X/Words Near Yet Far Away
Monday.
The school was peaceful.
For the most part, it was peaceful.
…Well, except for a small part, it was peaceful.
“Huh? Amane, what’s wrong…?”
“I dunno? She seems kinda down though…”
“That’s unusual for her…”
“I wonder if something happened with her modeling work…”
Her classmates were all observing Amane’s condition.
And for good reason.
Ever since she arrived at school, she had been lying face down on her desk the entire time. Emanating an inescapable gloomy aura around her, she was just an empty shell even when her friends spoke to her.
The sullenness of the always bright and perfect idol.
Her classmates were perplexed, and the atmosphere in the classroom was quite unpleasant.
It was then that Izumi Sumie, who knew nothing, arrived at school.
“Yooo”
“Ah, the happy-go-lucky youth!”
“Eh? Is that an insult? How should I take that?”
As Izumi was having that kind of conversation with Satou, Nanao poked her head out from behind Izumi.
“Izumi-kun, what’s going on?”
“As usual, You’re in wrong class…”
Izumi was no longer surprised by this.
With Nanao’s appearance, the classroom suddenly became lively. Nanao’s influence in this class was already rock-solid, despite being in the neighboring class.
“Nanase-san! Good morning!”
“Mornin’! Everyone seems kinda gloomy though, what’s up?”
The classmates shifted their gaze towards Amane.
She was definitely the one emanating the negative vibes in this classroom. If they left her like this for about a week, it seemed like a new species of mushroom might even start growing around her.
“She’s been like this since arriving at school this morning. Does Izumi know anything?”
“Not really…?”
As far as Izumi was concerned, he had no idea what was going on.
Like the other classmates, he ended up speculating “Did something happen with her modeling work?”
(But I’ve never seen her get this dejected in public before…)
And then Amane.
She suddenly sat upright, and glanced over at Izumi and the others.
Then, as if flustered, she stood up from her seat and took out her wallet from her bag.
“Ah, ahaha. Amane, just gonna go to the vending machine~”
Saying an excuse that wasn’t really directed at anyone, she hurriedly left the classroom.
“…………”
“…………”
After seeing her off, Izumi whispered to Nanao.
“Nanao. Did you do something to Amane?”
“Hmm…”
Nanao seemed to ponder it for a bit.
Then, with a bright smile, she denied the question.
“Nah, I dunno maybe”
“I see”
Izumi didn’t particularly doubt Nanao’s seemingly dishonest words.
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One day later.
Amane, the class idol’s unstable emotional state had her classmates perplexed as well.
On top of that, Nanao would come visit during break times.
Shouldn’t it be problematic for her to be wandering to other classes so much? Though, it’s probably too late to be worrying about that now. No one would fault Nanao’s actions anymore.
And then after school.
After finishing up some business in the staff room, Izumi returned to the classroom.
The only one remaining was Amane.
She was sitting at her desk, blankly gazing out the window. When she noticed Izumi had returned, she hurriedly stood up.
In her hands was the class notes for Amane that Izumi had made previously. Clutching them tightly, she said with a bit of awkwardness.
“I, Izumi-cchi, you don’t have a part-time job today, right? Amane has to take some days off for work again, so I was hoping you could teach me while you have the chance…”
“Ah. Now that you mention it, I haven’t had one recently…”
Izumi pondered a bit, making an apologetic face.
“S, Sorry. I didn’t have a part-time job today, but I promised to go home with Nanao. I’ll summarize the notes for you again before your work is done”
Amane’s face instantly paled.
She tightly gripped the notes…causing them to crumple.
“O, Oh is that so?”
“Yeah, she wanted me to go shopping with her”
“I, I see. G, Good for you”
“Well, not really though…”
Though Izumi said that with a sigh, for Amane it was a painful thing to hear. The fact that Izumi would complain meant there was a level of trust between them.
What caused her to be accepted by him to that extent, Amane didn’t know.
However, the current situation…was not a welcome one for Amane.
Amane bit her lip hard.
“…Hey, are you free this Saturday?”
“Eh? Is something going on?”
“Well, you see…”
Amane clung to Izumi as she said:
“Won’t you come see where Amane is modeling? I have a photoshoot at the renovated shopping mall…”
“…………”
Izumi pondered for a bit, then…
“Thanks, but I have a part-time job on Saturday, so it might be difficult”
“…?!”
At those words, Amane’s shoulders trembled.
“…Amane?”
Though Izumi asked with puzzlement, the response he got was not the answer.
“Do…Do you really like Nanao that much…?”
“Eh?”
It was an unexpected question for Izumi. He hesitated for a moment before answering, but Amane’s gaze seemed so earnest that he ended up opening his mouth.
“Well, since it’s you Amane…”
Izumi recalled their date the other day.
On the platform at the station on the way home.
When Izumi casually mentioned something, what did Nanao respond with?
Recalling that caused his heart to feel a bit warm even now.
“For a long time, I thought I had no worth. …But she told me she likes me for who I am”
Prefacing with that, he said:
“I’m not sure if we’ll start going out or not…but I do want to respond to her feelings as much as I can”
For Izumi, it was an embarrassing confession to a friend.
But for Amane—
“…I see”
A single drop streamed down her cheek.
“…?!?!?”
Izumi’s eyes flew open as he stood there dumbfounded.
Amane herself seemed surprised by her own tears.
“Huh?”
She wiped them away…and forced an awkward laugh.
“Ah, ahaha. Must’ve just gotten some dust in my eye”
Telling such an obvious lie, she hurriedly grabbed her bag.
“Amane’s gonna head home now. Could you teach me after my work is done…?”
“Ah, yeah, got it…”
Izumi blankly saw off her retreating figure.
For him, Amane was an important friend he had strong feelings for. But Amane didn’t seem to understand that.
That said, for Amane who had romantic feelings for Izumi, there was no way she could accept that…
Somewhere along the way, an unbridgeable gap had formed between the two of them.
—And on the other hand.
When Amane rushed out of the classroom,
She happened to run into Nanao, who was coming up the stairs from the floor below.
“Huh? Amane-chan, heading home now?”
“…?!”
Scrunching up her face, Amane didn’t say anything and simply went down the stairs.
“……..”
Seeing her retreating figure, Nanao seemed to be contemplating something.
Saturday.
The lively downtown area on the weekend showed its usual hustle and bustle.
At one corner of the brand new shopping mall, there was a gathering of people. The spectators curiously, or with sparkling eyes, gazed at the sight before them.
Amane was carrying out her modeling work.
Today’s job was a collaborative project related to the renovated floor. The plan was to take photos of Amane enjoying the new sweets and such, to be published in a magazine.
Following the photographer’s instructions, Amane struck various poses. There were times when she had to change outfits and repeat the same situation multiple times.
…However, the progress didn’t seem to be going very smoothly.
The male photographer reviewed the photos with a sullen expression.
“Amane-chan, your expressions still seem a bit stiff maybe”
“I’m sorry…”
As Amane shrank back, the photographer scratched his head “This is troubling…”
They had been working together for about a year now, so they knew each other reasonably well. He had seen Amane work hard at her job too.
But ultimately, for professional work, schedules and quality took priority. The photographer wasn’t angry, but his tone had naturally become quite stern.
“For now, let’s take a break. Eat something delicious and reset your mindset…though you’ve been holding delicious stuff this whole time already. Haha…”
“…Yes”
Though he tried to lighten the mood with a joke, it didn’t seem to reach Amane very well.
In the makeshift waiting area divided by partitions, Amane sat blankly on a chair. She held her smartphone in one hand, but her mind seemed to be elsewhere.
(I wonder what’s wrong with Amane…)
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