4-5 minutes

Translator: Soafp

　Three weeks have passed since I said goodbye to Asuka for the second time.

　It’s been peaceful, and little by little, I’ve gotten used to not having Asuka around.

My sister —- Reina has never said anything to me about Asuka since then.

　She seems to be in regular contact with Asuka, and I guess she is aware of the situation. I think she has changed her mind that it is not my problem to interfere.

　Well, I don’t like it when she asks me about Asuka.

　Even though we go to the same school, we are in different classes and have much less contact with each other.

　We see each other once in a while in the classroom and have a brief conversation. Whether or not Asuka has a new boyfriend is also out of my jurisdiction.

“—–Hiroto!　Here you go”

　It’s break time before morning HR starts.

　As I was sitting in my seat, spending my time in a daze, my bad friend, Takase, appeared with an uncanny smile on his face.

　Takase sits down in the seat in front of me.

“What’s this?”

“Happy Birthday.”

“It’s long overdue.”

“Well, take a look.”

　I take the envelope Takase gave me.

　It had a sticker in the shape of a heart on it.

　At first glance, it looked like a love letter.

　My heart beats faster as I carefully inspect the contents.

[I’m sorry for the sudden letter.

　I’ve always liked you, Suginami-kun, and I was wondering if you would be willing to go on a date with me sometime.

　I’ll be staying in the fourth class room after school, so I’d be glad if you could come over!　Miharu Sakura]

　It was written in cute, girlish handwriting.

All I could do was blink my eyelids and crack my knuckles.

“Uhm this is …….”

“Yes, a love letter. She asked me to give it to Hiroto.”

“But this Sakura-san?　I don’t know much about her.”

“You know. I don’t know much about it either. But she seems to be pretty popular. She’s pretty cute.”

Takase doesn’t know either?

No, it’s not surprising that he hardly recognizes anyone from another class.

　I never thought that the day would come when a total stranger would ask me out on a date. ……

　It’s hard to believe at first glance, but the fact that my sense of pain is functioning well suggests that I’m not dreaming.

“W-What should I do? Should I go?”

“You should decide for yourself. Hiroto thought about it on his own and decided to break up with Asuka, right? Hiroto has to make the right decision this time, too.”

“Right. ……. This matter is for me to decide.”

“Yes yes. Then, I will leave it in your hands.”

　Takase flutters his hands in the air.

　I looked down at the love letter again and was tormented by agony.

　After school, I made my way to my fourth class.

　Class 4 is Asuka’s class.

　A month ago, I used to visit there frequently, but now it had been a long time since I had been there. I felt nostalgic.

　As I was walking down the hallway with a robot-like gait, a voice called out to me from the front.

“Are you okay?”

“Eh, aah, …… Asuka?”

　Asuka looked at me suspiciously.

　She was probably on her way home. She was carrying a bag on her shoulder.

“You don’t look so good?　I mean, what do are you doing here?”

“No, I’m just walking.”

“I see. I hope you’re all right. See you.”

“Hmm. See you.”

　I lightly looked Asuka in the eye as she passed by, and I walked to the fourth classroom.

　As it turned out, we ended up going out.

　On the next day off after receiving the love letter, we went out on a date.

　We went on several more dates after that, and she confessed her feelings for me, and we ended up going out.

　The time I spent with her was a delicate point, if I had to say whether it was enjoyable or not.

We didn’t have much face to face contact with each other. It was almost like we were meeting for the first time.

　Naturally, it was awkward and uncomfortable.

　I decided to take the first step in making a new girlfriend.

　I thought it was possible to fall in love with someone while dating.

　I thought that could happen.