His Answer

What was I even doing here? I must be crazy to even be considering it. Yet here I was, standing outside the sports shed just as Nakamura had suggested. Was she serious when she said that she would help me gain enough confidence to talk to Iwasaki? My head was a mess. I wanted to run and hide, pretending like my run-in with Nakamura had never happened. And yet, there was still a small part of me begging me to stay.

It had already been about fifteen minutes since classes had ended, yet there was still no sign of Nakamura. Was she really going to show up? She had been so convincing earlier, so where was she? I was starting to think that this was all just some elaborate prank. I was an idiot for even wanting to believe her. Just as I had made up my mind to leave, Nakamura came bundling up to the meeting spot, visibly panting as if she had been running all the way here.

"Suh-sorry," she said, trying to catch her breath, "it took longer than I thought to slip away from Hirasaka-sensei."

"Ah, no. It's okay," I replied, avoiding mentioning that I had been starting to doubt her.

After straightening herself out, she pointed my way. "If you're here, then you've thought about what I said. So what's your answer?"

"I still don't know what I should do…" I faltered.

"Then, what is it you want to do?"

"I… I want to get to know her better, at the very least…"

Nakamura broke out into a smile."That's the most honest you've been with me. So you must really like her, huh?"

"Yeah…I do."

"Well, let's go meet her."

"W-wait, right now? I-I'm so not ready for this!"

"Don't worry, you won't need to say anything. You can leave all the talking to me. For now it's enough for you to just be visible."

I reluctantly followed Nakamura as she led me up to the third floor. My classes didn't lead me to this area of the school often. Other than the few third year classrooms, it was mainly rooms reserved for the various clubs. They weren't compulsory, so I had avoided them up until now. We stopped outside of the door labelled as the 'light music club'. The muffled sounds of an upbeat pop song could be heard from inside. I didn't recognise the song, but I was hardly the kind of person to be up to date on such trends. Nakamura opened the sliding door and we were met with the three performing members of the light music club. At the front, on vocals, was Iwasaki Chizuru herself. My stomach did a little cartwheel upon seeing her. Behind her, on guitar, was one of the girls I had often seen by her side. She was a third year student, one year above us. Inaba Miyu, I believe her name was. The third member, who was bashing away at the drums, was Shinohara Ryuji from my own class. When Iwasaki caught sight of us entering, she trailed off mid-song.

"Oh, er…" she blushed, "I wasn't expecting to see you Aya-chan."

The two other band members had stopped playing now as well, as Iwasaki bounded forward and threw her arms around Nakamura.

"I'm glad you came though!"

"I was curious," Nakamura answered, unfazed by the sudden hug, "was that the song you were talking about, the one you wrote?"

"Ah, yeah," Iwasaki replied sheepishly, "this was our first time rehearsing it."

"Wait, you wrote that? That's incredible!" I blurted out without thinking.

"Oh, er… I only did the lyrics. It was Inaba-senpai and Shino-kun that made something usable out of it. You're … Tachibana, right?"

"Yes, he's Tachibana Ren from my class," Nakamura butted in, "he promised to share some of his notes with me after-school today to help me get caught up. We were just heading out when I thought I'd stop by and say hi."

The two girls got caught up chatting, and I awkwardly moved to the side to give them space. Shinohara sidled up beside me.

"I didn't realise you were such a smooth operator, Ren," he said slyly.

"Huh?"

"Nakamura-chan hasn't even been here one day and you're already cosying up to her?"

"I-it's not like that!" I protested.

"Sure, sure," he winked, "whatever you say."

A little while later, Nakamura bid her goodbyes and we exited the clubroom.

"Phew, that went well," she said when we were out of earshot, "I think you actually managed to leave an impression on her, that'll make things easier going forward."

"Why are you so intent on helping me?"

"Hmm? I dunno," she shrugged. "I guess I see that same spark in you that I see in Chizuru. You're both very creative people at heart, even if you are a little rough around the edges."

Was that really all it was? I didn't think this 'spark' of mine even existed.

"Oh, speaking of. I believe we promised on a reward for my help?"

"Huh?"

"I seem to remember asking to read your novel."

Damn it! I had forgotten about that part!

"No, no! It's really nothing special," I protested quickly, "it's just a stupid thing I do sometimes when I have nothing better to do!"

But she wasn't listening, instead she was pulling me along by my sleeve as she began walking off again.

"Come on, I want to read it. And besides, you do owe me one," she added with a grin.

Nakamura dragged me all the way to a secluded table at the back of the school library. She sat down opposite me and silently gestured with her hand until I reluctantly gave her my phone. She began scrolling through the list of my stories.

"Eh? You've written quite a lot haven't you, Tachibana-kun?"

"Oh, er, not really. They're all pretty short and there's a lot that I never finished, so it looks like there's more than there actually is…" I blushed.

"Still, I'm impressed," she said, before returning her eyes to the screen, mumbling under her breath. Apparently she had opened up one at random and started reading. About twenty minutes later, she finally looked up from the phone.

"It needs work," she said.

Yep, there it was. I knew that was coming. I had tried to tell her beforehand that it would only be disappointing.

"...But I liked it."

"Huh?"

"I thought that a couple of the characters didn't seem that realistic, and it was maybe a little too obvious what the twist was, but it has potential. It was a fun read."

"You … actually liked it?"

Nakamura nodded, "I've always loved getting lost in a good book since I was very young. It's rare to find someone else who shares that hobby, even rarer to find someone who loves to write."

"Is that why you wanted to help me?"

"I couldn't pass up the chance to meet an upcoming author before they become famous, now could I?"

"Now you're just making fun…"

She laughed at that, "maybe I am."

***

That evening, I climbed the stairs the the second floor apartment where I lived.

"I'm home!" I called out as I entered. It was my younger sister, Hikari, who popped her head around the corner and greeted me.

"Ah, Nii-san! Where've you been? You're never normally back this late."

"Ah, uh… I was checking out some of the school clubs."

It wasn't entirely a lie, I had been in one of the clubrooms this afternoon. But the last thing I wanted to do was talk about girl troubles with my sister.

"Ehh, you in a club? You serious? I can't picture it myself."

Damn, she saw right through me. She was always so very perceptive.

"Well, whatever. Dad's not home yet either, but dinner's just about ready."

I thanked her, and headed to my room while she finished preparing. I flipped down onto my bed with a sigh. It had been quite the eventful day. I still wasn't quite sure what to make of Nakamura. She seemed like she genuinely wanted to help me out. But why? No one had ever taken an interest in me like that before. It couldn't just be because we had similar interests could it? It was true that I never had anyone before that I could share this kind of thing with. Maybe it really was the same for Nakamura as well.

A buzz from my phone broke my train of thought. I'd received a message, but who could it possibly be at this time? Scratch that, who would even be messaging me at all? I grumbled and pulled out my phone and checked the display. Nakamura's name was right there in black and white.

She'd even put her details into my phone when she had a hold of it?

I swear this girl was going to be the death of me. I opened up the app to see what she had to say.

"Thanks for hearing me out today! Let's make the library our meeting spot from now on. Catch you tomorrow!"

I don't know why, but I found myself smiling at the words on the screen.