Chapter 1.5: A Long Phone Call Between Runa and Nicole
“Haah...”
“Hey, what’s with the sighing? You spam me with messages, I call you as soon as my shift is up, and now all you can do is sigh?”
“Man... Nicole...”
“What?!”
“I’ve just got so much on my mind.”
“Go on.”
“You know how I said I’ve been acting weird when I’m with Ryuto these days?”
“Oh? Remind me—weird how?”
“Like, my heart pounds like crazy, I can’t look him in the eye... I can’t even hold hands with him...”
“Yeah, you’re in love, all right. So?”
“Weren’t you like that too when your love for Sekiya-san was one-sided?! How were you able to hold hands with him so normally after that?!”
“Huh...?”
“Tell me, because I’m seriously in a pinch! I’m hurting Ryuto with the way things are now.”
“...”
“Please! You gotta help me, Nicole-sama!”
“Pfft!”
“Wh-What? Did you just laugh? I’m being super serious here!”
“Heh heh, it’s just, you’re talking like a middle schooler right now. Your level of experience and your romantic skills don’t match up.”
“Yeah, well...”
“Then again, it is your first time being in love. I get it.”
“Then...?”
“To be serious with you for a moment, it is awkward, at first. Why don’t you try putting up with it and touching him anyway? You’ll go from ‘nervous’ to ‘horny’ before you know it.”
“Huh?!”
“You’re gonna want to have sex. Just from holding hands.”
“Whaaat?! S-Seriously?!”
“Uh-huh. So do your best.”
“...I don’t think I can.”
“Why not?”
“Because then we’d probably end up having sex!”
“Huh? You don’t wanna?”
“No, it’s just... I’ve never told you, but...I’m probably a cold fish.”
“Huh? A cold...? Wait, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Yeah... Nowadays, I think that might be why my exes got bored and left me for other girls.”
“How’d you end up a cold fish with how much you’ve done it?”
“Well, I didn’t feel like having sex, so my boyfriends were more into it than I was.”
“I guess you wouldn’t be very interested in sex, yeah. You haven’t masturbated either, right?”
“Nope... But recently...”
“You have been?”
“Sometimes, I feel like doing it...when I think about Ryuto.”
“Well, won’t things work out, then? If you feel like having sex, it doesn’t have to be like it was before.”
“Ehh... But, like...”
“What?”
“Ryuto probably thinks I’m really good at it. He’s probably got high expectations since I’ve done it with so many guys. Even Ijichi-kun said that virgins want an experienced girl to take the lead, though Akari gave him hell for it.”
“Ah, yeah. She’s never done it herself.”
“Oh really? That’s what I thought, but...”
“Of course she hasn’t. I can tell when I see someone like myself. Her eyes keep wandering all over the place whenever Yuna talks about her boyfriend.”
“Huh, I see. I’ll keep an eye out for it next time.”
“So, what were we talking about again?”
“Anyway, it’d be Ryuto’s first time, so maybe he’d want me to take the lead... He’s totally gonna be disappointed in me if things keep heading in this direction!”
“Haah...”
“What do you think I should do, Nicole?!”
“With how much experience I have, are you really asking me?”
“But you know so many things! Is there anything at all you can tell me?!”
“...When I was in middle school, a friend said she practiced with a bottle of Oronamin C in her mouth.”
“Whaaat?! What does that mean?!”
“I told you I’m still on the outside! Don’t make me say any more!”
“Well, whatever, I get it! So you think that would help me stop being a cold fish?! I can be a hot fish?! Really?!”
“How would I know?! Don’t ask me!”
“C’mon, don’t be like that...”
“Anyway...do you really need to think so hard about it? Even cold fish is delicious, you know.”
“Only if we’re talking real fish! I don’t have that kind of confidence in myself!”
“Well, from what I heard from Nishina Ren...”
“Huh?”
“Apparently, Kashima Ryuto’s been a fan of this YouTuber guy since middle school. KEN, was it? He plays some games or whatever.”
“Ah, yeah. I think I’ve heard about that.”
“Isn’t that amazing? He’s held the same interest for two, even three years now. Were any of your exes like that?”
“Hmm... I think there were some who stayed in their clubs for a long time.”
“Clubs are different since there’s peer pressure. If someone holds a simple interest in something for years on end without anyone forcing them into it, I think it’s safe to say that person is patient.”
“Yeah, maybe...”
“So even if you’re a bit of a cold fish, I don’t think it’d make him lose interest in you.”
“I think so too, but, like, I don’t wanna disappoint him even a little bit...”
“He won’t be disappointed. Trust me.”
“Come to think of it, you’ve been into nails for a long time too. Since middle school, yeah?”
“Uh-huh. And you know how persistent I am in loving the same one guy all these years. Even though Nishina Ren keeps nagging me about it, being all like, ‘What’s so good about a guy you’ve barely seen at all since you started dating?’”
“I see... Heh heh.”
“Hm? What?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking you’ve been mentioning Nishina-kun a lot these days.”
“So what?”
“Nothing... Just thought you’re getting along well.”
“He’s a friend. I have senpai already. His exams are almost over.”
“It’s pretty rare for you to become friends with a guy, though, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, well, the overwhelming majority of my male friends were always after you until recently. They’d wanna be friends with me so they could get closer to you.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Really. It’s a relief they’ve stopped approaching me now. There was never a need for me to become friends with those guys in the first place, so they won’t be missed.”
“That sounds like you.”
“Ren...actually looks at me.”
“Eh? Wait, Nicole, do you call Nishina-kun by his given name?!”
“Huh? There’s nothing special about it, you know. Full names are long, you know? I called Shuya and Kaisei by their given names too. But since they were after you, I haven’t heard anything from them in a long time.”
“So I guess Nishina-kun is your only male friend now.”
“Aren’t things basically the same for you too? Those LINE groups we’re in with guys in them are all dead these days.”
“They all stopped calling or messaging me around the start of summer break, I guess. I’m okay with it since I have Ryuto, but it’s a bit sad to think that I was the only one who thought we were friends.”
“Yeah, well, that’s just how guys are. Why would they bother with a girl they can’t date or have sex with?”
“Hmm? But then what about Nishina-kun?”
“What do you mean?”
“He messages you because he’s interested in you, right? Is he really just a friend?”
“...”
“And now you’re going silent.”
“...Maybe I want to think of him as a friend. It’s unfair, I know.”
“Nicole...”
“Kashima Ryuto decided to quit being friends with your sister, yeah? That’s pretty amazing. I can’t do something like that, though. The way things are now, I can’t be that faithful to senpai.”
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Sorry, that was mean of me... It would be way too rough on you if you were left without any male friends now. Things are already hard enough.”
“...It won’t be long now. Senpai said he’ll have his exam results in the middle of March. I feel bad for Ren, but once senpai’s exams are over, I won’t have time for anyone besides my boyfriend.”
“Totally... I hope that time comes soon. Poor Nishina-kun, though.”
“Eh, he’ll be fine. He’s a good guy, so he’ll find someone new right away.”
“Yeah. Then we’ll all be happy, I guess!”
As she forced those words out in a cheerful way, Runa’s eyes wandered to her desk. When she spotted the English grammar textbook on top of a pile of textbooks, her expression slightly clouded over. She shook her head as if to chase unpleasant thoughts away.
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