After returning from Kinosaki Onsen, a little over a week had passed since I became aware of my feelings for Ren. Today was the day I’d decided to invite Ren out to hang out for the first time since then. Inviting him out on the day of, with no advance notice, was the kind of move where getting turned down would be totally understandable, but over the past week, I’d tried to ask Ren out so many times, only to lose my nerve and give up every single time. The simulation in my head should have been perfect by now. All I had to do was type and send, “Are you free today? Let’s meet up at the usual game center by Akihabara Station,” in the LINE chat. And yet, I just couldn’t do it. The exact same sentence I used to be able to send without thinking was, for some reason, now something I couldn’t even bring myself to type.

“Just type it… just type it first…”

I crawled under the futon in my room, muttering to myself. But really, it was just typing. Just typing that sentence and pressing the send button. That was all. And yet, just opening the chat with the account labeled Amemiya Ren made my heart pound so hard it felt like it might jump out of my chest. What if I sent a message now and he was asleep? What if the notification sound woke him up and bothered him? Or what if I suddenly sent something like this and he thought I was being weirdly conscious of him? Those empty, pointless thoughts spun around and around in my head, and before I knew it, I was back at square one without any conclusion at all.

“Girls need guts. Girls need guts.”

At this rate, nothing was going to get done. Thinking that, I jumped out of the futon, stood up, and, carried by the momentum, planted myself in the middle of the room in a wide stance. I let out a long breath, forcefully reset my thoughts, and without thinking about anything, typed out the message inviting him out today. For a moment, doubts threatened to surface. Was the way I worded it really okay? Wouldn’t he think it was strange? Did I mess up the sentence somehow? But I crushed those thoughts by sheer force and, with my brain completely shut off, pressed the send button.

My message was sent at an incredible speed.

“Phew… I finally sent it… wait, I already got a reply!?”

Just when I thought I’d finally managed to contact Ren and invite him out like I’d been hoping to, my phone notified me of his reply almost instantly. I was a little scared to look at it, but I steeled myself and checked what he’d sent. There it was: “Oh, okay. Rhythm games again today?” Seeing that he didn’t seem to think anything weird of me, I let out a relieved breath and sent another reply: “Yeah. Let’s go play rhythm games.”

After that, we decided to meet up at the usual game center sometime in the early afternoon, and just as I was about to start getting ready, buzzing with excitement, I opened my closet—and fell into despair. …I don’t have any new clothes! Well, it’s not like I can’t just wear what I usually do, but since I was finally going out alone with Ren, I really wanted to wear something new and cute. And yet, I don’t have anything new. What should I do…? No, I know. I know there’s nothing I can do but give up. It’s pretty much guaranteed that there’s no time to go out and buy new clothes now. I could try borrowing something from Yukina or Nagisa, but the sizes probably wouldn’t fit. Yukina is taller than me, and Nagisa’s chest… is bigger than mine. Well, Nagisa usually wears loose, streetwear-style clothes, so I might be able to wear one of her clothes, but since she lives a bit farther away, I probably wouldn’t have time to go borrow anything anyway.

Guess I’ve got no choice but to give up… I thought that far and slumped my shoulders in defeat. I really wanted Ren to see me in some new clothes and praise me for it. I wanted him to think, even just a little, that I looked cute. But it looks like that’s just not going to happen. Or so I thought—

“Ah. Wait, I’ve got that, don’t I!”

With that, I pulled it out from the pile of clothes stacked up in the corner of my room and changed into it.

　　　＊＊＊

I waited fidgeting in front of the game center near the Akihabara Station entrance. What I was wearing right now was a streetwear-style outfit Nagisa had left behind the last time she came over. It was just something she’d forgotten, and it might be pretty far removed from my usual image, but even so, I was surprisingly satisfied with how different I looked from normal. All that was left was what Ren would say when he saw me…

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Ren arrived. Now then, what would he say? That I looked like Nagisa? Or maybe he’d say it actually suited me? Or maybe even something like, it’s unfamiliar, but you look really cute today. I waited for Ren’s words with those expectations in mind, but as if nothing were out of the ordinary, Ren said this.

“Well then, shall we head straight to the rhythm game section?”

Even though I’d changed up my style, he didn’t say a single thing, and it completely caught me off guard. It hurt more than I expected. I followed after Ren toward the usual rhythm game area, and we lined up side by side to play as if nothing had happened. I was so shocked that he hadn’t commented at all despite my different outfit that I couldn’t focus on the rhythm games at all. Did it not suit me? Does my outfit right now look weird? Was it awkward to bring up? Did he choose not to say anything on purpose? Anxiety came rushing in, my thoughts spinning in circles. Even as I wondered why I was getting this emotionally shaken just because Ren hadn’t praised me, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling down.

After that, the two of us quietly played rhythm games side by side. My scores today were terrible. I couldn’t concentrate at all. Seeing that, Ren said to me,

“Want to take a break soon?”

“…Yeah.”

I nodded. After that, we decided to head to a café. On the way there, I didn’t feel like talking to Ren at all. He seemed to notice that my mood was low. Even though I felt bad about getting depressed over something so trivial, I still couldn’t stop myself from feeling down. Ren walked ahead, and I followed a little ways behind him, absentmindedly. That was when it happened. Ren turned around and spoke.

“Oh, right.”

Ren stopped. I stopped too.

“Come to think of it, Noa, your outfit today’s different from usual, isn’t it?”

When he said that, I found myself wishing he wouldn’t continue. I figured he was going to say it looked weird, or that I looked like Nagisa, or that it didn’t suit me. My thoughts had completely tilted in a negative direction. But Ren went on.

“It’s different from usual, but I like it. It feels fresh. That outfit really suits you—you look really cute.”

The moment he said that, it felt like the cloudy skies that had been hanging over my mood up until then suddenly cleared away all at once. I couldn’t help thinking how simple I was. But that was the one thing I’d wanted to hear all along. I was happy. Really, truly happy. I’d probably turned red without even realizing it. I couldn’t meet his eyes as I spoke.

“Y-you think so?”

“Yeah. It looks really great. Noa, you seriously look good in anything.”

“Really?”

“Really, really. Hey, come walk next to me. You even changed your look, so it’d be a waste not to walk side by side.”

Hearing that, I moved to walk beside Ren. I could only hope I wasn’t skipping.

After that, we walked side by side toward the café. My mood wasn’t down at all anymore. I really am a simple woman. But maybe that’s just how it is. I really do like Ren. Just being praised by him makes me this happy. And once again, from the bottom of my heart, I thought that I was glad I’d fallen in love with Ren.