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 45: Dates Don’t Always Go as Planned

When we met up in front of the station, I honestly thought this day was off to the perfect start.

Hiyori was wearing an outfit even more autumn-like than our last date—a plaid skirt and a beige cardigan. Her dangling earrings and shoulder-length hair were all effortlessly cute.

“Good morning, Manato-kun!”

Her innocent smile made me feel like I really wanted to be the one leading today.

“Alright… let’s go.”

“Yeah! Wait, where are we going?”

“I planned everything for today.”

Hiyori blinked in surprise. “Eh!?”

Was it really that shocking…? Still, it felt good—like I’d pulled off a tiny surprise.

I’d been planning this date for days.

First, we’d stop by a cute little store near the mall, then take a break at a café. After that, we’d watch a movie, and finish up strolling through a few shops again…

It was supposed to be a flawless plan.

***

…Except it wasn’t.

“…Huh?”

I froze when we got to the shop.

The shutter was down.

There was a handwritten sign taped to the door:

“Closed temporarily from Monday to Saturday this week.”

“…You’ve gotta be kidding me…”

The words slipped out of my mouth.

Hiyori peeked at my face.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought this place was open today…”

“Closed for the week?”

“Yeah… I didn’t check properly…”

It’s okay. Let’s just move on to the café—

…Or so I thought, until we got there and saw a line stretching out the door.

It was the kind of slow-paced café where people don’t seem to leave quickly, and there was no way we’d get in within 30 minutes.

Then we tried the movie theater, but the showing we wanted was marked “SOLD OUT.”

Other showings only had a few scattered seats left—none where we could sit together as a couple.

…I was screwed.

Sweat beaded on my forehead.

Nothing was going right.

“…Sorry.”

That’s all I could manage to say.

“I came up with this whole plan myself… I thought I prepared, but everything’s just falling apart.”

A total failure. Complete disaster.

It was supposed to be a special date, and nothing was going as planned.

I felt pathetic as a guy. The moment I tried to step up and take the lead—this is what happened.

Hiyori must be mad. Or disappointed.

I hesitantly turned to look at her—

—and saw her smiling softly.

“That doesn’t bother me at all.”

“…Huh?”

“You thought this all out, right? You planned this for me, didn’t you?”

“Well… yeah.”

“Then that’s more than enough for me.”

…What is this girl even saying?

Does she really understand how badly I messed up the planning?

And yet she’s brushing it off like it’s no big deal?

But… there was no hint of blame in her smile.

Instead, it was warm—like she was truly accepting the fact that I tried my best.

***

We found a quiet bench in the mall and sat down together, shoulder to shoulder.

We at least bought some ice cream and ate side by side.

Soft autumn light streamed in through a faraway window.

We sat in silence for a while.

Strangely enough, it didn’t feel awkward.

Still, I felt like I had to say something.

“…Sorry, Hiyori.”

“You don’t have to apologize.”

She quickly denied it, almost before I finished speaking.

How is she always this kind?

“But… things didn’t go well.”

Hiyori shook her head.

“I could totally tell how hard you were trying, Manato-kun.”

“…I’m not good at saying that kind of stuff.”

So I tried to show it instead—through my actions. But even that didn’t work out.

I really thought I’d failed at everything.

But Hiyori—

“It still came through, you know?”

She said it quietly, but with certainty.

Something warm spread in my chest.

“It came through even without words”—that meant the world to me.

But the truth is—

***

(The truth is—I want to say it.)

***

I want to tell her.

Just how much these feelings have grown.

I’m finally starting to understand that there are some things that can only be communicated with words.