Love Call Originally appeared in Nakayoshi Deluxe, September 1986. Written by Takeuchi Naoko. Translated by Alex Glover. Version 1.0, 3.98. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "He hasn't come..." The girl stands against the wall at the Takanawa Wing department store. "I wonder what's wrong..." she thinks. "I've already waited an hour. Maybe I'll call him..." She steps up to one of the pay phones. "But if he's still at home, what could I say to him..." She dials. "The line's busy?" A boy stands at the phone next to her. "Hey, Tatsuo," he says. "It's me. I waited an hour, but you never came. Tatsuo, you just arranged a meeting with your girl." "I don't believe this..." thinks the girl. "Is this a coincidence? The name Tatsuo, and meeting here now..." "Me?" the boy says. "Since you said you were going to dump her, I decided to come and see. What? You got mad and went home? That's what it sounds like... I thi-" "Tatchan?" says the girl, still holding the phone. ['Tatchan' is a contraction of the name 'Tatsuo' combined with '-chan', which makes it unable to be separated as usual.] The boy looks at her. "Hello?" says the voice on the phone. The boy takes her wrist. "Hey..." Tears well in her eyes. She slaps the boy. "You jerk!" She runs away. "I've been dumped...!" she thinks. The boys sighs. "Jeez..." The phone next to him beeps. "That girl forgot her card," he thinks. He takes the phone card. On the card, the name 'Tatchan' is written, next to a heart. "Was this who he was supposed to meet? Tatsuo's girlfriend?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You were dumped?" She nods and cries as her classmates comfort her. "Oh, come on, Yurie..." "You're crying..." "I see... So you were dumped..." "Actually," says one of the girls, "I've seen Tatsuo-kun with a lot of other girls." "Don't mind being dumped by such a superficial guy!" "Yeah, that's right." She doesn't say anything. "Oh, what is it?" "No... Nothing..." she says. "Despite all that," she thinks, "I loved him. Tatchan..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- She sits in the library quietly. She gathers her things and stands up. "'Nakamura Yurie'-san." She sees the boy from the previous day. "Who is this guy..." she thinks. "I came to get even with you," he says. He licks his lips, smiling. She slaps him. She turns and walks away. "Hey..." She crashes into somebody, and falls on the ground. "Oh! I- I'm sorry!" The boy picks up one of her papers scattered on the floor. Tatchan I want to see you. "'Tatchan'?" he says. She screams. "What are you doing!" "Just joking," he says. "You forgot this." He holds out her phone card. She turns her head. "I don't need that anymore. As you can see, it has the name of the guy who dumped me written on it." "Tatsuo," the boy said. "Why is it you dumped this girl?" "Oh... Well, I'm seeing a college girl now." "Who did you find out my name, and that I'd be here, from?" "I asked Tatsuo," he says. "He said Yurie-chan is usually at the library in Hiroo, writing love letters." "You made up the part about writing love letters, right?" she says. "I never sent him any love letters." "I knew, actually," she thinks. "That Tatchan was dating lots and lots of girls besides me." "What high school do you go to?" he says. "Oh, no, I'll think about where you met Tatsuo." "Is that what you do? Make fun of girls your friend dumps?" "I'm not making fun." She looks at him. "He talked to me at our high school's, the Y Girls' festival. I sensed from the beginning that he was cool, a little superficial, and not serious." "That at the end, he would stand you up and dump you... That's like Tatsuo-kun." "I knew somehow... And he never called me anymore..." "Didn't you call him yourself?" She turns away. "It's none of your business." "I couldn't call him," she thinks. "My heart would pound. My trembling voice would say everything... right? It was always a staring game with my phone." He holds up her phone card. "Can I keep this?" "But... It says Tatchan on it..." "I'm Tatchan, too," he says. She looks at him. "My name's Kawakami Takuji," he says. She laughs. "Since you're Takuji... Tatchan?" "Tatchan..." she thinks. "More than letters, or phone calls... I always wanted to see him." "Oh no..." she says. "Why have I talked so much with you..." "Yurie-cha..." She turns away. "Leave me alone." She steps out the door. He looks at the phone card in his hand. "I can't leave you alone..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Yurie..." The girls leave class. "You're kind of flushed." "Cheer up!" "Oh, come on," says Yurie. "I'm fine." She walks away from them. "There's just something on my mind..." She stops as she sees Takuji waiting outside. "You said Y Girls' School, right?" he says. "You surprised me." "I guess it's partly my responsibility... Cheer up." "Everyone's saying the same thing to me," says Yurie. "I'm fine now, really." "Tatsuo tells me he's seeing a college girl." "Really?" "What I liked was..." she thinks, "the milk tea ice cream... Our dates at the park, where we could see the sea and the airport... The mint cocktail like toothpaste powder... I'm sure I'll have another date like that..." "He dates high..." says Takuji. Yurie smiles. "Haha... Really..." She looks out from the bridge they stand on. "Even though we dated..." she says. "I could never talk naturally when I was with him. My heart just pounded... It's strange. When I'm with this other Tatchan, I can talk naturally. Maybe because I was too embarrassed..." "Will you go out with me?" She looks at him. She turns her head. "No... I don't want another boyfriend..." "Do you still like him?" he says. "That letter to Tatsuo the other day..." "Tatchan..." she thinks. "Writing letters I don't send is a hobby of mine..." she says. "I want to see him..." she thinks. She wipes tears from her eyes. "Crying is a hobby of mine, too... I'm sorry, we're just talking about gloomy things. I feel kind of relieved... Be sure to use that card." She walks away. "Bye-bye." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Bye-bye." "Yurie," says her classmate. "You look like you're feeling better lately..." "Ehehe," says Yurie. "Really?" "Tell me the truth! I bet it's because of the guy who was waiting by the front gate the other day!" "Oh?" She sits down. "Kawakami Takuji-kun..." she thinks. "The other Tatchan..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yurie sits at a desk in the library. She writes on her note pad: To the other Tatchan I can be natural with, Thank you. "I just wanted to see him once more, to apologize for slapping him." She lays her head on the desk. "Tatchan..." She drifts off to sleep. A hand knocks on the desk. She looks up. "Huh?" "Did I surprise you again?" says Takuji. "It's like magic..." thinks Yurie. "I thought you'd be here if I came," he says. "Why...?" "Somehow I knew..." He points to her note pad. "Doing your gloomy hobbies again?" "Huh?" He grabs it from her. "Hey!" she says. "Don't read that letter!" He reads it. "Who's this Tatchan?" he says. She sticks out her tongue. "I don't know!" She walks away. He takes her wrist. "Liar, liar..." "That time..." says Yurie. "Why did you grab my hand? I said Tatchan, but... I really never called him that once. I only did in letters... Tatchan..." "Let's go on a date!" says Takuji. "What!?" He pulls her with him. "Huh? H- Hey now!" "Since you like milk tea ice cream," he says, "let's go to thirty-one flavors. It'll be great!" She smiles. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- They walk by the department store, eating ice cream. They see the row of pay phones. "This is where we first met," says Takuji. "Pick up the receiver." He picks up the phone next to her. "Moshakusha?" he says. "What's that?" says Yurie. "When we talk on the phone, instead of 'moshimoshi,' we say..." ['Moshimoshi' is what the Japanese say on the phone, for 'hello.'] "'Moshakusha'? Is 'we'... You and Tatchan?" He drops the phone. He takes her in his arms. "What's wrong?" says Yurie. "I thought you were going to cry..." "I'm not going to cry," she says. "But you cry all the time..." "Crying's my hobby." "That and letters... You have lots of gloomy hobbies. So you didn't send that previous letter either." "Naturally." She looks at him. "Heart, stop..." she thinks. "Who is this other Tatchan?" says Takuji. She turns away. "Tatsuya?" "No, it's not..." "Tatsukichi? Tatsurou?" He sits down. "Takeshi?" He holds her hand. "Tatsuo?" Yurie stops, with tears in her eyes. She turns and slaps him across the face. "That's cruel!" She walks away. "Ouch..." says Takuji. "Again..." He rubs his cheek. "She ran away again..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yurie lies on the grass outside the school. "Tatchan..." she thinks. "I saw you, Yurie!" says her classmate. "You were on a date around the Wing, right? Was it that guy who was waiting for you the other day?" "No..." says Yurie. "He's a friend... Of Tatchan..." "You're still talking about that... You don't have any relationship with Tatsuo-kun anymore. Why are you making such a big deal..." Yurie starts crying. "Oh, now, Yurie..." "I want to see him," she thinks. Takuji looks out the window at her. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yurie sits in her room at home, reading. "Oh, I always want to see 'Tatchan,'" she thinks. "Tatchan... No... The other Tatchan..." She looks at her phone. "Look, again... A staring game with the phone..." The phone rings. She picks it up. "Moshimo-" "Moshakusha?" says the voice. Her eyes widen. "So, can you tell who it is?" he says. "No way..." she thinks. "Hello?" he says. "Umm... Can you hear me?" "Did you ask somebody..." says Yurie. "For my phone number...?" "Yeah, I did," says Takuji. "Who he asked doesn't matter anymore, does it," she thinks. "It's amazing... When I want to see this other Tatchan, I can see him. When I want to hear his voice... I can hear it." "Shall I guess?" says Takuji. "You're crying now." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yurie meets Takuji at the row of pay phones. He holds up the phone card. "Wasn't that a good use for it?" he says. She holds onto him, resting her head on his chest. "I thought of sending a letter... I thought of calling... But I wanted to see you..." The end. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naoko's note for "Love Call". Original manga copyright © 1986 Takeuchi Naoko. English translation copyright © 1998 Alex Glover. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Manga of Takeuchi Naoko | Prism Time | Volume 2