“Ha ha. I look forward to what happens with those two,” Kana said in a light voice after changing gears. He probably wanted to change the mood since our conversation had become a little gloomy. “I heard that a lot of couples start dating after the school festival, so maybe the same will happen for them.”
“I wonder.”
“Well, I think those two are a good match for each other.”
“You seem concerned about other people’s love lives, but what about yours, Kana?” I didn’t mean anything deep by this; I was just trying to make casual small talk.
“Me?”
“Are things going well with Uomi?”
“Oh, yes. I’m having a good time with Uta-chan.”
“I see.”
“...Honestly, I didn’t think that we’d last this long,” Kana said like he was lost in thought. “We started dating right after I entered school in April, so I guess we’ve been dating for about six months. For me, that’s a new record.”
Now that I think about it again, this is probably the longest Kana’s ever dated someone. After that incident in middle school, he suddenly became very sociable and popular. He’d date anyone who confessed their feelings to him. However, none of his relationships lasted long. At most, they’d last two months. That’s probably normal for dating in middle school, but Kana’s had quite a number of these short relationships.
“My stance has always been to accept whoever comes to me and not to chase after whoever leaves.”
“That’s such a popular-guy thing to say,” I said jokingly, but on the inside, I had mixed feelings about what he’d said. He probably intended to “accept whoever comes to him and not chase after whoever leaves,” but that’s probably not what actually happened. The part about not chasing whoever left was probably correct, but the part about accepting whoever came to him was a lie. I think the truth of the matter is that Kana kept refusing every woman who approached him and tried to deepen their relationship; as soon as they became girlfriend and boyfriend, he wouldn’t let them get too deep into his heart.
“I hear the same things over and over when I get dumped. It’s always things like ‘Do you really love me?’ and ‘I can’t tell what you’re thinking.’”
“...” It sounded like such a sad breakup story, one where the problems existed before there was any fighting. It was like there was never any love there to begin with.
“However, with Uta-chan...” Kana began, and his expression became clouded. His face changed from a sorrowful, troubled expression to an indescribably complex one. “Yeah... With her... Well, I can’t tell what she’s thinking.”
“Oh...” Makes sense. Uomi Uta is the kind of girl whose thoughts you can’t read. It’s not like she’s an airhead or she’s mysterious. I can’t describe it with those kinds of words. It’s just that...I don’t know what she’s thinking.
“I never get bored when I’m with Uta-chan. Basically, she doesn’t make sense, but she’s surprisingly polite, and she has good manners, and she’s considerate when she needs to be. So that’s why...I feel like I missed the right moment to break up with her.”
“...” I felt a sting in my chest. The words that had spilled out from him sounded like his true feelings had leaked out from deep inside his heart, and somehow, it made me feel lonely. He missed the right moment to break up with her? That makes it sound like he never intended to stay with her for a very long time, and he was looking for the right timing to break up with her from the very beginning. It’s normal for relationships between students to last a few months or so, but it seems like it would be a very sad relationship if you’re going out with someone on the premise that you’re going to break up with them from the start...
Kana was smiling coolly as usual. He seemed like he was fine, but I wondered if what happened in middle school was haunting him even now. Even though he was always giving me good advice with a knowing look on his face, I felt like when it came to his own love life, Kana was horribly inept.
♡
“The school festival, huh? That takes me back.”
It was evening on that same day, and after I ate dinner and took a shower, I called Orihara-san. I didn’t really have a reason to do so; I just wanted to hear her voice. Being boyfriend and girlfriend means that’s a good enough reason to call each other.
“My school festival was about ten years ago.”
“That’s true.”
“...It’s been ten years. I’m getting old...”
“Orihara-san, please don’t bring stuff up that’s just going to make you feel depressed.” Like always, that kind of thing was a delicate subject. “Um, so... You can come, right, Orihara-san?”
“Yes. It’s a normal day off for me.”
This year’s school festival was this Saturday, and Orihara-san usually had Saturdays and Sundays off. She didn’t normally look like it, but the truth was that Orihara-san was an elite career woman working in an excellent position at a prestigious company.
...It was pretty rude to preface my statement with “She doesn’t normally look like it.” Let’s just pretend I didn’t say that and go with “She looks like and gives off the impression of being an excellent career woman.”
“I’m glad. I’ve always wanted to see what your high school is like at least once. It’s difficult for outsiders to enter school grounds without this kind of opportunity,” Orihara-san said, sounding truly happy. “Your class is going to make soba noodles, aren’t they?”
“Yep. The classic among classics.”
“Okay, then I’ll go with an empty stomach. I’m looking forward to seeing you in action.”
“D-Don’t raise the bar, please. It really will just be normal soba noodles. Besides, I’m not really the type to be very active during school festivals and stuff.” I’ve always been inconspicuous in my class, and I’m proud to say that I won’t be standing out at the school festival either. I just did what I was told to do the way I was told to do it, and I’ll probably be the same way on the day of the festival.