Chapter 2 The Red Flags Megastore Hamburger Steak #2
Flustered, Nagi kept standing up then sitting back down again. I swapped places with her, hastily pushing her back onto the sofa, putting her in the window seat. This way, I didn’t have to worry about her running off.
I exhaled. “Why don’t you have some coffee first? Let’s take it slowly, untangle things one by one.”
“Y-yes, sorry.”
What. The. Hell.
This was so much harder than I’d anticipated. I felt my body heating up. Rolling up the sleeves of my sweater, I brought my cup to my lips. I took a deep breath, prepared to dive into everything slowly.
“I’m sorry if this is out of line, but are you dating a toxic man?” Iori asked bluntly.
Startled, I nearly spilled my coffee. He was definitely out of line.
Nagi widened her big eyes and said, “How did you know?”
“Just a hunch. You seem like the type who falls for the wrong guys. There’s something about you that tells me you attract people like struggling musicians, for example?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said to Iori.
That would be too typical. It can’t possibly be true.
“Do you follow my secret Twitter account or something?” To my disbelief, Nagi’s face turned completely pale as she spoke.
“Wait, are you dating a musician for real?” I asked.
“Here.” Nagi timidly held out her phone and showed us a slew of resentful tweets.
Arrgh. It’s not working, is it?
Give me my money back!
What am I gaining from doing so much for him?
My life ended the day I started dating a musician.
Does anyone have any answers for me?
She didn’t exactly come across as mentally stable, with messages posted every hour.
“My friends tell me that I’m a toxic boyfriend magnet,” Nagi said, as she slid her phone back into her pocket. “I have to always be doing something for my partner. If I’m not, it makes me feel as though the relationship isn’t equal, like I’m not worth going out with.”
“I can kind of relate to that. I’m that type, too.
” I thought of my relationship with Kyohei.
Whenever I spent the night at his place, I would wake up early to make him breakfast and iron his shirts before hanging them in his closet.
“It might seem like I’m doing it out of love, but it’s more like unless I do this, the relationship isn’t even. It’s that kind of feeling.”
As Nagi blew on her coffee, I noticed that her lips were like the beak of a tiny bird.
“I’ve been a groupie for six years now,” she continued.
“I got so used to doing things for him that it became the norm. I brought him gifts at the end of his gigs, and whenever his band didn’t sell enough tickets—they had to hit a certain target—I would do my best to buy the unsold ones.
Sometimes I even covered their studio rental.
For superfans, this kind of thing is pretty common.
My relationship with him was an extension of that. ”
Huh? She pays his studio costs? Surely that’s excessive, even for a superfan.
Although her statements filled my head with a flurry of questions, we decided to watch a video of the band.
It was a rock band of four. Despite being indie, they seemed to have a solid following.
We watched as alternating lights of purple and red illuminated the stage.
Guided by the upbeat rhythm of the song, the crowd threw their arms in the air, raising their index fingers upward.
When the band was finished with the chorus, the guitarist, who had been playing on the right-hand side, came out to the center and performed a phenomenal solo.
“This is him.” Nagi pointed at the guitarist bashfully.
Of course it is, I thought to myself. The guy emitted an inordinate level of charisma.
He had enigmatic eyes, which peered through his hair. His loosely worn T-shirt and jeans showed off his slim figure, enhanced by his pared-back style. Strumming his guitar in a trancelike state, he looked as though he believed that the only things remaining in the world were him and his music.
From time to time, he lowered his guitar, tilting its head downward. The way in which he slid the tips of his slender fingers across its neck was just…
“So erotic, isn’t he?” Iori said with a deadpan expression.
“I wish you’d warn us before you come up with these inappropriate remarks,” I retorted.
“Well, I can tell that the guy on the guitar gets the most attention in this band,” Iori continued matter-of-factly.
“The bassist is pretty popular, too, I imagine. The guitar-playing vocalist, as well as the drummer, have probably been with their girlfriends for about three years, if not already married. Nagi-chan, it seems that you’ve gotten yourself into a rather tricky relationship. ”
“I doubt any of that is true,” Hozumi remarked, shooting Iori a skeptical look.
Nagi’s mouth was open. “Are you…psychic?”
“Don’t tell me he’s right?” I gasped.
Nagi started to rub her arms nervously, as though she had just witnessed something truly terrifying. What was it with Iori and his laser-sharp intuition? I wish he would utilize it more in improving sales.
“Everything you just said is right. Sho—oh, that’s short for Shogo—he’s incredibly popular with the girls. People say that he has slept with every woman in Machida city.”
“I was pretty accurate, then,” Iori said. “Just so you know, in my backpacking days, I gained something of a cult following, too, and their saying was ‘Women on Earth fall in love with Amamiya twice.’ ”
“This is not the time to get competitive!” I said. “What does that even mean?”
As we continued to quarrel, someone’s stomach rumbled. Without intending to, I glanced at Hozumi.
“It wasn’t me.”
“Iori…?”
“Of course not. I’m too handsome for stomach growling.”
“How is being handsome relevant…”
Just then, someone raised a tentative right hand.
“I’m sorry, it was me.”
It was Nagi.
“Oh, are you hungry? You haven’t had dinner yet, have you?” I asked.
I stepped into the kitchen and opened the fridge to see if I could cook her something to eat.
“We have ground meat, onions, and breadcrumbs, so I could make you a hamburger steak. Would you like that? Oh, I suppose you’re not in the mood for that…. I could do a soup or—”
“I would! I would love a hamburger steak, please! I was in the mood for it earlier.”
Bouncing off the sofa, Nagi got to her feet.
“Oh, sorry,” she apologized, “I didn’t mean to be so ill-mannered.”
As Nagi spoke, her stomach made loud growling noises. Her cheeks turned bright red. I’m starving! She silently pleaded with her puppy-dog eyes.
“I’ll get right to it.” I chuckled. “Sit tight.”
Nagi nodded enthusiastically. She looked as if nothing in the world had ever made her so happy.
Once I had made vertical and horizonal cuts, I chopped down, listening to the rhythmic beat of the knife hitting the chopping board. A mound of finely minced onions began to form. There are few things I enjoy more than the sound of a fresh onion being sliced.
An impressed Nagi peered into the kitchen. “Wow, you’re like a food processor.”
I asked the three of them to move to the counter seats so that they could keep me company while I cooked. We continued chatting while I prepared the hamburger steak.
This is nice, I thought to myself.
My mom passed away during my fifth year of elementary school.
I took over the housework, and that included preparing meals every day.
My brother, who is three years younger, ate with me.
My dad rarely made it home before dawn, so I never got the chance to ask what he thought of my cooking.
The kitchen in my house was always dead silent.
No one was there to taste-test my food or to cry “I’m starving! ” to me.
“By the way, why did you storm out of your home today? What was the thing that you couldn’t take anymore?” Iori asked as he sipped the red wine he’d just opened to pair with the hamburger steak.
“About that…”
I poured some oil into the frying pan as I listened, then started to fry the minced onions with a wooden spatula.
“To tell you the truth, I had just lent Sho some money.”
“You gave him money?” I blurted out. Nagi made this shocking revelation just as I shook the frying pan. The pieces of onion flew out of the pan, landing all around the sink and on my hand. “Ah, that’s hot!”
Realizing that Nagi’s story needed my undivided attention, I turned the cooker off and wiped down the worktop.
“How much money did you lend him?”
Curling her shoulders like a puppy caught red-handed, she slowly held up three fingers.
“Three? Thirty thousand yen? Or three hundred thousand?”
“Three million.”
“Three million yen?” I yelled.
I was speechless.
She’s only twenty-four! How did she manage to save up so much—stop. Focus.
“Did he need the money to buy instruments?” Hozumi wondered. “Guitars can be very expensive.”
“That has happened a few times before, but this time it wasn’t that.”
Although I was taken aback by the “a few times before” part, I decided to let it go for the moment. I willed myself to keep my composure. Must stay calm must stay calm must stay calm…
“Sho’s second girlfriend was married, but when her husband found out about the affair, he sued Sho. He needed to find three million yen by the end of today. He’s taken out enough high-interest loans as it is, so I decided to pay on his behalf for the time being.”
“That is way more information than I can comprehend.” I was in disbelief.
Second girlfriend? Married? Sued? High-interest loans?
“What is he, the Red Flags Megastore?” I yelped.
“All right, everyone, take a deep breath.” While the rest of us sat in astonishment, Iori swirled his glass of wine elegantly. “Let’s break down the facts. How many girlfriends does Sho have?”
“Well, it depends, but usually five or six. For your information, I am number three.”
“You say that like it’s your student number at school,” Hozumi commented, rubbing his eyes as though to confirm he wasn’t dreaming. “Why are you giving him so much? If you’re going to concede so much, you should at least do it for a better boyfriend.”