Shidoni and I were eating ramen in a ramen shop.
It was Wednesday.
"I am so stupid," I said as I stared down at my finished ramen bowl.
"What do you mean?" Shidoni said as she took another sip of the ramen broth while continuing to indulge in her meal slowly.
"It's been five years since we started dating and it took me so long only to realize that I had killed the best part of Sae's personality."
"The what?"
"It was around a year into our relationship we had our first argument. I don't remember the details of the argument but it had something to do with me being overly familiar with some girls outside of our usual group of friends. In the end, Sae's jealous personality slowly started to become an issue and because of that, I decided to bring her for counselling."
"I'm starting to see where this is going," Shidoni said as she continued eating her meal.
"Thankfully, the counselling sessions were effective. She was eventually able to move on from her past and have control of her emotions. But…"
"Slurp."
"But because she was able to take control of her emotions, she was no longer the overly-possessive, overly attached, obsessive girl she once was. Gone was the girl who once provided me with the fan service of a 'yandere' girlfriend. Gone was the girl who would give me the undivided attention and service of an extremely devoted girl."
"Slurp."
"Sae is now just a normal childhood friend turned significant other."
"You did the right thing though."
"I know I did, but..." I said as I planted the palms of my hands onto my face in frustration. "You know, Shidoni."
"I don't know."
Shidoni quickly replied as she gave me her divided attention. It was as if she was prepared for me to go on a tangent once again. I ignored her response and went on with my words.
"Sae and I had a running joke that had been going for years. It was about how there are three parts of her personality and I am dating three girls at once. There was the Crazy Sae that would joke about everything and was super go lucky. Then there was the Serious Sae that she would put on whenever she was with her family and colleagues."
"I'm assuming the last one is…"
"The 'Yandere' Sae. Which she told me that died because of me. I know it's a joke but I feel like I had killed one of my girlfriends who was my favourite."
"I guess you eventually did get the enjoy that harem dream of yours. Well, one way or another, you did realize that you have received the consequences of dating multiple girls?"
"But I want to be satisfied with the outcome. After all, I was able to confess to that side of her."
"What do you mean?" Shidoni said as she stopped her chopsticks midway while finally giving me her full attention.
"Let's say Sae is the embodiment of three different girls. The confession I said to her at the hospital was also the parting gift to her 'Yandere' personality. I was able to let her leave Sae in peace and also put Sae herself in peace. With that being said, I have yet to confess to Sae's other personality."
"Wait, are you planning to confess to her again? And twice more?"
"Not twice more. Even if Sae had 20 different personalities, I will confess to her over and over again. Because I just love her that much."
Shidoni looked at me with jealousy but even the girl who had seen me at my worst was able to blush out of embarrassment for me as if I had said something extremely uncharacteristic.
"I know this is weird coming from me but I'm starting to see why Sae would be the possessive and jealous type now. Having a boyfriend like you is like dating a potential player."
"What do you mean?"
"Forget what I said," Shidoni said as she face-palmed herself. "You are too oblivious of your surroundings to be a player."
"Well, ignoring what you have said. I guess dating Sae showed me that love just happens. As long as I continued to improve my personality and pursue my goals, eventually, the things I desire will intersect with their paths. And through our intersecting paths, it is up to us to connect them into a single walkway."
"I guess that is what love is, huh?" Shidoni said as she seemingly thought about her own relationship.
I then held the bamboo chopsticks in my hands and aligned them together as if they had merged back into their original state before they were snapped.
"Love is when you give them your all and all of theirs is yours."
Shidoni who understood the subtlety of my actions did the same.
"You grew up a lot, didn't you?"
"And I will continue to grow up even more."
"Yeah… You definitely grew up a lot."
Eventually, we finished our meal and was about to go our separate ways.
"Anyways, I'm going to head to the arcade. You have classes soon right?"
"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow, Shinyu."
"See ya~"
"Ah! I forgot to ask you something. What are you going to do about the girl that confessed to you yesterday? You are planning to reject her, right?"
With a thinking face put on, I raised my finger, pointed at her and said with the utmost confidence as I had already come to a conclusion to what I was planning to do.
"I will reject her, of course! But I think I have the right to at least hear her out, don't I?"