I asked him to be my pretend-boyfriend but after a while I fell for him, but I can't seem to admit that fact! - Chapter 25: Date-1

Date-1

The long-awaited day of our date has arrived. Akira said he would come to pick me up at my home, but I said that we could just meet up at a specific place instead. Since, of course, I wanted to savor the date atmosphere even more.

“Hey, Akira, did you wait long?”

“No… I just arrived.”

It was the classic exchange that usually happens between couples going on a date.

“Itsuki, sorry… I’m a little late.”

“You’re just five minutes late!”

“I’ll make it up to you properly.”

Such couple-like events like this wouldn’t have happened if he just instead chose to pick me up at my home.

…You could even say that the date was able to begin before we actually went to our destination.

But things don’t always go as planned.

“ “Ahh!” ”

I thought it was a date.

“What perfect timing.”

“Yeah…”

To my surprise, we arrived at the meeting place at the same time.

“Shall we head out right away, or would you like to have some tea first?”

“I’ll leave it to you, Akira…”

“Well, then, shall we go first?”

“Yeah…”

Akira seems really at ease. He mentioned that he had never dated anyone other than me… but is that really true?

…But Akira looks incredibly cool today!

He always looks cool, and today too he’s styled with a hat and glasses, giving off a cute yet cool vibe as well. And I get to see his handsome face clearly, which is amazing!

I guess he wore the hat and glasses to avoid being recognized as Akira-sama.

It really feels like a celebrity’s casual outfit. So stylish.

“Do you often go shopping, Akira?”

“Yeah… I wasn’t really the type to go shopping back then though, but…”

Watching Akira at school, you wouldn’t think that he’s an avid shopper.

“I used to come shopping with Shizuka-san every weekend last year because she said my fashion sense at the time was terrible… It was to improve my sense of fashion, she says.”

“Every weekend!?”

“Yeah… It was pretty tough.”

It’s true that Shizuka-san might be capable of doing that.

But… that means you were going shopping with such a beautiful woman every weekend, right?

“At first, I used to escape quite often… but when I did it a few times, she started dragging me along on weekdays too.”

So that’s why she had her arm around him back then… I had been wondering why. Now I understand.

“Well, if it weren’t for Shizuka-san, I wouldn’t know anything about shopping or how to do it properly… I’m grateful to her.”

Huh? Shopping method?

I found Akira’s words intriguing, but for now, I followed Akira.

“Hey, Itsuki,, is it okay if we check out that shop?”

“Yeah, sure.”

The shop Akira chose had items with a simple design that seemed a bit pricey for high school students, although there were no outrageously expensive items. It was the kind of shop that Akira, as he is now, would definitely look like he would frequent

By the way, I liked it too. I thought, “Akira and I really have similar tastes.”

Akira quickly circled the store and then called over a store employee.

As expected of a guy, they make decisions quickly, I thought, while leisurely observing. However, I was completely taken aback by Akira’s next words.

“Um, from here to here, could you bring me all the clothes that fit my size?”

“Huh, all of them?”

“Yes, all of them.”

“Understood… Please wait a moment.”

The female store employee looked puzzled, but Akira acted as if nothing was wrong with what he just asked the employee.

“Hey, Akira… I can’t believe I’m asking this, but are you planning to buy all of them?”

“Yeah.”

That was truly unexpected.

“I learned it from Shizuka-san, but when you buy everything at once, they give you a discount, and they deliver it to your house too. You won’t regret it later, and it saves you the trouble of coming back multiple times. It’s a win-win situation.”

It might indeed be advantageous. However, Akira, you’re doing it wrong… Normal high school students don’t shop like that.

And come to think of it, Shizuka-san… she taught you the wrong way to shop!

“Um, for now, I’ve brought one piece for you to try on, would you like to see how the size fits with this one?”

“That’s fine.”

“May I also take your measurements while you’re at it?”

“Yes, please.”

We were led to a fitting room by the store employee, and an incident occurred there.

From the store employee’s perspective, they had only guided a slightly unusual customer.

Naturally, Akira removed his hat and glasses during the fitting. 

So…

Lo and behold, when he stepped out of the fitting room, the slightly unusual customer from the store employees point of view, had suddenly become someone else entirely.

“Eh… Ehhhhh.”

Akira had transformed into “Akira-sama of Inherit Sound.”

“Yeah, this looks good. I’ll take this size, please.”

However, the store employee didn’t seem to register Akira’s words.

“Huh? Excuse me?”

Akira waved his hand in front of the frozen store employee.

This scene felt strangely familiar.

“Ah… Is this Akira-sama of ‘Inherit Sound’?”

Akira seemed to finally realize.

“Yes, I’m Akira of ‘Inherit Sound.'”

“I’m a fan! I always support you!”

“Thank you.”

“Can I get your autograph later?”

“Of course!”

The store employee was overwhelmed with excitement at meeting Akira, and she was serving him with tears in her eyes.

It was a truly peculiar sight.

“Thank you very much!”

Akira, who was in a giving mood, offered autographs and took commemorative photos with all the store employees present.

“Itsuki… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“A year ago, Shizuka was the center of attention, and I didn’t really care.”

I see… Shizuka was also a member of the same group… so she couldn’t be observed leisurely, which is why she shops in this way.

I’ve come to understand various things.

…Even though the date had just begun.

I wonder if today will be okay.