Chapter 95: Matching covers, huh?

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Translator: Soafp

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“Fully–Re–co–ve–red!”

It was still dark in the early morning. After checking her temperature and bouncing out of bed, Sora brushed her teeth and washed her face, then slipped into a crisply ironed shirt and pulled on her skirt before heading downstairs. Of the two aprons hanging in the kitchen, she put on the smaller one and began making lunch.

“Not much in the way of vegetables… I’ve got cabbage, so… I’ll line the bottom of the bento box with it and make karaage the main dish.”

As she cooked, Sora also ate a quick breakfast made from leftovers. Once the bento was packed, she stood in front of the mirror for a final check. Satisfied with her ribbon’s position, she grabbed a small package left at the entrance, slipped it into her bag, and cheerfully stepped outside.

[My fever's gone. Let's go to school together today]

She messaged, skipping happily toward the meeting spot.

In the end, Sora's summer cold had lingered a bit, and she had missed school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Technically, she was already feeling better by Thursday and had wanted to return, but Ginji had stopped her out of caution.

From Wednesday onward, Ginji had been visiting Sora's house every day to take care of her. For Sora—who had been living a bit of an overworked life—it was almost torturous. Especially because she had a strong desire to be the one doing the caring for Ginji. Now, she was more motivated than ever.

“I'm here. I beat you today.”

Arriving at their meeting spot before him.

Ginji rode up on his bike.

“Oh, you’re early. Morning, Sora.”

“Good morning, Ginji. I can’t believe I missed three days just for a summer cold… well, it was more like air conditioner sickness.”

“No harm in that once in a while. Just don't push yourself.”

Sora put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest in front of the still-concerned Ginji.

“I'm fine. Actually, I feel like I've been the laziest I've ever been in my life. I'm ready to give it my all again. Thanks for the class notes too!”

“Not sure if mine were good enough though.”

“Thanks to you, I know exactly which parts you didn't get. I even put together a study plan.”

“Wait, what!? That's what you got out of it!? Well… as long as you're back to normal, that's all that matters.”

Ginji sighed, just as Sora beamed and pulled a small package from her bag.

“Here's the phone case I ordered before. It's finally done—I'll give it to you now.”

“Oh, I've been looking forward to this. Can I open it?”

“Yeah, go ahead!”

With plenty of time left before school, Ginji opened the package and took out the case.

“Whoa!? This is way more amazing than I imagined.”

It was a metallic phone case. On the back was a gearbox design that Sora had created, and depending on where you touched it, some parts felt like they were carved in.

Despite its ruggedness, the case had a refined, cool aesthetic—even to an untrained eye. It appeared to be made of separate components: the back plate was aluminum while the frame was polyurethane, and it needed to be assembled.

“Right!? By changing which parts were colored and which parts were carved, it gives off a stronger metallic feel. I mean, it's gears—we had to go metal. I had them laser the lines down to the thinnest possible width, but I still had to tweak the design a bit and cut some lines. I went for something that looked like stamped car parts. It was super hard to find someone who could actually make this, but I did it! I'm totally satisfied—it's practically craftsmanship-level! Oh, and since you need screws to put it together, you'll have to stop by my place after school. I got one made for me too.”

Sora rambled on, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Ginji reached out and clamped a hand on her head.

“Nya, h-hey, what was that for? You don't like it?”

“No, it's awesome. I like the screw-assembly thing too. And the design—I could look at it all day. The weight, the texture—feels great in my hand. But wait, weren't we originally talking about a silicone case? And you said it was just a basic order. This isn't something you got through normal channels, is it? …How much did it cost?”

“Well… I just kind of got caught up in the design process…”

Sora averted her eyes, lips pursed, her head still in Ginji's grip.

“…I won't get mad. Just tell me how much.”

“…I asked someone who does side gigs, so it was way cheaper… If I'd ordered it normally, it would've been around twenty thousand yen.”

“Too much! I told you not to spend your dad's allowance like that. Still… thanks. I'll treasure it. Guess I better ask Mom to let me take on more work over summer break.”

He sighed and released her. He couldn't stay mad at her—not when she worked so hard just to give him a gift. Sora puffed out her chest again and grinned.

“No need for that. I didn't use my dad's allowance for this.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I sent the designer a few mockups, they said they wanted to turn this into an actual product. So I got this one for free as a prototype, with a design fee included. But I want this version to be just for us, so I sent the artist a different design for commercial use—they agreed.”

Ginji almost blurted out, “That's too good to be true,” but stopped. This was Sora. The usual rules didn't apply. It wasn't surprising that even pros would take notice of a high schooler's design. Honestly, the quality of the case he held was the best he'd ever seen. It was so classy, it felt like something people would pay top yen for.

“Sorry I didn't tell you. But I didn't want to compromise—it was your gift. Matching phone cases kind of make us look like a couple, right…?”

Like a mischievous cat, she looked up at Ginji with big, hopeful eyes. He couldn't argue with that.

“Okay. I'm happy. Just… next time, let's do this kind of thing together. It's more fun that way, don't you think?”

“Hehe, got it—Roger that!”

After gently placing the case back in its box, Ginji took Sora's bag and they started walking.

“Alright, time to start test prep!”

“Yeah, and after that, we've got art stuff to do too.”

“Yep! I've got so many things I want to draw… But I also want to go on dates with you, Ginji.”

“Of course. Let's talk about where to go during summer break.”

“Ooh, I wanna go tour a factory!”

“Sounds like our date spot'll be right outside a factory gate…”

While chatting, they reached the slope leading up to the school. It was still early, but the voices of students at morning practice rang out energetically.

“Alright! Time to do my greeting campaign!”

“…Honestly, maybe skip it today?”

Surprisingly, it was usually enthusiastic Ginji who suggested stopping. Sora looked at him, puzzled.

“Still worried about my cold? I'm totally fine. I'm super hyped today!”

“…Well, if you say so.”

As she parked her bike and stepped toward the gate, a few seconds later, boys began to appear from nowhere.

“Huh!? Are they coming toward me? G-Ginji…?”

“Don't worry… probably.”

Still staring blankly, Ginji moved in front of her. The boys were apparently members of various sports clubs—baseball, kendo, judo, track, soccer, badminton—all moving in perfect sync to stand before her.

“…”

“…Uhh, what?”

“…Just greet them. Some of them are upperclassmen…”

“G-Good… morning?”

“““G'MOOOOOOOOOOORNING!!!!”””

“W-What is happening? That was terrifying!”

After their thundering shout, the boys returned to their clubs in perfect formation.

“…Since you got sick, guys from the sports clubs—especially baseball—have been checking your classroom every day. Some of them looked like they were about to cry when they found out you were absent.”

“Why though?”

“Because you're cute.”

“That can't be it…”

“It is. What can you do? But hey, most of them are harmless. Now get ready—people are coming. Time to start greeting again.”

“Only people I know, okay? No way I'm dealing with that kind of crowd again!”

“Haha. Well, you're just recovering, so take it easy.”

“I-I'm not backing down!”

Though she tried to rally herself, seeing the wave of students coming to greet her after her absence quickly broke Sora's spirit. She grabbed Ginji and made a hasty retreat into the classroom.