Unexpected outburst

“I made reservations at 7 pm, does that work for you?”

“Sure, what’s the address?”

I was on a call with Rui, confirming our meeting time and place for the next day. While I sounded surprisingly calm, I was freaking out on the inside.

I can’t believe we’re actually going out for dinner. No, it’s not like that, because it’s not a date. We’re just two friends going to a fancy restaurant to talk about the supernatural and a ghost that possessed my body. Totally normal, nothing weird at all...

“Okay, I’ll see you then.”

“Yeah, bye.”

I ended the call and slumped into my chair.

I have close to twenty-four hours to prepare. What to wear, how to act, what to say… it’s a lot to think about. Maybe I’m overthinking it? I can’t make the same mistake I did with Onna. I can’t follow a script this time, I have to rely on instinct. I’ll just go, act naturally, and talk about whatever comes to mind. But I should definitely wear something nicer than jeans and a t-shirt.

So, the next morning, I went through all my clothes and picked out the nicest outfit I could manage. I ended up with a simple blue shirt and black corduroy pants.

Is this good enough? Or is it too fancy? Arghh, I don’t know! Don’t overthink it, it’s fine.

While looking at my outfit in the mirror, I noticed my hair was really messy and unkempt.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a barber. My hair’s getting pretty long. Should I cut it? Or just style it? But I don’t even know how to properly style my own hair. I really should visit a barbershop.

So, without wasting any more time, I left immediately. Not wanting my hair to look too different, I asked the barber to cut only two centimeters and mostly style it. When he was done, he held up a mirror behind me so I could see the back of my head.

Whoa, this is really good. I’m glad I came here and spent a little extra instead of risking a bad haircut at a cheap place.

My bangs no longer covered my eyes, and the sides and back had been shortened slightly, giving my straight hair more layers. Even if only a little, I felt more confident now. 

All that's left is to meet with Rui and act naturally. Surely, nothing will go wrong… right?

*

Evening came, and I was standing in front of a restaurant called Osharena de Gyuniku. It was a prestigious place, with reservations more difficult to get than tickets to the hockey finals.

Is this really the place? How did Rui get us a reservation overnight? Does she know the owner or something? Can I even afford a meal here? I feel like it’ll blow through all my savings. But I can’t ask her to cancel now. Since she invited me here, she can definitely afford it with no problem, so should I ask Rui to pay for me? No, that feels wrong. Even if she did, it wouldn’t be right in so many ways. Maybe I should just tell her that this place is too expensive for me. But that would put her in a really awkward situation... I should just go with it this one time and ask her to choose cheaper places next time after we leave.

Even though we agreed to meet half an hour early, there were still twenty minutes left until then.

I was too nervous to wait at home, so I came early. But was that a mistake? Now I feel even more tense and anxious. It definitely doesn’t feel like I belong here. This place is way too fancy.

“Jinko?”

I flinched at the sound of a familiar voice. I turned around and couldn’t believe my eyes.

“Onna?”

It was my ex-girlfriend, Onna.

“W-what are you doing here?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“I was just passing by...”

Onna looked to her left and saw the sign ‘Osharena de Gyuniku’.

“Do you have a reservation here?”

“Ah...”

What am I supposed to say? Do I lie and say I’m just meeting someone here? But why do I even need to lie? I don’t have anything to hide.

“Yes, actually. A friend invited me.”

“A friend? Haha, sure. Am I supposed to believe that? No one in their right mind would invite someone they only see as a ‘friend’ to a place like this. You’re dating again, aren’t you?”

“What? N-no, I-I’m not… She’s just a friend.”

“Oh, so ‘she’ really is a girl.”

What’s with her? Why does she seem so agitated? Why would she be angry with me? Not now, and not even when we were dating. I never understood her at all.

“Well? Where is this new girlfriend of yours?”

“I’m telling you, she’s-”

“Jinko?”

I turned to see Rui standing there.

Why is she here so early? We still have a lot of time until we were supposed to meet. She’s definitely going to misunderstand the situation.

“Rui! She’s-”

“Oh? So this is your new girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend?”

Rui looked at Onna, confused for a second, before turning to me with an unreadable expression.

“You told her I was your girlfriend?”

“No, no, she just misunderstood-”

I tried to explain myself, but Onna cut me off again, not letting me speak.

“Oh, I didn’t misunderstand anything. I know very well what’s going on here. You found yourself a rich girl, letting her spoil you as much as you like. This is ridiculous-”

“Can you shut up?!”

Onna looked at me, bewildered, along with Rui and some passing strangers. Even I was shocked, because I had never really yelled at anyone before. Even so, the words just kept spilling out, each louder than the last.

“Why do you care so much? Why does it matter to you who I hang out with? You broke up with me! You gave me basically no explanation, no warning, and on our six-month anniversary on top of that! So even if she was my girlfriend, it would have nothing to do with you! So just shut up and leave!”

It felt like time itself had stopped. As I finished yelling, I looked around me. Every single person near us was staring at me, with all sorts of emotions showing on their faces.

What happened? Why did I blow up like that? Didn’t I get over her already? I thought I put it behind me, but was I wrong? Did I unknowingly bottle up my emotions?

The people around us slowly dispersed, but Onna and Rui kept looking at me, both shocked, yet with entirely different expressions. Finally, Rui spoke up, letting me escape the unpleasant situation.

“Let's go inside, Jinko."

“...Yeah.”

We walked into the restaurant, leaving Onna standing outside, stunned and offended.