Chapter 21 - Date (1)

Finally, the long-awaited day arrived. It was Saturday, and what was with Saturdays? Today, Ryousuke would go with Kawajima to exchange books. Ryousuke woke up early today. Actually, much earlier. The reason was because yesterday, he had gone to bed when it was just seven in the evening. He slept for about ten hours, and woke up at five in the morning.

Realizing that he still had plenty of time, he stood up and walked to the first floor of his house. Picking up the carton of milk in the fridge, he drank it while walking to the living room. Without cleaning himself up or anything, he stopped in the living room and sat comfortably on the sofa.

Ryousuke's house was a normal two-story house commonly seen in anime scenes. It was exactly like that. The living room itself looked cozy with a thick Japanese feel, with a sofa that wrapped around half the room, a table in the middle, a thick fur rug, and a large television in front. Picking up the remote lying on the table, he turned on the television to see what was on today.

As usual, it seemed like his favorite show had already started. It started at 6 am from Monday to Friday. But every weekend, the program was sped up by one hour, starting at five in the morning. 'Proro-kun is so strong! ' was the TV series he was currently watching.

"hahaha"

There are things that will never fade with time. And one of them was this show, even though he had been watching it since he was a kid, maybe since he was in kindergarten? Even he had forgotten what episode this anime was. And, whether it was then or now, this anime is still very funny!

Ryousuke spent his first day off school in the morning continuing to relax in front of the television. Today, he wasn't going to do his morning workout, as he usually did it three times a week, and today was not included.

After a while, his mother came out of her room. Greeting Ryousuke who was in the living room, Ryousuke's mother went to prepare herself and start her morning activities. With a snack in his hand, at this moment Ryousuke couldn't help but feel more comfortable and peaceful. He felt that it might be okay if this sofa continued to hold him, even he wouldn't make any effort to get up.

But what could Ryousuke do, if the final boss, the boss who had absolute power in this house, had already spoken. Yes, his mother admonished him to clean up quickly because soon the food would be ready. His father had also woken up and was currently wearing his tie while sitting at the dining table.

The rest of the morning passed quietly, soon the time he agreed upon would soon arrive. Ryousuke changed his clothes into slightly more fashionable and polite casual clothes, tidied up his hair, and chose the book he would lend to Kawajima today.

'... Hmmm, what should I lend out huh? I overslept yesterday and forgot about this...' he thought.

Inside the medium-sized room, he had two large bookshelves containing various kinds of books. And since he didn't know what Kawajima's tastes were like, he was at a loss to choose a book that might be suitable for Kawajima.

"Maybe I should just send him a message? " he thought. Thinking that his idea was pretty good, he did it right away. Taking out his smartphone, he opened the lime app and immediately typed in a message,

[Hello, good morning Kawajima-san! Ready for the day?]

Send.

*Teneng!

The ringing of the notification sounded, a sign that a reply had come from her. [Hello, good morning Toru-san! Yes, I've prepared it, you'll like this book recommendation I have^^] Kawajima replied.

As usual, she looked more expressive when they weren't talking face to face. Seeing the answer given by her, Ryousuke immediately typed the main thing he wanted to ask her. While typing the message, he thought, 'hmm... I can't wait to see what book she's referring to' with a gentle smile on his face.

[Really? I can't wait to find out!.... By the way Kawajima-san, that's actually the reason why I messaged you. Can I find out what your favorite genre of book or novel is? You haven't told me about it yet and I don't want you to be disappointed if I give you the wrong book]

It took a while for Kawajima-san to reply, but she finally did. [! That's it, I'm sorry Toru-san, it seems I forgot to tell you what kind of books I like to read huh. Sorry, I didn't even realize something like that]

It seemed like she was blaming herself for this omission. At times like this, her low self-esteem couldn't think of blaming others and would choose the self-blame option.

So, Ryousuke replied with a little laughter in his answer to make Kawajima stop feeling guilty. [haha, it's okay. It's not your fault, it's also my fault for not asking you when I still had plenty of time. So there's no need to apologize]

Kawajima replied to his message with another pause. Maybe she was thinking of something to answer him?

[I see... Umm, the kind of books I like are romance and fantasy. Umm... It's embarrassing to say] Kawajima replied.

'I see... Haha, Romance novels huh? So girlie' Ryousuke thought. Seeing the answer given by her.

[I see, haha. It turns out Kawajima-san is also very girlie!]

[no, I like fantasy more! Yes, just pick a fantasy book for me!]

'it's romantic I guess... Hmm, which one should I choose', he had already decided. The novel he was going to give Kawajima was a romance novel. Never mind her tsundere side that was pretending to ask for a fantasy novel.

Fortunately, he did have a whole row of shelves dedicated to romance novels.

[okay okay. Then, as we agreed, I'll see you at ten o'clock at station A]

[un! See you later^^]

After closing his conversation with Kawajima, he quickly selected the novel he was going to give her. He soon found it. It was a very good novel and he was sure Kawajima would definitely like it.

Putting the novel into the bag, he carried the black sling bag and walked towards the first floor. He walked into the living room, where his mother was ironing clothes while watching TV.

"Mom, I'm going out with my friend, so I'll probably be home a bit later" he said to her.

Hearing this, his mother immediately replied. "Fine. Then here, my allowance. Don't forget to be careful on the road" she handed over three thousand yen papers and told Ryousuke to be careful. What a good mother.

Receiving the allowance, Ryousuke replied, "Okay. Thanks mom, I'll be going!"

"bye honey. See you later~"

After saying goodbye to his mother, he put on his shoes and walked out of the house. It was nine in the morning, and Ryousuke left for their meeting place.