“The sky was getting redder by the minute. Akira was walking back from the store. She had a bag full of groceries in her left hand. With her right hand, she tucked her hair behind her ear.
She was visibly in a good mood, hearing her work being praised at school. Although she didn’t reveal that it was her pen name, she was overjoyed to know that people in her class read her work,” Akira mumbles to herself looking at the sky. “Okay, that’s enough practising to be the story narrator. Let’s get home now.”
As she nears the park close to her home, she notices Isamu and Mareo talking rather loudly about something. She walks up a little closer to them.
“Wait, isn’t that Fujii-kun? I’ve seen him in the photos Hanae showed me... but why is he with Matsumoto-kun? Is he ‘that guy’ Hanae was referring to?”
“Not famous, man. It’s to be remembered. Neither like the usual three-generation cycle with children and grandchildren, nor some temporary fame. To be remembered hundreds of years down the line like-”
“Something like Newton, I know. We’ve gone through this multiple times already. Well, it’s the same with me too, but you’re taking this too seriously. To lose sleep over this is a bit too juvenile, don’t you think?”
“Huh, so he wants to be famous? Is he good at studies? He probably is, if he’s aiming that big!”
Isamu scratches his head.“ Juvenile? Well, yeah. This was actually due to the frustration of it not being I’d hoped. I thought frantically searching for so long paid off, I wouldn’t mind trying for years to properly theorize it but…”
“HE’S AN IDIOT! WHO WOULD DO THAT? This makes me more interested, though.” “But what, idiot-san?”
Isamu turns around and says, “How did you hear that?”
“You two are talking pretty loudly if I can hear from here, you know,” Akira says, walking up next to him.
“So, you’re the stalker now?”
“So, he’s going to use it against me?” “Not very funny Matsumoto-kun. Besides, you don’t look too good. Oh well, I’ll head home now. It's getting late.” She says as she heads into the path towards her home, "Get some sleep. Those are some bangs!"
………………………………………………………………………………...............
Akira opens the door to her house and starts taking her shoes off, setting the bag of groceries down. “Seriously, what was with him? Why would I stalk him? That’s outrageous! I had my reasons since someone could be after the mone-”
“Why are you talking to yourself so angrily, Akira-chan?”A tall woman in an apron says as she takes the bag.
“I-it’s nothing, Kaoru-san,” Akira says, stepping in. “Let me help you with that.”
“I’m not that old, Akira-chan,” she says with a smile, “I take it that you have someone you’re interested in?”
“Y-you could say that. But, it’s not like that.”
“The ‘mature’ Akira-chan can be bashful at times too, huh?” She says with a giggle.
“What? What? Akira’s being bashful?” A shout comes from upstairs before Akira’s elder brother rushes down, almost tripping over his baggy trousers.
“Hinata-san, please don’t tease her. ”
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Akira says with a stern smile, “You heard her, nii-san! Now go back to work. Otherwise, I’ll tell her about things she shouldn’t know! She’ll leave you just like your previous girlfriend.”
“No-no-no-no-no. Please don’t do that, Akira-sama! I’ll go right now. Kaoru! Don’t leave me! I won’t live-”
“Yeah, yeah, now concentrate on your work, Hinata-san. Wasn’t the deadline today? I’m surprised that you have the time to pull these jokes!”
“Oh, I’m done with it. I had just sent the file when I heard Akira coming home.”
“Then come to the kitchen and help me make dinner. Hanae-chan’s waiting as well. Oh! Akira-chan, if you want to, you can take a bath now, the water is ready.”
“Thank you. I’ll go put my things in my room then.” Akira climbs the stairs and goes to her room, which was on the other side of the lobby to her brother’s room.
Putting her bag down, she lays down on the bed. She pulls up her legs and turns sideways to face the window. “ I have a lot more questions to ask him now. Maybe I’ll ask him for his contact info some time.”
“Dreaming about your prince? Are you going to go take a bath now? I’ll take a bath first otherwise,” Hanae says, standing at the door, still in her uniform, with a towel around her neck.
“I didn't hear her come upstairs. Must’ve dozed off.” Turning over, Akira says with a smile, “Let’s get in together. Like old times. What do you say?”
“Idiot. Hurry up. Kaoru-san says dinner’s going to be ready pretty soon.”
She pushes herself up. As she walks to the door, she says, “Okay, okay. I’ll go now. But let’s get in together after all.”
“Stop saying that, will you?”
“What? You’re pretty well built around there, so there’s nothing to be tensed about, right?”
“S-stupid! Shut up!” Hanae says, blushing as she covers her chest with the towel's ends, as they both walk down.
“ Again, why are you embarrassed? I’m less gifted than you in that aspect, you know!” “And what was that about him being my prince! I don’t think like that, idiot!”
………………………………………………………………………..
Hanae, sitting on the edge of the bed, reads out from her phone beside her as she does Akira’s hair, “Saturday! A new volume of Shimada Araki-sensei’s work comes out today. The last one of the trilogy. He is said to be taking a break from writing for a while after this. He will come back with a new series soon. We wish him the best of luck.”
Sitting down on the floor, Akira, dressed in a white shirt and jeans that stretched beyond her ankle, says as she pulls her legs towards herself, “I don’t know how to feel when I see articles referring to me as a boy. I would’ve picked a different pen name if I knew this would happen.”
“You can’t change it now?”
“No, that name already has some weight behind it now. So, I can’t.”
“You’re going to go see how well it sells on the first day?”
“Yeah. The manager said that they’ll have a special banner in front of the store today.”
“What about other stores?”
“Maybe a few others,” Akira says, shrugging as she puts a bracelet on her left wrist, the magnets of which click it into position.
“Well, then, I’ll go to practice now. Fujii-kun sent me a message saying he’ll come and pick me up afterwards.”
Akira says with a snicker, looking at Hanae from the corner of her eye, “Ooh. Hanae’s going on a date! So, that's why you had those neat clothes in the bag along with the pra-”
Pulling on Akira’s hair, Hanae says, “ You were saying?”
“Ow-ow-oww. Okay, sorry sorry. I was just pulling your leg. ”
…………………………………………………………………………..
Passing a few stores, Akira crosses the intersection to arrive at the bookstore. She had a brown long coat, unbuttoned, over her shirt and a bag over her right shoulder.
The employee nearest to the door greets her.
“ The store's so crowded! Wow, that’s a lot of people. I’m glad I came to see this. This feels great!” Walking a little way in, Akira says, “Oh, no, I’m just here to observe. I talked to the manager yesterday-”
“Ah, yes, Araki-sensei, was it?”
Akira whispers to the lady, “Not so loudly.”
Smiling, she whispers, “Oh, sorry, sorry. Call me if you need anything.”
Isamu, pulling up the sleeves of his checkered shirt, walks in and is greeted, “Welcome, Okyaku-sama. How can I help you?”
“ And here I was, thinking that I wouldn’t have to use the earphones today!”Stroking his neck, Isamu says, “Ah, no- uh, w-why is it so crowded here today? Is somethi-”
Akira can't hear the rest as the bustle around her renders it inaudible. In a moment, Isamu is out of her sight as she is pushed further in by the crowd. She feels something brush her left hand.
“ I can't even pull my hand out to check what that was! Damn this crowd. No, wait why am I angry at the crowd I helped create!
But seriously, why is he here? Does he want to get my book? No, since he doesn’t know why there’s a crowd here, he probably isn’t here for it....I'm getting ahead of myself. It's normal for anyone to come to a bookstore.”
With his earphones now in both ears, Isamu, trying to get past the crowd and head towards the 'Foreign Language' section, bumps into Akira. "Ah, sorr-... A-Arai-san? Wh-"
Without finishing, he suddenly pulls Akira by her right hand, out of the crowd. Reaching the rather vacant aisles of foreign language books, farthest from the entrance of the store, he says, huffing,
"I thought you had some neurons in that skull of yours, Arai-san!"
"Huh?"