The Third Place and The Third Wheel

There are three socially acceptable places in society. Home, Work, and “The Third Place”. This “Third Place” is a special place a human being can retreat to and be amongst others of their own kind. Whether that be something like your local book club venue, the mall, or even bowling. When you arrive at a “Third Place”, you’re guaranteed to find others that can relate to you.

For a long, long time, live-action role-playing games weren’t something that Akira Kozuki would consider himself a “fan” of. However, before all of that nonsense, he could hardly name a single thing he was a surefire “fan” of anyway. He read light novels but wasn’t a part of any book clubs or anime clubs. Even worse, he didn’t even watch that much anime unless his favorite light novel was adapted.

Days upon days on end, he would lock himself away in his room, reading school story to school story. Perhaps reading something about another school love life might romanticize his own life, but it never really came. He never got a girlfriend and he was already in Junior year in High School.

“God….”

“DAMMIT!!!”

It was a breakdown he needed, but came at a completely wrong time. In the middle of school lunch, surrounded by familiar faces, and yet completely foreign people, Akira broke down. One hand holding a metal fork and the other clutching a light novel stuck on page 62.

It was one of those lovey-dovey school novels that were all the rage right now, only second to “isekai” novels, and this was exceptionally hard-hitting. His eyes betrayed him, looking up to observe his classmates sitting in front of him. It wasn’t like his school had strict cliques where certain classmates sat with each other, Akira always found himself sitting with others at all times whether he liked it or not.

Perhaps the school lunch table was another type of “third place”. After all, they were all students, no matter what they decided to do after the last bell rang. The school uniform compiled them all as a similar person in this “Third Place”.

However…

It wasn’t like the novels! Nothing was like the novels he read! Ahead of him was the most boring-looking, run-of-the-mill couple high school could produce, and within the bunkobon he was holding in his hand, the most eye-glimmering, heart-pounding, marketable love story was happening within his head.

Real life wasn’t like this.

This delusion, this fantasy he was reading. It was like some other place. A Fourth Place he could go to. While he was sitting— and ruining— his one and only “Third Place” by yelling at the top of his lungs, his “Fourth Place” was also imploding. Almost all at once, the sheer delusion of love was blown up in his face.

“Would you consider School a Second Place or a Third Place?”

Having moved from the embarrassing situation at lunch, Akira was now sitting at his desk in Class 1-C. A couple of classmates shot him a worried look, having witnessed his outburst at the lunch table, but said nothing more. His friend, Keisuke Mutsura, seemingly wasn’t around when the outburst happened, but got a good mental image of what went down, meeting Akira’s question with a smug look on his face.

“After what you pulled, you’ll never reach the Third “Base”.”

“Tch…”

Keisuke snickered and rested an elbow on Akira’s desk. After tapping the novel Akira had been reading a couple of times and then flipping it over, he shook his head dismissively.

“You ever think of retiring girl novels? This type of crap is a plague on literature.”

“Are not!”

Akira balled his fists up and shut his eyes, holding himself at bay to not strike out. Sure it was trash, but it was soul-fulfilling trash. It was like junk food, sure it’s bad for your health, and the volumes of light novels gather up on your bookshelves like fat stores in your body; but you can’t help but take another bite.

Imagine, if you will, your favorite restaurant that serves burgers— and you love burgers— just came out with a new burger to try every month. A new flavor to try, wrapped in newspaper packaging. It’s crunchy, it’s savory, it’s sweet, it’s everything you want, and you get more and more every month to never get bored.

However, if Akira were to think on the same wavelength as Keisuke, then he would have to think of fine literature as the rare and expensive cake shop downtown. You wouldn’t dream of walking in, but one day, your grandmother gifted you some money, so you decided to go in. The cake is rich, the tea is hot and sweet, and you are sure you will never have an experience like this ever again.

“So what would you consider “good” literature then?” Akira asked, waving his light novel in the air, “If my ‘girl novels’ are such trash?”.

“That’s easy,” Keisuke smugly responded, “works by Stephen King and Joe Hill! Fantasy by George R. R. Martin and Brandon Sanderson! You know BrandoSando invented a pretty reliable magic system for his novels!”

“Never read anything by him.” Akira shot out.

“That’s why you’re stuck reading high school crap like this.”

Keisuke pulled the light novel out of Akira’s hand and flipped through it. So many “kirakira” and “pipipi” moments, it was enough to make a man sick. Before he realized it, he was wearing a face only produced by disgust and revulsion.

“You don’t have to read it, you know.” Akira deadpanned.

“I just can’t understand how you stomach this sugary crap. It’s literally written for people stuck in fantasy land.”

“You JUST told me to read fantasy!”

“The difference between hard fantasy and this type of fantasy is that you and I both know dragons and magic aren’t real, but you’ve tricked yourself into thinking love looks this way.”

Keisuke tapped the front of the light novel a couple of times and then plopped it back down on Akira’s desk. Akira didn’t retort this time.

Keisuke was right.

Dragons, other than what Crocodiles looked like half the time, weren’t real. There was no animal in the world that could breathe fire or fly through the air with thick, sharp scales. The prospect of magic as we wrote it as a civilization couldn’t happen through the laws of physics. There was no fireball or magic missile and there certainly wasn’t any riding on broomsticks anywhere.

“There’s no way you’re going to find anyone one girl in this world that’s going to act like the way they do in these books. It’s theoretically impossible.” Keisuke scolded.

Akira didn’t have a rebuttal. He simply looked down at the light novel with newfound disdain. He knew it, he knew love like this wasn’t real life.

“But, you know what you can do?”

“Huh?”

Keisuke folded his arms together and nodded a couple of times.

“You can’t grab a girl and pretend to love her like the novels and get away with it. That’s not how things work. But, you can take a train up to the mountains and pretend to be in a fantasy land with magic and dragons.”

“Huuuuuh?”

The look on Akira’s face said it all. Keisuke was trying to be serious about the whole thing but there was no getting around the frockling in the woods, pretending to be a magical wizard or something like that.

“Why wouldn’t I just give up books and just play games or something?” Akira argued.

“Because what I’m proposing gets your body moving! Plus, I’ve seen your notebook! You’re totally writing your own lovey-dovey novels!”

HURKK!!

“How the hell did you find that out!?”

“Nevertheless!” Keisuke persisted, “Would you rather sit in a dark room and play someone else’s story, or would you rather go out and make your own?”

Akira looked up from his desk then, looking Keisuke right in the eyes. The sound of the classroom seemed to drown out as the racing thoughts of creation and whimsy flittered through his brain.

Him? Create the stories he wanted to create? It was all fantasy, but something was pushing forward through his thoughts. Romance. Was that something he could work with in the fantasy setting? He always thought that when someone wrote a fantasy novel, the world-building and magic systems that went with it were the most important part. Romance, at its core, should have the front seat for anything he wanted to read. If fantasy got in the way…

It was impossible, wasn’t it?

But that thought still sat at the front of his head. Pulling a hand through his short, but shaggy hair, he finally averted his gaze. This felt…

“What do ya say? Wanna come with me for one round of LARPing?” Keisuke asked, leaning closer to Akira, “Who knows, maybe you might meet a babe there that likes those girly novels like you do!”

“I wouldn’t want to go there to date! Girls don’t date me!” Akira cried.

“You’ve never tried! You’ve given your high school love days to these novels! Come on, come with me to the mountain event! It’s this weekend! Bring your notebook too!”

“Why should I bring that!”

“You might come up with a good idea for a story? You never know!”

Again… it felt impossible.

However, this type of feeling. Something akin to a challenge was bubbling within him. Romantic fantasy existed, and this was true. The stories weren't very good, but they existed. Akira would be lying to himself if he didn’t find himself loitering in the fantasy section of the light novel aisle from time to time.

And standing there for a very long time.

Books upon books of Isekai, transmigration, harem, strongest commoner, maxed out level crap that he just knew he would love to death if it had a good love plot. Something was always holding him back from buying one and even now…

“Sorry…”

Keisuke’s smile dropped quickly, but Akira couldn’t look him in the eye. He knew that his friend meant well. He knew that Akira was on the edge of a lovey-dovey breakdown if he didn’t either get a girlfriend or find a hobby. Keisuke was dangling a good prospect over his head, but it seemed that Akira wasn’t ready just yet.

***

The sun was starting to lower behind the skyscrapers of Tokyo. Even though they were more so on the outskirts of the major wards, the first kiss of sunset was touched by those buildings. A twinkling blindness flittered between the space between glass, trying its best to blind Akira; who was on his way home.

While it would’ve been easy to just make a right turn and walk straight through his front door, start his homework, and get a good night’s sleep; the yen burning in his wallet had begun to possess him. As if on a motor, head buried into the light novel he was yelling over before, he took a left and made his way to the local “Book Off” store.

The chime notifying the workers of his presence rang out through the store. Akira didn’t realize how dark it was truly getting outside when the fluorescent lights bathed him in comfort. This felt more like home to him.

“Welcome in! Oh, Akira!! Good to see you!”

The storefront owner, Ann, came around the corner, holding a stack of books in her hands. All of them light novels.

“Ann, good to see you.” Akira greeted.

“You’re just the guy I wanted to see! I know exams are going to be coming up and you’re not going to have time for books like this, but the new Kodansha novel just dropped! A brand new series!”

Pushing a white light novel with a detailed illustration on the cover into Akira’s hands, it took less than two seconds for Akira to clock it as a fantasy. Normally, he would just hand it back and politely decline. This wasn’t lovey or dovey.

Sure, there was a scantily clad woman on the cover, but there was a high chance that the main character was a man, and there was an even higher chance he was building a harem.

Where was the love in that?

“So, what’s special about this book? What’s the blurb?” Akira asked, flipping it around to get a sense of what the book was about.

“I think you’ll really like this one! A Mermaid Princess from another world is transmigrated to our world! She has to hide her secret from other humans, but finds a man that promises to keep her safe!”

Akira froze. Slowly, he turned the book back over to look at the cover. The scantily clad girl, wearing some sort of swimsuit with a school uniform poorly thrown over it, was wearing a heavy blush and adverting her gaze from the reader. In the back, the MC of the story is drawn holding back someone from behind a door, also blushing.

“Is this a fantasy, then?” Akira asked.

“Hmm, I guess you could call it that. I wouldn’t call something like mermaids as normal.” Ann said, placing the light novel pile on the counter.

She placed her hands on her hips and wagged a finger at Akira, who looked up at her.

“Don’t think I haven’t been noticing your purchase history! You have a points card here, and we can see the whole bibliography you consume. Love story after love story like that can not be healthy, you know!”

‘You too, huh?’

“Well… you know… it’s just so bad it’s good sometimes, right?” Akira tried to play off.

“Do you have a girlfriend or are you supplementing your love life with these novels?”

HUURKKKKK!!

“A-ANN! Absolutely NOT!!” Akira rebutted.

“So you don’t have a girlfriend?” Ann pushed.

“That’s not what I’m saying!! I’m NOT supplementing my love life with light novels!” Akira pushed back.

Sweat was starting to pool on his brow. Only because Ann was right and Akira didn’t want to admit it. He blew off his friend to start a fun and active hobby and decided to fall back into delusions of love. Even now, the light novel he walked in with was clutched in his hand, wrinkling the dust jacket. He didn’t want to admit it!

“I highly suggest you take this home and read it! Or, at the very least, take advantage of the cafe space in the back and read the first couple of chapters! You never know, you might like it!”

Ann pushed the book deeper into Akira’s hands as it sat on top of the light novel Akira walked in with.

“On the house! No reading fee!”

“If I finish the novel in one sitting, can I have it for free?” Akira asked a tinge of hope in his voice.

“Don’t even think about it.” Ann quickly deflected, death dripping from her mouth.

She could be really scary as much as she could be caring.

***

The “cafe” in the back of the Book Off was something a little unorthodox. Book Off was a chain store all over Japan, there were thousands of stores just in Kanto alone. That being said, Ann treated her Book Off store like her baby. Making tea and snacks for patrons who would like to sit and read a couple of chapters from her books.

Now, Akira was sitting on one of these wooden chairs in the back of the store, more than likely sourced from the garbage before it was picked up by the city. He didn’t care, it was a free seat and he was allowed to freely read a new book, with free tea and free cookies.

Life was great when things were free!

With the original light novel he walked in with sitting on the table, Akira sat back on the creaking chair and flipped through the pages. Ann walked by a couple of times, smiling at him, but Akira was too invested in the book to notice.

“With all those love stories you read, it’s astounding you don’t have a girlfriend.” Ann said under her breath, “I’m sure you know all the right words to say.”

She walked off to stock the rest of the shelves and Akira flipped to another page. An illustration page met his eyes.

The first couple of chapters were picking up, and this illustration really pushed home the rising action. Mizuru, the mermaid, had just landed in Hoshi’s bathtub. Her clam-clad boobs are pressing into his chest, the massive mermaid tail rubbing all the right places, but the shock of a mermaid in his bathtub was too much to bear to get excited.

So far, it wasn’t anything he hadn’t read. Embarrassing moments, girls and boys getting flustered. Hook, line, and sinker. Akira found himself flipping, flipping, flipping the pages until, before he knew it, he was on chapter six, page 122, and his cell phone was ringing.

Breaking out of his trance, his blood ran cold when he saw the caller ID.

Mom.

“Do you know what TIME it is!?!? Where are you, and don’t say the bookstore!”

“The bookstore, ma’am,” Akira answered honestly.

“I swear to god, Akira… you can’t keep spending your money like this. How are you going to save up to afford anything once you get out of school?”

Akira exhaled through his nose, but not hard enough to disrespect his mother. He knew he was wasting time, more than likely late for dinner, and he didn’t even get started on his homework yet. He felt like a failure.

“I’ll be home soon, mom. Sorry for making you wait.”

There was a more audible sigh on the other end of the line as his mother relented.

“I set aside some curry rice for you to eat when you get home. Be safe walking, okay?”

Akira nodded and hung up the phone, feeling a little bit defeated. Holding the fantasy romance book in his hand, he knew in his heart he should’ve saved his money and not bought it. However, he felt the motor in his legs moving towards the front counter. Ann was standing there, ready for him with a soft smile on her face.

It was almost as if she knew he was going to buy it regardless.

However, just as he was reaching the front counter, another body bumped into his. Long, blonde hair mingled with his black tufts and he bounced back in surprise. He knew it was a girl and his manly chivalry took over, backing up and bowing to her.

“Excuse me, sorry.”

“N-no.. It’s okay…”

That voice…

Akira looked up, his eyes halfway to the girl’s face. He recognized the school uniform. It was from the same high school he went to. She was wearing a fashionable cardigan under her blazer jacket and a cute red necktie bow. In her hands was a light novel.

The same one he was holding, the mermaid novel.

Then he looked up all the way to see her face. Beautiful blue eyes, blinding blonde hair with black hair ribbons, and cat-like eyes. She blinked twice and a small blush was growing on her face.

It was Yukari Ichinosei, the school idol!

“A-ah, Yukari-Senpai! You… uhm… you come to this bookstore too?” Akira stammered, not able to hold himself back from asking.

Yukari didn’t say anything, adverting her gaze back to the counter and holding the light novel closer to her body. Almost as if she was trying to hide it from him.

“Uhm… not really. Just decided to stop by.” Yukari finally answered.

“And you like light novels too?” Akira continued, looking down at her hands.

“Ahh!”

Yukari became more and more flustered, her face growing ever hot, up until she slammed the light novel on the counter, turning and leaving the store posthaste. She never even gave him an answer.

Akira just stood there, bewildered by the bizarre encounter. In the end, she never got the book. Looking back over at Ann as if to silently ask ‘What the hell just happened?’, he was met with the look of death on the bookkeeper’s face. The aura around her was growing dark as if hands would appear from the dark gaps and rip him to shreds.

“YOU’RE going to at least help me make a sale today, right?” Ann cheerfully asked although it was dripping with malice.

There was no way out of this. Instead of two sales, Akira flustered the school’s number one beauty out of one. It was Akira’s responsibility to purchase this book now, even though he told his mother he wouldn’t.

Walking out of the bookstore, feeling… not so sure about what had just happened to him, he clutched the paper bag holding his new book. It was a short walk home, across the train tracks, and over the hill. He would be inside eating curry rice and doing homework in no time, having just enough time to read a couple more chapters of his new book before bed.

As Akira was approaching the train tracks, he saw that the crossing barriers were drawn. Only one person was waiting to cross.

It was Yukari-Senpai.

Swallowing, but steeling himself, Akira continued to walk up to her. As he stood next to her, he couldn’t help but look over and try to guess her expression. Was she mad at him for pointing out the book she was going to buy? Were books like this really that unpopular? She was a popular girl, maybe light novels were seen as an otaku thing? Deflated, Akira decided to meet her with a smile.

“I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable back there. I didn’t mean it.” Akira started.

“Don’t tell anyone I went there.” Yukari quickly butted in.

“Huh?”

Yukari turned to Akira, a strong look on her face. Her fists were balled and she looked like she was about to cry at any moment. Akira didn’t know how to feel, but most of all, guilt was what bubbled up within him. It seemed like Yukari worked up a lot of courage to come into the bookstore and look for that book, only for him to ruin it.

“Books like that…” Yukari started, her face dropping and gaze locked to the ground, “It’s not something I would normally read, so… please… don’t tell anyone I was in there.”

“You don’t have to worry about me telling your secrets, Yukari-Senpai. I don’t think our friend groups really mix at all. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Akira tried to be careful with his words, but he couldn’t help but catch the sniffle Yukari let loose just before the train passed by. She really wanted that book, but something was stopping her from enjoying it fully.

Before Akira could say anything, the train passed by, the barriers lifted, and Yukari was off. She made it about halfway across the tracks before Akira finally worked up the nerve to say something.

“Yukari-Senpai!”

She stopped and turned. She looked mad, disappointed, and sad all at the same time. However, the hostile look on her face lifted when she saw Akira rummaging in the paper bag he was holding. After a couple of seconds, he crossed the train tracks with her, pushing the mermaid light novel into her hands.

“Here, enjoy it! After you’re done, you should meet me back at the bookstore to return it, only if you want to, though.” Akira said.

“I don’t have your number, how will I tell you I’m done with it?”

“I go to this bookstore almost every day, you’ll catch me one way or the other. Here.”

Yukari looked at the novel and with shaky hands, took it. Holding it in her hands, she finally smiled, looking up at Akira.

“Thank you. I’ll take care of it and return it.”

Yukari pulled her school bag around and put the novel inside. Akira, seeing this as the end of the conversation, bowed one more time and started walking home again, giving her space.

‘It feels good to do a good thing. She needed that book more than I did.’

“Hey!”

Akira turned once he heard Yukari call to him.

“What’s your name?”

“U-uhm… Akira Kozuki, 3rd year.”

“Akira-kun. Thank you.”

And with that, Yukari-Senpai ran off in the opposite direction, towards the train station. She must’ve gone out of her way to go to a bookstore where she wouldn't have been noticed. Despite how big Tokyo was, the world was still a small place. Akira just had to be grateful it was him that found her and not one of her “fans”.

The bookstore, Book Off, was a Third Place, but the feeling of kinship between your peers within was varied. Akira felt he and Yukari were similar in tastes, but one thing was for certain: they came from completely different worlds.

He would get his book back whenever, and she would more than likely move on to a new bookstore. Somewhere on the outskirts of Tokyo, where her fellow students wouldn’t notice her more and more. Something within him thought this would be the start of something lovey-dovey, but Akira quickly pulled himself from the clouds.

Yukari-Senpai? The head cheerleader and Idol of Mabori-Kaigan High School? Going out with Akira Kozuki?! The Shojo LN Otaku?

No.

Pulling out his phone, Akira penned an email to Keisuke, inspired by the whole encounter.

“Can I still come with you to the LARP event this weekend?”

He didn’t have to wait long for a response.

“Hell yeah! I’ll save you a seat in the car!”

Seeing Yukari was nice, but reality hit. It was time to move on from unobtainable school love and delve fully into fantasy. It was time to commit to the next Third Place.