Chapter 16 – I’m Not That Easy

For the time being, we decided to stop by the convenience store.

It was a Friendly Mart located inside the station. The common folk call it Furema for short.

As soon as Nee-san entered Furema, she dragged Hinami off towards the back.

Probably either the adult magazine section or the ice cream section. I’m praying it’s the latter.

“We’re finally alone.”

I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with my ex-girlfriend, Chifuyu, gazing at the chocolate shelf.

Yesterday, in the Third Conference Room, I’d exploded at Chifuyu.

In all the time we were dating, we never once had a fight.

I was relatively calm even when she dumped me, so the fact that I had revealed so much anger was a surprise. It seems I had genuine emotions after all.

“I don’t know if this is the right time to ask, but why did you join the Going-Home Club?”

“Because you joined, Akira. Is there a problem?”

“But I’m your ex-boyfriend.”

“It’s because you’re my ex-boyfriend.”

What kind of logic is that?

And she’s already made a habit of calling me without an honorific.

She had only ever called me with -kun, so now it felt strangely as if we’d gotten closer since we broke up. It was a bizarre feeling.

“Chocolate is a mysterious thing, isn’t it?”

Here we go.

“If someone asked me whether I like you or chocolate more, I’d answer you, of course, Akira.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But, right after you, chocolate is my favorite thing.”

“What about your mom and dad?”

“They’re tied for about tenth place, I guess.”

I was hoping they’d be ranked a little higher.

She doesn’t seem to have a bad relationship with her parents, so I feel kind of bad for taking the number one spot on that list…

“So, are you buying chocolate?”

“Do you know which country consumes the most chocolate in the world?”

Suddenly, a pop quiz on general knowledge.

She’s not asking about the country that produces it, so I have no idea. I’ll just say a famous country.

“America?”

“America is definitely popular, but it’s not number one. Try to guess.”

This is probably one of those ‘keep guessing until you get it right’ things.

“The U.K.”

“Nope.”

“France.”

“Close.”

“Gibu.”

“Gibu? What country is that? Does it float in the Caribbean Sea?”

“It means ‘I give up’.”

My guess is it’s a European country, but it’s kind of embarrassing to just keep blurting out random guesses.

“You give up pretty easily, Akira. Fitting, since your name is ‘Akira.’”

That’s not funny.

“Switzerland. The country I wanted to talk about was Switzerland.”

Honestly, so what?

“In the world of chocolate, Switzerland is famous for its milk chocolate.”

“Oh, so you’re a part of the ‘world of chocolate,’ Chifuyu?”

“You knew I loved chocolate, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah.”

Chifuyu always carries high-cacao chocolate in her pocket.

She said it was to get her polyphenols and relieve stress.

If we were on a date for four hours, she’d have about twelve “chocolate times” in that span.

“Furema has the most popular milk chocolate in the chocolate world, but it’s always sold out.”

I’m gradually losing track of what this conversation is even about.

“So, what does that have to do with Switzerland?”

“Nothing at all. I just wanted to show off my knowledge.”

Give me back the last few minutes of my life.

My eyes met Chifuyu’s as she giggled.

Her large, round eyes were as adorable as a small animal’s. With every little change in her expression, her charm seemed to overflow.

“What is it?”

“Uh…”

I had been staring at Chifuyu, captivated.

Her soft features that still held a trace of innocence, her fluffy, medium-length curls.

Until just a little while ago, this was the beautiful girl whose hand I held as we walked through town.

But now, we’re nothing more than an ex-boyfriend and an ex-girlfriend.

“Akira, let’s date again, okay? Let’s get back together.”

Chifuyu’s eyes grew moist as she stared intently at me.

If we weren’t in front of a chocolate shelf, this would have been a picture-perfect, youthful scene. For that reason alone, I resent this chocolate.

I gave a faint smile and shifted my gaze to a bar of Ecuadorian chocolate.

“I told you yesterday, that’s not happening.”

“What?! But the mood was totally pointing to an ‘okay’ right now, wasn’t it!?”

“Sorry, but I’m not that easy.”

I whispered the line with the coolness of a hero in a manga.

With that, I picked up the bar of Ecuadorian chocolate. I needed to check out quickly, before Nee-san and the others came back to harass me.

“Aki-kun, did you call me?”

Nee-san really is a psychic.

For her to appear just from me thinking about her…

“No, I didn’t.”

“Oh, Aki-kun, you’re such a t-s-u-n-d-e-r-e.”

“Could you please not interrupt a serious conversation between me and Akira?”

“Umm… who are you?”

Nee-san is terrible at remembering people’s names.

The only names she probably remembers are Yamabuki Akira and Oda Nobunaga.

Oh, wait, she did remember Hinami’s name, which was rare.

“It’s. Chi. Fu. Yu!”

“I see. What an unusual name.”

She’s definitely just saying whatever.

“Akira-kun, I read some of the slightly naughty books.”

Hinami’s eyes were sparkling, as if a door to a new world had been opened.

This was Nee-san’s fault for doing something unnecessary. So it was the former option, after all.

“Do you think a swimsuit like that would look good on me, too?”

I have no idea what “like that” looks like, but I’m absolutely sure it would look good on you.

“Nee-san, stop giving Hinami weird ideas.”

“It’s not weird, Aki-kun. It’s my duty to give our club’s kouhai the correct knowledge.”

“You’re older, Nee-san, but we joined the club at the same time, so aren’t we in the same year?”

“Onee-chan wrote her name down first, so even if it was only for ten seconds, that makes me your senpai. By the way, Onee-chan is your senpai too, Aki-kun. So you have to do whatever I say.”

Isn’t that just being an errand boy?

“There’s no rule that a kouhai has to do whatever a senpai says.”

“There is a rule that a little brother has to listen to what his big sister says.”

I ignored them all and paid for my purchase.

I could just duck into the restroom and then make a break for home when I get a chance.

Sasebo Station is my territory. I know all the hiding spots.

My hunters are three beautiful girls.

I should be able to shake them off somehow.