Volu 1, Chapter 11: Smile
Translator: yuNS
Editors: Yuuki, xyi
“A case with a cute design would be better after all, right?”
“There’s no point asking .”
Today was a rest day.
I had dragged Hashimoto along to go shopping for a mobile phone.
Using my ID, I bought a smartphone and signed up for a plan with a high data cap.
Now, I was racking my brains, trying to decide on what phone case to get for her.
“Maybe she would like a sparkly one?”
“Well, that’s sort of hard to imagine… I an, she doesn’t have any outdoor clothing other than her uniform. I also don’t really have any idea about her interests either.”
To my answer, Hashimoto let out a wry smile.
“Despite being her housemate, you don’t seem to know much about her.”
“I an, it’s not like it would be normal for to go out of my way to ask her about her fashion choices.”
“Really?”
She typically wore the sa set of gray sweats at ho.
The phone that she had used before was buried sowhere in the seas of Chiba, so I couldn’t use that as a reference either.
“Seriously, if it bothers you that much then why didn’t you just ask her directly?”
“Because if I ask her that, she’d just plead to not buy her a phone at all.”
I figured that it’d be best to just buy her the phone without her knowledge and give it to her after the fact. It was aningless to show constraint towards sothing that had already been bought, after all. Since it had been paid for already, using it was objectively the better choice.
Taking a sidelong glance at , Hashimoto let out a scornful laugh.
“What is it now?”
“Nothing much. I was just thinking that you seem to have taken quite a liking to Sayu-chan, Yoshida.”
“Hah…?”
As I scowled, Hashimoto continued to examine the countless phone cases that hung from the display rack plastered along the wall.
“I an, if our purpose here was to just buy a phone, then the design of the case shouldn’t really matter at all, should it?”
“But we’re talking about a high school girl. Of course she’d care about the design of the case.”
“That’s exactly what I am talking about. Basically-“
Hashimoto released a huff as he chuckled, then continuing in a slow, composed manner.
“You want to make her happy, right?”
I was left at a loss for words.
No, that wasn’t what I was trying to do in the slightest. That wasn’t it, but for so reason I couldn’t find the right words to retort against what Hashimoto said.
Perhaps there was a part of deep inside that really ant to do that.
“Well, if you want to play it safe, then just choose white or black.”
“That seems a little too foolproof, doesn’t it?”
“I think it’s important that it’s foolproof.”
As he said that, I took a good look at the white case.
I didn’t feel any dissonance imagining Sayu carrying a phone with a white case.
“Let’s go with white then.”
I grabbed a white case from the display and brought it to the cashier.
After checking out the case and walking a few steps away from the cashier desk, my gaze t with Hashimoto’s.
“Hey Yoshida.”
As I stared at him, Hashimoto continued.
“I think you should really give so consideration as to how you’ll be associating with Sayu from here on out.” 1
The tone of his voice contained both the warmth of sincere concern, as well as the coldness of a stern warning.
“It’ll be problematic if she beca emotionally attached to you, or, to take it a step further, fell in love with you.”
“…Well, you do have a point.”
As I nodded in agreent, we walked out of the store side-by-side.
“Not to ntion, there’s also the possibility of you falling for her, isn’t there?”
“Hell no. Anyone other than a big-chested older sister-type is a hard pass from .”
“But that’s just your sexual preference, isn’t it?”
Hashimoto asked with a chuckle.
“I love my wife dearly, but I don’t think I can effectively get off to her.”
“The heck are you on about?”
I said with a forced smile. Hashimoto continued indifferently.
“What I’m saying is that love and sexual preferences are two different things. You best be careful.”
“No, but seriously, I don’t have any interest in anyone other than older sister-types.”
“If that’s how it really is, then I guess you’ll be fine.”
Hashimoto chuckled and raised his walking pace.
I raised my pace to match.
“Sorry for dragging you out for this. Let’s get sothing to eat, my treat.”
“Alright, then I’d like to go for so ran. There’s nothing but balanced, wholeso als at ho after all.”
“What a casual humble brag. Alright, let’s go for ran then.”
As I nodded with an awkward smile, Hashimoto comnted that ‘It’s more of a complaint though,’ with a smile on his face.
＊
“Here, take it.”
I threw the paper bag without warning, which Sayu caught in a panic.
“Woah… W-, What’s this.”
“Open it.”
Sayu nervously rummaged through the contents of the paper bag. Her eyes widened as she found a small box inside.
“Eh, this is-”
“A phone.”
“Where did you get this from!?”
“I bought it.”
Sayu looked back and forth between the phone and , before tilting her head in puzzlent.
“Are you going to use it?”
“You don’t need to play dumb. It’s obviously for you.”
“Why!?”
“It’d be troubleso if I couldn’t contact you!”
Sayu looked at the paper bag with an indescribable emotion.
“…Wasn’t it expensive?”
“Don’t sweat it. I earn quite a lot.”
“…Is it really okay for to have it?”
“That’s why I bought it.”
Hearing say that, Sayu nodded her head firmly and let out a slight smile.
“Honestly, I was kind of shocked earlier. It’s rare for you to go shopping on a rest day, so I thought sothing weird was up.”
Sayu scratched her head awkwardly and let her gaze drift around the room.
“But I see now. It was for …”
Saying that, she showed her usual ‘gleeful’ smile.
“Yoshida-san, could it be that you actually like quite a lot?”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s just for communication, got it?”
“Well, I guess so.”
Sayu nodded as she noisily tore off the seal of the box.
“Wow, it’s the newest model too.”
“Really? I only bought this model ‘cause it sounded kind of impressive.”
“The heck, that’s hilarious.” Sayu giggled.
She then stared in the eye.
“Thanks a lot, Yoshida-san.”
“Yeah yeah.”
Feeling a little embarrassed, I averted my gaze from her. To be frank, it made happy that she was pleased with what I bought.
“Oh, there’s a phone case as well.”
Noticing a second box in the bag, Sayu quickly took it out.
“It’s white!”
“Do you like it?”
Sayu vigorously nodded her head in response.
“I love white.”
“I see, that’s good to hear.”
“Your sense isn’t half bad, Yoshida-san.”
As she said that with slightly mysterious condescending undertones, Sayu took out the case and quickly snapped it on the new smartphone.
“Ta da!”
“Good for you.”
“Thanks again.”
Sayu smiled innocently as she pressed the power button on the phone.
This is how it should be. Children shouldn’t have to hold back for the sake of adults. She shouldn’t have to show restraint towards what she’s been given. Just a simple ‘thank you’ is enough to satisfy .
It’s like I’m her guardian, really. No, actually, what I’m doing right now is no different from being her guardian. To be honest though, I’m not sure how to feel about having parent-like feelings for a high school girl whose background I know nothing about.
However-
What Hashimoto said this afternoon ca to mind.
‘Not to ntion, there’s also a possibility of you falling for her, isn’t there?’
The more I thought about it, the more stupid it sounded.
It was absolutely inconceivable for such feelings to sprout. To , before she was a ‘woman’, she was a ‘child’.
“Ah, Yoshida-san.”
“What’s up?”
“Let’s exchange contact info.”
She ca next to and showed the screen of her phone.
I was t with the main nu of a trendy and familiar ssaging app. It seems that she had downloaded this imdiately after booting it up.
“It’s impressive that you figured out how to download it so quickly.”
“Hehe, I’m a JK after all.”
The adaptability of younger people is really a sight to behold. Every ti I switched phones, I went through all kinds of suffering since I wasn’t able to figure out how to access its functions when I needed to.
I launched the sa ssaging app and showed Sayu my ID.
I’ve recently been using ssaging apps like these to contact my superiors at work. However, I would occasionally get an important ssage through a ssaging app, to which I would frankly like to advise them to use the company mail instead for such important ssages.
“Alright, I’ve added you!”
Sayu announced with a gleeful smile.
Looking at my screen, I saw the account na ‘its_sayu’ show up in the ‘friends’ column.
“Hey, shouldn’t you give your account na a little more thought?”
“Says the guy who made his account na ‘yoshida-man’. What the heck does the ‘man’ an anyway?”
“Shush, I just decided on my account na on a whim.”
Hashimoto had declared that ‘it’s a pain to contact you through mail so just download this’ and forced to make an account, after which I decided on a suitable na without giving it much thought.
Sayu giggled and laughed in response. Then she pressed the phone against her chest and gave it a tight hug.
“Hehe.”
Sayu looked at as she slovenly giggled.
“What’s so funny? It’s kinda creepy.”
“Look, look.”
Sayu lunged the screen towards my face.
‘yoshida-man’ was the only account listed in the ‘friends’ column.
“It’s ‘cause you’re my only friend, Yoshida-san.”
“You’re talking about the app, right?”
As she continued to giggle, she squinted her eyes and said.
“For your use exclusively.”
Her voice tickled the surface of my eardrums.
There was sothing strangely bewitching about her smile. Feeling a shiver run down my back accompanied by goosebumps, I flusteredly averted my gaze from her.
“W-, When you start your part-ti job you’ll have to add a few more won’t you…”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.”
Sayu returned to her usual indifferent look, which was soon followed with a full smile.
“Well, I guess we’ll be able to freely contact one another from now on.”
“Guess so.”
“Be sure to tell if you’re coming back late, okay?’
“I got it.”
Sayu happily humd as she paced back to the living room. Plopping herself down on the bedding, she began tapping away at her new smartphone.
With a short sigh, I headed towards the bathroom sink. After rinsing my hands with soap, I splashed water onto my face.
What the heck was that?
That strangely erotic smile. That tone of voice that made my mind skip a beat.
She’s just a child, yet she bore an odd intensity that made want to clench my heart and it caused cold sweat to rise from my skin.
I was used to seeing Sayu’s loose and relaxed smiles. Rather, I thought, just a little, that such a smile was adorable.
However, the smile that she showed today was different from any that she had showed until now – I could feel so ‘motive’ behind it.
I splashed my face with water again and released a long breath of air.
“I just don’t understand high school girls…”
Despite my murmur, the recollection of the girl’s bewitching smile continued to cycle endlessly through my mind.
Notes:
[1] Double aning with ‘associate’ here. The term in Japanese is 付き合い(tsukiai), which literally ans to platonically ‘be together’ or ‘accompany’, but depending on context it can also an ‘dating’
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