CHAPTER FIVE

A Full Moon, like a Glass Marble Sinking in a Bottle of Ramune Soda

This is the story of Kenta Yamazaki, aspiring ex-nerd, as he approaches the biggest crossroad of his life so far.

I, the aforementioned Kenta Yamazaki, approached the Starbucks step by precious step, as I went over all the things King had told me in my head.

I couldn’t sleep a wink last night. I knew that I was in the wrong. King and Yuuko had given me so much over the past three weeks. They all had… But in the end, I’d thrown it back in their faces.

What a fool I was.

I didn’t need Yuuko to remind me what a great guy King really was. Did I trust him? Absolutely. In fact, there was no one else in my life I could trust more. But I was still so caught up in my nerd-persona complex, so poisoned by the things Uemura had been saying to me… I felt like shit about myself, and I wanted to blame someone else. So I tried to act like I was the wounded party, and King had even apologized…to me.

“If you get to know them well, you’ll be able to tell whether they’re trying to put you down, or if they’re just teasing you in a loving manner.”

I remembered King saying that to me. It seemed like such a fundamental thing. But I had forgotten it. My identity as an unpopular, bullied nerd ran too deep.

I felt sure that, even now, King was blaming himself. Probably thinking he’d failed in earning my trust, like he said yesterday in the classroom. Which he hadn’t! King hadn’t done anything wrong. I was just…being a brat.

King could do everything. That was probably why he felt so responsible for me. He probably felt like he could solve any problem anyone was having, as long as he caught it in time. Otherwise, he blamed himself. No doubt he was taking my cruel words to heart, even though I had just thrown them out there in a fit of self-directed frustration.

After what I’d done, I knew there was no way back to King’s side.

All I could do now was try my best to show how much I’d changed. To honor the effort King and his group had made for me over the past three weeks.

…I started thinking back on my first meeting with King.

I found myself smiling.

Reflecting on it now, he’d made a terrible impression on me when he showed up and started talking to me through my door. Bringing a cute girl along with him, acting so superior. “Oh, shall I help you out, poor misguided little shut-in?” He was the personification of everything I hated about popular kids.

I figured he’d soon give up once he’d made his point with the “Look what a great guy I am” shtick. But then he busted through my window and barged into my room. What a lunatic. Talk about overkill.

I chuckled to myself.

So much had happened since then.

I still felt weird wearing the glasses, clothes, and bag King and Yuuko had picked for me. Like I was wearing a costume. But when I looked at myself in the mirror at home, I actually managed to forget for a moment that I didn’t have any friends anymore. I liked what I saw.

The new look wasn’t just proof I’d become less dorky and more popular-looking. It also represented the times I’d shared with King and his group.

To be really honest, I didn’t care about Miki anymore. And my desire for revenge, my hope that I could make Miki regret her actions… Those feelings seemed to have disappeared. As if blown away by a strong yet gentle breeze, cast off into some far-off ocean.

“If you put in the time and effort toward something you’re suited toward, then results will follow.”

I was proud of myself now. I was proud of what I’d achieved in the past three weeks.

Today wasn’t just about settling my personal score. It was about something so much bigger than that. It was a matter of pride.

…Yeah, King would probably roll his eyes at that.

I was nervous. I kept getting the urge to turn around and run home. But I kept on walking anyway. King had always praised me for sticking to it, at least.

It looked like I really was Sidey McSide Character, just an amusing plot point in King’s harem comedy story. I had no particular charms of my own. I guess I was always meant to just fade out of the plot. Actually, that altercation in the classroom yesterday… I bet that was supposed to be my exit scene.

Well, it makes sense. He could be mean sometimes, and he was undoubtedly a cynic and a narcissist, but I’d never met anyone with as big a presence as King’s. He was strong, warm, funny, cool. Surrounded by a cast of equally shining stars…Yuuko, Uchida, Nanase, Aomi, Mizushino, Asano. You had to be special to ride with the king.

…These past three weeks… Man, they were fun. For just a short period of time, King had invited me into his story. He had shown me a world I hadn’t realized was possible. But it had come with an expiration date from the start.

I gritted my teeth. I felt like tears might come at any moment if I didn’t hold myself together.

Things would be different, going forward.

I had to make something of my life by myself.

I remembered King saying…

“…Take responsibility for your own story, and write it how you want it to be.”

This is the story of Kenta Yamazaki, aspiring ex-nerd, as he approaches the biggest crossroad of his life so far.

I could see Miki, Ren, and Hayato standing in front of the Starbucks already. The three of them were looking at Miki’s phone, laughing about something. Maybe she was going over my LINE group messages and laughing at me. I felt my heart sink.

Gathering my courage, I walked right up to them. Miki and Ren lifted their heads and looked at me, but they didn’t seem to recognize me as the person they were waiting for. They turned away from me and continued their conversation.

Miki was wearing a gothic Lolita outfit today.

“…Sorry, have you been waiting long?”

I spoke up, trying to keep my voice as steady as possible. My throat felt dry already. I couldn’t wait to get an iced latte in my hands.

The three turned to me in annoyance.

Why is this guy talking to us?

How rude, interrupting our conversation like this.

What an annoying jerk.

That’s what their eyes were saying. I could tell. I would have thought the same thing myself, three weeks ago.

Then Miki’s eyes widened.

“Er… Kenta?”

“Oh… You’ve forgotten what I look like already? Ouch…”

It was obvious my makeover had knocked them off-balance.

Once they realized it really was me, Kenta, Ren’s whole attitude changed.

“Seriously? That’s you, Kenta? The heck are you wearing? You doing your big high school makeover? You’re a year late, you know? Oh man, you’re hysterical.”

I had to admit that Ren looked pretty cool. Even though the way he was trying to dunk on me to make himself look better was the embodiment of everything I hated about popular kids. He was another one, just like Uemura, who acted out of a sense of deep insecurity. Kinda sad.

I knew that, but his words still stung. “Ah, no, it’s not like that, exactly…” I tried to laugh it off, at first.

Then I remembered King saying:

“It’s better to make fun of yourself and invite everyone else to join in.”

“…Although, you’re not totally wrong. After being rejected by Miki, I was pretty shocked. I couldn’t even go to school for a while. But now I’m over it, and I’m trying to get along with everyone more and make friends like popular kids do. What do you think of my new look?”

But their reaction wasn’t what I was expecting. Ren looked stunned. Was it because I was doing my best King impression? We went to different schools, so he couldn’t have known I hadn’t been able to attend school for a while. I offered that information myself.

Now Hayato spoke up, his lip curling in derision.

“You couldn’t go to school? All because a girl rejected you? Man, that’s pathetic. This isn’t a light novel, you know. There’s no way a cringey loser like you could ever become popular in real life. Right, Miki? Right, Ren?”

I was sure he was trying to drag me back down to my prior position. Thanks to King and Yuuko, I’d started to feel okay about myself lately. I’d even managed to start projecting a bit of hot-guy aura. They had to have noticed. They were so hyperaware of popularity and the social hierarchy. That was why they were acting so unsettled.

It was sad they had no idea that, in this world, sometimes stuff does play out like a light novel. There’s a real-life OP hero even more unrealistic than the ones in those series.

I could almost hear King saying:

“Forget the others. Focus on becoming someone you’d like if you weren’t you.”

“I know, I know. But I figured, I can’t get even lower than this. What do I have to lose? So I thought I should give it a try.”

Right. Even though King, Yuuko, and the other members of Team Chitose had so many natural gifts, they still did their best every day to maintain their own high standards. I didn’t have anything worthwhile to begin with, so how lucky was I to get all this praise just for smartening myself up a little?

I took a deep breath and tried to make sure I wasn’t talking too fast.

“Anyway, instead of standing around out here, shall we go and sit down?”

“Yeah. I’ve actually never been here before… Have you been to Starbucks, Kenta?”

Maybe I was imagining it, but Miki’s way of speaking was nicer than I recalled.

“Uh, I’ve been here once before, yeah.”

Grande, grande, grande. Not ground. Not ground. Grande!!!

I ordered a Starbucks iced latte. The other three said they’d have the same, so I ordered for them all. Then I led everyone over to the same table as the one in the photo I had on my phone’s lock screen. We took our seats. Recalling the photograph made me relax, just a little.

Ren leaned his arm over the backrest of his chair and crossed his legs in an ostentatious manner.

“You don’t seem used to being in a place like this, Kenta. Most regulars customize their orders, don’t you know that?”

Yes, he was right. I remembered how King and Yuuko had added all kinds of things to their orders. But I was so busy thinking about everything else that I’d completely forgotten about that.

So why didn’t you customize your order just now? The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I bit them back.

I could almost hear King now:

“Dragging down other people won’t lift you up any higher. It’ll just degrade you until you end up descending to their level.”

“Well, as I said, I’ve only come here once before. I came for a dry run, to practice inviting you all here today.”

Hayato snorted.

“You had to do a dry run? He really is a loser, isn’t he, Ren? Shame we couldn’t just hang with Miki today, just the three of us.”

“Cut it out, Hayato.”

Everything that came out of these guys’ mouths was a put-down. Why was I even part of this group in the first place? This meeting was so unpleasant.

But this was my own fault—I’d spent enough time with them before to know what they were like. I’d wanted a friend group outside of school, a safe haven where I could share my interests with like-minded people, and I’d waded into the mud with them. So I expected too much of them, and then I got my feelings hurt. I didn’t know these people, not really. Not at all.

I could almost hear the King’s voice:

“Now, let’s try to understand each other.”

“So how have you all been doing? Have you been to any events lately?”

But Ren remained smug-faced.

“Yep. We have. Since you left, we’ve actually been able to get together more and more. So thanks for that.”

“Oh, that’s good. Sorry, I didn’t realize I had been holding everyone back so much. Recently, I’ve been reading a lot of mainstream novels and watching mainstream cinema. It’s surprisingly interesting. And I’ve been getting into lifting weights, too.”

Hayato scoffed and joined in with Ren.

“So now you’re not just trying to climb the social ladder, you’re turning your back on otaku culture as a whole? Ridiculous. You’ll never be anything but a loser. You think this is like one of those transformation stories you find in light novels? Look at those clothes and that bag. Someone else picked them out for you; that much is obvious.”

“Yes, my new friends from school came shopping with me.”

Hayato was turning out to be a bigger douche than I remembered.

He was probably scared of looking like a third wheel to Miki and Ren after I left the group. So he was trying hard to make them seem like they had this great three-way friendship going on.

Miki kept sneaking glances at me. “Kenta… I thought you didn’t have any good friends at school? So you made some new friends?”

…This flirtatious manner of hers was what led me to getting the wrong idea about her.

But I guess Miki was just trying to seem like the cute girl. Especially in front of her boyfriend, Ren. If I really wanted to win her affection, I should have just tried harder.

Right, Yuuko?

“Well, a lot’s happened. They’re not so much friends as, I guess, life coaches? Or a king. Or a crazy demon lord. But they’re all really cool. They have a great philosophy on life. I’ve been far more influenced by them than by any of the light novels I’ve read, I’d say.”

“…Are any of them girls?”

Miki had a sort of wistful look in her eyes. Even though I had broken with their group, hearing about an old friend making new friends isn’t always the easiest.

“Some of them are. The guys are super cool, and the girls are really charming. How about you…? Are you and Ren still dating and everything?”

“Uh, yeah…”

Miki looked away, trailing off. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked such a personal question, even though I was trying that whole mutual understanding thing. I guess some people don’t like to talk about that stuff in public.

“…So do you have a crush on any of these girls?”

But Miki was asking me personal questions now. I guess I became someone people actually want to know about?

“Oh, no. They’ve all done so much for me, but I haven’t been able to offer them anything in return. I’d never presume to have a crush on any of them, not without being able to settle the score first. I mean, maybe, one day, after I’m done working on myself.”

It was weird. In response to Miki’s question, my mind didn’t go toward Uchida as I might have predicted. Instead, it showed me something else. I had this mental image of a clear lake reflecting the sunset. It would soak up the setting sun’s rays, offering a warm place to bathe for everyone who reached its shores. I thought about the girl I had recently come to know, whose name was written with the characters for evening and lake. Yuuko.

“Have you…have you forgotten about me? When I got the message from you after so long, I was really kind of excited to see you again…”

…I see.

She was playing the same game as last time. But this time, I could see right through her. She was showing interest in me to bait her boyfriend, Ren, into jealousy. To reaffirm his feelings for her.

But I no longer harbored any resentment toward her. And my desire to make her regret her actions had also dissipated. If she hadn’t rejected me like she did, I would never have met King and the others. What could I do to repay them for that?

Perhaps I could prove useful by pretending to still harbor feelings for Miki, to fan the flames of Ren’s jealousy?

I had the feeling it would be effective. But I wasn’t sure I could pull it off.

Well, I could try being honest with them and try to reassure them that I wasn’t interested. Then they could be honest with each other, too.

“It doesn’t sound very nice to say I’ve forgotten you, but I guess I have. I don’t have feelings for you anymore, Miki. I’ve found a better way forward by myself.”

…

There was a long silence.

For some reason, Miki’s shoulders appeared to be trembling. Uh-oh. Did I say something wrong?

But it was Ren who spoke next.

“Are you for real? This is why you invited us out?”

“…Er, yes?”

“I don’t know who gave you the idea, but did you seriously ask us to meet you just so you could get revenge on Miki for rejecting you by flashing your new hairstyle and clothes and lying about all the hot friends you’ve made? Seriously?!”

I wasn’t sure what was going on. I really did make new friends. And I did ask these guys to meet me so I could show them how I’d changed. But why was Ren getting so mad?

“Uh, but I really did make new friends. And I swear I never intended to get revenge. I did have a crush on Miki before; that’s true. But I don’t see her that way anymore. I guess I just wanted to set things straight with you all. I kinda slunk out of the group without even saying good-bye, you know?”

“Are you insane?! The hell is wrong with you?! ‘Oh, I’ve found cuter girls now, so I don’t rate you anymore?!’ Y’know, I actually felt a little bad for you, so I decided to be nice! Get off your high horse! You haven’t changed at all! You’re completely oblivious!” Miki broke her silence and started yelling at me.

I must have said something wrong…

I was shocked, honestly. I was hoping to have a nice discussion, make friends with everyone again, and go home feeling good about myself. I’d really felt like I could do it, after all the changes I’d made…

King and Yuuko seemed to think I’d changed. I thought I had, too. But I guess it didn’t look that way to other people…

“S-sorry… Did I say something to offend you? I know you’re not interested in me, Miki. I know you’re dating Ren. I’ve never even had a girlfriend, so I know you two live in a totally different world…”

“What? Man, you piss me off! Are you saying Ren and I got together just like that? Like we’re both so easy? You’re a popular kid now, so you live in a different world from us otakus? You think a new haircut and clothes change anything? We used to be friends, so I’ll let you in on a secret… There’s a one hundred percent chance your new friends are making fun of you! ‘Let’s give the otaku a makeover; it’ll be sooo funny!’”

Ouch. I wanted to deny it, to tell Miki they weren’t like that. But how could I, after I had just accused King and Yuuko of doing exactly that, yesterday in the classroom?

So instead I kept silent. Which gave Hayato the chance to butt in.

“Kenta hasn’t realized that. He’s too stupid. Us unpopular kids are like toys for the popular ones. Like, they’ll dare each other to confess to you as a joke. You think they’re your friends? I bet the whole time they were laughing about those dumb round glasses of yours. You know, just like we laughed at you. Miki sent us screenshots of everything you said to her in real time. We practically pissed ourselves laughing. What was it you said, again?”

“Uh, I think it was: ‘Until I met you, I had no idea of the beauty of three-dimensional girls…’ Oh, oh, and he also said: ‘I’ll change, so I can treat you right, Miki!’ And then he was like: ‘I saw you in my dreams again last night, Miki’…!!!”

“Ew, gross! What a loser! Total virgin!”

This was too much. All the pain from that time was flooding back. Why did they have to be so cruel? What was I even doing here, trying to talk to these people? What happened to the new me the confident guy I’d been cultivating over the past three weeks? Nothing I was saying was getting through to these people. This was all pointless.

Man, this is what I must have seemed like to King and Yuuko back at the beginning.

Why did they even bother with me in the first place? I know I wouldn’t have.

Popular kids… They’re really something else.

If I just kept going, maybe I could be like them someday.

I cleared my throat, which was still painfully dry.

“…Ah-ha-ha… Yeah, thinking back on it now, I was pretty cringey. Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset everyone. I feel like an idiot now; I got the wrong idea about so many things.”

“…Why are you trying to laugh this off?”

Ren scowled.

“Aren’t you upset? Aren’t you mad? If you are, just say it. You can’t just pretend like what we’re saying doesn’t affect you. When people are making fun of you, you can’t do anything but laugh along. No matter how much you try to change your appearance, you’re still just a sad, friendless loser on the inside.”

Ren suddenly leaned forward, bringing his face right up next to mine.

“Wanna know something? Remember when you messaged Miki something like ‘You looked cute eating ice cream today lol’ and she responded ‘Aw, ha-ha, I bet you were thinking dirty thoughts!’…? Well, Miki was with me in my room when she sent that. And my parents were away on a trip. No one else was home. Do you get what I’m saying here?”

Then he leaned in farther, his harsh breath in my ear.

“Laughing over your LINE message was, like, the perfect foreplay for us. We did it five times that night. Thanks, Kenta. I owe you for that.”

I felt pain flood my chest.

I couldn’t handle this. I could see the whole scene in my mind. My LINE message was a prop in their sex life?

“Ren! Don’t tell him thaaat!”

“Hee-hee, I stole the girl right out from under you, huh, Kenta? The classic trope! Maybe you’ll discover a whole new genre!”

Hee-hee-hee, ha-ha-ha.

I felt like I was all alone in my mind, under a dark-gray sky pouring with filthy, slushy rain.

I could feel the dark water swirl around my feet, threatening to pull me under and drown me in despair.

…I can’t do this, King. There’s no way to turn this around. I just want to run home. Lock myself in my room, where it’s safe, and no one can hurt me. I want to curl up under my bedsheets, a filthy, soggy, drenched rat of a human being.

I really was nothing but a gutless, miserable, shut-in loser. That was why I had said all those horrible things to King yesterday. I hadn’t changed.

I choked back my tears, trying not to let them fall.

Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry. At least not until this is over, and you’ll be alone.

I’m…sorry, King. I’m sorry, Yuuko. I failed the final exam. I won’t be graduating after all…

…I could almost hear the King’s voice.

“Now, now, you’re forgetting the most important part.”

It was like a message from heaven.

The foul rains cleared, and the sun peeked through the heavy rainclouds.

“Answer this, Kenta. What if they really are trying to be mean?”

“Then…then I crush them?”

“Precisely.”

A strong hand patted me on the back.

“I’ve come to watch your back, Kenta. Just like I promised.”

I turned around, and he was there. He was really there. It was the king.

A single tear slid down my cheek.

Ah, geez. After all that work I’d done trying not to cry…

“Hmm? I thought I recognized that voice from the table behind me. Hey, Kenta. You could have invited me if you were coming to Starbucks.”

I quickly scrubbed my face with my sleeve, erasing my tears.

It’s no good, King.

What are you doing here anyway?

Why’d you show up out of the blue in a blaze of coolness?

I was so taken aback by King’s sudden appearance that I couldn’t speak. There was too much going on.

“Who are these guys? They’re not friends of yours, are they, Kenta? They look kind of…lame?”

“…Th-these are my old friends.”

That was all I managed to say. I think I did pretty well getting any words out at all, under the circumstances.

“Heh. Really? Never woulda guessed. You’ve really moved up in the world.”

King was acting strange today. He was projecting about 50 percent more BDE than usual. It was like he was using his top-class popularity status as some sort of weapon…

But my old friend group seemed twice as stunned as I was. In fact, they looked like they were about to crumble into ash at any second. Miki cleared her throat and spoke in a strained sort of voice.

“Um… Wh-who are you?”

“Uh, I’m Kenta’s buddy? Hi, old friends. The name’s Saku Chitose. What’s up?”

King gave her a dazzling, hot-and-I-know-it smile. If I was a girl, that smile would absolutely slay me.

Ren suddenly pointed accusingly at me, either sparked into action by Miki’s simpering or by King’s show of superiority.

“Y-yeah, so what? This guy’s a real otaku loser. Do you have any idea how many anime figurines he has? He’d only ever whacked off to animated girls, until he met Miki.”

“Yeah, I know he’s an otaku, thanks. He actually keeps me supplied with all the best and latest light novels and anime series on Blu-ray. And we have plans to go to Summer Comiket together. We’re gonna buy as many dojinshi as we can fit.”

We made no such plans, King!

And who told you about dojinshi?! Why are you talking about buying dojinshi at Summer Comiket in the same casual way normal people talk about taking a summer vacation at the beach?!

The heck are you doing, King?!

“I actually overheard your conversation just now. Kenta, are you secretly trying to be an actor? Were you doing a script read-through?”

Okay, now I was completely lost.

“An…actor?”

As I blinked at King in confusion, he grabbed my Starbucks latte cup and took a sip. “Huh. No extra espresso this time,” he murmured.

King was asserting dominance and flexing all over the place. The rest of us were mere mortals groveling in his presence. Miki had hearts in her eyes as she gazed at the king, but I wasn’t even jealous. He was the king.

“Good performance anyway. Uh, now, Ren, was it? Yeah, you were good, too. Your attempt to diss Kenta over his Starbucks order… You really got the part of the pompous love rival down. Full marks, Prince Jiro. The losers must love kissing up to you.”

Everyone was speechless as King continued.

“You too, Miki. The way you actually do kinda like Kenta now and then turned on him the instant he mentioned other girls? Classic. Shame Kenta didn’t seem to catch that, though. He hasn’t gotten that much experience with girls. Still, it was kinda cute how desperate you were to save face. If you weren’t Ren’s girlfriend, I’d sure like to teach you a thing or two…”

King trailed off, gazing into Miki’s eyes.

“Ah, unless the thing about you two dating was also part of the script? In which case, can I call dibs?”

King brushed Miki’s bangs aside and touched her chin. All of a sudden, he was giving off waves of sex appeal, which even a guy like me couldn’t fail to notice. Ren could only sit there while King was hitting on his girl.

If what King was saying was for real, then I had gotten things completely wrong. Now I could see why Miki and Ren had gotten pissed. Still, while it was a bit late for me to realize this now, I could still feel regret over how I’d handled things.

“Um, well, m-maybe we could exchange LINE info…” Miki was blushing and stammering.

No, don’t fall for it!

“…Only kidding. I hate girls like you, who flit from one guy to the other. Even if it is just the character you’re playing.”

King turned away from Miki and focused his attention on Hayato.

“But I have to give the Oscar to Hayato here. Trying to act like the big man in his little otaku nerd group of only four members. You’re not even on Sidey McSide Character levels. You’re more like Thirdy McWheeler; know what I mean? You hate yourself, so you spend all your energy slinging verbal stones at other people. You played the part of the villainous coward so perfectly, I have to say I was quite convinced. Talk about stealing the scene.”

Mommy, Daddy, there’s a demon inside a high schooler’s body.

“Yeah, it was an excellent read-through, but I have to say the best part was when this guy went into cringeworthy detail about his sex life… Pfffft.”

Then King cracked up laughing.

“Okay, be real with me, the whole thing was some sort of meta-commentary on otaku tropes of the day, right? I mean, all the standard character archetypes were included. But you need to keep it grounded in reality; you can’t have the nemesis character come out with such a bald-faced lie. The audience won’t buy it. Good for a laugh, though, right? Ha-ha-ha!”

“Uh, King? What bald-faced lie?” I had managed to calm down enough to speak a little.

“The part about both his parents being away on a trip. And who does it five times a night when it’s their first time? Ha-ha-ha. Your little soldier just keeps poppin’ back up, does he? What, did you pray too hard at a shrine for good health? And poor Miki. She’s like some modern-day castle you just keep plundering, isn’t she? Ah, that must be because you weren’t bringing much of a gun to the fight. More of a pencil, huh? Thin, long-lasting, never needs sharpening? Ha-ha, you’re a couple of kids.”

I wasn’t quite following, but Miki and Ren had both turned bright red. I had a feeling King had managed to land a string of critical hits.

“If you two really did cross that line together, that memory would be way more special to you. You’d want to keep it close to the chest, away from everyone else. Sure, you might let your most trusted friends know it happened. But blurting all the details like that? No one does that. So I call bullshit. A fictional tale constructed by a couple of virgins. Was this meant to be some sort of parody of those teen coming-of-age movies or something? Ha-ha-ha!”

Mommy, Daddy, the demon lord is preparing to take over the world…

Now the blood drained from both Miki’s and Ren’s faces, leaving them white. Hayato was staring down at the table as if he wished the ground would open and swallow him up.

“All right, Ren, Miki, Hayato. What do you have to say for yourselves? I’ve given you my critique of your read-through; any objections?”

The situation had become clear to me now.

King had been here all along, watching and listening to our conversation. Then, when he saw that I was flailing, he had stepped in to save me.

Even after all those horrible things I said to him yesterday.

…How dumb are you, King?

Yeah, I’d figured him out now. King was as dumb as they come. And way too soft. He came to coax me out of my room on a teacher’s order and then tried to help me improve myself like some makeover scene from a light novel. Then, like a dog biting the hand that feeds it, I’d lashed out at him. And he was still here, showing up for me, having my back. He had to be dumb, to even be doing that.

But that’s Saku Chitose for you.

As the realization hit me, I became covered in goosebumps.

King must have lived his whole life this way…

He was something else. What a ridiculous way to live. I got the feeling I had only seen the surface level of the complex human being that was Saku Chitose.

“Your entire existence revolves around trampling on other people, all of you!!!”

My cutting words came back to me all of a sudden. He was just living his best life, but he had to put up with so much from the haters. He never lets it stop him, though.

He could have just cut off everyone beneath him. That would be easier. But he didn’t. He stuck up for everyone around him. How many others had he tried to help, who then turned around and stabbed him in the back like I had done?

And yet he kept offering help. Maybe it was for the “optics,” like he said. Maybe it was because of mistakes in his past. Maybe it was because he had such a strong conscience and a good moral compass. I couldn’t say.

All I knew was that I had none of the goodness in me that he had.

“Listen. Saku has been doing all this out of a genuine desire to help you. He’s been willing to stick with you to the end, hasn’t he?”

You were right, Yuuko.

My vision swam with tears.

That’s why he is the best. No one else can reach his level.

He’s unbeatable.

Yeah, he was the dumbest, bestest guy I knew.

“What the hell is your problem?”

“Hmm?”

“Who the hell gave you permission to come and barge in on our conversation anyway?! Who do you think you are?!”

Ren slammed his fists down on the table and got to his feet. It looked like he’d snapped. He knew that King was on a much higher social level than him, but he was so steamed that he didn’t care about that anymore.

“Hmm, I’m Saku Chitose. Most popular guy in my school. You may call me King. Many do.”

King gave Ren a sardonic grin.

“Huh?! You wanna fight; is that it?!”

“Hmm, I seem to recall it was you guys who were picking a fight with my buddy here.”

King stared Ren down.

Hearing him call me his buddy like that… It made the floodgates open, and the tears started flowing again. Maybe he was just saying it because of the circumstances, but King still considered me a friend…!

“Mind your own damn business! This is between our group, so just butt out!”

“It is my business. I’m his friend. You guys are just his ex-friends.”

“Pah! You were probably just amusing yourselves by giving a makeover to an unpopular kid! All you popular kids are the same! You act like being popular gives you a pass to shit on everybody else! You hunt the rest of us down for sport!”

“You’re one to talk. What you’re doing here is picking on someone less popular than you, within your little otaku hobbyist group. Wow, aren’t you the big, cool man?”

Ren looked like he was getting ready to throw a punch. King, meanwhile, just smirked coolly.

“Shut up!! All you popular kids are shallow wastes of space! All you do is laugh yourselves stupid over boring, dumb stuff in the classroom, thinking everyone is watching you, imagining how cool you are! You can all go to hell!”

“So what you’re implying is that you otaku are these deep, cultured individuals who simply keep your true natures on the down-low at school? Well, that goes for us popular kids, too. In the classroom, we show our everyday, fun-loving sides. Then, while you sad sacks are sitting in your rooms trolling and writing nasty takedowns on online forums, we’re out there doing school sports, working up a sweat, helping out our friends, or chatting with girls late at night on the phone and being a shoulder for them to cry on.”

King took a casual slurp of my iced latte.

“What do you expect us to talk about in the classroom? Politics? Current events? You base your assessment of people on what they chat about with their friends between classes? If we’re shallow, what does that make you? You basically don’t exist.”

This reminded me of the conversations King and I had back at the beginning. I felt a pang of regret, deep in my chest.

“You should chat with the unpopular kids, too, not just your popular buddies! You act like you’re so nice and generous, but you only act that way to other popular kids!”

“Well, let me ask you this. Have you ever tried to get to know popular kids or extend any kindness to them at all? You want people to be nice to you—you should start by being nice to others. No, you just expect people to extend courtesies to you that you wouldn’t even think of returning or initiating. We’re your classmates; we’re not your mom. We’re not Mother Teresa.”

All of Ren’s attacks were bouncing off King and getting thrown right back in his face. Like verbal boomerangs.

“Wake up. Groveling around on the floor, hissing up at the popular kids—you’re just as bad as the popular kids who sneer down at those below them. Two sides of the same coin.”

Ren seemed to have realized he was no match for King. Now he was on the defensive.

“W-well anyway, there’s no way a gloomy nobody like Kenta could ever truly be popular. Even if he worked his ass off, unpopular kids never get to become popular. It just doesn’t happen. I don’t know what your plans were with him, but I can assure you that Kenta doesn’t trust or care for your type, either. He’s just going along with what you want, preparing himself for the moment when you all turn on him. He hates you for it!”

Ren turned to me, sneering.

“People don’t change! People can’t change! And seeing you try so hard… It’s just pathetic!!!”

I blinked at him. He was right. I proved it yesterday, with my little outburst. I had no right to keep enjoying the benefits of King’s support.

King sighed, not looking at me. Instead, he took a step closer to Ren…

“You’re really pissing me off, you know that?”

King took another step closer. And then…

BAM!!!

King slammed his hand against the wall behind Ren’s head with a bang, boxing him in, getting all up in his face. The Starbucks baristas and the other customers all froze and looked this way.

But King ignored them all. He glared at Ren, who turned his face to the side, grimacing.

I had never seen Saku Chitose get angry. Until now.

“All right, listen up, you miserable asswipe. Kenta has taken a good look at himself and taken steps to get closer to the kind of person he’d like to be. Yes, he’s got a long way to go, and some people might have a problem with his new persona. But he’s still moving forward regardless. He’s promised himself that he’ll never go back, no matter how hard it is or how many times he falls.”

SLAM!

King drove his fist into the wall on the other side of Ren’s head.

“Kenta is reaching for the moon. That distant, shining, beautiful representation of everything he wants to achieve. Do you have any idea how hard it’s been for him to make that decision and then follow through with it? Have you no respect?”

Then King grabbed Ren by the front of his shirt.

“Someone like you, who never tries to better themselves, just eating and breathing, entrenched in their sad little life while slinging shit at people who are doing better than them…”

King was really yelling now.

“You have no right to laugh at someone like Kenta!!!”

…I couldn’t hold back.

…The tears were flowing, and I couldn’t keep the sobs inside anymore.

King was mad. King was yelling. For me.

He was always so happy-go-lucky, such a chill guy. But for me, he was letting his true emotions show for once.

I had never been so encouraged in all my life.

This was King’s final gift for me, before we went off on our separate paths.

Keep going! Don’t stop! Don’t turn back!

Your choices are good ones! Your motivation is solid!

Come on; try to match me! You’ll get there! Someday!

That’s what King’s actions were saying.

I had to honor his gesture. I couldn’t flounder anymore. I had to take King’s message to heart.

I wanted to remember this moment forever.

I tried to burn the image of King standing up for me into my mind. So I would always have it with me.

And then…

“Aw, Saku! I wanted you to use that sexy wall-pounding move on me, hee-hee-hee!”

A girl appeared all of a sudden, peering at King. She was wearing a knockout of a dress, which exposed her shoulders, back, and a good deal of her cleavage. She looked like a pop idol. Her smile, as always, was radiant.

King turned, and for a moment, his eyes bugged out, and his jaw hung slack. He looked almost comical. Like a real idiot. This definitely hadn’t been in his plan.

“…Yuuko? What…? What are you doing here?”

“Hmm? Well, of course I was going to show up! I was worried about you and Kentacchi, so I had to come see what was happening! No fair leaving me out, boys!” Yuuko turned to the baristas and customers who were still watching us in silence. “Sorry for the commotion! It’s all cool now!”

She waved reassuringly, and the tension started to dissipate. Slowly, everyone went back to what they had been doing. The baristas returned to wiping tables and taking orders, and the customers went back to chatting over their coffees.

King and Ren seemed to have backed way down as well, their aggression disappearing.

In fact, King patted Ren on the shoulder before stepping away from him. Quickly, his usual composure came back. Over the past few weeks, I had never seen King lose his cool. It had been an incredibly rare sighting.

Then Yuuko turned to me. “Kentacchi, your curls are always so cute!” she squealed as she dug her fingers into my hair and messed it up. Miki, Hayato, and Ren were just standing there dumbfounded. On top of everything else that had been going on, Yuuko’s bombshell appearance and friendliness with me had them completely floored.

“Well, now then, since it seems everyone’s said what they wanted to say, shall we put all this behind us and start fresh tomorrow? …Kentacchi, is there anything else you wanted to say?”

Yuuko turned to me, beaming. She sure managed to lighten things up, all right.

I looked at King.

King took a deep breath as if to steady himself before speaking.

“This is your story, right, Kenta? Your story of self-improvement. And we’re your supporting characters, the cute guy and girl who show up when you need a helping hand. But this is the final scene. So the hero gets to give a closing monologue.”

I knew what I needed to say.

I lost my way for a moment there, but I had won this fight against my old self and arisen victorious.

Like King said:

“Kenta is reaching for the moon. That distant, shining, beautiful representation of everything he wants to achieve.”

I closed my eyes for a second, picturing that shining light in the night sky. There was a figure standing in front of it, silhouetted against it. The figure of the king.

This was my way of remembering everything that had happened—and my good-bye.

I opened my eyes, turned to my old friends, and smiled.

“I’m…going to reach for the moon. I won’t look back, not anymore.”

All right, that’s enough of the side story of Kenta Yamazaki, aspiring ex-nerd, as he approached the biggest crossroad of his life so far.

Now let’s return to the main story. The harem rom-com starring Saku Chitose, popular hot-guy extraordinaire.

“Why did you come?” Kenta sniffed. “You lied.”

“I wasn’t expecting to. Anyway, I never said I wouldn’t come. But remember how I told you it would go well? Of course it would, ’cause you’ve got Saku Chitose in your corner.”

“This again…?”

Now that we were away from the stress of the situation, Kenta wasn’t even trying to hide his tears anymore. They were flowing freely. With a lot of snot.

“Can you stop crying? Their bullying really upset you that much?”

“They’re not tears of sadness. It’s because you two came to my rescue, even after all those horrible things I said yesterday. I’m so happy. That’s why I’m crying.”

“You already apologized for yesterday, though. Look, let’s just high-five and move past it.”

“That’s how you popular kids deal with things. I don’t know that stuff.”

After we left Starbucks, we decided to walk Yuuko home. We were heading through the same rice fields I’d walked along yesterday.

Kenta just kept on blubbering and sniffing.

“Kentacchi, that’s enough. So gross! Come on, wipe those tears.”

Yuuko offered Kenta a handkerchief. “Thank you,” he burbled, wiping his eyes and blowing his nose noisily.

Yuuko’s outfit was much more revealing than the one she’d worn when we had gone shopping with Kenta. Her shoulders were fully revealed and at least half of her back. You could even see a line of cleavage. The dress was a pink knit one, and it clung to the contours of her body. Her thighs looked full and delicious.

Her outfit had certainly worked to stun Ren and co into submission. That dress was clearly Yuuko’s secret weapon, her own personal Excalibur. Sexcalibur. Heh.

Yuuko watched Kenta snorting into her handkerchief.

“Er, you can keep that.”

“…I figured.”

Kenta glugged down some of the mineral water we’d bought on the way out of the mall and seemed to finally calm down. Then he mumbled something. It sounded like “This is for the best… Right?” Then he continued. “…I mean, I know that the responsibility for this was all on me, despite everything you two have done for me. But looking back on it…maybe we went just a bit too far?”

“Hmm, well, yeah. In light novels and anime, things tend to get heated during the big ending confrontation. Lots of harsh words, that kind of thing. But ultimately, the story always wraps up with the good guys forgiving the bad guys, right? Like, that’s the standard, feel-good ending.”

“Yeah… Wow, King, I was really shocked when you turned up and went crazy on Ren. I guess I was kinda useless, though, huh?”

“…Heh. Don’t mention it.” I put one hand on my hip and stuck my tongue out. “Hmm, still, I don’t think we went too far. All I did was pay them back for being huge jerks to you today. I think it was the perfect amount of payback, if you ask me.”

I actually meant it.

“Yeah, I really don’t care if their precious feelings got hurt from the way I burned them. If helping a buddy doesn’t mean settling the score with the ones who hurt him, then what is justice anyway?”

Yuuko reached out and poked my belly.

“Hee-hee, you lost your cool for once, Saku!”

“No, I didn’t. That was just me acting. I’m always cool.”

Honestly, I never expected Yuuko to show up then.

“To be honest, I kept waiting for my chance to jump in. But I had faith in you, Saku. So I decided to wait until you’d said your piece. Man, I was really mad! I wish everyone had been able to get along in the end… But they were being super mean to my friend. Of course I was gonna take Kentacchi’s side. I feel like it’s only fair to get mad for a good friend when he’s being wronged!”

“Oh… You guys…”

“But if you still feel bad about how things ended up, I know a way to make you feel better. Just remember that guys like that hurt people indiscriminately and never feel bad about what they’ve done. And they never go after the strong ones. Only the people they think can’t fight back. They forget that some people will throw their shit back at them; that’s on them!”

I kicked a stone along the path in front of us.

“Isn’t it better to remind people like that how it feels to be on the receiving end of harsh words and violence? I feel like it’ll end up doing them a favor. Definitely wasn’t planned, but when you think about it, we did them a service today.”

“But…now you’ve got more people out there who are going to be hating on you, King. All because of me…”

I laughed, looking at Kenta walking along with his shoulders slumped.

“I haven’t told you my philosophy yet, have I? It’s what’s behind my whole cool-guy aesthetic. Death is better than an unbeautiful life. That’s the code by which I live, and it’s what leads some people to call me a narcissist. But I won’t change, no matter the pressure. Because the thing I’m most afraid of is looking in the mirror and not liking the guy I see looking back at me.”

I felt something stir within my soul. It felt old—and sort of familiar.

“I want to be beautiful. Like the moon I saw that day. Like a glass marble, trapped in a bottle of Ramune soda. The one from that book I read once.”

Kenta was mulling over my words carefully.

I looked at him and gave him a meaningful smile.

“And by ‘beautiful,’ I mean cool and attractive and have tons of girls fussing over me. You get me?”

“King… I was actually starting to feel really inspired, but now you’ve ruined it…”

We had reached Yuuko’s house now.

It didn’t quite feel like spring anymore, but real summer was still a while off. It was the end of April. The strange in-between nature of the seasons mirrored the unsettled feeling among the three of us.

Now we had gotten past the first month of the second year of high school, with all its new encounters. What would happen next?

I remembered what Kura said.

“Getting sidetracked and taking the long route is where the real spice of life is to be found.”

He was right. It would be a shame to let this detour come to an end without realizing what I’d gained from it.

Had I managed to become a compass, one that Kenta could navigate by? Would I be a light to him if he got lost in the dark again, to show him the right path?

“I guess we’re done with the detour now.”

I turned to Kenta.

“…Huh?”

“These past three weeks. You filled the hole in your boat, right? You’re no longer sinking alone in the ocean. Now we’ve come to the end of our agreement.”

“I…I understand. I always knew it was coming, and after what I said to you yesterday, I thought I was prepared… But these past three weeks have been so amazing. It’s hard to believe it’s really over. Sorry.”

“Still, we had an agreement.”

Yuuko looked at me, and I could see she wanted to say something. I shook my head.

There’s a limit to how much of a burden we can all carry. If I shouldered the responsibility of looking after everyone I met in life, I’d end up having to drop something else I cared about, before too long.

It had gotten dark all of a sudden, without any of us realizing it.

When I looked up, I could see the moon shining brightly above us.

Things always change before you know it’s happening. People. Cities. Seasons.

So we had to move forward. If we stopped for too long, time would overtake us all.

“The detour ends here,” I said, repeating the idea to myself once more.

“…I understand. I guess…we decided that from the start, didn’t we?”

Kenta looked up at the sky, as if remembering something.

“You know, that day you broke my window and busted into my room…was like you broke a glass cage that I was trapped in… It was like you brought me something precious, something I’d given up looking for long ago—something I couldn’t remember what it was supposed to look like…”

Kenta placed a hand over his chest, smiling ruefully.

“Gosh, what am I even saying?” He laughed. “But beginning tomorrow, I know I have to start writing my own story. You’ve brought me here, King, Yuuko, all of you have. But I can’t rely on you any longer. I have one final request, though. When we see each other in school…could you please ignore me? If we stayed at any level of friendliness, I have the feeling it would only get my hopes up…”

Kenta swallowed hard. “But…,” he trailed off again, before taking a deep breath and continuing. “I need to get over my weaknesses and find my own strength. Until the day comes when I can stand on the same level as people like you. When that day comes…would it be all right if I asked you again? To be my friends, I mean…”

His eyes filled with more tears. Tsk, after all that time he spent scrubbing his face.

“These past three weeks… I won’t ever forget them. I won’t forget the things you taught me, King, the way you scolded my mistakes. The advice you gave me, Yuuko, and all your smiles… I won’t forget any of them, not until the day I die!”

Kenta gasped for breath.

“Thank you both… Thank you both so, so much!!!”

Then he bowed low before us.

In the moment, he seemed to have ceased being a boy and become a man.

A man who stood tall and proud.

I stared at Kenta, taking in the image of him. Then I turned to Yuuko beside me and spoke in a soft voice.

“My dear, has this man hit his head? He’s saying some incredibly strange things.”

“Oh my. It’s your fault, my dear, for being so cryptic! The poor fellow has gotten the wrong idea!”

“It’s that light novel mentality he’s got. Everything always has to be so dramatic and sentimental.”

“Now, now, dearest…”

Kenta lifted his head and looked at us in confusion, wiping away his tears with the back of his hand.

“Listen, Kentacchi. When Saku said it’s over, he meant this teacher-student, master-disciple, king-subject, demon lord–minion, weird as heck kind of relationship, you know!”

“…Wh-what?”

“Starting tomorrow, let’s be friends for real. That’s what he means! After all we’ve been through together, we can’t very well go back to being strangers now, can we?”

“…Huh?”

“Honestly, I’m shocked you thought what we have together could be so easily discarded! And after I put on this itchy outfit I hate just to help you out, too! Hmph!”

Oh please. You know you love your Sexcalibur dress, Yuuko.

“B-but…are you sure?!”

“Of course! We’re friends, aren’t we? Still, it’s not like I’m offering you an official initiation into Yuuko Hiiragi’s Angels or anything…”

“It’s Team Chitose.”

“…Like I said, I’m not telling you to join Yuuko Hiiragi’s Angels, but definitely let’s chat it up in the classroom, Kentacchi! We’ll want to know all about your new life! And let’s eat lunch together sometimes! Oh, and once you’ve tidied up your bedroom, invite me over! We can play video games together. Oh, no funny business, though, all right? ”

Yuuko winked at him in her racy dress. No funny business, sure, Yuuko.

“After all, we’ve done a lot for you, so now it’s time for you to pay us back! With friendship, okay? You can’t just abandon us now!”

Finally, I figured I should speak up, too. “You know, Kenta, you never asked us to be your friends for real in the first place. You just decided to act like the poor, downtrodden martyr character. Right? Sidey McSide Character?”

“King…you deliberately misled me, didn’t you? You knew I would get the wrong idea! So you acted all solemn and serious…”

“Come on, man. I can’t let my rom-com end without a little practical joking.”

“This is the first time since we’ve met that I honestly feel like punching you!”

“Listen, Kenta. Don’t throw a punch without being prepared to get punched back. You gotta know what you’re getting into.”

“Shut up, King! That’s enough! I get the picture!”

After seeing Yuuko home and saying good-bye to Kenta, I headed home along the usual riverbed path.

I walked along wearily, listening to the slight burbling of the river, smelling the fresh greenery, bathed in moonlight.

Soft light emanated from the houses lining the riverbank. I could smell something good cooking. I could also hear water splashing from an upstairs window. Someone was taking a hot bath. But was it a cute high school girl, a MILF housewife, or an old man with a potbelly?

Sometimes, I would hope a little. Sometimes, I would get a little disappointed. Sometimes, I would just walk by without thinking anything at all.

But for whatever reason, she was always here when I really wanted to see her.

“…Hey, Asuka.”

“Oh, hey. I wasn’t expecting to run into you today.”

“That’s weird. I was certain I’d run into you. And could you come up with a better nickname than hey? I hate having to share a name with someone else. If you’re up for it.”

“Hmm? What a weird thing to worry about.”

I told Asuka about everything that had happened this April, as succinctly as I could. Asuka nodded, listened carefully, and made satisfying expressions of surprise and amusement as I spoke.

“I think that’s a great story. It’s got innocence; it’s got character development; it’s uplifting. Like watching a group of boys release sky lanterns on a summer’s night.”

I felt my cheeks growing warm as I gazed up at the night sky.

“What would you have done, if you were me?”

“Hmm. But I’m not you. I’m me. Probably, I would have tried to talk things out with Kenta and then gone with him to talk to Miki, the three of us. The incident with Miki was the start of everything. So if we just sorted that out, everything would have been fixed.”

“That’s the difference between you and me, Asuka. I thought that if I focused on changing the outcome of what happened, then we’d get to the root of it as a natural consequence.”

Asuka gave me a knowing smile.

“Hmm, I think that my way would have worked, but it would have left Kenta with some ties to that incident, and I don’t know what would come of that. What you did, though—that set Kenta free.”

“…You’re overthinking it. I just did things my way ’cause that’s all I know. I can’t approach these things directly.”

Why was it that I always felt like I’d become a little boy again whenever I was with this girl?

“But you kinda like that aspect of yourself, right?”

“…Hmm. I guess.”

Suddenly, Asuka reached out and pushed my bangs aside, gazing into my eyes. I froze, even though the touch of her slim, warm fingers tickled me.

“You’ve changed a little. Your mental park is filled with kids playing with sparklers now.”

Asuka’s eyes were filled with a deep, rich color.

“Me? No way. I’m the same as ever. Just a guy playing at being a hero, I guess.”

“Hmph, always trying to act so cool. But fine. Play the hero. I promise I won’t crash your stage and be the villain.”

She gave me a teasing grin. But at the same time, I felt like she could see right through me. She leaned in, bringing her lips to my ear.

“You’re such a complicated guy. You act like nothing ever affects you, like you’re so cool, but in reality, you’re very kind. Always helping others. You’re only unkind toward yourself.”

I looked away, wanting to escape. Then I manufactured a breezy smile, trying to chase away my own uncomfortable thoughts.

“Nope, true kindness is jumping into a muddy river to save a young kid from being bullied by his peers.”

Asuka tipped her head to one side.

“Now, see, you’ve put me up on a pedestal. Like Yuuko and Kenta have done to you. But I’m just me. Asuka Nishino.”

I could hear a fish jumping in the river. It made a tiny plopping sound.

“I can’t shoulder the burden of other people like you do. I’m not as good as you are. I only help out the people I really wanna help and do what I can, nothing more. Speaking of which, after this, I’m gonna go home, eat the omurice my mom made, and read some of The Door into Summer by Heinlein before passing out.”

“Wow, what a carefree, easy existence.”

She reminded me of Kura, a little.

It was like Kura said… Nobody has a truly moral compass. You have to decide for yourself what’s right and what’s not right. That’s all there is to it.

But some people didn’t even check their compass. Almost as if checking it would rob them of the joy in the world around them.

I gazed into Asuka’s eyes. What was it like in her world?

“By the way, how do you like your omurice? Do you like it when the omelet is placed on top and then splits open so the runny egg comes out? Do you like it with cheese? What kind of sauce do you like on it? Ketchup? Demi-glace sauce? White sauce? I like a really flat, thin omelet tucked nice and tight around the rice, slathered in tons of ketchup. Like the way we ate it when we were kids, you know?”

Right now, it seemed her world was entirely focused on dinner. Red ketchup, yellow yolk, green parsley on the side. Like a traffic light. Here I was thinking we were having a philosophical discussion; meanwhile, she was only thinking with her stomach.

“Do you have any plans for Golden Week?”

“Um, nope. Not a one. I don’t like making plans in advance. I find it’s more fun to wing it and decide what I want to do when I wake up every day. I’d hate to lock myself in to something and have to miss out on something even more fun that came along later. So you got any dates planned? You can tell me; I’m your big sis.”

Asuka tucked her windswept hair behind her ear and grinned at me, her eyes wide and fixed on mine.

“I was thinking about asking this older girl on a date. But she just squashed my plans. I’m going to come stand outside your window tomorrow morning and wake you up, Asuka. I’ll be out there doing warmup exercises.”

“Ooh, sounds fun. Then, when it gets hot, we can jump into the river. Get all muddy and wet. Then I can change into your stinky gym clothes and walk home.”

“They don’t stink. You wanna go in the river right now?”

She grinned, as if remembering that day. “It would be nice, though, wouldn’t it?”

Before I could ask what she meant by that, she shook her head. “Forget it.”

“…But it’s better this way. It’s better for us to run into each other here, randomly, at the riverbank. That way, I can always be the cool older girl, and you can be the adorable boy I like to joke with.”

“You think getting any closer would ruin the relationship?”

“Could be.”

It felt like I was always chasing some spirit version of her.

Afraid that she would fade away into darkness before me, I said good night.

Back home, I went out onto my balcony, like I did that night a month ago.

There was another full moon above, a perfect circle, as if drawn with a compass. The moon had done a full orbit around the Earth, since that day Kura came to me with his request.

The cherry blossoms were long gone, and the trees were now lush and green. The new students had more of a light spring in their step when they walked to school. Kenta had come out of his room. And now I had switched to short sleeves whenever I was lounging around at home.

The night was indistinct and hazy around me.

Somewhere far-off, a young man was jumping into the sky. Somewhere else, a young girl was getting into her horse carriage.

Chewing on the remnants of an interrupted bad dream, the plump baku spirit, consumer of nightmares, smiled.

I would be having good dreams tonight.

I took my phone out of my pocket and, on a whim, opened up the underground school gossip website. There was a new entry that mentioned me.

A smile spread across my face.

Idiot. I told him to stay off social media.