The automatic door opened and Saki didn’t waste time entering the bookstore. She went all the way to the big store a few stations away from her own house just for one thing — the limited edition OmegaNow magazine, featuring interviews of her favorite Omega stars, the current battle matchup, and most importantly, the 24x36 ultra rare poster of Baron Rabbit Children’s Day edition that came with this week’s issue.
Saki still didn’t know where she would put the poster since the walls of her room were already filled up to the brim with countless posters of Omega athletes, but surely she would find a spot.
With the clack of the pins on her bag accompanying her steps, Saki headed to the magazines’ aisle — before she stopped, then retraced her steps a few times to look down a different aisle. A boy, around 185 cm in height, with black hair and bangs so long they covered his eyes. Saki didn’t even need to guess who it was, just the other day he left quite an impact on her.
“Takumi-kun?”
Perhaps not expecting to be called by the name, Kurogane Takumi lifted his head from the bookshelves and looked at the person who called him. “Kobayashi-san?”
“You can just call me Saki, everyone does that.” Saki walked over to the much-taller boy. “Still, what a coincidence to meet you here. Do you frequent this bookshop too?”
“It’s just the closest to home,” Takumi answered curtly as he picked up a book from the shelf, earning an acknowledging hum from Saki. As always, Takumi didn’t seem interested in talking with other people.
Saki looked at the other books on the shelf in front of her. ‘Classic History 101,’ ‘Even a Water Flea can understand Theory of Relativity,’ ‘German Target 2000,’ and so on and such.
“Reference books? Heeh, I didn’t know you needed them too, Takumi-kun. You always scored so high without trying, after all.”
“…”
Saki glanced at Takumi who had grown silent. Did he get offended by her jab and so he decided not to say anything, or did he just not feel like saying anything and thus ignored her completely? With those bangs covering his eyes, it’s hard for Saki to tell.
I just wanted to measure the distance though, thought Saki. That was when, unexpectedly, Takumi opened his mouth.
“…it’s fine that I get a part-time job, but that’s no excuse for me to leave my studies behind. It would be meaningless if my performance in school worsened because of it. So I have to study harder.”
“Is that what your parents said?”
“No, it’s what I decided.”
Not expecting to get that answer, Saki could only let out an uncertain “oh.” The conversation died off there, leaving an awkward silence.
Before Saki could think of a different topic, Takumi picked another book and walked away, saying goodbye to her. Saki responded in kind, saying “See you tomorrow.”
She didn’t know why, but for some reason, she felt guilty about something.
♤♠♤♠♤
“You want to know what kind of person Takumi is?”
Jun repeated Saki’s question, at which Saki, who sat next to him, nodded. His eyes were focused on the soccer game in front of him, however, so he didn’t see the nod.
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It was P.E. class, and the boys were playing soccer on the courtyard outside while the girls were playing volleyball in the gym. The P.E. teacher Gojou Ritsudou, or Gorilla as his students affectionately called him, was nowhere to be seen, leaving the students alone with their devices.
Saki was on her way back after buying juice when he saw Jun sitting alone on the side of the courtyard, seemingly cooling himself down after running around chasing the ball.
“Takumi-kun doesn’t speak much with anyone else but you. So if anyone, I figured you’d know him best, Jun-kun.”
“Is this about the Omega thing?”
“There’s that too, but…”
After their encounter in the bookstore the other day, Saki felt she had been unfairly judging Kurogane Takumi based on her own misconceptions. If so, she had been very rude to Takumi. While she didn’t exactly antagonize him, it was still wrong for her to criticize him even though Takumi had done nothing to deserve it.
Thinking back, Saki didn’t know anything about Takumi. She thought Takumi was someone who’s so gifted he became arrogant, but someone like that wouldn’t have bought reference books to study hard in order to keep his academic scores.
That’s why she asked Jun, hoping that he’d be able to shed some light about who Takumi really was. However, Jun’s answer was not what Saki expected.
“I’d love to tell you everything about him, but the truth is, I don’t even know anything about him other than he always buries himself in books.”
“Eeh?!”
Saki let out a surprised yelp.
“No, but, didn’t the two of you talk like you’re close buddies just the other day?!”
“That’s true, but that’s only because he and I have always sat next to each other since we were first-year. Also, it’s me who always talks to him, he doesn’t respond much.”
“I see…”
Saki didn’t even know that. All she saw from the other end of the classroom was Takumi and Jun chatting every once in a while.
That was when one of the boys on the courtyard waved his hand, yelling “Jun, your turn!” Jun answered him with; “One more minute!” similarly yelling. The two then exchanged thumb-ups.
“Saki-chan, you must be wondering why I’m sticking up with such a gloomy person for so long.”
“Kind of.”
When Saki answered honestly, Jun chuckled. He then started telling her his story, eyes downcast.
“You see, back in middle school, I had a friend who didn’t talk much like Takumi. He was smiling when he’s with me, but other than that, he always looked down and rarely ever said anything. It was like he had a burden that he bore all by himself. One day, he told me he had something he wanted to consult with me, but I was quite busy that day and I told him to save it for tomorrow. But, well, when tomorrow came, it was too late.”
“…?! D-did he…?”
Saki gasped, her hand covering her mouth. Jun immediately picked up what she was thinking and denied it.
“No, no no! It’s not what you think. He just stopped going to school altogether, shutting himself in his room. I still talk to him every once in a while on Discord.”
“O-oh, I see. Thank goodness.”
Hearing that, Saki patted her chest in relief. Jun stood up, stretching his arms left and right as he continued.
“Even so, I wish I could’ve helped him better. When I look at Takumi, I can’t help but see my friend in him, that must be why.”
“I see.”
“People like him just don’t know how to trust others since they don’t know how to trust themselves. The way to break through their walls is just keep on pushing! Or at least that's what I heard from this video on YouTube.”
Intrigued, Saki nodded.
“I’ll give you the link later!” yelled Jun as he ran to the courtyard, taking position as a goalkeeper while the boy who’d been posing as the goalkeeper now played forward.
Later that night, Jun forwarded a YouTube link to Saki via the chatting app. Saki watched the video for a few minutes, but when the guy in the video started talking about Alpha males and sheeple and being ahead of the curves and such, she decided didn’t want to watch it anymore.
Saki threw her phone aside, it hit the Juggernaut time limited plushie on her bed. She looked at the ceilings, which were also filled to the brim with posters, leaving just enough spaces where Omega-themed overhead ornaments could hang on strings.
“What do I do, Baron-kun?”
Saki asked the newest entry of her collection of posters. Baron Rabbit, the wonder child who won the hearts of Japanese people and foreigners alike in his battles full of rabbits, didn’t say anything except “Let’s Grow-Up Healthily” that was typed on the poster.
“You’re right.”
Saki got up with a gusto. Whatever the silent piece of paper told her, it gave Saki a good enough idea to come up with a buddy-buddy plan.