What She Knew

It was a few days past the Golden Week holiday as a sullen Chihiro trudged toward Itsuki’s apartment.

The results from the aptitude test for her third year of high school, taken back at the end of April, had just returned, and they weren’t what she’d hoped for. She was in the upper ranks, but for someone who had always been near the top in this school, the scores were on the low end, making both her teacher and her parents wonder if something was up.

Something was up. When would she reveal her secret to Itsuki? Or was it even all right to reveal? But more than that—whenever fellow writer Aoba Kasamatsu or grade schooler Nadeshiko Kiso called Itsuki “Big Bro,” and he melted into their hands, it really riled her. She was his younger sister—it should’ve been her receiving that kind of attention. But those two weren’t in the family, so they were able to be spoiled all day—and because they weren’t related to him, Itsuki was free to play pretend to his heart’s content.

“…I feel like I’m the only one losing out,” she complained.

Just then…

“Aaahhhh!!”

Chihiro looked up toward the loud voice. There she saw a compact young man with a hairdo that was impossible to forget.

It was Pablo Purikesso. She had let down her guard. Whenever she was close to Itsuki’s place, she always kept a close eye on her surroundings to keep from running into him—but today, her mind had wandered too much.

Just as expected, Pablo began running toward her at full speed.

“Ah…!”

She turned around, attempting to escape—

“Hyahh!”

But her heavy shopping bag threw her off-balance, tangling her legs and sending her to the ground. A lone potato from the bag rolled down the sidewalk.

“Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt?” The worried Pablo picked up the potato as he asked.

“I-I’m fine,” Chihiro said as she stood up.

“Then, great,” he replied, handing over the spud.

“Um, thank you…” She hurriedly placed it back in the bag and bowed lightly.

“No, no, I’m the one who oughtta thank you!”

“Huh?”

“Like, you showed me half your ass a little while ago, right? It’s really boosted my art! Thank you so much!” He bowed until his upper body was parallel to the pavement.

“D-don’t act like I agreed to it!” Chihiro’s face reddened as she protested.

Pablo didn’t seem to hear. “So I have another request!”

“No!”

“But I didn’t even say it yet!”

“Well, you’ll just ask me to show off all of my…my rear end, won’t you?”

“There’s that, yeah, but it’s not my first priority right now!”

“Huh?” Chihiro looked puzzled at the completely serious Pablo.

“Would you mind letting me slap your ass?!”

“Whaaaa—?!” Chihiro nearly screamed.

This was even more nonsensical than anything he had asked before.

“S-slap my rear end…?!”

“You don’t have to take off your clothes this time! We can do it through your pants! Like, nude would be best, of course, but I wanna know how it, you know, feels and stuff—and the sound and vibration!”

This made no sense to Chihiro whatsoever, but she could tell Pablo meant every single word.

“…And is this for your ‘art,’ too?”

“Of course, man! If I wanna keep up with Yanagase’s crazy enthusiasm, then I got no choice but to find someone’s ass to slap!”

Chihiro cowered at his earnest eyes. She recalled the art she saw at the park the other day. She was no expert, but she could tell Pablo really was a good artist. You needed real talent—real passion—to draw stuff like his.

Pablo, no doubt, was a creative person who expressed things his own way, much like Itsuki. She didn’t want to shackle her brother…hence why she continued to keep her secret from him.

“The answer is still no!”

Pablo, on the other hand, didn’t matter at all.

“Aw, cut me a break!”

“Absolutely not!”

“Just one slap! One slap is all I’m asking!”

“No!”

Chihiro knew where this was going. Just like always, Pablo would try to find a way to aim for her rear. She tensed up her legs and took a breath, mentally preparing to make a run for it.

But:

“…All right. I’ll leave you alone today.”

“Huh?”

This was beyond comprehension.

Pablo gave Chihiro a light grin. “It’s not nice to coerce people, after all. I’m gonna work hard until I can convince you to show me your ass!”

“Uh…”

He lowered his head in a deep bow. “So please! Can you give me your name and contact information?!”

Chihiro’s heart wavered at this serious, sincere request… Come to think of it, I haven’t given him my name, have I? But she resisted the idea of giving this young man any personal information.

“I don’t want you to have my contact…but my name is Chihiro.”

Just the revelation of her first name made stars of joy dance across Pablo’s eyes.

“Chihiro! That’s a rad name!”

“Thank you…”

Pablo’s reaction gave her mixed feelings. She didn’t dislike the name—in fact, she was rather fond of it. But the fact that Chihiro is a unisex name in Japan, applicable to boys and girls equally, was just one more reason it was possible to hide her gender from Itsuki. Thinking of it that way, she wasn’t sure how “rad” a name it was.

“Um…is Pablo a pseudonym, then?”

Chihiro had given her name. It seemed only fair for him to supply his. But Pablo returned this question with a puzzled look.

“Pablo…?”

“…Pablo Purikesso? That’s your pseudonym, right?”

“Ohhh!” He nodded to himself. “Yeah, I did use that name, didn’t I? But I got off of my cubism kick, so I dropped that one a while ago! To me, drawing cute girls is the best thing out there!”

“Uh…?”

Thus, facing the bewildered Chihiro, he gave a cheerful smile and stated his name.

“My real name’s Setsuna Ena! I do illustration work under the name Puriketsu!”

Chihiro’s face froze.