The next day was Wednesday. When I showed Hinami the
picture at our morning meeting, her reaction was…mixed,
shall we say?
"This is really blurry…"
"…Yeah, I know…"
Of course she would point that out. As I searched for the
right words, she sighed.
"Well, you technically passed the assignment…but I never
guessed I'd be critiquing your photography skills…or lack
thereof."
"Uh, is it really that bad?"
She nodded. "I mean, I told you yesterday—you're taking
these photos to post on Instagram. Even if people can see
you're with Nakamura and Takei, is this really something
you want to show them?"
"Um, I guess not…"
I'd figured taking the picture was the important part, like
in Pokémon Snap or something, but as Hinami pointed out,
I was going to show these to people. Just taking any old
photo wasn't enough.
"It's fine to have one or two crappy pictures, though, since
only people you know will be able to see it. Just be more
careful from here on out."
"O-okay…," I said dejectedly.
Hinami briskly moved onto the next subject. "Okay, then
why don't we get it started right now?"
"Get what started?"
"Can't you guess?"
She tapped her phone with her fingernail. Oh right. The
photo was supposed to go on Instagram.
"You mean my account?"
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Hinami replied by showing me her phone. A note with the
word "Hexactly" was displayed on the screen.
"Wow, you're really dedicated to your catchphrase."
Here at last, a silent Hexactly.
"Just go ahead and create a normal account," she said,
ignoring my joke. What was with her?
"…Um, is there anything I need to be careful of? Like my
username or account name or profile pic?"
Hinami nodded. "Well, you should probably give a little
thought to the profile, but for now, you can just use that
blurry shot of the three of you."
"I-is it okay to use a bad picture?"
"People will still be able to tell who everyone is. The
blurriness might work nicely for a pfp, and it's not like you
have any other photos, right?"
"Um, no…"
Photos of me looking happy basically didn't exist, aside
from maybe a couple that Takei took on the overnight trip.
"Well, if you make that your pfp and use it as your first
post, I'll consider the first assignment of your photo quest
complete."
"Okay, I'll do it right now." I downloaded the Instagram
app and created an account.
"While you're doing that, I'm gonna tell you something."
"What's up?"
"I've got a new assignment for you that you can only do
now," she said very casually. "Think you can handle both at
once?"
"Uh…what?"
I looked up. She was staring at me with an expression that
said, Isn't it obvious?
"What?" she said.
"N-nothing, I just thought I was supposed to be taking
time to examine my feelings this week."
Instead, I felt like I was about to collapse under the weight
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of all these assignments.
She nodded, drawing her eyebrows together. "That's true,
but preparation for the school festival is about to start. It
only happens once a year, and it's your best chance to
deepen your relationships with the other people involved. It
may be challenging, but you can't let this opportunity pass
you by."
"Yeah, I guess you're right…"
After all, school festival had a strong association with
normie. I had no idea how exactly it was going to help me
make friends, but it was such a classic event that I couldn't
help agreeing that it had to be a good opportunity.
I had a feeling I knew what the extra assignment was.
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Today, during long homeroom, we'll probably choose the
organizing-committee members. I want you to volunteer."
"That's what I thought…" I smirked before continuing. "I
was planning on doing that anyway."
Hinami blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Um, yesterday, when I was with Nakamura and the guys,
we all decided to run for the committee."
"…Wow." She nodded, looking impressed. "You've grown
a lot if you're already diving in headfirst."
"Uh, thanks."
Her straightforward compliment made me a little bashful.
"Of course, this is you we're talking about. I'm sure you
were just trying to fit in."
"Oof…"
Then she followed it up with a direct hit. Alas, Hinamisan, you are correct.
"Well, that's fine. As long as you don't bail."
"Don't worry, I won't."
"From what I can tell of the current class mood, I'm
guessing all the other candidates will be normies. You'll be
able to collect some EXP, and everyone will see you blending
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in with these normies. That's important."
"Kind of like the social media thing…"
"Correct." Hinami grinned. "Running for the committee
should make your photo quest easier, too. If you're spending
more time together with the relevant parties, you'll have
more chances to get your shots."
"…So you think Mimimi and Izumi will run, too?"
That would definitely fit with their past behavior…but
Mizusawa had said Konno's group probably weren't
interested in the festival, which made me less sure about
Izumi. Of course, none of that changed the fact that Hinami
was making me volunteer.
"Yes. So your new assignment is to run for the committee
and, once you're on it, to play an active part in the festival,
push your ideas through, and let everyone know you're
there."
"That sure is a vague assignment."
Hinami nodded. "If I got any more specific, you'd end up
with too many miniassignments. Pointing you in the general
right direction is perfect for this."
"Well, thanks for the slack, I guess."
Maybe the lack of detail also had to do with the fact that
I'd already agreed to run for the committee with Nakamura's
group.
Hinami frowned. "Slack? Not exactly. If you slack because
the assignment is abstract, you'll fail. You need to be as
proactive and involved as possible in all kinds of different
situations."
"As proactive as possible…?"
She'd suddenly raised the bar way higher. Damn, I
shouldn't have used that word. Should have let sleeping dogs
lie…
"Um, okay…," I said dejectedly.
Hinami gave a satisfied smile. Goddammit. I think she
might be increasing the difficulty level of these assignments
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until she sees me acting depressed. Better watch out for
that next time.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Make sure you give everyone your
Instagram info."
"I guess if I'm taking the trouble to make it…"
I was nervous people would think I was getting full of
myself, but I guess these days, everyone is on social media,
so it's no big deal. Plus, I'd already mentioned it to
Nakamura's gang.
"All right, keep your nose to the grindstone."
"So even you're admitting it's a grind…"
And so another assignment-packed day began.
* * *
In the morning, I shared my Instagram account with
Nakamura, Mizusawa, and Takei, and then in the afternoon,
we had long homeroom.
"Okay, everyone, like I told you before, we're going to put
together the organizing committee for the school festival
today."
It had begun. The selection of committee members—and
my second assignment.
Kawamura-sensei stood in front of the podium, looking
out at the class. "Ideally, we'll want a few girls and a few
guys. Let's start with the guys. Anyone want to volunteer?"
"Me!!"
To no one's surprise, Takei shot his hand into the air as if
by reflex. The class snickered. He brought peace wherever he
went. He was a maestro, in a way.
But now I had to volunteer, too. Better do it before anyone
else did, if I had to do it either way.
I also thought it would be a little sketchy to raise my hand
after Nakamura and Mizusawa, so I glanced around and
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timidly raised my hand. Nakamura and Mizusawa raised
theirs at about the same time. All eyes were on us. I
wondered what everyone was thinking about me right then.
"Okay, so we've got Takei, Tomozaki, Nakamura, and
Mizusawa."
"Yeah!!" Takei whooped.
Mission successful, I guess?
"Shut up, Takei," Nakamura shot back with withering
annoyance. Everyone snickered again. Amazing how they
got a positive response from such a tiny exchange. Guess
they saw it as a little in-joke between the members of the
top-tier group.
"Is that it for the boys? Anyone else interested?"
No one else raised their hand. It would take quite a bit of
courage to jump into the middle of a group of four who had
obviously decided beforehand to volunteer together.
Although, with a loser like me in the group, they really didn't
have to be intimidated.
"All right, then these four it is," Kawamura-sensei said,
writing our names on the blackboard. "And now the girls.
Any volunte—?"
"Me, me!"
Mimimi, the self-appointed class cheerleader, excitedly
raised her hand before Kawamura-sensei even finished
talking. That was fairly predictable, too. Her shtick is kinda
similar to Takei's. Does that bother her, I wonder…?
"Ha-ha-ha. Nanami is our first candidate. Who else?"
"Tama!! Run the festival with me!!" Mimimi stretched out
her hands toward Tama-chan, who looked back at her as
seriously as ever.
"Nah. I don't want to."
The whole class giggled at her cut-and-dried answer.
"What? Aww, you're so mean, Tama!"
The laughter grew with Mimimi's heartbroken theatrics.
I had huge admiration for Mimimi's ability to make
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everything bright and cheerful—but I also noticed that
something about their exchange was very different from
before.
The timing of the laughter.
In the past, when Mimimi and Tama did their routine, it
was always Mimimi who got everyone laughing.
Or to put it more accurately, Mimimi would notice that
Tama-chan's directness was making things awkward, then
step in and rescue her by making it part of a joke. That was
how it worked.
But this time, it was different.
Everyone started giggling as soon as Tama-chan said,
"Nah." They didn't need Mimimi's comeback.
This little exchange was a quiet reminder that Tama-chan
really had found a place in the class, as herself.
"Too bad, Nanami. Anyone else?"
"Aoi!" Mimimi tearfully sought Hinami's help.
Hinami put on a blank face. "Nah. I don't want to, either,"
she said in a near-perfect imitation of Tama-chan.
Everyone lost it.
Classic Hinami. Her joke was so simple, even I could have
guessed it would get a laugh. She was quick.
"Hey! Once was enough to break my heart, geez!"
Now the class was really laughing. Mimimi had set off a
triple-jump routine to get everyone in a good mood. So that
was how good communicators played off each other. They
left me in the dust.
"Ah-ha-ha. But seriously, I have a lot of work as student
council president."
"Yeah, that's fair." Mimimi gave in supportively.
"Very true. She's not allowed to do both jobs at once. So
anyone else?"
As Kawamura-sensei looked around the class, a sporty girl
who was friends with Mimimi raised her hand.
"Okay, I'll do it."
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"Thanks, Yuki!"
"Me too!"
With that, two of her friends had volunteered for the
committee. Mimimi was genuinely popular.
"Um…me too!"
Just then, Izumi raised her hand a little bit hesitantly, as
if she'd made up her mind to do something hard. So she did
end up volunteering.
I hadn't expected her to get very involved since Konno
wasn't interested in the festival…but now I wasn't sure.
I looked over at Konno. She was sitting with her cheek in
her hand, letting everyone know she was completely
unmoved by the fact that Izumi had volunteered. Man, was
she scary. As the only member of that clique to have raised
her hand, I was sure Izumi must be thinking something right
now. She said during the sports tournament that she was the
type who really gets into these events, and I guess it was true
this time, too. Or maybe she volunteered because Nakamura
was on the committee?
"Great, so we have four girls. Is that it?"
No one else raised their hand.
"I'm writing these names down, then."
Well, that was quick and painless.
On the guy's side, we had the normie trio of Nakamura,
Mizusawa, and Takei, plus me, a frequent add-on to the
group who was slowly integrating. From the outside, I
probably looked out of place, but I didn't actually feel that
uncomfortable.
On the girl's side, there was Mimimi and two girls from a
group she was friendly with, plus Izumi. Even though
Mimimi and Izumi belonged to different main groups, they
got along, and the four of them were appropriately normieish.
The overall impression was definitely a bunch of normies
plus me, but I didn't think it would be that difficult to
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navigate among the individual members. And if this was my
mindset, my position must have improved somewhat. Well,
the people Hinami had told me to make friends with were all
standout members of the class. Blending in with them meant
I'd look like a pseudonormie myself. And honestly, I was
happy about that.
"Okay, then it's decided. I'm counting on you guys,"
Kawamura-sensei said flatly, turning to us. Mimimi and
Takei looked at each other.
"Leave it…"
"…To us!"
They both punched their fists toward the ceiling. They
were really in tune. With these two involved, I bet we're all
gonna get really into this. Wonder if I'll be able to keep up…
* * *
The eight of us newly selected committee members were
standing in front of the blackboard.
As soon as the committee was decided, we had segued
right into making decisions for the festival, so we were
asking for input from the class.
Meaning I had to stand up there in front of everyone,
actively talking and pushing through my opinions. I'd had an
assignment on that last part before, but doing it in front of
everyone was different.
According to Kawamura-sensei, the festival was basically
going to be the same as last year—class booths, programs by
the organizing committee and by after-school clubs, skits by
volunteers, stuff like that. But since I didn't remember
anything from last year, it was all brand-new to me.
"Okay, everyone, let's start by deciding on our class
booth!"
Mimimi planted both her hands on the podium and
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leaned forward, her eyes sparkling. You could tell from her
expression that she was genuinely looking forward to this
thing. And from how eager she was to take charge. It's nice
how easy she is to read.
So we were starting with the class booth. It was going to
be tough to push through an opinion on this one, but I had
to try. At least I'd been thinking about my strategy ever since
Hinami gave me the assignment in the morning. What kind
of ideas had the highest chance of being accepted? How
should I defend them? Since it wasn't likely anyone else had
given that much serious thought to this, just coming in with
a solid plan should give me a definite advantage. Bring it on.
"Does anyone have an idea?" Mimimi asked.
A smattering of hands went up.
"A haunted house!"
"A takoyaki stall!"
"How about a shooting range or a ring toss?"
"A treasure hunt!"
"I want to do a café!"
"A batting cage!"
One of the girls from Mimimi's group wrote down the list
of typical school-festival-booth ideas on the blackboard.
Every time a student suggested something, Takei let us know
what he thought of it ("Great idea!" or "Huh, really?"). Even
though he had no special right to finalize the decision, the
ones he didn't approve of somehow seemed less likely to
succeed. Behold, the simple power of a loud voice.
Everyone was getting really excited, and kids were pulling
out their phones to look up ideas for booths. Interesting. The
school festival seemed to bring out a normie-ish level of
enthusiasm in everyone.
Now the question was, how should I act in this kind of
mood? What should I do to make sure my idea was chosen?
I weighed what I could and couldn't do, then made up my
mind.
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I turned to Mimimi, who was pretty much leading the
discussion.
"We've got a lot of ideas, so now maybe we should ask
everyone to give more details about what they want to do."
"What kind of details?"
Since Mimimi had responded to me, most of the class was
now at least partially listening to our conversation. This was
probably the best way to get my idea across to the maximum
number of people. Ideally, I would have faced the class and
said the same thing in a loud voice, but that was just too
hard for me.
Still, all the attention was more stressful than I'd
expected. I felt my breathing getting shallower and my brain
slowing to a crawl. What was wrong with me?
"Um, I mean, if someone wants to do a haunted house,
what's their concept? If they want to do a café, what kind of
food do they want to serve?"
I tried to ignore the fact that everyone was looking at me
and speak to Mimimi as naturally as possible. But since my
goal was for everyone to hear me, I also had to talk a little
louder than normal.
"Oh, I get it! Those kinds of details!"
"Yeah." The aim of my suggestion was both to make
voting easier and to steer the conversation toward the plan
I'd come up with.
As we were talking, Mizusawa smoothly joined in. "Good
idea; let's do that. Okay, guys, tell us what kind of haunted
house you want to do, or whatever," he asked the class.
He didn't sound stressed-out at all. That mysterious
casualness was his hallmark. He always seemed so at ease. I
think that was the secret to popularity that Hinami had told
me about.
"If we do a haunted house, I want to make it like the one
at Fuji-Q Highland!"
"Uh, is that even possible?"
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"That place is supposed to be terrifying."
"Wouldn't we have to use sounds and stuff?"
The discussion was picking up now.
"If we do a takoyaki stall, couldn't we do minicakes, too?"
"We could use pancake mix…"
The ideas were coming into focus, so it was time for me to
add mine to the mix.
"Actually, I have an idea, too…"
"Oh, cool. What is it?" Mizusawa asked.
Once again, since we were semi-authority figures up at the
front, even a tiny exchange drew all eyes. Wow, I am getting
major EXP right now.
Despite my insane levels of anxiety, I decided to go ahead
and suggest the idea I'd been considering since this
morning. I had a lot of faith in it, as I'd given it a fair amount
of thought.
"Um, if we do a café…what if we had a bunch of manga
there that people could read, like a manga café?"
There was a short pause, and then Mizusawa laughed a
little. "…Huh. That's pretty good."
Some of my tension drained away, and I felt relaxed
enough to get a little cocky. "I know, right?"
"So everyone could donate manga they had lying around?"
"Yeah, exactly."
As I talked with Mizusawa, the details started coming into
focus. Everyone could hear us, and since they were already
warmed up from the discussion earlier, some people started
chiming in enthusiastically. "I'll bring Kingdom!" someone
said.
Nice. My idea was striking a chord.
It didn't get a lot of points for originality, but it was
designed to influence a big group.
People would not only be able to bring their own manga,
but they could read whichever other ones they wanted, so a
big portion of the class latched onto the idea. On top of that,
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I'd only added a single element to the typical school-festival
café booth, which should make it easier to win over our
teacher. She didn't have any real grounds to veto the idea,
and she wasn't really the type who would, so we didn't
experience any opposition from her.
In other words, I was showing how my idea was the best
for all involved and persuading the most powerful person
present. It was a simplified version of what I'd done when
Mimimi ran for student council president. It's a gaming
basic—figure out your core strategy and re-create it
whenever necessary.
"That's great! Anyone have any other ideas?" Mimimi
asked the class.
A few more people gave their suggestions. Everyone
seemed to be having fun. It was probably like this last year,
too, but I didn't remember. I was completely uninvolved
with any of it.
Once we'd talked through all the ideas, we transitioned
into voting.
"Okay, guys, time to make a decision!" Mimimi
announced enthusiastically. "Who wants the haunted
house?"
A few hands went up.
"One, two, three…"
Izumi, who was standing next to Mimimi, earnestly
counted them up. She was so sincere about everything, even
tallying votes—I think you could say it was her defining
characteristic. Her eyebrows were even scrunched together.
"Five votes! Okay, next…"
The class voted for one idea after the other, and the
results were written on the blackboard. So far, the takoyaki
stall had gotten the most, with eleven votes. I think the
popularity was thanks to the normie-ish idea of using
pancake mix to make a sweet version to sell alongside the
savory octopus balls. Either way, that would be my main
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rival.
"…Okay! Next is the café! The manga café, that is!"
Finally, it was time to vote on my proposal. The response
had been fairly positive, but how would it turn out?
Some hands went up. From a quick glance, my idea
seemed to be giving the takoyaki stall a run for its money.
"Um…" Izumi carefully counted the hands. "Fourteen!"
she announced, holding up four fingers.
"Okay! And since the takoyaki stall got eleven votes…"
Mimimi drew a big circle around the words Manga Café
written on the blackboard. "That means the manga café
wins!"
A soft round of applause spread through the class.
"Hear that, Fumiya?"
"Uh-huh."
Mizusawa congratulated me casually on my victory. He
was so good at that kind of thing.
But wow, that happened quickly. My main assignment
was still the after-school photo quest, which made this more
of a subquest, but that didn't change the fact that I had
pulled this one off easily. I guess my overall level really was
going up, even when it came to little things like this. I mean,
when you're the type of guy who skips out on the culture
festival to play Atafami at home, people don't usually choose
your idea for the class booth.
As I stood there quietly reflecting on my own growth, I
saw Kawamura-sensei stand up out of the corner of my eye.
"…Well, this booth is definitely in the gray zone. If you're
going to do it, I want you to be careful it doesn't become a
problem. You especially, Tomozaki, since you're the one who
suggested it."
"Uh, um, of course!"
I guess this was my payback for being slightly devious in
how I got the teacher's approval. Yeah, grown-ups aren't
that dumb. Mizusawa cackled at me.
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"Hey, don't laugh at me!" I joked.
"What? I'm not laughing at you."
"Uh, I think you are."
Mizusawa wasn't a normie to me anymore—he was just
Mizusawa, which was why I felt comfortable joking around
with him.
After that, the class got noisy, and everyone started
chatting about the festival with the people sitting near them.
That's when something unexpected happened.
"I'm sorry, Tomozaki-kun," said one of Mimimi's friends.
I think her name was Kashiwazaki-san?
She had straight brown hair and an animated personality.
She wore makeup and stuff, too, so I got major normie vibes.
What was going on? Why was she talking to me all of a
sudden?
I was surprised, but I held on to my training as I
scrambled for the right reply. Her apology didn't really make
sense, since we'd decided by majority vote…
"Um…if you're apologizing, then everyone who raised
their hand is guilty of the same crime…"
"Ah-ha-ha, good point."
Kashiwazaki-san giggled and lightly pressed her fingers
over her mouth. I wasn't sure if my response had hit right, or
if I just sounded like a typical nerd who was talking too fast
about a bunch of stuff all at once. But she'd laughed a little,
so I couldn't have messed up too bad, right?
"Look at you, Fumiya, talking like a pro," Mizusawa said.
"Th-thanks to you."
"Oh, your first name is Fumiya?"
Kashiwazaki-san peered into my face. There it was—the
mysterious normie disregard for personal space. But I was
fine. She wasn't half as bad as Mimimi and Izumi. Those two
were special cases.
"Uh, yeah, I guess."
"Ah-ha-ha. You guess?"
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Yeah, that was a weird thing to say, and I deserved to be
laughed at. But I made sure not to collapse like a wet noodle,
standing up straight and sticking my chest out instead. I'd
learned over the past six months that when my body was
standing at attention, my mind was, too, and I had to take
advantage of that when I was in trouble. It was like
intentionally starting with a Kabuff in boss fights.
"The only person who ever calls me that is Mizusawa."
"Ha-ha-ha. Yeah, I might be the only one," Mizusawa said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, and he started talking to me out of the blue, too."
So there I was, suddenly having a conversation with
Kashiwazaki-san and Mizusawa. I'm still not exactly sure
why it happened, but I guess it's not that unusual for
normies to chat with classmates they didn't already know
well. Actually, I'm the weird one for hardly ever doing that in
the past.
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Kashiwazaki-san was looking at me and Mizusawa with a
curious expression.
"You two have been hanging out a lot lately, haven't you?"
"You mean me and Mizusawa?"
I summoned all my confidence and made an intentional
effort to take part in the conversation. If I got scared,
Mizusawa would take over everything from saying yes or no
to introducing new topics. My strategy was to join in a little
more than I was comfortable with, which would actually end
up as just the right amount. It was a new situation for me,
and I wanted to take advantage of it by trying out some new
things. Plus, everyone else was distracted by their own
conversations, so we weren't exactly the center of attention.
"Yeah! I thought it was a little strange!"
"Oh yeah, I guess," I said, looking at Mizusawa. "When
did we start hanging out? Right before summer vacation or
something?"
"Sounds about right. I like weirdos, so you know…"
"Are you calling me a weirdo?"
"Ha-ha-ha." Kashiwazaki-san listened to our
conversation, smiling brightly. "I think this is the first time
I've ever talked to you! Looking forward to working on the
committee together!"
"Oh, uh-huh. Me too."
Then Mizusawa just had to butt in. "Hey, by the way,
Fumiya just got an Insta. You have one, too, right, Sakura?"
"Yeah!" said Kashiwazaki-san, whose first name was
apparently Sakura. "What's your username?" she asked me.
"Uh, um…"
I didn't want to lose my footing, so I made an effort to
turn my reply into a real sentence and exchanged account
info with Kashiwazaki-san. Uh, aren't we still in class? Are
we gonna get in trouble for doing social media stuff?
"Wow, this photo sure is blurry!" Kashiwazaki-san peered
at my profile photo, smiling.
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"I wanted to start an account, but I suck at
photography…," I confessed.
She laughed. "Aww, no! You better practice."
"Y-yeah, I will."
With that, our conversation ended. Huh. I didn't
understand why, but I had a new follower on Instagram.
Mostly thanks to Mizusawa. But why had she started talking
to me all of a sudden? Nothing like that had ever happened
to me before.
Kawamura-sensei coughed over the noisy chatter. "Okay,
guys, it's not break time. We need to talk about the program
in the gym…"
Suddenly, everyone was focused on her. When you think
about it, teachers are constantly the center of attention. My
legs turn to jelly when people look at me for one second;
adults live in an alternate universe. They're amazing.
"Any class that wants to can perform something on the
stage. Some classes do, and some don't. What do you guys
think?"
I thought back to last year. Now that she mentioned it, I
vaguely remembered a bunch of classes did dances, comedy
routines, plays, and stuff like that. Given it existed in my
memory, the show must have taken place right after the
opening ceremony or something. If it had been optional to
watch, I wouldn't have even known it existed.
"Hmm, a performance…," Mimimi said thoughtfully and
looked at us.
So apparently, we got to choose whether or not to do it.
But not me. Since my assignment was to actively participate
and push through my opinions, I probably was supposed to
nudge everyone toward doing a performance. Man, I was
acting like one of those people who just couldn't get enough
of the school festival.
I thought for a second and came up with the most efficient
strategy.
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"What do you think, Takei? Should we just do this thing?
After all, it's our last shot at it."
"Of course we should do it!!" he shouted.
A tiny spark of enthusiasm on my part was enough to light
his fire. Ah, Takei the human megaphone. He took my words
and repeated them at full volume to the whole class.
Everyone probably assumed it was his idea now, but I'd still
said it first, so I figured I was safe in terms of my
assignment.
"We might as well!"
"Yeah!"
Kashiwazaki-san and Mimimi's other friend added their
approval. Izumi was nodding, too. Being invested in the
festival was quickly becoming the norm for what was "right."
Hinami gave me a nod as well. O-okay, bring it on.
"Everyone, are you okay with doing a performance?
Anyone against it?" Mimimi asked the class.
No one spoke up. I mean, it would be really hard to raise
your hand and say no by this point. Mimimi probably didn't
realize that, but it was practically decided already.
"Yeah, why not?" Nakamura said. He seemed to be on
board, if not really following the conversation.
"Right?"
Mizusawa was in, too, and the general mood was coming
together in favor of making the most of our last school
festival. The top-tier Nakamura had given the final push,
and the decision seemed set in stone. I wasn't sure why
Nakamura was excited about it, but in some ways, he tended
to ride the wave, too.
Mimimi looked around the class and nodded to make it
official. "That's that, then! Kawamura-sensei! We'll do it!"
Kawamura-sensei thought for a moment before
answering. "In that case, I'd like you to decide what you're
doing…but since long homeroom is almost over, let's tackle
that part next time."
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"Okay! So we'll do something, but we're not sure what
yet!" Mimimi said.
No one else said anything, so that concluded the meeting.
Kawamura-sensei nodded. "All right, I think that's it for
today's discussion. I'll go over the schedule now…"
The members of the committee went back to our seats to
listen to her explanation.
There were a few twists and turns along the way, but I
think I completed the general assignment. Doing stuff tends
to create new situations, like that mysterious conversation
with Kashiwazaki-san. All seemed good for the moment. The
photo quest was turning out to be the harder of my two
assignments…
* * *
After school that day, the committee members all met up in
the small auditorium.
Apparently, four representatives from each class were
going to gather in a big group to discuss the festival, and our
team included Izumi, Mimimi, Takei, and me. We'd all
volunteered for the role. Aside from me, they were all super
into it and seemed right for the job. I volunteered because of
my assignment. It's not that I wasn't excited, but let's face it:
I'm not cut out for this.
A tall, skinny teacher from another class made an
announcement.
"Okay, let's choose the committee chair. Any volunteers?"
Everyone looked at one another.
The chair, huh. Maybe the ideal would have been for me
to volunteer, since my job was to be proactive, but that also
seemed like a bridge too far. I didn't have the skills to bring
everyone together, and in the long term, it seemed like a bad
idea to take on the name of chair without really doing the
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job.
I decided to lie low. Not even Hinami could give me grief
for it.
For a few moments, everyone seemed to be waiting to see
what would happen.
Then a hand shot into the air, and the teacher looked to
see who it was.
"Izumi-san from second-year Class Two, right?"
"Uh, mm-hmm!"
The teacher smiled. "Thanks for volunteering. As long as
no one else is interested, we'll go with Izumi-san. Anyone?"
No one stepped forward, so Izumi was named chair.
She nodded as if to confirm the direction she was heading
in. I was sure she had her own reasons for taking on the role.
I watched her take that small step forward as the
committee meeting moved ahead.
* * *
After the meeting ended, Mimimi, Izumi, Takei, and I were
walking down a big hill on the way to the station. When I
thought about it, this was an unusual group. We all had
individual relationships with one another, but normally, the
four of us would never have hung out.
Anyway, we were heading home, but I still hadn't
completed my photo quest for the day. I mean, right after
school was pretty much the only time I could work on it,
which meant I somehow had to accomplish one of the
assignments before we split up.
I opened up the message from Hinami that listed the
items in the quest. Given the group I was walking home
with, there were…two possibilities.
• Yuzu Izumi eating ice cream
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• Minami Nanami eating ramen
Neither one would be easy. This was way too specific. I'd
have to intentionally set up the situation for the picture,
which in this case meant I had to take the initiative in
inviting either Izumi or Mimimi for ice cream or ramen.
Damn it, Hinami, what's "easy" about this assignment?
What was I supposed to do now? It didn't really matter
which one I attempted, but considering I'd have a chance
with Mimimi after we got to Kitayono Station, I figured I
should try to do the Izumi assignment right then.
"Good luck with your new job, Chairwoman Yuzu!"
Mimimi said cheerfully.
"Thanks!"
"You've been doing a lot lately, huh, Yuzucchi?!" Takei
said.
"I guess so," she answered, scratching her neck.
Mimimi turned to Takei. "I've been thinking the same
thing! She took over as captain in the sports tournament,
too!"
"Oh, um…yeah, maybe." Sounding embarrassed, Izumi
gave Mimimi a troubled smile.
They were talking about the changes they'd seen in her
since the sports tournament and the Nakamura situation. I'd
been close to her through the whole thing, but the
transformation was so dramatic that even Mimimi and Takei
had noticed. Mimimi aside, anything big enough for Takei to
notice had to be significant.
"You definitely have! They say people change when they
get a boyfriend—do you think that's you?" I was really
impressed by how Mimimi was able to subtly balance the
teasing with an affectionate tone as she playfully elbowed
Izumi. "Huh? Huh?"
"No way!" Izumi said, squirming around.
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"Huh? Huh? Huh?" Mimimi escalated her attack, poking
Izumi's side over and over. So it was beginning.
"Stop!"
"Hee-hee-hee." Mimimi grinned fearlessly; she was in full
silly mode now.
She tickled Izumi faster and faster.
"Come on!"
Izumi's flexible shoulders and hips writhed, revealing the
contours of her body. Her skirt briefly slipped up, the
shadow flickering over her thighs, and I caught the scent of
vanilla as her hair swung in front of my face. I had to look
away from her flushed cheeks and slightly parted lips.
Still having a great time, Mimimi agilely snuck up behind
Izumi.
"Boo!"
And then she grabbed Izumi's huge boobs.
"Eeee?!"
Mimimi sank her fingers into Izumi's button-down shirt,
bunching it up. The sight of her slim white fingers pressing
into their victim was kinda hot, both in a sexy way and an
embarrassing way.
"Hey!"
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But Izumi was the sporty type, too, and she looked over
her shoulder, spun out of Mimimi's grasp, and slapped her
on the forehead.
"Ooh, you're fast! "
That concluded Mimimi's bizarre little girl-on-girl
escapade, and peace returned to the street. What the hell
was that about anyway? I was still reeling, and I was only on
the sidelines.
It occurred to me to wonder what Takei was doing…and I
caught him staring at the two of them with googly eyes. You
follow your heart, dude. I'll give you that.
Wait a second, I had an assignment to do. I was trying to
get a shot of Izumi eating ice cream. So first, I had to…
"Mind if I stop by the convenience store?"
"Sure! What's the Brain want to buy?" Mimimi asked
casually, having returned from her alternate universe.
"I could use a snack."
"Yeah, we're going home a little later today than usual."
If we didn't go to the convenience store, the quest was
dead in the water. I had no idea how I was going to get Izumi
to buy ice cream, but at least this was the first step. But what
to do? If I randomly said something like, Izumi, you should
have some ice cream, she'd get confused and probably tell
me to just eat some myself. Hmm.
The four of us went into the store and started wandering
around to explore.
I had to create some kind of opening.
"Ooh, this looks good," I said, pointing to a cup of creamcheese-flavored ice cream. I didn't really care which flavor I
chose—and no, the fact that I happened to point to Hinami's
favorite kind meant nothing.
Now if Izumi would say something like, Ooh, ice cream,
that sounds good! and buy one, I could ride the wave of
excitement and get a chance to snap a photo, and my
assignment would be complete. But would she do that?
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Mimimi looked at the ice cream. "Ooh, that does look
good! But it's so cold outside…," she said sadly.
She had a point. It was November, after all. Maybe
Hinami made ice cream part of the assignment specifically
to make this harder. She does like to make my training hell
in every way imaginable; that's something she would do.
"No way, Mimimi, ice cream tastes the best when it's cold
out!" Surprisingly, Takei sent out a rescue boat.
"Yeah! You wouldn't think so, but it's true!"
That's the kind of thing normies say, right? I was fighting
hard to get everyone to eat ice cream, but Takei was
inexplicably all-in on my idea, so the battle actually didn't
look that tough.
Unfortunately, Izumi was looking at Takei and me like we
were a couple of children she had to take care of.
"You two have nerves of steel." Those were the words of
someone who did not intend to eat any ice cream.
"Uh, you don't want any?"
"Nope. Too cold out."
"Oh, okay…"
This was bad. Maybe even checkmate. Now that she'd so
clearly said she didn't want any, I couldn't say, Come on, just
try it! Plus, she was very unlikely to change her mind on her
own. Hmm, it was looking like I'd have to put this quest off
to another day. I still had another one I could work on, after
all.
"Hey, Farm Boy! I'm gonna have some!" I wasn't sure
why, but Takei was super excited about this ice cream. Now
the mission was truly compromised. "You're getting some,
too, right?"
"Uh, yeah…"
Takei and I both bought the cream-cheese flavor.
Then we went outside, and the two of us stood there in the
cold eating our ice cream. What the hell am I doing?
Now extremely happy, Takei took a picture of us with his
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phone camera. Uh, right. As long as someone's having fun.
"Capture the moment! This is going on Twitter!"
Izumi and Mimimi watched us, smiling. Damn it, I
wanted Izumi to eat the ice cream, not Takei, and I wanted
the photo on Instagram, not Twitter… This was not going
well.
* * *
Having failed at the Izumi ice-cream photo, I attempted my
next challenge.
The setting was Kitayono Station, where both Mimimi and
I got off the train to go home.
From this point on, it was just the two of us. I needed to
get a picture of Mimimi eating ramen…but why did it have to
be ramen? I didn't exactly see Mimimi as a ramen kind of
person. Hinami's sadism really shone in her efforts to make
everything as difficult as possible.
Actually, like the Izumi ice-cream assignment, she
probably intended it as practice for "pushing my opinion
through" at the school-festival meetings. She wanted me to
push for ramen if I wanted ramen, and ice cream if I wanted
ice cream.
"The manga café is gonna be so fun!" Mimimi said
excitedly as soon as we were through the ticket gates.
"Yeah," I answered, still ruminating on my assignment. "I
wonder what we'll end up doing for the performance…"
"Ah-ha-ha! Yeah, that's the question! We kinda just
decided to do it because everyone was feelin' it!"
"What do people usually do? Skits and comedy routines?"
"Yeah. Or, like, dances or songs!"
"Oh, I didn't realize those were okay, too."
I'd ad-libbed a conversation starter, and it was working.
Very good, very good.
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Dances or songs, huh? If we ended up doing that, I bet
Hinami would tell me I had to perform. That was not going
to happen. In fact, I wouldn't be able to handle a role in a
skit, either.
"I can't wait to see you dance!" Mimimi said jokingly.
"Hey, that reminds me, you cracked people up that one
time…"
During the election, I'd tried to copy Mimimi's pose, but
everyone had laughed at me. My talent level for dancing is
zero.
"Uh, no, I don't dance…"
"Well then, how about a comedy routine? You can be the
straight man!"
"No, I don't think so. I'm not cut out for the stage," I
replied, casually giving up on the whole thing.
Suddenly, Mimimi clapped like inspiration had just
struck. "Very true! You're the Brain, after all, and brains
gotta brain!"
"…You mean I should do the thinking for the
performance?"
I managed to interpret Mimimi's use of brain. I swear, it
never crosses her mind whether what she says will make
sense to anyone else but her.
"Yes, you knew exactly what I meant!"
"Well…by now, I'm used to the random stuff you say when
you're excited."
"I think we're totally in tune!"
She grabbed me by the shoulders and leaned her weight
on me.
"Hey!"
Her super-normie surprise attack almost knocked me offbalance, but she was unexpectedly light.
"Oof." I managed to stand up straight again.
"Oh, Brain, you're stronger than I thought!"
"No, it's just that you're so light…"
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She really was slender, although she still had curves.
Once I cleared my head, I realized this wasn't a problem
of physical balance but of distance. Since she was hanging
off my shoulders, her perfect, evenly featured face was right
next to my shoulder—right next to my face. I'd regained my
physical balance, but my emotional balance was done for.
Our eyes met at close range for a second.
"…"
"…"
A strange silence followed, and you could tell from our
wide-eyed expressions that both our brains had stopped
working. The depths of Mimimi's eyes were so clear; I was
magnetically drawn in by how beautiful they were, and I
normally hate looking people in the eye.
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The line of her nose was a perfect downward sweep above
her evenly drawn lips. From this new angle, I was reminded
once again how incredibly beautiful she was. Okay, wait. My
face was weirdly hot all of a sudden.
Finally, Mimimi was the first to speak and end those
awkward seconds of silence. "…Uh, welp, thanks for not
saying I'm heavy! Let's get going!"
Without looking me in the eye, she took a few steps
forward, waving at me to follow.
"Oh, okay."
I lagged behind her for fifteen or twenty seconds to let my
face cool down. I didn't want her to see me blushing.
Eventually, the cold winter wind calmed me down, and I
stepped up to her side. Now I had to ask her to go get ramen
with me.
But in Kitayono, instead of going to a ramen shop…
"Uh, Mimimi?"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna go to Manshu Pot-Sticker Palace?"
It wasn't exactly the kind of place to take such a beautiful
high-school girl to, but I had no other choice. It was the only
place I knew of around here that served ramen. And it
definitely met the one and only standard for nonnormie
restaurant reviews: Would I feel okay going there by myself?
"Right now?"
"Yeah. I'm still a little hungry."
For some reason, Mimimi smirked. "Well, I'm a little
hungry, too, but…"
"What?"
"Are you going through a growth spurt or something?"
"A growth spurt?"
Mimimi nodded. "I mean, you just had ice cream, and
now you want ramen."
"…Oh."
She had a point. I must be coming off like a real glutton.
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I anxiously searched for an excuse. "No, it's just…
sometimes, when I start eating, it makes me want to eat
more."
"Oh, I definitely get that!"
She seemed convinced by my excuse. And I really did feel
hungrier after eating that ice cream. Saved by my stomach.
"Okay, I'm in!"
She waved her hands excitedly at me and started
marching forward.
"Wait a second," I said, cutting her off. "Mimimi. Wrong
direction."
"Seriously?"
Yeah, she really does everything by feel.
* * *
As soon as we got to Manshu Pot-Sticker Palace, I ran into a
hiccup.
After I ordered ramen, Mimimi turned to the waiter.
"I'll have the pot-sticker set!"
Yeah. I took her to a place that serves all kinds of Chinese
food, so of course she ordered the pot stickers. Not her fault,
obviously—I'm the idiot here. I mean, the restaurant is
literally called Pot-Sticker Palace.
Now what should I do? All that courage I expended
inviting her here would go to waste if I didn't do something
quick.
Mimimi gulped down some water. Who drinks water that
enthusiastically? "Well, this is unusual, you inviting me
somewhere!" she teased, grinning at me.
"Um, well…yeah."
I'd never have the courage to do it if it wasn't for an
assignment. I mean, yeah, we were just stopping by on the
way home, but was it normal for a guy and a girl to go
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somewhere together like this? Was she going to read too
much into it? Or maybe not. She didn't waffle that much
before saying yes, so maybe it wasn't a big deal. I had no
idea.
"I think this might have been my first time. Inviting
someone to get a bite to eat on the way home from school, I
mean."
"…No way!" Her response came just a little too late. Huh?
Did I say something weird?
She tipped her empty glass to the side, clanking the ice
around.
"So…why'd you decide to do it now?"
"Huh? Uh…"
I scrambled for an answer as she watched me intently.
Why did I invite her? If I told her the truth, I'd have to say,
Well, I wanted to take a picture of you eating ramen so I
could post it on my Instagram account, which was so awful,
I'd have to be exiled from Japan for admitting it. That was
out.
And I was bad at lying on the fly, so I had to find a way to
just smooth it over.
"Uh, well…ramen," I mumbled.
Mimimi burst out laughing. "You wanted to eat ramen
that badly?!"
All I'd done was murmur one word, and her super-normie
special skill, Auto-Conversation Completion, had kicked into
action, completing my alibi. Okay, Mimimi, let's go with
that.
I contented myself with her explanation. "…Yeah. I was
just dying for ramen."
"Uh-oh, think just one bowl will be enough?"
"Of course, I couldn't finish two!"
She was kind enough to laugh at my dumb response. That
was Mimimi. She let you know making other people happy
made her happy, so talking to her was super low stress.
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Anyway, back to my assignment. Since she'd ordered the
pot-sticker set, I wouldn't be able to get the photo if our
meal went along as normal.
What to do…? Well, I knew what to do. There was only
one option left.
After we chatted for a while, the waiter brought our orders
to the table at just about the same time.
My one remaining option. This was it.
"Oh, wow, this is amazing!" I began by letting her know
how good my ramen was as soon as we started eating.
"For real?!" She latched right on.
"For real! Um, want a bite?"
Okay, so it was a really simple strategy. The plan was to
get her to take a bite of my ramen and then snap her picture.
Honestly speaking, the "indirect kiss" thing or whatever was
kind of touchy for a bottom-tier character like me, but
Hinami had called me immature in the past for worrying
about it. Maybe it wasn't a big deal after all. I might struggle
internally, but I could handle that.
But again, Mimimi's response to my casual question came
a beat too late. "Uh, um, really?"
For some reason, she looked unsure. Huh? What just
happened to the mood?
"Uh, yeah, just a bite," I repeated.
Very quietly, I heard her mumble, "Huh?"
"What?"
"Am I worrying too much?"
"A-about what?"
"…Nothing, never mind! Okay, I'll have a bite!"
She grabbed my bowl with both hands, pulled it toward
her, and started to slurp it down. Why is she so fast? Crap,
photo, photo!
I grabbed my phone, which I'd set on the table to be ready
for moments like this, speedily opened the camera, and
snapped a photo of Mimimi.
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But I was in such a panic, I left my finger on the button
too long, and it started taking a bunch of consecutive shots.
Snap-snap-snap-snap-snap-snap!
"Hey! Why are you taking so many pictures of me?!"
"Agh, I screwed this up!"
"Screwed what up?!"
"Nothing, just…!"
Suddenly, everything was chaos, but my assignment was
complete. Now the only question was how well I could
explain myself to Mimimi, which was a very real problem.
"I—I mean, you looked like you were gonna eat a ton!"
"So you took my picture?!"
"Y-yeah, as evidence!"
"Come on, how obsessed are you?!"
"It's, y'know, my growth spurt!"
I was making my reputation as a glutton a lot worse, but I
think I escaped by the skin of my teeth. Actually, since
suddenly taking a picture of someone eating ramen was
already kinda sketchy, I'd come up with an excuse in
advance. Taking twenty photos instead of one didn't really
change my approach. I was screwed from the beginning, so it
all worked out. Impressive, right?
"Oh man…" Mimimi smiled and rolled her eyes, pushing
my bowl of ramen back toward me. "Here you go," she said.
"Th-thanks."
I peered into the bowl. To tell the truth, it did get to me. If
I ate another bite, I was pretty sure it'd be the indirect
whatever.
But I'd acted like I didn't care a minute ago, so now I had
no choice but to casually dig in.
Mimimi seemed unimpressed. "I still have questions…"
"Wh-what do you mean?"
She pouted for a second, looked down at her pot stickers,
and smiled deviously. "Okay, Tomozaki."
"What?"
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I looked up at her. There was a pot sticker in front of my
face.
"I'll give you a bite of mine, too."
"Uh…"
She suddenly thrust the pot sticker that was held between
her chopsticks toward me.
No, no, no, no way!
"What? What's the matter?"
She was obviously feigning innocence. What was going
on? What was she trying to do? This was going way beyond
the indirect kiss; this was like…that thing couples do!
As I was trying to figure out what to do, Mimimi said,
"Hmm?" and wiggled her food in front of my face. She was
staring at me with a peculiarly determined expression. Why
the display of iron will? What kind of battle were we in? Why
was I feeling so much pressure?
Still, I couldn't think of a logical reason for refusing her
offer, so I tried to suppress my pounding heart and put the
whole thing in my mouth. I was fighting to stay calm. But I
definitely was not succeeding.
Mimimi kept staring at me. I was staring back at her,
because I had no idea what this meant. This was the second
time today, too.
It was a really, really weird moment.
Then, a few seconds later, Mimimi looked away before I
did and pouted. Why did she seem upset? She shifted her
gaze around and blinked a few times, then glared at me
again. Seriously, what is going on?
"Something's fishy here!" She threw her napkin at me.
"…Huh? What?"
I was completely confused. Then she started wolfing down
her pot stickers like nothing had happened. Now I
understood even less. What was this, an eating competition?
At that speed, I'd better hurry up myself, or she'd have to
wait around for me after she finished. And as a bottom-tier
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character, that would be rude.
So I started slurping down my ramen as fast as I could.
Which then led her to ask, "…Why are you eating so fast,
Tomozaki?"
"Huh? …I mean, it's just…"
"…What?" She sighed, as if she was pleased to see me
struggling for an answer. Then, apparently reassured, she
smiled kindly. "…You're such a weirdo."
For whatever reason, she was satisfied now.
"…Huh?"
If you wanted to talk about weird, then what the heck had
Mimimi been doing for the past few minutes?! Yeah, I had
no idea what was going on.
* * *
"See you tomorrow!"
"Okay, see you later."
Mimimi and I parted ways at the usual corner, and I
headed home by myself. Man, today was one hell of a roller
coaster…
When I got home, I went up to my room, opened my
phone, and checked my LINE messages from Hinami.
Now that I'd managed to get the shot of Mimimi eating
ramen, I had five assignments left. What would I need to do
and with who to finish them? Where should I ask them to
go? What excuses should I use to get them to do what I
wanted? I was plotting my strategy as well as my F-tier skills
would allow.
After all, even a guy at the bottom can get stuff done as
long as he has a strategy. I'd learned that lesson plenty of
times on past assignments.
For instance, the old me was totally incapable of jumpstarting a conversation and tailoring it to who I was with,
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but when I gave it some thought ahead of time, I was now
able to do it in real life. By memorizing conversation topics
over and over, I learned how to come up with the topics
themselves, and by this point, I was decent at creating them
on the fly.
Right now, I couldn't invite people out and get them to do
what I wanted to do. Like, at all. But if I practiced coming up
with strategies ahead of time and implementing them, I was
fairly sure I'd eventually be able to do it naturally on the
spot.
After all, that's what you do in games—practice your
moves in training mode so you can use them in a real match.
Glancing back and forth between my phone and a
notebook, I worked out a strategy for each assignment.
Oh right…
We were already connected on LINE, so if I sent today's
picture right now, the next morning meeting should go more
smoothly.
I chose one of my many shots of Mimimi eating ramen
and sent it to Hinami. Right away, the icon popped up
showing she'd read it. She was always on top of her
communications.
A minute later, a message arrived from her.
[Are you only capable of taking blurry photos?]
I realized then that I'd gotten into continuous shooting
mode because I was panicked, which had freaked me out
even more, which had probably made my hand shaky. When
I looked at the photos again, I discovered a dozen or so shots
that were just as blurry as the previous day's.
Um, Hinami-san. I suspect this particular assignment is
challenging me for reasons that have nothing to do with
normie-ness. Photography is hard, don't you think?