I immediately said yes to Yamato. Unfortunately, Sota and Shoma already had plans, but Makoto decided to join since I was going. For the time being, I put the mystery about my memory loss on hold, hopped on my bike, and went to Kawaramachi-sanjo.
I parked it at the usual lot, where parking was free for three hours, and went to our meeting place. Unlike Irido, thinking wasn’t my forte and wouldn’t get me anywhere closer to an answer, so I decided to forget about Minami and focus instead on hanging out with my friends. Or at least that was what I thought about doing, but...
“Oh, there he is. Kawanami!”
At the place we were meeting, I saw Yamato and Makoto, as well as two girls who hadn’t been a part of our plans, and...Akatsuki Minami. Why?! Seeing me freeze up, Yamato chuckled lightheartedly.
“We ran into them while waitin’ for you. Apparently they just finished havin’ a reunion of their own not too far away, and when I asked if they wanted to come with us to Ichijoji for ramen, they said yeah.”
“I’ve always been interested in the ramen street.”
“Yeah, and it’s hard to go there as girls, you know?”
“Totally,” the three girls, including Minami, said in unison.
These girls had also been middle school classmates with Minami and me. Though she might have hung out with meeker girls like Irido-san and Higashira now that we were in a private prep school, our middle school had been a public one, and these two were very gyaru-like. That being said, they were just loud like gyarus. The way they dressed and did their makeup was more mature and focused on beautifying. I could only imagine how great this situation felt for Yamato, since he didn’t have a girlfriend, but for me, I couldn’t have felt worse.
“You’ve really changed a lot since middle school, Makoto.”
“Y-You think so?”
“Yeah, in a totally good way!”
It didn’t seem like Makoto was exactly displeased either.
Yamato came over to me with a smirk and put his arm on my shoulder. “You’re still friends with Minami-san, right? Perfect timing, don’t you think?”
“Yeah...”
That was all I could say. Of course I couldn’t tell him how awkward it was to see her right now because there was a chance that we did it last night. When Yamato went back to join the rest of the group, I felt someone poking my back. When I turned around, I saw Minami with a cryptic smile looking up at my face.
“Sorry about crashing your bro time. Don’t worry about that too much, okay?”
“Right...”
Even the most innocuous words sounded like they had hidden meaning. What am I not supposed to worry about? Them joining us? Or about last night?
“Let’s get goin’! I’ve worked up an appetite for ramen after all that talking!” the girl with black hair said.
And just like that, our group of six took off toward the bus station. It was about thirty minutes to get to Ichijoji by bus. As long as my group and her group sit in separate seats, I’ll be good... But just as I was thinking that, I felt a cold hand wrap around mine. I reacted too late and that’d created an opening for someone to intertwine her fingers with mine, our hands tight together as if we were dating. When I finally turned to the side, I saw Minami looking at me, giggling deviously. I already knew my course of action.
I let go of her hand and moved to be with the rest of the group. She was totally trying to have the thrill of doing something naughty without anyone noticing. That’s exactly what would happen between two people who crossed that line but nobody else knows it, so they keep their flirting a secret to be considerate! My mind was a mess. My heart was beating out of control. I wasn’t sure why it was beating so hard anymore. Was it because I was afraid of being discovered? Or afraid of my reaction to Minami?
Akatsuki Minami: What a Guy and a Girl Do When They Cross a Line Part 2
After thirty minutes on the bus, we arrived at the Ichijoji Sagarimatsucho bus station and headed toward the ramen street while checking our phones for directions. This area was at the edge of the city of Kyoto, meaning that we could see the mountains on the eastern border of the city. I was pretty sure that the Gozan no Okuribi, where they lit flames to spell out Japanese characters, happened there. I was pretty sure I had even climbed the nearby Mt. Daimonji when I was in elementary school.
The vibe of the town wasn’t quite countryside, but it wasn’t really as bustling as a city either. It was pretty firmly suburban. The huge pachinko place right at the entrance of the ramen street only helped reinforce that vibe.
At first glance it looked like a normal two-lane road. It had neither flashy neon signs nor so many people that it was hard to get anywhere. But looking at the types of stores here, I saw a ramen place, a restaurant, a ramen place, a secondhand bookstore, a ramen place, another ramen place, and so on. But also most of these restaurants had so many customers that there were lines out the door.
“So where we goin’? Where we goin’?”
“Oh look at this one. It looks real nice inside.”
“But, like, don’t ramen places that’re a little beaten up have more charm?”
My group gathered and checked places on their phones. Kawanami’s group also got together and seemed like they were debating where to go. But amid that, I could feel a pair of eyes frequently glancing at me. It was like he wanted to stop, but couldn’t. Aw, he can’t take his eyes off of me. If you keep stealing glances at me like that, though, the others’re gonna notice, you know? Aw, Ko-kun’s such a cutie. You care so much about the girl you slept with? Maybe you’re remembering what happened last night?
Judging by how skittish he was acting, there was no doubt that we did it last night. I was absolutely convinced that there was no other explanation. It sucked that I couldn’t remember any of our night together, but it was like we had finally moved forward from the purgatory our relationship had been in. I’m gonna be optimistic here and take this as a good thing!
Five months ago on White Day, I realized that Kawanami’s allergies to girls with a thing for him had pretty much been cured. Before, whenever he felt affection from a girl, he’d break out in hives and sometimes even barf. But through exposure therapy, I had been able to help him get past that without him even realizing.
But even so, just immediately trying to close the distance between us might’ve resulted in him relapsing. After all, the cause of that allergy was a deep trauma inflicted by none other than yours truly. That was why my plan had been to observe him while slowly getting him used to being cured, but to my great surprise, we’d somehow crossed the one line that I had been trying to make us not cross, all without me knowing.
I had no clue how that happened, but now that it’d happened, it seemed that I could probably ask him out anytime I wanted without having to worry. Then we’d be able to let out the smoldering feelings we’d been holding back for an entire year and I’d burn it into our brains. Heh heh heh. I’m gonna use this chance to turn him on. Now that I don’t have to worry about that allergy of his, I’m invincible!
After a while, we finally decided on a ramen place and stood in line. When we got inside, I casually took a seat right next to Kawanami. While I was looking at the menu, I made sure to press my body against his a bit.