Lonely Loser, I'll Become Blonde Frivolous Gyaru's Favourite

Chapter 10 - First Date ③

Now that we have finally finished choosing my outfit, it was my turn to stand blinking.
Standing in the dressing room in front of the mirror I was dumbfounded.

– What, bookworm, turns out you can do it if you try… ♪ You"re looking rather cool and smart, huh?

Tachibana was saying that from behind me.

– Ye-, yeah.

Fuu, unintentionally, I spoke in a strange falsetto.
But this time, it is not as simple as me being shy from praise.

Right now, my reflection in the mirror, while still giving me a dreadful "This is not me" feeling, seemed slimmer and taller than usual. Moreover, I"m surprised by how composed my image is.

– Haa…

No way… My mental age seems so high with this outfit…

It is almost as if a 5th year student of elementary school with a dripping nose suddenly had a cla.s.s change to a 3rd year university student with high self-awareness. One of those who study abroad.

Overall, it was a monotone outfit put together from plain colors.
Just like proper outfits that mothers of the world choose, these clothes have no patterns of annoying random colors.

For example, the white T-shirt was loose, making me look a bit taller.
Also, I feel like the black skinny pants make my legs seems longer than they are. I never wore anything except seemingly oversized jeans, so I"m amazed how close-fitting they are.
And the most remarkable, the one I would never wear myself, is this khaki long coat. I may call it a coat, but it has wrinkled and thin fabric, the one you would wear in spring. It resembles wearing a cardigan. The hem is reaching my knees.

By the way, wearing a long coat, my chuuni1 heart is raring to go.
Like, I would be so strong in a net game. A really powerful character breezing through the endgame content going by the name Dual-sword Demon. Just the thought of wearing it is making me thrilled… Ah, seems like my mental age is truly low. Reeealy low.

Of course, if I say it, I will be acknowledged as saddening once more, so I barely controlled myself… But…

– It"s because you"re tall. Unexpectedly, this style suits you… Isn"t that so?

Realizing that she has unusually chosen the clothes seriously, I felt shameful about my excessively childish thoughts.

Although, exactly as she says… overall there is a cool and smart impression.
Earlier, everything didn"t suit to the point where she laughed, but now she doesn"t.
If there is nothing unfashionable, then it is already stylish.

But that is too perfect and I think there"s something off about it.
If I have lived my life in a different way, I may have thought I look good myself. If I think that something is wrong, then something inside me is out of sync with the outside me. And that something is part of me, which firmly stays home on days off.

It suits me, but not exactly.
The me, which could perhaps be like this. It feels just like that.

– You… are incredible, huh…

I felt embarra.s.sed that is strangely suited me, even so impression-wise, I feel like another person. Feeling mysteriously impressed, I said so. I would"ve never chosen such an outfit myself.

And this time, Tachibana was finally satisfied with my answer.

– Ehehe. Did I leave some of the serious bookworm-like feel there?

– Well, yeah… Now that you say it.

– A somewhat adult-like feel.

– …Adult? Me?

– Is that not so?

– Uh… If you think of me like that, I"ll feel weird…

While saying so, I was looking at the mirror, and the more I looked, the more her words seemed true. I felt embarra.s.sed.
Uh, I have an urge to turn away… but if I really look back, I will meet eyes with Tachibana and there will be no actual change.

– Overall… Somehow, I feel a little bit embarra.s.sed…

– Of course. I made it flashy, just a little bit.

– Uh… Why?

Then, Tachibana pinched my sleeve from behind.
Turning around, I saw her grinning, her expression filled with strange happiness.

– Didn"t I say? When choosing clothes, I wanted to try mixing in a bit of what I want you to be.

In that case, aren"t you basically saying that you want we to be a bit flashy?
I just do not understand her. It"s really embarra.s.sing.

In the end, I used up all the money given by my aunt, even though she gave me a lot.

Well then.
Leaving the clothes shop behind, I suddenly had a need to go to the toilet.
We should have met at a nearby bench, but Tachibana was absent when I returned. It was a situation like that.

Anyway, she should be around here.
If I go to look for her and we miss each other it will become a serious matter. As I don"t have neither smartphone nor cell phone, there are no means of communication.
And that"s why I relaxed on the bench.

There was a big game corner not far away, it was a noisy place filled with bam! bam!

With this and that, it was already 4 p.m.
Didn"t we come here to buy ingredients for self-catering?
On the contrary, we haven"t even had a lunch. After noticing that, there was now a feeling of hunger. To add up, there was also tiredness from going around.

It seems like date is a process of hard labor that completely wears down your mind and body.
It was an important lesson. Will it let me stay alive next time is still under question though.

I might say so, but… It was quite fun…

Recently, I"ve noticed something.
Talking with a girl, having her happily sitting next to you is somehow… I feel cheerful from the bottom of my heart.

At the same time, there is a part of me that stubbornly refuses to admit it… Ah.

Haa…
Every loner in the cla.s.s certainly has one or two inner reasons to be one.
I think that in my case, my mind has probably had no real progress since the summer of second year of junior high. Even now my main philosophy is "I"ve no interest in women, let"s study lololol".

Serious adult? Me?
That is a heavy burden. It is clear that I am not the man Tachibana thinks I am.
Still, I don"t actually know what she or others think of me.

Then.

While I was willfully having a melancholy, an unexpected guy greeted me.
It was so unexpected, that I was startled… If you think carefully, going out on day off, this is a reasonably possible situation. I made a big blunder.

– Oh, ain"t that Ichijou-kun

Totally unnatural tone of voice. There is some animosity in it.
And standing before me were guys having most likely true ill will.

My cla.s.s"… huh… What were they called?
You know, the group that often goads me during lunch break.
Three boys from the same cla.s.s… The one in the center approached with a grin. Surely he was called Oomura or Omura or something.

– Haha, you"re alone even here, lol. What are you doing at a place like this?

– … Sitting alone.

I answered shrugging my shoulders.
"Huh?" Oomurkun [temporary] was strangely hostile.

Hey, two guys on the side are totally bothered and want to go.
They"re standing with a "it"s not worth it, let"s go" impression.
By any chance, it is not just you who wants to meddle with me, right Oomura?

In any group of people, there are probably peculiar human relationships inside.
But, ugh, it seems so troublesome. It is seriously good to be alone.

– I"m tired too. What do you want? Could it be, you want me to join?

Being childish, I answered irritatedly.
I am truly tired. I want you to go somewhere, quickly. I"m not mentally prepared to entertain a low-level version of Gian like this one.

– Ichijou-kun, you"re in the same group as Tachibansan, right? For the school trip. Why?

– … Course of events, probably. By chance, you know, by chance.

– Let"s change, with our girls.

You know. Girls are not things for use like Yu-Gi-Oh!2 Cards.
Or rather, that line of yours is reeking of virginity. Welcome to the club, I guess.
Even Gian3 wouldn"t say something like "what yours is mine". By the time he got to your age, he would have long lost his virginity, jeez!

– Alas. Sorry, but it is outside of my jurisdiction. Arrange that directly by yourself.

Even if I get angry, it won"t help, so I just gave him half-hearted reply.
Sooner or later, he will get tired of it, I think so…

Still, the more we talk, the more his sidekicks look miserable.
They are rather seriously feeling unpleasant with an ugh on their faces.
On the measure of saddening ability, they are apparently equal to me, which is a bit annoying.

However… Sitting alone, I totally forgot something.
The fact that at least today, I didn"t come here alone.

And then, Tachibana called out with an unnatural voice from the back of Oomura and guys.

– Ah, isn"t this Okamura. How are you?

Huh? Okamura?
It seems I made a regretful mistake. It"s not Oomura, it"s Okamura. I was almost correct. Okamura is about 80 percent Oomura.

Not remembering the names is my bad habit. Bad enough to be alone, I guess.

On the other hand, Tachibana… Seemed to be in quite bad mood.
Her face is smiling but eyes are screaming "kill". As expected, your angry face is scary.

She tramped towards me and strongly grabbed my arm.

– Jun… let"s go.

– Eh, hey…

– Quickly. I"m serious.

"Hey, calm down. Stop that showy behavior."

I was expressing that with my face, but for a little while we didn"t make an eye contact.