章節 155: Mr. Bear
Arata was dumbfounded at what had just transpired in front of him. Of all the things he was doing to try and talk with the girl, he never imagined that she'd run off crying like that. Yet her words continued to echo in his head as the boy came to the bitter realization that perhaps his friend was too far gone.
"I'm so sorry." He apologized to everyone once they had somewhat calmed down from the scene caused. "Maybe I was being too naive to think that things could return to normal with Ichiri."
"That's what you deserve for being as dumb as her." Hifumi scolded him with littler reservation. Despite being the first girl to confess to him, she was the one being the hardest on him today.
"Hey, that's a bit much, don't you think?" Yurime defended him, while Arata himself only resigned to taking the insults. "He's trying his best."
"You really couldn't have thought that it'd be so easy or simple to just get her to be friends with you." Especially when he only wanted to be friends. At least, without fully accepting or rejecting her confession. Yet even if he did want to accept her, she didn't seem to be able to handle that result either.
They all heard what she said. Those feelings she felt for the boy were still there, and it seemed they were as strong as ever. Unfortunately, her lack of self-esteem was her undoing. It wasn't that he rejected her, but rather that she rejected herself. "Have you even considered how you feel about that girl?"
"No." It was something that Arata had tried to keep out of his mind while dealing with Ichiri. With all the other girls around him, he was still fighting to figure out his own feelings with the matter. With time running out, the stress was reaching into his mind once more.
"Maybe you should take the time to think about it." Hifumi told him. Even if she wanted to be the one to come out on top at the end of things. She wanted him to ultimately be the one to make the right decision for his heart.
"Let's go look for Ichiri." He responded different as the boy got back up on his feet. "We can't go home until we find her." Though his response didn't mean that he wasn't listening to her words. Arata simply was going to use this time to make up his mind.
While they walked, he thought about who Ichiri was to him. She certainly was a bit of a handful as a girl who was her junior in age. Not only did she lack a lot of humility, that he would've thought that he'd dislike a lot. Yet at the same time, she was a truly loyal girl who held him in high regard. Probably more so than everyone else that had fallen for him.
Was that what he wanted? It seemed that each girl had something different to offer to him in a relationship. Perhaps this was the thought process he should be having when it came to making a final decision. It somehow made plenty of sense, but also seemed a bit too mechanical to what was considered a love question.
"Say." Matsu grabbed everyone's attention as they walked near a convenience store. "I'm sure that some of you are thirsty, I know I am. So maybe we should take a break." They would need a lot of morale to be able to search for a girl in a town like this. Everyone agreed, but as they walked inside, Arata was reminded of this location.
"This place seems really familiar." He said.
"Well, I don't know if you've ever been here, but I have some fond memories of this place." There wasn't anything special with this store by any normal person's standards. After all, it was simply just a part of a chain known as 8-Twelve. "I wonder if that mascot is still around. Whoever wore it really helped me out once." When Matsu brought that up, he instantly remember this place now.
When he was in junior high, there was a time when Arata took the long commune to work at a place to feed his otaku addiction. He hoped that no one he knew would come by while he wore such an embarrassing costume. Funny enough, it turned our that he would meet two girls that he would consider friends at this very job.
"Arata Kashimura, is that you?" While he was planning on keeping his head down while here, it turned out that there was still a worker that remembered who he was. Back then, that man was simply a part timer that worked here instead of going to college. It seemed that the years had been kind to him since he was now a manager. "It is!"
"Heh, hi." He greeted him back nervously. "Looks like you got a promotion. You used to work the night shift, right?"
"Still do." He replied. "Just helping out with things because a very special holiday coming up." The manager referred to the classic valentine's day that had many wondering what to get their significant other.
"And I'm helping out too." A girl emerged from the break room. She had a rather interesting look with her dark skin and crimson red hair. Speaking frankly, this girl didn't appear to be Japanese at all, but her ability to speak it was impeccable. "I'm really looking forward to this years valentines."
"Heh, yeah." Nervously, the manger's demeanor changed when she proudly mentioned it. "Anyway, you kids go ahead and grab whatever you want." They all agreed, but right before heading to the aisles, someone else came through the door. Arata only need a split second to see who they were to make a reaction.
His reaction being to quickly slip away into one of the aisles to not be seen. Ichiri had also made her arrival to this store, her eyes appeared red from the crying.
"Ah! Are you all right?" Quickly, the girl with red hair leaped over the counter to console her. Meanwhile, Arata kept his presence unknown as he kept an eye everyone else coming to her. Thankfully, they came up with an excuse for him, knowing that the boy wasn't ready to confront her yet.
"I'm guessing you messed up somewhere." If he wasn't trying to keep quiet, then he would've screamed out in fear as the manager sneaked up from behind. The manager had taken the opportunity to leave everyone without them noticing. He could tell by Arata's reaction to her arrival that something had happened.
"It's… Complicated." Arata sighed, unsure of how to even go about explaining it. "I just wish I knew how to cheer her up again."
"Hmm." The manager gave it some thought, then snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, I remember this girl." He had a plan after thinking about the past.
"Sorry for running out on you at the flower shop." Ichiri apologized to everyone sans Arata. "It's not right for me to openly show my issues to you. So, I'm sorry for being so disrespectful."
"Tsk, you should be more sorry for running away." Hifumi scolded the girl and grabbed her by the ear. "We were worried sick about you…" Her words had a level of harshness to them, but behind it was the softness of care. "...And we only want to help you out." The libertarian girl spoke softly as she let go. A single tear dropped down her cheek as there was silence among the group.
"I know you do." Ichiri's voice sounded as it might break once more. "But… I don't know how I'm supposed to face him."
"Ohohoh, why the long faces?" An odd voice flooded the store. Everyone inside was confused about what was going on, including the worker girl. "Mr. Bear is here to turn those frowns upside down." Obviously, this was just Arata inside a stuffy bear costume. He was playing up the act that the mascot had to attract customers since he was certain that this was how Ichiri remembered it.
"…" Everyone had their jaws dropped as they saw him enter. Most of them had from pure shock, but Ichiri's was slightly different. "M-mr. Bear!" She yelled out in excitement. Somehow, despite being older now, she still had that childlike joy in seeing the mascot in person once more. "Oh, Mr. Bear!"
Ichiri rushed up to him and gave Arata a big bear hug. "I've missed you so much." She said. "Are you proud of how much I've grown?"
"Of course I'm proud." He answered. Inside the costume, the boy had no clue what was going on in his manager's mind that thought this was a good idea. However, he was desperate for plans, so he was willing to do just about anything. "I see you've matured so much since the last time we met. And I bet you've gotten a lot smarter too."
"Mmhmm, I've studied hard every day since the last time I saw you." While they were having this conversation, the others just looked on in disbelief.
"I can't believe Arata's actually doing this." Yuriko commented.
"Eh? That's him?" Matsu was shocked to learn of that fact. The way this bear acted seemed the exact same as the last time she saw him. Could that have meant he was the bear all along?
"I see you've also been troubled recently." Arata continued to play up the act.
"There's a boy I really like." She responded, losing a bit of the excitement and joy she had in seeing the bear. "I just don't know if I'm good enough for him."
"Well girl." This was his chance now. "I think you're an incredible bright girl. This boy is lucky to have a girl like you in his life."
"That's really nice of you to say, Mr. Bear." She held tighter onto the bear suit. "But… Is that how you really feel… Arata?"
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票