Chapter 21 - Date with Aisa

<b>Date with Aisa</b>

I looked up at the mysterious monument in front of the station, which is a red bridge that spans over a multi-level walkway.

It was sweltering hot. Of course, the bridge was empty with the exception of a few birds, who were just looking down on me.

“What…”

I soon found Aisa.

“Let’s go somewhere cooler.”

There’s a department store connected to the station that’s only a short walk away, so she really didn’t have to stay here…

Here, there was an intense traffic of people, making Aisa very noticeable. Well, that’s only going to get worse if we go to the station… It’s not easy being beautiful, is it?

Aisa was wearing a cool, light blue, with a hint of white, dress and also a straw hat with a prominent light blue ribbon. If I didn’t know her, I might’ve thought she was a celebrity and leered at her. In fact, I’m getting uncomfortable stares from the people surrounding me.

If someone is looking for the guy who’s out with this cute girl, it’s me…

“Let’s go.”

“Y-Yeah…”

Aisa suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me along as we walked to the department store in the station building. It was buzzing around me.

“Hmph.”

I wonder if Aisa was also worried about the gazes around me or if she sensed my uncomfortableness.

The man who was about to call out to her backed off when he saw us walking hand in hand, which probably saved me a lot of trouble. But if… someone in our class saw this…

“What?”

“Nothi—… your outfit looks good on you.”

“Wha…”

Well, okay. I’ve decided that today I’m going to devote all of my attention to Aisa.

The seemingly horrifying punishment of having to do whatever she wanted actually turned out to be a light one, as it only took one day of carrying the bags around.

◇

There was a time when I thought so too…

“Shopping for a girl takes a long time, you know?” Manami told me, but I didn’t expect it to be as long as this.

Fortunately, thanks to the large number of department stores around the station, we didn’t have to move around all that much, though I had to keep going back and forth between similar stores for small details that didn’t seem to make much of a difference, at least in my eyes.

In the meantime, I noticed that the number of paper bags I had to hold had significantly increased, and it was almost impossible to hold them in one hand.

“Hey! Are you listening? Which one is better…?”

“Ah, sorry.”

I snapped out of my daze.

Aisa asks as she puts some summer clothing on. Even though she looks a little grumpy, her overall expression is soft as she seems to be in a very good mood today.

And so it goes…

“Um… I think they’re both cute.”

“…Mou! I’m not going to be able to decide because you’re always giving me the same answer.”

I really mean it, seriously. Honestly, because Aisa is so good-looking, she looks good no matter what she’s wearing. Even if it’s a unique outfit, it’s unexpectedly cute. As a result, I couldn’t decide.

Manami had advised me to praise her honestly and give my opinion properly, but this was unexpected. An honest opinion is useless here.

“So, did you end up buying either of them?”

“Because… I couldn’t decide… so I couldn’t help it…”

At this rate, the amount of luggage I had to carry would keep on getting bigger.

“Well! Next one.”

I was staring at Aisa, who seemed to be enjoying herself, when she seemed to have realized something and called out to me.

“Oh, you’re tired, aren’t you? Sorry.”

“No, that’s not it…”

“I’ve been in a daze… I knew I’d have to go to… today.”

Then I suddenly remembered Manami’s words.

“Today, you’re going to compliment her honestly! If she’s cute, say she’s cute, if she’s captivating, say she’s captivating!”

“No… won’t that offend her…?”

“How can she feel offended about a compliment? If Onee-chan gets angry, I’ll take care of it!”

“You were just too captivating. So, where’s the next one?”

“Of course he’s fawning… What?”

Please stop reacting so much, it’s going to make me embarrassed.

“Fawning…?”

“Come on, let’s go.”

“Whoa! Don’t pull me! And Kouki doesn’t even know where he’s going!”

When I pulled her hand to hide my embarrassment, we soon began aimlessly wandering through the department store. Aisa, who had resisted at first, became quiet. Her usual strong tone of voice completely disappeared, and I began to guide her to the destinations with her muttering “there” and “here” while looking down.

Aisa, who was quietly following behind me, reminded me a little of the old days.

(TL: part 2 of the date coming soon)