“O-Oh my! S-Sorry...” she apologized in a whisper.
“I-It’s okay...”
Agh. Even that was almost enough to make my nose bleed... That’s the first time we’ve ever touched hands! Now that we’re dating, we’re eventually going to... h-hold hands! And maybe even more than that!
...No! Don’t think dirty thoughts! Don’t let the darkness of the cinema influence you. But, even leaving aside the dirty thoughts... if I get so nervous about our hands touching, how am I going to, like, kiss her? I wish I could ask Nishina for advice... Actually, wait. No. That’d be too embarrassing. I definitely don’t want to ask her for advice on that.
I spent almost two hours thinking about stuff like that, and the movie eventually came to its end without me ever properly focusing on it.
However, when the lights turned on, I noticed that Elena was crying.
“Huh?!”
“S-Sorry...”
“N-No, don’t worry...”
What’s a boyfriend supposed to do at a time like this?! Should I just quietly hand her my handkerchief like in those old-timey shojo manga? But she’s already using her own handkerchief. And, come to think of it, I don’t even have one with me.
I hadn’t expected her to be literally moved to tears by the movie. As for me, I had barely been following it, but of course I couldn’t admit that. Previously when dealing with this kind of situation, I’d relied on Kokoro’s advice, but lately we hadn’t been close enough for me to casually ask for her help.
“It was so great!” Elena started excitedly relaying her opinion of the movie we’d just watched. “Of course, I enjoyed seeing the relationship between the two girls, but it was also a wonderful story! The way their friendship was portrayed in a pure and platonic way instead of brashly pandering to yuri fans made it even better!”
She really was a weird girl. She was cute, fashionable, extroverted, popular, and just perfect in every way... but beneath that surface lay an otaku through and through. That actually settled my nerves somewhat, and it was one of the reasons that I liked her so much.
“Thank you for inviting me to watch it! I’ve been able to witness a masterpiece, and it’s all thanks to you!”
“I’m just happy you liked it!”
“What about you? What did you think?”
“M-Me?! O-Oh, yeah, I liked it a lot!”
That was kind of a lie, but I didn’t dislike it or anything. I had just been too distracted to follow it.
“I’m glad! Would it be okay if I stopped by the merch stand? I’d like to pick up the movie pamphlet.”
“Of course!”
After stopping by the store, we went to a nearby café to have a light meal. During our relaxed chat, Elena suddenly switched the topic.
“By the way... how has Nishina been lately?” she asked. “Is she... doing well? I haven’t talked to her in a while, so I was wondering...”
She seemed to have a hard time bringing up the topic.
Is it because she doesn’t like me living with another girl? That would make sense. I couldn’t bear it if my girlfriend lived with another guy.
“She’s doing okay, but... she’s actually going to be moving out pretty soon,” I told her, both because I wanted Elena to feel better about it and out of respect for Kokoro’s decision.
“Wh-Why would that be?” Elena asked, surprised.
“Her parents are coming back to Japan.”
“Oh, I see...” she said, dropping her gaze with a thoughtful expression.
Hm? What’s wrong? Why’s she reacting like this?
“Minami?”
“Forgive me... I feel sorry for Nishina, but, to be honest, I’m quite relieved. I was worried that you might fall in love with such a beautiful girl while you were living with her...”
“M-Minami!”
Not only did it warm my heart that she would worry about something like that, but it also made her even cuter.
By the time we left the café, it was already past 6 p.m. I thought it would be better to end our date before it got late, first because I didn’t want to bore her, and second because I didn’t want her to think I had any... impure intentions. She mattered a lot to me, and, even though I didn’t want to admit it, I didn’t have the courage to kiss her, let alone anything more than that. I was interested in those things, of course, but at the same time, I was scared of going too far and driving her away.
“S-So, should we call it a day?” I proposed.
“What?!”
“Is something wrong?” I asked, trying to find out why Elena seemed so shocked by my suggestion.
“Oh, sorry... It’s just that it’s much earlier than I expected,” she replied.
Does this mean that she actually wanted to stay together late?!
“R-Really? Ah, sorry, I just thought you’d be bored spending so much time with me, especially since it’s our first date...”
“Not at all! But I guess going home wishing it had lasted longer would make us both look forward to the next one!” she said, blessing me with her kind smile.
“Y-You’re right! Yeah!”
I was trying to act gentlemanly, but maybe ending the date so early was a mistake...
On the train home, I kept wondering whether I’d done the right thing or whether I should have stayed longer. Whatever the case, going on a date with such a cute girl had made me happier than I could have ever imagined.
When I arrived back home, I was met by a sight that had become rather rare—Kokoro was on the couch playing with her phone. Lately she’d been spending most of her time in her room, so I wondered why she’d decided to come downstairs.
“I-I’m back...”
“Hi,” she greeted me. “You’re early.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Weren’t you on a date?”
Was she waiting here to ask me about it? I didn’t even tell her about it, but she must have guessed by how much effort I was putting into looking good this morning.