Shopping!

Well, I was outside again. What the hell was this day?

Those were my thoughts as I opened the door to the convenience store. Never before have I been so lost in my life. Not only did I struggle to find the ingredients, even with a list, but I also struggled to grasp my relationships. Without Ayane, I felt lost, but I also felt confused with her.

At last, though, I could push those thoughts aside as I gave the ingredients to the elderly cashier. Tossing my cart to him, he looked at the ingredients to scan them, only to briefly stop as he looked at me.

“It’s you again,” he told me.

“Why would you remember me?” I asked.

He chuckled before getting back to scanning. While he looked only at the things he scanned, he still responded to me.

“Well, you’re a high school boy shopping by himself.”

“Is it really that uncommon?”

“Yeah, it is. Nowadays, at least. Back in my day, you’d see the whole family shopping here, but now it’s just adults. Kids these days always rely on their parents.”

“I’d say it’s the other way around for me.”

“You must have some overbearing parents, huh.”

“Well, they’re actually my girlfriend’s parents,” I said as I placed my hand on his desk.

“Wait, are you living with her?”

“Yeah, I am.”

With my hand on my neck, I felt weirdly embarrassed that I’d gotten that close to someone, perhaps because I never used to be the type of person who would. However, the old man would snap me back into reality.

“If only I got that close with my wife at your age.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should.”

Neither of us had anything to add, but he wasn’t done scanning either. I guess there was a lot to get, and it wasn’t like he was particularly fast at his job either. Wait a second. That’s my key to continuing the conversation.

“Why are you working here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be retired?”

“I really should. I just refuse to stop working. It pisses off my wife, but this is the way I like to live.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it then.”

“Likewise.”

While we were back to saying nothing, I had the impression that we finally got something out of our conversation. I couldn’t tell if that was the case, though, until he finally finished scanning everything. Once he put his scanner down, he finally looked at me, smiling.

“I hope to see you next time.”

His smile was infectious, sticking onto me when I responded.

“Same here.”

***

Back outside, I carried all of the shopping bags with both of my hands. While I never denied my strength, I started to now. Why didn’t Aya bring Aka to do this? He’s far more muscular than me. Wait… that was probably the point. Well, it wasn’t like it was my choice to stay at the school for so long.

It sucked too because I had a good experience. I should’ve thought about how nice it was to actually talk to someone instead of complaining. Well, I eventually did, and it put a smile on my face. I even realized that I could’ve even made a better effort to talk to those I already knew.

With this now in my mind, I went to the nearest bench to drop my bags and pick up my phone, starting a call.

“Who is it?” he asked when he picked up.

“It’s me, Dad.”

“Oh, Yuuki-kun! I’m glad to hear from you!”

“I am too.”

“Anything happen in school?”

“A lot, actually.”

“Tell me about it.”

I decided to pick up my bags and start walking again before I answered, holding my phone with my shoulders.

“Well, I got a part in the school festival play.”

“Good for you! What role did you get?”

“I’m one of the side characters. Apparently, my character is romantically involved with the character who’s being played by my girlfriend.”

“So your girlfriend got the part too?”

“She did. She was really happy about it.”

“I’m glad she was. Who got the leading role? Wait, I think I remember his name… Yuuta-kun, right?”

“His name is Satou-kun, Dad.”

“Right, right. You never acted before this, right?

“I haven’t.”

“How are you gonna practice in such a short amount of time?”

“Apparently, Ayane-chan will teach me.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter how you do it. I’m excited to watch the play.”

“Will you even have time for it?”

“I’ll make time for it. I want to make up for all those years I missed with you.”

“Thanks, Dad. It means a lot.”

“Anything else you want to talk about?”

“Yeah, there is.”

“Talk away.”

“I don’t know what to think about living with Ayane-chan. I’m scared we may be progressing too fast.”

“Why would that be a problem?”

“I don’t know. I think I may just be scared of pushing her away.”

“Wouldn’t you be pushing her away more if you gave her distance?”

I had no response. I knew he was right, but what would admitting that say about me?

“It seems like something’s bothering you. What is it?” he asked in my trance.

“A lot, but I think the fight I got into with Satoshi-kun hit the hardest.”

“I didn’t expect that to happen.”

“Yeah, but I was never a very good friend. I guess I had it coming.”

“Did you make up?”

“We did.”

“Then that’s all that matters.”

“I don’t think it does. He was hurting for years because of me.”

“As long as you know you have the guilt, and have the will to move on, then I don’t think you need to beat yourself up over it.”

“Thanks, Dad. I love you.”

“I love you too, son.”

He hung up. Granted, I couldn’t put my phone back in my pocket when I didn’t even have enough room for my hands. All I could do was deal with the crippling neck pain I’d get from holding my phone with my head.

Thankfully then, I finally made it back home, only to realize that I couldn’t knock on the door because my hands were full. As such, I just stood there for several minutes. Those minutes then became ho- just kidding. I banged my head on the doorbell while trying to prevent my phone from falling, and that seemed to help.