AC

My name is Aya. I'm in my senior year of high school. I've had a fairly difficult past, but I don't complain, because there's definitely someone who's been more unfortunate than me. Yes, misfortune... I don't think I deserved what happened, and I can't give it a logical explanation. That's why I believe it was fate that wanted it. Otherwise, it would be too painful for me to accept that it's all just pure chance. I believe destiny has a bright future in store for me... what I've been through so far are tests that 'destiny' has put me through to see if I'm worthy of receiving the happy future it has reserved for me. As for what happened to me, I'd prefer to keep it a secret. It's true, Shin has the right to know, but he also has the right not to know. It's not important that he knows the reason for my sadness, but what matters to me is that he's there to support me. He's been doing that tirelessly for a year already. I have to admit that I really disliked him at first, just like everyone in that class, by the way. But I was so desperate that when he offered his hand to me, I took it without hesitation. After a while, I started to understand his character better, and all the repressed resentment I had towards him faded away. Yet, sometimes, I can't help but think about what would have happened if he hadn't met me on the street that time. 

A chance encounter.

If he had continued to ignore me in class, would I have been without friends today?
No, I probably would have Rei with me. But I can't help but think about how volatile my future is. Just a small variation, and the path ahead of me changes completely, for better or worse. Maybe dwelling on these things won't lead me to any productive results. However, I'm happy with how things are today. It's been a while since I've had feelings for Shin. I'd say, more or less since last month. But I haven't told him, because I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship for anything in the world. If I had revealed my feelings to him, there was a risk he would have distanced himself from me, and I don't want that. Our friendship has helped me through the darkest moments. Of course, there's a possibility that he might understand me, act maturely, and stay with me nonetheless, but I'm not ready to take that risk. So, in a way, I've repressed the feelings I have for him deep inside my heart, and for a short period, it worked—I was almost managing to forget about them. 

One day, Rei told me about a contest where you could submit your own stories, and I decided to get Shin involved too. I did it for the sake of friendship, or at least that's what I believe. However, when I spent days working with Shin on his story, my dormant feelings that had been resting inside me began to emerge with increasing force. This caused me pain. Why do I have to suffer again? Why can having a crush on someone cause so much suffering? 

Of course, Aya also decided to draw inspiration from real events and included this monologue in her story's last chapter on the website. 

But she didn't know that Shin... had no desire to read Aya's story.

And so, Aya almost finished the story. Despite the two protagonists having met in such a suggestive way under the cherry trees, their relationship didn't end well, and they drifted further and further apart until they no longer saw each other. Could this projection of Aya's fear of losing Shin be the reason? 

It was still morning. Shin had just woken up, and the first thing he thought about was continuing the story. However, this time, he didn't know how to continue.
"Darn it, again? This writer's block seems to be more frequent than one would think. Maybe I could take inspiration from Rei's or Aya's stories."
 Shin went to the website and opened the first story that came up, which happened to be Aya's. Shin only wanted to get a bit of inspiration by reading a few chapters, but in the end, he became more and more interested in the plot and ended up reading the latest published chapter as well. Shin realized that the last chapter referred to their relationship, as it was too suspiciously similar to be entirely made up. Initially, Shin didn't know how to feel. He was quite shaken by what he had read. He decided that for the moment, it was best to let it go and that maybe he should focus on his own story.

RING

Shin had just received a message on his phone. It was Aya, saying that she couldn't come to Shin's house today. That was just what he didn't need. However, if Shin needed help, he could go to Aya's house. 

Hmm, what should I do? I've never been to her place. It might be awkward. However, I'm in the middle of writing the most important part of the work right now. Maybe it's better if I go to her place and get some help. 

So, I grabbed my laptop, put it in my backpack, got dressed, and left the house. Today, the weather was particularly calm. It was quite hot as well. I like peaceful days. The only sound present was that of cicadas. I like the sound they make... Rei finds it annoying, but it makes me relax. Maybe because I've been used to hearing them since I was little. I suddenly started to feel a certain tension, but I couldn't explain why. I decided to ignore it. I took the shortcut through the park. There was no one around. Maybe today was just too hot for anyone to think about going out to play. After 10 minutes, I arrived at Aya's house. I rang the doorbell, and she answered. I wanted to ask her why she couldn't come to my house, but maybe it was better not to pry into other people's private lives. Besides, knowing Aya, she probably had a teasing comeback ready for me, so I decided to avoid asking her. I entered the house, and it only took me 5 seconds to feel like the happiest person in the world.
Aya had an air conditioner! It was so comfortable! Actually, I had grown a bit tired of the fan I had at home. If I had known earlier, I would have come here every day to write the story. I would definitely have been able to concentrate better and write more. Aya was wearing pink shorts and a white short-sleeved T-shirt.
"Follow me, let's go to my room."
It seemed like she was the only one at home. Again. but I decided to overlook it. And so, I saw Aya's room for the first time, and... I have to say, I wasn't expecting it to be like this. First of all, it was tidy, which made it a hundred times better than my room. Then, there was the air conditioner that made it perfect. Aside from that, the room was painted in blue and sparsely decorated. Besides the bed, nightstand, and desk with a chair, there was a cabinet with all the books displayed. There were mainly school books on the bookshelf. I didn't see any books outside of the textbooks. Yet, it seemed to me that Aya must have read at least a few leisure books. Had she switched to digital format? Anyway, Aya sat on the bed and told me to sit at the desk since there was only one chair. When I apologized for making her sit on the bed, she replied that she actually found it more comfortable to be on the bed. And so... this is a girl's room... yet, it has nothing that resembles a girl's room! Okay, I don't mean that a girl's room has to be pink. After all, no color or object exclusively belongs to girls; it's society that has imposed these divisions. But I expected something more feminine... maybe a few stuffed animals on a shelf or a framed photo full of hearts... maybe I need to reconsider my definition of femininity. In the end, a minimalist unisex style is the most formal. Aya's room exuded a certain aura of professionalism. I took out my laptop from my bag, placed it on the desk, and started writing. Strangely, everything went smoothly, and Aya didn't make any of her usual questionable interventions. In fact, I saw her quite concentrated on writing her story. Neither of us said a word. I'm not saying I was disappointed, but I expected some reference to her story, or maybe even to mine if she had already read it. Anyway, when I finished, I had her read what I had written. She responded with her typical expressionless face and said it was fine. At that point, after experiencing the heavenly feeling of the air conditioner, I couldn't go back. Now I had to play it right.
"Um, Aya, I was able to concentrate really well at your place today. If it's okay with you, could we meet at your place tomorrow?"
"Is it because of the air conditioner?"
"Urk! No, Aya, what are you saying..."
"Sure, that's fine. See you tomorrow, here, at the same time."
And we said goodbye. As I walked back home, I started to feel a bit unwell. First of all, I felt tired because these days I had really devoted all my energy to writing the story, maybe resting too little. Also, I had sweated quite a bit while walking to Aya's house, and the air conditioner must have done more harm than good. As soon as I got home, I took a shower and went straight to bed. I hoped that by tomorrow, the chills I was experiencing would have subsided. It didn't seem like anything serious.