Chapter 5: Reunited with his wife

We met again after graduating from high school and college. By the way, she graduated from a junior college and I graduated from a four-year university. 

I was working at a local company that provided maintenance and support for computer software, and she said she was purchasing wine at a local company that handled imported goods.

The company she works for is going to install an inventory management system, so I went to the site to discuss the specifications and interviewed the company president and the people working there. 

When I handed her my business card, I heard a voice say "I knew it!", and when I looked up, it was her.

I wonder why I get excited when I bump into someone from my school days at work. 

I was heading out to the site alone, but that day, the company president, my girlfriend, another woman, and I decided to go out to eat at a bar-like place.

Since she and I were former classmates, we talked about our high school days, and I told her about my lackluster high school days, which felt like a dark history, and her idol days back then. 

After talking for two hours, the president and another female employee left, saying, "Only the young people will be left."

By the way, the president paid for all four of us. It was so cool. I wanted to be an adult like him.

My girlfriend and I decided to go to a different bar and continue drinking. I had been drinking a lot, so I was in a weird mood at the peak of my sexuality. 

Here was part of the conversation:

"Wow, it's really been a long time!"

She was already drunk and had her face on the table with a smile on her face.

"Really? I want to tell my high school self that there is a future where Kawakami and I could go drinking together."

Ah, "Kawakami-san" is her maiden name.

"Stop it! I wasn't in such a cute position!"

I guess that's how people who are always the center of attention think. Or maybe I was just being humble? At the time, I wasn't the most popular in my class, but the most popular in my grade... 

I think I was definitely in the top three at school.

"I've always had different hobbies than everyone else, and the girls have called me a pervert."

"Pervert? Forbidden elementary school student or something..."

"Geez! That doesn't make me a pervert!"

That's why they were called that...?! We were both so drunk that the conversation was a mess.

"My parents divorced when I was in elementary school, so I didn't have a father, and that's always been a complex for me."

What? Suddenly, a dark topic is being revealed!?

"It seems I've fallen in love with an older man before I realized it... is this what they call a daddy's girl?"

"I see... But, if I say he's Kawakami-san's dad, he sounds stylish, smart and popular."

"No, no! My father really had that 'old man' vibe. He wore glasses, his face was puffy, and he had a protruding belly... Also, he was a little bald..."

No, just imagining that makes me sound like an old man.

"No way..."

"That's right! I have old man tastes. None of my friends understood me. I couldn't get along with anyone. 

I got confessed to quite a few times in high school, but none of the cool guys confessed to me, so my high school days were gloomy."

Come to think of it, all the guys who confessed to their girlfriends in high school were good-looking guys, either muscular guys who were in the sports club and had well-toned bodies, or slim-looking guys. And of course, they weren't bald.

"Then, when you enter society, you'll be happy to find a lot of old men there..."

"Ah, no, no. The president of my company is slim, has a stylish moustache, and has brown hair that makes him look frivolous, but he works seriously and is very generous, treating me to meals all the time..."

Isn't that the best...?

"Any others?"

"When young guys come in, they're all skinny and they have a long way to go. They feel like they need to drink a gallon of gum syrup a day and try again!"

That would normally lead to diabetes.

"In that respect, Kazama-kun, you have a nice tummy!"

Ah, "Kazama" is my name. She said as she sat next to the round table and patted my stomach. She touched me. I don't care if I die now.

"I'm not popular... Not in high school or now..."

"That's great! There are no rivals! High points, Kazama-kun!"

This time she started tapping me on the shoulders. She was speaking condescendingly, but her face was red, probably because she was drunk. She might be embarrassed. 

And it seemed like she was speaking condescendingly to hide her embarrassment.

"Hey, would you like to exchange contact details with Yoshimi from high school?"

While saying this jokingly and laughing shyly, she took out her smartphone and brought up the LINE screen.

"Huh? Here? This way...right?"

Apparently they want to display a QR code.

"Here it is."

I'm really good at this kind of thing. I tapped her screen repeatedly until the QR code appeared. 

Then I took out my own smartphone and used her QR code to switch accounts.

I had grown a size or two bigger since high school. I was a total "chee-gyu" and still an otaku. 

But, to put it bluntly, she had a thing for fat guys, which suited my body type. 

I switched to contact lenses in college, but my eyes hurt so much that I went back to glasses, which apparently also got me a lot of points. 

I was also told that I'd be perfect if I was bald, but that's a bit...

What I wanted to say here is that she wasn't some cool, arrogant beauty from her high school days, but someone who was out of reach, but had a unique sensibility and tried to fit in with the people around her. 

And she's a nice person who doesn't have any weird mental barriers for anyone, even an otaku... even me.

We met by chance and exchanged accounts, talked about our daily lives, TV, and other things we liked, went to popular restaurants, went to the zoo, aquariums, and other places. 

After about a year of this relationship, I confessed to her, she said yes, and we started dating. By the way, we didn't have a physical relationship at this point.

♡︎♡︎♡︎

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