Our Dating Story: The Experienced You and The Inexperienced Me - Volume 6 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A certain shocking piece of news came in.

Sekiya Shugo: I passed the exam for one medical school. It’s in Hokkaido.

“Hokkaido...?!”

***

“Waaaaah!” Yamana-san wailed from the other end of the line.

I was on the phone with Runa.

“Thanks for taking tomorrow off, Ryuto,” she said. There was anxiety in her voice.

“Don’t worry about it. I only had one student tomorrow, so we’ll just move that session to another day of the week.”

It was already late at night. Since Yamana-san was with Runa in her room, she was probably going to stay over.

“Is it really okay, though?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it be better for them to have a date on their own before he leaves?”

“It’s okay, yeah... You can hear what Nicole’s like now. She said she wants me to be with her...”

Runa had just told me we were going on a double date tomorrow. Apparently, they wanted us to make memories as four before Sekiya-san left for Hokkaido.

The news had been too sudden for late March. And maybe it was actually good news overall, but to Yamana-san...

“I keep telling you, it’s not like I fell in love with senpai because he’s going to be a doctor.”

“I see... So this is his last exam season, finally...”

I was sure that it didn’t matter to her if he went to a medical school or not. What must’ve been important to her was that he got through his exams so the two of them would get to spend more time together than they did now.

And yet...Hokkaido?

Even if we talked about me...

“...the area manager is asking me to become a store manager in Fukuoka.”

I couldn’t stop thinking about what course of action Runa would take. Maybe Yamana-san’s current state was a reflection of how I felt myself. The very thought made me unsettled.

***

The next day, the four of us went to one of the largest theme parks in Japan—Tokyo Magical Resort. This time we entered MagicalSea—the sea-themed park that’d been built next to Magicland.

“Man, it’s been a while!” exclaimed Runa. She broke into a half sprint and spread her arms upon passing the gate.

“When was the last time we were here? I remember we came wearing our uniforms when we graduated,” said Yamana-san.

“Yeah! With Akari and Maria, the four of us! That was the last time for me.”

“Same here.” Yamana-san clung tightly to Sekiya-san’s arm.

I’d just seen her the other day and Nisshi had been with us then too, so I was strangely restless—thinking of Nisshi made me feel guilty, like I was complicit in adultery here. It wasn’t like Yamana-san was doing anything wrong since Sekiya-san was her real boyfriend. Maybe it was just the fact that she and Nisshi were close enough that they looked a bit like a couple.

Tokyo Magical Resort was a world-class theme park with a cat mascot. The first thing we did once we arrived was buy headbands with cat ears on them for each of us and put them on.

“Wow, Runa, you look super cute!” exclaimed Yamana-san.

“Yours totally suits you too!” replied Runa.

“All right, let’s take some selfies for Instagram.”

“Yeah! This kind of headband is so adorable!”

The girls were being loud and excited. Their headbands had ribbons on their ears, making them look girly. Since I was an introvert without the kind of looks Sekiya-san had, this was my first time wearing something like this on my head. I was losing my nerve.

Then again...

“Heh heh, it suits you too, Ryuto,” Runa said happily when she looked at me.

It was really cute, and if this was enough to make her happy, then I was glad I’d come along.

“Congratulations on getting into medical school,” I said to Sekiya-san while the girls were busy taking pictures with the globe.

Yamana-san had been stuck to him like glue since the moment we’d met up, so this was my first opportunity to talk to him.

“Thanks.”

“But...Hokkaido? That sure surprised me.”

“Me too. They only take a small number of students, and I didn’t expect to pass an exam held later on in the year.”

Sekiya-san was calm—his ronin life of many years had finally paid off. He’d been a show-off from the start, so maybe he was just suppressing his urge to get carried away...or maybe there was something that made him feel conflicted.

“So you’re really going,” I said.

“I am, since I got in. I’ve always wanted to be a doctor.”

“Right...”

This was making me feel sentimental, especially considering the thing with Runa, but Sekiya-san gave me a cheerful look.

“I’ll come here on long breaks, so let’s meet up again sometime,” he said. “It won’t be any different from now, will it?”

“I guess not...”

That was indeed the case for me since we’d only see each other once every few months. But for Yamana-san... For someone who wanted to see him every day, was that not a distance that would feel like they were billions of light-years apart?

“Senpaaai! ♡”

At that point, Yamana-san came back and clung to Sekiya-san’s arm again. They looked as excessively sweet together as always, but today, it somehow pained me to look at them.

Sekiya-san was leaving Tokyo in two days. Apparently, it was too much of a rush to set up movers, so for now, he was going to Hokkaido and would stay in a budget hotel or something until he picked a place to live. At that point, he’d ask his parents to send his stuff over little by little.

“Ryuto.” Runa had come to my side at some point and now held her hand out toward me. She looked cute, smiling with those rosy cheeks and a pair of cat ears on her head.

I unintentionally let out an awkward chuckle. Being such an introvert, I could never get used to being this intimate with my girlfriend in front of people I knew.

Nonetheless, I resolved myself and took her hand in mine.

“Yay! ♡” Runa coyly drew closer to me.

As we passed the entrance with its colorful facade, her perfume tickled my nostrils. It wasn’t the fruity-or-floral scent she’d had back in the day—at some point, it had changed into one that was more intricate and adultlike.

We first headed to an attraction in the center of the theme park. It was a popular roller coaster that took you through a volcano at a high speed. Apparently, it had been there since the park had first opened.

Since the park had just started letting visitors in for the day, there weren’t many people here yet. Our turn to ride it came after we had waited in a line for about twenty minutes.

“This goes pretty fast. I’m a bit scared since I haven’t ridden this in a while...” Runa said after she sat down in one of the roller coaster’s cars.

“What, really?” Seeing the traces of fear in Runa’s expression, I started to feel nervous too.

“Is it your first time on this ride? Didn’t you say you’ve been to MagicalSea before?”

“Well... Even if I’ve been on this roller coaster before, I must’ve been in primary school at the time...”

Being a total introvert, I’d never had the kind of friends who’d want to go to MagicalSea as a group of guys. My only memories of this place had been from when I’d come here as a child with my parents.

“You’re not good with thrill rides?” Runa asked.

“I’ll probably be fine... Probably...”

I’d gone to Hanayashiki with some introverted friends in middle school. You could argue that the roller coaster at that amusement park didn’t count as a thrill ride, but either way, I didn’t think I had a problem with them.

“I can’t be sure because it’s been a while...” I added.

“So are you a little scared?”

“Nah, like I said, I’m fine... Probably.”

As we spoke, at some point, the roller coaster started moving. The first stretch was a mystical area that was like a deep mine with shiny, colorful LEDs. We were passing through it at a medium speed.

“Heh heh, okay, I’ll hold your hand, then. ♡” Runa smiled and placed her hand over mine, which I had on the car’s restraints.

Yamana-san and Sekiya-san sat in front of us, so I wasn’t worried that someone might be looking.

I lowered my hand from the restraint and placed it in my lap, returning Runa’s grip. I could feel her eyes on me, but it was too embarrassing to look at her.

Immediately afterward...

“Aaaaahhh!” Yamana-san shouted from in front as the coaster rapidly picked up speed.

Runa squealed—she seemed to be having fun.

The coaster rapidly ascended, taking us outside in an instant. Once we were at the ride’s peak, I could see exotic scenery below—it was like I was in a different country. But there was no time to be fascinated by it.

“Aaaaahhh!!!”

The ride descended at a steep angle.

Runa gripped my hand tight, and I did the same in return. Even if we were to fall all the way to the other side of the earth, I wouldn’t let go of her hand—I wouldn’t let go of Runa.

Of course, our descent ended in an instant, and we all got off the ride with smiles on our faces.

“That freaked me out! I didn’t think it would go down like that,” said Yamana-san.

“You really shouted a lot,” replied Runa.

“It’s less scary that way, you know?”

“Sure is!” After their cheerful exchange, Runa came up beside me and took my hand. “Since I was holding hands with you, I couldn’t tell what exactly made my heart beat so fast,” she said in a voice so quiet that only I could hear her. Then, she looked up at me and smiled.

“I still make your heart beat fast?” I asked, quietly as well.

Runa averted her eyes from me and had a slightly awkward smile on her face. “Well, I still don’t know everything about you.”

Knowing what she was talking about, I blushed a bit too.

***

“Oh hey, it’s Magickey!” Runa suddenly exclaimed in a high-pitched voice as we walked around the theme park.

Looking over, I saw someone in the open space ahead of us wearing a costume of Magickey—the mascot of Magical Resort. There were staff members around the mascot as well as a crowd asking to take pictures with them.

“I wanna take pictures too!” Runa said.

“We sure got lucky!” added Yamana-san.

They both joined the crowd. After waiting for the people ahead of them to have their turns, the two girls energetically approached Magickey.

“It’s so cute!”

“I want a hug! ♡”

“Me too! ♡”

Magickey was supposed to be male, so seeing Runa cling to the mascot so much didn’t quite sit right with me. But when I noticed that I was being small-minded, I hurried to distract myself.

I looked beside me and saw Sekiya-san checking his phone with a calm look on his face.

“Thanks! ♡”

“Bye! ♡”

The smiles never left the two girls’ faces as they finished their business with Magickey. When they were done, they came back to us.

“Sorry for the wait!” exclaimed Runa.

Sekiya-san apathetically raised his face from his phone, and seeing that, Yamana-san gave him a teasing smile.

“Senpai, don’t tell me you felt jealous of Magickey,” she said.

He was indifferent, though. “Not really. That’s a woman in there. You can tell from the height.”

R-Really?! Now that he mentions it, the person in the costume did seem kind of small.

Sekiya-san was far ahead of me.

“Hey, you can’t say that in the land of dreams! There’s nobody ‘in there,’ okay?!” exclaimed Yamana-san.

“Exactly! It was Magickey himself!”

When even Runa was lashing out at him, Sekiya-san flinched all of a sudden.

“R-Right... Sorry,” he said.

And I learned that having a keen eye doesn’t mean you should say things without thinking.

When the sun rose high in the sky, we all got a little hungry and bought some things to snack on at a food cart.

“These spring roll hot dogs are great! ♡”

“Let’s have some of those ‘beach ball buns’ they’ve got over there too!”

Runa and Yamana-san were excited all the while.

“Here, Ryuto. Say ‘ah.’”

“Have some of these too, senpai. ♡”

I didn’t know how many times we’d had these kinds of exchanges, but I knew I’d never get used to double dates—they were way too awkward for me.

While we spent a happy time together, the theme park was gradually becoming crowded. I could tell both from my senses and through the increasing waiting times for attractions.

“Wow... It says it’s a 160-minute wait,” Runa said after seeing the number displayed in front of the line for the attraction we’d come to. It rendered her speechless.

“That’s spring break for you, I guess!” Yamana-san was nearly at a loss for words too.

“So, what do we do now?”

“I wanna go on this ride, though.”

“Yeah, no way we’re skipping this one!”

“Guess this is where we should’ve come first once the theme park opened.”

It was a theater ride where you flew around the world on something similar to a hang glider. It was a fairly recent addition to the theme park and apparently had been constantly popular since it’d opened up several years ago.

“Oh well. There’s lines for every attraction anyway...”

We used the app to check the waiting times for other attractions, and a lot of them showed as being over an hour. So, we gave up and lined up here.

“Man, we should’ve gotten popcorn before getting in line,” said Yamana-san after seeing a family in front of us—a child was stuffing their cheeks with popcorn.

Runa and Yamana-san had both brought along the souvenir popcorn buckets they’d previously bought at this theme park.

“I-I’ll go buy some! What flavor do you want, Nicole?” asked Runa.

“Hey, I’ll go with you,” Yamana-san replied.

“It’s fine. Don’t you want to be with Sekiya-san as much as you can?”

Yamana-san blushed. “Oh... Thanks. Chocolate, then.”

“Gotcha. Be right back!”

As Runa left the line with two popcorn buckets, I realized that I probably should’ve gone with her. I wasn’t all that tactful to begin with, so I’d ended up spacing out.

Now that we had even fewer things to occupy ourselves with, Sekiya-san unlocked his phone. “Wanna watch some videos?” he asked.

“Sure! Are you good on data, though?” said Yamana-san.

“It’s whatever. Even if they charge me for using too much, my dad’s paying for it.”

Sekiya-san opened up TikTok and started watching what was currently trending.

I kept some distance from them while more or less being able to see the phone screen. And after a while...

A LINE chat notification appeared at the top of Sekiya-san’s phone screen.

“Hey, who’s this ‘Marina’ person?” Yamana-san asked. The look on her face changed when she saw that.

“A friend from high school,” Sekiya-san replied calmly.

Yamana-san’s expression began to look suspicious. “It’s a girl, isn’t it?”

Getting a bad feeling about this, I took half a step away from them.

“We’re in a group chat. There’re dozens of people there, so there’s always someone talking.”

Sekiya-san had given her a casual reply, but Yamana-san looked completely serious.

“Why haven’t you turned off the notifications?” she asked.

“Well, what if someone starts talking about me? When I’m studying, I set it to Do Not Disturb so it doesn’t bother me.”

“Then do it now too.”

“It’s okay to get notifications now, though, since we’re just waiting, right?”

“We’re not ‘just waiting’—we’re on a date, no?”

They’d both stood their ground for a while, but eventually, Sekiya-san finally gave in.

“Okay,” he said, setting his phone to Do Not Disturb.

But Yamana-san didn’t seem satisfied quite yet.

“I’ve seen that name before,” she said, bringing the topic up again right away. “You got messages from her plenty of times when we were together.”

They had moved way past TikTok now.

“Like I said, it’s a group chat. She was talking to her other friends,” Sekiya-san said. He looked fed up with the topic.

“You told me not to message you because you’ve been busy with studying, so why is it okay if you see people say things in a group chat?”

“Because if it’s from you, then I feel the need to write a reply. With a group chat, I can just watch people talk and not say anything myself.”

“If you don’t have to say anything to them, why not just turn off notifications in the first place?”

“Like I said...” Sekiya-san looked tired of the argument.

At that point...

“I got popcorn! There was a huge line over there!” Runa had returned with two buckets of popcorn. “I had to think about which one to get, but you gotta go with the caramel flavor first, right? Here, say ‘ah.’”

“Ah...” Yamana-san’s best friend was holding popcorn up to her mouth so she had to open it, but she still didn’t look happy. As she chewed, though, a smile finally returned to her face. “Yeah. You’re right about that,” she said.

“Ryuto, want some? And you too, Sekiya-san!” Runa presented her open bucket to us.

“Oh, thanks,” I said.

“Thanks...” added Sekiya-san.

The caramel-flavored popcorn felt somehow nostalgic and relievingly sweet.

“You want some of this too?” Yamana-san asked Sekiya-san. She opened the bucket she’d gotten back from Runa and offered him some popcorn.

“Sure...” he replied a bit awkwardly and then brought some popcorn to his mouth.

***

By the time we had gone on the ride we’d lined up for, it was already evening. And while it had been fun, I honestly wasn’t sure it had been worth the 160-minute wait. Maybe it was because I wasn’t all that familiar with the world of dreams and magic.

We went to get dinner at a nearby restaurant in an area that resembled an Italian port city. The main things on the menu seemed to be pizzas and spaghetti. There was a second-floor loft with some tables overlooking the first floor, and that was where we sat.

The sun had already set, and while these coastal buildings would normally slowly fade into the twilight, they instead started to shine dazzlingly due to the countless lights they’d been decorated with. Their outlines stood out in the dark.

“Well, I’m full!” Runa exclaimed, satisfaction in her voice. We’d shared some pizza and pasta and had just finished eating most of it. “I gotta go to the restroom.” She got up with a light motion and took her bag.

“Okay.” As Yamana-san watched her leave, something on a table in the back caught her eye. “Hey, that’s really cute. Is that a drink?”

I looked closely and saw a cup on that table that had a colorful illustration of Magickey on it. It was probably either a drink or a dessert.

“Want me to get one of those for you?” Sekiya-san asked her, getting up.

“Is that okay?” replied Yamana-san.

“Sure.” He then looked at me. “I’ll get one for your girlfriend too.” With that, he went down to the first floor.

“Oh, ah, sorr—” I began.

“Yay! Me and Runa’ll match!” Yamana-san exclaimed cheerfully, but then, she looked downcast all of a sudden. “I wonder if he just wanted to put me back in a good mood...”

Guess she’s talking about Sekiya-san.

Sure enough, the air between them had been a little strained since earlier when we’d been waiting in line for that ride.

“I’m just worried,” Yamana-san said quietly after Sekiya-san had fully disappeared from view. “Because, unlike me, he’s been with other girls. I can’t help thinking that one of his old classmates from high school might be an ex.”

Maybe I should’ve assumed she was talking to herself and paid no attention. But I felt the need to say something to her, so I searched for the right words. After all, she was feeling the very way that I myself used to feel in the past.

“I was like that too.”

Yamana-san looked surprised—she didn’t seem to have expected a reply from me.

“When I only just started dating Runa...I sometimes felt such worries toward her too,” I said.

I still vividly remembered the beginning of summer when I’d been a high school sophomore. It’d been the most bittersweet time of my life.

“I wasn’t confident that I could be equals with her since I’d never been with anyone before... I saw her as being ahead of me because she had experience with other guys. But preconceptions like that get in the way of properly seeing the person in front of you.”

Yamana-san looked on with interest, resting her chin on her hand.

I continued speaking. “The past is in the past... Thinking about what your partner’s been through and treating it as if it’s still happening doesn’t benefit you or them in any way. I want to be with Runa, not her exes, so that’s the conclusion I reached after thinking a lot on the subject,” I said, finishing my speech while thinking through it.

Yamana-san watched me without a word for a while, but eventually, she spoke up. “You know, I’ve always thought you were weird ever since I first talked to you.” Lifting her head from her hand, she smiled a little. “But now, I realize that you’re not weird—you’re wise. Boundlessly so.”

“Huh...?” I was confused—I didn’t expect to get complimented here.

Yamana-san seemed to find me funny. “I was bad at studying, but I’m still confident I’ve got an eye for people.” She lowered her gaze and smiled softly. “I think I know why Runa chose you, and why senpai became friends with you too. I’m jealous.” The usual confident expression on her face had now been replaced with a meek one. “If I wasn’t a girl, I’m sure I would’ve never grown close to senpai.”

“What do you mean?”

Yamana-san smiled at me. “We live in different worlds. At some point, that became true for you and me too.”

Unable to find the right words, I felt like I missed the moment where I could say something.

“Fools don’t act like fools because they like to,” she continued. “There’s just no other way. You can’t escape it. Because you don’t know what you’re supposed to do. That’s why they continue to be fools.” She spoke while keeping her eyes down, and despite what she was saying, the expression on her face was peaceful. “Runa is a fool too, but you’re nice, so I’m sure you say things in a way she can understand. Like you did for me just now.” Making eye contact with me for a bit, she smiled.

When had she learned to smile like that? Or maybe... Maybe nothing had changed about her, and instead, it was our relationship that had changed. Perhaps it was different than the first time we’d talked. Did she now see me not just as her best friend’s boyfriend, but as her own friend?

“If senpai was nice like that too...I’m sure things would’ve been better for me...” Her straight hair fluttered in the night breeze that came off the sea. “But I love him, so what can I do...?”

There was warmth in the wind hitting my cheeks, which signaled the coming of spring. But maybe that warmth wasn’t reaching the heart of the girl in front of me.

“I guess I have to learn to put up with this sadness...if I want to go on loving him...” said Yamana-san, as if to convince herself.

As the evening’s bright coastal scenery reflected in her eyes, her face looked much more mature than it had in high school.

***

When we left the restaurant, it looked as though the sea were surrounded by jewels tonight.

“Wow!” Runa’s eyes sparkled and she took out her phone.

“Hey, it should look awesome from here! C’mere, Runa!” Yamana-san said, calling her over.

The girls started taking selfies with the nighttime scenery in the background. As I watched from some distance away, Sekiya-san came up to me.

“Sorry about today,” he said. “Things got messy and all...”

“It’s okay...” I knew he was talking about when we’d waited in line for that ride, so I wanted to say something supportive. “I’m sure Yamana-san is worried too.”

“Yeah. She probably can’t have faith in me... We haven’t spent enough time together for that, after all.” Sekiya-san looked away a little. “I really love her, though. I wanna marry her.”

I couldn’t see his expression, but his voice was gentle.

“Have you told her that?” I asked.

He turned to me and let out a self-deprecating chuckle. “Of course not. I’m a ronin who leeches off his parents.”

“That won’t be the case anymore, though, will it?”

“Only starting in April,” he replied with a stiff voice before turning to the side. “When it was hard, I often imagined how things could be. We’d get married, have children, I’d be a doctor... I’d come home and she’d be there, taking care of our kids, making dinner, and waiting for me... The mental image made my fatigue disappear...” Sekiya-san laughed in a self-mocking way as if to hide his awkwardness. “Imagining a future like that is how I’ve managed to do my best for the past three and a half years. I wanted to make it happen.” His eyes were fixed on Yamana-san—she was having fun with Runa and the seaside railing was behind their backs.

“Have you said it to—”

“Like I said, there’s no way I could,” Sekiya-san said, interrupting me with a smile. “That would be way too cringe. It’s not my style.”

“But if you don’t say it, she’ll never know.”

“Maybe...” Laughing at himself a little, he slumped his shoulders. His eyes fell to the ground below him. “She came to my place on Valentine’s Day. It’s always like that—when I miss her, she shows up of her own accord. I’ve been dependent on that... I don’t know what to do now.”

Ah. So he couldn’t say it.

“Have you been able to say it?”

His words had given me a push on the back that time, but as for Sekiya-san himself...

“I wonder what’ll happen to us when we’re so far apart that we can’t just see each other whenever. She’s not that strong either, mentally.”

“You could go see her like you did when we were on that school trip, if push comes to shove,” I suggested.

“Med students are different from ronins. I won’t be able to just drop my classes and assignments and go,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. His lips turned up into a smile as his eyes remained pointed at the ground. “The next six years are gonna be rough... And I might become an intern there too.”

“No way...”

I’d heard that, unlike students at colleges with four-year programs, medical students apparently had to study for six years. Then, they had to pass a national exam and do a two-year internship before they could get a job in the field.

“So that’s eight years in all...” I said.

Eight years ago, I’d been finishing up primary school. Back then, I couldn’t have imagined what I’d be like eight years into the future.

Did Sekiya-san and Yamana-san have to spend such a long time away from each other—so long that it’d make the future impossible to predict? And just when they’d thought they could finally be together too...

“Sorry for the wait!” exclaimed Runa. She and Yamana-san had just come back after finishing taking pictures.

“We had to take a ton because the camera shakes so much! My phone gallery is packed with pics now!” added Yamana-san.

“Here, let me choose some... How about this one?” said Sekiya-san.

“What?! But it’s super blurry!”

“It makes you look more beautiful, though.”

“Why you gotta be like that, senpai?!”

When these two were together, Yamana-san looked completely different from when she was with Nisshi. But she and Sekiya-san must’ve always been like this, ever since when she’d been the manager of their ping-pong club in middle school.

“Hey, the show’s starting! Let’s go over there!” Runa then pulled me there by the arm.

The open space next to the shore was already full of people.

Runa was amazed. “Wow!”

Countless decorative lights went dark at once, leaving only the ones illuminating the show that was starting by the sea. A tune that felt like an amalgamation of dreams and magic started playing at a very high volume. For the next thirty minutes, we watched as Magickey rode a boat while his friends came aboard one after another.

Not long after it wrapped up, the last few fireworks shot up above the theme park.

“They’re so pretty!” said Runa, her face illuminated by the explosions.

Seeing this, I recalled one of the summers in my high school years.

“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...”

Runa and I had seen fireworks countless times together since then. Every time I’d seen them reflected in her large eyes, I’d thought about how much I loved her. I no longer cared that I wasn’t the first guy she’d seen fireworks with.

However, I hated the idea of us not being able to watch fireworks together anymore. I wanted us to always be together like this, at least in our hearts.

“Hm?” Runa looked confused as to why I’d been only looking at her face instead of above.

“It’s nothing.” I meant to smile in a calming way but didn’t manage to. My mouth contorted instead.

As Runa gazed at me, there seemed to be something on her mind.

I loved her and didn’t want her to go anywhere. So...

“Huh...?” she let out when I suddenly put my hand on her shoulder and pulled her toward me.

Sekiya-san and Yamana-san were in front of us, but even so, there were plenty of strangers nearby. Had I been the same as I’d been back in the day, I surely wouldn’t have been able to do something like this with so many people around.

“I guess I have to learn to put up with this sadness...if I want to go on loving him...”

“I wonder what’ll happen to us when we’re so far apart that we can’t just see each other whenever.”

It seemed that I’d grown a little worried myself after having watched Yamana-san and Sekiya-san today.

“Ryuto...?”

Feeling Runa’s eyes on me, I looked up at the fireworks and wrapped an arm around her shoulders without a word.

***

“They were super pretty!” exclaimed Runa.

“It was crazy!” added Yamana-san.

The two of them sounded thrilled as we headed to the entrance amid the crowd after the fireworks were over.

“MagicalSea and Magicland are cool and all, but how about we go to Universal next time?” Yamana-san suggested.

Runa’s eyes sparkled. “Sounds great! On summer break, then?”

“It’s in Osaka, so I’m not sure we can go and come back on the same day...”

“Yeah. Let’s get rooms next to each other and go between them until we go to bed.”

“You mean like a room for guys and a room for girls?”

“It’s not a school trip, you know.” Yamana-san laughed. “Obviously, I mean a room for each couple.”

Runa blushed. “R-Right... Of course.”

I started fidgeting too after hearing all that.

Yamana-san and Sekiya-san had apparently booked a room in a nearby hotel tonight. Sekiya-san was leaving in two days, so they were probably going to be together until then.

“What’re you guys gonna do after this?” he asked when we were close to the entrance.

I stopped. “Oh, I just recalled something I need to do.”

Runa stopped beside me too, surprised. “Huh? What is it, Ryuto?”

“You guys go on without us. Let’s split up here for today.”

“Huh? What’re you up to?” Yamana-san asked.

While she was pressing me for answers with a puzzled look on her face, Sekiya-san seemed to have picked up on something.

“Let’s go,” he said, taking her by the arm. “See ya guys. Thanks for today.”

“Yeah, see you in two days.”

Because in two days, I’d be seeing him off.

“Bye-bye, Nicole!” exclaimed Runa.

“Laters!” replied Yamana-san.

We waved goodbye as they left.

“So, what is it that you wanted to do?” asked Runa.

“Right, uh, well...”

My eyes wandered. It wasn’t like I had a plan, but I wanted to do something. I had to let Runa know how I felt right now. With impatience being my driving force, I spun around so my back was to her.

“Wait here a minute! I’ll be right back!”

“Huh?!” came Runa’s confused voice behind me as I took out my phone.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” I said as I returned. I was totally out of breath.

Runa smiled at me. She was standing right where I’d left her, holding a drink in a paper cup. “Welcome back! Hey, I bought a bubble tea. You want a—”

“Here!” I said, holding out what I’d been hiding behind me.

“Huh...? A glass shoe?” Runa had an amazed look on her face. “You bought this?”

“Yeah. I wanted to give it to you.”

I took the bubble tea from her hand and gave her the glass shoe instead.

“Thanks...” she said. “It’s pretty, but...why?”

She had all the right to ask that.

“But if you don’t say it, she’ll never know.”

What I’d said to Sekiya-san earlier came back to hit me like a boomerang.

“Um, the glass shoe is the clue the prince had when he went looking for the girl he wanted to marry...” I began.

“Yeah?”

“He wanted to marry the girl it belonged to, so...”

Even I didn’t know what I was saying now, so I resolved myself to get to the point.

“When I graduate... Let’s g-get married.”

I didn’t have it in me to look at Runa’s face, so I couldn’t raise my eyes any higher than her skirt.

“Ryuto...”

When I heard Runa’s amazed voice, I finally looked up.

While she was surprised, there was a joyful look on her face too. Relieved by it, I gazed at her.

“So, um, if you’ll be in Fukuoka, I’ll look for a job there...” I said haltingly. My impatience was making it difficult for me to speak coherently. “So, it’s okay! I’ll be starting my third year of school in April, so there’s just two years left!”

Runa kept silent as I continued to talk.

“I’ll come see you during summer breaks, and also during winter ones, and for spring ones too... I’ll save up money to visit and even come every week if I’m able...”

Runa smiled at me softly. She looked overcome with emotion as if her feelings were spilling out.

“Ryuto... Thank you,” she said quietly, then hung her head a bit. “Okay. I’ve made up my mind. I’ll give the area manager my reply tomorrow.” Then, she raised her face and looked at me. “I’ll let you know once everything’s set in stone. But don’t worry.”

“Okay...”

It bothered me that I didn’t know what exactly she was going to say to her area manager. But she was probably going to tell me afterward.

“Man, though, you surprised me. I never thought I’d hear such a thing today.” Runa smiled cheerfully.

Her smile made me go back to being my usual self.

“S-Sorry,” I stammered. “When I looked up how you can surprise your loved one at MagicalSea, all the results were about proposals... And I did think it would be rushing things too much, but hey...” Seeing the glass shoe in Runa’s hand, I felt sweat start to trickle down my back as a bit of embarrassment set in. “But...it’s...how I really feel.” And that was the one thing I wanted to tell her again, properly.

“Of course... It makes me happy.” Runa beamed as she gazed at the glittering object in her hand. “To tell you the truth, I was a bit curious when you’d say it.”

“Huh?”

As I looked at her blankly, Runa gave me a teasing smile. “You told Maria you’d marry me after graduating, didn’t you?”

“Ah, that’s...!”

Damn it, Kurose-san...!

Then again, it was also my fault for not having asked her to keep quiet about it.

“I-I’ve...been thinking about it since high school,” I admitted. I’d been getting cold sweat for some time now.

“Me too.” Runa looked at me, and I could see the awkwardness in her eyes. “I’ve always wanted to marry you.”

“Runa...”

Suddenly, I remembered that we were in public and looked around. Ever since the fireworks had ended, the park visitors had been leaving. There was a lot of foot traffic here since we were close to the entrance. Everyone was preoccupied, talking about what souvenirs to buy and what they’d do now, so nobody was watching us as we stood near a building and talked.

I wondered if Yamana-san and Sekiya-san had already made it to their hotel.

“D-Do you have work tomorrow morning...?” I asked awkwardly.

Runa nodded, seemingly a bit flustered too. “Y-Yeah...”

“Right, thought so...”

We must’ve been thinking the same thing. Sure, we’d missed the timing once, but why had it become so difficult? We surely must’ve felt the same way we had three years ago, and yet...

After a long silence...

“Let’s get going, I guess.” Runa held out a hand to me and started walking.

“Yeah...” I took her hand and fell in line beside her.

The warmth coming from her hand made me think of the coming of spring. Or was it just that my hand had been cold after holding Runa’s bubble tea?

“I’ll take good care of this,” Runa said, showing me the glass shoe in her hand and smiling.

There were glimmering moonstones adorning Runa’s ears and her finger. She had been taking good care of my presents to her all this time, even though they probably weren’t valuable enough to wear for years.

“I’ll do my best so I can give you something even better.”

I had said that quietly out of embarrassment, and apparently, it’d been too quiet for Runa to hear.

“Hm?” she said.

I smiled and shook my head. “It’s nothing.”

Even if no one else could, I wished the setting crescent moon had heard my humble vow.