A visit to a bookstore

It had been about a month, not exactly though since I had arrived at this school. I had transferred here on April 5 and today was April 29.

It was now the start of the Golden Week. The week full of holidays. We had a holiday from April 29 to May 5.

Since coming to this school, many incidents have happened in my life. Mostly revolving around my neighbor, Ichinose Kei. I had also made a friend, Koyanagi Tomoya, which I hadn't expected. I also talked with Ichika and Honami from time to time.

"Now that I think about it, I don't know their family names."

Ichika and Honami were their respective given names. If I had to initiate a conversation with them and call them, I don't think I should use their given names right off the bat. That was only if I had to. But I was pretty much sure that I wouldn't be the one to do so. Usually, they were the ones who initiated the conversation, I just replied to whatever they said.

"I think I should go there today."

When I checked my fridge, I found there was no milk. So, I decided to go to that café.

I changed into a plain white T-shirt with a V-neck and blue jeans.

I looked outside from the apartment veranda.

I went downstairs and walked into the street. The just-risen sun shone softly on the city streets, bringing with it a flurry of morning activities.

I leisurely made my way to my favorite café and ordered a Cappuccino.

I fiddled with my phone while drinking coffee. I was out of books to read so I wanted something new. I was checking maps for a nearby bookstore.

I paid the bill and started heading towards the nearest bookstore that showed up during my search. I was lucky because it was just three blocks away from the café.

I took a look at the exterior of the building. It was a half-timbered building and its wooden structure could be seen from the outside. There was a sort of signboard outside and "Takahashi Bookstore" was written there in an artistic way.

I slightly pushed the wooden door. When I went inside the state of the library was horrible. I don't mean that the design or something like that was horrible. It was pretty decent. The area was spacious. Some partitions separated different blocks. There were different sections for light novels, manga, and magazines. There was also a section for translated English novels.

On the far corner of the room, there were many desks and chairs lined up and there was a small metal signboard hanging which read to "Reading Area."

The interior was good and spacious so you might be thinking why did I say that the state was horrible?

Because there were no people. It was devoid of people. It seemed derelict.

There were specks of dust everywhere. The bookshelves and the chairs on the reading zone had dust all over. This place seemed like an abandoned house. Judging by the condition, it looked as if no one has visited this shop in quite a while.

When I entered a young lady jolted up from the chair that she was sitting on and welcomed me with a surprised expression on her face.

"Welcome!"

I thought of returning immediately but suddenly remembered that the nearest one was quite far away and I was not in a mood to travel any further. Also, the lady at the reception seemed a bit happy, probably because a customer had arrived in a while. I didn't want to see her expression turn sour so I decided to go in.

I went towards the reception where the lady was.

She was wearing a floral dress with an orange outer which reached to her waist.

"What sort of book are you looking for?"

She asked with a smile on her face.

"I'm looking for light novels."

"Oh. It is at the third partition."

She said pointing at the section with light novels.

"You can also read the book here if you want to after buying it."

She said just before I headed towards that section. I searched the rows thinking about the particular books I had in mind.

I found the book and went to the reception and paid for the book.

I didn't want to go home. Right now, I didn't want to waste any time and read the book right away.

So, I looked back and thought of going to the reading area when she stopped me.

"Wait! Wait! That area hasn't been cleaned. It's all dusty."

She said scratching her cheek and seemed a bit embarrassed that the place wasn't comfortable for her customer.

She immediately continued.

"If you want to read, you can sit here."

She said while pointing at the empty chair beside her.

"Is that all right?"

"Yeah."

She nodded without hesitation. I took her up on the offer and seated myself.

I had bought around four books. I chose the one that I had wanted to read the most.

I took out the book and placed it on the table in front of me.

Almost immediately, the lady beside me jumped from her chair energetically and started to talk out of nowhere.

"You read this series, right? This is so good! And the main character is so cool and badass! He does everything and sort of remains on the shadows, pulling strings from behind!"

The book which I took out was, "Classroom of the Elite" which was also my favorite.

She continued chattering continuously without a break.

"And the romantic development. I never thought that Kei would be the one to be his girlfriend!"

Her eyes were glittering with passion.

"Yeah. Not to mention the scene where Ayanokoji beat the shit out of Ryuen and his lackeys."

"Yeah. Yeah,"

When I replied, she leaned even more closer.

"Hey. Who do you think is the White Room enforcer?!"

She asked me.

I pondered for a while.

"It's difficult to exactly point out. There is the possibility that there is more than one from the WR. But at the very least, I don't think it's either Housen or Nanase."

"You eliminated Nanase Tsubasa?! Haven't you read the second volume of the second year?! And the exchange between her and Tsukishiro?!"

"I think that Nanase does have an understanding a the situation and wants to expel him but the reason is different. She wants to expel Ayanokoji not because she's from WR but she has some personal issues."

I told what I thought but I knew I could be wrong as well. But I didn't think that Kinugasa-sensei will give away the White Room enforcer so easily.

After that, we talked about our favorite characters and the various possible romantic developments in the series. We also talked about other series like Sword Art Online, 86, SNAFU and others. We talked about our favorite series and the characters we liked.

When we continued to talk, the time continued to pass.

Without realizing it, we had already talked for more than an hour now.

"Phew. I feel so good right now."

She said while leaning with her back on the chair and stretching both of her hands.

"Me too."

I also felt a bit good. Since early times, I didn't have many friends. So, I always spent my time reading novels of all genres. As you already know that I didn't have many friends, there was no one with whom I could discuss these.

This was the first time I had talked with anyone about these things. I felt good that I could talk with someone regarding the books I liked and who had similar tastes to mine.

"Just wait for me a little, okay?"

She said that and rushed out of the store.

What kind of shop owner is she?

Does any shop owner leave their shop to a customer and run off like that?

After about ten minutes, she returned with two cold coffee.

She threw one at me and I caught it easily with my left hand.

"For me?"

I asked.

"Yeah."

She replied while opening her can.

"Why?"

I asked because I hadn't expected her to go and buy a drink for a customer whom she had just met.

"As you can see, this store is always devoid of people. It has been about six months since the bookstore went to this state. Barely any customers come around here. You were the first one in about a week to come here and to not to mention you had similar interests like mine."

She paused for a while and looked at me.

"So, I thought we could be friends."

She said that casually like it was no big deal. But for me, it was something I couldn't have imagined.

Because back then I was someone without any friends. Because of how I was, no one tried to approach me. The only one whom I thought of as a friend back then was, 'she', who betrayed me.

I had a deep scar left from what 'she' did to me, what 'she', my friend, and my first love had done to me.

So, I didn't want to make friends. I didn't want to experience the same bitterness again.

I looked at her face. She was expecting a positive answer from me. I didn't want to betray that hope.

"Oh. Okay. Fine by me."

The lady seemed ecstatic.

"Yayy. My name is Takahashi Yui. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"I'm Kobayashi Kaito. Same here."

I replied.

I accepted her as my friend.

But I still didn't know what friends are and how friends should act with each other. I was a high schooler who knew nothing of friendship. Pathetic isn't it.

I again looked at the lady in front of me and thought to myself.

"If anyone ever needs my help I would do what I can because that's what my mother taught me. But if you asked me I could trust that person then my answer would definitely be a 'no'."