Chapter 84: Volume 3 - CH 3.9

“No… I enjoyed it. Really, the experience has been almost too incredible for me. Personally, I don’t think that a relationship that started out fake is a bad thing.”

There were times that we had fights and there were times that we were utterly in sync with each other. During the time Yuzu and I were together, I saw a lot of her sides; I felt closer to her each time.

“It’s just, you just can’t stay fake forever. Somewhere along the line, you are going to have to face your feelings. In the end, maybe it was simply a way to put things off.”

There was nothing harder than deceiving yourself. Just like the current me, my heart had suddenly slipped off the reins at a moment’s notice.

“…Putting things off? The words of an experienced boyfriend sure strike the heart.” Sakuraba repeated my words as if to digest them.

Despite not being the perfect human, he was a better person than I was. There was only one thing left I could say to him.

“You may not be the perfect human, but you’re a good guy. So there’ll be someone to help you. Even if you guys were about to fall apart again, someone will hold you together. You can have a bit more faith in other people, can’t you?”

Sakuraba stiffened with wide eyes at my words. Then he chuckled in a relaxed manner. “…Yeah, that’s right. There’s no need for me to be burdened all alone.”

“Of course. Namase even came to me to lay some groundwork… Yuzu also wants to offer her support.”

I knew how Yuzu still regretted that she had run away last time. As someone always next to her, I could easily perceive the way she still felt guilty towards her friends and her sadness when things went awkward between them; those feelings were acutely transmitted to me.

If they were about to fall apart again, Yuzu surely wouldn’t run away this time and I… I would also support her wish.

So I was sure they’d be fine.

“Thanks, Izumi. That kind of lifted some weight off my shoulders. Thanks to your advice, I’ll be able to face the decisive day without thinking about extraneous things.”

After bowing, Sakuraba released a final shot. The ball traced a beautiful arc before perfectly dropping through the hoop.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Truthfully, I was in no position to worry about others.

I then added, “Me too… this helped me sort out a lot of things as well.”

Perhaps it was thanks to having spoken my thoughts to Sakuraba. I, too, felt my restless heart calm down. My feelings remained the same, and what I needed to say was the same too. It was no use being in a hurry now.

I just needed to wait for Yuzu to finish preparing her mind.

==

After school hours.

Yuzu hadn’t stopped by the clubroom but had instead gone to an apparel shop in town. And the person joining her wasn’t Yamato –

“Yuzu, what do you think about this?”

The curtain of the fitting room opened, and Aki appeared.

She was in a white knitted jumper and long black skirt—the kind of fashionable clothes that she didn’t often wear. Seeing her outfit, Yuzu smiled and nodded.

“Yeah. I think it looks good. But I heard it’s very cold on Christmas Eve, so you might want to put another layer on. Sota won’t be happy to see you looking so cold.”

Today, Yuzu’s job was to coordinate the clothes that Aki would wear on her Christmas Eve date. Although it was unfortunate that she had to act separately from Yamato, this was also to support her friend.

Besides… It was also true that she wanted a bit of time to sort out her mind.

“Wouldn’t this one be nice?” Yuzu reached for an ash-grey coat that had caught her eye.

“Mmn… but will this colour be too dark? Matching it with other colours might look good too.”

Yuzu pondered the outfit combinations in her head but soon realised that there was another serious concern.

“Aki, by the way, I’m just asking…”

“What is it?” Aki tilted her head in curiosity, but Yuzu’s eyes darted away restlessly.

“No… It’s just…” Yuzu dithered.

There was something she needed to confirm but it was difficult to ask… However, she knew she couldn’t keep mum about it.

“What’s wrong, Yuzu?” Aki gave her friend a quizzical look when Yuzu hesitated.

Finally, Yuzu made up her mind.

“Do… Don’t you need to also select the underwear too?”

“Yes?”

In response to Yuzu, who came out with a bold statement, Aki made a gaping sound as if she did not understand the meaning of it.

“If it’s underwear, does it matt…er…” However, Aki’s words stopped in their tracks.

Then she seemed to have understood what Yuzu was concerned about, and she turned red in a flash.

“Hey, w-what are you thinking?! I-I don’t need that!”

“Th-that might be true… But, Sota is also a guy.”

Yuzu also found the topic pretty embarrassing to talk about, but for the sake of her friend, she overcame her shame.

“Uuuh…” Aki made a faint groan and froze on the spot before she could respond, “…I’ll think about it. Later. Just in case.”

“That’s fine, I guess. Just in case.”

It was a moment of consensus between the two. Nevertheless, it would be awkward for them to touch on this topic any further.

“Well, let’s put that aside for now and pick out some general clothes for now.” Yuzu switched the subject, and Aki nodded her head.

“Let’s do that. Ah, how about this one?” Aki grabbed a coat and Yuzu scrutinised it.

“Hmm, it makes you look mature pretty much… But maybe it suits Aki,” Yuzu mumbled as she considered the clothes coordination.

At this sight, Aki thoughtfully muttered, “Even so, it’s been kind of a long time.”

“What is?”

Yuzu raised her head to see her friend languidly smiling back at her.

“Since the last time the two of us went shopping like this.”

“Ye…ah. It’s really been a long time.”

Yuzu was slightly jolted by such casual words from Aki.

To be more specific, it had been since October—Sota and Aki’s first date. The last trip was also shopping for Aki’s clothes to prepare for the date.

Afterwards, Aki’s confession failed, and somehow they both avoided going shopping together. Yuzu had also been surprised when Aki asked her out today, but what was even more surprising was the fact that Aki deliberately mentioned it.

“Well, I’ve always been hanging out with Yamato-kun lately. I’m sorry, I kinda left you alone.” As though evading the fact, Yuzu brought out a different reason.

“So true. As soon as you found a man, you were all over each other. I started to think female friendships were so superficial, you know?” As if buying into Yuzu’s excuse, Aki also teased her friend in a joking tone,

“A-haha! It seems I’m a woman who lives for love more than I thought.”

Yuzu exhaled a sigh of relief, thinking she had escaped the dangerous topic.

“…Right. If you really were that kind of girl, it might have been easier for both of us. I’m sorry, Yuzu.” Aki turned a somewhat forlorn apologetic smile towards  Yuzu.

“What’s wrong?” Yuzu probed in bafflement. “You don’t have anything to apologise for.”

chocolala: the author is really brilliant, the lingering heavy mood was instantly dispelled when Yuzu mentions underwear, lol! Btw, anyone noticed Yuzu picked a cloth the same colour Yamato picked for her before? hehehe