The Story of Making a Popular Girl Dependent on Me - Chapter 12

Several days have passed since the day Setsune promised to pay attention to me when Yukine got jealous, and today is Friday.

During that time, while keeping a distance from Setsune, I occasionally touched Riho’s hand as a form of affection and even touched her cheek.

Each time, I felt Setsune’s jealous gaze on me. But unlike before, now that gaze isn’t directed at Riho, but at me.

I feel an unprecedented happiness in Setsune’s gradually deepening love towards me.

And today, I’ll act consciously so that Setsune gets jealous again.

“Riho, come over here for a moment.”

“What is it this time?”

Though complaining, Riho leaned closer to me. Since Setsune’s gaze of jealousy has lessened towards her, she’s started to cooperate to some extent.

I leaned in close to her ear and put my hand near my mouth, creating an atmosphere as if sharing a secret.

Perhaps because of that, Setsune’s jealous gaze towards us seemed stronger than ever before. Satisfied with that, when I withdrew my mouth, I playfully blew air into Riho’s ear.

“Eek!?”

“…What was that just now? It was cute though.”

Unexpectedly, I heard a cute voice from Riho, causing my true feelings to slip out.

In response, Riho either got angry at suddenly having air blown into her ear or glared at me.

“Sorry. Don’t glare at me like that. If I do it again, I won’t forgive you and I won’t cooperate next time.”

“I’m really sorry.”

Though she should be angry, this time it seems like she’ll forgive me.

During that exchange, I received a message from Setsune.

“I’ll go home together today.”

Since that day, Setsune and I haven’t kissed. At most, we hold hands occasionally when we go home together. Despite that, Setsune’s jealousy towards me has been intense lately.

Before, she used to invite me to go home together, but now it’s more like a command to go home together.

Setsune’s composure is steadily disappearing, and in its place, her possessiveness towards me seems to be growing.

(Cute. Should I move on to the next stage soon? …Alright, I’ll invite her on a date either Saturday or Sunday and move to the next stage on Monday.)

Since Setsune has filled me with her possessiveness, I decide to move to the third stage next Monday.

I agreed to Setsune’s invitation and decided to think about what to do on the weekend date for now.

After school, Setsune and I naturally walk holding hands.

Before, we didn’t hold hands much, but now whenever we go home together, we always do.

This is also due to Setsune’s cute possessiveness.

“Rokka, what were you doing near Katsushika-san’s ear during break time today?”

“I just blew air into her ear.”

“Hmm. You weren’t sharing any secrets or anything?”

“We didn’t do anything like that. Anyway, Setsune, how about going on a date on Saturday or Sunday?”

“Let’s go!”

“Great. Which day would you prefer?”

“Then, Saturday.”

“Roger that. I’ve already thought of a place, so look forward to it.”

Since Setsune agreed to go on the date, we decided to go on Saturday.

Since it’s been a while since our last date, Setsune seems happy, her face full of smiles, which was quite different from just a moment ago when she was in a bad mood.

For me too, spending the day with Setsune is something I’m looking forward to.

After that, since we didn’t have any particular place to stop by, we decided to go back to our respective homes.

Saturday. I often sleep until nearly noon on days off from school, but today I woke up a little earlier than usual.

Because today is the day of my date with Setsune. I can’t afford to be late.

Yesterday, after returning home, we talked about the meeting time and decided that we would meet at 11:00 today.

I quickly changed my clothes and got ready. When I finished preparing and checked the clock, it was just the right time, so I sent Setsune a message that I was leaving home now.

We decided to meet near the station close to today’s destination. After leaving the station and walking a little, I arrived at the meeting place. It was about 10 minutes before the appointed time, and Setsune hadn’t arrived yet.

So, I took out my smartphone, passed the time, and waited. About 5 minutes later, Setsune arrived.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Rokka. Did I make you wait?”

“You didn’t keep me waiting that long, so it’s fine. It’s still 5 minutes early anyway. Don’t worry about it. Oh, and Setsune, you look cute today too.”

“Thank you. When you praise me so straightforwardly, it makes me a bit embarrassed. Rokka, you look cool too…”

“Thanks.”

Setsune seemed happy to be called cute, and after thanking me with a blush, she also complimented me. In response, I felt a bit embarrassed and responded in a somewhat indifferent tone.

“Well then! Will you take me to today’s destination?”

Setsune, perhaps to distract herself from embarrassment, naturally intertwined her arm with mine while saying so.

We had never done something like linking arms before, but it seemed she had felt envious after seeing Riho and me do it before.

Still, maybe because it was a first for her, her face blushed slightly.

Her expression was so cute that I wanted to hug her, but I restrained myself since there were many people around.

“So, Rokka, where are we going today?”

“It’s a surprise for when we get there. Also, we plan to have lunch there, but is that okay? It might be a bit late for lunch.”

“It’s okay. I had a good breakfast, so I don’t mind.”

“Got it. Shall we go then?”

After roughly discussing our plans for later, we started walking towards today’s destination.

—

The reason I brought Setsune here this time was because of a recently opened aquarium. I wanted to come here, and Setsune likes aquariums, so I wanted to come with her.

“Wow! Isn’t this the newly opened aquarium?”

“That’s right. Since you like aquariums, I wanted to come here with you.”

“Thank you, Rokka!”

“You’re welcome. Let’s get the tickets and go inside right away.”

After thanking me, Setsune seemed eager to enter, so we bought tickets and went inside.

“It’s so beautiful.”

As soon as we entered the building, Setsune was enchanted by its beauty.

The interior was pristine because it had just been built, but more than that, the arrangement of the tanks, the use of lighting, and the sight of numerous fish swimming were incredibly beautiful.

It was understandable why Setsune was mesmerized.

Afterwards, we looked around at various things.

We visited aquariums with jellyfish and small fish swimming, groups of fish swimming in large tanks in a coordinated manner, and walked through tunnels formed by tanks.

We also went to the deep-sea fish and deep-sea creature section, commenting to each other on fish with somewhat grotesque appearances or fish with ugly faces.

At the interactive corner, Setsune looked cute as she put her hand into the doctor fish tank and giggled as it tickled her.

—

After seeing everything in the aquarium, we decided to have lunch at a nearby shop and headed there right away.

The shop wasn’t very crowded, probably because it was past lunchtime, so we were seated quickly.

“What will you have, Setsune?”

“Hmm. I think I’ll have the mushroom-rich omurice.”

“Got it. I’m thinking of trying the carbonara-style udon.”

After deciding what to eat, I placed our orders with the waitress.

While waiting, I decided to ask Setsune about her thoughts on the aquarium.

“Setsune, how was today?”

“It was so much fun! Since it’s newly opened, they’ve copied popular things from other aquariums and trends, but there were also many things here that you can’t find anywhere else, so it was really great!”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Setsune. I had a great time too. Thank you for today.”

“No, thank you for bringing me along.”

After discussing our impressions of the aquarium, a waitress carrying our ordered dishes arrived and placed them in front of us.

We ate them slowly, and after finishing our meal, we returned to the aquarium to look at the souvenir corner once more.

“Rokka, should we get matching keychains?”

Setsune said this while showing me a keychain with a baby penguin.

“It’s cute. Sure, let’s get matching ones.”

Saying that, I picked up a keychain with the same penguin as Setsune’s.

Additionally, I decided to buy a cute otter plushie that caught my eye.

“Rokka, you surprisingly like cute things, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah. Looking at cute things helps me forget about tiredness and stuff.”

With our purchases settled, we paid at the register and revisited places we wanted to see again inside the aquarium before finally going outside.

It was already evening outside, and we had spent quite a bit of time exploring.

“Should we head back now?”

I suggested, and Setsune agreed, so we decided to go home for today.

On the train ride, we arrived at Setsune’s station first.

While looking a bit lonely, Setsune said, “See you later,” and gave me a wave.

She looked so cute being sad about parting from me that I pulled her arm before she got off and turned her towards me.

Then, I lightly kissed her lips with confidence before letting go of her hand and saying, “See you later.”

Setsune was surprised for a moment but soon smiled and waved back at me.

I waved back, and as the train doors closed, it started moving.

And so, Setsune’s and my aquarium date came to an end.