Chapter 34 The Lifetime of a Grasshopper (Takashi Kato's Fate) Part One
Autumn of the fourth grade.
On the way back from youth soccer, Takashi Kato spotted his friend Higashimura Tadayuki. It was rare to see Tadayuki playing outside, he thought. When they usually played together, it was mostly indoors with games and such. He sat on the embankment, silently looking at something.
As Takashi leaned in to speak, Tadayuki grinned, a smile both memorable and peculiar. It was the same smile he showed when pulling pranks or trapping Takashi in games.
"Why are you always grinning like some mischief-maker? It's creepy."
"Oh, Taka-chan, check this out."
Pointing in a direction, Tadayuki revealed a grasshopper bouncing around. Well, to be precise, the grasshopper was attempting to bounce.
"There was something I wanted to see, so I glued its feet to the ground with adhesive. Then, somehow, it felt like it was doing squats. Isn't that interesting?"
"Don't do such crazy things, man..."
I look at the grasshopper in amazement.
For a while, the grasshopper hops around, moving its legs, but eventually, it stops leaping.
It didn't stop escaping.
Only its legs remain there, and the grasshopper starts walking like a caterpillar.
"This, this! This is what I wanted to see!"
"Huh, what's this?"
"When a grasshopper is caught, it cuts off its own legs to escape, I saw it in an encyclopedia. It's called self-amputation."
"Huh, that's kind of pitiful."
With a delighted Tadayuki, we watched the grasshopper, which could now only walk for a while... Suddenly, Tadayuki stood up.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I saw what I wanted to see, so I'm done."
As if discarding a broken toy, Tadayuki seemed to lose interest.
Takashi stood up together, somewhat curious about what would happen to the grasshopper next. Tadayuki, walking along, remarked as if struck by a thought.
"By the way,"
"What?"
"Doesn't 'self-amputation'... sound a bit like suicide? The sound of the words, you know."
Pleased with his own idea, Tadayuki chuckled softly.
"Ah, you're scared of that stuff, aren't you? Suicide and all."
"Well, for a grasshopper that's lost both legs, it might be similar. If it can't jump away, it might get eaten by ants or something. Well, even if you understand, sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do, right?"
Watching Tadayuki speak as if it were someone else's doing, Takashi remarked in amazement.
"If I were a grasshopper, I wouldn't want to get caught by you."
"Oh, come on! I wouldn't do anything like that to you, Taka-chan."
"Why not?"
"Because we're friends. I wouldn't do that to a friend."
"Well, if we stopped being friends, you might just do it."
"Hey!"
"Just kidding, just kidding."
Takashi glanced back, trying to spot the grasshopper. However, it was already too far away and no longer visible.
After parting ways with Tadayuki for a while, Takashi took a bath, had dinner, and played games before going to bed. Before sleeping, he couldn't help but wonder what happened to that grasshopper.
As Tadayuki suggested, perhaps it was eaten by ants along the way. Or maybe it escaped somewhere far. Should he go check tomorrow? Yeah, let's do that. But... will he be able to find it?
—However, when he woke up in the morning, he had already forgotten about the grasshopper.
Every few years, Takashi unexpectedly remembers. About the grasshopper that walked like a caterpillar, having lost its legs, and Tadayuki who smirked while watching. A slight curiosity, not quite regret, wondering if he should have gone to see.
And—Tadayuki's tasteless joke that cutting off both legs is akin to suicide for a grasshopper.
Takashi had been playing soccer since elementary school, and he was immediately selected as a regular upon entering junior high. He didn't seem to like that.
The seniors who were removed from the regular team because of Takashi initially complained, saying, "Why are you the regular?" However, things changed when Takashi said, "Seniors, you're not as good, so it can't be helped."
"You're so arrogant!"
Although Takashi successfully fought back against the senior who attacked him, he was outnumbered by other seniors. Due to the upperclassmen's intervention, Takashi ended up battered. Nevertheless, since he had knocked down more than half of the seniors, he didn't feel much of a sense of defeat.
Lying on the ground in pain and exhaustion, Takashi was approached by a female student.
"Um, please use this... you're bleeding."
It was an unfamiliar face, but by the color of the school emblem on the uniform collar, Takashi realized she was a classmate. Most of his classmates had known each other since elementary school, but there were also students from other districts. She must be one of them.
"Eh, oh, yeah."
He receives the handkerchief offered by the girl.
It was wet, perhaps to make it easier to wipe away the blood.
"Um, you don't have to return that... well then."
The girl says only that and hastily leaves.
There was no time to thank her.
He wipes her face with the wet handkerchief.
The white fabric quickly turns red, but the handkerchief has a pleasant scent.
...
"Tadayuki, do you know that girl?"
During the morning assembly where all classes gather, he sees the girl who gave him the handkerchief.
"Oh, Yoshino-san? I don't know much, but she seems smart."
"Hmm..."
Yoshino-san.
He still haven't been able to thank her.
It's embarrassing to start a conversation.
He bought a new handkerchief and always kept it in his bag, but in the end, he couldn't give it to her.
...
...
Third year of junior high.
Yoshino-san seems to be going to the same high school as Tadayuki.
"Hey, Tadayuki. I want to go to the same high school, so, you know, teach me how to study."
"Eh, now? But aren't you good at soccer over there?"
"Sure, it's fine. I'm not aiming to be a pro anyway."
With Kanae's help, he managed to receive tutoring from Tadayuki and somehow made it to the same high school.
Second year of high school.
During the spring class shuffle, he ended up in the same class as Yoshino Misa for the first time.
She had been someone he admired from a distance since junior high.
During break time, he mustered the courage to speak up.
"Ah, Yoshino-san."
"Ah, Kato-kun... it's kind of our first time talking, even though we went to the same junior high."
The first time we spoke... Huh?
He felt a bit lonely realizing that they hadn't shared important memories.
"Yeah, that's true... so, um..."
"Ah, what's up, Takashi?"
Tadayuki joined the conversation. When Yoshino-san looked at Tadayuki, she had a slightly happy expression, and she took out a book from her bag.
"Ah, Higashimura-kun. This is the reference book I mentioned before..."
"Huh, you really brought it for me!?"
"Yeah, I made great progress in my studies with this too."
"Thank you, Yoshino-san!"
"No, I also feel reassured if Higashimura-kun is in the same university."
Going to the same university as Tadayuki. Even if he starts studying now, it will be quite challenging.
As the two discussed their studies, Takashi felt a strong sense of alienation.
─I messed up.
It was the summer of their second year in high school. During the time spent with Kanae, they somehow got carried away with erotic stories and ended up crossing a line.
Tadayuki's feelings for Kanae were known to Takashi. However, Takashi was also in the midst of adolescence. Despite feeling guilty, like a monkey, whenever there was free time, he engaged in intimate activities with Kanae.
About three months into this relationship with Kanae, after one such encounter, while lying together on the bed as usual, Kanae revealed something.
"Ta-kun."
"Hm?"
"I, um... Tadayuki confessed to me."
"Huh... really? Did you tell him about us?"
"I can't tell him, right? So, what should I do?"
"What can we do..."
─At that moment.
Yoshino-san and Tadayuki, I remembered them laughing happily.
Oh, I see...
"Well, you know, maybe you should go out with him?"
"Huh?"
Without the courage to look at the surprised Kanae, he said with his gaze averted.
"Well, you know, we're not really going out or anything."
"...I see."
After a while, Kanae said,
"So, is it okay if I go out with Tadayuki...? Is that fine?"
"Yeah, he's totally head over heels for you."
"Well, then, let's not do this kind of thing anymore, okay?"
"Well, it can't be helped, right?"
They remained silent for a while, but then, after getting ready, Kanae slapped Takashi's cheek.
"Tak-chan, you're suuuper red!"
Without chasing after Kanae who left the room just like that, Takashi didn't move.
If Tadayuki and Kanae started going out, maybe Yoshino-san would notice him.
In the midst of guilt and anticipation, Takashi stroked his slapped cheek.
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