You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story 4th Date (Light Novel) (eBook)

Makiko Nagaoka (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024
250 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
978-1-7183-0980-7 (ISBN)

Infos

Winter is right around the corner, and Runa's Friendship Project to help rebuild her relationship with her sister, Maria, isn't making much progress. At the same time, Ryuto has to figure out an appropriate distance from Maria-she has a crush on him, and he still finds himself attracted to her despite being with Runa.
The main pair aren't the only ones having relationship trouble either. Nicole's joyous reunion with her past love quickly hits a snag, and Akari starts to have regrets of her own...
Meanwhile, Runa has something big planned for Christmas. What awaits our sweet couple as the year wraps up?

Textauszug

Runa didn’t look unsatisfied at my reply and simply tilted her head in puzzlement.

Wanting to recover somehow, I racked my brains for any trivia I knew about jellyfish. A weird sense of pride prevented me from looking things up on my phone, as though doing that would count as a loss.

“Oh, by the way, there’s this thing I once read somewhere...” I said timidly, my internal search having finally hit upon something. “Apparently, jellyfish can’t swim.”

“What?! No way!”

I grew flustered, not having expected this random tidbit of information I happened to know to pique Runa’s interest so much.

“But wait, then what do you call that?” she asked, pointing at the jellyfish in the aquarium that appeared to be “swimming.”

“They just drift, apparently.”

“Whaaat?!”

“Supposedly, they’d sink if there weren’t any water currents...”

“I see...” Runa seemed to be genuinely surprised. “I thought it was completely different. Like I thought jellyfish could swim freely, and how great that was.” She gazed at the aquarium, hanging her head a little. “So they live their lives getting pushed around by the currents...”

“Disappointed?” I asked, wondering if I should’ve never mentioned this.

She shook her head slightly. “No. They just feel a bit closer because of it.”

“Closer?”

Was she saying that she herself lived her life getting pushed around by the currents?

Come to think of it...

“Akari’s funny like that. She’s not easily swayed by people and pushes forward to get what she wants.”

Runa had said that when Tanikita-san had parted with us the day we’d played airsoft. As she’d watched Tanikita-san leave, there’d been admiration in her trembling eyes.

Runa evidently didn’t think she was free to live as she pleased.

“I’ve always wanted to become free.”

I didn’t really get what she’d meant by that, but the sad look on her face afterward was still stuck in my mind.

“I’ve always wanted to go back to that house, where it was all five of us. Where I had Dad, Mom, my older sister...and Maria.”

It wasn’t clear to me why, but it appeared that the reason Runa didn’t feel free had something to do with the issues in her family.

I want to help you. If only I could set you free... But I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.

How frustrating... I was her boyfriend, and yet...

“Ryuto?”

Runa’s voice brought me back to my senses.

“What’s wrong? You’re making a serious face,” she said.

“Oh, it’s nothing... I was just wondering what jellyfish are if they really aren’t fish.”

“What? You’ve still been thinking about that for me? Thanks!” Her face lit up at my desperate reply. “Hold on, I’m gonna look it up! ...Huh? What’s a ‘Cnidaria’? Anyway, it’s that!” Runa frowned as she looked at her phone. “‘Cnidaria’ sounds like some kinda pocket critter!” She laughed innocently and was back to her usual cheerful self.

“Cnidaria is a phylum. It’s a level of classification in biology,” explained Sekiya-san. He had suddenly approached us and naturally had Yamana-san clinging to his arm.

“How long are you going to be stuck on those moon jelly? Let’s go already, lovebirds.”

“Lovebirds?!” I said.

“Well you’re one to talk!” Runa blushed as she’d said that to the pair sticking close to each other as they walked.

Yamana-san smiled at her with a blush on her face that was no less intense. She looked happy from the bottom of her heart.

“Gotta say, though, it’s unbelievable... Of all people, I never thought I’d see Yamana-san be like that...” I said, the matter dawning on me as we walked through the building.

“Nicole’s a totally innocent maiden when it comes to her senpai. She’s always been like that,” replied Runa.

“I-I see...”

It was really hard to believe we were talking about the girl rumored to have beaten up twenty delinquents on the banks of the Arakawa River.

“Anyway, isn’t Nicole’s getup pretty amazing today?” I asked.

Sekiya-san and Yamana-san were just a few steps ahead of us on the escalator going up, and I was once again taken aback by her looks.

Her tall boots with sharp stiletto heels made you think of a queen. The skin of her upper thighs peeked suggestively from under her denim miniskirt that looked like it was halfway torn to pieces. Her blouse exposed her shoulders and, to a large extent, her chest. Her black bra, one that looked like the kind a girl would wear to show it off, peeked out around her cleavage. A guy would have a really hard time finding where to look if his girlfriend wore stuff like this.

I did think I’d grown much more used to gyaru fashion thanks to Runa, but Yamana-san must’ve been so motivated when choosing her outfit today that I couldn’t help but do a double take.

“Heh heh, Nicole plans to seal the deal today,” said Runa with a giggle.

“Huh? ‘Seal the deal’...?” I asked.

“Well, you know. What else could it be? She even took time off from work for it.”

I see... So she wants to get him in the mood to spend the night with him, huh.

“Wait... Sekiya-san said he’s going to the study room after this,” I said.

“Whaaat, for real? He studies even on days like this?!”

“He does have exams coming up. While I have over a year left, his exams are early next year.”

“Makes sense... Poor Nicole.” Runa turned and looked dejected as though she was the one who’d be forced to wait. “She’s really been holding herself back these past two weeks. She avoided messaging him on LINE as much as possible so she wouldn’t distract him from his studies. She would even go wait in front of the station after work to see his face for just a moment when he left cram school.”

“Well, considering when they started dating... Those who have exams coming up are about to get to the most important part of the year. Sekiya-san says he studies thirteen hours a day, so I guess he wouldn’t have time.”

“No way! But wait, there’s twenty-four in a day... That means he’s studying for over half of it! There’s no way I could do that—I’d die!” Turning pale, Runa assumed the pose depicted in Munch’s The Scream. “Man... He should take a break every now and then! And today’s the day!”

Runa appeared to be set on supporting her best friend no matter what.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I replied. My heart was warmed by her cuteness.

The dolphin show was held several times a day at a large stadium that spanned both the first and second floors. There were more than twenty minutes until the next show, but quite a few of the seats were filled already.

“Wow, we’re off to a late start! I didn’t think it would be so popular!” said Yamana-san.

“But wait, there’s plenty of free seats in the front rows!” replied Runa.

“You’re right!”

“Hey, doesn’t it smell like caramel popcorn?”

“Ah, there’s someone eating it over there! Must be nice!”

“Looks delicious!”

As the two girls chatted about this and that, we made our way to the front seats. And as I followed them, something occurred to me.

“Do you think we might get really soaked in the front rows?” I asked.

Looking closely, I noticed that the floor, until around the fourth row from the front, was soaking wet. It might’ve been from the previous show. The other visitors seemed to be aware of this, and those sitting in the front rows looked fully prepared and were wearing what looked like transparent raincoats.

“Still, all the seats in the back are taken... I’ll go buy a few of those things people are wearing,” said Sekiya-san. He then headed to the kiosk in the upper area by himself.

The rest of us started looking for a place to sit.

“Hey, why don’t we sit in the first row while we’re at it?” suggested Yamana-san.

“You’re kidding! That’s scary!” Runa replied in high spirits.

“You might get a shot at touching a dolphin.”

“No way, right?!”

“You never know.”

As the girls excitedly sat in the first row, it seemed like my fate of getting drenched was set in stone.

Sekiya-san returned with four ponchos. “Wow, did you seriously go for the first row?!” he exclaimed in surprise.

“Ah, senpai, is that popcorn?!” Yamana-san asked.

Besides the ponchos, Sekiya-san also had two servings of popcorn with him.

“You were looking at someone eating it earlier and wanted some, so. Here you go.”

“Wait, is it okay for me to have some too?” Runa asked hesitantly as he gave her the other serving of popcorn.

“Ryuto paid for it. If you want to thank someone, thank your boyfriend.”

“Huh?” I uttered, having done no such thing. But as I looked over at Sekiya-san, he signaled me with his eyes and I got the hint. I would need to remember to...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.8.2024
• Reihe/Serie: You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story
• Illustrationen: Makiko Nagaoka
• Übersetzer: Makiko Nagaoka
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Schlagworte: Coming of Age • first girlfriend • Gyaru • high school drama love story • Light Novel • modern day romance • the experienced you and the inexperienced me
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-0980-5 / 1718309805
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-0980-7 / 9781718309807