203 - An Expensive Problem

RAW

On the road to school, Haruto glances at Ayaka walking right beside him.

Normally, she would say “Shall we hold hands?” and offer her right hand, but today her face is red as she shyly averts her gaze.

“…The weather is really nice today!”

“Yeah, it is.”

Ayaka speaks in an unnaturally cheerful tone.

She’s been like this ever since they met at the sink this morning, even during breakfast.

She must be very conscious of what happened yesterday.

Haruto also feels responsible for it, so he tries to start a conversation to bring things back to normal.

“Um… about yesterday…”

“!?” “S-sorry about yesterday! But I really don’t mind at all! Actually, I should be the one apologizing!”

Ayaka’s face instantly turns bright red as she starts speaking rapidly in a fluster.

“It was all too sudden, right! We’re engaged, so there’s no need to rush! Right!?”

“Ayaka, um—”

“But honestly, if it’s with you, Haruto… I mean, no! Even for adult relationships, taking things slowly is normal, right!? We’re going to be married, but we’re still high school students first!”

“Ayaka—”

“I mean, someday I’d like to have kids too, and I think having a family would be wonderful, but right now we need to act like proper students! And we should also cherish the time we spend together! So—”

“Ayaka!”

“Hau!? W-what!?”

Startled by him calling her name firmly, Ayaka jerks her shoulders.

“For now, let’s calm down. Okay?”

“O-okay…”

Still blushing, Ayaka lowers her head.

Haruto wonders how to return things to normal.

At that moment, Shizuku suddenly appears out of nowhere with her usual blank expression.

“A lovey-dovey idiot couple in the morning. Correction: a passionately in-love married couple spotted.”

“Whoa!? You scared me… morning, Shizuku.”

Startled by the sudden appearance of his underclassman, Haruto greets her. Ayaka follows.

“G-good morning, Shizuku-chan.”

“Morning morning, Haru-senpai, Aya-senpai.”

Still expressionless, Shizuku greets them lightly, then stares intently at Ayaka.

“…What?”

“Aya-senpai’s red face. The embarrassed atmosphere between you and Haru-senpai…”

Resting her hand on her chin, Shizuku thinks for a moment, then speaks.

“Let me guess—you had some fun last night?”

“!?”

Ayaka jumps exaggeratedly and shouts in panic.

“Of course not!! ‘Fun’ or whatever—no way!! That’s not it!!”

Her reaction is so intense that even Shizuku looks slightly surprised despite her usual blank face.

“Huh? What’s that reaction? Wait… could it be you actually did have fun?”

“—!?!? I-I told you that’s not it!”

“…Extremely suspicious. What do you say, Haru-senpai?”

“…Nothing like what you’re imagining happened.”

“Oho~?”

Sensing something, Shizuku steps closer to Ayaka and locks eyes with her at close range.

“Aya-senpai?”

“W-what!?”

“Aaaya-senpaaai~”

“I said what!?”

“Haru-senpai is too dense and timid to make a move where your parents or Ryota-kun are around.”

Shizuku leans in even closer.

“But Aya-senpai might lose control of her love and attack him instead.”

Finally, she curls her lips into a slight grin.

“Because you’re secretly pervy, senpai.”

“!? Th-th-th-that’s not true!! I’m not secretly pervy!!”

“Then look me in the eye and clearly say: ‘I did not attack Haruto.’ Now, repeat after me.”

“I-I… I…”

Ayaka’s honesty is usually her strength.

But this time it backfires, and she looks away, mumbling incoherently.

Seeing this, Shizuku pats her shoulder.

“You’ll feel better if you just confess, senpai.”

“Uu…”

Cornered, Ayaka blushes deeply.

At that moment, Tomoya and Saki approach from the direction of the station.

“Morning~”

“Good morning. Wait, is Ayaka being bullied by Shizuku-chan again?”

Saki says with a laugh, but Shizuku shakes her head.

“No no. This is just fact-checking.”

“Oh really? What kind of fact-checking?”

“Whether Aya-senpai attacked Haru-senpai—”

“S-Saki, Tomoya-kun! Good morning! Why are you two together today!?”

Ayaka loudly cuts her off.

Haruto quickly follows her lead.

“Yeah, why are you coming from the station side, Tomoya?”

Shizuku’s attention shifts slightly to them.

“You two are lovey-dovey this morning too?”

“Haha, how embarrassing.”

“Don’t act embarrassed!”

Tomoya overreacts while Saki immediately scolds him.

“There’s a new guitar at the music shop by the station today. I wanted to see it in person.”

After his explanation, Saki adds,

“I found a suspicious guy breathing heavily while stuck to the shop window, so I dragged him away before the police got called.”

“So not a sweet romantic walk to school, huh,” Shizuku remarks blankly.

“More like an arrest,” Saki replies, exasperated.

Relieved that the topic has changed, Ayaka walks along as Haruto turns to Tomoya.

“So, are you going to buy that guitar?”

“As if I could! Do you know how much it costs!?”

“Are guitars really that expensive?”

“They are! Some cost as much as a house!”

“Oh? The one you were drooling over?”

“150,000 yen.”

“That’s expensive.”

“Right? That’s house-level, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, a luxury dog house maybe.”

Haruto nods seriously. Tomoya nods along just as seriously.

“Will you two stop seriously saying stupid things? Let’s go already,” Saki says, walking ahead.

“Aya-senpai, I’ll hear the full story later.”

“T-there’s nothing to tell!”

Chatting noisily, Ayaka and Shizuku follow after her.

“Man, I want that guitar… Maybe I should get a part-time job…”

Muttering that, Tomoya walks lazily behind the girls.

“A part-time job, huh…”

Hearing his friend’s words, Haruto falls into deep thought.

150,000 yen is indeed a huge amount for a high school student.

But what Haruto has in mind is something far more expensive.

“Hm? What is it, Haru? Thinking of working again? Housekeeping?”

“Hmm… not sure yet.”

“Want to clean my room? I’ll hire you for 10 yen an hour.”

“I’ll report you for labor law violations.”

Joking like that, the group continues on their way to school.