Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko:Volume6 Chapter4

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Chapter 4 - When the Storm Comes, the Bucket Maker Goes Bankrupt

For example, what if it were a middle-aged man?

I was seventeen, right in the prime of my youth, and had publicly revealed my embarrassing name “Youthful Man”. There were endless possibilities in the world. Maybe tomorrow the world would be at peace. Today was a beautiful day filled with the feeling that something was about to begin. Maybe a girl would fall from the sky. Mmaybe I would hit it off with a girl in my class. Maybe everything would change starting today.

And above all, when I started walking alone from in front of the food stalls, I definitely felt the atmosphere that the real show of the day was about to begin. If I continued to walk in that atmosphere, and this was the result…

With so many possibilities and a clear path ahead, what if the person standing before me was a middle-aged man? The man, in a slightly dirty, wrinkled suit, remained silent, staring at me. The watch on his wrist showed 1:15. It must have been more than 30 minutes since I started searching for my soulmate. With less than an hour until the concert at the gymnasium, the crowd was gradually becoming flooded with impromptu couples, or rather, people with their little fingers intertwined. How annoying.

My breathing is ragged. My breathing was still irregular, and the pain in my side hadn’t gone away at all. It felt like my whole body was going to fall apart.

Even so, we stood tall, facing each other on the field. A slightly strong afternoon breeze whipped the sand into the air like dust. Tiny grains of sand got through the gaps in our uniform trousers and hit our shins. They were less distinct in shape than beach sand, and when they hit us, they crumbled easily, as if smeared all over our skin. It sent shivers down my spine.

My heart was pounding with anxiety, as if I were about to start a duel with the older man standing in front of me.

We were enveloped in a profound silence, standing alone in a desolate wasteland at the edge of the horizon, far from any human habitation.

“…………”

The old man remained silent, and I couldn’t say anything either. He appeared to be in his forties, skinny and lacking in vigour, completely devoid of energy, with terrible dark circles under his eyes that would likely lead to him being mistaken for a drug addict twice if he walked down the street, and he just didn’t seem to be living in the present moment.

The future capacity of that middle-aged guy and myself should be vastly different as we aged, and yet…

For some reason, we all arrived at the same conclusion, and the answer swayed in the wind.

The only thing that old guy and I had in common was our pinky finger fashion.

Purple.

Thread.

A gentle breeze blew.

Fragments of a broken bond.

The souls that connected imperfect people, as seen through our eyes.

A high school boy and a middle-aged man’s little finger ticket to joy.

“……………………………” The old man’s mouth opened and closed, and his tongue trembled.

“……………………………” My mind stopped working, as if someone had shoved ice onto the side of my head.

“We’re a pair, aren’t we?”

His voice cracked at the end.

The combination of oxygen deprivation and despair had resulted in my brain being below freezing, so I couldn’t react immediately.

Was there any room in the process I was about to describe to consider how things came to be this way?

To be frank, I hadn’t done anything of my own volition.

If this was the real “Attraction”, then I was helpless.

To begin with, I had no idea whether this was the process or the conclusion of this year’s school festival.

Erio is running. She was wrapped in a blanket from the waist up, and her trousers were 30% thicker than usual.

“Looks like something good has happened to her.”

I’ve seen Erio up close for the longest time, so you can trust me on this. In fact, if I’m wrong, I will make Erio happy and turn it into reality! That was what a true prophet who’s always right was like, fu fu fu.

But it was fortunate that I was able to spot Erio as she came running out of the school building.

“Why are you following your daughter? I mean, with that outfit, I don’t think she’d notice you walking right beside her.”

Grandma Tamura, whom I was carrying on my back, said to both me and Erio with a look of exasperation. Hiding in the shadow of the school building, I was secretly following, or rather watching over my daughter, and I almost nodded in agreement.

Erio, not checking her surroundings, bumped her right side into the blood donation van. The impact sent her spinning around, and once she settled down, she started running forward again. In the opposite direction from where she’d been running before. Ah, here she comes. I stayed still in the shadows, keeping my eyes on Erio. She ran past us and continued on towards another school building. I moved away from the wall and jogged after her.

“Hey, answer my question.”

Grandma pulled the hair near the crown of my head. I yelped, and my head tilted backward.

“Grandma, that’s domestic violeeeence.”

“Hmph, I don’t recall ever being counted as part of your family. We live in separate houses, don’t we?”

“Even though we’re apart, our hearts are connected!”

“You should tell that to Eliott.”

“…Ahahaha.”

That was just a difference of opinion, Grandma.

Because even when we were together, I didn’t know if our hearts or our little fingers were truly connected.

“So? As usual, talking to you is a tedious process because you keep going off on tangents.”

It was Grandma, who pulled my hair, who started it all.

“To determine whether those gathered here are blessed or cursed…”

“Answer seriously.”

Squeeze. My hair was pulled from behind. My hair was being treated like a horse’s reins. I was afraid she would pull my hair out in various places until I answered, so I gave up on trying to bluff and answered:

“I’m watching to see if Erio can find someone to tie her thread to.”

I sprinted behind Erio as her rhythm slowed down. Hmm, to be able to sprint at full speed when her future looks so bleak, that’s my beloved daughter for you. She has grown up watching her mother’s back to the fullest!

But as long as she was wrapped up in that futon, it looked like she would never find a partner. She was attracting a lot of attention, but it was pointless because her hands were hidden!

“Did Eliott ask you to sort this all out today?”

“Haha, no way!”

“You always try to avoid important things. And with Eliott here, it’s perfectly clear what’s important to you.”

“…If it were Mako-kun, he’d probably say something like, ‘Ah, it’s your age, isn’t it?’”

Fu fu fu, I could already see through my nephew’s jokes. He acted just like my brother when he was with me. I wonder when either of them will ever say “I love you very much, Meme-tan.” Huh? Never? If I forced them to say it, it would probably turn into some garbled text like “Meme-tan uityjy”.

“What do you intend to do by making her find someone to tie her thread to?”

“I don’t intend to ‘make’ her find it. If she doesn’t find it, that’s fine too. I just want to respect the process.”

So even if Eri-chan hit a wall, all I could do is swallow my tears and watch over her. I was really about to cry.

Not that it was important, but where did she get this futon in the school? From the night duty room, maybe?

“Did Elliot ask you to do that?”

“Well, I wonder…”

“You’re not planning on launching another bottle rocket, are you?”

Meme-chin was an entertainer, so she wouldn’t use the same staging twice. Besides, this time, it isn’t my project. Anyway, what was Erio aiming for? I couldn’t see the purpose of her actions, mainly because of her futon. Was she looking for Mako-kun or something?

“Excuse me for a moment, ordinary civilian!”

“Yes?”

I felt like I was being addressed rather rudely, so I turned around while running. It was a girl with a ponytail running after me. She ran alongside, holding a handheld microphone to my mouth.

“What do you think of this year’s school festival?”

“There’s not enough love. Love, in the form of a heroine named Meme-chin!”

“I’m sorry, you weren’t an ordinary civilian!”

The girl ran away. With light steps, she moved away from us and disappeared into the crowd.

“She’s got no eye for people. How could she mistake Meme for an ordinary person?”

“Yeah, you’re right. How could she call ordinary such an innocent and lovely young lady as me?”

Grandma remained silent. Only the sound of my footsteps echoed frivolously from the soles of my shoes.

She was so light. It should be the sound of two sets of footsteps, mine and Grandma’s.

“No matter what I ask, I doubt you’ll give me a proper answer anyway.”

Grandma began, building up the story in a slightly dramatic way.

“Whaaat?”

“Is Elliot doing well?”

“… Yeah.”

“In that case, that’s fine,” Granma nodded and leaned her whole body on me.

Erio really did resemble Eliott.

I started to say something but ended up swallowing my words.

Seriously, we didn’t have enough love.

Let’s go back in time a few dozen minutes before the encounter with the middle-aged man.

Some two hours until the beginning of the concert.

It all started, I believe, the moment I stepped away from the bench alone. From that moment on, I felt like I wanted to try and find the connections this thread would bring me. Partly because of the encouragement of Meme-san.

I set off a little after 12:30 p.m., and I chuckled wryly almost immediately after starting walking.

If this thread had a dowsing function, it would have been easy, but it didn’t appear to be the case. How was I supposed to find it? Surely I wasn’t supposed to raise my hand and shout, “I’m looking for the person with the purple thread!” was I? It wouldn’t only be the thread but also my face that would turn purple. Rejected. I guess I would just have to patiently stare at people’s fingers.

I found myself hunched over, trying to pay attention to the fingers of people passing by. I noticed quite a few people walking around with the same hunched posture, which made me chuckle wryly. I was supposed to be looking for someone to connect with, but why couldn’t I be cheerful and positive? It was like I was fumbling around, trying to find something important that I had lost. Even if I did meet someone in this state, would I be able to make a cheerful proposal?

But I also realised how amazing it was that the little finger thread element had spread like this and was playing a part in making the school festival more exciting. It was as if we were experimenting with how trends could spread in a miniature world.

But it would be a problem if the other person was of the same sex. The moment I linked pinky fingers with a high school boy, my Youth Points would plummet. No, even before that, the moment our eyes would meet, I might have to measure them negatively. I had been accumulating some pretty good Youth Points today (especially with the card costume), so I couldn’t let it all be ruined… Just then, the phone vibrated. Probably Maekawa-san or Ryushi-san.

Trusting my prediction, I deliberately avoided checking the registered name displayed on the LCD screen and answered the phone.

“Niwa-kkyuu.”

Identifying her from her very first words was extremely easy. Based on her speech and sounds.

“Ryukyu.”

“That’s Okinawa, I told ya.”

Judging from the way she was talking, Ryuushi-san seemed to have calmed down. I moved to the side of the road, near the bushes, to a position where I wouldn’t be in anyone’s way. Looking up from there, I could see the art room window. No one was there now. I gazed at it, wondering if Maekawa-san would show up again.

“Niwa-kun what are you doing right now?”

“Nothing in particular. Just wandering around aimlessly.”

I hesitated to openly admit that I was looking for my soulmate because it was embarrassing. The sunlight reflected off the art room window, blinding me. I covered my squinting eyes with the shadow of my right hand and smiled at the heat of my hair.

I went to the beach this summer and exhausted all my energy there, so maybe this was the heat from the leftover embers.

“What about you, Ryuushi-san?”

“I told ya, I’m Ryuuko, spreading the word.”

“Doing anything else while you’re at it?”

“I’m currently on my way to the food stall as a secret weapon.”

She had clearly been talked into it by someone. Since it was a food stall, probably Mickey from the same club.

“Ah, I’m sorry for suddenly running off somewhere earlier. I ended up helping out at a food stall, so I can’t hang with you around the school festival after all. Sorry!”

“Yeah, it’s a shame. But we did play poker together,” and even pressed our backs together.

“Ugh… Now that I think about it, I was with Touwa-san just a moment ago. She wrapped herself in a futon and ran off somewhere.”

“Aah, just like always.”

She never learned. I thought she might be around if I looked for her, but I couldn’t find Smakin anywhere.

“But I haven’t seen Erio even once today.”

“Hmm, I see. I guess there’s no Attraction between Niwa-kun and Touwa-san.”

“I don’t know, she’s my cousin after all.”

It was impossible that absolutely nothing happened. In a society overflowing with people, something was bound to happen the moment you met someone. What determined whether that relationship continued afterwards?

Fate? Destiny? Or did it all depend on a person’s mindset? I just didn’t like the idea that it was a combination of both.

“Well, that’s fine, I guess, I told ya.”

“Yes, what?”

Oh, so she had something to tell me? I thought she was just calling me to kill time.

“Niwa-kun, are you going to the concert? Ah, not as a regular participant, but as a finger-tied?”

“That abbreviation only brings to mind extremely gruesome food.”

“Huh?”

That finger-tied thing sounded scary. It made a big difference whether it was a grain of rice that was the finger or the stuff inside it, mind you.

“So, about the concert…”

She fires off a series of questions at a pace that seemed to match her walking stride. Both Meme-san and Ryuushi-san seemed to be paying a lot of attention to the concert. The singer they invited must be quite famous.

“I’m looking for my partner while talking, but it doesn’t seem like I’ll find it easily.”

“Really? I found it right away.”

“Oh, you’ve already found someone. What kind of person is it?”

“What kind? Just a normal boy, I guess?”

“Hmm.”

So it’s a guy? If it was Nakajima, it would really be the worst. Well, it probably wasn’t the case since the colour of his thread was different.

“I-It’s not like we’re both just normal people or anything like that! Today is a Ryuuko-san special, after all!”

“No, I wasn’t thinking about anything like that yet.”

“So, then what’s that ‘hmm’? And what do you mean by ‘yet’?”

Almost simultaneously with Ryuushi-san’s shout, Maekawa-san stuck the top of her head out the art room window. She looked around at the main street in the school and noticed me. This time I waved back. Then, for some reason, Maekawa-san started a little skit, trapping her neck in the window and sticking out her tongue while screaming. “…………” Wow, she looks dissatisfied with my expression. How was I supposed to react to this sideways guillotine gesture? Surely she didn’t want me to laugh? She quickly got bored, opened the window again, and crossed her arms with a thoughtful expression.

“By the way, to give you an idea of ​​just how special today’s Ryuuko-san is, it’s piled high like a jumbo parfait at a family restaurant.”

Meanwhile, the phone call was going on. As usual, her analogies were nonsensical, but a parfait, huh? Ryuushi-san and I tried to eat one together during summer vacation, and it was hell. Towards the end, I was telling myself, “I’m an immortal, I’m just eating mist,” as I poured the melted cream down my throat. Ryuushi-san invited me, saying it had been her dream since childhood, so I readily agreed, but I regretted a little bit how thoughtless that was.

Also, various problems arose when I went to a family restaurant with Meme-san and Erio, but… that’s a digression from our main story, so I’ll omit it. Maybe I’ll talk about it someday, if the opportunity arises.

“So, Niwa-kuuuun!”

“Um, yes, what is it?”

As I spoke, I narrowed my eyes towards Maekawa-san. Hmm, Maekawa-san told me she would change clothes in the afternoon, but she was still in her school uniform. Maybe she was too busy with art club activities and didn’t find the time.

“So… Niwa-kun, which are you better at: English or Japanese?”

“Humm?”

“Hey you, answer my question!”

Was that an attempt to show off that she was better at English? Wow, that was some seriously Japanese-style English.

“If I had to choose, I’d say English.”

It wasn’t a huge difference, though. In the first semester’s final exams, it was a two-point grade difference. As an aside, there was a difference of more than ten points between the answers of a person who’s leaning out of the window, looking a bit bored and fiddling with their mobile phone, and those of other people.

“So, Niwa-kun, has something like Jurassic Park started to sprout in your heart?”

“Hah?”

Why did a dinosaur appear inside me during that phone call right now? And what did she mean by “something like”? Wasn’t it just a cheap imitation? Ugh, this was too far-fetched; I couldn’t get it. This month, I couldn’t understand Ryuushi-san at all.

“Because, you see… I became a boy, or something like that?”

“What? Ryuushi-san? A boy?!”

“Wait no! Ugh, Niwa-kun, you’re so stupid, idiot, moron!”

“Are you disparaging me?”

“I tried to make it mild!”

Was that a case of infantilisation? Ultimately, I had no idea what she was trying to ask.

But it was about time I wrapped things up and started walking.

“Aah, about the concert, I’ll try to find someone to come with.”

“Really? Hmm, I hope your partner mumble mumble… becomes…”

“It’s a shame that we couldn’t go around to the food stalls and things like that together, Ryuushi-san.”

“Wow, Niwa-kun, your good-guy aura is cancelling out Ryuuko-san’s curse!”

“Huh, a curse?”

“No, no, it’s nothing. Ho ho ho.”

“……? Let’s meet up after we’re at the gymnasium for the concert. Apparently, Maekawa-san will be there too.”

“Hmm… well, that’s fine. Go Niwa-kun, fight on!”

“Yes!”

I responded with a small wave of my hand. But Attraction was useless when one tried too hard, right? It was frustrating.

I hung up the phone. Immediately afterwards, I received an email. I had an idea who it was from, so I looked up, but the sender had already disappeared into the back of the art room. I checked the contents of the email.

The sender was indeed Maekawa-san. It had no subject. When I looked through the body of the email, it was all written in hiragana.

“You’re going home? You have a wife too, don’t you?”

“I don’t!”

I put away my cell phone while replying to her email verbally. It must be around 12:45?

There was just over an hour left until the concert started.

……And then.

This was where my tragicomedic future began.

Here’s a summary of what’s to come.

“Hum?”

I noticed a presence at my feet. Something round was sitting there. It was a dog, a plump, ball-like creature. The dog, plump with excess flesh, looked sleepy and wasn’t wearing a collar or leash. It seemed completely unrelated to the harshness of the wild. So, what was that thing?

It gave off a vibe of a father who was exhausted from a family outing and the crowds. Its weary appearance was probably partly due to it being an old dog. “Ah, there you are!” exclaimed a voice, and a woman who seems to be his owner rushed from a distance. It glanced at her and sat back down as if to say, “Good grief.” For a moment, I was hoping that as his belly scraped against the ground, he might lightly bounce.

The woman who had come in and crouched down seemed to be checking on the dog to see if it was injured. Then, she glared at it and said, “You’re moving around on your own again.” The dog turned away as if to escape her questioning.

Then, the woman stood up and smiled at me with a carefree grin.

“Surely you’re not going to say, ‘Doesn’t the dog need an invitation ticket too?’”

She jokingly tried to gauge my reaction. Since I wasn’t on the disciplinary committee or the cultural festival committee, I just shrugged in response. The woman chuckled, rubbing her teeth together. She had the demeanour of someone who at least somewhat looked like an adult, with slightly short chestnut-coloured hair. And her striking red lips contrasted beautifully with her pale skin.

“That dog looks tired.”

“Yeah, well… He’s an old fellow, that one. So I want to spend as much time with him as possible.”

“There, there,” the woman said, stroking the dog’s belly. I wondered why she didn’t stroke its back instead. Though, it did seem like its belly would feel nicer to the touch. The dog narrowed its eyes, letting its owner do as she pleased.

What a charming dog, I thought, gazing at its sleeping-like expression for a moment. My ears were then immediately alerted to an approaching mass of noise. A frenzied clamour. Footsteps and voices. I looked up and saw several students sprinting towards me from the direction of the playground. Their eyes were fixed on the back of the woman stroking her dog. And for some reason, they all have felt-tip pens.

“Um…”

“Yeah?”

“Some people are running towards us.”

“Uh… Whoa! What is this?!”

Despite saying that, she acted quickly. The woman immediately stopped turning around, picked up the dog, and ran past me. In a straight line. Oh, she was very fast.

I was watching the scene nonchalantly, but then I realised I was standing right in the middle of the line drawn by the fleeing woman and those chasing her, so I hastily jumped back. But I should have considered my location better. There was a bush behind me.

“Ouch!” I was thrown in hip-first. I instinctively reached my hands behind me to break my fall, but the tree branches scraped my skin. The painful spots spread like wildfire. I could hear the branches snapping in half behind my back, and while I felt sorry for them, I screamed.

I felt like I had been thrown into a sea of ​​thorns, and even after my body had sunk into the bushes, I kept my arms and legs twirling in the air for a while. Meanwhile, the group that had been running past showed no sign of caring about me whatsoever and continued on their way, chasing after the woman. Did she and her dog dine and dash or something?

However, I was more concerned with myself than with her. I stopped thrashing around pointlessly and stood up, pushing off the ground with my hands. The bushes made for a terrible sofa. Obviously. My bare arms were exposed because I was wearing summer clothes. They were covered in scrapes, and there were even some places where blood was seeping out.

First, I decided to wash my arms and headed for the nearest water fountain. The man, who had thrown himself headlong into the flowerbeds and was wincing in pain, felt he was attracting attention and being mocked by those around him, so he walked briskly away from the scene.

As I was roughly walking towards the school entrance, wondering where the nearest water fountain was, I passed the school nurse. A middle-aged woman in a white coat, clearly the type to be a school nurse, quickly noticed the condition of my arms and the dirt on my back. When she asked what was wrong and I gave a vague answer, she grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the nurse’s office. I tried to explain that I didn’t have time for this, that I should be finding my soulmate, but it was like talking to a brick wall.

This was only the second time I had been to the infirmary since transferring schools. The first time was sometime in May or June, when Maekawa-san fainted from anaemia after physical education class, and we carried her there. I had held her legs, and Ryuushi-san had held her arms.

The infirmary window was wide open and unlocked, even though no one was there. Moreover, the futon on one of the beds was missing. I had a hunch who the culprit who took it was. I’ll have to tell her to put it back when I see her later. I was asked to sit in a chair, and the school nurse prepared the disinfectant.

While waiting, I gazed blankly at the field. The baseball team had finished their long-distance throwing ritual (a truly mysterious act) and were holding their target practice competition. I had never seen the real thing on TV, but I knew that it involved nine targets that you had to shoot at with a ball. They had set up about three handmade targets on the field and were letting the spectators throw at them. Like the lower reaches of a river, a stream of people had gathered on the field, creating a lively atmosphere. Students and guests alike were throwing at the targets with all their might.

Looking at these guests, I almost burst out laughing.

At the far right of the three targets, a small figure clad in a bulky, makeshift spacesuit was awkwardly throwing a ball. It was also wearing a space helmet, making it a completely suspicious character. It was Hoshimiya Yashiro.

So she came to the school festival? I mean, don’t go out dressed like that, seriously. As I stared wide-eyed, the school nurse began treating me, and at the same time, Yashiro awkwardly threw a ball at the target. Yashiro’s full-force throw hit the edge of the target’s black frame. The ball scraped my lower abdomen but didn’t lose momentum and flew straight towards the infirmary. Luckily, the window was wide open, so the ball skipped the expected hurdle of shattering glass and hit me in the head. It had bounced off the infirmary floor just before, slowing it down, so it wasn’t excruciatingly painful, but it was incredibly frustrating. I couldn’t twist my body to avoid it because my hand was being held during treatment.

The school nurse asked a question as she watched the hard ball rolling across the floor.

“Should I treat your head as well?”

“I’ll pass. I have a feeling you are asking this with a different meaning in mind.”

Just then, Yashiro came into the infirmary through the entrance facing the playground. The school nurse was startled. Yashiro didn’t seem to mind and entered the infirmary with her shoes (?) on, running clumsily as if to say, “Excuse me, can I have my ball back?” After retrieving her ball, she tried to leave, completely ignoring me, so I called her out, “Hey S-per!” and she turned around.

Although I couldn’t see the details of her expression because she was wearing a helmet, she seemed to be giving off an air of dissatisfaction.

“Ma-ko-to-it’s-you-a-gain.”

“That’s what I’d like to say. You’re such an elusive, or perhaps curious, person with too much time on your hands.”

“I-am-con-fi-dent-that-I-am-u-sing-more-in-te-lli-gence-than-you.”

“Don’t underestimate modern high school students, you space NEET.”

For some reason, Yashiro was standing right beside me. She was rolling her ball around in her hands, kneading it, and swaying her body slightly. Was her target practice going well?

She was rolling her ball around in her hands, kneading it, and swaying her body slightly.

Soon after, a teacher appeared in the infirmary. It was the baseball club advisor. The teacher came to find Yashiro. Apparently, Yashiro seemed suspicious, so he wanted to conduct a stop-and-frisk. Moreover, Yashiro was also suspected of trespassing on school premises without an invitation.

“The Earth is my territory, so of course I don’t need permission.”

As Yashiro began speaking, the atmosphere in the infirmary became chaotic. Ah, I was getting tired of her alien-like way of speaking, but I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. So, I decided to leave the infirmary without regard for the fact that the disinfection was still in progress, and the moment I stood up from my chair, Yashiro made her move too. She threw the ball towards the ceiling. As an intimidation tactic. The hard ball hit the ceiling, making a tremendous noise. White paint flew everywhere. The impact and roar startled the teacher and the school nurse, and Yashiro didn’t miss the opportunity to run. And I, too, ran off at the same time, as if we were accomplices. As a result, for some reason I ended up running away from the teacher with Yashiro in tow. Even though the disinfection was still in progress! What’s more, the teacher, who had rushed out of the infirmary a moment later, was chased after Yashiro, not me, at full speed. He showed no sign of giving up. “As expected of the baseball club advisor, so passionate!” I was impressed, but what should I do? I tried to escape in a different direction as Yashiro, who was running alongside me, shouting that I didn’t have time for this. But Yashiro, as if she had planned it all along, chose the same direction and continued running alongside me. I couldn’t stop and be framed for some crime. I gritted my teeth to silence my mouth that wanted to complain to Yashiro and ran straight ahead. Time was ticking away. While going back and forth through the school building, while running around outside, and while being chased by the athletic and sports-orientated advisor. What a nightmare. I was supposed to be looking for my soulmate, but it had turned into a school marathon. How did it end up like this? I didn’t even have time to figure out where the root cause lay.

And so, after the school festival and the sports festival were both held, I felt like I was about to throw up, so I stopped walking, having reached the limits of my body and mind. I placed my hands on my knees and sucked on something to hold back the tears, snot, and stomach acid.

Before I knew it, I’d got separated from Yashiro, and when I came to, I was exhausted and standing in the corner of the field.

My lower lip was swollen. It was a sign of dehydration. My breath was hoarse, my throat hurt, and I was struggling to regulate my breathing. I felt like I had lost my Youth Points in various ways while running, and my stomach acid was churning. As a consequence of sprinting at full speed without even warming up, my side hurt so much that I felt like it was going to tear off.

I had been running around the school building so much that I hadn’t even thought about looking for the thread.

Perhaps some kind soul took pity on me, because an unfamiliar voice asked if I was alright, expressing concern for my health. It was a slightly deep, masculine voice. Before even looking up, I assumed it was a guest.

Ah, I’m fine.

I replied. And as I raised my head, still out of breath, to try and force a smile, I saw an older man with a purple string tightly tied around his little finger, standing in front of me, slightly bent over.

That concludes the digest.

This was the result of being forced to run all over the school grounds due to several factors.

There was an Attraction. It felt like destiny.

But the wind mercilessly told me that I wasn’t a bucket maker who could make a profit.

As I ran, I remember that just a little bit.

Elliot lived in this town until he turned twenty-three. The day after he turned twenty, he disappeared from my life. I don’t remember being particularly sad. Elliot was always as ephemeral as an illusion. He shone brightly, but no one could touch that light. Being with him felt like a dream, so I only felt something like, “Ah, so that dream is over?” Now, I was pursuing what that dream had left behind for me.

“Fu fu, chasing her around like this reminds me of when I used to stalk Eliott as a child.”

“Don’t turn your stalking phase into a nice memory, you idiot.”

“Oh, how rude of me. Mine is a love CCTV. I’m a pure love enthusiast.”

“You and Shouji… you two siblings are definitely related.”

Heh? So the Touwa family has produced stalkers for generations? Then my deceased grandfather must have been one too. Or would it be better to say that they’ve produced pure-hearted people?

“But it’s quite a sudden return.”

Grandma’s breath, as I carried her on my back, ruffled my hair. After readjusting her slender legs, I played dumb.

“Who are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb. I’m talking about Elliott.”

“Ah, right. His disappearance was so sudden, so I guess it’s fine?”

“He’ll disappear again soon,” I added, realising I was speaking too fast and clicking my tongue. I didn’t really want to live my life consciously thinking about him, but it looked like I couldn’t help it. Meme-tan is such a maiden!

“What did Elliot say? That he wanted to live with you?”

Erio bumped into the hood of a parked k-car. Having learned her lesson, she stuck both hands out from under her futon. She thrust her hands forward, using them like canes to prevent herself from falling, and changed direction again as she ran. Just right, now people outside could see her hands. But with just her hands sticking out, she ran along looking even more like a mysterious creature.

“No, that topic never came up. I’m against it too.”

“You’re still single, aren’t you? Soon the only men left to marry you will be granny lovers.”

“Oh, Grandma, come on!”

Fu fu, I laughed at her joke… She’s joking, right? She was snorting, though.

“I actually got a marriage proposal the other day.”

“From an alien, no doubt about it.”

Grandma nodded to herself. “Yup yup.” I was only popular with aliens, but looking at it the other way around, I meant that I was a beauty on a cosmic level beyond the world, yup yup.”

“Putting that nonsense aside, Meme…”

“Wow, that’s so naturally rude.”

“You’re sulking because Eliott left, aren’t you?”

Grandma pointed out as if to say she could see right through me. I immediately shook my head.

“Not really. I was much more scared when Erio disappeared.”

I lost so many kilograms because of stress back then. Now…noooo, a maiden’s weight is a se☆cr☆et, as is customary. Grandma sighed as if to say, “Good grief!” What was that?

After that, we continued to run along, growling, and as we watched Erio’s whereabouts, he jumped down… Huh? Yes, he jumped down from the sky, right in front of us.

A man like the sun with arms and legs, leaving a trail of light blue light, jumped down from a second-floor window. It was Eliott, who, like me, was forty years old. From the window of the second floor. He landed in the middle of the street and remained hunched over; maybe his legs were numb. But he turned towards us once, smiled, and waved. Surely he didn’t jump because he spotted us, did he? Speak of the devil, perhaps?

He shared the same aura as Erio, possessing a unique, almost dazzling, atmosphere about him. Erio’s father appeared as if nothing had happened after sixteen years. His entrance was so astonishing that it made me stop in my tracks.

Erio ran past Eliott. Wrapped in her futon, Erio didn’t notice anything, and Eliott watched her go with a smile. He probably knew who was inside that futon.

“He’s still the same flashy, restless guy as ever.”

Grandma noticed Eliott and murmured the same thing she did when we first met sixteen years ago. Eliott straightened his knees, stood up, and walked towards me. I turned dramatically to the right, whistled, and ignored him while consciously thinking about him… Ignoring someone while consciously thinking about them is hard, you know. But I guess one could not ignore someone if one didn’t think about him.

While I was caught up in this dilemma, Eliott seemed to have come right up to the front and called out to me.

“Grandma, it’s been a long time.”

“Oh, you remember me?”

“Why, of course. When I was a kid, I used to hang out at your candy store all the time.”

He laughs softly, “Ahaha.” Did he even know what a voice change was? I hadn’t noticed any change in Eliott’s voice since the first day we met. It was like a string of thinly connected words, like pressing staccato piano keys. So Eliott’s “I love you” sounded like “I\LOVE\YOU” and I couldn’t bring myself to believe him from the bottom of my heart. To begin with, he didn’t really look like the sort who’d fall in love, in a good way.

“What kind of elite education do I have to give my daughter to be like that?”

“Beep beep beep…”

It seemed like she was talking about me; I whistled louder. “Hey!” “Gyue!” The old lady pulled my hair and scolded me. My bangs, no less. My whistling was cut off with a “pyurufufuiii”.

“Stop sulking and just go along with it. That’s the kind of thing that makes you a big brat.”

“I’m not sulking,” I said, turning away with a huff. Ugh, stop sending those particles towards me.

“No, I think she’s fine like that. Meme’s childishness is part of her charm.”

“Ugh…”

Being called by my first name without any honorifics made me feel irritated and ticklish, and my whole body suddenly heated up. As if the 40-year-old me, the 22-year-old me, and the 10-year-old me were all reacting, and it was uncomfortable.

Even the little whistle I blew “beep beep beep”, sounded a bit hoarse. I wasn’t particularly good at whistling to begin with.

“I believe your daughter’s name is Erio? She properly came here, so I guess all that is left for her is to come to the gymnasium?”

Eliott murmured. I had nothing more to think or feel.

And perhaps out of consideration for me, Eliott quickly announced his intention to leave.

“Well then, see you later. I’m looking forward to everything going well.”

“… What good does it do for you to tell me that?”

I answered in a low voice so Eliott wouldn’t hear. Still, I could hear murmuring laughter from ahead, and my forehead felt hot. I couldn’t scratch my itchy forehead because I was carrying Grandma on my back, so I squeezed my eyes shut. In the darkness of my eyelids, a tiny, light blue, fairy-like figure danced.

“Is Eliott gone?”

I asked Grandma. Her answer was a tight pull on my hair. I opened my eyes in pain.

“Ah……”

He had truly vanished from my sight. Just like before, he left behind a lingering scent of light blue particles floating in the air.

“…Hmph.”

As expected, having Erio was enough for my home. I didn’t need the “tt”… wait, what?

“Where’s Eri-tan?” My daughter too had disappeared. I looked around left and right, but I couldn’t see her futon.

“A brat snatched her away the moment you looked away.”

“What?! A kidnapping?!”

“’Your thread looks just like mine. Just in the nick of time, but I’m glad we made it, let’s go together.’ That’s what that brat said as he pulled Erio along. He was pretty good-looking, by the way.”

“He was hitting on her?… but she found her partner? But, hmm…”

Since Erio was wrapped in her futon, was he purely taking her for the concert? If that was the case, it was fine, but what if he turns into a wolf and attacks Erio as soon as she sees what’s inside her futon?…Ugh, how worrying. In my state of mind, I had my fists clenched. If push came to shove, Meme-tan would have to be Erio’s hero.

After all, Erio doesn’t have a father.

“You idiot, you named your daughter Erio, but you’re not being honest with yourself.”

My grandmother placed her palm on my head. She wasn’t stroking me, but rather intended to smack me for being a naughty child. I could feel the bones in her palm, and that hurt a little.

“Grandma, you’re the last person to tell me to be honest.”

Why were elderly people so uncooperative? Though Grandma has always been like this. Both with Grandpa and with her customers.

I readjusted my sling over Grandma’s shoulder and turned towards the gymnasium. It seemed like it was almost time, so we should go too. Before I started walking, an album flipped through my mind. There was a picture of Eliott. And I was there, a stiff and rigid child, standing beside him. A blank space followed. There was Eliott in middle school. There was me, in a different class, and I didn’t see him very often. Another blank space. There was Eliott in high school. I had mixed feelings about Eliott, who had been rejected by another girl. From there, the blank spaces became fewer. There were more pictures of me with Eliott, and I was excited. Eliott’s disappearance and, at the same time, the birth of a new person.

Family. My daughter. A child who inherited both Eliott and my blood. Why did I name her Erio? I was 24 and had no doubts. But the photo albums from that point onwards were thicker than those with Eliott, and each page felt heavier. From that point on, my happiness changed in quality, and the quantity increased proportionally. That all stopped last year. But then Mako-kun came along, and it’s been back on an upward trend.

Though their circumstances and the nature of their affection were different, these two men have made me happy.

“…Okay, shall we go?”

“Hey, wait a moment.”

“What is it?” I replied calmly, but my hair was being pulled. I’ve gotten used to the pain.

“You’ve forgotten about finding my soulmate, haven’t you?”

“Ah, ha ha ha.”

Looking up at the sky, I let out a laugh that was a beat too late.

“Ah, that’s my grandmother,” I thought, deeply convinced.

“So, we can close up shop, I guess?”

As I watched the flow of students heading towards the gymnasium, seemingly with the entire school gathering, I made the suggestion to the art club members. The art club members all agreed with a “Yup!” and tossed their sketchbooks onto the desks. Well, if the students who would be our visitors were already gathered in the gymnasium, there was no point in keeping it open.

But surprisingly, a good number of guests came, and it was a great success. I was worried at first, wondering who would even come to an event like this. There were even guests with dogs. What’s more, one guest asked me to draw the ideal lover, or rather, her ideal canine companion. That was quite a challenge, yeah.

I also put away my sketchbook, and then I thought about what to do with the drawings that were posted on the outside wall. There were a few that are there to attract customers, but should I take them down? I would have to peel them off later, though.

Now that I thought about it, a girl from the school newspaper club passed by earlier and took a few pictures.

I opened my cell phone. I checked the digital clock on the screen and confirmed that I still had a little time to spare. “Okay”, I’ll finish that first before I leave. Without asking the other club members to help, I went out into the hallway.

There aren’t that many sheets, so it should be over quickly. I’ve already stuck them down low as a precaution against my own frailty. I stepped out into the hallway and inhaled the clean air, washing the back of my throat.

I faced the wall in the hallway. First, I reached for the thumbtack with the picture of the transfer student that I had pinned to the far right. My own imagination of the transfer student’s ideal lover. Touwa, Ryuushi, and… I think a little bit of me was in there too.

“Oh dear.”

I didn’t really like that aspect of myself. I didn’t like how half-hearted I was in my assertiveness.

My height was a major selling point, so that might be why people thought of me that way.

That’s why I tore it up.

I tore my impassive lover in two and rolled it up neatly. That was good. I didn’t want to leave any trace of imposing my ideals on him, not even tomorrow. I crushed the remaining parts of the rolled-up paper into my hand and smiled a little.

It’s a secret, but after I finished drawing, I regretted forgetting to include some feminine elements in the picture.

However, I’ve already drawn Meme-san looking youthful for other customers, so that should be good enough.

I collected all the drawing paper displays and placed them on the desk in the art room. Then I closed the door to the art room, which was now empty as the club members had disappeared. I was told I didn’t need to lock it because there were their belongings inside.

I… have got the things I was given this morning. Good. Oh, by the way, I was still wearing my school uniform.

I just didn’t feel like cosplaying today. That was the only reason. I had no other motive.

“Okay, should I go?”

The meeting place was in front of the gymnasium, right?

“Aren’t you going to the concert, Mickey?”

“I mean, singers are just ordinary people, and they’re not cute.”

What on earth was Mickey talking about?

The stove was turned off, allowing some of the trapped heat to escape from the food stall. Mickey and I were talking, fanning each other’s faces with a hand fan. The concert was the main topic of conversation at the time.

“Who are you going to the concert with, Ryuushi-chan? Ah, that was a silly question; it’s the transfer student.”

“Uh, well. Another boy, I told ya, I’m Ryuuko.”

As I said that, Mickey put her hand to the side of his mouth, making a gesture as if she were gossiping.

“You’re surprisingly fickle, aren’t you? *mutter*”

“N-no, I’m not! We just purely love music, you see.”

“You’re going to end up being a total cheating bitch, *mutter*.”

“Hey, hey! No baseless rumours! And I’m not muttering at all!”

I frantically fanned Mickey’s eyes with a fan. Unable to bear the dryness in her eyes, Mickey moved her hand to her mouth and covered her eyes. I’ve shattered her rumours. So Ryuuko-san’s future is… a-average?

“Ukiii, hoirizon!”

“Why are you panicking all by yourself? But is the transfer student fine with that?”

“Niwa-kun also said he’d find someone to come to the concert with.”

“Ah, by the way…”

Mickey suddenly changed the subject. Mickey really transcended time sometimes.

“I heard the transfer student’s aunt’s name is Touwa or something; is she related to Erio-chan?”

Ugh. When did Mickey get that information? This wasn’t the time to whistle and pretend “No ideaaaaa”. There were a lot of things we needed to talk about.

Because Mickey was my friend too.

“Well, yes, she is. Niwa-kun is Touwa-san’s cousin, after all.”

Was it okay for me to say it? But Niwa-kun said he didn’t intend to hide it, so I guess it was fine.

Mickey’s eyes narrowed, and I stopped fanning her with the fan. She put her hand to her chin, her eyes severe.

“Hoh, so that’s how it is?”

“But, but Niwa-kun is my friend, and Touwa-san is… um, kind of like a friend too.”

“Is she my love rival?”

“L-lobaba!”

“Ha ha, it looks like you’re having fun.”

Mickey was acting silly, speaking in a falsetto voice. But her expression wasn’t good. The way she looked at me wasn’t smiling.

“Oh, oh, it’s almost time to enter the concert!”

“Hmm, have a good time. Make sure you’re back by dinner.”

Stop acting all silly with such a straight face. It’s scary. I was so frightened even though we were facing each other, I ran away in a flash.

I jumped out of the stall and started running… Hmm, I was still wearing my apron and headscarf. I realised this and turned around, and just then Mickey called out to me.

“Hey, you there. Want me to tell you a touching line? Right now, it’s free!”

What was going on? I thought, my eyes wide with surprise. But her voice was so gentle that I couldn’t help but nod.

“Okay, then, I’ll leave it to you.”

Mickey leaned out from the stall and gave a thumbs-up. Ah, she smiled, showing her teeth.

“Ryuushi-chan, I’m also your friend! For now, anyway!”

“Heeeey! You ruined it by getting my name wrong, I told ya!”

I lied, waving my hands dramatically. The truth is, I was quite moved.

The fatigue from grilling takoyaki at the food stall vanished instantly, and my palms grew warm. I clenched my fists tightly, feeling as if I could grasp anything, even the air itself, and my face naturally tilted upwards.

I’ll sprint to the front of the gymnasium so I don’t forget this feeling.

Surely, the good days will continue from here on out.

And so, the old man and I were facing each other.

As if to stir, or perhaps tear apart our silence, a distorted broadcast began to emanate from the speakers that had been set up. The silly, bang-bang-bang intro was very jarring.

Then, a torrent of hurried, forward-leaning words poured out.

“This is your usual announcement from the Cultural Festival Executive Committee. We would like to inform you that the broadcast has been brought at 1:15 p.m. This is important, so don’t think it’s annoying just because the sound is all distorted! At 2 PM, this year’s main event, the Nijou Owari concert, will begin in the gymnasium! We will open the gymnasium to the public at 1:30 PM, so please come to the entrance if you wish to attend! However, priority will be given to those who tied the same coloured threads that were distributed this morning. We hope you’ll understand! After all, the theme is Attraction! That’s all from the Cultural Festival Executive Committee!”

Like a poorly made echo, the words stretched out and spread across the field. It sounded like a broadcast in the countryside inviting people to come to the town’s sports day. The aftershocks of the broadcast echoed in my ears.

The middle-aged guy and I were frozen for a while even after the broadcast ended. We barely blinked, and our eyes were getting dry. The penalty game was extended. The lingering effects of the poker game we played earlier in the day were finally showing.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was the case… But we just couldn’t stare at each other here forever.

The old man seemed to sense it too, and with an embarrassed look on his face, he pointed with his thumb at the broadcast speaker that had been blaring from earlier. I glanced over there, but quickly returned my gaze to the old man’s face.

“What should we do?”

“What should we do?”

It was also fine for two men to do it together? I was swirling with the feeling that it was clearly not okay, but I restrained myself because I felt that if I voiced my dissatisfaction even once, I wouldn’t be able to stop.

The middle-aged guy’s face contorted as he checked the time on his watch once more.

“Oh, you’re right. It’s a nice time.”

“… Is that so?”

“So, shall we go?”

“… Should we go?”

Things couldn’t get any worse than this. From here on, things could only get better for me. Believing this, I carefully tied the thread on my little finger with the middle-aged guy’s. The joint effort of our rough fingers overlapping gave me goosebumps. We were so distracted that we only just realised it was actually harder to tie the knot when we were both doing it at the same time. I let the old man continue tying the knot and let my fist hang loose. I looked up at the blue sky, and the wind blew into my eyes and stung. I wiped my eyes.

“All the Youth Points I earned today are just evaporating.”

That feeling of helplessness made my knees ache. The punchline that he was a middle-aged man completely crushed me.

“Hmm? …I don’t really understand, but that’s unfortunate, young man.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Well, life is full of all sorts of things.”

Ha ha ha, the middle-aged guy laughed dryly as he tried to make his statement sound positive. But that too vanishes in seconds, swallowed up by the sand, leaving us feeling helpless once again in an awkward silence.

“Um, so… today, did you receive an invitation ticket from your child?”

I wasn’t really interested, but I tried doing some small talk. The old man looked up and gave a wry smile. His face was thin and worn out, with fine wrinkles etched all around. He was unmistakably a “middle-aged guy”.

“Oh, no, I picked up the ticket.”

“Hah?”

“I just felt like coming over here, and then I happened to find it on the street. I figured I might as well come since I was bored anyway.”

“…Haaa.” It would have been better for both of us had he not picked it up.

The conversation then came to a halt. What was the appropriate way to react in a situation like this? Could someone tell me?

It was 1:15 p.m. Was there any hope for me after this? Or would midnight come much sooner than I thought? My eyes were rolling back and forth; I couldn’t settle down. Maybe it would be better to just tie fingers with Meme-san…perhaps?

No way, as a youthful man, that was not going to happen. Not my aunt. Well, never mind that person.

“It’s tied.”

As soon as he made that declaration, I could feel the middle-aged man’s dry skin through my little finger. The air that had been carried from my lungs swirled as if it had hesitated halfway down my throat. My eyes seemed to sink, along with the edges of them.

The man, who had been hunched over, straightened his back, tilted his head slightly, and looked at my face with a strained expression. What kind of comment did he wanted me to make? I didn’t want to say anything. I wanted to remain silent about things that could not be put into words.

“Let’s just start walking,” I said, gesturing towards the gymnasium with my chin. The middle-aged man nodded with a serious expression, and we started walking, matching our strides. He was taller and had longer legs. We probably didn’t look like a father and son with a strangely good relationship the way we walked.

I could feel the middle-aged guy’s heat through my little finger. Unconsciously, I tried to distance myself, to pull away, but the thread connecting the first joint of my finger tightened, preventing me from doing so. The distance between me and the middle-aged man was as close as Erio and her rolled-up futon. Indeed, if a couple did this, it would be a mix of excitement and embarrassment.

“Somehow…”

“Yeah?”

“It feels like I’m slithering through a poisonous swamp of an old video game.”

“Yes, I agree…”

The most unexciting couple in history both hung their heads with the same expression.

For us, the school festival was entering an ice age. We needed to keep warm.

Maekawa-san and Ryuushi-san were coming too, so let’s meet up with them soon. I wonder what Erio would do. In the end, I haven’t seen her at all today. Maekawa-san and Ryuushi-san saw her and apparently met her, though. Was there no Attraction between me and Erio today? Not that it mattered.

We were together every day, so it was not surprising that there were days when we didn’t see each other. Or rather, if we were together every day, wouldn’t it be unnatural if we didn’t see each other today? Being with Erio felt natural… Hmm.

Even though a “whoops” situation was looming close at hand, I find myself calmly thinking about Erio.

I started to hate myself for slightly adapting, and I grumbled openly.

“Is it really okay for Attraction to be this strong?”

“…Young man, don’t think your life is over yet.”

I appreciated his advice. However, I doubt it would be very effective coming from someone who was actually in charge of it.

“…………”

Attraction bared its fangs. I was pierced by them.

After that, we completely lost our already limited ability to speak and silently moved our feet. We narrowed our field of vision to an extreme degree so as not to notice the strange stares we were being subjected to. We moved forward, the future uncertain.

I could not lose any more Youth Points. It was a blind, reckless act, paradoxically based on that belief… Maybe that was why? I’ve stopped trying to follow that invisible Attraction pull with my eyes.

The area in front of the gymnasium was, as expected, extremely crowded, making it a struggle just to move forward. The flow and mass of people reminded me of a thicket or a bullet train during rush hour. From a distance, the middle-aged guy and I felt the difficulty of jumping into a waterfall. So we stopped in our tracks, but then, immediately afterwards…

In that mass, four paths mysteriously appeared in an instant. Before me, too, a lost path of people appeared, as if the sea were parting. Without missing a beat, the middle-aged man and I hurried and jumped into the gap.

Surely, the people who stood before the remaining three paths also stepped forward with courage.

…That was the reason.

I let my guard down, intoxicated by a fleeting moment of happiness.

I was completely unprepared for what awaited me in the gymnasium, which I had been drawn to, as if by fate.

Following the middle-aged man, a vulnerable part of my heart has been tricked once more.

After crossing the poisonous swamp, I arrived in front of the gymnasium, where a raw gem lay waiting, a chance encounter that was neither hope nor despair. Unaware of this, I stumbled upon “them”.

Each of their faces turned pale, reflecting their individual astonishment.

“Geh!”

“Ugh!”

“Wah!”

“Oh my.”

“Hmm, hmm? What’s wrong, youngsters?”

“Aaaah!”

“Whuuuut?!”

“Mofu?”

“Eight people, eight ways” reactions bloomed like fireworks.

And finally, the sun began to rise and brightly shine on “today”.

---

• Tied a thread with the middle-aged man. −4
• My points dwindle with every move! −1
• My points dwindle with every move! −1
• My points dwindle with every move! −1
• My points dwindle with every move! −1
• My points dwindle with every move! −1
• Gah, a familiar face! −2

Total current Youth Points: +10

---

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