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 40: The Shortest, Yet Happiest Words

From Soma’s POV —

Thursday. After school. In front of the art room.

Right now, I was drowning in nerves.

More than hitting a free throw in a match. More than my first confession. Today might just be the most nerve-wracking moment of my life.

One deep breath. Two. Three.

(Alright… go. Be a man, Soma!)

Clatter. I slid open the door.

Inside, as always, Mei-chan was there.

By the window bathed in sunset, her brush moved gracefully across the paper. The air was still, but it had a quiet strength to it.

(Ahh… Just seeing this scene made me fall for her thirty times harder…)

“…Hey.”

My voice cracked a little.

“…Haruto-kun.”

Just hearing her say my name was enough to make my heart explode.

But this time… I had to say it. No matter what.

“…Um, so…”

Mei-chan’s brush came to a stop.

“Uh… this weekend, the city art museum is doing this ‘Fantasy and Light’ exhibition…”

My voice trembled more than I thought it would.

But still, I said it.

“…I was thinking of checking it out. And… if you’re free… maybe, want to go together?”

Mei-chan blinked once.

(…Crap, did I mess up? Did I ruin the mood? Was that too sudden!?)

A flood of anxiety surged through me.

My throat dried out. My hands were clammy. This was worse than our club training camp.

But I wasn’t running away.

Because I liked Mei-chan.

That feeling alone—I held it in my hands and looked straight at her.

The art room fell into silence.

Still holding her brush, Mei-chan lowered her gaze slightly.

I was getting pulled into a whirlpool of thoughts so fast, I couldn’t even tell how many seconds had passed.

(Did I push too hard? Was this the wrong timing? Did I pressure her?)

Trying to drown out the panic, I opened my mouth again.

“Ah, of course, if it’s too much or sudden, no pressure! Sorry, I didn’t mean to spring something weird on—”

That’s when it happened.

“…Yeah. I’d love to.”

“Eh?”

The word slipped out of me.

Mei-chan looked at me calmly.

Her expression didn’t change much—but something in her eyes seemed a bit softer than usual.

“…I want to see it. The ‘Fantasy and Light’ exhibit.”

“Ah—ahh! Yeah! So, um, maybe Saturday? Like, late morning?”

“…Yeah.”

She answered again.

Just those few words—and yet my heart was racing faster than ever.

“…Thanks.”

That’s all I could manage to say.

Mei-chan picked up her brush again and quietly turned back to the paper.

Just watching her from behind filled my chest with warmth.

(—This means… it worked, right?)

It still didn’t feel real. But I was going with Mei-chan. To the art museum. On a weekend.

I don’t know if you could call it a date.

But still—I felt like I’d finally taken that first step forward.

***

From Mei’s POV —

The art room was wrapped in the gentle glow of the afternoon sun.

I was painting, focusing on the light streaming in through a gap in the curtains.

Today, I was working on how to portray light—how it blended into color and shadow, how it bled into the paper, how it made the surface breathe.

These were the moments where time disappeared for me.

That’s why, at first, I didn’t even notice the door open.

“…Hey.”

A voice I knew well.

It cracked a little. I paused my brush.

“…Haruto-kun.”

I looked up—and of course, it was him.

Soma Haruto.

Loud, kind of dumb, and yet somehow always there beside me.

Lately, after school, he’d quietly come and quietly go. We didn’t talk much, but it didn’t feel awkward. In fact… it felt sort of comforting.

That’s why I remembered which days he came, and which days he didn’t.

I was happy he came today too—when suddenly, he said:

“Hey, um…”

His voice was lower than usual.

“Uh… this weekend, the city art museum is doing this ‘Fantasy and Light’ exhibit…”

…Oh. I knew about that.

Our art club teacher mentioned it too. Said it had stunning contrasts of light and shadow.

I’d actually been a little curious.

“…I was thinking of checking it out. And… if you’re free… maybe, want to go together?”

He said that while glancing away nervously, but still looking straight at me.

I couldn’t respond right away.

(…Together?)

I hadn’t expected that.

But what surprised me more… was the look in his eyes.

He wasn’t joking. He wasn’t playing it off. No usual teasing tone.

He genuinely wanted to invite me.

He was someone who never made a fuss about me being there. Never made me feel out of place. Someone who matched my pace.

And that person… was asking me to go somewhere with him.

Was it really okay for it to be me?

…Was he serious?

At the same time, something warm bloomed quietly in my chest.

“…Yeah. I’d love to.”

The words left my mouth on their own.

Right after, I felt a faint heat rise to my cheeks.

Was my voice trembling just now?

“…I want to see it. The ‘Fantasy and Light’ exhibit.”

More than just saying “yes,” I wanted to show him I really meant it.

He looked kind of dazed for a second, then flustered as he asked,

“Uh, so, Saturday? Maybe late morning?”

It was a little funny, and I almost laughed.

“…Yeah.”

I answered again.

And just with that, his expression softened so much.

It was the face of someone thinking, “I did it.” It was… kind of cute.

I picked up my brush again.

Pretending to concentrate on the half-finished sketch like nothing had happened.

But I knew—even without checking—that my hand was trembling just a little.

(…I can’t wait.)

I whispered those words in my heart—quietly, so no one would hear.

***

From Masato’s POV —

The day after Soma said he was going to ask her out.

During lunch break, Hiyori was at a club meeting, so I was alone on a bench in the courtyard where we usually held our weekly meetings, eating lunch by myself.

Once in a while, this kind of peace and quiet was nice—

—Or so I thought.

Someone ran up and plopped down next to me at full speed.

“Manabe-e-e-e-e-e-e-e!!”

Soma Haruto. No hesitation, full force entry.

“Whoa—dude, keep it down…”

“I can’t! I had to tell someone!”

Soma practically exploded with excitement like a human fountain.

“Mei-chan said yes!! We’ve got a date this Saturday!!”

…Well, I already knew that.

But still, just seeing his face made it obvious how happy he was.

“Uh, congrats… I guess?”

“What’s with the lukewarm response!? Where’s the fist pump?! Hype me up!”

“Yeah, no. I’m not throwing a fist pump in the middle of the courtyard.”

“So chill! But fair!!”

Soma kept standing up and sitting down like he was doing squats. What was this energy?

I felt like telling him to chill out—but fine. I’ll let it slide for today.

“So? How’d you ask her?”

When I asked, Soma scratched his cheek, his fingers twirling on the table.

“Just said there’s this ‘Fantasy and Light’ thing going on, and if she’d want to go…”

“And she said, ‘sure’?”

“Yeah.”

He mumbled it, clearly still overjoyed.

“Shortest words ever—but probably the happiest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Hearing that, I smiled just a little.

“I see. …You did good, Soma.”

“Huh? Why do you sound like a wise old master all of a sudden?”

“You’re the one who started calling me ‘master’ in the first place.”

Soma let out a goofy laugh.

“But really, thanks, Manabe. Back when I was going on about ‘Do you think people can tell I like Mei-chan?’—I was actually kinda panicking inside.”

“Yeah, everyone could tell.”

“Right?! It’s so obvious in hindsight…”

Then he started slapping my shoulder for some reason.

“But y’know, I realized something—I was really happy when I felt like people knew. Like, when someone understands you, it gives you courage.”

“…Huh.”

That was surprising. For all his loud energy, Soma might be more sensitive to that kind of thing than anyone else.

“So yeah, thanks for listening, Manabe.”

“…I didn’t do much. I just listened.”

But if just being there could help… then that’s more than enough.

Soma shrugged and grinned.

“Alright, now it’s time I hear about your lovey-dovey stories, Master! As your loyal disciple!”

“…Yeah, that’s not happening.”

“Ohh, denying it is just more proof of how deep you’re in loooove~~!”

“Go home.”

“Rude!!”

And just like that, lunch break ended in chaos.

But little by little… it felt like I was connecting more with the people around me.

And watching this loud little disciple of mine take real steps forward in love—

—for some reason, I felt proud.

***

[End of Soma’s Romance Arc!]