Note: Upgrade your browser if you can't see the images.
Man Of Probabilities - Chapter 36
You are reading Man Of Probabilities Chapter 36 at mangacake.
Please use the Bookmark button to get notifications about the latest chapters of Man Of Probabilities next time when you come visit our manga website
Shinobu Naoyuki’s POV
It was 20 years ago when I saw my very first ‘probability’.
I was 10 years old back then when my dad left me in the care of our new neighbors because my mom was having a high-risk pregnancy for my little brother and they decided to just stay at the hospital until she gave birth.
“Nao, remember to behave properly and be friendly with everyone there.” My dad gave me my bag while we are standing at the front door of our neighbor.
“But dad, I want to go with you. Can I just stay at the hospital with Mom?”
“You will just get bored there, and besides our neighbor have kids who are almost the same as your age so I am sure that you will be good friends.”
“But….”
“Just enjoy your stay here and I promise that I will buy you whatever toy you want when we come back.”
I am still teary eyed when Naria-san comes out of their door to welcome me in.
“Oh Nao-chan welcome, please come in.” she let me inside the house while she was still talking to my dad.
The moment I stepped inside there a house, a kid appears at the hallway blocking me from reaching the living room.
“Hey why are you still crying? Don’t you know that boys should never cry? Are you a girl?!” The boy who seems to be the same age at me blurted out. I can see the annoyance in his face everytime he looks at me.
“I’m not a girl! And when did it becomes forbidden for boys to cry?” I defend myself.
“Hmmp. Boys who cries are just too weak. Real men don’t cry!”
“You’re wrong! Dad said it’s alright to cry when you feel sad. I’m not crying because I’m weak, I’m just worried for my mom at the hospital. Wahhhhhhuhu” and so I started crying again.
“Hey Hisa! What are you doing at our guest?! Mom and Dad told us to be nice with him.” a boy older than us run from the living room when he heard my loud cry.
“Tskkk… I’m just teaching him how to be a real man and then he started crying again like a baby!”
“Hisa stop being rude. Say sorry to him!”
“No! I won’t! And I will not ever be friends with a crybaby!” He run back to his room after being scolded by his brother.
“I’m sorry for whatever my brother told you. He may be like that at first but he is really a good kid so I’m hoping that we can all get along really soon.” He kneeled down and patted my head while trying to wipe my tears. “By the way my name is Satoshi and I’m 16 years old. That brat just now is my 11 years old brother, Hisashi.”
“I’m Shinobu Naoyuki, 10 years old. Nice to meet you all.” I introduced myself just like how my dad taught me since I started kindergarten.
“Do you want to eat some strawberry cake? We have some leftover in the fridge.” He lead the way through the living room and to the kitchen.
“Yes I want strawberries.”
“Then here you go” he served me a slice of cake full of strawberries as the toppings. My mouth watered just by looking at it.
“Thanks for the meal.” I am just about to make my first bite when I heard a loud stomping noise.
“Hey that’s my strawberry cake I kept in the fridge last night!”
“Don’t worry Hisa, I only took a small portion from it so you can still have some and besides, you are just eating the cake and throwing the strawberries so it will be just a waste.”
“But I want the cake!” He was starting to get work up again and so I decided to interfere.
“If you really like the cake, then I will just take all the strawberries on top. Here you can have it back.” I hand out the plate after scooping out the all the toppings to another plate.
“Hmppp…” He grabbed the plate from my hands and walks back to his room.
“Sorry for his rudeness again, maybe he is just not used in dealing with other kids beside me.”
I spent the whole day staying at their living room watching television while Satoshi was busy doing his scholworks nearby. When the night came, I was told to share the room with the two brothers and so I have no choice but to spent the whole night together with that awful kid Hisashi.
It was planned that I will sleep with the same bed as Satoshi instead of sleeping on the floor because he insisted that his bed is wide enough to share with a kid and besides, it will be impossible for me to share with Hisashi because he is always rolling around the bed while sleeping.
“Ok Hisashi, Naoyuki, let’s all sleep early so we can get up and play early in the morning.” Satoshi is about to turn off the lights when I heard Hisashi complain again.
“Why does he have to share the same bed with you brother? I want to sleep with you too!”
“But I don’t think you can sleep in a cramped bed. How can I sleep with you rolling around at my side.”
“Ehhhh but I never have a chance to sleep next to you.”
“Fine. But don’t you dare disturb my precious sleep.”
“Yes, I promise.” He gleefully jumped in to his bed and almost pushed me down the floor.
“Naoyuki you can use his bed instead. Goodnight.”
It was too obvious even for a kid like me to notice how Hisashi is so possessive of his brother so I told myself that I should be patient in dealing with him.
The next morning, Satoshi insisted on bringing us out to play some ball games and snow ball fight to help us build some friendship. I wanted to just stay home for the whole day because I know that it is too cold to play outside because of the snow but Satoshi pulled Hisashi and I outside so I have no choice but to play along.
It was fun at first but everytime Satoshi isn’t looking, Hisashi will take his chance to hit me with a ball and some snow balls.
One time, while Satoshi is taking a little break on looking over us while he is having a conversation with his friend who was passing by, I was hit in the face by a ball thrown towards me. The ball rolled away after hitting me and started to get away.
“Hey what are you spacing out about? Hurry up and grab the ball back!” Hisashi shouted at me.
I wanted to ignore him but I remembered that the ball belongs to Satoshi so I have my conscience struck me and decided to follow the rolling ball.
It rolled farther and farther as it roll down the downward slope which was already covered with snow. As I run forward to catch the ball, I didn’t notice a rock on the way and so I stumbled and rolled down uncontrollably just like the ball. I was lucky that time that I only scraped my knees and got a little dizzy when I fall and I landed safely into a pile of snow. I stood up and started searching for the ball but it was gone, I decided to go back and just apologize to Satoshi when I suddenly heard a faint cry from a distance near the frozen lake.
I slowly approach the place where the sound was coming and there I found a baby wrapped in a blue blanket.
When my finger touched its skin as I attempted to carry it in my arms, a weird thing appeared in front of my eyes. It was a sign, or more precisely a percentage sign. I don’t understand what was happening back then but I didn’t panick at all, I just stared at it and when I turned my gaze down to the face of the baby, a number appeared with the percentage and I heard an unfamiliar voice which almost like a whisper.
“Meeting his fated pair.”
100%
A glowing 100% sign shined between us. I was stunned for a second before I heard my name being called.
“Nao!!! Nao!!! Where are you?!!!” It was Satoshi and it seems that he is worried for me.
“I’m here!” I shouted back and waved my one hand for him to notice me.
He run towards me as soon as he saw me and when he noticed the baby I was carrying he asked me if I saw any adult around the area but I told him that I only found the baby alone in the pile of snow.
He told me that we should ask for some help and luckily there was a policeman on patrol on the area and told him about the baby I found at the lake side.
He brought us to the station to have our statements and then when they noticed that my knees were bleeding they immediately let us go and sent me to the hospital.
Upon arriving at the same hospital where my mom was also giving birth to my little brother, I feel relieved because I came in a perfect moment and so the issue about the abandoned baby was forgotten in my mind.
When I first saw my little brother as a newborn baby, I saw that strange thing again. It was an 11% displayed in front of me and then I started crying and nobody else ever know why I cried that day.
When the winter vacation ended and the school resumed, Hisashi transferred to my school and he became my classmate. I thought that he will be mean again towards me but I was surprised when he first approached me and handed a box of candies.
“I’m sorry for what happened that time.” He apologized sincerely for the first time.
I can’t hide my surprised expression when I heard it and so I asked for a confirmation.
“Did I heard it right? Why are you saying sorry to me?”
“Because… because of me you almost died there..” *sniffs* he started to fight his tears from falling in front of me. “When I told you to get the ball\, you suddenly disappeared and when we searched for you\, I found a pile of bloody trail in the snow and I thought you were hurt and kidnapped by some bad guys.”
“Pffft…. Hahahaha, you’re imagination is too much for an 11 years old. I just got scrapes on my knees that time.” I accepted his candies and his apology.
Since then, he followed me around and eventually we became friends. He kept calling himself as my best friend because he was my only friend.
His personality seems to changed somehow as time goes by except his little temper and possessiveness towards the things he likes, but at least he isn’t obsessed with his brother anymore.
As I grew older, I realized the meaning of all the probabilities I am seeing and I discovered that I can use it with my own will if I want to know something.
I can still remember that time when I decided to tell everyone at school about my ability but he was the only one who really believed me first until the very end. The first time I lied to him was when I told him that I have the probabilities since I was born because I don’t want him to ask anymore questions about it.
Tragedies happened and I have reached a point where I wanted to end my life but he was always by my side to make me realize that there is still hope.
For all the days I spent with him together, for all the times he make me smile and for all the stories he made just for me to feel better, I end falling for him.
Indeed, he is my first love.
That was the second time I lied to him, lied to myself and lied to my own feelings.
I was scared back then because I can’t believe that I fell in love with my best friend. I looked into the probabilities of us being together but I was only hurt by the results I saw.
Probabilities of Hisashi rejecting a confession from a guy: 97%
The following month we moved in together in a dormitory inside the university. I felt uncomfortable just being together in the room with him and so I always make an excuse to spend more time outside than staying together with him in our room.
As days goes by, my feelings for him grows deeper and I end up questioning myself and my own sexuality.
Why am I being like this? Is something wrong with me? Am I really capable of loving someone of the same gender? Am I just simply gay and can find someone else instead of pursuing my desire to have Hisashi love me back?
One late afternoon as I was on the way to our dormitory, I spotted a girl confessing her love for Hisashi right in front of the boys dormitory’s entrance and it was too painful for me to watch it and listen to his reply because either his answer is an acceptance or a rejection, it will still hurt my feelings and so I decided to run away.
I know that if he accepted her confession, it will only make me feel brokenhearted and alone because he will no longer be at my side. And if he rejected her, I would have to watch him how he rejects someone and imagine how I will be rejected if it was me who confess to him.
I feel so depressed that time that i decided to spend the whole night wandering around and have a moment for myself. But who would have thought that while I am on the way to a night market, I will meet someone who changed the way I look into the world, someone who filled the small cracks in my heart and the man who made me understand how everything will never always work the way I wanted.