7

I felt like I was in a dream.

“Really? Thank you! Oh... I can reach the station by myself from here. I appreciate you walking me so far,” Elena said, trying to hide her tears behind a smile, then she turned and hurried to the station.

I stood there without a word, staring after her as she got away. All kinds of thoughts were swirling through my mind.

After who knows how long, my phone rang and my head came back down from the clouds. It was Kokoro.

“H-Hello...”

“Ichigaya? You said you’d text us! Did you really go back home?”

“Um... Minami went to the station, but I’m still standing here on the sidewalk...”

“Huh?! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“It doesn’t matter. What about you two?”

“We just left the diner and are heading home. You haven’t caught the train yet, right? Then can you wait for us at Tokyo Big Sight Station?”

“Uh, sure.”

I hung up and went back to thinking about Elena. She’d basically confessed to me and somehow let me down at the same time.

I feel kind of hurt about this, so... does that mean I wanted to date her? Now that I think about it, I guess she is my ideal girlfriend. She’s beautiful, cute, she likes yuri just like me, and she voices my favorite VTuber. To top it all off, despite her popularity, she’s incredibly kind and caring.

Elena checked all the right boxes—she was perfect. The only reason I hadn’t been considering her as a potential girlfriend was because I thought she only liked girls. I’d been sure that any love I might end up feeling for her would have been unrequited.

Now, however, I knew it had all been a misunderstanding. Elena had told me that she liked me, and I definitely liked her back. To be honest... if it was at all possible, I wanted her to become my girlfriend.

Too bad she said she doesn’t want to date anyone before she’s made it as a voice actress...

As an otaku, I knew how much fans disapproved of voice actors’ romantic endeavors. An established name in the industry would have had some leeway, but a rookie like Elena had only just started gaining popularity since people found out she was the voice of Emily Saionji. I’d been keeping up with any news that involved her work, so I knew she’d recently scored a major role in an anime that would start airing in September. This was a deciding moment for her career, and dating meant exposing herself to the risk of being found out and ruining it all.

Elena’s job was very important to her, and I understood that. If anything, as a fan, I wished for nothing more than her success. However, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Regardless of what I thought, Elena had no plans to become my girlfriend.

“Oh, there he is!”

Kokoro and Kisaki reached me at the station, where I was waiting just like I’d been told to. The two guys from earlier were no longer with them.

“What happened?!” Kokoro demanded to know. “You said you had to go back, but you’re still standing around...”

“Well... It just didn’t feel safe letting that Masahiro guy walk Minami to the station...”

“Oooh, that’s what it was? It got me kinda nervous too when he offered, to be honest.”

“When the hell did you learn to be so chivalrous?” Kisaki asked me, surprised.

“I know, right? I totally never thought Ichigaya would go all ‘knight in shining armor’ like that!”

Do they think I’m some kind of spineless coward?!

“Anyway, where did those two go?” I asked them.

“They needed the Rinkai line,” Kokoro explained. The Rinkai line connected to the Yurikamome one, but you couldn’t access it from this station.

“Ah, I see...”

We kept talking as we passed through the ticket gates and headed toward our platform, but when I looked at Kokoro’s face, I noticed that the corners of her mouth were curled up ever so slightly.

“So, um... How did things go after Minami and I left?”

“Same way they were going before. Masahiro did enough talking for all four of us.”

I was relieved to find out that Kokoro didn’t think much of the guy either.

“But I still got to chat with Yuya quite a bit!”

“He looked pretty eager to talk to you too,” my sister commented, adding more fuel to Kokoro’s burning excitement.

“What?! F-For real?! We were talking about cosplaying together sometime, you know?! The only problem is that ‘we’ also includes Masahiro...”

It was no wonder Yuya looked eager to talk to my Kokoro—the guy was obviously head over heels for her. When we first met, he’d probably been staring at me so hard because he couldn’t figure out what exactly my relationship with her was. He’d been so anxious that he’d straight-out asked me in the diner whether she had a boyfriend. He’d also told me that he didn’t have many chances to make female friends, so it was a safe assumption to think that he was single.

“I think Yuya likes you,” I said.

“What?! A-Are you serious?! Why?!” she squawked at lightning speed.

I considered just telling her what I’d heard from him, but I felt so salty about how well things were going for her that I dodged the question entirely.

“He just... kinda does?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

At this rate, I bet they’re going to end up together. From what I could gather during our short conversation, he seems like a decent guy, and he likes her too. A handsome otaku who likes girls’ stuff like HypMic... He’s her ideal boyfriend. I can’t believe a guy so perfect for her even exists. It’s just a matter of time. We’ve been helping each other along the road for months... and now she’s going to reach her goal first.

When we were finally on the train home, Kisaki hooked her arm with Kokoro’s.

“You know, those friends of yours that visited today were all so cute! I could hardly believe it!”

She was probably referring to Elena, Iroha, and Mikoto. All three of them were definitely attractive, even though the latter two negated that benefit by having such annoying personalities.

“I guess beautiful people attract other beautiful people...” my sister continued, staring intently at Kokoro.

“Hey,” Kokoro said, laughing from the embarrassment. “What’s the flattery for?”

“Well, it wouldn’t have surprised me so much if they were just friends of yours... but my brother was speaking with all those pretty girls like it was nothing! I thought I was dreaming or something!”

“Is that really so surprising?” I asked.

“Of course it is! The Kagetora I remember could barely speak to any female unless it was me or Mom!”

That Kagetora guy must be one sad fellow, huh? She’s right though...

“Ohhh. He’s improved a ton since then,” Kokoro said, sounding just as impressed.

“I bet it’s all thanks to you! It must be!” Kisaki confidently declared. “I’m not sure how it happened, but becoming friends with someone as gorgeous and extroverted as you must have helped him get used to talking to girls! And that’s how he managed to make new friends. Am I right?”

Kokoro was silent, as if unsure how to process what my sister was saying.

“W-Well,” I replied for her, “I guess you are...”

“I knew it! Thank you so much, Kokoro!”

＊　＊　＊

Back at home, we poured ourselves some juice to celebrate a successful Comiket.

“To Kisaki selling out at her first event! Congratulations!” Kokoro said, raising her glass. This tiny celebration had been her idea, since we still hadn’t had the time to properly congratulate Kisaki. Doing so at the diner, with those two guys sitting with us, would have been kind of weird.

“Thank you! Now I can go back to India without any regrets!”

“Actually,” I added, remembering I had something to ask her, “are you going to stay here for your whole summer vacation? You never said when your flight back is.”

“Oh, it’s tomorrow.”

“WHAT?!” Kokoro and I exclaimed in unison.

“I have some things I need to take care of back home, and I don’t want Mom and Dad to worry about me. Oh, by the way, they told me to check on you and report back how you’re doing. So I was going to let them know...” Kisaki paused for a second, leaving me terribly anxious. “I’m going to tell them that you’re doing just fine.”

“Oh... P-Please do,” I replied, exhaling with relief.

“Awww, but I don’t wanna say goodbye already,” Kokoro whined. “You’d better message me on LINE after you go back!”

“Yes, of course! And I’d love to meet up with you again when I move back to Japan permanently!”

Huh, so they exchanged LINE contacts...

Since this was going to be our last night together, we decided to all play some Merry-Go-Kart together on Kisaki’s Extendo Snitch. It was my first time in two years playing video games with my sister, and although I didn’t admit it, that made me really happy.

“Oh, my phone’s ringing... Sorry, go ahead without me for a second,” Kokoro said after a while, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Kisaki and I were left alone with each other.

“Okay, I’ll be Joadette next!”

“Say, Kagetora...”

“Hm?”

“Are you... okay with that? You know, with Kokoro dating that cosplayer...”

“What...?” I mumbled, so shocked that my fingers froze in place on the controller.

“Don’t you feel anything for her?”

Where did that come from all of a sudden? Feel anything for... Nishina?

“I-I really... I’m not so...”

To me, Kokoro was my roommate, my ally, and my rival. I’d seen her struggle in her attempts to find a boyfriend for so long that I really wished for her to finally succeed... Or did I? I couldn’t deny that I had mixed feelings about the whole thing.

“I’m ba— Hm? Why aren’t you two playing? Were you waiting for me?” Kokoro came back into the living room sooner than I’d expected.

“Yeah! Let’s all play together!” Kisaki replied as if nothing had happened, and we went back to our kart racing.

Does Kisaki see something that I can’t see?

＊　＊　＊

After a few too many rounds of Merry-Go-Kart, I went and took a bath. I checked my phone as soon as I was out of the bathroom and was thrilled to see a text from Elena.

“I’m so sorry I bothered you again today! I don’t want you to feel forced to accept, so you can still say no if you don’t want to.”

I took a seat on the couch and hurriedly typed my response.

“I’d never say no to that! As long as you want to, I’m more than happy to go on a date with you!”

“You’re always so kind...”

I wasn’t being kind—I wanted to go on a date with her as much as she did with me.

“Is there anywhere special you’d like to go? Anywhere you like is fine!” I told her.

“Then... would Akihabara be okay?”

“Of course!”

“I want to see if they sell any Emily merchandise at Animate. I’ve never gone to check because I was scared somebody might recognize me.”

“That sounds great! I want to go too!”

And so we decided that, a week from that day, Elena and I would go on a date together in Akihabara.

“Oh, finished up already?” Kokoro asked as she came into the living room. She walked through into the kitchen and poured herself some barley tea from the fridge.

“Yeah...”

“What’s that grin for?” she asked, looking at me with disgust.

Was I grinning that hard? I didn’t even notice.

I still hadn’t told Kokoro about what had happened between me and Elena. I wanted my roommate’s opinion on it, but I couldn’t reveal how Elena had confessed to me without having to explain how I already knew about her secret identity. Going through that whole story would have been a hassle, and I didn’t have Elena’s permission to talk about it anyway.

“Hellooo? Earth to Ichigaya!”

“I-It’s nothing really...”

“Sheesh! It’s so annoying when you make out like something’s happening and then you don’t explain!”

Make out like something’s happening?! I haven’t said anything! But... I guess I shouldn’t keep this from her. She’s telling me all about her romantic situation, so I guess I owe it to her.

“Well, actually...”

I mustered up the courage and finally told her the whole story: how Elena had said that she liked me, how she’d said that she didn’t want a boyfriend yet, and how she’d asked me to go on a date with her. I somehow managed to avoid the topic of how I already knew about Elena’s VTubing.

“...so we’re going on a date next week.”

“Wh... What...?” Kokoro murmured to herself, looking down at the floor. I didn’t know what to make of such a reaction. I could have sworn that she looked... angry.

“Why didn’t you tell me?! Why’d you keep something so important a secret for so long?!”

“I...”

The fierce glare that I received made it very clear that Kokoro was, indeed, angry. I knew that I should’ve told her sooner, but I definitely wasn’t expecting her to take it so badly.

“I just never got the chance...”

“Aren’t we supposed to be working together?! I always tell you everything! I feel so dumb right now!”

“But—”

“It’s like I’m just a dumb girl, always asking for your help! And you... You! You go ahead and get things done all by yourself! You don’t even need me...”

“N-Nishina...?” I was extremely confused. I just couldn’t understand why she was that furious.

All of a sudden, Kokoro stopped shouting and gave me an apologetic look.

“I... S-Sorry. I don’t know what got into me...”

Huh? She doesn’t even know why she’s angry? What’s her problem?

“I-I’m sorry too. I wanted to tell you, but with all that’s happened recently I never found the time...”

She remained silent for a while, making me concerned about just how upset she was.

“So,” she eventually said, “Minami likes you, but she won’t become your girlfriend, right? Because she decided not to date until her career takes off.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“I’m still shocked that she had those kinds of feelings for you. I never noticed. Why would she...?”

“Is that really so surprising?”

To be honest, I was just as shocked as she was, but having it said to my face was pretty infuriating. At least Kokoro’s anger had subsided and she seemed to be back to normal.

“So, um... do you know where you’ll go for your date?”

“Yeah. We’re going to go to the Animate in Akihabara.”

“Akihabara? Won’t people recognize her now that she’s a well-known VTuber and voice actress?”

“I guess she’ll be wearing a mask like she did at Comiket.”

I was so excited about the date that I hadn’t even thought about that. Now, however, was a very important moment in Elena’s career, which required us to take the utmost care.

“You’d better keep your voice down while you’re at Animate. And if you go to a café or something like that, you should choose a place that isn’t too popular with otaku.”

Is she... giving me advice?

“Oh, you have a point. But what kind of place would that even be?”

“You go to Akihabara that much and you don’t even know?”

“How could I? I only go there for otaku-related stuff...”

“Huh, I guess that makes sense.”

Much to my surprise, Kokoro took out her phone and started searching for a suitable place to eat. I hadn’t expected her to help me out at all after seeing how harsh her initial reaction had been.

“What about this? Most girls love pancakes!” she said, showing me a web page with pictures of a fancy café serving equally fancy pancakes. “It’s not that close to the station either, so there’s probably not much of an otaku crowd,” she added.

“Ohhh, that sounds great! Can you send me the link?”

“Sure...” Kokoro paused, thinking quietly for a few moments before looking up at me and asking, “So, uh... if Minami had asked you to be her boyfriend, how would you have replied?”

My heart skipped a beat.

Minami asking me to be her boyfriend? Well, I...

“You know what, never mind. I’m sleepy. I’ll go to bed.”

“Huh?! O-Okay...”

“Good night.”

“G-Good night...”

Why would she ask me something like that and then leave before I could even answer?

＊　＊　＊

The next day, Kokoro and I went to Narita airport to see Kisaki off.

“Have a good flight! We should sooo meet up again when you’re back!”

“Of course! Thanks for everything, Kokoro!”

“Be careful, all right?” I added.

“Sure. And you be careful not to be a nuisance to Kokoro, you hear me?”

“Huh?”

“Hah... I wish you two would hurry up and date each other already...”

“WHAT?!” Kokoro and I cried.

“Wh-What did you just...?”

“Wh-What are you talking about?!”

“It’s just that it’d be so much fun for me too... I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that! You’d never want to date someone like my brother, I bet! You’d be wasted on him!”

I braced for Kokoro’s reply, expecting her to agree with Kisaki... but she didn’t say anything.

“Oh, I have to get going! Bye bye, see you soon!” my sister said, waving as she left the two of us to our shock.

The awkwardness was palpable.

“Should we... go back home?”

“Y-Yeah...”

Nishina... date me? Is Kisaki blind? Didn’t she see the kind of guy that Nishina’s into?