IWSBSB 11

Chapter 11

I had started dating Mana, sure, but she was precisely the same person at school.

There was still the whole Class President and Vice President routine, and we barely crossed paths, which felt ridiculous. Yet, the moment she stepped inside my place, it was a whole different Mana—a creature of pure, bewildering domesticity.

First, she’d always stop to press her hands together at my parents’ Buddhist altar, and then she’d plant a kiss on me. Another kiss would always be waiting for me right before she had to leave.

She had become so overtly sweet and clingy with me it was almost shocking. Considering her stiff, cool-as-a-cucumber attitude at school, the girl was a textbook, grade-A tsundere.

My house, too, was slowly but surely changing its entire personality.

For starters, Mana’s personal items were multiplying like a particularly zealous microbe. The empty closet was now stuffed full of her clothes.

She’d apparently quit her flower arranging (kado¹) lessons, so she hauled over her expensive vases and started decorating the entrance hall, the living room, and even my own bedroom with beautiful flowers.

Naturally, I couldn’t possibly make her pay for the flowers themselves, so the cost came straight out of my own pocket. And then there was the dining table, now set with matching couple’s rice bowls and chopsticks—a set she bought to commemorate the start of our dating.

”It looks like a newlywed home, doesn’t it?” I sputtered, feeling a mild panic rise in my chest.

Mana simply declared, her eyes shining with certainty, “We’re starting our new life together in this very house, so isn’t it only right to start the preparations a bit early?”. For her, getting married was now a completely settled, decided-upon matter.

”You come over here every single day,” I chided her, trying to regain some conversational ground. “What about your other friends? Are they okay with this?”

”Well, I have to be home by seven o’clock, so I haven’t gone out with anyone right after school,” she reasoned.

”What about on your days off?” I pressed.

”Oh, I went shopping with Yuzuki this past Sunday!” she answered brightly. “You’re my priority, Hiro-kun, but I still go out with my friends sometimes, you know.” The sheer gall of it! I had been sulking that entire Sunday, fully convinced she was mad at me and wouldn’t come over. I wanted my depressed Sunday back, the nerve!

Mana’s daily visits, as you might expect, were starting to attract the attention of the neighbors. Just a little while ago, Nishimura-san from next door had gently inquired, “That pretty girl who visits so often, is she your girlfriend?”

”She’s a classmate,” I had answered her, which I knew she definitely didn’t believe. Normally, all the prying questions would be annoying, but since my parents passed, everyone in the neighborhood has been so incredibly kind and thoughtful that I truly didn’t mind the attention at all. Mana was actually thrilled that the neighbors had started greeting her, taking it as a sign of their official ‘approval’ of her.

And, wouldn’t you know it, Mitsuhiko finally called. I hadn’t seen him for a while, as his mother was busy caring for his grandfather, so he’d politely declined dinner with me. It was good to hear his voice again.

”I thought you dropped off the face of the earth, but I hear you’ve managed to snag yourself a cute girlfriend, eh?” he boomed through the phone.

”Well, yeah,” I muttered.

Mitsuhiko goes to a different high school, and I hate keeping secrets, so I told him the honest truth straight away.

”You’d better introduce me next time!” he demanded.

”I don’t mind, but you already know her, Mitsuhiko.” That stopped him short.

”Oh, is that so?” he asked with genuine confusion.

”She’s always coming over, so make sure you call before you show up next time, okay?”

Mitsuhiko arrived on the very next public holiday, just as he said he would.

”Saitou-kun, long time no see!” Mana greeted him with a dazzling smile. “Since middle school, right?”

Mitsuhiko absolutely froze solid where he stood. “W-wait! Nakanishi?! Is she… is she really Hirokazu’s girlfriend?!”

”That would be me!” Mana declared, throwing her hands out for emphasis.

”No way!” he exclaimed.

”He’s the one who doesn’t believe it most of all,” I grumbled.

”Hirokazu is a clumsy idiot and terrible with people, but he’s a genuinely good guy, so please take care of him, will you?” Mitsuhiko implored her.

”I know that if you just fully commit and jump in, he’ll always catch you,” Mana smiled. “He’s considerate, and I think he has a very large, kind heart.”

”Hirokazu, I’m glad you finally found someone who understands you,” Mitsuhiko chuckled.

”I’m starting to feel a little uncomfortable now…” I admitted, flushing.

”Forget that! It looks like a newlywed home in here, doesn’t it?” Mitsuhiko observed suddenly, his eyes darting around. “Aha! Now I know why you stopped coming over to my place!”

”You haven’t been calling me either!” I shot back.

”My high school baseball club’s final season is super busy right now; I don’t even have time to call, man!” he defended. “You’d better come and cheer for me if we make it to Koshien²!”

Mitsuhiko goes to a powerhouse high school that’s been to the famous national baseball tournament before. He’s not a regular player, but he is on the bench.

Mitsuhiko then started telling funny, embarrassing stories from when we were kids, which made Mana absolutely roar with laughter. He even brought up the time in kindergarten when I tried to protect a girl who was being bullied and ended up getting bullied right alongside her. I remember Mitsuhiko eventually noticed, chased the bullies off, and then he was the one who got scolded. That whole mess had become the exact event that gave me a phobia of interacting with people.

”Hirokazu was terrible at fighting, but his sense of justice was always through the roof!” Mitsuhiko proclaimed.

”It’s not just a strong sense of justice; I know he can’t just ignore someone who’s in trouble,” Mana countered gently.

”Wow, Nakanishi, you really know Hirokazu well!” Mitsuhiko sounded genuinely impressed.

”Of course! I’m his girlfriend!” Mana declared proudly, giving him a dazzling, knowing smile.

Mitsuhiko eventually stood to leave, throwing over his shoulder, “Just make sure you invite me to the wedding!”.

”I’m so relieved you’re not a botchi³, Hiro-kun,” Mana whispered after the door shut.

”It’s just Mitsuhiko,” I replied.

”One true best friend is more than enough,” she concluded, and her words struck me right in the heart. I had been lonely after losing my parents, but with Mana and Mitsuhiko by my side, I realized it truly was enough.