My Childhood Friend Is Dangerously Sexy and Cute - 5

Chapter 5: My Childhood Friend and I Go on Wholesome Weekend Dates

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“Hiro-san, Hiro-san.”

“Nn-gh…?”

“Let’s go on a date.”

It was the first Saturday after the new semester began. Early afternoon. It was that time of day when sleepiness starts to take over your body. Yuki, who had made herself at home in my house as if it were the most natural thing in the world, spoke those words.

“We’re going out at this hour?”

I was just thinking about taking a little nap, too.

“If it’s alright with you, Hiro-san.”

“Is there somewhere you want to go?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“A love hotel.”

“Ah—a love hotel, huh? Love… A love hotel!?”

“Don’t you want to go at least once?”

“W-Well, I can’t say I don’t understand the feeling…”

Strictly as a life experience, alright?

“Then shall we head out? You’re finally in the mood, aren’t you, Hiro-san? Let’s go have some quiet, steamy fun.”

“Hey, I never said I was going!”

“I see… That’s a shame.”

Can you stop making a face like you’re genuinely disappointed? It makes it look like I’m the bad guy. …Wait, is it actually my fault?

“Anyway, jokes aside, shall we get to the main topic?”

“It was a joke!?”

Give me back my pure heart that was on the verge of being fooled for a second.

“Of course it was. High schoolers shouldn’t be going to love hotels. Or were you actually getting into the idea? If so, I’m sorry. I’d prefer our first time to be in Hiro-san’s room, so I’ll pass.”

“Why am I the one getting rejected in this conversation!?”

Seriously, I don’t get it! I don’t understand this childhood friend of mine at all!

“With that said, let’s get to the real point this time.”

“Right…”

“There’s a cafe I want to go to.”

“A cafe?”

“It’s a shop that just opened this April, and it’s been getting a lot of buzz. Apparently, the pancakes are delicious.”

“Heh…”

Yuki spoke with an excitement she couldn’t quite hide.

Despite how she looked, Yuki had a massive sweet tooth. Generally, as long as you gave her sweets, she stayed in a good mood. This applied quite a bit to me as well. I was also fond of sweet things. While I didn’t feel the need to eat them daily, going out for sweets with Yuki was something we did every once in a while. Since it was awkward for a guy to enter those trendy shops alone, it was actually a big help for me, too.

“It looks something like this. What do you think?”

Yuki operated her smartphone and showed me photos of the shop. There were various types of pancakes and other sweets lined up.

“Looks tasty. Let’s go.”

“Yes, Hiro-san.”

After replying with a smile, Yuki began preparing to head out. An aura of delight was already leaking from her. Look, she was even hopping a little.

In moments like these, she really acts like a normal girl…

She truly was a childhood friend who lived for sweets.

✳︎ ✳︎ ✳︎

“Well, here we are.”

The cafe was located in a corner of a nearby shopping district.

“There’s a line.”

“It spread like wildfire on social media, after all. Everyone probably came to eat here this weekend.”

“I see. Shall we line up, then?”

“Yes.”

The two of us joined the queue side-by-side. Even though there was a line, it wasn’t that long. We likely wouldn’t be kept waiting for ages. I stole a glance at my childhood friend next to me. Yuki was waiting for the line to move with a “hurry up, hurry up” vibe. To a stranger, she might have looked calm, but I could tell. Also, Yuki was in plain clothes today. It wasn’t that rare for me to see her like this, but it still felt fresher than her school uniform. Not that I knew much about women’s fashion, though.

If I were to analyze it a bit, Yuki seemed to favor surprisingly simple outfits. Today, she was wearing something like a pale-colored one-piece dress. Perhaps because her natural “raw materials” were so good, Yuki was more than beautiful enough even without dressing up fancy. While I was staring at her with those thoughts, I locked eyes with Yuki.

“Hiro-san? Did something happen?”

“Eh, ah, no…”

When I hesitated, a question mark appeared on Yuki’s face. This happened the other day, too. In front of a silver-haired beauty of a childhood friend, saying she was cute or that the clothes suited her felt too late and too embarrassing to say out loud now.

“I was just thinking… The weather is nice.”

“The weather? Yes, you’re right. The temperature is just right, too. Though I’m not sure if that’s something you think about while staring at my face.”

Yeah, I know. I knew that. It’s hard to come up with a random excuse on the spot. I feel like this childhood friend of mine sees through everything. Just like that day I told her “it’s nothing.”

“Oh well. Look, Hiro-san, it looks like we can go in now.”

Perhaps because she was looking forward to the pancakes, she let it slide without pursuing the matter this time. 

Nice one, pancakes.

Urged on by Yuki, we entered the shop, and the stylish interior and decor greeted us. We were shown to our seats by the staff. Then, the two of us peered into the menu. Just as the photos had shown, the menu was lined with numerous sweets.

“Hiro-san, what will you have?”

“Go ahead and pick what you like, Yuki. You won’t be able to narrow it down to one anyway, right?”

“Is that okay? Then, um, um… this strawberry pancake, and…”

Yuki was staring intensely at the menu with an unusual amount of seriousness. She looked so endearing and cute doing it. I almost wanted to take a picture. For now, I decided to save it in the “album of my heart.”

“I’ve decided. I’ll go with this matcha whipped cream pancake. Is that okay with you, Hiro-san?”

“Yeah. I’ll call the waiter then.”

I rang the bell on the table to call the staff.

“Thank you for waiting. Are you ready to order?”

“Yes. One of these, and one of these pancakes, and…”

Yuki placed the order while pointing at the menu.

“And also, one of these ‘Lovey-Dovey Juices’ limited to couples, please.”

“Huh?”

What did she just say? I haven’t heard a thing about this, Yuki-san.

However, ignoring my confusion, the waiter finished taking the order and left.

“Um… Yuki-san?”

“What is it, Hiro-san?”

“What in the world did you just order?”

“The Lovey-Dovey Juice? The one limited to couples.”

“Limited to couples…?”

“We’re a couple, aren’t we?”

Yuki looked at me blankly.

Well, I mean, if a male-female pair coming to a fancy cafe like this weren’t a couple, what else would they be? That’s probably why the waiter just processed the order normally. In the first place, the word “couple” can have many different meanings. But still, you know? I don’t have the courage to drink something that sounds like it’s made specifically for “idiot couples”…

“Ah, while you were saying that, it’s already here. That was fast.”

The waiter placed two pancakes and the thing known as “Lovey-Dovey Juice” on the table.

“Whoa…”

The Lovey-Dovey Juice consisted of a red liquid (likely a berry flavor?) with some extravagant decorations and two straws intertwined to form a heart.

“What’s with the ‘whoa’? Also, don’t eat yet. I’m taking a picture.”

“I know…”

Yuki taking photos of sweets happened every single time, so I was used to it. Yuki started taking a rapid-fire series of photos, acting all excited by herself. She really was a modern girl of a childhood friend.

Regardless, are we really going to drink this? In this nearly full shop in front of everyone? What kind of punishment game is this…?

“I want to take a photo with Hiro-san, too. Oh, excuse me.”

Yuki called over a nearby staff member.

“How can I help you~?”

“Could you take a photo for us?”

“Yes, certainly—Wait, Fujisaki-san!?”

The waiter, who was about to take the smartphone for the photo, suddenly shouted Yuki’s surname in surprise.

“Is she an acquaintance of yours, Yuki?”

“…? No. I don’t think I know them…”

“Eeeh!? It’s me! Me! Me!”

“She’s saying it’s her.”

“I don’t know anyone named ‘Me’.”

“True.”

“Is this one of those ‘It’s Me’ phone scams?”

Yuki and I spoke without any sense of tension. Our timing was perfect at times like this. However, the waiter didn’t give up and continued.

“I’m telling you, it’s me! I’m your classmate, Kaho Hoshino!”

Oh. A classmate, huh? Wait… who the hell is she?

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