Uemura Tatsuaki
TATSUAKI HAD FOUND SOMEONE, all right, but it wasn’t Gotou Julia.
Listening to the concert livestream through his earbuds, Tatsuaki was headed to the subway station. As with any real-world location—though not on the internet, of course—he made the utmost effort to avoid bumping into anyone, all the while silently insulting the fashion or physical appearance of everyone he passed. Redistributing the same negative energy he suspected his classmates directed at him made him feel in control.
Before long, Itobayashi Akane’s workplace came into view. He didn’t know if she was scheduled today, but he contemplated walking over with his camera at the ready nonetheless, just in case.
That was where he saw a man standing at the entrance, peering inside.
Like a child who could pick out their least favorite vegetable hidden in any dish, Tatsuaki recognized him instantly as the weird crossdresser, even in the dark. He quickly slowed his pace, then ducked into the shadows behind a building to avoid detection. The man appeared to be headed in his direction, so Tatsuaki figured he needed only wait for him to pass by.
Sure enough, the guy walked right past, chatting with his companion. A single glimpse of his face was enough to remind him just how beautiful he was, and Tatsuaki nearly started cursing Akane all over again for treating people like accessories. But when he saw the other person’s face, those thoughts came crashing to a halt.
At first, he thought he was seeing things; meanwhile, the pair kept on walking. Before he could fully process his objective, he pulled the camera out of his shoulder bag, powered it on, and pointed it at their retreating backs. Then he started trailing them at a distance. Realizing he might get the chance to overhear their conversation, he hastily took his earbuds out and stuffed them into his pocket.
This was exactly what he was looking for, and yet he couldn’t believe his eyes. The crossdresser’s companion had a face that looked like Gotou Julia’s. But as he studied her from behind, he realized her clothes were nothing like anything Julia had ever worn in public. Had he been mistaken? Or was there some reason she was walking around here dressed like that? To find out, he matched his pace to theirs.
Some time later, the man suddenly turned around, giving Tatsuaki a small heart attack. Thankfully, there was still a considerable distance between them, and he hastily ducked into the nearest store. After a pointless lap around the shelves, he walked back out to get another look at them. Luckily, they didn’t seem to have noticed him; they were speaking face-to-face, though he couldn’t hear the details from here.
Burning with a sense of purpose, he thought quickly. If he wanted a second look at this woman who could potentially be Julia, he’d need a new plan. Gripping his camera, he vowed to his blazing heart that he would be the one to find the truth.
When he stepped away from the storefront, head tilted downward to conceal his face, the two were still facing each other. It seemed they weren’t planning to move anytime soon. As he approached, he looked up to check multiple times, but the man was focused solely on his companion.
Each faltering footstep brought Tatsuaki closer and closer. As the gap closed completely, his heart began to race. Was he lucky? Did the guy just happen to have tunnel vision? Or had he actually noticed, but simply chosen not to address Tatsuaki directly? He couldn’t tell, but either way his worst fears never manifested. He was in their proximity and nothing bad had happened.
Discreetly, he let out a small breath. He couldn’t back down from this. As he walked past them, he casually glanced over his shoulder to see the woman’s face from behind the man. The instant he caught sight of her expression, his suspicions and hopes fell into sync, and his heart exploded through his mouth.
“Jul!”
No amount of regret would take it back. Amid the hustle and bustle, his voice was heard by the two people he least wanted to hear it.
The man whirled around and spotted Tatsuaki instantly. “It’s you!”
But Tatsuaki didn’t meet his gaze. He was looking at none other than Gotou Julia, dressed in a wildly out-of-character outfit. Then she blinked back at him, and in that split-second, he alone bore witness to the precise moment that he knew on an instinctive level could only be described as her eyes lighting up like fireworks.
“Do you know what’s going on at the concert?”
Her sudden question seemed to disregard everything happening around them. His gun-shy feet froze in place.
But of course, if he was at all capable of responding gracefully in these situations, then he wouldn’t have had such a poor relationship with Akane and his other classmates.
“Th-the concert?”
“Yeah, I was wondering how everyone’s doing.”
“Everyone?”
Though he kept parroting her words back to her, he understood perfectly well what she was talking about. After all, he had seen entirely too much not to know exactly what she meant whenever she used that word.
Given more time, Tatsuaki might have dug up some sarcastic insult to fling her way. But he didn’t have a response at the ready. Before he could process what he was doing, he pulled his smartphone from his pocket, walked forward a few steps, and held it out to her. Onscreen, the livestream was playing on a browser tab he had left open.
It wasn’t until after she took it from him that the regret finally kicked in. What the hell am I doing?
Whenever his anxiety got the better of him in social situations, he had a habit of offering additional information in an attempt to maintain control of the conversation. Thus, before Julia could unmute the video herself, he decided he would tell her directly, as if it would give him an even slightly greater advantage. Though he wouldn’t gain more than a paltry few seconds of authority, to him it was simply how communication worked.
“Everyone’s singing.”
At that moment, Tatsuaki had yet to consider that a nobody like him could be responsible for altering someone’s entire future with a single sentence.