CH 58

I’ve won a dinner with Shi-chan.

However, when I was wondering where we should go for dinner, Shi-chan said there was a restaurant she would like to go to, so we decided to go there today.

When we arrived at a commercial facility a short walk away from the station, we entered a store in the corner and took our seats.

The waitress gave us a brief explanation, and then we got started.

What we came to was an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Yes, to my surprise, the place Shi-chan wanted to go to was the all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ.

“Takkun, are you okay with all this?”

“Yes, it’s all you can eat.”

As soon as she started buffeting with her tray in hand, Shi-chan looked at the food lined up happily and muttered, “Great!” Shi-chan muttered.

She was hiding behind her sunglasses, but I could see the sparkle in her eyes.

I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Shi-chan looking so excited like a child.

Because of her family background and occupation, Shi-chan had never been to places where we commoners usually go, so we were happy to see her enjoying things that were commonplace to us.

So, with the meat and vegetables on our plates, we sat down to eat.

“It’s delicious and kind of fun!”

I’m sure the quality of the meat was different from other buffet she’s eaten before, but Shi-chan seemed to enjoy eating it.

Shi-chan was just so cute as she smilingly grilled one piece of meat at a time and chewed on it.

The bouncy hair on her head was a nice accent to her loose look.

But Shi-chan noticed my gaze, and her cheeks reddened as she shyly held her bouncy hair with her hand.

” Mooh, don’t look at me so much.”

“I’m sorry! I just thought you were cute.”

“Eh?”

Shi-chan was surprised to hear my answer.

What did I just say?

Didn’t I tell her how cute she is? No, I did say that, I swear I did.

I couldn’t help but say what I was thinking, but I was in a hurry to cover it up.

“No, I was just thinking …… you’re cute.”

Yeah, I wasn’t fooling myself. I couldn’t think of anything else.

“Oh, thank you …… Takkun, your hair looks cool now …….”

Shi-chan turned her head to the side, her face reddening, and gave me another compliment in return.

It’s true that I think I look pretty good now that I’ve been set up by Hiro, but it’s still embarrassing to hear Shi-chan say it like this.

“Oh, you’ll burn the meat!”

“Waa! you’re right!”

When I looked down at the griddle, I saw that the meat was slightly burnt.

Thus, the silence was broken by the blackened meat, and we laughed at each other as if we were blurting out something funny, and then we pulled ourselves together to enjoy the grilled meat.

After a slow but enjoyable meal, we left the restaurant and came back to the station.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice today.”

“No, thank you for inviting me too. ……”

Then we parted ways.

“Oh, Shi-chan!”

I couldn’t help but call out to Shi-chan, who turned her back to me and started walking slowly.

She responded to my call and slowly turned around.

“No, you know what! Let’s play again! We promised to have a lot of fun this summer! I’ll be in touch!”

I don’t know what I’m talking about.

I had stopped her, but I hadn’t decided what to say, and I felt my face getting hotter and hotter.

Yeah, I’ll be in touch!”

Shi-chan smiled at me and replied.

In front of that smile, I thought, Oh, I knew I liked her.

“Hey, Takkun.”

This time, Shi-chan spoke to me.

“Do we still have some time?”

I looked at my watch and saw that it was a little after 7 pm.

It was night, but I didn’t have to go home yet. I was a little nervous, but I said it was okay.

“Good. Can we talk? I wanted to talk to you a little more. ……”

“U-um, okay.”

When Shi-chan said she wanted to talk a little more, my heart skipped a beat.

So we bought some juice from the vending machine and sat down on a bench nearby.

“I-I’m sorry you had to go out with me.”

No, I wanted to talk to you some more too haha.”

“I-I see.”

We smiled at each other awkwardly, trying to cover up our embarrassment.

“…… Sometimes it still feels like a dream that I can be with Shi-chan again like this, or that I’m really with the Shi-chan from back then.”

“Yes, that’s the same for me. I never thought that I would be in the same class as Takkun, and that we would be sitting next to each other. …… Since the beginning of this year, I feel like I’m in a dream.”

I couldn’t help but feel nervous when I saw Shi-chan’s face as she smiled at me.

Then I decided that this was the right time to ask her, and finally decided to ask her something I had been unable to ask her for a long time.

“…… Are you free on the 26th of next month, ……?

“The 26th of next month? Wait a minute, …….”

She then checked her schedule on her phone, though it was a long way off and she looked unsure.

“Yes, I’m free.”

“Oh, I see. Well, why don’t we go out together that day?”

After confirming that she was free, I plucked up my courage again and asked her out.

I was able to confirm that I was free, so I plucked up the courage to ask her out again.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine, but …… what are we doing?”

Shi-chan was a little confused by my behavior, but she said yes.

Certainly, I couldn’t help but get a hunch if she asked me this.

“…… There’s a fireworks display in this town that day. I thought it would be nice if we could go together again.”

“The fireworks show ……, I see, yeah, we should definitely go.”

When I told her that it was the day of the fireworks display, she opened her eyes wide in surprise and with a slight blush on her cheeks, she said she would definitely go.

I was relieved that I was able to make a promise to go to the fireworks show with Shi-chan again.

That summer when we were little, holding hands and looking up at the fireworks together. And the feelings that I couldn’t tell her.

So, I made up my mind that I would definitely go to the fireworks show this time ……. I looked at Shi-chan smiling next to me, looking forward to it.

So until then, let’s enjoy this summer to the fullest.

Regardless of the outcome, I promised myself that I would do my best to enjoy the remaining month until the fireworks display so that Shi-chan could enjoy this summer to the fullest.