novel-bin Page 165
Page 165
"Now too, I've made the same mistake again. Why did I talk about myself for so long? I'll definitely regret it later, I'll be so ashamed I'll want to die, I'll want to forget it all. But I just keep making the same mistakes. I just can't read the room. I only think about myself, I can't see the situation around me—hehe. Actually, when people say I'm a strange girl… I feel a little happy. But a real weirdo wouldn't be happy about something like that… It's such a dumbfounded, mediocre thought, right?"
"........."
"So no matter what I do, I'm just a dabbler...painting, writing novels, even thinking about posting videos online—I gave up on everything before anyone even saw them. Because, because, don't you think? There are tons of people online who are 'weirder' than me. Compared to them, I'm nothing special."
"........."
"But, Mizuto, you're really special. You're a true 'weirdo.' That's why I admire you so much... that's why I want to be with you... that's why..."
"........."
"…………so…………"
"So that's why you fell in love with me?"
"no."
"........."
"No...that's not it. No. This...only this, I should be able to be sure of..."
"........."
『……………………』
"...East end."
"Um……"
"I want to tell you something about my past."
"good."
"When I was in junior high school, I especially loved reading 'Brain Hell.' As you probably guessed, I just thought the title of 'one of the three great strange books of Japan' was cool, and I hardly understood what it was about."
"...Waaaah..."
"That's when I got a girlfriend. She really loves classic mystery novels, and her fangirling is so obvious that she criticizes almost every work that violates the 'Ten Commandments of Mystery Novels'."
"...Waaaaaah..."
"In short, that guy and I are just ordinary middle school students. Just an ordinary couple. So boring it's yawn-inducing, and certainly not something that could become novel material."
『……………………』
"In the east end, I don't think anyone is really strange. Everyone is just ordinary."
"...It's the exact opposite of what my mother said."
"If everyone is weird, then weirdos are the normal people."
Perhaps... that's how it is.
"Sometimes, the guys who claim to be ordinary high school students are actually the strangest people."
"That kind of main character is quite common."
"If it's common, then he's still quite ordinary."
So all of humanity is just ordinary?
"None of humanity is the strongest character; they're just ordinary protagonists."
"I feel like I've heard that phrase somewhere before."
"Because I'm just an ordinary person."
『……………………』
"........."
"...Even so...I still think Mizuto is weird."
"You think I'm weird, but I think you're weird too."
"I'm not as weird as Mizuto."
"You think too highly of me."
"Then you—prove it to me."
"........."
"Let me see that Mizuto is just average... not much different from me... prove me wrong."
"……good."
"Being able to agree to something like this so immediately is already quite extraordinary."
"It's nothing special."
What's so ordinary about it?
"I was just answering casually because I was just trying to gauge the atmosphere."
"……hehe."
"Is it funny?"
"No... If it's something this small, I can do it too."
◆ Higashito Isana ◆
I hung up the phone and looked up at the ceiling of my room.
...Does this count as arguing?
Did I have a fight with my friend?
Even things like this make me happy—and being happy about these things makes me even happier.
I hate myself.
Ordinary people wouldn't be happy about something like this. The fact that I'm happy about something that wouldn't make ordinary people happy shows that I'm a strange girl, and a part of me is actually quite happy to be this way.
What a half-baked amateur.
That's absolutely awful, incredibly awful.
Mizuto could never be as pathetic as me. Mizuto is smart, not easily influenced by others, and a person who can firmly believe in himself. Although he said he would prove to me that we are the same kind of person, the fact that he even said that already proves that he is not ordinary.
There are people like him.
But I am not like him.
I wrapped myself in a blanket, hunching over and curling up into a ball.
Even if I were to be reincarnated into another world, I would never amount to anything.
the next day.
I ate lunch by myself.
I go straight home after school.
I didn't meet up with my classmate, Mizuto.
the next day.
School is on holiday.
I slept and dozed off all day.
I didn't meet up with my classmate, Mizuto.
the next day.
School is on holiday.
I slept and dozed off all day.
I also took a look at the drawing of Shuidou from last time.
I didn't meet up with my classmate, Mizuto.
the next day.
I ate lunch by myself.
I go straight home after school.
I didn't meet up with my classmate, Mizuto.
the next day.
I ate lunch by myself.
I go straight home after school.
I also took a look at the drawing of Shuidou from last time.
I didn't meet up with my classmate, Mizuto.
the next day.
The organizing committee for the school's anniversary celebration has been selected.
Everyone started discussing what kind of stall to set up.
Nobody talks about me and my classmate Mizuto anymore.
A week has passed.
Lunch—I had planned to eat it alone.
"East end."
The sound came from very close to me.
"East end. Did you hear that?"
I raised my head tremblingly.
My classmate, Mizuto, is standing right in front of my seat.
(Illustration 011)
"I've come to find you."
I looked around.
In the classroom, which I hadn't really looked at properly in a long time, everyone was staring at me and Mizuto. Not only that, even people in the hallway stopped and looked over, wondering what had happened.
"Don't worry."
He said it.
Just like usual, Mizuto said.
"I do not like being the center of attention, but—"
Then, Shuidou, looking somewhat embarrassed, said:
I dislike losing the time I can spend talking to you even more.
Quietly... the classroom became completely silent.
what.
Ok?
……What!
It took me a few seconds to understand what he was saying.
In an instant—my heart began to pound.
In a single breath, in an instant, my face began to burn, as if it were on fire.
Then, the female students in the classroom cheered excitedly.
"I'm going to die...!" "I'm so, so envious! I want someone to say that to me too!" "Ah, wait, I'm really about to die. So cool...!"
The classroom was in complete chaos, and several girls even looked like they were about to die.
No, um, what is that? Wait a minute, that last sentence was... directed at me? It was directed at me... right?
In this situation where everyone is watching, I'm fearless—ahhh…