Vol. 1 Chapter 10 – I Don’t Believe in Jinxes

I honestly wished that a torrential downpour like the end of the world would just fall already.

With that faint hope in my heart, Monday arrived. It was the day of the new students’ welcome sports tournament.

Fortunately or unfortunately, on that day, the sky over Yokohama City was so clear it was almost refreshing.

“Man, I’m glad it’s sunny. Today’s perfect weather for exercise.”

The high school division’s opening ceremony had gone off without a hitch, and various classes were already throwing themselves into their events. In a corner of the schoolyard, Higuchi, standing beside me with a bright, cheerful look on his face, gazed up at the sky and murmured that.

“…YeAh. GlAd It’S sUnNy.”

“Yeah, yeah, you don’t have to say things you don’t mean. Seriously, Souta, you’re always so passive when it comes to events like this. Even though back in elementary school, you used to get more fired up than anyone else, remember?”

“Of course I am. Why would a gloomy『yin』person like me have any fun participating in a sunny『yang』 event like an interclass sports tournament? The people who want to do it can just go ahead and do it by themselves.”

As I grumbled complaints in the shade of a tree, Higuchi could only shrug his shoulders at me.

Among the many events held at Hominato Academy, the spring sports tournament and the winter marathon are the two great pillars of athletic events I’m bad with.

If this weren’t a proper school event, I would have skipped it long ago. Seriously, it’s one of those cultures I’d love to see wiped out.

“Souta, it’s not like you’re bad at sports. You even learned karate. What do you hate about it so much?”

“You don’t understand, Higuchi. In this world, it’s rarer for『being able to do something』and『wanting to do it』to match up. Even if my athletic ability isn’t bad, I’d rather watch movies at home than run around outside.”

“There you go again with your weird sophistry… Oh, hey, Souta. Our team is next.”

“Great. Leave the right-side bench to me.”

“You’re a midfielder, Souta! Stop saying stupid things and let’s go!”

“H-Hey, damn it, let go!”

But sadly, no matter how much I complained, the tournament proceeded without caring.

The boys’ first event was an interclass soccer match using half of the school ground.

“Class Four Boys’ Team B, we’re definitely gonna win!”

“Yeah!”

At the shout from our classmate serving as captain, the whole team, except me, raised a battle cry.

I’m really bad with this kind of vibe. You know, it has the same smell as the staff at a ramen shop where they add『cheerfully』in front of the『open for business』sign.

If things were going to turn out like this, I should’ve hung a weather charm doll upside down last night…

※

Starting with football, I was then dragged into all sorts of other events like basketball and tug-of-war and by the time the closing ceremony finally came around, I was well and truly battered from head to toe.

Sure, maybe I’m not exactly bad at sports. But that’s a completely separate matter from parameters like stamina and physical endurance. My usual lack of exercise had come back to haunt me, and my HP gauge was already running on fumes.

“This is absolutely the kind of thing that turns into muscle pain tomorrow…”

After changing out of my jersey and back into my uniform, I quickly left the classroom.

The high school division of the sports tournament ended in the morning, so after this, students were free to spend the rest of the day however they wanted.

In our Class Four, there had been talk of everyone going out together for a wrap-up party, but of course, I wasn’t joining. I’m bad with those kinds of gatherings, and in the first place, I don’t even remember anyone inviting me.

Higuchi would probably make that exasperated face again but that means there shouldn’t be any problem even if I’m absent.

Besides, this afternoon… I also have plans with her.

“Ah. Good work today, Souta.”

“Yeah.”

Near the station closest to the school. Along my usual shortcut, Mizushima was waiting for me.

That said, it wasn’t one of her surprise attacks.

Today, I was the one who had specified this place as our meeting spot.

“Wow. Souta, you look totally exhausted. Was the sports tournament that rough?”

“All emotions other than『I want to go home』were dead.”

“Ahaha, what’s that supposed to mean? Since I’m an outside student, it was my first time participating, but I had quite a bit of fun, you know?”

“…I bet you did.”

During today’s tournament, while the boys were competing on the school ground, the girls were competing in the gymnasium.

Despite how fired up we had been going into our first soccer match, our Class Four Team B lost miserably in the very first round. Because of that, Higuchi invited me along, and we went to watch the girls’ events with the time we had left.

“Of course you’d have fun when you were winning match after match like that.”

“Oh. Souta, you came to watch my match?”

In the girls’ volleyball match being held in the gymnasium, the special advancement class’s Team A, led by Mizushima, had kept winning with unstoppable momentum.

Some of their opponents were second-year classes, and some teams even had volleyball club members, but Mizushima, who was supposed to be an amateur, fully displayed her naturally high physical ability. She defeated every single one of them.

“In the end, we lost in the finals, though. Man, if we were going that far anyway, I wanted to win the whole thing.”

“No, no. Your opponents in the finals were a team where more than half of them were volleyball club members and they even had their ace senpai, right? Just putting up a good fight against people like that was already more than insane enough.”

Incidentally, Ena-chan, who ended up on a different team from Mizushima for the actual event, had apparently lost in the first round just like me. By the time we arrived at the gymnasium, she was already enthusiastically cheering for Mizushima’s team.

Mizushima’s all-round, tremendous performance was certainly worth seeing, but for me, the true blessing for the eyes was getting to see Ena-chan in her jersey, somehow made to hold cheerleading pom-poms, earnestly cheering,『Go, go』.

What the hell was that? Way too cute. If someone cheered for me like that, I could keep going forever, seriously. Soccer, basketball, whatever, I’d mow everyone down all at once. I’d freaking do it.

As I smirked while remembering it, Mizushima said, 『But』and peered into my face.

“The sports tournament was fun and all, but this is where it really starts, right? Today’s main event.”

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

“Hehe, I’m looking forward to it. Come on, come on, Souta, let’s hurry up and go.”

“I-I get it, so stop pulling me. I’m not running away anywhere… not today.”

That’s right. Today, I intended to face my『match』with Mizushima, no, my date with her, with everything I had.

You might be wondering what had gotten into me, but it wasn’t like I seriously intended to enjoy my date with Mizushima.

It was just that, instead of reluctantly going along like usual or doing only the bare minimum as her boyfriend, today I had decided to fully act as Mizushima’s『boyfriend』.

Because just the other day, I had ended up owing her one hell of a huge debt.

If Mizushima hadn’t protected me last night, I might have been badly injured by that stalker guy. At the very least, it was such a huge debt that treating her to one meal wouldn’t be nearly enough to repay it.

Even if the other person was my sworn enemy, I felt that continuing our『match』without repaying that debt would be far too unfair.

I don’t think I’m such a lowlife that I’d prioritize winning even if it meant becoming that ungrateful.

So today was not a date for the sake of our『match』.

It was a date to repay my debt to Mizushima, in other words, a date for returning the favor.

“Speaking of which… hey, Souta. I still haven’t heard it yet, you know?”

“Ugh? W-What Ever CoUld YoU MeAn?”

“Ah. Hey, no playing dumb. You’re the one who said, 『For the whole day today, I’ll seriously carry out my role as your boyfriend』right, Souta? So, come on, come on.”

“W-Wait, I’m still mentally preparing myself… Can’t I say it after we get there?”

“Nope. Say it here and now.”

“Ghh… F-Fine! I’ll say it! I just have to say it, right?!”

Feeling my face suddenly growing hot, I turned to face Mizushima.

Before my eyes was Mizushima, staring at me with sparkling, expectant eyes. Looking at her properly from the front like this, she really does have an insanely good face.

“Suuuu… haaaaa…”

I took a deep breath, at least trying to steady my mind, then finally steeled myself and muttered.

“To… today, let’s have fun together, Shizuno.”

Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! T-This is way too embarrassingggggggg!

Sure, I did say that today, I’d spend the whole time acting as her boyfriend in order to repay her!

But even so, calling her by her first name is still rough, Mizushima-san!

“Y-Yeah. Let’s make lots of memories together… Souta?”

Hey, stop that! Why are you, of all people, suddenly making such an unusually serious embarrassed face?!

You’re the one who made me call you that, so don’t get embarrassed yourself! That just makes it even more embarrassing!

“U-Um… then, shall we go?”

“Y-Yeah…”

From an outsider’s perspective, I wonder how we looked right now.

I’d really hate it if we looked like some innocent couple who had only just started dating and still weren’t used to calling each other by their names.

Both of us blushing, we hurriedly made our way toward the station.

※

We took the train from the station closest to the school, and eventually arrived in the Minato Mirai district, where Mizushima’s apartment building was located.

Today’s destination was Yokohama Cosmo World, an amusement park in the commercial area by the harbor.

“Ohhh, it really is huge when you see it up close.”

“Well, yeah. It’s basically the symbol of this whole area.”

Looking up at the giant Ferris wheel, which was over one hundred and ten meters long in total, Mizushima let out a voice of admiration.

This three-dimensional amusement park, spreading out as if straddling the canal in the harbor area, was one of the representative sightseeing spots of the Minato Mirai district. It was also a place I often came to with my family when I was a kid.

In short, this was the stage for today’s『repayment date』.

“Actually, this is my first time coming here privately. I’ve come here a few times for photoshoots, though.”

“Seriously? I thought every kid who lived around here had definitely gone at least once.”

“Well, my parents were always busy, even back then. I only ever looked down at it from the window at home.”

Mizushima said that with a slightly lonely expression, but then she immediately broke into a full smile.

“That’s why I’m really looking forward to today. Let’s play until we’ve conquered every single attraction, Souta.”

“Yeah, yeah. In that case, I’ll go along with you completely.”

“Mm. It’s not『you』right? Call me properly by my name.”

“Ugh… I’ll go along with you completely… Shizuno.”

“Nfufu~♪ Good.”

Mizushima, who had been puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, smiled from the bottom of her heart the moment I called her by her first name without honorifics.

What a troublesome girlfriend she is….No, wait, she really is my troublesome girlfriend.

“So, what do you want to do? Since it’s a weekday, it should be pretty empty, and we can probably start anywhere.”

“Hmm, let’s see~”

Just as Mizushima placed a hand on her chin, looking troubled, a『Kyaaa!』scream came from an attraction nearby. Then came the sound of water splashing loudly: bashaan.

That was, if I remember correctly, one of this amusement park’s main attractions, the『Diving Coaster』.

It was one hell of a roller coaster that ran freely all over a three-dimensional course, then, at the very end, plunged into a tunnel opened right in the middle of the pool below the rails.

“Souta, that one. Let’s ride that.”

“Got it. By the way, that one splashes water on you at the end, so be careful.”

“Really? I’m only wearing one shirt right now, so if I get wet, will it become see-through?”

“If you guard yourself with your bag or something, you should be fine to some extent.”

“Okay, I’ll do that. Oh, by the way, today I’m wearing light blue.”

“You don’t need to go out of your way to report that kind of thing!”

“Au!”

When I gave her a light chop to the head, Mizushima narrowed her eyes and smiled, even while saying,『That’s mean, Souta』. Why does this girl look so happy after being lightly bonked?

“Hey, Souta, next I want to try riding that.”

“I wonder what kind of building that is? Souta, let’s go inside.”

“That attraction just now was amazing. Let’s ride it one more time, Souta.”

After that, I continued going around the amusement park according to Mizushima’s whims.

There were thrill rides like roller coasters and free falls, and horror-type attractions like haunted houses.

No matter what we did, Mizushima got excited like a child, so rather than feeling like her boyfriend, I felt more like an uncle looking after a relative’s kid.

It might be strange coming from me, but is this really okay, Mizushima? Well, as long as she’s having fun, that’s what matters.

And so, at last, the sun began sinking into the western sky, and it was around the time when we were both getting tired from playing and thinking of heading home.

“Hey, Souta. There’s one last place I want to go.”

“I can sort of guess what it is… but fine. Say it.”

“Hehe, I’m sure it’s exactly what you’re thinking.”

The place Mizushima looked up at as she said that was the same gigantic Ferris wheel that had greeted us first when we arrived here.

Even though it was the biggest attraction in this amusement park, Mizushima had deliberately avoided saying she wanted to ride it until now, so I had kind of expected this.

Well, when it comes to wrapping up an amusement park date, it really does have to be that, doesn’t it?

Just the two of us on a Ferris wheel at sunset. It was such an obviously couple-like situation that, honestly, it was embarrassing.

However, today, I had decided to act as Mizushima’s『boyfriend』with everything I had. If this was what she wanted, then going along with it was my own way of『repaying the favor』.

“Sure. Let’s ride it. The Ferris wheel.”

“…! Hehe, yay.”

Together with Mizushima, who was smiling more happily than she had all day, we headed toward the base of the Ferris wheel.

In the boarding line, aside from us, there were also several pairs of men and women who looked like couples, happily smiling at each other.

To people who didn’t know anything, I’m sure we probably looked just like that right now too.

“Thank you for waiting~ Next group, please come forward~”

Eventually, our turn came, and following the staff lady’s guidance, we climbed into the gondola.

“Look, Souta. This gondola has a transparent ceiling and floor too.”

Just as Mizushima said, the gondola we had boarded was different from the others, with every side made see-through. Out of the roughly sixty gondolas in total, it was one of the special ones, of which there were only four, if I remembered right.

“Come to think of it, I’ve heard about this. There’s a jinx that says if a couple rides the『Gondola of Happiness』on Cosmo World’s Ferris wheel, they’ll be promised lifelong love. Maybe this is it?”

“Who knows. I’ve heard that rumor too, but in the end, it’s just a jinx. If you gathered four couples in the middle of a dead relationship right before breaking up, put them all on it, and they all came back lovey-dovey, then I might believe it.”

“What kind of experiment is that? Souta, there you go again, saying something completely unromantic~”

As Mizushima smiled wryly in exasperation beside me, I looked down over the port town below, which was gradually moving farther away.

‘The『Gondola of Happiness』huh…’

What if.

What if I had been able to ride this gondola with Ena-chan?

Could Ena-chan and I still have been a close, affectionate couple even now?

Maybe because I was being affected by the sunset sky of Minato Mirai, lingering in the twilight, I found myself thinking about a『what if』that could never exist.

If lifelong love really was promised, would Ena-chan have never been swayed by Mizushima?

…No, it probably didn’t matter. If Ena-chan had grown tired of me, then sooner or later, I would have been dumped either way.

Even if it hadn’t ended in the worst possible way, with her switching over to someone else, Ena-chan’s heart would surely have drifted away from me eventually.

That was a matter of human emotion, something a mere jinx could do nothing about.

“…Souta, what are you thinking about right now?”

As I stayed silent, staring fixedly at the scenery, Mizushima asked me while looking up at me.

“Nothing. Just something pointless.”

“You’re really bad at lying, Souta. It’s about Ena-chan anyway, isn’t it?”

Sitting across from me, Mizushima leaned back against the seat and crossed her arms and legs.

Then, after keeping her mouth shut for a while, Mizushima eventually muttered as if she had made up her mind.

“…Souta. You still can’t forget Ena-chan?”

When she asked me so directly, I turned my gaze back toward Mizushima.

Her dignified jade-green eyes, staring at me, seemed to be trembling ever so slightly.

“…I can’t forget her. There’s no way I could.”

Because Ena-chan, and my meeting with her, had been a revolution in my life.

In the movie called『Sakuhara Souta’s Youth』which had been monochrome and silent, Ena-chan suddenly gave me sound and color. It might sound exaggerated, but it really felt like the whole world had changed completely.

Maybe there had been no dramatic meeting, no stimulating events, and nothing like what you’d see in a youth romance drama or a romantic comedy novel.

But I couldn’t forget.

I’m sure I would never be able to forget those several months I spent with Ena-chan, not until the day I died.

“It’s strange to say this to you, my current girlfriend, but… I still love Ena-chan after all.”

“Then, tell me.”

As if cutting over my words, Mizushima interrupted.

It was as though she was indirectly saying,『I don’t want to hear any more than that』.

“How were these two weeks?”

“Huh?”

“As of today, it’s been about half the contract period since you and I started going out on a『trial』basis, right, Souta? How does the half month you spent with me compare to the four months you spent with Ena-chan?”

Mizushima asked that while looking slightly downward, her expression provocative, yet somehow anxious.

“That’s…”

Prompted by her words, I thought back over these past two weeks or so.

To use my movie analogy from earlier, when I thought about it, my meeting with Mizushima was far beyond merely dramatic.

After all, our first meeting scene had the outrageous composition of『a boy whose girlfriend was stolen』and 『the girl who was the very person responsible for stealing the boy’s girlfriend』. What kind of boy-meets-girl is that? At the very least, I’ve never seen a youth movie that started like that.

Not satisfied with just that, this girl had even gone so far as to declare that her real target was actually me, and after stealing Ena-chan from me, she confessed to me. There’s a limit to how messed up things can get. If this really were a movie, I honestly wouldn’t find it strange at all if some audience members walked out of the theater right then and there.

And even after we actually started going out on a『trial』 basis, she kept dragging me around at her pace.

In the fifteen years I’ve been living as Sakuhara Souta, this was the first time I had ever spent such an intense two weeks.

In that sense…

“…Idiot. So much has happened in these two weeks, you know? Even if I wanted to forget it, there’s no way I could anytime soon.”

I said that to her with the most fed-up expression I could manage.

The moment I did, the anxiety vanished from Mizushima’s face as if it had been a lie.

What appeared in its place was a smile so dazzling it didn’t lose even to the evening sun shining into the gondola. What the hell was she so happy about?

“…I see.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, Souta. Can I ask one more thing?”

“What is it, all formal like that?”

“Was today’s date… fun?”

When she asked that in an even more deliberately cute tone than usual, my heart jumped.

It was a question she had thrown at me countless times before.

My dates with Mizushima were, ultimately, for the sake of our『match』. No matter where I went or what I did together with Mizushima, that did not change. I felt nothing in particular about the time I spent with Mizushima, and that was why I had never once nodded in response to that question.

But… but today.

Even if it had only been for the sake of『repaying the favor』for the first time, I had spent time with Mizushima not as part of a『trial』but like real lovers… and although I didn’t want to admit it, it had definitely been there.

The part of me that had thought,『Spending time with Mizushima isn’t bad either』.

‘…I don’t know.’

She’s my sworn enemy. Even these dates are supposed to be, in the end, for the sake of rejecting her confession and cutting my ties with her cleanly and completely.

So why am I thinking, in some corner of my heart, that this is『fun』?

There shouldn’t have been even a single fragment of soil in my heart where that kind of emotion could sprout.

There shouldn’t have been.

“I…”

Feeling as if I had wandered into a maze with no goal in sight, I found myself at a loss for an answer.

Even though no words would come out, I opened my mouth as if trying to smooth things over.

However, that single moment of hesitation was, for me, hopelessly fatal.

“Souta.”

“Huh? …Nnngh!?”

All at once, the sweet scent of fragrant olive filled my nose.

The next instant, my mouth, which had been stupidly left open, was sealed by something soft and warm.

That it had been Mizushima’s lips was something I only understood after Mizushima slowly pulled her face away, then gently wiped her damp lips, glistening in the reflected evening sun, with her finger.

“I did it. This time, it went exactly as planned.”

“You… just now… ki…!?”

My tongue wouldn’t move properly from embarrassment and shock, and Mizushima smiled at me with her cheeks faintly flushed.

“That was my first kiss, you know. Mine.”

“W-Why… why, why did you…?”

“Now you won’t forget, right? About today’s date too.”

Before I knew it, the gondola we were riding had reached the very top of the Ferris wheel.

Maybe because both the floor and ceiling were transparent, I fell into the illusion that the two of us were floating alone in the sky above Minato Mirai.

“So that days like today will keep going on forever from now on, I’m definitely going to capture your heart, Souta.”

The evening sun, sinking beyond the horizon, dyed both of us orange.

Everything, absolutely everything, felt as though the whole world had changed into that single color.

“So be prepared, okay? My beloved Souta-kun?”

Mizushima’s straight-up whisper of love hit like a blazing fastball.

She had been like this from the very beginning. From the very beginning, nothing about her had changed.

That was why the fact that those words, which until now I had thought were nothing but nonsense, lies, and smooth talk meant to trap me, were somehow making my heart pound in a completely different way…

Might have been because I was the one who had changed.

Something inside me had changed.

The feeling that I loved Ena-chan still hadn’t changed at all, even now.

But…

‘What the hell is with those eyes?’

Right in front of me, close enough that our eyes and noses nearly touched, Mizushima looked at me with eyes that seemed to gaze upon something more precious than anything else in the world.

Seeing that expression on her face, whether I liked it or not, I had begun to realize it.

I realized that, inside me, the label of『sworn enemy』I had stuck onto Mizushima was slowly, but surely, peeling away.

That there was a part of me that had begun to think of her as…

A strange girl who might genuinely like someone like me.

This was… bad. Really bad.

I felt like I had gotten swept up in an extremely dangerous flow.

Because, of all things, I had ended up thinking this.

‘Can I really beat Mizushima Shizuno!?’