Chapter 38 - A Call

[so, how about you Kawajima-san? Are you doing well today?]

Putting his thoughts aside, he continued his chat with Kawajima. [Un, today was really good, Inaka-san found a good book in the library, and she told me to read it. I've read a few chapters and it's really interesting! ] she replied.

[Hoo, interesting... how?]

It seemed like Kawajima was also having a fulfilling day. Ryousuke knew that her fondness for books was far from normal, he could say that Kawajima was addicted to books, to say the least.

He asked about the highlights of the books she read, and from their experience, Kawajima would usually write them down in detail and take a long time to answer. Normally, he would just wait while reading the book. But today, he felt that it was the time.

"She also seems to have opened up to me more, so I guess it's okay right?"

What he wanted to do right now was something more efficient than just exchanging texts. Yes, he was trying to call Kawajima. Whereas before, he would have felt that calling her would be too early and maybe the girl would feel nervous and embarrassed, he felt that for now, he was pretty sure that Kawajima was already closer and more open to him.

So, here it was. First, he typed a message to tell her. [Etto, Kawajima-san. How about we talk on the phone instead? You know, to be more efficient. I know it's inconvenient to type long-windedly in chat over and over again, right? ]

At the bottom of Kawajima's name, it appeared that she was [typing... ]. Therefore, she immediately looked at the text.

[Um, sure! Gladly! ] she deleted the long message she had written about her opinion on the book she was reading and replied to Ryousuke's message.

'Finally... ' Kawajima thought. Needless to say, her face was now red.

There was no denying it, after being helped twice by Ryousuke, she felt a new feeling in her heart. At first, she thought that Ryousuke was a kind-hearted man who kindly helped her. That was all.

But then, came the fact that they went to the same school. She started to feel happy, and Ryousuke even asked an ugly girl like her to be friends. Without judgmental eyes, but sincere eyes.

So, she happily accepted his offer. They were quite awkward at first. She realized that she was very nervous and too quiet to carry on a conversation, and Ryousuke would come out to take the initiative to continue their conversation by asking her about things, telling her jokes, or telling her new things she didn't know.

She already felt very comfortable by his side. This was something she had never felt towards the opposite sex, but she just thought that it was probably a fairly normal thing to happen. They were friends after all.

She thought so, until Ryousuke and Mayu helped her from another book club member who was bothering her. First, she felt a sense of gratitude and thankfulness towards the two. She also became more and more close to her friend Sayaka Mayu because of that incident.

But for Ryousuke, it was different.

On the day he helped her for the second time, she felt a strong feeling that felt like it would explode if she looked at his face for too long. Her words became more nervous than usual, she didn't dare to look into his eyes and her face would always be flushed with it.

Sayaka Mayu even teased her because of that.

...

It was at that moment that she knew. 'ahh... It's Looks like I love him... '

She couldn't sleep that day, rolling around with a red face on her bed. Feeling extremely ashamed while simultaneously feeling a warm feeling in her chest. Her heart.

What would she do after knowing this? Would she give up or fight for it? She thought.

'I'm ugly, very ugly. I'm a socially awkward girl, I'm a girl who gets nervous easily and is boring to talk to. I'm...' she only got more depressed as she thought about herself.

She had no answers.

She had no experience of relationships like this, feelings like this. So, she didn't know what to do about these feelings. She searched the internet for answers that might come, but she didn't find any, even after searching for hours. Indeed, many answers are popping up. Motivation, and so on. But somehow she felt that they were all lacking.

Thinking... Thinking...

She reached the conclusion that if she didn't know the answer, she should try asking someone else. Having decided this, she tried to remember her social relationships. Father and mother? No, no. Asking them was pointless, they hadn't even been home for a week and were still busy with their work.

Mayu? No, no. Even if she was the closest friend she had, and she knew that Mayu was a very nice girl, but she still felt it was a no. 'It's too embarrassing to tell this to Sayaka-chan...'

The last most appropriate and safest option that popped into her head was to ask the library supervisor, the kind old lady who always gave her advice on life.

She decided on her choice.

Yosh, the next day, after school ended, she immediately walked to the library. And on that day, she explained about her feelings for Toru to Inaka-san.

Inaka-san smiled at that moment, a warm smile.

She slowly explained about how a relationship starts and how it ends. At the end, she said. "It's up to you to decide, Midori-chan... Whether you will fight for it or just stand still, remaining passive without doing anything. That's up to you. But one thing is most important... Remember that your life, you alone manage it. You live it yourself. You make all the decisions in your own life. So, for this important decision, try to make a choice that you won't regret. "

Those words sunk into her heart deeply. This was her life, and she had to decide for herself.

She thought, other than Ryousuke, was it still possible that a man as good as him would ever appear in her life again?

It was possible, yes. Possible.

But, even if it was possible. Right now, in her time at this school, she met a guy named Toru who was very kind to her. That guy, in just a few weeks, made her feel that even if 10,000 guys as good as him appeared in front of her, she would still choose him.

Yes, only that man.

At this conclusion, she made up her mind.

She would pursue him, she would go all out so that the man named Ryousuke Toru would see her differently. Not just an ordinary friend, but more.

Starting from herself, she began to be more open to him. She tried to find out more about him, and she... Slowly but surely, began to get closer to him.

She felt it, even though she was not someone experienced, but their current pace of progress was pretty good for her standards.

Actually, she wanted to try being more aggressive towards him. She wanted to try to call him, video call him, or even go on a date.

But unfortunately, her nervous and shy demeanor was still inside her. She was still too shy to take the initiative to do that.

...

However, today it was not her, but it's Toru-san himself who took the initiative to call her.

Would she turn down an opportunity like this? Of course not!

So, she happily agreed to have their discussion that way.

*ring ring ring!

The ringing sound of the phone rang out as on the screen, the name 'Toru-san' appeared. With heart-marked eyes, Kawajima answer the call.

----------

After receiving approval from her, Ryousuke immediately called Kawajima. *ring ring ring! The ringing sound of the call sounded, and on the fourth ring, Kawajima picked up the call.

"Hello, Kawajima-san, good evening. Hehe, I think this is our first time have a call like this, somehow... It feels weird."

Although Ryousuke had already said good night in his chat earlier, but somehow it didn't feel right if he didn't mention it directly at the beginning of their conversation this time.

[Hello Toru-san... Good evening. Um, this does feel a bit strange, you're right. Hehe]

It seemed like Kawajima felt it too. Hearing her sweet voice in his ear right away like this, it just made his teenage mind start reacting. But putting that aside, her voice was soft, but still beautiful.

"Ahh... Uhum! T-then, how about you just tell me what you think of the book you read, Kawajima-san? "

Don't get distracted, don't get distracted. Get back to focus. Ryousuke thought.

[Yes! Etto... You see, this is a book about...] Kawajima's explanation of the book she was reading began. Indeed, hearing from Kawajima's response regarding the book she was reading, Ryousuke felt that the book was indeed interesting.

His preferred genre when reading books was the true story genre, such as a person's experience, a story about a place, and so on. He had a whole bookshelf full of books in that genre.

But,

Although he loves the true story genre, it doesn't mean he hates other genres. He also reads things like romance, adventure, and fantasy. So, you could say that he is open to other genres, though his favorite remains the true story genre.

The book Kawajima is talking about is a book in the romance genre. The story centers on a city girl from Italy who finds herself attracted to a man who works from a pizzeria, but the man she likes has a secret... That's about it.

[and that's the gist of it] Kawajima finished her explanation. Judging from her voice, she seemed to be enjoying their conversation.

"Maybe I should borrow that book later? It sounds interesting."

[Ah, of course Toru-san! By all means, try to read it!]

"haha, okay okay. Then I'll borrow it. Just bring it to our book exchange this weekend"

[good!] In the end, Ryousuke planned to borrow the book.

[oh yes, Toru-san. How about yesterday's book, was it good?] Kawajima asked.

What she meant by the book she was talking about was the book Kawajima had lent him last time.

"Ah, yes. Dyren... I didn't like it much... " Ryousuke replied, recalling the contents of the book Kawajima was talking about.

[That's right, I also understand your feelings Toru-san. Dyren is really annoying, why did he have to kill Michel's pet cat anyway? That's too cruel...! ]

"That's right, it seems like you also understand Kawajima-san"

Ryousuke wholeheartedly nodded in agreement. This Dyren, even though he was jealous of the protagonist, but he didn't have to go as far as killing his pet cat right? That was too cruel.

"Well, it's a good thing he died at the end. I was really satisfied reading it at that time"

[fufufu, that was his comeuppance. Bad guys should be punished right?]

"for the case this time, that's right. But, when it comes to 'bad' people, I feel like this book overemphasizes it. Not just Dyren, but even his mother was made evil for no apparent reason. Although this book is good, I think there are still some things missing"

[I see... In that case, I think reading the book I mentioned earlier will definitely make you happy. After all, this book doesn't have a dark feel to it, it's all very warm and makes me smile a lot! ]

Kawajima confidently said. Making Ryousuke smile and getting more interested in the book the girl was talking about.

Time passed quickly, their excitement to share their opinions came to an end as the clock struck eleven in the evening.

The two decided to end their chat time and continue it at a later time. Ryousuke, after hanging up, smiled happily.

'Kawajima is indeed a nice girl' he thought.

At first, he was only attracted to her because of her very pretty face, congrats to his high school hormones. She also looked very lonely, so he felt a little sympathy towards her which eventually ended up with him asking Kawajima to be friends with him for that reason.

However, as he got to know her better, he found out that Kawajima wasn't just beautiful.

She was nice, good at housework, such as cooking, washing and so on. She was also kind, and also smart. Although she was easily nervous and had low self-esteem, that was normal if you knew her past.

He felt that, Kawajima in his eyes was looking more and more like the ideal girl that every man wanted to be their partner.

Ryousuke thought so, that girl just made him feel that maybe... He likes her.

Was it a romantic feeling? He still couldn't determine that.

He thought that romantic relationships only happened when both parties felt a deep compatibility between them, more simply, when they felt love between each other.

In his life in this new world, he had yet to feel it for anyone. And although he could try to have a relationship with the opposite sex, he just thought that he should take it seriously, not just to play around.

He didn't want to make another girl cry. Like what had happened in his previous life.

Otto, it seemed like he was thinking too much. He distracted his mind and started looking back at the things in front of him.

The book 'why am I alive?' was still lying in front of him, inviting him to read. He picked up the book, and began to open it.

"yosh, the last two chapters" he thoughtfully began to read.

The rest of the night he spent reading the book until it was finished, and after finishing it, he decided to sleep.