Chapter 19: Tsuzurafuji Saki, Shishima

Alright, he's there, just at the end of the corridor. Nobody else is with him, and he's definitely Shishima. You can see his forehead, his hair is not spiky, and he doesn't wear glasses.

Alright, Tsuzurafuji. Just go up to him and say 'sorry I mistook you for another person. Three times. Fourth time's the charm, right?' No, don't do jokes. That doesn't show you're sorry. But what if he thinks I'm taking this too seriously? Maybe I should add jokes. 'Hey, Shishima, I'm here four you.' Ha ha ha. But wait, is making a joke based on his name good when you're trying to say apologise? No! The joke must be based on something else! Maybe me? Hey, Shishima, I mistook you because my eyes suck.

"Tsuzurafuji?" Shishima said.

"Hello!" I said. Just go to it! Say sorry! Saaaaay itttt!

"Ah. Don't worry about it. People mistook me for number 1, number 2, and number 3 all the time."

"You called them number 1, 2 and 3?"

He shrugged. "I don't remember their names either. Us four often mistake someone for somebody else."

"B-but it's so obvious which are which? You don't wear glasses, one of you has spiky hair, one of you hides his forehead…"

"I can wear glasses and change my hairstyle, you know."

"You're right. Isn't it hard being mistaken for your friends all the time?"

He went silent for a bit. Oh, good job, Tsuzurafuji. Put both of your feet in your mouth next time. "Yeah, sometimes. Oh wait, actually, there's one person who can always tell. It's someone from my old class. Tadano."

"Oh, her."

"Her?" Shishima looked confused. Oh no, have I mistaken another student? Tsuzurafuji, why can't you remember students' faces? They all looked so different! "Well, in the cultural festival...yeah, sure, her."

"She doesn't look that smart."

"I used to think that way too, but turns out he...I mean she's actually very insightful. Not only can she tell us apart, she has plenty of compliments for each of us. She said that I was always ready to help and that I am willing to stay in the background for the sake of the class. I'm still embarrassed about it, sometimes."

Huh. Well, Tadano was easy with the applause, I guess she was easy with the compliments too.

"Anyway, she's a special person. You don't have to apologise, Tsuzurafuji."

"Is...is there a way for me to make sure it's you? So I won't mistake you for numbers 1, 2, and 3 next time."

Shishima pondered for a second. "I have a unique gait. Look at this." He moved back a few steps and walked towards me. Absolutely normal gait, I can't tell a difference. Wait, is this me being ignorant again? Maybe he took quite a wide step? He walked wider? Was there a sway to it? I still don't get it.

"...what am I doing? You're not Tadano, you can't 'read' people just from their gait. Sorry. Can you believe it, though, she can literally, just by hearing the sounds of my footsteps, tell which among us four is approaching him? Even when it's the four of us together, he can tell which one's at the front. Furthermore, she can tell us apart by the sound of my voi-"

"Okay, stop there." He's crazy in love with her. I'm not touching this. I'm leaving.

[break]

Tadano said. "Shishima praised me too much there. His gait really is unique, there's a tendency for him to start his step on his toes, for example, and his voice is quite higher than expected."

Komi smiled. "You do pay a lot of attention to your friends."

"Is it that creepy?"

"I don't think it's creepy at all. I think it's impressive," Komi said. "That's how we become friends, after all."

Tadano stopped walking for a second. "I might be affected too much by Totoi."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's this thing he told me about Takarazuka..."