**Chapter Eighteen: Similar Us**
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… so that’s how it is…”
Kazu worked to clarify to Chika that it was a misunderstanding.
He brought her to the west side stairs of the teaching building, a place where few students passed after school.
They sat on the steps, using handkerchiefs to cushion the ground.
Kazu spent a long time there, finally convincing her that nothing had happened between him and Nagi that she imagined.
Chika finally calmed down.
This made Kazu realize that this seemingly quiet and intellectual senior secretly enjoyed crude jokes like a brash middle school boy.
But Kazu was surprised; despite him deliberately omitting details about Nagi’s past in the entertainment industry during his explanation, Chika clearly had some understanding of it.
“Does Senior Amamiya know? Little Nagi’s past.”
By the time he snapped out of it, the question had already slipped from his lips.
“Oh, no, I’m sorry, I just… happened to see it in an old newspaper…”
“I—I see…”
Chika looked as if she thought she had done something wrong and kept apologizing.
Watching this scene, Kazu couldn’t help but mock himself internally.
—Right, how did I forget?
—The “secret of Little Nagi’s past” that I thought only I knew was information that anyone could get from newspapers.
—It turned out that I was just being self-important…
Clearly wanting to distance himself from Little Nagi, but feeling a sense of superiority because he mistakenly believed he was the only one who knew about her past… Kazu increasingly loathed this version of himself.
“Let’s go…” Kazu said darkly as he stood up to leave.
Chika, watching his back, suddenly felt that his silhouette overlapped with her younger self.
This made her involuntarily lean forward and grab Kazu’s sleeve.
Kazu turned back, confused. His light yellow eyes reflected no glow even in the sunset.
—I can’t let him leave like this.
“If… if you don’t mind, could you tell me more?” Chika’s gaze was very serious.
It displayed a firmness different from her usual demeanor.
“Chika, if you want to help others, then you need to be a bit forceful,” the senior’s words echoed in Chika’s mind.
—Senior, please give me the power to save this junior before me…
—Just like you saved me back then…
Chika tightened her grip on Kazu’s sleeve, her other hand clutching the talisman.
The embroidered fox on the talisman seemed to dull in color at that moment.
Looking at Chika before him, Kazu felt the emotions he had suppressed for a long time surging within.
He couldn’t even remember the last time he had opened up to someone.
His relatives at home were indifferent to him, and even with his “sister” of the same age, there was no atmosphere to speak freely.
If it were Nagi, she would definitely listen to him gently, right? But having always enjoyed her gentleness unilaterally, Kazu found it hard to speak in front of her.
And Mana was extraordinarily busy, having to balance her studies with her development in the entertainment industry, making Kazu too embarrassed to approach her.
As for that “close friend,” he wasn’t even in the country anymore…
The desire to confide in someone surged at that moment.
Enveloping Kazu, a child in the midst of puberty, with sensitive and fragile feelings.
“…Senior Amamiya, would you be willing to listen…”
“Yes, please, do tell me…”
……
……
Kazu had never been a likable child.
He was ordinary and unremarkable in appearance, timid and introverted in personality; unable to do anything well.
Whether at home or outdoors, he faced ridicule and disdain from others.
He only remembered being taken in by his relatives when he was young.
It was only later, as he grew older and understood more…
That even his biological parents had abandoned him.
If one were to summarize Kazu’s past life in a color, it would be black and gray.
He felt like an extraneous existence in this world, having no place to belong.
Until he met Nagi Hoshimiya, a gentle and kind girl in kindergarten.
For the first time, colors invaded his life.
Nagi was completely different from him.
Bright and cheerful, she had always been the most dazzling presence in any crowd, and after their meeting, Kazu’s life was illuminated by the light she radiated.
Thanks to his encounter with Nagi, he was no longer bullied by other children in kindergarten.
Because of his association with Nagi, he even made friends during elementary school.
He could say that he was saved unilaterally by Nagi.
But he ended up hurting her.
Clearly, she had given him direction in life, but he had severed her path.
It was evident that she could soar to a higher stage, yet he bound her by his mistakes.
He and Nagi were supposed to be on separate paths.
Through his observations over the past few days, he was convinced of this.
There were many people around Nagi who were far more exceptional and caring than him.
He had no right to be beside Nagi.
……
Kazu spoke in fragments as he finished recounting his feelings.
He felt his explanations were a jumble, but Chika was able to understand.
Chika had to be an exceptionally competent listener.
Whenever Kazu struggled to continue, she would guide him with gentle eyes and words.
After listening to Kazu, Chika pondered for a long time before slowly speaking:
“Tsukimi-san… do you want to leave Hoshimiya-chan?”
“So, I’m completely unworthy to be with Little Nagi!”
Chika’s expression turned bittersweet at his response.
“Sure enough, Tsukimi-san is quite similar to my past self… Then let me reference a former president’s words—”
Chika coughed lightly and shifted to a more playful tone.
“Is Tsukimi-san poor in language skills?”
“…What?”
“Clearly, I kept asking if Tsukimi-san ‘wants to’, yet Tsukimi-san kept answering whether he ‘deserves to’.”
“…”
“Does Tsukimi-san believe that everything in this world has already been destined since its inception?”
“…Isn’t it?”
“Then if everything Hoshimiya-chan has experienced is fate’s arrangement, why does Tsukimi-san think it’s his fault?”
“This is…”
“Hey, I’m sorry for using a bit of a sly approach just now…” Chika smiled gently, shyly adding.
“What I really want to say is…”
“Who determines the standards for compatibility anyway?”
“The reason two people can maintain a close childhood friendship isn’t solely due to one person’s effort and willingness… it’s a mutual result of both sides working hard together.”
“Just as Tsukimi-san mentioned, because you stand beside Hoshimiya-chan, you hear many dissenting voices.”
“But when Hoshimiya-chan is with Tsukimi-san, has she not heard such voices as well?”
“Choosing to give up just because one doesn’t know where those voices come from only betrays the efforts of the other…”
“Hoshimiya-chan… in order to be with Tsukimi-san, I’m sure she has secretly put in a lot of effort…”
“If you really want to give up, at least listen to your true inner thoughts.” Chika slowly released her grip on the talisman.
—Thank you, Senior.
“So, Tsukimi-san, what is your true inner thought?”
“My thought is…”
Chika lowered her head and glanced at the talisman in her hand.
She wanted—
「To hand it to Kazu」
『@#¥%&*!$~』☆
“I’m sorry, Tsukimi-san, but it seems you still need to find this for yourself…”
Chika cupped the talisman in her hands again, looking up to meet Kazu’s gaze.
Kazu’s eyes had regained their sparkle.
“Well… thank you, Senior Amamiya.”
……
……
Arriving late to the office beyond the agreed time, Chika and Kazu received a reprimand from the teacher who handed them the key to the materials room.
However, after Chika and Kazu sincerely apologized, they were still able to borrow the key.
But since it was getting late, the teacher personally took them to the materials room.
The materials room at Hoshikage High School resembled a vast warehouse.
In a space covered with a layer of dust, several large shelves stood, filled with an array of strange props classified by various clubs, as well as boxes containing paper documents from each club.
To increase efficiency, the three decided to search separately.
“The ‘Mystery of the Doppelgänger,’ ‘Hypnotic Coin’… Senior Amamiya, I found it! This box should contain the materials for the Supernatural Research Club.”
Kazu pulled out an old cardboard box from beneath the shelf.
The documents inside had titles related to the supernatural.
It was certain that the information he needed was within.
“Thanks for your hard work…”
Chika came over running upon hearing this.
The teacher followed closely behind.
“Did you find it? If so, you should do the registration first; let me lend you a small cart.”
The teacher said kindly but added with a teasing smile, “But you have to take good care of it and return it on time, okay? Otherwise… you might get cursed, you never know~”
“Yes, thank you, teacher…”
Kazu and Chika wore expressions that didn’t quite convey a smile.
When Kazu pushed the cart back to the Supernatural Research Club, the sun was about to set below the horizon.
“It seems we won’t have time to organize everything today…” Chika glanced at the darkening sky outside.
“…Senior Amamiya, you can go back first. I’ll take care of things here.”
Kazu lowered his head as he opened the cardboard box and moved the documents onto the table.
“I’ll return the cart to the teacher later, so Senior Amamiya can leave first.”
Chika hesitated to leave everything to Kazu, but after looking outside once more, she nodded helplessly.
“Okay, I’m sorry for troubling you, Tsukimi-san. Here’s the key to the Supernatural Research Club. After you lock the door, you can return it to the teacher’s office…”
Kazu thought to himself as he watched Chika leave, wondering if a girl like her would worry her family if she came home too late.
But he didn’t have any “family” waiting for him to return.
Thinking this, Kazu’s gaze fell back on the stacks of materials on the table.
