“Touji. You look like you’re having fun.”
“I already heard that.”
At my words, Tachibana Kano raised the corners of her mouth.
So I was not the one having fun. Kano was. I understood.
Kano said, “You told me not to act like we know each other at school, but here you are, chatting away with a friend, Touji.”
“Sorry, but when did I tell you not to act like we know each other? And you talk with your classmates every day too, Kano.”
For now, I understood one of the reasons Kano had suddenly come over.
It was because of Riku.
I mean, a person who had spent about nine years of school life alone, including elementary school, was talking with a classmate. It was understandable that she found it interesting.
I slowly opened my mouth.
“Riku is my best friend. We swore to throw ourselves onto the path of film together.”
“Hm? Since when were you that interested in movies, Touji?”
“Since yesterday.”
Anyway.
Tachibana Kano. My connection with her went back quite a while.
I had known her for about eight years, so aside from Saito and Yoshihiro, she was the person I had known the longest.
So who exactly was Tachibana Kano?
The answer lay in .
My first work and only hit, , was difficult to adapt into an anime because of the limits of its subject matter.
A protagonist who was Korean, while being sold to the Japanese market.
Considering that creative works were fundamentally consumed based on empathy, it was honestly strange that it had sold as much as it did.
Because of that, even though had a decent core readership, not even the A in anime adaptation had been discussed.
After all, anime adaptations required a lot of capital.
No matter how many core readers a work had, if the subject matter was like that, it was difficult to attempt casually.
But put another way, that meant work that did not require much capital was worth attempting.
was, in both name and reality, a hit.
And so, half a year after release, was decided for a manga adaptation.
On top of that, luckily, an illustrator who had found my novel extremely entertaining came on as the artist.
The artist who joined then used the professional name “Mekra.” They were an artist with a classic yet precise art style.
And Tachibana Kano was this artist Mekra.
……’s younger sister.
In fact, physically speaking, it was impossible for Kano to be the artist for .
The fact that she was the same age as me meant that when the manga adaptation happened, she had been in second grade of elementary school.
It would be one thing if Kano had also gone back in time, but if not, she had not had any time whatsoever to build up a thing called technique.
Anyway.
Since this was perfect timing, I asked,
“How is Ryuji doing?”
For reference, Ryuji was Tachibana’s older brother and the real name of the artist Mekra.
Kano narrowed her eyes.
“Why don’t you ask him yourself? He says he’s hurt that you haven’t contacted him lately.”
“If he’s hurt, I recommend he contact me first. I’ve only been stalking Ryuji’s social media because he looks busy.”
“What does that have to do with being busy?”
After making a spectacular debut with the manga version of , Ryuji had gone completely mainstream.
He was currently working as the artist for a popular boys’ manga that had cleanly secured an anime adaptation, so it would be hard to climb much higher than that.
“So how is Ryuji doing?”
“Weekly serialization isn’t something humans should do, right?”
“It’s practically a crime.”
“Yeah. That.”
Apparently, Ryuji was in the process of dying.
Still, you’re happy, right?
If you’re happy, that’s okay.
Having quickly understood, I soon asked what I had been curious about from the start.
“So why did you come?”
“Touji. You look like you’re having fun.”
“I already heard that.”
“You told me not to act like we know each other at school, but here you are, chatting away with a friend, Touji.”
“Was this a time-loop story?”
If it was not a time-loop story, hurry up and answer.
Under my gaze, Kano tapped her cheek with her finger and spoke.
“As for me…… I came to see your face, Touji?”
“Was this a love comedy?”
“Yeah. You only realized now?”
Kano smiled brightly.
At that mischievous smile, I thought about the real reason Kano had come.
Kano and I had known each other since elementary school, but we had not attended the same elementary school.
Therefore, I had started attending the same school as Kano only in middle school, and until now, Kano had never spoken to me inside school.
She had waved whenever we occasionally ran into each other, but she had never spoken to me directly.
Why?
That was……
Why was that, actually?
“Was this a thriller?”
“Touji. Get a hold of yourself.”
It was an extremely unnatural situation, but I was not the kind of person who asked for the reason in moments like this. It felt more like we had continued it through inertia until now.
Well, she probably just did it because it was fun.
Or it may have been a matter of seeing who would win.
Considering Kano’s personality, the former was more likely.
In that case, Kano, who had maintained our secret friendship because it was fun, had suddenly broken it. What was the trigger?
The recent change in my life was Yukimura, but there was no way for Kano to know about that.
I was not the type to post my daily life on social media.
Then did that mean the change had happened to Kano, not me?
What could have changed?
Hmm. I understood.
“Kano.”
“Yeah.”
“You had a change of heart as you entered high school, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
So that was not it.
I did not know anymore.
“Touji. Why don’t you believe me? I said I came because I wanted to see your face.”
“Because you are absolutely not someone whose behavior would change for that reason.”
“I’m hurt.”
“Now please tell me the real reason you came. The stares are painful.”
At present, we were talking in the hallway.
The two of us were gathered in a place with a lot of foot traffic. From other people’s perspective, they had no choice but to look over and wonder what was going on.
At my request, Kano raised a finger.
“Guess. Why do you think I came?”
“Did something good happen? If so, it must be art-related. Did you finally get a contract offer?”
Kano had always been drawing since I met her.
So if something good had happened to her, it could only be about art.
“That’s right. I came to tell you good news.”
As expected.
I asked calmly,
“What is it?”
“Touji.”
“Yes.”
“I got into Tamagawa High School too.”
…….
“Touji. Was that just your ‘you came all the way here just to say that?’ face?”
“No. It was my ‘I was sure you were preparing for an art high school entrance exam, so why?’ face. Why?”
“It just happened?”
I was briefly worried about Kano, who had suddenly changed her path, but Kano was a smart kid.
She must have thought it through fully and made her decision.
I said quietly, “Now you’ll have to study. Should I help you?”
“Touji. You went too far. Why are you looking at me like I hit the wall of talent and quit drawing? I’m going to keep drawing.”
“Oops.”
If that was not it, then what was it?
What are you?
What are you?
When I stared at her silently, Kano tapped my arm and said,
“Now that you know, we’re going to school together, okay?”
“Did you come here to say that?”
“Yeah.”
“All right.”
Going to school together was not difficult.
After nodding, I continued.
“Then I’ll see you on the first day of school.”
When I returned to the classroom, Riku welcomed me.
“What did Tachibana say? Did she tell you not to meet secretly next time and to get permission first?”
“I told you it’s not like that.”
Riku, if you keep saying things like that, I will introduce you to Ryota.
I feel like the two of you would get along well.
At my words, Riku smiled and asked,
“Were you close with Tachibana?”
“We’ve known each other since elementary school.”
“So childhood friends?”
“That is one way to describe it. Do you know Kano?”
“We were in the same class in first year.”
If they had been in the same class, it made sense for them to know each other’s faces.
I placed my pen on the workbook and parted my lips.
“Anyway, you know we’re gathering this weekend at that family restaurant from before, right? Make sure you’re not late.”
“Wait. Was I included in that?”
“What are you talking about? We are soul partners. Yukimura will also think she’s making the movie with you too, Riku. You taught her film theory with that much passion.”
“…….”
Riku shut his mouth.
Huh?
It was a reaction I had not expected at all, so I spoke in puzzlement.
“Are you busy this weekend?”
“Touji.”
“Yes.”
Riku tapped me and pointed behind me.
When I looked back, there was a familiar face.
“Touji. You look like you’re having fun?”
***
This is a slightly different story, but recently, I had once asked Ryota to teach me how high school students had fun.
It was inappropriate in many ways to ask Ryota, who was twenty-three, but even so, I had had no choice.
Because I was someone who had gone back in time and taken over this life, my sensibilities were different from ordinary high school students, and because of that, I had no classmates I knew and nowhere to ask except Ryota.
Of course, now I could ask my best friend Riku, so there would be no reason to bother Ryota, but some people might think this.
If you had been friends with Tachibana Kano for a long time, couldn’t you have asked her?
To that, I would answer this.
Kano is not normal either, so it feels a little wrong to ask her.
“Hi. I’m Tachibana Kano. First year of high school.”
“Yukimura Mai. First year of high school.”
After briefly greeting Yukimura, Kano sat beside me.
Then she crossed her legs and opened her mouth.
“Touji, aren’t you busy? You’re going to film a mere movie? Are you done writing now?”
“Kano. Please soften your words. Otherwise—”
“A mere movie? What are you?”
Because Yukimura had a temper too, and a fight might break out.
Before I could say that, Yukimura had already prepared to charge.
I met Riku’s eyes.
However, Riku was already gone from his seat.
Apparently, he had fled to the bathroom.
Riku, you traitor.
Just you wait.