Chapter 3 Spoilers

It was a delightfully sunny Sunday morning.
And in the living room of the Jinnai household, Enta’s grandmother was sipping away at her tea like she always did.
That was when Otone, dressed appropriately to go fishing, was cleaning her fishing rod as she called out to her little brother.

“Enta! Breakfast!”

Asakusa Sara TV was playing on the TV like it always did.
She was about to announce the Lucky Selfie item of the day.

“Mornin’…”
Enta stumbled into the room, still in his pajamas. He was stifling yawns because he couldn’t sleep a wink the previous night.

He tottered over to the table and stared down dejectedly at the meal that had been set out for him.

“Ugh, fish again?”

Just as he nimbly picked up the fish fillet with his chopsticks, Otone replied promptly,

“It’s kisu!” [a kind of fish, the entire chapter revolves around this pun, I’m not even going to try]
“Kiss?!”

The fish fell from his chopsticks.
What?! How could his sister have known?!
Paying no mind to how flustered Enta was, Otone continued matter-of-factly,

“I mean, breakfast is salt-cured kisu?”
“Huh? O-Oh, that kind of kisu… I should have known.”

Enta pulled himself together and returned the fish to his plate.

“Was this another present from your boyfriend?”
“You bet it was. He’s a total catch––handsome and he knows his way around a fish! We’re going on another fishing date today too!”

As you can see, Otone was the kind of girl who lived for love. She’d even been one to say herself that she isn’t as energized when she’s not in love.
And she certainly had a point. Otone had a glow about her when she talked about her boyfriend. Enta was plenty accustomed to her gushing about the objects of her affections, but today the particular radiance with which she glowed was especially painful, and he didn’t want to hear a word of it.

“Well, I wish you’d decided to date a butcher instead of a fisherman…”
“Rude! That’s a yellow card!”

Enta ignored Otone, and just as he was taking a sip of his his bowl of miso soup, Sara drew that day’s Lucky Selfie Item.

“Mwah, mwah, mwah! It’s a kiss, dish!”
“Bwah?!”

Enta spit out his miso soup.

“A kiss! Maybe that means my boyfriend will kiss me on my date today?! Or maybe I should do it?! Oh my gooood!”’
“Agh, gah…”

Sara called out to Enta as he choked and Otone as she gushed. [not literally]

“I wish you Good Sara-luck again today!”

At the base of the Azuma Bridge, on the east bank of the Sumida river there was a tunnel beneath a different bridge which had been walled off so it couldn’t be traversed anymore. The area didn’t see a lot of foot traffic since the tunnel was closed, and it was a decent size so Enta found it a perfect spot for independent practice.
His Sunday schedule was relatively fixed: after breakfast he’d come to the spot, pick up trash and start practicing with the ball he brought with him. Normally he could lose himself for hours in just dribbling the ball, but today his motivation was especially lacking.

“…Haa.”

He sighed and looked back at the bricked up tunnel.
The wall had a soccer goal drawn on it in white paint. He walked over to it and traced the lines with his fingers. It had been painted four years ago and the paint was worn and faded.

I’m in love with Kazuki. I can’t remember when it first started, but the feeling’s always in my mind now. I can’t accept that Kazuki’s just quit soccer…

When he was ten years old, Enta stood out a bit at school.
He had lived overseas for quite a while starting when he was quite young because of his parents’ work circumstances. His energetic sister had no issue making friends with anyone, even if she didn’t speak the language. But Enta on the other hand was painfully shy, and upset his parents by crying to go home to Japan.
Several years later, he took the opportunity presented by his sister wanting to return to Japan to get her teaching license to go back to Japan and live in Asakusa with his grandmother. But all that awaited him as a returnee from overseas was a cold welcome. But perhaps the young Enta was just making assumptions and his classmates were merely curious.
But the thought alone was enough to pierce the introverted Enta’s heart.
After school, he’d always sit agains the school building where he could see the school yard and gaze at his favorite soccer magazines. He could hear his classmates voices as they happily played soccer in the yard.

I want to play too!––But unable to actually voice that simple phrase, all Enta could do was hug his knees to his chest and watch. He had always been alone when he was overseas too, so he’d never had anyone to play soccer with in the first place.
But the person who reached out a hand to him, was Kazuki. And when he told him that he loved soccer, but he’d never played before, Kazuki simply replied with a smile that he was just a beginner himself.
“I just know the two of us will become a Golden Duo!”
The young Kazuki had a blue good luck band around his right leg.
It was the same one Enta’s favorite soccer player always wore.
Enta took Kazuki’s hand, and that’s how their days of practicing together started.
That’s about when they found the spot by the bridge.
The two of them painted a little soccer goal on the former tunnel entrance. And ever since then the spot had become Enta and Kazuki’s secret practice spot.
With the coaching of Otone, who was aiming to become a middle school PE teacher, the two of them eventually became acknowledged by the rest of the team as the “Golden Duo”. The two of them would always strike their signature pose during matches after Enta passed to Kazuki and he made the goal.
Their slogan was, “Just like that!” [It’s “saratto”]
Just like their favorite soccer player did.
But just a few months ago, Kazuki had decided to say goodbye to soccer.
And the blue band had vanished from his right leg.
Out of concern for Kazuki’s feelings, Enta decided to just take a wait and see approach when he stopped showing up for soccer club. He figured that in time, Kazuki would come back to soccer.

Kazuki and I have been the Golden Duo since we were little kids. I know him better than anyone in the whole world. I want Kazuki to score a goal with my pass again.

Enta pulled a small box from his pocket. It was the new good luck band he’d bought for Kazuki. But just before he could give it to him, Kazuki formally resigned from the club.

“If Kazuki’s wish gets granted with the Plates of Hope, I’ll give it to him and we can become the Golden Duo again. That’s all I want…”

Suddenly the memory of the kiss from the previous night flashed through his mind.
Ultimately, Kazuki hadn’t woken up and didn’t seem to have noticed.
Enta should have been relieved that he hadn’t been found out, but part of him was disappointed that he wasn’t discovered.
That must’ve been why he felt like shouting at Otone that morning. Seeing his sister being able to pursue the object of her affections so earnestly, without drawing any unwanted attention was just too much for him. Sure, she had failed plenty of times, but even the wounds of failed loves just became fuel in her pursuit of her next one.

I could never do that. Even though Enta felt that way, when he kissed Kazuki he realized that he really did want him to notice. It made him feel miserable.

“…Why did I do something so stupid and kiss him?!”
“C-Closed…?!”

Today, just as he always did, Kazuki, dressed as Sara, was hard at work looking for the Lucky Selfie item. Kazuki was standing in front of a specialty kisu fish shop, which was rather unusual even for Asakusa, named “Kiisu Fish Market”.
At any rate, the owner of the shop, Kiisu Mont Claire, was unparalleled at preparing kisu, and his shop’s catch phrase, [honestly I give up, it’s a stupid kiss pun], was proudly displayed on a sign outside.
By the way, Mr. Kiisu was extremely good looking and there was a rumor that he would take pictures hugging the ladies who came to the shop as a little bonus and allegedly the girls flocked to the store every day.

“I figured I could cheat the item a bit using a kisu fish since Sara’s an idol and I could argue that kissing photos are not allowed, but… What do I do now?!”

His only real option for the time being was to visit all of the other fish shops in town. Kazuki took off running, not even caring how his short skirt fluttered in the wind. He had to complete the mission for Haruka’s sake.
Haruka and Enta were sitting on a bench on the bank of a pond with an arched bridge over it playing old maid.

“Ummmm… This one!”

Enta shouted when the ace of hearts was stolen from his last two cards.

“Maaan, you got me again!”
“Hooray! I win!”
“You’re seriously way too good, Haruka. Almost makes me think you have lady luck on your side!”
“Ehehe, maybe I have Sara-chan to thank?”
Beep! Haruka’s phone rang.
“Oh, I have a text!”

Enta nimbly shuffled the cards as he asked, “From Kazuki?”
“Not telling!”

Haruka’s phone displayed a message from Sara.
“I’m so sorry to dishappoint, but today’s Lucky Selfie is going to be a little late, dish!”
“It’s okay! Good luck at work!”

Haruka shot off a response before answering Enta.

“I don’t text with Kazu-chan.”
“Oh, well, I guess you can see him face-to-face any time you want at home, huh!”

Of course, Kazuki was texting Haruka… as Sara.
But Enta dodged the topic without mentioning it. But before he knew it, Haruka’s expression had grown gloomy.

“Kazu-chan doesn’t smile like he used to anymore. He quit soccer even though he loved it so much and he threw his lucky band out too…”
“Ah…”

Knowing the circumstances behind that, Enta couldn’t really say anything. The good luck band in his pocket began to feel especially heavy.

“You know, I really loved watching Kazuki play soccer!”
“…Me too. I love it when Kazuki plays soccer.”
“I want Kazuki to play soccer again, but I don’t think it would matter if I said something to him…”

As young as Haruka was, he really knew Kazuki well.

Then I’ll just have to do what I can for him! Enta concluded.

“Don’t worry! I’m sure Kazuki will smile again and play soccer again! Just leave it to me!”

Enta stood up and thumped his chest.

“Hehehe, I mean, Kazu-chan and Enta-oniichan are the Golden Duo after all!”

“We sure are!”


Near a houseboat dock on the Sumida River, Otone sighed, having tired of waiting.

“Kiisu sure is late. Normally he calls if he’s late…”

She pulled out her phone and called his number.
Briiiiing…. Briiiiiing…
In the pitch-black interior of Kiisu Fish market, a cell phone lay on the ground, announcing an incoming call for its decidedly absent owner. The screen displayed a picture of Kiisu hugging Otone with the name “Otone Jinnai” before noise covered the screen and left a bright red heart mark on the screen.

After he left Haruka, Enta sat down on the west bank of the Azuma Bridge.

“Kazuki won’t smile in front of Haruka? …No, I have nothing to do with the situation. I shouldn’t stick my nose in…”

He muttered, self-deprecatingly, when––

“You have everything to do with the situation!”
“Huh?”

When he turned around, he saw Kazuki running across the Azuma Bridge. He was wearing his favorite windbreaker from soccer club.

“Kazuki… Why are you here?”

When Kazuki was in front of him, he started to talk with an unusually earnest look on his face.

“Enta, there’s something I have to tell you…”
“Huh…?”

Kazuki’s intense gaze made Enta’s heart skip a beat.
With this atmosphere… was he about to confess…?

“I think I’m going to start playing soccer again.”
“Whaaa?!”

What he said was even more amazing than any confession could have been.

“I’m sorry for making you worry so much, Enta. I know I don’t deserve it, but would you consider becoming the Golden Duo with me again?”

Enta was already overcome with emotion.

“Fuwaaahiii…! Don’t you lose it this time!”

He reverently tied the new good luck band around Kazuki’s right ankle.

“Yeah, that’s a promise. We’ll be the Golden Duo until death do us part!”

Kazukiiii…!”

Enta and Kazuki struck their Golden Duo pose for the first time in ages.

“Saratto!”

Ahh, my wish suddenly became reality…

“What? You’re giving me this good luck band?”
“Huh?”

Kazuki had vanished from his side, and in his place was Otone, wearing the good luck band.

“S-Sis?! Why are you here?!”
“I’m on my way to meet my boyfriend, see ya!”

Otone ran off, leaving Enta dumbfounded.
“Wait! That’s for Kazuki…!”
Enta ran after here when he snapped out of his daze.
But just as he was about to cross Azuma Bridge, Enta saw something even more shocking.

“What the hell are you two doing?!”

Enta ran as fast as he could for his secret practice spot.
Two students from another school were kicking a soccer ball around.

“Huh? If it isn’t plate-boy Jinnai.” [I honestly have no idea what to make of this insult (皿中) other than it has dish/plate in it]
“Hey, how’s it hangin’?”

Enta knew who they were. They were players on the team they had played against last year.

“This is my and Kazuki’s spot! You can’t just use it like that!”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Kazuki? Was he that other forward? I heard he quit the team.”
“Huh? Then what’s the problem with us using this spot?”
“Kazuki will come back soon!”
“You sure about that? I mean, he quit and abandoned you, didn’t he? He betrayed you and you still trust him? Isn’t that just pathetic?”
“Shut up! Sut up!”

Enta knocked over one of the boys no sooner than he had opened his mouth.

“That hurt!”
“What the hell are you doing?!”

The other boy grabbed Enta by the collar and tossed him away.
Enta was quick to start a fight, even though he wasn’t particularly strong, and he stood no chance at all in a two on one conflict.

“Uwaaaaah!”

But Enta charged them nonetheless.

At the Asakusa Police Station, in that large conference room, a meeting was being held in a solemn atmosphere.
Sign with the words “Asakusa Unnatural Death Incident Investigative HQ” was hanging outside the door.
The chief of police’s voice echoed through the dark room.

“We have identified the corpse that was discovered this morning. Kiisu Mont Claire, age 27. Owner of Kiisu Fish Market. Six months ago, he was arrested on suspicion of driving a woman to suicide in an attempted marriage fraud case, but was released without charges. We are investigating his murder.”

With a shhk shhk sound the chief flipped through the slides projected on the screen.

Several photos of Kiisu getting cozy with various women flashed by.

What aggressively normie-looking couples photos that almost looked fake. The only thing that made a real difference there was how handsome his face was. If that’s all it took to be popular with the ladies, he probably deserved to be arrested even if he wasn’t a con man. Such was the atmosphere in the meeting room.

In the middle of that, two figures abruptly stood up. It was Reo and Mabu.

“That was our catch!”
“Yesterday’s kiss!”

Yes, it happened last night.
Right in the police box they were stationed in.

“What else do you need? I have an early morning fishing date with my honey tomorrow.”

“To those for whom there is no beginning, no end, and no connection…”

Mabu held up a photo of Kiisu partying in a crowd of women.

“We’ll open this door for you…”

Reo abruptly pointed a gun at Kiisu.

“Desire?”
“Or love?”

A large taiko drum appeared above Kiisu.

“Desire extraction!”

The next instant, Kiisu was sucked into the drum and disappeared.

The sun was beginning to set and Enta was lying on the ground at his practice spot.
His face and body were covered in wounds and even his jersey was torn.

“Woah, what is your problem?!”
“Oww! How dare you!”

He could faintly hear their shouts. Someone seemed to be fighting in his stead.
When he mustered all his strength to open his eyes, Enta saw a right foot wearing a good luck band.

“…Kazuki?”

The players from the other school, who were clearly at a disadvantage, whined impotently, “Damnit! People who have nothing to do with the situation shouldn’t stick their heads in!”

At which point, Kazuki, who had knocked the one of the boys down and was standing protectively over Enta said, “But I have everything to do with it! Don’t you dare lay a hand on my partner in the Golden Duo!”

Kazuki landed a graceful roundhouse kick on the other boy, ending the fight.

“Enta! Are you okay?”

Enta drug himself up off the ground, sobbing, “Kazuki… Please don’t put yourself in danger for my sake. If anything ever happened to you, I wouldn’t even be able to make it up with my own life…!”

Kazuki held out his hand.

“Don’t sweat it. No matter what happens, we’ll be the Golden Duo, until death do us part!”

And then they struck their signature Golden Duo pose.

“Saratto!”

Ahh, if I died now, I wouldn’t care…

“You’re not gonna die.”

“Huh?”

The person looking down at Enta with icy eyes as he lay on the ground was Toi.

“K-Kuji?! Why are you here?!”

“You’re a total joke in a fight.”

“Wh-Where did they go?! …Don’t tell me you saved me?”

“Not really, they high tailed it out of here the second I said something.”

Toi said and started dribbling the ball they left behind.

In the distance, Enta could see the rival school players running away, beaten to a pulp.

“Agh, damnit!”

“You know them?”

“They’re from the team we beat last year.”

“Huh.”

Toi seemed especially disinterested, but Enta continued.
Maybe he had just loosened up a bit since Toi had already seen him embarrass himself.

“Our soccer team actually got pretty far, right? And last year… it was all because Kazuki was on the team. But the day you transferred into our class, Kazuki formally quit the soccer club. I still can’t accept it.

“It’s not my fault he quit.”

Toi was, of course, right.

“And this place… This is where we used to practice together, ever since we were kids… But without Kazuki, it’s just a place, nothing special.”

“…You two are kinda like brothers.”

“Yeah, maybe. …But maybe that’s why I know that at this rate, Kazuki is never going to play soccer again.”

“Then…”

“But if I abandon this place, that means that I’m accepting that it’s over. But I want to pass the ball to Kazuki again! That’s why I need the plates of hope!”

Toi silently turned toward Enta.
Enta shirked instinctively and Toi just walked past him and looked over his shoulder.

“…The plates are mine. I’m not letting you two have them.”

Of course, Toi wasn’t about to compromise.
The thought distracted Enta from the guilt he felt for losing the opportunity to thank Toi for saving him.

The sun had started to set and Kazuki was in tears, taking off his Sara costume in front of Keppi in the kappa square.

“What do I do? There isn’t any kisu anywhere. All the fish shops in town are sold out…”

“It’s the work of a kappa zombie, kero.”

Keppi said and then the plate on his head began to spin and an arm with a monitor on it appeared.
The monitor had a live feed of Azuma Bridge on it.
Through Keppi’s monitor, even Kazuki in human form could see the kappa zombie and its underlings.
The zombie in the middle of the bridge had a kisu for a head. And the gaggle of girls in wedding dresses gathered on the bridge kissed the zombie one by one and were transformed into kisu themselves.
Otone was waiting in the line of girls.

“Sis?!”

Enta shouted as he ran. Toi was right behind him.
And right there on the monitor, fastened tightly to Otone’s ankle, was Enta’s good luck band.

Why is the good luck band I got for Kazuki there…!

“Keppi! Turn me into a kappa!”

His body was already moving before he even realized it.

“Desiiiiiire… extraction!”

Keppi mercilessly crashed into Enta’s ass.

“The target of today’s kappa zombie’s desire is kisses, kero.”

Kappa Toi reacted to the word “kiss”, and mumbled bashfully, “My brother told me that kisses are the devil’s work…”

“But I still need a kiss to make Haruka happy!”

“I want to get my good luck band back!”

With their individual hopes in their hearts, they went into battle again that night.

“Quantity over quality! I’m going to steal all the kisses!”

“Quntity over quality?”

“All the girls in the world love me!”

“What is this guy talking about?”

The kappa zombie’s claims really set Enta’s anger off.

“Kisses don’t mean anything if you give them to anyone! Kisses are the manifestation of an unstoppable feeling you have for only one person in the entire world!”

The kappa zombie exploded with Enta’s shout.

“Sara!”
“Sara!”
“Sara!”
“Sarazanmai!”

When the shirikodama transfer started, Enta finally realized what he had done.
Retrieving the kappa zombie’s shirikodama himself meant his secret would be leaked.
But it was far too late for regrets.
As the boundaries of self began to dissolve, Enta shuddered at what he expected to happen next.

“Leaking…”

The first images that streamed in was of the soccer club’s locker room.
Enta had snuck away during a break and was standing in front of one particular locker.
The name plate read “Yasaka”.
Enta threw open the door of the locker and snatched Kazuki’s jersey.
Then he hugged it tight to his chest, and took in as deep a breath as he could, burying his face in the cloth… and breathed in the smell.

“Stop! Don’t look!”

He hated it. Sure, he wanted his feelings to be known, but even if Kazuki had learned how he felt, he had hoped to take this particular secret to his grave…

When Toi received the shirikodama from Enta, a mess of feelings disturbed the sea of his consciousness.
He wondered if it was alright for an outsider like him to learn about this.
But once the leak had begun, it couldn’t be stopped. Their minds were mixed together.

The next scene took place in the classroom as the sun had begun to set.
Enta, who had once again slipped out during practice, was searching around in Kazuki’s desk.
And he pulled out… a recorder case.
At that point, it was easy to imagine what was about to happen.
It wasn’t Toi’s secret being divulged, but he wanted to shout for it to stop nonetheless.
Enta stood alone in the red glow of the classroom.
He stared intently at the mouthpiece of Kazuki’s recorder as he held it tight and resolutely put his mouth on it.
And Toi even felt the sense of accomplishment Enta had in that moment even though he desperately did not want to.

“You have got to be kidding me…”

Then the shirikodama passed from Toi to Kazuki.
Finally, the last disclosure was beginning.
It was last night.
The scene of Enta kissing Kazuki as he slept along the shore of the river dressed as Sara.

“Enta… kissed me?”

All Enta could do as he felt the same confusion Kazuki did, was scream.

“It’s all oooooover!”

The desire field broke and Otone awoke atop the Azuma Bridge.

“Why am I here…?”

Despite how late it was, the bridge was absolutely brimming with women walking alone.
When Otone saw her fishing rod, she remembered her date.

“That’s right! I had a date!”

She hurriedly pulled out her phone, planning to apologize for standing her date up, but…

“Huh…? Who was I waiting for again?”

Kiisu had suddenly vanished from Otone’s homescreen background.

Meanwhile, in the underground elevator, Reo was watching the photos of Kiisu disappear.

“Humans are such foolish creatures, aren’t they? They cling so desperately to such fragile connections…”

Mabu listened quietly, when a mechanical announcement echoed through the space.

“Incoming call from the Empire. Incoming call from the Empire.”

The two of them promptly knelt in front of the heart marks on one of the pillars.
The bright red heart mark flashed and a deep voice boomed out.

“Usso. The desire energy being transmitted from this station has dropped considerably as of late… I hate to even make the suggestion, but need I remind you that betrayal equals death…”

Mabu responded with a meek expression on his face.

“My most humble apologies. We’ve experienced some interference.”

“Usso. I don’t want to hear excuses. Just do what you can…”

“As you wish…”

Reo replied with false courtesy and the transmission ended there. [sorry that’s a shit translation of 慇懃無礼 but Reo’s being overtly polite/formal even though he doesn’t mean it]

“Unfortunately, today’s Plate of Hope is silver again.”

Enta broke out in a cold sweat as he accepted the plate, and then Kazuki addressed him.

“Enta. So about that kiss…”

“Uwahh?! Th-That was just, just, uh…!”

Toi maintained an expression of utter indifference as he stood behind a panicking Enta.
Given the price Enta had paid, he figured he might as well give up on the plate for today.
He had an entirely different vector of indifference toward Kazuki though.

“It’s not a big deal. It was just one of those typical punishment games in soccer club, right? Well, I don’t have anything to do with the club anymore, so…”

That phrase made something inside Enta burst.

“…You have everything to do with it!”

Once it was out there, he couldn’t take it back anymore. Enta steeled himself.

“You’re all I think about. Even though I know that you quitting soccer and not smiling anymore ultimately has nothing to do with me! But you and soccer really changed my life… So I just thought this time I might return the favor… Damnit…!”

He felt like he’d start crying if he kept going.
That’s why Enta decided to get Kazuki to kill the feelings for him.
He held out the silver plate with the good luck band he’d retrieved from Otone on top of it.

“I”m in love with you, Kazuki! Please become the Golden Duo with me for the rest of our lives!”

Even with his head bowed, he could hear Kazuki gulp.

Ahh, this is it. Just make it a clean cut, please…! [if I didn’t get the image across effectively, he’s comparing Kazuki breaking his heart to getting his head chopped off execution style and hoping he does it in one stroke]
Kazuki slowly reached out for the plate.

“…I got it. I know how you feel now, Enta.”
“Huh…”
Enta lifted his head and saw Kazuki smiling at him almost like it was a dream.

“We’ll be the Golden Duo, ’til death do us part!”

“K-Kazuki…!”

Kazuki, wearing the good luck band Enta had given him, took one step toward Enta.
And Enta responded in kind, taking a step toward Kazuki.
All the sound around them seemed to vanish, like the entire world had melted away and it was just the two of them standing in a spotlight.
When Enta felt Kazuki’s hand grip his shoulder, he closed his eyes and stood on tip-toe.
And just as their lips were mere millimeters apart––

“Nmbuchuchuchu~~Kero~~”

Enta’s eyes snapped open and he got a face full of Keppi.

“Mwah! I stole it, kero…”

[Enta screaming incomprehensibly]

Keppi acted embarrassed as Enta squirmed on the ground.

Toi, having seen the entire scene play out, had the phrase “and this is why my brother always said kisses are the devil’s work” written on his face.

“Enta, what’s wrong?”

The man of the hour, Kazuki, had been so busy preparing a text to Haruka that he hadn’t noticed anything that had just happened.

“Uhh?! U-Um, n-nothing!”

I should’ve known! I should have known it was just another one of my stupid daydreams!

“Your clothes are a wreck. Did something happen?”
“Huh? O-Oh, this? I just had a pretty nasty fall is all!”
“You can be a real klutz sometimes, huh?”
“I sure can! Ah, ahaha!”

Enta, who had been both saved and wounded by Kazuki’s indifference many a time, decided to try to simply forget about it this time.
Toi seemed to notice something as he watched Enta force a laugh.
At some point, a rat had appeared atop the silver plate of hope Enta was holding.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak~”

The rat picked up the good luck band in its mouth, and had vanished into a drain before anyone could even react.

“Wait! Ahh…!”

Enta’s pathetic shout echoed through the muddy sewer water.

Haruka had been waiting on the bench next to the pond when Enta joined him.
It was Sunday. The day Enta came to meet Haruka after his morning practice.
But Enta’s expression was gloomy today. He plopped down on the bench and the words just overflowed from his mouth.

“Aghh, I give up! I completely give up! Kazuki won’t listen to a word I say…”

Haruka looked at the frustrated Enta with concern.

“I knew it too. I’ve known it for ages, but I just pretended not to notice… But in the end, it was all just in my head, talk about embarrassing!”

Enta stood up, pretending it was to stretch. Haruka couldn’t see his expression anymore.

“That’s why I made my decision. I’m going to give up on him. I’m not going to bother him anymore. I’m not going to expect anything anymore…”
“Enta-oniichan.”
“Huh?”
He turned around, and Haruka was holding his hand out to him.
And in his little hand was a slightly worn blue good luck band.

“Is that…?”
“See, I secretly stole it from the trash. It’s the good luck band Kazu-chan threw away.”

Haruka took Enta’s hand and pushed the good-luck band into it.

“I can’t run with Kazu-chan anymore, so… Would you give it back to him for me some day, Enta-oniichan?”
“Huh? Oh, I-I couldn’t! I don’t…”
…have any right to, Enta hesitated to finish. There was still some lingering affection that wouldn’t leave him.
He wasn’t really sure what do with it after he’d just declared that he was going to bow out of his role as Kazuki’s childhood friend.

“Don’t worry!”

Haruka said with a smile.

“You two are the Golden Duo after all, right?”

Ever since that night, he’d been desperately wanting to hear someone say those words to him.
Enta squeezed the good luck band tight.
Maybe I don’t need to give up yet…?
No, there was no way I could have ever given up from the start.
I mean, we are the Golden Duo after all!

“Thank you, Haruka!”
“Ehehe.”

The two of them laughed and then they heard someone call from the distance.

“Haruka! It’s time!”

Haruka’s mother was waving to them.

“Kaaay!”

He shouted back, and Enta stood up.

“You know, I had an amazing dream today!”
“Did you now?”

Enta pulled the wheelchair from under the bench and set it up and then helped Haruka get into it.

“Thank you for always being so helpful, Enta-kun.”

Ever since Haruka lost the ability to walk, Enta would accompany him every Sunday to go to the hospital for rehab.

“You’re very welcome! So, what was that dream you were talking about?”

“Ummm! So I was riding a giant Nyantaro into space and I met the prince of the stars!”
“Hahaha! What the heck!”

The rest of that Sunday came and went quietly just as it always did.