Chapter 20:
Mind Reader's
We continued walking around the mall for a few more minutes and as we were doing, so, she glanced over at me and tugged at my sleeve "Something wrong?"
"You want to go and get something to eat?"
"Sure... Do you of any places around her that you want to dine in?"
"There's a café I frequent whenever I'm in the area. The food there if very good" "Want to go there?"
"Sure, let's go"
With those words, the both of us started walking out of the mall and started heading down the road for a few minutes. After walking for a bit, we stopped in front of the café and as I opened the door, I couldn't help but notice that the place itself was very quiet.
"Welcome"
As I was looking around it, a lady walked over to us and greeted us with a smile on her face "Umm..."
"Hello, Kaori"
"Hatomi?" The lady seemed to know Hatomi and simply smiled at her "Out on a date?"
"..."
"Huh~?"
The lady inched herself closer to Hatomi and as she did so, I couldn't help but notice that she was blushing a bit "Y-Yeah... We are"
"Really~? That's nice to see" The lady looked over towards me and bowed "I'm Nishizaki Kaori, I'm a good friend of Hatomi's"
"N-Nice to meet you, I'm Nakauchi Natsuo"
I extended my hand towards her and she took it with a tight grip in her own hands "Please take care of Hatomi, Natsuo-chan~"
"H-Huh?"
"K-Kaori!"
Nishizaki-san simply giggled at the way Hatomi had reacted and then proceeded to lead us towards a table as if nothing had happened prior.
Hatomi on the other hand simply let out a sigh and followed Nishizaki-san towards our table without saying anything about what had happened.
"Here you go"
Once we were both seated, she handed us the menus and as I glanced through it, I sneaked a glance over at Hatomi and noticed that she was blushing slightly about what had happened.
"Why did Kaori have to do that? That was too embarrassing"
Seeing her acting like this and on top of that hearing her sound so embarrassed was more then enough to make me feel at ease since I too was embarrassed about the event that took place.
"Are you ready to order?"
Even though she was being embarrassed in her subconscious, on the outside, she was perfectly fine which was amazing to see.
"Y-Yeah..."
"Good" Hatomi called out to Nishizaki-san and upon grabbing her attention, we gave our order and she headed off towards the kitchen to give the order.
I let out a sigh and as I did so, my phone started ringing all of a sudden. I glanced at the name and noticed that it was none other then Tetsuya.
"It's Tetsuya..."
"Answer it"
"You don't mind?"
"No, I don't"
"Thanks"
I answered the phone and before I could even ask what was up, he started speaking up "Hey! I'm thinking about confessing my feelings to Chitose right now. I'll let you know the outcome"
Hearing this, I couldn't help but feel like he was being a bit too direct "You sure about that?"
"I'm sure of it. I'll call you when I get an answer"
He hung up the phone without giving me the chance to say anything and all I could do in that moment was sigh to myself "What happened?"
"He just hung up on me... Supposedly, he's going to confess his feelings to Chitose right now"
"I see... How do you feel knowing that?"
"How do I feel?"
"She was the one who confessed to you, wasn't she? Wouldn't you want to accept her confession and get with her?"
I stared at Hatomi for a bit and shook my head "If there's no love, I don't really want to agree"
"... I see"
Once our food arrived, we started eating without saying a word to one another. In the back of mind, I couldn't help but wonder about how Hatomi was acting just now.
I wanted to tell her that I loved her and that I wanted to date her, but at the same time, I couldn't help but wonder if she wanted me to get with Chitose.
I shook my head and sighed "That's not it. I know it isn't"
"Are you alright, Natsuo?"
"Yeah, I'm fine"
"How's the food, Natsuo-chan?"
Before I knew it, Nishizaki-san walked over towards us and proceeded to take a seat right next to Hatomi without a care in the world.
"Yes, it's very good"
"That's nice to hear" "I'm glad that Hatomi decided to invite someone here. She's always alone when she stops by"
"Kaori?"
"is something wrong?"
"You're talking too much"
"So harsh~" Kaori wiped an imaginary tear and smiled at her "Well, you've never brought anyone over and the first person you do bring is a boy. That would only make me wonder if you're interested in him?"
At these words, I couldn't help but blush a bit "This is bad" But even then, I wanted to know. I wanted to at least find a hint that she felt the same way as I did.
"..."
"Hatomi?"
Just when she was going to speak up, some more customers entered the café "Aren't you going to attend to them?"
"Fine~"
She stood up from her seat and started leading them to another table. Seeing this, I let out a sigh and glance out the window "That was scary... I thought my heart was going to give out"
After eating and relaxing inside of the café for a bit, my phone started ringing once more. I glanced at the caller id and noticed that it was none other then Tetsuya again.
"Yeah?"
"I blew it..."
"What happened?"
"She turned me down... I was expecting it, but I was really hoping that that wasn't going to be the case"
"Sorry to hear that..."
"No sweat. That just mean that I'll take my time and confess again some other time" "You on the other hand, I hope that you end up telling that girl that you love her"
"Shut it..."
A chuckle passed through the speaker and he let out a sigh "Talk to you later"
"Yeah"
I let out a sigh and glanced over at Hatomi "He got rejected"
"That was to be expected"
"Yeah... But I still feel bad about him"
"..."
"Hatomi?"
"Let's get going"
"O-Ok..." "Why is she acting like this? Did something important come up?"
I paid the bill and just when we were going to start leaving, Nishizaki-san called out to us "I hope the both of you stop by again some other time~!"
"Talk to you soon, Kaori"
"I-It was a pleasure meeting you"
She waved goodbye at us and as we made our way out of the café, we continued walking around or a bit more and as the sun was setting, I glanced over at Hatomi and resolved myself to confess.
"H-Hatomi?"
"Yes?"
"T-There's somewhere I'd like to go... Do you mind accompanying me?"
"Sure, where to?"
"It's near the house. Do you know of the overlook that's near our street?'
"Yes, I do"
"I want to go there"
She stared into my eyes for a bit and smiled at me "Sure, let's go"
As we wandered the street that we would normally walk through each and every day, I couldn't help but feel even more nervous. I knew why it was. It was because I was with her and seeing her not just as a companion who stuck with me with my problems of hearing others, but now, as someone I wanted to be with forever.
Once we arrived at the overlook, the both of us simply stood there and took in the scenery before us. Even though I had already seen the view multiple times, it was the best place for me to go to and simply take in the fresh air.
"Natsuo?'
"Yeah?"
"There's something to all of this, right?"
"W-Why do you say that?"
"I can read you like an open book"
"..." At hearing that, I couldn't help but start blushing.
"I have a feeling that I already know what it is, but go ahead"
This was the moment. The moment where I would need to confess to her. I took in a deep breath, relaxed my nerves and stared her dead in the eyes.
"Hatomi..."
"Yes?"
"I love you... Will you go our with me?"
I could feel her gaze on me, my heart was beating faster and faster. I was afraid but at the same time, I was hopeful that she would accept.
"Can you lift your head for me, please?"
I slowly lifted my head and noticed that she was smiling at me "I guessed that that was going to be the case"
"H-Huh?"
"To be honest, I was waiting for you to ask me"
"... Huh?"
She let out a giggle and inched herself closer to me "I love you, Natsuo... And I'm glad that you were the one who confessed first. I would have been to embarrassed to do it myself"
"S-So...?"
"Yes, I'd be glad to be you're girlfriend"
My first love had blossomed and it came true. I slowly reached out for her hand and just like that, she grabbed it and started holding it tightly all the while her face was blushing.
"L-Let's get going then..."
"Y-Yeah..."
I grabbed a bit tighter onto her hand and the both of us started making our way back to our houses, but even then, I wished that we wouldn't arrive so quickly. I wanted to enjoy this moment even more.
"Natsuo?"
"Y-Yeah?"
"I don't need my powers to know what you were thinking... You were too obvious"
"You're saying that, and yet you were the one unconsciously acting embarrassed"
"Y-You heard?!"
"Yeah" "Now we're even"
She puffed out her cheeks and pinched my cheek out of nowhere "That's not nice
"It wasn't on purpose!"
She giggled and beamed me a smile "Let's be with each other for a bit more, how does that sound?"
"That sounds nice..."
With that, the both of us took the longer way home and simply enjoyed being around each other. That day, I noticed that if you loved a person a lot, you're sub-powers were useless... You were able to know what you're partner thought in that moment without any troubles at all.
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