It’s Too Early to be Having Newlywed Syndrome! ~Childhood Friends Who Rekindled their Love for Each Other ~ - 3 - 13 - It’s Too Early to be Having a Final Love!

It’s Too Early to be Having a Final Love!

Naoto forgave Natsuki’s disclosure of the amount of used tissues in his trash bin with a smile.

“That’s alright, it’s the truth, after all. If I’m really that concerned with everyone finding out about it, then I wouldn’t have invited them here.”

“That’s right, isn’t it? The two of them were quite surprised, so I thought you’ll get mad at me.”

Natsuki sighed in relief.

“But it was close to being a mean form of sexual harassment. That’s was dangerous.”

“Really, geez. That’s why I asked them to wait for fifteen minutes, but you said it’s rude to make them wait.”

“No, but, if you just told me that you’ll be throwing out the tissues since it might offend them, then I would have readily agreed with you.”

“At that moment there’s a lot of things I don’t know yet, so I kept thinking that you’re having phone calls with the person you had a crush on every night, that’s why I haven’t told you!”

“Natsuki, there’re lots of thing going in your mind, aren’t there?”

“Are you one to talk about that Nao-kun? Thinking about various things on your own like supposedly not being in love with me.”

“That’s because I didn’t know it yet at the time. You know, even though seeing a cute person makes a guy’s heart throb, they will be thinking first if its their sexual desire talking. Because Natsuki willfully became shorter, it is extremely misleading. What’s with this small hands?”

Saying that, Naoto touched Natsuki’s hand.

“Isn’t it just because Nao-kun willfully became taller?”

While saying that, Natsuki pressed her fist twice against Naoto’s chin.

“No, really it was hard to tell. I think I’m not the only one who thinks like that. Iida, right now, do you know with clarity who you’re in love with right now?”

“Nah, no idea. Do I even have someone like that?”

Iida replied.

“Don’t you see anyone who shines in your eyes?”

“That shining in your eyes thing, what’s that about?”

“For example, recently, when we went to the park to see the first sunrise of the year, Natsuki was shining so much my heart kept racing. Don’t you have anyone like that?”

“Hmmmmm……if its recently then I don’t have anyone like that.”

“If you look at the photo of the person we had a crush on, what goes on your mind? You don’t feel anything at all?”

Naoto opened his graduation yearbook and passed it to Iida.

“Nnn—– somehow, I kinda feel something and I kinda feel nothing. But if I love her, shouldn’t it make me remember something more? I felt that the things I should be remembering decreased, though.”

“That’s what I also felt until I saw that person again, if that is so, then might not really know until you meet her again. If you do there might be a possibility that she’ll be shining in your eyes.”

“Meeting her while not knowing how I feel, that’s a bit scary.”

“Why don’t you try looking at her photo and reciting ‘I don’t love you’ many times?

The day after I saw that person again, I thought that since I have no feelings for Natsuki, then I wouldn’t mind if she hates me, so I thought of trying to test it using Natsuki. I waited until our eye meet naturally, then when our gazes met each other, I planned on saying ‘I don’t love you, you know’ continuously ten times. When I did that, I felt that I’m getting sucked in her gaze, and I felt pain in my heart, so I ended up saying ‘I’m sorry I said I don’t love you’ instead.”

“I’ll try it then.”

Iida listened to what Naoto said without making fun of it, then stared at the yearbook with a serious expression. Then, with a deep breath he put the yearbook on the table.

“……how do I say it, I got a bit of a weird feeling in my chest. There’s some trembling, or rather an odd sensation, but I can’t definitely declare that I love her.”

He explained while trying to be as honest as possible.

“Iida, let’s put aside whether you have feelings of love with the opposite sex or not, do you feel like wanting to be friends with Ninomiya-san and Hirose-san?”

“Of course. They’re good people after all.”

“Then how about you stare at Ninomiya -san for ten seconds, then stare at Hirose-san for another 10 seconds, then look back at the yearbook for ten seconds, after that try to figure out how you feel through your heart? If you’re unable to forget about that person, then your heart should feel something different, I think.”

“Won’t it be embarrassing asking the two of them for permission to do that?”

“I you’re unable to do as much as stare for ten seconds to a friend of the opposite sex, then you won’t be able to converse with that person.”

Naoto said while tapping the yearbook.

“Eh, am I going to speak to her?”

“Didn’t you say you’ll be doing that? You promised while we’re on the way here, remember?”

“Now wait a minute. I said that I don’t have confidence that I still have feelings for that person.”

“In a way, what you feel right now is not important.

I have just recently thought of it, but if, by any chance, that person still haven’t forgotten about Iida-kun, and like me, she’s troubled with the thinking ‘I might not be able to fall in love with another person. This might be my final love.’, then that’s a very pitiful thing to experience.

Stopping a person from being able to love, that’s a very significant thing, that’s very cruel. Its good f it was an unrequited love that was properly faced head on, but if it was an unrequited love born of a misunderstanding, then it shouldn’t be one’s final love.

I’ve become aware of it now. Until I started going out with Natsuki, I haven’t thought about it even once, but the beginning of a new love, that a love that has already stopped once can start once more, such a thing is a blessing.

That’s why, you should ask that person if she already have a boyfriend. If she told you that she already have, then that in itself is already a happy ending.”

“Am I going to ask her that?!”

“It’s just a homework on the subject of love that you kept postponing, isn’t it?  For you it might be an embarrassing day, but you might just make that person happy, you know?”

“Will you be going too, Morita? If it’s just me won’t the mood turn bad?”

“I’ll absolutely won’t go.”

“Why?”

“Because, if when I meet that person, she’s still shining in my eyes, I would not know how to face Natsuki afterwards. Rather than saying I won’t go, it’s that I can’t go. If I’m to meet her, I feel like I should’ve done it before going out with Natsuki. Now it’s impossible. I’m sorry.”

“Ah—— you have a point.”

Iida was convinced with Naoto’s excuse.

However,

“I think Nao-kun should also go.”

Natsuki frankly said.

Naoto did not expect Natsuki to brought up that idea.

“Why?”

He asked her.

“Earlier, while I’m looking at that person’s message, I thought to myself, if I went to the same middle school as Nao-kun, and three years passed without us making up with each other, what would I have written in his yearbook? I concluded that I might’ve also written ‘Let’s keep each other posted’.

That’s why, regardless of if she loves or hates you, she might’ve wanted to make up with you.”

“However, I’m already going out with Natsuki, so on the contrary, wouldn’t it be bad if I made up with her?”

“Then, even though she took the time to write ‘Let’s keep each other posted’, you will not attend any class reunion, and you will not be participating at the coming-of-age ceremony?

Even then, you might coincidentally meet again. If at that time, she still looks bright and shining, what would you do?

For instance, if you settled with not meeting her, just like before, you might start seeing me in your dreams again telling you ‘Are you stupid?’

Will you be able to live the rest of your life while getting bothered by it?

By any chance, that person might also be spending her life being bothered by what happened.

As far as Nao-kun and that person is concerned, that wouldn’t be a perfect kind of life, would that?

If you feel bad for her then you should go meet her. Feeling bad for her but not planning to go meet her, you’re being self-contradictory.”

“But Natsuki, aren’t you scared of me going to meet her?

Before, when Natsuki spoke just a bit with Iida, afterwards I thought numerous times of hogging all your attention to myself, you know.”

“I’m scared, but even when Nao-kun was scared, didn’t you mustered all of your courage in order to speak to me? Me, I didn’t do anything and only waited. That’s why I’ll also gather up my courage.”

“That’s not it, I tried to assault Natsuki in the past, so it’s obvious that you wouldn’t be able to speak to me, that’s different on a more severe degree!”

“How long will you keep saying that?! I’ll be the one to decide how severe that was!”

“If you say it like that, then I’ll be the one to decide how severe meeting with that person is!”

The voice of the two kept getting louder and louder, even their manner of speaking was becoming rougher and rougher.

Iida, feeling that the situation was becoming bad, became flustered. With Morita being this stubborn, if he’s left like this, I feel this will end with him raising his voice and shouting ‘Enough!’

Iida, in panic,

“Wait a minute, calm down Morita. We can just make it so Morita will just be nearby to accompany me, and will only go out to meet her if she mentioned something about apologizing, can’t we?”

Said to calm Morita.

Having Iida enter his line of sight, Morita suddenly felt having another dispute to be bothersome,

“Ah, in the first place, having this kind of talk is meaningless. We’re talking about what Iida would do if he went to talk to that person. Iida, there’s no way you can go and meet with that person. Even if you practice staring ar girls for 10 seconds, it’ll be impossible for you.

“You won’t know until we find out. Iida-kun is trying his best here.”

Natsuki, who’s still a bit sullen, backed Iida up.

“Iida won’t last 10 seconds. He’s a wuss.”

Naoto was not amused with Natsuki touching Iida’s shoulder. However, with Naoto venting out his stress by trash talking Iida, deep inside, Iida was happily listening to it knowing that his plan worked.

I’m glad. I’d rather be spoken ill off rather than Morita and Oshida-san having a fight.

Natsuki cannot agree to it so,

“Iida kun, let’s try doing it. It’ll only be for ten seconds!”

She cheered him on.

“Eehh? ! Um, staring at them for ten seconds, that would be rude to the two of them.”

However, at this moment Aki and Sakurako did not refuse. The two of them are also aware of Natsuki’s personality, and they understood from Iida’s actions that he’s trying to prevent a fight from happening.

“I’m alright with it, though.”

“I’m also in.”

“Ya—y!. It’s all about courage, Iida-kun. I thing that you’re able to go meet her.”

Naoto, even though burning with jealousy, pretended to be calm,

“Then, since I have a timer on my smartphone, I’ll be in charge of the timing.”

Then he began preparations.

“Hey, ten seconds had already passed, ain’t it?”

It’s been a while since Iida and Aki started staring at each other. Iida, who was not convinced, asked Naoto many times for confirmation on the time.

“This will promptly vibrate once ten seconds passed. That would mean it’s hasn’t been ten seconds yet, right?”

“Yup, it’s just eight seconds.”

Even though they’re on bad terms earlier, Naoto and Natsuki were clinging to each other looking at the smartphone.

“That’s strange! That’s so strange! Three seconds have already passed since that!”

At that moment, the smartphone finally vibrated.

At that moment,

“Let me see that for a bit!”

Iida said, snatching the phone from Naoto. Immediately,

“The heck is this, it’s one second longer!”

He complained.

“Aa—–, he found out.”

Naoto made a face saying how unfortunate.

“It’s so obvious! That was super strange!”

“This thing uses a game counter. A single count corresponds to who knows how many seconds. See, in a game, a 400 count take 600 seconds.”

“That’s unfair, I don’t know anything about that.”

Said Iida.

Sakurako got into the conversation,

“Just like a ten-coin block not having ten coins, right?”

She told Naoto.

Naoto, who got delighted that Sakurako knows such game information,

“That’s right. Really, why is it called ten-coin block.”

He happily said.

Iida, who cannot join in on the game conversation got a bit vexed,

“How many seconds is this, for real?”

He changed the topic.

Morita, without any sense of guilt answered,

“Thirty seconds.”

“Don’t screw with me, you bastard! Return it to normal, thirty seconds is impossible!”

“Hee—— even though you got stared at by Ninomiya-san for thirty seconds, Hirose-san will only get to stare at you for ten seconds? That’s strange.”

“Yup. That’s a bit suspicious.”

Natsuki jeered as well.

“There’s nothing suspicious about it! It’s just rude to Hirose-san!”

Iida clarified in a panic.

“Sakurako also prefers thirty seconds, right?”

Aki intentionally teasingly told Sakurako.

“Don’t ask me!”

Sakurako answered with a red face.

“If you can’t look at a girl’s face for exactly thirty seconds, then it would be better not going to meet that person.”

Naoto mockingly said to Iida.

“Then you, can you do it?! If I’m able to lock eyes Hirose-san for thirty seconds, then you’ll also have to lock eyes with Oshida-san for thirty seconds afterwards. If you cannot endure it within thirty seconds, then you’ll have to treat me to school lunch.

Okay! Hirose-san, I’ll apologize beforehand, but please bear with me for thirty minutes!”

Iida, after saying what he wanted to say one-sidedly, took a deep breath and braced himself for locking eyes with Sakurako.

“Eh, no way……”

Naoto, who received an unexpected counterattack from Iida, took a glance at Natsuki while blushing.

Seeing Naoto’s cheeks dyed red, Natsuki thought of something interesting, while suppressing her laughter, she got closer to Naoto,

“If I think twenty seconds has passed, with all of my love, I’ll tell you ‘I love you’, got it? The kind that will make you instantly forget that person from your past.”

She whispered in his ear.

Naoto ended up treating Iida to school lunch three times, but he was full of happiness.

Part 3 “It’s Too Early to be Having a Final Love!” END