Chapter 27 - A Date with Karin - Part 3
Trouble is part of the charm of a date.
Karin seemed to believe that wholeheartedly.
"You were really so cool back there, Senpai! You were practically glowing! Shining, even!!"
"I’ve heard that a few times now."
"I used to think that only the heroines in shoujo manga got saved like that! It was such an amazing experience... I wouldn’t even mind getting hit on again if it meant you’d come to the rescue!"
"Hey now, don’t say things like that. You're too cute for that, Karin."
Karin was still buzzing with excitement, holding her iced coffee in one hand.
Well, it's good that the whole getting hit on incident didn't become a trauma for her, but my stock has apparently risen dramatically.
After all, I’m still a guy, right?
Getting praised like that by a cute junior girl doesn’t exactly feel bad, does it?
But the more someone is overestimated, the bigger the disappointment when they face reality.
If this is her idea of love, there will come a time when the excitement fades.
When that moment comes, I hope she doesn’t end up feeling miserable.
"Oh, Senpai, your ice cream’s melting!"
"Oh, whoops, what was I thinking!"
What? You’re asking what I’m drinking?
It’s a cream soda, okay?
What? You got a problem with that?
Are you saying a guy can’t drink cream soda? Hey, God, what’s your verdict on this?
"...Honestly, it feels like a dream. That my first date was with you, Senpai."
"Wait, what!? This was your first date, Karin!?"
"Of course! Why are you so surprised? Oh, are you treating me like a kid again?"
"No, no! It’s just that... I thought someone as cute as you would’ve been on a date or two already, so I was just a bit shocked."
Karin gulped down some iced coffee and slammed the table with a strong thud.
Uh-oh, did I make her mad?
"Se-Senpai!"
"Yes, I’m sorry!"
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Well, your face was turning red, so I thought you might be angry. You have such a cute face, it’s easy to notice changes like that."
"...!! Senpai! Please don’t just casually call me cute like that! When you say it, Senpai, it’s really special to me!"
"Oh, uh, sorry... again."
Karin, with a frustrated "geez," gulped down her iced coffee, but the only sound left was the empty straw hitting the bottom of the cup.
"You finished it? Here, you can have mine if you want."
"Ugh! That’s exactly what I mean!! Why do you so casually offer a girl something you’re drinking? That would be an... indirect kiss...!!"
Ah, she’s right. I didn’t think about that.
"Sorry, sorry... Wait, what?"
As I was about to pull back the cream soda, Karin grabbed my arm.
And it was a pretty firm grip too. I couldn’t move.
"Um, well, I’m thirsty, so I’ll... I’ll have some."
"Wait, but won’t that be an indirect kiss?"
"I-I never said I didn’t want to! Senpai, just be quiet for a bit, please!!"
I got scolded again.
But despite that, she seemed to be having fun.
Oh, God. Please teach me the ways of a woman’s heart.
Just a little bit is fine.
I really don’t get it. Please help me.
...What are you looking at? I wasn’t calling you, God.
"Aaaaaah!! Mooooom!"
Whoa, that startled me.
It’s been a while since I’ve heard Onigawara-kun’s roar, so the wailing of a child really shook me to my core.
Looking over, I saw a balloon caught in a tree branch.
I see, the kid must have let it go by accident.
"Heh, looks like it’s my time to shine."
"Senpai?"
"Watch this, I’m gonna show you my true cool side this time!"
With confidence, I stepped in front of the parent and child, and said with a grin, "Leave this to me."
I then leaped into the air!
"Hooaaaaaaaaaah!"
But my best jump didn’t even come close to reaching the balloon.
On top of that, I strained my back badly.
My shout of determination was just awful in hindsight.
"Aaaaaaaaah! Mooooooom! Moooooom!"
Well, yeah, that’s what happens.
Some random guy suddenly appears, raises their hopes, then falls flat with a weird scream.
There’s only one thing left to do...
"Karin, I’m counting on you!"
"What? Eeeeeeeh?"
I got down on all fours, my hands and knees on the ground.
But it’s not like I was asking her to spank me or anything weird like that.
I just meant, "Go ahead, climb on my back."
"A-Are you sure? I’m not too heavy, am I?"
To be honest, it’s super heavy.
Especially with my strained back, I feel like I’m going to die.
"I-It’s fine, it’s fine. Can you reach it?"
"Yeah, I got it, hyaah! Ah, I got it!"
And so the balloon returned to the kid’s hand.
"Thank you, big sister!"
"It’s nothing! Just be careful not to let it go again, okay?"
The kid, holding hands with their mother, left with a big smile.
...Hey, kid. No thanks for me?
"I’m really sorry about this."
The sky had turned a deep crimson, and we were watching the sun set behind the mountains.
"It’s fine! We still managed to ride the Ferris wheel at the end!"
Now, what I’m apologizing for is that my strained back turned out to be worse than I thought, so we had to take a bit of a break on a bench—specifically, about three hours.
Even though I’m in such a pitiful state, how is she still having such a good time?
If it were me, I would’ve left myself on the bench and gone home.
I would’ve left myself behind, and I would’ve gone home.
At any rate, I should say something cool now.
I need to redeem myself.
"Oh, right. I’m glad my first date was with you too, Karin."
"...Huh?"
Did I choose the wrong words?
Did I just make things worse instead?
Like, "Ew, you’re a grown man and never went on a date with a girl before? Gross"?
Karin turned to face me with a serious expression.
"Senpai, was this really your first date too!?"
"Huh? Yeah, it was."
Even though I was thinking, "What’s with the sudden realization?" I replied, "Oh, I guess I hadn’t mentioned that."
"You’ve never gone out with Marimo-senpai!?"
"Marimo? Oh, well... We went on family camping trips together when we were in elementary school, I guess."
"That doesn’t count!"
The pressure from Karin was intense.
"Well, in that case, no, I haven’t. I mean, we see each other every day, so it’d be weird to go out somewhere together, right?"
"Really? So this was your first date too, Senpai!"
"Yeah, I guess it was."
"Geez, you should have told me earlier! I didn’t know that!"
"Oh, look, the sunset is beautiful, Karin."
"Ah, yes... Hehe."
Karin seemed a little absent-minded.
The Ferris wheel might have been sighing, but I made sure to enjoy the view.
"Well then, Senpai, this is where I head home!"
"Alright. You sure you don’t need me to walk you?"
"I’m fine!"
"Okay, see you at school then!"
We shook gently on the train until we reached the station where Karin and I parted with a "see you later."
Taking one step forward, then feeling something as I was about to take a second, I turned around.
Karin was still standing there.
"Senpaai! I’ll do my best as your trial girlfriend! So keep an eye on me, okay?"
I could feel the affection in her voice.
After spending the day with her, I think I’ve grown enough to understand at least that much, so I gave a short reply.
"Yeah! Got it!"
The May breeze softly brushed my cheek, and I thought to myself that spending a day like this wasn’t so bad.