45 - Asking for a date

RAW

The day after practicing being a "couple" with Ayaka.

The sky was still mostly dark when Haruto woke up.

He glanced at the clock beside his bed and thought it was far too early to be awake. He closed his eyes, attempting to fall back asleep.

However, his mind was fully alert, and he couldn't manage to sleep again.

Resigned to his early wake-up, Haruto sat at his desk to focus on his daily early morning study routine, furiously scribbling notes with his mechanical pencil.

But today, his concentration didn’t last as long as usual.

“Damn… I can't focus…”

Ever since he woke up, his mind had been replaying the events of the previous day.

Ayaka’s words, spoken with a radiant smile:

"I love you too, Haruto-kun!"

Just remembering it made Haruto's face involuntarily break into a grin.

“Damn… she’s too cute…”

He placed a hand on his chest, trying to calm his racing heart.

Recalling the "practice" they did yesterday, exchanging "I love you" twice each, Haruto thought to himself: there’s no way that was normal.

Ayaka had said that lovers naturally express their love for each other, but only couples who had been together for over fifty years or fictional couples in stories could do that so casually.

Even if they practiced like that every day for a year, Haruto was sure he’d still be grinning like an idiot.

“Where does Tojo-san get her idea of what’s ‘normal’?”

Talking to each other in a possessive tone and whispering love sweetly as if it were natural—if that’s what normal lovers do, most couples in the world would end up distant and cold.

“Speaking of which… that bookshelf in Tojo-san's room…”

Haruto recalled the bookshelf placed against the wall of Ayaka’s room, thinking about the books lined up there. Though he hadn’t examined them closely, he remembered most of the spines were in red, pink, and other soft colors.

"Could it be… are those all romance novels and shojo manga?"

Haruto then remembered Ayaka had said she’d never had a boyfriend before.

It was unclear if she had any romantic experience. But if she’d never had a boyfriend, how could she judge what’s normal for couples?

“Maybe… she’s basing it on romance novels and manga?”

It was possible.

In their time together, Haruto had noticed Ayaka seemed a bit innocent but also quite girly. It wouldn’t be surprising if someone like her formed her idea of normal romantic behavior from fiction.

“If that’s the case, letting Tojo-san take the lead in this ‘practice’ might not be a good idea…”

At this rate, she might start asking for things like wall slams or chin tilts, and who knows, she might even suggest a back hug next.

This "couple practice" was something Ayaka had suggested to help Haruto cover his lie. He was grateful and appreciated that she was going this far for him.

He felt guilty about the idea of giving directions to Ayaka, who was earnestly trying to play the role of his girlfriend. However, a practice relationship based on fiction seemed like something Haruto’s heart wouldn’t be able to handle.

“Honestly, it’s not fair to make her do all this when we’re not even real lovers. It must be tough to pretend to be someone’s girlfriend when you don’t even like them…”

Haruto thought back to Ayaka’s beaming smile from yesterday.

Would a girl smile like that at someone she didn’t like?

A sudden doubt crept into his mind.

During their practice yesterday, even though Ayaka looked a little embarrassed, she didn’t seem uncomfortable at all. In fact, she seemed eager to participate in the practice.

“Would someone really do all that for someone they didn’t like…? Well, if it’s Tojo-san…”

At school, while Ayaka didn’t let boys approach her, she was very popular among the girls. Her constant circle of female friends spoke to her likable personality.

“Tojo-san seems like the kind of person who can’t say no when asked for a favor…”

Maybe she was just trying to seriously help Haruto cover his lie, thinking it over in her own way and throwing herself into this "practice."

Thinking that made Haruto’s chest tighten with guilt over the lie he had told.

“I really should just come clean to Grandma and stop this whole lie, shouldn’t I?”

Haruto muttered to himself.

Yet, deep down, he realized he didn’t want to change his current relationship with Ayaka.

If the lie disappeared, Ayaka would no longer be his girlfriend…

“Ugh! I’m the worst!”

Frustrated by the realization that, despite knowing the lie was wrong, he selfishly didn’t want things to change, Haruto gripped his head and ruffled his hair.

Overthinking it all, Haruto found his thoughts becoming more and more scattered. He leaned back into his chair and stared blankly out the window.

The sky, which had been dark when he woke up, was now much brighter.

"Sigh… guess I’ll go make breakfast."

It was about the time his grandmother would wake up.

Closing his unfinished study book, Haruto stood up, stretched, and left his room.

—–

After breakfast with his grandmother, Haruto returned to his room, planning to continue the studying he hadn’t finished that morning.

But with his broken air conditioner and the rising temperature outside, it was hard to concentrate.

Already preoccupied with thoughts of Ayaka, Haruto soon gave up on studying.

“Well, guess I’ll go to Tomoya’s place.”

In search of a room with working air conditioning, Haruto decided to visit his best friend.

He hadn’t been over to Tomoya’s house in a while, having been busy with helping at the Tojo household and going to the movies and the Animal Crossing Park with Ayaka.

When he arrived, he found his best friend’s room in a state that clearly hadn’t seen a cleaning in some time.

“Yo, Haru! I was just thinking it was about time you came over!”

“Dude… couldn’t you clean up a bit yourself?”

“Man, I’d feel bad taking your job, you know?”

Tomoya, grinning while strumming his guitar, laughed playfully.

Haruto picked up a guitar pick that had fallen on the floor and threw it at him. But Tomoya deftly caught it and started strumming again.

“How’s the band practice going?”

“Great, of course! I mean, I’d like to say that, but, hey, Haru, listen to this.”

Sensing a complicated story coming, Haruto ignored him and started cleaning the room.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me! Your best friend’s in trouble here!”

“Sorry, Tomoya. I can’t help you with that. My bad.”

“Wait, I haven’t even told you what’s wrong yet!”

Ignoring Tomoya’s protests, Haruto continued picking up music magazines and comics, putting them back on the shelf.

In response, Tomoya strummed his guitar loudly, singing an impromptu “Listen to meee!” song to get Haruto’s attention.

“Fine, fine! What’s the problem?”

Haruto finally gave in, pausing his cleaning.

“You know I’m in a band with guys from another school, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, our lead vocalist goes to some super fancy private school, and apparently, their school rules are insanely strict.”

“Huh. So what’s the problem?”

“It’s a huge problem! Their school doesn’t allow stuff like being in a band.”

Tomoya sighed dramatically.

“If the school finds out he’s in a band, he could get expelled.”

“Seriously? Just for being in a band? That’s way too strict.”

Haruto raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Tomoya sighed again.

“To people like that, bands like ours are a nuisance. They think we’re all about blasting loud music, smoking, drinking, and causing trouble.”

“No way. People don’t still think like that, do they?”

“More than you’d expect.”

Tomoya strummed his guitar again, this time with a pained expression. “Our sound has always been oppressed, man.”

“Sounds tough, but good luck with that.”

Haruto gave a half-hearted word of encouragement, to which Tomoya shot him a look.

“This summer, we’ve been practicing hard for the school festival!”

“Oh, yeah?”

Haruto, sensing a rise in intensity from his friend, responded cautiously.

“And if our vocalist can’t make it on the day of the festival, we won’t be able to perform! Isn’t that tragic?”

“Well, yeah, I guess…”

“So, if that happens, I’ll be counting on you to step in, Haru.”

Tomoya flashed a bright smile and gave Haruto a thumbs-up.

Haruto, looking completely drained, responded with a grim expression.

“…If it really comes to that, and you’ve got no other options, I’ll think about it.”

“Knew you were a good guy, Haru.”

Smiling cheerfully, Tomoya nodded, to which Haruto replied with a curt “shut up” before resuming his cleaning.

As he put books back on the shelf, Haruto suddenly spoke up.

“Hey, Tomoya.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Oh? What is it?”

Tomoya leaned forward with interest as Haruto hesitated a moment before asking slowly.

"Well... when you had a girlfriend, what did you do when you were alone together?"

"Huh? What's that? What do you mean?"

Tomoya was confused by Haruto's question.

"Well, I mean. You had a girlfriend before, right?"

"Yeah."

"How did you interact with her then?"

"How do you mean... like going on normal dates?"

Tomoya was confused and didn't understand the meaning of Haruto's question.

Hearing his best friend's words, Haruto nodded slightly, "I see."

"I see, a date..."

That's definitely a date, if you're talking about lovers.

Haruto fears that if they continue to "practice being lovers" in Ayaka's room, they'll definitely become a lovey-dovey couple, so he decides to ask Ayaka out on a date next.

It's dangerous to "practice being lovers" in the closed space of Ayaka's room.

However, if you're going on a date to "practice being lovers," you won't be able to be so bold, since you'll be outside and there will be people around to see you.

You should be able to practice being a pure, proper, and modest romantic relationship.

"Thanks, Tomoya. That was very helpful."

"Oh, okay... you're welcome?"

My best friend didn't quite understand, tilting his head and having a big question mark over his head.