The Italian casual restaurant that Rinta found on a gourmet website with rave reviews was about a five-minute walk from the station. The bowling alley was also just a short walk from there. The two of them began walking side by side through the shopping district near the station, heading toward the Italian restaurant.

She wondered what Hirarin thought of her fashion today? He could at least react a little bit…

Feeling slightly annoyed, Honoka glanced up at Rinta walking beside her and asked, “By the way, Hirarin…”

“Hmm?”

“Why are you wearing a suit to go bowling?”

Honoka thought that not only had he failed to notice how stylish she looked, but that he might have just thrown on whatever clothes without much thought. She was thinking that depending on his answer, she might punch him!

“Huh? Oh, right. I was thinking about wearing jeans, but I need to win your mother’s trust. I wanted to at least look proper and put-together.”

“Ah…”

“Well, I can bowl just fine in a suit anyway. What’s more important to you is whether your mother approves of me, rather than how comfortable I am bowling.”

“So that’s why you’re wearing a business suit?”

“Yeah. To be honest, I don’t own any stylish suits for casual wear. Sorry for my plain appearance. But I did take my best suit to the cleaners specially for today.”

Rinta scratched his head with a genuinely apologetic expression. Indeed, Rinta’s suit might look like his usual business suit at first glance, but it had a crisp, fresh appearance. He had taken his suit to the cleaners for today and was being considerate in his own way. Most importantly, he had chosen to wear a suit for her sake.

Finally realizing this, Honoka felt bad for thinking he might have chosen his clothes carelessly.

Come to think of it, Rinta had never been particularly fashionable. But that didn’t mean he looked bad—as a businessman, he always dressed neatly and trustworthy. Honoka reconsidered that his style reflected his serious and sincere personality, which wasn’t so bad after all.

“Oh, I see… Thanks for being so thoughtful…”

“I’m really sorry for having no sense of style. You look so beautiful and stylish, and I feel bad for not matching up.”

“Huh…?”

—Hirarin, you were pretending to be casual, but you actually thought that?

But Rinta must have been quite embarrassed, as he kept looking straight ahead without turning toward Honoka.

—If that’s what you thought, why didn’t you say so earlier…

Honoka felt this way, but she knew Rinta wasn’t the type of man who could easily express such things. In fact, just saying that one compliment had made his face turn bright red.

Well, she guessed she’d forgive him… she was thinking, but then unexpectedly, Rinta scratched his cheek with his index finger sheepishly and said, “Honoka, you’re always beautiful, but today you look surprisingly cute. Really, I’m impressed.”

“Wha—?”

Rinta’s unexpected high praise.

—Her heart fluttered.

All the irritation Honoka had felt earlier, including her thoughts about punching him, instantly vanished from her mind.

A bittersweet emotion welled up from deep within her chest. Her face heated up like an instant water heater. Her whole body went limp with weakness. That’s how happy she felt, wrapped in this sensation.

“It’s… unusual for you to say something like that, Hirarin.”

“Y-yeah. Even I don’t imagine myself saying such cheesy things. But well, I just honestly said what I thought… haha.”

“Th… thank you…”

Honoka was at a loss for how to respond and could only manage that much. She kept walking, facing straight ahead with intense focus. Suddenly, from the side and unexpectedly close, she heard Rinta’s voice whispering, “By the way, Honoka.”

“Huh?”

When she turned her face sideways, Rinta’s shoulder was so close they were almost touching. Looking up, she saw Rinta’s profile as he walked looking forward. For some reason, Rinta was now walking closer to Honoka than before.

The unexpected closeness made Honoka’s heart skip a beat.

Wha-? Wha-? Wha-? W-what’s this? Could it be that Hirarin saw how cute she looked and had already fallen for her!? Was that why he was getting so close?

“Your mother is still following us, right?”

“Oh… yeah, she’s following us.”

When Honoka glanced back, she saw her mother about 30 meters behind them in her tailing outfit. So that was all he wanted to confirm, Honoka thought, feeling a bit disappointed.

“I see. Got it. I need to do my best.”

Though it wasn’t clear what he meant by doing his best, Rinta’s expression became serious.

“Um… should I point out which one is my mother?”

“No, that’s okay. If I know which person is your mother, I think I’d become too conscious of her. It would be bad if I kept looking her way, so it’s better if I don’t know.”

“I see… you’re probably right.”

“Yeah. I’ll try to act as natural as possible too.”

Rinta said that in a low voice and then put a little distance between himself and Honoka again. It seemed he had moved closer to Honoka just to whisper about this. Remembering how she had thought he had fallen for her, Honoka felt mortified.

“Ah, haha. That’s right. I’m counting on you, Hirarin.”

All Honoka could do was laugh to hide her embarrassment.

They arrived at the Italian restaurant Rinta had found and went inside. Since they would be bowling afterwards, they both ordered light spaghetti dishes. However, even after they had placed their orders, Honoka’s mother remained outside, staking out from behind an electric pole, not entering the restaurant.

The pasta that arrived was indeed delicious, and food-loving Honoka exclaimed, “Mmm, this is so good!”

However, she couldn’t enjoy her meal at leisure, concerned about her mother waiting outside. Although the two had wanted to enjoy their meal slowly, with Honoka’s mother still outside, they decided to eat quickly and leave.

“Sorry, Hirarin. Because of my mom…”

“No, it makes sense. If she were trying to follow us and came into the same restaurant, the time difference at the register when leaving could make her lose track of us. So staking out outside is the right move.”

“True.”

“We should have scheduled to meet after lunch. It’s my mistake. I’m sorry to both you and your mother.”

“Oh, no… you don’t need to apologize. You’re helping me out.”

“No. I made the plans. I should have predicted this and planned accordingly. Sorry for the inconvenience, Honoka.”

“I’m the one who should be sorry. Because of my mom, you can’t enjoy this delicious food properly…”

“No, no, I’m the one who should…”

Unusually for this pair, they were both apologizing and claiming it was their own fault. They both realized this and simultaneously burst out laughing.

“Well anyway, let’s eat quickly and head out.”

“Ah, yes. Got it.”

After hurriedly finishing their meal, Rinta and Honoka left the Italian restaurant and headed to the bowling alley.

They arrived at the bowling alley, completed the check-in process, and went to their lane. The place was fairly crowded, with other customers in the lanes to their left and right. Although Honoka wasn’t sure from where her mother planned to observe them, she felt slightly relieved knowing at least her mother wouldn’t be in the immediately adjacent lanes.

Beside Honoka, Rinta took off his suit jacket and began rolling up his shirt sleeves.

“Alright, I’m all set.”

“Hirarin… you seem really pumped up…”

“Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve bowled, so I don’t know how well I’ll do. But since we’re here, let’s enjoy ourselves.”

Rinta was the type to put his all into everything he did. He’d probably give bowling his best effort too—thinking this, Honoka looked at his face. Seeing Rinta’s excited expression made her feel happy too.

Honoka also took off her half-coat and placed it on the seat along with her shoulder bag. Glancing at her smartphone, she noticed a message notification. It appeared to be from her mother. Opening the app, she read the message:

“Is Honoka’s boyfriend really handsome?”

A chilling message. Honoka felt a shiver run down her spine.