A Popular Girl Confessed to Me, the Loner—Thinking It Was a Prank, I Tried to Scare Her Off... But She Was Actually Serious. - Chapter 16: Slowly, Together

After leaving the movie theater, we walked a bit down the street near the station and stepped into a small café.

“The cake here is really good~ I came once before with Suzu.”

Hiyori said that with a cheerful smile, and hearing her voice helped me finally relax just a little.

During the movie, I seriously thought my heart couldn’t take it.

But now, in the calm and quiet atmosphere of the café, I was sitting face-to-face with her.

We took seats by the window. I ordered a hot coffee; she got a café latte.

While we waited for our drinks, Hiyori still wore a slightly dazed expression, like she was still wrapped in the movie’s afterglow.

“…That movie was really nice,” she said.

“…Yeah,” I replied.

Our voices overlapped naturally.

A small, bashful laugh passed between us.

Our conversation was still a little awkward.

But not in a bad way.

The lingering emotion from the film was still floating quietly between us.

“You know… I was just thinking, love is kinda amazing.”

Hiyori murmured that softly.

“In the movie, the couple didn’t start out as people who could even say they ‘liked’ each other… But as they spent time together, got to know each other… they grew into those feelings.”

As she spoke, she gently held her cup with both hands and smiled faintly.

There was something calm in her expression—and also a hint of sadness.

“…To be honest, I still don’t really get it.”

My words made her eyes widen a little.

“Love and stuff… I don’t know where it starts, or when it happens. It’s not all neat and clean like in movies…”

“Yeah, I get that.”

She nodded—not to argue, but to show she understood.

“But even if you say you don’t understand, the fact that you’re still trying to face it—that makes me really happy, Madoka-kun.”

“…”

“Madoka-kun, you’re kind… because you’re able to say ‘I don’t understand.’”

Her words sank gently into my chest.

I’m not kind.

I’m always hesitant, full of doubt, never sure of anything.

And yet, she still called me kind.

“…Hiyori.”

Her name slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.

For a moment, her eyelashes fluttered.

Our eyes met—and just slightly, her cheeks turned red.

“…That was sneaky, saying my name like that out of nowhere…”

She mumbled it, but her voice hit me like a soft jolt to the heart.

I still wasn’t sure what exactly was “sneaky” about it.

But maybe… this is what people mean when they talk about butterflies in their chest.

“…Sorry. I just felt like saying it.”

“…Heh, I’m glad.”

Hiyori took a small sip from her cup, then looked down shyly.

Yeah—this feeling.

It wasn’t dramatic like in the movies, but something about us now felt just a little more like… a real couple.

We didn’t need a sudden spark or fiery passion.

We didn’t need a grand moment like in a romance film.

We were just slowly getting closer—bit by bit.

And that fact alone… made me feel more at peace than anything else.

(Just like the ending of that movie… this “like” we’re feeling—it’s slowly, quietly drawing near.)