NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36: The Name Called by Hand
Chapter 36: The Name Called by Hand
Ding-dong! Didi-di-ding-dong!
The doorbell rang incessantly.
It had to be Miyuki.
I hastily went to the door and opened it, finding Miyuki standing there with her arms crossed.
She looked angry but seemed to be making an effort to conceal it.
“Why did you leave like that?”
At her quietly simmering question, I scratched my freshly-dried hair and answered.
“I waited for an hour, and you didn’t come down. I thought you were asleep.”
“I wasn’t asleep. You could’ve woken me up.”
“I didn’t see the need to wake you up.”
“Why?”
“Because you’d probably space out anyway.”
At that, Miyuki flinched slightly.
It was as if she was reminded of the vulnerable side of herself she had shown right after our kiss. But soon, her eyes narrowed into a suspicious glance.
“But still... you said we’d go out...”
“I was planning to wait until you got up. We have a car, so we can get there quickly anyway.”
“...True, but... Matsuda-kun, did you give your contact info to my sister?”
“Contact info? Yeah, I did.”
“Why?”
Miyuki’s voice raised a notch. It looked like she was angry about the contact info. Could it be that she’s not upset about the mood breaking after our kiss, but something else?
Lost in thought with my head tilted, Miyuki shot me a piercing look.
“Do you have an interest in my sister? What are you planning to do? Like... are you just toying with her?”
The moment I heard that absurd question, I vaguely understood how the situation had twisted.
She was misunderstanding something.
I’d got a hunch... a strong hunch. It seemed like Kanna didn’t explain things well, and Miyuki’s emotions got tangled up because of it.
“What are you talking about? By your logic, am I also some pervert with plans for your parents too?”
“...What? Why are you bringing up my mom and dad here?”
“Because I gave my contact info to them as well.”
Miyuki’s facial muscles twisted oddly, a look of complete bafflement. Chuckling at her reaction, I continued.
“When I was about to leave, your sister suggested that we should get to know each other better and exchange contact information. Both your mom and dad thought it was a good idea, so we did. Why are you making a fuss about it?”
“...?”
Miyuki blinked, looking as if she was mulling things over. After pondering my words for a moment, her face went pale.
“Is that... what happened?”
Her voice had lowered significantly, as if she had untangled a big misunderstanding.
“Yeah.”
“...Ah.”
Miyuki slowly nodded, as if something had dawned on her. She looked so cute; I felt like teasing her more.
“What’s this ‘Ah’? I don’t know what you heard to make you this upset, but quit making stupid faces and apologize.”
“Apologize...?”
“Yeah, for wrongly accusing me. You keep holding strange prejudices against me, and it’s pretty upsetting. Isn’t this something you would hate as well?”
“...I... I’m sorry... really.”
Her voice was low and submissive, and from the look of it, she seemed genuinely remorseful.
With a chuckle, I lightly tapped Miyuki’s forehead as I had done in her room.
Thump.
She immediately covered her forehead with her hand. The look of discomfort, even though it wouldn’t have hurt, was likely due to her feeling guilty toward me.
Leaning my elbow against the wall next to the door, I looked at her and asked,
“Did you walk all the way here?”
“Yeah... I walked...”
“In this heat? Not the smartest move.”
“It was… close by...”
I let out a slight sigh and stepped out of the doorway, pressing the smart key button.
Beep!
With a short noise, the car unlocked.
I opened the driver’s side door and spoke to Miyuki, who was standing there, seemingly lost.
“Get in. Let’s go have some fun.”
“Ah, okay...”
With a hesitant step, she came closer and got into the passenger seat. After buckling her seatbelt, she asked,
“Where are we going?”
“Let’s go watch a movie.”
“Alright...”
As I started the engine and cranked up the air conditioning, Miyuki’s upper body shifted toward the air vent.
Feeling the cool breeze from the air vent, she let out a relieved sigh and closed her eyes. Soon after, she sneakily brought a lock of her hair to her nose and sniffed it.
Worried about smelling like sweat, huh?
Why did you walk all the way here so eagerly then?
Just call next time. And settle on a plan. Isn’t it about time for that?
Pretending not to notice Miyuki’s actions, I drove toward the movie theater.
**
“Order number 812! Your single combo with a size-up on the cola is ready!”
Upon hearing the enthusiastic call from the theater employee, I stood up from my seat where Miyuki and I were chatting.
“Matsuda-kun, we’re 812, right?”
Miyuki looked puzzled as she attempted to confirm the number on the ticket I was holding.
Her expression was tinged with curiosity. On several movie dates, we had always ordered the couple’s combo, so my ordering a single combo this time clearly puzzled her.
“Right.”
“Right…? 812…?”
“That’s right.”
I replied indifferently as I fetched the box containing popcorn and cola.
Miyuki’s face seemed to harden progressively. It looked like she mistakenly believed that my feelings for her had changed.
Observing Miyuki, I took two straws and inserted them both into one side of the cola cup, then extended the drink toward her with a nonchalant expression.
“Hold this.”
“Ah...”
A short exclamation escaped from her as she took the cola, and her face brightened up. Despite the cup having openings for straws on both sides, she caught on to my intentions and feelings when she saw I’d put both straws on one side.
“...”
Seeing her like that, I laughed internally.
It was rather satisfying to act differently than usual, sow a little confusion, and then watch her reaction as I gave the situation new meaning.
“I got a small popcorn because we ate a lot today. Any complaints?”
Miyuki, who had been staring intently at the straw, shook her head vigorously in response.
“Complaints? No... It’s fine...”
“Let’s go in. It’s about time.”
“Mm-hmm...”
Smiling smugly at a noticeably more cautious Miyuki, I entered the screening room with her. Since we hadn’t pre-booked and it was the weekend, there were many people, and our seats were at the far left end of the row.
The angle was a bit uncomfortable for watching the screen, but that was about the only inconvenience. Miyuki, too, seemed unconcerned.
However, there was a problem.
A very big problem.
‘What the hell is this?’
The armrest between the seats in the theater wouldn’t lift up.
I had subtly hoped for some physical closeness with Miyuki, and this was undeniably a most infuriating obstacle.
Other armrests seemed to lift up just fine; it was only the one between Miyuki and me that remained stubbornly immobile. How could I not be suspicious? What kind of situation is this? Was I perhaps not the real protagonist of this rom-com?
“Matsuda-kun, what are you doing?”
While I was fidgeting, trying to lift the armrest, Miyuki shot me a puzzled look.
Giving up on the immovable armrest, I stared at the theater ceiling and mumbled with a defeated expression.
“The world hates me.”
“What are you talking about? Want some cola?”
“Give me.”
Despite my curt tone, Miyuki calmly brought the cola to my lips. She did not admonish me to be gentle today. Given the significant event of our kiss, it seemed she had decided to cut me some slack for today at least.
Taking a sip of the offered cola, I felt a weighty sensation on my right arm and looked over. A man sitting next to me was glaring, visibly irritated. The reason was obvious; I was monopolizing the armrest.
The charm of a packed theater is, indeed, the battle over armrests.
I scowled, shooting the man a menacing glare. Soon enough, he averted his gaze and tucked his arm inward.
Flashing a genial smile at the man who knew his place, I—
Smack!
I whipped my head around as Miyuki slapped my left arm with a surprising force.
“Why’d you hit me?”
“I’m sorry... I’m really sorry...”
Miyuki apologized to the man multiple times before scolding me in a stern yet subdued tone.
“Why are you doing this...?”
“That guy started it. He told me to give up the armrest.”
“Is it really that hard to share the armrest?”
“Yes. It’s incredibly difficult.”
“Ugh... honestly...”
Exhaling a long sigh as if giving up on trying to reason with me, Miyuki broke into a wry smile as she looked at my unruffled face.
“So typical of you, Matsuda-kun.”
Her voice was incredibly gentle—a sure sign she wasn’t mad.
Pretending to ponder something as I scratched the side of my head, I lifted my arm off the right armrest– As if I had been touched by Miyuki’s heartfelt words.
Miyuki’s eyes transformed into crescent moons, a sure sign that my actions had truly pleased her.
Trying to act nonchalant while clearing my throat, I placed my left arm on the armrest between us.
“.... I’ll claim this one, then.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Miyuki smiled radiantly. She looked genuinely happy.
Soon after, the screen displayed the emergency exit information, the lights in the auditorium dimmed, and the movie began.
Boom-boom!
The grand drumbeats signaled the start of an action film. On a day like today, perhaps a sweet romantic movie would’ve been more appropriate. But alas, the lack of available seats forced our choice.
As Miyuki’s gaze locked onto the screen, her body practically melting into the seat, I stole a glance at her. A pang of regret crossed my mind, but I focused back on the movie.
How much time had passed?
It was a scene where a supporting character was engaged in some light action and banter when—
Tap. Tap.
Miyuki’s fingers lightly touched the back of my left hand.
Turning my head to look at her, I noticed that she had just taken a sip of her cola and swallowed it. She then gestured for me to turn my palm upward. And so, I did.
Then, Miyuki straightened her index finger and lightly touched the palm of my hand, as if tapping on it.
Soon after, she began to draw something on the surface of my palm.
No, Miyuki wasn’t drawing; she was writing.
Her index finger moved at a rather slow pace, making it easy to discern what she was spelling out when I concentrated my senses.
【Sorry for the misunderstanding today.】
That’s what she was saying with her hand.
She was still concerned, it seemed.
Just as I was about to crack a light smile at her adorable apology laced with affection, my eyes widened at Miyuki’s subsequent writing.
【Ken-kun.】
It was my name.
Not my surname, but my first name.
She had definitely written my name.
Any lingering disappointment I had felt instantly evaporated.
So what if she called my name with her hand? It was still incredibly endearing.
I had no doubt that my name would soon pass through her lovely lips as well.
Miyuki, having opened this emotional floodgate herself, was truly magnificent.
As soon as her hand had completed its message and gently pulled away, I had to bite down hard on my lips.
I couldn’t help but let my lips curl up into a smile.
My face must have looked distorted because of it, but now was not the time to care about such trivial matters.
Unable to fully contain myself, I roughly grabbed a handful of the popcorn Miyuki was holding and stuffed it into my mouth, chewing vigorously.
Why?
Because if I didn’t do something like this, I felt like I might burst out in cheers without even realizing it.
︵‿︵‿୨ * ୧‿︵‿︵
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