Between Kokoro moving out and me having to meet up with Mashiro and Yume, I’d been going through a lot, but I still found the time to regularly contact Elena. However, on the flipside, I’d been speaking less and less with Kokoro. Making small talk with her made me feel kind of nervous.
I thought dinnertime would be a good time to strike up a conversation.
“You’ve been working nonstop preparing to move, huh?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said with a dejected chuckle without looking up from her plate. “I’ve got so many games and doujinshi that it feels like I’ll never finish.”
“Do you need a hand?” I asked. The only reason she was moving out sooner than necessary was because I was in a relationship now, so I believed it was my responsibility to help.
“Nah, it’s fine. I’ve also gotta sort things depending on whether I wanna keep them or not, so it’s easier if I go at it alone.”
“All right...”
Since Elena had become my girlfriend, Kokoro had started spending more and more time holed up in her room. She used to spend a lot of time downstairs, but now she only came down to the living room to eat. Also, with this particular day as an exception, she’d been eating out more than she ever used to.
I’d asked her how things were going with Yuya, but the only response I’d gotten from her was “good.”
I knew she was just busy seeing her friends and packing her stuff, but I couldn’t help but feel like she was avoiding me, which made it even harder to speak to her.
I still had a feeling that she wasn’t just doing this as a thoughtful gesture toward Elena and me—maybe she didn’t want to spend too much time with another guy now that things were going well with Yuya. For all I knew, those two were dating already... but if that were the case, I wished she would at least tell me.
I even helped her out with getting to know him... But I guess she’s the one who put in all the effort. Ultimately, it’s her call whether she wants to tell me or not...
＊ ＊ ＊
“...aya? Ichigaya?”
“Ahh! M-Minami?!” I exclaimed, surprised, noticing my girlfriend sitting next to me. “S-Sorry, I was spacing out...”
This is our first date as boyfriend and girlfriend! What am I spacing out for?!
“Hehe... Is something on your mind?”
“Nothing in particular...”
“Hmmm? Could you be hiding something from me?” she jokingly asked, leaning so close to my face that my heart skipped a beat.
“H-Haha... N-No. I-It’s nothing, really...”
I wasn’t trying to keep secrets from her, but I figured telling her that I was thinking about Kokoro while Elena and I were on a date together would have been pretty rude.
“Let’s go then!”
“Sure...”
I glanced at her and once again asked myself how such a cute girl could be my girlfriend. She looked jaw-droppingly beautiful in her light-blue sundress.
We were going to the cinema to watch an anime movie about two girls trying to become idols in America. I wanted to watch it because it was from an animation studio that I really liked, so I’d suggested that Elena come see it with me. As a yuri fan, she was bound to be interested in the girl-friendship aspect of it. Turned out, she also really wanted to watch it, so the matter had been quickly settled and I’d reserved our tickets.
“I hope it’s good...” I said.
“The reviews have been really positive, so I’m sure it will be!” Elena smiled happily.
Once at the cinema, we got our tickets printed, bought some popcorn and drinks, and headed over to the viewing room, where we sat side by side. Being so close to Elena’s beautiful profile had my heart pounding in a millisecond.
She’s so wasted on me. And now I’ll be sitting here right next to her in the dark for two whole hours...
The movie started, but, interesting as it was, I was too nervous about Elena’s proximity to fully take it in.
“Ah!”
For a brief moment, when I’d reached into the popcorn bucket, Elena’s hand brushed against mine. We both pulled back.