Harem of Side Characters [Rewrite]

Kokoro Inogashira - Ocean Waves

I find walking near the edge of the campus, facing out towards the ocean in the middle of the night. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say very early morning since it was just midnight a few minutes ago.

I come across a small girl, sitting on a bench as I make my way down the road. I figured everyone would be in bed at this point, but clearly that isn't the case.

The ocean is gentle tonight.

"Huh...?" Oh, she's noticed me. I guess my stalking time has come to an end. That's fine though, its a good chance for me to find out why she's out here.

"What... are you doing here?" Inogashira nervously asks me.

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to walk around. I didn't expect to see anyone though."

"I see...Me too. I always have trouble falling asleep." She turns to stare at the ocean again.

"Mind if I stay here and talk to you for a bit? I don't really have anything else to do right now."

"Yeah... that's fine. You don't really have to ask for permission."

"Force of habit, I suppose."

"Is that because you have strict parents?"

"...Something like that."

"My mom was the complete opposite of that. She lets me do pretty much anything I want."

"She sounds like a lenient mother."

"She is. There was... this one time I got lost in a grocery store when I was little... I was crying looking around for her and... Well, I didn't find her until almost thirty minutes later because she went home without me."

"That's not lenient, that's just negligent."

"Yeah... It sounds a lot worse now that I say it out loud... She was really upset about it, though. I remember her crying and saying how sorry she was for pretty much the rest of the day after that. I was really little back then, so it doesn't really matter anymore. At the very least, I'm not going to be getting lost in a grocery store again any time soon."

"I would be concerned if you got lost in a grocery store at this age."

"Hehe, but some people think I'm younger than I actually am."

"Well... you are pretty short. How tall are you?"

"Hey, you're being mean. I'm just as tall as the other girls. Why would you even need my height?" Even though she called me mean, she's still smiling. I must be getting slightly better at telling jokes.

"...Maybe I want to get you some clothes as a present. I would need your height so I can get the right size."

"I'm kind of worried what a present from you would be like..."

"Rude. I'm just a normal boy, I'll have you know." At least, I try to be.

"You say that now... but I'm pretty sure I'm catching onto who you really are." I really hope that isn't true.

"Onodera has told me about your encounters at the pool. As well as...how did she put it... your "rock hard abs", I think was her wording." That's kind of embarrassing for me. Having a girl tell her friends about my abs.

"From the way she describes you though, you're kind of like a different person. Is...it okay if I ask you why?" Well, she's not wrong. I act differently depending on who I'm with. There isn't a single person in this world who acts the same with everyone they meet. You'll subconsciously adapt to their behaviour, in order to fit better into the situation you've thrown yourself into.

"I think its just a matter of situation. Both of you are different people, Onodera is much more... overbearing in her way of communication, so I'll act differently in response to that. You're much more reserved, and I'll act different in response to that as well. Who knows though, maybe one day you and me will be talking to each other loudly and enthusiastically."

"I don't know about that..."

"Oh, sorry. I know I'm a guy and you would be much more comfortable talking like that with a girl-"

"No, its not that. I don't know if I'll be able to be outgoing again."

"...Again?" Inogashira turns to me with a melancholic smile.

"I wasn't always this quiet, you know. I was actually really talkative when I was little, to the point where it would get me into trouble a lot. Which is probably why the grocery store incident was so scary...I thought she was giving me away for being to rowdy..." A light blush dusted her cheeks. "Actually, I'm going to stop bringing up the grocery store because I feel even dumber the more I talk about it. Please forget everything you heard."

"That's a bit hard to forget on the spot. I'll probably get reminded of it whenever I buy ingredients at the store."

"I think it would be best if everyone just... forgot all about grocery stores... forever."

"But then how will we buy our groceries?"

"We wouldn't. We'd all just die."

"Are you really that embarrassed by that story?"

"It didn't sound half as stupid in my head... it was actually a really sad memory for me."

"So its one of the reasons you're not talkative anymore?"

"Something like that. It happened during a...really bad part of my life..." For a moment, the moonlight shines across Inogashira's form perfectly, illuminating her face. Her eyes reflect the moonlight back into the sky, giving me a tiny glimpse of...emptiness?

Longing?

It's as if there's something she wants, but can't have.

I wonder what it is?

"It's a bit cold, don't you think?"

"Maybe. Do you not like the cold, Inogashira?"

"No, I actually like the cold. It reminds me of Winter, it brings back some good memories. I also don't really like the heat."

"Neither do I. I'm quite excited for Winter, even though its still a long way before it gets here." That was the truth, I want to see and touch snow.

"Me too...I'm excited to wear jackets and hide under blankets and stuff."

"Those sound like two very 'Inogashira' activites."

"Heh, you think you know me so well..."

Both of us sit, staring at the ocean for a little while, before finally deciding to walk back to the dorms. From what she has said today, it confirmed my theory that everyone in Class D is defective in one way or another. Onodera and Inogashira both have their fair share of problems.

Ah, its a bit unfair to say only Class D students have defects though. It would be more fair to say that everyone has a defect in some way, some just hide them better than others.

I wonder how long it will be until the other people I know start to show cracks in their armor.

Who will show them first?

Andou, Minamikata, Shiranami, Nishikawa, Yamamura, or perhaps someone else entirely?

"U-um... Ayanokouji?" Inogashira's voice breaks me from my thoughts.

"Yes?"

"I... Umm... I'm glad you couldn't sleep tonight."

"...Me too."