Chapter 5
Our school trip ended, spring break started, and I didn’t get to see Runa for a while. She wouldn’t tell me what was keeping her so busy no matter how many times I asked, so I figured it was probably her part-time job.
As for me, I had spring classes at my cram school and was mentally preparing to start studying for college entrance exams for real.
“Sekiya-san.”
I ran into him in the study room. It had been a while since I’d last seen him—okay, maybe “a while” was an exaggeration since I’d seen him at one point after our school trip—but considering we’d run into each other almost every day before his college entrance exams, it really had been a while.
We went to our usual ramen chain café for lunch.
“I’m planning on going to a different cram school,” he told me. “One that specializes in medicine. I’ve been going there for trial classes and enrolled yesterday.”
“I see...”
“That’s where my dad went too, so he gave his permission.” He spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, drinking water while waiting for his ramen. “Cram School K is fine, but I simply started going there without any specific reason when I was in high school and just kept going there. I didn’t even start taking their medical course until later on. There are a lot of people there who are still in high school, and the people who hang out in the lounge all the time are an eyesore, you know? I kinda want to concentrate more.”
I sighed. There were, indeed, some extroverts who only seemed to be here to constantly hang out in the lounge and talk to members of the opposite sex. It was no problem for me to just ignore them, but maybe for Sekiya-san, as someone who’d given in to the pleasures of life too much at one point, seeing people like that tested his motivation.
“I guess we won’t see each other much anymore, then,” I said, feeling sad about it.
“Don’t worry about that.” Sekiya-san shook his head. “I like the study room at Cram School K, so I’ll stay enrolled there too. I’ll be coming on Saturdays, so let’s keep having lunch together.”
At that point, our ramen came, and we started slurping down our noodles without a word.
It looks like spring sure has come. The season of change. Everyone’s changing.
Runa got a part-time job, I won’t get to see Sekiya-san as much, and the tension in my cram school classes is starting to rise... My environment is gradually shifting too.
“Have you seen Yamana-san since we got back?” I asked after having eaten most of my noodles.
“No, that’s out of the question now. If I did, there’d probably be no end to it.”
“To what...?”
“Having sex.”
I’d figured as much.
Sekiya-san put down his chopsticks and sighed. “She’s been constantly on my mind ever since then.”
“Was she that good?”
“She was real hot,” he said. “Like, damn. I want us to live together. Be with her forever.”
He appeared calm on the outside, but I sensed that he was suppressing his excitement. As a fellow guy, I could tell.
“You didn’t go all the way, though, right?”
Sekiya-san looked surprised. “She told you that much?”
“N-No, I just overheard when she was talking to Runa...”
Technically, she’d said it to a few people and not just Runa, but it seemed better for me to not go into too much detail here.
“Is it hard the first time?” I asked out of curiosity.
“Who knows...? It was my first time with a girl who’d never done it before.”
That was a bit surprising to me. He’d said he’d fooled around in high school—perhaps he’d literally only had casual relationships with girls who actively approached guys.
“You wouldn’t want to force things if your girlfriend’s in pain, right? Especially since mine is still a minor,” he added.
“You even care about that, huh.”
“Well, you know. Soliciting minors is a crime and all.”
“Soliciting...?”
“I’m technically an adult already, but she’s still seventeen. I want to play by the rules, and not just in terms of the law,” he said.
“You’re giving it proper thought, I guess...”
I could more or less imagine what he was getting at, but I made a mental note to look up “solicitation of minors” later.
“I really shouldn’t be seeing her...” Sekiya-san said with a distant look in his eyes. He must’ve had Yamana-san on his mind.
“Um, can I ask you something?” I felt bad about interrupting his thoughts, but there was something I really wanted to ask someone with experience. “Is it possible for a guy to tell when a girl wants to have sex?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, like, by the look on her face or how she acts... Are there any signs that show she wants it...?” I asked.
“What, so you’re close to your ‘graduation’ too?”
“W-Well, maybe...”
“It’s the same as normal communication, no? Conversations are like playing catch—you see how the other party reacts and change the trajectory of your throw accordingly. In this case, you kiss her, and if she has a horny look on her face, you try taking things further. If she doesn’t seem to be into it, you stop.”
“I see...”
I recalled the last night of the school trip. I’d thought Runa had had that “horny look” on her face, as Sekiya-san had put it...but she’d stopped me anyway.
Sekiya-san consoled me casually. “Well, don’t stress too much about it. You’re still young.”
I must’ve looked glum—I was, in fact, a bit overwhelmed by the uncertainty of it all. But at times like these... As always, asking other people about my problem wouldn’t truly solve the problem.
I had to ask Runa herself. I wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully again unless I heard the truth directly from her.
***
☆ Luna ☆: ♡♡♡ Happy Birthday! ♡♡♡ Congratulations, Ryuto! ♡♡♡♡♡
The moment the clock struck twelve and it became my birthday, I got a message from Runa. It was full of hearts, followed by stickers of Mabbit with maracas and one of him breaking open a confetti ball and dancing.
☆ Luna ☆: Looking forward to tomorrow’s date! ♡ Actually it’s not tomorrow, it’s already today!
She followed that up with a flustered-looking Mabbit and another one that looked excited.
The excitement she displayed when talking to me on LINE hadn’t changed since we’d started dating. It was heartwarming, and I turned my thoughts to the upcoming birthday date.
***
We’d agreed that our date would start just before noon.
“I ordered a birthday cake! From that Champs De Fleurs place near where you live! You just need to pick it up—could you do that before we meet up?”
That was what she’d told me on the phone, so I was currently on my way there, feeling excited.
I got to the shop with its fancy white exterior. The inside was filled with the sweet smell of baked goods. Today wasn’t a holiday or a weekend, but there was a line anyway—this place was popular.
“I’m picking up an order. F-For Shirakawa.” I said, following Runa’s instructions.
“Oh,” replied the clerk. “Just a moment, please.”
With that, she hurried deeper into the shop.
It took me a moment to realize the clerk was the same lady we’d run into at that shopping mall food court on our White Day date. I didn’t remember faces that well and she gave off a different aura since she was wearing a uniform, so I hadn’t managed to recognize her immediately.
After a while, the cake was brought out. What surprised me, though, was that the one who held it...was Runa.
She wore the same uniform as the other employees, which was a feminine white blouse and a tight skirt that extended down to her ankles... Her dark-brown apron was the same color as her skirt and only covered her hips and upper thighs. It was a rather chic getup. I couldn’t tell if you would call the hat she was wearing a beret or a hunting cap, but it was the kind of stylish hat that café employees would wear.
Runa showed off the cake in her hands. “Is this what you ordered?” she asked.
She was holding a whole cake decorated with fresh cream, strawberries, and blueberries. There was a plate on top of it that read “Happy birthday, Ryuto ♡.”
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