Volume 10 - CH 33

Sasaki Emi Discovers

I’m tidying up my room today.

The season is changing soon so I’m taking out the winter clothes and putting the summer clothes back in the closet.

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“Hideyori-kun, you don’t have that many clothes huh.”

“Well, that might be true from a girl’s point of view I guess.”

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Emi is helping me pack but she seems to find the number of clothes I have lacking.

But mentally I’m 30 already you know.

Rather than fashion, I’m valuing functionality more nowadays.

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Since Takeru and Yamamoto are quite fashionable themselves, I’m relying on my previous life memories to pick out something for myself but if I has not been friends with those two, I would probably be ignorant of fashion even more than this.

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“How about you buy a few more summer clothes?”

“You think I should? I guess I will have to go shopping soon then…….”

“If that’s the case then I will go with you, I will pick something that’s a perfect fit for you, Hideyori-kun!”

“I will be relying on you then.”

“I’ll do my best! I can even coordinate outfits for you!”

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Emi was full of motivation.

Girls really love shopping for clothes huh?

Yamamoto often said that girls always take their time picking out their clothes and it’s tough waiting around for them. He was trying to say that there are ups and downs when you’re dating a girl but that’s clearly him humble bragging right.

More often than not, I would storm around the school while screaming [F**K!!] in my mind when he started bragging about going out shopping with his girlfriend.

I never expected to be so happy that Emi would invite me out like this.

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“Fufufufufufu!”

“If we’re going shopping then why don’t we invite Takeru, Risa, and Madoka too?”

“……..Hideyori-kun, don’t go and do something unnecessary now okay.”

“Eh?”

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Until just about 3 seconds ago, she was smiling happily but suddenly her eyes lost all their light just like the game’s Eien-chan.

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“Why? Why would Hideyori-kun wants to invite so many people?”

“I mean, I would be able to hear their opinions too right……..”

“You don’t have to worry. I will take the responsibility and make Hideyori-kun a fashionable man myself.”

“R, Really…..?

“Yes. With a lot of people, our fashion senses will clash so it will be counterproductive. You wouldn’t visit a pasta place and add more meat sauce to a Neapolitan right? If the pasta is good enough already then meat sauce is enough to make it delicious. I’m the meat sauce. That’s why we don’t need the Neapolitans.”

“I see, that makes sense.”

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If you put a shrine maiden cloth on top of a maid outfit then even if it’s StarCha wearing it, the result would be a mess and her charm would diminish.

That said, StarCha in a maid outfit or a shrine maiden outfit huh?

I’d definitely go for the maid outfit.

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“So Emi alone is enough huh! It’s going to be just the two of us, I’m looking forward to it!”

“Easy……. But I like that side of you too, Hideyori-kun.”

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Perhaps the reason I haven’t been popular up until now is due to my plain choice of outfit?

I guess I can have some expectations since Emi is going out of her way to make me a fashionable man.

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“Fufu, this is going to be Fu~n. It’s a date with Hideyori-kun.”

“…………”

“Hideyori-kun?”

“A, Ahh! Yeah, it’s gonna be fun isn’t it.”

“?”

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D, D, Date!

Emi is calling it a date!

Wow, so this kind of thing counts as a date too huh……..

A, As I thought, Emi might be seeing me that way after all…….?

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What is this……?

This fuzzy feeling in my chest when I’m looking at Emi……..

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Risa, Madoka, Sakuya, Eien-chan, Nodoka, Seiko, Yurika, Yoru, Mishima…….

Among them, Emi alone is different…….

Somehow, the feelings I have for her are similar to the feelings I had for Kurusu-san in my previous life…..

But Kurusu-san is Madoka……………, eh?

I, am I going crazy…….?

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“Hideyori-kun.”

“!?”

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Fearing that Emi might have seen through me, my heart skipped a beat.

Did she notice that I was getting nervous…….?

I cautiously looked back at her.

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“W, What is it?”

“I found an album! Look!”

“A, Album…….?”

“I found it in the closet.”

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What……

I thought she realized that I’m seeing her as a potential love interest……

[Eh? Do you think that I’m in love with you? Are you delusional, Hideyori-kun?] if she says something like that to me I don’t think I can ever trust another human being ever again…….

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I didn’t even think of Emi when I was playing the game……

She was an annoying antagonist and what she did in Eien-chan’s route was pretty irritating…..

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But it would be impossible for me to not be conscious of Emi who’s been at my side for so long right……..

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“Let’s look at it together! It’s exciting isn’t it.”

“Y, Yeah, for sure.”

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Emi sits on her knees in front of the small album while I sit cross-legged a little away from her.

I never thought that there would be a day I would be looking at an album and feel nostalgic.

Emi and I have known each other for so long.

Let’s try recalling what she was like back in the day.

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TLN: The following is a Japanese children’s song.

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“Dendenmushi Mushi Katatsumuri.”

(Sub: Snail Snail.)

Right, I remember Emi singing like that.

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“Omae no Uchi ha Doko ni aru?”

(Sub: Your house, where did it go?)

“THAT’S NOT IT RIGHT!” (TLN: The original lyric is Your head, where did it go?)

“Eh?”

“Asking where its house is would be like the snail is HOMELESS isn’t it!?”

“Houmrez?”

“If you get stranded on a deserted island and left without a house then you wouldn’t sing it so casually like that……..”

“There there……., cheer up, Hideyori-kun.”

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It was a memory of when Emi patted my head to cheer me up.

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Some embarrassing memories came back to me.

Clueless about my inner turmoil, Emi tapped at the floor and called out to me.

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“Come on! You can’t see it if you’re that far away right? You don’t have to be so shy around me.”

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Urged by Emi, I moved to the distance where our shoulders could touch.

“Alright, this should do.” Saying so, Emi opened the album.

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………if you act like this, there’s no way I’m not gonna be aware of you right.

Author Note: Hey, you made Emi so miserable in the game so you better take responsibility, Hideyori!

You two were dating in the game after all!

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Emi’s [This is going to be Fu~n] is what was left of her habit to say [FUN] back when they first met at the playground.

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What about that deserted island scenario?

That’s V6C17

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Next up, Album time!