“Anyway, yeah. So as you can imagine, I was still pretty torn up about the whole situation by the time I got here. Felt like I was kinda at the end of my rope, and it made me act a lot more reckless than I should have. I mean, I’d been in my fair share of fights before, but I’d never had a guy slap me across the face, then start kicking me in the stomach before. To be honest, I was about ready to break down and cry before you and your friend showed up… Do you remember what you said to me back then? When I told you I didn’t have any parents?”
“Yeah. ‘Lucky you,’ right?”
“You got it. The words fell right out of your mouth, no sympathy or spite to them whatsoever. When I heard that, I was like, ‘Dang, this guy must have been through a lot. He’s way farther along in life than I am.’ That’s the real reason I followed you to the tunnel after school, by the way. I had to know what could ever happen to a person to make them say such a thing like it was nothing at all.”
“…Huh. Never would’ve guessed.”
“I know this is probably a really, really inconsiderate thing to say, but…I kind of look up to you for that. For all the stuff you’ve been through, I mean. Some people go their whole lives without developing that kind of character depth. It’s what makes you so interesting, Tono-kun. It’s why I can’t help but gravitate toward you.”
I felt a gentle weight as Anzu leaned her exposed shoulder against my upper arm. The fragrance of her freshly shampooed hair drifted into my nostrils and sent my synapses running wild.
“Hey… Look at me.”
I slowly twisted my head to the side and met Anzu’s upturned gaze. Flushed cheeks. Shimmering eyes. Glossed lips. Her larynx bobbing ever so slightly as she gulped down the very last of her inhibitions.
“Tono-kun, I… I think I…”
“Hey, Hanashiro,” I interrupted, cutting mercilessly into her unfinished thought like a butcher’s knife through a squirming fish.
“…Yeah? What is it?” she asked, clearly miffed that I’d ruined the moment.
Then, without missing a beat, I blurted out, “Are you writing your own manga?”
For a moment, it looked like Anzu couldn’t process what I’d said. She looked so puzzled that I began to worry that maybe I’d gotten the wrong idea entirely. Those concerns quickly proved to be unwarranted.
“Wait… How do you… Huh?!” Anzu sputtered, her entire body trembling as her mouth opened and closed repeatedly like a goldfish. Her flushed face turned even brighter red, and her eyes shot open so wide, I thought they might pop right out of their sockets. Her face became a jumbled mess of potent emotions—one part confusion, one part embarrassment, and one part disbelief.
“H-h-how…?” she pleaded, desperate for an explanation.
“When I went to borrow a volume of manga from the bookcase, I noticed an envelope sticking out. Wondered what it was, so I peeked inside and saw some sort of manga evaluation sheet. You know, like the type you get when you submit an original work to a publishing contest.”
Anzu let out a terrifying grunt and pounced on me, grabbing me by the collar. Given that she was already leaning against me, there was no room for me to shake her off, and so I fell backward onto the floor beneath her weight.
“How could you invade my privacy?!”
She was now straddling me from above, slamming the back of my head into the hardwood floor as she shook me by the shoulders. The force from the impact jostled one of the straps of her camisole from her shoulder, exposing a portion of her bra. I averted my eyes in panic.
“I got curious, that’s all…” I answered sheepishly.
“Y-you can’t go d-digging through other p-people’s mail!”
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. But seriously, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I’m not ashamed! I’m livid!”
Yikes. I knew she’d be pissed, but not this pissed. I had to run damage control, stat. “No, really! I think it’s super cool! Especially since it looks like you got pretty high marks too. And based on the little summary blurb, it sounds right up my alley. I’d love to read it someday.”
“Wha…”
All of a sudden, the shaking stopped, and Anzu let go of my shoulders. I slid out from underneath her, then pushed myself up so that I was sitting directly across from her.
“I noticed your desk is covered in eraser shavings; are you still working on things? Do you have anything finished you could show me?”
“What? No… None of my stuff is good enough to show other people…” Anzu mumbled, her previous indignation crumbling into bashfulness at the drop of a hat. It was kind of cute, actually.
“If you’re entering your work in contests, I assume you want to be a manga artist, don’t you? In that case, you’re definitely gonna want to get feedback from other people. C’mon, please? I promise I’ll give you my honest impressions.”
“It’s so embarrassing, though…”
I had her on the ropes. One more push ought to do it.
“Please, I’m beggin’ ya! I wanna be able to say I read Anzu Hanashiro’s breakout hit before she was famous! Hell, I’d pay you for the privilege of reading it!”
“Hnnnnngh…”
I couldn’t tell if that sound meant that Anzu was flattered, conflicted, or annoyed, but regardless, she crawled on all fours over to her writing desk and pulled a stack of papers out from one of the drawers. She then duckwalked back over to where I was sitting and held them out to me with both hands as though they were some sort of certificate or diploma.
“Here,” she said. “This is my newest one… I just finished drawing it. You can read it if you really want to, I guess.”
“You sure you don’t mind?”
“J-just don’t go in expecting too much. I can tell you right now it’s gonna seem really, really amateur compared to all the big-name professional stuff you probably read…”
“Well, I’m stoked to check it out regardless. Thanks.”
I reached out and accepted it delicately with both hands, trying to show her manuscript an equal level of respect. Right off the bat, the cover art was extremely eye-catching and impressive; you could have told me it was being sold in stores, and I wouldn’t have batted an eye. I knew you should never judge a book by the cover alone, but it certainly gave me high hopes that the contents would be good enough to match. Eager with anticipation, I turned to the first page.
Silence fell over the room. The total lack of any other sound made the whirring white noise of the AC unit feel much louder than it actually was. The entire time I was reading, Anzu looked extremely on edge. She was constantly fiddling with her hair, adjusting her seating posture, and being generally restless all around. Amused by this new and adorable side of the invulnerable girl I thought I knew, I stole furtive glances at her every time I turned the page until she got mad at me and told me to focus on the story. I apologized in earnest and did as I was told from that point on.
No more than five minutes later, I was finished reading the manga. If I had to give it a genre, I’d file it under sci-fi. It was the story of a lone girl in a post-apocalyptic world who went on a journey across the land searching for other survivors.