DATE × DATE × DATE

Kokoro Connect Hito Random — LNCrawler · All chapters

DATE × DATE × DATE

That day found me, Kiriyama Yui, agonizing alone in my room, as per usual.

I knew dating wasn’t going to be easy. I knew there was more to it than simply agreeing to be someone’s girlfriend. There were many, many steps after that—and I needed to start working my way up the staircase. Go on dates, hold hands, link arms, snuggle, hug, kiss...

“Eeeeeeeegh!”

I flailed my limbs, punching and kicking the mattress. Then I grabbed a nearby pillow and buried my face into it.

Was I really going to do all that? Yeah... Sooner or later I was going to have to, step by step. With who, you ask? With my boyfriend—Aoki Yoshifumi.

“EEEEEEEEGH!”

Flustered, I rolled around on my bed.

“No... I have to do this...”

At last, I was making progress... down a path that had been walled off for as long as I could remember. And if I didn’t do the things a girlfriend was supposed to do, then there was no point in being his girlfriend at all. But more than that, I wanted to be normal, like everyone else.

“I mean, we’re dating now... so... Eeeeegh !”

“Sis?”

Instantly, I froze. Then I turned my head in the direction of my bedroom door—slowly and stiffly, like some kind of robot.

“Uh... Dinner’s ready,” my younger sister Anzu continued as she peered into my room.

“Oh... C-Cool... I’ll be right there,” I nodded.

With that, she turned... but right as I was expecting her to walk off, she stopped short and leaned back over the threshold.

“Just so we’re on the same page, um... I’ll pretend I didn’t see any of that.”

I collapsed face-first back into my pillow. Gee, thanks, Anzu.

+++

Three weeks had passed since the biggest event in Yaegashi Taichi’s high school career—the school trip to Hokkaido—and its impact was tremendous. He had struggled, but so too had he grown, and now hardly anyone ever came to him for advice anymore.

It was November. Autumn had long since settled in, and winter was still far away... but while the weather was still pleasant for the time being, he knew it wouldn’t last. Soon he’d have to bundle himself up in jackets and scarves every time he went outside.

Following the recent “love craze,” a plethora of new couples had sprung up like daisies. But Yamaboshi High School had gone back to normal for the most part, and peace reigned in Class 2-B...

“What do you mean, you guys haven’t gone on any dates?!” shouted Kurihara Yukina, Yamaboshi track athlete, clutching at her wavy hair in frustration. “I cannot believe this!”

With a tall and slim physique, Kurihara had drawn herself up to her fullest height in order to tower over the recipient of her complaint: one Kiriyama Yui.

“B-But...” Kiriyama mumbled, shrinking herself down even smaller than she usually was. Her long tawny hair had lost a good 20% of its glossy shine.

School had ended for the day, but a few students (Taichi included) had remained in the classroom to chat... and apparently Kiriyama had said something to set Kurihara off.

“No buts, missy! You’ve been official for three weeks ! I know you’re busy with karate stuff, but you can’t tell me you haven’t had a single day off since then!”

“Now, now, Yukina-chan! Let’s all settle down!” called Nagase Iori, her long, dark, silky hair affording her an almost motherly vibe. Paired with her emotional fortitude, she had grown more beautiful than ever—in Taichi’s humble opinion, anyway.

“S-Sorry! Maybe I’m a little touchy. I guess the dry spell is getting to me.”

What kind of dry spell is she talking about...? Taichi had the feeling he knew the answer. Awkwardly, he averted his eyes.

“But still, though, it’s weird you guys haven’t done anything together! I mean, he’s your boyfriend! And you’re, like, totally adorable! We should be gushing about boys right now, damn it! Ugh, what a waste... You’re wasting your life , Yui! At the rate you’re going, you won’t have your first kiss until after we graduate!”

“M-My first kiss...?! Oh, please!” Blushing, Kiriyama started to fidget with her fingers.

“Seriously, you’re such a child! Anyone else our age would’ve started smooching their boyfriend by day two at the latest!”

“Look, I... I just need some time! If anything, you move way too fast!”

“If you ‘need some time’ for one measly kiss, then when the heck are you guys gonna have se—”

“Ooookay, that’s enough!” Nagase declared in a singsong voice as she zipped over and clapped a hand over Kurihara’s mouth.

“Thank god for Nagase,” Taichi muttered under his breath.

“There are still boys around, you know!” Nagase continued. “I mean, look! Taichi’s right there!”

She pulled her hand away, and Kurihara sputtered for breath.

“You’re right... Sorry... But you get where I’m coming from, right?! Yui’s finally got a boyfriend, and she hasn’t gone on one single date with him! Here I was, trusting that she could handle her own relationship—but clearly I was wrong!”

She turned and glared at Kiriyama, who flinched like she was ready to bolt.

“Eeek! Listen, I... I mean, what about her?! ”

“Huh?!”

Out of nowhere, Kiriyama redirected the conversation to Nakayama Mariko, another member of the group. She was a cheerful, chatty girl from the Calligraphy Club who always wore her hair in her trademark high pigtails. One month prior, with some assistance from Taichi and Kiriyama, she had started dating Ishikawa from the baseball team.

Their relationship was a secret at first, but over time rumors steadily began to spread... and as more and more people found out about the clandestine love between the taciturn Ishikawa and the bubbly Nakayama, their reactions were almost always the same: You’re joking, right?

“Are you going on dates with your boyfriend, Nakayama-chan?!”

It was plainly obvious Kiriyama was just trying to redirect the focus of the conversation onto someone else. This detail was not lost on Kurihara, who was still fuming.

“This isn’t about her! This is about you , Yui!”

“Y-Yeah! This is about your relationship... not... not mine...”

“...Uh, Nakayama-chan...?”

“Wh-What is it, my... er... lovely Yukina-chan?”

As it turned out, Nakayama was terrible at playing it cool.

“You’ve been dating your boyfriend for a month now, right? Month and a half? You’ve gone on at least one date with him... Oh god, you haven’t?” Kurihara stared, appalled, like she couldn’t begin to comprehend what she was hearing. “What is wrong with you people?! Oh my god, this can’t be happening right now!”

“Everyone has their own approach to romance,” Taichi remarked, hoping to defuse the situation.

“Y-Yeah, what Taichi said!”

“Exactly my point, Yaegashi-kun!”

“Cram it! You say that, but I know you and Inaba-san must’ve already had se—”

“That’s enough: part two!” Nagase shouted as she clapped a hand back over Kurihara’s mouth.

“Our relationship is chaste , thank you very much,” Taichi insisted, feeling ever more grateful for Nagase’s presence.

“Mmmph—gah! Iori ! Are you trying to tear my mouth off with that vise grip?! Anyways... If you want to have a boyfriend, then you’d better go on some freaking dates with him! Not just for my benefit, but for yours, too!”

“Yeah, I know...” Kiriyama mumbled, shoulders slumped.

“But this is my first relationship, so I don’t really know what to do!” Nakayama complained.

Both of them seemed rather apologetic; Kurihara let out a breath. “If anything, I’m ashamed of your boyfriends for not manning up! Seriously, do they want some other guy to steal you away? I’m gonna strangle them!”

“Okay, Yukina-chan’s kinda starting to freak me out,” Nagase whispered.

“Something’s really got her panties in a twist,” Taichi retorted under his breath.

When it came to romance, Kurihara could never seem to keep her composure. At this rate, she was going to steal Fujishima’s thunder entirely.

“It’s not Aoki’s fault, Yukina! Really! He’s invited me out a few times, but... I just can’t seem to find the courage to go. I need more time.”

“S-Same here! Ishikawa-kun’s been real busy with baseball practice, but he does try to make time for me! It’s just that whenever we try to go somewhere, it turns out the place is closed, or under construction, and then we... we just... go... home...?”

“Are you freaking kidding me?! If your boyfriends are actually trying to make this work, then how are you both screwing this up?! This is absolutely unacceptable! ”

“Uh oh! There she goes again!” Nagase shouted.

Perhaps Kurihara’s deranged obsession with everyone’s love lives actually made her worse than Fujishima, in a way...

“...What’s the matter, Taichi? Looking for something?”

“Oh, it’s just... This feels like an opportune time for Fujishima to pop out of nowhere, but... I guess she’s not here, huh?”

Evidently she’d either gone home or to her clubroom. Not like her life revolved around them...

“...So why are you still looking for her...?”

Part of him was sure she’d appear out of thin air right when he let his guard down, but... apparently not? Perhaps there were limits to her powers of omnipresence... Yeah, that’s probably for the best.

“Alright, that does it! In two days, on Saturday, you’re both going on a freaking date! And to make sure you don’t worm your way out of it, I’m going to make it a double date!”

“I can’t!” Kiriyama and Nakayama shouted in unison.

“Why can’t you?! Do you know what the definition of ‘dating’ is?!”

“S-Slow down, Yukina! Our first date can’t be a double date! That’s way too complicated!”

“Yeah! She’s right, Yukina-chan! Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if at least one of us had some experience, but we’re both total noobs! We’ll screw it up somehow!”

Despite their desperate attempts to talk her out of this, Kurihara was clearly dead-set on making this double date happen. Sucks to be them, Taichi thought. Good thing I’m exempt from—

“Okay then, we’ll make it a triple date with Yaegashi and Inaba-san, too!”

“What? Why?! ” Taichi demanded. I was fine staying on the sidelines, personally!

“Oh, relax! You two go on dates all the time, don’t you? You’ll hardly even notice a third... fourth... fifth... sixth wheel!”

“What kind of date has a sixth wheel?! Look, Inaba and I have a very private relationship. We don’t need an audience!”

“Please! I’m not asking you to do anything kinky... assuming you don’t do that kind of thing already.”

“What? No! We’re as vanilla as you can get!”

“...Just to be sure, can I ask you what these ‘vanilla’ dates are like?”

Taichi narrowed his eyes at Kurihara. Did his relationship with Inaba really give off some kind of deviant vibe?

“For the most part, we just take turns supporting each other’s hobbies. Sometimes she comes with me to watch a pro wrestling match, and other times I go with her to the electronics store. Stuff like that.”

“Does that even count as a date...? I guess maybe it does... Okay, well, do you ever go anywhere a little more special?”

For some reason, Kurihara’s brow was steadily furrowing deeper and deeper.

“I mean, sure... sometimes... Not a lot, mind you... Oh, but we do go to a lot of cafes! Grab a drink, talk, that kind of thing?”

“Ugh, you’re so lazy! You need to try harder!” Frustrated, she pantomimed a table flip, then slumped forward onto her desk. “You’re all such cute couples... I just want my friends to live their best lives... Wait!” Suddenly, she jumped to her feet. “I see now... I have to do this! It’s my destiny! This triple date is happening, got it?! And I’m going to coordinate the whole thing!”

“Wait, what?! Are you seriously going to make us do this?! I mean... is Aoki going to be cool with this...? Aaaagh...!”

“Master Yukina-chan! Please, I have to confirm with my other half... He has baseball practice, you know... Gaaaah...!”

“You need to calm down, Kurihara... N-Nagase! Can’t you stop her?!” Taichi pleaded. She was their only hope!

Nagase rose to her feet and walked up to Kurihara.

“Yukina-chan... This sounds like a blast! Can I help?!”

“Saw that one coming!”

Nagase was the type to follow her heart, especially when a fun time was involved.

“Alright, everybody! Get in touch with your bae and ask about Saturday! But be warned, if Saturday doesn’t work, we’ll just keep rescheduling until we find a day that does!”

And so, ignoring the pleas of their victims, Kurihara and Nagase decided to orchestrate a triple date with Taichi/Inaba, Kiriyama/Aoki, and Nakayama/Ishikawa.

Why this?

◆◆◆

Then Saturday rolled around, and by some freak coincidence, no one had any schedule conflicts.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m glad you all could make it. Today, my associate and I will be your date instructors!” announced Nagase, wearing a frayed hoodie and jeans, her arms folded.

“If it turns out you’re just screwing with us, I’m gonna kick your ass,” grumbled an openly annoyed Inaba Himeko, standing next to Taichi. Normally, as her boyfriend, it was his duty to calm her down, but today he wasn’t about to try it. If anything, he was pretty sure he deserved a medal for convincing her to show up at all.

Granted, they could have just stayed home, but then he would’ve felt bad for Kiriyama and Nakayama.

“This is not a game! If you dare question us, you’ll be treated to a lecture by the Queen of Love herself!”

Nagase pointed to the ringleader of the operation, one Kurihara Yukina, who was wearing a white shirt, red knit cap, and short-shorts over leggings. Combined with her height, she could pass for a college student.

“Right you are! This event is designed to introduce you all to the joys of romance! And not in a mean-spirited way, either. We have only the purest of intentions!” Then Kurihara turned to Inaba. “I gotta say, Inaba-san, I’m really loving your outfit! Not too overdone—simplistic, yet sexy!”

“Whoa there, Yukina-chan! Can’t you say ‘sensual’ or something instead? It’s not even noon!”

Kurihara was already going off the rails before the triple date had even started. Fortunately, Nagase was there to rein her in.

Still, she had a point. Inaba’s tight-fitting beige capri pants and white knitted jersey sweater gave her a pristine aesthetic that highlighted her natural beauty for a very sexy... er, sensual... end result.

“Wh-What? I just grabbed whatever was lying around and threw it on.”

“False! You couldn’t possibly achieve this delicate balance purely at random! With an outfit this simplistic, you would’ve had to scour multiple different stores to find the perfect fit and silhouette!”

“Nnngh...!”

Inaba had no comeback to this. Meanwhile, Taichi was surprised to learn she’d gone to such great lengths.

With a soft smile, Kurihara walked up and put a hand on Inaba’s shoulder.

“Relax. You’re doing a great job, Inaba-san. And with a little more knowledge and experience, you’ll really shine. Let’s have some fun today, okay?”

“...I admit, it couldn’t hurt to improve my skills. Here’s hoping this triple date proves educational in some way.”

Evidently Inaba had chosen to look on the bright side. Whew .

Then Kurihara jabbed him hard in the side.

“The problem here is you !”

“Gah!”

“I haven’t heard you say one word to Inaba-san about her outfit!”

“Huh? Oh, uh... I was just waiting for the right time...”

“The ‘right time’ is the second you lay eyes on her! For your girlfriend’s sake, I’m gonna need to put you through the wringer, Yaegashi!”

The look in her eyes was terrifying. Come to think of it, Taichi vaguely recalled one of his track team friends mentioning how Kurihara was “usually pretty chill, except when she gets angry...”

“Now the real challenge will be these two couples over here.”

Kurihara spun on her heel to face Kiriyama/Aoki and Nakayama/Ishikawa. They were each lined up next to their respective partner, but the gap between them was slightly too large, and the tension was palpable.

“Why so stiff, you guys?! You’re with the one person you know you can trust more than anyone! Unclench!” Kurihara shouted.

“Trust us, this is going to be a good experience for you,” Nagase added. “Once you make it through today, you’ll be able to go on all kinds of dates, no problem!”

“Says the girl with zero relationship experience,” Taichi retorted under his breath. He knew she’d only tagged along for the hell of it, but it really didn’t make sense to have her “instructing” anyone.

“You cool with this, Yui? Me personally, I think we can take it slow.”

“I... I’m fine! Going on a big group date with everybody sounds like fun! Once we get started we’ll all split off, but we won’t be alone together the whole time, so it’s the perfect balance!”

“Why are you breathing so hard...?”

“I’m not!”

Kiriyama was wearing a big, poofy flower-print dress, and though it seemed a bit too cutesy at first glance, it enhanced her femininity and youthful innocence to a very huggable degree.

“I don’t care what we end up doin’ as long as I get to be with you.”

“Wh... Where did that come from...?!” Kiriyama blushed.

The two of them seemed to be doing just fine on their own, so Taichi shifted his gaze to the third couple.

“Ishikawa-kun... I’m sorry to drag you into this,” Nakayama mumbled, her high pigtails swaying as she craned her neck up at her very tall boyfriend. She was wearing a gray hoodie over a sky-blue skirt. Casual, yet girly—a perfect fit for her personality. Plus, guys tended to like it when their girlfriends didn’t try too hard.

“Ouch!”

“Quit ogling the other women,” Inaba growled as she pinched Taichi’s love handle. Life’s tough when you have an observant girlfriend.

“Don’t be. Whatever works for you is fine by me,” Ishikawa replied calmly. He looked completely unruffled by the situation at hand... but then again, he was always the level-headed type.

“Y-Yeah, me too... If you’re cool with it, then I’m cool with it...”

In contrast, however, Nakayama was acting far too reserved compared to her usual self... and yet at the same time, Taichi could sense her restless anxiety. He was starting to worry about her, actually.

“Now then, no sense in standing around! Let’s get started!” Kurihara announced.

“But you haven’t told us what we’re doing yet,” said Kiriyama.

“I’ve got it all mapped out, don’t you worry. Today we’re going to take your relationships to the next level... and on that note, it’s time for an outing to the park!”

At this, Nakayama started to flip out.

“If I may, Yukina-chan—why the park, exactly?! Isn’t that kind of boring?! There’s no wildlife or anything! No movies! No entertainment!”

“Is that what you thought dates were all about, Nakayama-chan? Oh, you sweet summer child. Dates are about spending time one on one, and that means a date can happen wherever you want it to. Anywhere can be paradise!”

“Slick line, Yukina-chan!” Nagase chimed in supportively. Clearly she was having a great time, if no one else.

“Kurihara, are you sure these beginners will be able to handle a park date right out of the gate? Seems a bit too advanced, don’t you think?” Inaba asked.

“You’re not wrong there, Inaba-san. Until they find their groove with each other, they might not know how to handle long periods of sitting around in silence.”

Kiriyama blanched. “That sounds, like, ridiculously hard!”

“And that’s the whole point. I’m trying to assess your current aptitude. I mean, even if you haven’t gone on any dates, you guys still talk to each other, right? So I’m going to observe your comfort levels. Inaba-san and Yaegashi, I’m sure you two will have no trouble with this little test, but I hope you’ll humor me for now.”

“You say that, but I’m no pro myself,” Taichi murmured. He couldn’t remember ever taking Inaba to the park, and now he was starting to feel self-conscious about it.

“I can’t wait to see your beautiful relationships in action!” Nagase exclaimed, single-handedly piling on even more pressure.

“Alright, guys! We’re going to a really nice park, and when we get there, you’ll all pair off. From there, you can walk around, sit on a bench, talk, drink a soda, whatever you prefer. Then, once your time’s up, we’ll all meet back up for the next phase. And don’t worry—Iori and I aren’t going to be breathing down your necks. Now then...”

Kurihara shot a glance at her second-in-command Nagase, who grinned and bellowed:

“GOOOOO!!!”

—Yukina and Iori: Observation Pt. 1—

At last, our plans were set into motion, and the triple date extravaganza began!

I (Kurihara Yukina) pumped my fist in excitement. I’d made sure to act extra bubbly to motivate everyone to have a good time—hopefully it helped.

Truth be told, I’d been on at least one double date in the past, but never a triple date. Hence, I had no idea what sorts of problems might occur... and that meant I’d need to supervise them carefully. Otherwise, someone could get hurt.

“You look pretty tense, Yukina-chan,” Iori commented.

“Damn right I am! One single mistake could ruin an entire relationship!”

At this, her gaze hardened to match my own. “Good point... The smallest detail could have a serious ripple effect.”

“Love is just that powerful,” I nodded. That’s what made it so great, yet scary at the same time. “Let’s stay sharp and keep an eye out for any trouble.”

“You got it, Yukina-chan.”

Together, we started walking—like two soldiers headed for the front lines. Perhaps that was a weird analogy, or perhaps it was rather fitting. Love is a battlefield , as they say... and this was one fight we couldn’t afford to lose. I would need to put my whole heart and soul into making this triple date a success.

This rush of excitement I felt—was it in anticipation of the upcoming challenge, or...?

Suddenly, Iori blurted out: “It’s kinda fun to spy on other people’s love lives, huh?”

“You’re not wrong!”

First, we waited around to let the three groups get a sizable head start. Then, finally, it was our turn. Glancing around, we walked through the park.

“Man, look at that big, fancy hedge! It’s got flowers and everything,” Iori remarked.

“Yeah, this park has a lot of places to hide. Hedges, weirdly-shaped trees, you name it. And there’s plenty of people around, too.”

The park paths were well-populated with visitors, possibly due to the sunny weather, but not to a loud and distracting degree.

“It’s so nice and clean and well-maintained... I get that taxpayer money probably covers all their expenses, but at this level of quality, they could totally charge an entry fee if they wanted, y’know?”

“My parents told me the mayor’s a big proponent of—gah, we sound like we’re forty! Anyway, look over there!”

I pointed in the direction of two figures I recognized. We stopped short, then concealed ourselves in the shadow of a nearby tree.

“Ooh, Taichi and Inaban sitting on a bench! Are any of the others around? Hm... Doesn’t look like it.”

Good—no chance of any interruptions. I had them walk in different directions on purpose, after all.

“Alright, let’s try to get a little closer. But not too close—we want to see what they’re like when no one else is looking.”

“Right you are, Yukina-chan! Let’s see... We could sneak along the hedges on the left-hand side... Then we’ll need to dash out of cover and hide behind the rest area.”

“Sounds good. Let’s do it.”

This is actually kind of fun... It feels like we’re in a spy movie or something... No, what am I thinking? This is serious business!

“Don’t look back... Don’t look back... Okay, go!”

On my signal, we both dashed forward in a crouch run. An elderly couple gave us a weird look, but I ignored them. Then we rushed out of cover to the back of the sheltered outdoor rest area. Success! I let out a sigh of relief, then looked at Iori; we exchanged a thumbs-up.

Meanwhile, Yaegashi and Inaba were sitting a few meters away on a park bench.

“Yeah, I don’t really know,” Yaegashi was saying.

Fortunately for us, his voice was bouncing off the walls of the rest area, making him perfectly audible. Neither of them had turned around as we approached, either. Perfect . I exchanged a look with Iori, and together we crouched down on the spot. They’ll never find us here.

Then Inaba spoke.

“This sure is a park, alright... Nice flowers... Nice fountain...”

“Whoa, whoa. You can’t just burn through every topic of conversation all at once! Come on!”

“Look, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s pretty and all, but it’s just a damn park. What deep and meaningful conversation is there to be had?”

“I don’t know... It’s not that different from going to a cafe, if you think about it.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s fine.”

Inaba didn’t sound that enthusiastic. So how would Yaegashi respond, knowing his girlfriend wasn’t having a good time?

“This is gonna be tricky,” I whispered.

“What is?” Iori asked.

“You know, it’s weird... At some point, the silence stopped bothering me,” Yaegashi commented, and it was clear he wasn’t just saying that to be romantic—he honestly felt that way. And that honesty got a reaction out of Inaba.

“What do you mean, the silence?”

“Oh, you know... When we’re just sitting here, relaxing, not really talking... because we know we don’t have to worry about the other person feeling uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, true. In the beginning we were both pretty nervous about boring each other, huh? The silence always felt so terrifying, so I’d try to fill it, and then right as it set in again, suddenly you were holding my hand... and that gave me something different to freak out about.” She snickered. “I was such a child back then... but then again, I guess it’s only been six months or so.”

“True, but it’s been a long six months, you could say.”

“Don’t remind me... I’ve been trying to forget about that asshole and everything he did to us.”

At this, Iori flinched. What’s wrong?

“I hate to admit it, but it feels like we lost one of the best years of our teenage lives to those phe—”

“Okay, stop. Let’s not talk about this right now. We’re on a date, remember?”

“Right. Speaking of, actually... um... we haven’t really gone on many of the more ‘classic’ dates, have we?”

“They haven’t?” I asked Iori.

“What, like, the movies or the aquarium or something? If they’ve gone, I haven’t heard them talk about it at all.”

“What about it?” Inaba asked Yaegashi.

“Oh, I dunno. I was just wondering if maybe I could be a better boyfriend—whoa!”

Out of nowhere, Inaba leaned her head against his shoulder; Yaegashi adjusted his weight slightly to the left to support her. With his free hand, he stroked her hair.

“I like our relationship just the way it is,” Inaba replied in a soft voice, and I could only imagine the impact it must have had on Yaegashi. “But that said, you do have room for improvement in the boyfriend department.”

“...I’ll try to work on it.”

“Mmm... I gotta say, I’m a little worried about Yui and the others.”

“Worried they won’t know what to do with the silence?”

“They’ll probably get too nervous and screw it up... but those small failures will help them find their way forward. I just wish they could understand that.”

After that, the two of them started to pack up like they were getting ready to leave, so Iori and I beat a hasty retreat, straying off the path and through the trees. After all, if they caught us eavesdropping, it would have serious repercussions later on.

Arriving at the main park path, we came to a stop. Here we could safely be seen with no complaints. Once we caught our breath, it was time to discuss what we’d overheard.

“Their relationship seems really stable, huh, Captain?” Iori asked.

I nodded. We had just witnessed something truly beautiful.

“Yeah... which is great and all, but jeez, they sound like an old married couple! How much romantic strife does it take to get to that level? I’m starting to think they should be the instructors here...”

Even I’d never had a relationship that solid before. Now I was feeling insecure.

“Pull yourself together, Yukina-chan! If you give up, it’s game over!”

“R-Right... Sure, they may be an old married couple, but... but a healthy amount of puppy love is vital for any long-lasting relationship! That’s what I’ll advise them. They need to be more conscious of their feelings for each other!”

Their relationship seemed a little too limited. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it couldn’t hurt to show them a few different ways of doing things. That way they could be sure they’d found the style that suited them best.

“Sounds good to me! Believe it or not, our Inaban loves all that girly romance stuff. We’ll make them get so lovey-dovey, it’ll make us blush just watching!”

“Hell yeah! Let’s fan the flames of their passion!”

“May their love burn evermore!”

“And then tonight they can have some hot se... Um, Iori? Aren’t you going to stop me again? I was low-key starting to enjoy it.”

“Sorry to say, I do these things for no one but myself! ...You’re kind of kinky, aren’t you?”

Eeek, you’re gonna make me blush!

—Yukina and Iori: Observation Pt. 2—

Our next targets: Nakayama and Ishikawa. Following along the path they had taken at the start of the date, we began our search.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, we finally tracked them down. Fortunately, as with our previous targets, they didn’t notice us at all. Maybe this means I’m cut out to be a secret agent or something.

“This looks like a problem, wouldn’t you say, Yukina-chan?”

“I would indeed.”

The Nakayama-Ishikawa pair had a glaring height difference, made all the more apparent as they walked along in silence, both of them staring straight ahead without so much as glancing at the scenery.

“Are they headed somewhere?” Iori asked me.

“No way. Just look at them.”

They were walking so quickly, we couldn’t afford to stand around or else we might lose track of them... so we started to tail them.

“Hmmm... Our selection of hiding spots isn’t so great over here.”

“I don’t think we’ll need one.” Seriously, these friggin’ amateurs!

We were following right behind them on a perfectly straight path, and yet they somehow didn’t notice us. At all. Not that I particularly wanted them to, but the fact that they didn’t was pretty telling in and of itself.

“Whoa, whoa. We’re getting a little too close, don’t you think, Yukina-chan?”

“Meh, it’s fine. Look at Nakayama-chan, scared out of her wits! It’s painful to watch.”

“Nngh... Nakayama-chaaaan... You doing okay? I’m worried about youuuu...!”

“Settle down, Mama Bear,” I retorted.

But truth be told, it was really starting to tear me up inside. I could only imagine how the two of them must have been feeling at that very moment... No, no, no! I can’t let my empathy get the better of me. I need to focus on my mission!

“I think Ishikawa’s pretty scared, too; he’s just not letting it show. Well, then again, he’s always been a man of few words—”

“Oh! I think Ishikawa-kun just said something! Look, they stopped walking!”

“Calm down , Iori! And keep your voice down!” Crap, now I’M shouting!

Panicked, we both dashed off the paved road and into the foliage. From there, we crept closer to the couple. With anyone else, this sort of approach would be risky, but not so with these two. The only way they’d notice us is if we waved a hand in front of their faces.

Ugh, now I have dirt stains on my knees.

“Huhwha?!” Nakayama yelped.

Beside me, Iori buried her face in her hands. “Come on, Nakayama-chan... Pull it together, girl!”

“Oh, I was just wondering... Do you come here often?” Ishikawa asked.

“Oh, uh... good question? Not... really? I don’t know?”

“Ah.”

Silence. Their conversation had died before they’d even hit the thirty-second mark.

Now how might I describe the experience of watching this unfold as an outside observer? Ah, yes—my heart was screaming.

“Nngh... I can’t see her face from here, but I can tell from her posture that she’s dying of embarrassment...!”

“Don’t let it get you down, Nakayama-chan! Just push through! You can do this!” I whispered. Even if she couldn’t hear me, I still hoped I could somehow send her a bit of my courage.

Unfortunately, those hopes were in vain, as our targets set off walking once more... in complete silence.

From there, Ishikawa attempted multiple times to start a conversation, but because Nakayama self-destructed every time, none of these attempts lasted longer than sixty seconds. In the end, the only thing that didn’t waver was their walking pace... and the more I watched, the more it started to look like they were training for a marathon.

After that, Iori and I decided not to pursue them further.

“Aaaand they’re gone... They must have a lot of stamina to do all that walking,” Iori commented.

“They’re like a textbook example of what not to do on a date,” I sighed as I watched them recede into the distance.

Clutching her chest, Iori shook her head. “Ugh... My heart aches for Nakayama-chan... She’s not usually like that! She can do better—she just has to try!”

I could feel Iori’s pain as though it were my own. Unfortunately, this was no time to be wallowing in sympathy. As the showrunners, we needed to keep our act together.

“Nakayama-chan’s at her best when she doesn’t overthink things. But now she’s obsessing over every little detail, and it’s got her stuck in a rut, I guarantee it.”

“Sounds about right. What about Ishikawa-kun?”

“Ishikawa was awkward in his own way, but at least he was trying to start a conversation! The problem is that he’s just not the chatty type. Their relationship will work best if Nakayama-chan does 80% of the talking, so we really need her to start meeting him in the middle. And by that, I mean... just act normal , for god’s sake!”

Easier said than done, I know.

“It’s always hardest in the beginning,” Iori mused. “If they could just get past their initial awkwardness, I’m pretty sure it’d be smooth sailing from there.”

Pretty sharp, I thought. Then I realized something:

“You know, Iori, you sound like you’re speaking from experience, but... have you ever actually dated anyone?”

“O-Oh, uh... I’m afraid not, my dear Yukina-chan.”

But you’re the prettiest—second-prettiest?—girl in our grade! What a waste!

“Then it sounds like I’ll need to organize a special lesson plan for you, too. You’re going to get yourself a boyfriend before we graduate, you hear me?”

“Huh? You’re roping me into this, too?! Is this karma?!” She slumped to her knees in defeat.

Oh, grow up already!

—Yukina and Iori: Observation Pt. 3—

As for our final targets, their voices carried across half the park, so tracking them down was a cinch. Plus, it meant we could eavesdrop on them without much trouble.

Iori and I crouched down behind a hedge a considerable distance away, then slowly peered out at the path, where the couple in question were talking.

“Exactly as I expected...”

“What is it, Yukina-chan?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing.”

Kiriyama Yui was one of my closest friends. She was small and cute and innocent, but her love life had remained dormant right up until the end of our second year of high school, and I felt compelled to fuss over her. Call me nosy, but I got the feeling that if I left her to her own devices, she would stumble headfirst into trouble. Looking back, those feelings were probably my main inspiration for this triple date in the first place.

“It’s our first date! We should celebrate! Maybe snap a selfie or somethin’! Now where’s my phone...”

“Will you settle down?! God! You’re acting like a child!”

“Okay, sorry, my bad! I promise I won’t take a bunch of pictures. Just a couple.”

Without batting a lash, Aoki had changed tack to suit Yui’s preferences, and yet Yui remained silent. Knowing her, she was probably lost in thought. She had a fairly... overactive imagination at times.

“Yui?”

“Wh-What do you want?!”

“Oh, I just noticed you’re kinda zoning out. So, uh, what’s with the karate stance?”

“W-Well... It’s just a force of habit! You’re the one who started talking to me!”

“Yeah, but... I mean, we’re on a date, aren’t we?”

“Hah! With you? Fat chance!”

“Yui! Look at me! It’s me, Aoki Yoshifumi! Your boyfriend!”

“...Oh, right.”

“You didn’t actually forget, did you?!”

Good grief, just listen to them! They were both way too high-strung. If I had a camera handy, I could probably record a rom-com at this rate.

“Yui’s pretty cute. She’d make a good pet,” Iori mused quietly.

I nodded. “Yeah. She tends to react on instinct, like a small animal.”

Then I glanced back at Yui to find her exhaling deeply. Maybe she realized they were getting off on the wrong foot, and now she was trying to mentally reset.

“O-Okay. Let’s do this date thing.”

“Relax! You don’t gotta psych yourself up for it. We can just do whatever you feel like doin’!”

“You certainly seem right at home... Is this because you went on a bunch of dates with Nishino Nana-san?”

“Well... I mean... uh...”

“God, don’t get your boxers in a twist. I don’t actually care either way.”

“Okay, well... Yeah, I guess that’s where my experience comes from.”

“Cool. Anyways, what should we do now?”

“Good question. How about we walk around and talk for a while?”

“Okay then. Start talking.”

“...Look, I can’t just talk on command...”

“Why not? Normally you babble all the time without me ever asking!”

Hmm... I’ll give you points for trying to work with each other, but...

“God, they’re so awkward,” I muttered.

Seriously, I wish I could take a picture and put it in the dictionary under “cringe.”

“Okay, okay! I’ll talk! Let’s see... What should I talk about? Any requests?”

“If anything, I’d like it better if you were quiet!”

“Oh, c’mon! At least pretend to care about me!”

“Hmmm... This isn’t really what I thought our first date would be like... I always thought once I got a boyfriend, everything would start to feel all magical and stuff...”

“You’re a real dreamer, huh, Yui? You’re always talking about fairytale romance.”

“What, so my standards are too unrealistic? Is that what you’re saying?!”

“No, no! I’m saying it’s cute! You know, in a... little-girl sort of way!”

“Oh my GOD, don’t treat me like a child! I’m your GIRLFRIEND, okay?! ...Ugh, you made me say that on purpose, didn’t you?!”

“Nope, that was all you!”

And so, as our observation came to an end, Iori and I plopped ourselves down on a park bench to take a break and discuss what we’d witnessed.

“Man, they really haven’t changed at all , have they? Are we sure they’re actually dating?” Iori asked.

“I didn’t realize Yui was so bad at being girly... I mean, she loves all things cute, and she knows how to dress cute, so why can’t she act cute with her own boyfriend?”

I was hoping they bickered a bit less in private, but evidently not.

“Maybe they’ve just been friends for so long that they don’t know how to act any differently.”

“That would explain why they’re having trouble... Normally there’s nothing wrong with a slow transition from friends to lovers, but in Yui’s case, I think she has some overblown ideas about what romance is actually like.”

“Yeahhhh... Yui’s always been the kind of girl who wants a knight in shining armor... but I like that about her, to be honest.”

Glad to see Iori gets it. “That’s exactly why I want to make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”

“So I guess we’ll need Mr. Boyfriend to man up, huh? Problem is, Aoki’s all talk. When push really comes to shove, he just pees his pants... I mean, not literally , obviously!”

“Oh, thank god. I was about to say!”

No offense, but I would not let Yui date some guy who pees his pants!

“To be honest, I think he’s doing alright in the boyfriend department. He’s really patient, and he always puts her needs first.”

Honestly, his dedication had long since earned my respect.

“But I can’t deny that his class-clown schtick brings out the worst in her.”

“Hmmm,” Iori murmured pensively to herself.

“It kinda feels like he’s going out of his way to coddle her today... I wish I could do something to help them hit their stride. I really want their relationship to work out.”

But my mind was a blank, so instead I glanced around. There, I spotted what looked to be a college-aged couple having a picnic. Meanwhile, here I was, sitting on a bench with another girl beneath the clear blue sky, worrying about my friends’ love lives.

“...Now that I think about it, you’re the ‘mom friend’ of the CRC, aren’t you, Iori?”

“Speak for yourself! You’re the one fretting over Yui and everyone else!”

Just then, a preschool-aged little boy walked by, hand in hand with (who I assumed to be) his mother. He was screaming with delight; she was wearing an exasperated smile. It was a heartwarming sight, to say the least.

“I wish I had a boyfriend,” Iori said after a moment.

“God, same,” I agreed.

We exchanged a look... then let out a big sigh.

Enough! Forget it! Today’s not about me—it’s about my friends and their partners having a good time. And I’m gonna do whatever I can to make that happen, even if they hate me for it...

But come tomorrow morning, I’ll start looking for my OWN romance!

—Taichi and Inaba: Date Pt. 1—

After their park date, Taichi and Inaba headed back to the meetup spot. Once everyone had reunited, Kurihara gave her next order:

“It’s almost noon, so let’s head to our next destination. By the time we get there, it’ll be the perfect time to have lunch.”

“Lunch! ” exclaimed Nagase, Kiriyama, and Nakayama in perfect unison.

And so the eight of them started walking, chatting amongst themselves. Eventually, Kurihara led them to the entrance of a large shopping mall, home to a major department store and some other clothing retailers. With a variety of restaurants nearby, it was the perfect choice for a date.

Most striking of all, however, was the large, prominent ferris wheel built into the fifth floor of the six-story building. Each night, they would turn on all the multi-colored lights, turning the ordinary attraction into a breathtaking sight to behold.

“It’s been a while since the last time we were here,” Taichi commented quietly, craning his neck up at the building. The ferris wheel was framed on all sides by the clear blue sky; he could only imagine how freeing it would feel to go for a ride on it right now.

As he thought about it, his stomach rumbled slightly. First things first, it was time for lunch.

Together, all eight of them traveled to the food court, where more than ten different restaurants awaited them.

“Alright, guys! From here on, we’re pairing off again for a fun little meal date! Iori and I will come by and check on you a little later, so be sure to email me once you’ve picked a place to eat,” Kurihara explained.

And so lunchtime began in earnest.

“Wh-Where should we go, Ishikawa-kun?” Nakayama asked.

“Anywhere’s fine with me. Are you craving anything in particular?”

“O-Oh, um... I could go for a beef bowl!”

“Sounds good to m—”

“HOLD IT!” Kurihara interrupted loudly, pointing her finger at Nakayama. What’s her problem?

“Wh-What’s wrong, Yukina-chan?”

“Nakayama-chan! What kind of girl wants to eat beef bowls with her boyfriend?!”

“Wh... What’s wrong with that?!”

“You’re on a DATE! Your FIRST DATE with your BOYFRIEND! In what world would a girl suggest beef bowls ?! TRY AGAIN!”

“H-Help me! Yukina-chan’s scaring me...!”

“Look, Kurihara, if it’s what Nakayama wants... N-Never mind,” Ishikawa muttered, wilting under the pressure of Kurihara’s fierce glare despite being twice her size.

“Okay, where should we go...?”

“Feel free to choose whichever one you want, Yui! I don’t mind! I’ll eat whatever you want to eat!”

Like Ishikawa, Aoki was content to let his girlfriend make the call. Taichi wasn’t sure it was all that honorable to foist that burden onto the girls, but it wasn’t his place to say anything.

“Hmmm... Pasta... Omurice... Tonkatsu... Hmm? Ooh, this place is doing a limited-time special for extra-large sides of rice! That’s a great deal! We should—”

“HOLD IT!” Kurihara roared for the second time.

“Wh-What?”

“Why would a girl get excited about a little extra rice?! What are you, Japanese or something?!”

“We’re all Japanese, genius,” Taichi retorted under his breath.

“B-But... I had an early breakfast, so I’m starving...”

“I mean, if it’s what Yui wants,” Aoki offered helpfully.

“When you’re on a date, you always eat less than your boyfriend! That’s the rule! I’ll take you out for all-you-can-eat barbecue next week, but for today, you’re gonna have to suck it up! Only pig out when you’re with your girls!”

“Yukina-chan really cares about keeping up appearances, doesn’t she? So why is she admitting all this right in front of the guys...?” Nagase wondered aloud to herself.

“I can’t eat when I’m with my boyfriend...? Maybe I shouldn’t date guys after all...”

“Fight it, Yui! Fight your hunger for rice! Do it for me!”

Meanwhile, Nakayama was still at an utter loss.

“If... If I can’t have beef bowls, then what can I have...? Barbecue...? No, that’ll just make her madder...!”

As for Inaba, she stared dismally at everyone else.

“This is completely asinine. Taichi, let’s go to that one.”

“Sure.”

They decided so quickly, Kurihara didn’t even get the opportunity to shout at them... but deep down, Taichi had a feeling she’d get her revenge in the end.

Once they were seated, Taichi ordered the Salisbury steak, and Inaba ordered the spaghetti napolitan. They chatted idly while they waited, and before long, their food arrived. They pressed their hands together, said a quick itadakimasu , and tucked in.

“Yeah, I definitely made the right call. The quality and portion size are a total steal for the price.”

“Oh, Inaba. Only you would choose a restaurant based on the price of the food.”

Together, they ate and talked at leisure.

“You know what I think? The potato is the world’s most efficient food. It’s cheap, and you can prepare it in all sorts of ways, all of which are delicious.”

“Yeah, but I’d say french fries are probably—”

Taichi heard two perfectly synced voices on his right:

“BORING!”

It was—you guessed it—Kurihara Yukina and Nagase Iori.

“Why are you guys over here talking about the cost performance of potatoes?! I mean, it’s not the worst thing ever, but you sound like you’re 80!” Kurihara exclaimed. Then she hailed the waitress. “I’ll take an iced coffee, thanks.”

“Make that two!” Nagase added. “Man, you guys really are an old married couple, aren’tcha?”

“Is this your plan? To gatecrash all the dates? Well, whatever. What’s wrong with being an ‘old married couple,’ anyway? Isn’t that the end goal?” Inaba asked.

“Whoa... I thought I could get her to switch into Ina-bashful Mode, but apparently not! Inaban, you’re getting too comfortable. Your relationship’s growing stale!”

“Don’t be absurd. This is what peak performance looks like. Isn’t that right, Taichi?”

“How should I know? But yeah, I mean, I think things are fine just the way they are.”

“Yeah, I’d say you’ve fostered a healthy relationship,” declared the great Kurihara-sensei.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“The only thing you need to worry about is routine. Once something becomes routine, it’s really easy to get bored.”

“Routine...?”

“Bored...?”

On second thought, maybe she had a point.

“Yeah. Just don’t forget to trot out Ina-bashful Mode every now and then and you should be fine,” Nagase nodded.

“Don’t worry, she does! But now that you mention it... I guess it has gotten a bit more infrequent lately.”

“T-Taichi!” Inaba’s watery voice grazed his ears. “Are you saying you’ll get bored of me if I don’t do my bashful schtick?! Is that it?!” she wailed.

“Of course not, silly. Relax.”

“But—but if acting bashful strokes your ego, then maybe I should do it more openly!”

“What? It doesn’t stroke my ego! Can we maybe not treat your affection like it’s something you need to regulate?!”

“There we go! Now that’s the Ina-bashful we all know and love! Keep it up!” Nagase cheered. Personally, Taichi would’ve liked her to mind her own business a little more.

“Now then, Yaegashi, don’t you have something to say?” Kurihara demanded.

Okay, seriously, is she turning into Fujishima or what?

“I-Inaba...”

“Y-Yes?” Inaba replied, looking back at him like a puppy who heard her owner calling.

“It doesn’t matter how sappy you act with me. I’ll always love you regardless.”

“Right... Thanks. I love you, too. Hee hee.” She blushed and hung her head shyly.

“INA-BASHFUL MODE ACTIVATE!” Nagase shouted.

But a split-second later, Inaba was back to acting as though none of it had ever happened. “There’s your obligatory lovey-dovey content. See? Totally stroked your ego, didn’t it?”

“You were acting?! ” Nagase retorted before Taichi could.

“To be clear, that did not stroke my ego... At least, I don’t think it did,” he added belatedly. “For the record, though, were you really just acting? Because I feel like you’re just trying to pretend you were.”

“Hmmm,” Kurihara mused pensively. “Well spotted, Yaegashi. Now why would Inaba-san want to frame it that way?”

“Because... she’s embarrassed...?” Perhaps that was tactless of him; he glanced over at Inaba for confirmation.

Surprisingly, instead of snapping at him for “putting words in her mouth” or some such, she simply stared down at her hands in silence. Then, after a moment, her face flushed beet red, all at once.

“D-Dumbass! How else am I supposed to get away with it?!”

Wait... So I was right?

“If I didn’t bury it in a few layers of irony, I... I’d die of humiliation! That’s it—Ina-bashful Mode has been disabled! Sucks to be you!”

“You can disable it?” Nagase asked.

“Sure. It’s only a fraction of my personality, you know. I can control it entirely at will. And now I’m never going to be lovey-dovey with him ever again.”

“Whoa, whoa! Leave the peanut gallery out of this!”

“Don’t worry, Taichi, I’m still in love with you and all that. I just won’t be cute with you anymore... Wait, but what will that look like? What is ‘lovey-dovey,’ when you get right down to it? How does it differ from plain old being nice to someone...?”

Suddenly the conversation had veered into semantics.

“If I disable Ina-bashful Mode, how will I show affection to my boyfriend...? How will our relationship even function...?!”

She was starting to panic.

“Relax, Inaba. You’re overthinking it.”

“Taichi! Don’t you think maybe you’re too distant with me?! Come to think of it, I’ve never seen you get bashful at all! How do you express your love for me?! Where am I supposed to look for it?!”

“Come on, don’t ask me those kinds of questions. You know I won’t find an answer right away, and then we’ll both start freaking out!”

AM I too distant with her? How DO I express my love, anyway? Am I screwing up our relationship?

“Crap... Now you’ve got me paranoid...”

Suddenly the spotlight was focused on a bunch of minor details he never questioned before, and he was forced to evaluate his past behavior. He knew he needed to find answers to these questions, but he also knew there was no one “correct” answer for any of them, and so he found himself conflicted...

“Wait, why am I letting this get to me?!”

Meanwhile, Nagase and Kurihara talked amongst themselves:

“They’re starting to panic. Should we do something, Yukina-chan?”

“They’re panicking for a good reason... probably. Real talk, their relationship was getting too stable anyways. These two need a little drama to spice things up every now and then! They can handle it!”

“You sure about that...?”

And so the two troublemakers came in like a wrecking ball, did their damage, and beat a hasty retreat.

After each couple had eaten their Kurihara-sanctioned meals of pasta or omurice or whatever, they all met back up in the food court.

“Haah...”

After the nightmare their two “instructors” had foisted upon them, Taichi was exhausted. And if he couldn’t even relax during lunchtime, he had a feeling he was in for one hell of a day.

“Next, we’ll all be doing some window shopping! Or regular shopping, if you see something you want to buy. Otherwise, feel free to just browse! I’ll be wandering around nearby, so if I see you, I might step in to help out.”

As Kurihara grinned, Kiriyama and Nakayama shuddered in perfect sync.

◆◆◆

“Today, I want you all to keep in mind that you’re on a date, okay?”

“Try to envision yourselves as a normal, loving couple! Just... don’t go overboard like Taichi and Inaban!”

And so, following that frankly offensive remark, Taichi and Inaba (and the others) were sent on their merry way.

“Be normal” was possibly some of the worst advice he’d ever received. It made it impossible to just be himself. That said, he at least had an idea of how to spice up their usual routine... Yeah, let’s stay optimistic about this.

“So... shall we hold hands?” he asked.

“Uh... Certainly.”

“Why so formal...?”

“You started it!”

“Rrgh...”

Holding hands wasn’t something they always did on their dates, and if he thought too hard about it, he’d always start to feel embarrassed.

Nevertheless, he gently took Inaba’s small, soft, slightly sweaty hand in his and held it firmly—not too tightly, but not too gingerly, either. Just enough so he could feel her pulse. Then she gripped him back, and he adjusted slightly. Is this good? Maybe a little less tight? When he focused on what he was doing, suddenly it didn’t come as naturally anymore.

“Why are you wriggling your hand around like that?” Inaba demanded, her tone a mix of annoyance and embarrassment.

“I’m just not sure how tight to hold it...”

“Just do it normally! You know, like that couple over there!” She jerked her head to the right, and Taichi glanced in the direction she indicated.

“Oh, you! Hahaha!”

“Hee hee! Stop it, silly!”

This couple was, in Taichi’s estimation, the textbook definition of lovey-dovey. He couldn’t bear to look at them, so instead he looked at the floor. His hands felt excessively sweaty now. Sure, they looked happy—he couldn’t deny that—but he just wasn’t comfortable with that level of affection, personally speaking.

He glanced over at Inaba to find her watching the other couple like a hawk.

“Inaba?”

“...Oh, sorry. It’s nothing.”

Her pace quickened as she moved closer, as if to give the lovebirds a wide berth. What’s gotten into her? She seemed weirdly conscious of their presence. Did she find them weird, or... did she secretly wish her relationship was like that? Truth be told, Taichi knew he should just ask her outright, but he got the feeling he’d missed his chance to do so.

There were so many different kinds of romantic relationships. What kind did Inaba want to have? What kind did he want to foster? What was the right answer?

“A normal, loving couple,” Inaba murmured to herself in contemplation.

As for Taichi, he wasn’t really sure what to say.

“Rrrgh! Goddamn it! How the fuck are we supposed to ‘act normal’?!”

“You could start by swearing less, maybe?”

“Not happening!”

The more they focused on breaking routine and being more normal , the more irritated Inaba became. Fortunately, as they went around from store to store, her mood steadily improved over time.

On one hand, neither of them were of the impulse-buying persuasion, so this whole “window shopping” assignment felt kind of stupid—but on the other hand, it was still fun to walk around and compare the different storefronts.

“I actually sort of liked that store. Maybe I’ll stop by again next time I have some money,” Inaba mused. By this point, her annoyance had faded completely, replaced instead by a thirst for adventure. “Alright, let’s check this one next. The perfect place for couples, am I right?”

She pointed to a nearby jewelry store. The prices weren’t outrageous, per se, but... well, it was still jewelry. Certainly nothing a teenager could easily afford. And until today, Taichi had never set foot inside one.

“Are you sure we should? Not like we’re going to buy anything... Don’t you think we’ll be out of our depth in there?”

“Think of it this way: we’re not window shopping , we’re just planning ahead . Every mission needs a little recon, right? And if we can conquer this battle, then we’ll be the coolest couple at school. Let’s go.”

“It does seem like a worthwhile experience—hey! Slow down!”

Nevertheless, Inaba strode briskly right into the store. She often claimed to be a coward, but she could be downright fearless when she put her mind to it. Taichi followed after her.

The store interior was uniformly beige in color, its surfaces polished thoroughly to create a pristine outward image. Somehow it felt vastly inappropriate to come in here wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

“Welcome!” said the well-dressed female saleswoman.

Dozens upon dozens of tiny gems gleamed in the light. This was the sort of sparkle no human hands could ever attempt to reproduce, which explained why they were seen as such a significant gift. Ideally he hoped to get something like this for Inaba one day, but...

He knew it was rude to check the price tags openly, so instead he glanced at them briefly as they went. One—two—three—four zeroes. A hefty sum, to be sure.

“Are you looking for anything in particular?” the saleswoman asked, approaching them. Evidently, the employees here didn’t waste any time.

“Well, uh...” he faltered.

He could feel himself start to panic. After all, he couldn’t very well tell her they were just browsing for fun, but if he tried to lie about what they were “looking for,” he had the feeling it would come back to bite him in the end...

Thankfully, Inaba promptly came to his rescue. “I wanted to take a look at your rings for sale.”

“Oh, perhaps a matching set? Certainly! Anything specific you have in mind?”

“Uhhh...” This time it was Inaba’s turn to hit a brick wall. She looked to him.

“Do you have any, um, recommendations, or... bestsellers, or something?” Taichi stammered.

“Maybe on the lower end of the price scale?” Inaba added helpfully.

“In that case, you’ll probably want to look at these. The designs are simplistic, but they go great with any style...”

The employee launched into her sales pitch, explaining the rings’ popularity, alloy composition, and market value. The price was... not entirely infeasible, but still more than Taichi happened to have on hand that day.

“Do you actually want to buy these?” Taichi whispered.

“Don’t be stupid. I wouldn’t buy something like this on impulse. Let’s just wait around for a while before we leave.”

“But how long is ‘a while’?”

“I don’t know, okay?! Just... do whatever!”

“Anything I can help you with?”

“N-No, no. Don’t mind us!”

“It’s her job to ‘mind us,’ genius!” She lightly kicked the back of Taichi’s knee.

At the same time, Taichi heard another customer giggle somewhere behind him. Of course, it was entirely possible they were laughing at something else, but... he had the sneaking suspicion they were laughing at him and Inaba.

“Would you like to try them on? What are your sizes?”

“Our...”

“...sizes?”

The two of them stared blankly back at her.

“Your ring sizes, I mean. If you don’t know off the top of your head, I can always measure you, if you like.”

“Oh, uhh... Yes please,” Inaba nodded. For once, she seemed a bit thrown off to have encountered a gap in her knowledge.

“Heehee! So cute!” said a voice behind them.

“Warms my heart,” said another.

This time Taichi was sure they were talking about him and Inaba, so he turned. There stood a beautiful woman on the arm of a handsome man—both in their mid-twenties, and both so impeccably dressed, Taichi half-wondered if they’d walked in from a magazine photo shoot. The woman was wearing a cardigan over a modest dress, and the man was rocking a visibly expensive three-piece suit. Perhaps it was an odd observation, but... to Taichi, they both seemed to match their clothes. Everything about them screamed grown adult couple .

When she noticed Taichi’s gaze, the woman grinned. “Hang in there, little boyfriend.”

His heart skipped a beat.

“I miss those days, back when I was sweet and innocent like you!” she continued with a dreamy sigh.

“Now, now. Don’t tease him too much,” the man laughed. “Sorry about her,” he added to Taichi.

“It... It’s fine,” Taichi replied weakly.

Then the twenty-somethings wandered off to a different sales clerk and asked for something he couldn’t quite hear. The clerk opened a nearby jewelry case and took out a few different items. It was like a scene out of a movie, or maybe a how-to guide for how to act in a jewelry store.

Compared to this other couple, he and Inaba were decidedly lacking in etiquette. All of a sudden, he felt rather ashamed to be standing there at all. His body felt like it was on fire. Oh god, what if I start sweating? He wanted to bolt, but he couldn’t. Not with his girlfriend standing right there. He needed to put her needs first and—

“It’s our first time in a jewelry store, so we appreciate the help,” Inaba said firmly.

Actually, no—her voice wasn’t really that firm at all. He could hear it wavering ever so slightly. That was how he knew she was trying to hide her fear and embarrassment.

Here in this store, no one but him could possibly understand her feelings. That was fine, of course. Everyone else could go ahead and take her words at face value. There’s a first time for everything , as they say.

Perhaps an outside observer would question why Taichi was taking her comment so seriously, but to him—to them—it was something special. Just like their relationship.

“Could you measure me, too?” Taichi asked. Then, with all the bravery he could muster, he added: “Also, could we take a look at these rings over here? I think they’d look really cute on her.”

Maybe for now it was still too early, but... sometime in the future, he definitely wanted to get her one.

—Nakayama and Ishikawa: Date Pt. 1—

Thinking back over the course of the day’s events makes me, Nakayama Mariko, want to scream internally.

Obviously I’m excited to go on my first date with Ishikawa-kun! Totally! But I kinda wanted to wait until I was confident that I could act like a real girlfriend, y’know? Because there’s a lot of pressure that comes with that package.

I’ve got no problems with casually chatting with him before or after class, since it’s not much different from any other friendship. It’s fun! But meeting up outside of school means the spotlight is focused entirely on the “romance” part of our relationship, so he’ll get a look at the kind of girlfriend I am. And that means I can’t afford to screw up, or else he’ll change his mind about me!

Still, I knew I couldn’t keep putting it off forever. So when Yukina-chan organized this triple date, I decided to keep my chin up and look at it as a valuable opportunity. I told myself I would try really, really hard to seem like a cool girlfriend!

Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. In the heat of the moment, my brain keeps drawing a blank, and I end up spiraling into panic mode. At the park, I couldn’t act like my usual goofy self, and instead I clammed up completely! Then at lunch, I failed to pick something girly! The whole day’s been one screw-up after another, and now I’ve proved myself to be a totally undateable hot mess. Mariko the Mess.

I’ve failed to even act normal , much less make myself look cool and desirable. Now I hate my own guts. Why am I so stiff and awkward?! At the rate I’m going, I won’t ever—Gah! Stop! No negativity, remember? Don’t throw in the towel yet! It ain’t over till it’s over, Mariko! There’s gotta be some way I can make a comeback!

I’m just going to have to find a way to show off during our window shopping... Something that’ll make him fall even harder for me... Something that’ll prove my worth as a cool girlfriend! I’m gonna make him desperate for me, baby! Oh, gosh, that sounds kinky...

“Nakayama? Are you listening?”

“...Huh?! Oh! Yes! How can I help you?!”

“Why do you sound like a telephone operator...?”

Hah! Nice one, I think to myself, before realizing a moment too late that I should’ve just said it out loud. Man, what’s gotten into me today? Normally I never think before I speak!

“We’ve already checked all the stores that interest me, so I was thinking it’s your turn to choose,” Ishikawa-kun continues.

Alright, it’s time to show off my good taste! If the stuff I like is cool, then it’ll reflect positively on me, and in turn, it’ll make ME cool! No more Mariko the Mess!

“Maybe a clothing boutique for starters?”

Limiting my options, eh? Actually, now that I think about it, this place is chock full of clothing stores, so maybe it’s the obvious choice.

To be honest, I don’t really care that much about clothes; I’ll wear anything as long as it fits me. Well, okay, maybe not anything —I can at least tell when something is blatantly tacky—but it’s not like I go on some big hunt for specific brands or whatever. A lot of places sell reasonably cute clothes these days, so I just go with what’s most convenient.

But I’m not about to tell him that, of course! Right now, my goal is to look at some cool, fashionable clothes... Come to think of it, I forgot to wear something special for today! Oh well. Too late now.

I don’t really know what the hottest brands are, but that’s okay, ’cuz my friends gave me a crash course in fashion last night! See, I had a feeling clothes were gonna come into play at some point, and I was right! I’m a genius!

“Ooh, can we go in here? They carry one of my favorite brands,” I declare confidently, and together we walk inside.

Look at me, shopping for clothes with a boy! I’m so excited! (Not in a pervy way or anything!)

“Interesting. So this is the sort of street fashion you prefer?” Ishikawa asks, mildly surprised.

But his surprise is fairly understandable, since the store is full of lacey, frilly, poofy stuff. You know, like fairies... or angels... or curtains, really... There’s a world of difference between this stuff and the hoodie I’m wearing right now. Fortunately it’s at least kind of plausible since I’m wearing a skirt today.

“Y-Yeah! I like to dress up real girly on the weekends!”

“But not today?”

“Oh, well, today I thought I’d wear something more casual for our date... Not that I put zero effort into my appearance or anything! I went all-out! I mean, uh, psych! This is just my usual style!”

Ugh, I’m just digging one hole after another. The floor’s gotta look like Swiss cheese at this point.

“Truth be told... I couldn’t get to sleep last night... you know... because I was so excited.” He turns away like he’s embarrassed, and this catches me off-guard, since he’s usually super stoic. I never expected he would let himself be vulnerable around anyone...

Then he looks at me, and I realize he’s waiting for my reaction.

“O-Oh, totally! Yeah, I was really nervous myself!”

I go on to explain how I’d double-checked the contents of my purse, like, four or five times that morning.

“Haha! You’re more of a worrywart than you let on, aren’t you?”

“Hey, c’mon! Nobody’s ever 100% happy-go-lucky, y’know! But yeah, I get that a lot.”

For once, we’re actually having a halfway decent conversation. I should probably try to figure out what makes this one different from all the others, but I can’t really tell. Anyway, back to business.

“Ooh, is this new? I like it!” I announce, grabbing an item off the rack at random.

It’s a frilly white dress—the kind of thing only a true girly-girl could pull off. If someone like me tried to wear it, I’d end up looking like a big white cotton ball. Sad, but true.

“How much is it? 15,000 yen?! Holy—I mean, uh...!” Fortunately, I stop myself just in time. Instead, I play it cool and say, “Yeah, I had a feeling it’d be somewhere in that ballpark.”

Hopefully it was convincing...

“Are you the type to spend a lot of money on clothes? I wish I could get it for you, but I’m afraid I don’t have that much to spare.”

“No, no, no! No need! I’m not that bougie! I wait for them to go on sale before I buy them, obviously!” I recite, quoting something one of my friends told me last night.

“Ah, I see. So you look at the new stock ahead of time to get an idea of what to look for during a sale.”

“Ooh, that’s pretty smart...”

“Is that not your current strategy?”

“No, yeah, totally! I mean, like, ‘Pretty smart, isn’t it? ’ You know?”

“Welcome! Cute dress, don’t you think?”

Oh crap, now the sales clerk’s here to hassle us! I’m so bad at talking to them! Nervous, I look at Ishikawa-kun... but the look on his face suggests he expects me to know how to handle the situation. Right, because I “shop here all the time.” Of course.

“Would you like to try it on?”

Oh god, here we go.

Whenever I get cornered into trying something on, I never have the courage to tell them if I didn’t like it, so I end up buying it anyway. That’s why I avoid stores with aggressive salespeople. As a result, I have next to no experience in declining their suggestions... Ruh-roh, gang! Mariko’s in a jam!

Naturally, I end up cornered into trying it on. My “can’t say no” powers are off the charts over here.

“...D-Do you think I should?” I ask.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t have the money for it...”

“Aren’t you just trying it on?”

“R-Right... I don’t have to buy it... I can say no... They don’t charge you a try-on fee, do they...?”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

Yeah, that was a dumb question. Apparently my anxiety’s going straight to my brain.

“Right this way!”

“You’ll come with me, right, Ishikawa-kun?!”

“S-Sure...”

The clerk leads us to the changing rooms, then hands me my frilly white girly-girl dress. Man, it’s been a long time since I wore one of these... I know how to put one on, obviously, but what do I do if I’m just trying it on temporarily? Do I take my clothes off, or should I leave my shirt on underneath? What about my socks?

“Would you like to try this on with it? It’s my favorite new trend.”

“Huh? Oh, uh, sure!”

I take it. It’s a big piece of fabric with lots of cutwork frills; I unfold it to find it’s in the shape of a triangle.

“...What is this, some kind of giant doily?”

“Pfft —sorry! It’s a shawl, sweetie!”

OH GOD SHE LAUGHED AT ME AAAAHHHHH

“Oh, right! One of those! I see now!”

You’re supposed to sort of... wrap it around your neck and shoulders, right? Yeah, I’ve heard of them... Not that I know how to wear one, though... And I’m pretty sure you have to wrap it in a certain way... Oh god, what do I do? I’m too embarrassed to ask her how to do it, but I know for a fact I can’t do it on my own! Do I tell her I don’t like it? No way! I can’t do that! I’d feel like a jerk! And I already feel guilty that this poor shawl got stuck with a fashion failure like me!

“Aren’t you going to try it on?” Ishikawa-kun asks.

“W-Will you come with me?!”

“What? Whoa, whoa. I don’t think that would be appropriate.”

“I... I can’t put this on all by myself!”

“I’m sorry, but male customers are not allowed in the women’s changing room.”

“Right! Of course not! Sorry! Nngh...!”

“You know, Nakayama... It seems to me that perhaps you’re not very well-versed in these types of—”

“What are you talking about?! That’s crazy talk! Hahaha! We should get some coffee! That’ll calm you down!”

Red alert! Abort mission! Evacuate to safety! I don’t care anymore—I may be a hot mess, but I’m getting outta here!

I know it shouldn’t be this hard for me, but... all this fashion stuff is just too overwhelming. Ugh, I wish I was a girly girl... Maybe then I could survive in situations like these!

—Kiriyama and Aoki: Date Pt. 1—

I didn’t think I’d say this, but... I, Kiriyama Yui, am having the time of my life!

“This is soooo cute!”

“Isn’t it? How do you feel about the white?”

“Ooooh, the white one’s really cute too... Tempting... No, I gotta go with pink!”

“Are you ready to complete your purchase?”

“Actually, I want to shop around a bit more before I commit.”

“No problem. Shall I hold these for you at the register?”

“Would you? That’d be great! I’ll be back in a bit!”

“See you soon.”

God, that pink accessory case is so adorable! I burn the memory into my brain. They really knocked it out of the park with that one.

“Yui-saaaan! Are you done yet?”

And that sales clerk was really nice, too! Clearly this store deserves my money.

“Uh, hello? Earth to Yui-saaaan?”

That said, my funds are limited... I need to be judicious in my purchases...

“Ugh... The road to cute is paved with good intentions...”

“What? What does that even mean, Yui?!”

“Oh, sorry. Don’t worry about it. Anyway, you can pick the next store... I guess I’ll go with you if I have to.”

“If you have to?! Rude much?! Well, luckily for you, I’m happy just going wherever you wanna go.”

In that case, we’d better hurry. Cute stuff is out there—and it won’t wait around forever!

“I’m just glad you’re having f—wait, where are you going?! Slow down!”

“Like I said, I’m going in there next!”

“I... I don’t think you said that, actually!”

“Okay, well, I did now! ...Oh, but this is really cute!”

Not sure why, but I keep finding the most adorable must-haves today. Maybe I have good taste in stores, or maybe it’s just my lucky day!

“Y-Yui?! That’s not the store you pointed at the first time! Where are you going?!”

So much cute, so little time!

◆◆◆

“Last event of the day! Woohoo!” Iori exclaimed when we all met back up at the scheduled time that evening.

“I feel like Nagase had more fun than any of us did,” I heard Taichi mutter.

To be honest, I had fun today, too. Lots of fun. But after we finished our shopping, Yukina totally got on my case, and then I realized:

This was supposed to be a date. Would a good girlfriend ignore her boyfriend and put her own desires first? Absolutely not. My actions were extremely selfish, and now I deeply, deeply regretted the way I acted.

“Can we go home now?”

“No! Suck it up, Inaban! Me and Yukina-chan have poured our hearts into this last round, okay?! We’re trying to guide you—especially the two gloomy little rainclouds over there!”

Right away, I knew one of those rainclouds was me. But who was the second? I glanced around... and when I saw her, I realized I probably could have guessed it without looking.

Nakayama-chan was standing there, hanging her head, like an abandoned puppy on the side of the road.

“Well, what are we doing next? Let’s hurry up and get it over with,” Inaba declared loudly, and I got the sense maybe she was trying to move things along for our sake.

“I’ve been observing you all today,” Yukina began, her tone serious, “and my biggest takeaway was this: Inaba-san and Yaegashi aside, the rest of you have some work to do before you’re a real couple.”

I slumped my shoulders.

“But believe it or not, sometimes all it takes is the right opportunity to get back on track,” Nagase exclaimed, before hitting us with a bombshell: “And that’s why we’re going to make you all play a round of King’s Game! All hail King Iori and Queen Yukina!”

Why can’t you both be queens? I thought to myself, but couldn’t find the energy to actually point it out.

I wanted to take the next step in our relationship, and I was willing to put in the effort... but for some reason, every conversation with Aoki inevitably turned into an argument. Not like a big serious argument, but still.

I wanted to be a good girlfriend. I wanted us to have a cute relationship. And I understood why Yukina got on my case. Obviously it wasn’t cool of me to focus completely on myself the whole time. But if I could make one excuse for my behavior, it would be this: I didn’t always act like that. I wasn’t constantly 100% self-focused.

Ugh, why today of all days?

I wanted to make Aoki happy, but today was a total bust...

Well, you know what they say—all’s well that ends well, right? So all I have to do is end the day on a high note!

Mentally, I reviewed the rules of our assignment as dictated to us by Yukina and Iori: no specified location, a 40-minute time limit, and a card with a “mission” that I needed to accomplish by the time we returned. They had us draw our cards at random, and we weren’t allowed to tell each other what our missions were.

“We’re not going to supervise you, so it’s up to you to actually see it through. We’ve given you all a plausible excuse, so use it!” Yukina had announced before sending us all on our way.

While she joked around a lot, it was clear she sincerely cared about us. Same with Iori; her teasing was just proof that she wanted us to have a good time. That’s why I wanted to put the effort in.

I’d been idling at the bottom of the staircase for a long time now, and with a little help from my friends, I’d finally taken my very first step. Now it was time for me to take the next.

My card contained the following mission: Hold your partner’s hand.

It was surprisingly simple, especially for a round of King’s Game, which could easily get as crazy as Truth or Dare. I’d braced myself for the worst only to end up... mildly disappointed, actually. But this was all the more reason for me to go through with it.

I looked up at Aoki Yoshifumi walking beside me. He was on the taller side—and not just compared to me, either. His build was lanky rather than toned, and he tended to smile and act silly a lot of the time... but he was always there when I needed him most. In that sense, he was easily the coolest guy I knew.

“Yui?”

“Huhwha?!”

I flinched as he called my name. He didn’t hear me thinking that just now, did he?

“I love you.”

“Ngyaaahh!”

“Wh-What’s wrong?!”

“W-Well, I... I wasn’t expecting that!”

“Yeah, I know, but...” He slid a hand into his pocket and pulled out his mission card.

“Oh, I get it. It was your mission.” Makes sense.

“I gotta say, that was way too easy! Did they forget who they’re dealing with?”

“Yeah... They probably wanted someone else to get stuck with that one,” I nodded.

These days, I understood exactly how much it took to confess your feelings out loud to the person they went out to. Anyone could drop a casual “I love you” to a friend, but when it came to a serious “I love you,” it was almost impossible.

But Aoki had made that serious confession to me dozens upon dozens of times now, because that was just the sort of guy he was. And I loved him, too, though it wasn’t as easy for me to say it. Still, there were other ways to express that sort of thing.

By holding hands, for example.

For a long, long time, my androphobia had prevented me from making any physical contact with guys. But if I could do it today, it would prove that I had overcome that trauma for good.

To this day, Aoki continued to put my needs first, the same way he had back when we were just friends. He never tried to initiate contact, be it serious or playful, and I got the sense he was waiting for me to make the first move.

If we were going to take the next step, then that was unmistakably it. It was all resting on my shoulders.

“Shall we walk around for a bit, or are you tired? Wanna sit for a bit? Oh, but knowing you, you’ve probably got horsepower in spades...”

“Don’t call it horsepower! Call it, like... girl power!”

“Why does everything gotta be ‘girl power’ with you...?”

We walked side by side, about one meter apart, with me trailing a half-step behind. I glanced at his hand. Jeez, Aoki’s got some big mitts. Then again, maybe they were actually pretty proportional to the rest of him. I always used to be afraid of his giant hands, but now that I looked at them, they seemed really gentle and protective.

All I had to do was take it—the same way I used to grab my dad’s hand when I was little. It was so simple... All I had to do was move my right hand and grab his left—

“Nngh...!”

—but for some reason, my hand wouldn’t move. Why? I was over my fear of men, so what was it? Why did my chest feel all fluttery, like I was heading into a championship match at a karate tournament?

Heart thumping, I exhaled slowly... but I was so busy trying to calm myself down while walking, I didn’t have the capacity to move any other part of my body. Seriously, what’s wrong with me?! It’s freaking me out!

My body refused to move... almost like something else was in control... but what? My nerves? My fears? My feelings for Aoki? God, what kind of stubborn mule am I if I can’t even hold a boy’s hand?

I didn’t want to stagnate at the bottom of the staircase. I wanted to make progress and have a real, serious, romantic relationship! I needed to do this... I needed to be better!

It was so simple, too—all I had to do was take one step closer to him, reach out, and take his hand. I could picture myself doing it with no trouble at all. There was literally no reason I shouldn’t have been able to do it for real... and yet I couldn’t. Why couldn’t I make it happen the same way I could in my head? Why was it so hard when it looked so easy? Honestly, I could imagine myself going a lot further!

Just be brave! No, that’s not the problem here... or is it? Ugh, I don’t know anymore!

I reached out—and instantly, this threw my other motions out of sync. My right hand started to move in time with my right leg, and my left hand with my left leg.

“Uh, Yui? Whatcha doin’? Did your mission tell you to walk like a robot?”

“No, stupid! Shut up!”

—Taichi and Inaba: Date Pt. 2—

“How’d it go, guys? If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s cool too... though I can probably guess,” Kurihara called as the three couples returned to the meetup spot.

Taichi nodded pensively. Indeed, it was obvious at a glance how their “missions” had gone. Aoki and Ishikawa both seemed perfectly fine, so they’d probably managed theirs without much trouble, but their girlfriends both looked like their souls had left their bodies. One look and he could hazard a guess at their problem: they were both overly eager to the point of ineptitude.

But though he knew their issues would be resolved if they could just act naturally, so too did he understand that it was easier said than done. He could try to advise them, but it wouldn’t help in the long run. Ultimately, this was something they would have to overcome on their own.

As for his and Inaba’s missions, well—in her words, “These ‘newbie couple’ missions were a total cinch.” If this triple date had happened a few months sooner, they might have struggled, but at this point in their relationship, “linking arms” and “sharing a drink” came naturally to them.

“Good effort out there today, everybody!” Kurihara announced, bringing the event to a close, and Kiriyama and Nakayama bit their lip in frustration—in perfect sync, too, almost like they’d planned it. “I’m sure not everything went as smoothly as you would’ve hoped, but just remember: there’s a first time for everything, and now you know what dates are like. Use this experience to guide you next time!”

At the end of Kurihara-sensei’s lecture, everyone got ready to go their separate ways—

“That said... I was planning to end the event after this, buuuut ...” Her eyes glinted sharply, and a moment later, her assistant Nagase jumped in to drop a bombshell:

“Since some of you seem like you could keep going, we’ve decided to throw in a BONUS STAGE! Yaaaay! ...Uh, hello?! Come on , guys! Were your missions really that soul-crushing?!”

Unfortunately, her good cheer had sailed right over everyone’s heads. Looks like I’ll need to help things along.

“Say what?! A bonus stage?!”

“Want some cheese with that ham? You seriously suck at acting, Taichi,” Inaba snarked.

Ouch... Destroyed by my own girlfriend.

“Tell me: what’s the crown jewel of this mall?” Nagase asked.

What do you mean, crown jewel? Taichi wondered. Then his gaze drifted upwards. There, it came into view: the giant red ferris wheel affixed to the fifth floor of the six-story building.

“Obviously we can’t end this date without riding it at least once, am I right?!” Nagase shouted.

At this, Kurihara grinned. “Two lovers plus one date plus one ferris wheel—the recipe for a perfect happy ending! Name a better combo, I’ll wait! Only thing I can think of to top this would be chicken nuggets, fries, and ketchup!”

Once Taichi had purchased their tickets, the two of them got in line for the ride, then boarded their assigned gondola. The interior was spacious enough for a group of four. Once the door was shut, the ferris wheel began to turn, and they steadily rose higher and higher... and considering they were already five stories high in the air when they started, well...

“Whoa... Great view,” Inaba murmured, impressed.

Something about the cityscape, tinged red beneath the sunset, evoked a bittersweet sense of melancholy. It made him think about the people who built this city long, long ago—the distant ancestors of the people who lived here today—and being so high above the very ground he himself had walked hours earlier filled him with a childish sense of glee.

There they were, caught in limbo between childhood and adulthood—a critical juncture in their lives, to be sure.

“We can see quite a ways from up here... I bet my house is somewhere over there.”

“What are you, five? Oh, there’s mine!”

“Liar. There’s no way you can see your exact house.”

As it turned out, riding the ferris wheel was a lot more fun than he’d expected. Before he knew it, they’d reached the top and started their slow descent... almost like they were racing against the sun.

Today was a long day, but now it’s over.

“That ended up being a pretty fun time, huh?” Taichi commented.

“It was nice to go on a capital-D ‘date’ for a change... even if it did get a little embarrassing at times.”

“Yeahhhh...” He had a feeling she was talking about the jewelry store.

“I mean, I’m not really that mad about it...”

Idly, Taichi wondered if he’d made a total idiot of himself back there... Yeah, probably. In his panic, he’d hidden behind Inaba like a complete coward, to the point that a woman ten years his senior had giggled at him. It was his job to take charge, and yet the task had fallen to his girlfriend instead... What did she think of him after that?

“I’m not judging you, you know. I barely had my shit together back there,” Inaba commented like she’d read his mind. “...What? Why so shocked? I know I’d feel the exact same way in your shoes, that’s all.”

As always, she was one step ahead of him. Had their positions been reversed, he could imagine that their reactions would have been nearly identical.

Below the gondola, he spotted two birds soaring through the sky, side by side.

“You know, today was kind of hectic, but... I think it’s shown that our relationship is perfect just the way it is.”

He didn’t know if it was fate that brought them together, or merely their bizarre circumstances, but he knew their bond was a peculiar one.

“After everything they criticized about us, I have to admit, it gave me pause,” Inaba replied. Then, after a moment, she finished, “But I like it this way.”

“You sure?”

“We don’t have to be like other couples. We should just be ourselves... and we should be damn proud of it, no matter who sees.”

Back in the jewelry store, they’d managed to act a bit more naturally right at the end—a quiet declaration of “This is who we are. Deal with it.”

“Honestly, I owe it all to you for making the first move,” Taichi admitted.

“And that’s fine. You have nothing to worry about, Taichi. You’re awesome just the way you are.”

How could he possibly doubt his girlfriend’s word? If she thinks I’m awesome, then I’m awesome. End of story.

“Besides... You were saying how you thought some of the rings would ‘look really cute on me,’ and... I don’t think I would’ve had the courage to say something like that... So yeah, I...”

She faltered and began to fidget. Times like these, it was Taichi’s job as her boyfriend to intuit what she was getting at.

“Look at us, all alone in here... Sure would be nice if we could be really mushy with each other for a change,” he mused aloud. Now to wait for her reaction.

“You’re such a ham... Okay, fine,” she muttered under her breath. “You’re so dreamy, Taichi! But I’m only saying it because I know you want me to! Tee hee!”

“Whoa! I don’t mind if you want to get lovey-dovey, but don’t pounce on me like that! You’re making the whole cabin shake!”

“I... I am NOT being lovey-dovey!”

—Nakayama and Ishikawa: Date Pt. 2—

“The sunset’s so bright, it’s blinding,” I murmured as I gazed out at the scenery. No joke, there were tears in my eyes... and after the day I’d had, I didn’t really blame myself.

I let out a self-deprecating laugh—

“Wait... Why are you laughing, Ishikawa-kun?!”

“Oh, sorry... Just thought that was funny.”

What part of it???

We’d been riding this ferris wheel alone together for the past twelve-ish minutes. Just him and me, sitting across from each other, nothing in our way... Yeah, I wasn’t doing so great.

“So, um... I wanted to say...”

Soon my date with Ishikawa-kun would come to an end, but first...

“...I’m really sorry about... y’know... how today went.”

And putting it into words only made me feel worse.

“What do you mean?”

“I feel like I’ve only shown you the absolute worst possible version of me! I was a total drag this morning, and an ungirly failure at lunch, and then I completely humiliated myself during the shopping trip...” Seriously, I could set a new world record for “biggest hot mess” right about now. “Plus, when I tried to hug you for my King’s Game mission, I ended up tackling you to the ground...”

“I admit, I really wasn’t expecting it. Still, I’m amazed you were able to take me down.”

“God, I’m so sorry!”

“No, don’t be. Your lower-body strength is something to be commended.”

“I swear, you’re the only guy on earth who would say that!” It’s kind of funny, actually. “Anyway... I’m sorry I couldn’t be the perfect girlfriend for you.”

“You were trying to be perfect?”

“Yeah... I wanted to give this relationship my best effort, y’know?”

I wanted him to see me as his bubbly, girly girlfriend, ‘cuz I figured that was what he wanted.

“Too bad I screwed it all up... Are you gonna dump me...?”

I knew it was cringey of me to ask, but I was scared out of my wits.

“Yeah.”

“You’re right. Thank you for—wait, WHAAAA?! Isn’t this the part where you reassure me and tell me I’m fine the way I am?!”

He’s going off-script! Code red! Sound the alarm!

“Sorry. That was a joke.”

“OH, THANK GOD! Dang it, Ishikawa-kun! I can never tell when you’re messing around! You jerk!” I thought you were dead serious!

“I figured you would play along, but I guess you didn’t pick up on it.”

“You’re darn right I didn’t! I thought it was over between us! But... it’s not, right?”

“It’s not, I promise. You honestly thought I was serious about it?”

Together, we heaved a sigh. Time to step back and calm down for a sec.

“I see... I didn’t realize you felt that way,” he muttered.

“What way?”

“I didn’t know you were actively trying to be perfect for me.”

“Yeah, I... Wait, what?”

He was completely right, and yet something felt a tiny bit off.

“I, er...” He paused for a minute, then began again. “I think perhaps I was looking at our relationship a bit differently. I know you fell for me due to my more... warrior-like qualities...”

I nodded.

“That said, I... Obviously I can’t change myself completely, but... I was thinking I ought to try to be more of a fun and cheerful person, like you.”

“Like me?”

“Naturally I can’t make myself into your perfect match, but... I do want to try.”

Apparently he wanted to change himself. Personally, I was fine with him as-is, but if it was what he wanted... How was I supposed to react? Tell him not to? No, that would be messed up!

Then I realized what exactly felt so off: relationships don’t exist solely for the other person’s benefit.

“But if I do change, I’m not sure how you’ll feel about the new me.”

“If you wanna transform from a warrior to a super-warrior, knock yourself out!”

“...A super-warrior...?”

“Yeah, y’know, like you’re evolving! Anyway, nah, don’t worry about it. You do you, my guy! You don’t have to live your life to please me.”

Like, duh, what a no-brainer. Being in a relationship should never stop you from being yourself! But what about me?

“...Was I wrong?”

Who stood to gain from me putting on an act? Ishikawa-kun? It might look that way, but no. I wanted him to think I was cool, so clearly I was doing it for my own benefit. Or, in the worst-case scenario, purely to stroke my own ego.

“...Ishikawa-kun...”

“What is it?”

“Can we pretend this date didn’t happen? Actually, no, that’s dumb. Can we... have a rematch? Sometime next week?”

“I’m free Sunday afternoon, if that works for you.”

He answered right away, with no hesitation. Just like a warrior! So manly!

“Alrighty! I hope you’ll be ready for me to give it one more try!”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m gonna try to have more fun next time around. And that way it’ll be more fun for you, too!”

Maybe next time I won’t care about what other people think. Seriously, what was I so hung up on back there? Dating someone isn’t about making them like you or changing yourself to suit their preferences. It’s about figuring out what you both need. Together.

“Fair warning, but I’m gonna kick it into high gear next time. Is that cool?” I asked, just in case.

“Good, because I don’t intend to be outdone.”

“Oh yeah?! You think you can keep up with High-Speed Mariko?!”

A normal girlfriend would probably act more demure and feminine in front of her boyfriend, but that just wasn’t the kind of girl I was. Besides, my way was more fun! And judging from the smile on Ishikawa-kun’s face, I got the feeling he was inclined to agree.

May our relationship prosper evermore... Amen.

—Kiriyama and Aoki: Date Pt. 2—

“Whoaaaa! Check it out, Yui! Look how high up we are!” Aoki exclaims with childlike glee as he peers through the glass of our gondola.

On any other day I would’ve been squealing right along with him, but after today, I’m completely devastated. Ugh, this sucks. I’m being such a buzzkill.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this would be such a catastrophe.

“What’s wrong, Yui? You seem kinda blue.”

Will Aoki get mad at me for ruining the mood? I know I sure would, if it was the other way around.

“Look, um... I’m sorry about earlier! I was supposed to hold hands with you for my mission, but I just couldn’t do it!”

Regret sets in as soon as the words leave my mouth. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him. Maybe it’ll hurt his feelings. I swear, I’m always like this. Me and my big mouth.

“Oh, gotcha. Darn... That’s a shame,” Aoki grins. But this only makes me feel worse.

Why aren’t you mad at me? Just get mad at me already! If you keep coddling me, I... I...

“...I’ll never be the kind of girlfriend you want...”

“Huh? You’re not breaking up with me, are you...?!”

“No, no, no! I’m not going to dump you!” Ugh, I can’t believe he made me say that out loud... So embarrassing...

“Whew! That’s a relief. Wait, but... then what did you mean?”

“Well, you know... I’ll never be a real, actual girlfriend.”

“What are you talkin’ about? Back when we first got together, you told me flat-out that it might be more like a regular friendship, remember?”

“Yeah, but...”

But dating is supposed to be “more special” than that.

“Uhh, Yui...?” There, for the first time, his expression grew concerned. “Did you... not have a good time today?”

Oh, NOW you look worried? It’s a little late for that!

“ ‘Cuz I was doin’ my best to show you a good time, and—”

“Yeah, I know! And your stupid coddling is partly why our date turned out the way it did!” I snap at him. I know I don’t have the right to get mad—if anything, Aoki’s the one who should be yelling right now—but I just can’t help it.

“Coddling , huh... Ugh, you’re right. Deep down, I had a feeling it probably wasn’t the right thing to do.” His expression turns grave. Regretful.

“Stop that! Look... it’s my fault, okay?!”

And if you blame yourself for my mistakes, I’m gonna feel like total trash!

“Listen... I know I’m a mess, but I still managed to go on that date with Misaki-chan, remember?”

I know you remember, because you were literally spying on us.

“I do want to take our relationship to the next level, but... whenever I’m with you, I just keep screwing it all up.”

Ugh, why am I throwing a pity party during the most romantic part of the date?! This is nothing like how I imagined it would be. I can’t do anything right. And now I’ve probably hurt Aoki, too.

“...So you only screw up because I’m around?”

For some reason, he seems kind of... pleased about this? I don’t understand.

“Yeah...?”

“So I make you self-conscious?”

“O-Of course you do, stupid! You’re my boyfriend!”

“So does that mean... you’re attracted to me after all?”

“Wha...?!”

I stare at him in shock. What? I don’t... understand...

My cheeks burn hot. Someone get me off of this stupid ride!

“Yui, wait! Yui ! Stay away from the door! It’s not safe!”

I snap to my senses. Yikes! What was I thinking?! Hastily, I sit back down.

Across from me, Aoki grins and leans back against the bench.

“Holy crap, I feel so much better now! For real, I was super worried you didn’t like me that way. I mean, I know you kept sayin’ you love me, and I figured you wouldn’t date me otherwise, but still...”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Embarrassed, I look out the window. At the top of the ferris wheel, the buildings had looked so tiny... but now they’re getting bigger again, and our view is shrinking. Soon our private time will come to an end.

“Honestly, now that I know you think I’m hot, I’d say today was a roaring success!”

“Will you shut up?!”

And wipe that stupid smirk off your face!

“Is that really all it takes to make you happy? To be honest, I think it’s kind of offensive that you’d feel insecure about that at all!”

“No offense intended! Like you said, I was just insecure, that’s all. I can’t always be Mr. Confident, y’know.”

That’s... actually kind of a surprise. I wasn’t expecting him to have insecurities, and if he did, I wouldn’t think he’d reveal them to me. I mean, he always seems so confident...

“Do you just try to act cool whenever I’m around?”

“...Even if that was true, you know I can’t say yes to that. Otherwise I’d have to hand in my man card.”

“Pffft.” I laugh in spite of myself.

As it turns out, Aoki has worries of his own, the same as anyone else... All of a sudden, I feel like I can relate to him a lot more. Deep down, part of me always believed he was untouchable in a way I could never be. Of course, I can’t tell him that... Not right now, at least. Maybe someday.

Anyway.

“I’m sorry I made you feel insecure about my attraction to you.”

“C’mon, no need to apologize.”

“B-But... I can’t even do the most basic girlfriend things!”

“Like what?”

“Huh? Oh, uh... Well, you know... When you date someone, you’re supposed to start by holding hands, or linking arms...”

“I think that’s the wrong way to look at it,” Aoki says with a frown. “Alright, I don’t think I need to mince words here,” he mutters to himself under his breath, then continues, “Dating isn’t about crossing items off a checklist.”

Oh. Well, when you put it that way, you might be right. But then what is the point?

“Dating is about sharing our lives with each other. As long as we’re happy, it doesn’t matter what that looks like.”

Good grief... This idiot. I swear, he has some kind of superpower where he always knows exactly what to say.

“Ugh, you loser... You’re so dreamy,” I retort. Then, a moment too late, I realize what I said.

“Huh? Dreamy? For reals?! You think I’m dreamy?! Hell yeah!”

“No! I...”

He gives me the sad puppy-dog eyes. Ugh, that’s cheating and you know it!

“...Okay, fine. Yes, you’re dreamy.”

“Dreamy, huh... That’s awesome! Rock on, me!”

“Aaaand just like that, the magic is gone.”

“Noooo ! C’moooon!”

You know, it’s funny. Everything about this is so stupid; it’s not how I wanted it to play out at all. Our relationship is nothing like the kind of storybook romance you see on TV... and yet... that’s what makes it so unique . From now on, the two of us are going to share our lives together the way only we can.

Looking back, that triple date was completely ridiculous... but hey, that’s how we got our start. Same for Nakayama and Ishikawa, probably. Like it or not, we’ve now officially taken our first step. Sure, it wasn’t all roses, but in the end, I’m grateful to Yukina for what she did for us—even if she did kinda bite my head off.

I couldn’t complete my King’s Game mission, but... maybe I can take my second step while I’m at it. Sure, why not? I may as well ask him...

“Hey, so... what’s the one thing you want from me the most right now?”

“A kiss!”

Ugh!

“Hey! Don’t kick me!”

I’m trying to throw you a bone here! Don’t ruin it!!!