He turned to Momozawa for agreement.
“You can say that again,” she said with a straight-faced nod.
I looked at her, then back at Sera. “You know, there’s something I’ve been wondering for a while now. This ‘anything goes, as long as it’s fun’ philosophy of yours… Where did it come from? Have you been this way ever since you were born? Or did you get it from someone else?”
“Ooh, curious, are we?” said Sera, his eyes lighting up as though he’d been waiting for this exact question. “Sure, I don’t mind telling ya. Our story begins in the distant past, so allow me to take you back in time, to the turn of the millennium…”
“And please keep it brief.”
“I was always a bit of a wunderkind growing up, right? Super healthy, super talented, super athletic… Could beat any of the other kids on the playground in a race, could play ‘Chopsticks’ on the piano way sooner and way faster than anyone… Always felt like I stood head and shoulders above the rest. But see, my older brother, on the other hand—he was pretty sickly and weak, and not a quick learner either. Still the sweetest kid you’d ever meet, though. Even though I surpassed him in just about everything but age, he did everything he could to make me feel special and loved. Then one day, his condition took a turn for the worse, and the doctors told us he didn’t have much longer to live. And on his deathbed, he gripped my hand and turned to me and said, ‘Don’t cry for me when I’m gone, Itsuku. Go out there and live your life to the fullest. Enjoy all the fun things I never could and won’t ever get the chance to.’”
“Well, damn.”
Now this sounded like a made-up sob story if I’d ever heard one. But I couldn’t exactly call him out on it, just on the off chance that it was actually true. Such tragedies weren’t completely unheard of; hell, even Ushio’s family had gone through something similar when her mom passed away. Then again, this is Sera we’re talking about. Maybe I should just trust my gut instinct and not give him the benefit of the doubt…
“Oh, come on, Sera-kun.” Nashimoto shook her head, snickering. “That’s gotta be your worst one yet. I mean, you already told us you’re an only child.”
“But he doesn’t know that,” said Sera. “Sheesh, way to spoil the fun, Nagi-chan…”
See, I knew it. Still, it wasn’t even worth getting upset about; I was used to his deceptions at this point, and I knew getting a rise out of me was exactly what he wanted.
“So what do you see in this guy, Nashimoto?” I asked her. “I mean, it sounds like you know he’s a lying scumbag. Why go out with someone like that?”
“Hey, watch your mouth, bub!” said Momozawa, glaring at me. “Don’t talk about our boyfriend like that!”
“S-sorry, ma’am…”
Jeez, this chick is scary. She reminded me a little bit of Nishizono, back in her more combative era.
Nashimoto hummed in thought, tapping her chin. “I wouldn’t say I have a solid justification for it like these two. I’ve still got some reservations myself, to be honest, so I guess you could say I’m testing the waters for now. And if it doesn’t end up working out, well…I can just bail, and that’ll be that.”
“So you’re feeling things out, basically.” The similarities to my current situation with Ushio were not lost on me. Maybe it was a more common way to approach a new relationship than I originally thought.
“What I will say,” Nashimoto went on, “is that being with Sera-kun is a whole lot of fun. I mean, he’s like a jack-in-the-box full of surprises—and you never know what he might pop out with next. I can always count on him to give my boring day-to-day a much-needed dose of excitement and unpredictability. That’s what I like about him.”
“Awww, Nagi-chan… You’re gonna make me tear up,” said Sera. “And what I like about you is that you’re a little cutie-patootie!”
“Ah ha ha… Thanks.”
I took another sip of my Viennese coffee. It was tepid at this point, though the whipped cream was now fully mixed in, which gave it the perfect level of sweetness. I went ahead and polished off the rest of my cup, then set it back down on the table.
“So,” said Yuzuki, her eyes locked on mine once again, “would you say your perception of us has changed at all, now that you’ve gotten to know us a little better?”
“Yeah, I’d say so…” I admitted.
In all honesty, my initial impression of them had not been a positive one. It was just as Yuzuki had said: I’d been utterly convinced that no one would ever go out with a guy like Sera unless they were either shallow and trashy or had a screw loose. Now I saw that this was just my own prejudice against him talking, and that these three were all perfectly normal human beings. Not that I was a huge fan of the whole concept of “normalcy” in general, but this felt like an acceptable use case. Because sure, we might have our differences when it came to our thoughts, tastes, and beliefs—but there wasn’t anything about them that went beyond my ability to understand or sympathize with.
“I don’t think you’ve been indoctrinated into some weird, creepy cult anymore, at the very least,” I added.
“Ah ha ha… My, aren’t we blunt,” said Yuzuki.
“Even so…I still think one romantic partner is enough for me, personally. Or I guess I should say: I only want to be in a relationship with one other person.”
Yuzuki’s soft, gentle smile remained firmly affixed to her face as she looked at me, waiting patiently for me to explain my reasoning and finish my thought.