95. Momo’s “I Love You”
*
I love my senpai’s profile. I love his smile when he teases me like a child. I love the way he raises his eyebrows in trouble but still gets carried away by my selfishness. I love how tall he is. I love the way he is a little surprised when he is suddenly touched. I love the way he always thinks about me seriously. I love the happy look on his face when he talks about what he likes. I love the way he eats his food cleanly. he tries to lead me because he’s older. I love the way he sometimes acts innocently even though he’s usually a big brother. I love the way he subtly matches his pace when we walk together. I love the way he walks to protect me in the crowd. I love the way he looks at me over and over again, and then looks away so I won’t notice.
Anyway, I love everything about Senpai Sora!!!
It’s a cheap expression like I’ve seen in some manga, but I don’t think it’s possible to like anyone other than Senpai for the rest of my life. For me, Senpai is my only lover in my life. I can’t imagine myself not liking Senpai, and I don’t want to imagine myself dating anyone else.
“…Are you still angry?”
Senpai looks down at Momo, who is looking down, with a puppy-like anxious face. Oh, that’s so cute.
For our first date lunch, we chose a reasonable Italian restaurant in the shopping mall. We shared a Margherita and each ordered a dessert. My older senpai paid for it smoothly, and Momo waited outside the restaurant.
Momo’s expression while she was waiting must have been dark, because Senpai seems to be worried about her.
“Thank you for the meal, Senpai. I’m not angry at all?”
I’m really not angry. But I wonder if a normal girl would be angry.
“I understand Himawari-chan’s feelings a little bit…”
The one who interrupted our movie date was Philance Yellow, also known as Himawari-chan.
She is a cute and energetic junior high school girl. She is like a little sister to Sora-senpai, but Momo knows that there is a definite love in Himawari-chan’s heart. If things had continued as they were, she would have eventually become a rival. She is a single-minded, straightforward, pure, and has many things that Momo does not.
She is pure and dangerous, and she has a childishness that has not yet been able to fully grasp her own feelings. She is an unstable girl who is just between a girl and a woman, and she seems to have followed us.
It might be normal for a girl to be furious if her date was interrupted by another woman, but Momo is okay. I had expected other heroes to interfere, and I think we cut corners so that we couldn’t help it. I have no intention of losing to such a thing, and Momo doesn’t want to think about anything other than us. I want to enjoy our world alone.
Right now, Senpai likes me. I’m so happy that I can forgive anything just for that. I can even afford to feel sorry for the heartbreak of my little love rival.
“She’s still a child, so she’ll be lonely if her first love big brother disappears.”
“Well, first love”
That said, I don’t feel very good when our important time is taken up by talk of other heroes. Momo casually folds her arms and changes the subject a little.
“Don’t you have any experience, Senpai? Like a neighbor’s older sister or a school teacher getting married?”
It seems that everyone has a sweet and sour first love memory. Even if it’s someone of the same age, it’s not uncommon for it to be unrequited, and it usually makes boys and girls a little more mature.
“Ah… I didn’t have one, but I can kind of understand.”
“There were people around Momo. There were girls who gave Valentine’s Day chocolates to young and handsome teachers. For Himawari-chan, Senpai is that kind of person.”
“Girls are adults, after all.”
Since this is a hastily arranged date course, we just wandered around looking at stores. I wanted to see summer clothes, but I’m satisfied enough just walking around talking to Senpai like this.
“What kind of person was your first love, Senpai?”
More than checking out the trendy items, more than thinking about the young love rival who had left crying, I wanted to talk to Senpai more than anything else, and before I knew it, Momo’s gaze and were thoughts completely taken by the senpai walking next to her.
“Huh?”
I couldn’t help but stare at my senior with an unexpectedly heated gaze. His face was a strange mixture of surprise and alarm. Was my question really that unexpected? I could clearly see cold sweat beading on his forehead.
“W-well, no, I don’t remember.”
“Hmm?”
His ambiguous hesitation. Did he think I’d be the jealous type, completely unlike myself?
“I get it. It was the student teacher, right?”
“Ah…no…”
This is weird. He’s a terrible liar.
“Surely you’re not going to say it was an anime character?”
My senior isn’t exactly an anime otaku, and he doesn’t have any particular idol that he likes.
“Maybe it was a celebrity… oh!”
Philanthropist Red.
“…”
An awkward silence fell between us. My senior must have realized what I had figured out, because we both fell silent.
“Hmm. I didn’t intend to get jealous over someone from your past, but I can’t help but feel a little envious.”
“I-it’s not like that. Well, it’s not not like that. But, like I said before, it was just admiration for a hero. You know, even people with girlfriends or who are married usually have a favorite hero. It’s the same thing! It’s not like I have any special feelings for the ‘person behind the mask.’ I’m just a fan, like any other citizen. The person I really like is…”
My senior’s desperate excuses were somehow endearing, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“…Why are you laughing?”
“Well…”
I gently pulled away from his embrace. He looked a little disappointed, so I held out my left hand instead.
“I just… like you.”
“Wh-what? W-why!?”
“Because you’re such a hopeless softie, you’d fall for a girl who’s like your little sister. And because you’re so pure, you look up to heroes. But you can’t hide it from me.”
His large hand enveloped my outstretched one. Just before our fingers touched, one of our fingertips twitched slightly, but soon our hands were clasped together, the boundary between them disappearing.
“That’s what I like about you.”
I met his gaze as he nervously glanced at our joined hands, and I conveyed my feelings with all my heart.
It was genuine. 100% pure affection. I was surprised at how pure my feelings were.
“You know, thank you for choosing me.”
I knew my place from the start. I realized that I wasn’t one of your options. I knew I wasn’t special to you.
That’s why I’m so happy to be holding your hand now. That’s enough for me. I don’t want to think about anything else.
“No, I didn’t mean to choose…”
From Noble mtl dot com
We didn’t need to know the process or the reasons. As long as we knew that we loved each other, we could be special to each other.
“And with that, my confession is over!”
“Huh?”
I tugged on his hand.
“So, Senior, where would you like to go on our summer date?”
“Our summer date…?”
“hahahaha, did I catch you off guard?”
I skipped ahead to our next destination, dragging my blushing senior along with me.