I left my room at around ten the next morning and ran into Kokoro on the landing.
“Good morning!” she said, back to her usual self.
“Oh, morning,” I replied, trying my best to sound as normal as she did.
“Say, you wouldn’t have any cardboard boxes lying around, would ya?”
“Huh? I think... yeah, I should have some I meant to throw away,” I replied, surprised by the sudden question. I actually had quite a few from all the times I’d bought stuff online.
“Can I take some?”
“Sure, I guess... but why?”
“Isn’t it obvious? To move out.”
“What...?”
The door to Kokoro’s room was ajar, and through it I could see a bunch of boxes piled up on the floor.
Is she putting away her stuff already?
“Didn’t you say your dad will be back in a couple months? You’re packing up already?”
“My mom’s coming back next month, and I want to be out of here by then... even earlier, if I can. I’m thinking of staying in a hotel not far from here. I’ve kinda gotta ask if I can keep my stuff here for a while though...”
“Wh-Why are you in such a hurry? Staying in a hotel would be really expensive. You could at least wait for your mom to come back, right?” I asked, unsure why she was so eager to leave.
“Well... that’d be rude to Minami. If it were me, I wouldn’t want my boyfriend living with another girl,” she replied with a half-hearted smile. “And, you know, the timing isn’t so bad. You’ve got a girlfriend now, and I found a good boyfriend candidate, so...”
Ah, that makes sense. It’s not just about Minami’s feelings. Now that Nishina has a crush on that Yuya guy, she probably doesn’t want to be caught living with another boy...
“Okay, I get it. I’ll help,” I said.
I was sad that she was going to leave, even though I knew I shouldn’t feel like that. My priority was Elena, and I should have been thinking about how she felt about me living with Kokoro.
She took action and started packing out of respect for Minami and me... How could I be sad about it? Maybe I really am the worst, I thought. The least I could do was keep those feelings to myself.
＊ ＊ ＊
A few days later, I met up with Ai in Akihabara, where we decided to play a new game at the arcade. For lunch, we went to a nearby McDonald’s, and I finally broke the news to him.
“What?! G-Girlfriend?! Who is it? Is it Nishina?”
“Huh?! N-No! It’s a girl called Minami, from the first year...”
“Hmm... I think I’ve heard that name before. What’s she like?”
“W-Well, she’s half-Japanese, half-English... She’s stunningly cute, but she’s also an otaku, she loves yuri, and...”
“Whoa, calm down!”
“You were the one who asked me what she’s like,” I said. Truth to be told, I’d not mentioned one of the most important things about her: the fact that she was a voice actress. After all, she was still keeping it a secret at school.
“Why would such a cute girl want to be your girlfriend anyway?”
“L-Look, I’m not sure either...”
“Do you have any pics?”
“Hm, hold on...” I said, taken aback by Ai’s rapid-fire questions. I took out my phone and began to search for a picture of Elena.
I immediately found some of her cosplaying, but those wouldn’t do. It wouldn’t be gentlemanly to show them without her permission, and I honestly felt weird about showing my girlfriend in such revealing attire to another man (Ai counted as a man). Maybe Elena wouldn’t have minded, since she had to show up on a stage dressed like that in front of a bunch of people for work, but...
“You don’t have a single picture? And you’re sure you didn’t just dream this girl up?”
“I didn’t! She asked to be my girlfriend... Oh, right, there’s her LINE icon!” I said, zooming in as best as I could. The tiny photo was barely large enough to recognize her, but at least she was wearing normal clothes.
“What...? She really is cute!” Ai breathed when he saw Elena’s profile icon. “Isn’t this like one of those bot accounts that lets you pretend you’re dating a cute girl?”
“It definitely isn’t!”
“But... why would a girl like that ask you to be her boyfriend? Did she try to sell you some kind of pyramid scheme?”
“She didn’t!” I yelled, angry at him for refusing to believe that someone like Elena would ever fall in love with me.
“I’m not sure I’m understanding. Pinch me, this must be some sort of miracle...”
“Look, I don’t know either! But she’s not tricking me in any way, shape, or form!”
“I thought I was the only one who bothered chatting with you...”
“Huh?”
“How come this is the first time I’m hearing about this girl? You didn’t even tell me when you first met her!”
“W-Well...”
Unfortunately, the circumstances under which I’d met Elena were so unique that I couldn’t have told him without revealing the truth about her job.
“Look at you, meeting up with girls and only telling me about it when you’re dating one! How dare you!” Ai said, puffing up his cheeks. I couldn’t tell whether he was mad because I’d kept a secret from him... or if it was just because I had a girlfriend and he didn’t. How was I supposed to know?
At around six, Ai left to go buy some cosplaying materials, leaving me by myself. I’d already told him that I had other plans later in the evening; I was supposed to meet up with Yume soon.
I spent some time playing on my phone before leaving the shop and heading to Maid-Tale Café.
What kind of insults will she throw at me? And why does she want to do so in person? Is it just to remind me that she can’t ever forgive me?
Being with Ai had kept me distracted, but now I was alone, my nerves had taken over.
I’d better prepare myself to be cursed at...
＊ ＊ ＊
I reached the café just before seven. Yume’s shift wasn’t the last of the night, so she wouldn’t have to clean up or anything, but she’d still have to change before leaving, which would probably put her doing so at ten or fifteen minutes after seven o’clock. Still, I was so nervous that I couldn’t help but get there early.
My only wish was for nothing crazy to happen. That was all I wanted. I kept staring at my phone, waiting for time to go by, but every minute felt like an eternity.
After about ten minutes, I saw Yume leave the café. I hadn’t seen her in person for quite a while now, but she was still as cute as ever. Her white lolita dress was adorable. Sure, I’ll admit that she was still my type, but this was no time to be blown away by her cuteness.
“You really came...” she said when she saw me.
“Huh?”
“Let’s go somewhere else. We can’t talk here.” Both her voice and her face were completely devoid of emotion.
“O-Okay...”
She started walking with her back to me, so fast that I struggled to keep up. She eventually stopped in a deserted back alley and turned to look me straight in the eye. A shiver ran down my spine.
Does she really just want to talk? I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t do something as extreme as kill me, but I could be in for at least a slap or two. Or maybe a punch? Maybe she’ll punch me in the gut.
I’d never dated Yume, and I hadn’t betrayed her or lied to her at all. I didn’t deserve to have my gut punched... but it was true that I’d hurt her. If a punch was going to make her feel better about the whole thing, maybe I had to toughen up and take it.
I could read the pain and sadness on her face, and guilt began to build in my chest. Without a word, she stepped toward me.
Here she comes! What’s it gonna be? A slap? A punch? She isn’t armed, is she?!
I instinctively closed my eyes and braced myself... but, instead of the painful blow I’d been expecting, I felt a soft, warm touch encircle my body. When I opened my eyes, I saw that Yume was hugging me.
“Y-Yume...?” was the only word to leave my mouth. I was frozen with shock, my face burning with the heat of the sun and my heart beating like crazy. This was the first time that I’d ever been hugged by a girl.
Yume let go of me and took a step back. I looked down at her small, round face. Much to my surprise... she was smiling.
“Thank you for everything,” she said. “It felt like a dream. It was the first time someone’s been so kind to me. It was so fun to fall in love, and to text each other... Even when you didn’t reply, waiting for that was fun too.”
Fall... in love? Is that how she felt for me?
My expectations had been totally off. I’d thought she was going to hit me, shout at me, cry, and wail... and I now realized how much of an asshole I’d been for thinking that of her.
“Th-Thank you, Yume...”
There was so much more that I wanted to say to her, but I decided to keep it at that. I already felt guilty enough for letting a girl who wasn’t my girlfriend hug me.
“I’ll never forget this...”
“Huh?”
With her last sentence, Yume switched instantly from heartwarming to terrifying. She was still smiling, but her tone was the creepiest thing I’d ever heard. I no longer knew whether to feel moved or scared.