I Just Wanted a Girlfriend, But Now I Have Three Fiancées! …Even Though I Don’t Remember Proposing to Any of Them - Chapter 18: Turns Out I Misunderstood Everything Because of Coffee

Chapter 18: Turns Out I Misunderstood Everything Because of Coffee

“…This is bad.”

I sat on the couch in my dark living room—

Lights off, head in my hands, completely defeated.

“This is really, really bad…!”

Thanks to that stupid coffee, everything had spiraled out of control.

The balance between the three of us—

That friendship, that easy closeness… it was all messed up now.

I thought—if I just explained it.

If I told them about the coffee, laid everything out honestly…

That would fix things.

We’d go back to normal.

Back to how things used to be.

“Nothing went back to normal…!”

That’s why I forced myself to do it.

I scraped together every ounce of courage I had—and confessed.

I told Luna.

Told Mei.

Told Mitsuki.

Told them the truth: that I’d lost my memory because of the coffee.

That I’d confessed… without even realizing it.

But—

That wasn’t it.

“I never even confessed to Mitsuki in the first place—!!!”

Nope.

This was way beyond anything I expected.

I’d misunderstood everything from the very start.

I thought I got drunk on caffeine and confessed to all of them.

Even with Luna, I chalked it up to the coffee.

But the truth?

They were the ones who confessed to me.

And I…

I apparently said yes to all of them.

“Wait—hold on a sec!”

 Wait. Calm down. Calm down, me.

 Okay. Breathe. Calm down.

I told them about the coffee.

I explained that any confessions made that day were basically null and void.

That much, I definitely did.

But— 

Only two of them confessed again after that…!

It was just Mitsuki and Mei—!!

And Mitsuki…

I already gave her a “let me think about it.”

Which means—

The only one left to deal with… is Mei.

If I can just figure out how to handle her confession, I can finally get out of this mess.

I can say goodbye to this stomachache that’s been living rent-free in my gut—!!

As for Luna?

Yeah, I’m just gonna pretend that entire situation doesn’t exist for now!!!

“T-The internet…!! This is what the internet’s for!! There’s gotta be an answer online!!”

As a certified member of the modern generation,

I pulled out my smartphone—the pinnacle of human innovation—and hit up Google.

I desperately searched for advice on this incredibly niche, hyper-specific dilemma:

A girl confessed to me, but I can’t seem to say no.

I tried every variation I could think of.

And—

No results. Obviously!

I mean, if you don’t want to date someone, the logical move is to just reject them.

But if rejection isn’t even on the table, then this whole situation becomes completely unsolvable!!

“It’s over…!?”

No—wait… not yet!!

Think—what did Mei say again!?

Ever since that whole coffee incident, I’ve been lowkey terrified of losing my memory again.

So I’ve been trying to lock everything into my brain lately—and yeah, I do remember something.

Mei told me… the morning after I lost my memories…

She said I told her:

“I came to keep a promise.”

Yeah. That’s what I apparently said.

Promise… promise…

I must’ve gone to see Mei to fulfill some kind of promise.

But… what was that promise?

It’s not like we made just one or two when we were kids.

We made tons—a whole catalog’s worth.

Some of them, I’ve probably forgotten completely by now.

So at this point, I had no clue…

“…What promise did I even go to fulfill?”

The question just popped into my head—simple, but impossible to answer.

“…Guess I’ll ask her.”

I grabbed my phone and hit call.

Just two rings in, Mei picked up.

“Haru?”

“Hey. Got a sec to talk, Mei?”

“Y-Yeah, sure. It’s fine, but… What’s up? I mean—I’m happy you called, but it’s kinda sudden.”

“There’s something I wanna ask you.”

“…Is it gonna take a while?”

“Maybe.”

“Then… can I come over to your place?”

“…Yeah, sure.”

She didn’t have to come all the way to my place.

But if she wanted to, I didn’t really have a reason to say no.

Besides—some things are just easier to talk about face-to-face than over the phone.

Or at least, that’s what I was thinking when—

“Okay, I’ll get ready and head over. …Give me about an hour.”

Mei said that and hung up before I could even reply.

“…Wait, if it’s gonna take that long, we could’ve just stayed on the call—…she hung up.”

One hour from now…

That’s literally 10 PM.

Isn’t that kinda late to be heading out?

I tried calling her back, but—

No answer.

“…Guess I’ll go pick her up.”

No way was I letting a girl walk around alone this late at night.

I got up, headed out, and timed it so I’d arrive right around the one-hour mark.

Just as I reached her place, Mei came rushing out the front door.

Our eyes met.

And that usual grumpy look of hers instantly lit up when she saw me.

“Y-You came to pick me up…?”

“It’s dangerous out here.”

“Y-Yeah. Right… Didn’t think you’d actually think that far ahead, Haru.”

Even though I said we were just going to talk, Mei had brought a surprisingly big bag with her.

It looked heavy, so I reached out to take it—

And without saying a word, she quietly extended her hand toward me.

“Hm?”

“Here.”

I took her hand, not really sure why…

And Mei, looking pleased with herself, gave a small nod and started walking beside me.

As the wind picked up, her hair fluttered gently—

And a soft scent reached my nose.

…Shampoo?

It smelled like citrus—sweet, but fresh.

Not overpowering. Just… nice.

Too nice, honestly—because now I couldn’t not notice how girly she was.

And that realization made my heart skip, just a little.

“What did you want to ask me?”

Whether she noticed or not, Mei tossed the question out casually.

So I took a deep breath—and asked the one thing that had been stuck in my head.

“…On my birthday, what exactly did I say to you? I really wanna know.”

“You mean that day? Sure, I don’t mind.”

Mei started speaking, her voice soft… almost nostalgic—

Even though it all happened just a few days ago.

“That day… I was walking home, crying.”

She said it slowly, like she was reliving it word by word.