The Beautiful Girl Who Asked Me to Pretend to Be Her Boyfriend Didn’t Want to Break up With Me for Some Reason - Chapter 8

“…Why are you stopping in a place like that?”

“Entering a women’s clothing store as a man takes a lot of courage.”

In front of me was a store filled with clothes in vibrant, decorative designs that were very different from pajamas.

I had come to the clothing store to choose summer clothes, as requested by Shirafuji Luna, but when it came time to enter, my legs just stopped moving.

It was simply uncomfortable.

Since this was a store for women’s clothes, the customers were naturally all women, with only a few men who seemed to be their boyfriends.

To mingle with them, I needed a fair amount of courage and mental strength.

“You’re here with me, so it’s not so bad, is it?”

“Well, that’s true.”

“As long as you only look at me, everything will be fine. Or are you planning on looking at other women?”

“…Please stop looking at me like that.”

I showed my surrender after being glared at with that intense gaze.

Even though her expression didn’t change from her usual composed face, her eyes were serious.

“Then it’s fine…After all, I’m your girlfriend, so you need to understand that.”

“…Yeah.”

I sensed an odd level of humidity in the air, but I didn’t mention the fake relationship and simply agreed.

Then, Shirafuji took my hand and led me into the store.

“By the way, summer clothes are already on sale from June, huh?”

“They start selling a little earlier than that. If you wait until summer to buy summer clothes, the clothes you wear at that time will be from the previous season, right?”

“That makes sense.”

“You also have to consider trends…Fashion is tough.”

“I wouldn’t understand the struggles of a mannequin-buyer.”

“If you’d like, I can pick out clothes for you, Hakuto. Actually, please let me. You have the perfect build for it, so it’ll be fun picking out clothes for you.”

“If the chance comes, I’ll leave it to you.”

In truth, Shirafuji’s offer was appreciated, and I had no reason to refuse.

As I thought about a future situation that might come up, I made sure to stay close to Shirafuji.

If I ended up alone in a place like this, I could easily be looked at as suspicious.

There was even a chance I could be called by a security guard.

I often got questioned when walking outside alone.

If I responded politely, they usually understood.

The first time, I was really surprised, and my heart was racing the whole time.

Now, I was so used to it that I calmly answered.

…It was a bad kind of getting used to.

It was different when I was with Shirafuji, though.

There had been times when people suspected I was kidnapping her, but that was another matter.

“I don’t really like summer. The heat, having to worry about sunburn, sweating, the increase in exposure of skin, more people staring…and it’s hot…it’s just hot.”

“You really hate the heat that much?”

“Well, what can I do? Unless I’m indoors with air conditioning, it’s hot no matter what. There’s only so much I can do with thin clothing, and the difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures made me sick.”

Shirafuji had a point.

Unlike winter, where you could warm up by wearing more clothes, there was a limit to how little you could wear in summer.

At most, you could wear shorts and a tank top or sleeveless shirt.

But even with that, this summer had been unbearably hot.

Even if you took precautions, you could still suffer from heatstroke, and the concrete on the ground was like a metal plate.

Some people even cooked eggs on car hoods.

If I could, I’d never leave an air-conditioned room in the summer.

…I think I could guess how I spent my summer holidays now.

“Anyway, I’ll go try these on.”

While we were talking, Shirafuji grabbed some clothes she had picked out and headed to the fitting room.

Left alone, I felt extremely awkward.

I should step back a little.

If a man stood alone in a place like this, people might think he was suspicious.

In front of me was the fitting room.

Since it was a place where women changed clothes…

…Shirafuji was changing in there too.

“…What am I thinking? That’s not right.”

I pushed away the guilty thoughts that arose and waited for a few minutes.

“—I thought you had disappeared, Hakuto.”

After hearing the sound of the door opening, Shirafuji’s voice called out.

She came out of the fitting room, now wearing a fresh, summer outfit that was bright and revealing.

Even though she had said she didn’t like showing too much skin, she was wearing a black off-shoulder blouse, exposing her shoulders and neckline.

Her skirt was above the knee, showing off her slender, soft legs.

She twirled around slowly, showing off her outfit as if to flaunt it.

“Do you think it’s too revealing?”

“I didn’t really understand that feeling, but I did think that skirt was a bit risky.”

“My uniform is just like this. But this isn’t a skirt, it’s a culotte…To put it simply, it’s a short pants structure with a skirt appearance. So, you didn’t have to worry about underwear showing. Were you worried?”

“…Well, a little.”

I answered honestly to Shirafuji, who asked mischievously, and she stood on tiptoe, placing a hand on my shoulder.

When I lowered myself to her level, she brought her face close to my ear.

“—If you want to see it, should I show you tonight?”

Her voice was teasing, and her tone was playful.

Surprised, I glanced at Shirafuji’s face, which was uncharacteristically wearing a smug grin.

Tonight.

I imagined Shirafuji, in the pajamas we had just bought, approaching me…

“Hehe, I was just joking. Did you…believe me?”

“No way.”

I backed away from the overly playful Shirafuji and pushed the inappropriate thoughts that came up out of my mind.

There was no way Shirafuji would seriously do something like that.

…Right?

“Anyway, how do I look?”

“You look good, and you’re cute.”

“That’s a standard compliment. If you said that to anyone else, they’d laugh. I’ll allow a retake just this once.”

Shirafuji handed me the turn to speak, and I searched for the right words.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much of a vocabulary when it came to complimenting women.

My younger sister was easy to please. As long as I said she was cute, she’d be happy.

So, I thought of a way to praise her properly.

“…You look good in white, but black suits you too. The whiteness of your skin and hair really stand out, and it looks amazing. You’re so cute that I worry about leaving you alone.”

“――――――!”

Despite being unfamiliar with the situation, I managed to say what was on my mind, and Shirafuji froze up.

She stood still; her eyes widened.

I started to think maybe I said something wrong, but then I noticed her cheeks turning slightly pink, so I realized that wasn’t the case.

She was just embarrassed.

“…If you’re worried about me being too cute to be left alone, you can stay next to me all the time, you know?”

She whispered the words with her face turned away, in a voice so quiet it was almost like a mosquito buzzing.

…What was this cute creature?

“I’ll go change into the next one.”

“O-okay.”

“And…don’t say things like that to anyone else. Absolutely not!”

She said this with a pointed finger, and then rushed back into the fitting room.

“…Does she think I’m the type of guy who compliments everyone?”

I didn’t know, but when it came to things like this, no one would ever tell me.