A Chance Encounter

It had been a little over a week since my run-in with Shinohara. True to his word, he never spoke of anything to Iwasaki. He had even been intercepting any conversations he overheard and shifted the topic away from me and Nakamura. Things had slowly returned to normal, no-one even seemed all that interested in the rumours anymore. Still, we vowed to be more careful from now on.

Nakamura and I decided it was best to avoid talking to each other while in class, and limit our interactions to our meet-ups in the library. As usual, we grabbed the table hidden away behind the bookshelves. Nakamura was sitting opposite me, head down as she scrolled through my phone. As per our agreement, she had been continuing to read through the stories I'd written whenever we met up.

Lately, she'd even started giving me pointers on where I could improve. Things like 'it would feel more natural for this character to act that way' or 'I'd hold off on revealing this too soon, build up the suspense more'. It was honestly some really helpful advice and I had been taking a lot of it on board in my recent attempts.

Nakamura was currently reading through the results of that. It was the first chapter of a fantasy story centered around a knight and his adventures.

"It's good," she commented once she was done reading.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, it's a great introduction for the protagonist. He seems like a fun character to follow. What's most important is where you take it from here."

"That's the hard part," I groaned, "I can come up with characters but can never think of a good enough plot that will keep things going for over a dozen chapters."

"You'll get there. It might be best to try taking a step back and stop worrying over where the story could go. Just keep writing and see where it takes you, eventually you'll be able to see the direction your plot is going."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"And even if it doesn't work out this time, at least it's practice for whatever you decide to write next."

She handed my phone back to me, but we were far from finished for the day. These meetings weren't only for us to share our passion for books, and our conversation eventually shifted to the other important matter, namely Iwasaki Chizuru.

"It's all well and good for me to be by your side supporting you, but as we've seen, it only leads to misunderstandings about us."

"So, you're saying I need to be alone with her?"

Nakamura leaned back in her chair, her head turned up towards the ceiling as if lost in thought.

"Nothing that extreme yet, it could just be a conversation between the two of you. The question is how to initiate it. Having you suddenly show up at her class or the music clubroom to speak with her isn't going to seem that natural."

"So, what do you suggest?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted, "a chance encounter with you and her would be ideal, but that's not something we can just set up."

"..."

"Give me some time," she asked, "I'll think it over some more and get back to you tomorrow."

I agreed and we left it at that. I slung my bag over my shoulder, bid goodbye to Nakamura and started my way home. I hopped down the stairs while considering what Nakamura had said. Somehow I needed to interact with Iwasaki in a way that didn't feel too forced.

"Argh, it's hopeless," I muttered to myself.

There was no way something that perfect would just happen on its…

"Oof."

I had collided with something soft. It was my fault for daydreaming and not looking where I was going. Now I had slammed right into someone, causing the stack of paper sheets that they had been carrying to scatter all across the floor.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't …"

The person in front of me was Iwasaki. I froze up, completely forgetting what I was going to say.

"It's ok," she said, bending down to collect her paperwork, "I wasn't paying attention either."

"Ah, let me help you with that."

"Thanks," she smiled, "you're Aya-chan's friend, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

No, hang on a second. Nakamura and I were trying not to appear too close.

"We'll, we're in the same class and we've spoken a few times," I corrected.

"Oh, I see."

Iwasaki brushed away some hair that had fallen in front of her eyes, and we continued to gather up the dropped sheets.

Come to think of it, isn't this exactly the kind of situation Nakamura mentioned? This couldn't be just a coincidence, the gods themselves must have answered my prayers!

Wait, what the hell was I meant to say to her? We hadn't planned this far ahead.

Crap, my mind had gone blank. Just say anything, you idiot!

"Nice weather we're having."

"Oh is it? I hadn't noticed."

The weather? Really? That's your big move? I'm hopeless, it's all over for me…

"S-so what're all these for anyway?"

That's good, keep it topical.

"Oh, they're for the light music club, I was bringing them for Inaba-senpai," replied Iwasaki.

"Oh, right! I heard you singing when we stopped by before, you're really good!"

"Thanks," she mumbled, turning her back on me. I couldn't tell whether I had made her feel uncomfortable or if she had just turned her focus to a different pile of paperwork.

"Oh, er … I'm sorry if I'm bothering you."

"Ah, no. It's okay. It's just a little embarrassing, not many people know about my singing."

I skirted around to pick up some other sheets of paper and I paused when I caught a glimpse of her face. She was biting her lip and her cheeks had turned a deep shade of pink. I recognised that strained look on her face. It was the look of someone who feared people finding out their interests in fear of rejection. The look of someone who would even mistake genuine compliments as being mocked.

The look of someone like me.

"I-I'm sorry, really."

She immediately brightened up and shook her head, "no, it's okay!"

Her change was so sudden that I could tell she was just putting on an act.

"Ah, looks like we're done. Well, I'd better head off," she smiled, hurrying off towards her clubroom.

I watched her go until she disappeared behind the corner. Once she was out of sight, I sighed and slumped up against the wall.

That hadn't gone well.

Still, it had made me realise something. Nakamura was right. Deep down, Iwasaki and I were the same. I had closed myself off from people, and hid myself away into my writing, while Iwasaki concealed her insecurities behind her bubbly and friendly persona. Up until now, a small part of me had been doubting whether my feelings for her were genuine, or if it was just blind admiration. Now, I was certain.

I liked this girl.

I figured I should message Nakamura about this recent development, so I pulled out my phone and opened the contacts list. Though it seemed like she had already left me a message. I opened it up and read what she had to say.

"I forgot to mention, I'm not going to be free tomorrow after all. No need to wait for me in the library."

That was odd. She hadn't missed a single day since we had started hanging out. I guess it wasn't really that strange for her to make other plans. Still, I wondered just what she was up to.