I Will Do Everything In My Power To Bring Happiness To The Enchanting Beauty Who Can No Longer Smile. - Chapter 49: A Double Date.

A Double Date.

“Feels like it’s been a while since we’ve just hung out in casual clothes.”

“Yeah, we haven’t had much time alone together lately. Even just hanging out feels nostalgic.”

It was Sunday. I was walking with Shirao on the way to the station for the first time in a while.

Lately, I’d been spending most of my time with Tsubame, so this kind of moment felt oddly nostalgic. From what I’d heard, Shirao had also been with Se-chan a lot lately.

The reason we were walking together was simple: we were heading to a meeting spot.

“If Sakakibara’s with her, Se-chan probably won’t get hit on. I’m seriously grateful.”

“Right. She always gets hit on, so you usually don’t even bother with a meeting spot.”

Se-chan had the appearance of a timid, pretty girl—someone who, understandably, drew attention.
But in truth, she was a courageous one. She was the type who could shout, ‘Someone please help me!’ before anything bad could happen. That alone usually worked.

There was only one time it didn’t—but luckily, she had been meeting up with Shirao that day, and he really stepped up.

Still, it’s obviously better to avoid those situations altogether. And now, with Shirao as her boyfriend, it makes even more sense.

That’s why, instead of meeting at a designated place, Shirao usually picks her up from her house.

Tsubame and I also don’t usually set meeting spots since we’re almost always together. And even when we’re not, her mom often drops her off or picks her up.

Yesterday, after going with her to a job, I had the option to stay over—but I didn’t, because Tsubame said she wanted to try meeting up with Se-chan like this. That’s why I went home.

“Still, I didn’t expect Se-chan to be this assertive.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

Se-chan doesn’t judge people by their appearance. Sure, she probably likes Tsubame’s looks too, but she doesn’t just see the ‘peerlessly beautiful girl’—she sees Sakakibara Tsubame as a whole person.

“She loves to talk, though… I’m kind of nervous she won’t stop once she starts.”

“Tsubame’s more of a listener. But when she has something to say, she says it clearly. I think they’ll be fine.”

There were times when I wondered if I talked too much when chatting with Tsubame. I’d actually asked her once.

Back then, she smiled and said, ‘I like listening, especially when it’s you, Shigure.’

I did wonder if she was just being polite, but Tsubame isn’t the kind to sugarcoat things, so I figured it was genuine. Overthinking would just spiral into a mental swamp. Of course, it’s not great to take everything at face value either, but still.

“Besides, Tsubame was the one who said she wanted to meet Se-chan. I doubt she’s feeling negative about it.”

“That’s true. Maybe she just wanted to experience a typical meeting-up moment.”

“…Now that I think about it, girls do seem to really like meeting up.”

The thought just slipped out. I remembered middle school—when helping friends with love advice, I’d often get asked to secretly follow along during their dates.

Even childhood friends who lived next door would suggest meeting at the station or a park. And it was almost always the girls who suggested it.

“…You’re weirdly dense about things like this. I didn’t get it either until Se-chan explained it to me.”

“There’s an actual reason for it?”

“Oh yeah. But knowing you, you’ll understand once you experience it.”

I didn’t really get what he meant, but I figured seeing it for myself would be quicker than overthinking it. So I just kept walking with Shirao.

As we chatted and headed toward the meeting spot—an odd tension filled the air.

“…You can just feel she’s already here. It’s still thirty minutes before we agreed to meet.”

“Yeah. It’s like one of those cosplay photo sessions—there’s a whole crowd gathered.”

In front of the station’s park, it looked more like a small event than a casual hangout.

“So… do we try to push through?”

“Yeah. Shirao, hang back a sec. It’ll be easier to move if I’m alone—”

Before I could finish, the crowd suddenly parted.

The packed mass of people split like the Red Sea. It was fast enough that someone could’ve fallen, but thankfully, no one did.

And there, at the center—two girls sat on a bench.

“…So this is what it feels like to meet royalty.”

“Can’t say I don’t get the sentiment.”

It felt more like townsfolk parting for a passing samurai than an audience with a king, but the vibe was unmistakably reverent.

Still, that wasn’t unusual. Even at school, they drew tons of attention.

“Y-you’re early! Both of you!”

“O-oh. You’re early too.”

The girls stood, and Se-chan was the first to speak. Her nervousness didn’t seem to be from the attention—it was more about the situation. That was how she always acted when out with Shirao.

…Though I suspected a lot of that came from middle school. The teasing around relationships had been intense back then.

After watching them, I turned to the other girl—and my eyes widened.

“Good morning, Shigure-kun. …I woke up early today too, so I thought I’d put in a little extra effort.”

Tsubame’s work outfits are always practical: blouse, light jacket, long pants or skirt. Easy to change out of for photoshoots, she once explained.

(As an aside, she wears shorts under skirts to prevent upskirting—common sense precaution.)

She also usually wears light makeup, since professionals handle it at work.

Not that she doesn’t look good like that—on the contrary, she’s always captivating. Her beauty isn’t just surface-level—it’s in her confident posture too.

But today wasn’t a workday.

She wore a cream-colored dress with a wide-brimmed hat in a matching shade—something like a straw hat.

And of course, it suited her. But what surprised me more was how much of her figure was visible compared to usual. Not in an overt way—but the belt on her dress accentuated her curves more than usual.

And then—there was her makeup.

It wasn’t heavy. Just natural. But it brought out the color in her cheeks, made her expressions stand out more. I’d seen her with professional makeup before—but this was different. Softer. More personal.

“…Your makeup’s different today.”

“You noticed. As expected of you, Shigure-kun.”

Tsubame smiled gently. She didn’t seem to care that we were in public.

“My mom taught me how. She said this look would make me cuter. What do you think?”

“…C-cute. The makeup, and the outfit. They both suit you.”

“Hehe. Really? I’m glad I put in the effort.”

She laughed softly. Her face was partially shaded by her hat, but her smile was so lovely it made the shadow irrelevant.

And now, I understood why she’d wanted to meet up like this. With such a transformation, surprising me must’ve been part of the plan—a good surprise.

“W-what do we do, Shirao-kun!? They’re acting more like a couple than we are!”

“C-calm down, Se-chan! It… it took me nearly six months to work up the nerve to call you cute on a date!”

“And even when you finally did, you kept fumbling your words till we graduated middle school! You’d always say ‘cu-cuwaii’!”

“S-Shigure… as I feared, he’s terrifying… A-anyway, Se-chan… you’re, um, c-cute today too.”

“T-thank, thank y-youuu!!”

Let’s leave them to their own world for a moment… After all, we’ll be walking this road together for a long time.

At the same time, a question crossed my mind as I looked around.

“Hey, Tsubame. Earlier—how’d you get the crowd to part like that?”

“I just asked them to move. I could feel you getting close.”

“…You can sense me now?”

With Tsubame, somehow, it didn’t seem impossible.

I remembered once when I went to visit her house, and she’d been waiting at the door before I even rang the bell. Maybe it was like that.

“Shall we go? If we stay too long, the crowd’ll only get bigger.”

“Yeah. You two good to go?”

“Y-yeah! Totally fine!”

“M-me too!”

If we stayed, the crowd would only grow. Tsubame moved to my side and gently reached for my hand with a soft smile.

“Then shall we? —To our double date.”

“…Y-yeah. Let’s go.”

I stumbled a bit, but managed a reply—and squeezed her hand back firmly.

“W-what do we do, Shirao-kun!? They’re so couple-y! W-we should hold hands too!”

“F-fine! J-just… g-gimme a second… my heart’s not ready…”

“M-my palms are sweating…”

Chuckling at the conversation behind us, we walked forward—thus, our double date began.