“Let’s go into the city, the day after tomorrow”, she said, continuing to pull on my sleeve, “near the station, maybe. Together. Someone important once said long ago, ‘Throw out your books and go to the city’, or something like that. That’s not a lie. It was written in a book I read recently, so it’s about time for us to go into the city. If we do that, I think you’ll definitely head in a good direction. Okay?” Without thinking, I nodded.

Misaki’s request had instilled a new fear within me. To go into the city, in broad daylight, with a mysterious girl whose true identity I still didn’t know… No question, this rash action would put an unbelievable amount of pressure on me. Completely overwhelmed by it, I undoubtedly would do something embarrassing once again. There was no chance that I would avoid doing something incomprehensibly pathetic. Ah, I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay locked up in my room.

Regardless, a promise is a promise. I reminded myself that the first step to being an outstanding member of society would be to faithfully honor my promises to others… I wasn’t a member of society, though; I was just a hikikomori.

Anyway, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. The tension and unrelenting impatience reminded me of the feelings I used to have the day before a test. For someone whose will was weak like mine, this pressure weighed down heavily on me with a palpable force.

However, just as Dostoyevsky or somebody had written in a story, along with pain that exceeded normal bounds also came an undeniable pleasure. In essence, when stress surpasses a particular limit, humans get high on it for some reason. Getting extremely run down, for example, might make a person rashly agreeable. This feeling, in turn, would raise the excitement and the enjoyment.

“Right, Yamazaki?”

“Yes, sure. I have no idea what you’re talking about, though.”

Today, as usual, Yamazaki had been grinding away at his game since the early morning. His body language somehow suggested that he might be enjoying himself in some ghastly way.

“Let me see how far you’ve gotten”, I said, but he blocked the computer with his body. He must have been making an especially erotic game.

Well, whatever bizarre erotic game Yamazaki was working on meant nothing to me now. I decided I should be eating breakfast right about then and opened the fridge.

“Huh? What, Yamazaki, you’re out of food?”

“Hey, you! Don’t eat someone else’s food every day as though it’s yours! And in their own apartment, no less!”

“No matter what you say, because I sold the fridge in my room to that secondhand shop…” Trying to make suitable excuses, I took some instant ramen from its usual place in the cabinet.

Just then, the doorbell rang. A visitor?