“Well what do you know? You weren’t even boyfriend and girlfriend yet. Boy, I walked into something good this time. Ah, youth. Congrats, young man, young lady. Oh, but make sure to stick to a high school—appropriate relationship, won’t ya? If you’re gonna do it, use protection.”
Caught unawares by the nosy school nurse peeking in, we rushed to unlock our handshake.
Barato-san’s face had never been redder, and my face was turning red as well. What was this nurse saying, anyway?!
“Shouldn’t you be warning us against doing stuff like that?” I asked. “We’re only in high school.”
The nurse responded with a nonchalant look. “Quite the opposite, young man. It’s precisely because you’re in high school that you need proper sex education. You’re at that age when you want to do stuff you’re told not to do, right? If you do that, you’re gonna end up with a baby.”
It was extremely unlikely that things would get to that point when we would only be dating for a month, but I made sure to listen to the grown-up’s warning and stored it in my mind right next to the advice from Baron-san.
After that, the nurse checked on my condition and told me I was free to go, so I set off home together with my new girlfriend.
As we left school, Barato-san—I mean, Nanami-san didn’t say much. Since I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to talk about in times like these, the walk was awkwardly quiet.
Even when I did say something, Nanami-san seemed distracted and a little spaced out, as if she were feeling feverish. Was something wrong? I regretted not having asked Baron-san how to come up with things to talk about in times like these.
This was my first time ever walking back with a girl from school, so I couldn’t help but feel nervous. Thinking about it, I realized Nanami-san was probably nervous as well.
I’d been near silent so far, believing it would be better not to force her to talk to me, but then Nanami-san spoke up as if she’d made up her mind about something.
“Hey, um, we should exchange contact info—like phone numbers or usernames or something. Do you have an app that you use?” she asked.
“Oh, right. I don’t really use any, but I have some on my phone.”
“You have them, but you don’t use them?”
“I get news and free items for following official game accounts and that sort of thing.”
Nanami-san hid her mouth with her phone and laughed as if I’d said something funny. I became instantly doubtful, thinking that she might make fun of me, but instead, her next words surprised me.
“Then I’m the first, huh? First contact, that is. That makes me happy.”
What’s with all these cute reactions? I was thrown for a loop.
Somewhat reassured, I exchanged contact info with her after asking her how to do it. A cute dolphin icon showed up in my app, next to the name “Nanami” in hiragana characters. I’d never seen such a cute icon displayed on my app before.
Still, I was surprised Nanami-san had asked to add me in the first place. I’d been sure she wouldn’t share her contact details unless I’d been the one to mention it—that, or she would give me the runaround to avoid adding me at all.
To be perfectly honest, I’d thought she wouldn’t be up for exchanging info at all since this whole thing was a dare, but... Was it my imagination, or did she seem oddly happy about this?
I don’t get women at all. If this is an act, she could easily make a living as an actress.
After that, perhaps we’d broken the ice, since Nanami-san and I continued our conversation, albeit a little awkwardly. It didn’t include any serious discussions, only us fumbling for what to say. I was, however, surprised to find I was enjoying the conversation.
But of course, time flies when you’re having fun. Before we knew it, it was time for us to go our separate ways. It seemed Nanami-san and I would be parting at the station, so even though we were walking home together, we wouldn’t be together the whole way.
“See you tomorrow, Nanami-san,” I said, and she smiled back.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Yoshin,” came her response as she waved goodbye.
It was probably just my imagination, but she seemed a little sad, despite the smile.
After that, I headed home by myself. I’m not sure why—maybe it was that expression of hers—but I felt a strange sense of loneliness as I traveled home as usual.
Until yesterday, everything had been fine.
With my head swimming with surprise and confusion, I eventually arrived back home. From then on, it was the usual routine: my parents got back; we ate dinner; I changed and started up my game. It was business as usual. However, there was one thing that was different that day.
Baron: So, out with it. How’d the confession go? Come now, Canyon-kun, do share every detail with this middle-aged man.
These were Baron-san’s first words once I got settled in.
I could tell just from the letters on the screen that Baron-san was all smiles and smirks behind that monitor of his. I mean, come on, you knew all along I was going to say yes.
Saying that, I had told him I’d report back in return for all his advice. Besides, he had already promised to keep helping me out, so the least I could do was update him.
Canyon: So, I accepted the confession as we’d planned. Though a lot ended up happening in the meantime.
Baron: A lot? Gosh, I’d love to hear specifics on the “a lot” part.
Ugh, of course you would.
For the time being, I wrote out the day’s happenings in the chat as I got down to playing my game. I went into detail on the whole story—from when I saved her to when we walked home together.
The only detail I kept to myself was the fact that she’d seen me shirtless. I didn’t want anyone to think I’d been doing anything weird. Plus, I had nothing to be ashamed of.
Hearing my report, Baron-san was beyond amused.
Baron: Well, that’s high school for you! It must have been fate—who else saves a damsel in distress right in the middle of a confession? Are you destined to become a superhero or something?
No, I’m just your average introvert who likes gaming and working out. It was only by chance that I saved her.
Canyon: I had a real tough time when we walked back together. Like, at first we were completely silent. I didn’t know what to talk about, which made me realize I should have asked you.
Baron: I don’t really approve of you relying on me for things like that, but... Hmm, in those situations, rather than talking about yourself, maybe it’s better to ask her about things she likes.
Canyon: But that’s what I’m finding difficult...
Even if I had tried to ask more about her on the way to the station, Nanami-san had seemed awfully quiet. At first, she had seemed distracted no matter what I’d said. What could I have asked when she was in such a state? My only hobbies were gaming and working out, which were both topics that would have bored her. I’d tried my hardest to spit something out, but we’d eventually reached the train station. Even that fumbling conversation had been kind of fun, though.
Not knowing my state of mind, Baron-san continued his instruction.
Baron: Well, first you ask her about her hobbies. Then, once you’ve shown interest in learning more about her, you gradually expand on the topic of conversation. No matter what, though, don’t make the mistake of only talking about yourself.
Ah, so I should ask about her hobbies... Come to think of it, I didn’t really know anything about her aside from the whole dare thing. Perhaps I should take Baron-san’s advice and start there.
Canyon: But really, Baron-san, you sure know a lot about this stuff. You must’ve been really popular when you were in school.
Baron: Oh, no. My wisdom is all straight from the internet. And I was in no way popular back then. Nowadays, as long as you look things up, the information’s right at your fingertips. Isn’t that convenient?
Forget that I was impressed. You were just googling it this whole time.
Saying that, it was true that the internet was overflowing with all kinds of information. Perhaps I should start looking things up too?
Peach: There’s no way this’ll go well, Canyon-san. You should break up with her before you get hurt.
Peach-san was back, but from the message she’d sent, you could feel her resentment from the screen. All this opposition when it came to Nanami-san must have stemmed from her worry for me.
While I appreciated her concern, I just couldn’t bring myself to be the one to break up with Nanami-san at this point. Not only for her, but for me too. Becoming known as the guy who broke the heart of the angelic Nanami-san was a prospect too scary to think about.