A Story About a Girl Who Took Life for Granted and Fell in Love With a Kind and Introverted Boy

…Four days after our first date, I was on another date with Saito.

“Huh…? Are we going Dutch starting today?”

My voice echoed softly in the café as I asked Saito back.

Saito looked embarrassed, resting his hands on the table and bowing his head.

“Well…it’s a bit embarrassing, but I don’t have much money…If it’s okay, could we split the bill from now on?”

“……………………”

“Of course, I’ll treat you on special occasions! But if it’s a regular date, could we split it…?”

“…Sigh.”

I finished my tea and set the cup down.

…Going Dutch, huh? I really don’t think Saito has that much money…But making a woman like me pay? Doesn’t he have any pride as a man?

(Ugh, how annoying…Why do I have to pay to be with Saito?)

I really thought about quitting this punishment game. I just wanted to get it over with quickly.

(Right, the goal is to take five photos together…I’ve already taken one when he confessed, so I need to finish four more today and not see Saito from tomorrow. Then, after a month of dating, I’ll break up with him. That way, I won’t have to go on any more dates, and I’ll have achieved both goals. I should have done this from the start. If I could get something treated, that would be different, but I definitely don’t want to pay to meet him. Today will probably be the last time I see Saito.)

Thinking this, I absentmindedly stared at my empty teacup.

…After leaving the café, we walked silently through the streets. Saito looked down shyly, keeping his mouth shut like a clam.

(Wow, this is the definition of a wallflower. He’s way too nervous for just a date. He should try talking a little.)

As I sighed softly, I noticed a crepe shop. It was the one that had gone viral on social media a while back.

“Hey, Saito, I want a crepe.”

When I said this, Saito’s eyes widened as he looked at the crepe shop.

“Oh, um…should I buy one?”

“Yeah, get the best one they have.”

I handed Saito a thousand-yen bill to run the errand. He walked over to the crepe shop and ordered two crepes, one for me and one for himself.

“…Okay. Here you go, Tashiro-san.”

“Thanks.”

Saito brought back an enormous crepe topped with strawberries, bananas, grapes, and peaches. He carefully handed it to me, trying not to drop the fruit.

I glanced at the crepe he ordered for himself. It was simple and small—probably the cheapest banana crepe.

(Huh, he really doesn’t have any money.)

Thinking this, I said to Saito, “Hey, want to take a picture?”

“A-a picture?”

“Yeah. Hold the crepe properly.”

Without giving him a chance to refuse, I pulled the crepe in front of us and snapped two pictures.

(Great, that makes three photos in total. If I take two more on the way back today, I’ll have achieved my goal.)

While thinking this in the back of my mind, I was about to take a bite of my crepe when…

Bam!

I was suddenly pushed from behind. In the commotion, I lost my grip and…dropped my crepe on the ground.

It splattered against the asphalt, with grapes and strawberries rolling everywhere.

“Ugh! This is the worst!”

I glared at whoever pushed me, annoyed.

It was a little girl, about five years old based on her height and face.

“Waaah!”

She was crying, holding an ice cream cone in her hand. At her feet lay a blue ice cream cone that had fallen.

“Ice cream! My ice cream fell!”

I was really irritated by her loud crying.

(This brat…I want to cry too! I dropped my crepe because of you!)

As I instinctively wanted to hit the girl, a thousand-yen bill was suddenly offered in front of me.

“Here, Tashiro-san.”

“Saito…?”

“If you don’t mind, please use this to buy another crepe.”

“……………………”

“P-please don’t hesitate.”

Saito folded the thousand-yen bill in half and placed it in my hand. He then squatted down and spoke to the crying girl.

“Here, you can use this to buy another one, okay?”

“Waaah!”

“Look, with this 500 yen, you can buy another ice cream.”

“Uuuh…! Sniff…ice cream…?”

“Right, get the same one you dropped…”

At that moment, just as Saito handed the girl the 500 yen,

“Hey! What are you doing to my child?!”

A loud, angry voice reached our ears. It came from an adult woman with a pale face. Since she referred to the girl as “my child,” she was probably the girl’s mother.

She picked up her crying daughter and glared at us.

“Don’t touch my child without permission!”

“Oh, um, I didn’t mean to…”

Saito’s explanation fell on deaf ears as the mother ignored his words and walked away quickly.

“Hey! Wait, you crazy lady!”

I unintentionally shouted.

“Saito only gave her money for ice cream! Don’t treat him like a suspicious person!”

But my voice didn’t reach the mother.

“…Ugh! What’s her problem? So annoying!”

“It’s okay, Tashiro-san.”

“Saito.”

“I’m fine. Please buy the crepe…”

“……………………”

I clutched the thousand-yen bill Saito gave me and headed back to the crepe shop.

“…Excuse me, I’ll take the biggest one.”

“Sure, that’ll be the Wonderful Crepe. It’s 1,000 yen.”

I bought the crepe with the thousand-yen bill from Saito. Holding it, I went back to where Saito was.

“……………………”

Saito was cleaning up the crepe and ice cream that had fallen on the ground. Once he finished, he stood up straight, took out his wallet from his pants pocket, and mumbled something to himself. I absentmindedly stared at his back.

“Oh no…what an unexpected expense. I don’t even have train fare to get home…”

“……………………”

“Well, it’s okay. It’s just a little over an hour’s walk from here. It’s not that far.”

“……………………”

…I was feeling a bit uneasy.

Saito, who had bowed his head to split the bill because he didn’t have money, had given away so much that he lost his train fare to get home, all for me and that little girl. And on top of that, neither the girl nor her mother even thanked him; instead, he was mistaken for a suspicious person…

I mean, seriously, how foolish.

He was really the one who drew the short straw. It wasn’t cool at all; it just made things miserable.

…Honestly, it really was.

“……………………”

While Saito wasn’t looking, I pulled a thousand-yen bill out of my long wallet.

“…Saito.”

“Hmm?”

I handed him the thousand-yen bill when he turned to me.

“Here, I’m returning this.”

“Huh? W-why?”

“The store staff saw the commotion earlier. They said you can keep the money.”

“R-really?”

“…Yeah.”

“Yay! I’m so glad! I was almost out of train fare…You really saved me!”

“……………………”

“I’m going to thank the staff!”

“Ah! N-no need to! I already told them!”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, you don’t have to do anything extra.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Saito looked at me with a puzzled expression.

…After that, we wandered around the city for a while.

At one point, I wanted to look at some clothes, so we stopped by a store, and then Saito wanted to check out some books, so we went to a bookstore. We spent a rather uneventful time.

I bought several pieces of clothing, but Saito couldn’t buy any books. He seemed to have a book he wanted, but he lamented, “I can’t afford it right now.”

As we did this, the sun slowly began to set. Saito checked the time on his phone and murmured, “I should get going soon.”

“Tashiro-san, as much as I hate to say it, it’s time to end our day.”

“Yeah.”

“Um, Tashiro-san…”

“What?”

“Thank you for the thousand-yen bill…”

“…Huh? What do you mean?”

“Um, for returning it. You know, the one from the second crepe.”

“……………………”

I didn’t understand what Saito was trying to say.

“The thank you was for something that originally belonged to you, Saito. I have no reason to be thanked.”

“…The thousand-yen bill you returned, that was…Tashiro-san’s, right?”