19 April, Sunday

Kenji’s luck is looking real bad today.

人格を否定される

Kenji goes for tennis club in the morning.

健二：恭二は調子がいいな。このまま頑張るぞ！

愛花：ファイト―！と・わ・の！ふふ。

And then to library committee.

健二：今日は仕事がスムーズに進むな。この調子で終わらせるか！

Oops, too busy playing School Idol Festival. Damn thing’s too addictive. Now Kenji’s going to be late.

By the way, apparently it’s Nishikino Maki’s birthday today. Free Love Gems ahoy. Also exactly 2 months before Garfield’s birthday (19 June).

Kenji arrives 20 minutes late for his date.

愛花：もう、遅刻だよ。

Really, considering they had an argument just last Monday, it is really bad form to do this.

健二：ごめん。待たせちゃって。

Manaka has decided to go for a twin-tailed hairstyle.

愛花：髪が変えちゃった。どう？

健二：そうだな…。

It seems to make her look too childish.

健二：よくないかも。

愛花：えっ、うそ。ダメか…。

Her dress, however, looks rather good.

愛花：最近、こういう可愛いのが好きなんだけど、どう？カレシとして感想を聞かせてくれない？

健二：そうだな…。いいんじゃない。

愛花：ほんと？よかった。あなたのことなら、なんでもわかるんだから、なんて。もう少し、いいかな…。

They kiss at the station.

愛花：こんなに幸せで、いいのかな…？

And then they make their move.

They arrive at the seaside station. Manaka is feeling thirsty, so they go to the restaurant for tea.

Seriously. No wonder why people go for these games instead of actually getting a girlfriend. Only in Towano City can someone go out for weekly dates while still in school and only working part-time in a family restaurant.

At the restaurant.

愛花：健二くん。

健二：なに？

愛花：こーくん。って呼ばれるの、どう？

健二：そうだな…。今のままでいいんじゃないかな。

愛花：ふぅん。じゃあ、いい。

健二：（今のままが一番だよな！）

Sigh.

They make their way to the harbour-front park.

愛花：ね、見た？今。羊を連れてる人がいた。

健二：羊？散歩？

You mean like this?

愛花：うん。お洋服着てたから、飼われてるんだよね？きっと。

健二：羊に洋服って…まさかウールじゃないよな。

愛花：だとしたら、可哀想だね。仲間のものなのに…。

Wrong type of 羊, Manaka. People don’t use goat fur to make wool. I’m guessing it’s a goat even though I can’t actually see it, since sheep weren’t commonly found in Japan since 1888.

They kiss as they walk to the harbour-front park.

They arrive at the harbour-front park.

健二：お。透明な床がある。なあマナカ姫…。

Ooh glass floors. I went to the one over the Grand Canyon. Interesting experience to say the least, though I was freezing my ass of there.

愛花：いってらっしゃい。

健二：あれっ。マナカ姫、高いとこダメ？

愛花：ダメじゃないのよ？眺めのいいところは好きだし。ただちょっと、足元がああいうのは、きゅーってなるのがちょっと、ね？

健二：（…要は、苦手ってことなんだろうな）

They kiss at the observation deck.

愛花：わたしも…いつか、あなたと…。

Manaka still has some time, so Kenji suggests going to the bowling alley.

愛花：うん、行こうか？

健二：よし、行こう！

They walk from New Towano Station to the bowling alley.

愛花：ああいうアパートのお部屋の広さって、どれくらいかな？

I’d say from 60 sq ft for three-room flats to over 110 sq ft for five-roomers in Singapore. The house that I am typing out this report from is around 140 sq ft. Definitely smaller than your house, Manaka. That’s probably over 1000 sq ft.

健二：いいとこ四畳半ってとこじゃないか？あそこまで古いと、もっと狭いかもな。

By the way, 4½ tatami mats is 80 sq ft.

That would make it between the size of a three-roomer and a four-roomer here. In my case, that size would mean deleting all the rooms in where I live in and just keeping the living room, the dining room, the kitchen and the toilets.

Even so, owning your apartment here in Singapore is the norm (90.3% as of 2014), and allegedly it is public policy to “help foster a sense of belonging to Singapore” and “provide Singaporeans with a means of financial security and a hedge against inflation”. Not arguing with that logic: I like the idea of not being in danger of being evicted like being a tenant does. Last time I did my report on home ownership in 2012, home ownership in Singapore is 88.3%. Japan’s home ownership rate is way lower, at 61.6% as of 2008, but this data is outdated since it is from 2008 and thus is before the 2011 Tohoku earthquake/tsunami. There is a 2013 (平成25) report, but until I can read the entire thing, this will have to wait.

愛花：二人で住むには、さすがに手狭だよね？

Well, a cut of surroundings to 10% of the original area would definitely make an impact.

健二：うん、まあ…え？

You heard her. She is totally imagining a future with you.

愛花：ふふっ、独り言！

At the bowling alley…

愛花：ちっちゃい頃、ガーターのないレーンでやらなかった？ボウリング。

健二：ああ、あったあった！ビリヤードみたいになるんだよな。

Is it any similar to that bowling that I did in Germany, where the balls don’t have any holes, the pins are held up with strings and there is no gutter?

愛花：うん。普通のレーンでやりたいってパパたちを困らせてたって。やったらやったで、ピンまでボールが届かなくて悔しくて泣いちゃうとか…今、考えるとすごく恥ずかしい。

Huh. Some personality traits show early, I guess.

健二：（予想通りの負けず嫌い…今とあんまり変わってないような？）

So you do think the same as I do, Kenji?

They kiss at the bowling alley.

愛花：ね、いつかでいいから…お嫁さんにして欲しいな。…なんて。

After kissing, they go to the family restaurant for their dinner.

健二：（マナカ姫のこと、そろそろ別の呼び方してみるかな…？）

He decides that he shall keep the way he calls Manaka.

健二：ま、いっか…。

愛花：…？

It’s time to go home. They walk to Manaka’s house together.

愛花：あのご夫婦が連れて歩いてるワンちゃん、かわいい！

健二：ああ、黒柴か。あのマロ眉がいいよな。

愛花：うん。いつか、あんな風にお散歩できるようになったら、ステキだね？

健二：うん…ん？

愛花：ふふ！

They kiss on the way home.

愛花：そばにいさせて？ずっと…。

They arrive at Manaka’s house. As Manaka walks home, she doubles back. She wants a goodbye kiss from Kenji.

And thus they kiss outside her house.

愛花：あなたの隣を歩きたいな？いつか、教会とかで…。

Maaaaaannnn...

Kenji then returns home to style himself.

健二：ダメだ、全然きまらない。これじゃカッコつかないな…。

Kenji goes to sleep. He imagines Manaka telling him

かさぶた剥がして、そこに何があるっていうの!?