It's a Date. Sort of.
Anyway, this is a date. Sort of.
A single gaze wandered aimlessly in a zigzag pattern, having lost its destination. She didn't say a word, but it was obvious she was genuinely flustered, which made it kind of funny. For me, it was such an old story that I didn't really think much of it anymore.
“Ah. U-um...”
Hana stammered, her face pale.
“I-I'm sorry...! I didn't know, I mean, I didn't mean to do this.... Ah, ugh.... No. I'm not making excuses. I'm really sorry...!”
Hana clutched the hem of her school uniform skirt tightly and bowed her head deeply.
......I didn't mean for it to go this far.
I'd missed the timing to speak up and just let it happen, and now she was apologizing with such sincere politeness. I scratched my cheek awkwardly and glanced around. The pedestrians nearby kept stealing glances at us.
With looks that said, 'What's going on?'
“C-could you lift your head...?”
Everyone's staring at us. I said it hoping to stop drawing so much attention, but Hana just shook her head slightly.
“No. I'll stay like this until you feel better!”
“......”
Then people are definitely going to look at me like I'm some kind of creep. Well, they kind of already are, to be fair.
Either way, we couldn't keep this up. Standing frozen near the entrance of someone else's store was bad for business. Bad for business.
“I'm fine, so just lift your head.”
“No, I can't! I'm the one who did something wrong, so I need to be punished....”
“......Geez.”
She sure is stubborn. I wonder who she takes after. As more and more eyes gathered on us, I reached out and grabbed Hana's right wrist. She looked up in surprise.
“Eh...”
“Come with me.”
I spoke shortly and pulled her by the wrist—her eyes wide like a startled rabbit—toward the corner of the store. It was labeled the General Interest Corner. This far in, no one should see us. I stopped her in a spot with the wall behind her.
“......”
“......”
Roll. The moment our eyes met, Hana quickly averted her gaze by rolling her eyes away. In response, I—
-Flick!
I gave her a forehead flick. A sharp squeak escaped Hana's lips.
“......Eek?!”
“......Pfft.”
That squeak was pretty cute.
“W-what, what was that?!”
Hana stared at me with wide eyes. She clearly hadn't expected me to flick her forehead; her expression was one of pure bewilderment. I smirked and crossed my arms.
“You asked for punishment.”
“......Huh?”
“You said you deserved to be punished, so I gave you one. One forehead flick.”
“Ah. Oh...”
Hana's mouth fell open slightly. She finally seemed to understand why I'd done it.
“There. Punishment delivered, so we're even now. Okay?”
“......Even my dad has never hit me before.”
“What? You want me to do it again?”
“N-no! That's plenty...!”
Hana shook her head and took a step back. Seeing her freak out at my joking remark, it must have actually hurt. I'd tried to hold back and hit her lightly, too. When I stared at her quietly, meaning don't be such a baby, she pouted.
“Now I get why you didn't have a girlfriend, Ijun...”
“......”
She counterattacks the second we call it even.
“Why? What's the reason?”
“If you push, you have to pull. You can't just keep pushing.”
“Hmm...”
She had a point. In games, just constantly pushing your lane isn't always the best move. You need to know when to pull back to gain the advantage.
Suddenly curious, I asked, “So how do you pull in a situation like this?”
“Who asks the person involved that directly?”
“I can't just grab a random passerby. Good thing I have the answer key right here.”
“Copying off the answer key gets you a zero.”
“I've already got a zero, so it doesn't matter.”
“Wow. So shameless...”
“So, are you going to tell me or not? If you don't, I'll just keep pushing from now on.”
“......Fine. I'll tell you.”
Ahem. Hana cleared her throat and straightened her posture a little.
“In times like this, you gently rub the spot you hit and say, 'Sorry. Did it hurt a lot?'”
“Hmm, that's pulling?”
“Yes. At least for me.”
I see.... Then I might as well try it right away.
“Sorry. Did it hurt a lot?”
“You forgot the rubbing part.”
“Girls don't like it when you touch their hair, right?”
“People who hate it hate it when you touch their hair. People who are okay with it are fine with it.”
“Oh, really...?”
Girls' minds sure are complicated. I reached out lightly and rubbed Hana's forehead.
“Better?”
“Not better. It stings.”
“I didn't hit you that hard, did I?”
“Ahem. Just go with it. No arguing...!”
“Alright. It must hurt a lot. Want me to blow on it or something?”
“Yes. Please do.”
I'd said it as a joke, but she answered seriously. I stared at her, silently asking if she really meant it. Hana gave a small nod.
“You really want me to?”
“You said you would. Were you lying?”
“......No, well. I wasn't lying, but...”
“Then do it.”
Hana closed her eyes. With my hand still on her forehead, I hesitated.
I didn't think she'd actually ask me to do it....
What the hell. Do I really have to blow on it? After a moment of hesitation, Hana—eyes still closed—spoke softly.
“Chicken?”
“......”
Who's chicken? I twitched my eyebrows, brought my lips close to Hana's forehead, and gently blew on it.
“There. Done?”
“It feels kind of done, but also kind of not...?”
“Once is enough, what do you mean twice...”
Just as I was about to retort, I felt a strange gaze from the side. I turned that way without thinking.
“......Huh?”
Our eyes met. The person was none other than my friend, Jihoon, holding a reference book in his hand.
“......”
“......”
Uh, how long has he been watching...? I quickly opened my mouth to say something, anything. But the words wouldn't come out. It turned out to be true that when you're too flustered, you can't speak.
“It's still a little lacking. Could you do it one more time?”
Hana looked up at me with bright eyes and said it. It was just a meaningless request to blow on it again, but to Jihoon watching from the side, it clearly wasn't. He turned his head away with an expression like he'd seen something he shouldn't have.
“Ijun. Where are you...... Huh?”
“......”
“......Gasp.”
Hana's face turned bright red the moment she spotted Jihoon. I swear I wasn't doing anything embarrassing, but her reaction was exactly the kind that would make anyone misunderstand.
Jihoon pretended not to see us and quickly turned on his heel to leave.
“......N-no, it's not!”
I shouted at his retreating back.
“Hey, it's not what it looks like! This is, um...!”
“Um, he's already gone...?”
“......”
I know that. I swallowed my words and covered my mouth with my hand.
......This is an emergency. Of all people, it had to be Jihoon who saw us like that. That guy's a walking loudspeaker—he'll spread this all over town. The realization that this misunderstanding wasn't going to clear up but would only pile up higher hit me, and my head started to throb a little.
When I stared at her with a look that said how are you going to take responsibility for this, Hana cleared her throat with a small cough.
“Well, there's nothing we can do about it, right? Even if we chase after him and say it's not what it looks like, he won't believe us.”
“If the two of us say it's not like that, he might believe...”
“Put yourself in his shoes. Imagine your friend and some other girl were doing that here. If your friend said it wasn't like that, would you believe him?”
“......No, I wouldn't. I'm not an idiot.”
“Exactly. So just give up.”
“......”
It was a solid argument. I let out a deep sigh and rubbed my face with my right hand. Hana watched me with a strange look before speaking up cautiously.
“Ijun.”
“......What.”
“Shall we do something nice now?”
......I lifted my head without meaning to. Just as I was about to ask what she meant by nice, Hana continued.
“Follow me.”
“To buy something?”
“To buy books.”
“Books...?”
What kind of books? “Let's see. It was around here...”
Hana looked around for a moment, then let out a small “Ah!” as if she'd found it and walked off. I followed her, and she stopped in front of a certain banner.
L.J. Author Exhibition!
It was the one I'd seen earlier. The spot where all my books were gathered.
“Ijun. Did you know that author L.J. released a new book?”
“Yeah. I know.”
Of course I know. Since I am L.J.
“The title is Age of Abhorrence. It's a book that vividly criticizes the current era where everyone is so busy pointing out each other's faults. It's only been out for three days and it's already estimated to have sold over five hundred thousand copies. Isn't that amazing?”
What is this? Is she saying this for my benefit? This was the first time I'd ever heard someone praise me—well, L.J.—right to my face. Not knowing how to react, I just nodded awkwardly.
“At this rate.... Hmm, selling five million copies in a month doesn't seem impossible. We're in an age where even people who don't read books will pick up an L.J. title at least once.”
“......What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Hehe. Nothing. Just that the author is incredible.”
“This is suspicious...”
She probably hadn't dragged me to the bookstore just to flatter me. There must be some reason she specifically brought me here. I wasn't sure what that reason was, though.
“Upsy-daisy...”
Hana picked up two copies of my new book, Age of Abhorrence, and carried them straight to the register. Right in front of me, she bought them.
“Here you go.”
“......Huh?”
Why is she giving them to me? I took them since she was offering, but I had no idea what her intention was in handing me my own book.
“You've never bought a book written by L.J. with your own money, right?”
“Yeah. Well, I mean...”
Who buys their own book with their own money? They send me several copies before release for me to check, and since the manuscript file is already on my computer, there's no need to buy it. I can just open the file.
“And obviously no one's ever given you an L.J. book as a gift either.”
“Well, that's true...?”
“Then that makes me the first, right?”
“First at what?”
“The first person to give Ijun a book by L.J. as a gift.”
“......”
Huh. Is that how it works...?
“Please keep it nicely on your bedroom bookshelf. Every time you look at this book from now on, you'll think of me.”
“......Is this a gift or a curse?”
“Both. I'm very greedy, you know.”
“You're greedy? You?”
“Yes. Why?”
“You don't seem that way to me.”
“Hehe. Really?”
“Yeah.”
Our eyes met.
“That's not true. I'm very greedy. Extremely so.”
“Hmm.... Are you?”
“Yes. Ever since I was little, I've always had to get whatever I wanted. I threw a lot of tantrums and got scolded by Dad a bunch.”
“Your father must have had a hard time...”
“Hehe.... But I got better as I grew up. After I turned ten, I only got scolded once. And that was very recently.”
“What was that one time for?”
“There was something I really wanted, but Dad said no, so I threatened to run away from home. That's why I got scolded.”
“Ah.”
That does sound like something worth scolding for.
“But what was it that you wanted so badly you'd threaten to run away? Was it something really expensive?”
“Are you curious?”
“Yeah. I'm curious.”
“This.”
“Oh~ A book?”
“No. Not the book.”
Tap. Hana pointed at the book cover with her index finger. Among the text starting with 'L.J. Author's Hot New Release...', her fingertip rested precisely on the part that said 'L.J.'
“This person.”
“......”
“I wanted this person so, so badly.”
She smiled brightly.
“I told him if he wouldn't let me marry them, I'd run away from home for real.”