Chapter 53: Tips for Winning Over a Girl
"Are you on a date?"
...
With great effort I managed to drag my soul back into my body after hearing that question.
I looked at Shin.
Then at Arima.
Then at the table.
And finally back at Shin.
"No."
The answer came out way too fast.
Shin blinked.
"No?"
"We... are."
I opened my mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"We're..."
Nothing.
I was about to give up when a slightly strange idea crossed my mind, and I decided it was worth a shot.
"I'm doing..."
I swallowed.
"Charity work."
Arima frowned.
"Huh?"
He turned toward me.
"Charity? What are you talk—"
I stepped on his foot under the table.
"OW!"
Arima hunched slightly over the table.
"What are you doing?!"
I ignored him.
I clasped my hands in front of my chest and put on my most dramatic expression.
"This poor boy..."
I pointed at Arima.
"This poor unfortunate soul has never had any luck with women."
Arima slowly opened his mouth.
"Huh?"
"In fact, I think this is the first time a woman has ever willingly agreed to sit at the same table as him."
"Hey, that's not—"
I stepped on his foot again, harder this time.
"That's why he asked me for help winning over the girl he likes."
Shin looked at Arima, then at me.
"Winning her over?"
"Yes."
He nodded slowly.
"I see."
He seemed genuinely understanding.
"Sounds like you're in a tough spot."
"Exactly."
I sighed dramatically.
"But how could I leave him on his own? You can tell just by looking at him that he has no future."
Arima stared at me with completely dead eyes.
"Hey... don't you think you're going a little far?"
I completely ignored his agonizing attempts to protest and kept talking.
"I felt it was my duty to do something."
I clasped my hands again.
Tilted my head slightly.
"That's why I'm here."
Shin brought a hand to his chin.
He looked impressed.
"You're a very kind-hearted girl, Aika-san. Not many people would agree to help someone in a situation like that."
He gave a faint smile.
"You must have a lot of patience."
"..."
I looked at Arima.
The poor guy was clutching his foot under the table.
"Yes."
I smiled.
"Quite a lot."
Sorry, Arima-kun. I'd rather throw you under the bus than go down myself.
I felt a small pang of guilt, but it faded when I decided to count it as a tiny act of revenge for what he had said to me earlier.
I think I'm turning into Bibi and Reiko right now…
...
It's their fault for being such bad influences!
I had to hold back a laugh.
Shin glanced at his phone, then at me.
"Well, I don't want to take up any more of your time — you two have some serious work to do. I'll see you around, Aika-san."
Just as he was about to turn away, my voice slipped out before I could think.
"Wait!"
I stood up almost abruptly.
Shin stopped.
"Yes?"
"I..."
I looked at Arima.
Then at Shin.
I had an idea, and honestly, it was a pretty good one. I had absolutely zero experience when it came to winning over women.
But Shin...
Shin had exactly the kind of presence that would probably make any woman notice him.
Maybe he could help.
"Shin-san..."
"Yes?"
"Could you..."
I hesitated.
"Give Arima-kun some advice?"
Shin tilted his head slightly.
"Me?"
"Yes."
"About women?"
"Yes."
Shin thought it over for a few seconds.
Finally he nodded.
"Alright."
He turned to the man beside him.
"We're staying a little longer."
The young man smiled.
"Fine by me. Teenage romance is always entertaining."
They both took a seat. Shin sat next to me, and the other guy sat next to Arima.
His companion was a young man with a relaxed expression who looked to be in his early twenties, with long dark hair, slightly messy and partly pulled back in a ponytail.
"This is..."
Shin gestured toward Arima.
"Your name's Arima-kun, right?"
Arima nodded.
"Yes."
"I'm Shin Onizuka."
Arima straightened up immediately.
"Nice to meet you."
Shin gestured to the young man.
"And this is..."
He paused for a moment.
"A relative. His name is Tetsuya Sorano. I don't think you knew him either, Aika-san."
The young man smiled.
"Nice to meet you."
"Ah... pleasure," I said with a small nod.
We had never been formally introduced, but I remembered him clearly — he was one of the guys who had come with Hideki to Black Lotus, and one of the ones who had been keeping an eye on us at the Ryotei.
I'm glad they're playing normal in front of Arima-kun...
The opinion I wanted was Shin's, but this guy might be some help too.
Arima looked at the two men, probably wondering how he had ended up in this situation.
Me too.
Shin rested his arms on the table.
"I don't know if I can help, but I'll give it a shot."
He looked directly at Arima.
"I need to understand the context first."
"The context?"
"Tell me a little about this girl."
"Ah, right, well..."
Arima took a deep breath and started talking.
A few minutes later, Shin was quiet.
So was I.
So was the long-haired young man.
Arima had laid out practically his entire history with Rika.
How they met; how she almost never seemed to register that he existed; how he had tried to get closer to her; how she talked to him in a completely normal way... And how, every time Arima thought he had made some kind of progress...
He hadn't made any progress whatsoever.
Finally, Shin nodded.
"I see."
He looked at Arima.
"Doesn't sound very promising."
Arima slumped onto the table.
"But you might have a shot."
Arima lifted his head.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because it doesn't sound like she's rejecting you."
Arima blinked.
"She's not?"
"From what you're saying, it just seems like she doesn't see you that way yet."
"..."
Arima sat there thinking.
"That means..."
He raised a fist.
"I still have hope!"
The long-haired young man smiled.
"Ah..."
He looked out toward the window.
"High school romance."
He sighed.
"Takes me back."
Arima looked at him.
"Did you have a lot of love stories back when you were a student?"
The young man went quiet.
"No, not really. I didn't have any."
"..."
"Then why do you talk like you're some kind of expert?!"
"I had plenty of romances in my imagination!"
"That doesn't count!"
I let out a small laugh.
Shin smiled slightly too.
"So..."
I looked at Shin.
"What would you do?"
"Me?"
"Yeah."
"What technique do you use to get closer to a girl?"
Shin looked puzzled.
"Technique?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm, I don't think I use any."
"None at all?"
"No."
"Then how do you do it?"
Shin thought for a moment.
"I just talk to them."
Arima went still.
"..."
So did I.
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"And it works?"
"I'd say so. They always seem happy to talk."
Arima slammed both hands on the table.
"WHAT KIND OF ADVICE IS THAT?!"
Shin blinked.
"What?"
"That only works for good-looking people!"
"I don't follow."
"You don't follow?!"
Arima pointed at Shin's face.
"Have you looked in a mirror?!"
Shin remained completely straight-faced.
"Yes."
"Well look again!"
I brought a hand to my mouth to keep from laughing.
Arima pointed at Shin like he was accusing a criminal.
"You're playing this dating game on easy mode!"
He pointed at himself.
"I'm playing on hell mode!"
He flopped back against his chair.
"What on earth am I supposed to do?!"
Shin seemed genuinely confused.
"Just be yourself and talk to her normally."
"That doesn't work either!"
"Why not?"
"Because being myself is clearly a disadvantage!"
I couldn't hold back the laugh.
In a way he had a point — I couldn't picture Arima trying to act like Shin.
The scene played out automatically in my head.
Arima walking up to Rika with a cold expression.
"Hey."
Rika:
"Huh?"
Arima:
"We're going out."
Rika:
"What?"
Arima:
"I'll pick you up at 7:00."
...
Wait, wasn't that kind of what he did to get me to come here?
I shook my head.
No.
Definitely not.
Sorano stepped in when he saw the disconnect between Arima and Shin.
"We certainly can't expect what works for Shin to work for you, but there are some things that help anyone — it's just that Shin does them naturally without realizing it."
"Things? What do you mean?"
"I mean confidence. Speaking with assurance is something women find attractive. You have to try not to get nervous when you talk to Rika-san."
"Confidence... okay, but how am I supposed to have more confidence? It's not like I can just stop feeling nervous."
"Shin-san, what do you do to feel more confident?" I asked.
Shin thought about it.
"I don't know, I've never really thought about it. That's why I say being yourself is the key."
…
I think this guy is a little useless in this situation...
I sighed.
"Sorano-san, what do you think?"
"It's a tough one to answer. They say personal success breeds confidence — if there's something you really ex—"
Sorano stopped talking when he caught a glimpse of the look of sheer tragedy on Arima's face. It was clear he didn't have what it took to build confidence that way.
"W-Well, I think we can set that aside for now," Sorano continued, laughing awkwardly. "Why not just try asking her to hang out? Maybe you'll get lucky."
"True, better to do something than sit here doing nothing," I added, trying to lift his spirits.
"What does Rika-san like?" Shin asked.
Arima thought for a moment.
"She likes crepes. She usually picks one up after school."
"Perfect, ask her if she wants to go with you," said Sorano.
Arima looked at his phone.
"That seems too simple."
"That's exactly the point."
Sorano smiled.
"If she says yes, it means she wants to spend time with you."
"..."
"And that's already progress."
Arima slowly lifted his head.
A little life returned to his eyes.
"I'll try."
"Do it."
He took out his phone and opened his chat with Rika.
"Now."
"Now?"
"Yes."
Arima swallowed.
"But what should I say?"
"Just ask her already!" I said, getting a little exasperated.
"O-Okay!"
Arima took a deep breath and sent the message.
"..."
We all waited.
A few seconds passed.
The phone buzzed.
Arima's eyes went wide.
"She replied!"
"What did she say?" I asked.
Arima read the message.
"She said..."
He smiled.
"'Sure.'"
He raised both fists.
"SHE SAID YES!"
"Don't shout," I said, noticing the people around us turning to look.
"She said yes!"
We all smiled — and for my part, I was genuinely rooting for it to work out so I could get him off my hands as soon as possible.
We cheered Arima on, and agreed to meet at the same time the next day to hear how the outing with Rika had gone.
.
.
.
It didn't work.
Not even a little.
The next day, Arima was sitting across from us with a vacant stare.
"..."
"Everything seemed to be going fine — we walked to the shop together and got two crepes, and I thought I was finally making progress... but then she told me that now that I knew the way to the shop I could come whenever I wanted, and she also recommended I try their delivery."
He paused.
"Then she said goodbye and left."
"Pfft."
"Don't laugh!"
"S-Sorry!" I couldn't hold back anymore and burst out laughing.
Shin gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"It didn't go that badly — at least she agreed to go."
"..."
"True, that counts for something," I said, still fighting to keep a straight face.
Sorano was also trying not to laugh while cheering Arima on.
.
Shin spoke after checking his watch.
"I'd like to keep you company, but I have some things to take care of."
"Don't worry about it, thank you both for coming again today," I said quickly.
Arima gave a small bow.
"Thank you for your help, Onizuka-san, Sorano-san."
Shin shook his head.
"It was nothing."
Then he looked at me.
"Why don't you try focusing on what you yourself, as a woman, would want a guy to do? I think that would at least work better than our advice."
I tensed for a moment.
"He's right, a woman's perspective is more valuable than advice from guys with no experience."
"I-I'll figure something out," I said with a small laugh.
We're back to the impossible starting point.
I guess I'll have to fall back on that...
Shin and Sorano left, I sent a few texts, and forty minutes later Arima and I walked out of the café.
We walked for a while until Arima finally spoke.
"Shimizu-san, where are we going?"
"It's clear we need a woman's perspective here, but I'm a girl with no experience."
"So then?"
I smiled.
"I decided to call in some experts."
Arima blinked.
"Experts?"
"That's right."
I kept walking.
"Ah."
I pointed ahead.
"Look."
Arima followed my gaze. A few meters away was an outdoor terrace; two women were sitting at a table, and one of them raised her hand.
The other did the same.
I smiled.
"There they are."
Only Reiko and Melisa could save Arima from dying alone — the tragedy of Ren could not be allowed to repeat itself, so I was placing all my hopes in them.