Texting Yuasa (Again)

(Author's note: I calculated the days wrong oops so this new schedule might be confusing but basically, this story now updates two days in a row every other day starting now. 16 chapters are left.) 

Yuasa Kitahashi was in front of me once again. And his comment only annoyed me further. I looked away so I could try and focus on the shelves of books in front of me.

Instead of leaving me alone like I thought he would, Yuasa approached and looked at the same shelves that I was browsing.

“What book are you going to choose?” he asked me.

“...do you think I’m going to take your book again?” I asked back.

“We’ll see.”

It’s like he wants to fight with me again… Hasn’t he done enough damage? A fire burns in my chest and I can’t help thinking about everything he’s done. The last thing, ignoring Rose, seems especially prominent in my thoughts right now. Wanting to let some of the fire out, my tongue moves in a way it shouldn’t have.

“You seem to have all this time to read, but you can’t even read one text…”

As soon as I said it, I shut my mouth tight. I need to get out of here. Am I trying to reveal my identity as Rose? I should not be playing with fire like this. Let’s hurry and choose a book so I can run away. I reached my arm out so I could grab one.

“...a text? Did you text me?”

I froze. I could feel his eyes burrowing into me. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat before replying.

“N…No…” I slowly and carefully pulled a book off of the shelf. Now I have a book. I just need to escape.

“But if that’s the case, what you said doesn’t make sense.” I held my book tightly to my chest, unable to move while he spoke. “Unless… someone you know, like a friend, sent me a text?”

I glanced over at him. His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked to be in deep thought, looking down at the floor. He’s really thinking hard about this. And he might have just given me a solution to get out of this.

“Yes…” When I answered, he looked at me and I quickly looked away again.

“Yes?” he asked.

“Yes, my friend… had texted you…”

“And… I never replied, so you’re upset. Is that it?”

I was quiet. Then I gave a slight nod in agreement. Now can I make my escape…?

“That makes more sense,” Yuasa continued. “So? Who’s your friend?”

I still can’t leave… Why does he care who my friend is? I tried to think of what to say. I could mention Kishi but something was stopping me from saying his name. I don’t have any other friends, besides those I want to forget about, and making up a random name is hard right now. I have to say something…

“Rose,” I finally blurted out. As soon as I said it, I wanted to facepalm.

“Rose? That sounds like the name of a foreigner.”

Sounds like he doesn’t remember that name… Did he really not look at the text I sent at all? I wonder if he just deleted it once he got it. He’s cruel…

“It’s, um… a nickname…” I replied.

“A nickname? You’re not going to tell me her real name?”

“She likes to go by her nickname instead of her real name…” Part of this is true, if I’m texting the four hotties, I’d rather not use my real name. Kishi is an exception of course.

“Your friend seems strange. But alright. Did you want to give me her number?”

I quickly turned my head to look at him. Seriously, is he acting weird today or is it just me?!

His neutral expression turned annoyed. “What? Didn’t your friend want to text me or something? I’ll allow it this one time. You can’t claim that I’m a bully if I allow this, right?”

He’s still bothered by that? I can’t believe it… I want to tell him not to worry about it anymore… But I’m also curious about how a text conversation would go with him. Do I go the safe route and turn him down, or go the more dangerous route to satiate my curiosity…? It’s not like he’ll realize I’m actually Rose, right…?

“Okay… I’ll give you her number…”

“Good. Just tell me and I’ll remember it for later.”

I told him my number and he nodded. After saying that he’ll send her a text later, he walked away. I felt like I had to take time to comprehend what just happened while I walked the other way. When I sat next to Kishi, he was looking at me.

“Did something happen…?” he asked.

“...I think we’ll get an answer from Yuasa after all…”

He looked very confused so I told him about what happened. Once he heard everything, he still looked a bit puzzled.

“But… since he knows you in person, do you really have to lie and pretend to be someone else…?”

I paused to think about my answer. He may somewhat know me, but I’m still afraid to be myself sometimes… It’s not like I want to text him to be friends with him either. Pretending to be Rose will let the four hotties form their own opinions of me in the way I talk, instead of my appearance…

“He still doesn’t really know me…” I told Kishi. “I feel more comfortable being a complete stranger again and asking the questions that I wanted to… Once we have our answers, we don’t need to further our relationship.”

Kishi was quiet for a moment. “Alright… At least I’ll get to hear about his experience now.”

When I went home that day, I eventually received a text from Yuasa.

“This is Rose, right? Shiotani-kun wanted me to reply to you. I lost your original message.”

I’m still a bit surprised that he actually sent a message to Rose… But this will be our only interaction.

“Hello Kitahashi-san. I just had a question that I wanted to ask you.”

“As long as it isn’t anything weird, I guess I can answer.”

“I was just curious about how the recent event regarding the announcement board at the beginning of this school year affected you. I already talked to Shoji Iwasaki-san and Kishi Horiuchi-kun about it and would like to hear what you have to say too.”

“That incident was quite annoying. I already had many students bothering me throughout my time at Sunray High, but that event only invited more of them. All members of the student council are on my blacklist now. Akemi-san had no right to advertise my picture and spread my number among the student body.”

“It sounds like you’ve had a hard time. Did anything in particular happen because of Akemi Tamura-san’s actions?”

“I’m sure you can guess some of the causes of her schemes. But if you want me to spell out the obvious, I had many students approach me in annoying ways in person and through text messages. I’ve learned to ignore them all and not give them the reaction they were looking for. Most of them left me alone after that, but it seems there are some who haven’t learned that I don’t want to talk to them. Did you really only text me to ask these questions or do you have an ulterior motive?”

“I only asked these questions out of pure curiosity. Now that I have answers to them, we don’t have to speak again.”

“What are you going to do with my answers? Are you a member of the press club or something? I don’t allow any articles to be written about me. If you publish an article related to me without my permission, I will make you regret it.”

He’s very paranoid… And what will he do to make me regret it? I’d rather not find out, but it’s just strange.

“I’m not a part of the press club. I only wanted to hear your answers and share them with my friend.”

“Which friend is that? Shiotani-kun?”

Do I reveal Rose’s connection to Kishi? Or do I keep going along with his assumptions to play it safe…?

“Yes, it’s my friend Saki.”

“Now this is a little strange. She could have asked me in person. You do know that we’ve spoken before, yes?”

I feel like he threw me a curveball… I need to come up with a possible answer.

“I wanted to ask these questions to the four boys involved personally. Since Saki knew about this, she was curious to hear your answers as well. I do know that you two have talked before, but I heard it didn’t go well. Don’t you think she would have been uncomfortable asking you these questions? Especially when it would be for me?”

“Very well, I admit our talks didn’t go well. But I’m trying to work past that, especially when I hate that she labeled me as a bully. That word disgusts me. And fine, if it was you who wanted to ask the questions, I understand going about it in this way. But is there a reason you’re hiding behind your cell phone?”

“I thought texting you would be less bothersome than talking to you in person.”

“You thought wrong. I find texting far more bothersome. You’re a stranger to me right now and you’re hiding even further behind a strange nickname. I don’t find this way of talking comfortable in any way, shape or form. If you have any more questions for me, I’d prefer if you would come find me in person. I am usually in the library during breaks and lunch.”

“I’m sorry if this is uncomfortable, but those were all my questions. We don’t need to talk anymore.”

“So you don’t have any plans of revealing your identity?”

I’m tired of talking with him… If his plan was to annoy me so I never text him again, then it worked. I decided to give him a simple answer to finish our conversation for good.

“No.”

After that, I was worried he’d try to say something else, but he didn’t. I tried to go about the rest of my day without feeling too annoyed.

Kishi asked me about how my conversation with Yuasa went when we were at our club again. I gave him a quick summarization of his answers to my questions, not wanting to go any further into it.

“Sounds like we all were a little annoyed with the sudden attention…” Kishi said. “You haven’t asked Miya-san yet though. Did you want me to? He will probably give the same answer though…”

“You can if you want to. Tell me what he says if he has a different take on the situation.”

“Alright, I will!”

“Did you get everyone’s number too?”

“Yeah, the email treated me like a student who was already going here… I got my own number sent to me too.”

“That’s kind of funny.”

I talked with Kishi, blissfully unaware of what was coming next. I didn’t see him coming until he was right next to me, asking a sudden question.

“What’s the identity of your friend Rose?”