After My First Love Who is My Classmate Became My Family, My Childhood Friend Became Really Sweet to Me - Chapter 18

Its Name is Fuwashiba/Would You Like to Hug Me?/The Girl in The Memory

After asking the store clerk to place our order, we paid our order and decided to walk around the store before we got back.

Apparently, besides home appliances they also sell furniture there, their selection of furniture is not inferior to some big furniture store chains.

“Come to think of it, now that we have started living together, we might as well buy new curtains or something.”

“…you’re going to buy them for me? Is it okay?”

“It was only me and my dad who live in the house, we didn’t care much about our house furniture, so it might not suit Hinata’s tastes. Well, it will be something that Hinata will see every day from now on. I think it is a good opportunity to pick something you like. Do you have a favourite colour?”

“I guess so… Ah! I like this light blue one. It’s like the colour of the ocean.”

She looked at the curtains and gave me a cunning smile.

“Then, let’s both pay half for it, okay? It’s something we will use together after all, right?”

Maybe because I started living with Hinata, somehow, I’m starting to enjoy choosing interiors with Hinata like this. It was like we are adding colours to a blank canvas together.

“Yuto, is it okay with you if we buy a houseplant?”

“Hmm. I see. Well, I don’t dislike it as long as it is not too big. Would you rather grow them with me than just hanging them on a shelf?”

“That’s a good idea! I always wanted to do something like that. Then, shall we take turns watering it every day? I can do it myself actually, but I’d like to grow it together with you—”

Then Hinata who was really ecstatic about it suddenly blushed and became silent.

I wondered what’s wrong. I feel like I was blushing that time as well.

“I-I’m sorry. I suddenly feel embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed…?”

“Y-Yeah. I can’t help but to think when Yuto and me talk about our new life together like this …we sound like a couple living together.”

“Eh?”

“N-Never mind! L-Lest just go over there!?”

“…??”

I wondered what she said. I didn’t hear what she said clearly because she said it in a very small voice. But it seemed that Hinata was acting very strange.

Timidly, we left the interior design area. But electronics stores are really amazing these days. They really have a wide variety of things.

Suddenly, Hinata stopped in an area.

It was the toy area, she stopped in the stuffed animal section.

“Hinata, do you like stuffed animals?”

“I don’t really like them that much. But there is one character that I like, so when I come to places like this, I tend to look for him. …oh, there it is.”

Hinata picked up a Shiba inu stuffed animal that was as fluffy as a dandelion with a smile on its face.

…huh? Something about this character feels familiar to me—

“Could this be a Fuwashiba?”

“Yuto, you recognize it! It was very popular when we were kids.”

“Ah, yeah! I miss the days when all the girls in my class had these things.”

At the time, the Fuwashiba anime was very popular among girls. It is about a loyal dog who did his best for his master. It is a very wholesome anime to watch.

There were many girls who would go out with a stuffed Fuwashiba in their arms, so whenever they feel lonely, they would just hug Fuwashiba.

However, every trend always come to an end.

Every time a new character is introduced, Fuwashiba is seen less and less, and finally it is forgotten by many people.

“But I can’t believe they still produce Fuwashiba stuffed animals.”

“I’ve liked Fuwashiba for a long time. When I was a little girl, I love watching the Fuwashiba anime. I was always alone when I was a child, so I only looked forward to watching it.”

“…you were always alone?”

“Ah—it was a long time ago, you know? I didn’t have many friends when I was a kid.”

It was unexpected. I never imagined that Hinata, who is called the sunflower goddess and admired by everyone, did not have many friends when she was little.

With a happy smile on her face, Hinata picked up the stuffed animal. I think she wanted to hug it, but she holds herself back because it was a display product.

“Fuwashiba is really small and adorable right?  He even went on a big adventure to the neighbouring town in order to find his master’s lost item. Even as a child, I was impressed by how hardworking he is.”

“He really sounds like Hinata.”

“…me?”

“Hinata truly cares of other people, right?  Hinata becomes the student council president so that she can help everyone, she even does the chores for me and she isn’t afraid to help anyone. I think she’s as hardworking as Fuwashiba.”

“I’m not sure about it. I think this is the first time you said that to me. I see, so I look like Fuwashiba to you. Well then…”

Hinata smiled like a mischievous older sister.

“When Yuto is lonely, do you want to hug me like a Fuwashiba?”

“Ehh—”

For a moment, my mind had gone blank. I held Hinata in my arms.

Both me and Hinata went silent for a few seconds. Then, Hinata’s cheeks turned bright red.

“I-I’m joking! I mean as brother and sister! I didn’t mean as lovers, it’s more like a familial hug. Yeah, that’s what I meant!”

“Y-Yeah. …I know”

No, it was obvious when you think about it. I should have joked back to her like ‘Hahaha, you are really funny!’. After all, there is no way I can hug Hinata that way.

…I still can’t help but see Hinata as a classmate, as a girl, as a potential partner.

But, Fuwashiba huh?

The price of the stuffed animal is 2000 yen. Yes, I can afford it.

“Can you hand that stuffed animal to me? If it’s okay with Hinata, I want to buy it for you.”

“…this one? For me?”

Hinata was stunned for a moment. Her face turned bright red.

“Ehhh—!? You don’t have to worry about it! It’s not because I don’t want Yuto to buy me the stuffed animal. But I think it’s kind of embarrassing for you to buy it for me.”

“Don’t worry about it. This is totally normal, right?”

As natural as possible I smiled at Hinata and said.

“If I give you this as a classmate, it might have a little extra meaning to it, but we’re family now. You should at least accept a gift from your brother.”

Hinata’s eyes widened in surprise.

That’s right, Hinata is no longer my first love. She’s my big sister, who is meddlesomely kind and sweet to her family.

Then, I wouldn’t mind giving her a stuffed animal as a gift.

Besides, there aren’t many girls who don’t like stuffed animals. It’s a perfect gift for girls.

“…hmm. I feel like this is not the first time I’ve seen something like this. It is a rule of thumb that girls will be happy when they are given stuffed animals?”

“N-No, no. It’s not like that.”

But what Hinata said wasn’t wrong after all. I remember a girl who was very happy when I gave her a stuffed animal as a gift a long time ago.

Come to think of it, the stuffed animal I gave her at that time was also a Fuwashiba. My life is always connected to Fuwashiba in some way or another.

“Thankyou. I’m really happy to have him.”

“I’m glad to hear that. After all, it’s true that Fuwashiba is really cute.”

“Hey, maybe Yuto is interested in Fuwashiba as well?”

“Just a little bit. I think it’s a nostalgic character and I’d like to have one in my room, but it’s hard to carry these kinds of things to the cash register when you’re a boy. I’m not going to do it this time.”

“But if it’s a gift from someone, Yuto won’t be embarrassed, right?”

After saying that, Hinata handed me another stuffed animal of Fuwashiba.

“This is my gift for you.”

“What? From Hinata? For me?”

“Yuto seemed to want it. …I’m really annoying huh?”

“No, not at all. I was just surprised. But I feel kind of bad making Hinata to buy the same stuffed animal for me.”

“I’d rather you accept it. I’ve always wanted to have the same thing as Yuto. You know that family usually enjoys pairing clothes and accessories together, don’t you? I thought it would be nice to have something in common with Yuto.”

Oh, I see. So that’s why Hinata wants to give me this Fuwashiba stuffed animal.

For Hinata, it’s like a proof that we are a family.

“I see. In that case, I’ll have to take good care of this stuffed animal.”

“…you will accept it?”

“Well, I’ve always been interested in Fuwashiba. If Hinata want to have something in common with me that’s fine with me. Besides, it’s my job as a younger brother to go along with my sister’s wishes.”

She was surprised of what I said.

Eventually, as if unable to contain her feelings of joy, she hugged Fuwashiba tightly.

“Thanks, Yuto. … hehehe, we have something in common.”

Hinata smiled innocently. She smiled like an innocent little girl.

Hinata may have smiled not as a classmate, not as the student council president—but as an older sister who longed for the presence of family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fortunately, installation of the dishwasher was easy and we were able to install it in our home the same day we purchased it.

At first, she said that it would be best to buy the one with the fewest functions, but Hinata was looking at the dishwasher which was washing our cooking utensils and dishes in a good mood.

“～～♪”

“You’ve been staring at it for over ten minutes now Hinata. You bought it to save your time washing dishes, and now you’re watching the dishwasher while it is washing our dishes, which seems like the complete opposite of the reason.”

“It’s the first time for me to have a machine that wash my dishes, so it makes me really happy. I’m sure I’ll be taking care of it for a long time to come. Hey, what should we name her?”

“You’ve grown so attached to it that you want to name it… Well, I’m glad you like it. I’m going to take a bath first.”

I chuckled at Hinata who was looking at the dishwasher and went back to my room to get a change of clothes. As I grabbed my appropriate underwear and pyjamas, I suddenly noticed something strange.

There was a stuffed animal placed above my pillow. It was something too adorable for a high school to have. The stuffed animal was the only thing in my bed besides my pillow and blanket.

“I never thought I’d give a Fuwashiba stuffed animal to a girl again.”

Well, the other time was an elementary school girl.

I still remember it. The girl was really quiet and timid.

I couldn’t leave such a girl alone and I definitely wanted to be friends with her. Even when the girl was scared, I stayed by her side and talked to her so that we could be friends.

I remember how happy she was when I gave her a gift of her favourite Fuwashiba.

I also remember the first time I saw her smile; she was incredibly cute.

…really, it’s a beautiful and nostalgic memory. I wish I could see her just one more time.

But I never thought that I would give a Fuwashiba stuffed animal for the second time in my life.

“…come to think of it, I’ve never given a present to Hinata before.”

Until now, I didn’t have the courage to give her a gift.

It’s a strange thing to be able to do it so easily once we’ve become family.