Chapter Four: “The Princess Wants to Be Chosen by the Prince” — Part Ten
By the time evening came, my fever had dropped considerably. At this rate I’d be back to normal by morning.
I sat up to drink some water, and a LINE notification sounded.
How’s your temperature?
Iori-senpai. Given the time, she was probably on the train home from practice. I had her schedule memorised.
I’m fine so I’m absolutely going on the date.
I sent it back. The read receipt appeared immediately, but the next message took a while.
Was my reply strange somehow? Or did she see I’m fine and decide the conversation was over?
Would starting a new topic be annoying? Could I get away with sending a sticker?
This was bad. I was going to think myself back into a fever and I wasn’t even fully recovered yet.
I was reaching for my water bottle to calm down when my phone rang again. Not LINE this time.
“A call from Iori-senpai…?!”
I answered immediately. Wind noise on the other end of the line.
Himena-chan. Sorry for calling out of nowhere.
“N-not at all! A call from you is welcome any hour of any day, all year round!”
That’s good to hear.
Hearing Senpai’s voice over the phone is something else entirely. It felt like being whispered to, my heart going at every word, and there was something slightly different about her tone that felt new and wonderful.
Senpai’s voice really is the best.
About Sunday, you don’t have to push yourself if you’re not feeling well.
“I feel absolutely fine! So fine that staying indoors would probably make me worse!”
What does that even mean.
“…Because I really, really want to go on a date with you, Senpai.”
Senpai laughed. But it was a phone call, so I couldn’t see her face.
Was it selfish, to want more than just her voice?
I know. If Sunday doesn’t work, we’ll find another day.
“Senpai… but I really want to go. Because…”
Because I don’t know when you’d next have time for a date.
The words rose up and I swallowed them back. I was glad it was a phone call. If she’d been able to see my face, she would have known.
Senpai was wonderful precisely because she gave everything to her club activities, and I loved that about her. But the limited time we had together was lonely, all the same.
I couldn’t say that. I wasn’t her girlfriend yet, and more than anything, I didn’t want to make things difficult for her.
Understood. I’m glad you’re looking forward to it.
“…Yes.”
Oh, and Himena-chan. There’s something I need to apologise for.
“Something to apologise for?”
Yes. I’m sorry for lying.
“…Lying?”
I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.
Wait, surely she wasn’t about to say the date itself was a lie?! That it was cancelled after all?! If she told me that now I would be devastated!!
I said the aquarium tickets came from my parents, remember? That was a lie.
“…What?”
That’s all. Goodnight.
“Wait, Senpai, hold—!”
She hung up before I could ask what she meant.
I sent a message, and got back nothing but get some rest, with no explanation of what she’d just said.
So I filled in the blanks myself, in the most convenient way possible.
“Senpai wanted to go on a date with me, so she bought the tickets herself. That’s what it means, right…?”
What was that. Too adorable. Too adorable, and with that, there was absolutely no question that Senpai liked me back.
“This isn’t just promising — this is basically a foregone conclusion…!”
What kind of face was Iori-senpai making right now. I wanted to know. I wanted to see. Because she had to be making the most adorable face imaginable.
“I’ve fallen for Senpai all over again…”
I loved her this much, and yet — what if, what if she turned me down. If Senpai didn’t become my girlfriend, I didn’t know how I was supposed to go on living.
I was so far gone I couldn’t even think straight.
“…I love you.”
I wished every last bit of this feeling could just reach her. If it did, surely she’d choose me.
Because no one in the world loves her more than I do.