I Just Wanted a Girlfriend, But Now I Have Three Fiancées! …Even Though I Don’t Remember Proposing to Any of Them - Chapter 11: I Drank Coffee… and Somehow Triggered Fate

Chapter 11: I Drank Coffee… and Somehow Triggered Fate

“Waaah… It hasn’t changed at all!”

“Really…? Was it like this the last time you came over?”

“Yes! It was such a clean house!”

“Haha…”

Honestly, ever since I started living on my own, clean wasn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe this place.

But thanks to Mei and Mitsuki tag-teaming a hardcore cleanup over the past few days, it was finally in a state where I could let someone in without dying of shame.

So hearing her call it “clean” now felt… weird.

Not bad, just… complicated.

“I’ll make us some tea. Sit wherever you like.”

Even a guy like me had a guest tea set lying around.

I mean, maybe I should’ve used it on Mei or Mitsuki first…

But those two didn’t really feel like guests.

More like overly responsible moms dropping by to make sure I hadn’t completely fallen apart.

Offering them tea never even crossed my mind.

“Green tea or black tea—what’ll it be?”

“Green tea, please! I can drink black tea anytime back in France!”

“Got it.”

I mean, you can get green tea in France these days thanks to online shopping and all…

But sure—why not.

As the water boiled, I glanced back at the living room.

There was Luna, sitting politely on the couch with perfect posture.

Seeing a cute, blonde girl just casually chilling in my boring old house felt… surreal.

Way too surreal.

Like, is this really happening? kind of surreal.

…Man, I kinda wish it was a dream.

Maybe I’m still buzzed from that coffee and haven’t woken up yet.

Maybe I’ll open my eyes and suddenly it’s two days ago again…

“…Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Luna responded to my muttering, so I quickly brushed it off.

Man… ever since I started living alone, I’d picked up the bad habit of talking to myself.

Really need to break that.

“Hey, Luna-chan…”

“Yes?”

“It’s already pretty late… Don’t your parents get mad about you being out this time of night?”

The sun had set a while ago.

Normally, a girl wandering around alone at this hour would definitely raise some red flags…

“Papa and Mama are super busy. They almost never come home.”

“O-Oh… I see… Sorry, that’s kind of personal…”

I poured the green tea into a cup and walked it over to her—

But Luna just shook her head with a smile.

“Non! Don’t be sorry! Thanks to that, I can come visit you anytime I want, Haru-san!”

“…Ah.”

Right.

That’s how she sees it.

Optimistic… or maybe just incredibly single-minded.

…And now my stomach hurts even more.

“Haru-san, your face looks kind of pale… Are you still not feeling well?”

“No… I’m fine…”

Well, I am the one who got myself into this mess.
Guess I just have to live with the stomach pain that comes with it.

“If you ever need anything, just say the word, Haru-san. After all… we’ve got a long future ahead of us, don’t we?”

Luna’s soft, gentle voice echoed deep in my ears.

She probably meant it as encouragement, but honestly?

I wanted to scream, “That’s the reason my life’s a mess right now!”

…Not that I’d ever actually say that out loud.

If I had that kind of nerve, I wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.

“H-Hey… Luna-chan. About that marriage certificate thing…”

“Is there something wrong with it?”

She carefully pulled out an old scrap of loose-leaf paper from her wallet—laminated and well-preserved, like it was some kind of priceless treasure.

…Wait.
She actually carries that thing around with her?!

“That’s the one we wrote before you transferred schools, right?”

“…Yes. It’s my special good luck charm.”

“Good luck charm…”

“I was born in France, but my earliest memories were here in Japan. So I never really got the hang of French.”

“…Yeah.”

“But my appearance? That’s totally French. Because of that, I went through a lot… in both Japan and France.”

Yeah… I knew.

I’d seen it myself.

People teasing her because of how she looked.

Mocking the way she spoke.

And I saw how much it hurt her, too.

I was there.

Right beside her.

“Haru-san… You were the only one. The only one who accepted me for who I really was.”

“…Was I?”

“You were. You didn’t care how I looked or how I talked. You actually saw me.”

Luna smiled and gently hugged that laminated scrap of paper—like it was the most precious thing in the world.

“That’s why I was able to keep going. Because I had this. We made a promise—That when I came back to Japan… I’d marry you, Haru-san.”

“…I see.”

I had no idea.

I didn’t know she’d felt that lost.

Or that she was holding onto that promise so tightly.

“But… seeing you again was a total gamble. You might’ve moved away. Even if we did meet, you might not remember me at all.”

She trailed off, her voice falling quiet for a moment.

“…S-Sorry. I really did forget…”

“Non! You remembered right away, Haru-san! And you even helped me when I was lost!”

…Even though I can’t remember any of that.

“Haru-san, you really are kind. You see me for who I am. And that’s why…”

“…Why?”

“That’s why this has to be fate! It was destiny that brought us together like this!”

As she said that, Luna gently took my hand—and laced her fingers between mine.

Her soft, delicate fingertips brushed against mine.

A little cool to the touch… but more than that, her skin was so smooth, so silky—

I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

W-Wait a sec—this is that couple hand-holding thing, isn’t it…?!

It was my first time ever holding a girl’s hand like this, and I just sat there frozen, not knowing what to do—just staring at Luna.

Her clear blue eyes shimmered with tears as she looked up at me.

And I felt myself getting pulled in.

Deeper and deeper—like her eyes had no bottom…

Then slowly—so slowly—Luna leaned in closer.

And gently closed her eyes.

“L-Luna-chan…”

Up until now, I’d just been sitting there, letting everything happen.

But that was the moment I finally snapped out of it.

…No.

Not yet.

I hadn’t even talked things through properly with Mei or Mitsuki.

Well—okay, Mei kind of knows now.

But even so…

Letting myself just go along with Luna and kissing her now?

That didn’t feel right.

“…Yes?”

Lunan pouted a little, like she wanted to say, Why are you stopping me?

“…Can I ask you something?”

A total panic move.

Just blurting something out—anything—to change the subject.

“Yes, ask me anything.”

“If… If I were already dating someone… what would you do?”

“…?”

Luna tilted her head, like she genuinely had no idea what I meant.

“I-I mean… I’m really happy you called it fate. And that piece of loose-leaf—”

“It’s a marriage certificate.”

She cut me off before I could even finish.

Honestly, that was a little scary.

She didn’t even hesitate.

Fastest correction I’ve ever seen…

“…Okay. So if that marriage certificate gave you strength, then I think that’s a good thing.”

“It gave me so much strength.”

“Right. But then… what if I’d never remembered that promise? What if I was already with someone else—what would you have done then?”

“What are you talking about?”

Her grip on my hand suddenly tightened—and my heart did a nervous little somersault.

“Haru-san and I are bound by destiny.”

Luna said it like it was the most natural truth in the world—

Like the sun rises in the east.

Like summer always turns to fall.

“A fake girlfriend could never be a real obstacle for us. So it’s the same as if she wasn’t even there.”

She smiled sweetly.

Slowly.

And with terrifying confidence.