The Lion's Fang and the White Flower: A Secret Love of Missed Confessions
The summer before their second year of high school. Botan, a member of the literature club, is called out by her classmate, Raiga Shishio, who she secretly has feelings for. With a serious face, Raiga says, "There's something I've always wanted to tell you." Botan's heart races.
But his shocking confession is: "I have a crush on your best friend, Suzume. I need your help." Hiding her heartbreak, Botan forces a smile and agrees. Thus begins a week-long slapstick romantic comedy filled with tangl
The Lion's Fang and the White Flower: A Secret Love of Missed Confessions - A Cool Intruder and the Great Tailing Operation
The moment she woke up, Botan remembered what had happened the night before.
With her face still half-buried in her pillow, she let out a small sigh.
Her eyes hurt. She'd cried too much.
(*It's still morning, though.*)
The summer morning sun streamed mercilessly through the gap in the curtains. It sparkled, as if trying to pretend that everything from yesterday had never happened.
*No*, Botan thought.
There was no way it could just be erased.
She got out of bed and peered into the hand mirror on her desk.
The face reflected back at her was worse than she'd expected.
Her eyelids were slightly red and swollen, and faint dark circles had formed under her eyes. Her naturally wavy bangs were sticking out in every direction, like the aftermath of a storm.
"...Oh no."
Her voice was hoarse.
She went to the bathroom and washed her face with cold water. Again, and again.
The coldness of the water felt good against her heated eyelids.
(*It's okay. I'm okay.*)
She told herself that, looking at her reflection in the mirror.
The dimple that only appeared on her right cheek surfaced just a little.
Ever since long ago, Botan had lived this way.
By meeting someone's expectations, she could feel she had just a little bit of worth. By being useful to someone, she had barely managed to hold herself together.
That hadn't changed since middle school.
Unable to refuse the countless requests from her friends, she had broken promises with her parents over and over.
*'Why can't you just say no?'*
Her mother's sad voice still lingered in her ears.
Because she was scared to refuse.
If she refused, she'd be hated. If she was hated, she'd be alone.
That was what scared her.
She grabbed some bread and milk from the fridge for breakfast.
She could barely taste it.
And yet, the bread was terribly dry, and it took her a long time to swallow it.
When she looked at the clock, it was already time to leave the house.
The route to school from Minase Station was muggy from the morning.
She walked along the Aoba River, but there was almost no wind today. The river water was dull, too, reflecting the sunlight in shades of gray.
Her uniform blouse clung to her back, uncomfortable.
As she climbed the hill leading to the high school—Confession Hill—Botan yawned quietly, over and over.
"Morning, Botan!"
The moment she opened the classroom door, a bright voice flew at her.
It was Suzume.
Today she wore a small blue hairpin, and it sparkled every time her fluffy bob moved. Her large hazel eyes glittered with curiosity as always, and when she smiled, dimples appeared on both cheeks.
"Morning, Suzume. You're energetic as always."
Botan put on her usual smile.
The smile where a dimple only appeared on her right cheek.
"You're one to talk—your color looks off today. Are you okay?"
Suzume peered into Botan's face with concern.
"Huh, really? I stayed up a little too late. I haven't finished the script for the culture festival yet."
Botan made an excuse on the spot.
What came out of her mouth was the usual lie.
(*Truth is, the culture festival was the last thing on my mind.*)
A dull ache spread deep in her chest.
"Oh, I see. Don't push yourself too hard. Let me know if there's anything I can help with."
Suzume's voice was endlessly gentle.
That gentleness felt painfully hard to bear this morning.
Botan placed her bag at her desk. From her seat by the window, she could see the Aoba River beyond the school grounds.
And then, at that moment.
"Hey, Botan."
A voice came from behind her.
*Thump.*
Her heart leaped.
She turned around to find Raiga standing there. As always, his slightly long black hair was down, and his dark, direct eyes were looking at her.
"Ah, morning."
She knew her voice had pitched just a little higher.
"You've got dark circles under your eyes."
Raiga said that, then furrowed his brows slightly.
"You okay? Don't push yourself too hard."
His voice was serious as always, yet tinged with just a little concern.
It was the same tone he'd used on Sports Day, when Botan had been carrying a heavy tent pole by herself, and he'd called out, *"You okay? I'll help."*
(*Ah, this is no good after all.*)
Just being treated kindly like that made the center of her chest grow faintly warm.
But at the same time, a place even deeper throbbed with a sharp, twisting pain.
Because even if this kindness was directed at Botan, it wasn't anything special.
Raiga was surely like this with everyone.
And right now, his "special" was someone else.
"I'm fine! I just stayed up a little late!"
Botan answered with forced brightness.
Unconsciously, she touched her left earlobe.
"I see. Well, that's good, then."
As Raiga said that, his gaze suddenly drifted outside the window.
—At the end of that gaze was Suzume, chatting happily with friends in the hallway.
Raiga's eyes softened, just like that.
A gaze different from his usual direct look—just slightly relaxed, sweetly tender.
Botan saw it.
(*I shouldn't have seen that.*)
She knew it in her head. And yet, she couldn't tear her eyes away.
The pain in her chest sharpened.
The words Raiga had said on the rooftop yesterday flashed back.
—*"I like Suzume."*
—*"Will you help me?"*
*This is reality*, she thought.
The reality that Botan's unrequited love would never bear fruit.
The reality that in Raiga's eyes, only Suzume was reflected.
That it hurt this much.
(*No good. I can't cry.*)
Botan bit her lip tightly.
Using the pain, she desperately held back the tears.
"Well, see you later."
Still gazing at Suzume, Raiga returned to his own seat.
Botan let out a small breath.
"Bathroom, real quick."
Muttering to no one in particular, she left the classroom.
She stood in front of the bathroom mirror.
Sure enough, her complexion was bad. The dark circles under her eyes were faint but distinct.
But still.
(*This is my job.*)
Botan practiced her smile in the mirror.
She lifted the corners of her mouth, narrowed her eyes just a little, and made the dimple appear only on her right cheek.
Yeah, the usual me.
The usual, energetic, cheerful, mood-maker Botan.
The good girl who never betrays anyone.
(*Okay.*)
She heard the sound of her heart breaking, but she pretended not to.
After school.
As soon as the chime rang, Botan brought Raiga to the literature club room.
A small room of about fifteen square meters, at the east end of the third floor. The old wooden bookshelves covering one wall were packed with literary magazines and novels, filling the air with the scent of paper and aged wood. By the window were two long desks and six folding chairs. From the window, you could see the cherry tree in the schoolyard.
"Yesterday, I just went with the momentum and asked you to help, but—"
Raiga said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Now that I actually think about it, I have no idea what to do or how."
"I knew it!"
Botan clapped her hands together with a pop.
(*Right now, this is my role.*)
Being relied on by someone was, right now, just something she was grateful for.
If she could be of help to Raiga, then that was enough.
"So, I've been thinking about it."
Botan spread a single sheet of paper out on the desk.
*'Operation Confession!'* — The handwritten title, in slightly rounded letters, was a little embarrassing.
"First, I think it's best to get the two of you alone naturally. Tomorrow after school, you'll meet Suzume at Café Canaria in front of the station, pretending it's a coincidence. Then, you steer things toward having tea together."
"Pretending it's a coincidence?"
"Yeah! You'll be at Canaria first, reading a book. I'll bring Suzume there, and then I'll remember I have something to do and slip away. After that, it's just the two of you!"
Even if she said so herself, she thought it was a perfect plan.
"I see... You're amazing."
Raiga nodded, sounding impressed.
Then, lowering his voice just a little, he said:
"No, but... I don't want to tell lies."
"Huh?"
"Back in middle school, I fell for the same person as my best friend. I hid that fact. In the end, it completely wrecked our friendship. So at the very least, when I convey my feelings, I want to be sincere."
Raiga's voice was deeply earnest.
That earnestness squeezed tight deep inside Botan's chest.
(*Sincere, huh.*)
Botan repeated the word in her heart.
He wanted to convey his feelings to Suzume—sincerely.
If that was the case, then this request to Botan was probably, for Raiga, one of those sincere actions.
(*I'm not a romantic interest.*)
A cruel fact, reconfirmed.
"Yeah, I think that's great! Then let's tweak it a little—you just go to Canaria normally, and you just happened to run into each other!"
"Yeah, let's do that. Thanks, Botan."
Raiga smiled, looking relieved.
That smile hurt.
But there was no way she could let that show on her face.
Botan put on a smile and was about to say "You're welcome."
Just then.
*Clatter.*
Suddenly, the clubroom door opened.
Her heart jumped with a start.
"So you were here after all, Raiga."
A low voice, slightly languid.
Standing there was a tall young man.
His somewhat long black hair was casually parted in the center, the bangs falling over one eye. His narrow, sharp eyes were a deep, bluish gray. A thin silver necklace hung from his neck.
She'd always seen him in the next class over, reading a book by himself.
Raiga's best friend, with a cool, unapproachable air—Toudou Reiji.
"Reiji! What are you doing here?"
Raiga's eyes went wide.
"A book I borrowed from the library. It had a bookmark left in it. I was looking for the owner, thinking I'd return it."
Saying that, Reiji lightly lifted a paperback book he held in his hand.
Between his fingers was a single bookmark.
(*That's—*)
Botan gasped.
It was a handmade bookmark, decorated with pressed flowers.
A small piece of cut cardstock, with a pressed forget-me-not laid on it, laminated with a transparent film.
"That's mine!"
Botan stood up without thinking.
"I've been looking everywhere for it! I think I dropped it in the library."
"I figured."
Reiji's mouth relaxed slightly.
When he smiled, his face looked surprisingly young.
"I wondered whose it was. It's yours, huh. Here, I'll return it."
Reiji entered the clubroom with his long legs, walked right up to Botan, and held out the bookmark.
The movement seemed to happen in slow motion, probably because he was so much taller than her.
"Th-thank you very much."
Botan timidly accepted the bookmark.
Their fingertips touched, just barely.
Reiji's gray eyes gazed steadily down at Botan.
A look that seemed appraising, yet also simply, purely interested.
(*I'm being watched.*)
Botan's heart thumped again. A slightly different kind of tension than before.
"You're interesting."
Reiji said it quietly.
"Huh?"
"You smile with your face, but your eyes aren't smiling. It's like a mask."
—*Thud.*
This time, her heart really did leap.
He'd seen through her.
In just a single glance, this person had seen through Botan's mask.
"Hey, hey, Reiji, that's rude. Out of the blue, and it's your first time meeting her."
Raiga hurriedly stepped in.
"It's not an insult. Just an observation."
Reiji said it as if it were nothing.
Then, he turned on his heel.
"See you, Raiga. ...You too, later. Take good care of that bookmark."
The last words were directed at Botan.
He put his hand on the door handle, then turned his head just slightly toward her.
"I'll come by again."
Leaving those words behind, he walked out.
The sound of the door closing echoed in the strangely quiet clubroom.
"W-wow, that Reiji guy is something..."
Botan murmured, staring at the bookmark in her hands.
She was surprised he'd had it, but more than that—
(*That's the first time anyone's seen through my mask.*)
"Yeah... It's really rare for him to take an interest in someone."
Raiga said it with exasperation, but also a hint of happiness.
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