When an Oblivious Handsome Older Man Went Back in Time and Was Building Harlem

When I got out of the bath, there was a notification on my phone.

<I’m sorry for adding it without permission!

I was introduced by Sasaki-san from the same class and added.

I’m Nitta Nanami. Thank you so much for the other day!!

I’m sorry for the late reply 😭

If it’s okay with you, how about I treat you to a meal as a thank you?>

Nitta Nanami-san. The girl I saved from being raped. To be honest, I think the timing of my help was too late to deserve thanks. Plus, she was a model, but her face was also beaten. I can’t believe those bruises would heal so quickly, and she would probably be scared of men for a long time, if not for life, making it difficult for her to go outside.

I can’t help but think that I could have handled things better as a former police officer. In the midst of all this, I think it’s amazing that she reached out to me to express her gratitude. For now, I decide to reply and start thinking about my response.

<It’s totally fine. This is Takai Akihide. I really appreciate the invitation, but I’m worried about your condition, so would it be okay to wait until you feel better? How about we wait until the visible wounds have healed first?>

I’m worried about her health, but I’m also worried about her injury, so I think she doesn’t need to thank me so soon. After all, when I think about the fact that she’s 20 years younger, it feels like I’m talking to a child, and my response ended up sounding like a lecture.

(There are people my age who have 17-year-old children, and I can relate more to the kind of parental concern that comes from worry…)

I put down my phone, dried my hair, and when I came back, there was a reply.

<Okay, once I’m better, I’ll invite you again!>

<Good night (cat sticker)>

From the looks of the reply, she seems to be doing well, so I feel relieved. She said goodnight, so I sent a stamp back and lay down on my bed. I thought about how school starts tomorrow and fell asleep.

=========================

Since there was no morning practice today, I arrived at school relatively slowly. Maybe that was a mistake, but for some reason, the girls in my class cornered me and pushed me to the deserted stairs.

“You’re Takai-kun, right? I’m Sasaki Ayame. I’m not planning to get along, so I won’t be greeting you.”

Sasaki-san… I remember that she was the one who facilitated the exchange of contact information with Nitta-san.

“How could you possibly turn down Nanami’s invitation? She was actually happy even after being rejected, and who do you think you are?”

“Sasaki-san, calm down. I just said that I wanted to accept the thanks after the visible wounds heal a bit and my mind settles, not that I directly refused. Also, it’s probably not a good idea to mention Nitta-san’s name too much. If strange rumors spread, it would make it harder for her to return to school.”

“Y-yeah, that’s true. But! That kid mustered up the courage to ask you out on a date as a thank-you, so I think you should have accepted! Besides, I wanted to at least get a good look at the face of the person who stole that kid’s heart…”

You said I stole her heart just now, right? From my perspective, I haven’t done anything to steal Nitta-san’s heart, so it feels like just an accusation. Besides, I don’t think it’s a date just because it’s a thank you. Am I the only one who thinks that? While I was thinking about this, Sasaki-san started to calm down, so I began to speak.

“Sasaki-san, are you calm now? I haven’t done anything to steal Nitta-san’s heart, and I’ll properly accept her gratitude. Rather, I feel sorry for prolonging the pain that might have hurt her heart.”

“…Haa. I can understand why Nanami likes you. Takai-kun, I’m sorry for today. Thank you for listening to me. I think I was probably just so worried about Nanami that I didn’t know what to do. So… yeah, I can’t really put it into words, but thank you.”

“If you feel better now, that’s good. And to be so emotionally invested in a friend’s matter, you must have a really good friend of Nitta-san… Classes are about to start soon, so shall we head back to the classroom?”

After saying that, we both headed back to the classroom. When we returned to the classroom, Midori looked at me with sparkling eyes. Of course, I had received a message from Midori saying, “You finally have a girlfriend!?” so I completely denied it.