Chapter 31 - Villagers have their own way of life

"Are you okay, Tama?! Sorry I haven't been able to help you

at all!"

"Oh, it's fine. Thanks, though."

"I want to stop her, but I'm not that brave!"

"Ah-ha-ha. Yeah, Konno is pretty scary."

"She sure is!"

A couple of minutes had passed since Takei arrived in

the classroom. Mizusawa and I had asked Tama-chan and

him to have a one-on-one conversation, hoping to kill two

birds with one stone: we wanted her to learn the secrets of

charm and practice breaking the ice. We were watching

silently from the sidelines.

The situation was totally unnatural, but Takei had

unquestioningly accepted Mizusawa's request to encourage

Tama-chan with his natural cheer, and things were rolling

along smoothly so far. Nice work, Takei. You're so easy to

control.

By the way, I'd also asked Tama-chan to record the

conversation using the recorder I'd lent her so she could

listen to it afterward. I wanted her to objectively compare

her tone with Takei's to see how they were different.

"Once Erika gets mad, she stays mad forever! I don't

think you did anything wrong!"

"You don't? Thanks, Takei."

"No, don't thank me! I should be saying sorry!"

"Ah-ha-ha. Okay."

Maybe it was their similar natures, or maybe it was the

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power of Takei's sheer obliviousness, but as far as I could

tell, the conversation wasn't going too badly. As for what

Mizusawa and I were up to, well, we were searching for hints

—how Takei left himself vulnerable and how Tama-chan

could apply the same techniques.

"What do you think, Fumiya?" Mizusawa said, looking

toward me. From this angle, his nose and chin looked

flawless, perfectly offsetting his sidelong glance. He was at

least 30 percent more handsome than usual. On top of that,

his hair looked like he could be a model in one of those

magazines at the hair salon. Damn, his stats were off the

charts. I tried not to compare myself as I answered him. Stay

positive! Self-confidence is key!

"To me, it seems like his charm is coming from how he

doesn't hide his true feelings."

"That jumped out at me, too."

"But Tama-chan does the same thing…"

"Yeah. Maybe the difference is how goofy he is about it?"

By talking about what we noticed, we were hoping to

tackle the problem by finding a new angle that we wouldn't

be able to see alone. Mizusawa was smart, and he had a

normie perspective, which made him an incredible asset to

this project. As for me, I felt fairly confident in my analytical

ability. Together, we should be able to come up with a

strategy to break the current stalemate. I was doing my best

to clearly convey each step in my thought process.

"They do talk in totally different ways… I guess the

simplest idea would be for Tama-chan to copy the way Takei

speaks so she can create some vulnerability. I bet she could

mimic him just fine if she put her mind to it."

I thought back to the tone exercise we'd done on the first

day of training, where I'd had her talk only using vowels. I

had no doubts that she could produce a tone that was just as

cheerful as his, based on what I'd observed of him.

"True, stealing directly from him could work, as long as

she can make it natural. If she suddenly started speaking like

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Takei, everyone would wonder if something was wrong with

her. She'd have to keep it within reasonable limits."

"Very true."

I almost burst out laughing as I imagined her dialing the

silliness all the way up, but I managed to tell Mizusawa I

agreed with him. People would definitely worry if she started

pointing at the ceiling and yelling Yeah, dude! Mizusawa

smiled and looked back at Tama-chan and Takei.

"So we'll ask her to do that…and what else?"

"Hmm…"

We sank into silence and went back to observing their

conversation.

"You've got people on your side!"

"I know. And now I know you're one of them. That's a

relief."

"Right?! Mika was saying the other day that she thought

Erika was going too far!"

"Um, Mika?"

"You know, Mika! Erika's friend, Mika Akiyama?"

"Oh, Akiyama-san. The one with the short hair?"

"Yeah, her! So it's not like everyone is against you!"

While I was still analyzing the exchange, I was a little

surprised by what Takei had said. One of Erika's friends had

started saying she was going too far? I glanced at Mizusawa.

"Akiyama… She's one of Konno's groupies, right?"

I was sure she was the girl Hinami had been talking to

this week.

"Yeah," Mizusawa said with a grin. "But 'groupie' is a

pretty direct way of describing her."

"Oh…yeah, guess it is."

That's how I'd always thought of Konno's crew when it

came to this issue—Hinami's, too—so it kind of slipped out.

Groupie was my perspective; from within the clique, she was

just another member. Guess I was a little sloppy in my

characterization.

"So anyway, she's one of her groupies. You could also

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consider her a friend," I said.

"Right. And?" Mizusawa cackled. I felt embarrassed, but

I soldiered on.

"Does this Akiyama girl dislike Konno?"

Mizusawa thought for a second.

"It's not exactly dislike…but Erika is harder on Mika

than she is on anyone else in the group."

"How so?"

"You've seen it before, right? How hierarchies form? In

that group, Erika's at the top, and everyone else watches her

reactions."

"It does seem like that."

I could tell that much, even from the outside.

"Erika always dumps the annoying stuff on Mika…so

sometimes, Mika complains behind her back."

"Gotcha…"

"My guess is that she's the one who actually has to go

and break the pencil leads and pens."

"Really?"

"Yeah. So the friendship is a little complicated."

I could see his point. Konno was the obvious autocrat in

her group, so it would be natural for the other members to

obey her in public but complain about her in private. And it

was easy to imagine the weakest member of the group being

assigned the dirty work and going along with it, not having

much of a choice. It was a little suspicious that Hinami was

making contact with this particular member of the group.

But if what Mizusawa said was true, I saw a possible

opportunity for a breakthrough.

"Doesn't that mean the longer Konno keeps harassing

Tama-chan, the more isolated she'll become in her own

group, and the shakier her position in class will be? I mean,

she's the one creating all the tension, and no one really liked

her to start with."

Mizusawa frowned.

"I don't think that would happen without intervention."

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"Really?"

Considering how arrogant she was, a fall from grace

seemed entirely possible. I must be missing something here.

"How do I put it…? She has an amazing sense of balance

for that kind of stuff. I mean, she's kept her position for this

long. She makes sure people don't rebel even if they're tired

of her BS. Like with Akiyama. She's usually hard on her, but

when they're in a small group together, she's really nice.

Stuff like that."

"A sense of balance, huh…?"

"Yeah. Like with Tama, she hasn't done anything really

dramatic, right?"

"…Uh-huh."

I'd had the same thought myself.

"You're right. She only does little things that could be

seen as a coincidence," I said. "She just does it a lot."

Mizusawa nodded.

"My guess is she's purposely stopping short of anything

that would make people feel really bad for Tama. And I hate

to say it, but Tama didn't exactly fit in to start with. Put the

two together, and people's general reaction tends to be Ugh,

she overreacts to everything ."

I bit my lip, thinking about our class.

"That sounds about right…"

"What I'm saying is, she's a master of class politics."

Politics, huh?

"You mean she's good at knowing the effects she

causes?"

"Yeah. It's not like she doesn't think about all this stuff. I

mean, part of it is probably instinct, of course."

"Interesting…"

Konno appeared to be acting based on emotion, but

Mizusawa didn't think so. To maintain a position at the top

of the class, you really would need some sort of ability that

the other members of the class lacked. In her case, that was

political skill and a sense of balance.

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"Which is why you think things won't get better if we

leave them alone?"

I could still just say It's a crappy situation and call it a

day, but it was important for me to get a better grasp on the

rules governing that situation. Mizusawa was watching

Tama-chan and Takei with narrowed eyes.

"So what do you think about those two?"

"The question is, what's different aside from their way of

talking?"

"Exactly."

I started watching them again, too.

"And Yuko was worried about you, too!"

"Who's Yuko?"

"Ueda, Yuko Ueda! She said you didn't do anything

wrong!"

"…Huh. Thanks."

Takei was still trying to cheer Tama-chan up. Takei's

vulnerability was really obvious in the way he was talking.

Mizusawa and I continued our discussion.

"I think Tama needs to volunteer more of her own

thoughts, and she also needs to express more emotion," he

commented.

"…Could be," I answered, nodding. But I'd noticed

something else about their current conversation, and maybe

about their entire exchange so far. There was something else

she needed to look out for.

"You know, Mizusawa…"

"What?" He glanced at me.

"I think I figured out another reason Tama doesn't get

along with people very well."

"Really?" His eyes were glittering.

"Yeah."

I nodded quietly but confidently. This was more than a

hunch—it was intuition. No, it was practically a certainty—

because I'd been the exact same way.

I stood up and looked at Tama-chan. "Hey, Tama-chan,

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can I talk to you for a second?"

She looked at me and walked a couple of steps in my

direction.

"Did you figure something out?"

"Yeah," said Mizusawa, "Fumiya seems to have a reason

why you're having such a hard time."

"Really?!" Takei yelped. "Ooooh, tell us!"

I ignored his shouting and went on with my explanation.

Sorry, Takei. Hope you can understand why this is

important.

"Well…the reason I know this is because I used to be the

same way myself."

I've spent so many years looking out at a world without

color.

"So…what?"

And I'm fairly sure this is way more important than skills

or techniques when it comes to interacting with other

people.

"Tama-chan…"

I recalled my old frame of mind.

"You're not very interested in the other kids in our class,

are you?"

She shut her mouth and stared up at me in surprise.

Mizusawa stared at me, too, blinking.

"Fumiya, what's that me—?"

"You're right. Honestly, I'm not," she said, interrupting

Mizusawa's question. He looked even more confused. But I

was right.

"…Thought so."

I let out a breath. The same thing had happened several

times in this conversation with Takei. He'd brought up

someone's first name, and Tama-chan hadn't known whom

he was talking about.

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"And that's what you think is key?" Mizusawa stared at

me searchingly, like he guessed what I was thinking. I kept

talking, partly so he could decide if he agreed, and partly to

get new ideas from him.

"Well, speaking from experience, yeah."

"Huh."

I thought back to what happened during summer

vacation.

"As Tama-chan and Mizusawa already know, I've been

doing a bunch of stuff to change myself lately. Practicing

how I talk and being more expressive and things like that."

"Uh-huh."

Tama-chan was looking me straight in the eye as she

listened. Takei was just staring with his mouth open; we'd

left him in the dust a while ago.

"But before I started, I wasn't interested in any of that. I

thought life was like a broken game, so trying to get better at

it was pointless. I assumed the normies who were super into

it were all stupid, even though I didn't have a good reason to

believe that."

"Ha-ha-ha. Really?"

Mizusawa laughed with a mixture of surprise and

amusement.

"Yeah. I was super cynical back then."

"Huh. You know, at first, I wouldn't have even noticed if

you were absent."

"Oof…"

It was a painful jab, but I kept talking.

"Anyway, since I thought everyone was stupid, I

obviously wasn't interested in them. I had no reason to care

about what they were doing, so I didn't pay attention to

gossip or anything… But something happened that made me

want to change, so I decided to start practicing how I spoke

and all that."

"And what happened?"

Tama-chan was watching my mouth, like she wanted to

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catch every word I said.

"Well, I slowly became better at talking to people. And

the results from gaining that experience encouraged me to

do more."

"Ha-ha-ha. Gotcha. You sound like a gamer."

Mizusawa spoke in a casual tone, but he'd actually hit

the nail on the head. What I'd described was exactly what I'd

call gamer effort. In other words, trial and error with the

intention of advancing toward a goal. Effort made with the

controller in your own hands. I was impressed that

Mizusawa could understand my mindset and not just his

own perspective as a normie. He was something else.

"As my motivation increased, I improved more and

became able to talk to more people. I could give my own

opinions and ask other people for theirs—and then I realized

something."

I thought about all the normies I'd interacted with and

all the nameless students I'd watched from the classroom

window as they practiced sports.

"All those normies I'd brushed off weren't stupid. They

had their own thoughts and worries and goals." I smiled

wryly. "…I mean, of course they did."

"True," Tama-chan said. Her eyes wandered

uncomfortably for a second.

"Up to that point, I'd been talking to others just to level

up, but once I got to know a bunch of different people,

well…"

I met Tama-chan's gaze.

"…I started talking to them because I wanted to know

what they were thinking."

She stared back at me.

"Once I got interested in other people, I wanted to know

specific things about them, and when I asked the questions

to find out, it led to a conversation. I started thinking about

what I wanted them to know about me, and what else I

wanted to talk to them about, and then I'd have something

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to say."

"…Huh."

Mizusawa crossed his arms and pursed his lips in

thought.

"Of course, it's not always easy. Sometimes, I do use

topics I've thought up beforehand or other stuff I've

practiced," I said in a slightly joking tone.

Mizusawa chuckled. "Ah-ha, I see. And?"

"Well, if Tama-chan wants more people to accept her

and wants to make more friends, it's definitely worthwhile to

practice surface-level skills like having a more cheerful tone,

but that's not the biggest thing."

I thought about how my own state of mind had changed,

how color had come into my world.

"I think it's important to take an interest in everyone else

and work on accepting them."

When I finished talking, Tama-chan looked down at her

hands. After a moment, she clenched them into fists and

nodded slightly.

"…Yeah, you could be right. I won't really get along with

people I don't care about, will I?"

She looked up at me again, and this time, her face was

full of positive determination. Tama-chan was back to her

usual self, with her old strength.

Mizusawa unfolded his arms and gave us a calm, gentle

look. "You're full of surprises, aren't you, Fumiya?" He was

back to normal, too, with his smirks and teasing.

"What's that mean?"

"It's a compliment, so don't worry about it."

"Okay, if you say so…," I said, mystified. Yeah, Mizusawa

was always in control.

Suddenly, I glanced at Takei. For some reason, he was

looking at me with moist eyes.

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"Uh, Takei…?"

"…Dude!! That was some good shit!!"

"Huh?"

He rushed over to me and shook my shoulders. Wait a

second! I thought I'd lost him a while back. Or maybe he'd

picked up a general sense of what I meant? Either way, it

was amazing he'd get teary-eyed over that.

"Oh look, everyone's getting ready to go home."

"Oh yeah, you're right. Should we go?"

"Amazing, Tomozaki!!"

"S-stop it…"

I didn't quite know how to handle Takei's inexplicably

emotional reaction. Meanwhile, Hinami and Mimimi

finished up their late practice down on the field, and our

meeting came to an end. I guess this was just the usual Takei

—maybe overenthusiastic, maybe a simple guy, but oddly

charming either way.

* * *

"There's even more of you today!"

When Tama-chan, Mizusawa, Takei, and I appeared on

the field, Mimimi's surprise was extremely evident. Glad to

see she's putting those high-jump skills to good use. Hinami

was sitting on the step leading to the team office, smiling

sardonically.

Takei jumped on the bandwagon and approached

Mimimi, palm raised.

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!" she said, giving him a high five. What the

heck? When these two get together, it's double the craziness.

Hinami and Mimimi were the only ones left on the field

because they'd been practicing late, but you'd never have

guessed it from the level of excitement.

"Cheers, Aoi!" Takei said.

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Hinami's eyes sparkled. "What? Cheese?" she cried

theatrically.

Takei burst out laughing. "No, no! You are way too into

cheese, Aoi!"

"Ah-ha-ha, whoops. Cheers ," she parried with a grownup smile. A second ago, she'd been wearing a totally

different, beguiling persona. What was with the quickchange act? "Anyway, what are you four up to? You came

last week, too, right?"

Her tone was soft, but the slower delivery helped draw

our eyes to her and give her control of the group. I had a

better sense of all this now that I'd been working on tone

myself. It was surprisingly hard to speak in that slow,

imposing voice when you were the only one talking in a

group. You had to have confidence, but Hinami was also able

to soften that confidence. The higher my own level got, the

more I understood just how much better Hinami was at all

this.

I was a little uncomfortable giving my reply.

"We were just talking about what we could do about

Tama's situation."

"Oh, you were?"

She nodded solemnly, like she took the situation very

seriously—but for a second, she glanced at me. Uh-oh. After

all, she was totally opposed to us trying to change Tamachan. Wonder how this would turn out…

Mimimi laughed, maybe trying to cover up the slightly

dark mood coming from Hinami. Then she looked back at

us.

"Okay, but why is there one more person every time you

come?!" she asked intently, her eyes sparkling.

"I guess Team Tomozaki is growing," Mizusawa said,

thumping my shoulder. Team Tomozaki, huh?

"Wait a second—I didn't know this was my team."

"Of course it is. It was your idea, right?"

"N-no…I mean, I guess."

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"Right? We're counting on you, boss."

"U-uh, boss…?"

As I was floundering under this bewildering pressure

from Mizusawa, Mimimi gave an impressed sigh next to me.

"That's Tomozaki for ya! Half brain, half boss!"

"Hey, stop giving me extra titles…"

"Yeah, that's Tomozaki for you."

"…Uh…"

As we headed off school grounds, I felt like I was being

crushed by Mimimi's weighty title and Hinami's ironic jab.

My stomach was starting to hurt…

The six of us, including Hinami and Mimimi, were

walking toward the station. As the buzzing of insects filled

the air on the country road, Mizusawa sighed and fiddled

with his phone.

"Seems like Erika's never gonna get tired of her game."

Once again, that was the topic of conversation. I was on

edge trying to figure out how to act with Hinami around.

Mimimi smiled wryly in response to Mizusawa's

comment. "Yeah, where does she get the energy for all that?"

"Good question. Maybe she just hates to lose. Or she's

insanely stubborn." Mizusawa frowned and stuck his phone

in his pocket.

"Yeah… We really have to do something," Hinami said,

joining the general flow of the conversation. She bit her lip.

"…Yeah!"

Mimimi's cheerful tone sounded like she was trying to

hide her anxiety. Up till now, Mimimi and Tama-chan had

avoided talking about Konno when they were together and

pretended they were just messing around like usual. But

now, probably because Mizusawa and Takei were there, we

were all talking about her.

Takei peered at Tama-chan with concern. "Are you okay

after all that?! I mean, they broke your pencils and stuff,

right?"

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"Yeah, they did…"

Tama-chan looked away, as if she was searching for the

right words.

"Oh, Tama, I just remembered!" Mimimi yelled loudly. "I

wanted to give this to you!"

She opened her backpack and pulled out a plastic bag.

"What's that?" Tama-chan asked. Mimimi opened the

bag dramatically and showed it to us. There were about ten

packs of mechanical pencil lead inside. Puffing her chest out

jokingly, she pulled one out to display it.

"I got these for really cheap in my neighborhood! She

can break all the leads she wants, and you'll keep pulling out

more! Like you've got a little factory!" She passed the whole

bag to Tama-chan.

"But I should pay you back…"

"Don't worry about it! Anyway, you always let me nibble

your cheeks. Consider it payment for my snacks!"

"…Really? Thanks, Minmi."

"Uh, payment for your snacks…?" I retorted softly, but

my heart was actually warmed by this little scene. These two

really do have a one-in-a-million friendship.

"And now…for the main attraction!"

With that, Mimimi pulled out a small, rectangular box. It

was a case for pencil lead that was covered in cute

decorations. I'm guessing she put the decorations on herself.

"This thing looks cheap, so she won't suspect a thing. If

you put the leads in here, you'll be in good shape!"

She stuck the box into Tama-chan's chest pocket. Tamachan ran her finger over it and sighed appreciatively.

"…Thanks, Minmi. I'll take good care of it."

She smiled softly for a brief moment. Hinami watched

the two of them, apparently moved, and then put her hand

to her chin.

"You know, if you keep your leads in your pocket, you

don't need to fool her, right?"

Mimimi froze for a second, then laughed awkwardly.

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"True!" she said. Yup, same old Mimimi.

* * *

We kept walking toward the station.

"What do you think, Aoi?" Tama-chan asked solemnly.

"…Well…," Hinami said, matching her serious

expression.

"…"

I watched them nervously. There were six of us in the

group. I didn't know this when I was a loner, but when this

many people do something together, they don't always talk

as one, big group. A lot of times, the group seems to break

up into smaller conversations. Currently, those subgroups

consisted of Mizusawa, Takei, and Mimimi, then Hinami,

Tama-chan, and me. The most nerve-racking breakdown

possible.

I was trying to solve the problem by changing Tamachan, Hinami was trying to solve the problem without

changing Tama-chan, and Tama-chan herself was between

us now. I had no idea what we were going to talk about.

Since this was Hinami, she'd manage to create a

conversation that was appropriately serious but not

provocative enough to ruffle any feathers.

At least, that was what I was expecting.

Hinami's shoes made a rough, almost shaky sound as

they hit the ground.

"Hanabi, do you want to change?"

I gulped and glanced involuntarily at Hinami. She was

being so direct. It was like she'd plunged an ice pick into the

center of whatever the source of the tension between us was.

Her eyes were hesitant and somehow sad.

"…Aoi?" Tama-chan seemed surprised

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"Oh, sorry. I've just been wondering!" she said, dialing

up the cheer and softening everything.

Tama-chan seemed convinced by the act and responded

after a pause.

"Oh, okay… Well…" At first, her words were halting.

"Yes, I do want to change."

Then they were suddenly decisive.

Hinami's expression didn't change much, but her

eyebrows twitched upward. To me, it was an undeniable sign

that Tama-chan's words had pierced her like an arrow.

"Oh…"

She looked down, her eyes so sad that she could hardly

hide it any longer. Tama-chan gazed up at her, worried.

"Do you think I shouldn't?"

"…I…"

Hinami hesitated, her voice quavering

uncharacteristically and her gaze shifting. There was an

uncomfortable pause as she frantically searched for the

words to get the conversation back under control. Was it

another act? Or was it real? I couldn't tell.

After a few seconds, she continued. "I don't want you to

change."

Tama-chan blinked twice in thought. Then she looked

deep into Hinami's eyes without a hint of pretense. When

she spoke next, she was trying to make sure of something—

or at least, get a general sense of something.

"You don't want me to change?" Her tone was careful

and penetrating. "Not 'you don't think I should change'?"

She waited for Hinami's response. I was startled. Tamachan was right—the phrase wasn't something Hinami would

normally say.

"I don't want you to change."

Those weren't the words of someone thinking about the

best strategy one should take to solve the problem. In a

sense, they disregarded problem-solving altogether for the

sake of her personal wish.

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"Right," Hinami said. "I don't want to think you made a

mistake by facing her head-on."

Her gaze was distant, but her tone was full of definite

emotion. She was being harsher than usual and strangely

earnest, almost like she was atoning for a time when she

wasn't.

"Hinami…?" I whispered. She took a breath, startled. For

an instant, her expression was unguarded, but the next

moment, her usual mask returned.

"…You're not in the wrong, so I don't want you to

change. Of course, I don't have the right to decide that for

you. That's just what I want!"

Those were the words of the perfect heroine. Her voice

was strong and cheerful, like a single, strong line traced over

the shaky one she had drawn a moment ago.

"…I understand. Thanks for worrying about me, Aoi."

Tama-chan smiled gently, accepting Hinami's words at

face value.

The final boss had slid her mask back on before I knew

it, as if it had never slipped at all. The change was so

complete that even I wasn't sure how far the mask went.

"…I know this is tough for you…so try not to overdo it,

okay?"

"Okay. But Tomozaki and the others are backing me up,

and I do want to see if I can change a little." She turned to

me and smiled brightly.

I sensed a gray storm cloud over Hinami, but I tried to

take heart in Tama-chan's words and answer her cheerfully.

"Right, let's do this!"

"Yeah. I'm counting on you! Not for much, but still!"

"Remember what we said before about being too

honest…?"

Tama-chan laughed.

Hinami widened her eyes and nodded, apparently

satisfied. "Huh."

She smiled. Was I imagining things? I felt like a very

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small but sharp point of sadness lay behind that smile.

Hinami went on talking.

"You really are two of a kind."

There wasn't anything strange about her words—in fact,

they were just another part of her perfect-heroine persona.

Still, I couldn't help but sense such a lack of commitment

behind them that it almost felt like despair.

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"Anyway, if that's the case, I'm behind you!"

But in no time at all, that vibe vanished so completely

that I wondered if it had been nothing more than the

product of my own preconceptions. A soft, gentle aura once

again surrounded Hinami.

"Oh right! Aoi?"

Mizusawa was calling to her from behind. She dropped

back to join his group, and our conversation ended. The

prickly discomfort receded, and the sun came out again

around us. Still, I felt like what she'd said to Tama-chan and

me revealed something inside her. I wondered if she would

ever let me near it—if that was even possible.

Maybe even that expression beneath her mask was just

another mask, too.

* * *

That night, I was sitting on my bed, my body stiff with

nerves, having a staring contest with my phone. The LINE

chat app was on the screen. Mizusawa had created a threeperson strategy chat group, and we were talking about our

plans moving forward. The members were Tama-chan,

Mizusawa, and me. As usual, Takei wasn't included because

he wouldn't be much use. Sorry, Takei.

I'd advanced enough that this by itself wouldn't have

made me nervous. I'd vacillated for less than a minute after

the sudden invitation arrived, and a few deep breaths had

been enough to calm me down. That wasn't the problem.

The problem was the message Mizusawa had sent.

[Wanna do a conference call around nine? ]

That was a shock to the system.

I was used to in-person conversations, but for some

reason, phone calls still made me nervous. A conference call

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might as well be a one-hit KO. Maybe I would have survived

if I had no warning, but since he'd told me the time in

advance, there I was, waiting with my heart pounding.

It was currently 9:02 PM . He'd said "around nine,"

which meant it shouldn't matter if he was a couple minutes

late, but the ambiguity just made my nerves worse. Hurry

up and put me out of my misery.

And the phone rang.

"Whoa," I said with such good English pronunciation

that you'd never guess I was Japanese. Once I'd calmed

down a bit, I tapped the JOIN button on the screen. I was

already wearing headphones, and a voice reached my ears.

"Hey."

Cool and calm, like the ideal older brother. Mizusawa.

Through the headphones, he sounded smug and casual, but

also smooth. His voice had a mysterious tone to it that I

could never reproduce. Geez. And all he'd said so far was hey

.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

That was Tama-chan. Her voice sounded young and

cute, but her pronunciation was crystal clear and easy to

understand. From the moment she started talking, her

words were crisp and distinct. The modulation really

reflected her personality.

"Yeah, I can hear you," I said. I didn't know how the two

of them felt about hearing my voice through the phone, but

based on the many times I'd recorded myself and worked on

improving my voice, my guess was that I was cheerful but

nothing special. That was my own self-evaluation at this

point.

Now that we were all connected, the meeting began.

"What should we talk about first?" Mizusawa said, taking

on the leadership role. I decided to bring up something that

was on my mind.

"Well, I was wondering…"

"Yeah?"

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"Tama-chan, have you tried listening to those voice

recordings yet?"

She waited a beat before answering. "Yeah, I did."

"And?" Mizusawa asked.

"Well…I did sound different than I'd imagined. I really

noticed the gap between me and Takei," she said pensively.

Mizusawa responded encouragingly. "Oh, that's great. So

do you think you can open yourself up like he does?"

"I'm not sure. Wouldn't it be weird if I took it that far?"

She sounded a little nervous.

"Yeah, probably," he replied.

"Okay, so that was a bad idea!"

"Ha-ha-ha. All you have to do is keep it subtle enough so

that it doesn't sound weird."

"Oh, yeah. I guess that could work."

"Think you can do it?"

"…I'll try."

"Okay."

"Okay," I finally said.

I didn't really know where to jump in on the phone, so I

hadn't said anything between my initial question to Tamachan and that last okay . I was psyching myself up to try

harder next time, when Mizusawa said my name.

"Fumiya, do you have any advice as a veteran?"

"Uh, a veteran?"

"Yeah. As I recall, you took inspiration from someone

else," he teased.

"Oh right."

I heard him cackling on the other end of the line. Ergh,

shit. That "someone" would be Mizusawa himself.

Sometimes, the model you were copying found out what you

were up to, so you had to be careful.

"You did, Tomozaki?"

"Uh, kinda. Anyway, you wanted some advice."

I hustled the conversation forward before she could ask

who I'd copied. That was too embarrassing to talk about

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with Mizusawa on the line.

"Yeah. I wanna know if there's anything to watch out for

when I'm copying him."

"Ah, gotcha."

"You can't really know until you've done it yourself with

this stuff, huh?"

"Yeah, true."

Now that she mentioned it, I realized not many people

were familiar with the art of copying someone else's way of

talking. In that sense, I guess I'm a highly valuable resource.

Finally, my status as a bottom-tier character had a purpose.

Glad to be of service.

I thought back again on that experience—about what I'd

been thinking about when I copied Mizusawa's conversation

style, and what I'd watched out for.

"Let's see… One thing is, it's fine to go in pretty hard

from the get-go. In my case, even when I thought I was

doing a great job, I'd listen to the recordings of myself later

and realize I was still way too monotonous—stuff like that."

"Huh, really?" Mizusawa said. It was emotionally

confusing to have my model responding to my comments,

but I went on talking.

"Well, basically. Anyway, start off bold and then see how

you did later by listening to the recording. Just do it over

and over and you'll be good."

"Got it. Over and over. I'll practice tonight."

Tama-chan was a very earnest student.

"Okay, so today at home, she'll work on fixing her tone.

The question is…how to put it into practice starting

tomorrow."

"Um, yeah."

I tried to keep up as Mizusawa efficiently moved the

conversation forward.

"…After you practice tonight, it might be a good idea for

me or Mizusawa to tag along with you tomorrow and watch

while you practice some more. If you record yourself

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practicing during breaks and we give you feedback on what

to fix, you should be able to get a lot done in one day."

"Huh. Good idea," Mizusawa commented.

"Yeah, I don't have much time. I'll give it a try."

"Okay then, are we good?"

Just as the plan was coming together, I started to worry

about something. "Uh…," I mused.

"Fumiya, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just…" I thought about what Mizusawa had

said. "It's just, I'm wondering how much changing your tone

will actually create that sense of consistent vulnerability."

"…Yeah, you do have a point there."

It was true she might open herself up a bit by copying

Takei's tone and general aura, but it wouldn't be so

straightforward or easy-to-understand.

"It might be better to have something really obvious, like

the thing Mizusawa pointed out with Hinami and cheese."

"True. If you want people to get used to your character, a

classic routine will probably help the most."

"A routine…"

Essentially, it means an immediately recognizable item

or characteristic has become iconic for that person. If there's

a certain pattern of actions that goes along with that trait, it

becomes especially recognizable, and that creates charm. In

Tama-chan's case, it would probably have to relate to her

nickname or appearance, but it was hard to think of

something specific.

"Hmm…I wonder what would work."

I thought about it for a minute, but I had no idea where

to even start.

"Well, it's not the kind of thing you can create

overnight," Mizusawa said. "I'll give it some thought. You

two should do the same."

"Okay, got it," I replied.

"Okay!"

"Well…" Mizusawa started wrapping up the meeting.

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"Are we good for today? Do either of you want to add

anything?"

"…Um…"

I thought it would be a good idea to touch on the

problem of her being disinterested in the people around her.

But that issue was deeply rooted in her underlying mental

stance. A few words on the phone right now wouldn't do

much to solve it.

"Never mind, I'm good. For now, let's just agree to meet

up tomorrow during breaks, okay?" I said.

"Sounds good. But I usually hang out with Shuji during

breaks, so I might not be able to go every time. Is it okay

with you two if I just sneak away when I can?"

After all, Nakamura and Tama-chan had their ongoing

feud, so Mizusawa wasn't entirely free to act.

"Of course. I'll be the main one shadowing her. I'm just

thankful you're helping us out at all. Don't worry about the

rest."

"Okay… I appreciate it," Mizusawa said a little timidly.

"Anyway," I said as casually as possible, "I think this

plan's got potential!"

"Yeah. If you practice that much, it shouldn't be too hard

to improve."

"So everyone on board?"

"One hundred percent."

As Mizusawa and I psyched each other up, Tama-chan

chimed in softly.

"…Thanks, guys."

She was thanking us, but something about the way she

said it was apologetic or even helpless.

"Of course! No worries!" I said, as dramatic and silly as

how I talked during the vowel exercise. It was oddly

entertaining to talk that way because it felt so weird. It was

perfect for making a fool of myself.

"Ah-ha-ha. Thanks," Tama-chan said with a giggle.

"Yeah, Tama!! You better cheer up!!"

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Mizusawa followed my lead with an unmistakably Takeilike form of encouragement.

"Ah-ha-ha. I'm on it!"

"That was a little sample of how to copy Takei."

"Yeah, yeah, thank you."

After we joked around like that for a minute, we wrapped

up the meeting.

"All right, guys…if anything changes, get in touch,"

Mizusawa said.

"Okay, will do."

"Gotcha."

"Okay, later," Mizusawa said.

"Later," Tama-chan echoed.

"L-later," I stuttered.

With that, the group call ended, and there I was, alone

again on top of my bed with that loneliness that came after

ending a fun phone call.

"But…yeah."

We were moving gradually forward, and a path toward

our larger goal had come into sight. This time, I wasn't

fighting alone like I always had with Atafami —I was

heading down that road with friends I could count on. I set

my phone down softly next to my pillow, oddly tickled by the

idea that I was part of the group.

* * *

The next morning, with no meeting to go to, I got to class

earlier than usual and sat at my desk, grappling with the

Tama-chan issue.

There were two main questions I was struggling with.

One was what specific vulnerability she might be able to

create. The other was how to deal with her lack of interest in

other people.

Hoping to find some new hint in the actions or

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conversations of our classmates, I shifted my gaze, observing

them carefully. Mostly, they were talking about TV shows

and online videos or casually teasing each other according to

established conversational etiquette. If there was a solution

here, it must lie in how they were each creating their own

vulnerabilities and familiarizing the group with their

character. Hmmm.

As I was processing everything, Mimimi walked in.

That's when I had another idea. If observation wasn't

helping…it was time to gather some intel. Past experience

led straight to that conclusion. Mimimi in particular seemed

like a prime source. She was equally good at messing with

people and being messed with, so she could probably

provide lots of new ideas. She'd also helped Tama-chan

become more integrated into the class when they first

started high school, which meant she likely held the key to

getting us out of this dilemma.

I left my bag on my desk and walked over to Mimimi,

who was looking around the classroom.

"Mimimi?"

"Huh?" she said, turning toward me with a blank look.

"Oh, Tomozaki! You're here early! What's up?"

She giggled and punched my shoulder. She sounded

happy, but I could tell from the strength of her hit that she

was actually a little bit down. It might be a dumb way to

judge someone's mood, but as the Brain, I could tell.

"Um…," I said, pulling my thoughts together. I wanted to

figure out how Tama-chan could create a specific

vulnerability and get everyone familiarized with it. Like

Mizusawa said, it would be best if she had a classic pattern,

so it'd be ideal if I could find some ideas on that front.

Which meant the first thing I should ask was…

"You like to mess with Tama-chan a lot, right?"

"Wait a second, Tomozaki, I can't let that slide. I'm not

messing with her; I'm just expressing my love!"

"Oh."

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"That was weak. I need a stronger comeback! Don't kill

the joke!"

"Now, now, Mimimi, everyone needs variation in their

comebacks."

That was a lesson I'd learned from Tama-chan. Mimimi

seemed at a loss for words.

"…Indeed. Count on the Brain to be a little different!"

"R-really?"

"Of course! I've only got one partner, and that's the

Brain!"

"Next thing I know, you'll be making me do comedy

routines."

Mimimi pounded my shoulder again, still a little more

weakly than usual.

"Um, but anyway, when you teas—I mean, express your

love for Tama-chan, what parts of her do you, uh…express

love for?"

Mimimi smiled with satisfaction at my self-corrections.

"Hmm…how cute she is, and how small she is?"

"Huh. That's what I thought."

I reflected on what I'd just learned, hoping to find some

new angle, but even Tama-chan's best friend, Mimimi,

teased her about easy-to-understand, surface-level things.

Mizusawa had said her success would depend on how she

used those same qualities. Hmm.

Maybe surface-level qualities made for better

vulnerabilities. But it was still important to figure out the

right angle to make them funny.

At times like this, I needed to use…a real pro as my

model. You have to start by copying the experts. And so…

"Oh right. Sorry to change the subject, but have you seen

any good comedies or stand-up routines lately? I could use a

couple of recommendations."

"Huh? What's that all about?"

Mimimi stared up at me with her big, bold eyes. Whoa. I

didn't notice it when she was fooling around, but when she

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gave me a look like that, I was suddenly struck by how

beautiful she was. That face was invincible.

"Oh, I'm just working on some different ideas for helping

Tama-chan."

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To create our classic routine, I wanted to take some hints

from the pros—that is, comedians.

"…Huh."

Now she was studying me. The fact that she didn't seem

completely aware of her own beauty made it all the more

overwhelming.

"Uh, yeah. It's not the kind of problem that's gonna solve

itself…" I felt my face growing hot and glanced away.

"…You sure are sneaky, Tomozaki," Mimimi muttered.

"Huh?"

I was still blushing, but I looked back at Mimimi,

confused. For some reason, she was pouting.

"You act all shy, but you really turn up the heat when it

counts… Well?"

"Ouch! What are you doing?!"

She was shoving my nose up, making it look like a pig's

snout. What was the sudden attack for?

"Your messiah complex has granted you a pig's nose for

your sins."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?!"

"Ah-ha-ha! You don't need to know!"

She laughed innocently. Shit. It was impossible to be

mad at her when she smiled so beautifully.

"Damn, that's really ugly on you!"

"Hey!"

I was about to say that I was always ugly, but I stopped

myself. After all, I'd just gotten that lecture about how it was

bad to put myself down too much. Okay then.

"Sometimes, ugly people are, um, beautiful on the

inside! Or something!"

I almost chickened out, but I managed to say it

confidently.

"I know that!"

"…?!"

Mimimi grinned and peered into my face. Wait, what?

She was hitting me with another totally unexpected attack.

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Why? I was completely at a loss for words. Suddenly, she

released my nose and started fiddling with her phone.

"You wanted some recommendations for funny videos,

right? Um…"

"Oh right…"

The detour in our conversation left me feeling the

aftershocks more strongly than I normally would have, but

Mimimi recommended a bunch of videos, and I saved them

in a video player app on my phone. Man, my heart was still

pounding.

* * *

During lunch break, Mizusawa, Tama-chan, and I met in a

stairwell in an abandoned part of the school.

"Sorry I couldn't stop by before, guys," Mizusawa said,

smiling attractively at us. Tama-chan and I had been

meeting in this stairwell during every break for tone

training, but Mizusawa hadn't been able to slip away from

Nakamura. Finally, at lunch, the three of us managed to get

together.

"Well, you are a regular in Nakamura's group," I said. He

apologized again, bringing his hands together in a plea for

forgiveness.

"So how's today's training going?" he asked with a

serious expression. Tama-chan looked at me questioningly.

"Um…what do you think, professor?"

"Th-that's me, right…?" I smiled awkwardly.

"Of course," Tama-chan teased.

"Oh, okay… Well, I think you're making good progress."

"For real?" She sounded unsure.

"Yeah, I promise."

"Really?" Mizusawa broke in.

I nodded and made a conscious effort to sound casual.

"Although, the professor would like some instruction

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from his professor at this point."

"Ha-ha-ha. The professor's professor is me, I take it?"

"Of course."

I looked from one of them to the other and grinned. For

some reason, Mizusawa smiled happily.

"Fumiya, you're sounding pretty slick these days," he

said, maybe reflecting with some nostalgia for the old me,

and leaned against the wall.

"What can I say?" I said cockily. Now that I was in a

position to teach Tama-chan, I was motivated to get my own

act together, and I think I was succeeding these days.

Mizusawa heaved himself off the wall and clapped his

hands once like he was ready to get down to business.

"Okay, Tama, show me your Takei act."

"Sure!"

She let out a long breath and assumed a super-cheerful

expression.

"Bring it on!" she said, raising one fist near her face.

Mizusawa nodded, looking impressed. "Wow, you

already sound way brighter."

"Right? I've been training hard!" she said, puffing out

her cheeks proudly. Her eyes were round and playful.

"Ooh, nice. So what kind of training have you been

doing?"

"Well," she chirped, "I've just been recording myself

talking and then comparing myself with Takei and other

people and fixing things!"

"So basically what we talked about before."

"Right! But then I thought of some other people to

model myself on!"

"Now that you mention it, we didn't say anything about

that, did we?"

The closest person to Tama-chan had an inborn

sanguinity that was impossible to dislike. Considering they

were the same gender, too, there couldn't be a better person

for Tama-chan to learn from when it came to conversation

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style. Even when Mimimi wasn't there in person, she was

able to help Tama-chan.

"Yeah, it wasn't Tomozaki's idea; it was mine! Star pupil,

right?"

"Ha-ha-ha. Yeah, very good, very good," Mizusawa said

in a joking singsong, smiling kindly.

"Hey! That wasn't very genuine!"

"Oh, you're right, so sorry."

"That wasn't, either!"

In a sense, Tama-chan was still as sharp as ever, but

because of her expression and slightly brighter tone, along

with the flow of conversation that had led us here, she came

off as friendlier than usual. She was progressing nicely.

"Okay, okay, I'll try to be more sincere."

"I'm not convinced!"

"Ha-ha-ha."

Their conversation was bouncing along so smoothly, it

was hard to believe that until recently, the two of them had

an awkward relationship. The mood was really upbeat, too.

Tama-chan was quiet for a moment, then she peered at

Mizusawa again.

"…So what do you think? I'm trying to sound more

cheerful…"

Mizusawa nodded right away. "Yeah, it's way easier to

talk to you now, and I think you've got a little more charm

than you did before."

"R-really?"

Tama-chan looked very pleased to hear that. I pumped

my fist into the air, too.

"Now if you could just come up with a routine for

everyone, that would be ideal… I haven't been able to think

of anything yet," Mizusawa said.

"Speaking of which…," I broke in calmly.

"Oh, you thought of something?" Mizusawa said, looking

at me with an expectant smile. Stop already.

"More like stole it, but…"

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It had to do with creating an easy-to-understand

character, and the standard routines you could implement to

get other people used to it—although, this was easier said

than done.

I winked at Tama-chan. During our earlier breaks, we'd

been studying the comedy videos Mimimi had

recommended and had taken some lessons from them. Now

it was time to try them out on Mizusawa.

"Um, wanna do it now?" I said.

"Uh, okay… I'll try," she mumbled with a mixture of

nervousness and embarrassment. I was super nervous, too,

because I was about to do something I wasn't used to. I took

a deep breath, going over what we'd already practiced a

bunch of times this morning.

"…Uh, Tama-chan, why are you so far away?" I asked.

Tama-chan jabbed a finger my way and gave a sassy answer.

"I'm just short! I'm not far away; it's the law of

perspective!"

"Oh, really?"

"Really! It's an optical illusion!"

Mizusawa stared, blinking, at this odd exchange between

Tama-chan and me. I could feel his gaze burning into me.

But I wasn't giving up. I played the fool again.

"Oh, huh… Hey, did you notice how big this stairway

landing is?"

"I told you, it's because I'm short! It just feels big

because I'm so small! It's actually tiny!"

Mizusawa snickered, apparently having figured out our

schtick. I looked at Tama-chan's drawstring bag, which she

was holding in her right hand and which had her lunch

inside.

"Weird…your bento box sure is huge."

"It's because I'm short! My bento box just looks big! It's

completely normal!"

"Really?"

"Really! I told you, optical illusions."

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Mizusawa smiled and gave a small, impressed hum. He

pulled out his phone casually and glanced at Tama-chan.

"Wow, fifteen minutes of lunch break have already

passed," he said.

Tama-chan answered immediately.

"It hasn't actually been that long!" she snapped. "It just

feels long because I'm short!"

"Ha-ha-ha! What the hell?"

He put his phone back in his pocket. Since he'd gotten in

on the joke and we'd basically shown him what we wanted to

show him, I wrapped up our little skit.

"…Easy to understand, and specific. If we do that, I was

thinking it would help people get used to Tama-chan's weak

spot."

I'd based the routine on a similar one; there was a

comedian who was popular for a little while when I was in

elementary school, but his running gag focused on how big

his face was. It was among the videos Mimimi had

recommended that morning. When I saw it, three things

linked together in my mind.

First was the fact that a surface-level feature could work

as a vulnerability.

Second was the fact that Tama-chan's size was one of her

most noticeable surface-level features.

And third was that Tama-chan was great at sharp

comebacks.

All we had to do was fit Tama-chan's shortness into a

classic pattern and turn the comedian's joke on its head, and

we'd be able to reproduce the same, general routine.

"Wh-what do you think?" Tama-chan asked Mizusawa

nervously. It was typical Tama-chan to be really nervous but

still fire off those quick comebacks during the actual

performance. Mizusawa nodded twice, looking a little worldweary as he smiled, but still like he was having fun.

"Not bad, not bad. I even wanted to get in on the joke

myself. With this kind of thing, it's key for other people to

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want to be a part of it."

"…Which means…?" I asked.

Mizusawa raised one eyebrow and smiled cockily. "Looks

like we've nailed down our strategy."

"Yes!" Tama-chan and I both yelled.

Mizusawa slapped my shoulder. "Not surprising with

such a good teacher, eh?"

"Uh…guess so!"

Suppressing my instinct to act humble, I answered with

a joking, cocky tone. Self-confidence, right? Plus, it seemed

rude to the student for the teacher to demean himself in

front of her.

Mizusawa was quiet for a second, like he hadn't expected

me to answer like that, then sighed.

"Looks like you're advancing as fast as your student,

huh, Fumiya?"

"A-am I…? You could be right."

I'd vaguely realized if I was going to teach someone else

what I'd learned myself so far, I had to take responsibility for

it. That's why I'd tried hard to put my experiences in

perspective and express them in words. If I didn't try to

understand my own knowledge more and break things

down, it would be hard to communicate them to someone

else. That process was a sort of training in itself.

Mizusawa was looking at Tama-chan and me with a

satisfied expression.

"Yeah, you've both grown a lot. As I'd expect from such a

talented teacher and student."

Tama-chan and I responded at the same time to his

compliment.

"Heh-heh…I am talented, aren't I?!"

"Uh…thanks."

Mizusawa burst out laughing. He looked at me and

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grinned.

"One thing is a little sad, though… The teacher is being

totally outdone by his student."

I'd been vaguely aware of that fact, but he was making it

crystal clear. I slumped my shoulders.

"I—I was worried about that…"

"Too bad for you, Tomozaki!"

Tama-chan gave me a smile bursting with charm and

cheerfulness. It seemed to express all her guileless honesty,

like a sunflower shining in the summer sun.

And so, as I silently admitted to myself that Tama-chan

had outpaced me with her overwhelming potential, stage

one of her charm school came to an end. Yeah, we bottomtier characters need to take things slow.

* * *

After that, we talked about what to do next as we ate our

bento and sandwiches. Mizusawa crammed a big bite of his

fried yakisoba bun into his mouth.

"It might be okay for you to start mingling with other

kids in class tomorrow, but it could come off as a little weird.

As Fumiya said, we've gotta think about risk management."

"Yeah, true."

I nodded, chewing on my croquette sandwich. He had a

point. The other day, I'd talked about the importance of

practicing in a safe environment. From that perspective, it

was slightly dangerous for Tama-chan to jump straight from

training with us to conversing with the rest of the class. She

was fine with Mizusawa and me, but that might be because

she was used to us.

Once she was out in the real world interacting with

different people, she couldn't afford to get nervous, mess up,

and be stuck spinning her wheels. It would be especially

painful to see her mess up the because I'm short joke.

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I tried to think of how to create a safe space, but all that

came to me was a headache.

"…That's a hard one right now."

Mizusawa nodded coolly.

"It is?" Tama-chan asked, tilting her head as she took a

big bite of tamagoyaki . Maybe the effects of our routine

earlier were lingering, because the gesture felt slightly

vulnerable—charming. This was a good sign. Mizusawa

gulped down the bread in his mouth and turned to Tamachan to explain.

"I'd like to invite someone to meet up with us after class

to do a dry run, but right now, they're all avoiding you."

It was true. The whole class was treating her like an

inflamed wound they shouldn't touch. It seemed unlikely

anyone would help us out.

"Oh…," Tama-chan said glumly.

"This is tough."

"It is. Aoi and Mimimi are on your side, but you're too

close to them, so it wouldn't be real practice. Who else could

we ask? Who'd help us out?"

I considered it for a second.

"Um…how about Izumi?"

I remembered our conversation from the previous week.

She seemed like a promising candidate. But Mizusawa didn't

look hopeful.

"I think she'd help, but…if Konno happened to catch her

with us, her position would be at risk."

"…Oh."

On the one hand was Konno's obvious enemy, Tamachan. On the other was her closest friend, Izumi. If Konno

caught the two of them colluding, she'd be pissed. Hinami

had already warned me about something similar in a

different situation. Thanks to the Nakamura incident, Izumi

had found her identity in helping other people, so she'd

probably say yes if I asked. But I wanted to avoid all the

potential problems that could cause her.

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"Yeah, makes sense. That's probably not a good plan," I

said. We were all silent for a moment.

"…So who else is there? Someone who's neutral and lowrisk even if she messes up, and who's not close with either

Konno or Tama."

Mizusawa sighed, apparently running through the

qualifications in his mind as he searched for a candidate. But

who could tick all those boxes? Someone who wasn't

influenced by the anti-Tama-chan mood in class, who

wouldn't make a big deal out of flubs, who didn't have much

to do with Konno, and who didn't know Tama-chan well,

either. I was thinking how unlikely we were to find someone

when suddenly, a face popped into my head.

"Ah-ha!" I blurted out.

"What, you thought of someone that might be a good fit,

Fumiya?"

"Well, it's not that they 'might' be a good fit…"

She was right in the center of the Venn diagram. She met

all the conditions to a T. She was the perfect candidate.

"Oh?"

"Um…"

Yes.

Kikuchi-san.

For some reason, my heart was pounding, but I focused

on speaking slowly.

"…Let me see if they're interested."

"So you do have someone in mind?" Mizusawa looked at

me expectantly.

"Um, yeah…but I'm not sure."

Tama-chan seemed very interested. "Ooh, who is it?"

Her eyes were sparkling with curiosity. She definitely

came off as friendlier than before. I almost gave in to the

pressure but managed not to.

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"Uh, I don't want to tell you until I'm sure they'll help us

out."

I put off a real answer. I wasn't sure how I felt about

throwing Kikuchi-san's name out there, since she had that

divine aura that set her aside from worldly concerns. I didn't

want to tear open the sacred boundary around her, so I

concealed her identity—and I'd feel bad if this started any

rumors about us.

"I'm going to check with them first."

"Gotcha. We'll let you handle it, Fumiya," Mizusawa said

nonchalantly.

"Thanks."

Something about the phrase we'll let you handle it made

me strangely happy.

"If you say so, Tomozaki!"

Tama-chan went along with Mizusawa and didn't ask me

any more questions. Why'd they trust me so much? Now I

was all warm and fuzzy.

As I was basking in that glow, Mizusawa started to wrap

things up as usual.

"So for now, we should just keep in touch if anything

changes, right?"

"Right."

"Okay!"

Even when it came to those formulaic ending words,

Tama-chan outdid me in every respect. With that, our lunch

meeting disbanded.

* * *

After school, I went to the library to wait for Tama-chan and

Mizusawa to finish with their club activities. Lately, I'd been

coming to the library every day after school, so I was getting

used to this new schedule—or I should have been.

Today, though, one thing was different from usual.

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A voice like the trumpets of angels heralding the birth of

new life rang out, blessing my eardrums.

"I-I'm nervous…"

The intelligence in her voice resonated with the pages of

the books in the library, but it also carried a warmth like an

embrace from the Holy Mother. It swirled through my very

cells, permeating my entire body.

Yes, you guessed it. Today, Kikuchi-san was sitting in the

chair next to mine.

"Um, yeah. That makes sense."

After our last homeroom, when everyone was hurrying

off to their clubs and team practices or going home, I'd

walked over to speak with her. Specifically, I'd asked if she

would help with Tama-chan's training after school.

"All I have to do is talk to her like I normally would?"

"Yeah, just like normal."

I'd simply said I wanted her to have a conversation with

Tama-chan. This would be Tama-chan's dress rehearsal

before applying her tonal practice and because I'm short

strategy to the whole class. And Kikuchi-san was going to

play the role of her conversation partner.

"A-all right."

I told her Mizusawa would be there, too. Her voice was

unsteady and nervous, probably because she was imagining

herself leaping into such an unfamiliar situation.

All the same, she'd agreed to my request in order to help

Tama-chan out. As I suspected, it wasn't just her looks and

surface-level actions that were angelic. Even her heart was

made from holy material.

Incidentally, I didn't mention that Tama-chan was

changing her way of talking or anything else like that. I

thought it would be best for her to make her own judgment

without any preconceptions.

"You haven't talked much with Tama-chan, have you?"

Kikuchi-san shook her head slowly. "No. When I see her

in class, she strikes me as a really powerful person…but I've

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never really talked to her."

"Huh."

Our conversation petered out. We'd already gone over

the key points for the rehearsal, and I didn't have anything

left to explain. All the same, I stayed calm and thought about

what I wanted to say to her, searching inside myself for my

genuine feelings. Keeping it natural, no big-guy bluffs. When

I thought of something, I just said it.

"…So what do you think about all this? I mean, about the

way Konno is harassing Tama-chan and how everyone else is

obviously avoiding her."

How did this awful situation look through Kikuchi-san's

unclouded eyes? I wanted to know, pure and simple.

"I…"

Kikuchi-san parted her pale-pink lips and paused. I

doubted there was much (if any) lipstick on them, and yet

they glistened mysteriously, as if they were covered in a

glossy, translucent veil.

After thinking for a moment, she continued.

"I feel really bad for Hanabi-chan. I think the situation is

unfair. But…I can't blame Konno-san or the rest of the

class."

I hadn't expected that answer. One thing in particular

caught my attention.

"You can't blame them? What do you mean?" I asked

directly.

Kikuchi-san gripped the fingers on her left hand with her

right hand.

"Um…I think it's wrong to harass someone or avoid a

certain person just because everyone else is doing it."

"Uh-huh…"

She shook her head. "But I think the reason they do

that…is because they're weak."

"…Weak?"

That was unexpected.

Kikuchi-san nodded hesitantly. "I'm sure…that they have

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a kind of conflict inside them that they can't resolve

themselves. They have to release that tension somehow…and

they know it's not right, but they worry about what other

people think. So they go along with it. That's what I think is

going on…"

Her words were halting and unsure, but the sketch they

created was certain, powerful, and deep. She went on

transforming the scene she saw into words.

"I think Konno-san and everyone else is doing this to

escape from something they can't resolve on their own… Of

course, it's the wrong way to handle it."

"Escape…huh?"

In Konno's case, she must be running from the stress

caused by Izumi and Nakamura getting together. For

everyone else, there was the general feeling that people who

brought everyone down should be held responsible. Instead

of facing up to the sources of stress, they were taking the

path of least resistance.

"Yes…although, I'm hardly one to speak since I've just

been watching passively." She shook her head in chagrin.

"Th-that's not true. Sometimes, you can't get involved

even if you want to…"

"Thank you," she said softly, smiling modestly, then

went on talking. "If you think about Konno-san, our

classmates, and Hanabi-chan, I think the strongest person of

them all is really Hanabi-chan."

She lowered her long lashes as she spoke. I reflected

quietly on her words, which rang out as beautifully as

graceful ripples on the water's surface.

"…I think you might be right. Tama-chan is very strong."

Kikuchi-san pressed her lips together for a moment

before responding.

"Yes. I think Konno-san and everyone else depends on

her strength. It's easier than fighting their own internal

confusion. Because no matter how much they lean on her,

Hanabi-chan never collapses."

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She rubbed her delicate collarbone, which was as white

and beautiful as a snow-covered mountainside.

"…Leaning on her, huh?"

Her perspective was more than a little surprising to me.

She carefully considered each player in the drama—truly a

heaven's-eye view. But that didn't mean what she was saying

was odd.

Konno wasn't just attacking Tama-chan. She was turning

away from the stress she felt and compensating with

harassment to make herself feel better, a strategy that

depended on Tama-chan's strength. Meanwhile, the rest of

the class wasn't merely avoiding Tama-chan; they were

avoiding a battle with the mood and justifying their own

behavior by labeling the invincible Tama-chan as "the

culprit" and attacking her in the name of "justice."

And it was happening because Tama-chan was strong

and they were weak, according to Kikuchi-san.

"But that doesn't mean they should be doing those

things…and I think the problem has to be resolved. I'm

thrilled you're giving me the chance to get involved. Thank

you."

She looked straight at me as she spoke. Her skin was as

smooth and clear as porcelain; I couldn't help staring. Her

radiance was so powerful, it seemed to be its own source of

light. But more than anything, the words this beautiful being

was saying were so positive, so human.

"Yeah. Let's get to work on it, then."

Kikuchi-san's innocent, unguarded smile enveloped me

like the arms of a goddess.

"Yes. Let's work on it…together," she said in a fluent,

kind voice filled with gentle determination. I nodded and

returned her smile, convinced that the overwhelming

brilliance of her expression would remain etched in my

retinas for eternity.

We were walking together toward the same goal. That

was a first for me. I realized I was oddly tickled by the idea of

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fighting alongside this person who was so important to me.

As always, the time I spent with her felt natural,

unhurried, gentle, and warm.

* * *

After I got a message from Mizusawa in our LINE group

chat, Kikuchi-san and I headed to the classroom where he

and Tama-chan were already waiting. They were looking out

the window and talking; they didn't seem to have noticed us

yet.

I hadn't had a chance to tell them who was going to help

us. Neither of them had mentioned it after Mizusawa said

he'd let me handle it. They really did seem to trust me on

this one. That sort of acceptance was typical Mizusawa, and I

wanted to live up to his expectations.

With Kikuchi-san trailing half a step behind me, I went

into the classroom, somewhat nervous about how they

would react to her.

"Um…hey," I called to them. They both looked at me,

and then at Kikuchi-san. Both of them widened their eyes in

surprise. Well, I could have predicted that. Mizusawa was

the first to talk.

"Hey, Fumiya…and Kikuchi-san?"

Half-hidden behind me, she peered out at them.

"H-hello," she said, her voice a little high from

nervousness. She was still using me for cover. Tama-chan

must have noticed how nervous she was, because she

changed her expression from surprise to a friendly smile and

looked straight at her.

"Hi, Fuka-chan. Hi, Tomozaki."

Her direct, strong reply was pure Tama-chan. But I

wondered why she called Kikuchi-san by her first name even

though she didn't know her well. Were girls just less formal

with each other from the start?

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"H-hello," Kikuchi-san said again. This was her second

hello of the day.

Mizusawa-san scratched his head softly, still looking

surprised.

"Um, thanks for helping us out, Kikuchi-san. So this was

the person you were thinking of, Fumiya?"

"Um, yeah."

"Huh."

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He looked at me intently. There it was again—that look

he got when he was searching someone's soul. Right now, he

was probing our relationship. I'd better watch out—

Mizusawa could always see straight through me. Not that I

had anything to hide, really.

Eventually, he shifted his gaze to Kikuchi-san and

nodded. Wh-what? What was that nod supposed to mean?

"Well, she's neutral in this whole situation, doesn't have

a big influence on the class, isn't connected to Konno, and

isn't friends with Tama-chan… Just like we said."

"R-right?" I said, still flustered.

"Um, Kikuchi-san, has Fumiya explained everything to

you?"

"…What do you mean, 'everything'?"

Kikuchi-san was slowly emerging from behind me as she

talked to Mizusawa. Now she was maybe 70 percent out in

the open. Doing good, Kikuchi-san.

"Well, did he tell you about our strategy to help Tama?

And that today, we just want you to have a normal

conversation with her?"

"Oh, um, yes. He did."

By now, she was about 80 percent out.

"Okay then!" Mizusawa said casually, then smirked. "By

the way, why do you seem so anxious?"

"Oh, um, because I don't know you very well…"

"Hmm," Mizusawa said, not sounding convinced, but

then next moment, he nodded. After his comment, Kikuchisan shrank back to being 60 percent exposed. What a weird

barometer.

"Okay, no big deal. Let's get started."

"O-okay."

That was how the conversation, which now included

Kikuchi-san, began. Now that I thought about it, I'd never

seen Kikuchi-san in a group setting. Aside from when I

borrowed the tissue from Izumi and the time Hinami and I

happened to go to the café where she worked, I hadn't really

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seen her talking to other people. I mean, there were times in

class when we naturally had to speak with our classmates,

but aside from that, I'd almost never seen her having a

conversation.

"Well, should we get started?" Mizusawa called, like he

was starting a lesson. Tama-chan nodded timidly.

"I guess so."

"Great. The two of us will watch."

He walked over to me and nudged Kikuchi-san toward

Tama-chan with a smile.

"Oh, okay."

Maybe out of nervousness, she walked over to Tamachan, a bit more squirrel-like than usual, and bowed politely.

Um, this isn't a martial arts match…

I chuckled a little when Mizusawa whispered into my

ear.

"Hey, Fumiya, I didn't know you guys were friends."

"Um, well, I guess we are," I mumbled incoherently.

Mizusawa hmmed. "There's more to you than meets the

eye," he whispered, and grinned teasingly.

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?" I said anxiously.

He nudged me with his elbow. "Nothing, it's just…"

"Wh-what?"

He glanced at her before continuing in a whisper.

"She doesn't stand out much, but she's supercute in a

quiet sort of way."

My brain froze for a second. I stood there blinking, my

head spinning as I tried unsuccessfully to figure out what I

should be thinking. After a minute, I muttered some vague

response.

"…What's the matter?" Mizusawa said, tilting his head at

me. I had no idea.

It was just like, when I heard someone else say she was

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cute, my brain got all fuzzy, and even though that should

have been a good thing because he was complimenting her,

my heart jumped, and I didn't know what that meant. Yeah,

I just had no idea.

"Nothing," I said. I wasn't so much talking as making an

emotionless sound, but that was all I was capable of.

Mizusawa was watching me with a grin. Wh-what's that face

for?

* * *

Tama-chan and Kikuchi-san were facing each other. The

classroom had practically become a magical forest,

showcasing a meeting between a woodland creature and a

fairy, but the first thing Tama-chan said kinda shattered

that.

"Fuka-chan, I didn't know you and Tomozaki were

friends!"

Plunging straight into that level of intimacy was a move

reminiscent of a certain idiot, but she also had his

vulnerability in her tone to make that brave first step feel

less harsh. Huh. I think Tama-chan picked things up so fast

because she was honest right down to her core.

Maybe out of surprise, Kikuchi-san burst out laughing.

The tension drained from her face as she looked Tama-chan

in the eye.

"Yes. I'm fortunate to call him a friend."

She smiled lovingly. Her stiffness had disappeared, and

the orb of glowing light that usually surrounded her was

back. Tama-chan smiled back at her.

"Tomozaki has gotten a lot happier lately, hasn't he?"

Kikuchi-san blinked, her eyes opening again, as round as

acorns and as bright as pools of water reflecting the clouds

and sun, and she answered after a pause.

"Yes, he has… I think it's wonderful when people make

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the effort to become the person they want to be."

Mizusawa looked surprised by the way her gentle,

affirming words reverberated through the classroom like a

majestic song. Eventually, he glanced at me jokingly.

"You heard the lady," he said, slapping my shoulder.

"Uh, yeah."

He was definitely teasing me because Kikuchi-san had

called my recent changes wonderful. But I was sure those

words weren't intended for only me.

"…You think so?" Tama-chan mumbled, sinking

somewhere deep inside herself.

"Yes…I think it's just terrific."

"…Huh."

The two of them exchanged a look that suggested some

sort of important thread had been tied between them.

Finally, Kikuchi-san asked Tama-chan a question with some

concern.

"Hanabi-chan…have you been doing all right lately?"

Tama-chan nodded firmly, and the gesture was honest.

"Yeah. Sometimes, I don't like what's going on, but I'm

fine! Aoi and Minmi are there for me, and Tomozaki and

Mizusawa are helping me, too. I've been able to work on

some things!"

Kikuchi-san smiled, apparently relieved by Tama-chan's

positivity and spirit.

"I'm happy to hear that."

"Thanks for worrying about me!"

"You're welcome. I'm jealous that you have so many

friends you can count on."

"Yes, I really can rely on everyone aside from Tomozaki!"

"Hey!" I said, jumping into their conversation. Kikuchisan giggled.

"…I think the reason everyone gathers around you

despite the difficulty is because they all care about you so

much."

She smiled a soft smile that seemed to wrap itself around

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Tama-chan. Yeah, Kikuchi-san's angel wings were definitely

out.

"N-now you're making me shy!"

Maybe since this was the first time she was experiencing

Kikuchi-san's holy aura, Tama-chan blushed and looked

flustered.

"Hee-hee. I always knew you were a lovely, adorable

person."

"No! …It's just because I'm short!"

"…Short?"

Kikuchi-san tilted her head, puzzled, and Mizusawa and

I burst out laughing.

"Oh, no, never mind! Forget I said that!"

Tama-chan blushed and looked even more flustered.

Glad we did this dry run.

"Hey, Tama!" I called. "You don't have to run all the way

over there just because you're embarrassed!"

"Come on! I'm just short! I didn't go anywhere; I'm just

hard to see."

"Oh, really?"

"Really! It's just an optical illusion!"

"Hee-hee-hee. You're so cute."

"Come on!"

There was something refreshing about the sight of

Kikuchi-san smothering Tama-chan with compliments and

Tama-chan blushing and being completely at a loss on how

to respond. Practice and all that aside, maybe it was really

good that these two just got to talk.

* * *

The conversation between Tama-chan and Kikuchi-san had

reached a natural ending point, and we were all walking

down the hallway.

"Well…how was that?" Mizusawa gently asked Kikuchi-

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san, who was floating among us like a celestial nymph.

She gave him an elegant smile. "She was very easy to talk

to."

Huh. So Kikuchi-san graces Mizusawa with that

beautiful smile, too. As I reflected on this completely

obvious fact, I continued listening to their conversation.

"Excellent. So the training was a success… Uh, Fumiya?"

"Huh? Oh right," I answered lifelessly, caught off guard.

"Why are you so out of it?"

"Um, no reason. It's nothing."

"What? You're acting weird today."

"I—I am? I don't think I am."

"…Hmm."

Mizusawa gave a knowing grin and finally looked away

from me. Honestly, what was that about?

The four of us left the school building and headed

toward the field, with me still an emotional wreck.

"Okay, so aside from this, the main question is whether

Tama-chan has any interest in our other classmates, right?"

Mizusawa said, readjusting the heel of the outside shoes he'd

just changed into.

"…Yeah," Tama-chan mumbled without much

confidence. After all, that wasn't a simple problem to solve.

"Fumiya, what was the spark that got you interested in

other people?"

"Me? Well…"

I reflected, trying to remember what had changed my

outlook.

"At first, I decided to try to find out a little bit more

about other people. And once I knew one thing, I wanted to

know the next, and it just bubbled up from there."

"You tried to find out more about them, huh…?"

Tama-chan's quiet voice drifted to me on the autumn

breeze. Kikuchi-san was listening to our conversation

silently, a serious expression on her face.

"If you're like me, then my guess is you're holding

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yourself back from taking that first step," I said to Tamachan.

She looked at me anxiously. "Holding myself back?"

"Yeah. You tell yourself their world doesn't have

anything to do with yours. That you can't be part of their

group."

She glanced down. "…That might be true."

Yeah, we really were similar. I kept going, like I was

talking to the old me.

"When you look at people talking and messing around in

class, and you have those assumptions at the bottom of your

heart, then they feel far away from you, like they're

characters in a book. Farther than that, really. The whole

world looks gray."

Mizusawa sighed quietly.

"A gray world, huh…?"

Gray . That was the word Kikuchi-san had said to me

over summer vacation. Now she was walking along next to

me, listening to our conversation, watching our hearts with

those clear eyes of hers.

"But there's no real basis for that. If you decide to jump

in and do it, the world starts to take on color, and gradually,

you feel better about being there. Your life starts getting

more fun, and the world draws you in more, too."

"…I can see that," Tama-chan said, like she was

remembering something.

"It's not about forcing yourself to be interested. I think

the first step is to believe that maybe, if you take that step,

you might enjoy it. Then you try to learn a little bit about

other people. That's what happened to me. I got myself

involved, and the interest came from there."

"It just came from there…"

Tama-chan echoed my words to herself. I was fairly sure

she hadn't taken that first step yet—she still lived in her own

world. In my case, Hinami had pushed me forward so I

could finally leap into the world at large. That leap had

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carried me over all kinds of stereotypes, fears, and beliefs

that things could never change. Getting past all of it was

tough, but on the other side was a colorful world I didn't

even know existed.

"I bet you think you won't like people that much—but

actually, there aren't many truly bad people out there."

I stopped there. That was as much as I could say about

my motivation for moving forward as aggressively as I was.

When I did, Kikuchi-san finally spoke up. Her voice was

quiet, but it drew everyone's attention.

"For example…"

"For example?" I echoed, glancing at her. She was

looking intently at Tama-chan, almost like she was praying.

"For example, Konno-san hates to lose, and she hates

feeling less than others. But she can also be very

compassionate toward the people she decides are her

friends," she began, full of emotion, like she was reading a

book out loud.

"…Fuka-chan?"

"And Akiyama-san—well, I'm sure she doesn't have any

self-confidence. To make up for that, she tries to be friends

with confident people. In a sense, it's a beautiful way of

taking the initiative to change the situation around her."

All three of us were mesmerized by Kikuchi-san's words.

"And another example…Izumi-san puts other people

before herself, so she tends to be on the losing end a lot. But

from another perspective, you can see her gentleness. She

feels the pain of others like it's her own."

She sighed like she was shutting the book and suddenly

looked in front of her.

"…I think each character in the story of our class has

their own background and their own struggles and their own

growth and false beliefs. Not one of them is going through

life without thinking. Of course, the same goes for you and

me and Mizusawa-kun and Tomozaki-kun as well."

She smiled at Tama-chan with a literary aura around

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her.

"I think if you take that perspective, you'll start to find

you want to know more."

The tale she'd woven had completely absorbed me.

When I glanced at Mizusawa, he was uncharacteristically

flustered. When our eyes met, he nodded meaningfully and

then turned away. Tama-chan was gazing at Kikuchi-san

with surprise, but she also seemed encouraged. She bobbed

her head slightly.

"…I think I understand a little better now. Thank you,

Tomozaki and Fuka-chan."

"Uh-huh."

"You're welcome."

I was embarrassed by her direct thanks. No matter how

much time passed, I never seemed to build up any defenses

against that sort of thing. Meanwhile, Kikuchi-san accepted

her gratitude gracefully.

"I was thinking," Mizusawa suddenly said.

"Huh?"

"Fumiya…and Kikuchi-san, too, maybe. You move

forward slowly, but you're very careful about it."

"Uh, really?"

I didn't know how to take his abstract comment. He let

out a quiet, little laugh, while Kikuchi-san looked at him

with interest.

"Yeah. It's like you notice every grain of sand dropped on

the ground…the total opposite of me."

He sounded kind of like he was putting himself down,

but his gaze was fixed straight ahead.

"Which means…?" I asked.

He hurried on, like he was trying to cut me off before I

could say anything else. "Anyway, I feel like we've chased

some ghosts away. How about you, Tama?"

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"Um…okay," I mumbled, while Tama-chan looked at him

with a mixture of fear and determination.

"I'll do the best I can," she mumbled. She glanced down,

as if to confirm to herself that she was still physically there.

"I wonder if I can get along with everyone after all," she said

with a sigh. She sounded very earnest. To me, her unspoken

message showed her single-minded determination not to

bring Mimimi any more grief.

"I'm sure you can," I said confidently, before anyone else

could respond.

Tama-chan pressed her lips together and nodded like

she was trying to encourage herself.

"Thanks… I'll do my best!"

This time, her voice was filled with the same directness

as always, but it also had an outward brightness. A big smile

shone on her face.

* * *

"So the ranks have grown again…and now it's Kikuchi-san?!"

"H-hi."

Mimimi was definitely surprised by the new addition to

our group. Kikuchi-san gave a flustered, polite bow as she

stood on the school field.

"Uh, um, hi!"

"Hi!"

Once again, Kikuchi-san did a double greeting, then

walked backward a couple of steps and hid about 10 percent

of herself behind me. Huh. So she was 90 percent out from

the start this time. Good progress, Kikuchi-san.

"What is this group all about?!"

"Ha-ha-ha. Figures you'd be confused!" Mizusawa

laughed, watching the bewildered Mimimi. Her teammates

weren't paying much attention, maybe because they were

used to us coming to meet her by now.

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"Is Kikuchi-san part of the Tama-rescue team, too?"

"Uh, um…," Kikuchi-san said, still flustered.

"Yeah, kind of. More like a temporary assistant on Team

Tomozaki," Mizusawa interjected, coming to Kikuchi-san's

rescue. Nice move. I better get on top of that.

"Oh, huh…"

Mimimi still seemed totally lost, but she nevertheless

nodded in a show of understanding. She could adapt quickly.

"Apparently, she and Tomozaki were friends, and she

offered to help."

Mimimi froze with her eyes round and mouth gaping.

"…Huh? Tomozaki and her?" she said in a daze.

Mizusawa cackled. "Yup. Never would've guessed, huh?"

Mimimi nodded a few more times, eyes still wide, and

looked back and forth between the two of us.

"Definitely. Huh…"

"…Wh-what?"

I didn't know how to react to the look she gave me with

those bewildered, blinking eyes.

Kikuchi-san tilted her face down awkwardly and flashed

a few glances up at Mimimi. What was with this mood?

"Hmm…"

Mimimi stared appraisingly at Kikuchi-san.

Probably nervous, Kikuchi-san was turning redder and

redder as she struggled to keep eye contact with Mimimi. I

bet she was trying not to be rude. Angel.

After this mysterious interlude, Mimimi finally

mumbled, "…You're cute."

"Umm…?"

Her expression was utterly serious as she kept her gaze

fixed on Kikuchi-san, who looked slightly frightened by the

sudden compliment.

"Yes…you're adorable!!"

She turned toward Kikuchi-san, welcoming her with

open arms.

"How could I have missed someone as adorable as you?!

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You're totally my type! You're almost as incredible as Tama!!

Welcome to Nanami World!"

"Nanami…what?"

Her excitement suddenly exploded, leaving Kikuchi-san

completely confused. I figured I'd better come to her rescue

before Mizusawa did.

"Come on, Mimimi, tone it down!"

She gave me a sulky look, then suddenly brought both

hands to her eyes and pretended to burst into tears.

"You're so mean…taking Kikuchi-san's side over mine…"

"That's not the issue!"

"You must have forgotten, Tomozaki…about our dazzling

days of love…"

"What are you talking about?! That never happened!" I

cried in a panic. She was crazy!

She brushed me off with a laugh. "You're getting better

at your comebacks, Brain! All the more reason to make more

jokes!"

I sighed at her total refusal to tone anything down.

"Fine, make your jokes; just don't start any rumors…"

"Ah-ha-ha! Good point!"

"Man…"

I let go of my tension and smiled, looking at Mimimi.

She seemed pleased with herself. Apparently, she was

satisfied now. Mizusawa shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"Would you two quit it with the comedy routine?"

"That's asking too much, Takahiro! Our husband-andwife routine is pure improv!"

"I know that…," he sighed.

"Wh-what?!" I yelped.

"Minmi?" Tama chimed in. "No one thought you had a

script to start with."

All this ruckus was going on near the track-team office. I

happened to look over at Kikuchi-san and noticed she was

staring at me in a daze. Her eyes were filled half with

surprise, half with girlish interest. Suddenly, she giggled,

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covering her mouth daintily with her hand. If there's a smile

that could be described as gentle beaming , this was it.

"…Kikuchi-san?" I said.

"This is so fun," she said softly, the words leaving her

delicate lips with warm emotion.

"…Huh?"

Mimimi gave Kikuchi-san a blank look. Kikuchi-san

smiled back at her, her warmth embracing even Mimimi's

confusion.

"I feel like…I'm starting to understand why Tomozakikun changed," she said gently, as if she was putting away

something very important for safekeeping. Her words

seemed to glow with a certain inner warmth. Mimimi

blinked at her.

"…Yeah, makes sense," I answered. I'm sure this would

be enough for her to see. I glanced up and noticed Mizusawa

was carefully observing the two of us, as usual.

He was nodding slowly over and over as he hmmed to

himself. He was getting a kick out of something in the midst

of all this.

"Wh-what?" I said accusingly.

"Oh, nothing," he answered with a wicked grin. Liar.

"Come on, what?"

"Hmm? You have a guess?"

"What are you talking about?!"

"What's the matter, Fumiya? I bet you wanted to say—"

That was enough to completely shatter my composure,

and I interrupted him midsentence.

"Okay, I've had enough. I'm leaving!" I shouted.

Everyone, including Kikuchi-san, broke out laughing.

* * *

I'd been tricked.

As I walked home on the dark streets, I cursed my own

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carelessness.

It had happened a couple minutes earlier. Mimimi had

changed out of her track uniform, and we were all about to

leave.

First, Mimimi said she had to use the bathroom and

disappeared into the school with Tama-chan. That was

normal enough. But then Mizusawa said they were taking

forever to come back and went to look for them. That's when

I should have realized what was up.

Why would Mizusawa go look for them in the girl's

bathroom?

A few minutes later, I got a LINE message from him

saying, [We headed home! Good luck. ] The second I read it,

everything became very clear.

I'm not sure if he was doing it as a joke or because he

thought he was helping, but he'd cooked up a scheme to get

Kikuchi-san and me alone.

So now Kikuchi-san and I were walking together down a

dim, country road. S-screw you, Mizusawa. Now that I

thought about it, the trap was totally obvious, but I didn't

have the EXP to see it. Behold, the level gap.

Anyway, my only choice now was to roll with it.

If Kikuchi-san and I had already been out to eat and

gone to the movies together, why did I feel so nervous about

suddenly walking home from school with her, like it was

some huge deal? Maybe it was because everyone was teasing

me so much earlier.

"Um…," I ventured.

Kikuchi-san looked at me. It was well past six, but even

in the dusky light, she was as pale and beautiful as an albino

Yggdragon. The air sparkled with an attractiveness so

powerful that I was sure some spell had been cast over it.

I took the hit from the magic head-on, even as I searched

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my heart for what I wanted to talk to Kikuchi-san about.

This was what came out.

"How did you like talking with everyone?"

I didn't think she'd interacted much with the other kids

in our class up to this point. Then today, she'd suddenly

jumped into talking about all sorts of stuff in a big group. I

wondered what she thought about the whole experience. As

for me, the only thing I really remembered was the weird

way my heart jumped every time Mizusawa teased me about

her, but we'll leave that aside for now.

"Um…I was nervous."

"Really?!"

"There were so many people I hadn't talked to before…"

"Oh, that's what you meant. Yeah, makes sense."

"…?"

She tilted her head, puzzled. I'd been startled for a

second because I was thinking about how my own heart kept

pounding from being teased, but yeah, of course that's not

what she meant. Putting on a calm front to hopefully hide

that, I kept talking.

"It was a nice change of pace to see you speaking with

everyone like that."

She looked a little embarrassed. "Yes…it was a nice

change of pace for me, too." She brought her hand to her

chest. "And it was nice to see you up close, having a good

time with everyone."

"R-really?"

She nodded slowly and kindly. Her strangely alluring

smile melted my heart like a chunk of chocolate in a warm

hand.

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"Yes. I've seen you with other people in class, but this

was the first time I got to watch up close… It was a great

thing to see."

She smiled a warm, grown-up smile. Then she looked up

at me, the autumn breeze ruffling her moonlit hair.

"You always show me things I've never seen before."

Her eyes each held a miniature universe inside of which

were glittering stars that harbored all the mysteries of life.

Perhaps I had already fallen into them.

"Oh, uh-huh…"

My brain was dangerously close to overheating. When I

got home, I could hardly remember anything we talked

about after that. All I knew was that a pleasant warmth

lingered in my chest.

I was done for. Kikuchi-san truly was an enchantress.

* * *

The next day, it was finally time for Tama-chan to take the

next step; she was going to go through with her plan to be

more charming while interacting with other people.

The first part of the strategy was simple. With Mimimi's

help, she would hang out with Mimimi's group of girls and

try to join their conversation. Hinami would probably be

there, too, which would make her more comfortable.

Apparently, Mizusawa had talked it through with Mimimi

the day before, while I was walking home with Kikuchi-san.

Props to the guy who can do everything.

During break after first period, Tama-chan got right to

work with Mimimi. I watched from the back of the

classroom with Mizusawa.

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"Wonder how this will go."

"Yeah, who knows…?"

Up till now, most of the kids in class had avoided her

somewhat. But when she stopped fighting back against

Konno, the mood improved a little. Then she'd done some

training to stop putting up walls and defending herself so

completely. Those two steps should have removed the

surface-level obstacles keeping her from fitting in.

What she needed now was the courage to take the first

step into the fray.

"Oh, hey, I forgot to tell you," Mizusawa said.

"Huh? What?"

"When I was walking home with Mimimi and Tama the

other day, I took your advice to heart and asked Mimimi

some stuff."

"…Like what?"

"I mean, you were talking about how important it is to

take an interest in other people and accept them if you want

to get along. Getting to know them a little is a key part of

that, right?"

"Oh, uh-huh," I agreed.

"And Kikuchi-san pointed out some things, too, right?

About everyone's personality."

"Yeah…"

Mizusawa looked at Mimimi and Tama-chan.

"So I got Mimimi to tell me some things, for Tama's

sake. About what her friends are like."

"…Oh."

"I asked her what she liked most about different people.

She had thoughts or a story about each one of them. Tamachan seemed surprised."

"…Because she wouldn't have been able to do that?"

Mizusawa nodded. "It was like something hit her. I think

she was surprised by the fact that Kikuchi-san and Mimimi

both pay so much attention to our classmates…and just the

simple fact that everyone has something likable about

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them."

I nodded slowly in return. "So she's starting to develop

an interest?"

Mizusawa tilted his head to the side. "Maybe. My guess

is that after she heard everything you and Kikuchi-san said,

and after seeing it in practice with Mimimi, she probably felt

motivated to give it a try."

"Huh…well, that's promising," I replied.

Mizusawa was looking at Tama-chan. "I've got a good

feeling about this." He smiled gently and let out a relieved

sigh.

"You could be right," I said admiringly.

Mizusawa's smile grew more teasing, then suddenly, he

gave me a serious look. "Actually, I learned a lot myself," he

said.

"What's that mean?"

He cackled and laid a hand on my shoulder. "Wouldn't

expect any less from the Brain-slash-Leader."

"You and Mimimi just gave me those names randomly!"

"Ha-ha-ha. Well, Team Tomozaki has done all it could."

"So it's still named after me, huh…?"

The day passed like that, with the two of us watching

from a distance as Tama-chan talked earnestly and

cheerfully with our classmates. Even from afar, I could see

that her expressions and gestures were winning people over.

I could only hear fragments of her conversations, but it was

obvious that the mood was cheerful and lively.

At first, everyone was a little unnerved by Tama-chan's

presence, but by lunchtime, the tension was gone, and she

seemed to have been accepted into the group. Mizusawa

must have talked to Mimimi about the short joke, because

she and Tama-chan did that routine a couple of times, too.

Still, that acceptance could very well be at only a surfacelevel. They'd been avoiding her until very recently, so maybe

they secretly felt awkward. But time would probably take

care of that.

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If we continued on this path, the mood should soon be

on our side.

* * *

"Cheers!"

Takei took the lead in making a toast at the bar—the

drink bar, of course. School was out, and we were at a diner

just off the road between school and the station. The group

included Tama-chan, Mizusawa, Takei, and me. As soon as

her extralong track practice ended, Mimimi was supposed to

meet us here.

"How's the response so far, Tama?" Mizusawa asked.

Tama-chan nodded, taking a sip of orange juice.

"Once I started trying to be more cheerful, the

conversation gradually started to go better."

I couldn't help grinning. "Really? So you did it!"

"Yeah! Thanks, guys."

"Whoo-hoo! That's awesome!!"

As usual, Takei probably only understood half of what

was going on, but he was twice as affected as anyone else.

Mizusawa smiled wryly and took the helm.

"I think from here on out, you'll be fine if you just go

with the flow. I'm betting Konno will stop harassing you

pretty soon."

"Really?" Tama-chan tilted her head, looking puzzled.

Mizusawa nodded at her. "Yeah, although, it's just a

guess. Once you've got the class on your side, they'll be upset

if she harasses you, right?"

"Ah, makes sense," I said. It had to do with Konno's

sense of balance, which Mizusawa had brought up before.

"So once the mood shifts in our favor, Konno will realize

she'll be making things awkward if she keeps up the

harassment, right?"

Mizusawa smiled.

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"Right. And she's a good politician—when that happens,

I'm guessing she'll quit."

Mizusawa and I were on the same page, but Tama-chan

was frowning and kept her head tilted to the side still.

"Are you sure?" she said.

"Ha-ha-ha. Don't worry about the details. All we're

saying is that the problem should resolve itself soon."

"You think so? Then we can toast?"

"Ha-ha-ha. Yeah. Cheers!"

And so our party went on. Are you watching, Hinami?

While you were restricting yourself and trying to avoid

changing Tama-chan, we tackled the problem head-on and

used all the strategies available to us, and now we're in

sight of our goal. Would you still say we made a mistake?

And why did you insist on playing with a handicap for

so long anyway?

"By the way, Fumiya, how'd things go the other day?"

"Huh? The other day?" I said, returning to the present

and turning to Mizusawa.

"Don't play dumb, man. You and Kikuchi-san walked to

the station together, right?"

"Oh yeah, that…"

The universe inside Kikuchi-san's eyes came back to me.

The words she said that night were still echoing inside me,

and yet all I could remember was my overheated brain.

"…Tomozaki? You're blushing," Tama-chan said.

"What?!" I cried, flustered. Mizusawa might lie just to

mess with me, but not Tama-chan. I was definitely blushing.

"Hmm, I see… It's more serious than I thought,"

Mizusawa said, smiling sadistically.

"What's serious?" I said, looking away.

"Oh, you don't know? Should I give it to you straight,

then?"

"Fine, I know! I know, so don't say anything! But you're

also wrong!"

"Uh-oh! Farm Boy is growing up!!"

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"No I'm not!"

Just as everyone was mercilessly teasing me, I spotted

Mimimi walking into the restaurant. What timing.

"Hey! Having fun, huh? What's up? What are you talking

about?!"

"We're not talking about anything!!" I shouted, wiping

the cold sweat off my face.