Masashi wasn’t sure what to make of her statement – did that mean she intended to come back here again? Or that he could bring it over to her place sometime?
As Yuki devoted her attention to the first glass of this extravagant indulgence, her delight was apparent. Masashi, who was tasting Keigetsu for the first time, now understood what all the excitement had been about.
‘Shall we have another glass?’
After much hesitation, she finally agreed to a second glass, but when he offered to fill it a third time, she covered her glass with her hand.
‘Later I will have one last glass,’ she said.
They then switched to the beer that they had picked up, and they chatted about silly things while they watched TV – before long the clock struck midnight.
They had both been pretending not to notice how late it was getting.
And in the distance, they could hear the signal at the train crossing.
‘That’s your last train,’ he said.
‘I know,’ she replied.
‘Guess you’re staying over.’
‘If you were gonna send me home now, I’d burst into tears.’
Yuki stood up, her glass in hand, and went to the kitchen. There was the sound of water running as she rinsed her glass, followed by her steady footsteps as she came back into the room.
‘I’ll have my last glass now. And then, I’d like to take a bath.’
Masashi poured her a third glass of Keigetsu, but he declined when she offered to pour his in return.
‘Better not. I can’t hold my liquor like you.’
He switched to mineral water to sober himself up a bit.
As Yuki took tiny sips of her third glass of saké, her voice became querulous. ‘Now I’m worried. I hate to think that you don’t want me to be here with you like this.’
‘Where do you get that idea all of a sudden?’
‘Because you haven’t tried it on at all!’
‘If you want me to, you have to give me a chance. Like even now, you’re as steady as a rock, you’re so rational that you even think to rinse out your glass before having more saké, and most of the time, we’re out together somewhere. It’s not like I can put the moves on you and suggest we go to your place or mine. You could make it easier on me too, you know.
‘But I wouldn’t let you go home tonight,’ he finished saying, starting to get sulky now.
‘Fufu,’ Yuki giggled as she gulped down what was left in her glass.
‘Really? You swig that like it’s swill.’
‘Because I need to take a bath now.’
The fact that the bath was more important than savouring the last bit of Keigetsu was perhaps the surest confirmation of her attraction to him.
When the train crossed over the iron bridge, Takarazuka Music School came into view, the refined building looking like it came out of a fairyland, with its outer walls made of beige brick and its bright orange roof.
As the train rounded the bend and entered Takarazuka Station, Yuki lost her balance and grabbed onto Masashi’s arm.
Ever since that night, she no longer hesitated to lean on him.
The train stopped, the doors opened and the passengers emptied out all at once.
Amid the crowd, they could easily pick out the granny with the dog carrier, a Dachshund’s head sticking out, and her granddaughter, and as Masashi and Yuki waved at them, they saw them and waved back. They were getting off at Takarazuka, like they had said, and were headed for the descending staircase.
Masashi and Yuki were transferring to the train bound for Umeda that was waiting across the platform.
AND THEN
Takarazuka Station
After the two of them spent their first night together, they had talked about all sorts of things and much came to light.
Masashi thought that Yuki was always snatching up the books he wanted to read, but apparently Yuki’s interest was also piqued by the books that Masashi chose.
When he learned that she had felt that way, it pained him to recall how he had pegged her as a rival he was always competing against.
—I wanted to find a reason to start talking to you, but I didn’t want you to think I was a weird chick.
—I was frustrated to always just miss out on the books I wanted, but your other books – the ones I hadn’t been vying for – impressed me too. You seemed to have good taste.
—So, wait, you mean you disliked me?
—Do I really need to say that it was all the more frustrating because you were just my type?
—No, I get it. You were my type too, only I wasn’t frustrated. I thought it was lucky that time when we were both on the train, that it was my chance to say something to you.
—So, after we changed trains and you came and sat next to me, that was on purpose?
—Yeah. I wanted to show you the sandbank.
—Why?
—I figured if you were the kind of person who saw it and started talking about it with me, then you might be someone I could really like.
—So you’re saying that you really lured me in, huh? Thanks!
—Why?
—If you hadn’t lured me in, I’d never’ve had the courage to lure you in myself. You would have been disappointed, or even worse, had sour grapes or something.