Yurika
Koutarou bought sports magazines from time to time. Rather than collecting every issue, he would only pick them up whenever they featured a player he was particularly interested in. One such special issue was coming out today, and he was planning on stopping by the shopping street after school to buy a copy. He wasn’t sure if the person he was walking home with had other plans, however, so he decided to ask her first.
“Yurika, I’m gonna swing by the bookstore. What about you?”
“I’ll come too! There’s some manga I want to buy!”
“All right, then let’s hit it up on the way home.”
“Okaaay!”
Today, only Koutarou and Yurika were going home together. For better or worse, the rest of the crew was extraordinarily busy. Sometimes this would even include Yurika, and Koutarou would end up heading back to room 106 by his lonesome.
“It’s finally starting to cool off, huh?” he observed.
“I hate summer... It’s just so hot...” Yurika whined.
It was still late summer, but the calendar was nearing September. The heat of the day would slowly subside as night came.
“You hate winter too, though,” Koutarou remarked.
“Don’t you think the seasons between ‘too hot’ and ‘too cold’ are too short?”
“Well, spring and fall are three months apiece.”
“Three months that go by in a flash!”
They continued to talk about nothing in particular as they retraced the steps of their commute to school. But unlike in the morning, it was just the two of them right now—and they would be alone together until they hit the shopping street.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yurika began in a slightly lower voice than usual, “Say, Satomi-san...”
“Hmm? What’s up?” he asked. When he looked over, he could see that her cheeks were bright red. It wasn’t the uncomfortable expression she would make when she was in trouble, however.
“There’s something that every girl dreams of trying... and I was wondering if I could with you.”
“Yeah, sure. I don’t mind.” If this was something every girl dreamed of, not just Yurika, even the dense Koutarou had an idea what it might be.
“Here goes...”
Yurika moved half a step closer to Koutarou. She then took his arm and wrapped hers around it. Indeed, walking arm-in-arm like this was what she’d dreamed of trying.
“Let’s go,” Koutarou said after a moment.
“Okaaay.”
Yurika interlocking her arm with his had given Koutarou some pause. They weren’t dating, after all, but he ultimately decided to go along with it. It was the least she deserved, and walking arm-in-arm wasn’t exactly uncomfortable.
“Heehee!” Yurika giggled as they set off again. She’d been worried this would upset Koutarou, so she was quite relieved when he showed no sign of displeasure.
“You’re really okay with something like this?” he asked.
“But I never get a chance to do anything ‘like this.’”
“That’s ’cause you’re always so wishy-washy.”
Yurika wasn’t a late bloomer, but she was slow to take action. That was why, oftentimes, other girls would beat her to the punch. She preferred to wait until she had Koutarou alone to make her move.
“You’re also surprisingly considerate of everyone,” he added.
Lately, Yurika had been much more mindful of the people around her. She was no longer as insensitive and obtuse as she’d been in the past. She’d grown. Experiencing setbacks of her own had taught her the art of holding out.
“What’s surprising about that?!” she demanded.
“You heard me.”
“Jeez! Why do you have to ruin this for me?!”
“Sorry. What should I be doing instead?”
When he stopped to think about it, Koutarou realized how hard Yurika worked for his sake. It was just easy to overlook thanks to her day-to-day carelessness. There was no harm in letting her have this.
“I’d like it if you just took the hint...” she said, her cheeks red and her eyes downcast. There was something that she desperately wanted Koutarou to do, but telling him to do it wouldn’t feel right, so she didn’t say it at all.
“I guess this is as far as we go now, then.”
Koutarou reached out and patted Yurika on the head. She was always an MVP in combat, and she’d even started putting real effort into her studies recently. He continued to pat her on the head as they walked, both proud and grateful for her contributions.
“This is... surprisingly embarrassing,” she muttered.
“What’s surprising about that, huh?” Koutarou parroted, throwing her question from a moment ago right back at her. It didn’t mean much. He was only kidding around with her.
“Pfft... Ahahaha! Oh, Satomi-san...”
But that single silly joke was enough to wipe the awkward expression from Yurika’s face. She smiled again. Beamed, even. The light in her eyes was softer than ever.
“If it’s so embarrassing, maybe we should stop.”
“Can we please keep going?”
“You got it.”
The fading sun was low in the sky, but it was still hot to cling to someone in the late-summer evening. Neither one of them seemed particularly bothered by it, however.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login