Volume 6Chapter 4 part 5

───● A Lively College Girl’s Selfish Wish ●○●

I wanna go on a drive date!

That was the conclusion I arrived at a few days after Masato asked me out on a date.

“Well, you’ve always dreamed of going on a drive date, haven’t you, Mizuho?” Koumi asked.

“Yup, yup! That’s the whole reason I got my driver’s license in the first place!”

That was no lie. I still remembered rushing to the driving school right after college entrance exams, fired up with the grand dream of going on romantic driving dates with a boyfriend once I got into university.

“Still, I get the feeling things turned out a bit different from what you had in mind back then,” Koumi pointed out with a knowing smile.

“…Heh, as expected of Koumi. Nothing gets past you, de gozaru.”

I stirred what little café au lait remained in my glass with a straw.

It was an early afternoon at a cozy café. Koumi and I were enjoying a lunch date together.

Before starting college, I had pictured myself living a sparkling, picture-perfect youth, which was why I blindly got my driver’s license and joined campus clubs.

But now, my feelings were completely different.

“Just wanting to be by the side of the person you love… I guess that’s what falling in love really means, nyahaha.”

“Oh my, look at Mizuho getting all poetic for once…” Koumi teased with a gentle giggle.

“Waaah! Stop it, you’re embarrassing me!” I squealed, burying my face in my hands.

“Fufufu. But honestly, I think you’re completely right,” Koumi replied warmly.

Wanting to spend time with the person you fell for, wishing with all your heart that they would love you back—before entering university, I couldn’t have even imagined such a strange yet profound emotion.

“Well, at least I gotta give props to past-me for getting that driver’s license!”

“That, I can definitely agree with!” Koumi chimed in brightly.

Not only did it open up so many more date spots, but having tried it once, I knew for a fact… being alone with Masato in a car was enough to make my heart soar.

“So, how was your date, Koumi?” I asked.

“…I don’t know, to be honest,” Koumi murmured, casting her gaze downward.

Having already finished her date with Masato before mine, Koumi offered that subdued answer as she looked down.

“But I did everything I possibly could. All I can hope for now is that my feelings reach Masato-kun. That’s all.”

“…Yeah. I hear you.”

Now that March had arrived, the moment for Masato to give his final answer was drawing near.

From our perspective, he didn’t even need to choose just one of us, but earnest Masato-dono clearly couldn’t bring himself to accept such an easy compromise.

“Make sure you give it your all too, Mizuho,” Koumi encouraged me.

“You bet I will!”

We had already agreed that if Masato chose one of us and insisted on dating only a single girl, there would be no hard feelings between us.

Still, if possible, I desperately wished he would choose both of us together.

“Make sure you convey all your feelings without any regrets, okay?”

“Yeah, absolutely. I definitely will.”

Win or lose, laugh or cry, this drive date was my very last chance to convey how much I loved him before Masato made his ultimate decision.

“Oh, but on a separate note, you’d better share photos of Masato-kun in his kimono with me later,” Koumi added slyly.

“…You really don’t miss a beat, do you?” I chuckled.

As Koumi flashed me a mischievous smirk, I offered her a confident thumbs-up in return.

My date with Masato was nothing short of a dream.

Even just being inside the car on the way to our destination was sheer bliss.

“Here, this is for you,” Masato said, handing me a drink.

“Huh!? Really? Are you sure?”

We had pulled into a convenience store for a quick break. Masato had told me to head back to the car first, and while I was waiting in the driver’s seat, he returned holding a carton of café au lait for me.

“You like café au lait, right?” he asked with a gentle smile.

“Fufun, commendable memory, Masato-dono! For that, I shall grant you a Grade 1 Mizuho Certification!”

“Wait, there’s a test for that? By the way, what grade is Koumi?” he asked with a laugh.

“She’s Tenth Dan.”

“That’s not even a grade anymore! Man, I’ve got a long way to go~!”

“Nyahaha!”

Laughing, I reached for my purse to pay him back, but Masato held up a hand to stop me.

“Don’t worry about the money. You’re the one doing all the driving, after all. Also, I’m covering the gas and rental fees, so make sure to tell me the total later, okay?”

“Geez, you’re way too serious about these things~!” I pouted playfully.

Reluctantly, I accepted his offer. But then again, that earnest consideration was one of Masato’s best traits!

Setting off once again, we were about thirty minutes away from our destination.

“So, why did you end up getting your driver’s license in the first place, Mizuho?” Masato asked curiously.

“Errr~ well, about that~…”

Having Masato ask me directly made it a little embarrassing to answer honestly. But lying to him felt wrong, so I decided to spill the beans.

“Because I wanted to go on romantic drive dates with a boyfriend!”

“Ahaha! Well, that certainly sounds like you,” Masato laughed softly.

“Hey, I feel like you’re making fun of me, Masato-dono!” I protested with a playful pout.

After we shared a good laugh, the car coasted to a stop at a red light.

“Before starting college, I was just constantly obsessing over wanting a boyfriend~ You might’ve already heard about it from Koumi, though!”

“I did hear a little bit about it,” Masato admitted. “She mentioned how much her best friend meant to her.”

“Aww, that’s embarrassing, de gozaru!”

Knowing Koumi had been talking about me to him even back then made a faint blush creep onto my cheeks.

“But you know, looking back now, I realize that past-me was just in love with the idea of romance.”

The light turned green, and I pressed down on the gas pedal. Even while keeping my eyes on the road and hands on the wheel, I could tell Masato was smiling softly beside me.

“I wish I could tell that past version of myself: ‘Once you find someone you truly love, your whole world changes!'”

“Did your world change that much?” Masato asked.

“Ab-so-lutely! A full three hundred and sixty degrees!”

“Wait, so you just went in a complete circle?” he pointed out with a grin.

“Nyahaha~!”

Looking back on my past, I certainly had plenty of regrets, but I didn’t actually wish for a do-over.

Because it was precisely because of those past experiences that I could truly appreciate and savor every ounce of happiness I felt right now.

After arriving at our destination—a charming town reminiscent of Little Kyoto—we ate our fill of local street food before visiting a famous tourist shrine.

We finished our prayers and received our ema wooden tablets.

Staring down at the blank piece of wood, I hesitated over what wish to write.

‘May I stay by Masato’s side forever.’

That was what I truly wanted to write. But would writing that here and now really be the right thing to do?

“Is something wrong?” Masato asked, noticing my hesitation.

“…No, no, just overwhelmed by the sheer number of possible wishes, de gozaru…”

Snapping back to reality at his voice, I took a small, deep breath before pressing my pen to the wood.

‘May Masato, Koumi, and I all graduate together in peace!’

That was the wish I ended up writing on the wooden tablet.

Expressing my feelings was important, but it shouldn’t turn into selfish pressure. I didn’t want to do anything that would put Masato in a tough spot.

“Maybe I should write that for mine too,” Masato remarked, glancing at my tablet.

“Oh? Does that mean Masato-dono feels the exact same way?”

“Well, of course I do,” Masato answered without hesitation.

“Nihihi, that makes me super happy, de gozaru!”

After finishing our tablets, we walked over to hang them up in the designated area.

“Woah, it’s so pretty…” I gasped.

“It really is,” Masato agreed softly.

Spread out before us was a truly fantastical sight.

A sweeping tunnel of hanging wooden tablets. And right in the middle of it all stood the two of us.

“Whoa, whoa!” Masato stumbled suddenly.

“Whoa, are you okay?”

“Sorry, sorry! I’m just not used to walking in these geta clogs,” Masato apologized sheepishly.

As Masato lost his balance slightly, I reached out to steady him. In that instant, our eyes locked.

‘Are you okay? You dropped a contact lens, right? I’ll help you look for it.’

—That time.

Back when I first met Masato, our eyes had locked in the exact same way.

Even through my blurry vision, I still clearly remembered how violently my heart had throbbed in my chest.

“Mizuho?” Masato asked softly.

“Nn-nn! You gotta keep your footing, young man…”

“Seriously, what character are you supposed to be right now?” he chuckled.

After helping Masato regain his balance…

…So much had happened since that day.

Without realizing that the boy from back then was my Destined One, I had even asked Masato to help me search for him.

Clinging to a few sparse clues, I went to a boys’ bar… and ran into Masato again.

Looking back now, it wasn’t that I hadn’t noticed; rather, I had been averting my eyes from the truth. The thought that my Fated Person could be the very guy Koumi loved was something I had forcibly erased from my mind as an impossible taboo.

But during our trip to the beach, I finally realized beyond a shadow of a doubt that Masato was indeed my Fated Person.

I had worried about what would happen between Koumi and me, but together we decided that we would both date Masato. And then—

—I confessed my feelings to him at that theme park.

Countless memories flooded through my mind like a film reel.

And once again, I reaffirmed to myself just how desperately I wanted to be by his side forever.

Overwhelmed by emotions that threatened to spill over, I quickened my pace to walk a few steps ahead so he wouldn’t notice.

Wiping the corners of my eyes with a quick flick of my sleeve, I turned around to face Masato.

“Masato-dono!” I called out.

Masato blinked, caught off guard by my sudden shout.

“I love you!”

Telling the person you love most in the world how you feel…

…I never knew it could feel so liberating, so wonderfully exhilarating.

The me of the past could never have imagined this feeling.

“So make sure you grant the wish I wrote on that ema, okay?!”

I had no idea what kind of future Masato would ultimately choose.

But this one small wish—to stay together all the way until college graduation…

…it’s okay for me to be a little selfish about it, right?

​[ The Case of Tonosaki Mizuho ]

​<mizuho

​21:46 | Masato: Mizuho, thanks for today! Thanks for doing all the driving too!

​21:46 | Masato: I had so much fun thanks to you!

​22:13 | Mizuho: Ooooh! I had a whole lot of fun as well, verily!

​22:13 | Mizuho: Going on dates with Masato makes every single day Happy……

​22:34 | Masato: What kind of phrasing is that? lol

​22:34 | Masato: That kimono looked really great on you, by the way!

​22:41 | Mizuho: Nishishi

​22:41 | Mizuho: Same to you, Masato!

​23:14 | Mizuho: Masato, don’t brood over things too much, alright?

​23:14 | Mizuho: Even if in the end I’m not the one you choose, there’s no way in the world I could ever come to hate you.

​23:14 | Mizuho: No matter what choice you make, I love you to bits all the same.

​23:26 | Masato: Thanks, Mizuho.

​23:36 | Masato: You really are such a thoughtful and wonderful girl, Mizuho.

​23:40 | Mizuho: Nishishi, flattery gets thee nowhere, mark my words!

​23:40 | Mizuho: ……Well, even if Mizuho-chan isn’t the chosen one…

​23:40 | Mizuho: I shan’t be letting you slip away so easily!

​23:41 | Mizuho: Thus, I highly recommend you just pick me!

​0:02 | Mizuho: Just kiddiiing!