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Haruka had ruined her own life.
Her plagiarism issue wasn’t solved; although, as her editor had said, she still had a chance of a future career if she could come up with a bestselling idea. That seemed unlikely. Her alternate self had suggested it was no surprise Haruka couldn’t get over her writer’s block, if she didn’t see the appeal of Saruhara. Well, too bad. Haruka would rather never sell another copy of a manga than go out with him. She had other talents, didn’t she? She could work as a taxi driver.
“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh?” said Saruhara. They were drinking milkshakes together in Donbura after hours. Naturally, he hadn’t paid for his.
“No! You’re annoying and you’re too old for me anyway,” she said.
“I’m only four years older than you. We could have been classmates in high school, or university. In two years’ time, you’ll be 20 and I’ll be 24. That’s not so bad,” said Saruhara.
He was right about that, but still, it felt too old. And he was still annoying, “I don’t care! I’m not going out with you.”
“I didn’t ask you to,” he said.
The whole thing was making Haruka’s head spin. The other her came from a timeline where the Donbrothers were seemingly at war, and more bad things had happened – something to do with Kijino’s wife. Miho had probably got bored with him constantly talking about her; and wanted a divorce. Worst of all, Haruka herself was dating Saruhara! That future had to be avoided at all costs. The clues were supposed to be in “Naoki Shiina’s” manga. Haruka had read it from cover to cover but she couldn’t see anything that might point her towards the truth. By all appearances, it really was just a generic romance about a girl falling in love with different boys at her school.
“You know,” said Saruhara, “I don’t particularly like the idea of a future where I handle money and exclusively write tanka.”
“Yeah,” said Haruka. Typical Saruhara, making it all about himself. The other him was very rich and had the privilege of dating her. Wasn’t that good enough for him?
“It goes against every value I stand for. Whereas the future version of you … is basically the same person. You may have learned a little more decorum, but you’re still Haruka.”
“The hell?! When would I ever be all girly and lovey-dovey?” said Haruka.
“Naoki Shiina can’t control her temper, she wants to punch Tarou Momoi, drawing manga is her passion. Sounds like the same Haruka to me.”
That was almost cute. OK, maybe Haruka could see how a timeline might exist where she had fallen in love with him. He understood her, and he’d been there for her when she really had no other friends. She just couldn’t imagine wanting to have any kind of life together with him. Would she want to walk down the aisle with him when she got married; or do household chores with him; or take care of him when he was sick? Probably not. She would have to wait for someone like that. But then, if the future him were hard-working and successful, was he really Saruhara?
“You’re very quiet,” he said.
“Well, shut up! I’m thinking,” said Haruka.
“About what?”
“Like … is all this stuff really going to happen? The future me was never called a plagiarist, right? So things won’t be exactly the same.”
“In short, you’re having an existential crisis.”
“Yes!”
Saruhara said, “Would it really be so bad to be a successful mangaka and in a relationship with me?”
The answer was yes, at least to the relationship. Haruka didn’t want to sound too hurtful, though. She said “It’s not just that. It’s the other stuff with the Donbrothers.”
“That’s true. I would rather we didn’t all fight each other, but then, I seemed fine with Tarou. You were the one who wanted to beat him up. And you rarely need an excuse for that.”
It was hardly Haruka’s fault Tarou was so weird. He’d probably started it. Him or Kijino, if Miho really had walked out on him. InuBrother was just a cute dog so he couldn’t possibly have done anything wrong. Maybe he’d been hit by a truck? Or sent to the pound?
She said, “I guess none of it is going to happen anyway. I’ll never be a famous mangaka.”
“You might. Didn’t you say you could be, if you came up with the right story?”
“Yeah, and that’s not happening, is it,” said Haruka. He really was unbelievably stupid sometimes. And "Naoki Shiina" wondered why Haruka didn't want to be Saruhara's girlfriend?
“Did you read her manga? She said it would tell you what you needed to know,” said Saruhara.
“Of course I did! It’s just a high school romance,” said Haruka. “It didn’t give me any clues at all.”
“Then I don’t suppose you would mind me borrowing it?”
“Sure,” said Haruka. That was a pretty good idea. He may pick up on something she’d missed. She’d gone over it very carefully, but then, most of that had been at 2am when she couldn’t sleep for thinking about it. She reached into her bag and handed him a copy of the manga.
“In a sense, you wrote it, so no one should understand it better than you. But you’re not particularly … subtle,” Saruhara said.
Haruka’s hands clenched into fists. She’d show him not subtle – wait, that reminded her of something she’d been thinking about. “Why didn’t you stop me?”
“Huh?” said Saruhara.
“When I – I mean, the other me – was about to punch Tarou. And future you stopped her, but the real you didn’t.”
“By the time I could react, he’d already stepped in. I didn’t know she was going to do that,” said Saruhara.
“Yeah, but I’ve tried to punch Tarou before, and you didn’t do anything then, either,” said Haruka.
He shrugged, “Maybe I just enjoy watching you cause chaos.”
Haruka liked the sound of that. He still didn't stand a chance of ever being her boyfriend, but she hoped that no matter what happened in her future, he'd still be part of it.