Chapter 42: CH 43

Suzuka and I started to improve the room to make it more comfortable for us to spend time in.

We ended up passing the morning and into the afternoon just discussing what things we should buy to make the apartment better.

Anyway, we decided to have lunch before going shopping, so we ate and relaxed for a while.

That reminded me that Shima, my first friend I made in university, was on a date with a girl he met in our club, Tamura-san?

“How’s it going?”

I sent a deliberate message to Shima.

The reply came back immediately.

‘We’re having lunch right now, but the movie we saw was too delicate, and the conversation ain’t expanding… Tell me what to do…’

Oh, wait, didn’t I tell him that he should be aware of spoilers and do his research on the movie?

Thinking about it, I considered the advice I would give to Shima, who didn’t seem to be doing so well.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. I have Suzuka right next to me.

“You know, Suzuka. When you go on a date with a guy for the first time, what kind of conversation makes it easier for you to talk to him?”

“What’s up with that out of the blue?”

Then I briefly explained Shima’s problem with the first date.

Suzuka put her hand on her chin and started to think about my question.

“Hmm~, I’ve never been alone with a guy other than Yuki. So, this might be a rather difficult question.”

“But still, it’s for Shima’s sake. I’m asking you just as a reference.”

“I see. I think it is easier to talk if you talk about the immediate situation in a casual way. For example, if you see a cute outfit, you might say, ‘Oh, that would look good on you’. Or something like that.”

“I see.”

I’ll send Shima a message about what I just heard.

Of course, I’ll add a note to the effect that he shouldn’t play with his phone too much.

‘Oh, okay. Thanks for the advice. I’ll just try to expand on the meal we’re having right now!’

And that was the end of the exchange.

So, well, I discovered what I wanted to do with the conversation I just had with Suzuka.

“Suzuka. Do you want to go see the clothes together?”

“Why so suddenly?”

“I simply thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to shop for clothes together. I’ve shopped with you many times. You would ask me, ‘Do I look good in this dress?'”

“Yeah, I asked Yuki if it would look good on me, but you just said, “It suits you, doesn’t it?'”‘

“I realize that it was a waste of time… I would like to have a conversation with you about how cute you are and what I think doesn’t look good on you.”

Now that I think about it, it really was a waste.

It was too much to listen to a girl ask me about clothes.

Well, I guess I wasn’t as interested in Suzuka then as I am now.

“You won’t tell me to ‘choose quickly’ like before?”

“I’ll never say that, so don’t worry. Rather, I’ll tell you that you should worry about it.”

“Ehehe, I see. I can’t help it now. Then, next time, let’s go shopping for clothes together, shall we? I’ll even wear the clothes you say you like!”

She said she would wear the clothes I said I liked, so I said something silly.

“Even if it’s a school swimsuit?”

“Gghh. It brings back painful memories … After that, it ended up being super awkward because my mom told me that even if I did that kind of thing in a swimsuit, it should never be done in public, remember?”

“That was harsh…”

“Right? I mean, school swimsuits are not clothes. You’re terrible for making fun of me like that again.”

“You told me you’d wear anything I wanted. I know it’s a bad joke, but … Well, I have a desire.”

I’m a man.

The sight of a shy Suzuka wearing a school swimsuit is a creature I love.

I would never force her to do it, but I don’t hide the fact that I want her to do it for me.

I’d be happy to have her do it.

“You p*rvert! Well, you know what? If Yuki insists, I’ll do it for you, okay?”

Glancing into my eyes, Suzuka looks embarrassed, but still not too full of it.

It would be great if you would do it for me even though you’re embarrassed…

“… No, don’t. If I keep asking you to do too much, you’re going to get carried away, and we’ll end up like those people, a couple of amazing fools.”

“But you seem happy with that.”

Suzuka laughs with a subtle, indescribable smile on her face.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t checked recently.”

I open my phone and go to a video-sharing website.

Check out what videos are up on a certain channel.

“They put up another video like this…”

“Show me, show me!”

I tilt my phone toward Suzuka and we both watch the uploaded video together.

The content of the video is…

‘I tried to surprise my boyfriend to tell him we’re breaking up!’

And the people uploading this video are friends of mine and Suzuka.

They were Tanaka-san and Kaneda-san.

Those two are the extreme outcome of a stupid couple.

What were they thinking, they started to show their passionate couple behavior to the whole world in the form of videos.

… And if you ask if people around them don’t get it, they don’t.

“The videos are usually interesting, and they’re becoming popular video creators, aren’t they … those two…”

The couple is not just making out, but they have removed all of the cold development and edited their videos to a level that is entertaining enough to be shown to others.

“I called Miki for the first time in a while the other day, and she said, ‘We’re getting to the point where we can’t back down, so we’re going to give it our all, because we might be able to make a living out of this!'”

Tanaka-san and Kaneda-san, whom Suzuka calls Miki, started on the road to becoming big-time video creators.

As a result of their extreme foolishness, the two are in a ridiculous situation.

I wonder what will happen to them.

“… Well, if they’re happy, that’s good enough. However, I don’t want to be that stupid of a couple.”

“I know, right~. Well, they seem to be happy, and I think that’s good. I don’t want to be like that myself, though. So, what other videos were uploaded?”

“This video is a rather chilling example of slapping someone in the middle of a game of “I love you” so that it will be received well.”

The “I love you” game.

It’s a game where you tell someone you love them and make them embarrassed.

It is fine to enjoy it with one’s family, but to see a complete stranger doing it is so spine-chilling that I can’t watch it anymore.

Other than Tanaka-sane and Kaneda-san, all the other silly couple video creators usually post videos of them playing the “I love you” game, but Tanaka-san and Kaneda-san are different

They understood that it was going to be a bit chilly and added an extra element to make it a funny entertainment.

Maybe they are some kind of geniuses? The video is so well done that it makes you wonder if they are.

The number of views is also increasing.

“Nfufu~ Hey, hey, I love you! I love you, love you, love you~!!!”

“…”

“Quit being so unresponsive!”

“Even though I had a habit of making fun of the “I love you game” and other games that I thought were silly and cold in my mind, I was surprised to find out that it wasn’t that bad. I had a complex conflict with myself.”

That’s a very complicated emotion.

I usually looked at her with a bit of contempt, but when it came time for her to do something about it, there was a part of me that wasn’t too upset about it.

“But in this case, I lost because I wasn’t embarrassed, right?”

“I guess so.”

“I’m kind of pissed off when I think about it. How can I be a good wife if I can’t make Yuki embarrassed with just one ‘I love you’?”

“Hoho. I’m proud of you. But I’m not going to give in on the game you love.”

“Eh~, really?”

“Yeah.”

I insist with pride.

And Suzuka, who was sitting beside me, deliberately put her face close to my ear.

If I knew that she was going to say “I love you” in my ear, I wouldn’t be afraid of it.

I waited for her, confident that I would be able to escape without embarrassment.

“Hey, Yuki. How about I put on my school swimsuit for you when we take a bath tonight?”

That one comment was said in a very charming voice.

I had been bracing myself for the fact that she was going to say “I love you”, but that was a statement I had never thought I would hear.

But not yet. Endure! I can endure.

That’s what I thought.

She licked my ear.

“Buhuhuh!! Geho, Geho. That’s a foul!”

“Because Yuki isn’t shy! Fufu, shy, shy! You shy little thing!”

She was overjoyed at my flustered look.

As a punishment for being teased, I tried to catch her and lick her ear in the same way, but she kept running away and I couldn’t catch her.

“Yuki has been teasing me a lot lately~. I’m tough today, okay?”

Suzuka smiles cutely.

And then, since we were in an apartment, we both knew that we couldn’t play tag in a sloppy way.

Suzuka caught me as if to say, ‘I can’t help it’.

Then, she suppressed her voice and exclaimed with full of intention.

“Kya~, I’m getting attacked~. Yuki e-ecchi!”

“You. I’m really getting attacked!”

“You say you’ll attack me after your right hand heals, but I’m ready anytime.”

“Oh. You’re not shy today.”

“I’ve grown up!”

Making jokes and teasing is something Suzuka is good at, but she is not good at being teased.

Normally, she would turn bright red in the face, but today she was full of confidence.

No doubt, Suzuka is also a person who grows up.

No doubt, she no longer turns bright red when she is teased in an romantic manner.

I was frustrated by that, so I resisted.

“Is your underwear the one you’re competing with?”

“Wow~. S**ual harassment. But it’s okay. I’ll show you just a little bit!”

She pointed at the trousers she was wearing and made a space to show me.

She was unmistakably enthusiastic in her pale pink underwear.

“Oh, really Suzuka?”

“I’m not as naive to this as you think. Ehehe, but I’m still embarrassed, so I shouldn’t start by myself~”

Suzuka let go of her trousers.

She was still embarrassed to show them to me.

I was relieved to see her like that.

“But you know, if Yuki wants to see, you can, okay?”

She smiled devilishly.

I thought she was being cheeky and touched a few places I wouldn’t normally touch.

“Hmm…”

She let out a small voice and her face turned red, but she didn’t run away or make a fuss.

A somewhat shy, yet happy aspect of Suzuka’s expression is mixed in with her embarrassment.

Doesn’t it matter now that my right hand is healed or not?

But I am somehow able to endure.

I don’t need to endure it, but I do.