Chapter 15: How to Grant a Little Selfish Wish

It was about an hour after the phone call that I finally met up with the two of them.

The location was the food court inside the mall.

It was summer break, so the place was even more crowded than usual.
But thanks to her striking silver hair, spotting her wasn’t all that difficult.

"Fufufu~n!"

"...You're in quite the mood, Hikari Mikoto."

I couldn’t help but comment as she skipped her way over to me.

Then, without lowering her voice in the slightest, she said,

"I managed to buy some pretty naughty underwear! ...Wanna see?"

"...Don’t say stuff like that in public."

...What is she even talking about?

Putting that thought into action, I gave her a light thump on the head.

Unfortunately, a nearby salaryman eating udon must have taken her words at face value—he choked pretty badly.

"Ahaha, I was kidding. Well, if you really want to see, I wouldn’t mind that much though."

Reunited, Hikari seemed even more fired up than earlier.

Maybe the sheer chaos of the women’s lingerie section had overwhelmed her and pushed her into a bit of a frenzy.

"Haa... Anyway, I’ll keep my promise, so let’s go buy it already."

"Yaaay! Parfait, parfait!"

Right. The promise I made earlier—after being tricked by those fake tears—was simple.

Treating Hikari to some sweets at the food court.

But it wasn’t just any sweets.

It was a special jumbo parfait, a summer vacation limited item said to be about five times the size of the regular one.

Just hearing about it made me feel a little sick, and of course, the price was just as bloated.

And Hikari wanted to eat it—on my dime.

"This time, I will have my revenge...!"

For the record, this isn’t her first time ordering that parfait.

Every few years, driven by some romantic notion that "bigger is better," she’d save up her allowance and give it a go—only to fail spectacularly.

If I recall, two years ago she gave up halfway through.

Honestly, that’s why I was skeptical she could finish it this time either.

"Ch-ch-ch, you don’t get it, Yousuke. Back then, I was still a boy. But in stuff like this, girls are supposed to have a stronger sweet tooth—it’s basically a rule. So of course I’ll finish it this time!"

"...Is that really how it works?"

"Who knows? I wouldn’t know either..."

I asked Mom without thinking, since Hikari was acting so confident.

But she just tilted her head, looking puzzled.

It’s not like many people can actually compare physical differences between genders firsthand.
Everyone’s tastes are different, so no one can really say for sure.

"Maybe I’ll order one for myself too. What do you think, Yousuke?"

"Could you not mooch off your son...?"

Well, judging from the way she said it, I could already tell—Mom’s going to polish hers off without a problem.

Once we sat down at the food court, the rich aromas of various foods filled the air, and my stomach naturally started to growl.

Come to think of it, unlike Hikari, I had breakfast quite early.
And I hadn’t eaten anything since.

Honestly, I’m surprised I held out this long.

"Maybe I’ll go grab some ramen or something."

"...You sure you can carry it by yourself, Yousuke?"

"Yeah. I’m not the same as before, you know. You don’t need to tag along every time."

Hikari was probably worried whether I could carry ramen through this crowd by myself.

Back when I had a leg injury, even the slightest bump would throw off my balance.
In situations like this, I usually asked whoever I was with—most often Hikari—to go get things for me.

But that was then.

There’s no need for that kind of help anymore.

"Besides, what about the parfait? The ice cream won’t taste good if it melts."

"Ugh... good point."

In front of the two of them sat the towering, massive pair of desserts.

Piled high with an overflowing amount of strawberries and melon, each one was also loaded with a ridiculous amount of vanilla ice cream, enough to make you doubt whether it could be eaten before melting.

Since I paid for it, I’d like her to actually enjoy the taste.
That’s just human nature.

"Alright then, we’ll stay here and eat while we wait. With how Hikari-kun is now, if we left her alone, some guy might try to hit on her."

"It’s fine! If any weirdo tries anything, I’ll sock him! And if they’re after you, Yoko-san, I’ll protect you too!"

"Oh my, Hikari-kun."

…Mom giggled, thinking it was just a joke, but Hikari was probably being completely serious.

She was stronger than me now, and on top of her unknown-level strength, she even had magic at her disposal.

That kind of excessive firepower made me more worried for whoever might mess with her.

Still, as long as the two of them were together, it was unlikely anyone would approach.

With that conclusion, I said,

"Just… don’t do anything too reckless if something does happen, alright?"

and left the three-seater table behind.

Ordering the cheapest ramen was easy enough, but of course, it didn’t come out right away.

With my now-thin wallet in hand, I stood idly by the counter, unsure of what to do.

That’s when I spotted her—a familiar girl with glasses.

"Koshimizu, you’re here too?"

Returning the favor from yesterday, I called out to her from behind. She jumped a little in surprise.
But when she turned around, she already had her usual calm expression, adjusted her glasses with her index finger, and spoke.

"...What a coincidence, meeting two days in a row. What brings you here? Alone?"

"Nah, I’m with family. What about you?"

"With my fellow club managers. We're doing a bit of shopping too, I suppose."

"I see."

...Depending on how things played out, we might have run into each other with Hikari in tow.

I nodded, feeling glad I hadn’t gone with her, and this time it was Koshimizu who questioned me.

"Not looking for someone today?"

"...Well, yeah, I mean, I can’t be doing that every day."

No way I could say something like “I found them, but they turned out to be a different person now”—so I gave a vague response instead.

But under her sharp gaze, I knew it wouldn’t take long for the lie to crack, so I forcibly changed the subject.

"By the way, that outfit—"

When we met yesterday, she’d still been in her school uniform, probably straight from club activities.

But today was different.

A pure white sleeveless top and a navy long skirt.

Since we weren’t particularly close, this was obviously my first time seeing her in casual clothes.

"...Is there a problem with it?"

"No, I just thought it was kind of refreshing. I think it suits you."

It wasn’t flattery.

Though her outfit wasn’t flashy by any means, it matched her clean, composed aura perfectly.
She looked very much like a girl—in a good way.

I genuinely meant it as a compliment, but Koshimizu just said:

"...I see."

Then added:

"My friends are waiting, so I’ll excuse myself."

Leaving only those words, she turned and briskly walked away.

"...Did I say something wrong?"

It bothered me a little, but just then, my ramen was ready at the counter.

Letting it sit too long would ruin it, so I grabbed it and headed back to the table—
Only for Hikari to speak before I could even sit down.

"...Who was that?"

"Hm? You saw? That was Koshimizu, a classmate of mine."

"You two seem close…?"

"Not really, no. She might seem a little harsh at first, but she’s actually a pretty caring girl once you talk to her."

"Mmmmmm...!"

As I answered, Hikari started shoveling parfait into her mouth with a scowl on her face.

The mountain of cream disappeared at a terrifying speed, but—
Unfortunately for me, her expression didn’t look like she was enjoying it one bit.