Maybe it could...

“I do.”

“…”

“…”

It was a simple proclamation.

Despite the simplicity— Or maybe because of it, there’s a sense of weight from what she said.

Though I have a feeling that Izumi is stumped for a completely different reason when judging it from the look of her exasperated face.

Before Izumi could retaliate, Takina made the first move by leaning her body forward to continue,

“I’m a selfish person after all,” Takina gave a bitter smile, “Of course, I’d prefer it if I could continue being a digital artist, but society won’t let me do that…” She said as she gazed downwards.

“Takina…”

“That’s why I want to rebel against it.” She gazes up at her friend, her narrowed eyes altering the atmosphere around her.

“…”

“…”

“If I can’t have the things I want, then I’ll play along with the norms of society, and I’ll continue to fight against the norm until I’ve built a new path for myself.”

“Takina…”

“…A new path?”

Is that even possible?

Even if you try to merge them, it’ll only end up being a sloppy result.

It’s like trying to combine ramen and pizza into one specimen. From a logical perspective, it can definitely work, but it’ll still come out as deformed and messy.

“Whether I stop being a software engineer going forward or stop being an artist, I’ll cross that bridge when it arrives. I don’t care if I end up looking like a mess at the end of it all if it means I can be proud of myself…”

“…Ah.”

Looking at her frail body alone, you’d think that she’s someone who doesn’t have a good handle on herself. Someone who needs the support of others just to get by in this cruel world.

How wrong could I have been…

That body is the result of her perseverance to comply with the wishes of others and to pursue her dream.

Two career paths that are so vastly different from one another, so when trying to juggle them together, you end up looking like an absolute mess that’ll get anyone worried about you.

But despite that, her face doesn’t have any signs of regret.

“…You’re insane don’t you know that?” Izumi shrugs her shoulder whilst giving her an exasperated smile.

“Insane or not, I want to trust myself to make this work,” Takina replied with a determined face.

“…That so,” Izumi leaned back on her chair and placed both her hands behind her head, “Seems like I can’t change your mind, so I’ll at least back you up if you can’t handle it anymore.”

“Izumi…” Takina replied with her eyes widened, though it lasted for a moment as it was replaced with a soft smile, “Thanks…”

“…”

“Oi Nakami.” A sudden light bonk came from my head.

“Ow…”

“Stop spacing out and get to work,” A female coworker said with her right arm on her hips.

“S-Sorry!” I headed towards the front counter and awkwardly stood there to wait for upcoming customers.

“…?”

“What’s wrong Takina?”

“…Don’t worry about it. Probably just my imagination…”

---

The clock eventually strikes nine, which marks the end of this week’s shift. I packed up my bags and started walking back towards my dorm. When I arrived at the train station, the next train towards my destination would arrive within twenty minutes, so I reached into my pocket to grab my phone.

“…”

Complying with society to survive while silently cursing it…

A desire to connect whilst feeling apathy for their circumstance…

Two contradicting ideas; the former desires to triumph in this cruel world, while the latter wants to be understood by the people around her.

However, if I want to be understood, I have to understand the opposing party. Despite that, I never truly care when I try to understand people…

“Haha…”

Now that’s just pathetic, isn’t it…

But that girl…

“…Oh.”

A loud horn blared from the left, the rail tracks rumbling in anticipation as the train destined for my next stop drew near.

I rose from my chair and approached the platform. As I neared, the train swiftly approached, gradually slowing down until the doors creaked open, allowing a stream of people to disembark.

“…”

A new path huh…

Even though my desires are a swirling jumble of mess, can I really turn them into something that I can be satisfied with?

Out of nowhere, a surge of pedestrians behind me propelled my body forward, caught in the rush of the bustling crowd.

“O-Ohh…”

Before I knew it, I found myself crammed inside the train, surrounded by a sea of passengers, making it a struggle to move within the confined space.

“…”

As I continued to deliberate this thought further, I somehow arrived at my train station a lot faster than expected. It’s as if contemplating about it allowed me to teleport to the next destination. Even as I walk back home, I can’t get that girl in her fuzzy sweater out of my mind.

It’s not exactly infatuation, but more admiration, I think…

And without realizing it, I’m somehow already standing in front of my dorm campus.

“…”

I wish time could just stop for a few seconds so I can digest these kinds of things…

Without thinking much, I walk toward my dorm room without much thought. However, the moment I arrived at my dorm room,

A loud growling noise came from within my stomach.

“Ah…”

Right. I didn’t eat anything, did I?

Ignoring it, I slowly open the door where a lone girl sits on her desk with a facial mask on her face.

“Ah, welcome back!” She greeted me with her usual cheerful smile.

“I-I’m back…”

As I said, she continued to hum, casually grabbing her nail cutter before lifting her right leg.

“Hmm~ hm hmm~”

I silently looked at her figure for a few seconds, until I decided to speak up,

“…Hey Aoko…”

“Yeah?” She looks in my direction.

Ahh, what the heck am I doing?

No, this is fine. It’s late at night, I’m really hungry, and I’m too scared to go out on my own.

If a ghost appears, I’ll at least have this bubble of cheerfulness ward off any kind of malice from those stupid vengeful ghosts that have nothing better to do.

“…Have you eaten anything?” I gaze downwards as the question blurts out of my mouth.

“…”

Why isn’t she saying anything?

“…”

I instinctively gazed towards the floor as my body started to tense up as if my body had turned into stone.

“That’s pretty unusual…” Aoko mentions.

“…W-What is?” I slowly raise my head, eventually meeting her gaze.

“…Well, you never invited me out before,” She furrows her brows and asks, “Did something bad happen to you?!”

“No, nothing like that!” I instinctively raised my arms, “I mean, it’s late at night, I’m hungry, and I’m a bit…”

“Ohh… I see what you mean…” Aoko closes her eyes and nods to herself.

“…If you’ve eaten something, then you don’t need to force yourself—”

“Nonono!” She leaps off her chair and quickly approaches me, “If anything, I’m really happy!”

“H-Happy?” I instinctively took a step back as our faces were only a few inches away from kissing each other.

“This is the first time we can properly hang out, so of course I’m happy!” She said while shoving me the biggest smile while still using that facial mask.

“…”

“Why do you look so surprised?” Aoko tilts her head, “Weren’t you the one that invited me?”

“I-I mean yeah, but I barely talk to you, and I thought you’d be more against going out with someone like me…”

Not to mention that I’m doing this for myself…

“…Actually, I thought you hated the idea of hanging out with me…” Aoko gazed to the ground whilst twirling her right foot, “You seem like someone that wants to have their personal space, so I tried to be respectful about it by leaving you alone…”

“Aoko…”

“And even if you’re doing this because you’re scared to go alone, it still doesn’t change the fact that you invited me out, doesn’t it?” She then flashed me the biggest smile as if it was a natural thing.

“S-So you know…” I gaze away whilst scratching my right cheek.

“It’s not that hard to notice, you know?” Aoko giggles, “Though you have to be warned; you’ve already opened a bit of your door, so don’t complain when I burst through them!” She says as she placed her right hand on my shoulder.

“…”

A warm smile.

She’s aware of my actual intentions, but she’s still willing to go along with it…

And behind my self-driven intents, she’ll use that opportunity to breach through my wall and face me head on…

“That so…” My shoulder instinctively relaxed herself as I felt my cheeks soften, “But you better get rid of that facial mask before we leave.”

“O-Oh right! Wait a bit, okay?” Aoko said as she rushed towards her table.

“Hehe…”

Maybe this can work out a lot better than I expected…

~The End~