Ambiguous Words (2)
Words are truly mysterious things. You craft them into a single sentence, yet they can carry any number of meanings.
The factors that decide which meaning lands include the situations of both the speaker and the listener.
Take, for example, the moment when you’re completely drained and suddenly hear:
Let’s go grab some food.
Depending on the person, some might forget the preceding context entirely and fixate only on those words themselves.
In other words, they completely erase the fact that they had just asked, “Where are you headed?” and are left remembering nothing but “Let’s go grab some food.”
What happens then?
The result was sitting right in front of me.
“I did think something felt off… Gachi didn’t seem like the type…”
“Well, we haven’t gotten that close yet.”
“S-sorry. I actually stayed up pretty late. I was half-asleep earlier.”
“No, there’s nothing to apologize for.”
“No… I’m just embarrassed.”
Wa Sol covered her flushed face with both hands as she spoke. The vibe she gave off was completely different from yesterday—adorably flustered instead of the cool composure I’d felt before.
Right now she was sitting with me and Su-yeon at our table. I’d felt like I needed to get her seated quickly, so I’d guided her to the spot right beside me. She was next to me now.
“Look, this guy’s the one who said something confusing, so it’s partly his fault too. Just eat something first.”
“Haaah…”
“Tch. Guess that’s not happening.”
Maybe because they were the same age and classmates, Su-yeon casually urged Wa Sol to eat, but she showed no sign of listening—still hiding her face behind both hands.
If I put myself in her shoes, it wasn’t hard to understand.
“You must’ve stayed up really late last night? Still, you should’ve gotten home before midnight.”
“Well… I just couldn’t fall asleep.”
“Ah, that happens.”
“It’s your fault…”
“Huh?”
“I was taking it out on you. Sorry.”
An ultra-fast apology. I couldn’t even get a word out.
Having no idea how to handle a situation like this, I glanced at Su-yeon for help.
“Didn’t you just see? She won’t even talk to me.”
No help coming from that direction.
But seriously, what was I supposed to do? Or rather… did I even need to do anything?
…I kind of wanted to, though.
“You really don’t need to apologize. If anything… I’m happy… about it?”
“...Huh?”
“Wow.”
Finally the face that had been playing hide-and-seek behind her hands looked at me. Still red, but now with a slightly surprised expression.
“There aren’t many people around me I can talk about VTubers with.”
“Ah…”
“Miss.”
The running commentary from the guy behind me was starting to get on my nerves, but I decided to ignore it.
“And besides that… just being with you, talking with you… I liked it.”
“...”
“Bravo.”
Why did I keep saying things like this, anyway?
Was this some kind of embarrassment playthrough?
“I meant I wanted to get a little closer. Haha. Sorry, I’m not great with words.”
“...No. I’m happy you said that too.”
“The great Wa Sol is happy because a guy said he wants to get closer…”
“The great Wa Sol?”
“There’s a story there. Thought you weren’t listening?”
“Fair enough.”
If there was something she wanted to keep hidden, there was no need for me to know it—and even less need to hear it from someone else’s mouth.
“She’s like this?”
“Yeah, he’s like this.”
“...Do you two know each other?”
Even so, the conversation just now was hard to explain with mere social skills. And while I could maybe buy it from Su-yeon, I couldn’t imagine Wa Sol talking this casually with someone she had no connection to.
“We’re relatives. His mom is my dad’s older sister.”
“Call her your aunt.”
“He’s the son of our dear aunt. I mentioned him briefly even in the military.”
Had he? I definitely remembered hearing about a popular but prickly younger relative. Relatives, huh…
“Now that you mention it, there are some similarities.”
“No.” / “Nope.”
“None at all. Right.”
Wa Sol was a beauty with reddish-brown eyes and neat black hair. Su-yeon had the same black hair, but unlike her, it was a somewhat unkempt style on an average-looking guy.
Outwardly, they had almost nothing in common.
Having a head on their necks was about the only shared trait.
“Still, the vibe is similar.”
“Where?”
Wa Sol asked with pure curiosity.
“Where. Exactly.”
Su-yeon asked like the idea personally offended him.
“You’re both easy to talk to. Honestly, this is the most comfortable I’ve felt since starting university.”
The freshman welcome party had been full of strangers and had ended in disaster, so it hadn’t been comfortable at all.
The only genuinely fun memories were chatting with Wa Sol and reuniting with Su-yeon after so long.
Looking at it that way, of course this felt the most comfortable.
“Hehe. Hearing you say that makes me really happy.”
“Ah, you’re back to your usual self.”
“Have we known each other long enough for you to know my ‘usual’?”
“That’s… fair.”
“Hehe, just kidding. Thinking about it, I’ve always treated you like my normal self around Gachi. Oh, is this flirting?”
“I think you’d know better than I would.”
Having never been flirted with or done any flirting myself, I was completely unqualified to judge.
Still, as expected.
That pleasant voice and the easy atmosphere were Wa Sol’s greatest charms.
“Hmm… hey, Gachi.”
“Yeah?”
Come to think of it, the two of us had been monopolizing the conversation. Originally the plan had been with Su-yeon.
I felt a little bad.
“I’m heading out.”
“What? No, you haven’t even finished eating.”
Was he actually sulking? That didn’t seem like him, but…
“Don’t get any weird ideas. This is a debt. Pay me back later.”
“Uh, I was planning to treat you to a meal sometime anyway.”
“Not that, you idiot. Hey, Wa Sol.”
Su-yeon tapped my shoulder as he stood, then called out to her. Wa Sol only turned her head to look at him.
“What?”
“...He’s a good guy.”
“I know. Probably.”
“Right.”
With that, Su-yeon walked off toward the counter without looking back, only showing me the back of his hand. After paying, he quietly left the restaurant.
And just like that, Wa Sol and I were alone.
“What was that about?”
“He probably saw a side of me he didn’t expect.”
“Unexpected?”
“...Maybe a hedgehog that never wanted to hurt anyone or get hurt itself finally decided it wanted to approach someone, to get to know them.”
Zero hours of dating experience.
Not that much time spent talking to girls either.
There had been a girl I liked, but it never became anything deep.
Even someone like me could tell who the hedgehog Wa Sol was talking about was.
And who she wanted to get to know.
“Don’t take it too heavily. It’s really just… wondering what kind of person you are.”
“Okay. I won’t.”
It really was just that.
Whether there was special meaning or not didn’t matter.
She had simply wanted to know.
The same way I had wanted to know her.
Really… such ambiguous words.
In the end we finished the meal just the two of us and stepped out of the restaurant. Looking up at the sky, stars were already out. Even though it was spring, the night wind felt quite cold.
Fortunately Wa Sol was wearing a coat, so she didn’t look too chilly.
“Phew, good thing I wore a coat. Aren’t you cold, Gachi?”
“It’s a thick cardigan. Plus I don’t get cold easily.”
“Ah, so you’re the type that melts in summer instead?”
“You know me well.”
“Hehe, there are plenty of people like that. So what are you going to do when you get home? Eve’s stream already ended today, right?”
She bent at the waist a little to look up at me.
It felt like she was half-expecting something, half-amused.
I couldn’t read her true intentions, but the atmosphere made it clear she wanted something.
“You really do know Utopia well. Hmm… I was thinking of checking out Kiri’s stream. She said she’s going live tonight.”
“...Huh?”
Wa Sol’s eyes went wide, as if she’d heard something completely unexpected.
Was watching another streamer that surprising?
Honestly, if it had been Su-yeon I might understand, but I hadn’t thought I’d shown I was an Adami enough for her to react like this… No. Thinking back, at yesterday’s after-party I’d just kept praising Eve nonstop.
Yeah, that would do it.
“Th-that’s unexpected. Do you usually watch Kiri’s streams?”
“No, I’ve never watched one before.”
…
What was this? Time just froze.
And even though I was wearing a pretty thick cardigan, a chill ran through me.
“Heeh, never watched one, huh. Her schedule doesn’t overlap with Eve’s that much.”
I flinched.
Her voice was right next to my ear, like a whisper.
It was a genuinely beautiful voice that resonated deep, but right now it was scarier than any ghost’s.
“W-well, more precisely, until yesterday. I happened to catch Kiri’s stream late last night. So I was thinking of watching again today…”
“...Hmm~”
Thankfully time started moving again and the chill gradually faded.
The tension, however, remained—and its source was Wa Sol, who had turned her head toward me as we walked.
“Then, Gachi.”
For some reason my soul was screaming at me.
“What did you like about Kiri’s stream?”
From here on I had to choose my words carefully.
If I slipped up now…
“Just be honest.”
I had a feeling that beautiful smile of hers would tip completely into the negative.
“Ah, well…”
“Think of it casually. I doubt you watched the whole thing. Just your impression up to wherever you stopped?”
The advantage of her never-ending audio was now a blade pointed straight at me.
I couldn’t see any escape from the conversation.
Let’s see… the last impression I’d had while watching Kiri’s stream was…
“...It was a good stream.”
If I’d stopped there it would’ve been perfect.
“Just not as good as Eve’s.”
I had to go and add that extra line.
“Hehehe.”
Ah, I know that one.
She’s not actually laughing.
“Yeah, that makes sense. You’re an Adami, after all. Hehe.”
Wa Sol nodded as she spoke.
The bright smile on her face was cold as ice, and her beautiful laugh had frost on it.
“Though I do wonder if you really had to compare her to Eve like that.”
“I-I’m sorry…”
Apologize.
I have no idea why I’m apologizing!
“...Haa.”
When I even bowed my head in apology, Wa Sol stopped walking, scratched her cheek lightly, and let out a breath.
…Is she forgiving me?
I was about to lift my head when she said:
“What exactly did you do wrong?”
Suddenly she hit me with problem number 30 from the math section.
“Th-that’s… I don’t really… I’m sorry.”
“Ah… that’s not what I meant.”
“Huh?”
“I meant why are you apologizing when you didn’t actually do anything wrong.”
Hearing that, I properly raised my head and looked at Wa Sol.
She was smiling with a slightly troubled expression.
“I’m the one who should apologize. I went a little too far with the teasing.”
“That was… teasing?”
Didn’t feel like it~
I wanted to say.
“Yeah, it was teasing. Teasing with a little bit of sincerity mixed in. Hehe.”
Why that kind of teasing…?
If there was sincerity, about what exactly?
Even as those thoughts ran through my head while we walked, I kept looking at Wa Sol.
Her short hair was somehow more captivating than most long-haired women, paired with a black coat and matching slacks. And that faint, pleasant scent drifting from beside me.
…Time was flowing slowly again, but in a completely different way from before.
Even slowly flowing time, though, eventually reaches its end.
“Ah, we’re here.”
“Yeah. Closer than I expected.”
“Hehe, that distance isn’t actually short. Still… it felt short to me too.”
Wa Sol spoke with a soft smile.
Looking at that smile, I quietly whispered inside:
…87 points.
“Well, I’m heading in. And… see you again.”
“Yeah, see you.”
We exchanged “see you again”s and went into our respective homes.
Once inside, I replayed the day’s events in my head.
Strangely, only the memories with Wa Sol came to mind.
And the goodbye she’d said when we parted.
“See you again… huh.”
Was it just a formality?
Or did she really mean she wanted to see me again?
Ambiguous words.
I’d heard a lot of ambiguous words today.
But in the middle of all that, there was one single fact that had settled clearly inside me.
“...She came to eat with me because I invited her, right?”
Even if I hadn’t planned it, she’d accepted my invitation and come all the way to the restaurant.
That fact alone didn’t feel ambiguous at all.