Volume 2 - CH 25

After leaving the game center, we moved to the shopping arcade and came to a general store.

This is a general store for girls that Anri and I had visited before.

There were cute goods lined up on both the left and right sides of the store.

If I were alone, I would never enter the store, but with Anri, I would still be able to go.

However, Anri was the same as before. She looks at the sundries in her hand, puts them back, moves on to something else, picks up the sundries, and looks at them again.

This is the third time she has gone back and forth. Is she indecisive, or are girls always like this?

It is hard for a man to understand.

” Tsukasa-kun, which do you like better, this one or this one?”

In Anri’s hands are a black cat-shaped key ring and a white cat-shaped key ring.

They are accessories to be attached to the earphone jack of the phone.

To be honest, I don’t particularly care which one. They’re certainly cute, though.

“Hmm, personally, I think black. But Anri’s phone is white, so if you’re going to put it on, white would be prettier.”

Do you want to match it with white or go monochrome with black and white?

In this case, I think either would match.

“Hmmm, white…”

Anri is still wondering. She holds the two key chains in her hands and looks at the cat with serious eyes.

“Do you want both of them?”

“Hmmm… I want one, but I can only use one, and they are both cute.”

Then there is only one option in this case.

“Which one do you want, Anri?”

“I think I’d rather have the white one.”

I took the two key chains from her hands and proceeded to the checkout counter.

After paying the bill, I handed the white keychain to Anri.

“Here, white cat. I’ll take the black cat and I’ll put it on, so if you want to see it, just let me know.”

I put the white cat on Anri’s hand and the black cat on mine.

We leave the store and sit together on a bench nearby, and we attach it to each other’s phones.

“Is it all right? You bought it for me.”

“It’s just a keychain. Look, we have the same one.”

On my phone and Anri’s phone, we have cats of different colors from each other.

Usually, we don’t show them to anyone, and they are almost never seen by other people because we keep them in our pockets or bags.

“I’m so glad that we are matching, Tsukasa-kun. Fufu, I’m kind of happy.”

“Really? I’m happier about the time I get to spend with Anri.”

I said a little self-consciously, and Anri stopped moving.

What is it? Did I say something strange?

“I’m glad I get to spend time with you too, Tsukasa-kun…”

We definitely have feelings for each other.

Neither Anri’s feelings nor mine is wrong.

I’m sure we’ll be together from now on.

“I see. I wonder if we’ll be able to get along like this for a long time to come?”

Anri’s hand touches my hand and she looks at me as it is.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine. No matter what happens, I’m sure we’ll get through it.”

Anri’s gaze is intense. I’m sure she really believes that.

But there must be a wall that we can’t overcome only with our feelings.

Until we hit that wall, we have to get to know each other better.

Looking at my watch, it looks like it is almost noon.

What should we do for lunch? Takayama and Sugimoto would surely eat lunch before coming to the meeting place.

It would be safer to have something in my stomach.

I took Anri’s hand and stood up.

Our relationship has just started, let’s get to know each other better.

I still don’t know everything about Anri.

And likewise, she doesn’t know everything about me either.

We need to spend more time getting to know each other.

“It’s almost lunchtime, do you want to grab something to eat?”

“Do you have any suggestions for today?”

I link arms with Anri and begin to walk the streets.

“If it’s ramen, there’s the ramen arena. There are more than a dozen ramen stores there, so I don’t think you’ll have any trouble choosing.”

In this city, there is a building called “Ramen arena” where ramen stores specializing in ramen are gathered.

All of its ramen stores are ranked and published at the entrance.

I looked it up on my phone and found that this month’s number one was “Tenka Zesshin Ramen,” a thick, rich ramen restaurant.

Second place went to “Tarō-kei gatchiri men”. With a tower of vegetables placed on top of the ramen.

I show the screen of my phone to Anri.

However, Anri’s reaction is not as good as I expected. Maybe she doesn’t like ramen?

“Well, I like ramen, but not today…”

“Hmm? The ramen here is pretty good. You don’t like it?”

Anri is unusually reluctant.

Normally she would have said, ‘It’s good! Let’s go! and she would be in high spirits.

What’s going on?

“Well, today is our first date, and we’re all going to see a romantic movie later, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. We’ll meet up with Takayama and the others and go see a movie together.”

“So, if we eat these ramen here, um, the smell and stuff…”

I see. You certainly have a point.

We’re going to see a touching love story, but I don’t want to smell like garlic or have a greasy aroma wafting through the air.

Hmmm, I still couldn’t figure out such a place for me.

“Indeed. Sorry, I didn’t think that far ahead.”

I apologized honestly.

“No, no, if we don’t have anything else to do afterward, ramen noodles would be fine, but not right now.”

“If that’s the case, there’s a place that serves all-you-can-eat bread with good soup and salad.”

Anri’s eyes lit up.

Oh, that’s a strong reaction.

“Let’s go there. Tsukasa-kun knows a good restaurant”

“Well, I did some research on it for Anri.”

I answered Anri with a little, faraway look in my eyes. But it is a lie.

Before, Takayama asked me, “There is a restaurant like this, what do you think?” I just happened to know about it because Takayama asked me.

After Takayama told me about it, I looked it up myself, and it was a better restaurant than I expected.

“…That sounds like a lie. Tsukasa-kun’s expression immediately shows it. But, well, it’s okay. I’ll forgive you if it’s delicious.”

Anri looks into my face with a smile.

That gesture makes me a little nervous while my heart is captivated.

The way she is dressed today, which I don’t see at school or at home.

And the gesture and the way she looks at me.

I love everything about her. I wonder if I can be with Anri forever.

“If it’s not delicious, I’ll be honest and confess. I’ve never been to this restaurant before.”

With my arms around Anri, I head for the restaurant with my phone in hand.

I have a new cat keychain on my phone.

They are matching and different colors from Anri’s.

We walk side by side with our key chains swaying.

Will our hearts ever shake like this key chain?

Or can we stay together without wavering?…

“Tsukasa-kun! Don’t those crepes over there look delicious?”

“Oh, they’re famous for their huge strawberries in their crepes.”

Anri broke away from my arm and started running straight to the crepe store.

I can’t help it. Anri loves strawberries.

When Anri moves away from me, I’ll chase after her as fast as I can.

I catch up with Anri and hold her arm.

“Anri. We’re going to have lunch now, aren’t we?”

“I have a sweet tooth! Tsukasa-kun, you will have a chestnut crepe too, right?”

Without waiting for my answer, Anri orders a crepe.

The sight of her holding a crepe in both hands steals my heart.

Anri, will you always stay by my side?

You won’t suddenly disappear, will you?

Anri hands me a crepe with a smile.

I don’t want to lose that smile.

“Yes. Please let me taste it later.”

Anri and I started walking side by side again.

Both of us had our favorite crepes in each other’s hands.

Dating is fun, isn’t it?

I wish this kind of time could last forever…