Chapter 10 ~ Honest?

Lunchtime finally arrives. I devour my pastries^[1] faster than usual. There wasn't a meetup time set, but I don't want to keep them waiting long. I'm so nervous that the bread sticks in my throat. I force it down with some tea and leave my seat.

"Take care, and good luck."

"Thanks. I'll see you later."

Tomoka-chan sees me off as I leave the classroom. The hallway's deserted this early into lunch, and I look down as I walk. Rambling thoughts bubble up and disappear in response to my dull, troubled heartbeat.

I wonder what kind of person will show up behind the gym? I think the cute, careful writing is a girl's, but what should I do if it's a boy? Neither ultimately changes my rejection, but it'll be scary if it's a strong guy.

Or, rather, is this meetup gonna be the confession? Or is it even a confession in the first place? Tomoka-chan denied it, but it's possible this isn't a confession and there's something else they want to tell me. This could have even been a simple prank from the start, and another possibility is that no one's gonna appear behind the gym, after all.

With all those theories piling up in my head, I head through the hall and descend the stairs. I pass down a walkway lined with water coolers. In that fleeting instant, I think of Ren and, for just a moment, forget my dull heartbeat. The figure of a girl bursts into the empty space of my mind.

Leaning against the wall, a girl loiters as I finally arrive behind the gym. She absently stares at the ground, lost in thought.

Hearing my footsteps, she lifts her head and turns toward me. Her full figure comes into view.

She's as tall as Ren, and looks intellectual. Unlike Ren's ever-lingering cuteness, her nervous eyes distort her expression. Her gaze is strong enough to pierce right through me.

I know that look. A moment later, I remember who it belongs to.

She's Ren's teammate, the one who was staring intently at me yesterday.

"Um, I'm sorry to keep you waiting. Were you the girl who wrote to me yesterday, about meeting here?"

"Yes. My name's Shimamoto Rira.^[2] I'd like to have a talk with you today, Kawai-senpai."

The girl, Shimamoto Rira, deftly spins her words, leaving no room for doubt. That clarity, divorced from any nervousness, makes me hope for a moment that this isn't a confession. That hope withers the very next instant, however.

"Please go out with me, senpai."

Her honest, unwavering statement rattles my eardrums. She's so concise and direct that I'm stunned, my aimless words stumbling out of my mouth.

"Um, ah, what made you want to go out with me?"

"Well... I fell in love at first sight," Shimamoto-san replies, looking away in embarrassment.

Her cheeks aren't changing color, however, so I believe she's a mature, reliable girl, as I recall Ren's vermilion-tinted cheeks from yesterday. I can't believe a girl like this fell for me with one look. Even so, I know I have a responsibility to respond to her honesty.

"I'm sorry," I say, looking her right in the eyes. "I'm happy you feel this way, but I still don't really understand love or romance, so I can't go out with you."

I say exactly what I'm thinking like Tomoka-chan told me to: sincerely and politely.

However, our line of thought, which should have been straight, wavers instead. It breaks somewhere before Shimamoto-san's eyes. Despite her levelheadedness, she starts to come undone.

She grabs onto my shoulders, shaking me. "Uhh then that's a problem. I don't know what to do if you won't date me! Because, otherwise Ren..." she chatters. Then her eyes widen as she lets Ren's name slip, like she forgot herself.

"Uhh, hold on. I'm sorry... please excuse me. That's all," Shimamoto-san says, as if drowning out her previous sentence. She speeds off, leaving me in her dust. She crosses the walkway, past the water coolers.

I watch her back, dumbfounded. The collar of my uniform is wrinkled from where she grabbed me.