4

When a girl’s your first friend, life feels like a date for a while

It was Saturday. I arrived in Omiya, whose claim to fame is being the biggest district in Japan people visit when they don’t have the energy to go all the way to Tokyo for Ikebukuro or Shinjuku or whatever. Incidentally, if the prefecture finds out that you went to Ikebukuro when you just as well could have gone to Omiya, you’ll be executed by Kobaton, Saitama’s mascot.

“Huff…puff… Were you waiting long?”

“Nope, just got here,” Hinami said with less intonation than a text-to-speech program. That was how I knew she was upset.

“I’m sorry!” I was one minute late.

“…I’m sure you were busy trying to find something to wear that wouldn’t be too embarrassing, even though you don’t actually own a single decent outfit. You’re useless.”

“…You know me so well.”

When someone sees through you that completely, it’s hard to even muster the energy to get depressed. That’s how right she was.

“Well, I suppose your attitude has improved a little, considering what you wore the first time we got together.”

“Oh, whatever.”

Actually, it wasn’t that. It was the enormity of being out and about in broad daylight next to Aoi Hinami. Did she even realize what a big deal that was? This was me trying to be considerate.

“Okay, let’s get going.”

“Wait a second. Tell me what today’s goal is.”

After all, she’d only told me to meet her, nothing else.

“Well… What do you think it is? Why would we come to Omiya for normie training?”

“Huh? A quiz?”

She wants me to think for myself, then? Okay. Hmm.

As I mulled over the question, I glanced at Hinami. She was still standing in front of our meeting spot, the Bean Tree sculpture in the station.

Seriously though, is it normal to look that good just standing there? She was wearing a long, lightweight blue coat (?) over a dress-like two-layer T-shirt (?). It was simple but oddly flattering. You could call the look cute, but you could also call it beautiful. I have no idea whether it was because of the quality of the materials or the style of the clothes. All I know is that looking at her felt like being face-to-face with a celebrity.

As I was thinking, staring absently at Hinami, I overheard two guys who looked like college students whispering to each other as they waited across the way from us.

“Is that…Hinami…?” one quietly asked, to which the other replied, “…Yeah, it’s really her…” Whoa. I was just comparing her to a celebrity, but what if she really is one…? She was already overqualified for every other area of life; it wasn’t impossible.

“…Hey, Hinami, you wouldn’t happen to be a celebrity, would you?” I whispered to Hinami, who was now radiating disappointment.

“Where did that come from?”

“See those guys over there?” I began, then explained the situation.

“Oh… Well, I’m not a celebrity, but I am famous. Especially around here.”

“Famous? How’s that different from being a celebrity?”

“I’m not in showbiz, but I’m famous.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I always have one of the top scores in the national practice exams, and last year I competed in a few cross-country running events at the national level… And then with my looks, my name gets around.”

Top in the national practice exams? Competing in cross-country at the national level? Normal people would wait until just the right minute to reveal that stuff, then spend hours bragging about it. But she’d dropped it nonchalantly into the conversation in a single breath. I felt dizzy.

“Wait a second. I knew you were amazing, but not that amazing!”

At best, I figured she could beat anyone at our school. But nationally?

“I’ve been telling you this whole time. I’m confident I can win in any field.”

She wasn’t boasting—far from it, she treated all this like my questions were annoying.

“…How on earth do you get those kinds of results?”

“It’s nothing special. I just think a little longer and work a little harder than everyone else in every field. Anyway, forget about that and tell me what you think your goal is for today.”

She made it sound simple, but…

I might be walking around with a bigger fish than I realized.

“We came here so…I could get used to…crowds?”

“I think…your level might actually be much lower than I thought…”

She pressed her temples like she was totally fed up.

* * *

The first place she brought me was a bookstore. But why a bookstore?

“So what are we doing in here?”

“Studying… Or more like deciding on your direction.”

“Direction?”

Hinami walked briskly toward the magazine corner and stopped in front of the fashion section.

“If you were teaching a beginner how to play Atafami, would you choose their character for them?”

By now, I was used to her suddenly talking about games.

“No. I mean, I’d stop them if they chose one that put them at a big disadvantage. Basically though, I’d want them to use a character they like and that’s easy for them to use. I’d probably tell them which ones were easy.”

Hinami nodded. “Right. Why?”

“Because they’d have more fun that way. If they’re not having fun, they lose their motivation, and in the long run that would ruin the whole point.”

“Exactly. That’s why we came to the bookstore.”

“…Huh?”

“Which of these styles do you like? I mean as a general inspiration.”

She flipped through a magazine.

“It’s hard to choose.”

“Today, we’re gonna buy some clothes for you based on whatever you choose. So what do you think?”

“…Oh, okay.”

So I was choosing my character.

“Are you sure I should be making this decision? I don’t have much fashion sense…”

“Don’t worry. Everything in this magazine is gonna be stylish. Some of it wouldn’t look good on you, but I’ll stop you if you choose any of that.”

“Got it.”

All of it looked stylish to me. And all of it looked like too much for me. I probably wasn’t tall enough or something. I spent about five minutes groaning as I examined the models until I finally chose one as a very general inspiration. This one might be okay for me?

“I don’t know, I guess this one?”

I wasn’t confident at all. Also, I noticed after I pointed that the price for the jacket was ¥44,800. Uh, that’s waaay beyond my budget.

“Okay, interesting choice…this should be fine,” Hinami said, closing the magazine and pulling up a maps app up on her phone. “Let’s go.”

“Huh? Where?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? To a store where you can buy the clothes for that outfit.”

I—I can’t afford that!

The store we arrived at was the most fashionable place I’d ever seen. So this is what clothing stores are like… On the way, Hinami had pointed to an ATM and I’d taken out some money, somewhat under duress. The balance left me uneasy that buying one jacket would eat through my entire paltry savings.

“Um, Hinami? I’m broke. I can’t be buying expensive clothes.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, handing me a jacket.

“I mean, I really can’t spend forty thousand… Huh?”

The number on the price tag read ¥9,720.

“Um…but you said we were going to the store that sold the clothes from that outfit.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Then why… Are the prices this different for the same store?”

“Nope. This store sells the shirt from that outfit.”

“…Oh, I get it.”

She hadn’t said we were going to the store that sold the jacket brand. What is this, some kind of trick question?

“Fashion magazines usually include the brand names and prices of the clothes. When you find an outfit you like, check the prices. Look for the brand you can afford, and go to that store.”

If all the clothes in that outfit were by expensive brands, she said I should look for another outfit until I found something that worked.

“If you do that, you can’t really go wrong. The only item from this brand in the outfit you chose was the shirt, but any brand that makes it into a magazine, even if it’s just one shirt, will make a fine outfit. So you should feel free to choose the rest of the outfit here.”

Simple and clear.

“…Okay. I think I can handle that.”

“I like that answer. Sounds like you’re getting motivated to do things on your own.”

“I told you, didn’t I? I don’t play around when it comes to games.”

“Indeed you did.” Hinami seemed happy.

“…And I still haven’t learned the most important part.”

“You mean how to choose the clothes?”

“Right. I don’t know how to choose from so many options. What do I do?”

“That’s the easiest part.”

“The easiest? No way. Don’t you need to help from all your taste and experience when you choose them? I can’t imagine an easy attack strategy for that…”

“Of course. If you don’t fully make use of taste and experience, you’ll have a hard time picking out what’s stylish. Fashion isn’t something you can master overnight.”

“…So…”

“Do you know what this is?”

Hinami cut me off and pointed up in front of us. There, dressed in a T-shirt, jacket, and pants was…

“A mannequin…”

“I bet you can guess what I’m going to say next.” Her finger moved from the mannequin back toward me. “You’re gonna buy that whole outfit.”

Now that she said it, it did seem like an easy cheat. She’s right; I can’t really mess up with this strategy.

“Who do you think chose the clothes for this mannequin?”

“The people who work here?”

“Correct. And clothing store employees are usually more fashionable than your average person, right? You’ve gotta have a certain degree of confidence to get the job.”

“I guess so. I’d never apply for a job like this.”

“Mannequins are like advertisements inside the store to help sell clothes. These employees know their stuff, and they’ve put a lot of effort into thinking through their outfits.”

“…Okay.”

“What’s more, several employees have probably talked it over together. That means multiple fashion-forward employees thought specifically about this one outfit. Foolproof, wouldn’t you say?”

“Uh…yeah.” I was convinced.

“You see? You said earlier that being fashionable is tough unless you have help from all your taste and experience.”

“Yeah.”

“In which case, you simply borrow the taste and experience of people with style. That’s all there is to it.”

“…Makes sense.”

After all, the quickest route to improvement in Atafami was stealing, too. In this case, imitating the experts.

“Then you just wear that outfit as is. If you buy clothes that way a bunch of times, you’ll start to get a sense for it, and you won’t have to buy the whole mannequin anymore.”

“Got it… Oh, can I ask a question?”

“What?”

“When you say ‘buy the whole mannequin,’ does the mannequin come with the clothes?”

“…Are you an idiot?”

Her reply was not a yes or a no, but an insult. From that, I deduced the answer was no.

After that, she told me to choose which of the three mannequin outfits I liked the most, which I did more or less on impulse.

“…Okay, now go try on the clothes.” She made it sound so easy.

“What?! Try them on?!”

No-no-no, no way! Am I even allowed to try these things on? I mean, I’d have to talk to one of the fashionable people in their natural habitat. That’s clearly impossible!

“Why are you so surprised? You’re overly self-conscious. The store employee couldn’t care less, so hurry up and do it.”

“Wait a second! I thought I was safe if I bought the mannequin’s outfit! Why do I need to try it on?!”

“The outfit should be fine, but the size might be wrong. With your build, you should be okay with a medium, but do it just to be sure. That way you’ll know for next time.”

“No…but, uh…”

The topic of size was uncharted territory for me, so I couldn’t very well contradict her.

“Go on.”

“Y-you want me to ask her?”

“Obviously. I’ll want you to try things on when you go shopping by yourself in the future. You should practice asking on your own.”

“Y-you want me to try things on in the future?”

“Yes, I do.”

Her cold tone made it clear that further questions would be useless. I had no choice…

“…Wh-wh-what should I say…?” My voice was shaking. What the hell? Objectively, this was really sad.

“Just say, ‘I’d like to buy the outfit on that mannequin. Can I try it on?’ Or something like that.”

“Huh? Um, so ‘I’d like to buy the outfit on that mannequin.’”

“‘Can I try it on?’”

“‘I’d like to buy the outfit on that mannequin. Can I try it on?’ Like that?”

“Yep.”

I was asking for so much help I might as well have been in recovery after a major injury. Or in a nursing home. Sorry, Hinami…

“‘…I’d like to buy the outfit on that mannequin. Can I try it on?’ Okay, I’ve got this!”

I steeled my will and walked up to the store employee. It was a t-teenage girl. And her hair was in a ponytail, revealing the beautiful nape of her neck. Yikes.

“Um, ’scuse me!”

Okay, so far, so good!

“How can I help you?”

“Um, that, that—” I stuttered, pointing to the mannequin.

“You mean that one?”

“Yes. Um…I’d like to buy that mannequin.”

You see? I just asked to buy the mannequin. This is horrible. Nevertheless…

“…Um, you’d like the outfit the mannequin is wearing? Would you like to try it on?”

“Yes, please!”

Thanks to this incredibly understanding employee, this was working out well, if not quite according to plan.

After navigating these various twists and turns, I tried on the clothes, received Hinami’s stamp of approval, and obtained a coordinated, fashionable outfit for about thirty thousand yen.

“Ooh, why don’t you put it on right now?”

After I paid for the clothes, I heard a very cheerful voice right next to my ear. Who is that? Oh right. That’s Hinami’s fake voice.

“Would you like to wear the outfit out of the store?” the employee asked.

“Yes, do it!”

Her peerless, perfect smile was aimed in my direction. It could only mean one thing: Put it on, now.

“…Uh, yes, please.”

The employee led me over to the changing room, and I put on the outfit. She folded up the clothes I’d been wearing and put them in the bag.

“It looks great on you,” she commented when I came out of the room. I blushed a little.

As I was marveling over the great customer service here, the employee whispered something into my ear in passing, too quiet for Hinami to hear.

“Your girlfriend is so adorable and nice! You should take good care of her!” She smiled at me impishly.

“Oh, she’s not my girlfriend!” I said, flustered.

“Oh right. Of course not,” she replied.

Hey! Why ‘of course’ not? Okay, it’s true, but still!

“All right, we have a little time before the hair appointment.”

“…You already made an appointment, huh.”

Hinami’s preference for extremely thorough planning wasn’t much of a surprise by this point.

“How about we kill some time by…getting a bite to eat?” she suggested.

This should have been the part where my heart started pounding out of control, but somehow it wasn’t exactly like that.

“Oh, great idea. I was just getting hungry. Should we find a diner or something? Or since we’re in Omiya, how about an Omiya specialty? Wait, I forgot, there are no Omiya specialties. Too bad there aren’t any sakitama rice balls around here. Ha-ha.”

For some reason, Hinami responded to my joke with a glare verging on contempt. Incidentally, a sakitama rice ball is a Saitama classic: a little bread bun made from rice. Just as rice is the staple of Japan and taro root is the staple of some Southeast Asian countries, the sakitama rice ball is the beloved staple of Saitama.

“Listen. You’re about to go out to eat with a girl, and not just any girl—Aoi Hinami. Do you really think it’s a good idea to go to some random chain restaurant with no atmosphere whatsoever?”

“No, but things aren’t like that between us.”

“Never mind that. There’s a hamburger place near here.”

“Really? Have you been there?”

“Not yet.”

“Huh. And? Are you planning some kind of special hamburger restaurant training there?”

“Not particularly.”

“No? Really? So why go to a burger place?”

“Because I want to eat there.”

“That’s it?”

“…Yes.”

“You just want to eat a hamburger? Aoi Hinami just wants a hamburger?”

“…What? Is there something wrong with that?”

“No, but…” I was figuring she must have chosen that restaurant with some sort of practice in mind. “So you like hamburgers, huh?”

“Shut up! How many times are you going to say that? …My friends just like that place. Let’s get going.”

She started walking. Huh. She just wanted to eat there. That’s oddly normal of her. Very unexpected.

The hamburger restaurant she brought me to was a cute little place; an ad might tout it as a “forest hideaway.” There was a round wooden table out front, sheltered by a parasol and accompanied by a pair of stools that looked like tree stumps next to it. The whole thing was straight out of a picture book.

We walked inside and sat down at a table for two. I glanced over the menu and picked something in about two seconds, then waited for Hinami to decide on her order. Three minutes or so passed, and she was still silently and intently scrutinizing the menu.

“…Wonder what I should order.”

“You’re really having trouble deciding, huh?”

“You look like you made up your mind already… What are you getting?”

She sounded uncharacteristically hesitant. Which was surprising because I would have expected her to say, “I couldn’t care less what you order. I’m getting what I want.”

“The cheeseburger with tomato.”

“Hmm, that does sound good. It really does…”

She brought the tip of her finger to her lips and nodded with the gravity of a detective trying to solve a crime.

“H-Hinami…?”

“Fumiya Tomozaki-kun, I’d like to make a suggestion.”

“Huh?” Why was she calling me by my full name? She looked deadly serious.

“I’m going to get the Japanese-style hamburger stuffed with cheese and sauce. So…”

“Yeah?”

“What would you think about splitting that and your burger?” she said, now with the gravity of a detective announcing that the missing murder weapon had just been found. I couldn’t help it; I burst out laughing.

“…What are you laughing at? Are you trying to upset me?”

“Oh sorry,” I said, still smiling a little.

“I want the tomato cheeseburger, and I also want the stuffed burger. All I did was make a rational proposal to resolve the issue. There’s nothing to laugh about.”

“R-right, of course. Sure, let’s split it. You like cheese, huh?” I replied, remembering that she’d ordered the carbonara at the pasta place last time.

“Shut up! I can like whatever I want! So we’ve decided, we’re splitting those two things? …And how long are you gonna keep smiling? It really is irritating. Hurry up and order.”

It really would have been rude to keep smiling at this point, so with a little effort, I managed to suppress my grin and order. We sipped at the water the waiter had brought while we waited for our hamburgers to come.

“By the way, did you listen to the voice recording?”

She was talking about the recorder she’d handed me at yesterday’s review meeting. I’d followed her instructions and listened to it before going to bed.

“Yeah, I did.”

“How was it? Did you notice anything?”

“Like what?”

I was relistening to the same stuff I’d heard the previous day after school, most of which I already remembered, so there wasn’t much to notice…

“Maybe I should rephrase. Did you notice anything aside from the content?”

“Aside from the content…? …Oh.”

“I see you did.”

“…Our voices.”

I had noticed. The content was basically what I remembered, but one thing was different from how I remembered the conversation.

“My voice—or maybe like, the way I talked? It was totally different…”

“Right?” she said, like she’d been waiting for me to say that.

“Yeah. People always say your voice sounds different from how you imagine it, but I’d never listened to such a long everyday conversation like that before… It was pretty surprising. I kinda drone, don’t I?”

“…Yeah. If you noticed it the first time you listened, you’ll be able to fix it.”

“Think so?”

“Definitely. That’s what they say to tone-deaf people—once you can tell your own voice is weird, you’ll be able to fix it with practice. To a certain degree.”

“Huh.”

I felt like I’d heard that before—that the only people who were truly tone deaf were the ones who couldn’t tell something was off.

“…But you’re a particularly bad droner. You’d benefit from some training to correct it.”

“Am I really that bad?”

“Yes. It’s because you depend too heavily on the words themselves.”

“I depend too heavily on words?”

“For example, when I explain something, you have a number of set responses, like ‘Makes sense’ and ‘Really?’”

“I do?”

“Yeah. It’s probably unconscious. Well, you’re probably aware that always saying the same thing would be rude…so you change the words, but the tone’s the same.”

“The tone’s the same?”

“Yes. You don’t use facial expressions or inflection or gestures much in conversations. Your tone is always flat.”

“Oh.” She could be right.

“I’m going to give you an assignment while we’re having lunch.”

“An assignment?”

“Yes. What I want you to do is…”

“Yes?”

“From now on, when you respond to something I say, you’re only allowed to use vowels.”

“Only vowels?” What does that have to do with tone?

“You don’t understand, do you? Listen. Only using vowels means you can only say things like Oh? Ah! Oo!”

“Okay… Oh, we haven’t started yet, have we?”

“Not yet. Anyway, you know what happens when your options are limited like that? How do you think you’ll communicate your thoughts to me?”

“…Oh, I get it.”

“You’ll have to express yourself through your facial expressions, tone, volume, and gestures, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“In other words…”

Hinami drew her eyebrows together and said “Oh?” in a threatening voice, then made her eyes round and said “Oh!” as if she’d just discovered something. Next, she made a kind of dumb expression and gave an “Oh…” of realization. Finally, she held her head in both hands and groaned “Ohhh!” with frustration.

“…As you’ve just seen, you can express a lot with just ‘Oh.’ Once you’re in the habit of communicating your feelings through inflection, gestures, facial expression, and volume, the droning issue will clear up on its own.”

“…You’re sure good at that.”

The first thing I’d noticed was her incredible acting ability. That and how gracefully she modeled her examples. It was really cute.

“This is a way for you to narrow down the words you use and focus on other ways of expressing yourself so you can naturally improve. To put it another way, you’ve been using a wide variety of words, so your ability to express yourself in other ways has atrophied.”

“…Okay, I basically get it.”

“Good. Then we’ll start now. You don’t need to follow the rule when you’re saying something of your own, just when you’re reacting.”

I figured I’d start with a vowel that was right for starting something new…

“Oh!” I said energetically, holding up a determined fist next to my face.

“I like the enthusiasm, especially when we’ve only just started. You might be a natural at this.”

She’s praising me…in which case…

“Eyyy!” I cheered, throwing my arms up. That was all I could come up with after considering a bunch of options.

“Great! Making a fool of yourself. I thought you’d be too embarrassed at first to do more than tiny gestures.”

She had just insulted me. So if I wanted to say “Stop messing with me”…

“Eh?” I growled, pulling my eyebrows together discontentedly.

“You’re like a fish out of water. You seem a little angry. But what do you think? It’s good training, right? How about you pay for lunch to thank me?”

To express Hey, wait just a second now!…

“Ah!” I yelped, thrusting my hands out jokingly. Just then…

“Sorry for the wait. One Japanese-style stuffed burger…Huh? Tomozaki…kun?”

Out of the blue, the waitress said my name.

“Oh!” I replied, still riding the wave of the vowel training. I looked up at the girl who had brought the hamburger to find someone who was halfway between a character from a picture book and a girl’s manga—my classmate Fuka Kikuchi-san. The one from the nose-blowing incident. She was wearing glasses, which she usually didn’t. They looked amazing on her.

“Ah?!” I cried. Maybe I’d gotten the hang of the vowel thing a little too well.

“Fuka-chan?! Wow, I didn’t know you worked here! What a coincidence!”

Just as I was wondering how a third classmate had shown up, I realized it was Hinami, the social quick-change artist.

“Yes, I do… I just started about a week ago because I’d heard good things about it…”

“Everyone’s been talking about this place at school lately! I wanted to try it out, so we stopped by today for the first time.”

“Yeah, exactly!” I said, but I was still making the exaggerated gestures.

“Oh…yes… But, why…?”

“Why what?” Hinami said. I think she probably knew what Kikuchi-san was trying to say, but she didn’t let it show. Kikuchi-san’s gaze shifted back and forth between us curiously, as if she was seeing a pair of fairies that no one else could.

“…So you two are friends… That’s a surprise…”

“I know! We just got to know each other recently, in home ec,” Hinami answered right away. She sure was good at lying.

“…Oh, that time.”

Kikuchi-san giggled. Her long eyelashes quivered bewitchingly behind her glasses.

“Oh sorry! That one’s mine,” Hinami said, pointing to the plate Kikuchi- san was still holding.

“Oh right. Here you go… Well, enjoy yourselves…” With that graceful smile, she fit into the forestlike ambiance of the restaurant perfectly.

“…Is she gone?”

“Yeah.”

“Um…you think she figured it out? I mean, everything?”

For a second, Hinami was silent. “I think we’re okay. Even if she heard my voice for a second, she probably thought I was imitating someone. I wouldn’t have let her overhear a long conversation. Since this place is so popular with kids at school, I suspected we might run into someone we knew.”

“Oh, okay.”

That hadn’t even occurred to me. Typical for someone with a communication block.

“But I was surprised she was working here. I wasn’t ready for that, so my reaction was a little slow. She had those glasses on, too… But I know now, so it’s fine. I won’t slip up.”

…I knew her well enough to know that was true.

“It’ll be hard to continue now. If it had been an ordinary classmate, we could have gone on practicing responses, but…Fuka Kikuchi is different.”

“…What do you mean? If it had been an ordinary classmate?”

Was there something special about Kikuchi-san?

“During the exercises last week, I saw the possibility—and based on the reactions I just saw, I’m sure of it.”

“Sure of what?”

Hinami grinned.

“Fuka Kikuchi is going to be your first love interest.”

* * *

It goes without saying that I couldn’t look Kikuchi-san in the eyes when she came back a few minutes later with my tomato cheeseburger, but I was a mess even before that.

“W-w-wait a second! Just wh-what do you mean by that?”

“Judging by how flustered you are, I think you already know,” Hinami said casually, tilting her mug.

“Y-y-you mean, d-d-dating Kikuchi-san…?”

My emotions were spinning out of control, but obviously I couldn’t speak loudly, so my answer came out sounding pretty weird.

“Exactly. Your mid-range goal is to get a girlfriend before the end of the school year. She’s going to be the one.”

Hinami seemed to be keeping her voice deliberately calm. She was teasing me for being so worked up. But I had no idea what to ask or say, so for the moment I just sputtered “Wh-wh-why?”

“There are various reasons.”

Hinami took a bite of her hamburger, chewed, then swallowed. She was clearly going out of her way to keep me in suspense.

“The main reason is that of the four girls you talked to, you have the best chance with her.”

“Chance?”

I have a chance? With Kikuchi-san?

“Half.”

“Huh?” I was confused by the abrupt comment.

“Your burger?”

“Oh right.”

She sure was drawing out this conversation. Tease. Or maybe she just really wants a bite of my burger. For the moment, I focused on splitting the burgers.

“I don’t know why, but I got a glimpse of it when you talked to Yuzu,” she said, pointing to my nose. “When Yuzu asked Fuka-chan for a tissue, her response was really quick, right?”

“Well, now that you mention it…yeah… But, why?”

“As soon as you asked Yuzu for the tissue, Fuka-chan started searching for hers, even though she was only listening in on the conversation.”

“Wow…” I didn’t even notice. “…Is that all?” I asked.

“No. That was just a glimpse. Afterward, it struck me as a little unnatural, but it could have just been that she’s nice to everyone—not necessarily that she likes you. But it could also mean she didn’t especially dislike you.”

“Yeah. And?”

“It’s like this,” Hinami said, pointing to her stuffed burger. “When she brought my food, she realized who we were, right? Do you remember what she said?”

“Uh…? Did she say something important?”

“Yes. She said, ‘Huh? Tomozaki-kun?’”

She pointed at me like she’d just dropped a bombshell.

“…So what? It’s normal to call your classmate by their name.”

She sighed, then put her hand on her chest. “Even if they’re with the famous Aoi Hinami?”

“Oh. I see.”

That was a convincing point. Convincing, but also a reminder of her impressive self-confidence.

“I’m a fairly big star at our high school. And I’m approachable, too. Normally, when someone bumps into a group I’m a part of, they always say my name first. But the first thing Fuka-chan said was ‘Tomozaki-kun?’ It may seem unimportant, but it was actually the clincher.”

She was dead serious. Knowing how confident she was about everything, it scared me.

“Was it really such a big deal?”

“Yes, it was. Think about it. Even if it didn’t involve a big star like me, if you’re a girl and you see a guy and a girl you know, it’s easier to talk to the girl first, right? So if she says the guy’s name first…”

“That does…make sense.”

“It may seem normal to you that she said your name, but it was actually out of the ordinary. Of course, if she hadn’t noticed I was here, that would be a different story, but I have such a strong presence it’s basically impossible not to notice me. So this either means you have a chance, or Fuka-chan just notices things differently from most people,” Hinami said, polishing off her burger.

“Are you sure we can rule out the possibility she didn’t notice you?”

Hinami ignored my question and continued. “But as far as I know, she’s a normal girl…which means there’s probably some hope for you… Have you noticed anything?”

“Noticed anything?” I said, racking my brain. “Nope, nothing.”

“Hmm,” Hinami replied, looking troubled. “Maybe I’m misinterpreting it…”

For once, she seemed to have lost confidence in herself.

“If you’re misinterpreting it, don’t you think we should forget the whole love interest thing?”

“Not at all,” she said firmly. “In either case, she’s the best match for you right now. Even if I’m mistaken, she’s still going to be your main love interest.”

“B-but I’m not even sure if I like her or not.” I was never really on board with this, and that was why.

“…Don’t you think she’s cute?” Hinami suddenly asked sharply.

“Huh?”

“Fuka-chan, I mean. I think she’s very cute, but what do you think?”

“Um…well…I do, but…”

“Right. That’s enough, isn’t it? You don’t know if you like her yet, but you’re a little bit interested because she’s cute. So you try approaching her, and that’s how you know how you really feel… What’s wrong with that?”

“Well, if you put it like that…”

“You won’t be worrying about every little detail for several more levels.”

“Every little detail”? Were my feelings really so insignificant? I was torn. My distaste for insincerity was getting mixed up with my fear of approaching her and my ego as a gamer. But…

“…I made up my mind to give this game all I’ve got. I’ll do it,” I declared. The initial decision was already made, so I might as well put aside my doubts and give it a try. I can think about it later. It’s too early to softlock myself here…right?

“Nice. I knew you’d say yes,” Hinami said, picking up the menu.

“You’re getting dessert?”

“Yeah. You want anything? I heard the cake here is great.”

“Really?” I said, scanning the menu. “Then I’ll get the tiramisu.”

“I’ll have the chee—” Hinami broke off mid-word, blushing.

“Chee?”

She was suddenly extremely calm. Unnaturally calm. Fake.

“I’ll have the cheesecake,” she said in a tone that was as unnaturally calm as her expression.

When I burst out laughing again, she kicked me under the table.

After lunch we headed to the salon, where everything went smoothly and uneventfully. Hinami instructed me to ask for a safe haircut and otherwise leave it up to the barber, which I did. She also told me to get my eyebrows trimmed, and I did that too. After what the employee had said to me at the clothing store, I was ready to dive in headfirst. The total came to ¥4,800, which is ¥3,800 more than I usually spend.

When I looked in the mirror, I saw my ugly face topped off by a more-stylish-than-usual hairstyle. Welp, I did it. And now I’m sad.

That finished off a Saturday of learning how to pick out clothes, request a haircut and eyebrow trim, and improve my tone when speaking. Around evening, Hinami finally released me.

When I got home, I felt like I had finally advanced a little in the game for the first time.

“I’m back!”

I kicked off my shoes, more exhausted than usual, and stumbled into the living room. My parents weren’t there, but my sister was sprawled on the sofa like an idiot wearing basically nothing on her legs except…I think they’re called “short-shorts”?

“…You’re such a slob,” I said, not beating around the bush. She didn’t look up.

“What? Like you have any room to talk! I mean, you’re—” she said, finally glancing over at me. “…Huh?”

Her eyes were bulging in obvious bewilderment, like she was witnessing something beyond her wildest imaginings. She ran her eyes over me from head to toe.

“…Fumiya…um…”

* * *

“Hinami! Hinami!”

It was the following Monday morning. I sprinted up to Hinami, who had arrived in Sewing Room #2 before me.

“…Would you stop, please? You’re acting like a dog with attachment issues.”

“Your metaphor’s bad enough without the last part!”

“Well, you sure are full of comebacks this morning.”

“I may have cleared my first small goal!” I announced proudly.

Hinami’s eyes flashed. “Really?! Was it someone in your family? They said something?”

Her eyes were definitely sparkling. Somehow, seeing that made me happy, too.

“Yeah, my sister! Listen to this and tell me if it counts!”

“Okay, but are you sure you didn’t misinterpret something?”

“Mostly!”

“So what did she say?”

“Well…”

I could have used a drumroll right about then.

“She said, ‘…Fumiya…um…I don’t think you could have pulled off that transformation without some help… What, did you read a book on how to de-geek yourself and get some sex appeal or something?’”

Hinami’s expression was a strange mixture of bemused and chagrined satisfaction.

“Yeah, you cleared the goal, but…you sure seem happy about what your sister said.”

“Shut up! A win’s a win!”

“Okay, fine. Congratulations on achieving your first goal. Nice work.”

“Th-thanks,” I said, flustered.

“You might be thinking that you didn’t do any of this yourself, but that’s not true. Sure, you bought an outfit off a mannequin and got someone to cut your hair, but you’re the one who decided to do it and had the will to come along with me. You’re the one who worked every day to improve your expression and your posture. That’s no small feat, and it led you to this outcome. It wasn’t your effort alone, but you’re the one who grabbed it with your own two hands. No question.”

Hinami looked me straight in the eye as she spoke, fluently put into words what had been niggling at me.

“So I’ll say it again: Congratulations.”

“…Wow. Thank you.”

Since she’d said all that, the second time around I was able to say “thank you” with a little more sincerity. I’d reached one goal in the game of life.

“Okay, then,” Hinami said, briskly launching into her next topic without giving me a chance to bask in the afterglow of my success. “I’m going to announce your next small goal.”

“You don’t waste much time.”

“Of course not. We need to make steady progress if you’re going to achieve results. There’s no way around it but step by step.”

“I know, I know.”

“Then I’ll announce the goal. It’s very simple.”

I didn’t even have time to gulp.

“Your goal is to go somewhere with a girl from school other than me. Just the two of you.”

“Wait a second now!”

I reflexively pushed out my hands to stop her.

“…What? Are you planning to make some irrelevant complaint that reveals just how uncool and unready you are to join the real world?”

“No, but admit it! That goal is weird!”

“Why?”

“Because if I’m out alone with a girl, it’s practically a date!”

For some reason, Hinami met my fervent and logical argument with a look that went beyond heartfelt exasperation to something bordering on affection.

“Huh? I’m assuming you’ve never dated anyone, but haven’t you ever watched a rom-com on TV or read a comic about a relationship?”

“Yeah, a couple of times.”

“So you should know this. In this day and age, not even a kid in junior high would assume two people were dating just because they went somewhere together.”

“…R-really?” I was losing confidence.

“Really. Of course, it’s true that a lot of times when people go out, they’re testing the waters to see if they like each other enough to date.”

“S-see…!” I said, clinging to the web the spider had dangled in front of me.

“Were you going to say something else?”

I was shrinking second by second beneath her withering gaze.

“Uh, um…well, I guess…that’s that?”

“Yes. In any case, I’d like you to push ahead toward that goal. Are you ready? Here’s what I want you to do today.”

She continued without skipping a beat.

“Talk to Yuzu Izumi at least twice.”

“Wait a second!” This time I had her for sure.

“Can you stop interrupting me?”

“It’s not that! This one really is weird! The other day, you said Fuka Kikuchi was supposed to be my love interest, right? Shouldn’t I be talking to her instead of Yuzu Izumi?” I argued forcefully, before realizing that was silly. “…I mean, I’m sure you just said the wrong name.”

It was embarrassing, acting like I’d slain a dragon when Hinami’s tongue had just slipped. Okay, maybe I did want to get her back a little for always cutting me down… But just as these thoughts were passing through my mind, she caught me off guard with her response.

“What are you talking about! I want you to talk to Yuzu Izumi, not Fuka Kikuchi!”

“Huh? …No need to be stubborn—you misspoke, didn’t you?”

“…Listen. This is Aoi Hinami you’re talking to. Do you think I ‘misspeak’?”

“You mean to say you don’t do that, either?”

“Just listen. Fuka Kikuchi is your love interest, but romance works differently in the game of life than it does in your typical dating sim.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Here’s the deal,” she replied. “In dating sims, once you decide on your love interest, all you have to do is charge ahead, choose the options that make her like you more, and you’ve got her.”

“Yeah…”

“But it doesn’t work like that in real life. There’s no set path.”

“That makes sense, but why does that mean I should talk to Yuzu Izumi?”

“Okay, let’s say you’re playing a shooter.”

Here we go.

“When can you maneuver more smoothly? When you don’t have lives left, or when you do?”

“Huh?” I replied, confused for a second. “Well, it depends on your personality, but…I think the majority of people get nervous and don’t play as well once they run out of lives. That’s what happens to me.”

“Hexactly.”

“There it is!”

“Typically, you move better if you have room to fail.”

“…So what’s your point?”

She sighed, as she often did. “The same is true with romance.”

“Meaning…?”

“You still don’t get it? If there’s only one girl you have a chance with and not a single other candidate if things fall through, it’s like not having any lives left.”

“Oh right.”

“Continuing the analogy, if you have several candidates you could date if things don’t work out, you’re going to be more relaxed and confident about the whole thing, right?”

“Oh, that’s what you mean.” I understand, but… “You’re talking about having a backup, right? But, Hinami—Yuzu Izumi? Really? That’s not possible. It’s me you’re talking about here,” I told her with unusual confidence.

“I’m not talking specifically about Yuzu Izumi. I’m just saying you can maintain a better mental and emotional state that way.”

“Okay, but even so…wouldn’t that be insincere?”

Having multiple backups sure seemed dishonest to me.

“You wouldn’t be lying to anyone. It’s just that if you make a couple of female friendships that could develop into romantic relationships, it helps you worry less.”

“But I wouldn’t be giving my whole heart to her.”

“Oh, come on, this is getting silly. The reason Japan’s international policy can’t keep up with the rest of the world is because everyone here has blind faith in empty words. ‘Sincerity’ and ‘giving your whole heart’ just sound good on the surface; they actually distract everyone from taking productive steps.”

Whoa, why’re we talking about international affairs all of a sudden?

I thought for a second. “But wouldn’t it be self-defeating if Kikuchi-san ended up liking me less as a result?” I asked.

“That won’t happen. Granted, in typical dating sims, when you make choices that increase another character’s affection for you, the affection of your main love interest goes down.”

“Right?”

“But real life is different. Here, when one girl’s affection goes up, so does the other girl’s.”

Uh, so… “…You mean my reputation would improve among girls in general?”

“Yeah, that’s a simple way to put it. It can also make girls want you all for themselves, improve your status as a male, and have many other effects.”

“Huh, really…? Okay, I understand.” I highly doubted that my reputation among girls would improve, but anyway. “…So I’m not going to do anything special for Kikuchi-san? She is my main love interest, after all.”

“No, nothing special,” Hinami said, then stopped. Well, she must have some plan.

“…Okay. But I’m not going to go so far that I’m being insincere.”

“That’s your prerogative. Just make sure you’re not doing logical backflips to get away from this.”

To tell the truth, I wasn’t really worried about it, because you have to be pretty smooth to be accused of being a player, and I couldn’t imagine that yet.

“Got it. All things considered, that approach should work… Plus, if I don’t do it, it will take a long time to reach my mid-range goal.”

After all, getting a girlfriend before I moved up a grade was completely insane to start with.

“That’s true,” Hinami said, nodding. “It’s very important to keep your goals in sight.”

“Okay…I’ll give it a try.”

“Also, there’s the question of what to talk to her about.”

“Oh, I did memorize some topics…”

Hinami reacted with some surprise, then smiled happily. “In that case, I’ll leave it up to you,” she said.

Talking to Yuzu Izumi twice… The old me would have given up completely as soon as I heard that idea. But now a small seed of self-confidence was sprouting, telling me I might be able to do it if I tried. It was a strange feeling.

“Oh, by the way—that’s your assignment for every day this week.”

“What?!”

That tender sprout was nipped in the bud.