Looking Back On The Double Date (Ishida’s Case)

Today, I was invited by Yuu to go on a double date at the theme park by Lake Sagami. Yuu claimed he wasn’t explicitly trying to hook me up with Kazumi-san, but… in reality, his blatant attempts to leave the two of us completely alone were entirely transparent. Mind you, I was thoroughly enjoying myself anyway…

Even I felt a significant chunk of panic over that highly talked-about obstacle course, which boasts a massive scale equivalent to a five-story building. Even with a safety lifeline attached, the idea of crawling along a climbing wall at that extreme height, or riding a bicycle across a single tightrope bridge, is absolute insanity.

“Whoa, hold on. Are you seriously terrified of a minor hurdle like this? Good grief, I guess I’ll have to take the lead and show you how it’s done.”

Whether she possessed unmatched courage or was simply completely fearless, Kazumi-san charged forward without a single split second of hesitation. Even at points that had other people frozen in panic, she glided through effortlessly as if she were strolling down a normal street, clearing almost every single section of the course. I strained every nerve to ensure I didn’t lag behind her, but…

“Ishida-kun, your legs are shivering uncontrollably! You look precisely like a newborn fawn!” she roared with laughter.

“You’re one to talk, Kazumi-san! Are you even an actual girl? Normally, this is the exact boundary where a regular girl is supposed to gasp, ‘Eek, I’m terrified!’ or ‘Don’t go so far ahead without me!’”

“Eek, I’m terrified!~ Don’t go so far ahead without me!~” Kazumi-san deliberately contorted her body in a theatrical display while balanced squarely on a single rope sixteen meters above the ground.

“Is that a direct, sarcastic insult aimed at me since I’m currently clutching this pillar for dear life, unable to even step onto the rope?”

Kazumi-san threw her head back and let out a boisterous laugh. “If you desperately want that textbook reaction, you should have invited a cute freshman or a naive high school girl to tag along. Expecting a display like that from me is entirely mathematically flawed.”

With that, Kazumi-san used her magnificent balance to swiftly navigate across the tightrope. Combined with her slender figure, the sight was undeniably striking.

(I’m completely helpless against her. The more time I spend in her presence, the more deeply I find myself captivated by Kazumi-san’s charm.)

Wired with that realization, I forced my trembling foot to take its absolute first step onto the rope.

Throughout the rest of the day, Kazumi-san continued to methodically conquer a barrage of different thrill rides one after the other. Mid-run, Touko-senpai finally threw in the towel, her face entirely pale. “I’ve reached my limit. Please let me rest for a bit.”

“Oh, come on, Touko. We’ve traveled all this way; it’s a complete waste if we don’t ride every single attraction,” Kazumi-san grumbled, looking thoroughly exasperated.

Touko-senpai squeezed out a breathless reply. “If you’re still bursting with vitality, Kazumi, please go on ahead alongside Ishida-kun. As for me, I have already thoroughly savored the experience.”

“Well, I suppose it can’t be helped. Shall the two of us call it a day as well then?”

As Kazumi-san voiced her disappointment, Yuu stepped smoothly into the space.

“I’ll stay behind to keep Touko-san company. Consequently, Kazumi-san, please head out to ride the remaining attractions alongside Ishida. You haven’t fully satisfied your urge to play yet, have you?”

“He’s completely right, Kazumi. There is absolutely no reason for you to hold yourself back on my account. Go play until you are thoroughly satisfied. The two of us shall wait right here.”

“Are you certain? In that case, you two take your time to deepen your love right here. Ishida-kun, we shouldn’t turn into a nuisance to the lovey-dovey couple—let’s move out!”

Kazumi-san flicked her right hand in my direction, explicitly signaling ‘fall in step behind me.’

“Right, right. I shall act as your obedient escort.”

While I forced a reluctant, complaints-heavy tone into my voice to keep up appearances, my core heart was bursting with genuine happiness as I fell in step behind her.

As the twilight began to bleed across the horizon, we boarded the giant Ferris wheel for our final destination. Needless to say, we maintained our separate pairings—myself alongside Kazumi-san, and Yuu paired up with Touko-senpai.

“Ahhh! That was the first time in ages I’ve played with absolutely every single ounce of my strength!~” Kazumi-san let out a massive stretch, her features melting into a thoroughly satisfied look.

“You say that precisely as if you’ve been living a life completely devoid of entertainment lately.”

“Hey, hold on a second. What’s with the phrasing? You’re talking about me as if I’m a textbook delinquent student. I attend every single lecture with absolute seriousness, and my academic grades are exceptionally stellar, you know.”

“No, that’s not what I meant at all… I was just wondering, is your daily life genuinely that busy, Kazumi-san?”

As a third-year student in a humanities department, her general education requirements should be entirely checked off, leaving her with remarkably few mandatory lectures to attend.

“It’s not exactly a case of being busy. Let’s just say… a human life has its share of complications.” Kazumi-san turned her face to gaze out the glass window. A sudden, faint shadow seemed to cross her profile.

“Complications like… preparing for job hunting, perhaps?”

“I don’t harbor much anxiety regarding that boundary, honestly. My father operates a private office as a certified public accountant, you see. I fully intend to step in and inherit the practice eventually.”

“Are you serious?! A certified public accountant? That is an absolute elite qualification operating on the exact same tier of difficulty as passing the bar exam! From the perspective of us STEM majors who have absolutely no choice but to enter manufacturing corporations upon graduation, you’re practically a citizen of the upper atmosphere—a certified member of the upper class, aren’t you?”

“Hardly. For the time being, it’s nothing more than a personal objective. There’s no concrete guarantee I’ll even pass the CPA examination. Before I can even tackle that monster, I need to secure my tax accountant certification first.”

“Either way, you’re entering the ranks of elite professionals. But if it’s not job hunting that’s tying you down, what on earth is keeping you so preoccupied?”

“Ugh, I told you—it’s just complications, complications. If a human being lives long enough, things are bound to arise.”

“What on earth is that supposed to mean? You sound precisely like a woman hovering around her thirties whose fiancé just broke off the engagement at the absolute last minute.”

I dropped the comment with a casual, half-teasing grin, but Kazumi-san merely turned her head to look straight into my eyes, a poignantly lonely smile playing on her lips.

Sensing my sudden confusion, she spread both of her hands and offered a light shrug.

“To be perfectly honest, things had been a bit strained between Touko and me lately. But today’s double date completely vaporized all of that lingering awkwardness. Touko went back to interacting with me exactly like she always does, too. I calculate that we’ve both successfully cleared the air. That’s why I am genuinely grateful to Ishida-kun and Isshiki-kun for extending the invitation today.”

“Whoa, hold on a second… Kazumi-san is actually delivering a sincere thank-you to us? Quick, someone look outside—is it about to start snowing in the middle of summer?”

“Shut your mouth. Even I possess the basic decency to offer a proper thank-you when someone rescues me from a tight spot. But consider your share of the gratitude officially canceled out by that comment, Ishida-kun.”

“Wow, to think your gratitude is fragile enough to be vaporized by a single line. That is a remarkably fleeting sense of appreciation, I must say.”

“It’s a hundred times more than you deserve anyway. In actual fact, your primary contribution today consisted of clutching a pillar while shivering uncontrollably, didn’t it?”

“Hey, please give me some credit! I accompanied you all the way through to the absolute finish line, didn’t I?!”

“You calculate that that qualifies as keeping me company? Throughout the day, I felt precisely like a mother dragging a terrified child along by the hand.”

“Well, if I had been saddled with a mother like Kazumi-san, I would have undoubtedly turned into an absolute delinquent by middle school.”

“You don’t need to fret about that boundary. If you possessed a spine weak enough to turn delinquent over something like that, I would have ruthlessly beaten your character back into shape instantly.” Kazumi-san raised a fist, executing a playful mimicry of a punch.

“Society has become remarkably sensitive regarding parental violence lately, you know.”

As I mirrored her playfulness by feigning a dodge, Kazumi-san suddenly extended her arm toward me in a quiet, deliberate motion. She locked her elbow straight, orienting her closed fist directly toward my chest.

“What’s this supposed to mean?”

“Today was genuinely a blast. It’s been an exceptionally long time since my mind felt this beautifully clear. I’m relying on you from here on out too, underclassman!”

Enveloped in the crimson rays of the setting sun filtering through the gondola window, Kazumi-san offered a soft, radiantly gentle smile as she uttered those words. That smile struck a profound chord that vibrated straight through my entire chest.

(There is absolutely no room for doubt left. I am deeply, completely in love with this woman.)

Steeling my nerves through a wave of hesitation, I extended my own arm to match her gesture, bumping my fist gently against hers. The exact fraction of a second our knuckles connected, the warning Yuu had dropped earlier flashed loops through my head.

“I remember hearing a rumor lately that some guy has been aggressively circling around Kazumi-san’s perimeter.”

“I’m perfectly down to hang out anytime, but doesn’t Kazumi-san have… another partner she spends her time with?”

Kazumi-san blinked, looking straight at me with a silent ‘huh?’ expression.

“Well, it’s not like I completely lack someone in my life… but I suppose I don’t possess a partner capable of injecting a single drop of real moisture into my system. I’m quite a crude, unrefined person myself, after all. For all I know, my core character might be entirely dried out at this point.” Kazumi-san let out a soft, self-deprecating chuckle.

“They say that once a woman crosses the boundary of her twentieth year, a lack of moisture will cause her to age with absolute, terrifying speed, you know.”

Kazumi-san burst into a laugh, though she forced her features into a mock glare.

“You certainly have a big mouth, you bastard! If real moisture was an item I could just purchase at a supermarket or on Amazon, I would have checked out a lifetime supply ages ago!”

“In that case… strictly in terms of offering a source of moisture… how would you calculate a guy like me?”

Once again, Kazumi-san’s eyes locked onto mine, studying my face with an expression of pure bewilderment. For a brief split second, her direct gaze made my confidence waver, but I locked my jaw and forced the words out with absolute resolve.

“I mean… not strictly within the boundary of an underclassman… but as an actual man… a man capable of providing that moisture for you, Kazumi-san…”

However, Kazumi-san simply burst into a loud laugh.

“What on earth is that supposed to mean? You’re talking precisely as if you’re delivering a literal romantic confession to me.”

“It’s not ‘precisely as if.’ I am delivering an absolute confession to you. I desperately want to date you, Kazumi-san!”

Kazumi-san’s eyes went wide with pure shock.

“Whoa, hold on. Drop the jokes, Ishida-kun.”

“This isn’t a joke in the slightest. This is the absolute peak of seriousness—I am completely, entirely earnest.”

“…”

“I love you, Kazumi-san. That’s why—”

Kazumi-san raised her right hand, firmly signaling me to halt.

“Let us bring this topic to an absolute stop. The relationship we share right now is perfectly sufficient, isn’t it?”

Those words represented her absolute, definitive answer.

“I am genuinely happy to hear how you feel, Ishida-kun. However, I simply cannot return those feelings. And furthermore… there is a much better match waiting out there for you than a woman like me. A perfectly pure, adorable girl who fits your style down to a tee.”

I hung my head low, staring down at my knees.

(So she deployed the absolute textbook cliché an older woman uses to shoot down a younger guy…)

Once a woman drops that specific line, a man is left completely stripped of a single right to utter a counter-argument. I could do nothing but lock my eyes silently onto the floor of the gondola. Kazumi-san turned her face squarely toward the glass window, actively avoiding my gaze as well.

Maintaining that heavy, absolute silence, the Ferris wheel continued its looping descent. Right as the gondola was right on the verge of returning to the boarding platform, I finally managed to force my mouth open.

“I am so incredibly sorry for suddenly spouting such bizarre nonsense. Please completely wipe what I just said from your memory.”

“Yeah, it’s totally fine. I’m not dwelling on it at all.” Kazumi-san replied, her features melting back into a gentle, reassuring smile.