The Charm of the Popular Beautiful Succubus in Class Doesn't Work on Me ~ For Some Reason, This Beauty Keeps Trying to Hold My Hand ~ - 13

Chapter 13: Why Don’t You Go Shopping With Me?

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On a Sunday morning, I was enjoying a rather unusual day while immersing myself in a book. I said ‘unusual’ because I was at a cafe inside a newly opened, massive multi-complex facility in Nishi Ward, Hiroshima. Today was the release day of the latest volume of the hit light novel “The Traditional Beautiful Girl with Long Black Hair Tries to Find Any Reason to Get the Yankee Me to Confess”, commonly known as KuroYan.

KuroYan was a romantic comedy where the classic, traditional beautiful girl, Rea, fell for Soushi, a yankee who didn’t have any friends in class. Rea had an old-fashioned sense of modesty that made her believe girls shouldn’t be the one to confess. As a result, she actively tried to find ways to get Soushi to confess to her instead. KuroYan was widely popular, it had sold over 10 million copies in total.

I was so eager to dive right into the newest volume that I couldn’t even wait to get home, opting to head straight to the cafe next to the bookstore instead. Of course, someone like me was bound to buy three copies. One for reading, one for keeping and one for evangelizing. No explanation needed. KuroYan deserved that from me. 

I took a sip of my coffee and turned the page of KuroYan.

Ah~ Rea-tan, the heroine, is so unbelievably adorable. She’s so unreal. She’s graceful, elegant, modest, and yet those subtle gestures she makes to win over Soushi are downright foul play. Especially her glasses. She only wears her glasses when she studies. She really hits all my sweet spots. This. This is what a true “beautiful girl” is.

Caught up in my repeated bouts of adoration, I steadily made my way through the book. By the time I’d finished about a third of the book, the cafe had started to receive more and more customers. Then, someone took the seat next to mine. The seating here was designed in a long shared table, so it wasn’t a surprise to have someone sit next to me. To be honest, I preferred to hog a single table by myself, but I felt a bit awkward doing that. Having someone sitting next to me wouldn’t be enough to disrupt my full concentration. I was still able to immerse myself reading this light novel, but I glanced briefly at the person beside me and shifted my belongings slightly closer to myself to make sure they weren’t in the way.

Hmm. Looks like the person sitting next to me is a young woman, but that’s not really important. I’m completely enthralled with the “beautiful girl” in this light novel…

“Ta-da! A beautiful girl has arrived!”

“Huh?”

Hearing a familiar voice coming from beside me, I instinctively looked up, only to find someone I’d never expect to run into on a Sunday. It was Kisara Sarashina.

“What? It’s only Sarashina… Why are you here?”

Startled, I instinctively hid the light novel I had been reading. 

“Am I not allowed to go shopping on a Sunday? The clothes I wanted to buy were on sale, so I came to buy them. That’s all.”

She said, letting out a small huff through her nose before sitting on her seat again. At her feet, I could see a paper bag stuffed with clothes.

Wait, she’s the one sitting here?! This is my private space! I’ve been looking forward to this moment all week! Can’t she just leave me alone for today?

I thought to myself, but my eyes naturally drifted to her outfit. She was wearing  a sheer, pale blue blouse paired with a beige knee-length flared skirt. The skirt was the wrap style kind, with decorative buttons along the overlap, giving a mature and elegant look to the whole outfit. This was my first time seeing Sarashina in casual clothes. Given the impression I had about Sarashina at school, I thought her casual clothes would be more flashy than this. Her unexpectedly elegant outfit completely stole my attention. 

No, this is… To put it mildly, she looks cute. It’s the subtle kind of adorable. Not to mention, the sheer fabric? It’s just the right level of subtly alluring. 

“Hey, what are you spacing out for?”

I snapped back to reality, only to meet Sarashina’s gaze as she looked at me with an exasperated expression on her face.

“Sarashina… Do you know about ‘Almost Transparent Blue’?”

“Huh? Is that the title of the novel you’re reading or something?”

Ah, she knew I had been reading. Unfortunately, I wasn’t talking about Ryu Murakami’s novel.

“Ask your chest.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

She said while placing her hand on her chest. Then, seemingly finally understood what I meant, she quickly crossed her arms to cover her neckline.

“Are you an idiot?! That’s the design of this outfit! Stop looking at me like that, you pervert!”

“If that’s the design of your outfit, then you better wear it proudly. Well, it looks good on you. Ehehehe…”

“Stop that. Your laugh is so gross.”

Seeing Sarashina looking so vexed, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking how adorable she was. I mean, I didn’t say anything weird though?~ I only complimented her. She looked really good, especially with the design of her outfit~

“Forget about that! What were you hiding earlier? Were you busy reading a lewd book in public?”

Leaning closer to me, Sarashina steered the conversation away. She tried to grab the light novel I was holding in my left hand rather forcefully. 

Wait, no, wait, seriously, wait!

With that sheer outfit, things could get seriously dangerous if she leaned over me like that! I could almost see the near-transparent light blue string peeking from the sheer fabric, my imagination was already running wild as it was. 

“3.14159265358979…”

“Huh? What are you mumbling about?”

“I’m trying to solve Fermat’s Last Theorem with pi.”

“Hmm… So creepy. Besides, you can’t solve Fermat’s Last Theorem with pi.”

Realizing that my personal rights might be in jeopardy given the current position, I reluctantly handed over the light novel in my left hand.

“What’s this?”

Sarashina asked while observing the book with a picture of a beautiful girl on the cover. 

“It’s a light novel called The Traditional Beautiful Girl with Long Black Hair Tries to Find Any Reason to Get the Yankee Me to Confess… Today is the release day of that series’ latest volumes, so I went to that bookstore over there to buy it.”

“And the protagonist of this light novel is called ‘Naruse’?”

“Just for your information, I’m not a yankee.”

“Then… Could it be, the heroine’s name is ‘Sarashina’

“Since when did you become a beautiful girl with long black hair?”

“Huh?~ But I’m the traditional type of beauty, right?”

“You’re way too overconfident about yourself. Besides, the name of the heroine is ‘Rea’. She’s a modest girl who looks great in glasses. She’s totally different from you.”

“Huh??? Are you saying I’m not modest?!”

Sarashina said while giving me a sharp look. 

“Silence really is the best answer.”

“Huh?? Besides, I look good in glasses too!”

“Why are you trying to compete against her? I’ve never seen you in glasses before, so I wouldn’t know about that.”

Upon hearing my words, Sarashina smirked mischievously. She looked like a child who had just come up with a new prank idea. 

“Well, putting the glasses topic aside, I didn’t expect Michihito-kun to be the type to read stuff like this. It’s kind of surprising, given your yankee reputation and all.”

“Like I mentioned earlier, I’m not a yankee. But I do agree with you there. People always tell me I don’t look like the type who likes to read books.”

“You know, when people tell you that, they’re basically telling you that you look dumb, you know?”

Sarashina stared at me with a look that could be called an expression of genuine disappointment, as if she genuinely pitied me. 

“Well, I guess it’s true I’m not that smart. I agree I don’t look like someone who likes to read light novels.”

“Then? Was there some sort of trigger that caused you to start reading them?”

A trigger, huh… 

I pondered for a moment at Sarashina’s question. After all, in order to answer her question, I would need to tell her about that incident. The incident that had happened when I was a first-year student. From what I had gathered through my interactions with Sarashina so far, it seemed she didn’t know about that incident. 

That incident was something that she could easily know after doing a bit of digging, and I didn’t have any intention to hide it anyway. However, for some reason, I didn’t want her to know about that incident either. 

Now then… How much should I tell her?

“Actually, I was hospitalized for about three months when I was a first-year.”

“Hospitalized… Are you sick or something? Three months is a pretty long time.”

Sarashina looked a bit surprised for a moment, before her expression immediately switched to one of pity. 

“Stop looking at me like that, like you’re sorry for asking something sensitive. It’s not like I was on my deathbed or anything though.”

I tried to answer as cheerfully as I could, putting on a playful tone to make the mood lighter. Seemingly a bit relieved by my reaction, her expression softened into a smile. 

“I just happened to get injured while goofing around a bit. But thinking about it now, that was a turning point in my life. If I hadn’t picked up a light novel during that hospitalization period, I wouldn’t be the person I am now.”

I let out a laugh, pretending to crack a joke to ensure the mood remained light. As if to match my pace, Sarashina started teasing me too. She asked me another question in a light-hearted manner. 

“But still, being hospitalized for three whole months means your injuries were pretty bad, right? Were you in a motorcycle accident or something?”

“Once again, I’m not a yankee. I don’t even have a motorcycle license.

“Ah, I get it now. You were riding on a bike with someone else then?”

“Once again, I’m not a yankee. I don’t have any friends who would let me ride on their back.”

“Then… You get burned because of a cigarette?”

“This burn mark is from when I was making fried rice. Once again, I’m not a yankee.”

“You ran a red light and got hit by a car?”

“My grandpa always reminds me to obey the traffic laws. Again and hopefully for the last time, I’m not a yankee.”

“Then… Did you get into a fight with a delinquent from another school? And the said delinquent had a pompadour hairstyle complete with a metal bat?”

“….”

“Hm?”

I hesitated for a moment before responding. Caught the subtle shift in my demeanor, Sarashina tilted her head in confusion. Until now, I had thought I didn’t have anything to hide for, especially not if I had to lie. If I had to talk about it, I might as well talk about it. However, when I looked at Sarashina’s smiling face as she teased me, for some reason… I couldn’t bring myself to talk about “that incident” right here and now. 

In the end, I…

“There’s no way that actually happened. Again, I’m not a yankee.”

I deliberately reacted in exactly the same way as before, putting on a nonchalant smile to convince Sarashina nothing like that ever happened. Sarashina showed me a complicated expression for a moment before nodding to herself. 

“Yeah, you’re right.”

She said while shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. Seeing her smile, I felt a sharp pain in my heart. I had a feeling I would have to reveal more to her if this conversation continued on, so I desperately searched for a way to change the subject.

“That’s it!”

Suddenly, Sarashina stood up as if she had come up with a new idea.

“Wha-What’s with you all of a sudden?”

Confused at the sudden turn of events, I just stared at Sarashina. Then, she smiled and deliberately looked at me with eyes that seemed to glisten mischievously. 

“Since we’re already at a shopping mall, why don’t you go shopping with me?”

“…Shopping?”

“I want you to accompany me to this one place… Or… Is it a no?”

She said this while pressing her hands together in front of her chest, gazing up at me pleadingly. 

Shopping, huh… When she asked me “Is it a no?” with those pleading eyes, my heart actually started to flutter. But then… What was the purpose of my today’s outing? Right. My goal was to go on a date with the perfect traditional beauty, Rea-tan. I couldn’t let myself get dragged into Sarashina’s pace anymore than this. 

I need to reject her request firmly like the man I am.

“Sarashina, I’m sorry but I was hoping to spend my time reading light novels today. Can we go shopping another time?”

I said, trying to gauge her reaction. Much to my surprise, Sarashina only frowned. 

“Geez… It can’t be helped then.”

Wait… She’s actually being really reasonable today? 

I was relieved to see that, but letting my guard down in front of Sarashina was a mistake after all. Almost immediately, Sarashina swiftly snatched the light novel from my hands and started walking out of the cafe. 

“If you want it back, you’ll have to follow me, Michihito-kun.”

She said with a mischievous smile on her face.

“O-Oi…!”

I was stunned for a moment, unable to catch up with her sudden actions. When I finally snapped out of it, I realized Sarashina had left her shopping bags on the floor.

This girl… She’s totally planning to make me carry her bags for her… 

Sighing heavily, I glanced at the paper bag placed on the floor without thinking too much about it. Inside, I saw some underwear neatly wrapped up. Sarashina probably had bought them earlier. 

“…”

I sighed a heavier sigh than before and steeled myself before chugging the rest of my coffee and followed after Sarashina.

But still… Sarashina really loves the colour light blue, huh?

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