Chitanda Eru.
What link can unite Sakai and Anzu?
Cousins? A very close friend? The same person?
Who are you, Anzu?
I want to find a way to confirm my suspicions, I need to know the truth.
Think about it.
Anzu's stuffed animal is identical to the one I gave to Sakai. And she has a picture of me from ten years ago.
It's unimaginable that it's the same person, maybe it's just a coincidence, right?
Sakai was my first friend. Physically, she looks like Anzu, but it's not so obvious.
Waiting for Anzu to tell me her secret… Sorry Chizu, but your big brother is impatient!
The more the days pass, the more my thirst to know the truth grows.
My thoughts are interrupted when someone rings at my apartment.
Akitoki, Ayame?
—Hi, Yamazaki-kun, are you sure you don't mind?
—No, no come in.
They sat around the table, then I served them a cup of tea.
—Did you want something, Shimizu-senpai?
—We wanted to talk with you, Kinari,' Anzu's father answered.
What are they doing here? It's scary as hell!
—I'm listening.
Chizu enters the room and runs to hide behind me.
My sister has some problems. Ever since our parents abandoned us, she's been afraid of the mere sight of an adult.
Fucking fate.
Anzu's mother came closer to her, then said with a smile.
—You have grown up well, Chizu.
—Who is it, big brother? she whispers to me.
—Anzu's parents.
Something is wrong, Chizu never goes out of here, it is impossible that he met before.
—Have you met before?
—Yes, Kinari, she said to me while returning to sit down.
Chizu, then Kinari? Why do they call us as if we know each other well? I don't understand anything anymore.
Her father cough inhales for a long time and then confesses to us.
—Ten years ago, my name was Akitoki Sakai.
Nani!? What is he telling me?
Akitoki inhales the air, then continues.
—I have been working in a trading company for twenty-two years. Our problems go back thirteen years. Research, carried out by dangerous people, was established on several families of our company. In order to protect my family, I decided to change my name and move. I am so weak, it was my only solution! I can't really tell you the details of this case, sorry I can't satisfy your curiosity. Anyway, our problems were solved last year, and now we are safe. We took back our old family name, the one you know, Shimizu.
I repeat myself, but … what is he telling me?
His mother adds.
—When we moved to Osaka. Anzu had never been so sad. She was just talking about a boy she met in a park. One day, she told us your whole story and… I understood that we had made a big mistake. We should never have separated you, I'm sorry. To tell the truth, when this whole thing was settled, we moved back to Yokohama. When Anzu heard about this, she was overjoyed, and I only wanted my daughter to smile. We wanted you and her to be able to find each other and those, at any cost. And to be honest with you, when we ran into you, with the same uniform, we were so happy. So we decided to come to your house to apologise. You both now have ten years to make up for, and we want to help you get that lost time back.
Mitsuha Miyamizu, Taki Tachibana.
This story is unimaginable, I'm lost.
Is Sakai really Anzu?
Fate is scary.
For ten years, my desire to make new relationships was extinguished. I respected the codes of the loner, and it suited me.
This heroine of normies … since the beginning of the school year, my life has changed in a flash. Is this my fate?
How am I supposed to react? Did I even realise this truth?
I look at my sister, who sits next to me.
—Aren't you happy, Big Brother? You got your first friend back!
Happy?
—Kinari, I'm really sorry for taking our daughter away from your life.
—Don't apologise, Shimizu-senpai, you did it for the sake of your family.
What the hell, Sakai? Is that really her? The one I had a whole year of my life playing with? Is she the hero of my story?
—We thought of something to make it up to you.
Why do they insist so much?
—Yes?
—We wanted to take you to the amusement park, the one where you gave Anzu the stuffed animal. She values that gift more than the apple of her eye. What do you think?
A nostalgic outing? Definitely? Nah, but do you feel like I'm ready for it now?
They are undertaking a plan in which I have no say whatsoever.
Anzu's parents then left.
—Big Brother what's with your face, you should be happy!
My expression is emptier than Mob.
—To cheer you up, let's have a party! I will invite Masuko, Aneko and Yoshida!
In these moments, Chizu is uncontrollable.
How will I look at the girls? How will I look at Anzu? How do I…
Chizu calls the girls, cooks my favourite food, and makes a little decoration.
Why does she go to so much trouble? I want to escape from this 3D world…
The doorbell of my sanctuary rings.
—Hi, darling!
—Hi, darling.
—Hello, sensei.
Chizu jumps into their arms and then confides in them.
—I'm glad you three are here!
—Hello, girls.
We sit around the table, and Masuko asks me.
—What are we celebrating?
Good question.
—Big Brother explains to them, it's your time!
Do you think so, Chizu?
I tell them my past, my meeting with Sakai, the arrival of his parents at the house earlier, and the plan that we had prepared.
—S'per.
—Great.
—I'm disgusted, sensei.
This meal is bitter, really, bitter.
My life is too different… My otaku memories… I miss this 2D world.
I love this sentence, go on, don't stop.
I always liked to be isolated and preferred to keep my emotions inside. When Sakai and I got closer, everything was natural. I didn't think for a second that I could find her again ten years later. What the hell am I going to do…
Am I really ready?
The mood is gloomy.
—We'll go back home, we have a curfew at eight o'clock, we'll see each other, darling.
Masuko advances towards me, then whispers to me with a delicacy.
—Don't leave me on the bench, da-r-lin-g.
—I'm going too, sensei! Thanks for the meal, and don't forget that I want you all to myself!
—Shut up Junko, he's my darling!
—It's not yours, it's mine, it's mine!
I hate this harem.
Later, Chizu tells me about her worries.
—I am afraid for the girls…
Worry rather for your big brother…
—Why, Chizu?
—During the vacations, Aneko told me her feelings for you. I've never seen someone so sincere. She keeps calling you darling. And Masuko, it's the same thing, she had the audacity to shout in front of everybody that she loves you, she sticks to you every chance she gets and calls you darling all the time. She's in love with you, that's for sure! And Yoshida is the same when we were at the mall you could see it in her eyes that she was in love with you. I really don't know how you're going to cope with this, big brother.
I don't know how you're going to make it either.
Chitanda Eru: Curious main character. (Hyouka)
Mitsuha Miyamizu and Taki Tachibana: Separated main characters. (Your Name)