“W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what should I do, Baron-san?! She just invited me to a call! What am I supposed to do?!”
‘Calm down, Canyon-kun. She said she’d contact you tonight, right? Then this is perfectly normal. Don’t worry about the game and just talk with her. Okay? Stay calm… speak calmly.’
After Baron-san said that, I remembered that she had indeed told me she would contact me tonight.
For now, I paused for a moment and sent a message saying, “It’s fine. I’ll call you.” Once I confirmed that she had read it, I started the call.
The moment the ringing tone had barely sounded once—or maybe not even once—our phones connected.
‘Youshin, sorry for calling this late. I actually wanted to contact you a little earlier, but I ended up talking with Otofuke Hatsumi and Kamoenai Ayumu for a while… What were you doing just now? Playing a game again?’
“Ah, yeah. I was playing a game. My hobbies are basically just gaming and working out.”
I couldn’t exactly say that I had been talking with Baron-san about what to do starting tomorrow while playing the game, so I simply explained my hobbies honestly.
I’m not good at bringing up clever topics or anything like that, so that was about all I could say.
Still, I’ve talked on the phone with a smartphone before… but just because the other person is Nanami-san, it feels completely different.
It almost feels like Nanami-san is right beside my ear, and my heart is racing.
Her voice is beautiful, and somehow my own room no longer feels like my room. I can’t calm down.
‘Working out, huh? You actually had a pretty nice body. Why don’t you join any sports clubs? Well, I don’t join any either though.’
“I’m not really good with sports-club type stuff. These days you can learn how to train your body just by watching videos… I don’t dislike physical activity, so I mostly just do weight training.”
‘Ahaha, I kinda get that. Youshin, you’re pretty quiet, so you don’t really give off that sporty vibe.’
Her laughter echoes pleasantly in my ears… no, that’s bad. I’m talking about myself again.
I need to ask about her instead… um, the topic she mentioned earlier was…
“By the way, what were you talking about with Otofuke-san and Kamoenai-san?”
‘Ah… um… Was I strange today? Was I annoying? Was I a bother? Um… it’s my first time dating a boy, so… I asked the two of them to evaluate how I did… and we talked about other things too…’
If you ask whether it was strange, I’d have to say it was strange the whole time.
After all, she’s someone who has rejected countless handsome guys before, yet she walked to school holding hands with me.
If that’s not strange, then what is?
And the “other things” she mentioned… maybe they talked about the punishment game too?
I don’t know what exactly they talked about, but it doesn’t seem like something easy to ask about.
Still, the voice coming through the phone sounds a little uneasy.
At the very least, saying she was strange here would probably make her even more anxious…
So instead, I decided to tell her only the good parts.
“For me… not only was this my first time dating a girl, it was also my first time holding hands with one, and my first time receiving a homemade lunch. A lot of things surprised me… but all of it made me happy.”
That was my honest feeling, without a single lie.
In just one day, so many things happened that completely replaced the top happiest moments of my entire high school life.
Until now, my happiest moments were things like pulling the character I wanted in a gacha game or reaching a higher rank.
But today… those things feel faded in comparison.
It was like a parade of happy events.
‘Really? …You know, Youshin, you seem strangely calm. At school you’re quiet and don’t stand out, but somehow you feel like you’re used to girls… Am I really your first girlfriend?’
That’s only because Baron-san gave me advice beforehand.
I definitely wasn’t calm.
But apparently I looked calm from her perspective.
‘You even arrived at the meeting spot almost exactly at the same time as me. I was prepared to wait a long time, you know?’
“Like I said, it was just because I couldn’t sleep. It was a coincidence.”
‘And noticing my hairstyle change right away—was that a coincidence too?’
That was really a coincidence too.
If Baron-san hadn’t advised me beforehand, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.
And even if I had noticed, I doubt I could’ve said she looked cute.
Well… actually, I only managed to say that because she prompted me to.
“It was a coincidence. After all, I couldn’t say you were cute until you asked me to, right? That’s how inexperienced I am with girls. Even now I’m nervous just talking to a girl.”
‘…Did I force you to say I was cute?’
“Ah, no. I meant it when I said you were cute… It’s just that it was my first time saying something like that to a girl. That’s why I was embarrassed at first.”
‘Ahaha, yeah… I see… I see… So you really thought I was cute… thank you.’
Her quiet, adorable voice muttering those words lingered strangely in my ears.
After that, our conversation temporarily stopped.
Oh no… how do I continue from here?
…No, Baron-san said it earlier. Ask about her.
Anything is fine. Just ask something.
“I… I said my hobbies were gaming and working out, but what about you, Nanami-san?”
“My hobbies…? Let’s see… reading books, watching movies… eating delicious food… shopping… I guess they’re all pretty ordinary hobbies.”
Movies!!
Movies came up—the movie mission from Baron-san!
I don’t watch many movies myself.
Well, I only watch anime movies, game-related movies, or tokusatsu films.
But this is my chance to learn her preferences.
“Movies, huh… I don’t watch movies that much, but what kind of movies do you like, Nanami-san?”
‘Me? Let’s see… I like action movies, and I like romance too. But I’m not good with sad stories or horror. I prefer stories with happy endings. …Youshin, do you like anime movies? Like the one with the character in your icon?’
She found me out.
And I forgot to change my icon…
The tone of her voice at the end sounded slightly teasing, but it didn’t feel mean.
…Actually, hearing her speak in that slightly teasing tone felt kind of nice.
“…Yeah, I like anime movies. You watch them too, right?”
‘Muu… you really answer calmly, don’t you? I was hoping to hear a more flustered voice… Well, I guess I’ll get to hear that eventually.’
It wasn’t that I answered calmly—I had just given up.
But apparently it sounded calm to her.
“You like movies, right, Nanami-san? What movies are playing right now? I don’t really know much about that… could you tell me?”
‘Hmm, let’s see. A while ago I wanted to watch the latest movie from that comic adaptation series… but lately I’ve been in the mood to watch that romance movie everyone’s talking about. Though apparently it has some pretty steamy love scenes, so I was kind of avoiding it…’
“Then… this Saturday… would you like to go watch it together?”
‘Eh…?’
No, “Eh?” is exactly what I wanted to say to myself.
What did I just say?
Why did I suddenly invite her?
And with the way the conversation was going… doesn’t it make me sound like “a guy who wants to watch a movie with steamy love scenes with his girlfriend”?
Nanami-san also fell silent.
I have to say something!
“Ah, no, that’s not it! I don’t mean I want to watch those scenes with you or anything! It’s just… you said you’d keep making lunch for me, right? So I thought at least I should repay you somehow. I figured the least I could do is treat you to a movie. So it’s not that kind of meaning, okay? Nanami-san? Are you listening? Hello? Hello?”
The only thing that came back to my desperate explanation was silence.
I was starting to panic… a lot.
We’ve only been dating for one day, and I’ve already messed up?
Just as I was sinking into despair, I suddenly heard her laughter through the phone.
‘Pfft… Ahahahaha! I finally got to hear your flustered voice, Youshin. Honestly, I like that side of you more than the weirdly calm one. It’s cute. Don’t worry, I understand… it’s just…’
Nanami-san lowered her voice slightly and continued apologetically.
‘I already promised Hatsumi and Ayumu that we’d go watch that movie together on Saturday… I should’ve called you earlier.’
Hearing the sadness in her voice, I realized my plan had failed.
Well, if she’s going with her friends, that’s understandable.
Of course she should prioritize her earlier promise.
…No.
Baron-san said it, didn’t he?
The important thing is that I invite her.
If I give up here, what’s the point?
Then there’s only one thing I should do.
“…Sunday.”
‘Eh?’
“Are you free on Sunday? If you are… would you go to the movies with me on Sunday… on a date? Of course I’ll pay for everything since it’s to thank you for the lunches… and I’ll research what kind of movies you’d like… and we can watch one together.”
My words came out in polite speech because of my panic and nervousness.
Once again, silence followed.
…If she refuses this, I’ll probably be pretty depressed.
Maybe three days’ worth.
No… maybe a week.
Sunday is actually the final day of a team event in the social game I play.
The day when the event gets the most exciting.
But… I’ll choose Nanami-san over that.
Sorry, everyone on the team.
After a long silence, Nanami-san’s slightly quiet voice finally came through the phone.
‘…It’s really… to thank me for the lunches… right? This… date?’
“Yes, of course. So starting tomorrow, please tell me about what kinds of movies you like.”
‘…Then I guess I’ll have to put even more effort into making lunch from tomorrow. I’ll make lunches delicious enough for you to say they’re good—and worth thanking me for.’
“Then…”
‘…Okay… Sunday… let’s go on a date.’
I resisted the urge to shout through the phone, but still replied loudly, “Yes, let’s.”
Right now I’m probably making the creepiest grin and doing strange movements while expressing my joy with my whole body.
Thankfully, she can’t see it.
‘…Well then, I should go to sleep soon. …Good night, Youshin.’
“Good night, Nanami-san.”
After hanging up, I immediately opened the chat app with Baron-san and the others again.
They had been writing guesses about what kind of conversation I might be having with her.
I immediately sent Baron-san a message.
“Baron-san… talking with a girl at night is amazing… I’m so excited I’m not sure I can even sleep.”
‘…What did you even talk about? You really should get more used to girls through your girlfriend.’
“Also, about the movie… it ended up being Sunday instead of Saturday. So I won’t be able to participate in the in-game event on Sunday. Sorry.”
‘Ah, that’s totally fine… wait, you already invited her to a movie?! I mean, I encouraged you, but… isn’t that moving a bit too fast? Are you okay? You’re not pushing yourself too hard, are you?’
Baron-san… I think so too.
But I have no regrets.
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