Even Though I Loved You First

Monologue [Kei]

I remembered something… No, someone.

She… was like an older sister, and no wonder given that she was my sister’s best friend. I used to play with them here and there, sometimes Shizuka would come along.

She and Karane were really close all throughout their childhood. So, I thought their friendship would never change even when they entered middle school…

I was wrong…

Even though my sister thought of her as family… Even though they shared many memories together. I never understood how from one day to another, their relationship crumbled little by little. At first, I just noticed the lack of mention from Karane.

Until one day…

“What? I ain’t wrong now, am I?” I overheard her talking trash about my sister behind her back. I rarely got angry, I always tried to keep my cool, simply because I didn’t want to ruin my image and because I didn’t want my sisters’ image to be ruined.

But back then, I had enough.

Karane never told me the specific reason as to why the two suddenly fell off. She told me that she would eventually tell me, either when I experience something similar, or when I was old enough to understand.

‘Something similar’, huh? I don’t know why… But maybe I should bring up the topic again?

↤⨳↦

Inside a Train

“So, where are we going this time?” Arisa asked as she sat beside me.

“There was a place that I wanted to check out, even if we needed to take the train, I wanted you to see it too. I thought it might be a place the two of us would enjoy.” (Kei)

“At least tell me!” (Arisa)

“Nope, that’s a surprise.” I chuckled.

It was the second day of summer vacation. I invited Arisa on a date today because I felt like it, of course. In addition, there was a place that open about two weeks ago, the advertisement and the building itself caught my eye, and everything I could think of was that it looked like a place Arisa would enjoy.

“Hah, you won’t budge, huh? Well, I guess it’s fine… I’ve grown accustomed to surprises after all…” (Arisa)

“Is that so?” (Kei)

“Unn… Maybe it’s because of this ‘unique’ environment in which I’m growing.” She said with a blank stare.

Still, why bother emphasizing ‘unique’? I thought.

“I can’t believe we have almost two months full of leisure! I wish summer was eternal!” Arisa said as she stretched her back.

“It’s only been a whole day but… I have to look for things to preoccupy myself. I finished with my homework after all…” (Kei)

“Wait… already?! No… thinking about it, it’ll be reasonable for first-years to have a considerably less batch… I’ve only finished a quarter of it…” (Arisa)

I was honestly excited because this was my first summer with a girlfriend, so excited that even my sisters were wondering if some sort of demon possessed me as I spent all day inside my room finishing every single assignment.

The assignments were by no means complicated, they were only time consuming. Well, we have almost fifty days to use as we please so I guess they wanted us to allocate time for us to finish everything before the new year started.

↤⨳↦

A While Later

“Then… it should be over… here!” I said as I stopped in front of a particular place.

“Hm? Kei, this looks like a greenhouse…” (Arisa)

The entrance itself was made mostly out of glass which showed an abundant amount of green coming from vines, grass, there were even some small trees planted from both corners of the space. In the middle, there was a small glass door with what seemed to be an oak frame.

“Well, that’s the outside! Looks can be deceiving, so why don’t we dive inside first, milady?” I said as I extended my hand.

Arisa rapidly smiled, and after taking my hand, she took a step forward, “Sure.” (Arisa)

“Alright then let’s go in.” (Kei)

As I opened the door, we walked down what seemed to be several arcs dominated by vines and some flowers here and there. The rocky path we walked on was illuminated by various lights from all angles as we saw small artificial ponds from some parts that were not covered by vines.

“Beautiful…” Arisa said as her eyes wandered all over the scenery. The path took only about thirty seconds to go through, still, it gave a really good first impression to any newcomer.

“Eh? Kei? Don’t tell me this place is…” As we entered the establishment itself, Arisa seemed to realize the meaning behind my earlier words.

“…a place the two of us would enjoy.”

Though the lights were dimly lit, the place received most of its illumination from the natural sunlight due to its open area. Seats and tables made from refined wood and a wide arrangement of bookshelves that expanded to an upper floor one could see from the entrance. 

The smell of coffee and the subtle sound of pages being turned were the most prominent elements as some relaxing music was being played all throughout the place.

“Unn. I heard about it from a girl in my class who’s part of the library committee. I immediately knew this was a place we’ll enjoy.” (Kei)

Arisa and I were absolute bookworms, well… in my case I began looking into a wider range of genres thanks to her. 

“There really are so many books over here.” Arisa said in a small voice as she looked around with sparkling eyes.

“I wonder what type of titles this place has.” (Kei)

“There’s almost two floors full of books. Well, just by the ones in sight that is.” (Arisa)

“Hey.” (Kei)

“Hm?” (Arisa)

I proposed a book exchange to Arisa; simply put, we would be choosing books for each other taking into account our interests as well. It was something simple, something we already did multiple times, but it was still fun nevertheless.

↤⨳↦

After browsing through many types of books, I went ahead and chose a sci-fi one. I don’t really touch sci-fi books that much; however, the premise interested me and it also sounded like something Arisa would like.

“Sci-fi, huh? Interesting choice.” (Arisa)

“Same to you. Historical, is it?” The book didn’t have a specific story-line, simply put, it wasn’t fiction of any sort.

It was simply a biography describing the rise of power of one of the kings of a currently big country. I liked learning things of this sort, Sachi usually recommended short historical books from time to time, so this book was a perfect pick from her side.

After we moved places, we looked for a table near the corner with the least amount of customers, due to it being generally quieter. As we sat down, we both ordered a cup of coffee along with some tea cakes to accompany with.

“I’m really glad that the website of this place was so detailed. It even had a sample of the menu. Not only do they serve traditional sweets, but they also serve sweets made purely out of fruit and almost sugar free.” (Kei)

“As to be expected of a place like this, it’s mostly sweets served here.” (Arisa)

As I continued reading the book, I got deeply interested in the hidden aspects the writing had to offer. It also gave a glimpse of major political and economical aspects that were completely different nowadays.

I tend to take small mental breaks in between chapters. Don’t get me wrong, I could go on reading continuously if I wanted to, but I believed that small breaks in between were important, simply because I didn’t want to get overwhelmed with the information and end up with a headache.

In one of my mental breaks, I took at glance at Arisa who was quietly reading next to me and as I glanced at her profile, I was simply enamored.

Arisa was extremely expressive when it came to reading, whether it was a sad scene, a comedic routine or even a serious and philosophical narration. I could understand everything she was reading solely from her expressions alone.

Giggle

“? Something the matter?” Arisa, who seemed to have heard me giggle, asked.

“No, it’s just… your changing expressions were just too cute I couldn’t help but giggle.” I said in a low voice.

“…” Though she dropped silent, her eyes widened a bit and her cheeks flushed red.

There was a small silence, which was being engulfed in the sound of the music around the establishment. A gentle type of instrumental music, one that made it comfortable to read in.

It was a gentle tune… that enveloped the two of us in a much romantic mood.

Is how I would like for things to play out if it wasn’t by the fact that we were in public.

How sad…

“…it’s unfair…” Arisa said in a mutter.

“Is it, I wonder.” I said as I turned back to my book while Arisa leaned her head on my shoulder.

↤⨳↦

“So, what do you think about the place?” (Kei)

“I really enjoyed it! If it wasn’t for the fact that the train ride is quite long, I would come here everyday.” (Arisa)

After leaving the establishment, we rode the train side by side as we talked about our experience this time around. From our impressions of the place, to the books we chose for the other.

“It was interesting, it had a unique take on the ‘murder bots’ kind of trope. The ending is confusing tho…” (Arisa)
“As for mine, it was simply amazing, it was a bit confusing since they don’t really establish a specific point of view, they continuously refer to him as ‘he’. Still, it was mostly a biography, and a really good one at that.” (Kei)

As the train stopped, we both held hands and left the train as we made idle chatter. Today I was planning on having dinner at the Kamihate’s, due to most of my family being out today.

“When it comes to sweets, any type you specifically like, Arisa?” (Kei)

“Sweets? Let’s see…” She pondered for a while, “I think I prefer the ones that are stuffed with jelly, I don’t why, but they make me feel like a little girl again.” (Arisa)

Some sweets do take you back to the good old times after all… They make you remember so many things that back then were relevant but nowadays they’re rarely found in modern media.

“I feel like you’re thinking something weird again…” (Arisa)

“How?” (Kei)

“Maybe because I’m always looking at you?” (Arisa)

I stopped walking.

“…” (Kei)

“…” (Arisa)
I couldn’t help but turn my head away in embarrassment. That was… way too corny, my face is starting to heat.

“You got me there…” I said as I covered my face with my free hand.

“That wasn’t exactly my intention… but, ‘yay’ I guess?” (Arisa)

“Anyways, what about Kei? I probably know your answer already, but just to keep talking like this.” (Arisa)

“Hm~ Well, I extremely enjoy those made entirely out of fruit. Back on my tenth birthday, my mother baked a whole cake out of fruits, it was simply amazing. It tasted like a fruit salad, but with the traditional taste of flour.” (Kei)

“Sounds delicious.” Arisa nodded.

“Hey, what do you say we try to bake it one day?” (Kei)

“Baking, huh? I’ve only learnt cooking until recently, so baking might be a little bit harder. Last time, I remember helping Kokoro out using a recipe on the internet.” (Arisa)

“So that’s a no…” (Kei)

“It’s not exactly a no! What I mean to say is that I wouldn’t mind, though don’t expect anything big from me.” (Arisa)

“It’s okay~ I don’t really know how to bake myself, so it’ll be fun~ It will also be a good change of pace to have a home date that doesn’t revolve around lazing around and reading~” (Kei)

“Judging by the quality of your food, I’m surprised you say you don’t know much about baking…” (Arisa)

“Haha. So, it’s decided then?” I excitedly said as I squeezed Arisa’s hand.

“Unn. It’s decided.” (Arisa)

And so, it was decided that we would decide on a date for us to try and bake a cake together. Everything would be okay as long as we follow the recipe… probably.