After a Heartbreak, My Bitter Childhood Friend is now Sweet Like Sugar - V2 Chapter 5.10
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Chapter 5.10
After school, Kokoa went to a committee meeting and I was left alone, so I came to the downtown area. Lately I’ve been going home with Kokoa, so it’s been a while since I’ve gone home alone.
Now that I’ve come all this way.
I’ll do some errands while I’m here.
We spend most of our days off together, and I think it’s necessary to have some time by yourself once in a while.
As I was wandering around downtown, I saw the sign of a game store.
By the way, I’m getting tired of playing the same game with Kokoa. It’s been a long time since I’m all by myself, so I might as well check out some new games.
I usually buy games from download stores, but sometimes it’s nice to go into a store and look. There’s something fun about looking at the packages lined up. It gives me an emotional feeling and makes my heart beat faster.
Besides, as long as it’s a physical package, I can lend or borrow it, and considering what’ll happen if Kokoa gets hooked on it, I felt it would be better to buy it in a portable format that I could lend to her.
Before I knew it, I began to think about buying the whole console.
With that in mind, I entered the game shop.
So, what games would Kokoa like?
I bought one game that I thought Kokoa would enjoy, and left the game store.
…
Wait, why did I buy a game for Kokoa when I’m all alone?
Maybe I’m more interested in Kokoa than I think I am…
“Hah”
I sigh loudly at my inexplicable behavior, and this time I can’t help but let out a smile.
I feel pathetic, stupid, funny, and a bit melancholy. I guess I’ve become a creature that thinks about Kokoa a lot more than myself.
“Was there anything else I needed to buy?”
By the way, when I eat with Kokoa, it’s sometimes inconvenient to not have enough plates. I’ve been substituting other sizes, but it would be more convenient to have those too.
With this in mind, I went into a 100-yen store in search of plates.
As I finished my shopping, I felt my phone vibrating in my bag.
|| “The committee meeting is over. I’m leaving now.”
It was a text from Kokoa.
She didn’t have to inform me every time, but she was so polite.
Well, as usual, we’ll be having dinner together, so it would definitely be helpful if she told me. I’m on cooking duty today, which means I have to prepare dinner when she returns.
I’d better get going, too.
After a short walk, I saw a huge bamboo tree rising in the central square of the downtown area.
Today is the 6th of July.
It was probably a bamboo branch for the Star Festival. Kazama left early to prepare it today.
Now that I remembered that the custom was to hang strips of paper with wishes written on them the night before and dispose of the bamboo at dawn the next day.
The bamboos, which are used to attract customers in the downtown area, will probably be hung up all day tomorrow and taken down in the morning of the eighth.
As I looked closer, I noticed that there were strips of paper and felt-tip pens next to the bamboo for people to freely use to decorate them.
Since a while ago, people have been flocking to the bamboo to tie strips of paper with their wishes.
If I were to make a wish, what would I wish for? Study? Health? Money?
Or maybe for Kokoa? Or perhaps… A wish for Senpai?
Well, there are a lot of people, and it looks like a hassle, so I’ll pass. In the first place, I’m not the type of person who trusts such customs.
I was about to walk past the plaza, thinking about it.
That’s when it happened.
Among the crowd of people hanging strips of paper on the bamboo branches.
It was then that I happened to see a girl that I could never miss.
“Eh?”
I couldn’t help but shout, as if the feelings I had been trying to avoid poured out of me.
It was the girl who was once more important to me than anything else.
— More important than myself.
That girl, who I will never be able to forget in the future, also noticed my gaze and looked at me in surprise.
She also recognized my face, as if she had seen it before.
The girl walked right up to me and said at the same time…
“Senpai?”
“Onii, chan?”
End of chapter 5