The city library is unfortunately pretty far from our school. It is to a neighboring ward to the south, so the only means of transportation for us is via train, and even that takes around an hour to get to.

That’s why, as soon as the bell rings, I pack up my bag and prepare myself for the trip. But before I can take another step out the door, Yoichi has already blocked the exit with a raised leg. And by that, I mean he’s actually holding a prosthetic leg, the origin of which is best to never talk about.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Asks Yoichi, who raises his other arm towards me.

Glancing at the white earbuds in his palm, I let out an embarrassed laugh:

“Right… thanks in advance.”

“I’ll be happier if you’d forgotten it completely but still end up fine, but knowing you, I don’t think it’s gonna happen,” Yoichi shrugs with a smug look on his face.

The plan is simple: these earbuds are listening devices, originally used as props for Yoichi to contact his crew during certain magic tricks. I’ll wear them and go on my date as usual, while Yoichi listens in at another place. Whenever I seem to choke, he will feed me the information I need.

“Though, I’m a bit surprised,” Yoichi comments. “Isn’t the city library quite far from here? Why didn’t you guys just take the train together?”

Huh… wait, why didn’t we think of that?

I reflexively open my phone. As I suspected, there is another message that I haven’t read, probably just sent recently.

[Natsume: Actually, now that I think about it, why don’t we just take the train together? I’ll see you at the station.]

[Me: Okay, I’ll be there.]

Throwing out a quick text, I turn to Yoichi and give a light nod.

“Good luck, buddy,” he raises the fake leg towards me this time.

“Really? The leg?”

A cheeky smile forms on Yoichi's face. “Helps you loosen up, right?”

“... Okay, you got me,” I let out a laugh and fistbumps the leg. “Thanks.”

Thankfully, the path to the station is much shorter than going straight from our school to the library. As expected of its name, “Green River in Shinjuku”, it’s only a minute until I’ve made my way to the designated meeting place.

“Hakuen! Over here!” Natsume’s voice calls out to me.

“Sorry it took so long,” I take a light bow once I’ve joined her.

“I don’t mind. I just got here as well. And you arrive just on time too, look.”

Following her gesture, the next train slowly arrives at the station.

“Shall we go?”

“Yeah, let’s.”

The trains in Shinjuku are always crowded, and it is especially so during this sort of hour, when students and workers return to their homes. As we get on the train, a slight disappointment forms on both of our faces when we find out there is no seat left for us. Without another choice, Natsume and I are forced to stand for the remainder of our trip. However, not all is lost, since we can still have some small talks on our way.

“So… why did you choose the library for today?” I nervously lick my lips before asking.

“It’s… a bit hard to say here.”

That’s not the answer I was expecting.

“Is it…”

“No, no, it’s not some kind of big secret or anything,” Natsume, seeing that I might get the wrong idea, quickly shakes her head. “It’s just that this is better explained if I can just show you, but I can’t really do that here, since, you know.”

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A shrug of her shoulders reminds me of our current position. Right, on a crowded train, where both of us are standing up with our hands holding onto the straps above, we don’t exactly have the luxury to move around and show stuff.

But, my patience is soon rewarded, as an hour later, we’re finally free from the stuffy train commute and are now sitting comfortably in the AC-filled library. Once both of us have taken a seat, Natsume starts to rummage her bag around. Finally, she gives me a notebook:

“Take a look at this.”

I recognize this notebook. Natsume always carries it around her. Even in our first meeting - when she was chewing me out for violating school rules, the same notebook that she used to hit me in the face was this one. Its appearance isn’t anything special, though - just any old notebook with a bright yellow cover. If there’s anything that I should take notice of, it’s the fact that its cover is old and frayed with a lot of wrinkles - evidence showing that she has had this notebook for a long while.

Once I open the notebook and take a glance at its contents, I almost can’t believe my eyes.

The pages are filled with different outlines of all kinds of stories, from rich adventures in fantasy lands to gruesome historical takes of war; colorful sci-fi worlds to just modern-life dreams and aspirations. With each page, the ink feels newer than the last, while the remaining white space on the page itself shrinks with every turn.

“Are these… all yours?” I ask.

“Yeah, every single one,” Natsume answers with a prideful nod. “I’ve been writing since my early middle school years.”

“This is amazing…” I exclaim. “Are you planning to become a pro?”

“That’s the dream, yeah,” Natsume nods. “First, I wish to win the Golden Page award, then aim to be a professional.”

“The Golden Page award? Is that the literature award for young and up-and-coming writers?”

“Yeah, its main target is for amateur writers in their school years… have you heard of it before?”

“Uh… yeah, I just happen to know about it…”

I can’t tell her that I only knew it through looking at my list of future spouse candidates…

“Great!” Natsume’s eyes light up like the starry sky. “Then I’ll cut straight to the chase: I’m kind of stuck on ideas right now, so can you help me with finding research materials?”

Whoa, too close! Too close! Her face is practically inches away from me, and is she holding onto my hands? This kind of contact is too much for the faint of heart like me!

[Dude, calm down! You’re choking again!]

Yoichi? How do you know what I’m doing? Did you get a camera bug too?

[Don’t turn around, you dolt!] His voice once again echoes through the earpiece. [Just nod and say yes! You’ll worry about the details later!]

“... Hakuen? Is something wrong?” Natsume’s voice drags me back to the situation at hand.

“Uh… nothing! I’d love to help, haha…” Letting out an embarrassed laugh, I answer. I would scratch my head too, if my hand wasn’t locked in place.

“Thanks! You’re a great help!”

Seeing her radiant smile makes my heart jump faster than ever, it’s almost like I’m hurting my own chest from my heart pumping. But with each second that passes, a creeping sense of anxiety slithers its way into me.

Is this actually right? Why did she choose me, of all people?

“... What’s wrong?” Natsume’s voice sounds again. I must look terrible for her to ask that question.

“Um, I was just wondering… why… did you ask me for help?”

Contrary to my fear, it’s almost an instant answer from her.

“I think you just have what it takes, that’s all.”

“I have what it takes?” I repeat, unable to believe my ears.

“Yeah. Putting the stupid things you did to the side, the fact that you’re willing to do those shows that you’re not afraid of what others think of you…”

No, you’re wrong. I was just too blind to realize that others’ opinions of me matter.

“... and that you’re not afraid to think unconventionally and outside the box. I feel like with your creative thoughts, I can bring about even better ideas, and that’s another step closer to my dream!”

“Your dream? You mean becoming a pro?”

“No, not that,” it’s one surprise after another as Natsume shakes her head once more. “That’s just a goal. My real dream… is to bring smiles to everyone in the world through my stories!”

It’s a childish dream without much of a clear path, but somehow, looking at her eyes sparkle like that, I can’t help but feel genuine admiration. Come to think of it, Yoichi also had similar eyes whenever we talked about his performances… is this the power of dreams that people possess?

If that’s the case, then… am I really needed here?

“Exactly! Finally, someone who gets it!” A sudden voice booms through the library, bringing us the glares of the local librarian nearby. Meanwhile, in front of us right now is an elated Yoichi, in a black beret and sunglasses, uncontrollably shaking Natsume’s hands as if finally meeting his long-lost sibling:

“What is an artist without his audience, am I right?” Yoichi continues. “We exist to serve the people, to bring smiles to their faces! One could even say that bringing joy to everyone is our purpose in life!”

“Uh, Yoichi…” I try my best not to grit my teeth in anger. “I thought you had a show today?”

Only at this moment does the smile completely disappear from his face.

You’re telling me you just barged out without a plan, you idiot?

“Hehe, I… uh… got the wrong date…” With an embarrassed laugh, Yoichi scratches his head and says a random excuse. It’s a good thing he’s wearing sunglasses, because his eyes must be shifting faster than a traffic light when you’re late for school.

“When I came to the venue, the organizers told me that it’s supposed to be next week…” the genius magician continues. “So I just… uh… wandered here to find some… reference books…”

There’s no way she’s gonna believe this.

“Oh, is that so? Well, how about joining us in our research? The more the merrier!”

She bought it? Really?

“You got me on board!” With a thumbs-up, Yoichi loudly answers, which brings us another glare, this time coming with an extra loud “shush” from the librarian.

And so, our weird date continues with a giant pile of books in front of us …