Chapter 310: Am I Smelly? (Patreon)

"Um… Kagami."

Sayuri gathered her courage and looked up. Her eyes were smiling, but she still kept a careful distance, a little reserved. She just stood there, looking at Tsushima Kagami.

"Please take care of me for the rest of the trip!"

Then she bowed, earnestly and properly.

Kagami looked at her, then glanced at Professor Takeuchi beside him. Professor Takeuchi said nothing, only unable to stop a smile from tugging at the corners of the mouth, and turned away to call out to the other students.

"Everyone's here, and it's almost boarding time."

"Students from the Faculty of Letters, start packing up."

Kagami could only sigh. He didn't dwell on how Sayuri had gotten approved, or why she hadn't told him. He just gave a faint smile to Sayuri, who was still bowing to him.

So… was the cold war finally over?

He reached out and gave the top of her head a light pat.

"All right, no need to be so formal."

"Please take care of me."

The pat froze Sayuri on the spot. The warmth on top of her head made her feel like her heart was about to leap out of her throat. She straightened up abruptly, clapped both hands over her hair, and stepped back twice.

"Y-you! Don't just touch my hair like that!"

"Didn't you just ask me to take care of you?"

"B-but that's not the kind of taking care I meant!"

Kagami froze.

Had he gotten it wrong? Maybe Sayuri hadn't signed up at the last minute to chase after him at all. Was he just flattering himself? Was this agonizing cold war going to go on?

He stared at Sayuri with an awkward smile, despair written all over his face.

Professor Takeuchi watched the two young people bicker, a knowing smile on the professor's face. Youth really is wonderful. Though being too fickle while young isn't good, either. Still, it was only natural for such an outstanding young man to be liked by so many girls, and even more natural that a hot-blooded youth couldn't withstand their assault.

Watching the two of them, Professor Takeuchi felt a burst of the writing urge and inspiration that hadn't come in years. I have to write something as soon as we're on the plane!

Professor Kosaka walked over just then, holding a stack of boarding passes and handing them out.

"Stop standing around, everyone. Get ready to board."

The group dragged their luggage toward the boarding gate. Kagami and Sayuri walked side by side with about half a meter between them, the atmosphere so delicate it felt like walking a tightrope.

Sayuri kept her head down, eyes fixed on the tips of her shoes, her mind racing. What the senpai had told her popped up one line after another.

"In a foreign land where you don't know anyone, the only people you can rely on are each other."

"If you're afraid of walking in the dark at night, shouldn't you hold hands?"

"If you get lost and can't find your way, shouldn't you stick close together?"

"If the weather turns cold, shouldn't you keep each other warm?"

…

But… I just messed up again!

I instinctively, out of habit, refused Kagami's head pat. And I used to like it so much! How did it turn out like this?!

Never mind. There are still three weeks. There'll be a chance sooner or later!

"Sayuri, are you feeling unwell?"

"?"

Sayuri's head snapped up.

"N-no, I'm fine."

"Then why is your face going red one moment and white the next?"

"B-because I ran so fast just now!"

"Right, that's it."

As she spoke, she even fanned her face with her hand. Kagami glanced at her and didn't press the matter.

A line had formed at the boarding gate, and the two of them stood in the middle of it. The upperclassmen ahead chatted in twos and threes, the mood relaxed and lively.

Sayuri stood behind Kagami, secretly looking at his back.

This person… the one she had liked since high school was right in front of her now. And for almost a whole month, they would be together. Her heart rate climbed at the thought.

She took a deep breath and quietly cheered herself on. Sayuri, you can do this. It's just talking, isn't it? Just being a little proactive, isn't it? You used to be so proactive! All you have to do is go back to how you were!

…

"Boarding pass, please."

The staff member's voice cut off her wandering thoughts. Kagami had already passed through the gate and looked back at her. Flustered, Sayuri fumbled out her boarding pass and handed it over.

Once through, she hurried to catch up with him, and the two of them walked down the jet bridge toward the cabin together.

The plane was a Boeing 787, with seats assigned in advance. Kagami looked at the boarding pass in his hand, then at Sayuri's.

"Where are you sitting?"

Sayuri looked down, her voice as small as a mosquito's.

"37J, by the window…"

Kagami looked at his own. 37K. Right next to hers.

He fell silent for two seconds. Sayuri noticed too, and was stunned for a moment as well. This… was so awkward!

"Um… maybe… the seats just happened to be assigned together…"

She tried to explain, but even she found the excuse laughably weak.

Kagami drew in a deep breath, then let it out.

"Let's go find our seats first."

Their seats were in the middle of the cabin, on the window side. Kagami let Sayuri slide in first, stowed his backpack in the overhead compartment, and sat down beside her.

The space between the seats wasn't wide, and their shoulders almost touched. Sayuri pressed herself against the window as if trying to put some distance between them, but a plane seat is only so big, and no amount of squeezing could make much difference.

Kagami glanced at her.

"Why are you pressed up so close to the window? Is there something on it?"

"N-no, I just… like looking at the scenery outside."

"All there is out there right now is the tarmac."

"Then I want to look at that."

Sayuri stubbornly turned her face to the window.

"Do I smell that bad or something?"

"N-no…"

Sayuri said, still looking out the window.

"Then why do you look like you want to be as far from me as possible, and keep turning away?"

"Ugh, anyway, just sit back once you've looked enough!"

Without turning her head, Sayuri put out a hand and pushed the leaning-in Kagami back into his seat.

?

Sitting in his own seat, Kagami felt hurt for the first time.

"I really, truly love you, so why are you crying?"

"Why are you crying? Why are you crying?"

That song was all that filled Kagami's head now, along with the image of Sakiko pinching her nose in disgust and waving the air away from him…

Kagami didn't say anything more. He took a book out of his backpack and opened it.

Passengers filed into the cabin, and the noise gradually filled the space. The flight attendants began the safety demonstration, and the captain's welcome came over the speakers.

Sayuri, separated from him by the window glass, watched the reflection of Kagami's profile. Brow furrowed, wearing a hurt expression, he was even more heart-fluttering than usual.

Oh no, I think I've awakened some dangerous attribute.

She hurriedly patted her cheeks, quietly looked away, and sat up straight.

The plane began to taxi, the roar of the engines growing louder. It accelerated, tilted upward, and left the ground. Outside the window, the runway became lawns, then houses, then the shrinking outline of a city.

Finally, the plane broke through the clouds. A white sea of cloud spread out beyond the window, and sunlight poured through the porthole, warm and soft.

Watching the clouds, Sayuri gradually calmed down. She stole a glance sideways and found that Kagami had closed his book and was leaning back with his eyes shut.

"Are you asleep?" she asked softly.

No answer. His breathing was even and steady, his eyelashes perfectly still. He really was asleep.

Sayuri stared at him for a few seconds, and once she was sure, her courage suddenly swelled. Slowly, bit by bit, she tilted her body toward him. When their shoulders were about to touch, she stopped, her heart pounding like a drum.

"Just… a little lean."

She muttered it under her breath, then gently, tentatively, rested her head on his shoulder.

Warmth seeped through from where they touched, carrying the faint scent that was his alone. Sayuri closed her eyes. Her heart was racing, yet she felt wonderfully at peace. If only this moment could last forever, she thought.

The plane flew steadily above the clouds, sunlight falling over the two young people. Sayuri's breathing gradually grew even and slow. She really did lean on him, and fall asleep.

Who knows how long later, the cabin lights dimmed into night mode. Kagami's eyelids twitched slightly, and then he opened his eyes.

He looked down at Sayuri, sleeping soundly on his shoulder. There was some helplessness in his gaze, and some feeling he couldn't quite name. He slowly raised a hand and hesitated for a moment. Then, very, very gently, he tucked a loose strand of hair from her forehead behind her ear.

Sayuri stirred slightly in her sleep, as if nuzzling his hand. Kagami's hand froze in midair. Only after making sure she hadn't woken did he pull it back and settle against his seat again.

His gaze fell on the deep blue night outside the window, and the corners of his mouth curved without his noticing.

"Silly girl."

His voice was so soft, as if afraid of disturbing someone's dream.

After a layover in Chicago, Tsushima Kagami and the group finally arrived in New Haven.

When the plane landed, a fine autumn rain was falling over New Haven. Outside the airport, a cold wind carried the rain into their faces, and he tightened the collar of his coat.

A bus arranged by Yale University for pickups was already parked on the apron. Beside its door stood a Black driver in a Yale sweatshirt, holding up a sign that read "University of Tokyo Exchange Program."

New Haven's airport wasn't far from Yale, only about a fifteen-minute drive. After the bus left the airport area, the scenery along the way shifted from open parking lots to quiet streets.

Once the faculty and students of the University of Tokyo were aboard, the bus gradually grew lively. Everyone pointed out the window, discussing the buildings along the street and the occasional graffiti.

Soon the bus rolled onto the Yale campus. The campus seemed like another world that had suddenly grown out of the city. Gothic spires and castle-like buildings took on an added air of mystery after the rain, and students with umbrellas walked in twos and threes along the flagstone paths.

When everyone saw the enormous Harkness Tower with their own eyes, quite a few people on the bus gasped. It was a feeling both humbling and weighty, like standing in the river of time while centuries of bells pressed down from overhead.

The professors were put up in separate apartments arranged by the university. The students, to better immerse themselves in the coming three weeks of study and exchange, were all assigned to student dormitories. Everyone had a roommate.

When Kagami received his dorm key, he saw a slip of paper that read "Durfee Hall, Room 207."

Durfee Hall was a red-brick building with an old oak door and a brass knocker at the entrance. The stairwell held the faint damp, musty smell unique to old buildings. Every few steps, the wall held a photograph of some famous alumnus giving some important speech, fading from black-and-white into color.

Kagami dragged his suitcase up the stairs, his footsteps echoing in the empty corridor. He found Room 207. The door was ajar, and soft music drifted from inside. He hesitated for a second, then knocked three times.

"Come in."

He pushed the door open and saw a young man in a baseball cap sitting cross-legged on a bed, holding a book of some sort. The brim was pulled low, revealing only a pair of bright gray-blue eyes.

Hearing the sound, the young man looked up, then hopped off the bed and came over with unconcealed enthusiasm.

"You're Tsushima? Oh my God, I finally get to meet you!"

He held out a hand. His accent was textbook American English, but his tone carried a sincere eagerness.

"I'm Kevin. Kevin Malloy, sophomore, majoring in comparative literature."

"My professor, Professor Allen Sterling, have you heard of him?"

"This whole semester he's been talking about your work and papers in class, especially that comparative analysis of mono no aware and Western tragic literature."

"He says you're opening up a dialogue between East and West in a completely new way."

When Kevin said "completely new way," he made an exaggerated gesture. The baseball cap tilted, revealing a tuft of red hair.

Kagami was a little surprised. He smiled and reached out to shake Kevin's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Kevin."

"Thank you, and thank Professor Sterling for the recognition. That paper still has plenty of immature parts, honestly."

Kevin grinned, flashing a set of neat white teeth.

"Anyway, I specially applied to room with you."

"You know what?"

"Every other dorm was fighting over the chance to room with you, and I was the first one to turn in the application form."

Kagami suddenly felt like laughing. Before coming, he had imagined his roommate countless times. Maybe a cold science major absorbed in his own world. Maybe a social butterfly who loved parties and brought friends back every night. He had never imagined a fan who had read his novels and papers and volunteered to be his roommate.

After they introduced themselves, they were officially acquainted. Kagami leaned his suitcase against the bed, opened it, and folded his clothes into the wardrobe. Kevin leaned against the ladder of his bunk, hands in his pockets, watching him fold with interest.

"The way you fold clothes is really interesting."

"Is that what they call Zen?"

Kevin remarked.

"That's a stretch. It's just ordinary folding."

"And I don't even know what Zen actually is."

"How did you see Zen in the way I fold clothes?"

Kagami didn't even look up.

"Oh, is that so?"

"I only finished a book on your country's religions yesterday."

"I thought you all liked being praised like that."

"No, you pause for a fraction of a second at every fold, like you're saying goodbye to the garment," Kevin said with a perfectly straight face.

Kagami smiled and shook his head.

"You're an interesting guy."

"Thanks. That's the best compliment I've gotten today."

Kevin took off his cap and raked a hand through his flattened hair.

"By the way, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Let me show you around campus, and by then it'll be dinnertime. I know a few good dining halls."

Kagami looked out the window. At some point the rain had stopped.

"Sure. Thanks for taking the trouble."

The two of them left Durfee Hall and followed a gravel path forward. Kevin was like a walking guidebook, stopping to introduce every building they passed.

"The one on the left is Sterling Memorial Library. You're going to love it. The Gothic tower alone has fifteen floors, and the collection is… uh, probably bigger than all the books you've ever seen put together."

"And the one on the right is Old Campus, the first batch of buildings, from the 1700s. Older than the founding of America."

Kagami listened quietly, his gaze lingering among the buildings. It occurred to him that when this university was founded, Japan was still in the Edo period. Time really was a strange thing.

As they neared the lawn of Old Campus, Kagami spotted a familiar figure in the distance.

It was Sayuri.

She wore a beige trench coat, her hair falling over her shoulders, and was talking intently with a girl beside her, smiling, her eyes curved. It was a gentle expression Kagami hadn't seen in a long time.

The girl next to her wore glasses and had faint freckles. Her golden curls shone in the setting sun, and she looked lively and friendly.

Kagami instinctively slowed down, torn. Should he go over, say hello, and ask if she wanted to have dinner together, or finish the tour with Kevin first?

Just then, a clamor surged in from another direction.

"That's him! The Tsushima from the University of Tokyo exchange!"

"Can I get a picture with you?"

Four or five students from the humanities, who had heard the news from who knew where, popped up as if out of the bushes and surrounded him. They held notebooks, cameras, his Snow Country, and even his Little Prince, their eyes full of excitement.

Kagami was taken aback, and before he could speak, a ponytailed girl thrust a pen and notebook at him and cut off his words.

"Please sign this for me! I'm planning to write my thesis on your and Professor Sterling's analysis of modern and contemporary Japanese literature. I think that line you mentioned in some interview…"

Kagami calmly took the pen, wondering when exactly he'd given that interview. But there was no way to explain, because two more people squeezed in and eagerly introduced themselves as his "loyal readers."

Kevin stood to one side with his arms folded, not helping him out of it at all, just enjoying the show. Kagami could only bow slightly and respond to their enthusiasm, the pen in his hand writing his name in notebook after notebook.

While signing, he couldn't help looking up, trying to see where Sayuri was. But all he saw was an empty lawn. Sayuri and the blonde girl were both gone.

"Tsushima?"

Kevin noticed his distraction and leaned over.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Kagami looked away and lowered his head to keep signing, the pen tip gliding over the paper. He didn't know why he sighed quietly to himself. It had only been a spur-of-the-moment idea to ask whether she wanted to eat together, nothing important. Yet for some reason, the way she'd vanished just where the crowd dispersed left him with a faint, indescribable sense of loss.

"Let's keep going."

Kevin gave him a thoughtful look and didn't ask. He put his baseball cap back on and pointed ahead.

"Next stop, I'll take you to the best dining hall at Yale."

"Trust me, their pudding will make you forget everything about Tokyo."

Kagami smiled and handed the pen back to the ponytailed girl, who was still talking nonstop. Then he followed Kevin forward.

Only, he thought to himself, maybe Sayuri and the others had been headed to the dining hall just now, too.