I don't need a Prince Charming! -For some reason, I have to find a husband real quick! - Chapter 6

I had a mock date (First Part)

“I’m sorry…”

On the first Monday night of the week, I was sitting across Kimori san on the third floor of the company’s common employee break area, lined with chairs and sofas.

He wasn’t angry at all, but I kept apologizing.

My body was overflowing with apology, and I couldn’t stop.

“I’m really…sorry…I feel bad…”

“It can’t be helped since your tastes don’t match. I didn’t think about that either…”

“No, as expected, I’m fundamentally unfit for love…”

“That’s not true…”

“A normal woman wouldn’t be this tired after just one date with a good-looking guy, would she?”

Seeing my sad face, Kimori san, who was about to say something, stopped talking.

“Misawa san really is a good person. He is the kind of person many women would be very happy to marry. He is kind, cheerful, and serious. Such a thankful opportunity and I…Even though I said anyone is fine…but I ended up turning him down from my side, really, who do I think I am…”

I shouted in a tiny voice, wanting to bang my head against the table.

“Well, there is compatibility and all…”

“There is no one on earth who is compatible with me”

“…Are there any in the universe?”

“No…. I’ll try asking my grandfather…if I can marry someone who isn’t a human…”

“…What are you gonna marry?”

“F..Frogs or…”

“…Reptiles? You’re amazing…It’s impossible for me”

“No, it is presumptuous to marry a living thing. Erasers or stamps will do”

I’m getting more and more depressed as I’m saying this.

“Seriously speaking… I like to be alone, and I’ve been spending all my time doing whatever I want, so…maybe I’ve become even more unsuitable for spending time with other people”

For example, after a long period of living in seclusion, the areas of the vocal cords deteriorate, causing the voice to become hoarse, kind of thing.

I went to work and had a minimal social life, but I had neglected other human relationships. It is not surprising that my invisible communal zones and cooperative muscles may have deteriorated without me noticing.

“It’s probably not that kind of thing”

Kimori san kept throwing consolations at me with a dumbfounded look on his face, but I couldn’t recover. I was beginning a simulation in my brain to introduce a ticket stub to my grandfather.

“It’s all right. Kobato san may act…a little strange when we talk like this, but you can still do your job properly in the company

“Even robots can do the job”

“You made the minutes of the meeting the other day, didn’t you, Kobato san?”

“Yes”

“That was super easy to read. It wasn’t just a record of necessary items, but it was concise and to the point, organized in consideration of what people would need to see later”

“T-Thank you very much…”

“If you can’t spend time with people, you can’t create something that is easy for others to use”

“I’ve made a lot more documents than other people. Some stuff I make can be hard to read or hard to use, so I think about ways to improve them afterwards. …It’s all experience”

The more often I’m asked to make documents, the more tedious they are, the more often I make them, I become more proficient at it even if I wouldn’t want to.

Instead, I often find myself stumbling through interpersonal tasks due to a lack of experience, and because I don’t make much progress, I’m becoming more and more reluctant to do things that I’m not very good at.

“Don’t be discouraged. Love is an experience too. Once you get used to it, dating is fun”

“Dates are scary”

I didn’t want to gain experience with it thinking that I would have to go through that miserable feeling again and again.

“Then, let’s go practice”

I looked up.

“Practice? Golf? I-I really can’t…”

“I mean…there are other dates besides golf, right?”

“Who am I going with?”

“With me”

I see. The practice partner was right in front of me.

“Huh? Kimori san, what about your girlfriend?”

“I was dumped by everyone because of the busy season a while ago, so don’t worry about that”

Hm? Everyone? Did he say everyone? This guy.

“…How many were there?”

“Eh, just three”

“Three people”

I was quietly horrified. I’m on the verge of crying, saying that even one is impossible for me, and this guy…Maybe this person is really an expert.

“Although I took time out of my busy schedule to meet everyone equally…”

He’s mumbling, but it’s probably because they are only able to see him a third of the time when he’s busy.

Maybe he is not an expert because he couldn’t even handle this properly.

~~~~~

The mock date with Kimori san was on Wednesday, a national holiday.

“Date…”

On Tuesday night, I let out a deep sigh at home.

I’m not that worried about going out with Kimori san, whom I’m getting to know rather well, but I have lost confidence in dates with a human being. The word itself depresses me.

To be honest, no matter who my partner is, I really want to spend my holidays in my room, eating snacks and watching movies.

And if I get sleepy, I can take a nap, and if I wake up early, I can cook dinner or go somewhere to have dinner by myself. I can take a bath whenever I want and listen to whatever music I like. I can even drink alcohol. I can go to bed and wake up at any time.

Just thinking about it makes me feel like it’s a wonderful fantasy, and it makes me feel heavier needlessly.

I have always been a solitary person since I was a student, so it was not that I had no friends at school, but I rarely went anywhere outside of school with just the number of two people.

Group activities are still fine because you can just silently follow the active person at the front of the group. With only two people, you have to share your opinions, and one of you has to hold back a little while the other is shopping, or make the other one hold back a little.

You cannot eat at the same time as you are hungry, nor can you remain silent all the time, so you must always pay a little attention to the other person during the meal, and if necessary, you must have an enjoyable conversation in moderation.

I’m obviously more free and easygoing when I’m alone, and to be honest, I don’t get the good points of two people.

But I do know that if I want to get married, I have to develop a tolerance for such things.

Right now, the only person who would go along with such a grade-school level practice is Kimori san, for which I’m extremely grateful.

The morning of my appointment with Kimori san. I was able to wake up rather easily despite being hopelessly bad at waking up.

It was a simple matter of the appointment being at 11:00 am, which was not that early, so I was able to get a good night’s sleep. Since I was able to automatically wake up, I got ready leisurely.

That’s right. It is a date, so I can wear that. I was a little happy to remember the clothes I had bought which were too cute to wear to work. I had been missing a place to wear them.

Kimori san called me on time and picked me up by car near my house. I didn’t see him right away so he got out and waved to me. I ran up to him.

“Good morning”

“Good morning”

“I’m going to make today a regular date, so just follow me”

“Yes”

I replied with a soldier’s feeling to him who said so with a complete instructor’s face. It is already not a normal date at this point.

Kimori san folded his arms in front of the car and looked at me and said.

“Kobato san, you’re an indoor robot so I thought it would look more dangerous but…”

“What is it?”

“Clothes…are simply cute”

He laughed at me in a somewhat grinning way, and I was a little miffed.

“Clothes aren’t worn only for relationships. Unlike people who have a boyfriend, you don’t have to worry about other people’s tastes or anything at all. Isn’t it nice?”

To put it another way, I choose my clothes without regard to whether they look good on me or not. This is what it means to not care about what other people think. It’s great to be able to buy clothes that I really like without worrying about whether they are trendy or not.

“What are you doing, bragging to me about that…?”

“It was the best…”

But that’s far as it goes. I feel sadness for what is being lost. From now on, I have to be a little more careful.

“It’s not a strange hobby or anything…It should be fine if you live on like that”

“Is that so? I’d heard something about what you’re supposed to wear when you have a boyfriend”

“Kobato san, do you get your incomprehensible knowledge from the internet? Some people might be like that, to each their own”

Kimori san’s clothes were appropriate for his age, and although they were not extravagantly flashy or assertive, they were exquisitely fashionable. I don’t pay much attention to men’s fashion, so I don’t know if they are in vogue or not.

However, it seemed to fit him perfectly. It could have been unimpressive, but I definitely felt that it complemented him.

I felt that this man wasn’t wearing what he liked, but was choosing clothes that would suit his appearance and style, or clothes that would make him look more attractive.

He opened the door for me and I got in. I put on my seat belt as I felt Kimori san sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Ako”

“Yes..”

I look at him, freaked out because he suddenly calls me by a name that is not often used.

“I’m calling by your name just for today”

“Why…”

“It gives off a certain vibe, doesn’t it?”

“Ahh. Certainly, it seems so. T-Then, Renji..san?”

Kimori san’s eyes widened slightly.

“Why are you surprised?”

“No…So you knew my name”

“Didn’t you introduce your full name the day we had a discussion?”

“I thought you forgot”

I was a little miffed but didn’t say much because I was thinking the same thing.

And I was too embarrassed to call him Renji san any more.

Translator’s Notes:

I’m sorry for the fact that I’ve been slacking off on this novel since the chapters are too long for my attention span…