Volume 6Chapter 4 part 3

───● The Bookish High School Girl Enjoys the Moment ●○●

How is everyone doing today? I’m Shinomiya Shiori.

Today is Sunday. School’s out, and it’s not a tutoring day with Masato-sama, either. Normally, on a day like this, my choices would be strictly limited to watching anime, reading manga, or playing video games.

And yet, here I was, spending my day in a way that fell into none of those categories.

“Alright! What should we check out first?” Mana asked cheerfully.

“Oh, I kinda wanna look at cosmetics,” Hatsumi piped up.

“Hold on, let’s at least look for Shiori’s clothes first,” Miaki cut in reasonably.

“True that. So Shiori, what do you wanna look at first?” Mana turned to me.

“Hah, umm…” I let out a limp squeak.

We were currently standing in a shopping mall directly connected to a major downtown train station.

A land swarming with countless glamorous normies and sparkling socialites—and somehow, I had set foot right in the middle of it.

“Shiori?” Miaki asked, noticing my frozen state.

“…I wanna fade out of existence,” I mumbled miserably.

“Guess this environment’s a bit harsh for our resident indoor creature,” Mana observed with a wry grin.

“Can’t be helped. Light this dazzling is toxic to Shiori’s system,” Hatsumi agreed solemnly.

It was barely afternoon, but my stamina meter was already flashing red near zero.

As my legs gave out and I began to slump onto the floor, my close friend Miaki grabbed my arm to support me.

“Come on, pull yourself together, Shiori. You’ve got a date with your prince coming up, don’t you?” Miaki urged, pulling me upright.

“W-Well, yes, but stillllll!” I wailed.

This whole situation had started back at school.

I had confided only in Miaki about my current situation, to which she casually declared, “Well, then you just gotta win him over on that date, right?” Before I knew it, an emergency group shopping trip had been assembled. …Which was super sweet of them and all, but still…

“I-Is there not online shopping in this modern era? Yours truly humbly submits that ordering online would be more than sufficient…” I stuttered, attempting to make my escape.

“You won’t know if it fits unless you try it on,” Mana shot back.

“Seeing the real thing in person is always best,” Hatsumi added.

“Besides, you talk about online shopping, but have you ever even used a clothing shopping app before, Shiori?” Miaki pressed.

“I have not,” I admitted instantly.

All my clothes are stuff my mom bought for me! Got a problem with that???

Her flawless logic hit me like a knockout punch, leaving me completely speechless.

Even so, though…!

“Come on, just surrender and let’s go. Everyone came out to help you, after all,” Miaki said, nudging me forward.

“Well… you’re not wrong,” I conceded with a sigh.

Resigned to my fate, I quietly fell into step behind them.

“Awesome! I can’t wait to play dress-up with Shiori~!” Mana giggled excitedly.

“Her raw materials are top-tier, after all,” Hatsumi noted.

“An astonishingly good exterior paired with an unbelievably rotten inside,” Miaki chimed in with a smirk.

“Hey, that’s way too harsh!” I snapped defensively.

The entrance of the shopping mall buzzed with lively crowd noise. Until recently, a place like this was somewhere I would have never stepped foot in. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I’d be walking through these doors as part of a noisy group myself.

I’d heard people say that girls take forever when shopping, but I never imagined it would be this extreme. …I mean, technically I’m a girl too, right?

“Man, so many of these actually look great on Shiori. This is hilarious,” Mana laughed, holding up another outfit.

“Like I said, the raw materials are high quality,” Hatsumi repeated approvingly.

“…”

“Uh oh, Shiori’s stopped retorting altogether,” Miaki observed with concern.

“Quick, shove some tapioca into her!” Mana commanded.

“Please don’t,” I muttered weakly.

Having outfit after outfit forced upon me by all three of them, my non-existent stamina had passed rock bottom and was continuing to drain into the negatives.

Sipping on the tapioca milk tea she’d just bought (I hadn’t bought one myself), Miaki inspected the bags containing my loot.

“We managed to score a pretty solid haul, didn’t we?” she asked.

“Tomorrow’s gear… has been fully equipped…” I wheezed, slumping against the bench.

“‘Gear,’ she says,” Miaki snorted.

I hadn’t had the slightest clue what kind of clothes were appropriate for the season, but thanks to everyone, I’d managed to get a complete outfit put together.

Normally, unless I was meeting with Masato-san, I just threw on whatever random clothes were lying around, so I didn’t own seasonal wardrobes to begin with.

“Alright! With that taken care of, now we can finally do our own shopping!” Mana cheered brightly.

“Hell yeah, let me at ’em~!” Hatsumi chimed in.

Wait… what…? You guys are going shopping AFTER this…?

I pulled out my phone to check the time, only to discover that nearly three hours had already passed since we started.

To be completely honest, I had long passed the point of having my fill—I was ready to burst from exhaustion.

“Um, excuse me… what about me?” I ventured timidly.

“Oh, right, Shiori’s carrying a ton of bags now,” Mana realized.

“Ah, yeah, true,” Hatsumi nodded.

For once, Mana and Hatsumi were actually showing me some consideration. Yes! Is this the golden ticket for me to head home?! …Or so I hoped.

“There were coin lockers over by the entrance, so let’s split one!” Mana declared triumphantly.

“Ooh, great idea. I have stuff I wanna drop off too,” Hatsumi agreed.

“A-Ah… so that’s how it’s gonna be…” I stammered, watching my escape route vanish into thin air.

It seemed leaving early was off the table.

“Alright, let’s get moving!” Mana called out.

“Roger that~,” Hatsumi echoed.

With the plan officially settled, Mana and Hatsumi immediately set off into the crowd.

“Well, just give up and accept it,” Miaki grinned, giving me a light pat on the shoulder.

“…Yeah, I guess so,” I submitted resignedly.

Besides, they had spent the entire day helping me pick out clothes.

Ditching them now would be horribly ungrateful of me.

“Come on, let’s catch up!” Miaki urged, striding ahead.

“Wh-Hey! Don’t leave me behind in a place like this?!” I squawked in panic.

As I scrambled to hurry after Miaki, a sudden thought struck me.

A place I would normally never step foot in. A way to spend a weekend that I would normally never choose. And yet, for some strange reason…

“I’ll teach you about my favorite cosmetics too, Shiori,” Mana offered as we regrouped.

“We’ll hold a ‘Makeup for Dummies’ crash course,” Hatsumi added playfully.

“I am not a monkey,” I retorted deadpan.

Even as I wondered yet again why on earth I was tagging along for their shopping spree…

The four of us walked side by side, heading right back into the bustling heart of the mall.

The reason I’d asked Masato-san to go to a district overflowing with normies today was partly because my friends had recommended it to me.

But more than that, I had genuinely wanted to visit a place I’d normally never step foot in, as long as it was with Masato-san.

Why I had felt that way was something I didn’t fully understand myself.

While we were standing in line to get tapioca drinks, snippets of conversation from the people around us drifted into my ears.

“…Hey, isn’t that guy over there super handsome?” a girl whispered to her friend.

“Whoa, you’re right. But looks like he’s already got a girlfriend,” the other replied.

It was an inevitable consequence of being with Masato-san, but envious chatter like that was constantly floating around us.

“Ptooey! Ptooey!” I spat aggressively in their direction.

“Hey, now, cut that out,” Masato-san scolded gently, pulling me back.

Masato-san, please don’t stop me. This is a necessary threat display…

Just as that thought crossed my mind, another piece of their conversation reached my ears.

“I mean, his girlfriend is super cute too,” one of them murmured.

“Totally. A guy like that isn’t gonna end up with anyone less than that level, huh~?” the other agreed.

…Huh?

It took a few moments for my brain to register that those words were actually a compliment directed at me.

…Once the realization finally sank in… I turned to look at Masato-san standing beside me.

And my mind drifted back to the very first day I’d ever met him.

“Someone like me… isn’t suitable for him at all, is she?”

Ever since that day, haunted by that thought, I had tried my absolute hardest to become someone worthy of standing by Masato-san’s side.

I might never be a main heroine. But maybe, just maybe, I could become the kind of minor heroine who was allowed to stand next to him—someone in a forbidden, out-of-their-league romance.

“…Is something wrong, Shiori-chan?” Masato-san asked, noticing my gaze.

“…N-Nothing at all!” I squeaked, shaking my head.

For the first time, I felt as though all the effort I’d put in up until now was finally being validated.

Even someone like me, perhaps…

Just maybe, I could allow myself to believe that I was allowed to stand by Masato-san’s side.

Taking purikura photos together was the mission Miaki had assigned to me.

“We helped you out, so you’d better take purikura pictures with him and show us,” she had commanded before we left.

Well, I suppose that was just Miaki’s round-about way of showing kindness.

“W-Wait, hold on a second! Isn’t this moving way too fast?!” I panicked in the photo booth.

“L-Let’s just strike a pose for now?!” Masato-san suggested frantically.

I had done some background research on purikura beforehand, but nobody had warned me the countdown timers would be this insanely fast.

“Next up: Friendly Pose!” the machine’s synthetic voice announced cheerfully.

“What on earth is a ‘Friendly Pose’ supposed to be?!” I shrieked at the screen.

“Shiori-chan, calm down!” Masato-san pleaded.

I’ve only ever heard the phrase ‘Friendly Pose’ in kids’ anime!

As I flailed around, completely clueless about what kind of posture to assume…

“Look out, the shutter’s about to snap!” Masato-san called out.

Before I could react, Masato-san caught me off guard by pulling me close and slinging his arm around my shoulder.

“H-Hahiee…” I whimpered, my brain short-circuiting entirely.

This man’s boyfriend energy is way too high… It’s impossible… I can’t live without Masato-san anymore…

By the way, my expression in that final photo was so hideously flustered that I opted not to print it on the sticker sheet.

Afterward, we moved to an internet cafe.

“I want to be with you forever,” I whispered.

With those words, I leaned up and pressed my lips to Masato-san’s.

I wouldn’t fail this time. It was a deep, deliberate kiss, meant to engrave my presence into his memory forever.

“Being with you makes everything so much fun… I felt that so deeply today, over and over again,” I confessed softly.

Because of him, I had found the courage to visit places I would normally avoid.

With Masato-san, I wanted to experience countless new firsts together.

This was the shape of my love.

Too embarrassed to look him in the eye, I buried my face straight into Masato-san’s chest with a soft thud.

“I don’t know who you’ll ultimately choose, Masato-san… but I want to stay by your side forever,” I whispered against his shirt.

“…Thank you, Shiori-chan,” Masato-san replied softly, his voice full of warmth.

He gently stroked my back in soothing circles.

It felt so wonderfully comforting.

Ah… I can’t help wishing he would never have to give an answer at all, if it meant we could just stay like this forever.

“H-Huh? Wait…” Masato-san muttered in confusion.

The private booth suddenly plunged into darkness, eliciting a startled noise from Masato-san.

It turned out the light switch was right behind his back, and I’d accidentally flipped it when I leaned all my weight against him.

Taking advantage of the sudden darkness, I pushed Masato-san back, pinning him flat onto his back on the mat.

“S-Shiori-chan?!” Masato-san squeaked, flustered.

“Masato-san, did you know? They say net cafe rooms are completely soundproof,” I purred playfully into his ear.

“Whaaa?!” he gasped in horror.

“Shall we… pick up where we left off back then?!” I teased mischievously.

“We will not! Why do you sound so excited about this?!” Masato-san shouted back in panic.

“Ehehe! Come now, what’s the harm~?” I giggled, dropping into my playful feudal persona.

“Stop it?! Ahahaha!” Masato-san burst out laughing as I started tickling his sides.

I grinned mischievously, tickling Masato-san without mercy as he squirmed under me.

That’s right. Ending things on a somber note just isn’t my style.

Until the very last moment—let’s make it fun.

[ The Case of Shinomiya Shiori ]

​<Shiori

​21:15 | Masato: Shiori-chan, thanks for today!

​21:15 | Masato: I had a lot of fun!

​21:23 | Shiori: Masato-san, thank you so much for today!

​21:23 | Shiori: No, thank you, I had sooooooooo much fun!

​22:02 | Masato: Why are you emphasizing it so much? lol

​22:09 | Shiori: Because I definitely had way more fun than you did!

​22:16 | Masato: Is that really that big of a deal…? lol

​22:25 | Shiori: It’s super important! Things like this have to be communicated properly!

​23:33 | Shiori: ……Umm, it hit me again today, but…

​23:35 | Shiori: I really, truly love you so much it’s unbelievable, Masato-san.

​23:35 | Shiori: Back when you first came over to tutor me, it was more like, “He’s so cool~!”, “A literal prince~!”, “I wuv him~!”

​23:35 | Shiori: But now, knowing who you are on the inside and everything, it’s more like, “Ah… I’m genuinely, deeply in love with him.”

​23:36 | Shiori: That probably makes zero sense to you, huh… hehe…… Well, what I really want to say is:

​23:36 | Shiori: I really, truly love you. And that’s the one thing I’ll keep telling you, always and forever.