‘So then, how did the confession turn out? Go on, tell me, Canyon-kun.’
I could already picture Baron-san grinning on the other side of the screen just from those words alone. I mean, you already knew I was the one being confessed to, didn’t you?
Still, I did promise to report back in exchange for his advice… and he said he’d continue giving me guidance from here on out. Reporting this much was the least I could do.
“Well, as planned, I accepted the confession. A lot happened, though…”
‘A lot? I’d love to hear the details about that “lot”…’
Ugh… figures it’d turn out like this. While playing my game, I started typing out the details in chat—from the part where I protected her to walking home together.
…I left out the part where she saw my bare upper body. No need to give him weird ideas.
‘Ahh, youth. Saving a girl in the middle of a crisis like that—what are you, some kind of hero in the making?’
Nope. Just a gloomy guy whose hobbies are working out and mobile games. It was pure coincidence that I helped her.
“But walking home together was tough. She was strangely quiet… and I didn’t know any common topics between us. I should’ve asked you what to talk about in situations like that…”
‘Hmm. I don’t particularly approve of you relying on me for even conversation topics… but in that case, instead of talking about yourself, try listening to her first.’
“That’s exactly what’s hard about it…”
Even if I wanted to listen, Nanami-san barely spoke, and whenever I said something, she seemed distracted. What was I supposed to ask in that state?
My hobbies are mobile games and working out. Bringing those up would probably bore her… and before I could think of anything else, we’d already reached the station.
‘Then start by asking about her hobbies. Show her you’re interested in what she likes, and build the conversation from there. Whatever you do, don’t just talk about yourself.’
Unaware of my inner turmoil, Baron-san continued his lecture. I see… ask about her hobbies. Come to think of it, I don’t really know anything about her. Just that she’s the girl who confessed to me as part of a penalty game. That’s it… nothing more.
Maybe I’ll start there, just like he said.
“Still, you know a lot about this stuff, Baron-san. Were you popular back in your school days?”
‘Nope. All of it’s secondhand knowledge from the internet. Popular in school? Not a chance. But nowadays, you can find any information online. It’s convenient, isn’t it?’
Give me back my admiration. So it’s just copied knowledge, huh? Well, I guess that kind of info really is all over the internet…
‘…I don’t think this will go well. Before you get hurt, Canyon-san, you should break up with her.’
Peach-san typed that quietly. She’d been consistently against me dating Nanami-san, probably out of concern for me. I appreciated it, but there was no way I could bring up breaking up myself.
“Well, I already physically cut my head, so I’ve already been hurt. I doubt it’ll get worse than that.”
‘Eh…? You got injured?’
She reacted immediately to my joking tone. I added an explanation about cutting my forehead and collapsing, and how Nanami-san got me to the nurse’s office.
‘Canyon-kun, you got hurt saving her? You didn’t mention that earlier. Are you okay? Head injuries are dangerous—you should go to a hospital. This isn’t the time to be gaming.’
‘Your forehead… that sounds serious… are you really okay?’
Both Baron-san and Peach-san began worrying about me. I assured them I felt fine—no dizziness, no lingering pain—but they strongly insisted that if I felt even slightly off, I should absolutely go to the hospital.
…Now I’m starting to feel uneasy. Maybe I’ll talk to my parents about it when they get home.
‘Well then, since you’ve safely accepted the confession… let’s set a goal for this week.’
“A goal for this week?”
Baron-san suddenly said something strange. As I wondered what he meant, he quickly explained in chat.
‘Your goal for this week is to hold hands with her. You’re dating, so there’s nothing strange about that. Of course, don’t force it. The idea is to act in a way that makes her want to hold your hand.’
That’s a pretty high hurdle to throw at me out of nowhere. Holding hands with a girl… I’ve never done that in my life.
Ah… but…
“We did shake hands today when we said ‘nice to meet you.’ Does that count?”
‘Nope. Lover’s hand-holding is a higher level, so let’s aim for walking to and from school while holding hands by the end of the week.’
That’s way too high-level for me. Walking to school hand in hand is definitely something I’ve admired… but how am I supposed to raise her affection that much?
There’s no reliable best friend in real life who can tell me her affection points. That’s why romance in the real world is so hard—you can’t quantify it. How many points do I need to unlock hand-holding?
‘You’re overthinking it. Let’s say Friday is the day. Raise her affection by then. How you do it is up to you.’
Friday? Today’s Tuesday—that’s only three days… no, excluding Friday itself, just two days! Isn’t that basically an impossible difficulty setting?
And please tell me how to do it. Don’t just leave it up to me.
Just as I was about to type that… a message notification from Nanami-san popped up.
We had exchanged contact info, but I never expected her to message me on the very first day. Without any mental preparation, I instinctively opened it immediately.
The message read—
‘We’re dating now, right? So… let’s go to school together starting tomorrow. Is meeting at the station at 7:30 okay?’
The moment I read it, the message was marked as “read.” If I hadn’t opened it so quickly, I could’ve consulted Baron-san first…
Panicking, I immediately reported it in chat.
“Baron-san, this is bad! She messaged me asking to go to school together tomorrow! How should I reply?!”
‘What do you mean bad?! Of course you say yes immediately! Hurry! And don’t make it sound cold—make sure she knows you’re happy about it! Go, hurry!’
Baron-san’s reply came instantly. A message that conveys happiness? What does that even look like?! I’m not a writer! How am I supposed to express joy in text?!
After being marked as read, I stared at the screen for a while, thinking. What if she thinks I’m ignoring her…?
No, don’t overcomplicate it. If nothing clever comes to mind, just go straight and honest! Here goes!
‘I’m happy that I get to go to school with you, Nanami-san. 7:30 at the station, got it. I’m looking forward to it.’
It felt stiff… but that was the best I could do. Anything fancier was beyond me.
She read it almost immediately. And her reply came just as fast.
‘I’m looking forward to it too.’
That was all she wrote, but still… I couldn’t stop myself from grinning. It was my first time having a girl say she was looking forward to something with me. Of course I’d smile.
“Baron-san, we’re meeting at the station at 7:30 tomorrow. What should I do?”
‘…I wish you’d think for yourself a little… but if you’re meeting at 7:30, leave so you arrive by 7.’
Isn’t that a bit too early? As if reading my thoughts, he continued.
‘A little early is perfect. Far better than being late. Being late is the one thing you must absolutely avoid. Even if unintentional, it makes you seem like you don’t value the other person. And besides…’
“Besides…?”
He paused briefly before adding teasingly—
‘You’d want to see your cute girlfriend as soon as possible, right?’
Hearing him call her my “cute girlfriend” made my cheeks heat up. Even if it’s only for a month… Nanami-san is my girlfriend. Realizing that again made me grin like an idiot.
‘Listen, Canyon-kun. From here on, you need to make her fall for you. So prioritize her above everything else. Don’t worry about the in-game event. You’ll stay on the team. Focus on deepening your relationship with her.’
…But there’s an event going on in the game right now, and I want to keep playing… I also don’t want to cause trouble for the team by stepping back.
Still, hearing him say that made me both grateful and a little guilty.
‘Ideally, she’d enjoy your hobby of gaming with you… but let’s leave that aside for now. First, deepen your bond. Don’t worry. You know what they say—love makes you weak. If she falls for you, she’ll probably join you eventually.’
That’s true… If Nanami-san played games with me, that’d be amazing. Just imagining it—
No good. I can’t stop smiling.
“Alright. I’ll leave early tomorrow. So I’m going to bed now. Good night.”
‘Yeah, good night. I’m rooting for you.’
I really owe Baron-san… though I don’t even know what he looks like or where he lives. I just vaguely assumed he was somewhere in that direction and tried to sleep while thinking about walking to school with Nanami-san tomorrow.
I was so excited… that it took me nearly an extra hour to fall asleep compared to usual.
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