Shizuka hopped between shelves, pointing out her selections. Rentaro chuckled as he watched her. She was just like when they first met. Much like then, he tried to commit the titles of this batch of recommendations to memory so that he could borrow them all.
“You really know your stuff.”
‹I am but a dilettante.›
The bashful young Shizuka’s cheeks turned pink at Rentaro’s praise. Then her gaze slid to one side, next to the novels—at the new manga arrivals.
“So this library has manga as well,” said Rentaro, following her gaze. “Oh, there’s a new volume out.” He casually picked up the latest volume of a series he followed.
‹Is that perchance the one in your favor?›
“Yeah, it’s really good. It’s a love story,” Rentaro explained. “Although they’re adults who are normally very well-put-together members of society, they act like junior high school kids when it comes to romance. It’s adorable.”
In lieu of a verbal response, Shizuka nodded multiple times to show that she was listening.
“The first volume is out on loan. You can borrow my copy, if you’re interested.”
‹I gratefully accept.› Shizuka looked just as happy as Rentaro about making a promise.
“But I do have to wonder… Do you have any interest in manga?”
Shizuka’s literary diet consisted chiefly of novels. Manga wasn’t off the table, but she didn’t project the image of someone who read a great deal of it. At Rentaro’s question, Shizuka lowered her head somewhat self-effacingly. Then she fiddled with her smartphone.
‹That which is loved by my lover,› the app intoned, ‹is what I wish to love.›
Rentaro clutched his heart at this laudable sentiment. “Ngh!”
‹Have you other approbations?› ‹I am interested in reading.›
“Let’s see… What genres do you like?”
‹Does a love story not bring cheer?›
“I can help you with that! There was a period when I marathoned a whole bunch of romance manga!”
Part of that was because he’d been trying to study up on dating. In the end, none of it had been put to use, and he’d racked up a record of one hundred rejections. However, if he imagined that it had all been for this day, then none of it had been a waste.
“This is a wholesome love story set in high school! I love it so much! This one is full of funny misunderstandings, but the romantic parts will totally make you swoon! Oh, and you’ve got to read this one! It’s a classic enemies-to-lovers story! And this one…”
As he spouted off his recommendations, Rentaro’s gaze happened to fall on a certain title on the manga shelf. It was a series he hadn’t yet read himself. Oh, Hakari said good things about this one. It had been mentioned in one of the magazines at the cat café. Rentaro casually picked it up from the library shelf.
Only to be utterly stunned.
The manga was part of the genre known as smut. The cover showed a half-naked man and woman having a heated entanglement. Rentaro reflexively returned the book to the shelf. He figured it was a bad idea to show Shizuka anything too stimulating.
“Ha ha…that might be a bit too soon for us.”
Shizuka nodded fervently at him, her face bright red. Technically, she was the same age as Hakari, which meant that it would have been perfectly normal for her to read slightly racy manga. Not that there was anyone around to point that out.
Saturday, 6 p.m.
Shizuka left, saying she had plans to eat dinner with her family. Rentaro’s next destination was the planetarium. At the exact moment he arrived, the person he had arranged to meet up with appeared from around the corner.
“Wow, Nano. You’re always exactly on time!”
“It is most efficient to arrive precisely when everyone else is present.”
The beautiful girl who prioritized efficiency was Eiai Nano. She was also Rentaro’s girlfriend.
“Okay, let’s go on in,” said Rentaro. “The show is about to start.”
Nano nodded. Together, they entered the building and went through the reception area.
“There are special seats for couples to watch together,” Rentaro remarked as they sat and lay back in an extra-wide seat.
“Watching footage with minimal movement is an efficient form of dating.”
“Yeah, but that’s not the reason why I chose a planetarium. Oh, it’s starting.”
Rentaro was still smiling when the lights went off and a video about the constellations started playing on the ceiling. He spent the next half hour watching with deep interest.
When they left the planetarium, Nano opened her mouth.
“How illogical…” were the first words she said. “None of the stars align that way. They simply contrived it to make the Sagitta constellation look like an arrow. Given that they merely joined two stars together to form Canis Minor, they ought to name it the ‘Straight Line’ constellation instead.”
“Ha ha, there are a lot of constellations like that, yeah.”
“There is a strong possibility that the people who named the constellations were chronic insomniacs.”
“That doesn’t mean they just hallucinated it all…at least I don’t think they did!”
“There is also the likelihood that they devised those names as pranks, only for them to spread too far to rescind them later.”
“Even in the modern day, that doesn’t happen too often!”
Rentaro had kind of expected this, but Nano really didn’t seem to buy into constellations at all.
“Er… Sorry, was it not fun for you?” Rentaro asked abruptly, feeling slightly anxious.
However, Nano replied as if her feelings were obvious. “Hm? Of course I had fun. Everything is fun when I am with you, Aijo Rentaro,” she said, looking him directly in the eye.
It was more than enough to make Rentaro’s heart throb painfully.
“I feel the same way about being with you, Nano. Even when we’re not together, I have fun imagining Air Nano!” Rentaro gushed.
“An imaginary me is no substitute,” Nano said, responding with a cold truth.
At that moment, Nano’s body began to tremble.
“Oh, sorry! I didn’t realize! It gets cold when the sun goes down!” Without any hesitation, Rentaro took off his coat and draped it over Nano’s shoulders.
“Are you all right, Aijo Rentaro?”
“I’m all good! I wear that coat for times exactly like this!” Rentaro gave her a thumbs-up and rolled up his sleeve in demonstration.
“Thank you…”
As Nano put her arms through the coat’s sleeves, her face brushed against the collar. She gave it a sniff.
“Oh? It doesn’t smell funny, does it?!” Rentaro asked, flustered.
Nano shook her head. “It merely smells of you.”
Judging by her mildly flushed cheeks, she certainly did not mean that in a negative way.
“O-okay…”
For some reason, Rentaro found himself feeling strangely bashful. He turned his gaze to the sky, partly to avoid Nano’s eyes. It was now thoroughly dark, and he could see the stars twinkling in the night sky, though there wasn’t anything in particular he wanted to look at.
“Oh, look at that, Nano!” said Rentaro, somewhat excited. “The position of those stars—”
“They explained that one to us at the planetarium,” Nano finished for him, having noticed what Rentaro was pointing at. “The Straight Line Constellation.”
“You mean Canis Minor!”
The two stars linked together looked like a small dog. (Well, not really.) Even so, they twinkled brilliantly in the sky.
Saturday, 9 p.m.
After saying goodbye to Nano, who had gone home to study, Rentaro ran to his next meeting spot: the local park.
“Rentaro! Over here!”
The girl waving enthusiastically after having spotted Rentaro was Yakuzen Kusuri. She was also Rentaro’s girlfriend.
“Sorry, Kusuri-senpai. Did I keep you waiting long?”
“Not to worry! Kusuri just got here!”
Although the girl only looked about eight years old, she was actually a third-year high school student—older than Rentaro.
“Kusuri brought this for today’s date,” she announced in a singsong voice. “Homemade by Kusuri, aye!”
Kusuri rummaged through her bag. What she pulled out was…not a homemade bento.
“Drugs!” she hooted.
“Kusuri-senpai’s homemade drugs! I’m so honored!”
Her gift was a pharmaceutical drug in a test tube. Kusuri researched and developed all kinds of medicines, and their effects were just as eclectic.
“This is ‘Make Park Hundred Times More Fun Medicine’!”
“Whoa, that’s awesome! What happens when you drink it?”
Rentaro’s enthusiasm was genuine thus far. Until…
“It makes you really high and hallucinate, aye!”
“I’m gonna ask just to be sure, but is this appropriate?!” He couldn’t help but speak a little wildly, because the explanation he heard did not sound appropriate at all. “Publishers really look down on that kind of thing these days! Put it away! Quick!”
“Tch.” Kusuri reluctantly stashed the drug back in her bag.
“You can have fun without drugs! Look, there’s a swing!”
“Oooh! Park is kinda exciting at night!”