CH 20

Chapter 20: The Writer Of My Dreams

TL: Akabane

TL: 6 Chapters to go.

***

The day after her birthday.

After school that day.

"What are you going to do today?"

Yuzu chases after me as usual as I exit the school gate.

Just hearing her voice makes me so nervous that I can't make proper eye contact.

If I spoke to her, she would act suspicious. On the other hand, if I continue to ignore her, Yuzu will be in a bad mood.......

"Hey!　I'm not ignoring you."

"I'm not ignoring you!"

"I tried to talk to you, but you didn't talk to me!"

"I wasn't ignoring you, I was just thinking."

"I wish that were the case, but ...... where are you looking at when you talk?"

"I'm doing my neck exercises."

"What for?"

"For my health."

"It's good that you care about your health, but you're going to hurt your neck muscles that way. You have to move it in a balanced way, up and down, side to side."

"I know, I know. I'll turn around in the next five minutes or so - you don't have to turn around!"

"You don't have to yell at me!　I'm just trying to make it easier for you to talk to me."

"I didn't mean to yell at you. I was just so surprised that my voice got really loud."

"Well, that's fine, but ...... why are your eyes white?"

"I'm practicing my ...... funny face."

"What for?"

"I'm trying to send Sana a picture of my face."

"You should practice in your room, because passersby will think you're an idiot."

"Okay, okay. ...... this will do."

"......Why are your eyes swimming?"

"I'm doing eye exercises."

"......Why is your voice backwards?"

"I'm practicing my back voice."

"......Is weird. You're hiding something from me."

"I'm not hiding anything from you!"

Of course I'm hiding it.

Because of the cute smile she showed me at her birthday party yesterday, I have developed romantic feelings for Yuzu again.

I can't let her know that I have feelings for her again. If she finds out, our friendship will collapse.

Our friendship is eternal!　To remain friends, I must erase these feelings!

"Well, okay. I'm free today, aren't I?"

I want to reduce the amount of time we spend together in order to erase my romantic feelings, but Yuzu is still willing to play with me.

I have to somehow refuse her in a way that won't hurt Yuzu's feelings.......

"No, I'm busy......"

"What do you have to do?"

"It's not that I have something to do ...... it's just that I'm not feeling well."

"Physical condition?"

Yuzu looked into my face.

Her cute face is so close to me that my body is slowly getting hot.

"......Your face is indeed red. Is it a cold?"

"I don't know if it's a cold or not ...... but I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the day anyway."

"You'd better do that. Get a good night's sleep and get yourself well soon. Otherwise, you will have to spend a boring Golden Week."

Tomorrow is the start of Golden Week.

I was hoping to have a lot of fun with Yuzu during this long vacation.

But......

I'm so nervous when I'm with her that I want to spend it alone until I can get my mind in order.

Well, even so, the way home is the same, so I'll be spending time with Yuzuhana until we get to the park. I'm relieved that I was able to keep my poker face on until I got home, even though I was nervous about Yuzu happily talking about the Kimiuta art book.

***

"......Sh1t."

I realized I had forgotten something when I got home and was quenching my thirst with a glass of milk.

If it was a textbook, I would have let it pass, but I had to take my gym clothes home with me. Otherwise, they would get moldy in the worst case scenario.

It's a hassle, but I should turn back.

I decided to do so and headed back to school under the clear sky.

"Oh, Kurose-kun, isn't it? Did you forget something?"

I ran into Akabane-senpai at the school gate.

"I forgot my gym uniform. ....... Ah, yes, I read your manga. It's a club magazine that we published at last year's festival. To be honest, it was really interesting. I don't mean to flatter you or anything, but really."

Akabane-senpai smiled happily when I told her what I thought.

"I'm glad you liked it. There's also the club magazine we published the year before last, would you like to read it?"

"I'd love to read it!"

I went to the club room with my senpai and was allowed to read the manga.

Just like the manga I had read before, it was an action manga.

The drawing ability was not as good as last year's, but the powerful composition was a natural quality of the artist. Although the pages are short, there are ups and downs, and in the last few pages I forgot to breathe as I read.

She is a god writer.......

"Do Senpai actually make your professional debut.....?"

"No way. I'm just an ordinary high school girl that you can find anywhere."

"You're not ordinary!　You can draw really interesting manga!　Don't you bring in your own work?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm planning to bring it in during the summer vacation."

"Bringing it in!　That's amazing!　I'm so proud to see a professional artist come out of our school!"

"You're overreacting. I haven't even been assigned a writer yet."

"I'm sure you will!　It's really interesting!　It's going to be my debut for sure!　You'd better think of a pen name or something while you're at it!"

"I'm thinking of shortening my real name, Chizuru Akabane, to 'Akatsuru' as a pen name."

"...... Eh?　Akatsuru?"

"Is that strange?"

I was suddenly puzzled, and Senpai looked a little uneasy.

Akatsuru as in Chizuru Akabane. It's not weird, but ......

"Akatsuru!　Are you really Akatsuru?"

"Why are you so surprised?"

"No, no, I just thought it was a cool pen name!"

It's cool, no doubt, but there's another reason I was surprised.

I know Akatsuru-sensei.

I read her manga during the entrance exam season and loved it so much that I read it over and over and over again, putting my studies aside and almost becoming a ronin.

Naturally, after Yuzu and I became friends, I was the first to recommend her to her, and she was also hooked on Akatsuru's world. She asked me if there were any other manga I could recommend, and as I introduced them one after the other, she became an otaku, and our friendship rapidly deepened. In other words, Akatsuru-sensei was the cupid of love for me and Yuzu.

I wondered why she looked so much like me. Because I imitated her design.

I had no idea that Akatsuru-sensei was a graduate of the same high school......

If I didn't have knowledge of the future, I might have cried with emotion.

But I'm from the future.

I knew what was going to happen to Akatsuru-sensei, so I couldn't rejoice.

"Why do you look so gloomy?"

"Wait, I'm a little hungry!"

Too poor an excuse.

I can't get my thoughts in order.

Akatsuru-sensei would die suddenly in ten years.

"Want to go purchasing?　I'll treat you to some bread to thank you for praising my manga."

"Oh, no, that......."

What shall I do?

Should I tell her what I know?　

Would that save her from certain death?

But she won't believe me if I say, "You're going to die suddenly in 10 years." It will only make she feel bad.

Then I should go to ...... and say.

"Are you planning to go away soon, by any chance?"

"You know it very well. It's a tradition of the manga club to have a training camp during the Golden Week holidays. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to go to the camp alone, but I don't want to break the tradition."

Akatsuru's cause of death was announced as anaphylactic shock from a wasp sting.

And when I looked through past interviews, I asked, "The characters in your work have been in danger many times, but what was the most terrifying experience for Akatsuru-sensei?" She answered, "When I was a junior in high school, I was stung by a wasp at a training camp and almost died."

I am not familiar with anaphylactic shock, but you didn't die at the first time.

If I protect her against wasps during camp, the first time will be 10 years from now.

We may be dying, but we can avert our own mortality!

"I want to follow you too!"

I'm the only one who knows about this.

I must protect my favorite writer--Akabane-senpai, who has become my cupid in love--from the wasps!

"Then you should invite Koikawa-san, too."

"Why are you inviting Yuzuhana......?"

The training camp will be an overnight stay. 

It's true that it's not safe for a man and a woman to be alone at a training camp.

I don't want to take Yuzuhana to a dangerous place, but if I keep her in a ...... safe place, it won't be a problem.

"I'll make some calls."

I left the club room so that my senpai wouldn't hear me, and called Yuzu. I was nervous before, but now my senpai's life or death is at stake. I'm not interested in that right now.

|| "Hello?　What's wrong?"

"I have something important to tell Yuzu."

|| "What's the matter? What do you want to talk about?"

I told her the truth.

I had returned to school because I had forgotten something.

I had run into Akabane-senpai and found out that he was Akatsuru-sensei.

That I wanted to protect her from wasps in order to avoid the fate of death.

|| "I'm coming too!　I don't want Akatsuru-sensei to die!"

As one would expect from a die-hard fan. Yuzu had no hesitation at all.

But--

"I'll take care of the wasps, Yuzu, go hide somewhere safe."

|| "No."

"Do something about that, please. Please, don't do anything dangerous. I don't want anything to happen to Yuzu......"

|| "I wouldn't want anything to happen to Kohei either. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to get a hold of her. You can't just stand there and watch out for each other's backs and protect Akatsuru-sensei!"

Yuzu shouts strongly.

This is not going to persuade her.

I don't want to expose Yuzu to the bees, but I'm sure it will be easier to protect her if the two of us ...... work together.

I hung up the phone and went back to the clubroom. I told Akahane that Yuzu was coming too, and she gave me her address, saying that she would contact me later with more details.