After the Tomiya siblings left, Kohaku quickly hopped into the bath.
A little later, when Kaori was about to head home, I stopped her in the living room for a moment.
When I handed her the gift I’d prepared, Kaori’s face showed a mix of happiness and something less certain, her expression refreshingly honest.
If this were some barely acquainted classmate from school, she’d probably respond with a gentle smile, but with a childhood friend like me, she could be upfront about her feelings.
“Oh… a mug… To be honest, I’ve gotten a ton of these already. Maybe because I mentioned my favorite one broke?”
Kaori said with a wry smile.
“Figured as much.”
Muttering, I handed her another wrapped box, separate from the mug.
“Huh? This is…”
I’d seen this coming from the start.
I’m not so clueless that I wouldn’t anticipate this.
…Not that I’m calling Kaori an idiot for not expecting it.
The mug was more of a backup, just in case.
Like how Kiritsuki and the others didn’t reveal what they bought when we went gift shopping together, I just wanted to avoid her knowing the real gift beforehand.
When Kaori opened the box, inside was…
“A hand mirror?”
It was a simple yet stylish hand mirror with a monochrome design. It cost just under 20,000 yen, definitely a brand-name item. Probably not something a high schooler would typically buy.
It’s commonly used for checking or touching up makeup, but even people who don’t wear makeup often find it handy to carry around.
Well, sure, for makeup touch-ups, the mirror in a lipstick case or foundation powder compact would do. Heck, a smartphone’s front camera works fine too.
“I don’t really use these much…”
“I know. You’d never buy something like this yourself, right? That’s why I picked it.”
“You know me too well…”
“I’ve never seen you carry one around, after all.”
Personally, I think a hand mirror is a fashion item in its own right.
Sure, part of it is just that I like them, but the biggest reason is that it’s something she’d never buy for herself.
“Ugh… It feels like you’re telling me to care more about my appearance.”
“It’s not about caring more. I just think it’d be nice if you dolled yourself up a bit, that’s all.”
“Doesn’t that get annoying?”
“I like that kind of stuff, so it doesn’t bother me.”
Most people probably find it a hassle, don’t they? I wouldn’t know about others, though.
“Well, when you think about it—getting a hairpin from your best friend and a hand mirror from your childhood friend—doesn’t that tell you something about your situation?”
“Hmm… makeup, huh…”
I’m not telling her to do something she’s bad at, you know.
Like, maybe try styling your hair a bit in the morning or doing some skincare after a bath. Start small, and if it doesn’t feel right, switch approaches or give up.
From my perspective, it’s honestly kind of scary that she’s not doing any of that right now.
It might not be necessary, but trying it could change something.
This hand mirror was chosen as a little nudge in that direction.
“Well… okay, since you went through the trouble, maybe I’ll carry it around.”
“That’d be great.”
As I said that, I walked her home, though it wasn’t far.
When we reached her doorstep and I turned to leave, Kaori suddenly called out.
“…Oh, one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ll make sure to use the mug too, okay?”
“Cool.”
What you get as a gift matters, of course.
But who it’s from seems to be just as important.
Even Kaori, who’s kind to everyone without discrimination, feels that way.
“See ya.”
Does she see me as someone worthy of the title “childhood friend”?
No matter what I feel for Kaori, I can’t perfectly gauge what she feels toward me.
That’s just how human relationships are.
They’re complicated.
To me, Kaori feels out of reach, but to her, I’m probably just someone who’s always there.
It’s normal for our perspectives to clash or miss each other entirely.
If human relationships could be swayed by simple emotions like love or hate, life would be so much easier.
After seeing Kaori off, I didn’t head straight home. Instead, I stopped by a nearby convenience store.
There, I hesitated over whether to call 110 on my smartphone.
Apparently, reports and calls about suspicious people spike in April.
Spring brings warm weather, and people go out more.
Plus, with the new school year, young kids start commuting, and the environment around schools changes.
So, suspicious types supposedly get more chances to target kids’ movements.
If I called the police to report “a woman relentlessly waving at the convenience store’s automatic door late at night,” they’d probably take it seriously.
I seemed to be the only one around, so I’d likely be the sole witness.
Well, no, there was a clerk inside the store, casually sweeping with a broom while yawning at the counter.
You’d think they’d notice a suspicious person at the door, but the clerk was oddly avoiding looking that way.
Now, what to do?
Should I talk to her before calling the police?
But her behavior was just too weird.
Still, aside from the suspicious actions, something else was bugging me.
The woman’s silhouette felt oddly familiar, like I’d seen her somewhere before.
She was a petite girl.
Her hair, lit by the store’s lights, had a faint bluish tint. Wearing oversized clothes, she kept waving her hands or shaking her head in some bizarre ritual.
A million questions raced through my mind, but no answers came.
I decided to hold off on calling the police and made up my mind to enter the store.
Muttering a quiet “excuse me,” I tried to slip past her, but then—
“Whoa…!?”
“Guhhh!?”
It happened the moment the automatic door slid open.
For some reason, the suspicious woman had been winding up her arm toward the door and, with too much momentum, ended up slugging the female clerk—who’d been sweeping—in the stomach.
“It opened…”
The broom clattered to the floor, and the writhing clerk collapsed.
“Ugh, guh…”
As for me, I was staring at the suspicious woman’s face.
“You’re… Hino Hana!?”
I was floored to realize the “suspicious person” was a classmate.
Man, I’m really not a fan of this girl…
The girl who’d just punched the clerk didn’t even glance at her victim. She was busy looking back and forth between her fist and the door’s sensor until she heard my voice and turned to me.
“…Oh, Himura. What’re you doing in a place like this?”
“What else do you come to a convenience store for besides shopping? Maybe to use the bathroom in a pinch.”
“The convenience store’s a bathroom? I came to shop.”
“Huh?”
This red-haired girl spouting nonsense is Hino Hana—Hinobana Toki, to be precise. I hate to admit it, but she’s a friend.
We’ve never gone to the same school—not in elementary, middle, or high school—but, well, she’s a friend.
She’s got a charming face, and her petite frame gives her a small-animal vibe.
If my eyes are dead, hers are like her facial muscles gave up the ghost.
Her personality? “Carefree” sums it up. I don’t know how else to describe it.
To be blunt, she’s nuts. But when it comes to music, she’s a legit genius—supposedly a master of most instruments.
She’s not as close as Kaori, who I’ve known since before I can remember, but Hana’s a childhood friend in her own way.
I think it was the year after I started performing kagura dances at the summer festival.
She joined as one of the gagaku musicians.
When I was practicing my dances alone as a kid, she’d often play music to help me out.
By the way, Toki has a twin sister who absolutely despises me. No idea why.
“Seeing you, Himura, kinda makes me want ice cream.”
“Huh…?”
This girl is seriously impossible to follow. She’s probably operating outside my realm of comprehension.
I thought for a second and decided to ignore Hana for now. I knelt beside the collapsed clerk.
“Um, you okay?”
“Ugh, uhh… What happened? Did the automatic door attack me?”
She clearly wasn’t grasping the situation.
As if an automatic door, which only slides side to side, could attack anyone.
Our eyes met for a moment.
“Feh!? A cute girl!?”
This lady’s a lost cause. Gotta do something fast.
She’s hallucinating.
No matter how closely you inspect my face, there’s not a shred of “cute girl” to be found.
“Hey, you okay?”
I asked again, and her eyes slowly started to focus.
“Oh… just some plain guy…”
I’m gonna deck her.
The moment she got a good look at my face, the clerk said that with obvious disappointment.
A jerk like her deserves to get punched. Maybe two or three more hits for good measure.
I stood up and walked toward Hana, who was standing in front of the cold coffee display like she didn’t have a care in the world.
Ice cream? She meant coffee?
“…Oh, Himura. What’re you doing in a place like this?”
“Didn’t you just say that…?”
“?”
Yeah, she’s hopeless too.
She’s probably just talking on reflex. Insects might put more thought into their actions.
“Hana, why were you freaking out in front of the door earlier?”
“Because no matter what I did, it wouldn’t respond.”
Oh, I see.
True, Hana was close enough to trigger the door, but it didn’t budge.
It only opened when I got close, so maybe the sensor was acting up.
Come to think of it, what happened to that rude clerk? I glanced toward the counter.
The rude clerk was clutching her stomach, checking the automatic door, then heading back to the counter.
Maybe getting punched woke her up, because she looked more lively than before.
Seriously, she could use another hit or two.
Feeling an overwhelming exhaustion, I stopped thinking, cleared my mind, grabbed some convenience store sweets and a pack of café au lait, and left.
“Thank you for shopping!”
I pretended I didn’t see the clerk get assaulted or run into Hana and left the store behind.
When I got home, I caught a glimpse of Kohaku heading upstairs after her bath.
With those two lively people gone, the house felt strangely empty, even though nothing had changed.
Kohaku and I aren’t exactly what you’d call cheerful, so our days usually pass in quiet moments like this.
I started the robot vacuum on my way to my room, grabbed some clothes, and headed to the bathroom.
Ugh… I don’t know why, but I’m exhausted.
☆Afterword──────────────────
We’ve hit the top spot in the weekly overall rankings for the Kakuyomu Romance Novel Award [Natsugatari ’25]! I’m truly grateful.
We’ve reached ☆500, and the number of followers is steadily climbing.
I don’t know the exact evaluation criteria, so I can’t say what’ll happen next, but I hope you’ll keep supporting us to maintain this momentum!
Also, I’m hosting an independent project, so why not check it out and discover some fun new romantic comedies?
