When an Oblivious Handsome Older Man Went Back in Time and Was Building Harlem - Chapter 37

Remembering the conveniences of civilization, I was happy spending time communicating through messages. I don’t think it was necessarily bad that I didn’t experience love in my past life, but considering my current situation, I can’t help but wonder, like Midori, why I didn’t pursue a romantic relationship. All of this is an event that happened because of time travel.

And after dating for a while, the day of the cultural festival finally arrived. I thought I would just kill time by watching a play or something when I wasn’t with Midori, just like I did last time. But this time, I have a girlfriend. Even though we are both high school students and the same age, I wondered how it would be if we didn’t walk around the cultural festival together, so I invited her to go around the festival together.

I think it’s perfect since we’re planning to go around the school and do the stamp rally at the same time. Sakura-chan had become the Cheshire Cat. To be honest, she was super cute with the cat ears, to put it mildly. By the way, Midori was the White Rabbit, and Miku-san was in charge of the Red Queen.

I thought it would be nice to take a picture with Sakura-chan while wearing the costume, and so the day arrived. My turn is from 9 to 10:30, and during that time, I have to be with Itou-san and Sasaki-san. To be honest, Sasaki-san hasn’t confessed, but I have this memory of her touching my body a lot when we were making costumes, so I feel a bit resistant.

“Alright, the early morning team will do their best!”

“Whoa!!”

Itou-san takes the lead and forms a circle with the morning group. The current time is 8:57. There should be enough time to take a photo with Sakura-chan.

“Sakura-chan, can I take a picture?”

“Y-yeah!”

“Eh? Hey, Ayame-chan, did you hear!? Just now, Takai-kun said Sakura-chan!! Huh, did they start dating?”

Itou-san started making a fuss behind us, but I invited Sakura-chan to take some photos anyway. Click, and they each take a few photos with their phones. Maybe because we got our faces really close together, Sakura-chan was a little red. As expected, she’s cute.

“Hey, hey, hey, is Takai-kun dating Sakura-chan?”

Just in case, when I looked at Sakura-chan, she was looking down again. Thinking that she is just shy, I turn back to Itou-san.

“Yeah.”

“I heard it, but is it really true?”

“Eh!! I was actually kind of aiming for Takai-kun!”

Sasaki-san said that maybe she had a slight interest in me after all.

“Hmm, I like Sakura-chan right now, so even if Sasaki-san confesses to me, I might turn you down…”

“Woah. You say that so casually… and then I get rejected before I even confess.”

I was grateful for what she said with a bright smile. And then, as it became 9 o’clock, the atmosphere shifted to one of starting to move. Once we started going around, the barrage of questions from Sasaki-san and Itou-san was intense. Like, when did we start dating, who confessed first, have we kissed yet, and so on. They were saying things like “they’re so pure” and “so precious,” but I think it’s fine as long as people see us positively.

The duty while chatting ended in no time, and it was time for my school date with Sakura-chan. It was time. Because I’ve been so busy with club activities, we haven’t had a proper date since we started going out, so this is the first time we’re doing something date-like. I don’t want to make her adjust her return time for me either.

“Where does Sakura-chan want to go?”

“It feels like the tea ceremony club experience, the dance lecture, and the haunted house that the senpais are doing in their class. Oh, and I also want to try the yakisoba from the basketball club that Takai-kun’s senpais are making.”

“I call you Sakura-chan, but you still don’t call me by my name?”

When I said that, her eyes slightly glistened and her face turned bright red.

“A-Aki-kun.”

“Ahaha. Cute. The dance starts at 1 PM, and it seems like the tea ceremony club is every 30 minutes, so we should go to the nearby haunted house first and then eat the yakisoba from the basketball club.”

After saying that, I hold Sakura-chan’s hand.

“Looks like we’re doing something that feels like a first date.”

“Why do you like to embarrass me like that, Aki-kun?”

“Maybe it’s because your reaction is cute.”

She gets a little angry and starts hitting my arm, but I find it cute, so maybe I’m really in trouble. In the haunted house, I was probably grinning because I saw Sakura-chan jump at the slightest scare, and I felt like the senpai from the basketball club who was playing the ghost glared at me. And then, when I went to the basketball club’s merchandise booth, I was heckled by my fellow basketball club members.

“Takai—are you dating that cute girl who came over to cook for you the other day?! Damn it. I’ll give you a bonus.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“Thank you very much. Actually, I’m happy that you remember me.”

I think a captain who slyly gives me a little extra is truly a good captain.

“Don’t cheat on her! And don’t flaunt her!”

“I would never cheat. I only like Sakura-chan.”

“You’re annoying. Next time, I will really drill you in practice, so be prepared!!”

The captain was getting angry while laughing. Next to me, Sakura-chan was adorably blushing as usual. Ah, I’m so happy today too. Since the signs of time slipping back to before are happening again, I think this might be coming to an end, so I should savor each day.