Two Mornings Before the Date
Sunday morning.
Strangely enough, weekday mornings leave me drowsy no matter what time I get up, but weekend mornings often feel perfectly fine even when I wake earlier than usual. Maybe the real torment of weekday mornings is mostly psychological.
Normally, even when my earliest lecture is at nine and I roll out of bed around eight, I still feel pretty wiped. Today, though, I woke at seven and somehow wasn't tired at all.
"I guess I really am looking forward to this."
Today is my first date with my girlfriend — the one I started dating yesterday. With Wa Sol.
When I walked her home last night, I told her I'd pick her up at eleven. In other words, I've woken up a full four hours early.
For the record, the date runs from eleven in the morning to five in the afternoon. Because—
By the way, I already posted that my next stream is at six, so I think I can only hang out until five.
—she'd said that first. Honestly, I was relieved. Eve's stream starts at seven today.
I hope Gachi watches even just an hour of my stream~
She'd already seen right through me with that casual little remark, and all I could do was nod while a cold sweat ran down my back.
"I can't keep up with her… If I miss her stream this time, I'm genuinely done for. Better lock this in."
Just in case, I set an alarm for Kiri's stream, then wondered what to do with the remaining hours. Naturally, I ended up opening the Utopia café to check the announcements. The same kind of disaster as last time could always happen again…
"Whew. The stream time hasn't changed today. If it had shifted again…"
I wouldn't even know what kind of performance I'd have to put on this time. Even if she looks the other way when I prioritize Eve's streams, if that keeps piling up, it won't end well.
"Ah, forget it. Don't think about that."
We've only been dating for two days — starting with worry already isn't good. To clear my head, I took a shower.
That's right. We're still a brand-new couple.
At least for now, I just want to think happy thoughts.
After showering, I checked the time again, but eleven was still a long way off. I thought about having a simple meal, but unfortunately the side dishes Mom had packed for me in the fridge were completely gone.
For someone as hopeless at cooking as me, the options were boiling ramen, ordering delivery, or going out to eat. What I chose was—
Slurp.
"Ramen after a long time isn't bad at all."
I used to eat it all the time in the military, but after discharge the taste had naturally faded from memory. Ramen when you're hungry really is the best. Some people might wonder who eats ramen first thing in the morning, but it actually clears your head for the day in a weird way.
"Whew. Finished the whole broth, too. So the time is… still around nine."
Time was crawling at an absurd pace.
I wanted to see Wa Sol sooner. I wanted to go on a date with her.
Where should we go, what should we eat, what should we do.
That anticipation only made time crawl even slower.
"Wa Sol… Noona…"
Then a question crossed my mind.
How does she feel about me calling her noona? Even with an older-girlfriend, younger-boyfriend couple, a lot of people switch to first names once they start dating.
Given my personality, I find it hard to just call someone older by their bare name, so I decided to stick with noona for now. Wa Sol didn't seem to mind — but maybe she'd actually wanted me to just call her "Wa Sol"?
"Wa Sol… Ugh."
What is this. I only practiced it once and my throat already feels weirdly itchy.
"Wa Sol, did you eat? Wa Sol, that outfit looks good on you. Wa Sol, Wa Sol…"
I kept practicing to get used to it, but it still felt strange. Calling noona just "Wa Sol"…
"Wa Sol, I like you. Khh!"
Ah, no. Still can't do it.
This is probably from how I was raised. Especially Dad — he was strict about this kind of thing.
Let me see, what did he used to say…
You must respect those older than you.
Responsibility can only be taken by those qualified to bear it.
Effort without results is the same as doing nothing.
There is nothing that lowers you more than a meaningless lie.
Focusing when you work is natural, but when you rest, you should focus only on resting.
Things like that. None of them are bad, and they probably help you through life. Though saying them to a kid who hadn't even started elementary school is a bit much.
Ah, right. I shouldn't forget that one.
The thing Dad said most often.
Become a person of value.
Ha. "Become a person of value," huh. And then he actually goes and names his kid Gachi — Value. What are you doing.
Of course I never heard it directly from him, but anyone who knows that about Dad and then hears the name "Go Gachi" would get suspicious right away.
"I don't know if I'm a person of value right now. What does being a person of value even mean in the first place."
I still don't know. Even if I'm an adult now, I'm still a kid who hasn't accomplished anything.
But when I first heard that line, I feel like there was more after it… What was it.
I'm sure…
Become a person of value. Only then can the people precious to you…
I heard it so often, and yet when I try to recall it on the spot, I can't remember.
Precious people. The person precious to me right now is Wa Sol, of course.
Is there something I can do for her?
What do I need to do to stay by her side?
She's already established herself as a VTuber. What can a mere college student like me even do next to her…
When I opened my eyes, it was seven.
You might think I don't sleep much, but the truth is I was so full of anticipation I couldn't sleep at all…
In the end, I spent the whole night with my eyes just closed, and now I get out of bed. What am I supposed to do with the remaining four hours…
I thought about gaming, but I'm going to game on stream today anyway, and right now my head is so full of Gachi I don't think I could focus.
"Ah, come to think of it, I still haven't picked out what to wear!"
I've got four whole hours left. Let's choose carefully.
Hmm… Let's see. The weather's gotten pretty warm, so something not too thick — something with a bit of feminine charm…
"…How about this."
I dig out a deep-blue shawl cardigan. Paired with the right pieces, this could make a pretty nice outfit.
"But why do I only have clothes that look so neat and proper? Don't I have more skirts or something…"
Truth is, I don't own that many skirts. Wearing them tends to draw more attention, so I naturally stopped buying them as often. Still, now that I have a boyfriend, I want to wear something more floaty and go on a date.
"I should go clothes shopping with Eve later. No, wait — Yun-a's really into fashion, so going with her might be good too."
For today, this outfit will do. I check the time again.
There's still more than three hours until eleven.
"Maybe I should message Gachi… No, it's not even nine yet. He's probably still asleep."
No matter how early he gets up, there's no way he'd wake up four hours early like me. I was about to put my phone back down when—
I turned it on to check the café announcements and looked at Eve's stream notice.
"…Right, Eve. Please don't change the stream time today."
If a notice suddenly goes up saying she's streaming at three, I think I'd get a little mad no matter what. Going through the same process as last time? Hard pass. No — death sentence.
Try that in front of me again, Go Gachi…
Grind.
Just thinking about that day makes my teeth clench…
"How on earth do I get Gachi to switch his favorite to me? Honestly, it's not easy — but I'm in a really advantageous position right now. I'm his girlfriend, after all."
Just like baseball fans who would rather die than switch teams, there are plenty of people who would rather die than change their VTuber favorite. Gachi is probably on the extreme end of that spectrum.
Still, I'm Gachi's girlfriend. The person he likes in real life is me, so turning that into making me his favorite should definitely be possible.
"Haa. I don't know if it's right to still be worrying about this even after we started dating. But Gachi is… special."
Gachi, who approached me without any pretense or ulterior motives.
Gachi, who makes me feel at ease just by talking.
Gachi, who makes me look at the present.
Gachi, who I just want by my side.
Gachi, the first person I've ever… fallen for.
"Aaaah~ I want to see Gachi already~"
I'm really properly gone, aren't I. In the week since I met Gachi, my life has been full of things I've never experienced before.
I've never paid this much attention to someone's every word, every little action.
His considerate attitude, his calm way of speaking, the reliable side of him — I like all of it.
And his face… is handsome, too.
Maybe the rose-tinted glasses are making me see only the good points, but at least right now, that's genuinely how I feel. When I see guys who dress themselves up flashily, it just feels overwhelming — like, why would you do that.
Compared to them, Gachi looks cool without even trying.
…I'm suddenly curious. How do other people see Gachi's looks?
I want to show him to Eve, Tita, and Vivi and ask them sometime.
"If I ask later whether I can take a photo to show the girls… would he say yes?"
Just imagining it makes the corners of my mouth lift. Until now I'd been skeptical about bragging to people about someone I like.
Now I wanted to show him off to my friends as soon as possible.
Curled up in my chair, I decided I'd take lots of photos with Gachi today and started looking up nice places. Thinking about going with him, the list of spots I want to visit just keeps growing.
I'll bookmark everything I want to go to for now. It's not like today is our only free day.
Let's see… roughly a hundred places?
Hehe. Looks like we'll have to go on dates a lot from now on~