Chapter 26

Looking Back… Part 2. 2006/12/07 20:20 Autumn, several years ago. An acquaintance of mine showed me a place that was hiring for a part-time job—where I met my girlfriend, Y-ko. She had shown she was competent enough to take on a lot of work despite being so young. Since we were relatively close in age and often spent time working together, it didn’t take much time at all for us to grow friendly… Soon we were going out to eat after work and making shopping trips together on our days off. It didn’t develop into anything more than a friendship between the boss and the part-timer until one late, moonlit night, when we were trudging home after working overtime. She stared at the hand I was offering, frozen. Well, that makes sense. We’d been friendly, but certainly not holding-hands friendly. I grabbed the hand she reluctantly held out, entwining her fingers one by one. My palm was damp with nervous sweat. Here, I stopped both my sentence and my gait. An instant later, she stopped walking as well. She turned around, looking up at me with her head tilted. Our eyes met. My empty left hand traced her cheek. She closed her eyes. Several moments later, after our lips broke contact, we looked into each other’s eyes again. And it was true. It didn’t matter to me whether she was an otaku or not. And as she said this, she smiled shyly. But at the time, I had no idea what she meant by the word fujoshi. And that’s where we left off in the previous volume. But there is more to this tale… You don’t have to refer to me as “boyfriend.” It’s a bit embarrassing… but that’s not my point. She froze. I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know that she is mad! But if I was the one who asked her out, why is the issue here about my approval? Plus. She fudged her speech and clearly averted her eyes from mine. … Well, this is obviously not going to make the issue any easier! … a fujoshi is? …… A girl who enjoys romance between a boy and another boy. ……… Come again? * Kira Yamato ( Earth Alliance) × Lacus Clyne ( ZAFT), Athrun Zala ( ZAFT) × Cagalli Yula Athha ( Orb Union) are the primary pairings. In Y-ko’s case, it is Kira () × Athrun (). From Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. …… Sigh. I think I understand, but I also think I don’t. Whew! That’s great. I don’t know what I’d do if she suddenly told me I wasn’t right for her. And so, on an autumn night, beneath a beautiful moon… our relationship became that of boyfriend and girlfriend, and she became… my geeky girlfriend.