Someya Wataru just wants to be ordinary.
But with his vivid red hair, sharp glasses, and a mole that draws every eye, "ordinary" has never been an option. Confessed to again and again, he turns each one down—and watches, every time, as something in their expression quietly breaks. It's a cycle he can't escape, no matter how much he wishes to disappear into the background of his own high school life.
When his class volunteers him—without asking—to write the script for their cultural festival pl
Wataru's Nectar - Crimson-hued stage—putting feelings that can't be put into words onto my voice
The first Saturday of November. Colorful arches stood at the gates of Akanezaka High School, and the sound of the brass band drifted across the schoolyard. The smell of yakisoba and the sweet scent of cotton candy mingled with the cold November air.
Backstage at the gymnasium.
Someya Wataru stood in a corner of the dim wings. In his hands was a worn copy of the *Run, Melos!* script. Its corners were rounded, and several sticky notes clung to the pages.
He checked his phone. The only LINE message from Kou was last night's single line: "Can't make it to practice today." Since then, nothing—no read receipts, no replies.
"Someya, you ready?"
His homeroom teacher, Mr. Hoshina, poked his head through the curtain of the wings. A PE teacher in his forties. Today he wore a rumpled suit instead of his tracksuit.
"...Yes."
He gave a small nod.
"Still no word from Horii?"
"...Sorry."
"Nothing to apologize for. You're the only one who can fill in for him. Got it?"
A hand clapped his shoulder.
Last night, Mr. Hoshina had called. Kou might not make it on the day of the culture festival. The set changes could be handled by the other boys, but the problem was—
"You'll play Melos in his place."
The understudy for the lead. Wataru was the scriptwriter, not an actor. But the one who understood the script best was Wataru. That's what Mr. Hoshina had said.
He gripped the script. Tight enough that his fingers went white.
"Someya-kun."
A soft voice came from behind him.
He turned. Mina was standing there. Her chestnut, softly waved hair swayed gently under the dim lighting. Her slightly downturned black eyes looked up at Wataru with worry. Her white dress costume seemed to float faintly in the darkness.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"Don't push yourself too hard. You barely slept last night either, did you, Someya-kun?"
"...You could tell?"
"You've got a bit of a shadow under your eyes."
She smiled softly.
Seeing that smile, his breathing eased just a little. A few days ago, she had confessed to him in the courtyard. He had turned her down gently. But Mina still treated him the same as always.
"Thanks. But I'm really okay."
"Okay. Then I'll go check my stage positions."
Mina walked off toward the stage.
He checked his phone again. The LINE screen showed their past exchanges.
"Get me bread again tomorrow."
"The croquette bread from the school store."
"You changed your shampoo, didn't you."
"That one smells good."
Words he'd normally let pass without a thought. Now, each one felt strangely heavy.
He remembered last night.
Kou's room. Countless photos spilling from the bookshelf. All of them were photos of Wataru. In his middle school uniform. Asleep. Smiling. All taken without his knowledge.
Kou, hugging his knees in the corner of the room, had said:
"Disgusting, right?"
"I've always—"
Wataru hadn't listened to the rest. Couldn't. He'd fled the room.
He traced the cover of the script with his finger. *Run, Melos!* To believe. To wait.
"Someya, we're about to raise the curtain."
His head snapped up. He could hear the murmur of the audience from inside the gymnasium.
"...Understood."
He drew a deep breath. Deep in his chest, his heart pounded heavily.
The curtain rose.
—
Light flooded the gymnasium stage. Wataru stood at its center. White shirt, brown trousers. Melos's costume. More than a hundred people filled the seats. Parents, students, neighborhood residents.
He opened the script.
"Melos was enraged."
His voice echoed through the gymnasium.
"He was determined that he must rid the world of that cunning, tyrannical king."
The lines as written. But his heart wasn't on the stage at all.
"Melos was a shepherd of the village. He had lived playing his flute and frolicking with his sheep."
He kept going.
"But that day, Melos learned. The terror of the king. The cheapness of human life."
"Melos thought. To believe. To wait. Is that a chain that binds a person? Or a light that saves them?"
It wasn't in the script. The words spilled from his mouth on their own.
"I—"
He closed the script. The audience stirred. In the wings, Mr. Hoshina was shouting something. But he couldn't hear a thing.
"I just wanted to be normal."
His own voice rang through the gymnasium.
"Go to school like normal, talk with friends like normal, live like normal. That was all I wanted."
The seats fell silent.
"But what even is normal?"
He looked out over the audience.
"Living without hurting anyone. Is that normal? Is that kindness?"
His voice trembled.
"I've always lived trying not to hurt anyone. Trying not to be hated. Trying not to be a burden."
"But because of that, I hurt the person who mattered most."
Tears welled up.
"I couldn't see it. His feelings. How he saw me."
"I wanted to stay normal in front of him. I wanted to stay his normal childhood friend."
"Because he was my everyday. Without him, I can't do anything."
His voice was about to tear apart.
"I was scared of it breaking. Of this relationship breaking."
"But running away changes nothing. Nothing ever begins."
He clenched his fist.
"I—"
The words caught in his throat.
"There's something I want to tell him."
The gymnasium went dead silent.
That was when it happened. A clatter echoed from the back of the audience.
—
The last row of seats. A wheelchair had stopped there.
Sitting in it was Horii Kou. His black hair was messier than usual. The small scar on his right eyebrow was clearly visible even in the dim seating area.
"Kou-nii, are you okay?"
Pushing the wheelchair was Wataru's little sister, Minami. Her glossy black hair was tied in a ponytail, and the mole at the corner of her mouth—the same as her brother's—was twisted with worry.
"...Yeah."
Kou gave a small nod. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, on Wataru on the stage.
"Big brother's amazing. He's not even looking at the script."
"...Why's he saying all that?"
Kou's voice was hoarse.
"Kou-nii, you went to big brother's house yesterday, didn't you?"
"...How do you know that?"
"Big brother came home and cried the whole time. Minami heard him outside his door."
Kou fell silent.
"Big brother was thinking about you so much, Kou-nii. The whole time, the whole time."
Minami's voice echoed quietly.
"Kou-nii, please look after big brother properly. Without you, he falls apart that badly."
Kou bit his lip.
On stage, Wataru was still speaking.
"Is living without hurting anyone really kindness?"
His voice carried clearly all the way to the back of the audience.
"I don't think so. Running away so you don't hurt someone—that's just cowardice."
Kou's eyes grew moist.
"It's okay to hurt. It's okay to clash. But don't run. That's what real kindness is."
Wataru's voice rang through the entire gymnasium.
"I'm not running anymore."
—
The curtain fell. Applause burst out like thunder.
Wataru stood frozen on the stage. His body was trembling.
"Someya-kun!"
Mina came running from the wings.
"That was amazing! It really was!"
Her eyes were sparkling.
"...I said all sorts of things that weren't in the script."
"No. Those were your words, Someya-kun. Words only you could say—your real words."
She smiled softly.
"I'm sure they reached him. Your words, all of them."
Wataru looked out over the audience. At the back, he saw a wheelchair moving.
"...Kou?"
Pushing it was Minami.
"Big brother!"
Minami was waving.
"I brought Kou-nii!"
Wataru jumped down from the stage. He ran through the seats.
"Big brother, wait!"
Minami's voice chased after him. But he didn't stop.
At the back of the audience was Kou. Sitting in the wheelchair, Kou was watching him.
"Kou!"
He ran up to Kou.
"You came..."
"...Yeah."
A small nod.
"Minami dragged me here."
"Well, you've been holed up in your room since yesterday! When I said let's go see big brother's play, you said no at first."
Minami hopped up and down as she spoke.
"...Thank you, Minami."
"Hehe. Big brother, look after Kou-nii properly, okay? Kou-nii's been chasing after your back this whole time."
Those words squeezed his chest tight. Kou turned his face away.
"...Minami, don't say unnecessary things."
"But it's the truth!"
Minami laughed innocently.
"Kou."
He said quietly.
"I want to talk later. I'll be waiting at the Akane River bank."
Kou looked at him for just a moment. Then gave a small nod.
"...Got it."
Wataru broke into a run through the seats. Toward the gymnasium exit. Toward the Akane River bank.
—
The setting sun dyed the surface of the Akane River deep red. A November dusk. The air was cold, and his breath clouded white. The cherry trees had shed their leaves, and their bare branches were lit by the sunset.
Beneath those branches stood Kou. The wheelchair was parked at the entrance to the bank. Leaning on a crutch, he faced the river.
"Kou!"
He ran at full speed. Out of breath. His legs hurt. But he didn't stop.
"Kou!"
He shouted again. Kou turned around slowly. The sunset dyed his black hair madder red.
"...You're late."
A small voice. But it reached his ears clearly.
"Sorry. Cleaning up after the play took longer than expected."
He stood beside Kou. There was just a little distance between them.
"Is your leg okay?"
"...It's nothing. Just a sprain."
"When did you sprain it?"
"...The night I ran from your house."
His chest ached.
"Sorry."
"...Don't apologize. I just tripped on my own."
He said it while still gazing at the sunset. Silence fell. Only the sound of the river echoed quietly.
"Kou."
He opened his mouth.
"I could never go against you. Not ever."
Kou listened in silence.
"It's not just because you helped me. Not just because you pulled me out of that river."
"It's because you were my everyday. Because having you beside me was so obvious."
His voice trembled.
"That's why I was scared of it breaking. Scared of this relationship changing."
The sunset dyed his red hair even redder.
"I never knew what to say to you. All this time."
Tears spilled over. They wouldn't stop.
"When I saw your photos, I got scared. Not because it was disgusting or anything like that. I just realized—I didn't know anything about you."
"I didn't know. I couldn't see it. How you saw me."
He wiped his tears.
"So now, I want to tell you. My feelings."
Kou slowly turned toward Wataru. His eyes were red and swollen. Kou was crying too.
"...It's the same for me."
His voice shook.
"It's the same for me—I wanted to keep you all to myself."
Tears traced down his cheeks.
"Every time someone confessed to you, I hated it. Every time I saw you talking with someone, my chest got all twisted up."
"I wanted you to be mine alone. But there's no way I could say that."
He gave a bitter smile.
"So I hid behind dirty jokes. I covered up my reason for being near you with the word 'childhood friend.'"
"Kou..."
"Disgusting, right? I took so many photos of you. Smelled your shampoo. Watched you sleep."
His voice was wet with tears.
"...Sorry. I'm really sorry."
"Don't apologize."
He said it clearly.
"I'm the same."
Kou raised his face.
"I can't do it without you either. When I see you talking with someone, I get restless. Every time you touch me, my heart races."
"So I'm not running anymore. Not from you, and not from my own feelings."
He looked straight into Kou's eyes.
"I—when it comes to you—"
Just then, Kou's fingers touched Wataru's red hair.
"...That red."
He stroked the hair gently.
"It's mine, you know."
He said it with a tear-streaked smile.
"...Huh?"
"That red hair of yours—it's the color the sunset dyed it when I pulled you out of that river. So it's mine."
His voice was still trembling. But his mouth was definitely smiling.
"Don't decide that on your own."
Wataru laughed too. Tears still lingered on his cheeks. But his heart was light.
"My hair's been red since the day I was born."
"Shut up. I decided it, so it's m
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