My Junior Wants to Get Closer.

It's finally cicada season, and they are loud. The sun is low in the sky over the nondescript suburban buildings, and that's their cue to sing as loudly as possible. I know that it's a sound that most people find annoying, and I probably should too, but for some reason it's comforting to me. It reminds me of lying on the engawa of my old house in Kagoshima when I was young, watching the fireflies blink in the distance as the sun set and the cicadas sang their symphony. Sometimes I wish I was back there. I'm not really used to city life. It was fine when it was for two months a year, but since I'm here all the time I've really started to miss the countryside.

City people are different. They're so open, and they say whatever comes to their minds, and they're really self-centered sometimes. Especially city women. I'm not good with women to begin with, since the only one who lives with me is my mom. When they act like Shiritori and President Suzuran, it makes it worse for me. Physical strength doesn’t do anything to help you deal with people that are so forceful.

The president's little sister isn’t any of those things, though. I haven't talked to her much (mainly because she doesn't talk a lot), but she seems terrified of anything and everything. Sometimes I wonder if she and the president are related at all. If you saw the two of them together on the street, you wouldn't think so, but I don’t mind her not being like her sister. I sometimes wonder how Shiritori roped her into this "doujin" (I remembered what they're called this time) thing. She was probably like me and just couldn't say no when Shiritori got up in her face.

But because the younger Suzuran barely talks to anyone, it's extremely awkward when you're alone with her, and I'm figuring that out the hard way. I'm not one for idle talk myself, so we've been walking for a few minutes and neither of us have said anything.

Suzuran is walking with her head down, nervously twiddling her thumbs. Her outfit honestly looks really good on her. I hadn't noticed until now, but it looks nice. And she's really got big-

We suddenly make eye contact, she immediately turns red, and both of us whip our heads away at the same time.

...I didn't see anything. I wasn't looking anywhere.

Well...now I've got to say something, or Suzuran will think I'm a pervert until the end of time.

"Um...Suzuran...that was fun...wasn't it?" Wow, that was painful.

She looks down and nods slightly. "Yes."

She's not giving me a lot to work with here.

"I liked playing that game, but Shiritori was just too good at it, and it kinda got boring by the end..."

"Y-yes, she was s-super good. Poor Kouga-san."

"I feel the same way." Kouga is a bit temperamental, but I was completely with him this time. Even though she dominated the entire game and would have won no matter what, Shiritori kept stealing his stars for no other reason but to make him mad. I would have gotten mad if I was in his shoes, too...though I probably wouldn't be able to snap at her like he does.

"So...how'd you end up in the group?" I'm starting to ask family reunion/job interview questions because I simply have no other idea what to talk about. "Are you and Shiritori old friends or something?"

"Um...I-I was reading in the library a-a couple m-months ago...and A-Ayame-san found me...and said s-s-she had made a bet or something...and then s-she asked me to j-j-j-join the circle...eventually. I d-didn't know we were childhood acquaintances until l-later..."

I absolutely called it. She got in Suzuran's face and Suzuran immediately gave in.

It's strange, though. Reika (it's still really weird to call her that) mentioned that she knew me when I was younger. That means Suzuran should have remembered me too, and yet she seems to have no recollection of me. Not like it really matters, though- I'm just curious about it. Some people have better memories than others, and some are worse with faces.

"It was sort of the same way with me...I'm really not sure why she needs any of us. She already had the whole thing planned out in advance, and it's like we're along for the ride or something."

"I g-guess so...but I-I've been liking it so far."

Me too. It's certainly different from anything I've experienced up until this point, but Shiritori is so energetic that it's hard not to get caught up in her passions as well, and I really think everyone works well together, so that makes our sessions enjoyable…when the lovers aren't having a quarrel. That makes it uncomfortable.

"It's a lot easier on us since we're helping out at the very last second. Maybe she already had everything planned out and then realized that she needed volunteers to help her run her booth?"

"T-that would m-m-make sense."

The streetlights are starting to turn on as we walk along the road to the bus stop.

"I didn't realize you were that good at picking out screentones, Suzuran."

"Eep!" She shrinks back. "I-I just read a lot of m-m-manga and books and stuff..."

I'm not sure what to do with Suzuran. She's just so timid and everything I say seems to scare her.

"Oh, really? What kinds of manga are your favorites?"

"W-well, I don't really like anything that's t-too violent...so I read a bunch of romance ones instead..."

That's the girliest answer I think I've ever heard. If I'd asked her sister, she'd start laughing about the Chicken Devil and Strength’s breast pads and the ball kicking scene or something like that. That’s what separates people like me and people like her. I find most fictional romances to be too horribly sappy and the drama too contrived to resemble real human behavior, while Suzuran doesn't like fighting manga because it's too bloody and gory or something. I, on the other hand, love fighting manga because I want to watch people go above and beyond to defend the people and things that they care about, even if it means putting their lives at risk.

"I really like fighting manga, but I understand if you think they're too graphic. Some of them can get intense."

"N-no, I'm not saying they're bad...they're j-just not for me..."

"I see."

At this point, we've reached the bus stop, and we're the only ones there, standing beside the timetable sign while the streetlights glow yellow and pedestrians and cars pass by occasionally.

It's silent for a little bit, then I ask hesitantly, "So what have you read lately?"

"Hmm..." Suzuran's not making eye contact, but she seems a bit less frightened now. "I read something called Sunflowers in the Summer..."

"What's it about?"

"W-well, it's a shoujo about this girl who's shy and withdrawn and really likes gardening and one day the captain of the soccer team, who’s the most popular boy in school, stumbles across her garden. She thinks that they live in different worlds, but he starts coming there during lunch more and more often since he likes the peace and quiet, and soon enough she gets to know more about him and he opens his heart to her."

The first thing I thought when I heard that was that it was the most ridiculously stereotypical shoujo plot of all time. I feel like there's about a half dozen different shoujo manga with that synopsis. Ordinary girl ends up becoming the girlfriend of a super popular, skilled, and handsome guy. It's basically the female version of harem manga or isekai LNs- derivative fantasy. Not that I would say that to Suzuran, of course, since she seems to like it...and to be honest, I don't really read shoujo, so I can’t judge it too harshly. It's just not my thing...

"Takeno-senpai, have you read anything similar lately?" She finally made eye contact with me. I never really got the chance to look at them before. They're very big and round, and they're kind of pretty. The glasses make them look bigger.

She suddenly notices I'm staring back at her, and rapidly breaks eye contact again.

"I haven't read a lot of shoujo. I guess the closest thing is HaraMura...or maybe something that Jun Ankozuki made." I scratch my chin.

"Oh, I love HaraMura!" For the first time today, Suzuran is beaming, smiling widely. "I really would have preferred it if Murasaki would have stood up to Hara a bit more...sometimes their relationship got a little hard to bear."

"I know, right?" The bus comes, and we get on, chatting about this manga and that manga and webnovels as well until it's time for our stop. I've never seen Suzuran come out of her shell this much. She's almost as talkative as her sister.

The part of town where we both live is in the opposite direction from Kouga and Shiritori- they go east, and we go north. I didn't realize I lived that close to the Suzuran family, to be honest, but I never had much of a reason to go by their neighborhood.

The Suzurans' home is a white, medium-sized Western-style home with their name on the plate on the front gate. By the time we get there, it's night, and Suzuran stops right in front of it. I think it's slowly dawning on her that she's been talking way more than she expected. She suddenly snaps her head away and fidgets a bit.

Is she going to go inside soon? I don't want her sister to come out and catch me standing here. I'd never hear the end of it from her.

"Um, Takeno-san?"

"What is it?"

"I've been talking way too much, haven't I?"

"No...it's not really a big deal..." My cheeks are starting to burn, just a tiny bit.

"I can't help it. I like these stories too much...but they're still only fiction."

"What do you mean?"

"In real life, something like Sunflowers in the Summer would never happen...because Akito-kun would never meet Hana at all. Someone like him would have a girlfriend who's just as thoughtful and cheerful and friendly as him."

"I still don't understand what you're trying to say...it sounds like you're generalizing a bunch of people. Someone like Akito could meet someone like Hana in real life and they might end up getting along just like in the story. They might even start dating. It's definitely possible."

She yelps a tiny bit. "I-I-I'm sorry if I made no sense! It's just...I wanted to say it...but you probably didn't get it...sorry..."

"No, I think I understand. These stories are wish fulfillment, right? They're unrealistic, but you read them anyway because you hope something like that could happen to you. It's the same thing with Janp. I'll probably never have magical fighting powers, but when I first read those stories as a kid, I still wanted to believe that could be me at some point. I kinda still do now. Even though I should know better." I laugh slightly, ironically.

The expression on Suzuran's face changes slightly as she nervously looks down. "S-so it's not weird to imagine yourself as the m-main character?"

"Of course it's not weird. Everyone has done that at some point."

"Thanks. I guess...maybe...even if I know someone like Akito-kun won't get together with Hana in real life, I have to keep hanging on to the slight possibility that it might happen."

"Yeah. I’m not exactly sure who you’re talking about when you say that…but I hope your wish comes true."

For the first time today, Suzuran giggles slightly. "I didn't expect we'd get along as well as we did. Good night, Takeno-san." Suzuran gives me a tiny nod before disappearing into the gate.

"Good night."

I stand there, a bit dumbfounded, for a second. That's the liveliest I've ever seen Suzuran. Normally, she's so shy and awkward that it's like pulling teeth to talk to her, but apparently romantic fiction is what turns her into a chatterbox. It's very cute- she's a lot more pleasant to be around than her sister. I'm usually uncomfortable around women my age, but I didn't feel that way about her. It was nice chatting with her. It was like I was talking to one of my family members.

Oh, right, her sister. I've gotta get out of here before she shows up and gets the wrong idea.

The walk to my family's home is about ten minutes from here. I wonder if Nagase's sent me another email on training the younger students again? He's probably sent three more, and is freaking out that I haven't replied to him yet.

I really need to get a cell phone one of these days. I could email Suzuran, too.