A/N: The reason why this fic is divided into small chapters is because it changes perspectives a couple of times and would (potentially) be confusing, not to mention long. xD; Anyway, hope you like~
Her Voice, Part II:
How Not to Make a New Friend
I left the shopping district as fast as I could without bringing too much attention to myself, not caring where I ended up. This whole idea had been stupid right from the start, and I didn't even know why I went through with it. Boredom, perhaps? No, it was something more than that...
I'd first heard Rise Kujikawa on the radio - not singing, but giving an interview. At first I didn't know it was her, being too busy with my college studies and training to familiarise myself with idols. But before I knew it, she was everywhere, and I couldn't escape it - I had to come here and find her for myself.
Great, now she thinks I'm some sort of stalker... Then again, maybe I am... But she sounded exactly the same as...
"Big bro!"
My attention was caught by the sight of a young girl, an elementary school student, darting past me with a gigantic smile on her face. She was followed by a teen who was deliberately running much slower than his usual pace - either that, or he was physically unfit, despite his slim build.
"Nanako! You're too fast!" He called after her, but wasn't out of breath in the slightest. That reminded me - spring break would be a good time to increase my training before I was bombarded with assignments and tests again, because I was a little out of breath myself (though it was probably because I got so flustered in the tofu shop).
I sat down beneath the pavilion, watching them for a little while. The girl was so carefree and my thoughts turned to my own sister. Maybe the people in this town weren't used to strange men staring at them, because I was soon approached by the 'big bro'.
"Hey... Haven't seen you around before," he muttered, taking a seat beside me. Nanako was playing with a cat a few metres away, and I tore my gaze from her to address this guy and set him straight, lest he think I was an asshole too.
"I'm just here for a week."
"Oh, right. Staying at the Amagi Inn, yeah?"
"How'd you know?" I frowned.
"Lucky guess," he shrugged. "By the way, did you know that place is supposedly haunted?"
I raised an eyebrow, wondering what his game was. Fortunately, I'd learned about the place I was staying at prior to coming here.
"The faces in the wall?"
"How'd you know?"
"Someone told me a few years back. They came here for a club trip or something."
"Really? That must mean you're from Port Island." He must've read the confused look I was giving him, because he elaborated further. "Well, once a year we get different sports teams from Gekkoukan High School come train with us and last October the first and second years got to go there for our annual class trip. That, or I'm psychic."
"... Are you like this with everyone you meet?"
"Yeah," he chuckled, "it's like a habit of mine to talk to everyone I see. Though I'm a little concerned about why you were looking at my cousin like that."
I frowned a little, glancing back over to Nanako and then to the guy again.
"Oh no... No, I'm not one of those!" I didn't want to tell a complete stranger about Miki. I took a deep breath and continued. "She just reminded me of someone, that was all."
"Well that's good, because the next thing I was going to say was that my uncle's a cop," he grinned. "Oh, by the way. My name's Seta - Souji Seta."
"Akihiko Sanada." I offered him my hand and he shook it with a firm grip.
"Alright, Sanada-san," Souji nodded. "So tell me... What twist of fate brings you to Inaba? I mean, there's not much here for tourists, so there's gotta be a reason beyond wanting to try the famous steak."
I sighed, averting my eyes and staring at the ground. Then I heard him laugh.
"Sorry, I was joking. You know you're supposed to relax when you're on vacation, right?"
"I heard that there were a lot of mountains nearby. They say that if you train at a higher altitude, the air is thinner and your body has to work harder. Top athletes often train in mountainous regions to improve their levels of endurance. Thought I might get some training done or something before college starts up again," I shrugged. "It's been a while since I've had enough free time to catch up with my fitness regime." This was half the truth - I wasn't going to openly admit that I came purely to hear Rise Kujikawa's voice, or rather her voice.
"Huh? Oh right... Okay then," Souji twisted his lips off to one side. "Whatever floats your boat, hah. When're you here 'til?"
"The twenty-first."
"Seriously? Same here - maybe we'll be taking the same train back to the city. I was only supposed to be in Inaba for a year while my parents went over to Europe. I transferred in last April, and since then the time's flown by."
"You mean you were a transfer student?"
"Yeah," the teen nodded. "... Uh, you okay?"
The more I spoke with him, the more similarities there were. His ability to talk to me as if we'd been friends for ages, the charismatic way he was able to say things that made me want to spend time opening up to him, and then the fact that he'd been a transfer student too. It was all too much of a coincidence that I'd encounter someone else who was like her.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine."
Suddenly, a catchy jingle rang out, and Souji excused himself before answering his cell.
"Yeah? What is it Rise-chan? Uhh... No, I don't think I can - I'm still with Nanako, and Dojima-san's disappeared off somewhere. Sorry."
I felt the blood in my veins run cold - out of all the people to have encountered, it had to be another of her friends. Then I recalled what one of the two guys in the tofu store had started to say before he was cut off, that Rise liked someone, and I was betting it was Souji.
"Look, I'm gonna head off," I muttered once he was done speaking.
"Sure," he nodded. "Maybe we'll run into each other again. This is a pretty small town, after all."
"Mmm." Actually, I was hoping the opposite. It was awkward enough with Rise and her friends in the tofu store, I didn't want Souji to know that I'd gone there and behaved like an idiot.
"Nanako!" I heard Souji call out once he'd said good bye and I'd sighed in response. I thought it was best if I just returned to the inn, lest I bump into one of the others - like he'd said, it was a small town.
