There are some problems a bottom-tier character can’t fix alone

The next day was Friday.

According to what Hinami told me at our morning meeting, she'd come to

school at her usual time and worked on getting the field in as good shape as

possible before afternoon practice, but Mimimi hadn't shown up. It probably

hadn't occurred to her to spend morning practice fixing up the field after the

rainstorm.

That day, Mimimi was cheerful, but not herself.

She didn't fall asleep in class. She wasn't stumbling around. Most likely,

she'd recovered a bit thanks to taking a day off for rain.

But she didn't do as many silly things as usual—things like nibbling on

Tama-chan and otherwise harassing her or coming to talk to me like she had

since the election. Even when she was exhausted, she'd pushed herself

socially, but on Friday, even after the rest, she didn't.

Of course, I might have been jumping to conclusions. She may simply

have sensed our discomfort and held back in an attempt to be sensitive to our

feelings. The changes in her behavior weren't dramatic—in fact, they were so

subtle that someone watching from the outside would probably think she was

acting like she always did.

Tama-chan seemed to be torn over something, too.

It was after school, just after sixth period.

"Tomozaki… She's down there today."

As usual, I'd killed time in the library before coming back to the

classroom once Tama-chan would have arrived. As I expected, she was

standing by the window. She'd left space for me like it was the most natural

thing in the world.

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"Cleaning up the field?"

"Looks that way."

I could see Mimimi and Hinami working down there.

"But tomorrow's Saturday. Bet it'd dry out if they left it alone."

"They train independently on Saturdays. Apparently, Minmi came last

week, too. They're probably getting it ready for that."

"All that trouble just for a little extra practice?"

They could leave it alone, and it'd be fine by Monday. Yet they'd stayed

until now to fix it up. Honestly, I wanted to ask what could possibly motivate

them to do that. As usual, it was just the two of them, sucking up the water

with sponges and squeezing it into buckets. Over and over again. It was a

dull, endless task.

"What about the other track team members?"

"They practiced somewhere else. Aoi and Minmi, too. Guess they ran

around the gym."

"Huh."

Since Tama-chan was on the volleyball team, she would've seen them.

"When they finished, the two of them came back alone and started getting

the field ready."

"Oh."

We stayed there watching them. After a while, something odd happened.

"Look at Minmi. She's been sitting down for a long time."

"…You're right."

Hinami was walking around with her sponge and bucket, getting rid of the

last scattered puddles. But Mimimi was sitting motionless on the field.

Hinami came over and said a few words to her every few minutes, but they

didn't talk for long.

After a while, Mimimi stood up, walked over to Hinami, said something,

and walked toward the school building and out of sight.

Tama-chan turned to me with worry.

"Wonder what happened."

"…No idea."

We stared at the field for a couple more minutes, but there was no sign of

Mimimi. We shared a glance and went down to talk to Hinami.

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"Aoi!" Tama-chan shouted when we got to the field.

"Hanabi and Tomozaki-kun?"

Hinami looked up at us, surprised. Her hands and shoes were covered in

mud, which had even made its way under her fingernails. Her unceasing

effort was more vivid than ever.

"Where's Minmi?" Tama-chan asked, hiding her anxiety.

"Mimimi…left a few minutes ago. She said she had something to do at

home," Hinami said in an awkward, gloomy tone.

"…Is she okay?" Tama-chan looked straight at Hinami as she spoke.

"I…I don't think so. But she didn't want to talk about it."

Tama-chan grimaced and immediately headed toward the school gate.

"Wait!" Hinami called.

"Why?"

"Mimimi won't talk to you; she'll try to act strong. She'll just smile and

say she's fine, or jump you or something."

"But…" For some reason, Hinami turned to me. "Tomozaki-kun."

"What?" I was confused.

"Mimimi told you some things we don't know about, didn't she?"

Translation: Even though you haven't reported it during our meetings, I

know she's told you how she really feels.

"Um, well, I guess so." Which was to say, Sorry, guess you saw the truth.

"I think there's something only you can do right now."

Part of me thought she was saying, Go get yourself some EXP, but part of

me didn't.

"Because personally, I can't do anything."

I don't know what that would translate to in normal Hinami language, but

she looked serious. Plus, I'd decided from the start to do as she said until I

had determined how good life was as a game.

"Okay."

I looked at Tama-chan and made sure she approved before I took off

running.

"Based on when she left school, if you run, you should be able to catch

her at the station before she gets on the train—the one that leaves at

seventeen after!"

"Okay!"

I ran through the school gates with Hinami's overly detailed advice at my

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back.

Cursing myself for running out of energy about two seconds after I started, I

somehow made it to the station, gasping for breath. I looked around for

Mimimi. It was fifteen after. She should still be there.

"…Tomozaki?"

I turned around to see her coming out of the bathroom, looking at me with

surprise.

"Mi…Mimimi…!" I panted.

"What are you doing?"

Mimimi smiled just a little as she peered at my face. With her hair out of

its usual ponytail, she looked more grown-up than usual.

"What…? I mean…!"

"You're dripping sweat! Where'd you run from?" She gave me a troubled,

less-cheerful-than-usual smile.

"I didn't…run…that far…but I'm a…total weakling…"

"At least you're honest." She laughed. "…But why are you here?"

She was asking why I'd run here. Well, why had I?

I answered point-blank. "No idea."

"Huh?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you…because you left…!" I was still catching

my breath. "It's not that I have…"

Mimimi was staring at me.

"Have what?"

"…An actual question!"

"Tomozaki…you're kinda clueless, aren't you?"

"I think so…"

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"Whatever! Just sit down for now!"

Mimimi and I sat down next to each other on the platform.

* * *

"Finally stopped dripping sweat, I see!" Mimimi chirped, smiling her usual

smile. It wasn't the expression I'd expect after she had worked so hard to

clean up and then went home before it was done. That's probably why it felt

so strange.

Searching for a way to start the conversation, I looked at Mimimi. With

her hair down, she looked weirdly sexy and grown-up, which made the

strange charm on her bag jump out at me even more.

Which reminded me, Hinami had taught me that when I didn't have a

good conversation starter, I could say something about the other person. In

which case, I'd add some Mizusawa style and give it a try.

"Still got that weird strap, huh?"

Mimimi laughed. "I told you already, it's cute!" she answered brightly.

"U-uh, guess so."

"Oh geez. Now even you're talking about it!"

She sounded happy, though, so my plan didn't seem to have backfired.

Whew. Mizusawa Method to the rescue again. If we're talking facts, of

course, that thing wasn't cute at all. The problem now was, I didn't have

anything else to say. Damn.

My only choice was a point-blank question. I'd start with what was

bugging me the most.

"Listen, the reason you're pushing yourself so hard…it's because you're

going up against Hinami, isn't it?"

"Oh right!" Mimimi said, like she'd just remembered something. "Yumichan said she told you a bunch of stuff!"

"Oh, um, no, um, yeah." Looks like Yamashita-san spilled the beans.

"What? What did she tell you?! She wouldn't tell me!" Mimimi dug her

elbow into my side. Stop it!

"Well, um…" I proceeded to tell her everything I'd heard. When I was

done, Mimimi smiled self-consciously.

"You've really seen behind the curtain, huh?" she said, trying to hide

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behind a laugh. "Guess I can't hide anything now! So what were you asking?

Was I going overboard because it's Aoi?"

I nodded.

"I'm not sure. I think I'd want to be the best even if I wasn't going up

against Aoi. Of course, I'm not aiming for the nationals in every field like she

is."

"So even if it wasn't her…?"

If Hinami wasn't the problem, why did Mimimi want to be in first place

so badly?

For some reason, she gave a resigned smile. "How can I explain it? I want

to really shine, and I don't yet!"

"Shine?"

"Yeah. I realized that when I watched Hinami play, and it made me want

to be in first place."

"…What do you mean?"

"Well…you know how I lost to Aoi in my last junior-high tournament?"

"…Yeah."

"After that, I went to watch the nationals. By myself. I thought I'd cheer

on the girl I'd competed with at the prefectural tournament. I even kinda

hoped she'd win in my place. But like I told you before, she ended up in

second. Of course, that's still totally incredible."

"Yeah, guess you're right. Especially if she was pulling almost all the

weight."

"Exactly! But at the award ceremony, when they announced that her

junior high had come in second, all her teammates were going crazy smiling

and saying what a good job they'd done… Meanwhile, Aoi was biting her lip

and looking disappointed and glaring at the MC."

"Oh…"

That.

"I felt like I was reliving what had happened to me. I'd worked hard to get

my team to the prefectural tournament, too, and then my teammates were all

excited about losing. When I saw her in the same situation, I felt weirdly

close to her. Of course, I lost at the prefectural tournament."

"No, but you're right… It's a similar situation," I said, nodding.

"Everyone was hugging each other and shouting back and forth, and some

of them were even crying tears of joy, but Aoi was just standing there still as

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a statue, biting her lip and staring straight ahead the whole time."

"Pretty incredible…"

I felt a chill of fear. Even in her third year of junior high, she was that

determined.

"But what happened next really surprised me."

"Yeah?"

"The master of ceremonies announced the first-place school." Mimimi

took a deep breath. "When they said the word 'first place,' Aoi's mask finally

broke, and she started crying."

"…Wow."

That was all I could say.

"She didn't cry when her own team's name was called for second place,

but when the other school's name was called for first, she did. It was like, this

girl only sees victory. It was incredible."

"That's…" Amazing. All I could do was nod earnestly.

"When I saw her, I felt like, okay, when you lose, it's okay to be upset. I

wasn't wrong after all."

"…Yeah."

"But then at the same time, I felt…embarrassed, or something, for not

being able to push through to where she was… To not bend to others, to stay

true to myself and just sob like she was. Even though she'd lost, I could see

there was something special about her. I was always trying to fit in, but she

was totally different." Mimimi gave me another resigned smile. "It was like I

realized that I wasn't special; I was just an ordinary person… Yeah. And I

wanted to be special like her. For me, Aoi is the one I admire the most and

the one I feel most grateful to. That's why of all the people I could lose to, I

don't want it to be her."

I don't know what expression was on my face, but I nodded.

"…But listen," I said, looking Mimimi in the eye. "Does it have to be first

place?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Would you be unhappy even if you beat your own record or something

like that?"

I gave it to her straight. She hesitated for a moment before speaking. "But

didn't you say you wanted to win? Being a gamer and all?"

Oh right. But that's a little different.

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"Okay, I hate to lose, so I shouldn't really talk here, but being number one

isn't my real goal. If I had to choose, I'd say the desire not to lose to myself

is stronger."

"…To yourself? Not to other people?" Mimimi looked at me blankly.

"I mean, I do want to beat other people. But in the end, that's about

fighting myself, too. There's no end to it if you're trying to be number one,

and anyway, that's not my only goal. Of course I want to win at tournaments,

but that's not what I'm truly after at the end of the day. When it comes to

Atafami, that is."

Mimimi was listening to me with shock.

"Anyway, what I want to say is this. If you work hard, it's worth it as long

as you see some results. Even if you don't end up in first place. It's not a

waste of time if you improve in some way. I mean, if everything other than

first place was a waste, then ninety-nine percent of the people in the world

would be wasting their lives. So…even if you don't win, as long as you can

see some improvement in yourself, then I think you're good."

After I told Mimimi my theory of gaming, she thought for a minute, then

responded.

"I'm not sure. I…"

"Yeah?"

She looked away from me and fiddled with her weird key chain. "I don't

have anything like Atafami that I want to do really badly. The only reason I

joined the track team is because Aoi was joining."

"Yeah, you did say that."

"I was so surprised when I saw her at the high school entrance ceremony.

Wow, she's here, I thought. But we'd only played one game against each

other, and she was this incredible person who'd taken second in nationals, so

I wasn't sure if I should talk to her."

"Oh…uh-huh, I could see that."

So even social butterfly Mimimi hesitated to talk to people sometimes.

"But after the ceremony, she came up to me in the hallway," she told me

slowly, like she was paging through a meaningful photo album.

"Huh."

"Even better, she goes, 'Hey, we played each other in the second game of

the prefectural tournament, right?!'"

"So she remembered."

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Mimimi nodded happily. "And then she says, 'I've been thinking about

you ever since that game.' And I go, 'Really? Thanks,' and smiled, and then

she gets serious and says, 'Listen.'"

"Oh yeah?"

Mimimi smiled and nodded. "I didn't know what she was going to say,

but then she lowers her voice and goes, 'I could tell playing you that you

practiced a ton.' That was a surprise. I smiled and said 'Yeah,' and she said,

'I wish I could have played on a team with you.'"

Mimimi was grateful for that, I could tell.

"Wow…from the famous Hinami!"

"She really saved me that day. She understood me. I was so glad."

"…I bet."

I knew the feeling. You're going along thinking it doesn't matter if

anyone recognizes your effort, that you're doing it all for yourself. And then

someone shows up who's worked as hard as you have, someone you can truly

respect, and they affirm what you've done. It can be such a weight off your

shoulders.

"After that, we became friends and joined the track team together. I

worked pretty hard at it, too. But around the second semester of our first year,

Aoi took first place on our team for high jump, which was my event, even

though she was a sprinter."

"Ohhh."

"I was kind of expecting it, but it was still a shock. I'm naturally good at

sports, and I work harder than most other people. I do! I'm pretty good, right?

…But she beat me easily."

I looked down as I said, "Oh."

"Once again, I had this sense that I would never be special."

"Special…"

"If you wanna shine, you've gotta be number one…but it was, like,

impossible! I mean, celebrities are the ones with the spotlight, right? Sorry

this story is so depressing; it's just how I felt!"

With her usual cheer, she hurriedly cut off her monologue.

"Oh, no worries."

"Well, that's my story! But you're right! Ultimately, there's only so much

a person can do, and I just don't have what it takes! Thanks, Tomozaki, I feel

better after talking to you! Oh look, here comes the train."

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"Yeah," I said, watching the train pull up. Mimimi stared at it without

making a move to get up. I clenched my fist in my pocket, running through

all the techniques I'd learned, all my own experiences, and everything I knew

about the human heart.

"…But."

"What?"

She peered at me with that overly natural smile. There was only one thing

I could say after listening to her story; I summoned my courage and told her

how I really, truly felt.

"But…in my opinion, you're shining pretty brightly already."

I tried as hard as I could to sound serious and not let my voice quake.

Mimimi widened her eyes in surprise and, after a long pause, responded:

"…Ah-ha-ha. Thanks."

It was a lonely laugh. From her expression, I could tell I hadn't really

reached her. My attempt at encouragement must have sounded to her like

some silly joke that didn't resolve anything. My powerlessness as a bottomtier character was suddenly obvious.

"Anyway, I don't care anymore, so don't worry about me! Oh, sorry; I

think I'll head home by myself today!"

"Mi…"

Before I could stop her, she'd gotten up from her chair and squeezed onto

the train. And before I could follow, the doors had closed and her small form

was fading into the distance.

* * *

The weekend passed, and I was once again at my Monday morning meeting

with Hinami.

"She didn't show up… Not on Saturday and not for morning practice

today." Hinami bit her lip.

"Oh…" I gripped my head.

"What happened on Friday?"

"We talked a lot, but…"

Trying to skirt the parts that had to do with Hinami, I gave her a rundown

of our conversation.

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"I see," she said, looking down sadly. "But you…"

I sensed something accusatory in her tone.

"N-no…"

I felt bad, and I didn't have any excuse. But it turned out my failure with

Mimimi wasn't what I was in trouble for.

"You said something I wouldn't expect from you."

"Huh?"

I was confused. I'd said a lot of things to Mimimi, but all of them were

the honest truth.

"I mean, you're the same as me in that respect, right? You must be, if

you've gotten that far in Atafami."

Yeah, she was definitely grumpy with me over something.

"What do you mean 'the same'? What did I do that was so unexpected?"

She was quiet for a brief moment. "You really don't know?"

"Nope."

She nibbled her lip. "I mean, nanashi would never think 'It's fine not to be

number one.'"

Her total confidence surprised me.

"…What the hell? I genuinely think that. Atafami's a battle against

myself."

"What…really?"

"Yup."

When I nodded, she opened her mouth a little in shock. "Really," she

muttered.

"What? Is it that important?"

"No. The Mimimi issue is more important. Point is, it didn't go well…"

She returned to the subject at hand, her face filled with sorrow. But really,

what was that about just now? It bothered me, but we had more important

things to talk about.

"No, it didn't… I'm sorry."

"No, I couldn't do anything, either. I just shifted the responsibility to

you."

She seemed hurt. An awkward silence overtook the familiar atmosphere.

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"Oh, um, right, what about today's assignment…?"

I fumbled for words to relieve the awkward tension a bit.

"Today's assignment…" She looked at me gravely. "I want you to think

about Mimimi's true feelings, the ones you hid from me just now, and reflect

on what you and only you can do to fix this situation."

"…Hinami."

Once again, she'd seen right through me.

The meeting ended with a minimum exchange of words.

That day during lunch break, everything changed.

"What, why…?"

We were in the classroom, and Tama-chan was reacting with surprise to

what Mimimi had just said.

"I mean, there's a lot of reasons!" Mimimi said clownishly, standing near

my chair. Her face was cheerful, like her worries had been swept away. But

everyone who overheard them was speechless.

I was in shock, too. Made sense, given what she just said.

"Minmi, you're really quitting?"

Apparently, she'd turned in the form to quit the track team.

Mimimi nodded. "Yup. I thought about it over the weekend and decided

this would be best!"

"But…"

I was close enough to hear the whole conversation, but I couldn't find a

pause to slip in. When I looked up, I saw Hinami approaching.

"Is it true?"

When Mimimi saw Hinami, she looked the tiniest bit sad for a second,

then right away, she smiled.

"Yeah, it's true! I'm sorry, Aoi! But I thought over a bunch of stuff! My

body can't take any more of this!" she said cheerfully, parroting the famous

old sumo line.

"…I wanted to keep running track together." Hinami looked disappointed.

To me, knowing Mimimi's true feelings, her words struck a cruel and painful

chord.

"…I'm sorry, Aoi."

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"No, there's nothing for you to apologize about!"

"Ah-ha-ha."

The other students in our class watched their conversation nervously.

"…Tomozaki."

I turned around. Izumi was whispering my name.

"What?"

"Isn't this awkward?" She looked worried.

I answered honestly. "Yeah…it is, a little."

"What happened? Did they get in a fight?"

"…No." It wasn't a fight. "Maybe more like a misunderstanding…"

"Oh… Can't they make up?"

"Make up?" I was unsure. "Well, but…"

"But?"

That's when I realized what the biggest problem in this whole situation

was.

"Nobody did anything wrong."

All day, Mimimi was clearly feeling low. If someone talked to her, she

answered normally, but she didn't once clown around like she usually did.

* * *

After school, Mimimi didn't change into her track uniform. Instead, she got

ready to go home. She really was quitting.

"Tama! Sorry to leave before you today!" she chirped. She was

surrounded by four of her normie friends, who apparently were going home

with her. Impressive, Mimimi.

"…Um."

Tama-chan looked like she had mixed feelings about all this. There was

an awkward pause; she seemed on the verge of saying something but then

couldn't. A high wall of normies had risen in front of her, preventing her

from saying anything to Mimimi about quitting the track team. She took one

step forward but then, after a minute, retreated again.

"Bye, Tama! See you tomorrow!"

Mimimi was turning to leave the classroom when something dawned on

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me.

Hinami had given me an assignment: Reflect on what you and only you

can do.

There was no way a bottom-tier character like me could save Mimimi;

that was an outrageous goal. My words hadn't reached her. And when that

happened, I assumed I'd reached a deadlock.

But here was something I could do.

Over these past few weeks, you've learned to take action.

That was the only achievement of mine Hinami had given her stamp of

approval. I'd show her! I had my own unique way of solving this problem,

and all I had to do was take action!

"Mi-Mimimi!"

"Huh?"

Approaching Mimimi and her posse of normies, I called out to her, failing

completely to modulate my volume. The normies eyed me with suspicion.

This was bad. Very awkward. But I ignored them. Suppressing the queasiness

in my stomach through sheer force of will, I kept talking.

"Wanna go home together?" I asked her.

Huh?

I could almost hear the normies' thoughts as they gaped rudely at me in

unison.

"…Huh?"

Hell, Mimimi was gaping at me, too. But the normies' jaws were about

five times closer to the ground. Finally, one of them said, "What's Tomozaki

talking about?!" and I became a harmless joke.

Not just the four normies standing around Mimimi, but practically the

whole class witnessed it, since homeroom had just ended, and most students

hadn't left yet. "Creep!" Erika Konno called, at exactly the right volume for

me to overhear. There it was—my old ridiculous position. It was like

everyone was thinking, Hey, that loser who's been getting around lately is

being a creep again. I could hear people whispering nasty stuff. Willpower

wasn't enough to keep my stomach from tightening.

I pretended I didn't notice any of it and took a deep breath.

"Come on, walk to the station with Tama-chan and me."

Tama-chan looked at me in surprise, then walked over to me.

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chan. Saying she'd skip out with a totally straight face. The class fell silent at

this bizarre situation. Mimimi froze for a minute in shock, then smiled again

and turned to the normies surrounding her.

"…Sorry, ladies, I hope you won't mind if I go with them. Tomozaki was

so brave, I just can't help it!"

Smoothing the situation over like it was no big deal, Mimimi joined

Tama-chan and me, and the three of us headed out.

Hinami watched us tight-lipped, maybe in prayer or maybe in deep

thought. But I'd come up with my own answer to her challenge. Reflect on

what you and only you can do. That was the assignment she'd given me just

that morning. Once I thought about it, the answer was simple, and this was

the only possible option.

Call for help without giving a damn what other people think.

Tama-chan, it's in your hands now.

* * *

"And then Hama-chan went and…"

As we walked home, Mimimi was chattering nonstop about comedy

movies and celebrity gossip and this and that, either to fill the silence or to

draw some kind of line. There was no space to bring up a new topic—

Mimimi, the master introducer, was drawing on her full powers. There was

no way I could cut in.

"Can you believe it? They snapped her picture right then…"

"Minmi. I want to ask you something."

So Tama-chan charged in instead. Her specialty.

"…What?"

Mimimi laughed awkwardly. Tama-chan paused for a few seconds, like

she was trying to decide where to start.

"Did you start to hate Aoi?"

"Um…"

Mimimi sounded bewildered; I couldn't say anything at all. She'd gone

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way beyond what I expected. What a way to start.

"Well, you did quit track."

Mimimi shifted her eyes around and shook her head, obviously

embarrassed. "Of course not!"

"…Are you sure?"

"Of course! I mean, Aoi is a great person. She can do anything." The

smile she'd pasted on to deflect the tension gradually started to fade. "I

respect her and count on her, and she really understands me." Mimimi's

voice grew quieter and quieter. "She's a total star, and she's special, and…"

All I could do was listen silently. Her pace slowed, and she looked down.

"Then why are you quitting track?" Tama-chan still didn't let up on her

interrogation.

"Because I…"

"You what?" Tama-chan urged gently.

Mimimi barked a laugh. "In the end, I guess I just have a lousy

personality."

"What?" Tama-chan asked, confused.

Mimimi was getting more and more emotional. "It's just…think about it.

There's no way I could hate Aoi."

I caught my breath at the tears glittering in Mimimi's eyes. Tama-chan

listened like she was giving her an invisible hug. "Uh-huh."

"I shouldn't, but I…" The tears were growing bigger. "I'm such a terrible

person."

"Terrible?"

Mimimi stopped walking, and Tama-chan and I did the same.

"I mean, it's awful. Here we are at the same school, and Aoi hasn't done

anything wrong. I couldn't beat her, and I got so frustrated. It's wrong to

think that way…! I'm just like everyone else…" Mimimi wiped her tears,

looking embarrassed.

"Think what way?"

"About Aoi! …She's such a great person, and she's always working so

hard to help her friends. She's never stuck up, and she's always thinking

about me. She completely understands me. I love her."

Tama-chan watched Mimimi intently.

"…Or I should, but…!" Huge tears spilled down her cheeks. "But she

beats me at school and at track! I got jealous of her! She was like…a thorn in

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my side, or an obstacle in my way…and I wanted her…to go away!! That's

how I felt… I couldn't help it…"

She was crying and sniffling as she confessed her feelings.

"…Uh-huh."

"How could I be any worse? But ever since I joined track, I couldn't stand

losing. I started having all those thoughts…and I hated myself so much for

having them…"

"…Uh-huh."

"I was thinking those things even when we were practicing together after

school. Why didn't she ever stop practicing? If she cared about me, she'd

stop right away. Come on, read the situation, Aoi!! I started thinking… And I

didn't want to feel that way about her anymore…"

"Mm-hmm."

"And that's why I quit."

"…Uh-huh."

Now that she'd let it all out, she was calming down.

"…I sensed it a little. She was amazing, and it frustrated me, but…the

reason she was amazing…was that she worked harder than me. It's always

been that way."

Tama-chan never took her eyes off Mimimi.

"It's like, it might be okay to be jealous if I worked as hard as her and still

never got ahead, or if I worked harder than her, but…"

Listening to her, I was starting to feel hopeless and miserable.

"In the end, Aoi just works harder." Mimimi laughed at herself. "I don't

even have the right to be jealous of her… I wonder why she works that hard."

A shadow fell over her face.

Just at that moment—chomp!

"Eek!"

Tama-chan leapt over to Mimimi like a real volleyball player and took her

ear in her mouth. What the heck?!

"Hey, Tama…what…? Ah! That…tickles!"

Mimimi grabbed hold of Tama-chan's fluffy hair and skirt hem, twitching

with the movements of her lips. Tama-chan kept nibbling with a very serious

expression, and then she stroked Mimimi's neck with one finger, which made

Mimimi gasp. I stared in shock at this unexpected development.

"…Minmi…"

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"Huh?"

"Minmi, do you want to be number one no matter what?"

"It's just…I'm nothing…"

"Nothing?"

"I don't shine like Aoi; I'm not invincible at something like Tomozaki; I

don't have a sense of self like you… If I don't work hard, I'm just empty…"

Tama-chan hugged Mimimi harder.

"…Minmi, you're…"

Tama-chan's voice was full of genuine gratitude.

"You're my hero."

"…What?"

Mimimi lifted her face up from Tama-chan's chest. Tama-chan stopped

hugging her, took a step back, and looked her in the eye again.

"You always say you're fine and smile and push yourself too far and work

hard. But you never show anyone…that you're saving me. I like Aoi, too, and

everyone else…but I only have one hero, and that's you."

"…But…"

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"If you still want to be number one…"

Tama-chan pointed at Mimimi's face and told her off in her typical Tama

way—only this time she was a little more intense, like she was

communicating something incredibly important.

"To me, you're the biggest idiot in the world! You'll have to make do

with that!"

Mimimi widened her eyes and blinked a few times. Finally, she focused

intently on the finger still pointed at her face—and then…

"Nom!" Her eyes still teary, she started sucking on it.

"Eek!" Tama-chan snatched her arm back. "What are you doing?!"

Wiping her tears away with her slender fingers, Mimimi snickered

mischievously.

"Come on…"

"Wh-what?" Tama-chan said, backing away warily just the slightest bit.

Mimimi grinned happily. "You said I was an idiot. Isn't this what you

meant?"

"…Minmi."

"Tama!" Mimimi flung her arms around Tama-chan's neck and hung

there with her whole weight.

"You idiot! You're heavy! Get off me!"

"What? Who did you call an idiot? Say it again!"

"Shut up, idiot!"

The two of them were building their own private girl-on-girl world with

their usual enthusiasm—with a bit more enthusiasm than usual, actually.

Geez, get a room, you two. Much as I like the eye candy. But that aside, it

seemed like a lot had been resolved, and I was happy about that. Like I said,

the friendship between girls is a beautiful thing.

But there was one problem, and I'd already noticed it.

I'd left everything in Tama-chan's hands, which meant I had zero

accomplishments to report to Hinami.

"Tomozaki! Let's go!"

"Oh right."

I spun around and caught up with the two of them, wondering what I

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should do. As it was, I was sure Hinami would unleash her full vengeful

anger on me: "You didn't do a damn thing this time, did you?!" I could

imagine her smirking the whole time, too.

Hounded by looming dread, I ran through the conversation topics I'd

memorized, searching for one that would work for both of them and hoping

desperately to find a lifeline here with them.

And then something dawned on me.

I had the perfect topic. I'd been wanting to ask Mimimi about it for a

while, and it related to Tama-chan, too.

"Hey, Mimimi."

"Huh? What?"

She turned toward me, the shadows gone from her face. I went for it.

"So what was that magic fingers thing all about anyway?"

As soon as I asked, Mimimi burst out laughing, and Tama-chan turned

beet red and pointed at me sternly.

"I told you already! That's not something you ask girls!!"

What the heck? Tama-chan was the one who told me to ask Mimimi!

"You're bringing that up now?! Like I said, you've got a wild streak,

Tomozaki!"

"What? No, I don't!"

"But nice move!"

With that, Mimimi raised her hands above her head. Here it comes. I

prepared my shoulder for attack. I knew exactly what she was up to.

But I didn't dodge. I took the hit straight on.

"Owww!!"

It was the hardest blow she'd given me yet, and it hurt like hell.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Oh, hey, Hinami. I just made someone laugh. It was a coincidence, but it's

not like I didn't help.