Chapter 47: 7:00 AM

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

WE DID IT! The novel is ranked #20 in the weekly rankings! As promised this whole week will be 2 chapters per day.

---

Late at night, the clock already reads 11:00 PM.

Reading, studying… I even made dinner and brewed some coffee.

After dinner, I did some light dancing to move my body (careful not to disturb the people downstairs), and then took a half-body bath.

Now, I'm back at my desk, working.

“…Phew.”

The ship in a bottle is about 70% complete.

I sand down the small wooden pieces that make up the sails, making slight adjustments.

That alone takes a lot of time, but it helps calm my mind a lot.

Hobbies really are wonderful (reconfirmed).

“…I'm done for today.”

Carefully, I place the ship in the back of my desk and exhale deeply.

I regret being such a heavy person, but now I feel like I can accept it in a way.

I'm bad at conversations, that's just how it is. It can't be helped.

Besides, there's nothing I can do about what's already happened… the forum cheered me up about that.

I'm glad I have them (a super heavy guy).

I didn't have any friends to begin with. I can't fall from a zero starting point.

In fact, what even is a negative number? A number that represents losses? I kind of feel a kinship with it (numbers are friends!)—

“—Huh?”

My smartphone. I don't play any mobile games anymore, so I don't get notifications.

Since I don't have friends, I rarely get any notifications at all, so I usually keep the phone off to save battery.

I can check forums and research stuff on my computer anyway.

But I always turn it on before bed to check for any messages from my parents.

And—there's an unfamiliar notification.

“Missed call: 2”

“…Huh?”

“Voicemail: 1”

“Caller: TEL—”

[Ah, hello…]

“What?!”

I've never listened to a voicemail before.

Fumbling with the controls, I somehow manage to play it.

And then, it's Hatsune's voice.

[…I'm sorry.]

“…(Understood) (Instant death)”

Hatsune's voice echoes in my ears. My spine tingles, and my head goes cold.

Those words feel like a death sentence.

All that talk about acceptance and feeling calm was clearly a lie.

Was I really too much for her?

She was the first friend I managed to make.

I'm so mad at myself for going overboard, I feel like I'm going to crumble apart.

In my next life, I want to be a microorganism (like a water flea).

[I'm sorry! I said some awful things, I'm so sorry. Umm. Umm…]

“Huh?”

Just when I thought that, she continues.

I had translated her first apology to mean I'm sorry, but I don't want to be friends anymore—but apparently, that wasn't it.

Why is she apologizing so much?

[Umm, ah… wait, I forgot what I was going to say…]

[Oh, right! I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Hatsune! Momo Hatsune —]

[Huh? Why won't this hang up… ahh, mou!]

“—End of message playback.”

With that sound, the voicemail abruptly cuts off.

…Okay.

At the very least, it was clear from her voice that she was flustered.

“…If she hated me, she wouldn't have left a message like that.”

I mutter that to reassure myself.

I can't read minds.

I don't know how Hatsune really feels.

“I'll make 3% more progress before I sleep…”

It's too late to call her back now.

My mind, which I thought had calmed down, is all stirred up again. To settle it, I escape into working on the ship in a bottle once more—

---

“—!?”

I wake up.

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep at my desk.

“Five o'clock, huh…”

There's still time to sleep.

But—this feeling… I'm definitely going to oversleep and be late (for sure).

I've never been late or absent. I can't let that record end now.

“Alright, I'll go in early. The study room should be open—”

With that declaration, I start my usual morning routine.

The estimated time of arrival at school: 7:00 AM.

It's fine, I can make it work.

Even with only three hours of sleep, I can manage.

I'll just nap during all the breaks (desperately).

“Alright… let's go.”

I lift my heavy body and start changing into my uniform.

My hands, fastening the buttons, feel clumsy.

In the end, if I keep this up, I'll end up feeling down, just like “yesterday.”

Well, actually, I'm already feeling like that.

I thought I had come to terms with it, but that phone call brought everything back.

What am I supposed to do when I face Hatsune?

What should be my first words? Should I even say something? Can I, someone who can't even greet people properly?

I've been a loner for so long that I don't know how to close the distance between myself and others—if there's a correct way, I wish someone would tell me!

The more I get lost in these thoughts, the more scared I am to go to school.

“…Haa.”

I let out a big sigh.

My head and back hurt from sleeping in a chair.

And I'm still sleepy—ugh!

Ah, forget it! Let's just go!

“Let's go—to ‘hell.'”

Muttering that, I rush out of the house.

Carrying with me a heavy, unsettled feeling.

---

I sway, half-asleep, until I arrive at the nearest station.

Unlike usual, when oversleeping would mean disaster, today I have plenty of time.

Though all the seats are taken.

Unlucky.

Well, I guess at this time, it's mostly people going to work.

Ignorance is my own fault.

No, maybe it's society's fault for making people go out so early in the morning.

…Ugh.

Things aren't going well, and I'm feeling down.

Maybe it's the lack of sleep.

[—Next stop, ○× Station, ○× Station.]

In the end, I never got to sit down on the train.

These little things hit the hardest.

Is this how my life's going to be from now on—

“Haa.”

“…!”

“Huh?”

In front of the station—just as I exhale after passing through the ticket gate, I see a shadow move with a start.

“Huh, Momiji?”

“…”

She gives a quick nod.

Looks like she was on the same train.

“Aren't you early?”

“…”

“Oh, are you on library duty?”

“…”

“That must be tough.”

“…!”

“Haha, not really?”

Somehow, I can understand what she's trying to say from her expressions.

Maybe because we're alike (that's rude), our thoughts seem to be pretty similar.

Also, after our previous zero-distance written exchange, I've gotten better at reading her mind.

“…Hmm? Me being early? Well, it's a long story.”

“…You want to hear it? Thanks.”

To an outsider, I probably look like a weirdo, but I have Momiji right next to me, listening and nodding.

So it's fine.

“I've wanted to talk, but I couldn't for so long. Then when I finally did, my timing was terrible. Plus, I'm way too intense. I just don't know what to do anymore—”

Leaning on her silent listening, I open up about everything inside me.

“There's this constant unease that I can't shake off. I feel like I'm going to lose it—”

She's listened to me before, too.

And there's this reassuring feeling that she's not the type to go tell anyone else about it.

That's why, with Momiji, I feel like it's okay to just talk.

---

“…………”

Wow, she's really deep in thought.

She's been like this for about five minutes now.

Seeing how hard she's thinking actually makes me feel a little lighter.

…Though, we're already at school.

Wait, we've arrived.

“Hey, Momiji. We're here.”

“…!”

“Thanks for listening. I feel a lot better now.”

“…”

Momiji's cheeks turn red. That's definitely a happy face.

Honestly, I felt bad for just dumping all my complaints on her, but seeing that expression, I feel relieved.

This seems like a good way to part ways.

I turn my feet in the opposite direction from her.

“Well, I'm heading to the study room. The library's not an option.”

By the way, the study room is a completely different place from the library's self-study area.

Why don't I always use the study room, you ask? It's simple—conversation is allowed in the study room.

It's a place where students are allowed to help each other out.

If you want to work in silence, the library, where talking is forbidden, is the place to be.

However, the library isn't open at this hour.

On the other hand, anyone can enter the study room as long as they borrow the key.

So, by process of elimination, the study room it is—

“—”

“Huh?”

I feel a tug on my sleeve.

When I turn around, I see her trying to say something.

“The library… i-it’s just me there.”

Her voice echoes softly in the quiet hallway.