Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni Dake Uzai

The sky was colored accordingly to the sunset. A few seconds inside this warm atmosphere, at least once every ten seconds a cold breeze blew past me. In terms of going outside, it was the perfect weather. A great number of youngsters walked in front of the train station with their yukata. With the opening of the summer festival approaching, this district, normally with no attraction otherwise, had a festive atmosphere to it.

—All these bastards living their life inefficiently.

If it was the old me, this would have probably been my number one thought watching this scenery. I’d judge them with a cold gaze as they live in the moment, living for something transient instead of seeing the total of their entire life. But, now, I truly don’t have the right to bark at them. After all…

“Sorry for making you wait.”

“No…Mashiro just came herself.”

Because the two of us, who exchanged such a template greeting on the first floor of a multi-tenant building near the train station, were not any different from all those bastards. If one didn’t know any better, we probably just looked like a normal couple, huh. You, who’s been employed by President Tsukinomori to watch over us, I hope you get a good look at this. Because this is the most convenient time.

“Then, let’s head out…The place was…Um…”

“Above.”

We walked through the small entrance of the building. The stairs were filled with belongings and whatnot, making me question if this was legally safe in terms of fire laws, as we headed inside the elevator, going up to the eighth floor.

‘Yukata Rental Store IMOKO’ is what it said on the plate outside, filled with people from our age up to university students inside. The summer festival hasn’t even started yet, and I already feel like I’m in the middle of it, that’s how many people were inside this place.

“Woah, seriously…You think we’ll get our turn?”

“It’ll be fine. Mashiro put in a reservation. Eventually, we’ll get our turn.”

“I guess most of the customers just come in abruptly on the day of the festival, huh.”

“Yup, but no need to worry, Aki. Mashiro won’t allow any blunders like a normie would.” Mashiro spoke with a faint glimmer of confidence in her voice, raising her thumb.

Following that, she held out her hand towards me with all too natural movement.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“Eh? Y-Yeah…”

Overwhelmed, I took that hand…S-So soft. How many years has it been since I held hands with Mashiro like this? Just like it did back then, when we were merely grade school kids, Mashiro’s hand still feels small. Which makes sense, seeing that I’ve been growing just as much as she has. She pulled me along as she walked.

“E-Excuse us…We have a…reservation…Ah, sorry.”

Mashiro tried to swim between the mass of people. Although she could only bring out a meek, quiet voice, Mashiro still worked hard to get through this mess. To be honest, I’m more than surprised. I totally thought that Mashiro was bad at dealing with big crowds like this, so when did she grow this much?

“Don’t force yourself too much, okay. If need be, I can—”

“Mashiro is okay. Today, she’ll escort you instead.”

“O-Okay, if you say so.”

She showed no intentions of stepping down in that regard, blocking me off when I wanted to walk in front of her. There’s no way she should have been fine with crowds like this. Her shaking hand was enough proof of that…Of course, I wasn’t going to point that out though.

After a few seconds of hard work, we finally made it to the reception. The female staff checked our student ID, took a few yukatas in her hands with a bright grin, and guided us to the space behind the reception.

“Eh? What about the sizes and design…?”

“Mashiro already gave them the information when she made the reservation. You don’t have to worry about anything, Aki.”

“Phew, so well prepared.”

“Mashiro picked out a design you’ll probably like, and the size should be a perfect fit.”

“Glad to hear that…But, I don’t remember telling you my measures, so how did you…?”

“Mashiro’s ears have the ability to remember everything they hear, and Mashiro’s love is the only measure she needs.”

“I know I should be happy, but what is this primal fear I’m feeling…But, well, if things move smoothly because of that, then all the better. Saves us time, which is much more efficient.”

“Right? Mashiro knew you’d say that.” Mashiro snickered.

Seeing that smile, I couldn’t help but admire how much she changed from the first day she transferred to our school, when all she could do was freeze up with a stern expression. Guided by the female staff, I headed into the men’s changing room, as Mashiro did for the women’s. Taking off my clothes, I put on the yukata over my underwear. Though I managed to put it on myself, I at least had the staff check if everything was in order so that I don’t embarrass myself.

Gazing at the me reflected in the mirror, I gave a wry smile. Anybody can look fancy with the right clothes, huh.

“This is the design that I’m supposed to like, huh…Hahaha…”

I looked at the design of the yukata I was wearing, as a self-mockery laugh escaped my lips. It was a plain, striped design. It was so simple, it didn’t stand out at all, the incarnation of normal, really. It’s almost like the representation of a certain someone.

“But, just as Mashiro said, I really like this…”

Anything more flashy than that doesn’t exactly fit me, but anything more plain would have been annoying as well. It’s simple, yet possesses good quality. Maybe because of this season, it feels like you can wear more Japanese clothing than usual. Thinking of these clothes as Mashiro’s choice for me, it feels even more fresh.

“Ain’t half bad, Mashiro’s love.” Feeling admiration for the girl, I stepped out of my changing room.

Also, as a side note, this rental store offers a service where they hold onto your belongings, so all that I’m holding on is my wallet with the most important things inside of it.

“What about Mashiro…Not yet, huh. Well, she’s a girl, so of course it’ll take longer.”

Since I couldn’t find Mashiro outside the changing rooms, I figured I’d sit down on a chair nearby to wait for her, just spacing out. Now that I think about it, how many months has it been that I could space out like this. These past few weeks especially, I was constantly working on [The Night The Black Goat Screamed], my head full with stuff to worry about.

Now that the recording for the new character ended safely, there’s nothing else that would need any fixing or immediate attention. Though I still have to think about what to do with Iroha and getting her some friends, as well as this fake date with Mashiro, this isn’t work-only 100%, but something else, an average part of youth, you could call it, I guess.

When gazing at the crowd of people around me, I grew conscious of things I normally never paid attention to. How that university student’s yukata looks really cool, or once outgoing women wear a yukata, they start giving off vibes of a Yamato Nadeshiko1 nonetheless, or that beautiful girl who’s walking towards me…how she’s slightly blushing, fidgeting with her fingers as she stops in front of me…

“T-Thanks for waiting. H-How…is it, Aki…? Does it…look good…?”

That beauty turned out to be Mashiro.

“……”

“A-Aki? W-Why are you keeping quiet like that?”

“…Eh, ah, sorry. I was just…surprised…”

I carefully observed Mashiro’s appearance from head to toe, as an idiotic voice escaped my lips. To say it in one word, she looked like a Yuki-onna2. The design of her yukata had a white background, with evening primroses. Though the pattern gave off a colorful, tropical, fruity feeling from yesterday, for Mashiro’s natural prim and proper atmosphere, it emphasized her charm to an adult’s level. Her hair had been carefully bound up, with a hair ornament dangling down on one side. The nape of her neck peeked out from her collar. Her slender fingers carried an accessory case which looked like a seashell. Stretching down to the ground were her bare feet, wearing wooden clogs. Every single aspect of this emitted a calm yet erotic appeal.

Unlike other types of explosive charm that sent a straight ball right into your instincts, this one held beauty that slowly but steadily invaded your blood system, expanding through your entire body. This is probably what an actual Yuki-onna would look like if you came across one.

“S-Stop staring without even saying anything. I-It’s embarrassing.”

“S-Sorry. You were just so beautiful, I was completely entranced.”

“~~~?! N-No praising Mashiro like that. Are you planning on killing me with embarrassment…?!”

“Ahhh?! Sorry, sorry!” I immediately lowered my head towards Mashiro, who was blushing furiously.

Idiot, die, moron, all of these words got flung at me, together with her accessory case. That being said, her voice had no ill-intent nor hostility inside of it, and the accessory case didn’t hurt as much either.

“Look at that couple, they sure look close.”

“High school students?”

“Feels like their first love, so cute~”

“…………”

“……”

If anything, the gazes around us hurt the most.

“L-Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

Catching on to the attention we were getting, Mashiro cast her beet red face down, and pulled on my hand with strength I wouldn’t believe could come from her slender arms. Swiftly after that, we left the ‘Yukata Rental Store IMOKO’. As if she wanted to say that staying at this place any longer was impossible for her, Mashiro didn’t even wait for the elevator, and instead started descending the stairs, from the eighth floor down to the first.

Possibly because of this unfamiliar foothold she had with the wooden clogs, Mashiro often lost balance, close to falling over. Every time she went down a pair of stairs, embarrassment and tension slowly started to vanish from her expression, and as she finally became aware of how comical the situation was, a laugh escaped her lips.

Once we made it down to the first floor, we had to crab walk between the luggage. Escaping this maze, Mashiro turned towards me with a smile.

“This is pretty fun.”

“Aren’t you acting a bit too carefree?”

“Does this make us outlaws? Passing somewhere we shouldn’t?”

“Well, it should be fine. This counts as a fire exit, so you technically have to be able to get through here.”

“Really. Then we’re a legal couple.”

“A couple…But—”

“No.”

When I reflexively went to deny her words, Mashiro pointed at the tip of my nose with her index finger.

“We’re a couple today, right?”

“That’s right…My Baby.”

“Stop with that.” Mashiro didn’t even waste a second of a break to reprimand me.

A wise decision indeed.

*

Even though this area had been standing in this place for years now, the scenery at the summer festival was as nostalgic as ever. Before moving up on the fifth floor of the flat—next to the Kohinata Family—I lived with my parents the entire time, but after we grew apart, I never went to the summer festival again with the Tsukinomori siblings. As for the reason for me moving, and my parents’ situation…Well, that’s not important right now, so I’ll keep that to myself for a bit longer.

We walked past the giant Shinto shrine archway, past the guardian lion-dog statues at the shrine and their oddly annoying expressions, and arrived at the festive scene up the stairs, illuminated by paper lanterns.

In this wide open space, a great number of people and stalls had gathered, and the festival music was carried to our ears with the faint breeze passing us by. Almost as if to attract mostly younger people, an arrangement of the opening of Honey Plays Works newest work Grand Fantasy 7 remake was played. Knowing that this was a rather small district, they sure put a lot of work into this festival. Voices could be heard around us, and for Mashiro and me, who belong in the ‘shadows’ and in the ‘background’, this was an overwhelming scenery.

“I’m already lost. In what way should we even walk around here?”

“W-Wait a second. Mashiro has the walkthrough on page 238.”

“Looking up every single thing must be annoying, right? Also, the last two pages were really all we needed, huh?”

Mashiro took out her smartphone, frantically going through her digital date plan. But, since she suddenly stopped walking in the middle of the path like that, the obvious occurred.

“Hya!”

“Careful…! Oh, nice catch.”

“T-Thanks. You have good reflexes, Aki.”

Saving Mashiro’s phone from a harsh landing, she praised me with a relieved expression.

“I thought that something like this might happen, so I had my body ready to act.”

“Hmpf…You’re sounding like one of those cool shounen manga protagonists. Mashiro doesn’t like that.”

“And why is that? Why not just honestly praise me?”

“Don’t wanna. Don’t get on a high horse just because you’re a bit cool.”

Following these words, Mashiro’s eyes suddenly shot wide open, as she observed her surroundings like she was searching for an enemy.

“You on the lookout for President Tsukinomori’s spies? I don’t feel any gazes like that right now…”

All that’s around us are guests in yukata appearance, festival staff running around, and the stall owners on the sides. To be perfectly honest, even if someone was tailing us now, I doubt I’d be able to catch on to that. But, Mashiro didn’t bother much with listening to me, and shook her head.

“That’s not it.”

“Then what are you looking for?”

“There’s people who look oddly familiar to you for some reason, right? Like, those that you passed a few times at school.”

“Well, this is a pretty popular festival after all.”

“This is bad…if they saw Mashiro and Aki together, they’ll start spreading rumours…So embarrassing…!”

“Did you forget why we even came to this festival in the first place?” I gave an honest retort to Mashiro, who tried to hide her beet red face with both her hands.

We decided on this fake date in order to make an appeal that we two are lovers, but she fully lost her original goal and purpose…Then again, thinking about Mashiro’s feelings, I can understand why that may be the case.

“T-That’s right, we have to be more lovey-dovey.”

“I don’t think we have to be that desperate…”

“We. Are. Going. To. Act. More. Lovey-dovey!”

“…Aight.” Her sharp voice reached deep into my chest, leaving me no other option but to nod.

After that, in order to gain the gazes of our fellow schoolmates, Mashiro and I headed over to the stalls. The first thing Mashiro pointed at as the goldfish scooping. The small children around us went to challenge it as well, failing in the process, as they complained at the stall owner with holes in their nets. I totally understand that, seeing your money getting lost in the depths of some possible scam.

“That sure takes me back. You wanna try it?”

“Yup. The cuteness of seafood is more profound than the Mariana Trench.”

“Don’t say food…Decide if you like the looks or the taste, alright.”

“The fleeting existence of them as they are at the bottom of the food chain has this certain cuteness to them…”

“I don’t get it at all. But, if you want one, I’ll get you one.”

Back when I was a grade-schooler, I was fairly good at these sorts of plays. Not that I’d be able to do it right away of course, but I could analyze the reason for my failure, and then by repeated attempts eventually capture one. With that, I could get to an average 50/50 ratio, giving goldfish-scooping a favorable balance. Remembering the one time where I had to catch a goldfish for Mashiro because she wasn’t able to, nostalgia assaulted me.

“It’s fine. Mashiro can scoop one herself.” Showing the expression of a first-rate gambler, Mashiro had a 100 yen coin ready in her hand.

My, since when did my fair lady become so confident? Thinking this, I pushed her back forwards, and decided to silently cheer for her. Around ten minutes later—that one 100 yen coin turned into ten.

“Hey, kiddo…Shouldn’t you stop your girlfriend…?”

Even the old man from the stall started to be plagued by guilt. And, I couldn’t agree more.

“Yeah…Hey, Mashiro. Why don’t we leave it at that?”

“Don’t wanna. Mister, one more time.”

“You already paid a thousand yen for this! Is a single goldfish really worth that much…?”

“Mashiro has enough money. She’s not frustrated yet. If anything, she would be insulting the thousand yen she already paid if she stopped now…!”

“You’re turning into the guy who can’t stop using the gacha until they get that 1% SSR character…”

“What are you talking about, Aki. If you keep going, the drop rate will eventually be 100%.”

“That logic doesn’t make sense in the slightest! I’m not an author, so clever words don’t work with me!”

“Let go! Mashiro definitely won’t stop!”

“How vigorous. I guess that rich ladies are on a different level…Alright, I’ll jump in on this. Young lady, take this new paper scoop!”

“Mister, thank you…! Watch Mashiro, Aki. This is her determination…!” Mashiro gave the old man another 100 yen, and received the new scoop.

And then—that one coin turned into multiple. In the middle of it, they started a new business where she’d buy ten attempts with a thousand yen note. Around the time she could have bought an actual goldfish from a proper store—

“…G-Got it…!”

She raised the bowl with the goldfish inside of it into the air, letting out a cry of triumph. Next to her, a mountain of broken scoops had gathered as a show of her sacrifices, telling their own story. At the same time, I wasn’t the only one who had watched this battle to the death.

“Ohhhhhhh!!!”

Clap clap clap!!!

This surreal scenery had gathered quite the crowd of onlookers, as they gave a round of applause at Mashiro’s success. Being horrendously bad at something is art in itself, I guess. No matter how clumsy or unskilled she may be, she had the charm to attract people that would continue to watch over her, and this made my senses as a producer tickle as well.

“Aki, did you see?! Mashiro finally got one!”

“Yeah, I was watching you, this entire time.”

All the times you failed in succession as well. But, seeing how happy she was, I couldn’t bring myself to spoil her mood.

“Fufufu, how was that? Mashiro could do it even without your help, Aki. Mashiro’s technique is…something…else…?” Mashiro’s confident expression suddenly vanished, as did her voice.

She looked around, and saw everyone else watching her with warm gazes.

“…Wait, since when…?! All these people…Umm…please don’t…look at Mashiro…!”

Towards anybody but me, she had an extremely excessive introverted attitude. At the same time, she has an extremely cold attitude only towards me. That being said, the people around us only celebrated this cute panicky reaction of Mashiro even more, as another applause went around.

As if they had gotten jealous of this, the people responsible for the festival music started to play even louder, which only gathered more people. Being in the dead center of this surreal situation, Mashiro reached her limit. She grabbed my hand in panic.

“R-Retreat!”

As the people around us treated Mashiro and I like heroes with voices of admiration, we ran between them, to a location further away, as we mixed into the crowd. At times like these, my lack of presence really is helpful…Thinking about it, the times I can use that skill are awfully limited, huh.

*

Although there were ups and downs, I’d say that Mashiro and I did some great work in showing the people around us how much of a couple we were…Or to be more accurate, whenever we were doing something interesting, we stood out as one of those ‘weird couples’, as people called us. This mainly happened because of Mashiro’s actions.

The goldfish scooping was only the tip of the iceberg, only the beginning of what was to come. After that, Mashiro challenged the target practice, ring throwing, mini-bowling using plastic bottles, and many other games you’d often see at stalls like these. Since Mashiro was not the most skillful person I knew, equally bad at anything related to sports and athletic skill, she always had a hard time.

Every discipline, using the power of mon—Excuse me, using her willpower, she managed to grasp victory, and earned herself a trophy. Right now, a giant handbag was hanging from her arm, with various objects inside, ranging from stuffed sea animal toys to other goods. She earned all of these things herself. Not once did she let me get her something. Even though I would have been able to get it much more efficiently, saving a considerable amount of money in the process. Mashiro should still have her memories from grade school, where I would always get what she wanted by efficiently challenging it.

She doesn’t even let me carry the items she won, always keeping that plastic bag close to her. Is this some self-imposed challenge of hers? I’m fine with her trying to act as the escort, but is she planning on taking that to the very limit? If so…then I’d honestly feel pretty bad. Mashiro likes me, wants to get my attention. She’s trying to enjoy her time together with me.

Yet, I’m merely aware of this date as a means for the [5th Floor Alliance]’s benefit. If I really want to do as Otoi-san told me, namely acting like the shitty bastard that I already am, then I should at least enjoy this date, and have Mashiro enjoy herself at the same time. It can only be temporary as well, but I should do everything so that this girl in front of me can continue smiling.

—But, the second I decided to put on my boyfriend mask for Mashiro’s sake, it happened.

“O…O-O-Ooboshi-kun?!”

I ran into someone I wouldn’t expect to find here. We just bought some takoyaki at a nearby stall. With an almost comical timing where Mashiro picked up a piece of it with the toothpick, about to feed me like a girlfriend would, of all the people, the most troublesome person had to spot us.

“Oh…What a coincidence, Club President Midori.”

“Ah, yeah, good evening………Wait, no no no, you’re just going to greet me normally?!”

As you know, confident with her energetic retorts, it was our school’s theatre club president, Kageishi Midori. She wore a sightly plain, but still plenty girlish yukata, her tightly-worn obi giving her a prim and proper atmosphere. Just as you’d expect from a descendant of a teacher clan, as well as being Sumire’s little sister, she’s clever beyond belief, always getting full grades in every single test ever since she enrolled, a monster honor student.

She probably came here with the folks from the theatre club, as I could spot a few other female members behind her, waving their hands at us.

“Eh? Huh? W-Why are you together with Tsukinomori-san?!” 𝘧𝒓e𝑒𝑤e𝙗𝚗o𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝐜𝐨ｍ

“Ah. Well~ How do I explain this…”

When I was having trouble finding the right words, a club member (I think her name was Yamada-san) came to help me out.

“Prez Midori, you didn’t know? Ooboshi-kun and Tsukinomori-san are dating. They’re pretty famous in their class.”

“Really?!” She made the sound of a frog punched in the gut by Dwayne Jo*nson.

…Now that I think about it, isn’t this less of a helping hand, and more like pouring oil into the fire?

“Wait, that’s weird. After all…”

Let me talk about something very important. Even the monster honor student Midori had two decisive weak points. The first one is that she absolutely sucks at acting. And, the second is quite the paradox—she might be clever, but she is just as much of an idiot.

“Ooboshi-kun, weren’t you supposed to be a super talented Hollywood Producer, as well as engaged to Onee-chan?!”

I totally forgot about that settingggggggggggggggggggggggg!!! I realized just recently that not everybody and not every single person knew about my fake relationship with Mashiro, and now it came back to bite me in the ass…On top of that, there’s the setting thatI had to create in order for me to help out with the theatre club without Midori finding out that Sumire is actually Murasaki Shikibu-sensei

“I can’t believe you! You’re not even satisfied with violating Onee-chan, so you’re even two-timing with Tsukinomori-san! Y-You…fiendish producer!”

“Idi—Stop screaming like that!”

“Mugh!?”

I rushed to cover Midori’s mouth. Of course, I couldn’t care less if she kept on badmouthing me until the end of time, but in the off-chance that the spy employed by President Tsukinomori is around, this could be a life-threatening event. I have to avoid any sort of risks.

The palm of my hand was more than enough to cover up Midori’s small mouth. Her body temperature must be quite hot right now, as I heard a sizzling sound coming from her head, my hand burning up…This is quite the sight, isn’t it. I could totally get arrested for this. As expected, I didn’t have to wait long for the reactions of the theatre club’s members.

“Ohh~ Ooboshi-kun is so bold~”

“Kyaaa~ Prez Midori will get assaulted~ This is what I think it is? The genre where the arrogant and cheeky girl finally learns how the real world works, right?”

“Film it, upload it!”

“Don’t take out your smartphone! Also, please don’t put this on social networks, I will sue you. I’m not some public attraction.”

“Mugh! Mguh! (That’s right, stop watching and help me, or I’ll get raped!)”

“Nobody is gonna do that! If anything, I’d praise anybody who had the guts to do that in front of so many people!”

“Mguh! Mgugugh! (A festival only happens in public spaces after all. In comparison, Christmas is the day with the most sex happening behind locked doors!)”

“I’m honestly impressed you can convey that much information with just your gaze.”

Also, why does she even know information like that? Is she actually that much of a pervert? I really hoped I was wrong about that, but can I really go on denying it after seeing these facts…?

“Mguh! Mguhgugh! Muuugh…! (If you really won’t stop yourself anymore…then, at least be kind…I’ll try to endure it, once…)”

“Don’t just accept this! If you don’t cause a ruckus, I won’t do anything!”

“Mguh…Nod…(Okay…I won’t. Just, only a bit, maybe…)”

“Why does it feel like you want this…? Come on, just calm down, alright?” I slowly removed my hand.

She looked up at me, reddened cheeks, wet eyes, and heavy breathing mixed all together.

“O-Ooboshi-kun…I can’t anymore. I can’t hold back this time, so let me say it clearly…!” In midst of this erotic atmosphere, she glared up at me.

She bit her lip in frustration, making me wonder what kind of verbal abuse is going to hit me now—

“Exchange your LIME ID with me!”

“Hold on a darn second, how did we get to that?”

Why does she ask for something like that, while glaring at me as if I was her archnemesis? As I was lost on what just went down, Midori already pushed her smartphone screen into my face. Shown on there was QR code, telling me that I wasn’t just hearing things. Also, why now? Back when I offered to exchange LIME IDs in order to give her advice for the theatre club, she flat-out declined it with a ‘Exchanging addresses with a boy is impossible! You do that after you get married!’. What kind of change of heart is this? Things could have gone even more efficient if we had exchanged them back then

…But, leaving that aside. No matter how you looked at it, this felt like a reverse pick-up attempt, so my actual (fake) girlfriend couldn’t just let this slip. So, naturally, Mashiro broke between me and Midori.

“W-What are you talking about, President Midori. S-Seducing someone else’s boyfriend…”

“Y-Y-Y-You’re wrong, okay?! I just wanted to know his LIME ID—”

“That’s not any different…! Mashiro thought that only honor students in manga were actually bitches, but to think they exist in reality as well…Mashiro really can’t let down her guard with normies!”

“Bitch?! Hold on, I’m not a girl that would just go on a perverted costume parade3 in Shibuya, and neither did I ever visit the Zero Sense of Virtue Amusement park!”

Stop running your mouth already! The more you deny it, the worse it gets for you…Also, where does she get all that information from?

“Anyway, don’t get the wrong idea! It’s not like I want to invite Ooboshi-kun out on a date, or call him on nights when I’m lonely! That’s not why I’m trying to exchange LIME IDs!”

“…Really?”

“Really. If anything, I believe you have some merit in this as well, Tsukinomori-san!”

“…Hmm?” Mashiro sent Midori a doubtful gaze.

In response to that, Midori gave a deep nod, and pointed at my face in return.

“Ooboshi-kun acted like he was playing around with Onee-chan, saying that he was engaged to her a while ago. There might be other girls that he did the same thing to…But, that cannot be allowed. In order to turn Ooboshi-kun into a proper man, I want to create an environment where we can inform each other about an these sorts of things, so we can immediately correct him!”

“Hmm…So if he’s acting close with another girl besides Mashiro, then…”

“Of course, I’ll send a complaint to Ooboshi-kun, and I’ll leak this information to you, Tsukinomori-san!”

“Contract established, Aki, do it.”

“Don’t sell me out like that…”

I really don’t like that my opinion is just being disregarded here. Well, I wasn’t going to decline to begin with. Exchanging IDs won’t hurt.

“Don’t misuse it, alright?”

“A-Are you sure?! Really?!”

Why do you look so happy now…And don’t get so close, you’re leaning forward.

“Y-Yeah…Just don’t overdo it, alright.”

“O-Okay. I’ll keep the nonessential and nonurgent contact to one hour a day. S-So don’t worry.”

“Isn’t that substantially unlimited then…?”

Well, I guess she’s just awkwardly running her mouth. With this, Midori and I, and Mashiro a bit after, exchanged LINE IDs. This happening during our fake date is highly questionable if you ask me, but it should be fine even if President Tsukinomori’s spy were to see us…right?

“I-I’m going on ahead with my friends then. O-Ooboshi-kun, don’t just use this festival to…assault your girlfriend, okay?!”

“Yeah yeah, I won’t. See you at school~”

“Bye.”

I gave a nonchalant response, whereas Mashiro said her goodbyes with the bare minimum of vocal activity. Midori’s face was still beet red, as she got pulled into the crowd by her friends, vanishing quickly.

“Aki, guilty.” Mashiro spoke up.

“Why?!”

“You were acting all lovestruck with President Midori. Even though you have your girlfriend Mashiro right next to you, you exchanged LINE IDs.”

“Didn’t you give the consent for that in the first place?”

“Mashiro had to accept it. You become aware of your wrong-doings, Aki.”

“So unreasonable…A woman’s heart is way too complicated…”

“And that’s just fine.” Mashiro stuck out her tongue. “The more complicated of a problem it is, Aki will try his hardest to solve it. It’s an operation to make you go crazy over Mashiro…Just kidding.” Mashiro showed a teasing smile.

“…!”

These words and gesture made me feel something tighten up deep inside my chest—In all honesty, she really is cute. That is the impression that appeared inside of my head. Midori just hinted at it, but the longer the festival moves on, the higher the chance might be for me to get swept along in this atmosphere. Really, what am I, some normie? How inefficient…

Though, I feel like I can’t even catch up with all this change that is happening inside of me. For now, I’ll just have to put faith in the advice of my great Senpai Kanaria, and see where all these feelings lead me to, and enjoy as much of it as I can.

*

「You’re on a date with your girlfriend, albeit fake, and get the contact address of another girl. Just explode already! …is what I can hear everyone scream right now」

「Looking only at the facts, I might be pretty lucky, but I wonder why I can’t appreciate that at all」

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1 An ancient idea of a ‘perfect wife’, who acts calm, collected, and devoted to her husband

2 A snow woman, a youkai, in Japanese folklore

3 Seems to be a special event in Shibuya during halloween