“Did it? Well, I’m glad you like it.”
“I mean, it’s exactly my style. I’ve always wanted stuff from this brand. How did you know? Are you a genius?”
That’s Ayaka for you. She always picks the right thing.
“I had a hunch based on our talks, that’s all.”
Forgive me for trying to act cool.
Just then, the doorbell rang. The loud noise, rather out of place for a studio apartment, echoed.
“Who could it be this late at night?” Shinohara hopped up onto her feet and walked over to the door.
She held the wallet gingerly. It was clear that she really liked it. It was by no means cheap, but I was so happy that I’d bought it for her.
I heard the clunk of her opening the door. It was followed by a familiar voice—but not hers.
“Oh? Shinohara? What are you doing here?”
“Ayaka-senpai?”
I made eye contact with her over Shinohara’s shoulder.
✦ ✦ ✦
I quickly broke eye contact with Ayaka.
Looking back, I’d never actually told her that Shinohara hung out here all the time. I had no impure motives at all for letting her stay here late at night, but if I were in Ayaka’s shoes, I knew how I’d feel about this situation.
“Whoa. Were you two dating?”
As expected, she was surprised. When I looked again, her usual teasing look was gone. She was genuinely stunned.
Now that I thought about it, she was the first person I told whenever I got a new girlfriend. This probably came as a twofold surprise to her: one, that I’d gotten a girlfriend without telling her, and two, that it was Shinohara of all people.
It was rare to see her so at a loss for words. I walked over to the front door and waved. “That’s not it. I always tell you about my love life, remember?”
After several seconds of silence, she shook her head. “I mean… You do, but who wouldn’t assume when they walked in on this?”
“That’s fair. If it wasn’t you, I’m not sure I could convince anyone else otherwise.”
“I’m plenty confused! Stop expecting me to be so understanding of everything.” After throwing out an extra, “Jeez, you scared me,” she shut the door. The cold air blowing in stopped, and warmth started to fill the room again.
“You do understand me better than others, though.”
“Whatever. I guess.”
Relationships between men and women could get fuzzy at university, but I did not let girls I wasn’t dating into my room often—especially not just the two of us. But here Shinohara was at 11 p.m., so Ayaka’s misunderstanding was only natural.
Still, I’d managed to clear everything up.
I turned to apologize to Shinohara, but she cut me off with something surprising. “Wow, Ayaka-senpai. I didn’t know you were so clueless that you’d come visit someone this late at night.”
Ayaka paused for a second and then tilted her head in confusion. “I certainly don’t want to hear that from a child who’s staying in the home of a man she isn’t dating so late at night.”
Wait, why the hell are you two fighting?
I rushed to break it up.
“Shinohara, just a reminder, Ayaka’s your senior.”
“Oh, really? I’m sorry.” She apologized genuinely, but her eyes stayed locked onto my childhood friend.
She didn’t act like this at the mixer… Wait a minute. Those two didn’t even talk back then. Did these two have a history? The tension in the room screamed “yes.”
I looked back at Ayaka. She stared fixedly at Shinohara, her calm expression never wavering. After a moment, she said, “She’s fine. She’s been my underclassman for a long time.”
“A long time?” I’d heard that Shinohara was her underclassman, but had that started before university? Either way, her response didn’t tell me why the air between them was so tense.
I don’t need to know why right now. It’s their problem.
After a moment’s thought, I said, “Shinohara, you can stop now.”
She glanced back at me and then kindly bowed. “I’m sorry. I was too harsh.”
Ayaka didn’t seem bothered by the apology as she shook her head and replied, “It’s okay. I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn’t have riled you up. Besides, I can tell you two really aren’t dating.”
“That’s correct.” Shinohara only replied to that point. After all, she’d complained only mere moments ago that she’d never really fallen for someone.
Ayaka seemed satisfied and put her slender fingers on the doorknob.
“Anyway, sorry to bother you guys,” she said. “What I wanted can wait.”
“Okay. See you at school.”
She smiled faintly at me and turned around. But when she did, her eyes seemed to linger on the item in Shinohara’s hand for a moment.
“This?” Noticing her gaze, she showed Ayaka the item. “He just bought me this wallet.”
Ba-dump! Those words made my heart skip a beat.
Ayaka gazed at the wallet for a moment and furrowed her brow. After all, she was the one who’d picked it out.
“Wow. It’s very nice,” she answered and patted me on the shoulder as she passed me by. “Good job. You’re getting better at this.”
“Oh, not really…” Is this okay? I asked with my eyes, but she ignored me without a care.
“Pardon my intrusion.”
After that, she went out the door.
I could only watch as she faded into the darkness.
✦ ✦ ✦
I sat down on my couch, legs crossed, but Shinohara sat on her knees in front of me.
“Shinohara, uh…?”
A third-person perspective of this would look awfully problematic, but fortunately—or not?—this was my home, so nobody else could see us.
“Hey…Senpai.”
“What?”
“The floor is cold.”
“Well, get over it, because I don’t have underfloor heating. Also, you’re the one who sat there of your own volition.” I glanced at Shinohara, dressed in strikingly casual attire, and recrossed my legs. There was only one thing I wanted to say to her. “Hey, your attitude before bugged me. She’s your senior, you know.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” The ex-Santa looked down sadly. She seemed even gloomier than when she’d broken up with Motosaka. Her apology came off as genuinely regretful—if nothing else, regretful that she’d acted like that in front of me.
As such, I decided to change my angle of attack for a moment.
“So, like…I’d like to get mad at you, but honestly, I’d feel better if you just acted normal.”
Shinohara’s face lit up. Her expression was cheerful, lucky me. “Okay! I’ll act normal!”
“Weird thing to say so excitedly… Anyway, it’s getting late. You should head home.”
This was the first time she’d been in my home so close to midnight. I’d always sent her home by 11 p.m., though the actual time difference wasn’t too much from an objective perspective.
“It’s rare in this day and age to send a girl home when the trains are about to stop. Be a little more worried about me, why don’t you?” she moped, but she walked toward the door anyway. The entrance was already cramped, and my three or four pairs of boots in the way weren’t helping, but she used her feet to fish her heels out of the pile with practiced maneuvers. “Hey, aren’t you curious, like…why I was acting rude, and all?”
“Not really. It’s not my business.”
“Aww, don’t say that. It hurts my feelings.” After she finished putting on her heels, Shinohara turned to face me. “But there’s something about that dry personality of yours that I actually love.”
“Great. Close the door soon, please. It’s cold out.”
“Ugh, you’re no fun at all! At least react a little!” She clicked her tongue angrily and slammed the door.
“Don’t go around telling people you ‘love’ them like that,” I grumbled. I knew she didn’t feel that way, but back in high school, I would’ve been on cloud nine to hear something like that.
When a guy misunderstands those kinds of comments, he ends up being the bad guy. It probably happened to women too, but it was still rough for us guys.