I Was Sleep-Deprived at a Matchmaking Meeting and Ended Up Engaged - Chapter 13

“Alright, let’s get going then. Oh wait, should we buy something first? Since we used this place as our meeting spot.”

“That sounds good.”

As the two of them tilted their heads in thought, the store manager who happened to be passing by said, “Um, you really don’t have to buy anything every time,” holding a mop with a wry smile before walking away.

“Where should we go?”

“Anywhere is fine. Where would you like to go, Shirakami-san?”

As they stepped outside the convenience store, Ayato said this.

Yoshinori thought for a moment, “…An amusement park?” he said.

Amusement park? Why? Right now!? That’s too sudden.

Seeing Ayato’s expression, Yoshinori said, “If you don’t like it, that’s fine. I just saw the nighttime amusement park on the car TV earlier. Apparently, it’s all lit up with mist spraying down. I just thought you might like that sort of thing.”

“Oh, that sounds lovely!” Ayato laughed. “Do you like amusement parks too, Shirakami-san?”

No, Yoshinori said as he got in the car. “My nanny always said that if I rode any of the amusement park rides, I’d die.”

Nanny-san, telling a child something like that!? Childhood conditioning!? More importantly, nanny-san!? Do people normally have those at home!?

Ayato hesitantly got into the passenger seat and said, “That’s true. But if it’s a haunted house, you won’t fall to your death.”

“Do you like them? Haunted houses?”

“Well, let’s see. Ah, but something a bit scary happened at our school festival’s haunted house.”

“Oh?”

“The friend who was supposed to go through the adventure with me actually became one of the ghosts.”

“Did they die?”

“…No, isn’t that a major incident?”

It was the school festival haunted house, you know? Ayato said as if confirming.

“It seems like when we got separated along the way, the people running the attraction asked her to help. From the middle onward, she became a ghost and started chasing me. Apparently, the person who was supposed to be the final ghost had disappeared due to stomach pain from shaved ice. Since that friend was in the track and field club, it was absolutely terrifying.”

Well, it’s a good memory now though, Ayato said before adding, “Speaking of which, Shirakami-san, you watch TV and such?”

“Ah, I don’t watch much, but sometimes I listen to it while moving around. Do you watch TV often?”

“I watch while eating meals sometimes. Variety shows and such.”

“Oh, variety shows. I’ll try watching them sometime.”

He said that, but… No, it’s not something you need to prepare yourself to watch, Ayato thought. Still, she felt a little happy that he was trying to learn about her tastes and preferences.

“Aside from the amusement park, is there anywhere else you’d like to go?”

“…Let me see.”

Ayato looked at her smartphone resting on her lap. “Maybe a drugstore?”

“You’re being led around by coupons.”

Yoshinori said the same thing as Kuro Meshi. “You finished work early today.”

“That’s right. Even if it hadn’t ended early, I was planning to finish up quickly to call you.”

Then Yoshinori muttered, “…I never thought I’d see the day I’d be troubled by something like this. Choosing between love and work.”

When did love come from where…?

“By the way, are you really sure about going to the amusement park?”

“Yes.”

“If you’re tired, you can just relax at my place.”

Your place…?

“I thought it might be too early to invite you over.”

“It’s amazing that you can invite someone over so readily when you think of it. Ah no, I could invite you to my place too if you don’t go into my room.”

“What state is your room in?”

“My mom can’t keep up with cleaning it. If you give me one week’s notice, anytime.”

After she said that, “That’s not ‘anytime’,” she was told.

“One week in advance, huh?”

Yoshinori thought for a moment before saying, “Rather than having you live in that room while cleaning it over a week, wouldn’t it be faster to tie you up for two or three days to keep you from making a mess?”

“Or perhaps if we tied you up and your mother and I cleaned.”

…So no matter what, I’m getting tied up, huh? Just as she thought this, Yoshinori stopped the car.

“This is…”

This wasn’t the nighttime amusement park lit up with cool mist spraying down. Before them stood a familiar store with pink walls.

“Weren’t we going? The drugstore.”

“Ah, thank you…”

Just as Ayato started to say this, “BEAR!”

Yoshinori shouted, looking at the drugstore’s mascot bear at the edge of the sign.

“…So, it was you.”

Was this bear his parent’s enemy from a past life or something? Ayato thought this, unaware that Yoshinori had been troubled because of the expression on the bear stamp she had sent.