第十一章 精好仙台平（５）
「な。レベル高いだろ」
ヒロが扇の陰でささやいた。
俺たちは街の牛タン屋を借りきって、中学の同窓生たち三十人ばかりと一緒にいた。ちなみにこの店はクラスメイトの親が経営している。街の中心部にある俺たちの中学には商売人の子どもが多い。それに遊ぶ場所はいつも賑やかな繁華街なので、髪型や服装だって、ほかの中学の奴らとは当時から気合の入れ方も違うのだった。
エロ戦士ヒロが太鼓判を押すだけあって、確かにみんなそれなりに可愛くなっていた。うちの中学はもともと可愛い子が多いことで有名だったけど、そこに大人っぽさが加わって、それぞれ〈女〉になっていた。
男同士はたいがいみんな卒業後もコンスタントに会っているから、飲み会は最初から合コンモードだった。ヒロはいつものとおり俺を引っぱって、一番可愛い子たちがかたまっている席の真ん中に陣どった。こういった要領でコイツに叶う者はいない。そして必ず俺を隣に座らせるのは、『俺の口八丁と、お前の手八丁が合わされば、落ちない女はいないからな』ということだったが、手八丁ってなんなんだよ。セクハラ野郎みたいじゃないか。お前よりは俺のほうが確実に紳士的だという自信があるぞ。
同級生同士だから自己紹介なんかもほとんど省略されて、互いの近況報告のあとはすぐに少人数のグループに分かれての飲みに入った。気がつけば俺はヒロと一緒に、二人の女の子の前に座っていた。クラスが別だったのでなんとなく顔や名前だけは覚えている程度の、あまり話をしたことはない子たちだった。一人は、親の喫茶店を手伝っているクリッとした目が印象的なセミロング。もう一人は、なんと都内で雑誌モデルをやっているという。言われてみれば顔がびっくりするほど小さくて、真っ直ぐでサラサラの長い髪から念入りに磨かれた爪の先まで、手入れをしていないところはないっていう感じだった。こんな子いたっけ。女って変わるもんだなあ。
「お前、どっち狙い？」
二人が同時にトイレに行ったのを見計らい、ヒロがヒラリと扇を開いて言った。どうでもいいけど、お前、ブレザーに着替えているのになんでまだ扇を持っているんだよ？
「お前は、どうせモデル狙いだろ」
言うと、ヒロはイシシと笑った。……確かに扇は必要かもな。
「もう一人も可愛いけど、やっぱりモデルは別格だよ。でもどっちにしても、お前の相手は最初から喫茶店って決まっているけどな」
「なんでだよ」
スモークタンを食べながら訊くと、ヒロがバシバシと背中を叩くので喉がつまりそうになった。
「イテッ！ なにすんだ、バカ」
ヒロはグイと生ビールを飲み乾すと、
「バカはお前だよ。気づかないの、あの子の熱ーい視線に」
「は？」
“See? The level’s high, right?”
Hiro whispered from behind his fan.
We had rented out a gyūtan restaurant downtown and were with about thirty of our middle school classmates. By the way, the place was run by one of our classmates’ parents. Our middle school was in the city center, and many of the students were children of merchants. Since the places we hung out were always lively downtown districts, even back then we put a different kind of effort into our hair and clothes than the kids at other middle schools did.
If even Hiro—the ero warrior—gave his stamp of approval, they had indeed all become fairly cute. Our middle school was originally known for having a lot of cute girls, but with a sense of maturity added to that, each of them had become a “woman.”
Most of the guys had kept meeting regularly after graduation, so the party was in group-date mode from the start. As usual, Hiro dragged me along and took up position right at the center of the table where the cutest girls were gathered. No one could beat him at this kind of maneuvering. The reason he always made me sit next to him was, “With my silver tongue and your skilled hands combined, there isn’t a girl who won’t fall.” What the hell are “skilled hands”? That makes me sound like a damn sexual harasser. I’m confident I’m far more gentlemanly than you are.
Since we were classmates, self-introductions were mostly skipped, and after exchanging updates, we immediately split into small groups to drink. Before I knew it, I was sitting with Hiro across from two girls. They were in different classes, so I only vaguely remembered their faces and names and had hardly ever talked to them. One had bright, round eyes that stood out and medium-length hair and was helping out at her parents’ coffee shop. The other, surprisingly, was said to be working as a magazine model in the capital. Come to think of it, her face was unbelievably small, and from her long, straight, glossy hair to the carefully polished tips of her nails, there wasn’t a single part of her that hadn’t been tended to. Did we really have a girl like this? Women really do change.
“Which one are you aiming for?”
When the two girls went to the restroom at the same time, Hiro lightly flipped open his fan and said.
Anyway, you’ve already changed into a blazer, so why are you still carrying that fan?
“You’re going for the model, aren’t you.”
When I said that, Hiro gave a sly grin. …Yeah, maybe the fan is necessary after all.
“The other one’s cute too, but a model’s on a different level. Either way, your match was set from the start—the coffee shop girl.”
“Why’s that?”
I asked while eating smoked tongue, and Hiro started slapping my back hard enough that I nearly choked.
“Ow! What are you doing, idiot.”
Hiro gulped down his draft beer and said,
“You’re the idiot. You don’t notice that girl’s burning stare?”
“Huh?”
