When I came to my senses, I was no longer in front of the karaoke place.
"W-where... am I?"
When I looked around, a bizarre scene spread out before me.
A space with a blue backdrop, lined with hexagonal lumps of something.
It looked a lot like some kind of virtual space straight out of a movie.
"Why do you look so surprised?"
"Black Arus?"
In that space, Black Arus appeared.
"At this rate, it’ll end halfway. No results, no answer, forever."
"Halfway? What on earth are you talking about...?"
"Show me more. More of what’s ahead..."
"No, what are you even—"
Before I could even make sense of Black Arus’s words, my vision went dark.
*******
When I opened my eyes, I was back in front of the karaoke place.
"What on earth did I just go through...?"
While I was still flustered, trying to remember what had just happened, Maria approached me.
"Higakieta Hai. I have a favor to ask of you."
"Huh?"
I was still a little rattled by what I’d just experienced, but for now I decided to focus on Maria in front of me.
"What is it?"
"I have seen many kinds of love until now. I have gathered enough material to understand what love is. But I failed to interpret it. I suspect the reason is that I have not experienced it myself."
After saying that, Maria paused for a moment before continuing.
"So, could you love me tomorrow?"
"...Huh?"
"Whaaat!????"
Maria’s bombshell was enough to throw everyone there into chaos.
The situation instantly turned into a boiling mess because she had asked me to love her tomorrow.
Maria herself only tilted her head, as if she had no idea what kind of shockwave her words had caused, while everyone except the young lady wore expressions of shock and terror.
"M-Maria. What do you mean by that...?"
Partly to calm the chaos right away, and partly because I genuinely wanted to know what she meant, I asked Maria for clarification.
Then the noisy crowd fell silent.
The young lady and Mana looked interested, while the others waited tensely for Maria’s answer.
"As I said just now, I have never experienced love directly. Therefore, I would like to go on a date with Hai tomorrow."
Hearing her words, everyone was shocked once again.
*******
And so, the next day arrived.
I came out to the shopping district for my date with Maria.
Maria, standing beside me, looked around with wonder.
"Is it really that fascinating? I thought you already knew everything about this world, Maria."
"I understand it as information. But actually walking through it gives me a slightly different impression."
"Is that so?"
I had assumed that someone like Maria, who knew everything about this world, wouldn’t need to look around like this. But seeing it in person must have been a different experience.
"Yes. The buildings are large, and the streets are very lively."
As she said that, Maria spun around as she moved forward.
She seemed pretty excited, and while it was a little awkward, it was nice to see.
"There are fewer people than in the real world, though."
"Hai’s world is a lot busier, then."
"Yeah. There are way more people."
"...I’d like to experience it myself too."
"If the chance comes up, I don’t think that’d be bad."
Well, once this was over, I thought it might be nice to tour the real world with Maria too.
That is, assuming she could actually see the real world.
Anyway, while we were walking down the street, we ran into three people.
"Huh? Hieta!"
"Ai?"
The one we met was Ai, and beside her were Mai and Mii.
When they saw Maria beside me, they turned to stare at me with murderous eyes.
"Hieta, who’s the woman next to you? Don’t tell me you’ve got a new girlfriend again!"
"And you already have Sachi too... how could you..."
"Seriously, what a turnoff~"
"No, what are you talking about? Maria and I aren’t like that at all!"
I corrected the three of them and said that there was absolutely nothing going on between us.
Even so, they didn’t let go of their suspicious expressions.
"Really?"
"You’re not making excuses? Though I guess if you keep adding women beyond that, getting stabbed is fair game."
"Seriously, what a turnoff~"
"That’s a pointless misunderstanding."
After I cleared up their misunderstanding, Maria’s brow furrowed.
"...Hai, let’s go."
Then she suddenly walked off ahead of me.
"Huh? M-Maria! Ah, excuse me, I have to go!"
"Hieta?!"
I apologized to the three of them and ran after Maria, who was already moving ahead.
Unlike just a moment ago, when she had been walking at a leisurely pace, she now marched forward at a brisk pace, ignoring me completely.
"Maria, please wait."
Only after I nearly caught up and called out to her did she turn around and look at me.
Maria’s expression was plainly sulky.
"Hai. Am I just someone you know?"
"No, I mean, there’s no other way to explain it..."
The only way I could describe Maria was as someone I knew.
Well, I couldn’t exactly explain everything as it really was.
But my answer didn’t seem to satisfy her, and her expression didn’t soften.
"Hai is on a date with me. And yet you can call me just someone you know?"
"Umm..."
Maria did have a point.
Calling someone you were on a date with just an acquaintance was a little strange.
"Then, a pretty close friend... maybe?"
"...I’ll accept that for now. But right now, Hai and I are on a date. Even if we’re classmates, it’s not right to be distracted by another girl."
"No, when did I get distracted...? And I couldn’t help it when they talked to me."
"...No."
"Y-yes, ma’am."
I got a little scared by how stubborn Maria sounded.
"Hai needs to learn more about girls."
"Ah, haha..."
I gave an awkward laugh, but Maria still didn’t look pleased.
In the end, the answer in a situation like this was a sincere apology.
"Maria, I’m sorry. I’ll make sure not to do that again."
I bowed my head and apologized to Maria.
"...Promise?"
"Yes, it was my fault."
"...If you just keep saying things forever, we’ll never get anywhere, so I’ll forgive you. But in exchange..."
"In exchange?"
"Teach me even more things, Hai."
Seeing Maria smile brightly now that she had calmed down made me smile too.
Right. I’d be more careful next time.
That was my resolve.
*******
The date continued as we wandered around the shopping district, eating whatever looked good and buying whatever we wanted.
And only when the evening glow began to settle did our date finally come to an end.
"I guess it’s about time to head home."
As I muttered to myself while looking up at the sky, Maria tugged on my collar.
"What is it?"
"Are we going back now?"
"I guess we have to."
"Then, could you buy me just one thing?"
What Maria pointed at was a keychain inside one of the shops.
A keychain with a slightly stupid-looking red cat dangling from it.
"Sure."
I bought the keychain to grant Maria’s request.
"But what are you going to use it for?"
"I just wanted it. The cat looks like Hai, so it’s cute."
At the sudden compliment, I scratched my cheek awkwardly while Maria held the keychain tightly, as if it were something precious.
"Then, shall we go?"
"Hai. Would it be all right if we go separately? I’d like to count that as part of the date too."
"Well, if that’s what you want."
So Maria and I decided to head home separately.
Wanting even the act of parting ways to count as part of the date was such a Maria thing to think.
"Hmm. Should I pick up something for dinner?"
Honestly, I had nothing else to do, so I went into a nearby supermarket to buy ingredients for dinner.
"This one, and this one, and this one..."
After buying everything I needed for tonight’s meal and stepping back outside, it was already getting dark.
"It’s already this late..."
Feeling how quickly time had passed, I headed home.
While I was on my way back, I spotted Black Arus standing bored at a crosswalk.
What is she doing?
Curious about her intentions, I watched quietly, and then she started moving.
Black Arus walked up to an old lady crossing the street.
The old lady must have had a heavy load, because she stopped halfway across the crosswalk.
"Honestly... doing this right in front of me is a problem."
Black Arus picked up all of the old lady’s bags and trotted across the crosswalk.
The problem was that she left the old lady behind.
"Hey, what about the old lady!"
I immediately went over to the old lady and held out my hand.
"...Um, are you all right? If you are, I’ll help you across."
The old lady nodded and took my hand.
"The bags are over there with that girl, so don’t worry. Here, take my hand."
Fortunately, the old lady crossed safely without any trouble, and I looked at Black Arus with a surprised expression.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No, I just didn’t expect you to help an old lady, that’s all. You’ve got a kind side too."
"...I just didn’t want her dying right in front of me. Even NPCs splatter blood."
After that, the old lady thanked us and left, and Black Arus, who had received the thanks, looked a little displeased.
"You did a good deed, so why do you look like that?"
"It’s not like I helped because I wanted to."
Hmm. Wasn’t this what people usually called tsundere?
"You’re thinking something weird."
"Not really. I’m just thinking that Black Arus is unexpectedly kind."
"That’s the same thing."
I shrugged at Black Arus’s words, then placed my hand on her head.
"W-what are you doing!"
"What do you mean? I’m praising you."
When I patted Black Arus’s head, she didn’t resist.
More accurately, she grumbled with her mouth but didn’t actually stop me.
"That’s enough! I’m done here, so I’m leaving!"
After a little while, Black Arus said that and disappeared.
"Heh, she’s so shy."
I muttered that to myself and started walking home again.
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