Tobi lay on his bed, flipping through a pocket-size paperback. The book was a science fiction novel called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? translated into Japanese. Tobi wasn’t totally sure where it was from originally. Probably America or someplace like that.
He’d found the book on a three-tiered metal shelf set up in the institute’s rec room. The shelf was filled with books donated by former residents, and current occupants were allowed to borrow them freely. The sort of books that would interest middle schoolers were always fought over, though, so Tobi usually spent his time reading the unpopular ones.
He was reading the book, just like he’d read all the others. He even stopped from time to time to look up words he wasn’t familiar with, and his vocabulary had expanded quite a bit as a result. But for some reason, none of the books’ stories ever seemed to stick with him. Not long after finishing them, he’d forget most of what had happened.
Tobi checked his watch. It was 9:56 PM, and since the institute expected its middle schoolers to have their lights off by ten, he only had four minutes before he was supposed to turn in. It wasn’t hard to get permission to stay up later; all you had to do was claim you wanted some extra time to study. A lot of the institute’s kids did so on a regular basis, but Tobi never bothered.
“You all tuckered out, Tobi?” Baku asked with a snicker. He was lying on the ground near the bed.
“What do you mean, ‘tuckered out’? I’m not a kid,” Tobi replied as he set his book down by his bedside.
Tobi’s room was intended to be shared and had been furnished with a bunk bed. At the moment, however, Tobi was its only inhabitant. He hadn’t asked for a room of his own, and he’d shared a room with other residents in the past. Each time, however, his roommate eventually got fed up and asked to be moved. Apparently, sharing a room with Tobi Otogiri was just too much for them.
“You think? ’Cause the way I see it, eighth graders are about as kiddie as kids can get!”
Tobi slid off his bed and lightly stepped on Baku.
“Ow! Cut it out, jerkwad!”
“You’re younger than me, aren’t you?” said Tobi. “That means you’re more of a kid than I am.”
“I’m an exception! A real special case, y’know? Totally different league. Exceptional, even! Wha—? Hey, get offa me, Tobi! You’re gonna smush me all outta shape! What’s the big idea?! Hey, c’mon!”
Eventually, Tobi had his fill of bullying his bag and took his foot off Baku. He shut off his room’s light, then climbed back into bed and laid down.
The high schoolers at the institute were allowed to stay up until eleven, and some residents were up until midnight in the name of finishing homework or furthering their studies. That, added to the thin walls and doors, meant nighttime there was far from quiet.
Tobi wrapped himself up in his blanket and rolled over onto his side as he tried to fall asleep.
“You thinking about that girl, Tobi?” asked Baku.
“Nope,” Tobi replied, resisting the urge to click his tongue. “She hadn’t crossed my mind at all until you mentioned her just now.”
“Oh, reeeally? Not sure I buy that!”
“Quite seriously,” Tobi replied.
The fact that those were the first words to spring into his mind was pure coincidence. It was definitely not because he’d been thinking about his conversation with the girl.
“…I really wasn’t,” Tobi said, a little too late.
Baku snickered. “She was one weird chick, huh?”
“Don’t call her a ‘chick.’”
“What? That’s what she is, right?”
“I guess, but still…”
“Yeah, you were totally thinking about her. And I mean, after everything that happened? ’Course you were! Who wouldn’t be curious?”
“Me. It didn’t bother me at all.”
“You’ve gotta quit holding back about this stuff, Tobi. And besides, even if you’re not curious about her, she sure as hell—”
“I’m trying to sleep. Think I could get some peace and quiet?”
“Yeah, you got it. I just hope you’re able to get some rest, despite all the excitement.”
Tobi closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, feigning a faint snore. Baku laughed again. Mind your own business, Tobi thought. He’d never had trouble sleeping before. The moment his head touched his pillow, he would be out like a light. He would most certainly not be kept up by thoughts of that girl. He had no interest in her whatsoever…which was why it was so frustrating that he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“To be perfectly frank, Otogiri, I’d like to use this chance to ask you for a favor.” Ryuuko Shiratama had raised her chin slightly, speaking in an oddly formal tone. “I’d like to be friends. Would you be interested in starting a relationship with me?”
“…Huh?”
For a moment, Tobi hadn’t even understood her question. In fact, he wasn’t sure if it was a question at all. It hadn’t sounded like one. In any case, Shiratama was waiting for an answer. That, at least, was obvious.
Tobi, however, had no clue how to reply. He was so confused that all he could do was hem and haw. In the end, he didn’t manage to spit out a single coherent word.
“Ah!” Shiratama exclaimed after a moment, raising a hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry! It must be bewildering, hearing a question like that out of nowhere. I don’t mind at all if you need some time to give me an answer.”
“Right…,” said Tobi. “Okay, then.”
“Though of course, an immediate answer would be just fine as well!”
“Y-yeah, uh… I dunno about that…”
“Sometime later, then?”
“…I guess?”
“Understood,” said Shiratama. She closed her eyes and sighed. “I’m glad I managed to ask you. I was so nervous.”
Tobi’s heart was pounding as well. You’d think Shiratama had just given him the third degree, judging by the irrational anxiety he felt.
“Okay, then—I’ll see you tomorrow, Otogiri,” she concluded. It seemed she’d said everything she’d wanted to, and she politely excused herself and went on her way.
What on earth is her deal? Tobi wondered.
At the same moment, Baku muttered, “What the hell was that about…?”
In the end, Tobi barely slept at all that night. Needless to say, Ryuuko Shiratama was to blame. She’d approached him out of the blue, and her proposal had been even more bewildering.
I’d like to be friends. Would you be interested in starting a relationship with me?
The question had caught Tobi so off guard, it had left him in a state of baffled inaction. That was the only reason he hadn’t managed to give her a response on the spot—or at least, that was how he saw it. It was like if a complete stranger asked to dance with you out of nowhere: Obviously, the answer was no. A firm, clear refusal was the only option.
I should’ve turned her down. I should’ve said “no thanks” and left it at that.
Tobi had simply been too confused to refuse her request in the moment. Her peculiar word choice hadn’t helped, either.
The start of her question—I’d like to be friends—was normal enough. The problem was what had come after it: Would you be interested in starting a relationship with me?
Wasn’t there something strange about that phrasing? Or maybe Tobi was strange for thinking it was strange. Maybe he was just overthinking it. If she’d only said the second half of her request—Would you be interested in starting a relationship with me?—then it would’ve been clear that she meant “a relationship” in a very special, particular sort of way. He couldn’t just disregard the first half of what she’d said, though. Shiratama had very clearly opened with “I’d like to be friends.” Didn’t it make far more sense to take her word for it and interpret the whole question in that light?