Chapter 24: Courage

"Hah," Suzuki frowned as he woke up. "Morning, already?" He was in utter defeat, and his expression told his grumpy attitude.

"It's almost been a week." He said to himself as he sat up and looked at his phone. He slowly clicked the messaging app and immediately pressed the new text button.

"Should I text her?" Suzuki wondered, biting his lower lip in frustration.

"Nah, screw this." Finally, he gave up, deleting the whole new text. "I need food!" He shouted as he stood and stretched out.

"Ramen." He sang and danced happily over to his kitchen. "Ramen-" He sang again until a random notification rang on his phone.

Ding!

"Huh?" He hummed, confused, as he lost footing.

"Oh, shit-" Suzuki shouted as he fell to the floor. "Ow ow ow!" He agonized while rolling over to his back.

"What is it anyway?" Suzuki questioned the notification and its purpose while pulling out his phone.

[New Message from…]

{Nagisa-Chan ^_^}

[Hey…]

He read it very carefully with a surprised look. "What does Nagisa-Chan want?" He jolted off the ground. Suzuki looked over the message, speechless from the built-up anxiety, so he began pacing through his small apartment.

His thoughts ran rugged, and his imagination about creating scenes randomly switched between interactions and possibilities. "No way. What does she want? Why the ellipsis anyway?" He paced even faster through his apartment.

Bang!

He banged his head against his room's sliding door. "Ahhh!" He screamed in pain and frustration. "Screw it. I'm going to text her!" He encouraged himself.

[Hey, it's Suzuki. Is there anything I can assist with?]

He formally and politely wrote a text.

{send} or {delete}

He hovered over the two option buttons.

"Do it, do it, Suzuki!" He shouted as lighting began crackling and shooting throughout his apartment.

Then, the world went dark, and the demons of doubt began filling the air. "I can't!" He slowly uttered to himself in defeat while hovering his finger over the delete option.

"No, I'm not a coward! I will fight with every ounce of power I have left!" He yelled with an intense look. "Haaa!" He screamed as his finger made it closer to the send option.

Vwop!

He finally sent the text to Nagisa after ten minutes of contemplating such simple decisions. "Yeah, I'm built different!" He thought to himself with a disappointed smirk.

Ding!

[New Message from…]

{Nagisa-Chan ^_^}

[Yes, I would like you to assist me with a problem.]

Ding!

[Suzuki-San, undoubtedly, you are very polite and have a sense of formality, but no need to be so tense around me.]

Ding!

[Shake loose the anxiety and be yourself.]

Suzuki went over every line with careful and intensive reading eyes. "Be me?" He blankly pondered who he was, knowing he acted much the same throughout the day with every interaction.

Then, he began typing slowly, realizing he needed to open up about something important.

[I would love to, but Nagisa-Chan, this is who I am. I'm not used to talking to people, let alone texting.]

He said in the message as he built up the courage and submitted the text. Then, after some time, he received another notification.

Ding!

[See, you are not uptight anymore, be like this!]

His eyes glimmered in happiness as he read that one line.

Ding!

[You don't have to act a certain way or talk in a different tone. I believe when you are your gentle self is when you shine the brightest!]

Her message touched his heart. This unspoken, unfriended and lost heart finally found some cozy sensation with the word "friend." A tear trickled down his face and onto his keyboard. Suzuki really was a crybaby.

Vwop!

He sent another message while his eyes filled with tears.

[Thsnk you, Nagisa-San.]

Suzuki misspelled words led her to guarantee that he must've been crying on the other side of the screen.

[No problemo.]

She wrote to him in English.

[Wanna play a game?]

Nagisa sent another follow-up message, trying to cheer him up.

[Hmm, let's play.]

He texted her back while walking over to his gaming desk and turning on the computer; he finally realized.

"How does she know that I'm gentle? How does she know in what tone I speak? How does she know these things about me?" He asked himself with a look filled with fear.