“You’re amazing.”
“Irido-kun, guess what? I made a friend in class!”
Apparently, I had an ugly side. I hadn’t been aware of it, but I could no longer deny it—it was a part of me and my history.
“There was a girl reading a book during lunch, and I worked up the courage to start a conversation with her!”
I nodded along with a smile on my face, celebrating her growth. I wasn’t being dishonest—not in the slightest. How could I not have been happy when you were so joyfully grinning ear to ear? Still, why had a certain thought crossed my mind after I saw you happily chatting with your friend?
“Oh, you’re one of them now.”
After that, I’d put up a wall between the two of us. But it was something else that I’d said that pushed her—the one who was supposed to be on my side—over the edge.
“Sorry, Irido-kun! I made plans with a friend today...” she’d said.
I should’ve voiced my feelings right then and there. I’d already accepted my ugly side, my feelings of alienation, so I should’ve told her. Instead, I...
“Fine. Whatever.”
“Huh?”
I hadn’t even attempted to hide the venom in my words. I didn’t even say goodbye or turn my back on her. I didn’t sugarcoat my words. No, I chose to be confrontational. Talking about what I should’ve done is easy. However, the pile of things I should have done but didn’t is reality.
Mizuto Irido
“Okay, class, for today’s homeroom, we will be choosing members of the cultural festival committee,” our sleepy-looking homeroom teacher declared.
Despite being in charge of the class with the brightest first-year students, I never got a sense that our teacher was very motivated. Well, that was fine. Personally, I preferred my teacher on the hands-off side. It enabled me to work on my secret project without disruption.
“Those on the committee will mostly be the points of contact for the event managers as well as the voice of the class.”
I didn’t really listen to the rest of his explanation because I had more important things to focus on. The cultural festival didn’t interest me—I just wanted to finish the short story and show it to Higashira. I needed to get it done as soon as possible so I could prove to her that she was overevaluating me, and I was just a normal person.
I wasn’t used to writing, so each day was a struggle. But it felt like I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. My pen moved as if my eagerness was fueling it. Meanwhile, homeroom continued on without me.
“I think Yume-chan should do it!”
“Huh?! A-Akatsuki-san?!”
“She’s a real straight shooter—and kind, to boot. Perfect for the job!”
“Good idea!”
“Agreed!”
Other people in the class began voicing their agreement.
“Huh?” Yume was obviously troubled.
Hm, would present tense work here? Or would past tense be better?
“Okay, then who’s going to be her counterpart?” our teacher asked. “Preferably a guy.”
“Me!”
“I’ll do it!”
“You guys are so transparent...”
“Seriously, guys?”
“Where was this energy just a little bit ago?”
The tempo of this passage is kinda off. I wanna add a few words, but what...?
“How about Irido?”
“Her little brother?”
“Oh yeah, he won’t have any ulterior motives. They’re family, after all!”
“Good idea!”
“Irido-kun, huh?”
“Oh yeah! He’s smart too!”
“And he’s got a girlfriend, so there’s nothing at all to worry about!”
“So the guy counterpart will be you, Irido! Okay?”
“All right... Huh?” I looked up and responded reflexively. By the time I did, my name had already been written on the blackboard. “Hm?”
By the time I realized what’d happened, it was too late. They’d already moved on.
“Congrats, Yume-chan!” Minami-san said.
“Thanks...? I feel like I was kinda forced into it... I hope everyone’s okay with me.”
“It’s you we’re talking about. Everyone’s gonna listen!” one of her friends said, pumping her up.
“Exactly!” added another. “Especially the boys! You should really work ’em extra hard!”
Hm?!
“Good luck, Irido!” one of my classmates said.
“I’m not happy, but I’d prefer him to any other bastard who’d try to cozy up to her.”
Hm?!?!
“Moving on,” our teacher said. “We need to decide on what this class is doing for the festival. Irido siblings, come up here and field ideas.”
Hm?!?!?!
Before I even had the time to process what had happened, I found myself standing at the podium in front of our thirty-plus classmates. In the midst, I saw Kogure Kawanami, who was wearing the most shit-eating grin I’d ever seen while giving me a thumbs-up for some reason. Wait... You bastard!
“What should we do?” Yume whispered. “Who should start talking?” Is that a real question?!
“All you,” I said, taking a step back.
“Huh?!”
I decided to be the secretary. No doubt the class would prefer this as well. As I picked up the chalk, Yume flashed a resentful glare at me, before facing the class.
“U-Uh... Well, does anyone have any suggestions?”
“What should we do?”
“A haunted house is pretty standard.”
“Ugh, sounds like a pain to prep for.”
“What’s something normal?”
“I don’t wanna do the same thing as other classes.”
“U-Uh... Um...” Yume stammered.
Though Yume had succeeded at her high school glow-up, she hadn’t gotten better at being louder. Her small wisp of a voice had no chance of talking over the excited, unrestrained chatter of the class. She’s got it rough, I thought as I proceeded to write “Ideas” on the board.
“Hey, everyone—” Minami-san said, speaking up after seeing Yume struggling, but right as she did...
I lightly tapped the blackboard, which reflexively gathered the attention of the class, shutting them up and giving me a second to signal Yume with my eyes.
“P-Please raise your hand if you have a suggestion.”
Thanks to that, everyone finally heard Yume. What a troublesome honor student. I sighed, trying to be covert, but apparently Kawanami and Minami noticed. The former whistled, impressed, while the latter looked astonished.
“Cosplay café!” Minami-san quickly raised her hand and blurted out.
Kawanami shook his head. “Listen, don’t you know tropes? That’s what the guys are supposed to say.”
“But I wanna see Yume in cosplay!”
After her comment, other people, mainly girls, in the class began chiming in with agreement. The guys were strangely quiet, perhaps because anything they might’ve said could be construed as sexual harassment. A cosplay café is the standard thing to do.
“U-Um... W-Would that be okay?” Yume immediately began looking at me for help.
Try a little harder, I thought before calling out to our homeroom teacher. “Are there any documents about what past classes did?”
“Uh-huh. There are.” He acted as if he’d been waiting for this, then pulled out some papers from the folder he’d been holding.
Couldn’t you have given them to us earlier if you had them this entire time? Then again, our school was just like this. They wouldn’t lift a finger if the students didn’t ask. Students were actively encouraged to be independent.
I began flipping through the pages. “It looks like they did a cosplay café last year, so the school should be okay with it.”
“So we can do it?” Yume asked.
“Yeah, but there’s still the chance that we’ll overlap with other classes. I’m not sure what’ll happen in that case,” I said, shooting our teacher a glance.
“Overlap is allowed, but only to a certain extent. If too many classes are doing the same thing, you’ll be asked to present your case to the organizers so that they can keep the excess to a minimum.”
“What criteria do they use to decide?”
“How ready you are for your activity and whether or not it conforms to our school’s moral guidelines. Oh, and of course they’ll look at how attractive it will be as an activity. At the end of the day, though, it’s all up to the organizing committee, which is comprised of the student council and the PTA.”
It was like speaking to an NPC with the way he was giving me just the essentials. I took a quick moment to think.
“So, the biggest problem will be whether or not we can get cosplays. If we don’t have a good handle on that, our presentation might not help us get approved.”
“A presentation? I’m guessing the class committee representatives would have to do that?”
“Is there any restriction on who can present?” I asked our teacher.
“It can be anyone, as long as they’re a student in the respective class,” he answered immediately.
These kinds of questions were best asked directly.
“In that case, it’d be best to leave it to the experts. Why don’t we leave it to someone who’d be knowledgeable about it? Like, the person who suggested it?”
“The person who suggested it... Oh.” I put away the documents and left the rest to Yume. She turned to the rest of the class and began speaking. “Uh... I think we can do it as long as we can get costumes ready.”
“Yeah!”
“Akatsuki-san...”
“Yeah?”
“Since you’re the one who brought it up, could you fulfill that role?”
Minami-san grinned. “Sure! But...”
“Hm?” Yume tilted her head.
“You’re gonna be our model if we have to do a presentation, Yume-chan. After all, we’re gonna need a sample to show ’em, right?”
“Uh...”
The class exploded with cheers of approval. Yume once again shot me a look, asking for help, but I ignored her this time. The more risqué cosplays will be filtered out, so there shouldn’t be a problem.
“F-Fine, but only if we have to.”
I wrote “Cosplay Café” on the board and added an asterisk with the note, “If we can get costumes ready.” It was a kinda anti-climactic ending, but there weren’t any ideas that had gotten anywhere near as much excitement from our class.
Now that homeroom was over, Yume, now back in her seat, was surrounded by Minami-san and her friends.
“Phew, that was nerve-racking!”
“You were great, Yume-chan!”
“Yeah, you were real confident.”
“Totally! You were peak confidence! Be proud!”
“Thanks, you guys...” Yume said, smiling happily.
Amazing. She’d been flailing pretty much every step of the way, but she was happily receiving praise. Thinking back, she’d been pretty confident when she’d been selected as the new student representative too. Maybe a leadership role suited her better than she thought. Maybe I hadn’t ever thought of her that way because I’d come up with an image on my own...
“Good work, Irido!” Kawanami said insincerely to me as I sat back down. “You really had Irido-san’s back up there. You’re great at dealing with things even if you don’t like interacting with other people. Everyone’s super impressed.”
“Cool.”
“That’s your only reaction? C’mon! Be happy!” I just sat there, unresponsive. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing...”
What was there to be happy about? If anything, now that it seemed like there were gonna be more annoying things to worry about, I was kinda ticked off. Thinking about this made me realize something once more.
“I’m thinking that... I really am different...”
Kawanami laughed. “Huh? It’s a little late for you to be hitting your edgelord phase.”
I said bye to Kawanami and left the classroom to go home since I couldn’t go to the library just yet. Yume, who should have been headed for the same place, didn’t come with me.
“I... I’m done,” I muttered with a sense of accomplishment.
I looked at the papers on my desk, which were crammed full of the words I’d written. I’d finally completed my short story. It didn’t hold a candle to professional writing, of course, but for a novice high schooler, this had to have been on the better side.
I had originally intended to write something average, but I’d gotten a little too into it and accidentally written something above average. But maybe this was for the best. It probably wouldn’t have been a good idea to show her something that had been written poorly on purpose. But there was something I needed to do before I showed this to Higashira tomorrow.
“Technically, I did promise.”
I hadn’t forgotten that Yume and I had promised to read each other’s stories. I had no obligation to stay true to my word, but this definitely beat being yelled at. She could at least help do some spell-checking for me...as long as she hadn’t forgotten our agreement.
I walked out of my room with my short story. I didn’t hear anything, so I figured she was downstairs. Sure enough, she was in the living room, and so were dad and Yuni-san. Yume was sitting on the couch, talking on the phone.
“Uh-huh. Huh?! Wow! Yeah. Uh...but we’re not the only ones who decide this, so let’s put a pin in it for now.” She seemed to be in the middle of a semi-serious conversation. “Yeah, let’s decide this at the next class meeting— Ah.” Yume noticed me and moved her phone away from her ear. “Good timing, Mizuto...-kun.” She shot a glance at our parents nearby as she quickly added an honorific. “I’m on the phone with Akatsuki-san—she says she might be able to get the costumes together.”
“Okay.”
“We’d be renting them, so it depends on how much of our budget it cuts into, but we’re thinking about making a final decision after we iron out exactly what kind of cosplay we’re doing in the next class meeting.”
“Oh...yeah. It would be easier to have some kind of theme picked out.”
“Right? What do you think would be good?”
“I thought you wanted to decide that with the class.”
“It’s better to lay the groundwork now so we don’t have to waste time having some stupid back-and-forth between everyone...or at least that’s what Akatsuki-san said.”
“Laying the groundwork now? Is she really a first-year?” She sounded more like a politician. I glanced at the papers in my hand and shifted gears.
“For starters, we should veto anything too risqué. There’s no way we’d get the okay to do them.”
“True... But how risqué are we talking about?”
“From what I’ve read in the documents, anything that involves a mini skirt is a bad idea. For example, if we did a maid café, they’d have to be Victorian-style outfits.”
“‘Victorian’...? I don’t really know what that is, but that sounds pretty strict.”
“Also, I mentioned maid cafés, but it’s highly possible that we’ll get complaints if only the girls are cosplaying. We should think of something that guys can dress up as too. But for the record, I completely reject the stupid trope of having guys cross-dress.”
“I had a feeling you’d say something like that. According to Akatsuki-san, most of the girls seem to want to stick to what’s standard. Everyone seems pretty serious about this.”
“Standard, huh? It’s hard to think of something that the PTA would be ok with, in that case.”
“Maids and butlers would be an idea, but also it might overlap with other classes.”
“Yeah, but won’t we run the risk of going over budget if we try to spice things up for the sake of not overlapping?”
“True...” Yume said pensively.
“Hm? Are you talking about a cultural festival by chance?” Dad inserted himself into our conversation from the dining table.
“They’re so young, talking about doing a cosplay café,” Yuni-san said while opening a snack across from him.
“W-We haven’t decided that’s what we’re doing yet. We need to make sure we can actually get the costumes...” Yume said, strangely waving her hands frantically.
“Oh,” dad said in a low voice. “In that case, maybe you should ask Madoka-chan for advice.”
“Huh? Madoka-san?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she’s in her college’s theater club.”
“Really?” Yume shot me a glance after hearing this.
Don’t look at me. This is the first time I’m hearing about this. He was talking about my cousin, Madoka Tanesato. I would agree that she seemed like the type who would be involved with cultural festivals.
While I was thinking, Yuni-san tilted her head. “Huh? Wasn’t she in the art club?”
“Huh? Was she?” dad replied.
“Hm... I also feel like she said she was in the tennis club,” Yuni-san said with uncertainty.
I had no clue why it was so hard to remember what club she was actually in, but honestly, I would’ve believed she was in all of them.
Dad laughed. “Well, at the very least, she’s very well-connected. People warm up to her quickly. I’m sure she knows someone who can help you with costumes. I remember her mentioning she was on her school’s cultural festival committee. She could probably give you some tips too.”
“Madoka-chan goes to college in Kyoto, right? I bet she’d be happy to help. She’s probably bored since summer break hasn’t ended yet.”
I wasn’t sure how much we could trust the information we’d received, but I decided to reach out regardless.
“We’ll try doing that then. Akatsuki-san, did you hear that? Yeah, a well-connected family member of ours— Huh? Yeah, a girl. Chest size? U-Uh... I don’t think you want to know.”
“A well-connected family member of ours,” huh? I thought I’d gotten used to our new family environment, but I was still having trouble processing the fact that Yume was referring to Madoka-san like that despite not knowing her all that long.
That being said, that did it for this conversation. I assumed she was done with me, but I still needed her for something. I lightly gripped the pieces of paper in my hand.
“Huh?” Yume looked at me again. “Sorry, did you need something?”
For some reason, I reflexively hid the papers behind my back. Yume had been the one to ask if she could read my story. I’d just been trying to fulfill my obligation. There shouldn’t have been any reason to hesitate, but... Then again, our parents were here, and Yume... She was dealing with the whole cultural festival committee situation, which was new territory for her. It wasn’t a good time.
“No. Nothing.”
I didn’t need her to read it now. She could read it after Higashira, simple as that.
I wasn’t necessarily lonely, nor was I feeling abandoned. I couldn’t find the right words to describe what I was feeling, which was ridiculous because regardless of its quality, I’d just finished writing my short story. In the meantime, an annoying sense of loathing welled up inside. No, stop. Stop. Stop. I wasn’t a kid throwing a tantrum when something didn’t go my way. I should’ve grown past this. I was supposed to have left who I was behind in middle school when we broke up. I absolutely would not accept this part of me.
If this part of me was a full-blown character in a book, there was no way in hell I’d read it. I’d felt like this before—hating myself for my jealousy. Hating myself for how hostile I got. That’s why in order to deny this part of me and to emphasize that I wasn’t that kind of person, I bowed my head to Yume.
After I apologized, you threw a fit about me cheating. In that moment, I had been the exact person that I hated. I was so annoyed, but also...relieved.
“I really can’t get on Higashira’s case...”
Maybe it was a basic human desire to want others to be like you. I sat up in my bed, worried that I’d fall asleep. I’d rather take a bath before that happened. With that in mind, I left my room, but stopped in my tracks. Yume was coming up the stairs right at that moment.
“Are you taking a bath now?”
It was such a simple question, but still, I paused.
“Yeah...”
“Okay.”
What a stupid conversation. I passed Yume and began going down the stairs when she called out to me.
“Hey.” I turned around to face her. “Well...” She looked down at the floor. “Thanks.” She’d said this in such a soft voice that I almost didn’t catch it.
I frowned. “What for?”
“You know... For helping with the class discussion.”
“As much as I don’t want to be, I am a committee member too. I just did my job.”
“But...I wouldn’t have been able to do as well as I did without you, so...thank you.”
She’s thanking me? I looked up at her from partway down the stairs.
“When did you get so put-together?”
“Huh?”
“The you I knew would never have done anything so commendable.” It was only after the words had left my mouth that I realized I’d said too much.
I looked away from her, feeling embarrassed. Whatever. I’ll just leave. I took another step down.
“You really prefer who I used to be?”
“Huh?”
I turned around again. She looked angry for some reason. Her face was stiff.
“I’m asking if you liked it better when I was frail and unreliable?”
I fell silent for a little before replying. “Maybe... And?”
“If you do, then you can just drown in your memories. But...” A slight smile appeared on her face. “The person I am now can listen to whatever’s on your mind.”
“What’s on my mind?”
“You look like you’re lost, just like I was when I gave you that love letter.”
Thinking back, she had looked like a frail puppy drenched in rain back then. “Don’t blow things out of proportion. It’s not like that. I’m not lost or anything.”
“So, what is up with you?”
“It’s just that...”
“Yes...?”
“I’ve been worried that a certain girl prone to forgetting things might not remember a certain promise we made.”
“Huh?” She blinked in confusion. I knew it. She really forgo— “Wait, are you going to show me your story?”
“Huh?”
“Come on, hurry up and show me! I even went through the trouble of digging mine back up!”
“You...remembered?”
“Of course! You know I have a better memory than most, don’t you?”
My head went blank for a little. I began speaking in order to fill in that blank.
“Yeah... You were always good at remembering useless things.”
“Hey!”
“There was a short period that you were influenced by something and started referring to yourself in the third person—”
“Ah! La la la! I can’t hear you!” she exclaimed, plugging her ears. “Maybe you should stop remembering these useless things.”
“I wholeheartedly agree.”
Useless was the perfect word to describe these memories I had from when I was young, immature, and irrational.
“Anyway, come to my room and show me after your bath, okay?”
“I thought we said no going to each other’s rooms at night.”
“Tonight’s special.”
Yume looked downstairs and lowered her voice. “Don’t let our parents see, okay?”
Dammit. My stupid heart always beats faster at the most useless times.
Afterwards, I read the story that Yume had written in the past. There was a detective—essentially a rip-off of Souhei Saikawa from The Perfect Insider—who would pretentiously deduce at length absolutely absurd gimmicks used to commit closed-room murders while making completely unrelated comments.
“Lol.”
“Don’t say that with a serious face!” Yume exclaimed.
“I thought you said you wrote an Agatha Christie rip-off. This is a lot more like a Hiroshi Mori rip-off.”
“W-Well...”
“Yeah?”
“I-I wrote this in middle school... I couldn’t find the one I wrote in elementary school.”
“Uh-huh. I hope I’m wrong, but...is this detective who’s completely focused on saying things that make him seem smart, but is just a really watered-down Souhei Saikawa, based off of...”
No way she’d based it off the guy she was dating at the time...right? But her silence told me everything. Hey, don’t look away.
“I-I know you think that you’ve won, but your story is really out there too!”
“Huh? You’re kidding. It’s way better than yours.”
“The monologue borders on rambling—it’s hard to tell what he’s even talking about. And you might think your similes are clever, but they don’t make any sense. What do you even mean by ‘it was like curry that’d been over-simmered’?! Is it burnt? Is it bitter?”
“You must not have any reading comprehension abilities! That’s—”
I proceeded to try and explain it in an easy-to-understand way, but she didn’t get it at all. This came as a huge shock to me. I never thought that my writing would be so hard for someone else to understand.
Eventually, a long silence fell between us after we finished going back and forth, dissing each other’s work. We gradually calmed down during that time, like we were looking into the wounds that we’d inflicted on each other. Then, I reread our stories and realized something.
“Higashira is actually pretty amazing, you know...” I mused.
“Huh? Does Higashira-san write?”
“Yeah, apparently. Not only that, she draws too. I saw one of her pictures. She didn’t trace anything; it was completely original. Every part of the body was drawn well. The ability to make something that elicits praise from anyone is enough to classify her as talented, wouldn’t you agree? Comparing that to what we wrote really drives that point home for me.”
“Good point... Now that I think about it, your great-grandfather’s autobiography was well written too.”
“Yeah, especially since his writing was easy to understand,” I said with a smirk.
“Uh-huh...”
We both felt pretty defeated. I was still shocked, but honestly, I felt confident. This might help rid Higashira of her self-deprecating tendencies after all.
In the midst of the relaxed atmosphere surrounding us, Yume spoke up in a kind of vacant tone. “Do you...want to be an author?”
“Nope. Maybe in the past, but not anymore.”
I didn’t feel like I had to write anything in particular. I had neither the desire nor the sense of duty to do so. All I felt was irritation at the fact that I shouldn’t be this way. Even so, I didn’t know who I wanted to be. I was empty—even more so after trying to pen a story.
“There’s something I’ve never told you,” Yume said.
“Hm?”
“My dad actually worked in a creative field.”
I leisurely turned to Yume who was holding her knees, resting her head on top of them, while leaning back against the side of the bed.
“By dad...you mean your biological dad? Yuni-san’s ex-husband? He was an author?”
“Not an author, but his work involved him producing some sort of creative content. He wasn’t one to bring his work home, so I don’t really know what he exactly worked on.”
“Wait, does your love for mysteries come from...?”
“Yeah... It all started with his bookcase,” Yume said falteringly. “The only thing I vaguely remember about him is his voice. When I was dozing off, I’d hear him announce he was home in a low voice. Then there’d be light that’d leak in from the living room, and I’d hear mom welcome him back and ask if he wanted food, but he’d respond in the same low voice that he’d already brought something.”
“He brought food home?”
“Yeah, he’d purposefully buy food to eat when he got back. Then I’d hear the rustling of the plastic bag that he’d brought back, mixed with a disappointed response from mom. That’s pretty much all I can remember about him. By the time I’d wake up, he’d be gone. I can’t even really remember what he looked like. If I saw him on the street, I doubt I’d even recognize him.”
“That’s kinda...”
While I could see him being busy, I also got the impression that he rejected the idea of family. Even though he physically lived with them, he acted like he lived alone. He was consciously rejecting them in no unclear terms—or maybe, he was isolating himself. Like he wanted the house split up.
“It’s like how you never had a mom to begin with. Not having my dad around was normal for me. I guess he did come to some school events, but thinking back on it, I’m pretty sure that was only because mom dragged him to them.”
He’d probably gone kicking and screaming. I could imagine Yuni-san feeling hesitant about forcing him but ultimately realizing she couldn’t make her husband be a part of their family. And so, she had to make a hard choice. For herself, for her daughter, or maybe even for her husband.
“I know mom went through hell, but personally, I don’t really hate my dad.”
“Is that...because you never really met him? I mean, how can you hate someone you’ve never met?”
“That’s not it. You see, no one was ever home, but when a child comes across a room filled with all sorts of things, they get excited. It was like nonstop exploration for me.”
“Oh...”
I knew where she was coming from. The first time I found my great-grandfather’s study, I’d felt like a fire had been lit inside of me.
“Children end up instantly liking the people who give them fun. So, I was thankful to the man who gave me such a fun room to play in,” Yume explained. This kind of story is much more common than I expected. “Uh...what were we talking about again?”
“About how we have no talent.”
“Oh, right. I went off on a bit of a tangent, but my point is that... People who work in creative fields see things differently. In that regard, don’t you think that sums up Higashira-san quite nicely?”
“Yeah...”
She had a point. Higashira did view things differently. As perfectly as we got along, I always had a sense that we had different perspectives.
“I wonder what’s going through her head... Fundamentally, I don’t have any idea what Higashira’s thinking right now.”
“Maybe try harder? I can’t think of anyone but you who could possibly understand her.”
“Meaning you don’t know either?”
“Hm... Well, now that I think about it, I might have wanted the same thing all this time.”
Even though she didn’t explain what “thing” she was talking about, I had a feeling I knew. Maybe it was all in my head... Yeah, it had to have been. I was misunderstanding things. I need to see if I’m right. My gut was telling me that this was the right action, but the only problem was that I had no clue how to ask the question.
“I...don’t think I can see things like Higashira can.” I paused. “But I’m pretty sure that I can at least hear her out.”
“Don’t be so wishy-washy. Just do it.” Yume giggled as if she were teasing her little brother. “Feel more confident now?”
“Yeah. Confident that I’m average—nothing special.”
“If you’re average, what does that make me?”
Before I realized it, the following words came out of my mouth—the ones that I should’ve said over a year ago when she made her first friend. “You’re amazing.”
“Huh?”
Let’s start by admitting the truth. You were no longer the weak person who needed me to open your canned drink. You could do the things I couldn’t. You are an amazing person.
“H-Huh? Wh-What does that mean? What do you mean by ‘amazing’? What about me is amazing?! I need specifics!”
“You’re amazingly lacking in writing talent!”
“Excuse me?!”
Well...yeah. Baby steps.
And so, I showed my story to Higashira—I mean, Isana—and as expected, she gave it a horrible review, which greatly contributed to getting her out of her funk. Never in my wildest dreams had I expected that it would’ve led to this discussion over voice call.
“Fortunately, our school’s gearing up for the cultural festival,” Kogure Kawanami said through his mic. “Plus, you and Irido-san were both elected as committee members! Now you’ll be together more at school and at home. Your overall time with each other just skyrocketed! Good job, past me!”
“Uh, no,” Isana Higashira, now back to her regular self, interjected calmly. “Not ‘good job’ at all! Forcing the situation without any prior conversation is disgusting. It is in the same vein as trying to pressure VTubers into collaborating.”
“Shaddup!” Kawanami snapped. “This is my life’s work!”
Your so-called life’s work is a huge nuisance to me. Write a fanfic or something instead.
“In any case, the cultural festival is a peak teenage life event! I’m not saying you need to confess or anything, but you need some kind of romantic tension! You never know, maybe she’ll confess!” Kawanami continued.
“The aforementioned situations certainly occur frequently within light novels and manga; however, will the same situation present itself in real life? Especially at a serious prep school like ours.”
“It’s gonna happen precisely ’cause we’re at a serious prep school, dummy. Have you ever seen Kyoto University’s festivals?”
“Ugh... My perceptions are overlapping.”
Apparently, Higashira had come to this school because she thought it’d be a similar gathering of oddballs as Kyoto University. My only impression of the university came from Tomihiko Morimi’s works, though, so I had no clue what to expect.
“Okay, listen up,” Kawanami said, like a teacher trying to get the attention of all the students on a field trip. “Our school always has a bonfire after the cultural festival. You know what a bonfire is, Higashira? It’s a huge fire that people dance around.”
“Of course I know! How ignorant of the world do you think I am?!”
“Anyway, doesn’t it kinda feel like you’ll be tied forever with the person you dance with there?”
“That’s merely a feeling you have! It isn’t rumored to be true!” Isana protested.
“You really expect there to be a stupid rumor like that? If there was, it would’ve been ripped outta some rom-com. But real life ain’t manga.”
“So what?” I interjected. “You want me to dance with Yume?”
“Yep,” Kawanami said simply but firmly. “Well, actually, you don’t have to dance with her. As long as you’re standing around the fire with her, you’re good. You’ll also be able to get rid of that stupid rumor about Higashira being your girlfriend! Two birds, one stone!”
“Wouldn’t that make it seem as if I was dumped at a world record speed?” Isana asked.
“Don’t worry, you’ll just be seen as the poor soul who got her just deserts for trying to get between the Irido siblings.”
“That is much worse!” Isana exclaimed.
Can someone explain why I have to do something so obnoxious? I reflexively exhaled.
“Don’t you wanna know how Irido-san feels about you?” Kawanami asked in a serious tone. “If Irido-san does have romantic feelings for you, she will one hundred percent try something given the right opportunity. If she doesn’t, then it’ll just have been nothing but a bit of wasted effort, and you can happily go back to being siblings again. Either way, you’re in limbo right now. Going through with this will let you know where things stand. There’s no disadvantage for you except, well...”
“Kawanami.” It was my turn to interrupt him. “Watch it. Even I have my limits.”
“Ah...my bad. That was pretty tactless of me.”
When are you not tactless?
Isana let out a sigh, most likely having held her breath during our tense conversation.
“Well, what I’m tryin’ to say is, it’s a win-win for you, isn’t it?” Kawanami said.
“What if she does have feelings for me though?”
“Date her.”
“Court her.”
Kawanami and Isana spoke at the same time.
“You two make it sound so easy...”
They could only talk like that because they were on the outside looking in. They didn’t know what it was like for two people living in the same house to be in love.
“If you really don’t wanna date her, just say no. Playing with her heart will only make you feel guilty. You gotta set things straight. If you two weren’t living together, you could just pretend like nothing happened for the rest of high school—but you are.”
I hated to admit it, but he was right. If she wanted to go out with me, I couldn’t just turn a blind eye. I would need to sort things out sooner or later. Hopefully, I was worrying over nothing. I would probably be able to go comfortably back to treating her as just a sibling once I cleared my conscience.
“Okay...”
“Oh?” Kawanami reacted.
I very painfully continued speaking. “As long as it’s within the realm of reason, I’ll listen to your advice. Like hell am I gonna botch this and make her think that I fell for her.”
“Okay, then! I hear you loud and clear!”
“If things don’t work out, you still have plan B—me! Let’s go all out!” Higashira agreed.
“Hey, you! As a girl, doesn’t that embarrass you?!”
“Not in the slightest.”
And thus, that’s how I had no choice but to flirt with Yume in order to determine her feelings. That’s right, I had no choice... I didn’t...
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