A Beautiful Girl Confessed Her Love to Me as a Punishment Game, but After We Started Dating, She Started Getting More and More Obsessive - Chapter 11

I went to the salon and got my hair done. Thanks to Minami, I also managed to buy some proper clothes.

Tomorrow is finally my date with Kiryu-san.

There’s no way I can afford to be late by any chance, so I decided to go to bed early tonight. I closed my eyes and reviewed tomorrow’s schedule.

Uh…what time and where are we meeting again? …Wait, what time and where are we meeting?

I furrowed my brow and desperately tried to remember.

We made the promise yesterday after school, on the way home.

Yasumura-kun called me out behind the gym, and Kiryu-san helped me out. I thanked her, then she asked me if I liked sweets, and I answered. After that, we decided to go eat cake together on Sunday, but then…huh? What happened after that?

Oh no, I can’t remember. Actually, I didn’t even ask.

I was so overwhelmed by the fact that Kiryu-san had invited me out on a day off that I completely missed it. What should I do? Seriously, what do I do? Where am I supposed to go tomorrow, and at what time? Is it even possible that the whole cake date for tomorrow was a lie?

…That’s possible. Yeah, that could totally be it. Now that I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.

There’s no reason why Kiryu-san, who only picked me by elimination, would invite me out on a holiday.

Was she teasing me? …No, I don’t think Kiryu-san is the type to laugh at something like that.

If she had planned everything from saving me from Yasumura-kun, I don’t think I’d ever be able to trust anyone again.

So, was it just a formality?

But would someone go as far as to specify an exact date like that just for pleasantries?

…Did I even agree to her invitation? I feel like I didn’t say anything like “I’ll go,” so maybe it’s off now.

But at the same time, I feel like I nodded and said “yes.” If Kiryu-san is waiting for me tomorrow, and I completely stand her up…that would be way too awful.

…So, what time and where are we meeting tomorrow?

There’s no way Kiryu-san didn’t tell me. I definitely missed it.

I could feel the blood draining from my face.

What should I do? What should I do?

If I say I got sick, would Kiryu-san forgive me?

Even if I did that, she’d probably get mad if I didn’t contact her in advance.

Huh? Contact her in advance? Wait, could I just…ask Kiryu-san directly?

But I don’t have any way to contact her.

…Wait, now that I think about it, I feel like we have some kind of class emergency contact list.

I pulled out a clear file from my desk and took out the class roster.

I’d been reading it every day for the first two weeks after we moved up a grade because I didn’t want to forget anyone’s name when they talked to me. I wanted to match faces with names properly.

I vaguely remember there were numbers written above the names. I think those are the emergency contact numbers. I found Kiryu-san’s name and started typing the seven-digit number above it into my phone.

…Huh? Seven digits?

These days, some houses don’t have landlines, and I’m pretty sure they don’t skip area codes.

To confirm, I checked my own name and the number above it.

Ah, that’s my student ID number!

Well, of course. In this day and age, for privacy reasons, they wouldn’t just hand out contact numbers easily.

…It’s over. I’ve run out of options. What should I do?

I want to run away. I want to escape somewhere far away and pretend like yesterday, today, everything never happened.

Ah, maybe a meteor will fall or something tomorrow.

“Karasu, dinner.”

“…I’m not hungry right now.”

“What do you mean? I made freshly fried karaage, and the rice is freshly cooked, too.”

“……”

Even though I’m sulking, I’m still hungry, so I got up and headed to the living room.

“…Karasu, what’s wrong?”

“Well, I forgot to ask about the meeting place for tomorrow.”

“Then why don’t you just ask?”

“…I don’t have her contact info.”

“Isn’t she your girlfriend?”

“Well, yeah, but…we didn’t exchange contact info or anything.”

“I see. So, who is this girl? Do you want me to ask for you?”

“…Do you know her contact info?”

“That class contact list thing, right? I’m in the LINE group for the class, so I could probably get it from there.”

“Wait, what? You mean ask in the group for everyone to see?”

“You can just tap the icon in the group and send a personal message.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Why don’t you, a young person, know this?”

“Well, I don’t really use LINE…”

“…Are you really going out with her tomorrow?”

Mom gave me a look like I was some pitiful creature.

“Don’t say that! I’m already starting to doubt it myself.”

“But you bought expensive clothes, right?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“So, who is this girl?”

“A person named Kiryu-san.”

“Kiryu…as in the ‘kirin’ tree in kiri-dansu, and the character for ‘life’?”

“Yeah.”

Mom opened her phone and fiddled with it for a while. Then she casually handed it over to me.

“This person?”

“Eh? Yeah, probably.”

She was registered as Kiryu Kumo. This is probably her, right?

Wait, hold on. This is likely Kiryu-san’s mom, right?

“Wait, what do I even say?”

“Huh? Just call her normally, right?”

With that, Mom unceremoniously tapped the call button. She actually did it.

“Wait, hold on!”

What do I do? Call her? Hang up? No, at this point, the call log will show up anyway. What do I do? I’m not ready for this…

While I was panicking, the call connected.

“Uh, um, uh…”

“Hello, who’s this?”

“Ah, yes. Hello. Um, this is Kiryu…Kiryu Kirino-san’s mother’s phone, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Well, I have a message for Kirino-san, but I don’t have her contact info, so I’m calling from here…”

“Oh, for Kirino? You’re a boy, aren’t you? Who might you be?”

“Ah, yes. Sorry, I should have introduced myself earlier. Uh, I’m Numata Karasu, one of her classmates.”

“Numata, I see. …Kirino! There’s a boy named Numata on the phone for you. …Okay. I’ll pass you over to my daughter.”

“…Numata-kun? I’m here.”

“Ah, yes. Um, we had plans to eat cake tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Well, I forgot to ask about the meeting place and time, so could you let me know?”

“Oh, right. I didn’t specify that, did I? Sorry about that. Let’s meet in front of the school at 9 a.m. How does that sound?”

“Ah, got it. So, um…”

It feels a bit early just to go eat cake, but…

“Well, see you tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you. I’ll see you then. Goodbye.”

I waited for her to hang up before I ended the call.

…That was nerve-wracking.

“Karasu, you seem out of breath.”

“I’m just not used to talking on the phone with girls. It’s exhausting.”

“…Are you an idiot?”

Mom looked at me with exasperation, but tired is tired.

At least now I knew the meeting place and time for tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s the day I go on a date with Kiryu-san!

…By the way, I barely touched my dinner.