After putting the electronics store incident behind them, Nanaka and Kai walked over to the family restaurant without saying a word. They poured themselves fountain drinks and waited for their orders to be served—a plate each of doria and pasta—when Nanaka finally broke the silence.
“I’ve been thinking that I want to do everything I can,” she announced.
Kai looked up from his doria and met her gaze.
“I had a little conversation with Akane-san,” she continued. “She told me there’s a bunch of different paths to take, even as an illustrator. There are experts like Eru, who focus on nothing but their drawing abilities, but there’s other roles, too. For example, there needs to be an art director to manage the Erus of the workplace. I... still don’t have a clear image of how I’ll turn out, but I can’t just stand still when I know there’s a chance.”
“In that case—” Kai began to say, but Nanaka cut him off mid-sentence.
“‘You should focus on your art’... That’s wrong, Kai-kun! I want to do everything I can,” she insisted. “I want to experience it all. For example... if I end up in a management position like that, I’ll be talking to planners a lot, too, won’t I? In that case, the work I’m doing now definitely has its own purpose. Of course, I’ll give my drawings 100%, too! I really will! But I want to try my hand at everything! The plans we’re writing up now are just as important to me! Am I... being too greedy?”
“No... No, you’re not,” Kai told her. “I think that’s just like you.” And... Listening to her talk, Kai found himself daydreaming. The image of a distant future came to mind. Distant as it was, he was sure that it would realize itself before he knew it.
I would be foggily glaring at my company computer after an exhausting all-nighter. I’d get up and gather a graphic request form and maybe a specification document that contained some new change from my desk. Then, I’d walk down a hall connecting me to a different department. After a long trek, I’d come to the desk of a raven-haired illustrator, who’d be furiously scratching away at her tablet with headphones on. It’d be a whole ordeal just to get her attention, but there’d be no helping it, since I’d need to talk to her about the form.
Just as I would finish preparing myself, a voice would call out, “Kai-kun,” and there you’d be. I’m sure I’d feel relieved to hear you speak. I’m not sure how that would reflect on me as a planner, but there’d be no helping it. That’s just how much I’d trust you.
And then, instead of causing a huge commotion the way I would have, you’d handle the matter amicably and even send me off with a cheer. After that, I’d take the new specification document over to a girl with blonde twintails in a programmer’s cubicle.
Such was the blinding fantasy Kai found himself in. “No matter what the situation may be,” he spoke, “Simply having you by my side is reassuring, Nanaka-san... And it makes me incredibly happy.”
“...I-I... see...” she replied haltingly. “You’re happy... Wow.”
“Yeah,” Kai replied frankly, without giving it much thought. But after a moment, he noticed a strange lull in the conversation. When he looked up, Nanaka had frozen solid with bright, rosy cheeks.
“...Ah,” he said awkwardly. What did I just say? Nanaka being here makes me reassured and happy? “No, uh, I meant, um—” Kai floundered as he tried to explain the situation, but ‘I was fantasizing about our future office work where you saved me’ would have been unintelligible and probably make the current situation worse.
What do I do? he asked himself. I guess I give up, he thought. But just as he had surrendered, a voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Huh? Oh, look, it’s Nana!”
“Hm? You’re right, it is. Long time no see.”
“Ch-Chie? Minori?” said Nanaka, greeting two girls from their class, who were standing beside their table. If Kai remembered correctly, their names were Tsukahara Chie and Sasa Minori. He had never talked to them before, but Nanaka could be seen chatting with them regularly.
In a way, with how influential their voices were, these two girls stood at the center of their class. Tsukahara Chie was lively and loud, while Sasa Minori was very laid back, which was reflected in her slow speech patterns. The former had short hair and the latter had a long perm. That was the extent of his knowledge on the contrasting duo.
“’Sup! And you are... uh?” Tsukahara Chie made her confusion clear with an energetic, “Umumum?”
“Huh? ...Hmm?” mused Sasa Minori. After a slow epiphany, she continued, “Oh, right. Shiraseki-kun.”
“...Ohhh? What’s this? Nana, could this be a date?”
“I-It’s not!” Nanaka protested.
“Reeeally?”
“Really! Right, Kai-kun?!” said Nanaka, turning to him for support.
Suddenly, Kai was on the spot. He nodded, despite feeling that it probably depended on what the definition of a date was. Regardless of their reason for having done so, it was true that they had gone out together, so “date” wasn’t that much of a stretch... or at least, he thought so. It sort of felt like one, but being denied so thoroughly filled him with an emotion that he couldn’t put to words.
“Hmm?” Sasa Minori looked over, surveying his expression instead of Nanaka’s. “In that case, you can make it, right? Come on, Nana, let’s go to the fireworks festival.”
“Oh!” Tsukahara Chie literally jumped up in surprise to the point where Kai wondered if her exaggeration was deliberate. “That’s right! Nana, why can’t you come?! You’re single, aren’t you? Let’s go see the fireworks together! It’ll be a summer memory!”
“That, and...” Sasa Minori said with a pause. “If you don’t come, then Chie’ll be in hot water since we won’t have as many people as Mizuno-kun’s group... right?”
“Yup! Hot water! Actually, I kinda told them you’d be there when I invited them!” said Chie.
“W-Why did you...” Nanaka spluttered. She was clearly dumbfounded. “Chie, listen to me,” she said. “I told you I’m not into that sort of...”
Kai had frozen up due to the sudden intrusion and lightning quick conversation that had followed, but the words were still coming in. He had a decent grasp of the situation at this point, which was as follows:
Niigata had a fireworks festival near the end of summer break. He already knew this. There were posters for it plastered up at the train station, convenience store, school, and pretty much every other location he could think of. That was probably the festival they were talking about.
Nanaka had been invited to that festival. The group she was slated to go with probably included Tsukahara Chie, Sasa Minori, and a handful of boys from their class. The ‘Mizuno’ referred to earlier was also one of the main characters of their class. His looks were good enough for a guy to tell he was cool, and he was always hanging out with at least a few other guys. Kai had often seen him talking to all three of the girls here, too.
It wasn’t anything to be surprised about. Nanaka’s circle of friends was incomparably larger than Kai’s. Strangely, she talked to everyone at least a little. He often witnessed her turning down invitations because she was busy with club activities, but that was a testimony to how frequent she was asked to hang out in the first place.
They were going to go to a giant fireworks festival with a new group of friends at the end of summer. It was a common story, with nothing remarkable about it. Kai knew that there were people who spent their time like that while he played social games. Nothing strange about it.
However... while the situation was neither strange nor surprising, Nanaka was clearly in distress. Even now, as Tsukahara continued to energetically invite her and Sasa worked to persuade her, Nanaka was conversing with a troubled smile.
She glanced Kai’s way, and they made eye contact. After letting him see her cornered gaze for a moment, Nanaka realized her error and turned back to their classmates.
“Excuse me!” The act of a human decoration opening its mouth got all three of the girls to look his way. “Are you talking about the festival that’s being held next month?”
“Yeah, why?” asked Minori.
Kai wondered if the pressure he felt from her confusion was simply one of his bad habits as an introvert. “Um, well...” He was choking up, but knew it was too late to back down, so he put some strength into his legs and continued speaking. “...I’m sorry, but Nanaka-san can’t join you for that. We already decided to go as a club. Also...”
Of course, they had never made such plans. Kai was simply letting his mouth run wild. Still, he didn’t care what he’d said so long as it got them through this mess. All he wanted to do was help relieve Nanaka of that worried expression.
Kai’s heart was on the verge of exploding with anxiety, so he balled up his fist underneath the table. He sucked it up and looked the girls straight in the eye. This is no different from a presentation, he thought. It doesn’t matter who I’m speaking to. I can’t look away.
“You’re clearly bothering Nanaka-san,” he told them. “If it’s something that I can notice... can’t you, as her friends, be more considerate of that?”