UNNAMED - Volume I Chapter 8
Volume I Chapter 8: The Shameless Delusion That Is Carried Out All Too Easily
The next day, [Boy] bowed his head to the homeroom teacher, received words of encouragement for about five minutes, and then took his seat. On Chitowax’s seat next to him, the usual group was there, confirming their weekend plans. It seemed they were planning to go to an amusement park, and [Boy] was also invited. [Girl] seemed to have a prior commitment and couldn’t make it.
“Yeah, it sounds fun. I’ll go.”
[Boy] didn’t notice. He didn’t notice the suspicious glint in Haru and Chitowax’s eyes. And he would later come to know. How much influence an outsider in a romantic comedy (pseudo) can have on two people…
* * *
On the eve of the day, when everyone was going to the amusement park, [Boy] and the others exchanged various messages on a green messaging app. There, [Boy] confirmed that Shichiko had also joined the group and that the weather for tomorrow was “clear, turning cloudy with possible rain in some areas.” After that, he went to bed.
* * *
“What… is this (routine)?”
[Boy] arrived at the meeting place, a resting area with a fountain in the nearby shopping mall, feeling bewildered.
He had arrived about twenty minutes earlier than the agreed-upon time, being the first one there. However, as the promised time of 7:30 approached, only Shichiko had shown up, and neither Haru nor Chitowax were in sight.
Opening the messaging app they used for communication last night, [Boy] received two new messages notifying him of the last-minute cancellation from Haru and Chitowax.
“(Both of them are canceling at the last minute… What are they thinking…)”
* * *
Since the incident of changing seats, the frequency of contact between Shichiko and [Boy] has increased significantly. However, this was not a mere coincidence, fate, or destiny. It was mainly orchestrated by Haru and Chitowax, a “meeting” of sorts. Yet, no matter how diligent [Boy] was, in this story that doesn’t quite qualify as a romantic comedy, he couldn’t employ the unique skills of the romantic comedy protagonist, such as “insensitivity,” “deafness,” or the deadly technique of “convenient interpretation.” Indeed, the current [Boy] was what Show Tucker would call a “smart kid with intuition.” Moreover, he had somehow anticipated this situation, as inside his backpack, there was a “Love Guidebook for High School Students” placed carefully. What would happen next? Would Shichiko’s attitude towards [Boy] become unexpectedly harsh, or maybe not?
* * *
While engaging in a form of escapism that [Boy] himself couldn’t quite comprehend, he sent “Take care” to the two of them and looked at Shichiko. He asked her, “What should we do?” as he saw her blushing. After some hesitation, Shichiko handed him a piece of paper with the words:
“I was looking forward to it, and I want to go. Shichiko.”
“I see. I was looking forward to it too. Let’s go then.”
With these words, [Boy] left the scene after asking only, “I’ll get some drinks. What do you want?” He received a “thank you” and a request for water.
[Boy] thought to himself, “If I bring cold water, will she scold me with something like, ‘Huh? Water should be room temperature. Seriously, you can’t even do such a simple thing? Useless (feat. Yuki Shiro Shichiko / CV. Ayana Taketatsu)’?”