Canyon: Well, I’ve already gotten hurt by getting my head injured, so now I’d say I’m in the clear.
Peach: Huh? You were injured?
Peach-san was worried, despite my joke, so I added my explanation of how I’d been cut by a bucket and how Nanami-san had helped get me to the nurse’s office.
Baron: Canyon-kun, you risked your life to save her? I totally missed that. Are you all right? If your head took the brunt of it, you should probably get yourself to the hospital.
Peach: No way... Are you okay?
Baron-san and Peach-san were worried for me in their own ways. I hadn’t included the injury in my previous explanation, so Baron-san seemed a bit flustered. I wasn’t feeling out of it and wasn’t in pain anymore, so I told them I was okay, but they both reiterated that I should go to the hospital if I felt at all off.
Hmm... I think I’m fine, but now that they mention it, I am getting a little anxious. Maybe I should talk to my parents later.
When I mentioned that to Baron-san and Peach-san, they reluctantly agreed. Really, I was grateful that they worried about me so much.
Baron: Well then, now that you’ve accepted the confession and you’re going out with her, shall we set the goal for this week?
Canyon: Goal?
Baron-san was acting strange again. Just as I was asking myself what on earth he was talking about, he posted the answer in the chat.
Baron: Let’s aim to have you hold hands with her by the end of the week. You’re going out, so there’s nothing strange about doing that. Oh, but don’t force her, okay? You have to get her to say that she wants to hold hands with you.
Holding hands with a girl... That was an unexpectedly high hurdle. I’d never done such a thing in my life. Jeez...
Canyon: Today we shook hands, so maybe that counts.
Baron: No chance. Interlocking fingers might be too big of a hurdle, so let’s start with holding hands to and from school.
I guess that didn’t count, huh?
Still, the presented hurdle was already 120 percent too high. Holding hands to and from school was probably a situation that lots of guys could only dream of being in, but how was a guy like me supposed to earn that level of affection?
I didn’t have real-life friends who could teach me how to get girls to like me. It wasn’t even possible to quantify the difficulty of courtship in the real world, and even if you could, those stats weren’t visible. How many points did I need to earn the right to hold hands with her?
I didn’t have the slightest clue what to do.
Baron: You’re overthinking it. Let’s see... Let’s make the deadline this Friday. Until then, you’re going to work to get her to like you. I’ll leave the method up to you.
Canyon: Friday? Today’s Tuesday, so that’s three days. Wait, not counting today, it’s only two days. Isn’t that too unreasonable?
Besides, you have to tell me how I’m supposed to do it! Please don’t leave it up to me!
Just as I was about to type that in the chat, I received a well-timed message from Nanami-san. We had exchanged contact info, but thinking I wouldn’t get a message from her on the very first day, I was completely unprepared and opened the message by accident.
When I saw what she’d sent me, my eyes widened.
Nanami: We’re going out now, so let’s walk to school together starting tomorrow. How does meeting at the train station at 7:30 sound?
The second I opened it, the message was marked as read. If I’d just waited, I would have been able to ask for advice first. Panicking, I took my distress straight to Baron-san.
Canyon: Baron-san, we have a problem! I just got a message from her saying we should walk to school together tomorrow! What should I do?!
Baron: Why’s that a problem? Of course that’s a yes! Hurry up and respond! But don’t be curt about it; make it a text where you convey that you’re looking forward to it! Go on, hurry!
Baron-san’s response was remarkably quick.
A text that conveys that I’m looking forward to it? What kind of a message is that?! I’m not a writer, dammit. How am I supposed to convey all that in a text?!
With the text still marked as read, I had to take a moment to craft my response. What if she thinks I’m ignoring her?
No, no. I shouldn’t be worrying myself like that! If I can’t think of anything, I’ll have to get straight to the point! Let’s do this!
Yoshin: I’d be happy to walk with you to school, Nanami-san. 7:30’s fine by me. I’m looking forward to it.
My response felt extremely stiff, but that was the best I could do. I wasn’t suave enough to write anything cleverer, but it contained my honest feelings.
As I sat there, anxious about what she’d think, my message was immediately marked as read. Nanami-san’s response came just as quickly.
Nanami: I’m looking forward to it too.
Her response was just that single, simple sentence, but what could I say? I couldn’t keep myself from smiling. It was the first time ever a girl had told me that she was looking forward to something we had planned together. Of course I couldn’t help smiling.
Canyon: Baron-san, we’ll be meeting at 7:30 tomorrow at the station. What should I do?
Baron: I’d like you to think for yourself a bit more, but... Well, let’s see. If you’re meeting her at 7:30, you’d better leave the house early so that you can be at the meeting place by 7:00.
Wasn’t that a little too early? As if responding to my question, Baron-san continued.
Baron: Arriving a little early is the way to go. It’s much better than being late. Being late is top on the list of things you shouldn’t do. Even if you didn’t mean it that way, it would make it seem like you’re not taking the other person seriously. Besides...
Canyon: Besides...?
Baron-san paused dramatically before continuing.
Baron: You want to see your lovely girlfriend as soon as possible, don’t you?
Lovely girlfriend... I knew he was teasing me, but I could feel my face getting hot. Hearing it from someone else made me realize that Nanami-san really was my girlfriend, even if it was just for one month. I couldn’t help smiling at the thought of it.
Baron: Look, Canyon-kun, you need to get her to like you from here on out. So, more than anything, you have to put her first. Don’t worry about our game events. We’ll hold your spot on the team for now so you can focus on developing your relationship with your girlfriend.
Until now, I’d prioritized my games over everything. Would I really be able to change my priorities so suddenly? I wanted to continue playing since we were still in the middle of a campaign, not to mention that I didn’t want to cause problems for my team by pulling out. I was grateful to Baron-san, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t remorseful.
Baron: In an ideal world, your girlfriend would share in your hobbies so that you could play games together, but that’s advice for another day. For now, you have to get to know her. Oh, I’m sure you’ll be fine. They say the one who falls in love falls at the other’s feet. If she does fall for you, I’m sure she’ll want to play with you.
That’s true. If Nanami-san was willing to join in, I bet we’d have loads of fun. I tried to picture the scene for a moment, but my poor imagination couldn’t quite conjure the image.
Regardless, I decided it was best to leave the house a little earlier than usual, just as Baron-san had advised.
Canyon: I understand. I’ll head out early tomorrow. That means I’m off to bed for the night. See ya tomorrow.
Baron: Sure thing. Good night, buddy. Best of luck.
Peach: Be careful, Canyon-san.
Judging from the last message, Peach-san was still worried about me. I couldn’t thank Baron-san or Peach-san enough—not that I could think of a good way to thank them.
Anyway, I tried sending them my thankful vibes and headed to bed with thoughts filled with Nanami-san, whom I’d be meeting before school tomorrow. But...
“Tomorrow, I’m meeting up with Nanami-san... We’ll be going to school together... I’ll be going to school with my girlfriend... With my girlfriend... With Nanami-san... Nanami-san is my girlfriend...”
Lying in bed, I was unable to grasp the fact of the matter. I’d turned out my lights but kept rereading the messages I’d received on my phone.
In the end, I wasn’t able to fall asleep.
Wow, I’m definitely going to be sleep-deprived tomorrow.
Being so strangely excited, it took me nearly an hour longer to fall asleep than usual, prompting me to realize just how simpleminded I was.