I only looked at the wallpaper for a second before I pressed the power button, turning off the screen. But in that single second, I had perfectly dissected every detail.

  Do you think you’re some kind of detective? What mystery are you trying to solve?

  The mysteries of the heart.

  Okay, that was pretty cringe.

  “I found it.”

  I announced my find as I walked over to where ‘that girl’ was looking.

  “Thank you.”

  She extended her hand and I returned her phone to her. When I did, our fingers briefly brushed against each other.

  Don’t think about it.

  “No problem. Luckily, it seems like the screen didn’t get scratched.”

  “That’s a relief. Though, the case is another story...”

  She gently traced her finger down the mess of scratches that now marred the backside of the case. I could still make out that the case had a cherry blossom theme, but it was no longer as cute as it should have been.

  “That sucks. You can always buy a new one, though.”

  I could have said ‘Why don’t we buy a new one together,’ but I’m not the kind of person to hit on a girl who’s already in a relationship.

  You’re not the kind of person to hit on any girl, regardless of their relationship status.

  A small smile spread across her face.

  “Actually, I think I’m going to keep it.”

  “Really?”

  “These scratches are physical evidence of yet another memory that has become entwined with this case. They tell a story of its valiant effort to protect my phone, and of my meeting with you.”

  As she said this, her gaze lifted from the case to me. She stared deep into my eyes as her fingers still gracefully stroked the case.

  “...”

  Whoa.

  Don’t read into it.

  I gulped.

  How could I not?!

  “We should find a nice bench to sit on and chat while we wait for the next train.”

  As she said this, she took her left hand—which had just been stroking her case—and grabbed my right, pulling me towards the platform.

  HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT.

  Holding hands with a girl.

  It should have been exciting...

  ...and it was!

  Maybe adrenaline was still pumping through my veins from my rush to the station, because I was clearly not thinking straight.

  It was too exciting!

  Is she a slut (non-derogatory)?

  She has to be, right?

  Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

  Sluts (positive) are cool! Love the sluts (affectionate)!

  Maybe that guy in the picture on her phone really is just her ex.

  Maybe they broke up recently and she’s looking for a rebound relationship?

  That seems likely!

  My brain was short-circuiting.

  6 - Conversation (Showdown)

  I was sitting on a bench in the station next to that girl. She had let go of my hand once we sat down, but my heart was still pounding out of my chest.

  Don’t blow it.

  Don’t blow it!

  Don’t blow it!!!

  Now is my chance! This is the culmination of all my training (my training = one conversation this morning). I just have to talk to a girl—how hard could it be? But where do I start?

  I should introduce myself, right?

  However, that girl made the opening move.

  “I should introduce myself. My name is Okino Haruhi, and I’m in class 3-C. ‘Haru’ is written with the character for ‘spring,’ and ‘hi’ the character for ‘princess.’ It’s nice to meet you.”

  That’s a cute name. Should I tell her that? Would that be too forward? And, class 3-C? She’s my upperclassman? There’re two openings; which one should I take? Aghh, I don’t know! Should I attack them both at once?

  ‘That’s a cute name for a cute senpai.’

  That’s way too forward!

  And that’s not even my personality!

  Wait. Calm down. I haven’t even introduced myself yet. I should do that first. For now, I’ll just copy my opponent’s move and capitalize on any openings afterwards.

  “My name is Matsuda Akio, and I’m in class 2-B. ‘Aki’ is written with the character for ‘autumn,’ and ‘o’ the character for ‘male.’ It’s nice to meet you.”

  A perfect reflection. How do you respond?

  She clasped her hands together, rested them on her crossed legs, and turned her head to look at me—her face was slightly upturned and her lips formed a subtle yet beautiful curve as her eyes sought to connect with mine.

  “Our names complement each other nicely, don’t they, Akio? It’s like we were destined to meet.”

  UUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!

  A devastating blow.

  She capitalized on the similarity of our names, established a friendly form of address, and made an advance—all in a single attack. And then, she accentuated her verbal assault with finely crafted body language that was as elegant as it was deadly. Truly a splendid move.

  How do I counter? Do I even have any openings left, or is this already checkmate? Come on, I have to think of a response. I can’t give up so quickly. My life depends on it!

  First things first, how should I address her? She used my first name so I probably should as well, but do I keep it plain or add an honorific? Could I get away with adding -chan? I think I could. She already came on pretty strong; if I didn’t at least match her, she would overpower me in no time.

  Haruhi-chan it is then.

  But what do I actually say? She already used the openings I had identified earlier. Was I too passive? Should I have attacked one of them back then before it was too late? Wait. Maybe it isn’t too late. She might have used those openings to attack me, but that didn’t necessarily mean they had closed up already. They were recent enough in the conversation that I might still be able to use them!

  ‘Haru.’

  ‘Spring.’

  I think I’ve found my angle.

  I don’t think I’ll be able to match the effectiveness of her posture, but I should also try something too.

  All right, Haruhi-chan—taste my riposte!

  My eyes met hers, answering their wordless pleading for connection as I leaned ever so slightly closer. I slid my arm along the back of the bench, resting it behind her—not touching her, but making its presence known. My presence fully enveloped her and her pulse quickened in anticipation of my words (assumption).

  “So, Haruhi-ch-chan...were you born in, uhh, spring...or something?”

  ...

  ...

  I completely blew it.

  100 points—if the goal was to phrase something in the most awkward way possible.

  “...”

  She didn’t say anything. She just turned to look away from me, one of her hands coming up to cover her mouth.

  I also turned away and retracted my arm, laying my hands awkwardly in my lap.

  This sucks.

  Why’d I even say that? I got really carried away...

  “I mean, ’cause you have the character for ‘spring’ in your name and all...”

  Why did you bother clarifying? Wasn’t it obvious?

  I couldn’t stand the silence, okay! Sue me!

  She giggled.

  It was indescribably cute.

  If only it had been at a joke I had made, and not at the joke of my existence.

  I’m more embarrassed now than I’ve ever been in my entire life (that I can remember).

  I should apologize.

  Apologize for my existence.

  “I’m really sorry. I’ll go wait somewhere else...”

  Preferably on the train tracks. When the train arrives, I’ll be turned into a fine red mist and freed from this world. ‘Rizz so bad he killed himself’ is what they’ll say on social media.

  I won’t be around to care.

  Running away is the only thing you’re good at.

  “Wait—!”

  I tried to stand, but was stopped by a tug on my sleeve.

  “I should be the one apologizing. It’s my fault. I think I unintentionally gave you the wrong impression, and for that I’m sorry.”

  She did all that unintentionally?

  She’s just naturally that adorable?

  “When I get excited, I tend to act without thinking.”

  Her perfectly calculated checkmate...was just a completely thoughtless move?

  “—I’m always really touchy-feely. People around me always get the wrong idea and say I’m ‘leading them on,’ or call me things like ‘slut,’ or ‘whore.’ I don’t care about things like that. I just want to be friends. I just want to connect with people. And...and...I’m sorry. It’s always my fault.”

  What rude things to call a lady. Anyone who has ever thought about her like that deserves to die in a fire.

  At some point, she had buried her head in my chest and wrapped her arms around me. Her shoulders gently shook as she cried while apologizing for both the present and the past.

  Don’t read into it.

  She literally just told you about how it doesn’t mean anything to her.

  What should I do?

  I’ve been in this kind of situation with Fuyuko before, and those times I usually hugged her back and patted her on the head—it’s completely different if the other person is a stranger and not your little sister, though.

  “I don’t think it’s your fault, if you’re not doing it intentionally. I understand how it would cause misunderstandings firsthand. But, if you clarify your intentions and people still treat you badly, then they’re just worthless. You have nothing to apologize for.”

  How many points was that worth? Did I do good?

  “Thank you... I knew our meeting was auspicious.”

  Once she stopped crying, she pulled away from me.

  “Are you feeling better?”

  “Much better. I should be fine now.”

  “Glad to hear it.”

  She bowed her head slightly in apology.

  “I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

  She did seem a lot better

  Well, she’s probably used to it, so it’s no wonder she’s pretty quick to bounce back.

  She doesn’t need to apologize so much, though...

  There was one thing that was still bothering me.

  I don’t know if I want to know the answer.

  I don’t even know if now is a good time to ask it, but once this moment is over there might not be a better opportunity.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Earlier, why did you laugh?”

  Her eyes widened a bit and then she bowed her head again.

  “I’m sorry if it seemed like I was making fun of you. I just thought it was cute how earnestly you tried to do something that you were clearly unfamiliar with.”

  When she lifted her head, she was smiling. It seemed just thinking about it amused her all over again.

  Cute?

  I don’t know how to feel about that.

  But...

  I don’t think I hate it.

  7 - Meteor Witches

  We spent the rest of the time before the train arrived waiting in silence.

  I think we both needed some time to cool off after the incident. It was kind of awkward, though, because she wouldn’t let go of my hand the entire time...

  Once the train arrived, we boarded the same car and actually managed to get seats next to each other because it was after the rush of people trying to get to school.

  I guess there are some advantages to being late for school.

  This was our chance to have a second attempt at a conversation, and this time, I was going to make the first move.

  I recalled my little sister’s advice from that morning.

  ‘People usually like to talk about the things they’re passionate about.’

  I gestured to the Meteor Witches keychain attached to the school resting in her lap.

  “Do you like to play Meteor Witches? I see you have one of the limited first edition keychains.”

  Not only did I mention one of her hobbies, I also demonstrated my own knowledge of the subject. Good job, me.

  Her eyes immediately lit up as she fumbled to pull out her phone.

  “I do! I’ve been playing since launch!”

  “We should play together some time. The new content has been pretty difficult, hasn’t it? Probably to get people to spend more money.”

  “It sure has. If you’re not running a max-level meta team with the latest witches, you’re going to struggle in the newest dungeon. It’s hard being free-to-play. We should add each other as friends. I’ve got some in-game friends that I play with regularly, but you’ll be the first one I’m also IRL friends with.”

  She’s calling us IRL friends already? Maybe I just have a high threshold for who I would consider a friend. I’m not the kind of person who can consider someone they just met a friend. Although, she did cry into my chest after divulging some of her deepest traumas to me. So, I guess we have become somewhat close.

  Not that I have a problem with her calling us friends. I’m happy. It’s just, I feel like our relationship is kind of uneven—she’s much closer to me than I am to her.

  Then you just have to become closer.

  But...

  “Tell me your friend code and I’ll add you.”

  She recited her friend code to me and I carefully entered it in my app.

  It gave me an error:

  ‘Player is already on your friend list.’

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Haruhi, what’s your username?”

  “SemiZemi. Why?”

  She’s SemiZemi? You know, now that I’m thinking back on my interactions with them, I can kind of see it. They both apologize a lot at least.

  “I’m Ageha.”

  “No way! Really? I thought Ageha-chan was a girl...”

  “Are you disappointed?”

  “No! It’s just a surprise. Ageha-chan is Ageha-chan whether they’re a boy or a girl. But, isn’t it kind of a feminine name? ‘Swallowtail butterfly.’”

  A mischievous grin spread across my face.

  “Guys will give you free stuff if they think you’re a girl.”

  That’s just the kind of pathetic creatures they are.

  It’s true. Although, you’ll also face sexual harassment. So it’s not like it’s all sunshine and rainbows...

  “Isn’t that lying?”

  “I never say I’m a girl. That’s just an assumption they all make based on the name and the female avatar. They give up their items entirely of their own volition. It’s not lying—I’m just refraining from telling them the truth. There’s a difference.”

  “Is that so...”

  Well, I also change my speech patterns sometimes...and maybe I’ve led a guy on once or twice.

  She doesn’t need to know about all that, though.

  “Still, I can’t believe we’ve actually known each other for a while already. It feels so weird.”

  She admired the scratched-up back of her phone case again.

  “I can’t help but think that our meeting truly was fated.”

  I don’t believe in things like fate, but it really was a crazy coincidence.

  “Maybe it was...”

  “Although, I am a little disappointed. I was so excited to show off my collection of witches, but you already know all about them...”

  Haruhi turned to me before we exited the station.

  “We should probably split up here.”

  “Yeah, people might think something’s up if we arrived late to school together.”

  “That’s true. But I don’t just mean today. We can talk at the station and on the train. We can play Meteor Witches together like always. But at school, we should probably pretend we don’t know each other. Otherwise, the girls in class might spread rumors about you too.”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “...It’s not what I want, but...”

  She looked down at her feet, a sad look in her eyes.

  I knew that look well.

  She couldn’t be herself at school.

  “I get it.”

  It’s hard, being a girl.

  8 - Kokoro

  After that, Haruhi and I started talking together on the train both before and after school. Our conversations were always casual. We talked about Meteor Witches, the weather, music, TV shows, and school. And she would tell me about her online friends.

  All while holding my hand.

  I still had some questions—who that boy in her wallpaper was, for example—but I didn’t want to pry into her personal life. If the opportunity ever presented itself to ask about him, that would be nice, but for now, he would have to remain a mystery. I wanted her to be able to relax around me and not have to think about anything potentially troubling. She had plenty of online friends, but apparently I was her only IRL one.

  At our usual parting spot near the exit of the station, I turned to Haruhi.

  “Don’t wait for me today. I’m planning on going to the library after school.”

  “Okay, thanks for letting me know. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  She waved goodbye with a smile, and left the station ahead of me.

  ...

  Why do I feel kind of disappointed by her reaction?

  Was I hoping that she would look more sad that we wouldn’t see each other until tomorrow?

  After school, I made my way to the school library. During winter break, I had the idea of ‘diversifying my inspirations.’ I thought getting a different perspective might motivate me to write something myself. So, here I was, browsing the shelves upon shelves of books in our school library. It was a fairly large library, large enough that it felt like you could get lost in a different world there.

  I didn’t have a plan, so I was just aimlessly wandering between the shelves. Should I pick out books at random and give them a shot if they seemed interesting? Or, should I read some of the classics? As I pondered what to do, my eyes landed on the name Natsume Soseki. If you’re talking about Japanese literature, it’s got to be Natsume Soseki, right? I pulled out the specific book that had caught my eye. Kokoro. Wasn’t it one of the best-selling novels of all time? Something like that. Either way, I guess it was probably a good place to start.