CH 131

The end of October. It was the weekend, and Shiho and I visited a cell phone store in a shopping mall. The purpose, of course, was to buy a smartphone.

I had promised to buy it as soon as the festival was over, but the timing with my parents did not work out, so I was not able to buy it. Today, the timing was finally right and I was able to buy it successfully.

My aunt left quickly after signing the contract, but this is usual. She was so used to it that she basically did the bare minimum as a guardian.

Shiho was accompanying us, but she didn’t say anything after all, and she was still the same person.

Well, that’s beside the point.

Shiho, who was shy around my aunt and quiet until a while ago, suddenly became energetic.

“Ufufu♪ I’m so happy that Kotaro-kun finally got a smartphone…, and it’s the same model and color as mine, isn’t it wonderful? It’s like a dream… I finally accomplished number 63 on my list of things I want to do with my friends.”

“… Are you even keeping track of that list of accomplishments?”

I have a feeling that the number is so huge that she probably doesn’t even keep track of it.

However, I don’t care if it makes her happy or not. I’ll stay with her until all the items on her to-do list are filled up.

“Oh, Kotaro-kun. Can I borrow your phone? I want to be the first to register my contact information.”

“Ah, here you go.”

I offered it to her honestly, since I still didn’t know how to use it well. Then she stood still and started playing around with it.

“Thanks. All right, I’ll need an address, GPS, a logging app, and…”

“Just the … address, okay?”

I’m afraid something extra is being done to me.

Well, I don’t care if Shiho does anything to me.

“…………”

I’m going to be silent for a while and wait until Shiho is satisfied.

The shopping mall where the cell phone store is located is crowded with people because it is a holiday. I think I’ll pull Shiho to the end of the aisle so she doesn’t get in the way of people passing by.

“Shiho, come here?”

I grab her hand lightly and pull her along.

As I do so, she leans her body against me, so I gently take her in. Both of her hands are blocked by the phone, so she would have fallen if I hadn’t supported her… This girl seems to trust me quite a bit.

As it was, I supported her as if I was hugging her from behind.

I was still thrilled to be in contact with her warm, soft, and nice smell … I still couldn’t believe that I could be intimate with such an alluring girl.

I guess I must really love Shiho.

If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be so thrilled… Yeah, I’m growing up a little bit, too. I’m not an emotionless mob character.

So I suppose it’s time to let it go.

“Shiho… it’s about time you heard me say ‘I love you’?”

We are such close friends, but our relationship is still “friends”.

In the past, Shiho did not accept my confession of love, saying that it was not enough. It seems that my feelings of “I love you” at that time were too weak for Shiho.

But I have grown up a little.

I am not just a despicable person like I was then.

I’m not sure if I love myself or not, but … at least the feeling of loving Shiho is real.

To be honest, I am embarrassed.

My desire to officially date Shiho was growing.

“Can you let me say, ‘I want to go out with you’?”

So I gathered my courage and asked for her opinion.

But Shiho seems… to have a love far beyond my expectations, after all.

“…I want to mess up Kotaro-kun, you know.”

“…………Eh?”

I was taken aback by this unexpected comment.

What does it mean? … When I tilted my head, Shiho smiled and squeezed my hand.

“I want to mess you up. I want to be so … loved by you, Kotaro-kun, so much … that you’ll break with just one word I say.”

-In a way, it could be described as decadent.

Because, you don’t usually have the desire to destroy someone you love.

But she does. That’s how much she loves me.

“Kotaro-kun, you care about me, don’t you? So you don’t want to destroy me, right?　That makes me happy, though, doesn’t it? If you love me that much, I’m sure you’ll break. My love is very heavy.”

The desire to break it is there, but we don’t wish it to be broken.

So Shiho shook her head.

“We’ve reached a point where it’s not so bad, but we shouldn’t be in such a hurry to … get there, okay? Our life is long. Let’s hold out a little longer, okay? At least until Kotaro-kun likes me enough to endure my affection… right?”

Shiho is not fooled by temporary desires.

Shiho was looking far ahead.

“That’s how much I love you, Kotaro-kun. So, I’ll hold out until you’re strong enough not to break down … a little more.”

Even Shiho is patient.

I’m still immature, so she’s waiting for me to grow into that.

If that’s the case, I guess it’s not the right… time yet.

“I see. Then wait a little longer. I am still making you wait.”

“No? I don’t dislike this frustrating relationship. Sometimes my desire gets out of control and I almost attack Kotaro-kun, but I’m not going to let that happen.　But I have to hold back because it would destroy the fragile Kotaro-kun.”

“… Hey, isn’t that a line from the guy’s side of the argument? Shiho, you treat me like a little princess.”

“Is it similar? Because you are my precious treasure♪.”

We walked slowly, exchanging such words.

Our hands have been linked, all along.

…As I said, the romantic comedy between me and Shiho is a bad one.

It’s hard to find a story that progresses so slowly.

(TLN: Yeah… yours is still only about 130 chapters… so no, it’s not that hard to find one that is longer smh)

But that’s okay.

We don’t need dramatic drama in our romantic comedy.

We will be in a state of happiness for a long, long time.

[End of Part 2]