After their second and third encounters, Takahiro found himself thinking about Akari a lot more.
He was too conscious of their classmates' eyes to talk to her at school, but after classes ended he started paying close attention to her movements. He never followed her all the way home, but he'd wander around the shopping street pretending to look for her "by chance."
There was a big supermarket a little farther away, but Akari usually did all her shopping—groceries and everything else—right there on the way home.
Takahiro didn't cook every day, but he did sometimes. His mother had passed away when he was in elementary school, so during middle school he'd cooked breakfast and dinner for himself and his dad. For his age, he was actually pretty good at it—way above average. Living alone just made it feel like a hassle, and without parental supervision he'd rather spend time on hobbies, so he cut corners.
Still, when he did feel like cooking, shopping at the local stores wasn't weird at all. That excuse made it easy to browse the aisles, spot Akari, and "accidentally" start a conversation.
"S-Satomura-kun… you cook too…?"
"Only when I feel like it."
"W-what kind of things… do you make…?"
"Nothing fancy. Dad liked Japanese food, so I used to cook rice, make miso soup, grill fish, throw together a salad, or fry some meat. Stew and curry were great because I could make a huge batch and eat it for days."
"Auu… I just eat bread every day… M-maybe I should cook rice instead…?"
"Lately I've been mostly on bread too. Don't even have a rice cooker. When I want rice I just buy the microwave kind."
"There's stuff like that…? I d-don't really eat… retort pouches or instant food…"
In a supermarket you'd see ready-made stuff everywhere, but in this shopping street the only place that sold it was the convenience store. Akari never shopped there, so she genuinely didn't know about it.
"That's rare these days. Honestly, that's impressive."
"R-really…? Ehehe…"
He usually ran into her at grocery stores, but sometimes at the bookstore too. Bookstores had dwindled over the years, but this one was fairly big and had survived into the modern age. It even sold games, so Takahiro stopped by once in a while.
Akari was always reading during breaks at school—partly an escape because nobody talked to her, but also because she genuinely loved books. She visited the bookstore pretty often to look for new reads.
"Yoshinaga-san reads stuff like this too? Looks kinda hard… is it good?"
"I-I haven't read this one yet, but… the author's previous book was… um… really good…"
She tried to explain why and gave up halfway.
"D-do you read novels, Satomura-kun…?"
"Only light novels sometimes. Mostly manga for me."
"I d-don't read much manga, but… is there anything fun you like…?"
"Of course. Ah, sorry—I'd lend you some if I could, but lately I only buy digital, so I don't have physical copies anymore."
"A-auu, I didn't mean it like that… I don't really understand digital books anyway…"
"They're super convenient, though. Easy to search, no worrying about stock, and you can read on your phone anywhere. I do wonder why they're still so expensive when there's no printing cost, though."
"W-well, I don't really get that part… but, um… is it okay to talk about this stuff… inside a bookstore…?"
"…Ah. Yeah, maybe I should buy a paper book once in a while."
Takahiro suddenly realized he'd just loudly recommended e-books—the very thing killing bookstores—inside a bookstore. Definitely a ban-worthy offense.
(For the record: e-books have lower production costs and no inventory, so they should be cheaper. The reason they're not is to protect physical book sales, which is fair for cultural reasons. Still, it's hard to swallow that digital prices fluctuate wildly just because paper books come in different sizes and qualities.)
Little by little, whenever they ran into each other outside school—mostly in the shopping street—they always chatted.
Takahiro was always the one to start, but Akari secretly hoped to see him too. She'd glance around, and if she spotted him first she'd subtly move into his line of sight. It was adorably earnest.
They talked about the struggles of living alone, school classes, books, games—whatever came up. With each conversation the topics grew richer, and Akari's stuttering got just a tiny bit better when she talked to him.
◇
"Akari-chan, has something good happened lately?"
"Hueh?"
"Your voice sounds way brighter than usual. And you used to sound so reluctant whenever school came up."
"Uuu… Minako-chan, you're sharp…"
Akari was lying on her bed at night, talking on the phone with her older cousin, Minako Minakami.
Minako was five years older and commuted to a nearby university from home. The two had played together a lot as kids, and ever since Akari started living alone, Minako frequently called or visited out of worry.
"So what happened?"
"It's not a big deal or anything… Um… I might have made a really good friend. Ehehe."
"Yes! Finally settling in at the new school? Your big sis was seriously worried you were struggling, so this is great!"
"Um… was I worrying you that much…?"
"Totally. Your parents too. But we all decided to just support you while you tried your best."
"Auu…"
Akari had been putting on a brave front for her family, her aunt and uncle, and Minako—pretending everything was fine, hiding that she hadn't made a single friend.
But bravado like that is easy to see through, especially when your voice and behavior give everything away and you're terrible at lying.
"So what kind of friend? My guess: quiet, slim, glasses-wearing literary girl who's super cute. How'd I do?"
"…Why are you so specific!? Wrong! Completely wrong!"
"Eh— Where'd I miss? Not slim, kinda chubby?"
"It's not even a girl… Actually, nothing you said matches."
"Hm…? …A boy?"
"…Yeah."
"...Boyfriend?"
"Nooo!? It's not like that!"
"…I see. A boy, huh…"
Minako hesitated on the other end. She knew how bad Akari was with people. Hearing that her cute little cousin had finally made a close male friend naturally made her worry he might be taking advantage of her.
But she couldn't risk saying something careless that might ruin the friendship.
Minako had assumed Akari had at least a few friends by now—optimistically—but Akari's voice had always sounded down. The sudden cheerfulness was clearly because of this boy. The new energy in her life was obvious just from her tone, and no one was happier about it than Akari herself.
If Minako warned her off guys just out of worry and accidentally destroyed that bond, Akari might sink right back into depression. A high school girl in the prime of her youth.
"I hope you make lots of girl friends too, Akari-chan."
"I-I'll… try my best."
Minako quietly wished she could have heard a cheerful "I already have tons~!"
◇
Yoshinaga Akari currently suffered from severe social anxiety and couldn't make friends properly, but the root cause lay in her past.
She had been bullied continuously through elementary and middle school—by boys in elementary, by girls in middle school.
The elementary school bullying was the classic "boys teasing the girl they like" variety that often escalates and ends up making the girl cry, worsening everything. That's exactly what happened to Akari.
It was annoying and benefited no one, but puberty makes kids' emotions complicated and prone to runaway behavior. Back then her female friends had defended her, so it never became a huge issue.
Middle school, however, brought bullying from girls.
It started with older girls, then spread to her own classmates—even the ones who used to be her friends.
The reason was the same as in elementary school: Akari was simply too beautiful.
The friends who protected her in elementary school grew jealous as Akari became even prettier in middle school.
Things might have stayed okay if no one had started anything, but unfortunately an older girl targeted her, and the bullying began.
And once it starts, it only escalates.
Akari had never been mentally strong to begin with. By the second semester of seventh grade, she stopped going to school entirely.
Her parents never blamed her. They protested to the school and even encouraged her to stay home. They tutored her themselves to keep up basic studies despite her absence. Akari was grateful for all their efforts while they were busy with work, and together they planned her eventual return.
Transferring middle schools wasn't feasible because of her parents' jobs, so she ended up graduating without ever going back. After discussing options, they decided on a high school far away where no one knew her.
A school within commuting distance obviously wouldn't work. Moving the whole family wasn't simple either because of work. That's how Akari's solo living arrangement came about.
Of course everyone was worried. Her father strongly opposed it as reckless. But Akari herself was a little excited about the idea of living alone, and in the end her enthusiasm won her parents over.
Still, telling them not to worry was impossible. To ease their minds, they needed someone reliable nearby in case of emergencies.
That role fell to her father's older sister's family—the Minakami household.
Her aunt and uncle didn't have space to take her in, but having relatives close by who could check on her was enough for her parents to finally agree. And so Akari enrolled in her current high school.
The school itself was nothing special—no high academic reputation, no famous sports teams. Just a regular local high school where kids who hadn't thought much about their future poured in from nearby middle schools.
That suited Akari fine—her grades weren't great anyway, and the chances of anyone who knew her transferring from another prefecture were basically zero.
The problem was that walking into a place where cliques were already formed and building friendships from scratch was far too high a hurdle for her.
She could talk normally with family and relatives, so she'd underestimated how hard it would be. Faced with peers—especially other girls—she couldn't even speak properly.
Yet she couldn't bring herself to tell her parents, "I failed right from the start after finally getting a fresh beginning in high school."
She spent frustrating days wanting to change but unable to do anything about it.
And then she met Takahiro.
Akari decided she wanted to treasure this connection.