A romantic comedy that begins after the ending_Chapter 1

 

A romantic comedy that begins after the ending

By Norningen

 

Chapter 1

 

 

 

“Hinano! You look so cute today! Did you trim your bangs? You look great!”

 

 

"You've been noisy since morning. How do you know I just trim my bangs a few millimeters?"

 

 

"How could I miss any changes on you?”

 

 

It is 8 o’clock in the morning.  The school is a short 10-minute walk from Hinano’s house, and if I wait for her at this time, I can usually go to school with her.

 

 

"Seriously... Why do you always come here? The school is closer than your house."

 

 

“Well, I decided to go to school with you.” I said. Hinano always ask obvious questions, huh?

 

The fact that I have been coming to pick her up every morning since we’re in junior high school makes me wonder if she's sleepwalking, asking such a question after all this time.

 

“Haa… You know I don’t have enough energy to be bothered by you this early in the morning.

 

　Hinano let out a sigh and started to walk away. I walked alongside her and looked at her beautiful profile.

 

 

　 Hinano Mizukami is very weak in the morning. Her light brown hair and short skirt shows that she is a sociable girl at school, but when I come to pick her up in the morning, she only responds with halfhearted than usual, with her eyes narrowed in a languid manner.

 

　Perhaps her brain is still asleep. I couldn't let her go out alone in such a state, so I came to pick her up every morning.

 

"I'm sure I never once asked you to come pick me up."

 

 

“I know that Hinano wants to go to school with someone you like. right? I love you, Hinano.”

 

 

"I don't even like you in the slightest"

 

 

"Well, don't say that. Your hands are warm."

 

 

“Don't hold my hand without my permission!”

 

 

　She's about the same height as me, but Hinano's hands are slightly smaller than mine.  Her hands are soft and mushy, and even though it is still a little cold on this April morning, they are still warm and soothing to my heart.

 

 

Even though she complains, she does not shake off my hand. I have held hands with her countless times, but she is probably nervous, as I can tell by the slight blush on her cheeks. she don't need to be nervous with someone like me.

 

 

"Did you watch the movie that was on TV yesterday? The horror one?"

 

 

"I haven't seen it"

 

 

　On the way to school, I told Hinano about the movie I saw the other day in order to ease her nervousness.

 

 

“Ah, Hinano wasn’t good at horror, huh? But it was pretty fun.”

 

 

“I-I'm not afraid of horror movies.

 

“It wasn't a haunted type of movie, so I think even you can watch it.”

 

 

I don't think she's good at haunted houses, horror movies, or anything scary, but this was a movie that embodied human fear, so I think she should be fine with it.

 

 

" What's the story?"

 

 

“Oh, I think it's about a main character who becomes the victim of a stalker. If I tell you too much, I'll spoil it for you.”

 

“I'm not going to watch it anyway, so you don't need to worry about that."

 

　I was trying not to spoil the story, but Hinano just dismissed my concern without a second thought. I like that she's so blunt about it.

 

 

“Well, I'm going to spoil the story a little bit, the main character is being obsessively stalked by a former lover, either on her way to work in the morning or on her way home from overtime at night. He's always waiting for his ex-girlfriend at different times of the day and night. That was pretty scary. But the scariest part was when she finally got back together with that stalker. I didn't understand that one.

 

　That tenacity was terrifying. Every morning and every night, where does that heat come from? That persistence was worth the fear. Where in the world does he get that kind of heat, like he's always waiting for you every morning and every night??

 

 

“It sounded like something I'd heard somewhere.”

 

 

"Maybe the news or something? Hinano reads the newspapers and news every morning, that's great."

 

 

　When I was having a trivial chat, I saw a familiar back a little ahead.

 

"Ah! Hey, Yuzune! ”

 

 

"Oh, you two have been flirting since this morning?"

 

 

　

She’s Yuzune Shimizu. I'm not sure why, but I'm sure it's because I've been in the same class in high school as her. but whenever she sees us, she often makes fun of us.

 

 

"It's not like that. This girl is bothering me since this morning."

 

She shakes her head from side to side as if to say, "Oh dear”. With a feeling of disappointment.

I noticed her voice is getting better and maybe she’ll fully awake soon.

 

 

“Yuzune, did you see the horror movie yesterday?”

 

 

“Ah, I saw it. It was pretty funny because it reminded me of someone I knew.”

 

 

“Do you know someone who does something like that? I think you should keep your distance from that person.”

 

　Yuzune is one of my few friends, and I'm worried that such a precious friend is getting along with someone who seems to be a stalker.

 

 

“Ahaha, It’s okay. Maybe you should think about your own behavior for once..."

 

 

　My name was called for the first time today. Hinano only calls me ‘you’ or ‘you there’, so sometimes she almost forgot my name.

 

 

"My behavior...?"

　

Why did the conversation shift from stalkers to my usual behavior? I'm not sure but I'm always picking her up from her house in the morning, which is far away from the school, but she doesn't leave the house at a certain time in the morning, so I just try to be at her house about 20 minutes before she leaves.

At school, I'm always with her because we're in the same class. She's too cute, so I stick close to her outside of the classroom so that she doesn't get messed with by strange people, and after school I walk her home even if she passes my house. That's all I did every day.”

 

“I look back on my actions, and there's nothing strange about it.

Oh, I'm going to go by my house soon, so I'll go get something I left behind.”

 

I asked Hinano and Yuzune to wait for a while and I went to the kitchen to pick up my lunch box that I had forgotten to put in my bag.

 

What was the connection between the story of me and the stalker? The stalker in yesterday's movie ambushed the protagonist near his ex-lover's house or office, which is far away from where he lives, while I'm just waiting for my crush, Hinano, to come to her every morning. ……………Huh?

 

Wait. Is it the same as a stalker to pick her up at her house every morning? No matter what I have to do after school, I keep waiting for Hinano, and even if I pass by my own house, I'll follow Hinano to her house. I'm lucky if I can meet Hinano at night, and I'm running like I'm going back and forth between Hinano's house.

 

…

 

“Eh, did I do something really creepy?”

 

 

 

Suddenly becoming aware to myself, I look back at my past actions. It had become so routine that I hadn't even felt any discomfort, but now I was beginning to feel that what I was doing was quite dangerous. The stalking incident in the movie was resolved in a few weeks, but I've been doing what I did this morning to Hinano since the fall of 2nd year middle school, which means I've been doing it for about a year and a half now. Was I on the verge of being sued...?

 

No, wait, wait. Unlike in the movie, I have a strong bond with Hinano. I'm sure that although she was bothered by it, she was actually happy to be with me...!

 

 

“Hinano, you don’t think I’m a nuisance to you, right?”

 

 

"Huh? What are you talking about? It's really annoying to have to deal with someone like you every morning when I wake up. It's definitely annoying."

 

 

"Are you trying to tease me ......?"

 

 

“I don't think so. Think about it if you’re in my shoes.”

 

…

 

Ah, this is really bothering me.

 

 

On this day, I learned that what I was doing was just stalking. It’s often said that love is blind, but I thought to myself, realizing that I was committing a criminal act because of it.

“There's no way I could end up as a stalker, am I?” I thought.