03 Kato
When I was in fifth grade, there were two eccentric girls in my class: Rin Shiba and Sakurako Nagumo.
When you hear “eccentrics,” you probably imagine the guy who wears short sleeves and shorts even in winter, the guy who memorizes the names of all the world’s capitals, or the person who is unusually good at drawing—just your typical “weird” kids. But these two weren’t that common type. They had characters so distinct they could have appeared in an anime or manga.
Shiba always had her hair tied back in a single ponytail; she was a straightforward person without any hidden sides, like the protagonist of a shonen manga.
She had outstanding athletic reflexes, was bright, a good talker, and the center of the class. However, she was incredibly strong-willed and the type to use her fists immediately (limited to boys, though).
But she wasn’t just quick to hit; she would immediately do what she thought was right and absolutely refused to do what she thought was wrong. So, in a way, she felt reliable.
For example, two people were supposed to do the daily class duties together, but there was a time when the other person was absent during my turn.
(Why do I have to do this all by myself? This is so tedious…)
I remember thinking that while erasing the chalkboard during recess. Then, Shiba, who had been talking loudly until a moment ago, was suddenly next to me and started erasing the board too.
What’s more, the people who were with Shiba started helping with the cleaning while continuing their conversation, so the duty finished even faster than usual.
“A-Ah, thanks…”
I felt embarrassed being helped by a girl and whispered my thanks.
“It’s nothing? Just give me a proper thanks in ‘some form’ eventually, okay?”
Shiba made a face like a mischievous cat and resumed talking with her friends.
—Somehow, that was it for me. I was done for.
It wasn’t just me. The boys in class were full of “victims” who had been done in like that.
At first glance, she wasn’t that stunning, but the more you looked, Shiba’s face wasn’t bad… it’s strange how it started to look that way. Plus, she had a way of casually touching people regardless of gender, so everyone couldn’t help but become conscious of her.
When the topic of “who do you like” came up in the boys’ room during the school camping trip, Shiba’s name was the first to be mentioned. Well, her character made her name easy to say, but I think everyone was actually pretty serious.
By the way, it seemed like many of the girls liked Shiba too. I can understand that feeling. She was the kind of person who made you want to be with her even without romantic feelings.
I’m honestly a gloomy person, the type who was always in the corner, but Shiba was like a bright lightbulb that illuminated every corner of the classroom. Because of her, people like me didn’t end up isolated, and there was no bullying in the class she was in.
That said, Shiba wasn’t some perfectly fair and impartial person of character. She just did what she wanted and clearly had favorites. She always had an absolute “number one.”
And that was Nagumo.
If Shiba was the protagonist character, Nagumo was like the cool villain.
The type that becomes popular after joining the protagonist’s side halfway through.
She had long, black hair that looked almost artificial, cut in a blunt fringe right above her eyes. Her expression was always stern, and her gaze was sharp.
When my mother saw her during a parent-teacher observation day, she said things like, “Isn’t she a beautiful girl?” but to us, the image of her being “scary” was stronger. Besides, Nagumo’s grandmother was supposedly a mage, so her character was just too over-the-top.
Rumor had it that her grandmother dressed like a witch and did suspicious fortune-telling in the basement of a building near Urayasu Station.
Our elementary school was on the reclaimed land side, so the station we used was Shin-Urayasu; Urayasu Station on the “old town” side was quite far. It was the same city, but it felt like a different town.
Still, there are chances to go there, so I once tried looking for Nagumo’s grandmother’s shop out of curiosity.
It’s clean now, but back then the river near the station was dirty and gave off a foul stench. I rode my bike around in circles looking for it in that nauseating smell.
Eventually, I found a sign that looked like fortune-telling in front of an old building, and the shop was in the basement. But just peeking down the stairs felt dark and suspicious, and I ran away immediately.
(I’m a gloomy introvert and a coward, so it can’t be helped.)
I made that excuse to myself and thought, “Nagumo really is suspicious after all.”
Nagumo was annoyingly good at both studying and sports.
It didn’t feel like she had natural talent like Shiba’s athleticism; it felt like she put in the proper effort to do everything flawlessly.
Normal kids usually act humble about what they can do, or conversely, exaggerate it to get a laugh, but Nagumo didn’t have that kind of vanity. She was the type to clearly state what she was capable of.
If someone flattered her saying, “Nagumo-san, you’re so good at studying,”
she’d drop a logical truth bomb with a composed face: “It’s because I study properly every day.”
To us elementary schoolers, that was a bit off-putting. …Actually, it’d probably be off-putting even if we weren’t elementary schoolers.
Furthermore, she basically didn’t talk to anyone and read books by herself during recess. Those books had black leather bindings and an “obvious” atmosphere; apparently, they were for studying magic.
She radiated a “don’t come near me” aura, and it was simply impossible to approach her.
However, there are people who can’t read the room everywhere. In our class, that was Goto.
One day, Goto said to Nagumo while she was reading:
“You’re always just reading books. Is that gloomy-looking book really interesting?”
The air in the classroom froze.
Hey, hey, that’s the one thing we agreed not to say. Why did you go and step on a landmine that’s clearly visible?
Nagumo looked at Goto and started to say something, but Shiba flew in faster than that. She literally flew. To be specific, she delivered a flying kick to Goto’s back.
As Goto flew back more beautifully than anything you’d see on a variety show these days, Shiba declared:
“Shut up, Goto. Sakurako is studying hard to become a mage. I want to see that magic. I won’t forgive anyone who gets in her way, okay?”
She declared it like a hero of justice who solves things with violence. Shiba and Nagumo didn’t usually talk that much in the classroom, but there was a sort of invisible bond, and Shiba would launch an emergency scramble whenever something happened to Nagumo.
Goto, being no exception, had a thing for Shiba, so he probably thought being kicked was a form of physical affection.
“What gives, Shiba? That hurt!”
With a flushed face, he looked more like he was enjoying it than being in pain.
At that moment, I also looked at Nagumo’s face, and she was smiling in a troubled way. I thought, Oh, she can make faces like that.
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One winter day after school, because we were in the same class committee or something, only Nagumo and I were left in the classroom. I don’t remember exactly what we were doing. I only vividly remember the madder-red sky visible from the classroom window.
Nagumo handled the work efficiently while I displayed my usual incompetence and the work didn’t progress, which was very awkward.
Furthermore, once Nagumo finished her share, she started doing my share without a word,
so it was painful, as if I were being blamed internally:
(You useless guy!).
Unable to bear the awkward silence, I scrambled for a topic in my head.
And then, I accidentally said:
“Nagumo, your grandmother does fortune-telling near Urayasu Station, right? I’ve seen that shop before.”
As soon as it left my mouth, I thought, Oh no!
Why did I bring that up? Surely Nagumo would think I’m a guy with no delicacy. I was going to regret this to death before sleeping tonight and fall into self-loathing, thinking “people like me shouldn’t talk at all.” I knew it.
However, Nagumo answered nonchalantly as usual.
“Yeah. You should go if you have troubles. The reputation seems to be good.”
Her voice seemed to have a hint of a bright color in it.
Encouraged by her reaction, I continued.
“…Does she tell the future with magic?”
“Magic doesn’t have that kind of power. My grandmother’s fortune-telling just gives people a little push in a good direction.”
“Does that mean magic and fortune-telling aren’t related?”
Then isn’t it a fake? I thought. Probably, people who go to that shop go there thinking magic will do something for them.
“Kato-kun, what do you think magic is?”
Nagumo looked at me with a sharp gaze. …No, it just looked sharp; it was probably just how she was born. For some reason, it was only at this moment that I finally thought so. Maybe it’s because I looked at Nagumo’s face head-on.
“You chant a incantations and make mysterious things happen, right? Like making fire or water come out. Though I hear it’s not that convenient.”
“No, Kato-kun. Magic is magic if the person thinks it’s magic.”
Nagumo started saying something that sounded like a sly adult’s deception.
“What’s that? Then anything can be magic. You mean it’s fine even if you can’t actually use magic?”
“Yes, it’s always been that way since a long time ago.”
Nagumo looked out at the twilight through the window.
“Magic is originally like that. Nowadays it’s been explained away like ‘it was actually this or that,’ but the magic we think of is just a prop, nothing more than a little trigger for a purpose.”
“Then why are you studying magic, Nagumo? If you learn the props, it won’t have any meaning, right?”
“I’m doing it because I want to, is that bad?”
The face Nagumo made as she gave a bashful smile was very beautiful, and in that instant, the ranking of people I liked in my head was swapped.
Elementary school boys are so simple. Or maybe men are simple regardless of age?
A man is a sad creature who can misunderstand even just a little bit of kindness.
After that, I was never in the same class as Shiba and Nagumo again, but for some reason, I still remember clearly the time I was in the same class as those two.
—
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