[045] A Date with Kato

Saturday.

"Ding-ding-ding, ding-ding-ding."

The sound of a completely unfamiliar alarm woke Akifumi.

He reached out to turn it off, shaking his head slightly as his still-sleepy brain throbbed.

After sitting up in bed for a while and becoming more awake, he sighed with mixed emotions.

"The person who made this game probably spent a lot of time in a mental hospital!"

Madoka Magica was finally complete, and the first episode of Anohana was done. Now, it was just a matter of waiting for the results to come in.

As for Eriri, that girl hadn't shown up all week.

The reasons? Either she was desperately trying to catch up on work or she was too shy.

He'd promised to help back in May, but here we were, and she hadn't even started yet.

Looking back now, it felt a bit like worrying for nothing.

In any case, Akifumi had no work left to do now!

No work... and it was the weekend! That meant it was time to play some games to reward himself, right?

So, without much time to browse, he bought a game called Only Up on Steam, after receiving a "warm recommendation" from a bunch of online users.

What happened next?

After a whole night of playing, with endless climbing, falling, and torturous gameplay, Akifumi finally uninstalled the game at 1 AM, throwing in a few choice words for the users who recommended it.

Who would've thought that the torment of the game would follow him into his dreams?

In the dream, just as he was about to reach the top, he kept falling back down to the very start.

Even if the alarm hadn't gone off, he would have been jolted awake by the nightmare.

"Stupid game, stupid developer, don't let me catch you in real life!"

After cursing the game one more time to vent his frustration, Akifumi finally got out of bed to start his morning routine.

He made breakfast, brushed his teeth, and ate...

About half an hour passed.

It was now 8:50 AM.

He had an hour before his meeting with Kato at 10 AM.

Plenty of time.

He changed into a white short-sleeve shirt and khaki shorts.

Considering it was late June, with the temperature already rising in Tokyo, his outfit was perfectly normal.

But with his standout looks, he quickly became the center of attention as he walked.

By the time he arrived at JR Harajuku Station, he'd already been approached by women wanting to strike up conversations—almost ten times, if he counted them all.

"No matter where he is, Akifumi always gets so much attention, doesn't he?" Kato commented with a neutral expression.

It was hard to tell if she was genuinely envious or just teasing him. Probably the latter?

Akifumi smiled, "If a beautiful girl like you were to approach me, I will accept them right away"

"Beautiful girl? Me?" Kato blinked, a little surprised.

"I've never heard that before... but I'm a bit happy about it."

"But you must have said that to a lots of girls before, right?"

"No way! I've never said anything like that before!"

Kato's expression remained deadpan.

Akifumi laughed inwardly, adding to himself, 'Well in this world at least, it's the first time I said that.'

"Should i felt a little bit happier just now now?"

"Well, if you're happy, Kato, you should show it in your face !"

But Kato didn't respond to his teasing.

Akifumi shook his head and then asked, "So, what's the plan for today?"

"Harajuku shopping district."

Just as he'd expected, Kato mentioned the place he thought of first.

But...

"I know that, but I meant, what exactly are we doing there?"

"We're going shopping, of course."

Kato looked at him as if he were a clueless child.

"I mean, Akifumi-kun, you're so good at academics. Why would you not know something so simple?"

"Is this what it means to just good at studying?" she teased.

"..."

Akifumi fell silent for a moment before breaking into a smile.

"You're right, Kato. Shall we go then?"

It was clear Kato was hiding something she didn't want to reveal.

But what could it be? What could someone who only had me as a friend possibly be hiding? His curiosity was piqued.

It was still before 10 AM, but when he looked around, the area outside the shopping district was already crowded.

Once inside, it only got worse.

Today, Kato was wearing a white sleeveless dress with a red cardigan draped.

Her pale, long legs were as smooth as ivory, making her look like a beautiful sight wherever she went.

If she had added a white beret to her outfit, she would have perfectly recreated the classic image from a story!

"Every time I see you, Kato, it feels unreal."

"Hm?" Kato gave him a puzzled look.

"You're such a cute girl, but... why does it feel like you have zero presence?"

Kato fell silent for a moment before replying, "Why would Akifumi-kun think I'm cute?"

"Because you are cute."

"..."

Akifumi shrugged. "I'm not just saying this to be polite. It's just how I feel."

Kato was quiet for a while before she spoke again.

"But, honestly, even the teachers in our class don't really pay attention to me."

Before he could respond, she continued, "I think someone like Shiina-san is the truly cute one."

"She easily attracts everyone's attention, and they genuinely like her."

Akifumi raised an eyebrow. "So you think Shiina-san gets all that attention just because she's cute?"

"Because she's cute and everyone likes her?"

"Hm?" Kato tilted her head, confused.

"I always thought you were pretty smart, Kato, but I guess I was wrong," he said with a smirk.

"You're a total idiot!"

Kato didn't seem offended, though.

Instead, she answered calmly, "I've never claim I'm smart."

"But I don't think I'm an idiot either."

Akifumi chuckled.

"Idiots never admit they're idiots."

"Whether or not people pay attention to you or like you, does that really have anything to do with being cute?"

"Maybe being cute does make it easier to get attention, but in the end, it's really about the person's personality."

"No one likes someone who's annoying, no matter how cute they are. But people will happily be friends with someone who's easy to get along with."

"Just like me—I'm not popular, am I?"

"So, with your reasoning, Kato, doesn't that make you the real idiot?"