Love Advice From A Childhood Friend

Dating And Prolonged Time Out.
(Part 3)

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I wondered if this girl might be awake.

I began to suspect the possibility that she might be faking her sleep.
When we arrived at the next stop, I tried to wake her up the same way I did before, but she was still face down.

At that moment, I noticed that her ears were red.

“How far are we going?”

I asked, but got no answer.

Eventually, the train stopped at each station.
The cell phone in my pocket vibrated for a long time.
I ignored it, thinking it was someone calling.

Hinagata’s hands, still clasped together, were warm and had a softness unique to girls.

I could see that my hands were sweating a little because of the long time we had spent together.

…..How and when do I wipe off this sweat?

After I wipe it off, do I hold her hand? Is it okay to hold them again?

No, No.
It’s like I’m trying to hold her hand.

I scratched my head in annoyance and sighed.

I wiped my sweaty hands on my pants while Hinagata quickly let go of my hand.
Then, as if searching for something, Hinagata’s hand touched my knee, my thigh, my wrist, and then our fingers intertwined  again.

……Our hands joined once more.

After all this time, I was getting embarrassed.

I wonder how long we’ve been doing this.

Sunday night in the countryside~.
The people using the train were sparse, and the only people I saw were those few students who seemed to head straight back home after attending clubs.

The train seemed to shake more and more the further we got along the route map.
It was dark outside the window and I could hardly see anymore.

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“I’m sorry.”

It’s been a long time since I heard her voice.

 It was a strange reply with a combination of “Ahhs” and “Yes”.

If I wanted to call back, I would still have the last train to catch, which was fine by me.
Mom was working tonight and would be leaving in a little while.
I didn’t have to worry about her getting mad at me face to face.

“It’ll be fine.
Your mom will understand.”

“I don’t know…..”

When I looked at my phone to check the time, the screen was completely black.
When I tried to reboot it, there wasn’t a response.

I regretted leaving the house with 20% left on my phone thinking that I would be back in the evening.

The vibration earlier seemed to be a signal that the battery was dead…

All I carry with me are the three sacred items: wallet, phone, and keys.
Because of that, I didn’t bring a portable charger with me.

“It’s a shame….”

I put the phone back in my pocket with a sigh.

“Hinagata, have you contacted them?”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“My phone’s dead.”

You too? I closed my eyes deeply.

*Growling* When I heard a strange sound, Hinagata hurriedly held her stomach.

“What time is it?”

I asked, and Hinagata checked her watch.

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“Nine o’clock.”

I thought I had been riding for a long time, but it was already that long.
No wonder she was getting hungry.

“Let’s get off at the next stop.”

Hinata didn’t object, either because she was awake or because she thought it was okay to get off.

We got off at a station just before the terminus.

On the other side of the platform, a train had just departed for the return trip.

Only the inside of the station building was bright, which made the outside look even darker.

The overpass fee took a heavy toll on my wallet.

“I’m hungry.”

“You’re looking better, aren’t you?”

“Is that so?”

Well, maybe it’s because she’s not sleepy anymore.
Maybe.

The hands were still… clasped.

I didn’t want to force them apart either.

I went through the ticket gate and decided to go outside to find a convenience store.

“I thought there would be a convenience store near the station.”

“Me too.”

Headlights dazzled us, and several cars drove by.

We walk along a deserted national highway at night, where only cars pass by.
We walk.
And walked.
And walked.
And walked.

We passed an empty  house, and an old love hotel that seemed to be open for business.

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We tried to ask where the convenience store was, but no one was passing by, and our cell phones were dead when we tried to check.

Eventually, after about 20 minutes of walking, we saw the familiar sign of a convenience store and the glittering lights of the store.

I let out a sigh of relief as I felt like I was in a familiar world.

We walked in the store and bought some bread and coffee.
As we settled down to eat, I noticed Hinagata looking around, so I asked her what she was doing.

“I wonder if there’s a schedule or something.”

“Ahー….”

“I think the last train leaves early.”

I asked the clerk if that was true.
The clerk had black hair and looked to be a college student.
“Yes?” He replied as he looked at the clock and then at me. 

“If that’s the case, you’d better hurry.
If you’re going back to the station you mentioned, isn’t the next train the last one?”

He said he knew me well because his university was in that direction and sounded far away.

“──I knew it, have a look.”

He was kind enough to look it up on his cell phone.
The display on the phone he held out to me showed the station we had just gotten off at and the station closest to us.
The other thing on the display was the time of departure.

“Ahh, Thank you very much!  ──Hi-Hinagata!”

I quickly called out to Hinagata, and she was munching on a melon pan in the eat-in space.
She turned around to look at me.

“Oh no, we’ve got about ten minutes left.”

“Train?”

Om nom nom.

“It’s the last train.
The last train.”

Nom N…om.

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The color of Hinagata’s face, with the dregs of a melon pan next to her mouth, grew paler and paler.

“Se-seriously?!”

“Let’s go!”

I made a small bow to the worried clerk, and ran out of the convenience store holding Hinagata’s hand.

Hinagata and I ran down the street we had come from in a hurry.
It would have been easier to run if we had let go of each other’s hands, but we kept them together.

We could see the station building in the distance – a train behind a wire fence, but then our time was up.
The doors closed and the train slowly left.

Out of breath, we watched as the only two trains left the platform.

We had a little over two thousand yen after deducting the money for our return tomorrow.
It would have been nice if we could have found an Internet cafe, but it was a 20-minute walk from the station to a convenience store, so there was no hope.

Hinata was about the same as me after deducting the ticket.

“Ryunosuke…..
I’m sorry…… because of me……”

I stroked her head as she bent her head into a heel as if she were crying.

“It’s okay.
It’s my fault too.
I didn’t force you to wake up either.”

Tomorrow we have school, a synonym for everyday life, and yet, left behind by the extraordinary, I couldn’t really imagine what tomorrow would bring.

“Should we go all out in the station?”

The people who came to the station would probably look at me suspiciously, but there was a roof and benches.

But Hinagata shook her head at my suggestion.

“If we both put our money together, we can…”

This time, Hinagata pulled me along.

We started to follow the road to the convenience store again, but stopped in the middle.

“It’s just barely enough.”

All rooms are uniformly priced at 2,480 yen for a break and 4,980 yen for a night, Sunday through Thursday.  I saw such a sign right next to a building with peeling paint in places.