Chapter 81: I Was In The Way

**I Was In The Way** is the eighty-first Chapter in *Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu*.

## Summary

As the mysterious person advances towards them, Ichikawa thinks on how handsome he is, but is intimidated by his eyes. Yamada nervously introduces her friend as Ichikawa, and the man brightens up, asking if he's "that one," which Ichikawa doesn't know how to take. As he contemplates why they're even talking about him, he is handed a business card for Yuki Suwa, and Yamada introduces him as her manager, claiming he is actually a good person. Suwa then lightly grabs Ichikawa's face, and inspects him closely, commenting on his pretty eyes, causing Yamada to break in between them, and saying "no way" repeatedly. Yamada brings Ichikawa over to the table, and she offers him a macaron, but he says he's fine. The two women looking over a computer look up at him, and Yamada introduces them as Ciel Magazine's editors as they talk over the "middle school boy" that has come up to them. The shorter one sits down next to him and asks him what is popular with boys his age these days, and he awkwardly offers "FGO," which confuses them, and he wonders if he should have offered Apex: Legends, or Minecraft. She then asks if there is a girl he likes, but gets scolded by her co-worker, as she laments not being able to talk about youth.

At that moment, Yamada's face brightens up as she notices a young, silver-haired woman walking towards them. She addresses her as "Kouda Niko," and gushes about her, asking Ichikawa if he knows her as a famous model often seen on tv, which he doesn't, as he isn't a big watcher. She walks towards the table, and upon getting a closer look, Ichikawa appraises her statuesque face, but her stoic demeanor immediately falls apart as soon as she reaches Yamada, and she grabs onto her sobbing, telling her a story about how a taxi driver ignored her when she tried to flag him down, and lamenting how she can't live like this. When Yamada gives no reply, she says that she's acting cool and collected as always. When Niko gets her act together, she notices Ichikawa, and turns to the shorter editor, asking if he's her kid, to which she reprimands her, asking if she looks like a mother. Ichikawa considers how he was being too self-conscious, and that nobody would think they look like they're together just sizing them up.

Later, Ichikawa is standing on the sidelines watching Yamada and Niko pose for their pictures, when Suwa comes up beside him, asking if he can't wait to go home. Ichikawa offers a barely-audible "no," and Suwa adds that he appears to have a massive inferiority complex. Ichikawa tries to come up with a counter, but Suwa continues, saying he's known Yamada for four years, and that he's like a parent to her, and he's never met a girl that is such an open book. He adds that she'll talk about anything, even Ichikawa. He says that she thinks very highly of him, but wants him to understand that this period is very important for her career, and that there are people who think that her having a boyfriend is a bad idea, and if it is decided that he is interfering with her work, it could cause problems, and asks if he understands. Ichikawa ruminates on what he was just told, but attempts to correct the manager by saying they're not dating, causing him to freeze up. He worries because he usually has such a good eye for these kinds of things, and Ichikawa realizes that it does look like they're dating from an outside perspective. Suwa asks if she's maybe bothering him instead, but Ichikawa disagrees, saying he admires her. Suwa calls him upfront, and he considers how he's known how mature Yamada was ever since she broke her nose and how she worried about things like her job.

After the shoot, Yamada and Ichikawa depart together, boarding a train back to their city. As they take their seats, Yamada asks how it was today, and he called it exciting, and with many busy people. She clarifies that she didn't mean the set, but trails off mumbling, and he brings up how he took a secret photo himself, wondering if that's too creepy. She asks when he did it, and is interested in seeing, and he shows a picture of Yamada in the middle of a bite of macaron, standing next to Niko and one of the editors. She asks him to take one where she's making a nicer expression next time, but he says that he finds this one very pretty, causing embarrassment for both of them.

A bonus page is asking "what happened to the bow-wow cake," showing that Niko had initially claimed it for herself, thinking it was for anyone to have. Ichikawa tries to address her and say he got it for Yamada, but freezes up because of her beauty. Yamada herself chimes in, saying it's probably for her, and nodding Ichikawa's way. Niko melodramatically begs Yamada not to hate her for her actions.

Another bonus page shows off the ten people who did work on the Ciel photoshoot, being two of each of models, managers, cameramen, editors, and the hair-and-makeup coordinators.

## Trivia

This is the first proper appearance of Niko Kouda, though she was first referenced all the way back in Chapter 5.