CH 7

"...Wait, maybe I was the reason why it kept failing."

"As far I can tell, you weren't even able to achieve anything."

I boasted about my past, but I wasn't even able to do anything.

I confidently told Takagaki, and all I got from her was that I was incompetent.

"I thought you did all the right things because you sounded too proud about it."

"Ugh...sorry."

"Well, I know what middle school students are only capable of."

Takagaki looked at me with the same expression as yesterday.

From the moment she breathed out a full sigh, she seemed like that tired office lady she was earlier in the morning. How fitting.

"What's with that strange expression?"

"I-it's nothing,"

"...I'll pretend I don't know what you're thinking."

It seemed Takagaki was able to see through my thoughts, maybe because she had a strangely sharp intuition. Perhaps that was why she wasn't pursuing the matter.

Wait no, this wasn’t important. I should ask her to cooperate with me in the future.

"And that's all there is, Takagaki-san."

"Why honorifics?"

"Would you like to help me?"

"..."

"Huh, why are you glaring at me?"

The answer that I got was a sharp gaze.

The classroom was so quiet that I could clearly hear the voices of the sports clubs outside, and I couldn't help gulp unintentionally.

I understood that she was exasperated after hearing my shortcomings, but I wondered if she really had to glare at me like that. Looking back earlier to that time where she knew what I was thinking, some part of didn't really expect much from this.

"...Okay. Just for a bit."

"Eh? Really? A girl's opinion might actually be helpful."

"You should have done this back in middle school."

"Hehe, I was too confident in myself at the time."

Takagaki, who stopped staring daggers at me, reluctantly accepted. Takagaki had a point, but my surroundings were invisible to me back then aside from the two of them, and in the end, I was never able to share this to any girl.

Maybe something might have turned out different if I did, but it couldn't be helped now.

"Then, I'll give you a piece of advice as a commemoration."

"Woah! Already?! By all means!"

Takagaki pulled back as I leaned in involuntarily. I felt something, but I should focus on Takagaki's advice first. It was definitely not because I was hurt or anything.

"You're overlooking something important."

"...Huh? Is it about me? Wait no, it's not."

"I won't say anything more today. From now on, I'll be cooperating in this way."

"Eh...it's something like a consultation, I guess?"

"Please continue to struggle from now on."

Then, Takagaki stared outside.  Seeing that figure of hers, I realized that she wasn't in the mood to listen anymore, and so I just directed my gaze outside as well.

The sunset stung my eyes again today.

★★★★★★

He doesn't understand anything.

This was my impression of Shindou, who closed his eyes as he began to happily narrate about his past as if he was bragging about some kind of treasure.

He seemed like your usual, ordinary guy. His messy, black hair that he didn't bother with in the morning was still the same after school, swaying along his gestures. Compared to his best friends Asumi-kun and Ayane, he stood out in different way.

I heard about how it was and what he did back then, but it seemed like everything ended up being a failure.

It had been 15 years since I was born. Even though I was a high school student, I had only seen little of the world, but then I saw for the first time a person who was blindly influenced by a romance manga they read when they were a child.

Even girls around me back in middle school were excited about wanting to try something romantic, though I wasn't the same. Because I understood that reality was not as sweet as stories made them out to be.

They said that love was blind, and I wondered if this guy in front of me was aware of it. No, he probably didn't notice.

I could confront him about the reality, but those people should do that themselves.

That's why I would only point out what is necessary. There was another reason as well.

I was kind of interested in how the guy in front of me would react if he was told the truth.

High school might not be as boring as I would have expected.

※Because I only write whenever I come up with the idea, I might correct some inconsistencies in the future plot, although I'll try to not change the flow. Sorry about that.