"Here... maybe?"
Right after school, I bolted out of the classroom, stopped by a convenience store to grab a drink, and started scouting the area near Yumekawa's house.
The only information I had was "nearby," and obviously I couldn't ask Yumekawa for more details than that. I was just wandering on a hunch.
She might live in an apartment. There might not even be a nameplate.
So I'd made peace with the fact that if I couldn't find it, I'd just give up. But surprisingly, I spotted what I was looking for almost immediately.
A nameplate with the characters for "Kurenai."
It was a regular single-family house.
"...Why am I so nervous?"
My finger trembled as I reached for the doorbell.
Part of me hoped no one would answer. I knew it was selfish—tracking down her house and showing up unannounced, then wishing she wouldn't come to the door—but I pressed the bell anyway.
"Yes?"
A familiar voice came through the intercom.
My nerves spiked again.
"...Um, it's Aoyama."
"Aoyama... wait, what? Why?"
The voice sounded genuinely shocked. Immediately, I heard hurried footsteps from beyond the door.
The door swung open with force.
"Haah... haah... How do you even know where I live?"
"Ah, well... Yumekawa mentioned you lived nearby."
"...And? What do you want?"
Kurenai stood there in her loungewear, looking sulky.
"Ah, no... I just thought, if you were feeling under the weather, maybe I could bring you something... a get-well drink or whatever."
"...I see. Thanks. But it's not a big deal. I was just feeling a bit rough, that's all."
She seemed unimpressed, but she took the bag I held out.
Then—
"...Wanna come in?"
"Huh? I mean, I don't want to intrude—"
"You let me into your place every day. It's only fair. Besides, I don't want someone seeing us talking out here. No one's home right now."
"...Alright then. Pardon the intrusion."
And just like that, I ended up stepping inside Kurenai's house.
◇
"Sit over there."
I was led straight into the living room and sat down on the sofa in the middle of the room.
The place was pretty spacious and clean.
There were certificates and photos displayed here and there.
All of them were Kurenai's. Awards from winning some kind of tournaments, it seemed.
And the photos... wait, is that—?
"Hey, don't go looking at those without asking."
I had stood up and was peering at a photo when Kurenai returned, carrying a tray with two cups.
"Ah, sorry. Wait, are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"I'm fine. It's just... one of those days I get once in a while."
"Those days... oh, right."
"My cycle's irregular. Anyway, stop staring at my old pictures."
She set the tray down on the table with a bit more force than necessary and sat across from me, shooting me a slight glare.
"I was just surprised you actually played softball. And you were pretty amazing, huh?"
"Not really. I was just decent at the prefectural level."
"So, did you quit because of an injury or something?"
"It doesn't matter. What about you?"
"I..."
The words caught in my throat.
Well, technically it was an injury. But it wasn't from practice or an accident.
I hesitated, unsure how to explain it. She must have sensed it because she said, "You don't have to say if you don't want to."
"It's not that I don't want to tell you."
"Then what? Just spit it out. You're a guy, aren't you?"
"...It was an injury. But I didn't mess up my elbow playing baseball."
"An accident or something?"
"No. It happened when I punched someone."
"What?"
Maybe it was the guilt of having glimpsed into her past without permission.
Whatever it was, I found myself confessing the history I'd kept hidden all this time.
"Not that it's an excuse. But there was a teammate getting bullied. We weren't even that close. I just... beat the crap out of the guys who were doing it to him."
"And that's how you wrecked your elbow?"
"...Yeah. In the end, between the injury and the violence, my scholarship offers vanished. So I ended up coming to this school."
I used to feel sick just remembering this story.
But today, for some reason, I felt calm.
"Hmm. Well, you do kinda look like you've got a short fuse."
"In what way?"
"That's exactly what I'm talking about."
"Huh?"
"I'll go get some snacks. Just drink your tea."
She stood up, then added, "And don't stare at the pictures."
With that final warning, Kurenai left the room.