Fool's Love

Sasaki is following me.

Summer vacation is here.

As a result, until the beginning of the summer vacation, Sasaki made her mind clear.It seems that there is no chance to meet Sasaki in the near future, so I plan to put this matter aside and think about it after school starts.

Masumi still sends me the pictures he drew, and visits my house a few times.After going through the period of tutoring at the end of the semester, Masumi's state became much more relaxed when she came to my house.

He likes to wear long sleeves, even in summer.Most of the time it is a white shirt, but also a sweater with a hood.

He has worn T-shirts twice, in very different styles.One is a milky white T-shirt without any pattern, and the other is a T-shirt with a lotus color as the base, which is covered with lighter color blocks to form a complex flower-like pattern.

We read comics, finished summer homework together, and talked about topics other than comics.

In July, we went to the beach together.I was packing my things that night when the door of the guest room opened with a "shua".

I was so surprised that I turned around and saw Masumi standing there in a dark blue yukata, like a Vajra statue.There was a blush on his face, probably because he had just come running.

"Yamagishi!" he asked me aloud, "Do you know Duncan Jones?" At that moment I had no idea what he was thinking.

As for the "S?D?R" that I collaborated with Mimi, I didn't ask about it after handing over the original manuscript to Mimi.

We have always been like this, I am only in charge of drawing, and I don’t have to worry about anything else. Mei Hai is solely responsible for the screenwriting and layout work.

The experience of getting drunk was only temporary, and Miami never mentioned the name "Yano" after that.

She returned to her usual carefree state.When the exhibition was approaching, she reminded me every now and then that she wanted me to prepare to participate in the exhibition-this is what I agreed to because I couldn't stand her before.

"I know! But I said it before, I will only look at it from a distance, and I won't go to the booth!"

"That's fine. Anyway, let's go to the exhibition first!"

I am afraid of strangers, so I avoid going to crowded places.It's weird!He is obviously an otaku through and through, but he won't participate in the exhibition——

This is simply because I am far more afraid of seeing strangers than I am fond of comics.

I've been to the show once or twice, and every time I'm sweating.I have a sweaty physique, and when I get nervous, I will sweat a lot. I was once ridiculed by my classmates as if I came back from the heavy rain without an umbrella.

But Miss Meihai's words are also unreasonable: As the author of the fanbook participating in the exhibition, it's better to go to the scene to see it, right?

"Besides, you must go early." Mei Hai specially reminded, "Our comics are quite popular, and they are usually sold out before noon."

That's amazing.As a manga author, I am very happy that my works are loved by readers.But BL comics, well... this...

Not that I have a problem with this subject matter.It's just that what I wanted to draw was something more popular and suitable for magazine serialization.

I don't have any psychological pressure on my obsession with Masumi, it's not against homosexuality, it's just...

……

Simply put, this kind of psychology is a bit like developing massage equipment for health care purposes, and the product is used as a developer in other fields...

Time passed in boredom, and the time for the exhibition was gradually approaching.To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to it at all, just overwhelming fear and anxiety.

This kind of psychology cannot be hidden.Three days before the exhibition, Masumi, who visited my house as usual, noticed something strange about me.

"What's wrong?" he asked me.It was an extremely hot day, and Masumi was wearing dark blue shorts, and her mid-length hair was tied into a bun behind her head.

I was sweating profusely and shook my head at him and said it was nothing. I don’t know if the sweat came from the hot and stuffy weather or from being nervous.

On the day of the exhibition, I got up early in the morning according to Miss Mei Hai’s previous reminder.Miss Mimi's club is not participating in the exhibition in Tokyo, but in Osaka's local comic exhibition, which is set in an open-air venue, so you don't have to queue up all night, just get up in the morning and go slowly.

However, my sweat has not stopped since the second I got up.It would have been better if it was just sweating, because I was too nervous the night before and I didn't sleep well.

I woke up early because I felt that I was not in the right state. I ate some bread, but it didn't work.I was still in a state of lightness until I got on the tram.

The brain fog was so severe that I couldn't think at all.The car moved, and I was about to fall crookedly, so I quickly grabbed the ring.

Like a corpse emerging from the water, my consciousness slowly emerged.After my vision cleared up, I looked around subconsciously. Suddenly, the appearance of an unexpected person made me feel as if my eyes had been hit hard.

I am fully awake.It's astonishing—how could that man be here?

I saw Megumi Sasaki.In the crowded space, the distance between her and me was no more than half a carriage.

It was purely accidental that I could see her, but my eyes just caught the figure across the gap between the crowd, and the angle was slightly off, so I couldn't see her.

She was holding the ring with one hand, and reading with a palm-sized library in the other.

She shouldn't have noticed me, right?I got lucky because of this, and then I thought about it—no, how could it be such a coincidence that she and I were on the same tram?

It was early morning during the summer vacation, and the air was still stagnant with moisture.Most students who are on vacation in high school, if there is nothing important to do, this time is usually in a big dream, right?However, now—we happened to catch the same tram.

Is there such a possibility - Sasaki is following me.

I was so scared that I shivered in place.Of course, it is not ruled out that she does have something important to do.

The most plausible possibility is that she also plans to go to the exhibition like me, because Sasaki is a home girl.

Even so, it was an amazing coincidence to catch the same train.Then it is still...

……

No, in the present case it cannot be concluded that Sasaki is following me.

Why not think about it the other way around: How can I tell if she's not following me?

If Sasaki got off before or after my stop, excluding the possibility that she knew I had spotted her and deliberately avoided suspicion, it would be Safe.

On the contrary, if her destination is the same as mine, the risk will be one point higher.After getting off the car, I will not follow the navigation prompts to detour to the venue of the exhibition.

If you can always feel the sight behind me on the road, you can basically conclude that she is following me.

So what if I meet Sasaki at the show?This is the worst state - I won't be able to tell if she's stalking me or not.

Just as I was standing there and thinking back and forth, the tram had already arrived.For a split second I was surprised to see Sasaki trying to squeeze his way to the door - too bad.

In order not to meet her eyes, I got off the tram as soon as the door opened, and quickly hid behind a nearby building.

I saw her looking around, as if she had just lost her target.Then Sasaki left the platform.

The author says:

The cover characters are Yamagishi and Masumi (21.9.2), and the scenes involved... are slightly spoiled (laughs).

The song that fits the whole story is "Arms" by Seabear, a very tender song.