I halted Kaori-san somewhat abruptly; she was so deeply lost in thought that she hadn't heard a word I said. Since she was about to step onto the carriage road without any idea where she was going, it was undoubtedly the right call, but the suddenness of the move meant I ended up pulling her into something like a hug.
"I’m really sorry for being so rough," I apologized.
"No, no. I’m the one completely at fault. I’m just glad you stopped me... We actually walked right past the shop I was looking for, so let's turn back."
"Understood. But is something wrong? You seemed to be thinking about something quite seriously."
"Well, it’s not exactly ancient history, but... I suppose the youth I’d forgotten so long ago it feels nostalgic was acting up on me, or something like that."
"Uh, okay?"
"Oh, it's nothing! I was just agonizing over what kind of movie we should watch since it's been so long."
Certainly, if this was her first movie in over ten years, she would have plenty to consider. Given her choice of words, she might have been thinking about a romance movie. She did mention she liked them.
"It’s true that when it’s been a long time, choosing what to watch is a struggle."
"Yeah. The genre is one thing, but then there's the dilemma of whether to watch an old favorite or something I’ve never seen before."
"You liked romance movies, right, Kaori-san? As far as new releases go, 'Holding up Love to the Twilight Sky' is the latest hit."
"Wait, really? That's out already? Oh, right... I suppose more than a year has passed back home since I was summoned, so it makes sense. I saw the first teaser and really wanted to see it, but I was brought here before it ever hit theaters."
"I haven't seen it myself, but I remember a headline saying the box office numbers were great."
Naturally, there was a temporal gap between the world I knew and the one Kaori-san remembered, as she had been summoned a full term before Seigi-kun. This particular film was a relatively recent release from the previous spring, but it seemed she had been summoned just before its debut.
"I’d definitely love to see that. Still... it’s strange to recognize that kind of time gap."
"How so?"
"Well, if you calculate our ages based on the time that's passed back home, you’re actually older than me—older than Akane-san, even. But here, I’m the senior. It’s such a weird feeling."
"Now that you mention it, meeting someone from the same hometown really makes it sink in. Even with Shigenobu-san, if you think about it in terms of the other world, he’s only a little bit older than me."
Indeed, if I assumed Kaori-san had been sixteen—the same age as Hina-chan and Aoi-chan—at the time of her summoning, then a year later, when I was caught up in the summoning, she would have been seventeen or eighteen. That made her younger than me originally. By that same calculation, Akane-san would have been around twenty and Shigenobu-san around twenty-three or twenty-four. None of them were far from my own age.
Of course, they had lived in this world for years now, so there was no question they were my seniors here. But the fact that I had technically overtaken them in age was a phenomenon that really drove the temporal shift home.
"See? It’s interesting, isn't it? Maybe that's why talking to someone from home makes me feel like I’m reliving my youth... or trying to. I was summoned right after starting my second year of high school, so I didn't get much of a youth. My first year was a blur of being busy, and things were hectic after the summoning too... Where did it go? My youth?"
"Well, being a teenager doesn't automatically mean you have a storybook youth, but I get what you mean. The image is strong."
"Exactly. How about you, Kaito-san? I bet you were a total heartbreaker."
If we were defining youth by the high school experience, then I hadn't had one either. Back then, I mostly just shuttled between school and home. I spent all my time on online games and barely spoke to my classmates. I wasn't bullied or ostracized; I was just... invisible. The person I’d talked to the most was Akira.
"Not even close," I replied. "I barely had any friends, I was in the going-home club, and I spent most of my classes napping."
"Really? I'm surprised. I figured you were a girl killer even back then."
"I have never once, in the past or the present, been a girl killer."
"Heh... Hoh... Hmm..."
"What’s with the skeptical look?"
She gave me a half-lidded stare that practically screamed, Look who's talking. I didn't think I had anything to feel guilty about... Well, I did have several lovers in this world, so maybe I was popular, but that didn't make me some kind of girl killer. Feeling incredibly awkward, I could only manage a bitter smile under her scrutiny.
Serious-senpai: "What a load! This guy establishes flags with almost every woman he meets. How can he say that with a straight face?!"
???: "Well, Kaito-san is notoriously bad at the calculation of distinguishing between 'like' and 'love.' Even if he senses someone is fond of him, he won't realize it's a romantic emotion until the other person makes a very direct move. On the flip side, once they do, things progress incredibly fast—just look at Isis-san and Fie-san. Of course, being as aggressive as Gorilla-san is usually counter-productive..."