Chapter 6: 1.5

After school hours.

Yuzu had other plans so I separated from her and walked alone in front of the train station. I had one objective: to follow Kotani’s advice by getting a magazine from a bookstore.

“…And yet, no matter where I look, the Christmas vibe is everywhere.”

In December, the city had completely entered Christmas mode, with the early sights of trees and the melody of jingle bells. Even Father Christmas, with his impetuous nature, would not get into Christmas mode this early.

Thinking of such nonsense, I entered a large bookstore in front of the station.

“Welcome~”

When I entered the bookstore, I was greeted by the voice of one of its staff and the air that had been warmed by the heating system. The warmth soothed my body, which had been exposed to the outside winter air for so long.

At the same time as I felt  subtly relaxed, something tugged at the corner of my mind.

“…Where have I heard that staffer’s voice before?” My head tilted in thought  as I proceeded through the shop.

Then, I felt a gaze from behind me.

“Eh, is that Yamato?”

I was suddenly called by name, and I reflexively turned back towards the voice.

There was a girl with long hair pulled back into a ponytail and wearing an apron that looked like a school uniform. She was my friend Hinano Hiiragi.

“What’s wrong, why are you here?” She wore a surprised expression as she walked in my direction.

“Nothing’s wrong, just looking for some magazines… But you Hina, I never knew you worked here.”

“Yep, just for a short term. You see, I need to prepare for the year-end holiday,” Hina beamed, though with a little abashment.

Then it occurred to me.

“Oh, you made plans to go out with friends?”

“Well yeah. The girls from the basketball team plan to hold a Christmas party.”

Just as I thought. Hina had always made this kind of face when she reported that she had been invited by a friend. Even now that her personality had brightened up considerably, apparently this habit still stuck with her.

“Christmas party with the girls’ basketball team…? So nostalgic.”

“Fufu… Yamato, you wanna come too?” Hina teasingly invited me when she saw me staring into space.

“Don’t joke. I’m a guy who vowed to never again set foot in a girls’ gathering.”

When we were in middle school, Hina once invited me to the Christmas party held by the girls’ basketball team. At the time, I was worried about Hina, who was still not yet used to social interactions and was sure to be nervous in a gathering of many people, so I decided to participate together with her.

“Oh right, Yamato, you were told that guys should not be present in a girls’ gathering and were forced to be a Santa in a miniskirt as a punishment after all.”

“Don’t remind me of that!” I frowned and glared at Hina who just evoked my trauma.

However, she took no notice of that as she just shrugged her shoulders and said, “It suited you, you know?”

“No way I’d be happy hearing that! That’ll only give me a greater shock, okay?!”

I denied it with all my might, and then Hina lightly touched the hairpin she had on her head.

“Even though you used to wear a girls’ hairpin so willingly?”

“If you mention that, how can I say anything anymore!” I was struck speechless when she knocked me down with my darkest history.

Just why did I buy such a thing?

“…Talking about things to wear, Hina, will you be doing alright? At that time, you even refused the invitation, saying that you didn’t know what to wear.”

“Ugk! I-I’m already doing fine. That time as well, I went there no problem,” Hina flinched at my counterattack.

But I didn’t let that slip and dealt her another blow.

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“Ah, to be more accurate, it was that you wanted to refuse because you didn’t know what to wear, but you had no courage to refuse so you had no choice but to go, or was I mistaken?”

“D-don’t remind me of that unnecessary stuff…!”

Hina was gradually reddened as I counterattacked, exposing her dark history..

“I remember that time I helped you pick out the clothes and you managed to pull through. What do you say, do you want me to help you pick out clothes this time too?”

“No-no need! I properly have clothes to wear to the party!”

We glared at each other as we exposed the other’s dark histories.

“…This is going nowhere.”

“…Yep.”

In the end, however, after realising that the exchange produced nothing for either party, a truce agreement was reached between us.

“Geez, Yamato has become so mean,” Hina protested with her cheeks puffed.

“The same goes for you. You becoming a bright person also comes with this problem1,” I scowled as I stared at her. 

Our stare-off lasted for a few seconds before we burst into laughter as both of us found this to be so stupid.

“Well, if Yamato-kun is having fun, there’s no problem.”

“The same also goes for you.”

And so Hina resumed organising the bookshelves while continuing to chat.

“Back on topic, Yamato is spending Christmas with Nanamine-san, right?”

“Well, yeah,”  I nodded honestly, though a bit shyly.

“I see, so you’ve decided where to go?”

“Not yet. That’s the reason I came here. Is there any local magazine that introduces Christmas Eve events around here?”

Since the girls’ basketball team was also planning a Christmas party, I bet they had checked out the events to be held around here. Thinking that I might’ve found the right person to get the information, I asked her. 

Hina quickly took out some magazines from the bookshelves.

“This, and this. Also…this one? Yep.” She passed me several magazines she had taken out.

If I were to buy all these, it would cost me so much money.

“…You gave me so many. Do you have any recommendations among them?”

“All of them.”

“…You’re so good at sales.”

At my begrudging look, Hina beamed at me with a mischievous smile that I could never imagine in her old self.

“That was a joke. This one might be good,” Hina picked one out of the pile.

“Hngh… You, you really have become mean.”

“That’s rude. I was simply being a nice person who recommended magazines to her friend who was trying to save money on Christmas,” Hina nonchalantly replied.

Well, what she said wasn’t wrong, though.

“That’s right. Since you did me a favour this time, when you find someone you like, I’ll support you with all I can.”

“Huh? What’s that advance crime notice? Scary~” Hina finally gave me a shuddering look as I shot her a super refreshing smile.

In the end, we both went to the cashier and she handled my payment.

chocolala: We should have an illustration of Yamato wearing the hairpin, lol

Footnotes

as in her becoming a brighter/more social person has also led to her being meaner/more willing to attack him

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