Ch.280If Side Story. Tokyo Slayers: Final Chapter (18)

Just as Kotone Kurosawa looked great when Nanami played with her hair, anything she wore suited her well because she had such a good foundation to work with.

Well, it might be natural since most of the clothes were just t-shirts. The plainer the clothes, the better they showcase one’s appearance.

That said, Kurosawa couldn’t possibly choose all the clothes she’d wear throughout summer here. It would also be a bit strange to buy everything for her.

However, Nanami and Yuka seemed to feel somewhat guilty about asking Kurosawa to buy things herself. Even though she did receive an allowance, it was the two of them who had suggested going clothes shopping in the first place.

Kurosawa probably wouldn’t show it no matter what, but it might look to others like they were pressuring her to buy clothes.

Perhaps sensing this atmosphere, or maybe having strengthened her resolve to become friends with Kurosawa, Fukuda had joined in and started helping choose clothes.

Come to think of it, Fukuda might be quite interested in fashion. She had dyed her hair blonde, and her clothes were the most stylish among all the girls.

“……”

Shii was watching Kurosawa’s unchanging expression with complicated feelings.

She must have sensed it. Since she had been abused herself, she might have realized Kurosawa had experienced something similar.

Souta was honestly concerned about Kurosawa’s home environment.

Her parents seemed to be aware of Kotone Kurosawa’s existence. She apparently talked with them at home and received an allowance.

But at the same time, it was strange that she didn’t have clothes to wear and her parents hadn’t noticed she was being bullied at school.

The bullying Kurosawa endured had left bruises that were visible just by rolling up her sleeves.

Some say there are parents who just throw money at their children, and some people consider that a form of abuse too.

It was hard to describe the situation since she was still attending school properly, so it didn’t seem like her parents had completely cut off their attention.

“Is this enough?”

After Souta and Shii had been standing side by side waiting blankly for about an hour,

Nanami said this while holding a bunch of clothes in her arms.

Even though they were mostly thin summer clothes, the pile looked quite heavy.

“What about swimsuits?”

Fukuda asked this while looking at Nanami’s satisfied expression and Yuka’s nodding.

Seeing everyone’s eyes turn to her, Fukuda sighed deeply.

“Swimsuits. They’re important. It’s a summer trip. Are you planning to go in wearing regular clothes? Or make her wear her school swimsuit?”

Even Souta, being male, thought a school swimsuit wouldn’t be appropriate.

“That’s… important.”

Yuka nodded as if she’d been caught off guard.

Then she looked at Kurosawa with a hopeful expression.

“Kurosawa, do you have any swimsuits besides your school one?”

“……”

Kurosawa slowly shook her head.

“Then let’s pick out swimsuits too. Don’t worry about the money.”

The three of them had chosen clothes together—actually, Souta was willing to contribute too, so Nanami’s words weren’t problematic.

“Souta.”

Nanami looked at Souta with a bright smile.

“I need to buy a swimsuit too. Could you help me choose? The one I bought last year is a bit small now. Some parts of my body have, well, grown.”

“Same here.”

“…You’re in high school and still growing?”

Fukuda asked incredulously after hearing Nanami and Yuka’s conversation, but the two pretended not to hear.

“Me too, me too!”

Shii raised her hand high and shouted.

“I haven’t gotten a swimsuit yet either. I’m still growing too, you know.”

This time, Nanami and Yuka looked at Shii incredulously, but Shii met their gazes with relative confidence.

In the end, Souta had to be dragged along for the girls’ shopping for quite a while longer.

Moreover, their standards for swimsuits seemed much stricter than for clothes, taking almost two hours.

Or maybe it took longer because they were choosing clothes for three people instead of just one.

…Though each person only bought one set.

*

Several days after that shopping trip where they didn’t buy anything for Souta himself:

[Souta, are you free tomorrow?]

The person who sent this email was Yuka.

Shii was upstairs in her room, so she wouldn’t see this message.

Finding it a bit strange that he’d checked if Shii was watching, Souta opened his phone and replied.

[I don’t have any plans tomorrow.]

[Really? Could you spare some time then?]

[That’s fine, but why?]

[I have something I need to do.]

Souta pondered Yuka’s words for a moment.

Could this be about “work”?

He tried to remember if Yuka had ever secretly called him out alone before, but it seemed she never had.

So Souta concluded that her request must truly be related to Yuka’s “work.”

Especially since the meeting place she suggested was near her house.

[Okay. I’ll be waiting.]

That was Yuka’s reply to Souta.

Emails don’t show expressions. Especially since Yuka tended to write even her messages in a businesslike tone.

If she had included an emoticon, it might have helped him understand the situation better.

Still, it probably wasn’t anything too serious, right?

The fact that she sent a text rather than calling suggested as much.

Souta put his phone down beside him and pondered this while listening to Shii’s footsteps coming down the stairs.

*

The next day, when Souta went to meet Yuka, he was completely surprised.

Yuka was waiting at the meeting place wearing a yukata.

“…Yuka?”

“…Follow me.”

Was she planning to infiltrate somewhere? There were many people gathered in the area. From the atmosphere, it seemed like there was a festival nearby.

The nape of Yuka’s neck was pure white.

“Um, Yuka? This is…”

“Our shrine is holding a festival.”

Yuka replied in a somewhat stiff tone to Souta’s question.

Was it because the weather was a bit hot? Her cheeks were slightly flushed.

“I need an outsider’s perspective to judge certain things. Like the food stalls and such. If I walk around alone, everyone will recognize me anyway.”

Wouldn’t they recognize Souta too, standing next to Yuka? After all, Yuka’s grandfather and father had already met Souta several times, and the food stall vendors would easily figure out that Souta was Yuka’s friend since she was bringing him along.

“Uh… okay. Sure.”

But Souta couldn’t refuse Yuka’s words because her demeanor was somewhat intense. She seemed somewhat displeased yet also a bit excited.

Besides, having come all this way, it would be a waste not to enjoy the festival.

“Good.”

Strangely, Yuka muttered as if talking to herself, then grabbed Souta’s sleeve.

And at the festival they enjoyed, just as Souta had expected, the food stall vendors completely misunderstood the relationship between Souta and Yuka.

More than half the people they met thought Souta was Yuka’s boyfriend, and even those who acknowledged they weren’t still gave sly looks that seemed to say “good luck.”

Whenever Souta tried to deny what these people were saying, for some reason Yuka would poke his waist with her finger or kick the side of his foot. By the time they were catching goldfish, he couldn’t bring himself to deny it anymore, so the vendor said, “If you’re Yuka’s boyfriend, you deserve at least one goldfish for free!” and handed over a bag with two goldfish.

…Didn’t you say one?

He accepted it because he couldn’t refuse.

According to Yuka, she didn’t have many friends her age, but it was good to see that she had good relationships with the neighbors she often saw in the area.

In the end, only after watching the fireworks together did the two part ways.

Wait, did we just enjoy the festival and nothing else?

“How was the festival?”

Yuka asked as she accompanied Souta to the station before parting.

Standing demurely with a bag in her hand, Yuka looked honestly pretty. Her atmosphere was completely different from usual.

He didn’t think one was better than the other.

“…It was fun.”

“I’m glad, then.”

Yuka nodded and said.

“We can do this again next year. And the year after, and the year after that.”

“Uh… every year?”

“Yes, every year.”

Yuka looked at Souta and said.

“I’d like your help with this, what do you think?”

“I’m… okay with that.”

“Good, then.”

Yuka said this and stepped right up to Souta.

Then she looked up at his face quietly. For some reason, she looked a bit angry.

But looking at that face, Souta strangely didn’t feel scared—

“…Well, goodbye then. Thanks for today.”

“Oh, yeah.”

When Souta responded blankly to Yuka’s words, she smiled slightly.

Then she quickly turned around and walked away down the alley without looking back.

“……”

Not understanding the situation, Souta stood there blankly with a bag containing two goldfish in one hand.

Only when he got home and Shii looked at the goldfish with disbelief did Souta realize he had no way to explain their existence.

*

[Souta. Are you free next week?]

And such an email arrived the very next day.

The sender was Nanami.

[I need to change the schedule a bit. Is it okay if we go to the festival before the trip?]

“……”

The content of the email was no different from usual, but why did he feel a chill down his spine?

Souta felt this way but couldn’t understand why.