CH 24.4

Translated and Edited by: ynlucca.

Common Honorifics:

-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.

-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.

-chan: A common suffix among people you’re close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it’s cutesy and childlike.

The umbrella we bought was jet black, giving off a calm vibe. It was also water repellent for ease of use, sturdy as they come, lightweight, and compact to boot. Such boons didn’t come cheap though: 3000 yen, much more expensive than the competitors. Well, sudden rainy days are powerless against me now.

After that was done, we started walking to go buy Yuki some winter clothes next. On the way to the plaza elevator, Yuki suddenly stopped.

“Sorry, Haru-kun. Could you wait here a second?”

“Ah, sure. Did you forget something?”

“No… I’ll just be right back.”

“Gotcha. I’ll take a sit in the meantime.”

“Thanks, I’ll be right back!” She trotted off with a spring in her step.

After seeing her off, I took a sit at a nearby bench and opened my phone, checking any daily necessities I’d jotted down. Then—

“Oh, isn’t that Hinakura-kun? What a coincidence, meeting here!”

I looked up at the voice and saw two women smiling amicably at me. One had smooth golden strands and blue eyes, and the other had brown hair, glasses, and a hunting hat.

Our eyes met, and I couldn’t help but turn my head a bit confused. She had this foreign-looking charm to her, and for a moment I couldn’t figure out who she was. Then, an image of someone I knew overlapped with hers, and I had an “a-ha!” moment.

I stood up from my bench and approached the two.

“P–President?”

“Oh, maybe my different hairdo got you tangled up?”

She basically always wore a ponytail when in school, wholly different from how she looks now. The vice president also wore a hat, which only confused me further.

Still, one look at her and you can confidently say she is as beautiful as a model. At school, she was already a standout, but with this much fit and preparation, no living being could resist looking back while passing by her on the street.

“Prez, so you let your hair down outside of school?”

“That’s right. This is my normal attire, but it gets in the way sometimes during council work, so I tie it up.”

“I see. Are you two shopping out together?”

“She wanted to see a movie,” the prez looked at the vice. “So we found a nice theater around here. We thought it’d be nice to pass time until the screening hour, so we were just looking around at all these clothes. But are you alone, maybe, Hinakura-kun?”

“No, I’m not—”

As I was about to tell her I was shopping with Yuki, something happened.

“Oh, um!”

I was surprised to feel a tight grip on my arm. Looking to my side, Yuki stood there next to me, gasping for air, while holding on to dear life. Her erratic breaths were a sign she bolted here, and beads of sweat trickled down her forehead.

Both presidents looked at Yuki’s sudden appearance with blank looks on their faces.

“T, this person is very, important to me… So, don’t try to nab him, for yourselves!” She said, cheeks kissed red while looking at the floor.

This scene looked exactly like one of those where a boyfriend stops some other guys from trying to pick up their girl.

Quickly, both of the girls realized what was going on and small-coughed at the situation.

“You’ll be fine, Yuki-san. We didn’t mean to take him anywhere, we just happened to meet out here by sheer coincidence.”

“Huh… Wait, you’re the president and the vice president…?!”

She looked up at the two. After a short pause, she realized they were both people we knew, and her red face turned into a ripened tomato in a split second. From a distance, she didn’t realize who I was talking with.

Basically, she saw me surrounded by the two and came running to my aid. From her point of view, I was being picked up by two strangers, while in reality, I was just having a friendly chat with the two presidents, whom I met by chance. Nothing had happened between us.

I turned to look at the president, wondering if she had been embarrassed by Yuki’s misunderstanding. Fortunately, she was as chill as ever. She even winked at me as if to say, ‘I’ll handle this situation, don’t worry!’

“I’m sorry I made you worry, Yuki-san. It’s true that I dress rather differently outside school, so I can’t blame you for misunderstanding,” she nodded with a warm smile.

Yuki on the other hand, still red, stepped away from me and bowed deeply. “No… You were in the middle of a conversation, so I’m sorry for cutting you off.”

“No no, we’re the ones who interrupted you, don’t worry about it. So don’t make that face, okay?”

Yuki nodded and shuddered, embarrassed to the tip of her ears. Meanwhile, I thought this might actually have been a blessing in disguise. If it had been another classmate instead, there might’ve been quite a misunderstanding and a huge uproar. That story spreading to the boys would’ve made them unbelievably angry and jealous, and I could have gotten into serious trouble.

The prez turned to the vice and whispered something in her ear, receiving a nod in response.

“I won’t tell anyone about what we just saw, so rest easy.”

“Thank you so much for your concern…”

Yuki patted her chest in relief, then spun around to look at me with an apologetic face.

“I’m sorry I jumped you so suddenly, Haru-kun… I startled you, didn’t I?”

“It’s fine,” I smiled. “I was surprised, but I could tell you were worried about me.”

Truth be told, I never expected Yuki to be so antsy. Regardless, she must’ve been worried sick if she came running to me like this.

Chuckling, I patted her head. What she said while setting my hair this morning must’ve been on her mind the whole day. While my fingers ran through her hair with tenderness, her stiff expression gradually melted into softness.

“Hinakura-kun, Yuki-san, it’s almost time for the movie to start, so we’re off. Thanks for showing us something good. Buh-bye!”

Grinning ear-to-ear, both the presidents walked away while waving the air. As I watched their backs slowly shrink into the distance, I heard Yuki mutter quietly.

“I’m really sorry about earlier…”

“That’s nothing to apologize over, Yuki. Well, let’s go back to shopping, shall we?”

She clouded her face once again, only to be met with more pats on the head. I affirmed she didn’t need to worry about it, and she eventually squinted her eyes, giving in to my expression of care. Taking my hand in hers, she gently squeezed.

It was just a little accident, yet she was still flustered. Quite a rare sight, to be sure.

Besides, she did it because she cares about me. Who could blame this cute girl for being so single-minded, honest, and frankly adorable?

I giggled while we walked inside a store to buy her some winter outfits.