The Unremarkable Pair #AmanoWritingClub

Approx. 600 characters, short-short story

Naoto and Shizuka entered into an arranged marriage based on the hypothesis that if two unremarkable people married, their statistical "misfortunes" would cancel each other out, leading to a peaceful life.

Their life turned out exactly as the world would expect.

Naoto's promotions were always snatched up by the flashy person in the next department, and they never won any large lottery prizes.

Whenever they booked a restaurant for dinner, they were invariably seated next to a noisy table.

They were never blessed with "spectacular luck," and everything in their lives was mundane. However, this kept their minds at ease. They lived quietly, hidden within the average values of life.

One day on his way home from work, Naoto was suddenly struck by a piercing screech of friction and a blinding flash of daylight.

The moment the delivery truck plowed toward him, Naoto regretted his marriage to Shizuka.

If only he had chosen someone flashy, this wouldn't have happened.

However, the truck came to a screeching halt just a few dozen centimeters from his nose, carving deep grooves into the asphalt.

A high-pitched ringing sound echoed deep within his ears.

The driver jumped out, looking pale and frantic.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay!"

After being questioned by the police, Naoto went home and told Shizuka what had happened.

Naoto was still trembling from the tension that remained in his body.

Shizuka said quietly,

"Doesn't being unremarkable mean you also don't encounter 'spectacular misfortune'?"

The ringing in Naoto's ears faded away instantly.

Zero charisma was a statistical barrier of "nothingness" that attracted neither extreme luck nor extreme misfortune.

They had managed to avoid even the greatest of life's misfortunes simply by virtue of their lack of presence.