Chapter 145: I Have a Boyfriend, You Know

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Translator: Soafp

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“Uh… Sora-chii, you okay? You can totally say no, seriously.”

“…P-Probably fine. Yeah, I'll do my best.”

Sora shook her head at Suzu, who was whispering with concern. Ever since starting high school, Sora had been bullied by the other girls, and now she was actually more nervous around girls than boys. If Suzu had known what Sora's school life was like, she would've been more considerate—but neither Sora nor Ginji had told her. There was no need to. If Ginji were here, he'd probably give her a push and tell her to just say hello. That's why Sora decided to take a step forward.

“Um, I'm… not very good at talking, but I do remember you two. You're Mutsujitsu-san and Tsukui-san, right? Uh, n-nice to meet you.”

Her voice wavered despite her best efforts. Still, she managed to say everything she wanted to. As Sora let out a small breath of relief, the other three girls just stared at her in stunned silence.

“Wait—she's adorable?”

“Right? You seem totally different now! And it's amazing you remembered us!”

“Sora-chii… you've grown! You can just call them Mutsu and Tsukki like I said earlier. Anyway, it's hot—why don't we head to a café?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Having made it this far, Sora resolved to give it her all.

“‘Kay.”

“Usa~ Not heading to the mall?”

“Sora-chii doesn't like crowds. Plus, there's this fruit juice place that's super good. Let's rest there first and then go look at yukatas.”

And so, the chatty group of four headed to a juice bar near the station. Sora mostly sat quietly, listening to the other three talk, but being in the middle of a group of girls felt surprisingly new to her. The tall and slender Mutsu leaned in toward her.

“What's up?”

“Is it okay if we call you Sora-chan? You can call us what Suzu said earlier.”

“…Sure, that's fine.”

Gyaru's sense of personal space is too close! Sora shouted inwardly, despite them being girls her own age. Mutsu, sipping on a mango fruit coffee, moved in even closer, clearly intrigued.

“I'll call you Sora-chan too. Let's talk about boys! I mean, out of all of us, you seem like the only one actually interacting with guys. We've never even done group dates or anything. I have a candidate, though.”

“Don't bluff, Tsukki. It just makes it sadder.”

“I, uh… I do have a boyfriend.”

A bombshell dropped that instantly shifted the entire conversation.

“No way!?”

“Huh… I thought you seemed more girly lately. So it was because of a boyfriend.”

“You just came out with it, huh, Sora-chii?”

“I didn't want to hide it.”

Sora cupped her matcha latte with both hands and sipped it daintily.

“What's he like? How did you two meet?”

“Hey, Mutsu, don't bombard her with questions. You're gonna freak her out.”

Sora thought for a moment, picturing the one she cared about. She lifted her cup a little to hide her mouth and answered softly.

“…It's a secret. He's mine, after all.”

“““HHHNNNNNGGG!!!”””

All three girls looked up to the heavens. Her shy delivery should have just been cute, but there was a subtle hint of allure in it too.

“Suzu, what is this cuteness…? I nearly blacked out.”

“Sora-chii's girl power is… ten thousand, a hundred thousand… no way, she's a monster!”

“That totally caught me off guard!”

“Eh? What? What…?”

Sora didn't get what was going on at all.

After that, the four girls headed to a clothing store as originally planned and started checking out yukatas.

The shop also offered yukata rentals and made-to-order options.

“These are so cute… and under 5000 yen too. But there's dressing service included, so maybe renting's better? Hey, Sora-chii, which pattern do you think's cutest?”

Suzu asked while browsing the rental samples. Sora, who once used to coordinate outfits for Aika, stared at Suzu for a moment, then picked out a few yukatas.

“Stripes or dyed fabric would look nice. With Aika-chan, I always aimed for really toned-down patterns, but for a summer festival, something with bold patterns would be better, right?”

“Ahaha, guys, look! It's a lace yukata—it's totally see-through!”

Tsukki held up a lace yukata with a grin.

“…What even is that?”

“LOL, it's so lewd. You can see right through to your underwear.”

Mutsu giggled while holding it up to her body.

“Looks like you'd wear innerwear and a skirt underneath. It seems cool and breezy though.”

“Even if that's the case, I wouldn't walk next to someone wearing it.”

“Whaaat, that's mean! What do you think, Sora?”

Suddenly put on the spot, Sora's face turned bright red.

“I-It's fine… indoors, maybe?”

“““Huh?”””

“Sora-chii… did you mean indoors, like… for your boyfriend…?”

“N-No! I didn't mean it like that… like…”

But then Sora remembered showing Ginji her swimsuit indoors.

Wait… compared to that, wearing a lace yukata with an inner layer might actually be nothing for her now. She imagined Ginji blushing as he saw her in a yukata. Nice. That thought froze her brain.

Seeing Sora's expression, Mutsu and Tsukki nervously clasped their hands together in fear.

“S-She's experienced… and she's our age…”

“She looks so innocent… but maybe she's already… gone all the way…”

“N-No! It's not like that! C'mon, let's check out the obi (belt) too!”

Trying to cover up her thoughts, Sora went on to browse not just yukatas for herself—but also picked one out for Ginji. It turned out to be a successful little shopping trip.