Rendered in Code and Color

Chapter 4: Shadows and Silhouettes

Miyuki chuckled, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "You know, for a moment there, I thought you were going to force Kazuki into a club or something."

Ayaka gasped dramatically, "Just what kind of deviant do you see me as, Mii-chan?"

Kazuki laughed, "She's got a point. I had a flashback to middle school when people would try to extort lunch money out of the little guys."

"Not you too, Kazu-kun!" Ayaka protested.

"But really though," Kazuki said, adopting a serious tone, "if you guys hadn't reached out, I might have continued keeping to myself. Making genuine friends felt... challenging."

Everyone looked at him, somewhat surprised. Even though everyone just met, they didn't expect Kazuki would be so forward with his emotions. It was Miyuki that broke the stunned silence, wearing a soft, endearing smile.

"It's rare to find connections like this." She commented.

"Especially ones that form so quickly," Kaori replied. "Let's continue to strengthen these new bonds and cherish our friendship."

They talked for some time after that. By they time they left the cafe, the night sky dominated the cityscape. Miyuki's ride was already waiting outside the cafe to take her home, so with a few final words the group split off to end their days. 

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Back in his room, Kazuki sat down at his computer with a cheap meal he purchased at the nearby convenience store. The day left him with a lot to think about. For the first time in a long time — maybe ever — he looked forward to the next day of school.

Then a though drifted into the forefront of his mind. One that got pushed away earlier in the day. He always thought Miyuki simply felt bad that he was always by himself. He knew she was kind, and treated everyone like a friend. But he always noticed a certain fatigue behind her smile. He often wondered if he was imagining it, but it was enough for him to not want to add to her fatigue.

Surely going out of her way to make a NPC feel included in the story would be taxing. So he always tried to avoid putting her in that position. It was fairly easy to do though, the opportunities for them to interact were few and far between.

But today gave him a different impression. It seemed like she genuinely wanted to get to know him, baring parts of herself he never saw when they were in high school. There were certain moments where it almost seemed like she was interest—no, that's stupid.

He never noticed it before, but their worlds didn't seem so different after all. They were both isolated from the people around them, albeit in different ways. They'd simply grown curious about one another. Wondering why the other chose to keep people at arms length.

Besides, if it wasn't for Ayaka and Hiroshi knowing Kaori, Miyuki would have likely never become a friend anyway. Still, he wasn't exactly sure why, but he was glad to see Miyuki acting so genuinely happy.

He shook his head, as if trying to loosen lingering thoughts. He clicked on the Datcord icon on his desktop and drifted into thought once again as he waited for it to update.

He really was grateful to Ayaka and Hiroshi. It's like they had forced his eyes open, allowing him to see what he'd be missing if he never stepped out of the corner he was forced into. Ah, yes. Elementary school and middle school.

He wasn't really sure what it was people didn't like about him, but it was enough to ostracize him. If he tried to make friends with them, that would just make them hate him more. So his isolation was really a defense mechanism. He was pushed into a corner and finally realized, if he built up another corner, he would have a safe little box he could retreat into.