Tsubasa Song

That Sunday, instead of being woken up by my two little sisters Karen and Tsukihi, I awoke from the ringtone that sounded out when Hanekawa’s text message arrived. Usually I would boast of my ability to completely ignore the melody of my cell phone, but there was some merit in waking up at the time, and if I do say so myself I was very shrewd for doing so, because the sender was Hanekawa. Well, as always her message was incredibly formal, and furthermore the length was by no means short, and as it is it needed some time to decipher, but if I translated it into a style that anyone could understand, 'Let's go on a date♥' was the impression I got. …No, I’m not kidding. Don’t worry, I haven’t gone insane. So I canceled all the plans I had for that day (this time I’m kidding, since I didn’t have any plans anyway) and pedaled my bike towards the designated meeting place. Hanekawa had, as usual, arrived earlier than I did (and, as usual, was wearing her school uniform. Well, school uniform dates have recently been pretty common). "He~y! Then, shall we go?" Like that, with a very comfortable way of smiling, she led the way. Following along while thinking such thoughts as I wonder where we’re going, it’ll probably end with us at the library again, but wasn’t the library closed on Sundays? But to my surprise, on the way we boarded a train (I left my bicycle at the station), and when we finally arrived, it was a karaoke box that was open in the morning. "…Karaoke?" "Yep!" While I was unable to reply, Hanekawa said, “Just the two of us. Three hours, please,” and promptly got us through the reception desk. What’s with this coercive skill? Rather than a date, it seemed as if she was following a quite boyish date plan, where the guy would be like “Be quiet and just follow me” with a pace that didn’t even ask for confirmation or consent, and the girl would be enchanted. I seriously want to follow her example. And then there was the singing. Hanekawa-san sang with enthusiasm. As embarrassing it is to say, my experience in regards to karaoke was rather slim, or perhaps I should say my body was resistant to the very act of singing a song in front of Hanekawa, so when she got tired of me fiddling with the remote control, she said, "Then, I’ll start."