Chapter 26 Confession and Sweets
#Sareta OtokoConfession and Sweets
Encouraged by Matsusaka-kun and Shirakawa-san, I jumped on my bike and left the university.
But I immediately thought, “It would be annoying to show up all of a sudden,” so I ran to a nearby supermarket. I wanted to buy something as a gift and use it as an excuse to meet her, like, “I bought some sweets; can we eat them together?”
There was a corner in the store where they sold gift sweets, so I looked around, and my eyes fell on the matcha dorayaki.
I immediately ordered from the clerk, “10 pieces of matcha dorayaki, please!” and bought them. I even had them gift-wrapped, but when I thought about it, it would be too much and unnatural to have them so neatly wrapped.
Oh well.
Momentum is important at times like this.
As I was leaving the store, I called Iroha-san.
[Hello? Taichi-kun? This is perfect timing. I was just about to call you as well.]
“Really? Well, I bought dorayaki and wanted to eat it with Iroha-san, so I called. Can I come over now?”
[Yes. I was thinking of making a hot pot tonight, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me. Ufufu.]
This is a good start!
“Then I’ll be right there!”
[There’s no rush. Drive carefully.]
“Got it!”
When I arrived at Iroha-san’s apartment, I parked my bike in the parking lot, took the paper bag of matcha dorayaki, and went to Iroha-san’s room.
Yikes.
I’m getting nervous.
I remember my kendo match.
No, I’m more nervous than I was during the match.
Come to think of it, I’ve never confessed to a woman before.
The only time I confessed was to Chika in the second year of middle school.
Now I’m about to enter the biggest stage of my life.
Oh, but maybe the common test was a bigger stage too.
No, since this is my first confession, I need the determination to bet my life on it.
As I stood in front of Iroha-san’s room, I could feel my heart pounding.
Maybe it was my imagination, but my legs were shaking.
It should be okay.
Everyone said Iroha-san liked me.
Besides, didn’t I swear when I left my hometown?
To be reborn as the new Sakamoto Taichi.
I took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell, and I heard Iroha-san’s reply from inside, [Yes~].
My throat dried up with nervousness.
If I can come in, I’d like some water first.
I’ll talk about it later.
The front door opened, and Iroha-san, wearing an apron without her glasses and with her hair down, greeted me.
Wait, was Iroha-san always this cute?
Even though I’m familiar with her, she looks cuter than usual. Maybe it’s because I’ve kindled the flame of love.
“Sorry for showing up out of the blue. This is matcha dorayaki as a gift.”
“I always tell you not to be so polite.”
“Besides… Iroha-san! I like you! Will you go out with me?”
Aaaaaaaaaah!
Crap!
I wanted to drink some water and calm down before confessing, but I blurted it out!
“Yeah, come in. Wait!!! Eeeeeeeehhh!?”
See! Iroha-san is so surprised that she freezes!
Her eyes are about 1.7 times wider than normal!
What am I doing?!
“Um, well… How should I put this? I guess you could call this a premature confession….”
Here we go!
At this point, I’ll just go ahead and confess!
“I really like you! I really like Mizunami Iroha-san! Please be my girlfriend!”
When I made my final push, Iroha-san, still holding the doorknob, blushed, bowed her head, and replied.
“Uu… yes. If I’m good enough….”
“Really!? Please don’t say later that you didn’t want to.”
“I won’t say that! I’ll be Taichi-kun’s girlfriend!”
“Whoa… seriously….”
“What is wrong with you? Do that in the hallway! It’s disturbing the neighbors, so come inside!”
“Got it!”
By the time I was allowed in, the pot was already prepared on the low table, and a delicious smell was wafting around.
With the excitement of my successful confession, I sat down in my usual place, and Iroha-san also sat across from me as usual.
However, we both remained silent.
Iroha-san blushed and wouldn’t look me in the eye, and she silently prepared the food for me.
Somehow, it reminded me of the time I was embarrassed to hold hands on the day of the initiation ceremony.
Normally, we would both relax and start eating while having casual conversations, but because Iroha-san was nervous, I couldn’t find the words.
My throat was still parched.
There was a glass and a pet bottle of tea on the table, so I silently poured some into the glass and drank it all at once.
My throat was still parched, so I poured another glass and drank it all at once.
As I was pouring another glass, Iroha-san finally opened her mouth.
“If you drink too much tea, you won’t be able to eat the hot pot.”
“Oh, sorry. I was so nervous about confessing that my throat was parched.”
“Uh, I’m also nervous about confessing out of the blue, so please bear with me.”
Iroha-san said this while putting vegetables and meatballs from the pot on my plate, so I said, “Itadakimasu!” and started eating.
Even after I started eating, there was still silence, so she asked me out of the blue, “I’m embarrassed, Taichi-kun, please tell me something funny.”
But it’s a request from my girlfriend.
I’ll fulfill any request, no matter how unreasonable.
“Well, it’s about my childhood home. Ever since I was little, I hated pickles. I still hate them now, but when I was a kid, I couldn’t even stand to look at them.”
“Pickles are delicious.”
“Everybody says that, but pickles have a sour smell, don’t they? I hated that. So one time when I was a kid, there was a pickle dish for dinner. The pickles, which were already sour and I hated them, were even more so with the vinegar. So I refused and said, ‘I can’t eat this.’ Then my mother said, ‘You have to eat everything that’s served! I won’t forgive you for wasting food!’ and hit me on the head with her fist, making me cry and eat it. So in the Sakamoto family, there is an iron rule that if you waste food, you will be punished with a fist, so my sister and I eat even things we don’t like.”
“Fufufu. Your mother raised you very strictly. That’s why Taichi-kun always eats everything without leaving any.”
“No, it’s because Iroha-san’s cooking is delicious, so there’s no way I’d leave anything. That’s why I’ve been gaining weight lately.”
“If you say it like that again, I’ll be really embarrassed.”
“It’s strange. We used to eat together all the time, but now that we’re dating, it’s different.”
“This is my first time having a boyfriend. I don’t know how to act, so I’m embarrassed too.”
“Iroha-san says that is so sweet. My girlfriend is the best.”
“Stop teasing me like that!”
“No, no, no, I’m not teasing you! It’s all true!”
“Uu… Taichi-kun is mean.”
“Whoa, even Iroha-san sulking is super cute.”
I kept saying she was cute, and Iroha-san sulked, but we both enjoyed the hot pot and washed the dishes together and then we decided to have matcha dorayaki for dessert.
Iroha-san eating the dorayaki like a little animal was so cute.
And while eating the dorayaki.
“I think I’ll never forget today. The taste of that dorayaki, Taichi-kun’s mean smile. Ufufu.”
Iroha-san’s words and smile were very impressive.
Is she happy because she is my girlfriend?
Or is she happy because she’s eating sweets?
Probably both.
Because she has such a happy, happy face.
I’ll never forget today either.
I’ll be with Iroha-san, smiling, forever.
From now on, forever.