MachinedLinguist

Volume 1, Chapter 18 : Did Anyone Know?     I split up from Ayano and was on my way to school. I felt kind of heavy.   ...   This sucked. Why? Because the person Ayano liked should be right in front of me. Haa . A sigh naturally escaped my lips. I had been having bad days lately...   I tried to pretend that I didn't see and wanted to quickly get past. But I couldn't do that anymore when I saw someone next to the person Ayano liked. A person who was dressed gaudily and looked very much like a gyaru. That person seemed unusually too close to the person she liked. Almost like they were in some kind of relationship...   They really weren't really boyfriend-girlfriend now, were they? Did Ayano know about this? Why was that guy even talking to Ayano in such a friendly manner? A lot of questions came up, but when I took a look at the girl, all those questions were blown away.   That expression of her felt like some sort of déjà vu. She looked like she

Volume 1, Chapter 17 : Why?   House, school, part-time job. It didn't matter where I was. Wherever it may be, I wasn’t going to receive any kind of love. I knew that. That's why I had given up on everything. I should have given up, but...I hadn't been myself lately.   Why was that? Why was I losing my cool? It should just be the same as usual. Wake up in the morning, go to my part-time job, return to my house and go to bed. That was all there was in my life. Just chugging along mechanically day by day.   With this kind of life, I should have given up on everything. I had wanted to be loved by my mother, Nana, and Sayaka. But that wish didn't come true. That's why I gave up. Right, I had given up on everything. I didn't want to be loved anymore. That should be the case.   That's why I just repeated my usual routine.   "...Good morning, Manato."   As I was heading to school, Ayano was waiting for me.   "Ayano? Is ther

Volume 1, Chapter 16 : Childhood Friend   Manato and I had grown up together ever since we were little. To be exact, since before elementary school. It was a relationship called a childhood friendship, something special and different from others. I was content with that. Because when I was a kid, I liked him as just a 'friend' I could play with.   But it gradually developed into a different emotion. My heart began to be stirred with Manato's every comment and action. For example, when he said, 'You look good in that dress,' it warmed my heart, and when Manato would tug on my hand as we went out to play, it would tighten.   At the time, I was still in early elementary school. I didn't understand what this feeling was myself. But later on, I would soon hear people around me talking about how much they liked that person or how cool that person was. One girl even said she was in a relationship. It was phase where everyone was getting into that kind o

Volume 1, Chapter 15 : Compulsion   I got up and left at the same time as yesterday. And then I headed to the same place.   "Good morning." "Good morning. Tamaki-kun."   As I entered Shimamiya Bookstore, Hisai-san greeted me. This person had already started even before I arrived...and it was still too early.   Thinking that, I entered the Backyard and got ready. While I did, the manager spoke to me.   "Good morning. Tamaki-kun." "Good morning. Manager."   After I lightly replied, the manager continued his words.   "...Tamaki-kun. Please get along well with Hisai-san." "? Yes."   I didn't really understand what the manager meant, but then he followed up quickly.   "Hisai-san seems like she's hiding her true self at school. That's why she doesn't have anybody she could open up to."   ...I wondered what the manager was expecting of me when he said that. I