My extroverted girlfriend has zero sense of boundaries — Is It really wrong to take her home right after we meet? - Episode 4
♥
“Boy and girl, day off, hang out… there.”
A few days later.
The fever had completely gone down and the sluggishness melted away along with the night sweats.
After resting, it seemed likely that I could return to school by tomorrow or the day after. So the very first thing I set out to do was think about what to do for fun with Kyousuke.
I’ve gone out to have fun with a group of boys and girls before but never just the two of us.
Since I didn’t have any reliable friends to turn to in situations like this, I decided to rely on a search engine.
Lying down with my smartphone in hand, I looked up how boys and girls typically spend time together, but all I got were recommended date spots, leaving me unsure how to react.
‘Date… it’s not a date… right…?’
I started to type out a search about the definition of a date just in case, but felt embarrassed and erased it all.
“What would be good…”
Kyousuke-kun said he was fine with either shopping or karaoke, but those two were out.
First, shopping. There are clothes and shoes I want but choosing them would take a long time. And if I end up looking at cosmetics and accessories too, the day would be over. From his point of view, it would probably be an incredibly pointless waste of time.
As for karaoke, I’m not good at it, so that’s a no. With a big group, I can get by with the mood, but one-on-one there’s nothing to do except listen to the other person sing. If I sing badly and he gets turned off, that would be a problem.
‘The zoo and the aquarium are a bit far. And if we go eat something delicious, I don’t really know how Fujimura-kun’s finances are. Ah, but if I pay──’
I almost thought that, but shook my head.
It’s not like before anymore. He’s someone who wouldn’t want that. And that makes me impossibly happy.
‘I didn’t know it could be something to look forward to this much. Going out to have fun with a friend…’
For me, going out to hang out had always been proof that I wasn’t isolated.
I want to believe I get along well with these people. That’s why I pay a fitting amount.
Of course, it’s not that it was completely unenjoyable, but…
What I feel now feels real, and everything before feels like it was fake. I can’t help but think that way.
‘…What would make him happy, I wonder.’
The hands of the clock moved with a brisk rhythm, but no ideas came together.
Still, a bright emotion spilled from the corners of my lips.
♠
Saturday, in front of the station.
Kyousuke leaned his back against the wall and checked the time on his phone. 1:20 PM. She was already twenty minutes late.
“Don’t be late after inviting me yourself…”
He muttered a small complaint under his breath, but his body couldn’t hide the nervous energy, shifting restlessly.
It was the day before yesterday. Ayano, who had come to school for the first time in a while, had invited him to hang out on Saturday. What they would be doing was to remain a secret until the day of.
‘…Now that I think about it, this is basically a date, isn’t it?’
He was the one who got invited, but he never thought it would actually happen. If someone saw them meeting alone on a day off, it would definitely turn into a hassle.
Even so, now that he knew a part of the circumstances surrounding her, he no longer felt the urge to push her away or tell others to stay out of it.
Just hang out casually and get it over with. She’ll probably realize by the end of today that I’m not a fun person to be with.
“You’re late!”
Click-clack, came sharp footsteps.
When he lifted his eyes, the first thing he saw was a pair of soft gray pumps.
Navy high-waisted denim emphasized her long, slender legs. A short-sleeved ribbed knit top showed off a chest unbefitting her age, and a linen-colored tailored jacket was draped over her shoulders.
“Wh-what’s with the outfit?”
Her black hair, curled outward with an iron, swayed softly.
“A-ah. Yeah, I’m fine.”
Kyousuke turned his face away, as if to hide the smile forming on his lips.
Words like『pretty』and『beautiful』so commonplace, took over his mind.
He was going to say,『You’re late』but that completely stopped mattering. Her beauty had a bizarre kind of persuasiveness. Even in her school uniform she looked pretty, and even that casual loungewear he saw on the rainy day suited her—but this was on a whole different level. In fact, she drew stares from those around them. Everyone glanced her way at least once.
“More importantly, did something happen? Like errands or something?”
“Nope. I was just looking for something. I couldn’t find this.”
As she touched her right ear, a glass earring caught the light and reflected it in all directions.
“It’s my favorite.”
With a giggle, her cheeks bloomed with a reddish hue, and she twirled on the spot.
The tips of her hair brushed past Kyousuke’s nose, leaving behind the soft scent of shampoo.
“How do I look?”
With a childlike smile that contrasted her appearance, she tilted her head confidently.
Whether it suited her or not—the answer was obvious. But all Kyousuke could do was expose his reddened face while his lips kept opening and closing without forming words.
“Cute?”
“N-no, uh…”
“So, not cute then?”
“No, that’s not—uh, I mean…”
“If you don’t say it clearly, I won’t know.”
“…C-cute… i…”
“Huh? What was that?”
“I said… geez…”
Ayano deliberately asked again, pretending not to hear.
Kyousuke’s cheeks flushed with the color of embarrassment as he mumbled.
“…Um, could you please give me a break?”
He covered his face, which looked like it was about to erupt in flames, and pleaded weakly.
“Fufu, very well.”
Apparently satisfied, Ayano gently patted Kyousuke’s head, tap tap.
So this is what a normie’s standard is like, Kyousuke thought, feeling a chill down his spine. His face was burning, yet his insides were cold—it felt like the temperature difference would tear him apart.
“Fujimura is… yeah, very Fujimura-like.”
Looking at Kyousuke, who was dressed in black from head to toe, Ayano nodded thoughtfully.
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
“Next time, I’ll pick something that suits you better.”
“Leave me alone.”
“It’s a promise.”
“…Wait, no…”
Just like that day, Ayano held out her pinky finger.
Kyousuke looked around nervously, then lightly swatted her hand away with a soft pash. He glared at Ayano, silently begging her to stop embarrassing him any further. Ayano simply laughed, light and clear like a ringing bell.
“…Ah.”
Two familiar girls passed by, chatting happily.
Chisato and Kaoruko. They didn’t spare Kyousuke even a glance, only gave Ayano a quick look and continued on their way to the station without saying a word.
“A-are you okay?”
In the end, Ayano hadn’t been able to go out with those two. Perhaps because of that, ever since she recovered from her cold and returned to school, she hadn’t spoken to them at all in class.
Worried that she might be feeling awkward, Kyousuke glanced at Ayano’s expression.
She furrowed her brows slightly, as if troubled, and said,
“I’m not really bothered by it. I was the one who broke the promise anyway. And besides…”
“Besides?”
“Right now, Fujimura’s with me, so I’m okay.”
As she said that, she smiled gently with a soft.
In the next instant, as if she suddenly remembered something, her eyes widened in realization and her cheeks turned bright red.
“I-I said something like『I’ll keep you all to myself』 but I didn’t mean anything weird by that, okay! I meant as a friend, as a friend!”
“A-ah.”
Just when he had finally managed to forget about it, she brought it back up, reviving the embarrassment he thought he’d buried.
This is bad. Kyousuke couldn’t look directly at Ayano.
Unable to bear the suffocating silence, he cleared his throat with an exaggerated ahem.
“So… where are we going today?”
Trying to reset the mood, he tossed out a fitting question.
Since she had gone out of her way to meet at the station, they were probably taking a train to go somewhere farther.
Just four stations away, there was a much livelier part of town, and if you went even farther, you’d reach places like Otaku Street or the ramen battlegrounds—a haven for subculture.
There was no shortage of places to hang out.
“Over there.”
Ayano pointed. It was in the direction across from the station.
Following her finger, Kyousuke looked—and saw a rental video shop.
“What kind of movies do you like, Fujimura?”
Standing in front of a shelf lined with the latest releases, Ayano picked out a random DVD and skimmed through the synopsis.
Behind her, Kyousuke looked over the『recently released』Japanese films and replied,『I’ll watch anything.』Since he usually didn’t watch movies outside of Friday night TV specials, Kyousuke didn’t have enough experience to form strong preferences. He vaguely avoided live-action adaptations of shoujo manga but aside from that, he had no issues.
“If we’re gonna watch something, maybe something I wouldn’t usually watch alone is better.”
“There’s no such thing as a movie for one or two people.”
“But, you know, these kinds of things—you don’t really feel like watching them unless someone’s with you.”
As she spoke, she showed him the DVD package, which had phrases like『The greatest masterpiece among horror films in the last 50 years』and『The best horror film of the 21st century.』Even to an untrained eye, it was obvious that this was a seriously made horror film, without any of the typical B-movie cheesiness.
“I’m fine with it, but are you okay, Sasagawa-san? Don’t come crying when it haunts you tonight.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that? What if you can’t go to the bathroom alone or get scared of shampooing?”
“That’s not gonna happen. I’m not a kid.”
“Well, I’m not scared either.”
With both of them acting smugly toward each other, neither offered an alternative, and so they decided to rent that DVD.
“Let’s grab one more.”
“Pick whatever you want. Don’t mind me. There must be something you’ve been wanting to see.”
“Really? Then…”
Ayano reached out for a romance movie with an all-too-obvious cover.
“Wa-wait a second.”
Movies like that always came with steamy sex scenes or kiss scenes. He could barely stand watching them with his parents, let alone with a classmate. That kind of awkwardness was way too much.
“Not that one. Pick something else!”
“Eeh? But you just said I could choose whatever I wanted.”
“Yeah, but, come on! You get what I mean, right? Stuff like that would definitely get awkward!”
“Awkward…?”
He tried to reason with her using hand gestures, but Ayano just looked at him blankly, her lips slightly parted.
After about ten seconds, Ayano finally seemed to grasp what he meant, her eyes widening in realization. But that expression quickly twisted into a mischievous smirk.
“My my, someone’s quite the precocious one, aren’t you, Fujimura?”
“Don’t talk like some distant aunt or something.”
Ayano leaned forward and peered into his face.
Kyousuke turned his reddening cheeks away from her gaze.
“It’s fine for you, Sasagawa-san, since you’re probably used to that kind of thing. But for me, it’s got nothing to do with me. So what if I’m embarrassed?”
“Used to what?”
“B-because… you’ve probably had a boyfriend or two, right? So, uh, stuff like kiss scenes… they don’t bother you or anything…”
Sasagawa Ayano was, even without favoritism, a stunning beauty who stood out from the rest. Each of her features was so well-formed it made one wonder if she was loved by the gods themselves. For someone this beautiful not to have a boyfriend would seem more unnatural.
“You let me into your house so easily too… probably ‘cause you’re used to that stuff, right?”
He glanced back at her, shifting his eyes away from where he’d been looking idly.
Her lips, glistening with lip gloss, slowly began to part.
And when his gaze rose, he saw her face flushed bright red, like it was about to explode.
“I don’t have a boyfriend! I’ve never had one!”
Ayano nearly shouted, her voice sharp. The desperation in her eyes left no room to doubt her.
She let out a small breath, fuu, blinked a few times, and then repeated in a calmer tone,
“I-I really don’t.”
“S-sorry. I guess I said something offensive.”
“I’m not mad or anything. But, um…”
She averted her gaze, her lips moving uncertainly. Partway through, her words became incoherent, and Kyousuke couldn’t make out what she was saying anymore.
He frowned and repeated, 『What is it?』
But Ayano, cheeks still flushed, kept her eyes down and showed no sign of answering.
“This one’s off.”
“Huh?”
“I wanna watch Ghibli instead.”
Saying that, she returned the romance movie to the shelf and briskly walked away.
Her slightly forceful attitude clearly conveyed that she didn’t want him to bring up the topic any further. Kyousuke said nothing and followed her silently.
♥
“I-I’m not mad or anything. But, um… it’s just, Fujimura’s the first person I’ve ever let into my house…”
As she muttered those words, embarrassment began to flood through her all over again.
‘That just makes it sound like I like him…!’
It wasn’t like she disliked him, obviously.
Compared to any other friend she’d made since entering high school, she had a much better impression of Kyousuke. So if asked whether it was just a 『normal』feeling, she couldn’t honestly say yes either.
Question marks swirled through Ayano’s mind. By process of elimination, only one answer remained.
No, no, she thought, dropping her gaze. Just because she didn’t dislike him and he wasn’t just『normal』did that really mean it had to be that?
“What is it?”
The warmth that had ignited deep in her chest since the day she caught that cold hadn’t cooled in the slightest even now—it remained right there. At the sound of Kyousuke’s voice, that small flame swayed, searing her heart with a slow burn.
“This one’s off.”
“Huh?”
“I wanna watch Ghibli instead.”
Not wanting him to touch on the subject any further, she walked quickly over to the anime section.
Before she could even begin to wonder which one to pick, Ayano took a small, deep breath to cool the heat that still stirred inside her. Slowly, so as not to make him worry unnecessarily.
“Come to think of it, why did we end up watching a movie? You were the one who said we’d go out somewhere, right?”
Was that Kyousuke’s way of helping her out? That question helped her shift her thoughts a little. Ayano placed a hand on her chest, let out a soft sigh, and turned to face him.
“That was the plan, but… I didn’t know where to take you that would make you happy, Fujimura.”
“So that’s why we ended up watching a movie at home.”
“I’ve never gone anywhere with just a guy before. I figured, with a movie, maybe you wouldn’t hate it. Though… it might just be that I like movies…”
She had worried so much, gone through so many ideas, and still couldn’t settle on anything. Then, on the way to the meeting spot, she’d finally come up with the idea of watching a movie.
‘Maybe… he didn’t like the idea after all?’
Some people find it painful to sit in front of a screen for two or three hours. Even if he was one of those types, she wouldn’t blame him.
She glanced at him, wondering if she had upset him, cold sweat collecting along the edge of her heart.
Kyousuke stood frozen, looking unusually serious.
After a few seconds, he quietly lifted his face. Ayano flinched slightly, expecting him to complain—but instead, what came from his mouth was an apology.
“Sorry. I was the one who asked you out in the first place, and just leaving everything to Sasagawa-san isn’t right. I’ve barely ever invited anyone out before. I didn’t really know how to go about it.”
He spoke slowly, sounding both embarrassed and apologetic.
Before she could feel relief, a surge of happiness seared through her cold sweat.
It’s not fair, the way he chooses his words. He never tries to take credit, and he tries to shoulder all the blame. When he’s this kind to her, it just makes her want to lean on him.
“Then, next time we go somewhere, we’ll plan it together, okay?”
“Next time… huh?”
“I wanna go shopping for your clothes.”
“I told you, I’m not doing that.”
“So you mean, you’d be fine going somewhere else?”
“…Just go with someone else. You’ve got other friends, don’t you?”
“Hmm. Pretty bold of you to say, considering you left today’s plans entirely up to me.”
“That’s a low blow…”
Kyousuke let out a big sigh, sounding annoyed, but his voice held a soft warmth.
The fact that she’d managed to secure the promise of a 『next time』meant she hadn’t made the wrong choice. Reassured by that, she gazed at his slightly flustered expression—one she was starting to grow fond of and gently placed a hand on his head.