2: Battles go better when you’re fighting alongside someone whose signature move is the opposite of yours
2
Battles go better when you’re fighting alongside someone whose signature move is the opposite of yours
“…Mizusawa?” I said, still startled by our unexpected guest.
He settled into the desk on my right, so I was sandwiched between him and Tama-chan.
“Okay, Fumiya, fess up. You’re up to something, aren’t you?”
“Wh-what are you talking about?” I sputtered at the cryptic accusation.
Tama-chan stared at him suspiciously.
“Come on, you were scheming with Mimimi, too, and during the sports tournament. I bet you and Tama-chan are coming up with a strategy against Erika right now, aren’t you? You keep pretty busy when no one’s looking, huh?”
“Uh…”
I felt his words were carrying me toward an unknown destination.
“And Tama, you ignored Erika when she kicked your desk today, didn’t you? That got my attention, and I figured something was up when I saw you two look at each other. Then just now, right as I happen to stop by class after practice, here you guys are by the window. So what’s going on? A secret conference?”
All I could do was listen as Mizusawa smoothly exhibited how perceptive he was. When did he take over my private meeting between Tama-chan and me? Leadership slipped from my hands before I had even noticed.
“Well? Am I right?” he asked, peering at me with a teasing smile. I gave in and smiled back. He was as sharp as ever. No lying to him. The guy should become a detective or something.
“On the nose.”
He laughed as I lifted up both hands in surrender.
“Okay then, since I’ve done such a good job,” he said as he looked at Tama-chan, “let me ask: Have you been okay lately?”
“…Yeah, I’m fine.”
Even though Tama-chan seemed flustered, she answered right away. But she shifted her gaze from him to me and then down at the ground uncomfortably.
“Ha-ha… Would you two prefer if I wasn’t here?” he asked wryly.
“No, it’s just…why are you here?” I changed the subject to what I really wanted to know.
“Huh? I mean, you two are trying to figure out what to do about Erika, right?”
“Yeah, we are.”
“Well, I just thought a sketchy guy like me could smooth out the process…”
He smirked again and looked at Tama-chan.
“But maybe it’s not that important?”
Tama-chan was staring at her hands, which were folded on her lap.
“…Tama-chan?” I said softly. She glanced at me but then looked back down again right away. I remembered something. I’d seen her like this before. It was during the first semester, when she’d been pulled into a conversation with Nakamura and his buddies during home ec. She’d acted exactly like this.
“…Um, Mizusawa?”
“Yeah?”
He looked straight at me.
“Your group doesn’t really get along with Tama-chan, does it?” I asked point-blank. That was my guess anyway, based on her reaction in home ec and the context Hinami had given me later on. There seemed to be some deep-rooted enmity going on.
Mizusawa widened his eyes like I’d caught him off guard, then looked at me and finally burst out laughing.
“There you go again, Fumiya!”
“What?”
He then narrowed his eyes and cackled.
“She’s right here, y’know. Or is this not weird to you?”
Made sense. Tama-chan and I were used to each other after our honest conversation here two days earlier, but from Mizusawa’s perspective, my question must have come from left field. He didn’t know this was our natural state.
“Get used to it,” I said casually and fairly naturally. I was getting more comfortable talking with him these days. I was even able to use two different skills at the same time!
“Ha-ha-ha. And here I thought you were the conscientious type!” His smile was genuine.
“What can I say?”
“It works for you.”
I smiled in return. “Anyway, back to my question…”
He scratched his neck and made a pensive noise. “I wouldn’t say we don’t get along…but we’re not very compatible.”
“…Compatible?” I echoed, not sure what he meant. I glanced at Tama-chan, but she was still avoiding looking at him.
“I mean, Tama-chan sticks to her guns, right? That’s why she’s been fighting with Erika so much lately. And since Erika is the boss type, she won’t give an inch, either. They’re like oil and water.”
“I’d agree.”
“Right? And…,” he said, pausing imperiously before continuing in a more humorous way. “A certain someone in our group can be just as pushy as Erika, am I right?”
As soon as he said it, a light bulb flickered to life in my mind.
“Oh…Nakamura.”
“Correct!” He frowned and then gave me an exasperated smile. “Shuji and Tama are like oil and water, too.”
He glanced at Tama-chan. I did, too. She didn’t make any attempt to speak. I knew she didn’t get along with Nakamura, and I guess the same went for Mizusawa. I looked back at him.
“So she doesn’t get along with Nakamura’s whole group?”
“Basically,” he said, nodding. “Now and then, they snap at each other, or he’ll make some stupid joke. You even got dragged into it once, didn’t you?”
“Um, yeah, just that one time.”
He must mean the incident in home ec.
“Thought so. Happens to Takei and me almost every day. Once, they had a huge fight, and things got awkward. They still are.”
“Ha-ha…got it.”
I gave a little huff of a laugh. But things made sense now. Nakamura and Tama-chan were incompatible, so she often got into little conflicts that involved his whole group. Those conflicts made their relationship awkward. The situation was a little complicated, but thankfully not as serious as I’d feared.
“I wouldn’t say the two of you are completely incompatible…but cliques are cliques, I guess.”
“Yeah. We don’t argue directly, but if I’m involved, I’ll take Shuji’s side, and I’ll tease her sometimes. I’m not surprised she doesn’t like me much.”
He smiled sheepishly. Mizusawa was essentially a kind person, but he did tend to poke fun at people a lot. Not long ago, he’d piled on when Nakamura was imitating how I spoke. The explanation made sense.
I turned to Tama-chan again. She was still looking down. She might not want to talk about this stuff, but I wanted to hear her side.
“Tama-chan… Do you feel awkward around Mizusawa because you’ve argued before?”
She raised her head and glanced back and forth between the two of us, gauging us. But she stayed silent, and her gaze gradually fell back onto the desk. An indecisive silence fell over the group. Mizusawa grew serious for a minute, then smiled again without any hint of resentment.
“Anyway, I’m here if you need to talk. Lemme know if I can help. Later, guys,” he said cheerfully, trying to ease the awkwardness. Then he slid off the desk and walked toward the classroom door. He acted like nothing important had happened, but even I could tell that wasn’t the case. He was trying to slip away because he could tell that his presence was making Tama-chan uncomfortable. He’d even announced he was on our side and promised to help us.
“Gotcha. Thanks—”
Right then, a jolt of inspiration flashed through me.
I thought of Mizusawa’s thoughtful behavior toward Tama-chan.
I thought of Tama-chan staring down at the desk.
I thought of all the assignments Hinami had given me so far.
All the pieces came together, and an idea took shape in my head.
I had a feeling that one of the assignments Hinami had given me might have a big impact on helping us solve Tama-chan’s problem.
“—Mizusawa, wait a second.”
I put one finger to my lip and looked down as I spoke. Mizusawa’s footsteps stopped in the middle of the classroom.
“What’s up?”
When I looked at him, I saw he was looking at me with a mixture of anticipation and bewilderment.
“Um…I was wondering if you could help us with something.”
“Help you?”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding and then looking at Tama-chan. “—Tama-chan.”
“What?”
She looked at me, surprised to suddenly hear her name.
“I was saying the other day that you’d need to complete some training to solve this problem, right?”
“Yeah…,” she replied awkwardly; I was acting a little too excited about this. I gave her a serious look as Mizusawa watched us with interest.
“I figured out what assignment to give you first.”
Maybe she guessed what I was thinking from my expression, because she turned serious, too.
“…What is it?” she said, then waited quietly for my answer.
“Well…”
I thought back to that assignment from the barbecue trip.
“Starting today…I want you to become friends with Mizusawa.”
She looked at me blankly. Mizusawa looked back and forth between us. There was a brief silence, and then Mizusawa spoke.
“Uh, what’s the idea behind that?”
“Um, well…”
Better explain—of course they wouldn’t get it right away.
“Tama-chan and I have been talking since yesterday, and the first thing she needs to do is get everyone in class to stop avoiding her.”
“Makes sense,” Mizusawa said, leaning against a desk. Tama-chan listened silently.
“And if she wants to do that, she needs some training to build up the skills that’ll help her fit in better with everyone.”
“Huh. So she can start practicing by becoming friends with me?”
“Right!”
Mizusawa caught on quick, as usual. I looked over at Tama-chan.
“Watching you, it occurred to me that one of the reasons you have trouble fitting in is that once you’ve closed yourself off to people, there’s no going back. Like what just happened with Mizusawa.”
Tama-chan turned her gaze from me to Mizusawa. Predictably, she seemed vaguely uncomfortable. But she didn’t look down.
“I’m guessing you assume you won’t be able to get along with anyone in Nakamura’s group. I think breaking through that shell is the first step toward getting along better with the rest of the class.”
“Shell…?” she murmured, looking down. This time, though, she seemed to be examining herself rather than escaping eye contact with us.
“Yeah.”
“Wow,” Mizusawa said. “You’ve grown up, haven’t you, Fumiya?”
What’s with the sudden role shift? You sound like my dad or something.
“What you’re saying is surprisingly logical, too.”
“Y-yeah?”
Probably had something to do with all my close-up observations of a certain hyperlogical someone. After all, I’d stolen her assignment outright. Never expected this would be the one I’d choose for Tama-chan, though. Mizusawa gave a few small nods.
“Okay. I’ll help out since you asked, but it’s up to Tama-chan to take the initiative from here on out.”
He turned to Tama-chan. She was still looking down at herself.
“I…”
She slowly raised her head and pursed her lips. She’d always stayed true to her own wishes. That time in home ec, right now with Mizusawa, and probably for a very long time, she’d refused to talk to people she didn’t like, with Nakamura first and foremost among them. She probably had some powerful reason for not wanting to interact with them. But right now, she wasn’t sure. Which path would she choose? It was a question of priorities; there was no right answer. I waited silently for her decision.
She waited another moment, and then she directed a determined look at me.
“Okay. I’ll try.”
Mizusawa and I turned to each other, smiled, and nodded. Tama-chan had just made another crack in her shell.
* * *
Mizusawa and Tama-chan faced each other across a desk.
“I think this might be the first time we’ve really talked.”
“Maybe so.”
I was standing a few steps away, my back to the window. In contrast to Mizusawa, who was talking in his usual soft tone, Tama-chan sounded indifferent. More than nerves, though, I think it was just that she wasn’t used to talking to him, and she wasn’t trying to hide it.
“So what do you think now?”
“Now?”
“I mean, I can understand why you don’t like talking to Shuji, but what about me?”
Mizusawa wasn’t beating around the bush. He wasn’t being unkind, but this level of directness was slightly unusual for him. He was probably adapting to Tama-chan’s blunt honesty. If so, props to him. The power of the socially adept.
“I’m not sure. My image of you is that you always say mean things.”
She sounded flat and a bit stiff.
“Ha-ha-ha. I’m mean, huh?”
“Yeah. You always go along with the mean things Nakamura says.”
“Ha-ha, really?”
“I’m not a fan of that, so I avoid you.”
“Huh. Oh…”
Even Mizusawa was starting to flinch from Tama-chan’s one-two punches.
“Hey, Fumiya, I found someone even blunter than you.”
“She’s just getting started, dude.”
“Seriously?” Mizusawa smiled goofily. He seemed to actually be enjoying her bluntness. Figures. “Well, I’m guessing you don’t like me much. Seeing how you’ve been avoiding me.”
Tama-chan’s expression didn’t change.
“I don’t know. I won’t know what kind of person you are without talking to you.”
Her round eyes met Mizusawa’s.
“…Hmm,” he murmured, with a hint of surprise. After all, it was an odd answer. She avoided him because he was mean to her, but she wouldn’t know if she disliked him or not until she talked to him. There wasn’t anything wrong with that, but it was definitely unusual. It also fit her perfectly. She couldn’t hide those genuine feelings of hers.
“Well, is there anything you want to ask me, then? In the interest of getting to know me better.”
“Um…no?”
“Ha-ha-ha! Thought so!”
He opened his mouth wide and laughed. It was nice that he seemed to be enjoying himself. Right now, Tama-chan was telling him exactly what she thought, and he was accepting it, with a laugh, even. They were actually getting along great. Seemed like they’d be friends in no time.
“Oh, actually, there was one thing!” Tama-chan said a little more excitedly.
“What?” Mizusawa asked, grinning. He looked as relaxed as ever, but he also didn’t know what was coming.
“Do you like Aoi?”
“Urk!”
That was me, not Mizusawa, sputtering in shock at her candid question. For his part, Mizusawa looked amused even though he didn’t know how to answer.
“Well that came from left field,” he said very calmly, throwing my own lack of stoicism into sharp relief.
“I heard some rumors, so I was wondering what the story was. I’m curious, since Aoi keeps a lot of secrets.”
“Huh…”
Mizusawa stared at Tama-chan, trying to figure out exactly what she meant. Her expression didn’t change. Mizusawa was making full use of his natural shrewdness, but I think she may have been so honest, she didn’t even realize he was trying to pry into her motivations. This was definitely a mixed martial arts showdown.
I’d already seen Mizusawa declare his true feelings to Hinami, so for me, it was a nerve-racking situation. I held my breath as I watched, but Mizusawa didn’t show any signs of panic.
“Yeah, I like her.”
“Mizusawa?!”
“Wow! So it’s true!”
I reacted at the same time as Tama-chan.
“Yeah,” Mizusawa said, smiling casually. “As a friend.”
His tone was joking—so that’s how he planned to brush it over. He had me there for a second. But wow. He sure had guts to stay so cool and admit it after Tama-chan sussed out his real feelings, only to turn it on its head and surprise us. He was so relaxed, you’d never think he was lying. Hinami had done the same thing before. Must be a special normie skill. No way I can copy that one.
“…Oh, okay.” Tama-chan nodded, apparently convinced, and Mizusawa smiled teasingly.
“So you get a kick out of romantic gossip, huh?”
“Th-that’s not true!” she protested, a little jolted by his joke.
“Well, I answered your question, so now it’s my turn. Do you like anyone right now?”
“No way! And I wouldn’t tell you if I did!”
“Oh! So there is someone? Who is it?”
“Hey! Stop assuming I like anyone!”
Tama-chan pointed sharply at Mizusawa. He cackled deviously.
“You say that, but these little after-school, one-on-one strategy meetings with Fumiya look awfully suspicious to me…”
“What?” I sputtered at this surprise attack, but Tama-chan stood firm.
“Really now?”
“That’s completely ridiculous!”
“Ha-ha-ha! She says it’s completely ridiculous, Fumiya.”
“I’m not sure I can handle that level of rejection…”
“What?! Oh, s-sorry?”
Swept up in the wave of conversation, Tama-chan shot me a question-slash-apology. Mizusawa smiled with satisfaction and sighed, while Tama-chan freaked out, and I sank into depression. What was going on?
“Man, you guys are funny.”
“How did I get dragged into this…?”
Little by little, Tama-chan was completing her assignment and gaining the ability to converse naturally with Mizusawa. Never mind that I was the one being sacrificed for their amusement…
* * *
“You came again today, my darling Tama! And you’re with…Tomozaki…and Takahiro?”
“’Sup.”
When we walked down to meet Mimimi after track practice ended, she fixated on Mizusawa.
“I’ve gotta know! What’s going on?”
For some reason, she sidled up to me, her eyes sparkling.
“Um, well, Tama-chan has a new friend?”
“What? I mean, you don’t usually see these two together!” she said, surprised.
I kept calm as I replied. “I know… They didn’t get along very well before.”
“Not beating around the bush, huh?”
Apparently, our little circle of honesty was a bit confusing. Mizusawa cackled as he stood next to her.
“Well, it’s true. Things were awkward between Tama and me because we were always involved in those arguments between her and Shuji.”
“What, you’re in on this, too, Takahiro?!”
Mimimi couldn’t keep up with our blunt trio—especially now that Mizusawa was included.
“Anyway, Minmi! We’re heading home!”
“What? Oh right…?”
The ever-competent conversationalist Mimimi was suddenly flustered. That was rare, and I liked it. The four of us headed out together.
“Okay, you guys, what’s this all about?”
Mimimi held an imaginary microphone in her hand like an aggressive reporter. One of her usual tricks.
“Um…”
What to say? I had to hide the fact that we were all hard at work helping Tama-chan avoid making Mimimi sad. But she had probably already guessed from the timing and situation that it had something to do with Erika Konno. That left me with one option.
“Guess you could say it’s an Erika Konno strategy meeting.”
Mizusawa nodded. “Yeah, just ignoring her won’t solve it. The whole class could end up targeting Tama over that BS.”
Mimimi clapped her hands and nodded.
“Gotcha! Wow, Tama, you have two protectors? A beautiful boy on each arm!”
Mizusawa smiled and rolled his eyes at Mimimi’s joke, which was unusually romantic for her.
“Ha-ha-ha. ‘Beautiful’?”
“Well, what should I call you, then?”
“How about a knight on each arm? Duty bound to protect her!” Mizusawa put his hand on his chest in a chivalrous pose.
“Ha-ha-ha! You’re shameless! But okay!”
Mimimi pointed at the sky. Okay. I’d better join this conversational wave, too.
“Wait a second, Mizusawa might work as a knight, but I don’t think that describes me, either!”
That was just me putting myself down as usual, but Mimimi pouted.
“There you go again, Tomozaki! You’re cooler than people think, so have a little faith! The world is your oyster! You might actually be popular if you didn’t say stuff like that!”
“Oh, um, okay.”
I was caught off guard being called cool at the same time I was being called unpopular. She switched tactics fast.
“Yeah, you do tend to do that.”
“R-really?”
Mizusawa joined in. They were right, though—I do beat myself up a lot.
“If you keep putting yourself down, the damsel in distress will be sad. You gotta tell her she can leave it to you! With confidence!”
I nodded. “O-oh, okay.”
I couldn’t imagine nanashi delivering that line, let alone me, the bottom-tier character in life. But their advice did strike a chord; I shouldn’t put myself down so much. In a way, self-deprecation had provided me an easy out. It took less effort to kick myself than it did to raise the bar by acting confident and playing around in a way I wasn’t used to. Huh. Guess they were saying never to give up the fight. Was that the path to acceptance?
Tama-chan was listening in on our conversation with interest.
“I’ve thought that before myself,” she said.
“Well, if you agree, too…I promise to keep learning,” I said in a mournful tone. Guess I won’t improve unless I’m constantly attempting something new.
Tama-chan smiled faintly and nodded. “Yeah, I hope you can say, Leave it to me! with real confidence one day, too.”
“…Yeah.”
The nuance was a little different coming from her. While Mimimi and Mizusawa seemed to be saying I should act confident on the surface, I think Tama-chan was telling me to have genuine confidence that would show in my words. She had her own unique perspective when it came to stuff like this.
“…Well, then.” Mizusawa reacted with surprised admiration, while Mimimi energetically tied up this thread of conversation.
“That’s what I’m talking about! Minami Nanami has high expectations of you!”
I bet Mizusawa was thinking the same thing as me, but Mimimi didn’t seem to pay attention to the subtle meaning behind Tama-chan’s words. Even though Mizusawa and Mimimi were both good at communication, they were polar opposites in that sense.
“Y-you’re making me nervous!” I said.
“And the self-doubt strikes again!”
“Oof.” I staggered at Mimimi’s comeback.
“Ha-ha-ha. But you do tend to talk after everyone else, Fumiya,” Mizusawa commented. His tone was light, but he was basically backing up what Tama-chan had said a minute earlier, with a slightly different nuance. I thought about those two stances as I answered him.
“Well, I’m not sure which is better, but for now, I’m just trying not to overdo it and make everything weird.”
Tama-chan nodded.
“Yeah, you should just act natural. It does get weird when you try too hard.”
“Ha-ha-ha! Telling it like it is, Tama!”
The three of us continued talking just like that, complete with our subtle differences in tone. Mimimi watched in a daze, like she couldn’t keep up. Eventually, she gave up, laughed, and pounded my back.
“Whew, this conversation is beyond me!”
“Ouch!”
Our chat on the way home from school was much more honest than usual. But was this all really helping Tama-chan?
* * *
The next day was Saturday. When I got to Karaoke Sevens for my shift, Mizusawa and Gumi-chan were already there.
“’Sup, Fumiya.”
“Hey. You’re on today, too, huh?”
“Good morning, Tomozaki-san.”
“Morning, Gumi-chan.”
I managed to get through the morning formalities without tripping over my tongue. The manager stuck his head around from the front desk and greeted us. That caught me off guard!
“G-good morning.” I stuttered a little as I spoke to my boss.
“Good luck today!”
“Yessir!”
After that, I headed to the changing room, put on my uniform, and came back. Once I’d clocked in with the vein scanner, I started working. The computer screen showed a couple of rooms that hadn’t been cleaned yet, so I did those while Mizusawa and Gumi-chan took care of the orders. When I walked up to them after, Gumi-chan was washing some cups, and Mizusawa was rinsing them in the sink next to her.
“Slow day, huh?” I said, trying to make conversation.
“Yup,” Gumi-chan said listlessly before seeming to remember something. “Oh, by the way! How did things go with the queen?”
“Um, well…”
What should I say? I had asked her for advice on my assignment with Konno for the tournament…but it felt weird to tell her the ultimate result had thrown the whole class out of whack. While I was trying to decide what to say, Mizusawa jumped in.
“…By ‘the queen,’ do you mean Erika?”
He gave me a smirk, and I mumbled something noncommittal.
“Oh right! Mizusawa-san, you go to the same school as Tomozaki-san, don’t you?”
“Sure do.”
“Did you know Tomozaki-san was trying to get your class queen to care about a tournament?”
Having finished washing up, Gumi-chan wiped her hands with a paper towel.
“Yeah, I had an idea,” Mizusawa answered, stacking the clean cups in the dish rack. Luckily, he did already know, but what if he hadn’t, and she had spilled the beans without asking me first? Still, it was hard to dislike her for some reason.
“Oh, you did? So does everyone know Tomozaki-san is from Planet Effort?”
“Planet Effort? What the heck is that?”
Mizusawa raised his eyebrows. Gumi-chan groaned, like explaining was too much trouble.
“Can’t you figure it out yourself?”
“Huh?”
Mizusawa appeared unsatisfied, but Gumi-chan was probably used to that, because she went on efficiently lining up the cups without even trying to clarify. What a pro.
“Anyway, how did it go?”
Gumi-chan looked at me. What to say?
“Um, it went okay…”
I couldn’t think of a good answer, so I just gave her something vague. Even a bottom-tier character like me knew I’d score a zero in terms of slick cover-ups. Gumi-chan gave an uninterested snort and changed the subject. Maybe she didn’t actually care to start with?
“Speaking of which, didn’t the tournament help you both get into relationships? I thought you mentioned something like that before!”
She really did love that kind of gossip. Her question made me nervous, since summer vacation had been full of twists and turns for me.
“Nope,” Mizusawa said, smiling casually and glancing at me.
“Me neither.”
Gumi-chan snorted again. “I’m surprised you both aren’t taken.”
“Huh?”
That was a shock to hear. I mean, she wasn’t just talking about Mizusawa—she was talking about me, too. If I hadn’t misheard her, and she wasn’t saying it to be nice, well, that was incredible. And fairly unlikely.
“You two are boring. Don’t either of you even like anyone?”
She sulked. Her question did bring a certain someone to mind, but to cover it up, I forced myself to sound calm.
“…Sorry, nope.”
Gumi-chan looked at me in surprise.
“What was that pause about?! So there is someone!”
“Ha-ha-ha. He did sound suspicious.”
“No way!” I said, trying to hide my panic behind a mask of cheer.
“I see. So Tomozaki-san does have a crush. And what about you, Mizusawa-san? Any prospects?”
“Well, I’ve been hanging out with someone, but that’s it.”
He brushed away her question with complete calmness. Huh. He was such an incredible actor that even after witnessing that conversation between him and Hinami, I was almost convinced by his story.
“Hmm. I never know if you’re lying or telling the truth…”
“Ha-ha-ha. Too bad. Guess you’ve got some work to do.”
Mizusawa thumped Gumi-chan on the shoulder. Sheesh, that was way too smooth. Gumi-chan just looked at him with a mixture of disappointment and apathy. Guess this is how normies interact. Physical contact? No big deal.
“In that case…,” Gumi-chan said, suddenly turning to me with a scheming gleam in her eye. “Tomozaki-san. Is Mizusawa-san telling the truth? Did anything happen over summer break or during the sports tournament?”
Her gaze pierced into mine. Wait a second, don’t ask me!
“Uh, n-no, nothing happened.”
She stared at me for another few seconds before yelling:
“What?! Something definitely happened! So there is someone, Mizusawa-san!”
“Come on, Fumiya…” Mizusawa pressed his temples and slumped over.
“Hee-hee-hee, looks like you got caught! As long as Tomozaki-san is here, you can’t hide the truth from me!”
Gumi-chan grinned, her eyes glittering wickedly. Sorry, Mizusawa…
* * *
After work, Mizusawa and I headed to a Gusto diner nearby. Gumi-chan had gotten off before us because she only did short shifts.
Huh, I didn’t know there was a Gusto here. It was in the building that used to have a Loft in it, and now there was a Saizeria diner next door. Might as well remember them as a pair. That time when I went to Omiya Station with Kikuchi-san, I hadn’t known where to find a place like this, so this was good info to have. A Gusto and a Saizeria. Got it.
“Whew. Good work today.”
After the waiter showed us to our seats, Mizusawa put his tote bag, which was black with a red logo on it, down on the sofa.
I put my black backpack down on the seat next to me. Mizusawa glanced over the menu and smiled naturally.
“Figures it got busy as soon as Gumi left. She’s got the magic touch.”
“Ha-ha, now that you mention it, that’s true,” I said, chuckling. She really was born under the star of apathy.
“I bet she’s either gonna become famous or fall apart completely in the future.”
I nodded.
“Yeah, maybe she’s suddenly gonna get married to some rich guy. Kind of a scary thought.”
“Ha-ha-ha, very true.”
I perused the menu as we chatted casually. I was completely used to this kind of conversation by now. When we’d both decided, we called the waiter over and placed our orders. After the waiter left, Mizusawa brought up Tama-chan.
“So what should we do about Tama?”
That’s what we’d come here to talk about in the first place.
“Well, you have any ideas?”
“Hmmm…”
He looked down for a second before continuing.
“Right now, I think it’s good that she stopped fighting back against Konno. If she’d kept that up, everyone would have felt like they had a get-out-of-jail-free card to attack her.”
“A get-out-of-jail-free card?”
He nodded.
“You know how sometimes, people feel like they have the right to beat on someone because that person doesn’t know how to act appropriately? Once people have a surface-level excuse for attacking someone, it can deteriorate into bullying overnight.”
“A surface-level excuse, huh…?”
I ruminated on that idea and tried to piece together what he was getting at.
“Guess that’s pretty much true for everything, right? Like, it’s okay to beat up on that person because they did something bad. You can gang up on whoever you want, as long as you use ‘justice’ as an excuse.”
“Even if it barely resembles justice at all,” Mizusawa added, laughing cynically.
I mulled over that for a bit and decided it made sense.
“Huh. Can’t say that doesn’t make sense. It’s like cyberbullying, right?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
A mob would string someone up in the name of justice for the tiniest infraction. It wasn’t even that rare anymore. I should know, since my primary habitat until recently was the Internet. “As long as you have a surface-level excuse, you can pretend attacking someone is ‘punishing’ them.”
Mizusawa smiled wryly at my twist on his interpretation.
“Once that happens, it’s impossible to get the situation back under control. If Tama went on fighting back against Konno, they might have started ‘punishing’ her. So I think it was right for Tama to stop.”
“Huh…groups tend to be like that, don’t they?”
“So you get what I’m saying?” Mizusawa grinned.
“Basically.”
“Like I said, you’ve grown up lately, Fumiya.”
“Who are you, my dad?”
“Ha-ha-ha. Just take the compliment.” He laughed jokingly.
He had this kind of softness that made it impossible not to forgive him when he said things in that particular way. Damn. Special normie techniques.
I got back to the topic at hand, conscious that in a battle of social skills, he could still kick my ass.
“Anyway, since she stopped resisting, there’s no excuse for Konno to attack her now, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And if she’s able to get along with people better, she should be able to win them over, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, but getting along with people is the tough part.” Mizusawa deflated a little. He had a point.
“I feel like she broke through her shell a little by starting to become friends with you—but that’s not enough, is it?”
Mizusawa shook his head. “Nope. She’s not ready to take down the wall between her and everyone else. Hey, wanna go to the bar?”
“What bar?”
“The drink bar?”
“Oh right. Sure.”
Of course that’s what he meant. Caught me by surprise there for a minute. Mizusawa cackled as I tried to play off my confusion.
“You’ve changed a lot lately, but you still don’t know some really basic stuff.”
“Uh…yeah, I guess.”
“Anyway, let’s go.”
Thanks to him, I went to the drink bar with a friend for the first time in my life. I used to go with my family sometimes, but it’d been ages. Talk about a blast from the past.
I filled my glass with soda and dropped in a couple of ice cubes carefully, so they wouldn’t splash, before going to my seat. I figured Mizusawa had some smooth method for this kind of thing, too, so I watched him get his drink. He put the ice in before the iced tea. Duh. Obviously. Once again, the difference between us was in the details.
When he got back to our table, he stirred a single flavor packet into his tea and picked up the conversation.
“So we were talking about how Tama can break down the walls between her and other people, right?”
I slurped up some soda with my straw. “Yeah.”
“And basically, we just teach her a bunch of ways to do that?” he said calmly, taking a sip of his iced tea. I nodded.
“That’s one idea…but I’m not sure.”
Mizusawa was caught off guard. “What, you have a better idea?”
He seemed to be expecting something good. Uh-oh. His expectations of me were always high.
“N-no, I’m not really thinking in specific terms…”
“But?”
He looked at me excitedly, increasing the pressure. Stop it.
I told him my idea—it wasn’t anything special, but it drew on my own past training. “Teaching her like we’re in a class is fine, too, but I think it’s more important to create a space where she can practice and fail without getting hurt.”
Speaking from experience.
“…Huh.”
For instance, take the first assignments Hinami gave me, like when I pretended to have a cold so I could talk to Izumi. Even if I screwed it up, Izumi would have blamed it on the cold, so it wouldn’t have been a big loss. I’d gained EXP while hedging my bets at the same time.
“So our best option is to create those situations for her.”
“Makes sense,” Mizusawa murmured in admiration. “Given the stakes, we do need some kind of safety net.”
“Right. If she messes up and makes it even worse, we’ll just end up further away from her goal.”
Since the situation was so delicate, we had to ensure that any mistakes she might make on the assignments we gave her didn’t impact the class directly. That was when Mizusawa pitched a suggestion.
“In that case, how about we invite Takei to hang out with us after school on Monday?”
“Takei?”
At first, his suggestion surprised me, but it made sense.
“Oh, so her next assignment would be to make friends with Takei?”
Mizusawa nodded, grinning. “Exactly. With him, she can mess up all she wants.”
“Ha-ha…true enough.”
The plan was simple and easy to understand. She’d successfully made friends with Mizusawa, so now it was on to Takei. And since Takei was kind of an idiot, failing this would have zero impact on the rest of the class. Yeah, good plan. I wasn’t sure if this assignment would be harder or easier than the Mizusawa one, but her risks were mitigated, and she’d be guaranteed a sizable chunk of EXP. Not a bad way to grind.
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
“Okay, then I’ll get in touch with Takei.”
“Thanks.”
The conversation was moving right along. Compared with thinking things over by myself, talking about the situation with him produced more ideas, and we could split up the tasks. The outlook was brightening.
As we chatted, our orders arrived. I got the ginger-pork set, and Mizusawa got the mixed-grill set with rice. I took a bite and brought up a new issue.
“I wonder how Takei and Tama-chan will get along.”
“Yeah, I dunno…”
Takei started in on his mixed grill. It was huge, with a hamburger patty, a sausage, and some sautéed chicken. Mizusawa had a surprisingly big appetite.
“I mean, the reason I asked for your help is that I assumed you’d accept Tama-chan as she was, but Takei… He’s not a bad guy, but he’s really oblivious. I’m not sure how things will go with him.”
“Ha-ha-ha. I feel ya.”
He laughed casually, then rested his cheek on one hand and peered at me with interest. “You thought I’d accept her, huh?”
He smiled, like he was very interested to hear my answer. Uh-oh, he’d homed in on that one point. I wasn’t sure how to answer, but he always managed to guess my true thoughts, so I didn’t try to hide it.
“No, I mean, what I was thinking was, you seem to get a kick out of people who do what they want.”
“You’re right.” He took a bite of his hamburger and waited for me to go on.
“Plus, well…there’s the stuff I overheard that one time.”
“Ha-ha. You did hear some juicy stuff.”
“You were praising people for being idiots. Or for being sincere.”
“In other words, people who are like you,” he shot back.
“Uh, yeah.”
“I had no idea you were listening in.”
“I know. I’m sorry…”
“Ha-ha-ha! You don’t have to apologize. Anyway, go on.”
I paused, a little flustered, and tried to pull my thoughts together. “Well, I figured Tama-chan is sincere in the same way I am.”
Mizusawa seemed satisfied by that explanation.
“Gotcha. So you thought I’d get a kick out of her, too.”
In a sense, the reason I’d chosen Mizusawa for her first assignment was because it was…well, Mizusawa. I figured he would accept the most important part of her personality, so he wouldn’t hurt her. She’d been hurt so much already—that was the one thing I wanted to avoid.
Mizusawa sighed, his mouth full of rice. “If that’s what you’re thinking, Takei should be fine, too.”
“You think? How come?”
He raised his eyebrows.
“I mean, Takei’s that type, too.”
“…Oh.”
So that’s what he meant.
“He’s right up there with you and Tama.”
That was true. “He does tend to say what he’s thinking and live life how he wants.”
“Exactly,” Mizusawa said, smiling. “I don’t think they can clash too much. They’re too similar.”
“…Yeah, maybe not.”
There was no guarantee, but he was probably right.
“Anyway, it’s Takei,” I said. Mizusawa laughed.
“Ha-ha-ha. Yeah. No need to overthink Takei.”
“Right.”
Honestly, Takei being Takei was more convincing than his similarity to Tama-chan. Which, let’s face it, was very Takei.
“Okay. So Monday after school, right?”
“Okay!”
I’d just about mastered the Izumi-style okay. But Mizusawa’s next comment caught me off guard.
“We’ve gotta be careful Shuji doesn’t hear about this,” he said with a smirk.
“What do you mean?”
He frowned. “I mean what I said… Wait, you don’t get it?”
What was that supposed to mean? I ran through the possible reasons why it would be bad for him to find out.
“Uh…you mean because Tama-chan and Nakamura have argued a lot?”
Mizusawa gave a little nod. “Yup. They don’t just argue—it’s become this deep-rooted thing. It’s not a good idea to let him see us supporting Tama.”
“Huh…”
“Part of it is just him being stubborn. Gotta keep up appearances and all.”
Hinami had said something similar before. Something about Nakamura being touchy.
“He’s part of the reason Tama’s status is in such bad shape right now. Most of the guys know her as Shuji’s enemy, which makes it hard for them to jump in and help. Now that she’s Konno’s target, too, she’s on the bad side of two class bosses.”
That surprised me.
“Really? If that’s true, then things are worse than I thought.”
“Yeah,” Mizusawa said, holding up his drink. “I’m taking a pretty big risk helping her like this.”
He smiled and took a gulp of his tea. The ice clinked in his glass.
“Huh, I didn’t realize that… Thank you. It means a lot.”
So he’d offered his help despite the messy situation. This guy was too good to be true—handsome, good-hearted, and apparently, devoid of any weakness.
“Ha-ha-ha. At your service.”
He smiled breezily. Against this perfect specimen of manhood, I was nothing.
“…You’re amazing.”
“Where’d that come from?”
He smiled wider, looking amused by my honesty.
“I don’t know, it’s just… You can do anything, but you’re never mean about it. I’m kinda blown away by how good of a person you are.”
Delivering the compliment so directly was a little embarrassing, but he really was saving our butts this time. He looked at me with a calmer expression than before.
“That’s not true.”
“…What?”
His expression was surprisingly forceful. He drew back a little, like he was slowly aiming an arrow at the center of his target.
“I don’t do everything out of the goodness of my heart.” He wore a teasing expression, but there was a sharpness to his eyes. “You’d be surprised by how much of a schemer I can be.”
“R-really?”
I was thrown off-balance by the combination of his intimidating aura and friendly grin. He nodded and flicked the edge of his glass with his fingernail. The soft little ting rang high and cool.
“I mean, take the reason I stopped by the classroom after school the other day. I thought you and Tama might be there…with Aoi.”
“…Oh.”
He kept talking as I reacted.
“I’m just another guy who’s doing what he wants.”
He glanced down standoffishly. His long eyelashes hid his irises.
“Y-you are?” I said, flustered. He slowly raised his eyes to meet mine. His expression had grown cocky. Then, as if he was talking about nothing important at all, he went on.
“After all, a certain someone taught me that it was best to go straight for it.”
Now his smile was powerful. He was looking directly at me.
“…Oh right.”
I nodded. He was aloof and solemn in a way that was somehow different from usual.
So he’d thought Hinami would be there. Something about the way he said it was hard to connect with the ever-cool-and-collected Mizusawa that I knew.
* * *
The weekend ended, Monday morning rolled around, and my meeting with Hinami was more awkward than ever.
“…This isn’t really the time for a new assignment, is it?” Hinami muttered, fiddling restlessly with the ends of her hair.
“No… Before I can even consider one, I want to do something about Tama-chan’s situation.”
She stared at me. “…Well, what you’re doing may go against what I believe, but I don’t have the right to stop you.”
She sounded resigned and vaguely frustrated.
“You mean about changing Tama-chan?”
She nodded. “If that’s what she wants, and you want to help her, I can’t say anything. All I can do is work on my own plans. Agreed?”
“Hinami…?”
Her quiet tone was typical Hinami, but rather than reflecting her usual calm, it seemed like an attempt to suppress her emotions. Her words, too, sounded more like they were intended to convince herself than me.
“I’m fine. The most important thing is not to lose the war.”
“Hinami, I don’t really understand…”
She nodded to herself and looked straight at me.
“Right. Let’s suspend our morning meetings for now. You can’t very well start a new assignment at this point, and it wouldn’t be right to give you one you might fail at while you and Hanabi are involved in something. If we can’t do anything productive, we should at least use this time for something else.”
“…Okay.”
She was kinda bouncing from thought to thought, but I at least understood she wanted to stop meeting every morning, so I nodded.
“We’ll pick things up again when the situation with Hanabi has clearly improved. I guess I’ll be in touch then?”
“Sure…but…” I looked her in the eye. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She stared at me for a moment before answering.
“…What do you mean?”
She genuinely seemed like she didn’t understand—but I couldn’t say for sure. It could have been an act, or it could have been real.
“It’s just…you’ve been acting strange lately.”
“Wouldn’t anyone be upset if their friend was going through a rough patch?”
“…Okay. If that’s all it is,” I said, unsatisfied.
Hinami quietly stood up. “It is. Well, see you later.”
“…Yeah, see you around.”
I didn’t have any more words or strategies to keep her there, so our morning meeting ended with an awkward silence.
* * *
Konno’s harassment continued as usual that day.
During every break, she kicked Tama-chan’s desk and said mean things about her. Nevertheless, Tama-chan resisted fighting back. The hateful atmosphere didn’t get any better, but she managed to hold the line and prevent it from growing.
More than that, though, the thing that stuck out the most that day was Hinami’s strange behavior. Last week, she’d spent all her breaks talking to Izumi and Nakamura, but this week, she switched to talking to one of the girls in Konno’s group—I think her name was Akiyama. Hinami was openly talking to her all the time; I’d never seen her act like this before.
I didn’t have a grasp on the whole picture, but she was obviously planning something. I wanted to believe she wouldn’t do anything to put me at a disadvantage, since we both wanted to help Tama-chan—but she’d made it clear in our morning meeting that our strategies were completely opposed to each other. My guess was that she was working on a plan to keep Tama-chan where she was.
I’d never seen her looking so down before. I felt justified in worrying about her a little, like a student might worry about his teacher. Just a little, of course.
…That’s why I decided to do some reconnaissance. She wouldn’t have told me her strategy even if I asked, so I took another approach.
“…Izumi?”
As soon as fifth period ended and break began, I turned toward Izumi’s desk. I figured Hinami wouldn’t notice if I did it now, and I’d be able to talk to Izumi quickly and naturally. I had a massive geographical advantage, so I was on easy mode. Nanashi always uses his advantages shamelessly.
“Huh? What?”
Izumi turned to me with a blank look. As usual, she had all her makeup and accessories on, but her eyes were round and friendly. I’m guessing her tired expression had to do with the recent drama.
“I wanted to ask you something…about Hinami.”
“What about Aoi?”
Last week, Hinami had clearly been focusing her attention on Izumi and Nakamura. Even considering she was friends with both of them, the timing and obvious increase in contact suggested she was laying the groundwork for something. Her chats with Akiyama were probably an extension of the same strategy. First, she’d made preparations with Izumi and Nakamura, and now she was reaping the results of some sort with Akiyama. I didn’t know the concrete details, but everything seemed connected. We’re talking about NO NAME, after all.
“You were talking to Hinami a lot last week, right?”
Izumi widened her eyes even more. Okay, that was a weird question.
“Huh? I mean, yeah, I was talking to her…”
She looked a little suspicious. S-stop looking at me with those eyes. I don’t have the defense for this. I may have gained some skills lately, but my armor is still made of paper.
“It’s just…well, things being what they are, I was wondering if she mentioned anything different from usual. Something about Tama-chan or Konno.”
“Oh…” Izumi sank into thought. “Things are really rough right now, huh?” she said.
“…Yeah.”
“I don’t know if this is different from usual, but…she asked if I could hang out less with Shuji for a while.”
“…Really?”
Izumi nodded. “There’s not much else I can do. I asked Aoi for ideas, and she said that was something she wanted me to do.”
“Oh, got it.”
“She thought that might improve Erika’s mood a little.”
The logic made sense. Even if Erika already knew the two of them were dating, seeing them together all the time might be adding to her stress.
“I see. She could have a point.”
“Yeah. I told her I’d try. I’d been keeping an eye on Erika’s mood, and I wanted to help out. Shuji was kind of annoyed about it, but he went along with the plan.”
Izumi giggled. I smiled, too, imagining their conversation. So he’d gotten annoyed. I’m sure it was partly because he just doesn’t like being told what to do, but it was funny that he’d been grumpy about not getting to spend as much time with Izumi. And typical that he’d agreed to do it instead of telling her directly that he wasn’t happy about it.
“I’ve been knitting something to cheer him up,” Izumi announced proudly.
“Y-you think that will cheer Nakamura up?”
“Y-yeah. Maybe I’m being silly…but I’ve always wanted to knit something for a boyfriend…”
Her voice was getting softer and softer; she sounded super embarrassed to say the word boyfriend. Oh boy. Izumi, you shouldn’t leave yourself so open, especially now that I’m familiar with the art of teasing.
“…Come on, don’t say it if you’re just gonna get embarrassed!” I said, hoping to ease the tension. Izumi blushed.
“I’m not embarrassed!”
“Oh, really?”
I smiled wryly. Izumi changed the subject.
“Shut up! Anyway, we were talking about Aoi!” she said, contorting her expression. Her facial muscles were well trained.
“Oh right. Did she say anything else?”
Izumi pursed her lips, thinking.
“…That was the only unusual thing she said.”
“Okay… So she didn’t seem any different from usual to you?”
Huh. So Hinami had been talking to Izumi and Nakamura in order to reduce the stress on Konno. Her goal was probably to prevent the situation from getting any worse. Now that the groundwork had been laid, she was working on something with Akiyama. I still didn’t have a clear idea of what she was up to.
“No. I wanted to do something myself, but it’s tough because I can’t talk to Erika about the situation directly…”
“Yeah…that’s true…”
This whole string of events likely started because Konno was upset that Izumi and Nakamura were dating. That made it harder for Izumi to do anything about it than it was for me, Hinami, or Mizusawa, since she was part of the original cause.
“What, are you doing recon again?” Izumi rolled her eyes and smiled. Well, I had started asking some sudden, weird questions when I was trying to motivate Konno, and now I was doing it again.
“Yeah, kind of. Everything’s been awkward lately, and Hinami has been acting weird,” I said vaguely. Izumi nodded twice.
“I did notice that Aoi has been kinda…tense.”
“You did?” I’ll admit I was surprised to hear her echoing my own thoughts.
“Yeah. I was thinking all this must even be getting to her…”
“…It could be.”
I nodded back, hoping Izumi wouldn’t catch my surprise. I knew Hinami’s true nature and some of her real feelings, so of course I’d notice her unusual behavior, but this must be the first time someone else had caught a glimpse of her exhaustion. On the other hand, she could be putting on another act—this was an unusual situation, after all, so maybe she was adjusting to match.
“That’s why I wanted to ask around about what she’s been up to,” I explained.
Izumi seemed to be puzzling through something and seriously considered what I said. “Huh. Yeah, I can see your point… Let’s see, did she say anything else?”
She was now racking her brain for additional memories. She pressed one hand to her head and squeezed her eyes shut. I could practically hear her mental gears turning. If she kept this up, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a spring pop loose.
“Izu—”
“Oh!” she blurted out. “She asked me not to see him on weekends, either, and I remember thinking that was strange.”
“Weekends, too?”
She nodded.
“She said it was because we might run into Erika. But that’s kinda extreme for her, so I thought she must really be desperate or something…”
“Huh…”
Saitama high schoolers didn’t have many places to go out to, so I could understand why she mentioned the weekends. Still, that was toeing the line. Usually, the only person she pushed that hard was me. At the same time, it fit into her scheme to take pressure off Konno. And Hinami was the only one who currently knew what the ultimate aim of that scheme was.
“That is weird now that you mention it.”
“Right? She must be running out of options…”
“Could be.”
I nodded. I might not know what she was up to, but I definitely sensed her desperation. Izumi peered at me solemnly, then finally seemed to make her mind up about something.
“Well, since there’s not much I can do right now…I’ll try to keep an eye on Aoi.”
“…Ah, okay.”
When we were dealing with the Hirabayashi issue, she’d talked to Hirabayashi-san during breaks, providing emotional support. This time, Mimimi and Hinami were filling that role for Tama-chan. Even though Izumi couldn’t do much, she’d made up her mind to try to support the usually invincible Hinami from the shadows. That was classic Izumi: flexible but strong.
“Thanks, Izumi. You’ve been a big help.”
“Really? Glad to hear it!”
She waved good-bye cheerfully and headed over to Konno’s group.
* * *
That afternoon, Tama-chan, Mizusawa, and I met up first and waited for Takei. Apparently, soccer practice was running long, and he was going to come when it was done.
“So today, we were thinking you could break down some more walls by becoming friends with Takei.”
“Takei…,” Tama-chan muttered nervously.
Mizusawa smiled gently, probably guessing how she felt.
“Don’t worry; he’s dumb as a brick. You don’t have to get too nervous. Plus, you’ve got quite a bit in common with him.”
“What are you talking about?! I’m not like him!”
She frowned in horror, rejecting Mizusawa’s suggestion sharply. Poor Takei. Okay, my turn to jump in.
“Actually, I think you are.”
“Not you, too, Tomozaki!”
Mizusawa enlightened the flustered Tama-chan.
“You really are. Both of you always do exactly what you’re thinking. You’re totally honest, all the time.”
“Oh…,” Tama-chan said, looking down pensively. “I can see that.” She gave Mizusawa a very disgruntled look.
She had to accept what he was saying, but I could tell she didn’t want to. I decided to tease her a little. Taking a page from the master himself standing next to me, I tried to sound as jokey as possible.
“Geez, you really hate being compared to Takei, huh?”
“Uh, I mean…it’s Takei,” she said, like it was self-explanatory. Mizusawa and I looked at each other and laughed.
“What can we say?” Mizusawa said.
“Anyway, that means he’s like Tomozaki, too!” Tama-chan said.
“Guilty as charged,” I joked.
“Yeah! You’re like us! Just like us!” she shot back, like she was clinging to a sliver of hope. Mizusawa laughed.
“Why are you so desperate not to be the only one?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
As we all joked around about Takei, a doubt occurred to me. It had crossed my mind when I talked to Tama-chan, and it had to do with our strategy moving forward. She and I hadn’t been able to figure it out on our own.
“Um, Mizusawa?”
“What’s up?”
I decided to tell him my concern. Maybe we’d find a new perspective if the three of us talked about it. Over the past couple days, I’d gained a sense of how important it was to deepen my understanding of a problem by talking it through.
“You were saying that Tama-chan and Takei are similar, and that I am, too.”
“Yeah,” Mizusawa said, nodding.
“Takei has always been a guy everyone knows and likes, and lately, I’ve been having normal conversations with Nakamura and stuff. But Tama-chan always seems to have a hard time.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I wonder what the main reason for that is.”
Takei, Tama-chan, and I all tended to say exactly what we were thinking. And yet, he was the beloved class moron, she was an outsider who couldn’t read the mood and fit in, and I was a loser who’d only recently started being less of a loser. Why was that? I couldn’t figure out what brought on that difference.
Even if my sketchy aura was to blame for the fact that I wasn’t as popular as Takei, Tama-chan’s face, posture, and vocal expression were all those of a perfect normie. There wasn’t much difference between her and Takei in terms of latent ability. Granted, she had a tendency to put up walls between herself and other people, but one of the main reasons she’d done so with Nakamura and his buddies was that Nakamura didn’t enjoy her Takei-like habit of speaking her mind, and they’d argued a lot as a result.
In Takei’s case, that trait worked in his favor, but in Tama-chan’s case, it didn’t. What was the difference? I couldn’t figure it out. But whatever the underlying cause was, it could become a bridge connecting Tama-chan to the rest of the class.
Mizusawa sighed in agreement. “I do think that’s important. You’re pretty sharp sometimes, Fumiya.”
“I—I am?” I stuttered, a little embarrassed by Mizusawa’s straightforward compliment. If I were a girl, I’d probably be swooning.
“But there are tons of differences, like how you guys talk. And whether people are used to you.”
“Oh…true.”
I thought about what he’d said. The two examples he gave matched what I’d experienced and observed myself. As far as the first one went, I paid attention to tone on a daily basis, so Mizusawa’s observations fit with mine. Takei had that strangely cheerful way of speaking without being mean at all—on that front, he was on Mizusawa’s or Hinami’s level. But the part about people being used to him resonated even more.
“That last point really is important.”
“So that rings true, huh?”
He gave me that expectant look again. I decided to try explaining my thoughts. Exchanging opinions is an important skill, after all.
“Okay, take the day we were deciding on what to play in the sports tournament. I had a thought.”
“Yeah,” I said, replaying the scene in my mind. “Takei was one of the class captains, but he was just saying what he wanted. He was like, Nooo, I wanted soccer! Everyone knew what he was doing, but they all just rolled with it. Just Takei being ridiculous.”
“Ha-ha-ha. That’s Takei for you.” Mizusawa smiled.
“…But with Tama-chan, it was a little different.”
Tama-chan looked at me questioningly. “What do you mean?”
“Remember when you suggested the girls choose volleyball? And when you had to give a reason, you just said…‘Because I want to play volleyball.’”
“Oh yeah, she did say that! Good memory, Fumiya!”
“Thanks.” Back then, I was laser-focused on observing the class.
“Yeah, I remember,” Tama-chan said.
“Right. But when you said that…” I paused in thought.
“Yeah?” Mizusawa said, nudging me along. Tama-chan was waiting silently for me to continue. I looked from one to the other, pulled my thoughts together, and went on.
“…you were basically saying the same thing as Takei.”
It was like a light bulb had just gone on for Mizusawa. “You’re right! Both of them were just giving their opinion, with Takei for soccer and Tama for volleyball.”
“Exactly!”
As usual, Mizusawa caught on quick. Actually, I felt like he’d leaped past me and was waiting for me to catch up. He cackled and glanced at Tama-chan.
“Like I said, two peas in a pod.”
“Shut up!”
Mizusawa didn’t miss a beat in teasing Tama-chan, but she was right there with her comeback. And there I was, just watching their high-speed conversation. Huh. Tama-chan did have major potential. It was hard for me to keep up and get my thoughts out at the same time. I did a mental reset and kept talking.
“So they basically said the same thing…but when Tama-chan said it, the mood got a little weird.”
Tama-chan nodded. “Yeah, I remember that. Minmi came to my rescue.”
“Oh yeah,” Mizusawa said.
Once they’d both agreed, I went on.
“Tone probably had something to do with it…but I think it was more than that. I think it was the fact that everyone accepts Takei’s character.”
Mizusawa nodded enthusiastically. “You’ve got a point there, for sure.”
“Y-you think so?”
I felt an unexpected wave of relief at getting Mizusawa’s stamp of approval.
“Yeah, I had a similar thought myself,” he said, as if he just remembered something. Dang, this conversation was going really well.
“Oh yeah?”
“All right, so…” He paused self-importantly, successfully pulling me in. Tama-chan was staring at him intently, too. Conversational theatrics really were his strength, and he could do it so well because of his self-confidence. With both of us watching, he waited a good while before continuing. “What’s more important than anything else…is charm.”
He looked extremely sure of himself.
“Um, charm?”
I kind of got his point, but not entirely. I waited patiently for him to explain.
“I mean, there’s something about Takei that’s impossible to hate, right? That just kinda charms you? That’s what people expect of his character.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
“But with Tama, her aura is more sullen. She’s not gonna win you over easily. In the end, it’s all about charm. And I’m not talking about cuteness or looks.”
I nodded.
“Yeah, ‘cute’ isn’t a word I would use for him,” I joked.
“Ha-ha-ha. Very true.”
We both laughed.
“I’m basically following you…but I’m not good at that stuff,” Tama-chan said. She looked anxious, probably because we were pointing out shortcomings she was already aware of. “How am I supposed to get more charm?” she asked.
It was a simple question, but a tough problem. Even though the word charm sounds straightforward, it’s actually very abstract. You could lose a lot of sleep trying to pin it down in concrete terms. Mizusawa didn’t seem disturbed, however.
“That’s the question. I’ve thought about it a lot.”
“And?” Tama-chan asked. Mizusawa nodded, cool and collected as always.
“I think charm is all about…consistent vulnerability.”
“Vulnerability?” I asked.
“Yup,” Mizusawa said casually, nodding. “Look, right in our circle of friends, we’ve got the world’s best actress. She’s constantly recreating herself, right?”
“R-right.”
It made me nervous when Mizusawa hinted at Hinami’s behind-the-scenes self. We couldn’t just tell Tama-chan about that.
“You mean Aoi?”
“Bingo!”
Guess I was worried for nothing—Tama-chan saw it herself.
“Aoi’s who I mean,” Mizusawa continued.
“Uh, Mizusawa…”
“She’s incredible,” Tama-chan added.
“Uh-huh…”
In the end, we didn’t delve into what he meant. Guess I overreacted? Just because he said she re-created herself didn’t inherently imply she could cut people to ribbons with her words.
“Aoi can do anything. She propels herself forward. Ordinarily, people like that are easy to hate, right? But she’s got that charm, so everyone loves her anyway.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
I regained my calm. Leaving aside the question of who she really was, her onstage self was exactly like Mizusawa said. She was perfect but charming, too, which only added to the sense of perfection she had. Tama-chan nodded.
“That description does fit Aoi well,” she said.
Seeing we were both convinced, Mizusawa continued.
“I’ve thought about why that is, and the conclusion I reached…is that she does a good job of consistently making herself vulnerable.”
“Um, does she really?” I asked.
Mizusawa did another one of those dramatic pauses. “For instance, there’s her extreme love of cheese.”
“Ah.”
I was starting to understand.
“She doesn’t normally show her desires or weaknesses, but when it comes to cheese, she makes a point of it, just a little. She innocently lets her desire show a bit, and that creates an obvious vulnerability.”
As I recalled all the cheese incidents, I realized that she definitely did appear extremely vulnerable on that front.
“Yeah, it’s like you can see her heart at those moments.”
Mizusawa smiled.
“And since the cheese thing is so consistent, people accept it as part of her character. Now every time she talks about cheese, the people she’s with are like, there she goes again, right? I think that sense of there she goes again is a sign that people accept and like her character.”
“…Interesting.”
His argument was fairly convincing—especially given that Hinami was putting it into practice in an easy-to-grasp way. It would be like her to analyze how people engender charm and implement her conclusions. When it came to cheese, my guess was that she honestly liked it to start with, but she played it up a little for maximum effect.
As I was silently admiring Mizusawa’s insight, Tama-chan asked him a question in a fascinated tone.
“Wow, Mizusawa, do you always think that hard about stuff?”
“Huh? Well, Sometimes, I guess. Not every day. Probably not tamarrow.”
“Oh, come on, I’m so tired of that!”
“Whoops, you got me.”
They shared a laugh. It was good to see them getting along so well.
I had a guess as to why Mizusawa might be so interested in this particular topic. Or maybe I was jumping to conclusions—but had he reflected on this question so deeply because he liked her? I did feel like he was analyzing a kind of battle strategy for her, though. As I was thinking this over, Mizusawa kept talking.
“Getting back to my original point—Takei has tons of weaknesses, right?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, you’re right.”
He startled me out of my thoughts as they started to veer off in a strange direction, so my answer came across as a little surprised. But his point did make sense. If you wanted to understand this “consistent vulnerability” concept, look no further than Takei. They say 70 percent of the human body is made up of water, and in Takei’s case, the remaining 30 percent was vulnerability. And because people saw that as the “typical Takei,” it drew them into liking him. Huh, interesting.
“But you think Aoi does that intentionally?” Tama-chan asked, tilting her head.
My heart skipped a beat again. As I was wondering how to cover for her, Mizusawa jumped in.
“I’m not sure. But either way, it’s a good lesson to learn from.”
He glanced at me and smiled conspiratorially.
“Y-yeah.” I nodded with feigned calm. I was fairly sure Mizusawa had not only figured out Hinami’s behind-the-scenes character but also knew that I knew, which was why he was helping to keep it hidden from Tama-chan. Wow, he’s good. Let me warn you, man—her real personality is fifty times more extreme than you’ve ever imagined. Even I haven’t seen the full extent of it yet.
Tama-chan lowered her eyes. “Vulnerability, huh…?” she mumbled, frowning.
“Right. And you, Tama, have almost none of that, no?”
“Yeah…I guess.”
She nodded. I agreed with Mizusawa’s point. Behind her petite appearance, she was unshakably solid. She was always with Mimimi, but Mimimi was the silly one letting down her guard, while Tama-chan’s role was to poke fun when she did.
“What I’m saying is, if you create some easy-to-see vulnerabilities and get everyone used to them, you can win people over. You’re already petite, and your nickname is a popular name for cats. You’re brimming with potential. It’s all a question of how you make use of it.”
That did seem like a good strategy for resolving the problem.
“Seems worth trying,” I said, turning to Tama-chan. She looked back and forth between the two of us. Her expression was brave, with a hint of fear and a whole lot of will to fight.
“Yeah. I’ll give it a try,” she replied decisively. She’d taken one more step forward. Little by little, she was making the choices she needed to in order to change. Mizusawa smiled gently at her.
“Great. Now, on to the special training.”
“Right,” I said with a relieved smile. “So how do you create vulnerabilities?”
Mizusawa put his hand to his chin.
“Well…there’s lots of ways.”
Suddenly, we heard footsteps clattering down the hallway. Mizusawa grinned.
“And if you want specifics…”
“Sorry, guys!! Practice ran late!”
Takei burst into the classroom and immediately banged his leg on the corner of a desk near the door.
“Owwwww!!” he cried out. Mizusawa rolled his eyes, smiled, and thumped Takei on the back as he doubled over in pain.
“And if you want specifics—your teacher has arrived.”
“Although, he might be an unwilling one,” he added to his cocky announcement.
“Hey, what are you talking about?!”
Takei was left out of the loop, but he made zero attempt to hide that fact. There he goes again. Wide-open.
“He is perfect for the role.”
“What?! What am I perfect for?!”
We all ignored his excited question, and with that, Tama-chan’s charm school began.