"Starting today, we're going to correct your posture."
Thus began Hinami's instructions the following morning.
"Posture?"
"Yes, your posture. Do you remember what I said? The three keys to
appearance are expression, build, and posture."
"Yeah, I remember." She'd mentioned that when we were in her room.
"Once you have those three covered, you'll have the foundation. You've
got an average build, so as long as you fix your expression and your posture,
you'll have enough points to pass. We're working on your expression with
the mask training, so that just leaves posture."
My goal was surprisingly close.
"But how do I fix that? Is it even that bad to start with?"
"Well, it's not great…but more importantly, most people have poor
posture."
"Really? So you're saying that if I have good posture, I'll look especially
good?"
"Half right, half wrong."
"Half?"
"There are different kinds of bad posture."
She bent her elbows, bowed her legs, tilted her chin up, and walked
forward swinging her shoulders.
"This is one kind of bad posture, but it's an intimidating one. It's not the
best, but it's common among normies."
"You look like a thug. I get the feeling you're strong."
"Right. Then there's this one…"
She rounded her back, stuck her neck forward, drew her shoulders in, and
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started walking again.
"This is also a kind of bad posture. But this one makes you look weak,
doesn't it?"
"Yeah. Like a geek or an artsy type."
I would have assumed she was bad at sports. Posture really did make a big
difference. She sure is good at impressions.
"So you see, most people have poor posture, but people further down the
social ladder usually have the weak type."
"Really? Why's that?"
"Well, I can think of a lot of reasons. For one, they tend to spend a lot of
time on the computer or playing video games, which tends to create that kind
of posture."
"Makes sense."
"But I don't think that's the main reason. It's an issue of body and soul."
"Body and soul?"
"Yeah. Try puffing your chest out and putting both hands on your hips,
like you're saying 'ahem.'"
"L-like this?" I tried to look imposing.
"…How do you feel? Just by changing your posture, don't you have more
of a presence?"
"Yeah, I do."
She was right. By striking that pose, I felt a little more confident, a little
more like, Hey, you can't tell me what to be.
"But couldn't I be feeling that way because you suggested it to me?"
"That could be part of it, but your body and heart are closely connected.
Think about when you feel nervous and cross your arms, or how spread your
legs and let the tension out of your shoulders because you're relaxed. Or the
reverse, like that famous line about how if you smile even when you're sad,
the sadness itself will go away."
"Yeah, I guess I've heard that."
"If you stand proud with your body, your heart will stand proud, too. And
if your heart is feeling down, your body will slump. It's not a question of
which one comes first—they're a set. Normies have the heart for it, and their
posture naturally reflects that."
"Okay, I get that."
"So…"
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Hinami started walking forward in a way that showed off her figure yet
wasn't intimidating and at the same time projected an aura of mature
confidence.
"You don't have to make your posture this good. I mean, this isn't
something you can do overnight. You've got to spend a long time adjusting
your pelvis and retraining your muscles to achieve this. You don't have that
kind of time. Plus, it's not necessary."
Wow. She really could do anything. "So what should I do?"
"Just stop looking so weak." She pointed at my chest.
"…How?"
"There's an easy fix… Come over here."
"Huh?" I questioned, following her all the same.
"Put your back and shoulders against the wall. Heels together, toes
straight forward."
I did what she said.
"Do you feel the tension in your glutes?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. I really do."
Standing like this really had made my butt tighter—and as I was thinking
about it, Hinami came up to me with purpose. Uh-oh, what's going on? Her
near-perfect symmetrical features were right up next to my face, and since the
wall was behind me I couldn't back away. Was the classy, clean scent I
noticed coming from her shampoo?
She slowly reached her hands toward me.
"Yes, very good," she said, touching my butt.
"Aaaah! Wh-wh-what are you doing?"
"Checking. I just touched your butt a little; don't get so worked up.
You're a guy, right?"
"That's not the point!"
Seriously, stop! You're gonna give me a heart attack! I'm already
overheating!
"…What's with that look on your face? Anyway, you're really doing well.
Keep the tension in your butt and move your toes and heels back to a normal
position. Now press your shoulders and hips against the wall. Don't release
your butt."
She kept giving me instructions like she hadn't just copped a feel, and I
scrambled to obey.
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"Like this?"
"Yes… Can you tell the difference? You look more imposing already."
…Hey, she's right. I hadn't noticed. "Yeah, I do."
"Now step away from the wall… Your posture doesn't look weak
anymore. Nope, definitely not," she said, giving me a once-over from a slight
distance. Seriously?
"This is a little harder than it seemed at first."
"Yeah. You're using muscles you don't usually use. But from now on,
whenever you're standing, I want you to stand like this. Even when you're
sitting you should stick out your chest and tense your butt muscles, if you
can. Most people with posture like yours generally don't open their chests,
and they have saggy butts. I want you make a habit of always keeping your
chest open and your butt taut."
"'Always' again, huh?"
"Obviously. This is your character creation. You're trying to find a way to
improve your base stats. If it's not a constant baseline, you can't call it a
basic ability, can you?"
Fair enough. "I understand. That can't be all I have to do today…can it?"
"Of course not. There's one more thing."
Yeah, I knew it. She wouldn't let me off that easy.
"What?"
"This isn't a very hard one. All you have to do is talk to me and someone
I'm with, like Mimimi or Hanabi or another friend."
That's all? At least she made it sound easy.
"Well, I bet it'll be a cinch compared to yesterday's assignment, since
you'll be there."
"Right. That's your assignment through Friday."
"So the next four days."
"Yeah."
That's a fair length of time. Got it. "And what am I going to learn from
this?"
If I didn't understand the why, the learning process wouldn't be very
efficient.
"Wow, you're getting very proactive. That's a good habit to get into."
"Thanks."
"Anyway, it's simple. You're collecting experience points."
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"Collecting experience points?"
"Yeah. Happens all the time, right? Like when you have really a strong
character in your party in the early stages of an RPG and fight a powerful
enemy together. Then they break away from the party, and at the end of the
game they turn out to be really important and rejoin you. At that point, the
main characters are around the same level, and you think to yourself, 'Wow, I
really grew a lot.' Y'know what I mean?"
She seemed so happy whenever she talked about gaming.
"Oh yeah, I know what you're talking about. I always wonder why the
other guy hasn't leveled up, too."
"Exactly!" Hinami replied excitedly, then coughed. "Anyway, same thing.
I'm gonna be a temporary party member to help you fight a powerful enemy
and net you some EXP."
"Okay, I get it."
So I'd be raising my level with a handicap.
"And you'll be collecting information at the same time. In RPGs, if you
fight a boss once, you learn their moveset so you know what to do the next
time you fight them, right? You know their weaknesses and how much
damage they do. Which means you know how to attack them and when to
recover, right?"
"Right."
"You'll be doing something similar. I want you to pick up the technique
by observing the flow of real conversations."
Just "pick it up," huh? I felt like in my current state, I'd probably just be
watching the conversation go by without catching much of anything.
"Is it enough to just watch and learn? Is there nothing in particular I
should be watching for?"
Hinami thought for a moment. "Good question…You'll probably have
conversations with around twenty people in the next four days. Just analyze
those conversations in general terms."
"Analyze?" Actually, twenty is an awfully big number.
"Yes. Think about how to choose topics or close the distance, things like
that. I want you to do your best to think about each conversational
technique."
"Okay… Analyze."
I didn't know if I could do it, but I figured I'd give it a whirl.
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"Also…I don't think I'll be very good at jumping into conversations with
people I don't know. What do you suggest?"
"Oh, you don't need to jump in."
"Huh?"
"The goal right now is observation. Don't worry, I'll make sure there's a
good reason for you to be there. You just focus on observing."
Just leave it to her, then…? I guess?
"That's about it for now. I'll come get you after school, so study or
something while you wait."
"After school? What are we doing after school?"
"I'm gonna walk to the train station with Mimimi and Hanabi and a
couple of guys, and you're going with us."
"What?!"
This wasn't a bit of light conversation—it was full-on going home
together.
* * *
"Yeah. You didn't know, Mimimi?"
"No. What, did everyone else?"
"Uh-huh, we totally did."
"Well, you would know, Aoi."
"I knew, too."
We were about to head home after school. The group was talking
excitedly about the killer drawing on the blackboard at the back of the
classroom, which had actually been done by one of the guys in the group,
Daichi Matsumoto, and another guy named Kiyu Hashiguchi.
"What about you, Tomozaki-kun?"
Hinami had been periodically tossing me opportunities to join the
conversation.
"Um, I've seen him drawing before, so I knew."
"What! Tomozaki-kun knew and I didn't?!"
"That was rude! Ha-ha!"
Then after she'd opened a little space for me, someone else would say
something. That was the general pattern. Hinami would bump the ball to me,
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and I would try keep it aloft in the safest possible way, trying at least to not
demolish her attempts to help me. As long as the ball didn't hit the ground,
Hinami was able to catch it from whatever crazy angle I'd sent it from and tip
it over to the other team's side of the court.
As a result, my conversational observation was proceeding smoothly.
Except, given that I was a rank beginner, I probably wasn't making many
meaningful observations.
"…Right? I'm so exhausted."
"You said that yesterday, too, Daichi."
"Yeah, I've been doing some lifting."
"Wow!"
Now the guys were talking about working out, and Mimimi was chiming
in. She was impressive. She both brought up topics of her own and expanded
on other people's topics, and she smiled the whole time, which kept the mood
lively. She must be a naturally cheerful person. I needed to steal some of her
tricks. Introducing new topics was beyond me, so I figured I should focus on
expanding on existing ones.
"What area are you focusing on?" she asked.
"Pretty much my whole body. I do my arms, my pecs, my abs, my back,
and my legs."
"Dang."
"Oh hey…" Without warning, I jumped into the conversation. It was now
or never! Hinami's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she glanced at me. What?
Did I screw up? But it was too late to turn back. All I could do was give it a
try.
"Are you working on your butt, too?"
The mood after that comment was best described as: Butt?
* * *
"I'm really sorry about yesterday!"
It was the next morning in Sewing Room #2. The instant I saw Hinami's
face, I apologized.
"…Are you talking about the butt incident?"
"Yes. I'm so sorry for speaking out of turn and making everything weird!"
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I said, thinking that anything called "the butt incident" was kind of
impressive, even as I apologized sincerely for a second time.
After I'd made the comment the day before, Daichi Matsumoto replied,
with some confusion, that he thought you couldn't tone your butt muscles.
Just as everyone was starting to wonder awkwardly if it was some kind of
joke, Hinami stepped in and averted disaster by nonchalantly saying that she
worked her butt muscles. The conversation veered toward the question of
whether butt workouts were the secret to her attractive physique. After that, I
stayed quiet.
"Really, I just went and…"
"You don't have to say the same thing over and over. I'm not worried
about it anyway."
"Huh?"
"You were thinking for yourself and taking action, right? Okay, you
floundered some, but I'm not going to criticize you for trying."
"Hi…Hinami…"
She was so forgiving…
"What's important is your assignment. If you were focusing on your
misstep to the point that you didn't actually do what I wanted you to, then I
would be mad."
"Oh right. You mean reflecting and analyzing the day's events as well as I
could, right? I basically did that."
"Then we're all good. You still have three days left, so you can tell me
about all your conclusions at the end. I think we're done for today."
"Uh, wait a second."
"What? Did you not understand something?"
"No, it's more like…something happened that I didn't understand.
Actually, yesterday on the way home from school…"
"…What?" Hinami asked warily.
Glancing at her, I started describing what had happened.
* * *
"Bye!" "Bye!" "See you tomorrow!"
The six of us had arrived at the station after leaving school and were
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getting ready to board our various trains.
"Oh, here's my train."
"Oh, me too! See you!"
"Bye-bye!"
"Later!"
The group started to break up. Hinami disappeared on the train that had
just arrived, heading in the opposite direction from my house. Which meant I
had to keep talking to the people going in the same direction as me, without
her help.
She'd considered that, too, of course. She'd told me I should be okay
since the ride was only ten minutes or so, and I'd be with Mimimi and
Daichi, who probably would keep the conversation going. Both of them
would be getting off at different stops from mine; plus, it was Mimimi.
Hinami acted like knowing what stop everyone got off at was totally natural;
it was unnerving, but also reassuring.
The train came and we got on. Just like she'd promised, the two of them
chatted like they were born for it, so the conversation on the train went okay.
Mimimi asked me questions now and then, which I barely managed to answer
with some boring comment, and then she would find something funny about
what I said and laugh. But, like that time in home ec, I didn't feel like she
was making fun of me. She seemed as good at conversations as Hinami was.
We got to my station, and I congratulated myself silently on one mission
cleared.
"Oh, this is my stop, so I'll see you guys later," I said.
"Really? Me too! I'll walk home with you!" Mimimi chirped.
"Huh?!"
The same stop? Wait a second, Hinami, what's going on?
"Hey, Tomozaki, don't try anything funny!" Matsumoto warned.
Wait a second! I'm already embarrassed; why is he suddenly making
mean jokes?
"N-no, I wouldn't d-do that!"
"Ooh, he's panicking…! What if my chastity is in danger?!"
"Ah-ha-ha-ha! Anyway, you're blocking the door. See ya!"
Mimimi and I got off the train together.
"Mimimi, is this really your stop…?"
The doors closed.
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"…It is, isn't it…?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Oh, no reason…"
* * *
"So her stop and mine weren't different, were they?" I asked Hinami.
Apparently, I wasn't making sense to her. "Mimimi gets off at Kitayono.
And you get off at Omiya, right? That's a different stop…"
"My stop's Kitayono!"
"What…?"
She sank into thought for a minute, then looked up with realization.
"…You were trying to be thoughtful, weren't you? But you didn't have
to. That slipped past me. Rookie mistake…"
"What are you talking about?"
"When nanashi and NO NAME met offline, you were supposed to go to
the station closest to your house!"
"…Oh…"
That explained it. Instead of telling her the station that was actually
closest to me, I'd tried to be considerate by telling her to go to the terminal
because it was easier to get to. But she didn't know that…
"Well, no use for regret. Water under the bridge, okay? …Anyway, what
happened after that?"
"Oh right…"
At her prompt, I continued my story.
* * *
We headed out of the station and started down the street. I was so nervous
even my gait felt awkward.
"This is the first chance we've had to talk alone, isn't it?! I mean, we just
started talking at all the other day!"
Mimimi giggled and slapped her forehead.
"Y-yeah."
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"What are you so nervous about?! Be confident!"
She slapped my back quite a bit harder than most people would consider
appropriate.
"Ow! That stung!"
"Really?" She cackled cheerfully, apparently even more cheerful than
usual. I think that was her version of being thoughtful toward me.
"Y-you sure have a lot of energy, Mimimi…"
"Right? My plan is to get through life on my cheerfulness and smiles."
"Ha-ha, that's amazing…I mean, that sounds hard…"
"Hard how?" She peered at my face curiously.
"I mean…surely there are times in life when you can't be cheerful and
smiley…right?"
Mimimi blinked. "What are you talking about?! The harder things get, the
more you smile! Frowning just makes it harder, right?"
"Oh."
Hinami had said the same thing. Something about your body and heart
being connected.
"Yeah, I've heard that. Like, if you stand up straight and smile, you'll feel
better."
"Yeah, exactly! I think life will be more fun if I'm sunny and cheerful all
the time!"
That was an amazingly positive attitude. But at the same time…how do I
put this? Why does every day need to be fun? Okay, in my case you'd expect
every day to be not fun, which may have numbed my capacity for enjoyment
in general, but I wanted to say that human beings can have a lot of notespecially-fun moments and still be fine. It's like…protecting your own world
is more important, I guess.
While I was thinking about this, silence stretched on. Was it my turn to
talk? Yup, it sure was.
"You don't agree? Well, everybody's different," Mimimi remarked.
"Oh sorry. Y-yeah."
For a minute, things got awkward. Aaah! I'm sorry! Since I'd clammed
up, Mimimi had offered a comment of her own, but then I'd gone and given
her an answer that went nowhere. This is what happens when you have no
communication skills!
"Hey, anyway! Can I ask you something I've been wondering about?"
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Mimimi smiled as if to say, No worries, you didn't mess up. Like I said,
she's incredible.
"Huh? What?"
Mimimi made her hand like a mask and brought it toward my mouth.
"Be honest with me, Tomozaki! Is something going on between you and
Aoi?"
I sputtered and coughed, choking on my words.
"Aha! Just as I thought! Something is going on. What is it, what is it?!
Come on, I'm like your big sister! You can tell me! Well?"
"There's nothing going on!"
"Are you suuure? I swear I saw you two giving each other fishy glances!
And the other day, you almost forgot to use 'san' with Aoi's name, but not
with anyone else!"
…I did? Even if I had, did people normally notice that sort of thing?
Normies make you think they're just cheerful, but in reality, they're masters
of reading the room and sussing out people's emotions. One false move and I
was done for. If she already knew this much, a clumsy attempt at a cover-up
wouldn't save me.
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"Nothing's up! I mean, we're not enemies or anything like that, but
Hinami is friends with everyone, isn't she?"
"There! You did it again! You didn't use 'san.' Just as I thought, very
suspicious. Tomozaki! Why did you try to hide it? A guilty conscience,
perhaps? Tell me everything! Spill!"
"I told you, nothing's going on! Anyway, you think Aoi Hinami, the
school idol, would do anything with me to feel guilty about? No way!"
"Got me there!"
"Hey!" I shot back teasingly.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! I like that! You really are funny sometimes, Tomozaki!"
"Gimme a break! I wasn't trying to be funny, and come on, that
'sometimes' was unnecessary."
Somehow, I didn't feel so nervous anymore. I probably had Mimimi's
conversation style to thank for that. Or maybe it was just that we were talking
about a certain rude gamer.
"See, you should be happy like that all the time. You're always so glum."
"That's none of your business… But actually, I'm fine with not being
happy all the time."
"…Really?! What do you mean by that?"
She really latched on to that. What am I supposed to say now? "Um, how
do I explain this? Being fun and happy isn't always the right answer…
maybe?"
"Huh! You're the first person I've ever heard say that! Gimme the deets!
The 411!"
"41…?"
Oh right, 411. Who actually says that? "It's hard to explain. For example,
I like Atafami and other games, and…"
"Yeah, I've heard you're super-good, too! And, and?"
"Yeah, um… it's not at all like fun stuff at school. But I still spend my
time playing Atafami, I mean…"
"Hmm. But isn't Atafami fun?"
"Um…I mean, it is, definitely, but it's like… I don't play Atafami because
I want to have fun. I like Atafami and I work hard at it, so the fun comes as a
kind of side effect… Sorry I can't explain it better…"
"No, I get it."
"Really?"
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"Yeah, actually… I think you're a little like Tama in that sense."
"…Like Tama-chan?"
I couldn't see that at all… But Hinami had said something similar.
"I guess…she doesn't bend, or she doesn't let herself be bent, ha-ha, and
that's a really good thing. Anyway, she's got that side to her."
"Yeah, I can see that."
"You can tell? For example, even if bending would make a situation more
enjoyable, she won't do it unless she thinks it's right. She's really extreme.
I've gotta give her props for that."
"That's unusual among our generation, isn't it?"
"Ha-ha-ha! Here comes Mr. Talk-Show Host again!"
"Shut up!"
"Ah-ha-ha! …Anyway, I think that side of her is amazing, but I also know
I don't have it in me. I mean, I'm bent over backward most of the time! I
bend every which way and do whatever it takes to make things fun. I'm bent
so far over I can hear my back popping!"
"R-really?" I'd thought it was a natural gift.
"Oh, definitely. I'm a young maiden with many worries…I mean, is there
anyone that doesn't have any? Compared to Tama, my worries are tiny!"
"She really does seem…to have a lot of problems."
"Right? I totally agree. But that's why someone more flexible like me has
to protect her. That's the situation! So! What do you think? You gonna cry
for me? Or pat my back?"
She stood in front of me with her hands outspread.
"I see," I said. I'd been lost in thought, so I missed most of what she said.
"But how do you feel? I mean, I can't imagine you'd enjoy having to keep
the mood up all the time."
"Huh? Are you spacing out? But anyway, me? I don't mind! The reason I
do it is so things will be more fun, so obviously it's fun! Of course, there are
times when I don't want to bend, but what can I do? Life's not perfect! The
reason I give in is because it would be worse if I didn't! I'm always trying to
go where the fun is!"
"…Okay, I get it. You do what you're best at."
"Exactly! You're full of good lines, aren't you, Tomozaki? My job is
bending, and Tama's job is not bending! That's how we function!"
"And you support each other."
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"Right, right, exactly! We support each other! You really do know how to
sum it up, Tomozaki! Of course, if I had to say one way or the other, I'd say
I'm the one who supports Tama, to be accurate. And I'm okay with that!"
She gave another little ta-ha.
"Well, to me…"
"Oh, I'm heading this way now! Were you about to say something?"
"No, nothing important."
"Really? Okay, well, see you later, Tomozaki!"
"Uh, yeah, see you."
She waved exaggeratedly and disappeared like a passing storm. I'd started
to say something and hadn't finished, but maybe that was okay. It was just
my own unsolicited opinion, or rather guess, and it was probably better to
keep to myself.
I was going to say that to me, Mimimi seemed like the one being
supported.
* * *
"Huh. Nice work," Hinami said flatly.
"Well, Mimimi just kept the energy high while we were talking about
serious stuff. The stuff even I can manage."
"That's true, but…it shows that you have a strength."
"…I…do?" What did she mean?
"You did it in home ec, too. Apparently, you're good at saying what's on
your mind."
"Uh, saying what's on my mind? Isn't everyone good at that? I mean, all
you have to do is say it."
Hinami wagged her finger. "Not quite. There are more people who can't
do it than can."
"Huh?"
"For example, Mimimi. Her strength is her flexibility. Do you think she's
good at saying what she's thinking?"
"…Oh, I see. You mean she's good at agreeing with the people around
her."
"Right," Hinami said, nodding. "What about Hanabi? She's probably
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good at it, right? At speaking her mind, I mean."
"…Yeah, probably."
"Are there a lot of people like her? Or not so many?"
Uh…not many. Fine, you got me. "So…this is a rare skill I have?"
"Yup. In a sense, this is your weapon, your strong point, your killer
technique. And fighting on the field where you're strongest is the foundation
of gaming, right?"
"Um, yeah."
"Okay. So if you get in trouble, you can fall back on this skill. Remember
that."
"I will."
"Well, there weren't any major problems in the incident you just
described, so I'll continue. Consider yourself lucky with the extra EXP…
Anyway, keep observing conversations. You all prepared?"
"How can I prepare? …Don't you just head out to the field for this stuff?"
"I think you know the answer. And put some spirit into it. I'm expecting
your analysis on the final day."
With that, I headed out to start my three-day exercise in raising my level
and gathering information.
Wednesday, lunchtime in the cafeteria.
"Did you catch the last episode yesterday? I wonder what they're gonna
do in the finale."
"Yeah, but the part when he was like 'Come back to me!' was so bad. I
was laughing the whole time."
"Ha-ha-ha! Me too! That was terrible!"
"Hey look at Tomozaki, he's acting all nervous. He hasn't said anything!"
"Yeah, I know. Weirdo!"
…Hmm, hmm.
Thursday, walking to the station after school.
"Oh, that reminds me, Yukako, was everything okay yesterday? Your dad
kept calling you!"
"Oh, that! My brother was actually the one who didn't get it!"
"The little guy?"
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"Yeah! When I opened the front door, he was standing there like a statue,
and he goes 'Damn it!'"
"What a weirdo!"
"Sounds like something you'd do, Tomozaki!"
"Ha-ha-ha, yeah right."
…Uh-huh.
Friday, between classes.
"Tell us something funny, Takahiro!"
"Hey, don't put me on the spot!"
"Come on!"
"Um…well…yesterday, my girlfriend…"
"Stop showing off!"
"I'm not!"
"Tomozaki, do you have any…never mind, you wouldn't."
"Ha-ha-ha! That was rude!"
…Indeed.
That's pretty much how things went.
"So how was it?"
It was our Friday after-school meeting. For the past four days, I'd been
tossed into groups of kids I wasn't particularly close with and forced to
observe them, even participate a tiny bit. Four days in the depths of hell. And
today we were going over it all.
"My soul is dead."
"…Well, that's the fate of antisocial people. But once you get your
expression and posture and conversational skills in shape, you'll be released
from that fate soon enough."
"…Are you sure?"
"I don't think you can avoid being insulted. Groups are like that. Once
five or six people get together, well…someone's gonna be the sacrifice."
"…I see."
"What matters is your analysis."
"Um, I thought about a lot of stuff, but…"
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"Yes?"
The ultimate normie is asking me, the communication-disabled, for the
observations I barely managed to scrape together. Of course I'm nervous.
What I noticed was the division of roles in conversations.
It seems to me that each participant in a given conversation has a role to
take care of. There are three main ones: the person who introduces new
topics, the person who expands on existing topics, and the person who reacts.
For example, on Monday, I observed a conversation that started like this:
"Hey, listen to this! Yesterday at cram school…"
Mimimi always starts by saying something like "Listen to this" or "That
reminds me" or "So yesterday…" After that, she mentions something that's
not really related to what everyone had been talking about up to that point.
Conversations are started by these "introducers." That's obvious enough.
Then there are people who add to the topics with comments like "And
then this happened" or "That's similar to this other thing." These are the
"expanders."
Finally, you have the people who keep it fun by listening and agreeing or
laughing, or occasionally expressing an opinion. These are the "reactors."
Once a given topic has been wrapped up, an introducer will throw out a
new topic.
Of course, expanders and reactors sometimes introduce new topics, and
introducers take on the role of listener. But it seems to me that the roles are
fairly fixed within each group.
And that wasn't all I noticed. Also from Monday:
"Wow, the teacher definitely must have done that on purpose."
"I thought so, too!"
"I bet he likes you, Minmi."
"No way! It's probably the opposite!"
In this case, Kyoya Hashiguchi and Tama-chan were acting as expanders.
Even though they were part of the conversation the whole time, I could tell
they weren't at the center of it.
"Speaking of, have you memorized the vocab yet? I can't believe we have
to remember a hundred words all at once."
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This was something a certain key normie said on Wednesday.
What struck me as important was that while everyone in the conversation
did quite a bit of expanding, it was almost always the same ones who
introduced new topics. On Monday it was Daichi Matsumoto, Mimimi, and
Hinami. I almost never observed Tama-chan or Kyoya Hashiguchi introduce
a topic. Maybe if I watched for a really long time, I'd see one of them do it,
but it was clearly rare. Which suggests that if you don't introduce new topics,
you'll never be at the center of things.
Anyway, I couldn't put a specific name on the idea if you asked me to, but
that's what I noticed.
"…And since Tama-chan and Kyoya didn't introduce any new topics,
they didn't control the mood. That's about it."
Hinami nodded.
"Hmm. If the average person listened to what you just said, they'd
probably be like, And? Does that mean something? In other words,
everything you said is completely obvious."
Her words hit home extra hard because I'd been wondering that myself.
"…But for people like you and me who are assessing the situation with a
focus on cause and effect, it's an important observation. Worthy of nanashi,
I'd say."
Just as I was reeling from the damage of her previous comment, she
praised me. I was happy, unsurprisingly. She had me completely under the
control of her good cop bad cop routine.
"R-really?"
"Yeah. You understand now, right? What are the two things you need in
order to be good at conversation?"
…Oh, okay. I do get it.
"Improving my ability to introduce and expand on topics?"
"Hexactly."
"Huh?"
"All that's left is to figure out how to improve those abilities."
"Wait, wait, wait. This is the third time you've said that 'Hexactly' thing.
What is that?"
"…"
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No response!
"…Okay fine, I give up. It's a habit, and sometimes I slip up and say it.
You don't recognize it? It's what Oinko always said in that retro game Go Go
Oinko. I loved that game when I was a kid. To tell you the truth, I try not to
say it because it's embarrassing, but I'm tired of avoiding it. It always slips
out, whether I like it or not, so from now on I'm gonna say it all the time. Just
ignore it, okay? Story over."
What's with this girl? She gives a big speech, then suddenly gets all
defensive and ends the conversation.
Wait a sec…
"…Oinko! I thought I recognized that phrase from somewhere! I
remember now! You like that game?"
"…Wow. I should have expected the top gamer in Japan to remember that
one. Hardly anyone knows about it. Which is weird because it was superfamous back in the day!" For once, Hinami sounded excited.
"Totally! I used to play it at a friend's house when I was a kid. Oinko the
pig was super-cute. He always said, 'That's so correct, I think I've been
hexed!' …That was a good game."
"Yeah, it was. They made you think it was just gonna be another crappy
manga spinoff, but it actually had stuff you wouldn't expect from the
technology back then, like 2.5-D parallax scrolling. Just technically speaking,
it was amazing! But at the same time, it was one of those unique little worlds
kids love. The characters were so cute! Seriously good game."
Hinami was smiling like an innocent little girl. I—I didn't even know she
could make that expression.
"I'm with you there," I said, looking away from her.
"I should've known you'd get it! When it comes to games, Oinko was like
my…I mean…" Hinami turned her face away and coughed, like she'd
suddenly realized something. "We're way off topic."
Maybe because she'd been rambling enthusiastically about something she
liked, her cheeks were flushed.
"Oh yeah. Um…"
"We were talking about how to be good at conversations, right?" Hinami
said, sounding disappointed. She crossed her arms with some discontent.
"Right. And we can talk about Oinko another time."
"Yeah. Let's get back to the point. So…do you know how to develop that
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skill?"
"Um…by imitating people who are good at it?"
"Hexactly."
"There it is."
"Once you've figured out what the two important skills are, you just
watch the best and copy them. And now that you know what's important, you
know what to pay attention to, right?"
"Sounds good to me."
"By the way, you mentioned the 'mood' earlier. Do you know what that
is?"
"Uh, mood?"
…Now that she mentioned it, I realized I'd been thinking in vague terms,
like "that person commands the mood" or "the mood is getting weird in this
conversation," but if someone asked me to define it, I wouldn't be able to.
"No, I don't. What is it?"
Might as well ask the expert.
"So 'mood' refers to the standards for right and wrong in a particular
situation."
Um, the standards for right and wrong? "What do you mean?"
"If I break it down, it's the standard for what you should and shouldn't do.
Within a specific group, that is. For example, in some groups, you'll earn
praise for being easy-going and upbeat, but others, like, say, a group of
college students, might dislike that and think it's childish or uncool. That
standard for good and bad is what people call the 'mood.'"
"Hmm."
I felt like I was starting to get the idea. If I said Mimimi was easily
influenced by the mood and Tama-chan wasn't influenced by it at all, that
would make sense.
"The 'mood' refers to these standards for right and wrong, or good and
bad. Specifically when they hold true within a particular group and not
anywhere else."
Hmm. "I get the gist, but I'm not sure that explanation's enough."
"That's fine. We're getting into the weeds here, which is not necessary at
your level. Just keep it in mind as something that might come in handy in the
future. For now, it's enough to have a vague sense of it as 'mood.'"
"That's enough? …Okay. But there's something essential I still haven't
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asked you."
Hinami grinned. "And what would that be?"
"I have a feeling I won't get good at conversation just by copying the
masters. It's like my body won't be able to keep up…like I probably don't
have the basic abilities to make the moves I want to make."
That's exactly the problem. I literally can't copy the experts. At least,
that's how it often goes with video games—the expert is just too good with
the controller.
I'm foreseeing the same problem in conversations. Say I want to introduce
a new topic or respond to a joke with some witty comment, but the words just
don't come out because I don't have the skills… In that sense, life really is a
game.
"Very astute. You're right. You need to build up your skills."
"Right? And it won't happen overnight…"
"It's the easiest thing ever."
"Huh? It's easy?"
"Yep," Hinami said, raising her finger in the air like a cheerful teacher.
"Just memorize."
"…Memorize?"
"Yeah. Piece of cake, right?"
She smiled mischievously. I was being teased.
"Come on, I need more than that. What do you mean?"
"It's very simple."
She pulled a pencil box from her bag. From inside it, she withdrew a pile
of flash cards and started flipping through them.
"What are those?" I said, peering at the cards in her hand. I couldn't
believe my eyes. "…You're kidding me!"
Each card had writing on both sides. For example, one said "The story
about the little brother of Taro Nakajima (Group 2)" on the front and "He
said he'd get into a national junior high no problem, but he didn't even take
the entrance exam" on the back. Another one said "What my mom said to me
in the middle of May" on the front with "You're a fine student but you wear
the stupidest clothes" on the back. Another said "The scene in the third
episode of My Secret Father that made me laugh" on the front and "The part
where Yusuke Sugawara falls down, but he's being so careful not to get hurt
that it looks like a slapstick routine" on the back. And on and on. There was a
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whole fat pile of them.
"See? Easy."
She was positively beaming. Terrifying.
"You…memorized these? Conversation topics?"
"Yup." The smile was affixed to her face like the mask of a leering ogre.
"No, this is just too weird…"
"What are you talking about? In RPGs, you memorize the attack and
defense values for all the equipment, right? And in training-battle games, you
memorize the fixed stats of all the monsters, right? What's the difference?"
As she was talking, she opened her large pencil box to show me the piles
of flash cards stuffed inside, all of which I guessed served the same purpose
as the ones she'd just shown me.
"Oh geez…"
"Why do you sound so pathetic? If you do this, you'll never run out of
topics."
Sure, but…if a normal person saw this, they'd run the other way.
"…It's just, wow. You're right that I'm not gonna run out of topics…" I
can see her point, but… "Are you suggesting I do the same thing?"
I was somewhat on the defensive.
"Obviously. But you can use whatever method you want. It doesn't have
to be flash cards. You're decent at studying, right? In that case, you can use
whatever is easiest for you as long as you memorize some topics."
"O-okay."
"Okay then, that's it as far as conversation instruction goes."
"Um, wait a second. There's something I don't understand."
"What?"
"Assuming I can memorize some topics, you know I always stutter when I
talk to people. What should I do about that? Practice saying 'excuse me' or
something?"
"…Just get used to it," Hinami said, sounding bored and tapping her
finger on her forehead. "Anyway, you're not going to say 'excuse me' to kids
in our class, so what's the point of practicing?"
"Oh r-right."
"I swear," she sighed, putting her flash cards back in the pencil box and
sticking the box in her bag.
"Whew…I'm kinda tired after today," I said.
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"Makes sense. We talked about a lot of new stuff. Plus you shared a lot of
your own thoughts. But tonight when you get home, and then tomorrow
night, I want you to review our conversation, because we went over a lot of
important things."
"Review? You mean just try to remember what we talked about? I think I
can do that…but I'm not sure."
"I thought as much. Here, take this."
She pulled a slender, palm-sized rectangular device with REPLAY and
RECORD buttons on it from her chest pocket.
"…A recorder?"
"Yeah, it's a voice recorder. I've been taping our whole conversation."
When did she manage to do that?
"Ha-ha, you plan for everything… Did you buy that just for this?"
"No, I had it around. You can use it for a lot of things. I'm just lending it
to you for a bit."
A lot of things… I wonder what that includes? Considering those flash
cards, though, I'm too scared to ask. She handed the recorder to me.
"Th-thanks," I said.
"It has a bunch of different folders, but there's nothing in them. If you
press the REPLAY button, you can listen to today's conversation. And here's
the plug for earphones."
"G-got it."
She really thought of everything for me. Must be another skill of normie
experts.
"Okay, so let's talk about the plan for tomorrow."
"Huh? Tomorrow? Isn't tomorrow Saturday?"
Some schools have class on Saturdays, but ours wasn't one of them.
"Yes, and that's why it's extra important. Or did you have plans?"
"No…I'm free." Sadly enough. "Why? You want me to practice at home
or something?"
"Nope."
"What, then?"
She replied as if the answer was not a huge bombshell.
"We're meeting at Omiya Station at eleven AM. You're going to spend the
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day with me."
A date?! Or…I guess not, but…what?!