24 Bonds - Part 4 (1/2)

It's strange.

How could everything change so quickly in just a day?

I went from thinking that I had him wrapped around my finger to not really understanding anything anymore.

And as much as I'd hate to admit it, not much has changed on his side of things. This is all because of something much easier to understand than that. It's such a basic shift that it's a wonder it's even bothering me this much.

It's just that I never really cared about him before today. That's just the kind of guy he is. He seemed so convenient and easy for me to use, but when I realize that he wouldn't be there for me anymore I started feeling hopeless.

Yeah, that's it.

I just wanted to use him some more to help my popularity.

That's all this is.

It's not about him, it's about what he has to offer.

He stood up to Jennifer for me, and then got Jack to leave me alone the next day. He went above and beyond what I'd ever asked of him and made my life much easier than I ever could have made it alone.

But what do I even know about him as a person?

What are his hobbies?

What are his grades like?

Does he have any siblings?

Goals for the future?

Romantic interests?

”…”

And the worst part is, it doesn't seem like the two idiots behind me know anything about him either. From all the times I've looked back at the three of them in homeroom, he never seemed all that interested in their nerd talk at all. When I look at it that way, Chase seems like a very lonely person. He never really tries to talk about himself. He's always more concerned about the other person than he is about himself.

I guess that's why the whole Momo situation is so unsettling.

”You might not know it, but that girl doesn't befriend people easily. What you did was actually a huge accomplishment in my book.”

A huge accomplishment, huh?

And yet in just one day, she opened up so much to him.

In a way, she's almost exactly the same as him. Always keeping to herself, and only interested in what she's interested in. Never swept in by what the popular kids think or what her friends think, but she never forces her views or interests down other people's throats.

That the two of them would spend so much time alone together is…

”Hey, you've been kinda quiet ever since the clothing store. What's up? Feeling semen-deprived?”

I'm suddenly brought back to reality by a certain incel's tired attempts at getting a rise out of me. I do my best to ignore it with a sigh of disappointment.

”I'm just a little upset that you two didn't let me stop to buy that top, that's all.”

”Dude seriously? Just come back later or something. Anyway, you can stop walking now. Chase went into that book store over there.”

”Oh, okay.”

I hadn't been paying attention to where I was going, but that doesn't seem to matter anymore.

”What should we do? Should we go in or wait out here?”

At my words, Sigmund scratches his head.

”Well, based on his previous visit I get the idea that he's just shopping for now. If that really is the case, then this probably isn't his final destination so there's no need to blow our cover.”

”Huh? You don't know that for sure, though. What if we don't head in and we miss him completely?”

Nicholas asks the question that was already on my mind.

”Well, just think about it. If he's skipping school to go to the bookstore every day then why doesn't he bring any to school? There's no way that he wouldn't, right? Unless…”

Nicholas snaps his fingers.

”Porn mags?”

”Yeah. Porn mags.”

”Porn mags…”

The two of them stare back over at the book store silently.

For a while, only the usual city sounds of chatter and cars buzzing by can be heard as the two of them unanimously accept this conclusion.

The theory sounds completely ridiculous to me, but I don't care enough to scold them for it.

”… Well if you two aren't gonna do anything then I'll go check it out for myself.”

Like really, how on earth did they come to the conclusion that he rushes out to the city every day to buy porn mags? That would mean they seem him as like, the ultimate degenerate or something.

Well, after seeing him buy women's underwear in broad daylight, it's kind of hard to imagine him as anything else. Geez, now I'm kind of worried about finding out what kind of porn he's into…

”Buy me some manga while you're in there, Scar-san.”

”Don't make her waste any more time than she has to, man. Just hurry up so we can go home already.”

I head over to the book store with a sigh.

Chase must have a ton of energy to be able to deal with these two every day.

Once inside, my eyes scan the surrounding area in search of Chase. Surely enough, I find him looking around deeper inside of the store. Much like the clothing store, this bookshop is more than sizeable enough for me to lose sight of him. Not only is the area much wider than our school's already spacious library, but there's also an escalator right down the middle leading to a second floor. I can already tell that this is going to be tough. I'll have to avoid his gaze while trying my best not to lose him.

Still…

Just what am I going to do if he really is looking for porn mags? Like, that's kind of gross isn't it? Can't he just use the internet like other guys his age?

No way, it can't be porn mags. I refuse to accept that he's THAT much of a pervert. I hate that those two losers put that image inside of my head.

Once I shake my head to rid myself of such a depressing thought, I follow him as he gives up his search to head over to the escalator.

Judging by the way he was browsing, it's obvious enough that this isn't something he does every day. As far as I can tell, books at this chain are sorted by genre, and he's been looking around all corners of the store without stopping to browse for more than a moment. More than likely, he has a specific book in mind but he doesn't know where the genre he's looking for is located.

But it doesn't take long until his search ends. The moment he arrives on the second floor, he seems to have an easier time finding the genre he's looking for. Judging by what I can see, all of the fiction genres are up here so it makes a bit of sense. The bottom floor was littered with mostly educational books, bibliographies, and magazines (thank god).

”Huh?”

Just as I was getting ready to go after him, my phone begins ringing almost as if it was premeditated in some way.

I slip behind a nearby book case and pick up.

”Um… Hey?”

”Scarlet, hello.”

”M-momo?! Hi! What's wrong?”

”Where are you right now? Are you okay?”

”Huh? Where's this coming from? I'm at the mall right now.”

I take a peek at the section Chase is scanning at the moment.

'Coming of Age'.

Like Catcher in the Rye, huh?

”…”

Wait, wasn't Momo reading that recently?

”Sorry for bothering you. You hadn't called back, so I was worried that you'd met up with Chase and things had gone sour.”

”Sour? Why would they go sour?”

Jen's words are still lingering in the back of my head.

Books.

Novels.

Fiction.

Coming of age.

It all leads back to Momo no matter how you cut it.

Momo.

Then the reason he's here…

”Well, I suppose there's no point in forcing you to get it out of him, huh?”

She sighs.

”The truth is…”

Momo offers up an explanation.

She recounts the events and the details that surrounded her and Chase for the entirety of today.

The explanation probably lasted about two minutes, and I could tell that it was enough to give me a full picture of everything that had happened today.

However, I did not hear anything.

Not a single word

Whatever she's saying on the other side of the line, my brain cannot process it.

I couldn't tell you if it was Spanish or English.

I mean.

After all.

I had gotten a glimpse of the novel he had finally pulled from the shelf.

There was no mistaking it. Him pulling that book wasn't just a casual act of browsing. He hadn't pulled a single novel out before that one, so I'm certain that it was what he'd been searching for all this time.

And of course, that novel was…

Norwegian Wood.

My stomach turns.

Even from as far away as I am, I can recognize that book.

After all, I've been catching glimpses of it every day since that fateful moment. Ever since the first time I met her, Momo would clutch that book tightly to her chest every so often as if her life depended on it.

I've already gotten used to the sight of her holding that red book. I would never mistake that cover for anything else. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, that book was Norwegian Wood.

Which means

that Chase Masters

came all the way here

to buy Momoka Kudo's favorite book.

…

…

…

”Scarlet? Are you still there?”

My heart is heavy.

I haven't moved a muscle for the past few minutes.

I feel totally miserable about everything.

It's like…

All of this was for nothing.

Well, good for Momo I guess. Chase might be a geek, a loser, an idiot, a virgin, and even a huge pervert, but…

Even I can tell that he's a good guy.

So I guess I should probably be celebrating them right now, right?

”…”

However, all I can think of is how much this act of betrayal pains me. How much I just want to leave everything behind. The mall, my friends, school, I just want to leave it all behind right now.

But the truth of it is, that's just not a possibility.

Regardless of how betrayed I feel at the moment, I don't see my parents allowing that kind of reckless decision over something as small as this.

But at the very least, I can run away from Chase.

We can just end our fake relationship by never speaking to each other again. I'll have some explaining to do to Jen, but I'm sure it'll all work out. I mean, while she did approve of him, she might have done that out of obligation more than anything else.

I turn around and head back down the escalator.

While coming to accept the truth of what it meant for those two to hit it off today.

That there's no room for Scarlet Sterling in this story anymore.

—

The moment I step outside, two familiar faces signal me to meet them a ways off the door.

Ah, crap. I'm not in the mood to deal with these two right now. What should I do…?

”So? What did Chase-dono want in there?”

”…”

I try to come up with an excuse, but in the end all I can do is sigh.

”I'll say this much, it wasn't what you thought it was.”