“...” I gave Ryu a look that meant “let’s go,” and she shrugged her shoulders and nodded. We left Kana and Uomi behind in the gymnasium to be alone in their own little world.
“Sigh... I’m so jealous,” Ryu said longingly after we exited the gymnasium. “You, Ura, and Kana are all enjoying your youth to the fullest. I feel like I want to fall in love too.”
“Well...good luck.”
“Hey, tell me about you too, Momo. That Orihara-san you were with, she’s from Tourin, right?” Before we met up with Kana, Ryu and Orihara-san met briefly and greeted each other. “What year is she in? She’s not a first-year student, right? I haven’t seen her before...”
“Oh...that’s right. You go to Tourin too. Um... How should I put this? She doesn’t go to Tourin...”
“Huh? So, you’re saying that even though she’s not a student at Tourin, she’s just walking around at another school in a Tourin uniform? I have heard that people do cosplay like that sometimes.”
“No... I mean, it is cosplay, but it’s not like she isn’t a student from Tourin. Without a doubt, she went to Tourin...ten years ago.”
“...Huh?”
“She’s twenty-seven years old.”
“Wh-What?!” Ryu’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Wh-What do you mean?! Your girlfriend is twenty-seven years old?! Why?! How did that happen?! Why are you dating someone twelve years older than you?! Also, why is she wearing a school uniform?!”
“Ha ha. Yeah, how did all of this happen?”
How did all of this happen? I don’t even know. All of it is like some kind of crazy joke. A ridiculous, dreamlike story, that to me is one of a kind and irreplaceable.
I decided to take the opportunity to tell Ryu the story about us. I didn’t think I could explain it in just a few words, so it would take some time, but that was fine. After all, we had once again become the kind of friends who could laugh together with ease.
⚘
Three days before the festival, that day when Urano didn’t come to school, Momota asked me a question.
“How do you feel about Ura? It looks like Ura’s been in love with you this whole time, but...what about you?”
“I-I don’t know...”
I was so sorry for how vague my answer was. However, I still didn’t have my feelings figured out, after all. Urano loves me. Having that information suddenly thrown at me caused a huge splash in the still waters of my heart, and the ripples it made had yet to calm.
“I’ve never thought about Urano being in love with me, so I still can’t wrap my head around it.”
“I see.”
“But...I don’t hate it. I’m certain of that, and...it makes me happy... I think?”
I was happy. Saying it out loud, it felt like I actually felt that way for the first time. Yes, that’s right. I was really surprised when I found out that Urano loved me. I felt really bad for making him reveal his feelings in such a strange way, but I also felt other things...like the kind of excitement that made my heart skip a beat.
“I just thought of Urano as a regular friend. He’s rude, he beats around the bush, and he’s a pain in the butt... But there’s a part of him that’s also kind and manly.”
“...”
“I’ve been having a lot of fun with him lately, so I’ve been thinking about him a lot... We’ve spent this past month getting ready for the school festival together, and thanks to Urano, it’s been really fun. I got to see a whole new side to him, and I feel like I can really depend on him. Also, I was happy that everyone in the class got to know how kind and amazing he is, but I was a little frustrated that I wasn’t the only one who knew that anymore, and—huh?”
As I kept talking about my feelings, I realized it. “I’m in love with Urano?!”
It looks like I really like him! I mean, it’s almost like it couldn’t be anything else but love!
“H-Huh...? What? D-Did I always love Urano, but I just didn’t know it? Huh? Wh-What do you think, Momota?”
“...You’re asking me?”
“B-But...”
“I don’t know. From what I’m hearing, it’s sounding like there’s no way it couldn’t be love, but...in the end, it’s up to you to decide for yourself, isn’t it?” Momota said with a wry smile.
“Decide for myself...?”
“I think that falling in love with someone is a kind of...vague, unclear feeling. Also, I think what’s important is what you decide to call those uncertain feelings that have grown inside your heart.”
“What I decide to call them?”
“For example, when I fell in love with Orihara-san at first sight, I confessed my feelings to her on the spur of the moment... But at the time, I didn’t understand that what I was feeling was love at first sight. It was much more vague.”
“...”
“I called those vague feelings ‘love,’ and from that moment on, I was in love with Orihara-san. And when I looked back on things prior to that moment, it started to feel like I loved her from the first time I saw her.”
“...Yeah, I kind of get it.”
What will I call these unclear thoughts? What will I do?
“If you decide to call those feelings you have for Ura a delusion or a trick of your imagination, then I think that’s what they’ll become. But if they aren’t, and you call those feelings something else... No, I’ve said too much.” Momota gave an embarrassed laugh. “Anything more than that isn’t something you should talk about with me.”
⚘
Oh, thank goodness I talked to Momota three days ago. Thanks to that, I was able to properly sort out my feelings. These three days when I couldn’t see Urano, I was able to come face-to-face with my heart and give a name to my feelings. Thanks to that, now I can somehow keep myself from running away.
“...I-I’m only going to say this once, so listen good,” Urano said as his face turned unbelievably red.
We were behind the school building, where no one else was around. After the closing ceremony ended without incident and the turbulent school festival came to an end, I was going to my class’s after-party when Urano said he had something important to tell me, and I followed him to this empty place.
Even someone as slow as me could figure out what was going on. I mean, I already knew how Urano felt, and in this kind of situation, there was no way I wouldn’t realize what was going to happen. I’m about to be confessed to.
Urano’s face was bright red, and his eyes trembled with fear and anxiety, but he didn’t run away. He looked straight at me. As I recall...he said that he didn’t confess to Ryu-san. This is probably the first time in his life he’s confessing to someone. I could feel to a painful degree just how much courage Urano was mustering now to stand here.
I’m happy. I’m so very, very happy. I thought that if Urano didn’t say it, I probably would have, but...I’m happy that he’s the one telling me. I mean, sometimes I want to feel like a princess and have the guy, the prince, be the one confessing.
The boy in front of me right now is a little bit small in stature, grumpy, foul mouthed, and a total contrarian, but... he’s my own personal prince, and he’s really cool.
There were a lot of twists and turns along the way, but now I felt like we could finally face each other in earnest, and that being able to face each other like this was the most precious thing of all. I think that the most meaningful thing was that we were able to reach this moment. That’s why, when it comes to how the prince expressed his love, and how the princess answered him back... Well, some things are better left unsaid.