I Was Sleep-Deprived at a Matchmaking Meeting and Ended Up Engaged - Chapter 7

“Have you already eaten dinner? Shall we grab a drink somewhere nearby?”

“That sounds good.”

Keiki had been silent, reading a magazine earlier.

“Oh, if you’re buying that, I’ll wait.”

“No, I don’t really need it. I just thought since we came into the store, it might be rude not to buy something.”

“Ah, I totally get that.”

“But carrying around a magazine this size would be a bit.”

“Yeah! Buying drinks would be weird too, since we’re about to go drinking. Should I get some gummies or something?”

“You like gummies?”

“No.”

They fell silent.

“Well, I was thinking of something compact. Oh, I know! How about some turmeric?”

“That makes it sound like you’re planning to drink a ton.”

True enough.

Ayato thought, this person doesn’t seem like the type to do reckless drinking like Yuya anyway.

“Oh, I’ll buy this.”

There was a small travel guidebook featuring hot springs that looked like it would fit in her bag.

“Then I’ll buy it for you,” Keiki said, immediately trying to take it to the register.

“Ah, that’s okay!”

“No, it’s fine.”

“But—”

Then Keiki turned and said, “From now on, what’s yours is mine. It doesn’t matter who buys it.”

…Giyon?

“What’s mine is yours too. We might use this travel guide together, right?”

“Why?”

I don’t have any plans to travel with you, she thought nervously.

“Married couples travel together, don’t they?”

Well, yes, but…

I can’t imagine myself traveling with you!

Wait, is this marriage already decided?!

Just as she thought that, her eyes fell on a bridal magazine with a supplement attached.

“Do you need that too?”

“No!”

“I’ll buy it for you.”

Keiki tried to go to the register again.

“Are you a grandfather who hasn’t seen his granddaughter in ages?! Please stop trying to buy me everything!”

Ayato hurried after him.

Since the bridal magazine was bulky, she only let him buy the travel guidebook.

After leaving the convenience store, Keiki asked where they should drink.

“Well…” Ayato said while thinking, But inviting him to the cheap izakaya I usually go to with classmates would be.

Then Keiki said, “How about the hotel bar I saw before coming here?”

“Ah~”

When Ayato nodded with strange admiration, Keiki asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, now that you mention it, there are hotel bars near my home too. I only ever go to ones while traveling or near work, so I didn’t think of it.”

“I’ve made a fresh discovery,” Ayato said.

Even though I’ve lived in this town my whole life.

Being with this person lets me see things from a different perspective than before, she thought.

The hotel elevator was one with a view of the outside.

She could see the nightscape from a place she didn’t normally see it.

It’s just an ordinary town, but seeing it like this makes it look beautiful, Ayato thought.

“It’s lovely,” she said to Keiki.

But internally, she thought:

…I’ve come to this lovely place without any breasts.

As if noticing her gaze, Keiki said firmly, “It’s fine. Even without breasts, you’re beautiful.”

“Ah… thank you (?)”

It was both embarrassing and, frankly, an unnecessary comment.

Won’t this elevator open faster?

Being stared at by Keiki made Ayato feel restless.

Keiki apparently hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so he ordered something that could pass as a light meal.

“Um, we could have gone to a regular restaurant, you know?” she said, but Keiki replied, “No, this is fine.”

—This person is surprisingly considerate of me.

I need to be careful, or I might unknowingly make him accommodate me too much.

At a window-side table.

Since this area had many residential neighborhoods, the nightscape seemed to have fewer lights than before. Watching Keiki drink while looking down at it, she thought again:

I really can’t marry this person.

To put it in terms, it’s like being suddenly told, “Okay, starting today, live in this model home with an unconventional layout and gorgeous interior.”

Or like being told, “Move into the middle of a palace right now with just a set of futons.”

Keiki had been silently staring at her this whole time.

Thinking, this pressure is scary too, Ayato opened her mouth for the sake of her peaceful future.

“U-um. I really think marrying you, Shirakami-san, is impossible.”

“Why?”

Well, why, you ask…

“Anyone can see that you and I aren’t well-matched at all!”

“…Are you saying I’m not good enough for you?”

No, that’s ridiculous…

“The opposite, obviously!”

But Keiki said, “That’s a strange thing to say.”

“That’s not something a woman of your caliber should say. When I went to that company, there wasn’t a single good woman like you.”

No, there are tons of them!?

“Now, calm down,” Keiki said, making her reflexively think, You calm down.

“On that matchmaking day, I was sleep-deprived and out of it.”

Me too.

“So, I accidentally missed my chance to refuse.”

You too?

“Thinking back, you must have been in my field of vision, and I must have heard your voice.”

Though when I recalled it later, our conversation was completely mismatched.

“Doesn’t that mean my subconscious saw you and decided, ‘This bride will do’?”

Subconscious me, get a grip!

“U-um, actually, that day I was also sleep-deprived and accidentally missed my chance to refuse.”

“I see. You were sleep-deprived and out of it too. That means your subconscious chose me as well.”

Ultra-positive thinking!!