Today, the hot sumr vacation continues.
In the plaza of Tengu City, a woman sat on a public bench next to a fountain.
Her beautiful brown hair was tied into a long ponytail to easily wear a baseball cap. If one looked closely beneath the shadow of the cap, they would discover a stunningly beautiful face adorned with amber eyes. Light blue short denim shorts paired with a pastel t-shirt highlighted the girl's slender and graceful curves, giving off a heroic and handso vibe.
However, right now, this beautiful woman was staring sowhat absently at the clouds floating in the clear blue sky, seemingly spacing out to pass the ti.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Yutsuki"
A mont later, a boy with an extrely ordinary appearance, nad Itsuka Shido, arrived in front of the girl.
"Well, normally I should respond with 'No, I just got here too.' to be polite, right? But as a piece of advice, let teach you: when eting with soone, it's better to arrive ten minutes early. After all, this is Japan, not Arica."
The girl nad Ryougi Yutsuki patted Shido's shoulder and spoke earnestly.
"Haha... I'll keep that in mind."
Although he didn't know how long Yutsuki had been there before his own five-minute early arrival, it was obvious that even if he asked, she wouldn't answer. So, Shido could only nod with a bitter smile.
"Then, we should get going..."
[Idiot Shido, how many tis do I have to tell you! Her clothes. A comnt on her clothes. You absolutely have to give a serious complint to a girl who dressed up nicely. How can you not rember such a simple thing? Do you have the brain of a fish? Can you only store seven seconds of mory?!]
Kotori's fierce scolding rang in his ear. Shido quickly coughed dryly and said:
"U-Um... your clothes today look really good on you..."
"My clothes? You an this outfit I randomly bought from a street stall?" Yutsuki tugged at the fabric of her t-shirt, looking at Shido with a weird expression.
"...Kotori."
[Hahaha~ Failed! ☆⌒(*＾－゜)v]
From the earpiece, Kotori let out a very irresponsible, cutesy sound.
"W-Well... um! With your natural beauty, Yutsuki, anything looks great on you. Really!"
"Although the mont I heard that, my heart skipped a beat and made feel very complicated... could you please not show such an obviously panicked expression that says 'I was put in a tough spot by a useless assist, and this is my desperate attempt to save the situation'?"
For so reason, Yutsuki covered her face with her hand and spoke in a very complicated tone.
Just what kind of expression am I making... Shido thought, feeling utterly defeated.
Taking a deep breath, Yutsuki, looking perfectly normal, stood up from the public bench. She walked up to Shido and, while he was feeling nervous, reached out and took off his wireless earpiece.
"Moshi moshi? Kotori-chan?"
[Uh... Yutsuki-nee.]
For so reason, Kotori's voice from the earpiece carried a hint of awkwardness.
"...I think I've said this before. It might work on others, but for , knowing the details, this trick will only have the opposite effect."
[Uh... you see, just in case, if Onii... Shido accidentally does sothing stupid, we can help remind him...]
"Do you have a fetish where being monitored the whole ti you're out gives you a thrill?"
Yutsuki said in an extrely gentle tone.
[Ugh...]
Very rarely, Kotori, in her "Commander Mode," was left speechless by a sharp retort.
Then, ignoring Kotori's yelling from the earpiece, Yutsuki tossed the wireless earpiece into a trash can.
"Uh... Yutsuki."
"Geez, don't look so nervous. I'm fine, just act like you normally do."
Sighing helplessly, Yutsuki took Shido's hand and they set off.
"Hey..."
Feeling himself being dragged along by a soft little hand, Shido's movents were a bit stiff.
"Oh... right! There's one thing I must make clear." Halfway there, Yutsuki suddenly stopped, turned around with a serious face, and said to Shido, "Today, we are not going on a date!"
"...Understood."
That's right, although it might be hard to believe saying this now, today, their goal was indeed not a date.
______________________________-
"By the way, Shido, are you free tomorrow?"
A few days after returning from the seaside hot spring trip, during dinner, Yutsuki casually asked Shido.
"Hm? I don't have any plans, sa as usual. What's up?"
After thinking for a mont, Shido answered.
Yutsuki nodded in understanding and said, "Then tomorrow, go out with ."
"Well... I should be fine."
"Hm? Where are Shido and Yutsuki going? A date?"
When the naturally airheaded Tohka said this, Yutsuki sharply noticed that everyone's movents stopped.
"No. I'm honestly amazed by your mindset that instantly equates a guy and a girl going out together to a date... -_-||"
"Mhm... Did you discover a secret gourt restaurant and want to go taste it with Shido? I want to go too!"
"We're not going out to eat!" Yutsuki, caught between laughing and crying, chopped the foodie on the head. "Well... sorry, this ti I want Shido to go out with alone... As for the location, sorry, I want to keep it a secret..."
"Mhm... that sounds even more like a date."
Kotori looked at Yutsuki with a suspicious face.
"Hmph~ Shido is the private property of myself and Yuzuru. Even my comrade Yutsuki cannot borrow him so easily!"
"Agreent. To obtain ownership of Shido, a formal written request must first be submitted to Yuzuru and Kaguya."
Well, the Yamai sisters basically ant: if you want to go on a date with Shido, state the specific details first.
"Co on, I really don't plan on going on a date with Shido... It's just for a personal reason, and I don't really want to talk about it."
Facing everyone who seed intent on getting to the bottom of it, Yutsuki said, feeling a bit helpless.
However, everyone didn't seem convinced.
"Um... well... Yutsuki-san... has the right... to go on a date... with Shido-san."
Just then, the timid Yoshino chid in weakly.
"Yoshino... while I'm happy you're speaking up for , I already said I'm not going on a date..."
"Yo, yo, yo, yo! Has everyone forgotten? The final winner of the competition during the hot spring trip was Yutsuki-chan~ Yutsuki currently possesses the 'Ownership of Shido for an entire day'."
Perhaps seeing that the others didn't quite understand Yoshino's words, the rabbit puppet Yoshinon added an explanation in her flippant tone.
"Ugh... that is true."
"I did say that back then..."
"...It can't be helped. Going back on a duel's wager would damage my reputation in the dark underworld. I shall overlook it this ti."
"Acknowledgnt. If that's the case, we have no choice but to accept."
Hearing Yoshinon's words, Tohka, Kotori, and Kaguya & Yuzuru could only give up.
"Chotto matte! Why was my freedom for a day decided without even knowing!?"
"That's right! What I won back then was the right to command 'the cute Shiori-chan for an entire day'. This is fraudulent consumption!"
"I feel like I just heard sothing even more terribleeeee!"
Well, since Yutsuki herself felt she hadn't truly won, in the end, the "Ownership of Itsuka Shido" was used by Yutsuki. (Although Yutsuki deeply regretted it...)
____________________________
"So... isn't it about ti you told what exactly we're doing today?"
Following Yutsuki, who was walking down the main street without hesitation, Shido asked curiously.
"Well... it is about ti I told you the destination of this trip. We are going to the Tengu City swimming pool."
Yutsuki said with a serious face.
"Eh? Yutsuki, didn't you say you can't swim?"
Shido clearly rembered that just a few days ago, this Spirit—who could be considered humanity's most dangerous—elegantly dove into the water, forgetting she couldn't swim, and never ca back up...
"Don't you dare rember that—!"
Veins popping on her forehead, Yutsuki pinched Shido's cheek hard and said fiercely.
"Owowow! I didn't say anything, are you an esper?"
In a way, your guess is correct, boy...
"Shut up, your thoughts are written so obviously on your face, anyone could tell!"
Well... although I'm not so scheming mastermind, I shouldn't be so simple that my thoughts show directly on my face... Does Yutsuki study micro expressions too?
Shido rubbed his red cheek and thought dejectedly.
"I know I can't swim. That's exactly why we're going to the swimming pool." Yutsuki rolled her eyes in annoyance, pointed at Shido, and said seriously, "So today, you are going to teach how to swim!"
It was only at this mont that Shido truly understood Yutsuki's intention.
Humans generally have two choices when facing their shortcomings.
One, ignore and give up. Two, face it and overco it.
Obviously, facing her weakness of not being able to swim, Yutsuki didn't plan on giving up or running away. Instead, she bravely faced it to conquer her weakness.
The goal today wasn't a date, but training!
"What the heck... if it was just that, you should have said so from the beginning. It's not like I wouldn't agree."
Shido chuckled lightly, but was imdiately shut down by Yutsuki.
"No, if I said it out loud. Tohka and the others would definitely tag along expecting a fun ti."
"Is it bad if everyone cos?"
"If a whole bunch of people co, it'll definitely just turn into playing around, won't it?" Yutsuki sighed helplessly. "It's like when you're studying with a tutor, but your friends are in your room playing video gas. Tell , what could you possibly learn?"
"True..."
If your attention is distracted by external factors, many things you could normally do will fail. Shido nodded in agreent.
"But... why choose ? Like Tohka, or Kaguya and Yuzuru, don't they all swim much better than ?"
"..."
To Shido's question, Ryougi Yutsuki fell into a brief silence.
"...Because... being with you... makes feel a bit more confident..."
"Hm? What did you say, Yutsuki?"
Shido, whose attention was just caught by a food discount ad from a roadside supermarket, asked.
"Nothing! Hurry up and buy the tickets, idiot!"
PS: Well, I'll put Yutsuki and Miku's showdown on hold for now. Let trick you into reading so filler words with a short story~
User Comments
0 comments from readers