Nemoto's Confession

This was it. The moment I'd been waiting for approached.

I peeked around our store's bookshelf once again and stared across into the opposite aisle. A few customers nearby gave me disgusted looks, but this chance was too valuable to slip by. My hands gripped the edges of my blue apron as I anticipated the inevitable, perfect opportunity to unfold ahead of me.

Bridget Summers, my blonde coworker, was struggling to lift a large box of girl's manga she'd just filled to capacity. Like Asada, she was too proud to use our flat-bed cart we utilized for carrying cargo. Sheer stubbornness often worked against those girls in our line of work.

Regardless, I knew ahead of time she'd be packing up tons of books today—preparations for returning products we'd been unable to sell. Without use of our cart, it was often back-breaking, tiring work, but just this once I thought I'd go out of my way to help her. It's the chivalrous thing to do, right? Totally no underlying intentions or anything . . .

I poked my head out one last time to check for Asada's presence, and when the coast was clear, I started venturing across the store floor towards my busty coworker.

Scenarios played out in my mind of what I'd say: 'Oh hey, need a hand?' or maybe, 'Here, it's no problem-o for me!' I wiped a smug grin off my face before anyone could notice. Normally, I wasn't too keen to flirt with Summers during work, but with Christmas around the corner, it felt like a natural time to try asking her out again.

Summers was hunched over in a futile attempt to lift her box. Cute frustration was scribbled across her face, and she mumbled a quick curse word in English.

Here goes nothing. I waved my hand as I approached. "Hey, looks like you could use some—"

A monstrous figure suddenly swooped past me from behind. His muscular build almost tackled me as I swerved to avoid a collision. Hey, what gives!

"Yo, Summers!" My coworker Mogami said to her, then spoke in broken English. "Would you like big muscle's assistance?"

"Oh! Yes please, thank you!" Summers replied in perfect English. Normally she'd refuse all help but tended to relax when speaking her preferred language.

"Well then, allow me!" Mogami's buff arms scooped the huge box off the ground like it was weightless. "Easy as pie! Haha!"

Summers' face lit up like an excited little girl's. Her hands did a series of mini-claps. "Wow, amazing! Your English is getting better too!"

"Thanks so much! I am very cool guy! Hahaha!" Mogami started flexing by lifting the fat box up and down in his arms, while Summers gazed on with starry eyes.

Meanwhile, all I could do was stand by like some defeated beta male. It looked like neither had even noticed my presence. Dang it! Mogami beat me to the punch again! Why does this always happen?

The two coworkers chatted some more, then Mogami turned his back to leave. "This box goes with other deathbeds in our stockroom, right?" he said.

"Mhmm!" Summers said. "Needed space on my shelves for new Sailor Sunlight volumes."

"Gotcha! Right!" Mogami nodded and made eye contact with me as he walked by. A quick wink then a glimmer from his bald head sent waves of vivid frustration through me.

Inferior, inferior, I am inferior. Judging by the earlier box's visual heft, I wasn't even sure I could lift it up myself . . . Wait, doesn't that mean Mogami did me a favor? He swooped in to save my dignity? The true bro!

"Oh, Nishikata." Summers smiled and patted off her blue apron. "What's up?"

I fidgeted to blurt anything out. "Ah—uhhhh—well honestly, I was coming over to help out too, but Mogami came quicker as usual, haha."

She seemed surprised for a moment, then struck a dramatic thumbs-up pose. "Thanks for the thought, my dude! God bless!" Summers tried converting her high-pitched, feminine voice into an impromptu manly-man's. The blatant Texan accent combined with her best attempt at sounding masculine was oddly erotic.

"Uhhh, can you translate all that?" I chuckled. "My English isn't Mogami-tier good."

"Jesus, bummer." She sighed and reset her voice. "Well, Mogami manages American comics. Don't worry if your English can't compete with his."

"I can't compete with him in pretty much anything, haha."

"That's not true! Have faith in yourself!" Summers' face got pouty with cute confliction. "You—uhhh—you're really . . . nice?"

Nice guys finish last. "Thanks. But I should head back to my shelves, before Asada flies in." I turned around to leave.

"Wait, one second!" Her fingers pinched at my white sleeve. "I've been wanting to ask you something actually."

My ears immediately perked up. Did I hear that right? Do I dare allow my imagination to run wild?

I turned back again to face my adorable, blushing coworker. Her spare hand enveloped the cross necklace around her neck as she looked to the floor.

"Erm, actually, nevermind!" She released my sleeve and started tapping her fingertips together. "M-Maybe now's not the best time . . ."

I wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away. "Oh, I got plenty of time. If you wanna chat, we can—"

Far down the manga aisle behind Summers, Asada appeared around the corner escorting a customer. My short supervisor seemed occupied trying to help find something on the shelves, still oblivious to my presence.

"Actually y-yeah, let's chat another time, haha." I said only just loud enough for Summers to hear. Without waiting for her response, I power walked out of there and back across the store.

Bookitbookitbookit, walkfasterwalkfasterwalkfaster. Lately, Asada already had me in her sights way more often. Sure I slacked off sometimes, but it couldn't have been much more than Nemoto. Why was I the one being watched? Worried another DeLightful might target me? She'd said on multiple occasions she doesn't care about me, so why the hypocrisy? Or perhaps I was just oblivious to something. Kikuchi and Asagiri did hint before that—

"Heyo, Nishikata." A deep, boring voice broke my trance. "Give me a hand over here?"

I turned to my side. Nemoto halted me right before I entered my assigned novel aisle. His snow-white hair was messier and more unkempt than usual, like he rushed to avoid being late this morning.

"Hmm? Need something?" I replied. He feels kind of off.

Nemoto in his blue work apron scanned our surroundings with a nervous glare, as if checking no one was nearby. "M-Mind helping me back at my shelves?"

"Oh, sure," I said. Normally, we weren't supposed to ask for help with our respective shelves unless we were swamped with work. It was a policy instituted mostly due to Nemoto quenching less workloads, so him taking the initiative raised some red flags.

His area was adjacent to mine nearby. Nemoto oversaw all of boy's manga, our largest and busiest section in the store. As we entered the colorful aisle, multitudes of kids and young men eagerly browsed our volumes that encompassed several decades worth of manga history.

"So what do you need?" I asked Nemoto as he led us between a large crowd of students, hiding us from view.

He checked our surroundings once again, and when the coast was seemingly clear, he leaned in close to whisper. "Nishikata, can you meet me in the garden after work?"

"Garden?" He was referring to the fountain outside our shop in the plaza. "What for?"

"J-Just hurry and say yes," he stuttered. "Please man, it'll be quick."

"Alright, okay fine." I felt like it might've been something urgent to make him act so flustered. In the four years I'd worked with him, fear was the only emotion besides laziness he'd managed to showcase. Kikuchi and Asada were on his ass almost as much as mine after all.

"Right after work, don't forget," he pleaded. "And don't tell anyone else."

"Sure, sure." I waved to signal I was leaving. Sticking around while Asada was on the prowl wasn't optimal. "I'll see you around then."

Nemoto meekly waved back and went back to sorting his shelves. The crowds around us ensured no coworkers overheard or even saw our meeting.

Wonder what that all was about. Theories erupted about what he wanted to chat about, but my pondering made me almost bump into Kikuchi as she turned a corner.

"Oh, sorry." I tried laughing it off. "Didn't see you there."

"A-Ah, it's fine, haha."

We were outside the corner of the last manga shelves, whose aisle led to our backroom where Kikuchi presumably just emerged from. Just like Nemoto, she wore a flustered look and seemed to be avoiding eye contact.

"Everything alright?" I asked.

She tucked some of her green hair behind her ear and nodded. "Yeah. Just been a bit hectic lately, you know?"

It had only been a few days since Kikuchi's revelations at her apartment. Strong, stalwart emotions I'd never seen her unleash surprised both me and Asagiri that day. But since then, Kikuchi hadn't acted like her usual jubilant self. A few other coworkers raised their concerns, though she insisted she was fine.

Somehow, even I couldn't help but worry too.

"If you want, I could go over again and—"

"I-I'm just a little tired," she stammered with a fake smile. "Worry about me and you'll have to marry me, haha."

Would marrying Kikuchi even be that bad? But I shrugged the thought away. "Well, let me know if you ever wanna talk about anything."

"Hey, it's a promise then." Her finger gave my chin a flirty tap and she strolled by me back to her aisles.

The day was already full of surprises, but it seemed to just be beginning.

*

Our shop's glass doors had a habit of creaking towards the day's end. Its noise didn't really bother anyone, but no matter how many times Kamikawa oiled the hinges, squeaks would always randomly spout.

"Good work again, everyone." I waved towards Summers behind the register, and then towards Mogami helping out a customer. It was the end of early shift's work shift, but the late crew would continue operations in our stead.

As I opened our creaky glass door, the contents in my backpack jittered about. Asagiri had taken the rare initiative to cook me food again, but packed my backpack full of "decoy" lunch boxes so I'd need to guess which one had the grub. Based on heft and smell it wasn't difficult to guess, but they did add extra, unnecessary weight. Why does my 18-year-old girlfriend act like she's 12?

Outside, I reached into my brown jacket and pulled out my phone. A part of me was hoping Nemoto would cancel our meeting at the last moment, but it seemed like something unavoidable. Whatever his intentions, he was already waiting.

I trekked across the outdoor shopping center's garden plaza. It consisted of ornate walkways through rows of trees and out-of-season flora. Being winter, most of the usual flowers that brought in extra crowds were currently idle.

A few benches I walked by were inhabited by couples looking a bit too lovely for their own good. They were enjoying a vibrant sunset as cascades of orange and pink lined the sky. For a brief moment, I imagined Asagiri and myself sitting on an empty bench, absorbing the similar scenic sights.

Maybe one day.

Nemoto was waiting for me by the large, glamorous fountain in the plaza's center. Small waterspouts would spring up and down in unison like they were performing a show. Three meters high, a limestone statue depicting a mermaid was situated in the fountain's center. She gazed upwards with wishful eyes while she rested atop mounds of rocks. The lone starfish in her hands trickled down drops of water, as if it were crying.

"Yo," I waved to Nemoto as I walked up to him. "Everything good?"

The dark bags perpetually under his eyes were more poignant than ever. Even by his standards, it looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"No, not good," he said with a sigh.

"Huh? You in trouble or something?"

He reached into his black jacket and slipped out his phone. Nemoto scrolled through what seemed like his message inbox, then he tucked the gadget back into his pocket.

The most honest and pleading eyes he'd ever made glanced straight towards me. "I need a favor, Nishikata."

Favor? I guessed he wanted to play Semtex Legends. "I think I'll be free this weeken—"

"No. This isn't about Semtex. This is serious."

"Hmm?" Given his apathetic nature, it was difficult to discern when he was serious or not. Earlier when he asked me to meet him here, I'd thought his nervousness was just about avoiding Asada's wrath. "It's seriously serious?"

"Mm, mm!" he nodded hard. "Life changing even."

"Well say it then. I'll do what I can."

Just like he did in the store, he peered around us to check if anyone could listen in. Crowds were thinner at this time of day, and there were only a few pedestrians walking about. We had the entire fountain to ourselves.

"Alright,” Nemoto started, “remember that person I said I was gonna give Sailor Sunlight to?"

"Yeah, why?" I'd been wondering what he did with that cardboard cutout. I doubted he actually had friends to give it to.

Nemoto took a deep breath in then exhaled out. "That person is a girl I've been talking to online. She asked me yesterday if I wanna hang out in real life."

“Woah, woah! You’ve been chatting with a girl? Online?” Impossible!

He seemed annoyed with my reaction. “Could have more faith in me, man.”

Is this really happening? The timid, negative Nemoto who can barely look unfamiliar girls in the eye? “You’ve been talking for a while? And you’re sure she’s a girl?”

“Yes and yes." He reached down past his waist and hoisted up an attached lanyard strap. Fastened were sets of keys alongside a mini-bobblehead figure. "She mailed me this toy a few weeks ago as a gift. So I wanted to give her Sailor Sunlight since she likes that manga."

"How were you gonna mail her something that big?"

He started blushing slightly. "I was gonna ask if she wants to meet in person, but when I was thinking how to bring it up, she asks me if I wanna meet up."

"Run a background check or something. Make sure she's legit and not just a grift—"

"Dang it, Nishikata! She's real! And I like her!" It was the first time he'd ever expressed anger. His icy-blue eyes were defiant, fiery, and carried a strong hint of intensity. "You've been blowing me off for months! We hardly ever play now! So I've been playing Semtex by myself! And I found someone new to game with! She's been there for me every single time you weren't around!"

Urg . . . Crushing guilt enveloped me. It was true—ever since Asagiri arrived in July, I hadn't had as many chances to play video games. More specifically though, I'd rather spend time with my girlfriend, like watching anime with her or discussing Dominion's Paradise. I would often make up excuses to avoid playing with Nemoto, not because I didn't want to, but yeah, because I didn't want to. Why am I like this?

"I mean, I did hop online a few times though, and I'd never seen her around," I replied.

"It's just coincidence you were on when she wasn't."

"Then why didn't you mention her before?"

He rotated his palm towards me. "Because look how you're reacting! And why should I have anyway? You'd just try hitting on her!"

Probably. "Well, whatever. What do you need me for then? A favor right?"

Nemoto took in another deep breath to calm himself. He gripped his arm and looked up at the setting sky. "She wants to meet up in person, but said she'd feel more comfortable if she could bring a friend along, kinda like a double date."

"Wait, are you trying to say—"

His eyes finally met mine again, affixed with newfound determination. "Be my wingman, Nishikata! It can only be you!"