Tanaka-san Is Cuter Than the Main Heroine - Chapter 25: Running Into Nakayama-kun

Chapter 25: Running Into Nakayama-kun

“I’m heading out for a bit! See you later!”

“Watch out for cars, okay~?”

“Got it!”

It was just a regular weekend.

All dressed and ready to go, I stepped out of the house alone.

My destination? A big shopping mall a little farther out than usual.

I was on a mission—to find the perfect birthday present for my big sister, whose special day was coming up soon.

Three minutes of walking later, I arrived at the station.

Instead of using my usual commuter pass, I tapped through the gate with my IC card and boarded a train headed in the opposite direction from school.

The ride itself… wasn’t exactly peaceful.

Why?

(I mean, Nakayama-kun did hold me for a while, right? So… he probably didn’t think I smelled bad?

Wait—but maybe he was just being polite and put up with it??

No, no—guys at school always say Onee-chan smells really nice, and we live in the same house, use the same shampoo… so I shouldn’t smell bad, right??

…Wait, is body odor even genetic? Ughhh! I don’t know anymore!!)

—Because just being on the train kept making me remember the way Nakayama-kun held me.

More than the fact that it was the weekend and the train was packed, what really occupied my mind was how he must’ve felt about that whole moment.

That scene from a few days ago kept playing on repeat in my head.

Some people might say, “If you’re that curious, why not just ask him? He was right next to you!”

Yeah, no way.

I don’t have that kind of courage.

Because what if—what if—he actually said something like, “To be honest, you kinda smelled a little…”

Yeah. No thank you.

Just imagining it made me want to curl up and disappear.

So yes, I knew full well that this whole spiral was my own fault…

But still, those ten minutes until my stop felt painfully long.

And even after I got off the train, hoping to finally shake it all off, the misery followed me.

Even into the shopping mall.

“Excuse me! You there—the stylish young lady! Yes, you! We’re offering a special perfume sample today. Would you be willing to try one and give us your thoughts—”

“Do I smell that bad!?”

“—Wait, no?! I mean, you smell sweet and flowery—really nice, actually!”

“And, um—I’m shopping for a birthday gift for my sister. She’s two years older than me. Do you have any recommendations?”

“Let’s see… how about something like this? A lovely aroma diffuser, perhaps?”

“Wait—do I smell that bad!?”

“Uh, not at all!? Is… everything alright?”

“Ah—sorry! It’s just… it’s been a whole thing lately.”

The reason was simple.

There were just too many scent-related products in the shopping mall.

I was trying so hard to forget—but every other display screamed “fragrance!” and dragged all my worries right back to the surface.

Because of that, my actual mission—to find a birthday present for my sister—was going nowhere.

“Haaah… This isn’t working. I need to focus.”

Still, going home empty-handed would totally defeat the purpose.

I’d just end up repeating this whole mess again tomorrow.

Determined not to let that happen, I gave myself a little cheek smack to snap out of it and got my head back in the game.

Then I turned toward the nearest display shelf with renewed resolve.

“…This one’s kind of her color. But… maybe this one fits her vibe better?”

I mumbled to myself, weighing the options, carefully scanning each item—doing my best to block out every lingering distraction.

But then—crack!

A sudden noise snapped me right out of my concentration.

“Ow…”

A sharp sting ran up the back of my foot.

I glanced down to see a small cut just above my heel—and scattered across the floor were shards of broken ceramic.

Shifting my eyes slightly, I spotted the cause.

A little boy had tripped and fallen face-first on the floor nearby.

He looked up slowly, his eyes already welling with tears.

“I-I’m so sorry! My kid, he—!”

“No, no, really—it just grazed me. It’s nothing serious. But is he okay?”

“I-I’m fine… But… I hurt Onee-chan… I’m sho shorryyy…”

I tried to stay cheerful, hoping it would help keep the little boy from crying…

But then he spotted the blood dripping onto the floor—and heard his mom apologizing—

And just like that, the emotional dam burst.

Tears started pouring down his cheeks as he kept apologizing over and over.

“I’m really sorry! I’m so, so sorry!”

His mom, realizing from her son’s reaction that I’d actually gotten hurt, went pale and began apologizing too.

“Uwaaaah!!”

“It’s really okay, I promise! Please don’t worry. I’m totally fine. See? No big deal. There, there—don’t cry. Oh, look, a store clerk’s coming!”

“Sorry to keep you waiting! I’ll clean this up right away.”

“Oh! I’ll help too! Kouki, come here—away from the broken pieces. It’s dangerous, okay?”

“‘Kay…”

I hated being the center of attention, so I focused on calming the mom and her son down as best I could.

Thankfully, the store clerk’s arrival shifted their focus, and I was finally able to breathe again.

“…Your foot’s bleeding quite a bit. Here—at least wipe it down with this.”

“!?”

Just as I started to relax, a voice called out behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

I turned around—

And there he was.

Wearing a blue hoodie with the hood down and a pair of black wide-leg pants.

Way more casual than usual—but unmistakably him.

“Nakayama-kun…?”

“Tanaka-san!?”

I couldn’t help but blurt out in shock—it was such a completely unexpected encounter.

But Nakayama-kun looked just as stunned. He let out this weirdly loud “HUH!?” that echoed through the air.

For a few awkward seconds, we just stood there, silently locking eyes like we were caught in some strange standoff…

Until finally, Nakayama-kun snapped out of it and held out a black handkerchief.

“Uh—y-you should probably use this to wipe off the blood.”

That’s when it hit me.

He’d seen it.

The injury I’d been trying so hard to hide from that mom and her son—he’d noticed it the whole time.

“Ah… thank you.”

I took the handkerchief, feeling half grateful that he cared…

And half conflicted, wondering if maybe he would’ve done the same thing for anyone else.

As I held it, that familiar clean, soapy scent floated up to my nose again—and for just a second, my heart skipped.

Trying to play it cool, I crouched down and began gently wiping the blood from my heel.

From above, his voice reached me again.

“You got a band-aid or something?”

“Yes, I keep a few in my pouch. I’m okay.”

Honestly… a part of me really did want to lean on him.

But when I thought about how I was already using his handkerchief—and getting it stained with my blood—I just couldn’t bring myself to ask for more.

So instead, I pulled a slightly wrinkled band-aid from my pouch and carefully pressed it over the cut.

“Bye-bye, Onee-chan!”

“Bye-bye~!”

I guess it was because I hadn’t shown the injury right after the accident.

And thanks to Nakayama-kun’s perfect follow-up—

“Men don’t cry that easy. Here, have a candy. See? Feeling a bit better now? If you keep bawling, your mom’s gonna worry. Come on, big smile!”

—the little boy had completely bounced back.

…The mom, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as quick to recover.

She kept bowing her head over and over, still looking incredibly apologetic.

“I’m so sorry. Really, thank you so much for everything.”

I stood there awkwardly, not sure what else to do, offering her a sheepish little smile.

Then our eyes met.

She must’ve sensed how stuck I felt, because her expression shifted again—now even more apologetic—and she quietly reached into her wallet.

“This isn’t much, but… please accept this as an apology.”

“A… gift card? Wait, this is 3,000 yen!? I can’t accept this! I mean, I didn’t really do anything!”

What she handed me was a 3,000 yen gift voucher you could use anywhere in the mall.

Honestly, I saw the whole thing as just a tiny, unlucky accident—nothing worth stressing over—so I was totally caught off guard.

My eyes went wide.

I immediately tried to hand it back, but she gently stopped my hand and, with a kind smile, dropped an unexpected bomb on me.

“Please, don’t say that. This is also to apologize for interrupting your date with your boyfriend. It’s not much, but I hope you both enjoy yourselves.”

“Wha—!?”

My brain completely short-circuited.

She had completely misunderstood the situation.

I knew I had to correct her.

I needed to say something.

And yet… for some reason, what came out of my mouth was:

“T-Thank you very much…”

…Not even remotely what I meant to say.