Communication Problems

“Here. Take this… and that.”

“Why is he being so kind to me?” Sumire thought while grabbing the water bottle and honey lozenges Yuto held out to her.

“With that, you should be able to rest your voice. The lozenges will last you a while, so you can take them whenever you want, but I recommend taking them before and after each rehearsal to soothe and protect your voice,” he said, leaning beside her against the wall outside the casting room.

“But why? It’s not like you would care much about my voice.”

“You’re now in my charge, so at least I want you to be in the best conditions. Even if your performance back there wasn’t that great, you gave it your all with your voice. Even if it’s not for long, pushing too hard would just hurt you,” he said while gobbling one lozenge.

“You did nothing, so why are you taking one?” Sumire asked, a bit perplexed.

“Compensation for the stupid things I've done.”

“Okay…”

He pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to Sumire. She took it but simply stared at it, not opening it.

She looked at him, an eyebrow raised, and Yuto gave her the same treatment back.

“What is it for?” Sumire asked.

“Read it.”

“But–”

“Read. It.”

Fed up with his curt response, Sumire shot him a cold look before turning her attention to the paper and opening it. Inside were numerous tips on projecting her voice, tongue-twisters to warm up her diction, and plenty of advice about acting.

“I made it when I started. It’ll help you.”

“Oh, so that’s… but why give this precious thing to me? Is he always kind like this…?”

She couldn’t smile to let her joy show, so she tried to soften her expression instead.

“Thanks,” Sumire muttered.

Yuto looked at her, surprised, but quickly returned to his calm expression and shifted his gaze back to his phone, ignoring her thanks.

Pissed off, Sumire couldn’t find anything to say in response and refocused her attention on the paper. Neither of them dared to break the silence for a few minutes.

“So what are we waiting for?” she asked after finishing reading the sheet ten times and beginning to grow bored.

“Your script. They’re printing it,” he replied without even looking at her.

“Conversation’s already over…”

“Why did you even come, knowing nothing about the casting? A normal person would have just given up,” he said, trying to resuscitate the conversation.

“Touché. You’re talking to me?” she asked, pretending to dodge the question.

“Yozora… it’s just the two of us here, and I’m not schizophrenic,” he replied, clearly annoyed.

“I just wanted to try acting… find a new challenge,” she said, giving up.

“You’re lying.”

“Does… does he know something I don’t? No! But why am I so unsettled by it!?”

“You wanted to add a new trophy to your immense list of achievements,” he teased.

“No.” She replied coldly. “It’s hard to explain, but it’s not like you would understand.”

“I see,” he said, gluing his eyes to his phone once again.

“Kill me please! Why did I say that!?” Sumire’s frustration screamed silently inside her.

Yuto sighed and stood up. Taken by surprise, Sumire stood as well. Clumsy as she was, she lost her balance and bumped into him. Yuto tripped over his own feet before managing to regain his stance, his foot crushing Sumire's in the process.

“Oh no, I must quickly avoid the storm…” Yuto thought as he immediately removed his feet. “Are you–”

“I liked it,” she exclaimed, the words slipping from her mouth. Panic flashed across her face as she quickly covered her mouth. “Wait, no. Forget that. I’m okay, don’t worry. I just stood up so quickly that I lost my balance.”

“How strange…”

She lightly slapped her face, hiding it from Yuto’s sight. Regaining her composure, her expression shifted to anger.

“You could have been more careful. I need to have both my feet in good shape for tennis!” she told him coldly. “It’s the first time… that I was so close to him… he smells good… just like… just like flowers!” she thought, completely excited inside.

Yuto looked down at her. He wasn’t afraid. His face remained unfazed.

He turned around and opened the door of the casting room.

“It should have been printed by now, no?”

“We fucked up and didn’t put enough paper in it yesterday. Just wait a bit more,” Sato replied from inside.

“And why outside?” Yuto asked.

“That's none of your business, you little busybody. Mind your own business with Yozora instead,” Sato laughed.

Yuto closed the door and turned back, only to see Sumire sitting on the ground again, staring at her phone.

“Young people today... always glued to their phone,” he thought, sitting next to her but still keeping his distance. She seemed capable of scratching faster than a wild cat.

“Why theater?” she asked, eyes fixed on her phone, calm now and trying to break the silence. “Every time I see you, that's all I hear about. And with your performance the other day… you weren't even the same,” she added, her face lit by the glow of her phone.

Yuto stared at her for long minutes, thinking hard, unsure how to reply. She had clearly stumped him.

“I can't do it otherwise,” he finally said, his voice low.

“Can’t do what?” Sumire's curiosity flared, her gaze locked on him.

“It helps… to really express… otherwise… it’s… hard,” he murmured, his tone heavy and tinged with sadness.

“Where is his usual coldness…?” Sumire thought, clutching her chest as her heart throbbed.

“Well, there’s not much more to it. Are you free on Saturday to rehearse the play and improve your acting?”

“Saturday...? I have a tennis competition,” she said, slightly taken aback by his return to normal.

“So no rehearsal this weekend?” Yuto asked, scratching his head.

“Yes. Maybe next week. I’ll be too focused on my matches.”

“But these will be easy victories for you, right?” he said nonchalantly.

“Because I’m the Racket Monster, isn’t it?” she replied, a hint of anger in her tone.

“Nah, apparently you're really impressive... well... impressive enough to break a racket net just by hitting the ball. But hey... who hasn't tried to defy the laws of physics at least once?” he said, trying to justify himself. “I’m not actually calling you that. You’re not a monster,” he quickly added, scrambling to escape the storm he’d almost unleashed.

“You knew about that? Oh my god…” She buried her face in her hand.

“It spread quickly around campus… especially given your popularity. We hear about you every day.”

“So he knows things about me while I don't know much about him…” she thought, slightly annoyed.

Her anger faded, and she curled into herself, hiding from him. Not knowing what to do, Yuto fell silent, staring at his phone as he waited for the script to be printed.

“Damn, I'm not good at this... Ryu and Ken usually do the talking... I don't want to reveal too much," he thought, massaging the bridge of his nose.

The conversation had died. For both of them, the only thing left was to stare at their phones in silence.

After a few minutes, Sumire lifted her head and focused on his bright eyes, trying to get his attention with a whisper, but he didn't react. Fixing her gaze more intently, she felt a strange attraction and wanted to see his eyes up closer.

She edged closer and closer, slowly, without fully realizing what she was doing.

But it wasn’t as if Yuto didn’t notice. He heard the sound of her clothes brushing against the floor. As it grew louder and closer, he spun his head around instantly.

Still, Sumire’s head was already near his, and the impact couldn’t be avoided. They collided hard, clutching their heads at the point of contact.

“You really have a hard head,” Yuto gritted out.

“You’re talking about mine? Look at yours! It’s hard as a rock!” she shot back, surprised by his audacity.

Yuto picked up the water bottle from the ground and pressed it against where Sumire was hurt. She let him do it without resistance.

“It’s cold…” she muttered, shivering.

“Yeah. Take care of yourself,” he said faintly, trying not to show his own pain.

Sumire stared at him intently, letting him take care of her headache.

“You’re a good actor, but right now… you’re not very good at hiding your pain,” she whispered, taking the bottle and gently prying Yuto’s hand away. Standing on her tiptoes to reach the head of this giant, she let a faint smile slip across her face as she pressed the cold water against the spot where he had been hit.

Yuto stared at her in disbelief. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come out, no matter how many times he tried. He looked like a fish gasping for air, flopping helplessly on dry land.

“Can I go see you play on Saturday?” he finally managed to ask, eyes wide.

“Where does that suddenly come from?” she asked, confused.

He didn’t answer.

“Well, sure, you can… but that won’t be very interesting,” she said, filling the silence.

“I’ll see that,” he replied confidently.

“Ahhhh… what does he want now? I’m going to have so much more pressure to play!”