The sun was really bright today.

  That was the only thing on my mind as I stared out the rusted window of the school’s oldest building.

  It barely opened anymore, but the view outside was still nice.

  “Akira, could you give us the answer?” My teacher spotted me daydreaming and decided to call me out. Most people would panic at this point, stressing out about looking stupid, but that kind of panic never made sense to me.

  Luckily, I’m sitting next to Yori.

  I looked at his notebook, filled with detailed notes and precise margins. He always pays attention when the teacher speaks, so I knew he’d have me covered.

  He circled and underlined the answer, and then he tilted his book towards me. With his help, I gave the right answer and went back to staring out the window. After our lesson ended, I made sure to thank him while we packed our bags and got ready for lunch.

  “You should really start paying attention in class. You won’t be able to copy off Yori forever, idiot.” I didn’t need to turn around to know whose voice that was.

  I turned around to see Mei’s gentle smile.

  The three of us have been really close friends since we were children. Since our parents were friends and we all lived really close to each other, we used to hang out all the time.

  “Yeah yeah, whatever. Let’s go get lunch.” Seemingly unsatisfied with my response, Mei hit me on the head with her book.

  “I’m being serious, you know. Yori, you’re as much to blame as he is.” She knew that I wasn’t listening, so reasoning with Yori was a good idea.

  “Nahhh I don’t know about that. You know how smart he is when he actually tries, so if I already have the answer written down, I don’t see the problem in showing him. It’s not like it’s harming his learning.” Mei let out an exasperated sigh as Yori started chuckling, and I couldn’t help but smile.

  “Whatever, we’ll talk about this later. Let's go meet the others for lunch!” Mei’s stern expression disappeared and it was replaced by her typical joy as she put her book back in her bag and waited for us before heading to the canteen.

  We were making random small talk as we walked through the corridors until Yori asked an unexpected question.

  “Have you guys noticed anything strange about Yaeko and Osamu? They seem to be getting quite close.” I turned around and quietened my voice to make sure no one could overhear my response.

  “She definitely doesn’t like me,” I muttered, keeping my eyes on the floor as we walked through the corridor. I wasn’t close enough to Osamu for him to talk to me about that kind of stuff, and Yaeko was a completely different story.

  “You’re imagining things,” Yori shrugged as he replied, but I didn’t buy it.

  “No need to coddle me. She never greets me, but she’s always friendly with everyone else. When I walk into a room, her voice changes. Her tone, her inflections - they’re off, like she’s forcing herself to sound normal.”

  I took a deep breath before continuing.

  “Literally every single one of her “jokes” are aimed at me and she never gives me a compliment. It’s easy to notice that stuff when you know what to listen for.”

  I pick up on things like that, the way people mask what they’re really thinking.

  Words alone convey very little information. It’s the way they say it; the emphasis on keywords, hesitations, body language, etc.

  People say more in what they’re trying to hide than in what they say.

  “Stop being an idiot. Overanalyzing everything - you always do this!” Yori confidently shut down everything I said.

  “Even if you’re right, then why wouldn’t she like you?” It was obvious, but I quickly debated whether telling them everything would be a good idea.

  If they knew the real me… they’d be too scared of what I could do to them.

  If they found out, I wouldn’t blame them for abandoning me.

  It’d be my fault for being careless and showing them what lies underneath my mask.

  “I’m not sure,” I quietly conceded without acknowledging the apparent validity of his point.

  “I do think she acts a bit strange around you, but I doubt she’s trying to bully you or anything.”

  That word put me on edge, but I quickly let it go.

  Instead, I focussed on Mei's clever way of diffusing things - validating my suspicions while softening them. “If you want to know for sure, just let me talk to her. I’d have done it already but you keep telling me not to.” There were traces of annoyance in her voice, and I had to act like I didn’t know why she was frustrated.

  I subtly glanced at Yori and he’d picked up on it as well.

  We both knew that Mei had kindly offered to talk to her for me several times, but I kept telling her not to worry about it. I’ve always been able to rely on Yori, and he’s always been able to rely on me.

  While we’re really close with Mei, we couldn’t really say the same about her.

  It’s not about her as a person. She’s a great friend, someone we love hanging out with. It simply comes down to the fact that me and Yori have just had more experiences where we had to rely on each other in the past.

  I think Mei’s noticed how Yori and I just click, and it’s made her try a little too hard to be useful.

  I truly wish she wouldn’t.

  She’s already important to us, just by being there, but I can tell that she isn’t always comfortable with that. I understood why it would frustrate her, but it’s difficult to help her by being empathetic when I don’t know what that actually feels like.

  “Don’t Osamu and Yaeko seem… different? Like, they’re always standing or sitting next to each other?” I looked back at Yori and subtly nodded as a thanks for changing the topic.

  “Yeah, I have noticed that they stand pretty close to each other. I think they’ve been hanging out one on one quite a lot recently. I wouldn’t be surprised if they liked each other.” Mei giggled, almost like she was never annoyed in the first place.

  “I’ve also noticed how they happen to be standing near each other when we hang out as a group. With how many times it happens, I doubt it’s a coincidence. That being said, I don’t know anything about their one on one hang-outs.” I agreed with Mei’s points, but I wanted to explicitly state that I had no information about what they do when they aren’t with the group.

  I wanted absolutely no part in spreading rumours.

  That being said, it’s pretty natural for there to be smaller friend groups within a large friend group.

  There’s eight of us in our group, yet Mei, Yori and I are much closer to each other than to the rest of the group. In a group of friends, you’re bound to have people that you get along with better. I’m sure that of the other five, they have their smaller closer groups as well and that’s fine.

  I’m also sure that Mei and Yori are in smaller groups with the other five that I’m not, and that doesn’t bother me. If anything, I’d be happy for them.

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  That being said, it’s very strange for one guy and one girl to spend time together without anyone else. If Mei was correct about that, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did have feelings for each other. Whether or not they confessed those feelings, or what would come of them, was a completely different story.

  “What do you think will happen between them, Akira?” Yori smiled with a wide grin as he asked.

  “Yeah, do you think they’ll confess to each other?” Mei was also interested in my opinion, but I wasn’t sure if they were really that interested in what I thought, or if it was just to keep the conversation going.

  “Let’s assume, for now, that they both like each other. Here’s the thing,” I took a deep breath since I wanted to make sure that I articulated this well.

  “Osamu comes from a rich family, so he’s used to getting what he wants without much effort. It’s not a knock on his character,” I made sure to quickly defend him.

  He’s a product of his environment, just like everyone else.

  He can’t be blamed for that.

  “He’s a good guy, but he’s grown up in a way that doesn’t always prepare him for the real world. He struggles when things don’t go as expected, like the time he didn’t do his homework and just assumed he could get an extension.”

  “Yeah, you’re right! Remember last year, when he forgot to do his history homework?” Mei enthusiastically joined in as she gave me the perfect example.

  “Yeah, exactly. If we forgot to do our homework, we’d apologise and ask for an extension, knowing we might not get one.” I paused again and looked at the others before continuing. “It’s the way we were raised. Osamu, though, just told the teacher he’d hand it in the next day without even asking.”

  “Right, I get your point. What does that have to do with his love life though?” Yori was quick to understand, but he hadn’t connected the dots yet.

  “Wait a sec!! What’s the point you’re making?” Mei excitedly interjected, and I made sure to cue her in before moving on.

  “Osamu went into that conversation with the expectation that he would get an extension. Instead of asking the teacher if he could hand in the homework on the next day, he simply told the teacher he would hand it in the next day.” I waited for a moment, giving Mei time to figure it out on her own. However, she kept walking without saying anything, so I gave her another hint.

  “Our teacher noticed this and called him out, and he didn’t understand how he was being rude because he didn't understand the subtle difference between those two situations. To his credit, he’s a smart guy and he picks up on things quickly. You wouldn’t expect him to do something like that now.”

  “Ok, I get it now. How does that tie into their relationship though?” Mei understood my point, but similar to Yori, she couldn’t see the relevance of it just yet.

  “He’s a lot more aware of things like that now. I think that’s why he wouldn’t confess his feelings unless his friends convinced him to or he was absolutely 100% confident that Yaeko would reciprocate.”

  “What? Sure he might be shy, but you think he’d be too scared to confess?” I shook my head as Yori misunderstood me.

  “No, not at all. When it comes to love, insecurities tend to surface. They tend to control us.”

  They both agreed.

  Even though we’ve never been in relationships, it wasn’t hard to imagine how our insecurities might impact them.

  “For Osamu, it’s the fear of looking spoiled or arrogant. He’s done that before, and I think he’s still haunted by how some people see him for it - especially Nobu.”

  “Yeah you’re right… even though Nobu gets along well with pretty much everyone… he’s never gotten along with Osamu.” Yori naturally led me into my next point.

  “Yeah, it’s because of their contrasting upbringing, and how that makes Nobu feel like Osamu is so arrogant and entitled. In reality, Osamu isn’t either of those things. He just hasn’t had time to adjust to social norms like we have.” I subtly watched their reactions, and surprisingly, they both nodded in agreement.

  “That’s why I think that even if Osamu was confident, he wouldn't confess. He’s too insecure about looking entitled to her love.” We walked in silence for a few seconds before Mei added on.

  “Oh… I see. Are you saying there’s no way he would confess to Yaeko?” She was clearly upset by what I’d just said, so I continued going.

  “Of course, if he had other people telling him that he should ask her out, that completely changes things. No one would be able to call him arrogant for asking her out if he has people encouraging him to ask her out. If he manages to overcome that insecurity, I think he has the confidence to go for it.” I saw Mei’s smile grow as I explained.

  “Well, I guess it’s our job to hype him up then.” Yori laughed as he quietly joked about it, but I couldn’t join in.

  “You can go for it, but I barely know the guy.” I wouldn’t feel awkward talking to him about his feelings, but I wouldn’t want to give him my advice uninvited.

  “What do you think about Yaeko? Any chance that she would confess?” I nodded as Mei realised that everything I said was strictly from Osamu’s perspective, and she naturally wanted to know about Yaeko’s.

  “We all know how hard she works and how much pride that gives her. I don’t know whether she’d be able to balance that with a boyfriend, and I doubt that Yaeko would stay in a relationship if it meant her grades started to slip.”

  A few seconds passed without any of us speaking.

  They were happy when I told them Osamu might confess, but I’d quickly brought them back into reality when I talked about Yaeko.

  “Do you really think she cares about her grades that much?” Yori’s dejected tone made it obvious that he wanted Yaeko and Osamu to become a couple. While I wasn’t sure why, I decided to continue my analysis.

  “I think she does, but it’s not impossible for her to balance her grades with a relationship. Grades aside, she has a lot of confidence in her looks. Personally, she isn’t my type, but she’s definitely considered cute or pretty from a lot of guys in our year.”

  “Haha, you’re not wrong about that!” We gently laughed as Mei joked around. Her words could’ve been taken as jealousy, but we know her well enough that it’s obvious there wasn’t any malice.

  “As I was saying, she gets a lot of compliments, so obviously she has a lot of confidence in herself. I don’t know her personality as much as I know Osamu’s, but I could definitely see her asking Osamu out if she gets too tired of waiting for Osamu to confess to her.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re right about that.” Mei agreed.

  “Well, that’s good for them!” Yori was glad, but that wasn’t all there was to it, so I decided to keep going.

  “But even if they confess, that doesn’t guarantee a relationship.”

  They both turned to look at me.

  It’s something everyone knows, but no one really thinks about until it actually happens.

  “Feelings and relationships can change in an instant. Once things get real, they might realise it isn’t what they wanted after all. I’m not sure if that would happen with Osamu, but as I mentioned, Yaeko takes her grades very seriously. If she started focusing too much on Osamu and it began affecting her studies, I think she would end it there.”

  I didn’t dare to say this out loud, but the main problem would be that Yaeko’s pride in her grades could get in the way of her relationship.

  Pride.

  If I was in Osamu’s position, I would find a way to weaponise it.

  I would find a way to use it against her.

  I would say something like “You’ve always been so good at studying, do you really think you couldn’t balance it with a relationship?”

  When you identify a person’s weakness, it’s not that hard to exploit it.

  People are complicated, but when you understand what drives them, controlling them is simple.