Person Power

It was an evening in mid-September.

When will you finally notice, you dumbass?! I love you!

I’ve really liked you for a while now.

Miyako Shirakawa, college student and part-timer at the GF Bunko division of Gift Publishing, finally let her feelings explode in the face of Itsuki Hashima, novelist and ex-classmate of hers. And he had given her his response.

I’m sorry.

I’m in love with someone else.

His answer came in no uncertain terms. And so the book had closed on Miyako Shirakawa’s unrequited love.

It was, perhaps, a bit predictable. She knew that Itsuki already had his heart set on someone else, and she knew that his feelings weren’t for her at all. She had never intended to confess her love in the first place, but something about the inadvertently heartless way Itsuki thanked her for helping with his novel project was too much for her to bear. She’d just blurted it out. Her confession was doomed from the start, and even if it somehow succeeded, that wasn’t necessarily good for her. She’d have no idea how to explain it to Nayuta Kani, who worshiped her as the big-sister figure in her life, and she still hadn’t given a straight answer to Haruto Fuwa’s relationship proposal.

“Ugh… What am I even doing?”

Now Miyako was trudging back home through the nighttime sights and sounds of the city, grumbling to herself. Her chest hurt, and there were tears in her eyes—but oddly enough, there wasn’t a trace of regret in her mind, no desire to take anything back. Now she wouldn’t be sitting there, steaming, watching time slip away as Itsuki barely even recognized her as a woman. No matter how painful and grueling and sad it was, it was better for her to make her own way forward.

I quit school.

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I just realized that to a writing genius like me, with a top-ten spot in the Oricon bestseller chart, going to school is just a big waste of time!

Miyako still remembered the frustration and powerlessness she’d felt, the sting of that phrase waste of time, when Itsuki had revealed out of nowhere that he’d quit college. She couldn’t tell how much she’d improved since then, but she didn’t think she was worthless, capable of nothing but being left behind. At least, she didn’t want to.

So she walked on, deep in her thoughts, until someone called her name.

“Oh? Miyako?”

It was a handsome young man carrying a heavy-looking shopping bag—Chihiro Hashima, Itsuki’s brother.

“Oh… Chihiro.”

Chihiro gave her a soft smile and a light nod. “Are you coming home from work?”

“Oh, um, yeah.” She nodded, awkward thoughts flooding her brain. How was she supposed to act around the brother of the man who had just spurned her?

“I’m heading over to my brother’s place to make dinner. Would you like to join me?”

“Huh?! Um… Um, I—I better pass today.”

Chihiro raised an eyebrow at this needlessly harried reply. “Oh… Hey, why are your eyes all red, Miyako?”

“I—I— It’s nothing! See you later, Chihiro!”

She began to walk away, trying her hardest to cut off the conversation.

“Oh? Sure, okay.”

He watched her leave, unsure what it was all about.

Itsuki, meanwhile, was away from Miyako’s place and currently agonizing over recent events at his kotatsu, head perched against the tabletop.

Miyako was a college student at the peak of her social life. She had the conversational skills to get along with just about anyone, and he thought she had a lot of male friends—and he’d believed he was just another one of them.

…Or was I just kidding myself?

Taking a good look back at his relationship with Miyako up to now, he was starting to think that there were some telltale signs he should’ve picked up on. She’d blush sometimes, get flustered for no reason, get sad out of nowhere…

…Maybe I was just putting Miyako into the “happy college student” box so much that I couldn’t see her for what she really was? Because that was more convenient for me?

It’d be easier for him—easier to grasp, more natural, more realistic, more convincing—if she was just this socially well-adjusted, erudite college student who hung out with him as one of her many friends, rather than an intelligent, attractive woman who didn’t know much about light novels or anime but had special feelings for him nonetheless. He had created this backstory for her in his mind—one that suited his needs the most—and tried to force it on her. Wasn’t that exactly like the pricks who read his novels and used what they saw there to bash him as a human being?

“Aaahhhhhh, goddammit!” He banged his head lightly against the tabletop. “Shit… Why do I have to be so like…this…?”

He lashed out at himself, with words he couldn’t quite piece together. He needed to get his act together…like, as a person?

“Ah, dammit…”

Somehow he had become a professional novelist, and he couldn’t even clearly elucidate his own feelings.

“…I feel like such a coward,” he said in the most self-deprecating tone he could muster. Then the front door opened.

“Good evening!” came Chihiro’s soft voice as he entered. He gave his brother an odd look upon finding him slumped over the kotatsu. “Hey, what’s up, Big Bro? Are you hungry?”

“…Yeah, that must be it,” Itsuki replied, voice low and head still on the table.

Chihiro chuckled a bit.

“Well, hang on just a little longer. I’ll cook something up in a flash.”

Miyako was on her way to a hotel ten or so minutes away from Itsuki’s apartment, the site of Nayuta Kani’s now-long-term writing residence.

“Oh, hey, Myaa!” she said with a smile after opening the door, nude as always. “Come on in!” Then, in typical fashion, she started taking off Miyako’s clothes.

“Um, okay…”

Nayuta had already undone the hook on Miyako’s skirt and pulled it down before she came back to her senses.

“Wait! Today is not a naked day!” She pulled her skirt back up and turned to face a puzzled-looking Nayuta.

“What’s up, Myaa?”

Miyako stared straight into the confused Nayuta’s eyes. “Nayu, I…”

Words eluded her. She realized she was dangerously close to hurting her feelings. She took a deep breath. Maybe it would hurt her. But it had to be said. Not only had she been hiding romantic feelings for the man Nayuta loved, but also she had just gotten back from making them known to him. She had essentially tried to get a leg up on Nayuta without telling her. She couldn’t hide that any longer; if she did, she would have no right to be her friend.

And she wanted to remain friends with Nayuta. So, knowing full well it could hurt Nayuta enough to drive a wedge between them for good, she decided to be honest.

She looked Nayuta in the eye, even as the tears welled up, and spoke.

“I…just confessed to Itsuki.”

Nayuta’s eyes went wide. “Con…fessed?”

Miyako nodded. “Yes. I told him I love him.”

“Myaa, did you have a thing for Itsuki?” Nayuta bluntly asked, still clearly shocked.

“…Yeah,” she said with a nod, her voice growing more nasal. “For about a year now. Even since before I knew you, I’ve really loved him.”

“Myaa…”

Nayuta looked ready to cry herself.

So are you in love with Itsuki, Ms. Shirakawa?

She had asked Miyako that back when they first met. Miyako said no. She had lied—and she had been lying about it ever since.

“I’m sorry I kept it a secret all this time.”

“Fwehh…”

The first tear fell from Nayuta’s eye. Her face scrunched up, and Miyako felt a stabbing pain in her heart. Nayuta had to sniffle a few times before she was able to continue.

“…Zo den?”

“Huh?”

“Zo den whud did Izzki zay back?”

Recalling his response made Miyako smile a bit, despite herself. “…He turned me down immediately. Just like that… Almost instantly, he said he was in love with someone else.”

Nayuta’s mouth took the shape of an upside-down V. “…Um, Myaa?”

“Yeah?”

“This is a little hard for me to say, but this other person he loves…” Her face twisted up again. “It’s me.”

Miyako gave her a blank look for a moment. “You… You knew?”

“I overheard Itsuki saying it to Prince Manwhore once.”

Miyako was stupefied. She had a vague suspicion that Itsuki had feelings for Nayuta, given the way he acted around her. Itsuki had all but said it himself back during a conversation they had on vacation in Okinawa. She had no idea Nayuta knew, too.

“I’m zorry, Myaa,” Nayuta said, crying.

“Huh?” Miyako asked, half in a panic. “Why are you saying sorry?”

“I mean, Izzki iz mine, zo…! I’ll never give him ub.”

“Um…” Miyako thought for a moment, perplexed. “So it’s like Itsuki said no to me because he loves you, and you’re sorry about that? Is that what you mean?”

Nayuta nodded. “I… I like you a whole lot, Myaa… I wan’ you to be habby, an’ I’m zorry I got in the way…”

The tears were flowing freely now, her face a mess as she sniffled her way through the apology.

Miyako sighed. “Don’t be silly… None of this is your fault.”

She was the one who lied. Who tried to get a leg up on the competition. She had to admit it; what she did to Nayuta was downright mean. But Nayuta wasn’t angry at all; in fact, she was even thinking about Miyako’s feelings.

What an incredible girl she is.

Miyako recalled Nayuta talking about her past once. She didn’t go into much detail, but she had been bullied in her first year of high school over some love-related drama. This girl had a crush on this guy, but the guy was focused on someone else—Nayuta, in this case. The classic love triangle. Miyako could think of several cases from middle and high school involving people around her. But as classic as it was, it still hurt Nayuta deeply, enough that she stopped going to school. Maybe, to a girl like her, this was that classic love triangle repeating itself.

And once that realization took shape in her mind, Miyako embraced her with both arms.

“Hyah?!”

“It’s all right,” she declared, tears streaming down her face. “You did nothing wrong, Nayu! There’s nothing to apologize for!”

“B-but, Myaa…”

“I’m not gonna hate you or anything, Nayu! No hate, no resentment, nothing!”

“…Really?” Nayuta asked feebly from within her arms.

Miyako hugged her tighter. “Really! I swear!”

“…Zo, zo, you’ll ztill be my friend, Myaa?”

“Of course I will! I mean, I should be asking you that! Can you ever forgive me, Nayu? Can you still be friends with me?”

Nayuta nodded, buried deep in Miyako’s chest. “I wanna be fwiends, Myaa.”

“Okay…! Then let’s stay friends, Nayu.”

She relaxed her grip, still crying. Then Nayuta tightened her own arms around Miyako.

“Fwaaaaahhhhhhh! I luvvvvv youuuuu, Myaaaaaa!!”

Such a nice girl. So kind, cute, and as lovable as a little sister. Miyako truly did cherish Nayuta from the bottom of her heart.

…Later that night, Miyako and Nayuta enjoyed dinner together, took a bath together, then cuddled in bed as they slept together—all in the nude, obviously.

“So, uh, Chihiro?” Itsuki hesitantly asked as the two ate dinner.

“Yeah?”

“Um, like, hypothetically speaking… If this girl you thought was your friend suddenly said she loved you, and you immediately turned her down, do you think it’d be possible for the two of you to remain friends?”

“Oh, did Miyako do that do you? And you immediately said no?” Chihiro seemed surprised, but nowhere near as surprised as Itsuki.

“Wha—? H-h-how did you know?!”

“So I was right…,” he whispered, face reddening a bit.

“Did—did you notice she had been feeling that way for a while now?” Itsuki dared himself to ask.

Chihiro nodded, a little ashamed. “I wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but it did kinda seem that way to me, yeah…”

“Oh man…” Itsuki was shell-shocked. “I’m less perceptive than a male high schooler…inarguably the dullest, most dim-witted species on the planet…”

“You don’t have to be that sad about it… Also, I feel attacked by that second part.” Chihiro gave an awkward laugh.

“What are you talking about?” his brother countered. “When I was your age, I used to have all these baseless fantasies about other people and act like they were real. I never picked up on any of the subtle things in people’s minds at all…and okay, I think I still don’t, but anyway, I guess it was just me who was dull and dim-witted, not every high school male… Ugh, I’m sorry I was ever born…”

As his brother spiraled downward into despair, Chihiro quickly attempted to change the subject. “Um, but I wanted to ask about Miyako!”

“Oh…yeah…”

Chihiro thought for a moment. “If you want to stay friends with Miyako,” he gently said to him, “I think you’ll need to make an effort to achieve that. And I’m sure it’ll be kind of awkward, sometimes…but I’m sure she doesn’t want to just totally cut everything off with you, either. So if you both decide you want to stay friends, and you work to make it happen, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“…Yeah, maybe.”

He sighed, appreciating his brother’s advice. …Our relationship isn’t going to automatically continue like it was. It’s essential that I work to keep this going. It made total sense to him.

“…You know,” he said, pouting, “you have a lot of ‘person power.’ Like, you’re really good at…being a person. You’ll never be the protagonist of a harem love comedy that way.”

Chihiro offered a light chuckle. “I’m not really looking to. Personally, I’d rather have a nice, normal, happy family than a harem.”

“…Weirdo. Or are all high school boys like you now?”

If that’s the case, Itsuki reasoned, you’d better reconsider what you’re writing for your male teen audience, or you’re gonna be left in the dust.

“Oh, I dunno,” Chihiro replied. “I don’t know what teenage boys are supposed to be like, really, but I don’t think I’d be a very good point of reference… Nope, definitely not.”

Itsuki gave him a look. That sounded a little too self-deprecating to him.