NOVEL NEXT chapter 35
35: Solid Life
I received a sudden message from Anna saying “I want to meet you” when I turned sixteen in winter.
Ordinary third-year students in the senior high school are busy preparing for exams.
This school operates on an escalator system, but there are entrance exams for progressing from the senior high school to the university—although there is a slight advantage in terms of adjustments compared to those trying to enter from the outside, it seemed to require a considerable amount of study and effort due to the difficulty of the exams.
However, there are cases where these entrance exams are exempted, which is a privilege granted to those who have spent their three years in the senior high school with excellent grades and conduct, known as ‘recommendation’.
In the evaluation for the recommendation, not only excellence in academic performance but also non-academic school-related activities are considered.
For example, if one were to become the student council president, it would be solid in terms of conduct.
In that respect, Anna has obtained the right to recommendation without any problems.
With excellent grades, all-rounder in sports, excelling in piano competitions through lessons, kind to juniors, and above all, serving as the student council president in both the junior and senior education courses.
On that night with sporadic snowfall, I remembered the day I first met Anna.
Initially, she was a three-year-old sent as my supervisor… Looking back, her grand plan must have already begun by that time.
As I turned sixteen, I began to understand more. She had obediently played the role of a nursery school teacher and had been thinking about her future stability since that time.
In reality, she has continued to walk a life without ‘strain’ or ‘twist’.
She has become a renowned performer in the neighborhood through her piano lessons started in kindergarten, and her grades are naturally excellent, and she is popular due to her personality.
Naturally, she was well-liked by her teachers, but she didn’t act superior, so she was also liked by her classmates and underclassmen.
She continued to act in order to gain the support of the “world.”
Her solid and determined progress was something I should learn from and strive for.
“To gain the support of the world.”
I never even thought about such a thing. The world was an enemy, and even if I thought about how to deceive it, I never expected to be able to “deceive and gain its support.”
It was undoubtedly difficult, but Anna-san easily accomplished it, and just by looking at her current state at eighteen years old, I could imagine that she would continue to walk a solid path with firm steps for many years to come.
Perhaps, if I followed Anna-san, my life would be secure?
Such thoughts came to mind, and I actually planned to become Anna-san’s “himo” (a profession of living off women’s earnings, involving tasks like “talking about big dreams” and “housework”) many times.
The snow gradually grew stronger.
I quickened my pace towards the meeting place.
Even though it was night, the city was bright. It was because it was in the midst of a religious event called the “Christmas festival.”
Although it was supposed to celebrate the birth of a holy woman, who was a central figure in a certain large religion, it seemed to have become a day for “eating and talking with family and loved ones” for many people.
Come to think of it, there were many pairs of men and women in the city. Couples. Unbeknownst to me, the holy woman had been used as a catalyst for love, and religion had been used for corporate profit.
In this world where the presence of God had faded, I had come to think that it was a good thing.
To me, God was an annoying existence that suddenly appeared and imposed unreasonable rules and then left us alone. God was not someone to pray to but someone to curse. It was a good thing to continue living without feeling such a presence.
However, it seemed like there was some kind of “dress code” in the city, where people dressed a little better than usual――they were trying to show off. It was a holy night or something, but I thought it was nice that everyone seemed relaxed.
But a dress code was still a dress code. Although my main goal was to not stand out, I couldn’t deny that I was dressed slightly better than usual.
It’s not like I had any expectations because I was called by Anna-san, it was all just a disguise. Even having more money than usual was part of the disguise. Trying to read a magazine that had a date course written in it was also another part of the disguise.
I spotted Anna-san standing at the meeting place and instinctively hid.
There was a particularly strong “pressure” from couples around here――usually, this was a landmark often used for meeting, but now it felt like there was an unwritten rule that only couples were allowed.
If it wasn’t for Anna-san calling me, I would have contacted Milim saying, “It’s difficult to enter the shopping mall alone because there are too many couples. Help me.”
However, it was a meeting with Anna-san, so it would be rude to go alone…
No, it’s not like I have any expectations.
This Christmas festival had a strong aspect of “couples who are already together confirming their love” as well as the timing for “men and women who want to date confessing their feelings.”
But I didn’t have any expectations… I knew that there was no way something like that would happen, from my experience of a million lifetimes.
I checked that there was still a little time before the meeting time and hurried into a nearby restroom to do a final check of my appearance.
I was looking for a mirror… but there were men in front of the mirrors who seemed to have the same idea as me, spending a long time grooming themselves.
In the end, I couldn’t use the mirror before the time limit, so I just silently sent a few curse words to the “mirror men” in my mind and hurried to the meeting place. I didn’t have any talent for curses, but even so, a small misfortune might befall the “mirror men”… like stepping on dog poop.
I rushed to Anna-san, who was standing in front of a avant-garde artistic giant clock.
Passing through the flowers of the sparsely blooming umbrellas and stepping on the lightly accumulated snow on the cobblestones, she noticed me and smiled happily.
I wasn’t expecting anything, but I couldn’t look directly at her face, so I lowered my gaze.
Below, there were legs wrapped in tights… 60 denier. Along with nostalgic memories from junior high, those words crossed my mind.
“Sorry, it’s so sudden.”
She apologized first.
I tried to find words to follow up with her, but I felt like anything I said would expose my weaknesses, so I nodded shyly. After nodding, I realized, “I should have shaken my head.” The desire to die is growing (I want to live a full life).
I still make mistakes like this due to nervousness… I wonder how Anna-san, who is solid as a rock, sees this side of me?
I still admired her… I couldn’t imagine her failing due to nervousness or anxiety. And that firm step, which could also be called a sense of reassurance, would continue for decades to come, imagining the same future.
After Anna-san stumbled over her words, she said, “Actually, I ran away from home.”
Solid…
…
… Huh?
………… Huh?