Yobisute
…I think I got carried away by the mood and said something pretty incredible.
As I awkwardly fiddled with the glass in my hand, Kishimoto, who had been grinning to herself, suddenly spoke up.
"Okay then! Kim-kun! Let's start calling each other by our first names!"
I couldn't quite adjust to her characteristically drastic mood swings.
"So suddenly?"
"They say calling each other by first names is the best way to get close fast! Go on, try it!"
I couldn't fathom the thought process of a social butterfly like her, but I did as she asked.
"Alright then… Rika."
At that, Kishimoto beamed and nodded.
"Perfect, call me that from now on. Ryu-chan."
"Ryu-chan?"
My expression instinctively hardened at the cringeworthy nickname.
She explained with a nonchalant look on her face.
"If you read the characters for your name the Japanese way, it's 'Ryusei.' So, 'Ryu-chan' for short."
I pleaded with her, my hands trembling with internal shame.
"…Can't you just call me Yu-seong like a normal person?"
"Huh? But I call all my friends by nicknames."
"Every single one?"
"Every single one!"
Seeing that she had no intention of backing down, I stared at Kishimoto with a stiff expression before finally giving in.
"Hah, fine. Call me whatever you want."
"Hehe, I was going to anyway."
Placing her empty barley tea glass on the desk, Kishimoto spun her chair around and faced the bookshelf, her legs dangling and kicking slightly.
"So, Ryu-chan, what's your favorite shonen manga here?"
I picked up her empty glass and placed it on the tray as I answered.
"Golden Samurai, on the top shelf."
"Oh! I love that one too!"
She looked genuinely surprised by my answer, then clapped her hands in delight.
It seemed she was happy that we had found some common ground.
"Even now, whenever I think of it, I'll reread it from start to finish."
As I said that, I took the first volume of Golden Samurai from the top shelf and showed it to her.
"Wow! A first edition! This was released fifteen years ago; it must be super hard to find!"
As if recalling fond memories of reading it, she stomped her feet excitedly.
Golden Samurai was the second full-length manga by the artist Kishimoto Musashi, a story about an Irish sailor named William who accidentally drifts to Japan.
The manga begins with a mutiny on a ship, where a black slave kills William's friend and flees to the island nation in the Far East.
Seeking revenge for his friend, William follows the escaped slave to Japan. In the process, he meets Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the great warlords of the Sengoku period, and is given the name Miura Anjin and the status of a samurai.
William, a blonde foreigner, was called the "Golden Samurai" by the people. As a samurai, William slowly hones his skills under Ieyasu while searching for the whereabouts of the escaped slave to avenge his friend.
Eventually, William discovers that the "Black Samurai" Yasuke, one of Oda Nobunaga's retainers, is the very slave who fled, and he challenges him to a duel.
William is the victor in the final duel, but in his pursuit of Yasuke, he had already learned of his friend's wrongdoing in his harsh treatment of the slave. He declares that he will no longer hold the man who has abandoned his former name responsible, and instead of taking his head, he cuts off his topknot before returning to his homeland as a one-armed man.
Concluding in a total of 28 volumes, the story could be considered long or short depending on your perspective, but I loved the manga's unique art style, reminiscent of an oriental painting, and its dry ending, which showed the futility of revenge.
That was because the psychological descriptions leading up to that point and the foreshadowing that hinted at forgiveness were expressed throughout the story.
After listening to my high praise for Golden Samurai for about ten minutes, Kishimoto shivered, then blushed and looked shy, as if she were the one being complimented.
"I really love this manga too, but I've never met anyone who loves it as much as you, Ryu-chan."
"This is nothing, really. I only bought the manga and none of the related merchandise."
"Huh? No, no, if my papa heard the review you just gave, he'd be thrilled."
What?
I froze for a moment.
Just as I was about to ask her to repeat herself, thinking I'd misheard, Kishimoto giggled and revealed a shocking truth.
"Actually, Kishimoto Musashi is my papa's pen name."
***
Manga artist.
Kishimoto Musashi.
Real name.
Kishimoto Sojiro.
Since Kishimoto is a fairly common surname in Japan, I hadn't noticed.
That Kishimoto Rika was the daughter of that legendary artist.
Then again, looking back, the foreshadowing was laid out quite explicitly from the start.
She lived in Seisho, one of Tokyo's most affluent neighborhoods, her father was a successful manga artist, and most importantly, she was blonde.
Golden Samurai itself was a work published right after the author, Kishimoto Musashi, married his English wife, so the wiki mentioned speculation that he was influenced by her in some way, big or small.
And the author Kishimoto Musashi's hometown was Shizuoka.
A classmate's parent being a celebrity is a famous rom-com cliché. Why didn't I realize it?
It was enough to make me feel like a fool, an idiot, a complete and utter moron.
I swallowed hard and asked her.
"Do you think I could get an autograph from your father?"
Kishimoto grinned brightly and nodded.
"That's no problem at all. In fact, if you come over to my house sometime, I'll introduce you myself!"
"!!!"
For a moment, my heart seized, and I clutched my chest.
Is this what they call a successful fan?
To think I could meet the legendary artist Kishimoto Musashi in person… it was nothing short of an honor for my family.
"Th-then please let me know when you have time."
"Okay! I'll talk to him when Dad comes home."
In that moment, I felt truly glad that I had become friends with her.
Who cares about the original story or whatever else?
I was going to meet the esteemed Kishimoto-sensei!
"Well, it's getting late, so I should be heading home! Mama should be back soon too!"
"Oh? Uh, yeah, okay."
I walked Kishimoto, who was heading home, to the station.
"See you tomorrow! Ryu-chan!"
…Everything's great, but please, refrain from using that nickname in front of other people.
***
After what felt like a whirlwind of a day, the next morning arrived.
When I got to school, for some reason, there was an unfamiliar desk next to mine, and sitting there was Kishimoto Rika.
"Morning! Ryu-chan!"
I blinked, utterly bewildered, and asked.
"Rika, what are you doing here?"
Kishimoto Rika grinned cheekily and tapped her desk.
"I talked to the teacher and moved my seat this morning. There's plenty of space around you anyway, Ryu-chan."
"…I guess so, but."
Seeing the two of us talking so casually, the students who had arrived early began to whisper.
"What kind of dirt does he have on the transfer student for her to sit there?"
"Maybe Kim-kun blackmailed her yesterday or something?"
"Hey, be my woman."
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
I pressed my fingers to my throbbing temples, their slanderous remarks loud enough for all to hear, and took out my textbook and notebook for the first period.
First period today was English.
I didn't really need to study since I'd scored a 900 on the TOEIC back in college, but Japanese English education was notoriously difficult in its own way because of the grammar.
Kishimoto, who had been sitting next to me and staring blankly at her phone, saw my notebook and, as if remembering last week's English homework, promptly held out her hand.
"Ryu-chan, let me see your homework."
"Sure."
Somehow, it felt less like I had a girlfriend and more like a high-maintenance little sister.
***
By the second week of the new semester, students were starting to get used to school life.
The lazy biological rhythm from spring break was gradually adjusting to a more regular schedule.
And around this time, the school's full-blown new member recruitment war would begin.
"Soccer club!! How about the soccer club, the most popular with the girls!!"
"Basketball club!! Join now and, unlike the soccer club, a pretty manager will wipe your sweat!!"
"Anyone want to come to the light music club and set their youth ablaze!!"
"New students! Come to the board game club! Our clubroom is stocked with all sorts of board games from East and West! All we need is you!"
Attending the student council for the first time in a while as the secretary, I was looking down on the scene from the third floor with the president and vice president.
"It has begun again this year. The department heads' desperate struggle to recruit new members."
"Ohohohoho! If only they belonged to our student council, they wouldn't have to do such trivial things as promotion!"
Listening to the two of them, I cautiously spoke up.
"Um… is there a reason we have to act like masterminds right now?"
The president, fanning herself with a wide-open black fan, chided me as if I knew nothing.
"Those who stand on high have a duty to observe the lives of the lower class! Kim Yu-seong, you're the top student in your year and you don't even know that much!"
"Hear, hear!"
I stared blankly at the master-servant duo, who had suddenly started acting out a comedy sketch, before sticking my hands in my pockets and asking.
"More importantly, President, could you tell me why you called me to the student council room all of a sudden?"
The vice president pointed a finger at me and said.
"Kim Yu-seong! You have too little awareness of your affiliation with the great student council! My Lady is sad because you never come up to the student council room!"
"…Please, continue."
"A brazen rogue such as yourself will be struck down today by none other than My Lady's trusted confidant, the great Akagi Shinjiro!"
As the vice president's glasses glinted and he shouted, the president, who was listening beside him, blushed and denied it.
"I-I never said I was sad!"
Faced with the utterly chaotic scene unfolding before my eyes, I quietly raised my hand and asked.
"If there's no other business, may I return to my classroom?"
""No!""
'I'm going to lose my mind.'