Chika angrily banged her head on the wall. "Why, why?!" she yelled.
Chika had just realized she was in love with Miu.
"Why me? Why her? How could I possibly have fallen in love with someone like her? That doesn't make sense!" Chika rambled. But there was no denying it. What else could she be feeling?
Chika sighed, exhausted after banging her head on the wall so many times, and fell on the ground. She began to rub her sore head. Am I out of my mind?
Chika heard footsteps and looked up. Nobue was standing nearby, giggling. "Hey, what's so funny?!" Chika said.
"I dunno, how weird you're acting? Banging your head on the wall? Are you feeling okay?" Nobue asked.
"Yes, I'm fine," said Chika.
"Really?" said Nobue.
"Yes, really," said Chika.
"Well, whatever," said Nobue. "Anyway, I'm going to buy groceries so you'll be home alone for a couple hours or so. See ya!"
"Okay," Chika said. Chika stood at the top of the stairs and watched Nobue walk out the door and ride down the street on her motorcycle. As soon as Nobue was out of sight, Chika walked outside to Satake.
Chika put Satake on a leash. "We're going for a walk, boy," she said. Satake stuck his tongue out and wagged his tail. Chika smiled, petting him. Then off they went.
As they walked, Chika got so wrapped up thinking about Miu that she ran into a pole. Satake whimpered. "I'm okay," Chika reassured him.
They crossed a bridge and Chika noticed an old man sitting on a bench, staring out into the distance. Not paying much mind to him, as she saw him often, Chika continued walking, deep in thought about Miu again, and got her feet tangled in Satake's leash, causing her to fall. Satake started barking.
Chika got up slowly. She noticed a small rip in her jeans. Oh well. She began to wipe dirt off of her. While doing that, she noticed the old man was staring at her. Beginning to feel nervous, she mumbled, "Um... hello, sir?"
The man waved his hand, gesturing for her to come closer. Chika slowly crept towards him. Once she was a foot away, he said in a small voice, "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Chika said, quite a bit nervous. "Just scratched a little. I guess I shouldn't space out so much." She laughed uneasily.
"Thinking of someone?" the old man asked.
"Yes..." Chika said slowly and uncertainly.
"Someone you love?"
Chika blushed. "Yes, sir."
The old man turned his head and stared out into the distance. Satake looked worried, and Chika the same. Then the man said, "Ah, young love. The confusion of first realizing your feelings for someone, not sure what to do next. Is this how you're feeling?"
"Yeah, I guess so," said Chika.
"I remember when I fell in love," the old man said. "As a young boy, I thought of her all day every day, and eventually told her my feelings. And we spent the rest of our lives together... well, until she passed away." The old man sighed.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Chika said.
"It's okay," said the old man. "But this isn't about me, this is about you. Would you like advice?"
"Do you I have to pay you for it?" asked Chika.
"Of course not."
"Oh."
"Then listen here," the man said. "When you find a special person who you really love, you only have them. If you don't make a move on them soon, you'll miss your chance. And the sooner you tell them, the sooner you'll get to start a wonderful new life, an adventure, just the two of you. If you miss that chance, you'll never find anyone better than that special person. Do you understand?"
"I think I do," Chika said. "But I'm not sure how she would react if I told her." Chika blushed, realizing she'd said 'she'. "I... I think she might laugh at me or something."
The old man smiled. "You have to try." He turned his head and looked out into the distance again. Chika stood there awhile, waiting to see if he'd say anything else. But he was silent. Was she supposed to leave now?
"Um..." Chika said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out some yen. She held it out to him. "For helping me."
The man smiled. "Thank you," he said, taking it. Then Chika walked away.
Chika walked back towards her house. She walked into her room and sat on the bed, her mind swirling with thoughts. "I guess I have to tell her," she said to herself. Summoning up her courage, she climbed across the rooftops to Miu's window and went inside. Miu was stretched out on her bed reading a manga. "Micchan?"
Miu looked up and smiled. "Hi, Chi-chan! I was just gonna come over once I finished this chapter! But this is cool too, since you don't normally come over here," she said.
"Well, I just wanted to ask you..." Chika said. "If maybe..."
"Yeah?" said Miu.
"Do you... wanna hang out with me today?"
Miu looked excited. "Sure! Where to?"
Chika shrugged. "I don't really have that planned out yet. Anywhere. It doesn't really matter where we go." As long as you're there...
"Okay! Let's go buy smoothies!"
"Okay."
Miu and Chika went to a smoothie shop and looked at the menu. "I want strawberry banana," said Chika.
"Me too," said Miu. "Hey, how about we just share a large size smoothie instead of buying two? It'd be cheaper, right?"
"Yeah, sure," said Chika.
They bought the smoothie and Miu put two straws in it. "Sharing a smoothie with two straws? Isn't it romantic?"
Chika blushed. "Yeah... sorta..."
Conversation stopped for awhile. Chika still felt like she should say something. Luckily, Miu broke the silence for her. "Hey Chi-chan, is it just me or is it a little weird that you're inviting me someplace like this?"
"No, not really," said Chika. "I mean... I do invite you places... sometimes..."
"But not just the two of us."
Chika gulped. "Yeah..."
Silence resumed. Does she know? Chika wondered.
"So..." Miu said. Chika noticed the hesitation in her voice. "Is this... a date?"
Chika's face turned very red. "W-Well... maybe... or maybe not... I mean... like..." Miu was staring intently at her.
"Y-Yeah," Chika said finally. "That's... what I intended..."
Miu continued to stare at her awhile, which made Chika very nervous. "Oh," said Miu.
"Oh?" said Chika. "That's your response?! Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to say that?! Say something different!"
"Oh, what did you want me to say?" Miu asked.
"I dunno, something other than 'oh'? Something like, 'I like you too', maybe? If you do? Or even just reject me! I don't care that much, just say something!"
Miu giggled. "Okay then. I like you too."
"You do?"
"Yes."
"Oh..."
"Now you're the one saying 'oh', Chi-chan," said Miu, smiling.
"So... now what?" Chika asked.
"Do you wanna kiss me?"
Chika blushed. "W-What?"
"I said, 'Do you want to kiss me?'," said Miu. "It's a pretty simple question."
"Um... yeah..."
And they kissed.
Chika and Miu walked back to Chika's house hand in hand. Chika smiled, her heart fluttering with happiness, and thought back to earlier that day.
Thank you, mysterious old man.