The EXP you need for each level up changes constantly

Two days had passed since the strategy meeting at my house. As my train trundled along, I realized this felt like heading to school on the morning of finals. I was going to Shibuya, which is where the little independent theater that was playing the Andi movie is located. In other words, I was about to go see a movie with Kikuchi-san. I still couldn't believe it myself. "And then, Mimimi… Yeah, and after that, Hinami had something to say about my clothes, too…" I was flipping through my flash cards, doing one final review of the topics I'd memorized before it was time for the real thing. Part of me was just trying to escape reality. I'd practiced hard over the past couple of days of vacation and had my conversation points memorized almost perfectly, but it was tough not to feel anxious as the big moment approached. It was just like going over English flash cards before a test. Of course, in this case I was practicing things to talk about, not vocabulary. For the first time in ages, I was wearing a mask so that I could warm up my facial muscles without anyone on the train noticing. Recently, I'd stopped feeling so nervous around normies, but right now I was insanely tense. I had a feeling if I didn't do some warm-ups, my face might freeze up completely. It goes without saying that I planned to take the mask off when I got to Shibuya. The train pulled into Ukimafunado Station on the Saikyo Line, which apparently is number one on some ranking of stations that I don't get at all. From here on out, we'd be in Tokyo. I'd escaped Saitama, which proudly calls itself the eternal number three of the Kanto region. Never guessed my high school experience would include going to see a movie in Tokyo with a girl. We were supposed to meet in front of the Hachiko statue at Shibuya

Station at two. The Andi film started at two thirty. According to Hinami, it was best to see the movie first, then get a casual bite to eat and have a great conversation before going our separate ways. Love how she made "having a great conversation" sound like the easiest thing in the world. Anyway, though, the movie was first. I puffed out my chest, tensed my butt muscles, flexed my face, and reviewed my conversation topics. As I focused on a full-body preparation, the train headed inexorably toward Shibuya. How would this high-level quest end? My stomach hurt just thinking about it. * * * I'd been worried about getting lost along the way, so I ended up arriving at Shibuya early and getting to the Hachiko statue around one forty-five. I looked around. No sign of Kikuchi-san, but lots of other people. I've heard people from Saitama call Omiya a city, but it's nothing compared to real Tokyo. Even if you ignore the energy on the streets and the number of people, Tokyo just feels different. If Shibuya was a normie, then Omiya was a poser. Omiya was trying so hard, it was painful to witness. Of course, if Toto-chan, the bronze statue of a baby squirrel outside the east exit of Omiya Station, found out I was having these thoughts, he'd chew me to death. As I waited for Kikuchi-san, I silently begged Toto-chan's forgiveness. I'm sure you'd beat out Ukimafunado Station, little squirrel. Suddenly, among the crowds of mostly young people, I saw a beam of light. Even from afar, I could make out the divine aura. I even thought I saw a magic square floating around it. I squinted, and sure enough, it was Kikuchi-san. She was wearing a light, long-sleeved black cardigan over a loose white shirtlike thing and a fairly trendy-looking dark-orange skirt that came just below her knees. Wonder why she was wearing long sleeves. She saw me, too, and our gazes met unexpectedly. Even as her mysteriously sparkling eyes nearly shorted out my mental processor, I visualized Mizusawa, lifted the corners of my mouth, and waved casually. Internally, though, I was a total mess. She actually showed up?! Sure we'd

agreed to see the movie together, but the reality of it hadn't sunk in for me. When I saw her in real life, right in front of me, my brain was overwhelmed by the realization that our date was about to begin, and my thoughts slowed to a snail's pace. Kikuchi-san trotted over to me on her delicate legs. The pale skin on her neck, as unsullied as pure spring water flowing ceaselessly from a magnificent boulder deep in the mountains, reflected the summer sunlight too bright for my eyes. At that very moment, she was standing within a one- or two-meter radius of me. "S-sorry…to make you wait," she said, her cheeks flushed, maybe from the heat, and her head tilted down slightly. Her upturned eyes joined forces with the summer mugginess to steadily melt my heart. "Uh, no, not at all… I just got here. It isn't even two yet." I clammed up a little at first, but then I was fine. I had to stay focused on not stuttering. "Oh, r-really…?" "Yeah. W-well…should we go?" "Um, yes!" Concentrating on my tone so that it wouldn't betray my nervousness, I selected one of the lines I'd prepared in advance using image training. "It's this way, right?" I said, taking a step toward the theater. "Y-yes! …This way." We both started walking. We were in the middle of a chaotic throng of people and noises. Kikuchi-san walked the tiniest bit behind me with dainty, calm steps. I felt like we were inside a small bubble of peacefully flowing time among all these people hurrying down the street. So she could use time magic and white magic. Wow. But I was still barely hanging on against my anxiety. "…I—I sure am looking forward to the movie. I watched a preview, and it was really beautiful." "Yes…I agree." Kikuchi-san was replying to my conversation topics with broken answers, like she was holding back. This was different from the completely calm, sacred atmosphere of the library. Maybe she couldn't use her magic at will when she wasn't in a book elemental field. She had her hands locked in front of her, fidgeting with them. Was she nervous, or was she forming symbols with her hands as she prepared to activate her magic? Probably the latter.

I was struggling over which of my memorized topics to use when I suddenly remembered Hinami's advice to say something about the other person. "Hey, I was wondering… Why the long sleeves on such a hot day?" Kikuchi-san pinched the sleeves of her cardigan. "Um…my skin is sensitive…" "…Yeah?" "I burn very easily…" "Oh, um…really?" I stumbled over my response because her answer was so unexpected. "…Yes. I put a lot of sunscreen on my face and neck, but still…" Kikuchi-san's face was growing redder and redder as she spoke. W-wait, is she getting sunburned as we speak…? That's about how the conversation went as we walked along. After a little while, we arrived at the theater. "Ooh!" As the phrase independent theater might suggest, the building was really small for a movie theater. There was a ticket booth out front and a hallway leading inside right next to it. Nestled into an alleyway, it felt like stepping out of the hustle and bustle of Shibuya and into another world. The mood was much more unique than the theaters inside big commercial complexes. Why not comment on that? After all, Hinami had said it was okay to talk about the place where you were, too. "What a cool place." Kikuchi-san smiled placidly and looked around. "Yes, it is… Oh!" Apparently noticing something, she trotted in that direction. The hallway was lined with posters for films based on Andi books. Most of the films had been made a few dozen years earlier, and the posters had a vintage feel that perfectly matched the atmosphere of the theater. "Wow!" The look in Kikuchi-san's eyes as she gazed at the posters wasn't the usual mysterious and magical sparkle but instead the glimmer of a child who had seen a toy she wanted. Soon after she lost herself in the first poster, she moved on impatiently to the next one. After staring at that one for a bit, she moved on down the line. "Wow…" Eventually, she made her way to every poster. She seemed to want to see them all at once, frustrated that she could only look at one at a time. I could

tell how much she loved Andi's work just by watching her. It was very endearing. Finally satisfied that she had seen enough, she trotted back over to me. "…We're really going to see it on the big screen, aren't we?" She smiled excitedly up at me, standing closer than usual. "Um, uh, yeah. You're right." "Oh, s-sorry!" She flushed and took a step back. For a second, the mood turned—not exactly uncomfortable, but the energy had gone down. "…Should we get our tickets?" "…Yes, good idea." We got our tickets and our drinks, and then we went into the theater a little early and waited for the film to start. My heart was pounding, sitting next to her in the dark room. What should I do while we waited? I wondered if Kikuchi-san would glow in the dark. Looking over to check, I saw that was not the case. She was smiling in wide-eyed, gleeful anticipation, and she was hugging her bag with both arms as she gazed at the screen. Damn, she was cute. A few minutes later, the film started. * * * Needless to say, I didn't get up the nerve to hold Kikuchi-san's hand during the climax of the film. Everything went fine, though, and afterward we went to a café near the theater for an early dinner. Kikuchi-san was eating a plate of loco moco with a fried egg, rice, and salad while I nervously worked my way through pasta with tomato sauce. For some reason, I'd been eating a lot of pasta lately. "…Ah!" I muttered. I'd accidentally put way too much pasta on my fork. I was incredibly tightly wound, being alone at a café with Kikuchi-san, and it was making me scatterbrained. I was now stuck with a giant forkful of pasta in my hand. Wh-what do I do? Kikuchi-san was quietly eating her loco moco, but every now and then, she glanced at me. Which meant that if I put the pasta back on the plate and rewound it on my fork, she might be able to tell I was nervous. I steeled my will and stuck the colossal forkful into my mouth all at once.

"…Erf." "…?" Kikuchi-san tilted her head at the weird noise I'd just made. But I think she noticed my valiant efforts to chew, and she quietly returned to her own meal. …What the hell am I doing? Once I swallowed, which took quite a while, I felt a pang of regret. To make up for my mistake, I decided to take the lead in bringing up a conversation topic. "So…I was wondering how they were going to film the scene where the last snow grouse flies away. I wasn't expecting them to show the shadow!" I visualized myself expressing an earnest thought and gestured a little as I spoke, but I was careful not to overdo it. Sticking to Hinami's advice about creating a tone, I expressed my thoughts on the film in the hopes of canceling out that weird "erf." Kikuchi-san listened with a smile on her face. "Hee-hee, you're right. That really turned into a great scene." "Didn't it? Also…" I continued on with a couple more of my thoughts. After all, my one strength is speaking my mind with total honesty. Seriously, though? It was a good movie. I really loved the original book, so I was worried about what I'd say if the adaptation was shitty, but instead I'd been pleasantly surprised. It was weird; even though they'd changed the story here and there and added some new scenes, they managed to perfectly re-create the great atmosphere of the original. I guess total faithfulness to the original isn't always the best way to adapt a book to film. After a while, though, I started to feel like I was dominating the conversation. Plus, it would be hard to keep talking about the movie for our whole meal, so I brought up something else. "By the way, we talked a lot about Mimimi in the library last semester, right?" "Huh? Oh right, we did. She seemed to be having a hard time." "After that…" I told her the happy ending to that story. "And you were wondering about Hinami, too, right?" "Yes, I was wondering why she always tried so hard." "Yeah! I still don't know why, but…" "But…?"

"Well, I've seen her in regular street clothes a bunch of times, but the other day we got together with some classmates, and she was wearing all things I'd never seen before. I mean, she even puts in a huge effort with her clothes." "She has such strong preferences in every realm." "Exactly! It really reminded me how true that was…" I kept introducing topics I'd memorized and expanding on them. "By the way, I hear Andi has a new book coming out." "Yes, he does! I heard that it's not actually a new book, but a neverbefore-published manuscript of his was discovered… It's called Kind Dogs Stand Alone , right?" "Yeah, that's it!" "It's coming out on the twenty-first of this month!" I was working really hard to keep the conversation going by bringing up topics that Kikuchi-san would perk up at. I still wasn't great at it, but after spending so much time with Mimimi and copying Mizusawa's techniques, I'd gained a decent command over finding ways to build on a talking point and respond to what the other person said. As long as I had a large stock of topics ready to go, I was able to get by with almost no awkward silences. In other words, I'd acquired the undeniably normie-ish skill of keeping things going in a one-on-one conversation by introducing a constant stream of topics. Or so I thought. We'd finished our meals, and the waiter had brought us black tea. Kikuchi-san looked at me searchingly for a minute before finally speaking. "Tomozaki-kun, you're a mystery." "…Huh? Wh-what's a mystery?" Her sudden comment killed some of the momentum I'd built up while I was leading the conversation, and I ended up giving a confused response. I mean, Kikuchi-san is the mysterious one! "It's hard to explain… I'm sorry if that was rude." "Wh-what?" Kikuchi-san looked down as if she was searching for words, pausing pensively for a moment. Then her pure, sparkling eyes met mine. "Tomozakikun," she began, "sometimes you're suddenly very easy to talk to…and sometimes…you're suddenly very hard to talk to." "Um…"

For a second, my mind was in total chaos. Finally, I managed to get my brain running and process what she had said. Basically. In so many words. Sometimes, I managed to do well, but my skill was nowhere near perfected. I thought I'd been such a smooth talker today, but I'd failed quite a few times, and Kikuchi-san had felt it difficult to respond. Damn, my confidence a minute ago was embarrassing. What was I thinking, an "undeniably normie-ish skill"? Idiot. "R-really?" I said, trying not to show how upset I was as my thoughts washed over me. Right. Don't get full of yourself over tiny achievements. At least wait until you know how to wind pasta on a fork. I wish I could disappear. Ten or fifteen minutes passed. Kikuchi-san had told me I was hard to talk to sometimes, but that didn't mean I could just give up. That would only make it even harder for her, so I kept on with my topics and making conversation like I'd been doing before. Maybe if I gained some more EXP right now, I'd be easier to talk to. "Well, should we get going?" "Okay." Having finished our tea, we left the café, walked back to the station, and got on the train together. As the train rattled along, Kikuchi-san looked at me hesitantly. "Thank you for inviting me to the movie today. I had a really good time." I nodded, internally swooning over her thoughtful little phrase. "Me too. And the café was nice." "Yes…the food was really good." Kikuchi-san smiled. The conversation ground to a halt, and we endured another moment of silence. I was about to find something else to talk about, when I heard Kikuchisan say, "Um…" "Yeah?" "Uh…you know how I said you're hard to talk to sometimes…" "Oh, uh-huh," I said, a little surprised. "Don't worry about it… I mean, I think you're right…" I honestly did. "Um, that's not what I meant." Kikuchi-san blushed for some reason. "It's not?" "Um…well, I haven't talked to guys my age very much…" She was even

redder now and stumbled over her words. "So…most of the time when I talk to guys, it's hard…but…" "B-but what?" "When I'm with you, sometimes it's really easy, and I can just…talk, which is a first for me…" "…Oh." I was so surprised I couldn't produce a fluent answer. "I mean…I said you were hard to talk to sometimes, but that's normal for me. It was surprising that it was ever easy at all, so…um…" "Uh-huh?" "What I said before, I didn't mean it in a bad way… I should have just said it was the first time I felt so at ease talking to a guy…and then you wouldn't have…felt …" Her face was as red as a strawberry now, and she was looking down and away. "What I said before, I meant it in a really good way… It was very valuable to me…" "Oh…okay." Even though I was still surprised, I felt my chest growing hot. "So…" "Yeah?" Kikuchi-san looked me in the eye very earnestly. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were a little moist. "So…I'd like to go out together again…like we did today…" Her fingers curled around the hem of her skirt.

There was no way I could give a light, offhanded answer to that. So once again I said what I was thinking. "…O-of course!" And that was the end of my movie date with Kikuchi-san. On the way home from the station, I sent Hinami a LINE message saying I'd completed my date. Right away, a notification popped up saying she'd read it, and a second later she was calling. What a response time. "…Hello?" "So how did it go?" I gave her a quick rundown. "Huh. Well, it sounds like you hit a couple speed bumps, but overall I'd say it was a big success." "Oh, okay…" I managed a reply, even though I felt a little self-conscious. At the same time, I realized that I was walking along a lamplit street on a humid summer night talking to a girl in my class on the phone. It gave me a weird floating sensation. "Still, even if she didn't mean it in a bad way, note that she did say you're hard to talk to. Think about why that is." "Ngh, I knew you'd bring that up…" That was what I was the most worried about. "I wasn't there, so I can't say for sure…but my guess is that you were afraid of silence and kept bringing stuff up, or maybe…the topics you'd memorized weren't a very good fit for her." "Could be…" The tough part about all this was that it wasn't enough just to memorize stuff and say it. "Simply put, you need experience, and you need skills." "Oof." "If you have time to say 'Oof,' use that time to get started actually fixing the problem," she scolded. "O-okay, okay. And how do I do that…?" "It's obvious, isn't it?" Resigned to my fate, I sighed. "More experience and training?" "Hexactly." Ultimately, that seemed to be the answer to everything.

"Well then, I'll just have to try again next time, right?" "Right. The trip assignment is coming up, so stay positive." "Is that a positive thing?" To Hinami, the opportunity for an assignment is a good thing. I can't compete with that kind of ambition. "Anyway, how about inviting her to see the fireworks next?" "…Fireworks, huh?" Yet another powerful, normie-associated word. "Yeah. Invite her as soon as you get home. You can tack it onto a thankyou for today." "That fast?" "She already told you she wanted to go out again, so she can hardly turn you down if you ask her now. Once some time passes, things could get dicier…so I think it's best to make a plan ASAP." "Oh yeah, guess you're right…" Once again, Hinami's killer logic won me over. "The Toda fireworks are probably the biggest around here." "T-Toda…?" "Yeah. Anyway, as long as you do it by the middle of the month, it's fine. I'll leave the details to you." "Oh, okay." Our conversation wrapped up just as I was getting home. When I got up to my room, I saw I had a LINE message from Hinami on my phone. It contained a link to a website listing the main fireworks shows around Saitama. I wasn't sure if she was being considerate or just cranking up the pressure, but I gave in and started composing a message to Kikuchi-san. [Thanks for today! The movie was great, and I had a good time. I was wondering, if you're free on the sixth, do you want to go to the Toda fireworks with me? ] I had no idea if that was good or not, but at least it was something. "…Let's go!" With a cheer to summon my courage, I tapped the SEND button, threw my phone onto my bed, and closed my eyes. I'd asked her out again…to see the fireworks… Modern civilization and technology allowed you to do a crazy thing like that with a single tap of your finger—kinda scary. As I waited for my racing heart to calm down, my phone vibrated.

"Shit!" The surprise attack made my heart beat even faster. If this keeps up, my heart's gonna be vibrating as fast as my phone. I picked it up. Kikuchi-san had messaged me. I tapped the notification nervously. [I'm free on the sixth! I'd love to go to the fireworks! ] I smiled. Hinami had said Kikuchi-san was slow to respond, so the lightning-quick reply was enough to completely shake me up. Even the simple words she'd sent gave off a fairylike aura. Doing my best to keep my head despite her overwhelming attractiveness, I started to compose a response. [Great, let's go then! Maybe we can decide on the time and stuff in a couple of days? ] [Okay, sounds good! ] This time her response came in twenty or thirty seconds, which shook me up even more. I closed the LINE app and collapsed facedown on my bed. I was done for. My energy was at zero. If her beautiful white magic had drained my power this much, I must be an undead… I closed my eyes. [So…I'd like to go out together again…like we did today… ] A vision of the Kikuchi-san blushing rose behind my eyelids. A mixture of embarrassment and bashfulness and happiness washed over me, and before I knew it, I was drifting off to sleep. Despite that moment of peace, though, I had my job interview coming up in two days, and the day after that was the barbecue trip… But for now, I just wanna forget everything… * * * It was two days after the movie date and one day before the trip. Before long, I'd be surrounded by normies for more than twenty-four hours straight for a major event, but right now I was nervous about something else. I was standing in front of the karaoke place with my résumé in my bag. Yes, I was about to have my interview. I'd lost count of how many events I'd survived just since vacation started. They all were helping me grow in some way, though, so it wasn't a waste. I was still feeling motivated. I went into the karaoke place. The girl working there welcomed me apathetically, then yawned. Seriously? Trial by fire.

Her bleached wavy shoulder-length hair was tucked behind one ear. She looked around my age. "Um, I have a job interview at ten. My name is Fumiya Tomozaki." "Oh, they're waiting for you. Wait here a minute, 'kay?" she said in a monotone before disappearing into the back. Not much enthusiasm for the job, huh…? A guy in his midthirties came up from the back. He was tall, fairly muscular, and imposing. "Hi. Tomozaki-kun, right?" "Uh, yes!" "I'm Yanagihara, the manager here. Follow me!" he said briskly, leading me to a room to get the interview started. "Okay, first of all…" For an interview, it was fairly informal. He asked me stuff like, "How many days a week can you work?" and "Have you ever had a job before?" and "How long do you plan to keep working?" Aside from that, we basically chatted about stuff not directly related to work, like my plans for the summer and whether I was involved in any clubs. I'm fairly sure I managed to get through it without any major mess-ups by using the techniques I'd cultivated so far to control my tone for clear, concise conversation. More importantly, the difficulty level was relatively low compared to being tossed into a gaggle of normies or talking to a girl at a café. I wasn't absolutely certain I got the job, but as far as surviving the immediate situation, I think I squeaked through with my usual tricks. Guess that means I'm at the point where I can manage something like this. Actually, it's easier to talk to an older person than to someone my own age because there are more predetermined formalities. "That's it for the interview! I'll get in touch later to let you know if you've got the job or not." "Great! Thanks so much!" Yanagihara-san and I left the room together. "Hey, is that Fumiya?" "Huh?" I turned toward the voice and found Mizusawa standing there dressed in a staff uniform. "Hey, dude, what are you doing here? Wait, were you the one scheduled for an interview today?" "Is this a friend of yours, Mizusawa?"

"We're in the same class at school!" "Oh, you go to Sekitomo, too? Wow. Tomozaki-kun, did you know he was working here?" "No…" Something occurred to me. Hinami was the one who suggested I apply here. Once again, she'd set me up for a gratuitous surprise… "Well, that's a coincidence!" "Y-yeah, it sure is…" I smiled ironically. "Looking forward to working together, Fumiya… If he got the job?" "Hey, you're asking me that here? Well, I did get the impression that he'd be able to interact professionally with our customers, so I was planning to offer him the job…" "Hear that, Fumiya? Nice." "Huh? Oh, great!" The manager's positive evaluation set me reeling, and it was all I could do to keep up with this tsunami of a conversation. Oblivious to all that, Mizusawa kept talking. "Hey, I get off in half an hour, so why don't you do some solo karaoke or something and wait for me. We can grab a bite to eat afterward." "Uh, um…" "Wait a second now, Mizusawa. You still have an hour and a half left!" "Dang, you got me. But it's so dead today—can't I get off early? Literally nobody came while you were doing the interview. If you don't cut back on your labor costs, the area manager is gonna get mad at you again!" "Uh…if you put it that way… Boy, you always have a comeback ready…" "Which means—I'll see you soon, Fumiya!" Mizusawa punched me lightly on the arm. "Uh, okay, got it." Helpless against his momentum, I nodded, and Mizusawa disappeared down the hallway to do his janitorial duties. Damn, the conversation really accelerated when multiple people were involved… "I never would have guessed you were a classmate of Mizusawa's. He's a fast talker, that one. A real troublemaker." "Ha-ha-ha…very true." "So what do you want to do? You gonna sing for a bit?" "Uh, well…I did say I would."

"Ah-ha-ha, so you did. And I did say you got the job, so the job is yours. From now on, I'm your manager. Got it, Tomozaki?" "Um, yes, sir!" His sudden shift to a more authoritative tone caught me off guard. "Uh, this is where we check people in. Watch how I do it, okay? Since you'll be working with us, you get an employee discount. Half off. Make sure you earn it, okay?" "Y-yes, sir! Thank you very much!" "Uh, like I said in the interview, everyone tends to quit right after summer vacation, so I'd like to finish training you by then… Can you start training in the middle or end of August?" "Yes!" That's how I ended up getting the job and singing for half an hour while I waited for Mizusawa. Aside from the fact that my first-ever karaoke experience ended up being solo, all was going well. * * * "Yeah…glad I decided to do this by myself." I was alone in the little room learning by trial and error. I'd never even touched a karaoke machine before. "Okay, so this button ends the song…and there are a bunch of ways to search." The interface was intuitive, so I figured it out pretty quickly, but if I'd had to explain it to a customer without ever doing it myself, I probably would have panicked. Close call. "And this is…" Just as I started messing around with the main device, there was a knock on the door just before a female employee came in. "Oh, hi, nice to meet you… Er, again, I guess." "Huh? Oh right, hi again." Turning toward the monotonous voice, I saw the same girl I'd talked to when I first arrived. After my awkward response to her greeting, she apathetically plopped down in the chair across from me. Uh, isn't she in the middle of her shift? Is she allowed? "My name is Tsugumi Narita. I work here part-time. Made it through the

interview, huh?" "Yes, and it's nice to meet you! I'm Fumiya Tomozaki. I'll be starting here soon." I introduced myself in as cheerful a tone as possible. I'm not halfbad at polite conversations. "You're a high school second-year, right, Tomozaki-san?" Slumped in the chair without a hint of shame, she continued in her monotone voice. "Yes. I'm in my second year." "I'm in my first year, so you don't have to be so polite with me." She didn't waste any time in telling me to drop the formalities. This just got a lot harder. Wait a second; things are moving fast for a bottom-tier character. I'm alone in a small room with a girl I've just met. I know I've been talking to girls a lot more lately, but this is on a different level. For the moment, I tried to remember how I talked with Mimimi and Izumi. "Oh, okay, got it… By the way, Narita-san, aren't you working right now?" I wasn't sure what to make of this girl who had just plopped down in here like she owned the place, so my only choice was to deploy a basic strategy and make the other person into the topic of conversation. "Oh, that's not a problem. The boss was the one who told me to come say hi to you, and I'm sure he knew I'd sit down in here for a couple minutes." She flopped over the table as she talked, glancing at her phone to check the time. She just did whatever she wanted—what was her deal? As I looked at her, I mentally reviewed my assignment for getting to be friends with Mizusawa—teasing and arguing back. If that was the secret to establishing equal relationships, should I be doing it right now, too? Hinami had told me to get better at independent thinking…so why not take the initiative and try it out? I swallowed, planned out what to say, and adjusted my voice. "Narita-san…are you a troublemaker?" I asked in a teasing tone. She giggled. "Busted already, huh? Yeah, I'm basically a deadbeat." "Ah…ha-ha-ha." I hadn't expected her to agree with me right away, so instead of saying something back, I just laughed cynically. Pfft. Things never go smoothly. "But I always sit no matter how many times he tells me not to, so I think he'll probably give up soon." Narita-san lifted her head from the table, played with the ends of her hair, and gave me a silly smile. What was with her powerful determination…? "You mean the boss…?" I thought back pityingly to the manager I'd just met. Suddenly, Narita

san let out an "Oh," sat up, and looked at me gravely. "Wh-what?" "Are you hungry?" "Huh?" "Wanna order something?" My mind froze momentarily at her boldness. "The fries here are always good. And they come with two sauces. Let's get one salted cod roe sauce, okay? And you can choose the other one." "N-Narita-san, are you hungry…?" "Oh no, I'm mostly ordering it for you. When I take a break from work and stop by again, I might want to have a few bites if there's any extra. I'm not a total pig." She pouted, as if my question was something rude. "Uh, um…?" I was thinking about how to question her logic—making me order something so that she could have the leftovers when she was the hungry one —when she leaned toward me and said, "Oh, I was meaning to ask you…" Come on now! This is moving way too fast for me. I haven't trained enough for this! "Wh-what?" "Do you really go to the same school as Mizusawa?" A hint of excitement suddenly crept into her listless attitude. "Um, yeah, I do." "Really? Can I ask you something, then?" "…Uh, what?" She leaned forward with a gleeful smile. "Well… I'll get to the point. Does he like anyone right now?" she asked, her voice lowered like this was really important. She had something up her sleeve, I could tell. "…I'm not sure." "Does that mean there is someone?" "N-no…" I remembered my very short conversation with Hinami on the topic and that I'd been wrong about their relationship. Which meant Mizusawa wasn't seeing anyone…didn't it? "Uh…well, I haven't heard anything in particular…so maybe no?" Narita-san nodded pensively a few times. "Aha, I see… Thanks so much for the intel!" She looked satisfied. I couldn't tell how she really felt, but I figured this might be a good chance to mess with her again. I came up with something to

say and made my voice very serious. "Does this mean what I think it means? Do you…have a crush on him?" I wasn't quite up to teasing a girl I'd just met, so I hesitated a little midsentence. Still, I managed to sound teasing enough. Narita-san giggled a little. "Um, well…Mizusawa-senpai is pretty hot, so a bunch of girls here like him. That's why I thought it would be fun to ask…" "Oh, really." "As for me…if I had to say whether I genuinely like him, well, I'm not head over heels." "…Oh yeah?" Her silly expression convinced me she wasn't hiding anything. "He is cute, though," she added. With that, she glanced at her phone, let out a gasp like she just realized how late it was, shot to her feet, and headed for the door with deadly seriousness. "I better get going. It'll be close, but if I leave right now, I shouldn't get in trouble!" "Oh, okay." …What's with that calculation? "Thanks for the valuable intel," she said, once again in a monotone. With a sharp salute, she left the room. She'd had me wrapped around her finger with her free and easygoing ways. I felt like a storm had just blown through. And that thing about him being cute… Yeah, Mizusawa was a handsome guy. * * * "Sorry to keep you waiting, dude!" Mizusawa came out from the back after finishing his shift and changing into street clothes. "Hey." I greeted him with a casual smile. Pretty soon these little smiles would be second nature. At least, I'd like to think so. "See you later," he said on his way out. The manager, who was working behind the register, smiled cheerfully. "Yup, see you next time. You too, Tomozaki."

"Yes, looking forward to it!" Narita-san came out from the back room. "Bye, guys!" "Bye." "Bye," I jumped in. "Don't slack, Gumi," Mizusawa said. "I won't! Sheesh," Narita-san responded amiably. What was "Gumi" all about? Maybe it came from her first name, Tsugumi? The boss and Narita-san waved as Mizusawa and I left Karaoke Sevens together. "Let's go!" Mizusawa said, heading toward the station. "Wh-where?" "There's a lot of places around here. Anything you feel like eating? Are you even hungry?" "Uh, yeah, a little." "Tenya okay with you? I stop there a lot on my way home." "Okay!" I was getting more used to deploying the Izumi-style "Okay." I think that as long as I have enough of these smooth templates ready to use when the opportunity presents itself, I'll be able to have normal conversations. We headed toward the Tenya tempura restaurant near the east exit of the station, walking side by side. "So why'd you decide to get a job all of a sudden? Short on cash?" "Yeah, basically." I thought for a second. "With the trip and everything…" "Ha-ha-ha. That's a heavy hit." "Right? Ten thousand yen is a lot for a high school kid." "I feel ya, man." The conversation was going along smoothly. Amazing. We sounded like friends. "But…" Just as Mizusawa started saying something, we reached the restaurant. He took the lead, opening the door and going in, and I followed him. We sat down and ordered. "That sure was a coincidence, though," I said, introducing a topic myself. With Mizusawa, that alone was enough to make me nervous. "A coincidence, huh? Yeah, guess so," he said halfheartedly. That made me slightly anxious, since I suspected Hinami had set the whole thing up. "Okay, be honest with me," he said, resting his elbows on the table and pointing at my face. "Is the job part of your anti-geek strategy?"

"Uh…" Mizusawa had already told me he thought I was reading books on how to ditch my geeky persona, which was almost exactly the same thing my sister had said to me. He knew I was trying to change some things about myself; he hadn't uncovered Hinami's contributions, but he was sharp. And now he thought the job was part of it all. He'd hit the nail on the head; I didn't know how to reply. Suddenly, he burst out laughing. "Huh?" "Dude…even if I'm right, don't be so obvious about it." "No…I mean, uh," I said, remembering my reaction. "…Y-you're right." Now that he pointed it out, I had to admit, responding with "Uh" was pretty damning. "The way you talk has changed a lot. I'm sure you've been working hard, but you've got a long way to go when it comes to playing it cool." His comment was a little harsh, but his tone was so cheerful it didn't come off as unkind. He was so good at keeping it light when he messed with people. I was looking for my own chance to get in a jab at him, but he didn't leave many opportunities. "Lay off!" I said, keeping it equally light. "Seriously, though…" He was still smiling, but his eyes were serious. "You don't mess around, do you?" "Huh?" That was a surprise, coming from him. "It was the same when you got into it with Erika and with your anti-nerd strategy and with Atafami . From what I could tell, you were involved in that thing with Mimimi's speech, too, weren't you?" "Uh…" "Ha-ha! Gotcha again." "Yeah." I started laughing, too. Gotta admit, that was bad. "So I was right, huh? You're too easy to read, Fumiya." Since he already had me pegged anyway, I decided to fess up. "What can I say…? I wanted to help Mimimi win…" For some reason, Mizusawa blinked at me dramatically in shock. Then he tilted his head and smiled for a second. "You mean you wanted to beat Aoi?" "Yeah, well." "…Huh." Page 71 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Mizusawa looked down and swished his ice around noisily in his cup. His long eyelashes hid his languid eyes. I'm sure he had some thoughts of his own. Damn, he looks way too much like a picture of a guy drinking whiskey on the rocks. That is water in there, right? As I was examining his cup, the waiter returned with my tempura over rice and Mizusawa's deluxe version of the same dish. Even eating at a cheap tempura restaurant, we were on different levels. "I'm impressed you went so hard to beat her. What was driving you?" he asked calmly as he split his disposable chopsticks apart. I thought for a minute. "I'm not sure how to explain exactly, but…it's like I didn't want to let her beat me in the game…" "Game?" He stared at me blankly as he chewed his shrimp tempura. Back to his same old rhythm. "Oh, I mean, the student council election felt like a kind of game, in a sense…," I bumbled as I picked up a piece of fried winter squash. Mizusawa nodded. "I can see that." "R-really?" I got a little excited; I wasn't expecting him to understand. Also, the squash was really good. "Oh yeah. But you take losing that seriously even when it's just a game?" "Huh? I take it more seriously when it's a game." He made an impressed sound. "You're a go-getter, aren't you?" he commented, taking a bite of rice mixed with sauce. I had a few thoughts of my own, though. I mean, look at Mizusawa… "But what about you? You're great at talking to people, and you don't mumble… You must have put some effort into all that." "Oh yeah? What kind of effort?" he pressed. "Huh? Such as? Uh, copying people who're good talkers, or…" In my rush to say something, I mentioned one of my own strategies. "So you mean…?" Mizusawa grinned. "You do stuff like that?" Shit. He baited me. "Uh…" It was out before I could stop myself. Mizusawa laughed again. "You really are an open book!" "You got me on that one…" "Hey, it's your fault for falling for it! Seriously, though, I don't copy anyone!" "Huh, r-really?"

And he was this good? I guess normies were naturally blessed… "I've always been the type who caught on quick to stuff. I just know which buttons to press, I guess? Call me a genius!" he joked. "Okay, but you do seem like the type…" What was all my work for, then? All this time spent memorizing and copying, and I was still nowhere near Mizusawa. He leaned toward me, smiling his own slightly sadistic smile. "The real question is, who have you been copying?" "Uh, it's…" Was he really asking? Now what do I do? I briefly flailed for an answer before deciding he'd figure it out eventually anyway. Might as well confess. "Uh, a lot of people but mainly…y-you." "…What?" For a second, he gaped at me like I'd genuinely caught him off guard. Then he cackled. "Who comes out and says that to a guy?" "Well, you asked…and you'd know if I was lying, right?" This time his smile looked exasperated. "You are so weird, man." "A-am I?" From my perspective, I'm so mediocre I get buried in the crowd. "How can I put this? For instance…," he said, peering into my eyes. "Hinami and me, we're smart through and through. Know what I mean?" "Smart through and through?" How was that different from plain old smart? And if it was the same, wasn't it conceited of him to say it himself? He was making me feel the same way Hinami did. I waited for him to go on. "And then you have people like Shuji and Yuzu and Takei, who are idiots through and through." "Idiots through and through… Okay, I wanted to ask, but how's that different from a regular idiot?" "No, it's basically the same, but…" "But?" Mizusawa frowned. "I think you're a smart idiot." "…What's that supposed to mean?" It was a fine line between compliments and insults sometimes, and I couldn't tell which this was. "When I watch what you do and how you think, a lot of the time I think you're smart…but actually, you're an idiot." "Okay, you're definitely insulting me."

"No, I'm not!" As usual, his joking self-defense was totally without venom. Yup, he was a top-tier character. "R-really? That's a compliment?" "Just forget about that for now." "How am I supposed to forget about it?!" I shot back cheerfully. Pretty smooth, eh? "Ah-ha, is that the Mizusawa-style talk I've heard so much about?" "S-stop already…!" Mizusawa's grin was like an attack that left me inflicted with embarrassment, and the strength immediately drained from my words. He was a strong one. Never left himself exposed. Messed with me all the time. A classic normie. "Ha-ha! Hey, by the way, did you pack yet for tomorrow?" He breezily changed the topic. He had the role of leader in an iron grip for this conversation. "Yeah, I put what I thought I might need in my backpack." Specifically, the black one Hinami gave me. In hindsight, I would have been in trouble without that. "Oh yeah? Wonder if those two will end up getting together tomorrow." "Wh-who knows…?" We talked about the trip for a while, and before too long, dinner was over. We walked back to the station together and parted ways on the Saikyo Line platform, since our houses were in opposite directions. "See ya later, man." I pulled myself together to deliver a short reply in a smooth normie fashion. "Yup, see ya." Nailed it. I'm ashamed to be proud of something so small, but progress is progress! I took the train to Kitayono, headed out of the station, and pulled out my phone. [Got the job ], I wrote to Hinami on LINE. And then: [You set me up for a weird surprise, didn't you? ] A few minutes later, she wrote back, and she knew exactly what I was talking about: [You get to test yourself in a new environment, you make some money, and you improve your relationship with Mizusawa. Three birds with one stone, right? ] Page 74 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com She doesn't give an inch, does she? I was right; she did it on purpose… Okay, Hinami, I get that you want to be efficient, but can you stop with the gratuitous surprises?