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He wouldn't be considered a creepy stalker for doing this, right?
That’s what was going through Kazuichi Souda's mind as he stood behind a tree, definitely not watching someone without their knowing.
Okay, putting it that way just made everything sound ten times worse.
Souda pushed those thoughts away as he went back to what he was doing. Which was watching Sonia Nevermind while she walked somewhere. Yeah, definitely not stalker-y.
Now, Souda did have a reason for this, which he promised wasn't just to stare at her beauty. He had recently noticed that she’d been going off somewhere every few days and, being the “perfect gentleman” that he was, he became instantly curious and decided to find out where she’d been disappearing to.
The islands were all quite big, so finding her wasn't an easy task. So, he instead waited until he saw her going somewhere alone to start his snooping.
He heard her softly humming a tune to herself as she walked to an unknown destination. He had been wondering what it could be that she always went off to go do, feeling slightly excited at the anticipation.
Eventually, they made it to the beach. Was she going for a swim? No, she couldn't be, she wasn't wearing any kind of swimwear. Unless...
Souda felt the dirtier part of his mind take over. Maybe she was coming alone so she could swim naked? He blushed a little, debating on whether or not he should be the better person and just leave. He knew that there probably wouldn't be another chance like this, though!
As Souda mentally argued with himself, he failed to notice Sonia had stopped by a tree and started talking, a happy expression on her face.
Wait, what? What was she doing? Souda peeked around his own tree he was standing behind to see that she was talking to someone sitting at the base of the tree, leaning their back against it. He let out a sharp gasp upon realizing the said person was none other than Gundam Tanaka, his so-called "enemy of love".
He watched in horror as he saw Sonia laugh at something and proceed to sit down next to him. Souda would have never believed that she'd been going off to see the hamster weirdo this whole time!
Speaking of hamsters, he saw Sonia holding one, undoubtedly fawning over how cute it was. Souda felt a mix of jealousy and sadness. Why couldn't it have been him she was meeting up with for a secret rendezvous? What did he have that was so great?
He realized it had to have been the animals. A girl as sweet and nice as Sonia would obviously pick the guy with the fluffy, adorable hamsters over the one who usually smelled like motor oil and who messed around with cars and whatnot all day.
Souda felt that now was the time to leave. He tried to keep his hopes up. There was no proof that they were actually together, right? He still had a chance with her! Feeling a surge of happiness, he walked off, failing to notice Sonia and Tanaka's joined hands.
---
Back at the hotel, Souda's burst of happiness had all but vanished. He probably shouldn't have followed her because now, just thinking about it left him feeling down in the dumps.
He found himself on the bottom floor of the restaurant, fiddling with one of the game systems they had there. He couldn't get his mind off of what he had seen. Who did that guy think he was? He probably forced the lovely Sonia-san to go be with him since he was such a lonely loser!
...That was bullshit, and Souda knew it.
He let out a sigh, failing to notice the approaching figure. A voice finally broke him out of his thoughts.
"Ah, Souda-kun...you're playing games today?"
Souda looked up to see the always-sleepy face of Chiaki Nanami, the Super High School-Level Gamer.
Realizing she had asked him a question, he stopped dazing and answered, "Oh, uh, not really...mostly just thinkin'."
Nanami nodded. "Would it be alright if I," she paused, thinking of her next statement, "joined you in your thinking?"
Souda shrugged, smiling a bit. "I mean, ya can if you want, it's just not really gonna be that interesting," he said, actually appreciating the company.
Nanami sat down next to him, the peaceful silence returning. He knew she wasn't one for many words, but he felt it was a little strange just sitting with someone and not speaking at all.
Souda looked at her, making sure she hadn't dozed off while sitting there. Before he could think of anything to say, it was Nanami who broke the silence.
"If you don't mind me asking...what was it you were thinking about? You looked...troubled, I think."
Souda was a bit surprised at her question. He supposed that must've been her real reason for coming over; his facial expression had probably looked more upset than he would've thought.
He decided he didn't really want to bombard her with his girl problems, so he said, "Aw, c'mon, I'm fine! I was only thinking about, uh, what I was gonna eat for dinner, yeah!"
He flashed a sharp grin, hoping his lie would get through to her. But, he was quickly disappointed.
Nanami puffed out her cheeks in a pout. "Souda-kun, you're a really bad liar, you know..."
Souda's grin faltered, knowing he'd been caught. "Whaddya talkin' about, I'm not-"
"Souda-kun."
He stopped talking, sighing in defeat. "Okay, fine, you got me.” He hesitated before his next sentence. “I was actually kinda upset about something."
Nanami nodded. "You can talk to me about it if you want...I promise I won't fall asleep," she said with a smile.
Souda thought it over. He didn't know her very well, but Nanami gave off the impression of being a sweet person, one who wouldn't judge him, and the fact that she wanted to listen to his problems made him feel pretty good. He decided it might be best to let out all his frustration.
"You're pretty persistent, ya know? But, I guess I'll tell you since you asked. Y'see, it's about Sonia-san..."
Nanami nodded, waiting for him to continue. "Did she upset you or something..?" she asked with a hint of surprise.
"No, no, of course not! The lovely Sonia-san wouldn't- ...well, I mean, it wasn't her fault, exactly, but she kinda did something that made me," he stopped, not wanting to admit the last word, "jealous..." he mumbled at last.
Nanami let out a "hmm", deep in thought. "I'm going to guess that she was maybe...with Tanaka-kun?"
Souda groaned. "You're right on the mark there. I just couldn't believe it, Nanami! They were sittin' together alone under a tree by the beach, I mean, how friggin' romantic can you get?! I'm tellin' ya, if he didn't have those hamsters, there's no way Sonia-san would be hangin' around him! I just-"
He stopped his ranting, hanging his head in despair. "What do I gotta do to get her to like me?"
Nanami sighed and lightly patted his shoulder. "Souda-kun, you shouldn't try to change yourself to get someone to like you. Just because Tanaka-kun has those hamsters doesn't mean that's all Sonia-san is there for. I’m guessing...she found something in his personality that she liked. That could happen to you, too. You just need to talk to her, maybe become her friend first. Then, she could see what a cool guy you are...I think," she finished with a small smile.
Souda looked up at her, a faint blush forming. "You...think I'm cool?"
She smiled more. "Yeah, I do. Not just anyone knows their way around machines like you do. You're a...talented person, Souda-kun. I just like to play video games," she giggled a little.
Souda blushed more. "That's...really sweet of ya to say, Nanami," he said with a grin.
"I hope I was able to cheer you up a little. I'm sure things will be fine with Sonia-san, too. Just believe in yourself, okay?" she said knowingly.
He nodded happily. "Yeah! Damn, I actually feel pretty confident now thanks to you. I appreciate it, really I do."
Before realizing what he was doing, he pulled her into a hug. She made a noise of surprise, but didn't push him away. Souda then thought about what he was doing and quickly pulled away.
"Whoa, uh, I-I'm sorry, holy shit, I dunno what came over me, I just-"
She was silent before smiling once more, her cheeks a light shade of pink. "It's okay Souda-kun, I'm not mad. I'm glad you're happy."
He breathed a sigh of relief, pleased that she wasn't angry at him. "Is there...anything I can do to repay ya?"
She thought for a second. "Hmm...you could try to beat me at this game," she said while gesturing to the arcade game in front of them.
"Whatcha mean 'try'? I give it my all in everything I do!"
They began to play, Souda pleased with the outcome of their conversation. His depressed thoughts had vanished from his mind, his concentration on the game.
"'Hey, Nanami! Are you letting me win or something? You don't need to go that far, c'mon-"
He felt a sudden weight lean against his side. Looking over, he realized that Nanami had fallen asleep.
He blinked in surprise, having almost forgotten how frequently she tended to fall asleep while doing things. He felt a certain happiness knowing she had stayed awake long enough to help him with his problems.
He let her lean on him, not wanting to wake her. Maybe he could beat her high score like this? He doubted it, but it didn't hurt to try.
As he played, he realized that Nanami was now someone who he could trust with his emotions whenever he was upset. Just knowing he had someone to confide in made him happier than he had been in quite some time.