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The clock strikes four. The sounds of gung-ho students in sports and outdoor clubs screaming to get the energy to 'push past their limits' are coming through the windows. Some students are loud enough to make their gossips and laughter echo through the hallways, making the vacant classroom feel emptier than it is. There are a few who aren't in the clubs, or the 'go home club', neither have they stayed behind to study. Isamu is one of them. And he is, once again, having his delusions-
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"Hey, Mareo, is this what you were scribbling all this time?" Isamu calls out to the boy hunching over the desk in front of him, drowsing.
Mareo, opening his eyes, says with an air of confidence (which almost seems like arrogance), "Oh, I was just bored. And then it came to me!" He jumps up. "Maybe I'm meant to be a writer after all!" He shrugs and tilts his head. "So, I thought if I-"
"Stop thinking!" Isamu dismisses him as he skims through the remainder of the scribbles. "... But why are you describing me like that? That's mean, y'know..." He says in a monotone before his eyes stop on the last lines written on the page:
‘Hanae blushed. "Don't get the wrong idea. I surely wasn't going to say 'fate' in a place as crowded as this." ’
Isamu laughs. "I don't know how the classroom went from empty to crowded, but I don't think Kawano's going to like this..."
"Haha... That's why I'm not going to show her that, obviously!"
Mareo takes a look at the clock and turns around to pack his things on the desk. "Come on, we've got things to do today."
Isamu, who had all his things in his bag already, fiddles with this phone in one hand and the notebook in the other.
Mareo reaches for the book. "Now, hand it over. It's important."
"Yeah. Here," Isamu says with a tired smile.
"What's with that smile? Stop being creepy, man..." Mareo takes it shoves it into his backpack.
"Uh... Didn't you just say it was important?"
"Shut it, Isamu. And talk about the serious face you've had all this while. What happened?"
"It's that thing in the park near my home."
"Hahaha... That silhouette only you see? You sure you're not being haunted? You've been talking about it for weeks now." Mareo points to a bus stoppage seen through the window across the room. Isamu nods, almost as if he knew the answer to the question in that glance.
"Well, that's because I saw it first two weeks ago, you big idiot! And I really want to know if it's an actual person or something else."
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As they get on the bus, Mareo says, "Alright, tell me the details again. It's fun hearing your stupid story."
Isamu glares at him and Mareo shoots him a snicker in return. Mareo opens up space for Isamu to sit by the window and strokes through his forcefully-gelled-to-be-spiky black hair as Isamu squeezes through the small gap Mareo left for him. His smirk widens seeing Isamu's cold glare.
The bus had long started moving but Mareo stood there, styling it with his hand. He had hooked his leg with the seat so that he wouldn't be moved even if the bus moved. "Gosh, this hurts! But I don't care! I’m too far into it now!”
"Is he trying to make me laugh? That idiot!" Isamu savors Mareo’s continuous fight to stay still. "What are you acting so proud about? You're hair's going to fall off if you use that much gel!"
"Ehhhehhehe..."
Isamu sighs. "Sit down, please!"
"Fine, fine." Mareo sits down and begins massaging his knee. "Shouldn't have done that!"
"You're the greatest idiot I've met."
"Thanks. But I come second compared to you. Now tell me the whole story. I want to laugh... Oh! And say it as dramatically as you can!"
Isamu sighs again and begins.
..........................................................................................................................
Two weeks ago, at about 5 o'clock, when I was going home, I noticed a silhouette on the swing of the park. Now, a silhouette being there was nothing out of the ordinary, but all it did was sit on it.
The new fountain there had just been completed and from the way its water is sprayed upwards, surely that person would get drenched given they stay there long enough without getting up. But then I noticed it being there exactly like that multiple times.
So, I decided to check if I'm mistaken and if it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. I checked the park at night and even before coming to school.
I'd only see it when the fountain was on and it would always be there, regardless of there being children playing in the park, just sitting there, on a motionless swing while being sprayed by the malfunctioning fountain, the water speed of which was set too high.
These past two weeks, I've only observed it from the park entrance. At a distance that is enough to make a grown man seem one-fourth of my thumb in height. Today, if the fountain is on, I'm going to go check if the silhouette is there from up close. If it isn't, I'll check if there is any chance of the surroundings near the swing is as such that it may appear to be like that from a distance.
Stolen novel; please report.
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Mareo, listening attentively all the while instead of laughing, then says, "That's why we're taking the bus and not walking to the station?"
Making a slightly embarrassed face, Isamu says, "Yeah. I just want to have enough time to investigate this."
Mareo stretches his arms and relaxes onto the seat. “I see… But what about the parts you left out or lied about?”
“What?”
“I know you enough to know there’s more of a reason to your interest in this than blatant curiosity.”
“Huh? What’re you talking about?”
“Hmm? Well, don’t hurt yourself. You look pretty desperate… Do yourself a favor and just… don’t be too invested.”
“Yes, oh great Fuuji Mareo! Your words will be absolute!”
“Dude, you lose some screws or something?”
They say nothing for the remainder of the ride. Both of them drowse and slouch in their seats.
The bus soon comes to a stop. They get off the bus and rush towards the train station. Mareo checks his wristwatch and says, "Fair enough. But, I can't go with you. Hanae wanted to come over. Apparently, she even took the day off from the swimming club practice so she could prepare. So, I have to get home early too."
"That's fine. But pay attention to Kawano too, okay? She's your girlfriend, so treat her like so! Don't just make her sit on a chair and work on that portrait of yours."
As they part ways to go to different platforms to get on their trains, Mareo notices Isamu putting earphones in. "Instantly after you get into a crowd, huh?"
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Isamu arrives at the park with high hopes. He turns at the gate to see the empty seat of the swing. "The fountain's functioning. Did I see wrong all those times?" He forces that thought away.
He then walks towards the swing, glancing all around him. He arrives in front of the swing and begins looking frantically for clues. "Did I create an optical illusion for myself? I don't see anything like that…"
Isamu sits down on the swing, his heart sinking. “Was all this just a huge waste of time?” He tries to console himself with more possibilities.
"Let's try and emulate this. If I'm sitting here at any given time of the day, is it possible for a person standing at the entrance to see a silhouette of me against the white wall back here? I'm guessing it's about 60 feet away…"
He scratches his head.
"Doesn't seem likely… I guess I'm actually starting to see things. Is my mind that much of a mess? Damnit! Now I'm getting wet. How can a person last more than two minutes sitting like this? Oh, no! Let's not get the earphones wet.
“Let's see if I can still see it from there."
Standing up, Isamu mumbles, through his gritted teeth as walks towards the park entrance. "Your stupid analysis is probably coming to an end, Isamu!"
Turning around at the entrance, Isamu gasps to see the silhouette sitting on the motionless swing, "Why do I still see it?" His eyes widen as he notices the wind making the hair of the person in the silhouette seem like a girl's. "Damn mind playing its stupid tricks on me!..." Isamu begins huffing as he puts his earphones in his ears again while walking away from there, "Drown it! Drown it! Drown it!"
A few minutes later, Isamu agitatedly returns to the entrance, and without looking to see if the silhouette is there, he runs towards the swing, facing the ground. Huffing as he stands in front of the swing, he notices it is empty. Putting his hand on it, he gasps as he pulls both of the earphones out of his ears, mumbling, "Someone was sitting here right now. I've got to find that person!"
" ...ello? Hello? Silhouette-san?"
"A girl's voice?"
Isamu quickly turns his head to his left to find a girl with shoulder-length hair in a school uniform different from his with a jacket over it, trying to get his attention.
"Um, you're the person in the silhouette, aren't you?" says the girl.
With surprise and confusion etched on his face, Isamu slightly turns and tilts his head to the side, "Huh?"
Seeing Isamu's reaction of confusion, the girl says, " 'Huh'? What do you mean 'Huh'? You're the one who has been stalking me for the last two weeks!"
Isamu frowns. "I haven't stalked anyone in my entire life! And for your information, I have been rather preoccupied the last few weeks."
"And what would that be? Stalking someone in a park day and night without missing out on a single instance?"
"Stop your nonsense right now." Suddenly Isamu says in a calm and threatening tone, "It's not very polite to call someone a stalker right after you meet them, you know."
"You're trying to get out of this by confusing me and it's obvious! So, just admit it." Even with her confident speech, the girl's voice is now much lower, "Don't come after me again and I won't report this to the police!"
"P-police? You're taking things too far. I'm merely here to know who the idiot in a silhouette is-"
The girl chuckles. "See! You're getting nervous from hearing about the police. And you say I've been spouting nonsense! What kind of retard would visit a park 7:30 in the morning, 9 o'clock in the night, or every day after school just to do that?"
"I'm no retard. I'm just passionately curious," says Isamu with clear eagerness in his voice. "But this has gone far beyond curiosity at this point. I genuinely want to know what the person is thinking, doing this sort of thing and what's driving them."
After staying silent for a while after hearing his words, the girl says in a skeptical tone, "So, you're telling me that you're not stalking me?"
Taking a step back, Isamu bows. "I'm sorry if my efforts to satisfy my curiosity have inconvenienced you." He lifts his head, "But I'm not stalking you, I've never even seen you before."
"Who goes to those lengths just for that?"
"I do. And if we're going to talk about my psychology, you should know that's not going to be fruitful. So far, only one person has come close to understanding why I do what I do."
"Your girlfriend, I suppose? Is she a psychopath like you too?"
"She's calling me a psychopath now?" Isamu grits his teeth. "Unfortunately for you, you're wrong. Now, instead of you asking me all the questions, could you please tell me if you're the person in the silhouette? If you are, then tell me the reasons so I can finally get out of this loop of checking this park every day. Honestly, I'm getting tired of this..."
Letting out a sigh, Isamu continues with a sharp tone, "And if you're not, then stop wasting people's time. Plus, what's all this about a stalker?"
"Is that so?" The girl continues her skepticism.
"Yes, now please answer my questions," Isamu retorts.
"How do I know that you're not going to come after me if I tell you?"
"Once I know your reasons, I'll no longer have any reason to come back here as of the current situation. So, you can be sure of me not coming here if that bothers you in any manner... That's a promise from someone who values them dearly enough to limit the utterance of the word by himself and those around him."
"What kind of cheesy crap was that?" Giggling, she says, "Alright, I'll believe you this time." The girl exhales and continues in a friendlier tone than before which seems to be more natural to her.
"It's almost as if she was trying to speak in a deeper and more condescending tone the entire time… Man, what did she think I was?"
"Yes. I'm the one in your silhouette."
Hearing that, Isamu's face beams with anticipation as he awaits her telling him the reason.
"But before I tell you my reason, get me a drink from that vending machine at the corner of the park."
"Wait, what? Why should I-"
"You're the one who's had me troubled about my security for the last few weeks. I couldn't tell my parents and older brother because they'd worry too much and if it was something else... which it now clearly seems to be, it wouldn't be very pretty. They'd definitely call the cops. Plus, you're the guy here. Isn't it common courtesy for the man to pay for things like this?"
"I get where you're coming from but I don't think I follow your logic with the paying thing," Isamu says with a smile. "Alright, wait by the bench there."
With a smile, she heads for the bench as Isamu heads towards the vending machine.
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Terms and naming conventions used:
**Japanese society values hierarchy and someone of higher status may drop the honorific title. Dropping the honorific among the same age groups may be considered a sign of intimacy and familiarity.
*-san, the most common one, could be translated as "Mr.", "Mrs." and "Ms." and is gender-neutral.
*-kun is used to address young males. It is also used by superiors to inferiors and males of the same age and status.