Our Dating Story: The Experienced You and The Inexperienced Me - Volume 3 - Chapter 2.2

Then, she looked right at me. “Every time I see a new side of you, my heart pounds and I think, ‘Ah, I’ve fallen in love with him again.’ Though when I say that to Nicole, she laughs at me. Like, ‘don’t you have things backward?’”

Deeply moved, I listened closely to Runa’s words quietly.

“She says that a normal girl just has this thing where one day, a boy catches her eye for some reason. And as time passes and she watches him, she thinks how nice he is and that she likes him. She feels a nervous excitement when she talks to him and starts to want to go out with him.”

That was just like how it had been for me as I fell in love with Runa. I didn’t have a single doubt that it was love.

“And apparently it’s not just a manga thing—it’s how everyone experiences love, she said. And I feel like I’m finally standing at that starting line for the first time.”

The sudden mention of a starting line had me feeling a pang in my chest.

“At first, I thought my heart was beating so fast only because you threw me off. Like how different you were from my exes... But after spending the summer with you, I was convinced: it’s definitely love.”

So the answer to “How close has she come to wanting to have sex with me?” is that she’s at the starting line, huh. But wait, it’s not like sex necessarily lies at the peak of love... Who knows—maybe it’s step five or something like that?

Maybe it’s even step three. Let’s think positively. Yeah.

When I thought about it, I remembered that she hadn’t even known my name until we’d started going out. And now, our love was apparently mutual. Even if she was at the starting line, if she steadily moved forward from there, I figured that day would eventually come in the not-too-distant future.

Considering the events of the first day of our relationship, I no longer had a right to ask her for it, and that was hard to bear given what she’d just told me...

Still.

“You know, I feel like I’m in love for the first time in my life.”

Runa’s heart had remained out of reach of all her exes. The thought of it filled me with joy.

“I see,” I replied.

Though I had some mixed feelings, her words made me genuinely happy. As I gazed at Runa with a smile, she gave me a gentle one of her own. Her expression was so sweet that my heart began to flutter with happiness.

“So you read shojo manga, huh,” I remarked, since I’d found what she’d said a minute ago unexpected. Reading books kinda didn’t fit my image of her.

“Ah, yeah. My mom has a lot of those, so I read them back when we lived together. They were all old, though, since they were from when she was young,” Runa said happily. “In my favorite one, the heroine and her boyfriend go on a Ferris wheel, eat chocolate candies, and then kiss.”

“Huh...”

Her words made my heart skip a beat since I’d just been thinking about a kiss myself.

“The girl says the kiss tasted like their chocolate candies and laughs. Since I read it when I was in primary school, I thought, like, wow! That’s such an adult thing to do—it made my heart race.”

“W-Well, they don’t let you eat in here,” I remarked.

The conversation got awkward once I suddenly started thinking about kissing her.

“Yeah. And it’s not like we have chocolate on us, anyway.” Saying that, Runa looked at me with upturned eyes. “But...can we?”

“Can we”?!

Can we what? Obviously, that wasn’t a question I needed to ask.

“Y-Yeah. Sure.”

How could I refuse?

But as much as I’d wanted to kiss her, I felt nervous now that we had actually come to it.

It’s your third time. How pathetic can you be? I thought to myself as Runa began to rapidly approach me.

My heart pounded deafeningly as she quickly got close to me and made the cramped gondola tip in the process. I started to wonder if anyone was watching us in the adjacent pods and began looking around.

As I acted strangely like that, Runa, who was now sitting beside me, faced my way. Her hair touched my shoulder—it had a pleasant scent.

Even looking at Runa up close, she was really beautiful. With her glossy skin and lips, she was like a jewel.

Her captivating eyes closed in a meaningful way while gazing at me all along.

I slowly brought my face toward hers...and sealed her lips with mine. Runa’s warmth was just as tender as I remembered it.

I wanted this to go on forever. I wanted to feel Runa more deeply. My chest ached with that urge.

I can’t. I’ve resolved to wait for her.

Reluctantly, I pulled away from Runa, at which point she gazed at me with mischief in her eyes.

“What did it taste like?” she asked.

“Huh?!” Her sudden question threw me off. “I-It smelled like peaches, I think?”

“Bingo!” replied Runa with a happy grin. “I bought a new lip tint. I’m a huge fan of it ’cause of the peach tea scent! And the color is totally MLBB!”

“ML what...?”

“Means it’s natural, basically! It’s not stuck to your lips either—it’s super great!” she said, looking satisfied after checking my lips. Then, she rested her head on my shoulder. “Yeah. I really do love you,” Runa said quietly, as though making sure of her feelings. “I think I can fall much deeper in love with you...”

She had a calm smile on her face, but then she looked up as if she’d just thought of something. “Hey, Ryuto.”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Can you pat my head...?”

As she gazed at me, the cheerfulness in her eyes raised my pulse once again.

“B-But why...?”

“I just remembered that when we played airsoft earlier, I wanted you to pat my head and say I did well.”

“Oh...”

I recalled the conversation I’d had with Runa after she had returned to the safe zone.

“Something wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

That’s what she’s talking about.

“Everyone was there, so I held back, of course...” said Runa. Then she added in a whisper, “So could you?”

I nodded. “S-Sure.”

“Yay!” she replied with a happy smile. “It’s all yours.”

As she tilted her head toward me, I awkwardly patted it a couple of times.

“L-Like this?”

“Thank you, Ryuto.” Lifting her face, Runa smiled like the sun. “Love you!”

Without me realizing it, our gondola had almost reached the platform.

***

After getting off the Ferris wheel, we decided to head to VenusFort—another request from Runa. As we passed through another building on our way, I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

“Wow! There’re so many cars,” I remarked.

We were in an atrium—some kind of an event venue—with rows of sparkling cars. We were on the second floor of the building, but there were even more cars displayed on the first one. I thought that we must’ve passed through here when going to the Ferris wheel too, but evidently, my head had been so full of said attraction (or rather, kissing Runa inside it) that this place hadn’t registered to me.

“Oh, this is Mega Web! It’s kind of like a car showroom, I guess?” said Runa.

“Interesting...”

“You like cars?”

I timidly nodded. “Ah... Yeah, kinda. I had a big collection of toy cars and stuff when I was a kid.”

“Oh, really?” asked Runa, blinking. Then, her face lit up. “So...when you get your license, will you let me ride shotgun?”

“Sure, of course. Though that’ll probably have to wait until after college exams...”

Despite that last part, Runa was so delighted you’d think she was going to get a ride next week. “Yay, I can’t wait! Let’s go skiing and camping together too!”

Before I knew it, her innocence had brought a smile to my face too.

“We don’t have a car, so I’d have to rent one,” I said.

“That’s totes fine! What kinda cars do you like?”

“Well... Sports cars, I guess. Like that one.”

I pointed at a bright red Supra displayed some distance away. As far as I could see, all the cars here were Toyotas, so the place must’ve been run by Toyota. I seemed to recall seeing this place in a news piece about some motor show or something.

“Ah, that one’s nice! Let’s rent that one, then,” suggested Runa.

“Yeah but... If we’re going skiing or camping, it’s probably better to get something like a minivan.”

“Why? We can’t go in a sports car?” she asked.

“You can’t put much stuff in it...and it might not be very comfortable.”

“What do you mean?”

It seemed like Runa didn’t know much about cars—she’d looked puzzled this whole time.

And so, I figured it was time for an in-depth explanation.

“Sports cars are stylish and suited for driving at high speeds, but in terms of their utility as cars, they lose against ones made for families living in cities since their designs focus on the interior’s comfort and carrying capacity. A good example of that is a minivan. However, if a car is as spacious as a minivan is, or has even more room, the resulting shape will make it harder for it to go fast. For the comfort of the passengers, you need a room-like interior that’s almost like a box, but that makes the car’s wider surface bear the full brunt of the air in front, which means there’s a lot of drag, right? And so, to make a car fast, you have to give up interior comfort. The fastest cars are designed with an extreme focus on aerodynamics as their shape will let them quickly get past any air in front. Aerodynamic cars are low to the ground and difficult to get in and out of. You also have to get rid of the back seats and there isn’t a lot of space to put things, so they lose in terms of utility. Since the economy’s been in a slump recently, I hear there aren’t a lot of people who can afford to replace their cars or own more than one. They say that super practical box-type cars are popular now since they’re suited for caregiving and parents. If you ask me, though, sports cars are what it’s all about.”

I suddenly snapped back to my senses once I noticed the flabbergasted look on Runa’s face.

“Ah... S-Sorry!”

I did it again. Just because I’m into something doesn’t mean I can go into rapid-fire mode and give a lecture like that.

Maybe this time Runa’s fed up with me?! Judging by the look on her face...

While I was completely freaking out inside, Runa gave me a small smile and shook her head.

“It’s okay, don’t worry. But wow, Ryuto, you’re amazing...” Saying that, she averted her eyes from me and hung her head in front of her. “I guess maybe I was a sports car all along,” she quietly added, narrowing her eyes and looking off into the distance. “I kept an empty head and all I wanted was to rush past things. My childhood, I mean. To zoom through it and become an adult as soon as I could.” A self-deprecating smile then appeared on Runa’s face. “But while I copied adults and gathered all that experience with nothing to show for it, I guess I’m still just a child on the inside.”

It was heart-wrenching to realize that she must’ve been talking about her previous relationships.

“You can pick a subject and give it a whole lot of thought,” Runa continued. “Like that time with bubble tea—that was really amazing too.”

“Oh, uh...”

“Me? Whenever I had it, I only ever thought, ‘Bubble tea’s great!’ And that’s it.” A gentle smile appeared on her face. “I’m not good at thinking about things. Isn’t thinking like worrying? When I think about things on my own, I feel like my mood just drops more and more.”

“Then I’d say you don’t need to force yourself to think. I’m the kinda guy who’ll go thinking about things even if you tell him not to. There’s both good and bad sides to it.”

“But, like, even I have to start giving things some thought soon, no? About the future and stuff,” she replied, pouting. “These days, I’ve been thinking about the distant future all the time. Like how it would be nice to have three kids. And how it would probably be hard to raise twins, just like it was in my family. I’m kinda going past ‘thinking’ and right into ‘wild fantasy’ territory, I guess?”

“K...”

Kids?!

Before I knew it, my face grew hot and my heart was pounding.

It didn’t quite click for me since we still hadn’t even done the deed yet, but her words did shake me up since baby-making was on my mind every day.

But wait, if she’s bringing this up... Maybe that day isn’t so far off after all.

Thinking that way made my heart leap.

“I think how I wanna raise a boy like you, but if I have a girl, then of course I want her to be like me...” Runa continued happily.

“What, you’re saying a girl who took after me wouldn’t be cute?” I joked back.

“That’s not what I mean. I just can’t imagine how you’d look as a girl.” Though she smiled as she gave her reply, she suddenly lost her cheerfulness. “That’s not what I’m talking about...”

Internally I was flustered, wondering if I’d said something that got on her nerves, but Runa hung her head.

“I need to start thinking soon...about my own future...” she added, quietly and softly, before lifting her face. “I won’t be a child anymore once I’m out of high school.”

Runa gazed off into the distance—there, several small children were playing around in front of the cars.

“I guess maybe I was a sports car all along.”

“I kept an empty head and all I wanted was to rush past things. My childhood, I mean. To zoom through it and become an adult as soon as I could.”

To think Runa thought of herself that way...

But even if that was the truth... Even so, I...

“You know, sports cars don’t go fast to get to their destination quickly. They enjoy speeding in itself,” I said.

“Huh?” Runa gazed at me in surprise.

“When I watched you from a distance, you were always surrounded by friends, you had boyfriends... It looked like you were enjoying the springtime of your life to the fullest. I envied you.”

She’d been like the sun I could never reach, no matter how far I stretched to try. I’d thought that Runa was someone too dazzling for me.

As I spoke about the longing I’d once held for her, Runa stared at me, her lips trembling.

“Ryuto...” she uttered.

“I like sports cars. There’s something genuine and cool about a car born to speed.”

“Hey, wait a second.” Runa stopped me there. “I’m kinda getting confused. Are you complimenting me right now?”

I nodded. “Well, aren’t you a sports car?”

“Yeah...? So you’re telling me to, like, ‘don’t think, feel’?”

Her rough summary of what I’d said got a chuckle out of me.

“In human terms—maybe, yeah.”

I figured that thinking ahead and calculating your actions, or crafting elaborate plans before doing something in order to avoid failure... That just wasn’t Runa’s style.

What made Runa Runa was how she’d naturally extend a helping hand to someone in front of her who needed it. How, if something fun happened, she’d gather her friends and laugh together with them. These were simple things, but for some people, they were nonetheless difficult.

Since she had lived that way her whole life, her accumulating a lot of experience through her prior relationships must’ve been a result of that too.

That was why I figured I should accept Runa, together with all of that baggage.

Because I loved her.

Because that was what made Shirakawa Runa who she was.

This was the conclusion that I had come to.

***

After passing through Mega Web, we entered VenusFort without making any further stops along the way.

VenusFort was a large commercial building located near the Ferris wheel. Its three floors were full of clothing stores, general goods shops, restaurants, outlets, and the like. They also held events for geeks every now and then, so I was kinda familiar with this place too.

“Ah, it’s been a while!” said Runa, looking up and raising her hands toward the atrium’s ceiling once we’d passed through the main gate on the second floor. “I like this place. Though I haven’t come often recently since Odaiba is just a bit far.”

The second floor of VenusFort seemed to be designed with a European town as its motif. It felt like a theme park.

“Have you been here before?” asked Runa.

“Yeah. I came here a long time ago with my family. We went to the outlet stores, I think.”

“Uh-huh.”

As I considered asking Runa the same thing, I froze up all of a sudden.

I could ask something like “You said ‘it’s been a while’—when was the last time you were here?” How would she answer that?

I recalled what she’d said at the summer festival.

“It’s not my first time. It wasn’t at a festival around here, but walking like this in a yukata with a guy by my side? And watching fireworks together...”

Was the same thing true for this place? Had she...come here with her exes before?

What about the Ferris wheel? Surely she’s ridden it with several previous boyfriends. And then they kissed just like we did...

As these thoughts crossed my mind, I started to hate myself a little.

I’d thought I’d accepted Runa’s past and come to terms with it... I’d even reestablished that resolution again just a little bit earlier.

It seemed like I still needed some time to completely accept it—but only just a bit longer. I was sure that it wouldn’t be long before these things stopped making me lose my composure.

It was a big step forward for me to be able to think that way.

“Ryuto...? Something wrong?”

Runa’s voice brought me back to my senses.

“It’s nothing. You got any stores you want to go to?”

“Nah, I just wanna walk around! Simply wandering is fun!” She then looked up.

An illustration of a pleasant blue sky covered the atrium’s entire ceiling. It had fluffy white clouds that looked like sheep drifting across it. Coupled with the fact that the atrium’s design resembled a European town, it made me feel like I was walking along a street in a different country.

“I like how this place feels like you’ve gone abroad. Hey, you ever done that, Ryuto?”

“Well... Once, a long time ago, my family planned a trip to Guam...”

“Wow, that’s nice!”

“So we got to the airport, but it turned out Dad’s passport had expired, so we couldn’t go.”

“Whaaat?! Isn’t that real bad?!” she asked.

“It was hell. My parents made a huge scene and fought at the airport. My older sister burst into tears.”

I felt bashful telling Runa about my family, so I stretched the truth a bit when mentioning the parties involved.

“Oh, yeah... I feel bad for everyone there...” said Runa.

“In the end, we went to a pool in the city, and that was it for our summer break.”

It wasn’t a great punch line, but Runa still laughed.

“So you’ve never left Japan either, Ryuto.” She looked a little happy as she said that. “When I asked my dad about going overseas, he told me to save it for my honeymoon. Who’s he kidding? I know he just doesn’t want to spend money on it.”

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of a honeymoon.

Runa brought her face close to me. “I wanna go someday,” she said.

Her mellow voice was pleasant to my ears and made me feel awkward on the inside.

“Me too,” I replied, wishing so from the bottom of my heart.

“Hey, Ryuto, where d’you wanna go?”

“Well... I’ve never been abroad, so I’d be fine with anywhere,” I said. “Wh-What about you?”

“I wanna go to Europe! Like Italy or France maybe? Rome would be nice too!”

“Rome is in Italy.”

“You’re kidding. Okay, majority wins—it’s Italy, then!”

I didn’t quite understand her reasoning, but our honeymoon destination had been chosen.

Speaking of Italy...

“Isn’t VenusFort a recreation of an Italian town?” I asked.

“Huh? Really?”

“Maybe... I think there was a replica of the Mouth of Truth around here, so I figured it was.” I felt like my mother had told me about it when we’d come here as a family long ago.

“The Mouth of What...?”

“It’s this round sculpture with a face on it. It was in an old film called Roman Holiday.”

“Ah, I saw that in an ad recently! They have that here?!” asked Runa with sparkling eyes. “I wanna see it! Let’s go see that Mouth of Truth thing!”

And so, after checking the building’s directory, we headed to the replica of the Mouth of Truth.

It was located right next to the main gate. Nobody paid any attention to it, so we’d passed right by without noticing it either when we’d come in. It was kind of a shame since it resembled the real thing so much (not that I’d ever seen it in person).

“Wow, it’s just like on TV!”

“I hear if a liar puts his hand in the mouth, it’ll get bitten off,” I explained as Runa made a fuss over the sculpture.

She smiled. “I guess you’re safe, then.”

“Huh?”

“You’re ‘the last man’ and all.”

Runa must’ve been talking about that sentence we’d once come across while studying English grammar together.

He is the last man to tell a lie.

It was a little awkward that she thought that line described me, but it made me happy too.

“Y-You know, that kinda sounds like the title of a Hollywood movie. The Last Man.”

“Aha ha, Nicole said the same thing!”

I figured that, at this point, I might as well put my hand in.

“This is a story of a man who swore his eternal love for Shirakawa Runa to the Mouth of Truth...”

Runa started narrating as I stuck my hand inside, making me burst out laughing.

“I’m doing what now...?”

“Ehe he. It was a nice beginning, right?”

“Of The Last Man?”

“Exactly,” she replied. “I want DiCaprio to play the lead! I cried so much when I saw Titanic on TV the other day...”

“Yeah, there’s no way DiCaprio could play a high schooler at his age.”

“I guess I should’ve known... I don’t watch a lotta movies, so I’ll have to google young Hollywood actors!”

“No need to go that far.”

While our conversation was silly, my time together with Runa was really fun.

May we be together forever like this—I couldn’t help wishing for that every time we saw each other.

After leaving the Mouth of Truth behind, Runa and I walked around the building some more. We also took some photos at the fountain and went halfsies on a rainbow cake at a café set up in the open space. We were getting ready to return to the main gate.

“Man, that was fun! We’re all set for our trip to Italy, yeah?” asked Runa, walking beside me and holding my hand with a satisfied look on her face. “I do feel bad for your mom and sister...” she suddenly began. “But thanks to your dad’s mistake, we’ve got another thing we can do together. Another ‘first.’”

She must’ve been talking about traveling abroad.

“Y-Yeah, you’re right...” I replied.

Would we really go on a honeymoon? How many years would that be from now? I couldn’t picture it yet, but it was a bit embarrassing to think about. Nevertheless, it made me happy.

“Thanks for inviting me to airsoft too. It was fun!” she said. “And I got to see you do something cool.”

“You were cool there yourself. You won a shoot-out against Yamana-san.”

“Ehe he. I had no idea Nicole would be so good at it!”

“Yeah, none of us could put up a fight at all after she got herself a rifle.”

“Maybe I should get a rifle next time too!”

Runa’s words gave me pause.

“You want to play airsoft again?” I asked.

If she’d enjoyed it that much, it made me glad, since I was the one who’d invited her.

Runa nodded energetically. “Yeah! I wonder if everyone else would join us again.”

“I think Icchi and Nisshi would.”

“Akari was hooked too. I’m sure we’d get everyone from today! We’ll have to get more people next time and catch up to Nicole so we can play as a team that can win...”

Suddenly, Runa went silent. Looking at her face, she seemed overcome with emotion.

“Something wrong?” I asked, staring at her face in surprise.

Runa shook her head. “Not really. I just felt kinda happy.” Her eyes were red, and her voice trembled. “It’s been two months since we started dating... It’s almost three now, but we’re talking a lot about what’s to come, we’re experiencing ‘firsts’ together, and planning all sorts of things... Oh gosh, I’m so happy I might cry.” While she said all that, something glistening welled up in her eyes.

“Runa...”

She’s tearing up over things like that?

Still, when I thought about her previous relationships, I couldn’t tell her she was exaggerating.

“What should we do for our three-month anniversary? We’ll have school that day. Anything you wanna do?” I cheerfully asked.

“Mmm...” Runa’s reaction was lackluster.

She fussed over our anniversaries so much before, so what changed...? Could it be that she was hoping for a surprise, and here I am, asking her beforehand what to do? Is she angry?

I thought about all that and started to panic, but...

“It’s fine,” Runa said, sounding resolute. “I don’t care about anniversaries anymore.”

“Huh...?”

There was no anger on her face. In fact, she looked to be in high spirits.

“If you’re with me, then that’s all that matters.” Smiling at me bashfully, Runa nuzzled her face into my shoulder. “I’ve realized that being able to spend every day with you is what’s important to me. Every day is a special anniversary in itself.”

I felt myself getting emotional. “Runa...”

She looked up and grinned at me. “Anyway, I’ve outgrown anniversaries!” Her cheerful voice resounded across the atrium’s ceiling.

Runa’s gushing smile was dazzling.

Ah, I love her, I thought.

I love her.

I love Shirakawa Runa. I’m hopelessly in love with her.

She’s the most wonderful girl in the world, and I’ll never hurt her, no matter what. I want to make her happy from the bottom of her heart.

So that her smile may never falter.

“Oh, wait,” Runa suddenly said, like she had realized something. “Let’s celebrate our half-year anniversary when we get to that! And our full-year one too!”

“So much for growing up,” I quipped with a laugh, at which Runa giggled and stuck out her tongue like a little girl.

The artificial sky illuminating the building had at some point turned red like a sunset. While the real world was still only approaching the evening hours, the night appeared to come early at VenusFort.

Even as we walked down its main street while holding hands, it was almost as if the air were more melancholic now than before.

“Have you heard? Soon, VenusFort won’t be a thing anymore,” began Runa.

“What, really?” I asked in surprise, looking at her beside me.

Runa didn’t seem to be joking. She nodded with a serious look on her face. “Yeah. The Ferris wheel and Mega Web too. Everything in this area.”

“But why?”

“What was it...? ‘Redevelopment’ or something? I don’t really remember. I was so shocked when I found out...”

“Yeah, that’s shocking all right...”

The whole area still looked totally usable. Kinda feels like a waste...

“This place is so wonderful, so unreal, so amazing—I thought that of course it’d still be here in another ten or twenty years. But I guess I was wrong,” Runa said quietly in a somewhat sentimental tone. “I’m sure in a hundred years, even we’ll both be gone. That couple over there, and that family over there? They probably will too.”

Suddenly, it was almost like the people Runa was looking at kinda started to blur, their silhouettes becoming transient and ephemeral like mayflies.

“I’m sure everyone will be gone. Everyone and everything, someday,” Runa added. Judging by her tone, this was anything but an offhand comment. Instead, there was a fondness in her voice. “If that’s the case, what’s the point in me going through life worrying about things and suffering?”

She suddenly gazed at me, and I couldn’t come up with anything quickly enough to say in response.

Maybe if the girl by the name of Shirakawa Runa was just a sunny beauty and a bottomless well of cheerfulness with nothing else going for her... If that were the case, I might not have been attracted to her so much.

She was completely different from me, but when we were together, she always managed to move me deeply. She made me feel things I’d never felt before.

As I remained quiet, Runa averted her eyes and gazed ahead instead. “And so, I’m okay with being a sports car after all.” There was a dignified sparkle in her eyes that felt like the glittering of Runa’s life itself. “I’ll live in the moment. I’ll live for the sake of living. Just like I’ve done until now,” she said in a light, melodic voice before gazing at me. “Will you still love me despite all that?”

She’s such a gorgeous girl. And not just because of her face.

Everything about her is beautiful and precious.

I felt overwhelmed. “O-Of course!” I frantically replied. I was doing my best not to be left behind. “I’ll love you my whole life... You and only you.”

Embarrassing as it was to say, those words came from the heart.

Holding Runa’s hand with the same hand I’d used while making a vow to the Mouth of Truth, I tightened my grip, awkward as it might have been.