Parameter Supremacy: The Man Who Seizes a Harem Through Sheer Effort. - Chapter 39.

Episode 39: No Count.

It was a Thursday in July, sometime past ten o’clock at night.

The day after tomorrow was the long-awaited movie date with Shiina. But right now, that was the furthest thing from my mind.

“I’m screwed. I don’t have any clothes.”

Yes—me, Sagara Ryuuji, had nothing suitable to wear on the date. To be precise, it wasn’t that I owned zero clothes at all. It was just that my height had shot up dramatically recently, and almost everything in my everyday wardrobe had become painfully small. Everything was tight. I still had some random pieces I could throw on to wander around the neighborhood, but this was a date. Not an after-school uniform date, either—this was a proper weekend civilian-clothes date. With my pitiful fashion sense, acquiring anything remotely appropriate for a movie outing felt borderline impossible.

As a last resort, I grabbed my phone and fired off a message.

Sagara Ryuuji: Emergency!

Shiina: Eh? What’s wrong? Are you okay?

Sagara Ryuuji: I don’t have anything to wear for the date!

Shiina: ……

Sagara Ryuuji: Save me! If this keeps up, I’m showing up naked on Saturday.

Shiina: That sounds kind of interesting to see ♡

Sagara Ryuuji: Come on. Anyway—are you free after school tomorrow?

Shiina: Yeah. No club activities, so I’m totally free.

Sagara Ryuuji: I want to buy clothes for the date. Come with me?

Shiina: … Isn’t that normally something you ask your date not to do?

Sagara Ryuuji: Can’t afford to be picky right now.

Shiina: Fine, I’ll go. But in return—you’re treating me to something ♪

Sagara Ryuuji: Leave it to me!

All right. With this, the date outfit crisis was at least manageable. I let out a long breath of relief.

After that, I kept trading silly, meaningless messages with Shiina until sleep finally dragged me under.

***

The next day after school, Shiina and I were heading to the nearby shopping mall. The place had fashion select shops, miscellaneous goods stores, a bookstore, a CD shop, a major electronics retailer—everything. There was even a food court and an arcade attached. For local high-schoolers, it was practically the default spot for a first date.

One train stop from the nearest station, then about fifteen minutes on foot from there. A car would make it quick, but as proper high-school students, we took the train. After getting off, we walked the straight road toward the mall when Shiina naturally asked the obvious question.

“So why the sudden need for date clothes?”

“Well… you know how I grew taller? My clothes don’t fit anymore. Almost everything shrank on me.”

Growing taller was supposed to be something to be proud of, yet here I was whining about having nothing to wear on a date. How pathetic.

“Ahaha, so that’s it. Yeah, Ryuuji-kun’s body really has gotten bigger lately ♪”

Shiina reached out and patted my arm all over, then smoothly linked hers through mine. The soft warmth pressed against my skin, and I instinctively yelped, “O-oi?!”

“No good?”

She looked up at me with flushed cheeks and those pleading eyes. How could it possibly be no good? I wasn’t about to say no in the first place.

“We’re going on a date tomorrow, right? This much should be normal.”

When I answered with a touch of bravado, Shiina gave a mischievous little “Hehe” and said,

“Then let’s keep our arms linked all the way until today is over, okay~? ♪”

The way she said it—so adorably—was too much. The word “cute…” slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. Hearing that, Shiina’s face instantly turned scarlet. It was a sight I’d seen plenty of times already, yet my chest still thumped harder than usual.

***

We stepped inside the mall. After walking fifteen minutes under the summer sun, both of us were drenched in sweat. The moment the cool air conditioning hit our skin, we let out matching “Fuuuh” sighs of relief. No matter how used to the heat I’d gotten from morning practice, hot was still hot. Shiina was doing the same—fanning herself with the open collar of her uniform blouse. A sweet, girlish scent mixed with the faint fragrance of antiperspirant drifted past my nose. I quickly averted my eyes. I saw nothing.

“So, shall we head into a clothing store for now?”

Shiina suggested. I wasn’t exactly an expert on fashion, so I had no choice but to follow her lead.

“Yeah. Honestly, I didn’t bring much money for clothes today. Somewhere affordable would be a lifesaver.”

“In that case, that shop’s probably the best bet. They have tons of variety—we can try a bunch of things.”

“Perfect! Let’s make Ryuuji-kun even cooler ♪”

Shiina turned back with a bright smile and strode confidently toward the escalator.

***

The first store we entered was one of the biggest names in fast fashion—no exaggeration. Inside were colorful T-shirts, bottoms, button-ups, suits, even underwear; both men’s and women’s sections were fully stocked.

“Let’s start by seeing what style suits you best.”

Shiina suggested. I didn’t really have a strong preference when it came to my own clothes. I grabbed a plain white T-shirt and three kinds of pants—denim, chinos, and cargos—then headed into the fitting room. Naturally, I went up a full size to XL.

I stripped off my uniform shirt, slipped into the T-shirt, undid my belt. First up: the denim pants. I checked the mirror… yeah, no idea if it looked good or not. Unable to judge, I called out.

“Shiina, can you come here a sec?”

A soft “Sure” came through the curtain. I yanked it open.

Plain white tee + denim. Classic combo. Shiina froze for a second, then—

“…Eh? U-um… it looks really cool…”

She stared at me in my new outfit with slightly embarrassed eyes, practically licking me with her gaze. Apparently she liked it. Feeling encouraged, I quickly changed into the chinos and stepped out again.

“S-so cool… yeah, maybe even a little mature…”

Same slightly bashful look, same intense stare… Yeah, exact same reaction as before.

“……”

I gave her a flat look. Well, guess both just happened to be right up her alley. Denim and chinos were pretty standard anyway. Whatever. I pulled myself together and tried on the cargos last.

“Haa… Ryuuji-kun… so cool…”

Nope. Completely useless reference. Sure, she was calling me cool, so they probably suited me, but if everything was getting the same glowing review, her taste was basically doing all the work here.

“Shiina, tell me which one you liked best.”

The moment I asked, her face twisted like she’d been forced into an impossible ultimatum. “Uuuummm…” she groaned.

—Ah. This was going to take forever.

Resigned, I decided to just buy all three. Of course, it blew straight past my budget.

***

Next we wandered into a select shop that carried a lot of retro-casual pieces. Honestly, I’d already finished my shopping at the first store. This was just an excuse—an alibi so I could spend a little more time with Shiina.

While we browsed side by side, Shiina, who had been poking through the women’s sale corner, let out a small “Ah!”

Her eyes were fixed on an antique-style empire-waist dress printed with delicate floral patterns. It wasn’t quite her usual vibe, but I could already tell it would look stunning on her.

“Cute. I bet it’d suit you perfectly. Try it on?”

When I encouraged her, she turned to me with a surprised look, then gave a tiny, delighted nod. She called over a clerk and disappeared into the fitting room.

A little while later, her voice floated out from behind the curtain.

“Hehe. I’m buying this one, okay?”

“Wait—you’re not gonna show me?”

I’d been hoping to get a peek, so my tone came out a little disappointed. In response, Shiina poked just her face through the curtain and flashed the sweetest smile.

“Tomorrow’s surprise ♪”

—Completely outplayed.

She won this round hands down. I savored the strangely pleasant sting of defeat.

***

After that, we did some light window-shopping at a few more stores before deciding to take a break and get something to drink. While we stood in the central atrium looking at the directory map, I spotted a branch of that famous café chain—the same one we’d visited during our beach trip.

“How about here?”

When I pointed it out, Shiina smiled brightly and nodded.

As expected, there was a decent line at the café. I pulled out my phone, opened the app, and proudly showed her the screen.

“Today’s on me. Order whatever you want.”

I’d practiced using the app beforehand and even topped up the prepaid balance in secret at the store earlier. Flawless preparation. Seeing my smug expression, Shiina giggled.

“Okay~ A promise is a promise. I’ll let you treat me today ♪”

She chose a tall mango-and-cream drink piled high with whipped cream. I went with an iced coffee. Once we had our orders, we took seats on the terrace and chatted lightly about tomorrow.

“So, where should we meet tomorrow?”

“Oh, right—we have to decide.”

“Usual supermarket in front?”

The supermarket where we always met up before morning classes came to mind.

“Hmm… Since it’s a real date, I want a proper meeting spot.”

Apparently Shiina had some specific ideas about what made a date feel special.

“I see. Then how about right outside the ticket gates at the station?”

“Yeah, that sounds good! Let’s do the station ticket gates!”

“Settled. 12:30 at the ticket gates.”

“This’ll be the first time we’ve properly planned a date like this, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

“……”

Shiina stared at me with half-lidded eyes.

“Ryuuji-kun… what about today?”

“Today?”

I thought for a second.

“Ah.”

Right. We’d made plans via message yesterday, and we’d spent the whole afternoon shopping together. This… was technically a date, wasn’t it?

“T-today doesn’t count!”

“Doesn’t count, huh? Hehe, okay. Today’s a no-count.”

Shiina laughed, clearly amused. Embarrassed, I forcibly changed the subject.

“Oh, right. After we decided on the movie, I bought the original novel.”

“Eh? Really? How is it? Good?”

Shiina leaned forward, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“I’ve only read partway, but it’s good. And it’s kind of heartbreaking.”

“Really? Now I’m even more excited… and a little nervous.”

“Me too. Want me to tell you what happens up to where I stopped?”

I teased her a bit, and—

“No way! That’s a spoiler!”

Seeing her laugh so genuinely made me decide to just enjoy tomorrow, no matter what. Whether we cried or laughed—though honestly, we’d probably be laughing the whole time.

It was a movie date, after all.