The ride seemed to reach its end in the blink of an eye. I’d been so focused on Mashiro the whole time, I barely remembered any of it. My lack of reactions must’ve bored her too—once we got off the ride, she went straight to looking at her phone with a serious expression, not even smiling once.
Well, this is awkward...
I hadn’t realized how overwhelming it could be to spend time with a member of the opposite sex until I’d become aware of what being in love was actually like.
What was she thinking? What did she think of me?
My brain was paralyzed as it drowned in a mire of superfluous emotions, struggling to connect one thought to another. Was there anything less efficient than this?
I was pretty sure the answer was no.
“We’ll go here next.”
“Huh?”
“Why are you spacing out?” Mashiro snapped. “I’m talking about the ride we’re going on next. This one: Gorilla Kong’s Jungle.”
“O-Oh, oh, right! Yeah, let’s go!”
“Let’s hurry.” Mashiro scampered off, phone and pamphlet in hand.
Not wanting to be left behind, I hurried after her.
After that, we continued to explore TEL and checked out a range of attractions. When we walked, we stayed at a quick pace and took the most efficient routes possible. Thanks to our legendary passes, we didn’t have to wait in a single line. That meant that, though our time at the park was limited, we still got to experience a good number of attractions.
In case you were wondering, Mashiro took total charge of the whole thing.
I was usually the one showing people how to be efficient, but this time Mashiro was taking care of absolutely everything. I was such a mess today it was almost laughable, and my brain didn’t seem capable of thinking too hard about anything. All I could do was let Mashiro dictate where we were going and what we were doing.
At this rate I was just going to embarrass myself. I knew I needed to get it together, but the whole day I was completely distracted by Mashiro, and I could barely form a coherent thought. It was like I was floating through the clouds; I couldn’t focus properly on anything.
And then there was her attitude today. I just couldn’t figure it out.
Though she seemed eager to ride as many attractions as possible, at no point did she look like she was actually having fun. When we were between rides, she didn’t share any thoughts on them. She didn’t speak to me at all, in fact—she just looked at her phone, typing away with a frown on her face. It genuinely felt like she wasn’t enjoying her time with me whatsoever.
I knew I wasn’t her (fake) boyfriend anymore, but this was still supposed to be a date. What kind of guy would I be if I let my date partner be bored? I wanted to do something so she’d enjoy this, but I couldn’t come up with anything.
Pathetic, right? If only I could get a hint.
Suddenly, a distressing sound like a dinosaur getting strangled reverberated through the air.
Mashiro’s head snapped up from her phone, and she looked at me.
“Did you hear that?”
I threw out a verbal smoke bomb. “H-Hear...what?”
Yeah, it was a little unfair. I hadn’t exactly answered her question, and I’d avoided outright lying at the same time.
With the way Mashiro had one hand over her stomach, it was clear as day what that sound was.
“Wanna get something to eat over there?” I offered.
“So you did hear! Urgh!” Mashiro groaned, her face red.
I didn’t know what she was getting so embarrassed about. It was perfectly normal for a human being’s stomach to growl when they were hungry.
I guess I did understand what it was like for someone to see you in a state you didn’t want them to see you in. Like how I hated how pathetic I was being, unable to properly take charge of our date like I was supposed to. I didn’t want anybody to see me like this either.
Thanks to Mashiro being cute as usual—or rather, her being a little vulnerable—I felt myself relax slightly. This could be my chance to show some consideration.
“There’s a stand over there. Wanna go for it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t wanna fill up here if I can help it.”
“O...kay?”
What was with the stubbornness?
I thought for a moment, trying to figure it out.
If she was hungry, the natural thing to do would be to eat. She’d eaten from stalls at the summer festival, and we’d been out to eat at a restaurant before, so I knew she didn’t have anything against eating on dates in general.
Maybe she thought we should skip eating because it’d take away from the time we had to go on more rides. No, that wouldn’t make sense. There were food stands here with items you couldn’t eat anywhere else, so if she wanted to enjoy this park to its fullest, having some of the food should be a part of that experience.
What other possibilities are there? Think, Akiteru!
“Jeez, did you see that old hag? She was taking forever to fix her makeup!”
“I know, right? At that age, you’d think she’d realize there’s no point anymore!”
Please, random college students, I’m trying to think over here!
And why did those girls who just passed us think it was okay to bad-mouth strangers? It was distracting. If nothing else, I’d appreciate it if they could keep their voices down.
Okay, I was trying to figure out why Mashiro doesn’t want to eat anything...and I’ve already ruled out two possibilities...
“Youngsters these days! The time they take in those stalls, you’d think they’re trying to live in there!”
“I couldn’t agree more. I don’t know whether they’re constipated or using their phones, but either way, they ought to consider other people, especially when the line’s that long!”
Please, random middle-aged women, I’m trying to think over here!
And again with the bad-mouthing! Though I guess it was normal for every generation to complain about each other.
It was only now I realized both groups had been complaining about the other’s bathroom habits. I looked up to see where all these passersby were coming from, and yep, it was the bathroom. It was a cutesy building with statues of Tenchido characters outside, but it was clearly labeled as a toilet and had the typical male and female symbols.
“Ah!”
That was when it hit me.
Foot traffic into the men’s bathroom was low, but there was a huge line for the ladies. The bathroom actually seemed more popular than any of the attractions we’d been to today. Naturally the people in that line needed to go more urgently too, and there was a sense of impatience rippling down the whole thing as they waited moment by moment to see if finally they could take another step forward.
With that, the mystery was solved.
“I got it! The lines for female bathrooms are usually long already, and TEL attracts more female customers than male. If you ate something and suddenly had to go, you’d be in trouble—and that’s why you don’t wanna eat! Well, Mashiro? Did I get it?”
Silence.
I didn’t notice.
“Whew, I feel so much better having figured that out. It gets stressful grappling with a mystery, y’know.”
Silence.
I didn’t notice.
“But we don’t want you getting so hungry you collapse either. You should eat—and go to the bathroom—if you need to. It’s only healthy. I don’t think it’s a great idea to hold it in just ’cause you don’t wanna wait for the bathroom.”
“Aki.”
“Don’t worry, Mashiro. I’m fine waiting, even if you take ages. So let’s go grab something to eat, okay?”
“Aki. Shut up a sec.”
“Hm? Oh, okay.”
I was on a roll. Clearly I got overexcited. But that excitement had now hit rock bottom.
Wait, I knew what this was.
It was a classic case of a man rattling on and not realizing how insensitive he was being.
“I’m sorry.”
I apologized the second I noticed.
Mashiro sighed, as though moved by my honesty. “Looks like you get it,” she said, letting it go without any fuss. Her cheeks were still puffed up, but she looked more endeared if anything—though I was a little hesitant to take it that way. “I’ll be honest, I’m kinda curious about the pancake sandwiches. But yeah, sacrifices have to be made...so I’m sorry for making a big deal out of not eating.”
“Pancake sandwiches?”
“Yeah. They’re a famous dessert you can only buy here. They’re especially popular with girls.”
“Huh. That sounds like something even Otoi-san’d crack a smile for.”
I bet she wouldn’t even have spared a single thought about the line for the bathroom before diving into those sandwiches. Now that I thought about it, I’d seen Otoi-san eat hundreds of times, but I’d never once seen her going into a bathroom—even when Iroha’s recording sessions ran long and we needed to take a break.
This was Otoi-san we were talking about, though. Her facial expression barely changed, which often reminded me of a robot. If she were to tell me she didn’t have the physical capacity to use the bathroom, I’d fully believe her. Unless she had a sensitive side and thought it would be unladylike to go to the bathroom while I was around?
No. Nope. No way, Jose. Any other girl, maybe. Not Otoi-san.
“Let’s go, then. C’mon.” Mashiro took my hand and began to lead me in the opposite direction from the tempting food stands.
“Right, right.”
The famed TEL pancake sandwiches shifted farther and farther out of sight.
Hold on, today was the free day for our class trip—and that meant Otoi-san was free to do whatever she wanted today too. Maybe if we had gone to get pancakes, we might’ve run into her.
“...Nah.” I laughed it off.
“Are you laughing to yourself? Ew.”
“If you could kindly keep the disparaging remarks to yourself, it would be most appreciated, Mashiro-san.”
I mean, I knew it was weird to laugh to yourself, but that didn’t make her comment hurt any less.
In the end, Mashiro and I headed for the next attraction, leaving me with no way of proving the existence of Schrödinger’s Otoi-san.