Our Dating Story: The Experienced You and The Inexperienced Me - Volume 6 - Chapter 2.7

When I looked over, Runa’s eyes were pointed straight ahead. She had an earnest expression on her face too.

“I’m your ally,” I said to her.

No matter what she chose, no matter which path she took... And even if her decision would put distance between us. But while I felt that way, my sadness probably still showed on my face.

“Ryuto.” Runa gave me a worried look. “I already know what I want to do. But it’s probably a more difficult path than the one I’ve walked so far...so I just can’t make the final call.” Runa hung her head a little. Her lips trembled. “I won’t do anything to make you sad.” She lifted her face and looked at me. “So don’t worry, and watch me.”

“Runa...” Feeling emotional, I nodded while keeping my eyes on the road. “Okay. I’m rooting for you,” I said.

Inside, I felt conflicted. I wanted to end the conversation there and went silent for a moment, but then, I decided to say it anyway.

“But if I’m what’s shackling you down and keeping you from doing what you want to do...I want you to not mind me. Choose the life that you want.”

The two behind us were awfully quiet, so I checked the rearview mirror. They were both sleeping, leaning on their closest window. Maybe the drinks had something to do with it.

Feeling a little relieved, I said to Runa, quietly, “I’ll always love you... No matter what you’re like, or where you are.”

“Ryuto...” Her voice trembled.

Suddenly, I recalled what Nisshi had said to me earlier.

“All I can do is believe. Believe, and give. That’s it.”

Maybe that was it.

Wanting something inevitably brought dissatisfaction, because no matter how close you were to the other person, they were never going to be one hundred percent the way you wanted them to be. And so, if there were words you wanted to hear, you should say them to your loved one yourself. That was the only way, and Nisshi was amazing to have realized that.

Then again, until he’d become able to say those things, he must’ve desired Yamana-san’s love deep inside so badly. It pained me to think about it.

The two behind us didn’t seem to be waking up anytime soon, so I didn’t stop at the service area on the freeway. I headed straight back to Tokyo instead.

Runa didn’t talk much after that. When I stole glances at her face every now and then, it shone with the lights of the night city center.

Somehow...she looked like someone I didn’t know.

***

“What?! No way! I pretended to be asleep and actually conked out! That’s hilarious,” said Yamana-san when I pulled up by her place.

Runa had put her address into the GPS.

“Me too,” said Nisshi. There was an awkward smile on his face.

So they had shown consideration for us after all. I felt sorry about that.

“Today was fun. Thanks for driving.” With that, Yamana-san took her things and got out of the car. “Oh, right.” She felt around her purse and pulled out a bag. She gave it to Nisshi, who was still in the car. “Here. In return for Valentine’s Day.”

“What, really? Thanks!” replied Nisshi.

“Don’t tell me you weren’t expecting it.”

“Yeah, well...” Nisshi laughed embarrassedly.

“I made these myself this time. Senpai’s busy with exams, I’ve already landed a job, and I don’t have classes to go to, so I’ve been dying from boredom.”

“Seriously?! I’m really happy!”

“Just so you know, this only cost me a third as much as the chocolate I made for senpai on Valentine’s Day,” Yamana-san said bluntly.

Nonetheless, Nisshi had a bright smile on his face. “That’s okay. Still, I’m thrilled. I’ll eat it with gratitude.”

The look on Yamana-san’s face gave me pause.

Wait...

She seemed concerned, troubled, or sad. It didn’t really feel like the kind of face one would make at a guy who was just a friend. On the other hand, she was Sekiya-san’s girlfriend, and she supposedly only loved him...

All I could say was that, maybe, relationships between men and women could have forms other than those of simply “friends” or “lovers.” For example, there could also be “friends who treasure each other but can’t date,” or “people who wanted to date but couldn’t and became friends instead,” or “people who are only friends for now, but could date in the future.”

Maybe there was no need to fuss over friendships between members of the opposite sex. At the end of the day, they were still friends.

Considering that I’d had to stop being friends with Kurose-san in the past, I’d never thought there’d come a day when I’d think this way. Had I grown up a little? Or had I become a little sullied instead?

Either way, had I not ended up in a situation where I could talk to Kurose-san at work, and had she not pressed me to set her up with someone, I wouldn’t have been able to have a fun time with Nisshi today. Perhaps I would still have been exhausting myself physically and mentally at my cram school job, and upon coming home at the end of the day, I’d have been staring at the ceiling of my room and reminiscing about my high school days.

I wanted to thank Kurose-san. And I hoped that we could become friends all over again, without any other people in the picture.

Even if Yamana-san was Sekiya-san’s girlfriend, she and Nisshi still had their own bond as friends, which they’d built up over three and a half years. Nobody had a right to deny them that—not me, not Sekiya-san.

Then, we headed to Runa’s house. Once we arrived, she unfastened her seat belt.

“Here, Runa, I’ve got something for you too,” I said. I took a bag out from my backpack I’d had near my legs.

Her eyes sparkled. “Oh, thanks! Is it for White Day?”

“Yeah. It’s from Champs De Fleurs, though—I didn’t know you’ve been buying cakes there too these days. Sorry.”

“Nah, that’s perfectly fine! I love their stuff, so this makes me really happy!” Looking into the bag right away, Runa made a delighted face. “Ah, that’s the one that was sold out when I went there! I love it!”

Runa had a natural talent for making people cheerful. I doubted I would ever meet any other girl as wonderful as her again in my life.

And so, I would treasure her. Even if we couldn’t see each other very often anymore, I would only love her. That was the resolution in my mind as I watched her leave.

***

Finally, I dropped Nisshi and his car off at his place and had to go home by train all alone. This was yet another thing that made me a little resentful of alcohol, even though my twentieth birthday was right around the corner.