MachinedLinguist

Chapter 8   The setting sun began to descend, the crimson sky changing color to a deep purple. As I sat on an old wooden bench on the schoolyard looking at it, the words Takagaki said echoed in my head for some reason.   ――― You're overlooking something important.   Coupled with Takagaki's expression at the end, the more I thought about it, the more my thoughts get stuck on a dead end. Something, some thing, somebody [1] ...I tried changing the pronunciation, but I still couldn't understand. If it was something that Takagaki noticed just after a few days, I wonder if the others around me did as well. Maybe my two best friends, too...?   "Hello, hello?" "Wooaaahh?!" "Oh, you finally noticed me~?"   I was suddenly tapped on the shoulder, and a stupid reaction came out as I heard a voice call out to me from behind. When I turned my head furiously, I felt something struck my cheek. And then, there was pain.   ...

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...

Chapter 7   "...Wait, maybe I was the reason why it kept failing." "As far I can tell, you weren't even able to achieve anything."   I boasted about my past, but I wasn't even able to do anything. I confidently told Takagaki, and all I got from her was that I was incompetent.   "I thought you did all the right things because you sounded too proud about it." "Ugh...sorry." "Well, I know what middle school students are only capable of."   Takagaki looked at me with the same expression as yesterday. From the moment she breathed out a full sigh, she seemed like that tired office lady she was earlier in the morning. How fitting.   "What's with that strange expression?" "I-it's nothing," "...I'll pretend I don't know what you're thinking."   It seemed Takagaki was able to see through my thoughts, maybe because she had a strangely sharp intuition. P...

Chapter 6   At the time, I was the kind of kid who would immediately act on his thoughts without any deliberation. That's why I went around in circles and never made any friends. And so, when I found the two I was looking for, I was so moved that I shed tears, and when I shook hands with them afterwards, I cried even more because I was just so happy. Of course, the pair went into a panic after seeing that spectacle in front of them, and the teacher even arrived after hearing about the commotion.   Having skipped the process of getting to know them first, I used my break time to have conversations with them in order to find out what kind of people were they.   What was their favorite food, favorite sport, favorite class...   I asked them a lot of mundane questions, taking notes so I wouldn't forget each one as they responded. They looked at me as if I was some kind of strange guy. After that, I appealed to the both of them with the same interests, ...