Ch.279If Side Story. Tokyo Slayers: Final Chapter (17)

The meeting place was somewhere neither Souta nor Shii had ever been before.

The reason the Sasaki siblings didn’t particularly go around various places in Tokyo was, in fact, because they didn’t have much free time.

Money could be managed somehow, but on weekdays, they didn’t have much time to spare.

Hanakawa High School was a place where one had to study diligently to maintain grades, and the same was true for Hanakawa High School where Shii attended.

Add part-time jobs on top of that, and they rarely felt like going far away on weekdays.

Fortunately, Souta and Shii lived in the center of Tokyo, and their schools were also in the center of Tokyo, so it wasn’t a big problem as they could compromise by meeting nearby after school.

In that sense, taking the train in the opposite direction from school was a somewhat novel experience.

This was Nanami’s consideration.

Kurosawa lives in Saitama. If they called her all the way to Minato Ward like they usually met, it would take Kurosawa too much time.

Usually, they just talked nearby after school, so it wasn’t a problem, but when setting a “meeting place,” shouldn’t one be considerate of the other person?

“……”

Thanks to that, Fukuda had to come from the farthest place.

She didn’t seem to be in a good mood after traveling so far in the already hot weather, but Fukuda didn’t complain much.

It seems she didn’t question the consideration for Kurosawa.

However, they didn’t go all the way to the outskirts of Tokyo. It seemed Nanami was a bit afraid to go somewhere completely unfamiliar, so they ended up meeting in what could be called a busy area.

Of course, there were somewhat fewer people than the places they usually went.

“Ah, Kurosawa!”

Nanami waved cheerfully, looking toward the station.

In the distance, Kurosawa, who stood out despite her gloomy appearance, was approaching them.

“Ah.”

Nanami muttered, seemingly a bit flustered as she realized why Kurosawa looked so gloomy.

Kurosawa was wearing her school uniform. Although it was a short-sleeved sailor uniform, it was completely black and looked quite hot.

No, rather than that, the fact that she wore her uniform even though they weren’t near school—actually, she wouldn’t have worn it even if they were near school—was proof that Kurosawa didn’t care much about her attire.

Or perhaps she simply didn’t have many clothes to wear.

“……”

Souta saw a brief flash of sympathy in Yuka’s eyes.

Kurosawa approached them with small steps, not even waving her hand.

Even Kurosawa couldn’t avoid sweating in this weather; despite her expressionless face, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead.

“L-let’s go inside somewhere nearby. Was it very hot?”

Nanami seemed a bit flustered seeing Kurosawa approaching while sweating, and quickly walked ahead.

Since it was lunchtime, they entered a nearby fast food restaurant to have a quick meal.

As they entered the air-conditioned interior, all the kids let out long sighs. While Kurosawa didn’t show such a reaction despite sweating, well, given that she was sweating, she probably didn’t dislike coming into a cool place.

Though her expression didn’t change and she didn’t express much, Kurosawa did have clear likes and dislikes.

As soon as they sat down with their hamburger sets, Nanami spoke up.

“First, I’ve decided on where we’re going. A beach near Tokyo. Though I say near, it’s about an hour by train. …Kurosawa, is that okay?”

“……”

From Kurosawa’s perspective, living in Saitama, she would need to add another hour to that.

But Kurosawa just nodded.

After staring intently at the hamburger in front of her, Kurosawa lifted the patty. And then—

“Hey, Kurosawa. Do you want to swap with mine?”

Yuka quickly said that when she saw Kurosawa trying to remove the vegetables on top of the patty. Kurosawa’s gaze rose to look at Yuka.

Perhaps because Yuka often showed distrust toward Kurosawa. After staring at Yuka for a while, Kurosawa put the bun back on the hamburger and gently pushed it toward Yuka.

The hamburger Yuka gave to Kurosawa didn’t have lettuce or tomato in it.

After watching the two awkwardly exchange hamburgers, Nanami continued speaking.

“I arranged the dates and days as you all told me. Everyone except Souta and Shii is okay with it, right?”

Souta and Shii nodded at Nanami’s words. The other kids also nodded with somewhat awkward expressions.

Among them, Fukuda had the most awkward expression.

“But that trip, I’m going too, right?”

Fukuda asked with a slightly awkward but serious expression.

“Of course.”

Nanami nodded.

“Do you have anything planned for summer vacation? Going out with friends?”

Fukuda’s expression became subtle at those words.

“Well… I was thinking of meeting friends, if not exactly going out.”

I guess even Fukuda would have friends in her class. Although Fukuda had a tendency to be an outsider in many ways, she seemed to attend school regularly. She just occasionally left early without permission.

“I understand why I’m going.”

Fukuda narrowed her eyes and looked at Souta.

“But him too?”

“Uh…”

Souta slightly opened his mouth at Fukuda’s words.

“Of course Souta has to come too. We’re a group after all.”

“Group or not, how many rooms are there? You’re not thinking of getting just one, are you?”

Fukuda said, looking at Nanami.

“O-of course not!”

Nanami was flustered.

“We’re getting separate rooms for boys and girls, right?”

Now they could understand what Fukuda was trying to say.

Souta also belatedly realized the problem.

He had been so naturally hanging out with the girls that he hadn’t been conscious of being a different gender from them.

Well, it’s not like Souta himself had forgotten his own gender, but when most of his friends were girls and they hung out so naturally together, he tended not to be conscious of such things.

But no matter how unconscious he was usually, sharing a room for an overnight stay was a bit much. It would be troublesome in various ways. Changing clothes, bathing, and so on.

“Is there a single room available? Or are you planning to bring another boy?”

“I’m not planning to bring another boy, and there’s no single room, but there are double rooms. Souta can go to a different room to bathe.”

After responding to Fukuda’s surprisingly detailed questions, Nanami muttered quietly,

“…I guess we can’t pretend and share the same room…”

“Nanami, sorry, I didn’t hear you clearly.”

When Souta said that, Nanami quickly raised her head.

Her face was slightly flushed.

“No, no. It’s fine. Of course I thought about that! What do you take me for?”

Well, he wasn’t thinking anything strange.

Thinking that, he looked to the side and saw Shii narrowing her eyes at Nanami.

Yuka was also looking at Nanami with almost the same expression, while Fukuda looked more dumbfounded.

For reference, Kurosawa was drinking her vanilla shake after eating half of her hamburger, and it wasn’t clear if she was listening to the conversation or not. It seemed she preferred the sweet shake to the hamburger.

“Oh, and,”

Nanami said, handing the plan to Souta.

“Do you have other time during the break? Even if not overnight, we could meet for a day and hang out.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. My part-time job is mostly in the evening anyway, so I can hang out in the morning even on days I work.”

Souta answered while briefly scanning the plan. As Nanami said, there were two rooms. He felt a bit sorry for taking up a double room by himself, but it seemed there were no single rooms available.

True to Nanami’s nature, the plan was quite detailed, even specifying where and what they would eat each day.

No one else had made any plans. Souta felt a bit sorry toward Nanami.

“Then, shall we all go to a festival? We can eat street food and watch fireworks. Kurosawa, what do you think?”

“……”

Kurosawa, who had been leisurely sipping through her straw, looked up at Nanami again.

She was still expressionless, but Souta thought that she somehow showed emotion, at least when eating something.

The other kids seemed to think so too, as the atmosphere was much more relaxed than when they first saw Kurosawa approaching in her uniform.

“It’s fine.”

“That’s good.”

Nanami smiled at Kurosawa as she spoke.

“Oh, and,”

Yuka cut in as soon as Nanami finished speaking.

“Let’s go shopping today. I’m out of summer clothes. I think I should buy a few outfits.”

Yuka was looking at Kurosawa as she said this, so Souta could immediately tell what Yuka was thinking.

…Indeed, she might seem that way on the outside, but she’s a kind person inside.