1 When "Amano Kazuki's Life" Change
Before you start reading this, I want to ask you.
Yes, to you, reader.
How many times in your life have you felt your heart race? How many times were you close to romance? Or, how many times have you fallen in love in your life?
They are three difficult questions to answer that come from the [Canon of Adolescence], stupid things that go like that.
If you ask me, "What is the [Canon of Adolescence]?", I am willing to answer the following words without a doubt:
"An apocryphal book that should never be touched by anyone."
It's my fault, my entire fault.
That's the kind of thing that happens when you have [Second Degree Syndrome], an experience that most of those who have seen anime or manga in large numbers have experienced where they begin to confuse reality with fiction.
But we can ignore that!
I've already overcome that phase to return to my ordinary nature a couple of years ago. I guess now I have no problem socializing or something like that, but what really bothers me and the only thing I have complaints about...
It's probably my birth mother.
When I was seven years old, she hit my father in front of me and that act etched a simple notion in me.
But we can also omit that, it is not important at all what I have to say.
Likewise, my father and mother got divorced, and since they gave me a choice, I decided to stay with my father.
Years passed and I am now a sophomore in high school.
I was coming to the classroom when I received a message.
- - -
[Dad]: I'm going to get married again. I'll wait for you at 7PM in the restaurant of the [Sekigahara Hotel]
- - -
─Pfft?! That?! ─. Someone is ahead of me to scream.
─Ahh?! She's crazy?! ─. I reply surprised.
My exaggerated expression was just part of a chain reaction. In fact, I was surprised enough to jump out of my seat a bit.
What the hell...?
─Hey... Amano, who did you call "crazy"?
─May the devil take me...
My reply only came against me now.
It came back to me like a boomerang, perfect.
The one who threatens me with the look from behind and who is probably thinking about how to pierce my back right now, is my classmate, Kunikida Misaki, the girl who sits behind me.
If we talk about the distribution of seats, the classroom has five columns of six rows each, in order to have thirty students in a single room. On the other hand, if we talk about where my seat is located, it is one of the best strategic places.
Column 2 - Row 4 (or 2-4 to summarize).
I have found for a fact since elementary school that this position is perfect if you want to go largely unnoticed by teachers. As long as you're not overly talkative or have an appearance that stands out from your other peers, you'll be fine.
Or at least, I am, my qualities are not very outstanding.
Oh, and the annoying behind me is from seat 2-5, I just add.
─Hey, Amano! I'm talking to you!
The girl behind me throws a notebook at my head.
─What are you, a monkey?!
─Don't call me stupid nicknames!
And this time, it's a pen that hits the back of my neck.
We have known each other since the first year of high school. But it's not like we get along too well.
Nor is it that I am the type of protagonist that a childhood friend has, an interesting but funny Senpai, I am not bothered by my kouhai, much less I have the image of having a younger sister to whom to consent, I do not have classmates in love I don't have any kind of romantic interest by my side, be it an alien or a ghost.
My life is the most normal, but the one that obstructs my perpetual tranquility is the one that sits behind me.
Despite knowing each other for a long time, most of our interactions are to compete with each other. It may not seem like it, but this ape I call my "classmate" and I are in the top positions in our school.
Since last year, our level of competitiveness increased, making us at least a thousand times more incompatible with each other.
As we have studied together since high school, we each learned various things from the other such as behaviors and behavior patterns.
It is a matter of simple observation if we say it that way.
Gifted with a beauty of another level, with short brown hair and porcelain white skin, she is Kunikida Misaki, the classmate who has known me since high school. In a romantic comedy, she would be the type of character in love with the protagonist, but nothing to do with it.
We hate each other a bit, but I guess she's the only person I can call "the closest thing to a friend."
But why does this friendship have so little balance?
Well. Perhaps it is because Kunikida Misaki herself is a truly beautiful girl with facial features that make you doubt your own eyes. If that is.
Do you get it?
If not, I'll explain it anyway.
The level of her beauty IS crazy, so much so that NOBODY dares to speak to her, absolutely NOBODY. This is due to the SHAME it causes them.
Enough emphasis, right?
That is why Kunikida Misaki has no friends.
They invite her out on her and that sort of thing, but she's probably the only one who has her contact information and the only person she can vent to. She can act like the "Perfect Miss" in front of the rest of the people, but when she lets go, she is completely a foul-mouthed woman with a lousy character, but no one can see that, since they know that if they pay attention to her, they will be absorbed by her beauty. .
That is why, is that if she even she treats me badly or hits me, nobody looks at this and they continue to believe that her role of "Miss Perfect" has no fault.
Ah, maybe it's rude to talk only about her, right?
Yes, yes. I guess it's wrong.
After all... I'm not too far behind.
Like Kunikida, my number of friends boils down to the wonderful number of: 1
That's right, I also have Kunikida Misaki as my only friend. After all, we are the type of people who are used by her "friends".
We realized that in high school, as people saw that we are very close, many have wanted to take advantage of our unique status as "friends" to try to connect with each of us respectively.
It's not that I'm not popular, because I am. I just personally hate being the center of attention.
"Amano, a girl asked me to give you this"
"What a coincidence, a guy asked me to give you this"
"Would you turn it down for me?"
"Sure, if you do it in my place"
That's the kind of interaction we've had in the past and I'm proud of it.
At least in my case, I do not care too much about the opinion of others, since anyway, the only person who can judge me with all the right to do so is Kunikida.
I am heartily sorry for involving her in awkward situations, but Kunikida is really my only support.
My father, like her mother, are single parents. They work a lot and don't have time to spend with their children. Although I don't know if she thinks the same of me, I consider Kunikida Misaki the only one who knows me well enough to have a friendly relationship with her.
But what can we do?
Mm. Well, sometimes we go out together somewhere or other, since being together we do not care about classes, we can do the lazy all we want.
Many times we have stayed to sleep at each other's house after playing video games for hours and carelessly making dinner. That's how we are.
The "Cusp of the Antisocials" is an extra chapter of the apocryphal book known as [Canon of Adolescence].
Someday I will speak in more detail about that.
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It was lunchtime. And as we are used to, Kunikida and I went for lunch to the only place where there is absolutely not a single person.
─Give me a meatball in exchange for my asparagus.
─You are too picky, Kunikida. But hey, I accept the offer you are making me.
─Thank you, I love you, Amano.
─Mm, me too.
Our conversation seems flirtatious, right?
Oh ok. Nothing of that.
First, we are not lovers.
Second, there are no feelings in those words.
Third, this is simple gratitude.
After trying to heal each other's wounds over and over again, we become too used to each other's presence to the point of saying things like "I love you" or "I love you" too naturally.
We have done it so many times that it became a reflection for each of us. We look more like family than lovers in that sense.
The purpose behind it is to fill the lack of affection and attention that each one has with their respective families. That's how social misfits we are.
But at the end of the day, this is for the good of the other.
─It's funny, Amano.
─What thing?
─This week there were four requests from girls who wanted to be your girlfriend.
─Mm, what about that? It is not out of the ordinary.
─Well, I find it curious that even with pretty girls behind you, you want absolutely nothing. You've told me many times that you want love, so wouldn't any of them be enough?
─No... it isn't.
─Why?
Do you ask me the reason?
Well, I have several to list within a long list that scores each of those reasons one by one.
Nevertheless.
There is a main one above all of them.
Something that I probably can't ever fix.
My heart has been broken for a long time. There were many times when I vomited at night just to remember my mother, I also had the problem of not being able to taste the food and over time, that made me know the little flame that had been born in my heart since that my father left my mother.
It's not like the typical childish notion of having an unmanly dislike of girls.
But rather, an even darker feeling growing inside me. The plain and simple fact of hating women.
That's how broken it was.
Yes... I say it in the past form, because until Kunikida came into my life, I had had a repulsive hatred for all women. He couldn't look a girl in the eye and let's not mention talking about her.
But I never said anything about that grief to my father, instead I just let Kunikida know this from me.
Now that complex has been greatly reduced.
Only I'm still horrible at dealing with women and Kunikida is the only one who knows the reason behind it.
If I had to be the one rejecting girls instead of using Kunikida as a screen, I probably would have earned the hatred of all my classmates or perhaps the entire high school.
I'm not very tactful in talking to women, unless I am convinced that I can trust that person.
But mainly...
If I had a girlfriend, it is very likely that...
─Because if I had a girlfriend, Kunikida would be left alone and that is something she would definitely hate to do.
─What? Do you love me, Amano?
...
That is troublesome.
Of course.
Troubled if it was another girl other than Kunikida. She's not my girlfriend, but like I've already said, none of that really matters when it comes to our relationship.
─I love you.
I made sure to look right into her eyes as I said that, to sound convincing enough.
She looks at me silently and as if she was swimming, she kisses me on the cheek.
Well.
This is nothing to us.
─By the way, give me some of that tamagoyaki.
─In exchange for a little of your juice.
─I told you not to drink yours on the way.
─I'm sorry, Amano. I was thirsty.
─Yes, whatever you say...
So easy, that simple.
There are no romantic moments in our lives.
Moments only.
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After school...
─Hey, Kazuki! Let's go to the arcade for a bit, do you want to come with us?
─You owe me a rematch for last time, Amano.
─We could stop by a coffee shop on the way.
─Satou, can we?
─Kanzaki-chan, give it a break.
A group of two boys and three girls came to my seat when classes ended.
Confused, I turned a bit towards Kunikida's seat and I could see that she was typing something on her cell phone.
Moments later, a text message reached me.
- - -
[Kunikida]: You don't have to ask my permission, just go.
- - -
I'm glad she gets it.
I turn off my phone and grab my backpack while silently thanking Kunikida for what she did.
Most of the time, Kunikida and I wait until the classroom is empty to go out together. In this way we can avoid the public gaze and thus be able to converse with the greatest of tranquility.
I will introduce those I know from this group.
Satou Ryuuji, the leader of the group, is tall and handsome, he dyes his hair and has piercings. He may seem like a delinquent, but he is quite diligent in his classes, ranking 10th in the entire school. Surprising.
We also have Hyoudou Sakuta, he is not as handsome as Satou, but he is on the level of decent. Loud and quite athletic, he is just the idiot that he seems, as he is nearing the bottom of the school.
That ends the introduction of the boys, since they are aware of my first and last name, but anyway, I am Amano Kazuki, particularly from few friends or human contact in general, I have no special preferences or tastes for anything, I just follow the idealistic current.
On the girls' side, there is a gal-style girl who is almost my height. Brown hair that covers her back and a face with a considerable layer of makeup, she is the leader of the girl group and girlfriend of Satou, her name is Kanzaki Ichika.
I only really know her, the other two are complete strangers to me but one of them seems quite close to Hyoudou, I think her name was Fuyumi Haruka or something like her. I don't know, I don't interact too much with many people besides Kunikida.
While we were walking, I decided to ask the girl next to me.
─Did these idiots force you to come or do you usually go out with them?
I ask. Since she is definitely the only one out of place within this group.
I'm still in a decent range because I usually hang out with Satou and Hyoudou, becoming part of the group that they make up. The people here are not their particular group, so it seems strange to me that a normal girl like her joined this outing among friends.
Starting from her posture and her facial expression, I can tell that she is not very good at dealing with others.
Unfortunately for her, my father is a lawyer and I have gone on trips with him several times in the past, which led me to learn various behaviors from her person. My father is soft, but to date, I have not been able to lie to him once.
He was the one who taught me to detect even the smallest hint of hesitation in a person such as facial micro-expressions, different types of intonation and of course, typical movements such as those of the eyes and hands. Easy to understand memorizable behavior patterns. If I have doubts about a person, then I will dig deep until I get to the truth.
The girl was nervous when she spoke to her so suddenly, I could see how her cheeks turned red then.
...
Agh, this is a problem.
I take out my phone and write to Kunikida.
- - -
[Amano]: Kunikida, do you have time at night?
- - -
As fast as I type, the message is received, viewed and I have a response almost ready in advance.
- - -
[Kunikida]: Sorry, I'll be busy. What's the matter?
[Amano]: Another one... by the way, what will you do tonight?
[Kunikida]: Family matters, I guess you don't mind in the same way.
[Amano]: I also have a meeting like this tonight, but I was thinking of letting it go if you were free, it's a shame.
[Kunikida]: Be responsible, idiot. Your father will be very sad if you don't go. He just sees, you don't look at him daily :)
- - -
And with that, our conversation ended.
Wow, I thought I was going to take up more time. But hey, Kunikida still doesn't understand that he should take a moment to reply to a message and not do it right away. It is worth mentioning that Kunikida's phone is one that I bought for her, and perhaps she does not use it for anything other than to text me or watch funny videos.
She is quite a girl when no one is watching, seriously.
I put the phone in my pocket and head back to the girl next to me.
─Hey, what's your name?
I ask in a dry tone and with no signs of wanting to socialize beyond what is necessary.
The girl, who is still red as beets, answers me in a tone of voice that was a bit difficult for me to hear.
─... Kagura... Saki...
I guess she must be very embarrassed with me.
Therefore. I think I need to take preventive measures.
I don't want her to be the only one to feel uncomfortable, even if it bothers me to know what she is thinking and tries to hide me. I don't think it's very nice of me to go on like this.
─Kanzaki, I want to talk about something with Satou, can I?
─Ah, it's alright, Kazu-san.
Changing places with Satou's girlfriend, in order to go ahead of the group.
Satou looks at me curiously and hesitating a bit, he asks:
─Is something wrong, Kazuki?
─Yes. Kunikida shared this cafeteria with me a while ago, I was thinking of going for a walk there.
─Mm, you sure are close with Kunikida-chan, she is the idol of the class, how have you gotten so close to her?
─Well... she and I are quite compatible. We have more in common than everyone thinks.
Respond honestly so as not to arouse suspicion.
The last thing I want to do is a slip, which would cause an explanatory void in the entire facade that we have created for the public that Kunikida and I do not get along.
I have to take advantage of every last resource recorded in my memory to maintain the series of lies that we have told to this day.
Satou smiled and said:
─So it is. Okay, we can take a detour. And by the way, next time you should ask Kunikida-chan if she wants to come with us.
That would be a beginner's mistake.
I know Kunikida would flatly refuse, because she has done so before. She's way too stubborn when it comes to that kind of thing.
She hates going out with other people as that would lead to having to adjust to their preferences to socialize. Quite the opposite of when we go out together, where she can be herself without worrying about anything.
Kunikida is quite reserved in that regard, and I am the only one who has managed to break through her defenses, all because we are quite similar people.
But.
Here's something that Satou has never mentioned.
Even if he is a handsome boy with a girlfriend who has a higher social status than mine, he is something else when it comes to Kunikida.
He may not show it, but Satou is one of the many who was rejected by Kunikida. The problem lies in the following, he is blackmailing me. He found out the kind of relationship I have with Kunikida in some way or another, and he threatens to tell the whole class about it if I don't listen to what he says.
Personally, I don't care if they only demean me socially. But we are talking about Kunikida, she is more sensitive to criticism than I am, and she would definitely feel sad if she knew what is going on.
I have decided not to tell Kunikida, since there is nothing she can do to avoid Satou's blackmail anyway. That is why I prefer to keep quiet and follow the idealistic current so as not to get into trouble.
I am willing to give everything to Satou, except the exposure of my relationship with Kunikida. Therefore, I will do everything possible not to harm her with anything that I can say or do.
I guess it's a worthy sacrifice, enough for someone like me, who only seeks to protect who cares.
Sometimes I just wonder.
Would it be okay if I fell in love with Kunikida?
After all, she has rejected several guys in the past, I would not be surprised if I join that list if I decide to fall in love with her in the future.
It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to convince her to date me romantically.
Hmm...
Someday I'll ask him.
But I'm not saying that that day will be soon.
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"Ehm... Amano-kun! I like you!"
I still remember the first time they proposed to me.
I cannot accurately describe... the feeling of revulsion I had at that moment.
There was a pretty girl who was holding my hands while she declared her feelings to me, how did you want someone like me to feel about it?
Back then, my hatred of women was at its peak and that was when a situation presented itself.
Thanks to that, it was that I was able to truly know Kunikida for the type of person that she really is, without falsehoods or lies, she was the first to show real and non-romantic concern towards me.
"If she annoys you, you can use me as a screen as much as you want, Amano. We are essentially the same, so if you decide to turn down those who come forward, I am willing to turn down all the girls who come."
She offered me a fair deal where we both won out and we did not directly hurt anyone with our actions.
We took an oath to help each other under all circumstances, prioritizing our relationship above all else. Each would use the other according to their benefit and need, that way, we would not find ourselves tired of being in a loving relationship.
Kunikida understands my heart's content better than anyone, so I also learned to understand his. We did this to be able to give love and appreciation to the other, without worrying about what other people say, both she and I, we give everything of ourselves to the other.
If she and I were in love, we would probably be the best couple in the world.
There is nothing that I do not have in common with Kunikida, starting with our majority dislike for the opposite gender that we decided to put aside only for the other.
Because...
It is that we can be at the same table without worrying about what the other has to say.
─Hm? Are they classmates? Okay, that makes things so much easier!
─I agree with Takeichi-san, if you get along well from the beginning, we assume that everything will be fine for you if you stay home alone for a few more months.
─We promise to be back for Christmas, so don't worry about any of that.
─Yes, we will be sending money constantly and we will also call you often to see how you are doing.
The talk of our newly married parents is not something that matters too much, they are the typical things that a newly married couple talk about, but I can say that all this surprises me quite a bit.
There are dozens of stories that begin in the spring, but this one begins in the fall, where my only friend and I, it seems that by the art of fate, we are going to become stepbrothers.
Our parents are unconcerned about us, just as people in the adult world should be.
They seem to love each other, so we as their children, we just have to keep quiet and support their decision to marry while they are happy.
You may get along very well, and that relationship will improve as your marriage progresses.
As long as my father can smile as much as he did back then... I guess I can keep quiet.
It's an interesting but hackneyed turn of events.
Certainly something like this is also written in the [Canon of Adolescence] hidden in a box inside my closet.
Our parents went to the hotel where they are staying, perhaps to celebrate their first wedding night as adults. That leaves Kunikida and me completely exhausted and with little life force.
I didn't know at the time...
But our life had just taken a turn completely devoid of what I was imagining.
A twist that would involve a lot of annoying people in the near future. Where without being aware of it, Kunikida Misaki and Amano Kazuki were going to have unimaginable changes in their people.
