Chapter 26 Return to School

Chapter 26: Returning to School

"Thursday, August 2, 2012 * Sunny"

"I'm back from Tokyo! Yay! I learned a lot at this training camp! Next, I'm planning to redo my previously rejected work 'Beyond the Blue' and resubmit it! Still working with Miyahara-senpai! Hope we both get good news this time (◦˙▽˙◦)"

"Saturday, August 11, 2012 * Sunny"

"Today I went to watch the volleyball team's qualifying match! The official game was so exciting! The afternoon opponent, Kakugawa Academy, actually had a player over two meters tall Σ( ° △ °|||)︴ So terrifying! Luckily everyone eventually found a way to deal with him and won!"

"Also, I met the volleyball team's new manager, Yachi-san, in the stands this time! I drew a chibi portrait for her! She said my drawing was cute!!! She said my drawing was cute aaaaaah— Anyway, after all that, we became friends who can help each other with illustrations or designs for our works!!! ٩(●´৺`●)૭ Hope I didn't scare Yachi-san with my excitement (bow)"

"Wednesday, August 22, 2012 * Light Rain"

"Today I tried making matcha parfait with my mom! But it seems I put too much cream Σ(ﾟ∀ﾟﾉ)ﾉ By the way, is this sweetness even real? It felt a bit too sweet, but my mom said it was just right (?) That guy might like it if he tried it, but I'd probably have to swap it for strawberry flavor (huh? What am I saying?)"

"Wednesday, September 19, 2012 * Sunny"

"Today in P.E. class, I finally got to play volleyball with Kazami-san again!! Yay!! When she was on sick leave, I couldn't find any opponents at my level (sorry Kazami-san!) Anyway, I'm so glad we can play together again! (Wait, can what we do even be called volleyball?) Also, I can't believe Kazami-san actually volunteered for the volleyball team's training camp! When I heard it from Yachi-san, I couldn't believe it—am I the last to know?!! Σ(⊙▽⊙") Regardless, next qualifying match we can go watch together, yay!!"

"Thursday, September 20, 2012 * Light Rain"

"Today! I actually saw Miura-senpai at the Manga Club activity room (ﾟ⊿ﾟ)ﾂ"

"It felt like even Miyahara-senpai and Soda-senpai couldn't believe it more than me, but just because he's so elusive, is it really okay to nickname him 'Ghost' (?) That's what I thought, but Miura-senpai seemed to like the nickname—should I start calling him that too (●_●)"

"Friday, September 21, 2012 * Cloudy"

"I suspect Tsukishima is out to get me."

***

The tone of the latest diary entry took a dramatic shift, but that wasn't really Hoshino Haruna's fault. After all, Tsukishima's recent actions were really puzzling. If she wanted, she could even devote a special feature in her diary to it.

These include, but are not limited to: when her club activities ended and she was about to go home, only to find a downpour and that she had forgotten her umbrella, Tsukishima would always appear at the school gate closest to the Manga Club at just the right moment, hand her his spare umbrella, say "Just give it back to me tomorrow," and then turn and walk away.

Additionally, there was also when she realized at lunchtime that she'd forgotten her bento and was about to buy some snacks to fill her stomach, Tsukishima would always show up at the convenience store near school at just the right moment and share his extra bento or rice ball with her.

The most suspicious part was when she borrowed Kazami Kaoru's class notes but couldn't understand them, so she went to the neighboring class to borrow Yamaguchi Tadashi's notes. Tsukishima would always manage to hand her his own notebook just before Yamaguchi could find his notebook. When Hoshino returned to her class and opened it, she found that all the annotations were exactly on her usual common mistakes.

...

What's going on here!

Completely baffled, Hoshino went to see Kazami, deciding to find an answer from this super honor student.

"Kazami-san, if someone did all the things I just mentioned, what kind of person would you think they are?"

During break, Hoshino asked Kazami-san.

"Hmm..."

Kazami assumed the posture of analyzing a Japanese reading comprehension passage.

"Lending an umbrella, sharing a bento, copying notes... based on your description, they sound like a caring, considerate, and thoughtful person!" Kazami said.

...

Hoshino's heart sank halfway.

Caring? Considerate? Thoughtful?

Really? Tsukishima Kei...?

"But... what if that person is Tsukishima Kei?" she asked cautiously.

Kazami-san, who had also watched the volleyball team's practices, should have an impression of Tsukishima, Hoshino thought.

Then she heard Kazami say: "Then that means Tsukishima-san is a caring, considerate, and thoughtful person."

Hoshino: ...

Okay, so she had an impression, but not much of one.

"Kageyama."

Kazami Kaoru waved at Kageyama Tobio, who was passing by.

"What's up?" he asked, walking over.

"If someone always brings an extra umbrella to lend to others, often shares their bento with someone who forgot their lunch, and even organizes class notes specifically for that person, what kind of person would you say they are?" Kazami asked him.

Kageyama thought for a moment.

"That means he's a good person," he answered.

"And what if that person is Tsukishima Kei?" Hoshino pressed on from the side.

Kageyama's expression became very complicated in an instant, but he finally gave his conclusion firmly—

"Then you must have been mistaken. That person definitely isn't Tsukishima."

Hoshino: ...

See? Everyone else thinks there's something wrong too!

Given that this person is definitely Tsukishima, there's no doubt about it, given that Tsukishima's usual behavior is completely incompatible with being caring, considerate, or thoughtful—that's beyond doubt, given that Tsukishima treats everyone else normally and only acts strangely around her—again, no doubt, excluding aliens, supernatural powers, out-of-body experiences, and other special cases, solve for what Tsukishima's intentions are.

...

Got it.

Hoshino suddenly realized.

This guy Tsukishima is definitely picking on her!

During the summer training camp, although Tsukishima didn't throw himself into extra practice with as much enthusiasm as the other players, he did rethink the question of "why he works hard." In the latter half of the camp, he adopted a more positive attitude than before.

***

He didn't have a clear answer to this question yet, but he no longer planned to stay stagnant like before. Until he found his own answer, he would try to do more and do better.

Of course, this change wasn't his only gain from the camp.

He liked Hoshino Haruna. He was fully aware of this feeling now, even though he had become aware of it in an unprecedentedly terrible situation. But judging from Hoshino's past behavior, she really seemed to only see him as a model for her male protagonist, without any romantic feelings. In that case, what could he do?

If it were the old Tsukishima Kei, he might have chosen to run away, but not anymore. He would not only face this feeling head-on but also act on it.

What happened in the past doesn't matter anymore, and how the future will develop is not something he can control. What mattered was now. If until now Hoshino had only paid him so much attention for the sake of manga material, then from now on, he would use his actions to capture her attention, making her truly—

look at him, see him.

...

Then again...

Reflecting on his recent experiences, Tsukishima vaguely felt something was off.

Why does it feel like Hoshino has some strange misunderstanding about him?

—TBC—

*

Author's Note:

Tsukishima: 'I wonder if she's even realized it'

Hoshino: Always provoking me.jpg