Chapter 54: Chapter 2
19th of October (Monday) – Ayase Saki
Shortly after midnight, I once again found myself lost in thought. The main thing on my mind naturally was the promise Asamura-kun and I made on the day of the cultural festival… that we'd head out and go sowhere. Just the two of us. Ever since then, my mind had been filled with questions such as where to even go, how to invite him, and what there was for us to do.
The biggest problem of all was Asamura-kun's attitude. The way he interacted with and around filled with anxiety that he may have forgotten about our promise, which is why I am agonizing about it in silence. It made feel like I was the only one who was constantly thinking about it, that I was the only one who genuinely was looking forward to it, and this caused to toss and turn in my bed over and over. Co on, I'll end up missing precious sleep if this continues. So I keep telling myself, and yet…
It's Monday already. Once I wake up, it'll be ti for school. I pulled my blanket up over my head and forced my eyes shut. I need to sleep. It's ti to sleep… I kept telling myself. I was still telling myself this when my phone's ringtone pierced through the silence.
"Oh, co on now…"
I grabbed my phone to check who'd bother this late, which unsurprisingly turned out to be Maaya. I had a LINE ssage from her.
"What ti do you think it is?" I grumbled to myself as I ran my eyes over her ssage.
'I can't sleep, help ee!'
You too? I sighed to myself and typed a response.
'Sleep.'
'But I've been thinking about it for hours on end now! I just watched a video and the guy in it said sothing so weird!'
'What did he say?'
'He said "We've thoroughly confird everything!", which in itself is fine, but think about it! When we are sure of sothing, we use 確 followed by the verb of compiling sothing with the kanji 認 to form the word 'confirm' and the kanji 確認. It's been like this forever. Yet the fall 落 from a horse 馬 is what we put together in 落馬. The kanji for the verbs are switched, and it's driving nuts!"
Who the hell cares about that?
'So I was thinking; what if we changed that up? But the deeper I went down the rabbit hole, the more ssed up my head beca! It makes want to stop using that phrase!'
That mattered even less than her previous dilemma.
'Go to bed.'
'Nooo! Let's think about this together!'
'Why are you watching videos at this hour anyway?'
I asked her that in the heat of the mont, and Maaya imdiately returned a lengthy ssage explaining the reason. Maaya would always send ssages that are dense in content. I'm always a bit surprised how quickly she can type them up. To sum up what she told in a few words, she had watched the late-night ani she couldn't miss, which is why she was wide awake. In an attempt to get sleepy again, she started watching soone's livestream, which achieved the opposite effect.
My very first comnt on that would be: Don't involve your friends in your own problems. Secondly, I'm pretty sure there are streaming services that allow you to watch ani episodes on demand. There's no actual reason to stay up late to watch them anymore. And Maaya herself had made that very argunt not too long ago. So why did she have to watch the episodes in real-ti?
'I do use streaming services like that, but it doesn't beat the feeling of watching them in real-ti! The feeling of being connected to all sorts of people across the world as they watch the sa ani episode as you are and feel the sa emotions in that very mont is sothing you can't easily replicate!'
'You have no way of knowing if they're feeling the sa emotions, do you?'
'Bla bla bla! Don't spoil my fun, Sakinosuke! I do most humbly have to admit I am unquestionably disappointed in you!'
Sakinosuke? Is that ? When did this turn into a historical drama?
'…Ah, my fingers are all tired now. I'm gettin' cramps.'
How do you get cramps from texting?
'If you're still up, should we call instead?'
Again, don't drag into the ss you've created… Sheesh. I was really hoping to get so sleep, but I happened to coincidentally rember sothing I'd been aning to ask, so I agreed. The instant I sent her my response, the notification for the incoming call popped up on my phone. So fast. She probably had her finger on the call button.
"Aloha, Saki~"
"Did you move to Hawaii?"
"I'm feeling lonely so I wanted to warm up my dampened mood with so good vibes."
"…I'm gonna hang up."
"Ahhh, nooo! Pay attention to ee! …Oh, also."
"What is it now?"
I was surprised by Maaya's sudden change of tone.
"Saki, there's sothing you wanna ask , right?"
"…Huh? No, not at all."
"Reallyyy? You usually go through life at your own pace, so normally you wouldn't agree to a phone call this late, right?"
"Ack."
"And I figured you said 'yes' because you need my advice on sothing, no?"
"Seriously… sotis you're way too sharp for your own good." I sighed in defeat.
I was thinking of guiding the conversation in a direction that'd allow to ask it naturally, but my good friend seems immune to such techniques.
"I knew it."
"Well, you know… Let's take a hypothetical scenario where you're going out sowhere with a random boy."
"Going where?"
"Um, the place doesn't matter much. You just want to go anywhere with this boy."
"Okay, I got it."
"How would you invite him in a natural way?"
"Are you going out sowhere with Asamura-kun?"
Wha?!
"I-I never once ntioned Asamura-kun's na, right?"
"Saki, you wouldn't care about so random person, right? If it weren't sobody close to you, you'd act like the world's greatest sniper and keep your distance from everyone with a cold attitude like the second ice age befell all of humanity."
"…Is that how you see , Maaya?"
"I an, Asamura-kun would be about the only person who'd make you worry and concerned about inviting soone out."
That's not…
"Shinjou's attacks have simred down as of late, so it's gotta be Asamura-kun."
"Maaya. Before you get any weird ideas, even if we assu that this boy is Asamura-kun, the reason we're heading out together is definitely not whatever you're thinking."
"Oh really now?"
I don't think I've ever heard such a distrustful comnt from anyone in my entire life. I subconsciously gripped my phone harder than before. Maaya continued talking with a dubious tone of voice.
"The excuse is crucial here. If you don't have a genuine-sounding reason to invite him, it would make it sound like you have an ulterior motive, and it'll cause them to be more cautious."
"I don't have any ulterior motives."
"Hmmmm…"
"Again, that's not—"
"Then that's even more of a reason to co up with a good excuse. You don't want him to reject you, right?"
"Well… I…"
I hadn't even considered that possibility. But she's right. Why did I never even consider that? Maybe Asamura-kun doesn't actually want to head out sowhere with . He never brought up our promise again after that day, after all. What should I do if he actually says no?
"Just for example... Hey, are you listening?"
"Ah, yeah, of course."
"Two days from now, your friend nad Narasaka Maaya will be celebrating her birthday."
"Ah, congrats."
"So flippant! And too early!"
"Should I have told you on the actual day instead?"
"I don't mind. Anyway, you could use this as an excuse to invite him. Say that you want to buy a present for Narasaka Maaya's birthday party, you know?"
"You're planning on having a birthday party?"
"Not at all. Or more accurately, I didn't… I was thinking that maybe I could hold one so that you have an excuse."
"Isn't that too much effort on your end?"
"Not at all. After all, it'd only be you and Asamura-kun who'd co."
Can you actually call it a birthday party then? How is that any different from just visiting her place like we'd sotis do anyway?
"That's what makes it great. You don't have to be nervous, and neither does he. And you've got the perfect excuse to invite him!"
I see. I've been to Maaya's place before, and if it's under the pretense of Maaya's birthday party, Asamura-kun surely wouldn't be as hesitant.
"But are you sure?"
"About what?"
Unlike , Maaya's popular at school. If she said she was holding a birthday party, she'd gather participants not only from our class but across the whole school. I wouldn't be surprised if she held a party every year, to be honest. So when I asked her about that, she explained that with the sheer number of possible attendees, she wouldn't even be able to fit all of them under the sa roof, thus forcing her to reject people who want to attend. To her personally, she'd rather not hold a party at all than hurt people that way. Seriously, how perfect can she be? She cares about everybody equally.
"But this ti around, my only goal is to support the blooming love between you and Asamura-kun, so this much should be fine~"
"Again, it's not what you think."
"Anyway, I'll be sending Asamura-kun an invitation after this. Also, keep it a secret that I'm only inviting you two. It'll be a surprise for him, tee hee."
I heard her giggle from across the phone when I checked the ti. It was already past 2 am, and my shoulder poking out from beneath my blanket was starting to feel a bit chilly.
"Oh man, it's already this late… What if I'm late tomorrow…"
"I can recover fully with a minimum of three hours of sleep!"
"Are you fit enough after that?"
"Are you worried about lil ol' ? I'm fine. I'm still sleeping a total of six hours."
When do you get those six hours, exactly?
"I'm not too fond of that… I'd like to get up before Asamura-kun to tidy myself up."
"Looking perfect 24/7 isn't going to earn you any bonus points. Show an opening here and there, and I'll bet he'll find it cute. Adorable, even."
"That's not…"
Back during the cultural festival, I realized that I'm not very skilled at showing cuteness like that.
"Well, I get what you an, but…"
"Ohhh! Are you finally being honest with , Sakippe?"
Again, who's that?
"Boys secretly like that kind of stuff, or so I've been told."
"Oh, oh, oh! News flash! Who'd you hear that from? Oh, right. Then you should take a detour to go ho to change before you co to the party."
"Even though it's just us three?"
"Surprise is the best spice, after all! And that'll allow you to go on a date two days in a row, right?"
It's just a random birthday party, there's no reason to go all the way, geez.
"…I'm heading off."
"Okaaay. Nighty-night!"
We said good night to each other and ended the call. It's all teasing and teasing when I'm dealing with Maaya, geez. But… show so openings, huh? Is that necessary so that he'd call cute? No, there's no way. Think about it, Ayase Saki. You shouldn't put that much faith in Maaya's words. Purposefully showing sleaziness will only backfire. I think.
I pulled my blanket up over my head once more, forcing my eyes shut—Yeah, there's no way.
To the surprise of no one, I overslept the following morning. Worst of all was that I ran into Asamura-kun on the way to the bathroom… while still wearing my pajamas. God, that was so embarrassing. When I looked in the mirror, I had crazy bed hair everywhere. I felt like I would die from embarrassnt. How could I create such an opening myself?
As for Maaya's birthday party, Asamura-kun brought it up himself during breakfast. He asked what we should do about it. All the words I had co up with ahead of ti were reduced to atoms. My heart was beating so hard that I was worried he might hear it from across the table. I focused really hard on keeping composure and responded.
"I was thinking of celebrating it with her. What about you?" I returned a question.
I had planned to nonchalantly bring up the talk of buying a present, but Asamura-kun got the jump on . I was terrified. I genuinely thought he could read my mind. He then comnted that this was his first ti giving a girl a present. I see. So he'd never had soone like that before… Wait, why do I feel relieved to hear that? Well, Mom's the only person who's ever got presents from , so I'm not one to talk. I steeled my resolve and brought up the question I'd been aning to ask.
"Would you like to go buy presents together?"
I think my voice was shaking when I asked that. At first, Asamura-kun responded with a blunt "But," which made my chest tighten up to the point it hurt. However, he didn't say no. Instead, he seed to be worried that people from school would spot us if we went shopping sowhere near here. I felt the sa. After thinking about it for a brief mont, Asamura-kun proposed that we could go sowhere a bit further away to enjoy our shopping trip. I replied with a faint nod.
"Do you rember what we talked about during the cultural festival?" I carefully asked.
Asamura-kun is a kind person, he might just be on board with this in order to buy a present for a friend of mine. But he responded with—
"Of course."
I'm so happy. I'm glad I went ahead and confird it thoroughly.
I'm still working part-ti at that bookstore. Lately, I've been on the sa shifts as Asamura-kun. Today, there are three of us. Yomiuri-senpai and I were tasked with manning the cash registers, whereas Asamura-kun went to make room for the new incoming magazines. As the line in front of my register decreased in length, I found myself glancing over towards Asamura-kun. Yomiuri-senpai naturally called out on that and started to tease , saying that I must be interested in "Junior-kun" after all. I vehently denied her accusation, saying that it was just happenstance.
"Really now?"
Yet again, another person who has close to zero faith in what I tell her. Since barely any people were there wanting to buy sothing, and since we were fairly bored as a result, she probably decided to strike up a conversation.
"Halloween's pretty close, isn't it?"
"It's on the 31st, right?"
"Yep, at the end of October. Because Halloween is the small festival before the big event—All Saints Day."
"All Saints…what?"
"All Saints Day, which is November 1st. It's the day you pray for all the saints in the world. The day reserved for all the fools is April 1st."
"April Fools' Day, you an?"
"Exactent. For all the April fools. But, we don't call November 1st November Saints' Day, right? Or do we? Do you know anything about that?"
"No, sadly not."
"Anyway, Halloween's a big thing here in Shibuya."
The topic was tumbling and rolling all over the field, but this was nothing new when talking to Yomiuri-senpai. I've finally gotten used to following her strange trains of thought. Her thought process is terrifyingly fast, as a matter of fact. Well, she's always bumping heads with Assistant Professor Kudou, so I'm not surprised at that. I thought back to the day I attended her university's open campus event and I found myself feeling slightly disheartened.
"Halloween's the event that turns Shibuya into the city that never sleeps."
"You're not wrong. It's been feeling a lot like the Holy Land with all the costus as of late."
Especially the city center of Shibuya, which always gathered enough costud people walking on the streets to warrant a broadcast about it. The crowd is always so dense that you'd always be bumping into soone.
"The crowd is honestly nauseating. I definitely want to avoid the city center during that ti."
"Saki-chan, there is a reason why we poor human beings have to force our way through the city center despite all that."
"Wait, really?"
"Because we have work."
Ah. I rember now. Both Asamura-kun and I have shifts on the 31st. I guess Yomiuri-senpai's another victim like us.
"How about we at least have so fun and wear costus during our shift?" She asked.
Despite being at work still, I shook my head as fiercely as I could. How preposterous.
"I'm sure you'd look cute dressing up as a witch with a triangular hat, you know?"
"Cute…?"
"Ah, bulls-eye?"
"Not at all," I tried to act calm, but my words had no strength to them whatsoever.
Yomiuri-senpai once again used this opportunity to tease , saying "I knew you were thinking about Junior-kun," which made the blood rush to my head. As if that wasn't bad enough, Asamura-kun returned from his work at the bookshelves.
"I'll take over for the maintenance," I blurted out and ran away from the cash register.
…He didn't think that was weird of , right?
Later, we made our way ho. The air was cold, which made it feel like winter had arrived. I rubbed my hands together to keep them warm. Asamura-kun was walking next to , pushing his bike along. Monts like these truly show how my lack of humanity. I can't even co up with any topic to talk about. I failed to brew up a conversation he'd enjoy partaking in. Instead, I just searched for a way to make him think I wasn't completely lost. The best I could do was blow warm breath on my shivering hands.
He praised , saying that my clothes looked good on … He's probably trying to not make feel bad, right? I shoved my hands into my pockets, gripping them tightly. I finally managed to force the words out of my throat.
"I'm looking forward to going shopping tomorrow."
I'm going to cry for real. Why am I like this? And yet, Asamura-kun—
" too."
—Responded with that. I felt embarrassed, thinking I was the only one who was excited, but he imdiately agreed. I glanced at his profile while he walked next to , filling with joy. I slightly opened and closed my hands inside my pockets. Finding a conversation topic that works both ways is so difficult. Instead, we just ended up walking our way ho in silence. But I guess this isn't so bad, either.
When we opened the door to our apartnt and distanced ourselves from each other, I was hit with a wave of regret.
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