi-san pressed her hands together in a flustered apology, Mizuki said something softly to her.
From across the garden, their voices were too quiet to make out.
Yet a moment later, Kashiwagi-san let out a visible breath of relief, and the two girls walked back into the inn side by side.
“...”
“...”
Left behind in the dark corridor were just Renji and me.
A gust of icy winter wind swept between us.
“...Hey, Iori.”
Renji's voice was barely above a whisper.
When I glanced sideways at him, he was still staring toward the doorway through which Mizuki and Kashiwagi-san had vanished.
“—Is there something going on between you and Yukimura-san?”
...My breath stopped in my lungs.
“...Huh?”
“...Nah, my bad. That's crazy talk, right? Forget I asked.”
Giving a self-deprecating wave of his hand, Renji turned his back and started walking toward the lobby.
Unable to either confirm or deny it, I stood rooted to the floorboards for a beat.
“...Yeah.”
Muttering that single hollow syllable, I followed after his retreating back.
When I cast one last glance back at the courtyard, the garden path stood empty in the cold light.
◇
SIDE: Kotoha
That scared the life out of me...
Back in our guest room after bathing, I lay sprawled across my futon staring blankly up at the ceiling.
After witnessing that scene in the courtyard earlier, I had gone straight to the hot-spring bath and come back to the room ahead of the others.
Yukimura-san and our other two roommates were still down in the bath.
...So Yukimura-san actually has a boyfriend, huh?
Replaying Sugiuchi-kun's confession in my head, my cheeks still burned at how I had accidentally let out a shriek from behind the pillar.
“—Because I'm already dating someone.”
The Yukimura Mizuki already had a lover.
If that news ever leaked out to the rest of Shirayanagi Academy, it would cause an earthquake that would shake the whole school to its foundations.
And yet... when I thought about it calmly, maybe it wasn't all that surprising.
If anything, it would be stranger for a girl that breathtakingly beautiful to never fall in love with anyone.
I wonder what kind of person her boyfriend is... Maybe a model or a young actor in the entertainment industry?
I tried picturing it in my head.
The sort of guy who could stand beside Yukimura-san as an equal.
Surely he had to be tall, devastatingly handsome, brilliant, and effortlessly suave in every way.
...Yet strangely enough, the more I tried picturing a flashy celebrity type like that next to her, the less it seemed to fit.
After talking with her in the bath last night, I couldn't imagine her choosing someone for shallow reasons like status or fame.
What kind of guy is Yukimura-san's actual type, I wonder...?
Up until twenty minutes ago, I had assumed she had zero interest in romance altogether.
And while I felt a little bad imagining how devastated the boys in our class would be if they ever found out...
...Truthfully, what a huge relief.
More than anything else, a wave of pure relief had washed over my chest.
Selfish and pathetic as it made me feel to admit it—
—Yukimura-san already had a boyfriend of her own.
Which meant she wasn't my rival—I wouldn't have to compete against her for Amano-kun's heart.
That realization alone had lifted a crushing weight off my shoulders.
When she was feeding him Pocky on the bullet train yesterday, my heart nearly stopped... Because if Yukimura-san had been my rival, I wouldn't have stood a ghost of a chance.
I still remembered the overwhelming, almost blinding presence she had radiated onstage at the Miss Shirayanagi Pageant.
If I ever had to compete directly against her for the same boy, nobody would ever choose me over her. Even now, I couldn't help thinking that.
So learning that Yukimura-san had her own lover was the best news I could have asked for.
...Not that Yukimura-san having a boyfriend magically meant I could date Amano-kun, of course.
Right as my shoulders slumped at that reminder, the sliding door clicked open and made me jump.
“Oh, welcome back, Yukimura-san!”
Sitting up quickly on my futon, I greeted Yukimura-san as she stepped into the room fresh from the bath.
Her long black hair was still slightly damp from the hot spring, her porcelain cheeks tinged with a soft rose flush.
...Even fresh out of the bath without a stitch of makeup, she looked impossibly gorgeous.
Though honestly, I doubted she even wore makeup to school on normal days to begin with.
God really played favorites when He made her, huh...?
Rather than the bitter sting I used to feel, the sheer gap between us only made me smile wryly now.
“I'm back,” Yukimura-san replied.
Her answer was brief as always, yet it didn't feel cold at all anymore.
Up until yesterday morning, just sitting in the same room with her had been enough to make me tense up.
Sure, a little lingering awe remained—but the ugly wall of avoidance I had built up inside my head was completely gone.
In fact, after our heart-to-heart in the open-air bath last night, I genuinely felt happy just being able to talk with her.
“Um... I'm really sorry again about earlier in the courtyard.”
“No, it's okay.”
Setting her bath basket down, Yukimura-san gave a small shake of her head.
She was a girl of few words, and she didn't put on fake social smiles to flatter people.
Yet whenever you spoke to her honestly, she listened with her whole attention and answered you without pretense.
And that sincerity alone made me genuinely happy.
...Maybe this is how everyone else in class feels around her, too.
Call it natural charisma; without even realizing it, I could feel myself being drawn to her too.
And honestly, being able to admire her openly like this felt infinitely better than resenting her from afar.
“I really wasn't trying to eavesdrop on you and Sugiuchi-kun, I promise! I just went looking for you and stumbled into it...”
“It's okay. I really don't mind, Kashiwagi-san.”
Sitting down neatly on her futon, Yukimura-san uncapped a small bottle of hair oil and began working a few drops through the ends of her damp hair.
Seeing that even someone as naturally flawless as her took diligent care of her hair made me oddly relieved.
Our other two roommates still hadn't come back from the bath.
According to a message they'd sent to our room group chat earlier, they were dropping by another girls' room down the hall.
—Which meant that for a little while longer, Yukimura-san and I could talk just the two of us.
“U-Um, Yukimura-san?”
“?”
Having called her name, I hesitated for a beat.
Was it rude to pry? Even so, my curiosity was burning too brightly to hold back.
Brushing past my hesitation, I opened my mouth and asked.
“What kind of person... is your boyfriend, Yukimura-san?”
The instant I asked, Yukimura-san's fingers paused mid-stroke in her hair.
When she turned her ruby eyes toward me in silence, I immediately panicked and waved both hands.
“A-Ah, I'm so sorry! After I accidentally overheard something so private, you don't have to answer if you don't want to—!”
I instantly kicked myself for asking such a nosy question.
“...No, I don't mind.”
Far from looking annoyed, however, Yukimura-san tilted her head in quiet thought for a moment.
“He's kind, a little clumsy... and really cute, I think.”
Her voice softened into a warm, affectionate murmur.
“O-Oh... really?”
Hearing that answer surprised me a little.
...So that was the kind of person Yukimura-san liked.
Here I had been picturing some suave, untouchable prince—yet her tastes sounded surprisingly relatable.
Just as I opened my mouth to ask a little more about him—
“...!”
My breath caught in my throat.
Looking at Yukimura-san's profile as she gazed fondly off into the distance—
Her ruby eyes were narrowed in a sweet, dreamy glow, her lips curved into a smile of pure bliss.
I was certain not a single other person at our school had ever seen Yukimura Mizuki wear an expression like that.
“...You really like him a lot, huh?”
The obvious question slipped out before I could stop myself.
Of course she liked him—they were dating, after all.
Yet the answer Yukimura-san gave me went far beyond anything I had imagined.
“—Yes. I love him.”
Every muscle in my body froze solid.
No words would come out. Because the Yukimura Mizuki—
Had just said I love him without a trace of hesitation.
“I-I see...”
“Mm.”
By the time she looked back at me, her expression was already as serene and composed as usual.
Even so, the weight of those words hung palpably in the air.
Just when I thought I had begun to understand her a little, I realized I still didn't know her at all.
Still... I see.
Even someone like Yukimura-san could fall that wholeheartedly in love with another person.
“...Hey, Yukimura-san.”
Before I knew it, the words were already leaving my lips.
“What is it?”
“Um, to tell you the truth... there's someone I like too. Or rather... someone I've had an unrequited crush on.”
Yukimura-san turned her head and looked at me quietly.
She probably wondered why I was bringing this up out of nowhere—yet knowing she had someone she loved made me want to ask her.
If it were Yukimura-san...
“The person I love already has someone else he likes. And when I confessed... he couldn't choose me.”
My voice dropped to a tiny whisper.
Swallowing the tightness in my throat, I forced out the rest.
“Even so... I still haven't been able to give up on him.”
In my lap, my hands clenched tightly into fists.
“If you were in my shoes, Yukimura-san... what would you do?”
The instant I asked, I wanted to hold my head in my hands. Who did I think I was asking?!
No boy on earth would ever turn Yukimura-san down in the first place.
There was no way someone who had never lost in love could understand how a rejected girl felt.
Right as I opened my mouth to take the question back—
“If it were me...”
Yukimura-san spoke before I could.
Looking up, I saw her gazing absently out the window from her futon.
After a few seconds of silence, she answered.
“I don't think I would ever give up.”
She spoke the words in her usual calm, gentle tone.
“...!”
I froze in surprise at her answer.
Never give up. Even in a situation like mine?
“What about you, Kashiwagi-san?”
“Huh?”
“What is it that you want to do, Kashiwagi-san?”
As I sat there speechless, Yukimura-san turned the question back to me.
My breath caught in my throat.
“...I...”
Clenched in my lap, my fingers were trembling.
I knew in my head that I ought to give up—that stepping back was the sensible, proper choice for everyone involved.
And yet... my true feelings were...
“—”
Right as I summoned my courage and opened my mouth to answer—the words froze in my throat.
Because my eyes had just met Yukimura-san's gaze.
...Yukimura-san?
Until a heartbeat ago, her expression had been completely normal:
Gentle, tranquil, and breathtakingly beautiful—
The Yukimura-san everyone in our class admired.
And yet—
Why does she have eyes like that right now...?
It felt as though the girl sitting in front of me had abruptly turned into someone else entirely.
Her gaze was glassy, inorganic, and freezing cold—just like a lifeless doll's.
“—What is it that you want to do, Kashiwagi-san?”
An icy chill raced straight up my spine.
I didn't know why—but every instinct in my body was whispering a warning:
—You must not answer this question lightly.
I could feel that premonition in my bones.
...Even so, I...
The textbook-correct answer was obvious.
Stop getting involved with Amano-kun now that he has a girlfriend, give up cleanly, and find someone new.
Anyone in the world would say that was the right answer.
And yet...
“...I don't want to give up. Even now... I still want to be with Amano-kun forever.”
In a trembling voice, I spoke the truth aloud.
I knew how dishonest and selfish it was to refuse to give up on a boy who already had a girlfriend.
Still, that was my undeniable, honest heart.
And to that feeling alone, I refused to tell a lie.
“...I see.”
At my answer, Yukimura-san gave a small nod.
She showed neither anger nor judgment—simply accepting my words as a statement of fact.
Then, after a brief beat of silence—
“If that's what you want to do, Kashiwagi-san, then I think you should follow your heart.”
Saying that, she offered a quiet smile.
...A smile as pale, tranquil, and hauntingly beautiful as the winter moon floating in the night sky.
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