"Alright, I've finished this last one Nozaki!" Sakura called out stacking the finished beta with the rest. Looking outside, she raised her eyebrows. "It's that late already? I should be going soon."
She smiled towards Mikoshiba who was finishing drinking some iced tea and Nozaki who was at his desk. It seemed like he was glaring at his notepad. His brows were furrowed and he was clenching on to his pencil tightly. Crumpled papers buried his work.
"Nozaki?"
Nozaki shot up as if coming out of a daze. "Oh, sorry about that, do you need anything?"
"Sakura wants to know if it's okay for her to go now." Mikoshiba said as he fiddled with his straw, trying to drag the ice from the bottom of the glass to the brim.
"Oh, right, it's getting late. You should be getting home soon. It'll get dangerous if you walk around late at night. Be safe."
Her heart skipped a beat and she beamed as she gathered up her things and thanked Nozaki once again for the company.
Once she closed the door behind her, Mikoshiba turned around after crushing a piece of ice in his cheek. "She looked really happy that you said that."
"Sakura always leaves happy after working, she has a good work ethic. I'm glad to have her help." He fiddled with his mechanical pencil before discarding another piece of paper. He missed the trash can and Mikoshiba crawled over and opened it.
"Mamiko and Suzuki go to the amusement park. They have ice cream. They go on a roller coaster and have fun. Suzuki leaves and Mamiko is happy."
Mikoshiba looked up at Nozaki. "This one seems more dull than usual…"
Nozaki ran his fingers through hair. "I'm having trouble figuring what to do for the next chapter."
"What about the sleepover idea? You brought Wakamatsu, Hori, and me over here to get ideas for that too." he said, suddenly remembering how fervently Nozaki was jotting down scenes and converting them to feminine scenarios.
Nozaki shook his head. "No, Ken said that it wouldn't be exciting, even though it would be good for character development. He told me to keep thinking."
"Oh! Speaking of the sleepover, after you fell asleep, we ended up talking about girls."
Nozaki perked up at this and his eyes lit up. This could be a new idea! "What did you talk about?"
"We didn't really end up getting anywhere. But we did talk about Sakura for a while. By the way, what do you think about her?"
Nozaki crossed his arms and closed his eyes to carefully concentrate and choose his words. "Sakura is a very dedicated worker and I value her efforts very highly." He added a quick thumbs up for effect.
Mikoshiba laughed, "Ah, that's not what I meant, I was wondering if you saw her as anything special."
"What do you mean?" he asked. He considered it special enough for someone to be valued highly.
"Well, she always follows you around and she's always the first to be here. She works really hard and she admires you a lot."
She gives you more attention than any of us combined. She has eyes only for you. Come on, you've at least noticed something was up, right?"
"Oh, that's because she's a big fan! She's asked me for two signatures already!" His face lit up, happy that he was able to sufficiently provide for his fan's desires. "She's always so happy when she gets them. I remember when she left a note to meet me in class that day. I didn't know what to expect." He rubbed his chin, trying to recount all the details. "That day while waiting I suddenly felt very inspired. The situation to be a good example of a classic confession scene. I used a similar strategy when Mamiko first confessed to Suzuki." His eyes shone. "That was a good scene. I was confused when Sakura went up to me, but once she explained to me that she was a fan, I figured out soon enough that she wanted an autograph! I'm glad she volunteered to do beta. Ever since I saw that poster, I knew she would be a valuable asset to our team."
Mikoshiba's face fell. He was completely stunned at how oblivious Nozaki was being. Anyone with a sense for social cues would clearly see where the misunderstanding was!
"She was so embarrassed too, she must really enjoy my work!" Nozaki laughed.
Mikoshiba sighed as he put down his glass. "Nozaki… I think that whole scene ran straight over your head." He stood up, picking up his back. "Anyway, I'm done here, thanks again for letting me into your fridge. But I feel like if you ignore Sakura's feelings for too long, even if she's happy now, I think she might grow unhappy later on."
"Mikoshiba…" Nozaki said. "That sounded really cool for a second, I was surprised."
Mikoshiba lit up, "Ah, thank you! I really wanted to sound cool. I'm trying to go for that protagonist feel, you know?" He bumped his head on the door as he walked out, but he was still smiling. "Bye Nozaki! See you tomorrow!" He quickly shut the door before opening it up again. "And you're out of lemon tea, by the way."
Nozaki turned around, returning to his work. Sakura's feelings… It was hard for him to really find much sympathy towards anyone but Mamiko, but "Mamiko" was associated with Mikoshiba and he didn't want to mix up characters in his head. He folded up his arms and tried to imagine the scene with Nozaki as "Suzuki" and Sakura as "Mamiko." He quickly sketched out the dialogue from memory.
"Suzuki! I've always been your fan!"
Nozaki remembered that right after she said this, he immediately gave her a signature. Nothing seemed unusual, he gave her exactly what she wanted, he thought.
He began to sketch Mamiko in a confession scene, something he had done so many times. "Flew right over my head…" Nozaki thought. He drew out a scene where Suzuki picks up a pencil for Mamiko and Mamiko blushes as the kind gesture. He tried out a confession scene where Suzuki thinks that Mamiko is asking him for advice.
"Suzuki, I've never really been good at confessions, I'm sorry."
"Oh really! Then let me help you!"
It suddenly hit him. He completely misunderstood! He recalled how Sakura had not noticed that he was a mangaka until after doing beta work for him. Could it be that Sakura meant that she was not a fan of "Yumeno Sakiko" and instead a fan of "Nozaki Umetarou"?
A rush of shame and understanding swept Nozaki. He immediately got to work. He had to figure out a way to clear this grave offense up to Sakura! He promised himself that he would make this up to her soon.
ー＊＊＊＊－
Two days later. Nozaki quickly ran to Sakura before class. He called out her name and got her attention. He leaned over, trying to catch his breath. Sakura stepped back a little, surprised at the his urgency.
"Huh? Is something wrong Nozaki? You're completely out of breath!" She grew a bit worried, yet excited that Nozaki would run up to her so eagerly in the morning.
"The new...chapter…." Nozaki panted between words.
"Oh! Did you get a new idea? Mikorin told me you were having a bit of trouble."
Nozaki shook his head, but quickly learned that it made his head spin even more. "No, I… ran here….from my house…I had...to tell you." He took a painful gulp, his mouth has completely dry. He felt a bit out of shape since he quit basketball. "I did sketches... all night, I need to quickly finish them by tomorrow. Will you do the beta tonight?" He took more deep breaths before straightening up his back and coughing.
Sakura clasped her hands and smiled. "Of course I will!" she beamed. "I'm always happy to come over to help you. Anything for you, Nozaki!"
"Okay, but sorry, I finished the entire chapter yesterday with Hori. I got the idea right after you and Mikoshiba left, so we might end up staying late tonight. Inspiration struck! I hope you will be able to make the last train tonight."
"Oh really? That sounds great! I'll be happy to help you then." she replied. The thought of staying late at night working with Nozaki made her heart flutter. She pressed her hands to her cheeks. It would be like a dream!
Nozaki watched Sakura's reaction. She seemed to be completely overjoyed yet embarrassed he deduced that she was embarrassed because staying late at a boy's house would be embarrassing to most girls. Mamiko would be very flustered, he thought.
"I hope I'm not inconveniencing you. Thank you Sakura."
His thanks were deaf to Sakura's ears. She was too busy imagining having coffee late at night with Nozaki. Seeing a sleepy Nozaki! Maybe even spending the night with Nozaki! Her face flushed immediately and her chest pounded. She was officially looking forward to the night.
ー＊＊＊＊－
Nozaki called Sakura to come with him after school. She couldn't stop smiling! She quickly put on her outdoor shoes and trailed behind Nozaki, who had already begun walking home. Sakura's heart fluttered. She could feel every beat in her cheeks.
Snow began to fall around them. Nozaki walked on in silence. Sakura noticed he was getting snowflakes stuck on the fabric of his school jacket and hair. The snow would not let up, and in the few minutes they were walking, snow had already begun to stick to the ground.
"If the snow keeps falling at this rate, the trains might be out of service for the night!" she joked, despite her every wish for that to happen. "Ah, that would be a shame, but at least we'll get the beta finished by tonight, right Nozaki?" Her laughter trailed off. Nozaki was still walking in silence. She sped up and looked at him closely. He was looking straight ahead, his expression was pensive and it seemed he was relying only on habit to figure out how to get home. Sakura smiled, knowing that he probably barely noticed it was snowing. He was so dedicated to his manga, just like a professional. She trailed behind him again, blowing a few puffs of cold air and enjoying the moment.
ー＊＊＊＊－
Once they reached Nozaki's door, she was halted with a hand from Nozaki.
"Can you wait here a moment, I have something I need to get before you come in." His face looked completely serious. Even more than when he was walking.
Sakura was confused, but she agreed nonetheless. "Just be quick, if you leave the door open like this snow might enter your apartment. It would be bad for it to get dirty."
Nozaki nodded and quickly ran to his desk. Carefully making sure Sakura wouldn't see what he was holding. "Okay! Come in!" he shouted and Sakura closed the door behind her and started hanging up her jacket and scarf.
"Close your eyes!"
She turned around and covered her face with her hands. She grew excited. This was so new. It didn't seem like Nozaki to give her a surprise. She let out a tiny giggle. Could it be chocolates? A letter? Flowers? A k-kiss?
"Okay, turn around."
She turned around.
"Now please put your hands out, but keep your eyes closed."
"O-okay." she replied, trying to mask her excitement by pressing her lips close.
"Okay, there. Open your eyes."
It was another signature.
Sakura stared in utter disbelief. "A….signature…" Her heart fell.
Now it was Nozaki's turn to get excited. "This one is different! See, I remembered how you said you were my fan that day and after thinking about it a little, I signed "Yumeno Sakiko" instead of "Nozaki Umetarou"! Because you said that you were my fan, but you didn't know I was a mangaka until later that day. I hope we've cleared up the misunderstanding. I hope you like it. I'm not used to signing my actual name."
Sakura forced a smile. "Ahh, Nozaki. It's great…" She put it down on the small table where she worked. "Ah… If only I had a fourth one, then I could have a double set ahaha…"
"Ah! My apologies!" He dashed to his table, picking up a black marker.
"Ah… Nozaki! That's not what I meant!" she cried. She looked at the signature. It was nice because it was Nozaki's signature and not Yumeno Sakiko's but…
Nozaki noticed that even though she was trying to smile, her eyes looked a bit sad.
"Sakura, I'm sorry, I don't know what you want. I want to give something that shows that I appreciate your work." He pointed to the small message on the signature. "I appreciate your work very much." it read.
Sakura sighed. "Ah, don't worry, I like it! I like it!" She looked back at the signature. "It's just that I meant something different that day… I…"
Her face felt suddenly hot. She clenched her skirt. "It's just that….it..."
"Sakura…?"
"It was a confession!" she blurted. Once she heard the words come out of her mouth all the embarrassment flooded back. All she could hear was her heartbeat and she refused to look up at Nozaki's face.
"A confession of being a fan?"
She shook her head really quickly. "No….. no it wasn't…"
Nozaki watched her expression closely. Her face was almost as red as her ribbons. There was only one conclusion.
"Sakura, could it be that you wanted to confess your feelings to me?"
She paused.
"Sakura, do you have feelings for me?"
She finally looked up and nodded. "Sorry… I should have told you earlier…"
"No… it's fine. I should have realized sooner." He ran his fingers through his hair. "It's just that I don't see you that way… Sakura."
She took a deep breath. "Ah… I thought so. I think I always…sort of knew that." She swallowed, feeling a lump in her throat forming, but she still smiled. "It just kind of still hurts… hearing it out loud."
"I'm not done yet."
"Huh?"
"I value you very highly Sakura. You're a valued worker and a treasured assistant and friend."
Hearing those words would have made Sakura happy a few minutes ago, but now they just stung with disappointment.
"I'm sorry I didn't realize that you had feelings towards me. Romantic ones. Not just admiration…"
"That's fine, Nozaki…Even if you don't feel the same way… I'm still happy just doing stuff like this with you." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Let's just...work on the beta, we have a lot of-"
"Sakura." He cut her off. "But… even though I don't see you that way. I want to try. I want to make you happy." He got out his chair and sat across from her. "I really do appreciate you, Sakura."
Sakura covered her face and pressed her forehead to the table. Nozaki scooted next to her. "Is that okay with you?"
"N-Nozaki that's just like you." she said, her words muffled by her sleeve. She got up wiping a few tears from her eyes. She laughed. "Ah, I can't help thinking that this would be a good scene for a manga."
"You're right." he said, and quickly wrote "misunderstanding" down on a margin of the beta paper.
Sakura laughed again and Nozaki smiled back.
EPILOGUE
"Sakura, here's another sign like you wanted."
"Nozaki I don't need it! Really! I have a lot already…"
佐倉千代へ
のざき
うめたろう
いつも一緒にいてくれてありがとう