“Of course he’s been here the whole time!” Fujimura says like this is at all obvious.
Then she gestures proudly at the boy beside her.
“Sakuragi-kun,” she says, “meet my friend, Hoshino Akira. Akira-kun, this is Sakuragi Toji.”
“Hi,” I say stiffly. “‘Akira-kun’, was it?”
That name sounds… familiar.
“‘Hoshino-kun’ is fine,” he replies. “Just my friends call me ‘Akira-kun’.”
“…Right. Well, nice to meet you, regardless.”
I hold out my hand. The younger boy sets the bag down and shakes it.
“Nice to finally meet you,” he says with a disarming smile. “I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like I know you already.”
Well, that’s a terrifying prospect.
“Have you now,” I say instead. “Wish I could say the feeling is mutual.”
Fujimuralooks at me, more confused than annoyed.
“Weren’t you reading my letters? I mentioned Akira-kun, like, all the time.”
Is that why it sounds familiar?
“Must have slipped my mind,” I say. “That was a long time ago.”
Fujimura looks like she wants to argue but thinks better of it.
“And Ren-senpai called you ‘Sakuragi-kun’?” Hoshino asks. “That’s new.”
“Is it?” I say.
“It is,” Hoshino nods. “You’ve always been ‘Toji-kun’ in Ren-senpai’s stories.”
“…Right,” I say. “The ones you ‘know me’ from.”
“Mhmm.”
“…Right,” I say, because what else can I say to that? “Well… ‘Sakuragi-kun’ is fine now.”
“Since Saturday,” Fujimura pipes in.
Understanding dawns on Hoshino’s face.
Which… I don’t love.
“Hoshino-kun,” he reiterates.
“Great!” Fujimura says with an air of finality. “Now that everyone’s officially met…”
She turns to Akira.
“You got the stuff?”
He lifts the bag slightly.
“Of course.”
“Perfect!” she beams. “Then lead the way, Sakuragi-kun.”
By the time we reach my building, Fujimura is already a step ahead of me.
Which, of course, leads to her almost walking right past it.
“It’s this one,” I say, and she stops short.
Hoshino stops too, gazing up at the tallest building on the street.
“I don’t suppose you’re on ground level,” he hopes.
“Nope. Fifth floor.”
His eyes go wide.
“…Elevator?”
“Still broken,” I shrug.
Hoshino gives a heavy ‘of course’ kind of sigh.
“Last chance to turn back,” I taunt.
He just glares at me and starts our procession up the stairs.
Halfway up, Hoshino and Fujimura start competing over who can make the most obnoxious heavy-breathing noises, and I end up having to shush them when we make it the apartment labeled “Sakuragi”.
They go silent.
I put my ear to the apartment door and listen for a few seconds.
…Okay, coast should be clear.
“Speaking of ‘super-spy bullshit’,” Hoshino mutters to my left, and I am again mortified to remember that he was privy to that entire exchange.
I stand up straight without turning around, and a couple seconds later the apartment is unlocked.
Not one of my shoes is off before Fujimura whooshes past me and out of the entryway.
“Hey!” I shout while try to keep my balance.
But too late.
She’s already halfway down the hallway.
The hallway to an apartment no longer under my control.
“Whooaaa,” she says, poking her head into the first doorway. “So this is where you live now.”
Hoshino and I exchange a glance.
“Kitchen!” Fujimura calls. “Honestly a bit smaller than I imagined.”
I roll my eyes and get my shoes off.
“Bathroom!” she calls from the bathroom of all places.
A second later she almost runs into me as we both step into the main room from different directions.
“Oh!” she squeaks at the near-collision.
“I found the bathroom,” she laughs.
“Good job, Columbus.”
She laughs again and continues with the next door.
“Is this your mom’s room?” she calls while her head is poked inside.
“Yes!” I say. “Don’t go in there.”
“Ah,” she says and scampers across the room. “And that must make this the infamous bedroom.”
She grins back at me, then at Hoshino who has stepped up beside me.
“Don’t go in there either,” Hoshino says. “Sakuragi would probably murder you and then make me clean it up.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“You two do realize I still have a date later,” I say.
“Don’t worry!” Fujimura says. “We’ll be quick.”
“…Probably,” Hoshino says.
I sigh.
That does not inspire confidence.
“Whatever you’re gonna do, just do it and get out,” I say.
“Wow, your friend is kind of a dick,” Hoshino stage-whispers to Fujimura.
“Oh, he hates me,” Fujimura grins and stage-whispers back.
“Your enemy is kind of a dick,” Hoshino corrects himself.
“Such is the way with enemies,” Fujimura muses.
“Do I need to…” I yell, but Fujimura cuts me off.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re starting, keep your pants on,” Fujimura yells back.
“If he takes them off he has to tell Sasaki-san,” Hoshino murmurs. Fujimura giggles.
“We probably should get started, though,” he says.
Then he turns to Fujimura as if it’s her fucking house.
“Care to show me to the bathroom, Ren-senpai?”
“I would be delighted to, Akira-kun.”
And with that the two weirdos disappear into the bathroom.
I debate for a second before finally giving in and following them.
Fujimura is, of course, the one heading up our little caravan, and I watch her slide open the door to the bath area. A moment later she and Hoshino are inside while I stay a step behind, leaning on the doorframe in what I hope is a confident-looking posture.
Once inside, Fujimura immediately starts looking for the stool. When she has it, she sets it by the drain and plops down like she owns the place.
Of course.
Hoshino, meanwhile, has set his bag down next to the empty bathtub and started pulling things out of it.
“Have you even done this before?” I ask him.
Hoshino doesn’t look back at me, just reaches into his bag and produces a rolled cloth bundle. A flick of his wrist snaps it open, sending it unrolling neatly along the lip of the tub, revealing a wide array of combs and brushes and god-knows-what-else.
His hands go straight to a certain comb and pair of scissors, and he steps into position behind Fujimura.
Then he looks at me.
“Yeah, I have,” he grins.
“Showoff,” Fujimura laughs.
“Akira-kun does cosplay,” she says to me.
“Oh,” I say. “Like video game characters and stuff like that?”
“Something like that,” he kind of mumbles.
Then speaks up to Fujimura.
“Okay, how short did we want it?” Hoshino asks.
“Hmm. As short as it was before, maybe?”
“Can I make a suggestion?”
“Of course,” she says.
“I would actually probably go a little longer than you had it before. It would draw attention away from your face a bit.”
“What’s wrong with my face?!” Fujimura gasps in semi-teasing horror.
“Nothing!” Hoshino laughs. “You have a very nice face. It’s just not the same face you had as a boy. So we have to think about that too.”
“Hmm, I do see your point,” Fujimura says. “Maybe an inch or two longer, then?”
“Perfect,” Hoshino says as he starts to run the comb through Fujimura’s hair.
Fujimura closes her eyes with the contact.
“Mama used to do this for me when I was a kid,” she smiles.
“Bet you didn’t have this much hair then,” Hoshino smiles.
Fujimura laughs. “Nope!”
Fujimura is looking straight ahead and Hoshino is looking at her, and soon, just watching them from the doorway starts to feel a little… weird. Voyeuristic, almost.
“…I think I’m actually gonna go make some coffee,” I say.
Fujimura shoots me a smile as Hoshino traps a section of hair between two fingers and pulls it straight.
“Suit yourself,” he says.
Snip.
I’m gone before the first strands of red hair hit the tiles.