Staring Love ~ There's a Kind of Hush, Part 1
1506 Words
So here I am, promising Harumi to narrate the follow-up to my prom harem story.
Now that's what I call equivalent exchange, since she also did a follow-up story – from the plushie portraying a children's anime character to a cop-hating ex.
But then... I still remembered the jealousy that was definitely written all over Noemi's face when she discovered what I did.
And no matter how many times I explained that I concocted such a measure to save the girls from being deprived of such a memorable event...
Man, why I am I thinking of the consequences too much?
While I normally take at most ten minutes to fall asleep, a good chunk of other people take their trip to dreamland thirty minutes after they've plunged their faces into the pillows.
And due to that remembering, I'm now in the “I fall asleep after 30 minutes” club.
Whatever.
I bet Harumi doesn't know of that yet.
Good night, then.
It's a fair and lovely Thursday.
The trip to and from school with Harumi is nothing uneventful.
Until another girl pops up while we're on the Shiokaze Trail.
“Gunpeeeeiiiiiii! Good to see you again!”
I turn around and see a woman donning a French maid outfit.
She has semi-long black hair and black eyes, and her height is roughly the same as Harumi's.
Yup. She's one of the three girls in my prom harem, the lover of fictional pretty boys herself, Saya Nakamura.
“Nice to see you again, Saya. And this pink-haired girl beside me is my next-door neighbor, Harumi Sogawa.”
Harumi then wastes no time introducing herself, as she doesn't feel threatened or jealous by the presence of another woman her age.
“It's great to meet someone like you, Harumi. Now then, I need to properly introduce myself. I am Saya Nakamura, a former classmate of Gunpei back at Sango-minato Central High School. I'm now currently working as a waitress at a small maid cafe here in this town, mainly to support my studies in my chosen course, which is geography.”
I react...
“That's great to hear. But why are you here in the first place?”
“I originally came here to de-stress myself, since my shift's now over. And then I saw you by sheer coincidence.”
“Indeed, we may never know when we'll bump into each other. Well, then, since you're already here, why don't you take part in what Harumi and I do every 6pm?”
“It'd better be not be some 'extra service'!”
Harumi cuts in.
“Nope. Every 6 to 7 pm, at his own unit, he and I share many, many stories from our celebrated past – in the style of One Thousand and One Nights.”
Saya responds...
“That's great! I still have lots of free time left, and my parents are OK with me being outside until 8.”
“Then it's settled! You'll be the special guest in this edition of the storytelling power hour! So what are we all waiting for! Let's go!”
Now, the three of us are gaily walking towards the apartment for another edition of the storytelling session.
Saya will be the second guest star, since the first was Soren.
It's now 6pm, and the session formally starts with Harumi stating...
“So, you were one of the three girls in Gunpei's prom harem, right?”
“Yes, I do. The other two were Anya Kurihara, who's now pursuing a degree in pharmacy; and Ruriko Amano, who's now pursuing a degree in meteorology.”
“What perfect timing, since Gunpei promised to tell the story that came after the prom harem event.”
I mirthfully reply...
“Haha. Yeah. I admit... it's kinda embarrassing for me. Noemi suddenly popped up, and then peppered me with all kinds of insults. She was... definitely not her usual self.”
“Yup, I remember it all now, Gunpei. Anya, Ruriko, and I were neighbors and friends with Noemi. May her soul rest in peace.”
“Thanks. Now for me to tell how it all transpired.”
***
So here I was. The day after the prom.
Fortunately, it was a Saturday, so students weren't worried about lack of sleep on a school day.
I was in my room, and my table was filled with a good chunk of the prizes earned from being crowned the prom harem of the night.
Right after the prom was over, I and the three girls agreed to split the prizes each to our own preferences.
The cash prize of 100,000 yen (roughly $935) was evenly divided among us four.
The pack of chocolates (from a local chocolatier) was claimed by me, as the girls didn't want it due to lack of shelf space in their own home's pantries.
The kimono (from a local kimono artisan) was claimed by Anya, as she didn't have one herself and thus had to rely on kimono rentals for certain occasions.
The pretty boy figure (from a local figure retailer) was claimed by Saya, because pretty boys.
The Blu-ray box set containing all the movies in a popular spy franchise (from a local video store) was claimed by Ruriko, as her father is known to be a huge fan of such franchise and the box set was on his wish list for some time.
And the rest of the stuff, which includes the trophy, discount coupons to several establishments, a mechanical keyboard, a six-pack of bottles of chocolate soy milk, and some freshly-published novels – were then claimed by me.
I particularly wanted the mechanical keyboard, which is still in use today, as well as the soy milk; but the rest... I don't have much use for them.
So I had to give them away.
To Noemi.
Once I've gotten enough sleep, I woke up at 7am and did my usual morning rituals.
I then stored the stuff I planned to hand over to Noemi for free in a fancy shopping bag, and off I went.
Noemi should live in the northern part of town, and I still remembered her address well.
It should be a bungalow, right? With bright yellow paint all over it?
But then, once I find her house, I found her right at the front gate...
...emanating a pouting stare.
A stare that could be accompanied by epic music.
And her opening words were...
“I've heard it from your neighbors who are coincidentally your classmates. You snubbed me at the prom.”
“Come on! I did it simply because it's the boys' obligation for the girls not to miss out on such a momentous occasion. Never mind that my section's gender-imbalanced, so I had no choice but to do it the harem way!”
The pout she emanated slowly gave way to a face clearly indicative of regret.
“That's OK. I'm also to blame, too, for not picking Sango-minato Central High School. Why do I have to study at Inugazaki High School instead, with its lack of events like yours?”
I then calmly took hold of her hands as I said the following to her...
“Don't worry, Noemi. We're still in junior year. Next year, it'll be more memorable. I'll definitely ask you out.”
She remained silent for a few seconds, and...
“I expected such a typical answer from you, but... thank you, Gunpei!”
She hugged me with all her might as she began to emanate some tears.
Naturally, this scene was witnessed by a handful of people.
Namely, her parents and the three girls in my prom harem who were also her neighbors.
***
Saya follows up on what I said with the following...
“And then... we three realized that it was she all along... who wanted to share her moments with you... as her partner for hopefully a long time. And as her neighbor, I'd definitely want to become an enabler of that, considering how helpful and encouraging you were to her and to us three. You didn't want to get us all down... even though you would unknowingly hurt us in the process a little.”
“Yeah. I definitely did everything I could not to turn the event into a disaster in the first place – even though I had to go unconventional.”
“That's the future Engr. Gunpei Imahara for you! Always focused on solutions and not whining and complaining all the time!”
“Ha ha. So anyway... the next minutes of that Saturday morning were awash in stares. Stares from her parents and neighbors, stares at each other when we finally let go of our hug... and she and I continuing those lovely stares as we ascended the stairs towards her room in order to show her the pictures that were posted on social media just mere hours after the prom had ended.”
Harumi cuts in.
“Yeah. I get the pun. Stares... stairs... epic music... honest movie and video game trailers! It's not that hard to put two and two together, right?”
Oh, so she also watches Japanese-translated videos of trailers that state the brutal truth about the movies, TV shows, and games we all consume? Amazing!
And thus, I inspect both Harumi and Saya with... yup, stares.
“Uh... hello, Gunpei? We're approaching 7pm, so it's time for me to go.”
“Oh, sorry. It's because of those stares that I got carried away in the final minutes of this session! Anyway, if you have free time tomorrow, you can hear the follow-up to the prom aftermath story.”
“Yes, please do, Gunpei! And I'm sure our maid here will clarify some points, too!”
“Hee hee, thanks, Harumi. Now then... see you both tomorrow.”
“Yup. Later, Saya.”
What Harumi will expect tomorrow... will be a kind of hush.
- Writer
