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Nnn……

I want 5 more minutes….

Wait…

Waahhhh— standing up, yawning, and staring at the window, where light we're slightly poking through, as I immediately closed my eyes as it was literally pointed directly at my face.

Well then… 

I went ahead and immediately went to my kitchen, looking for food. 

What do I have…. Well, whatever! I just whipped something up, and of course, an undoubtedly large portion at that. After all, I'll need a bit more energy than usual. We're going shopping today after all.

Actually, now that I think about it… isn't doing something like this alone with a boy almost like a… d-date?!

No, it can't be. I'm just taking my servant for a walk in the mall, that is. Although, that thought won't be going to waste. 

I'm not entirely sure of his thoughts, but if he thought of this as well, then… wearing a beautiful dress would surely surprise him, right? I mean, such a beauty like me with him. I can't wait to see the embarrassed look on his face~!

Well then~! This should be great! 

I took out a dress and prepared it. It wasn't a fancy one that would look like I would go on a ball or something, but it should be beautiful enough to know what it's like for a date. Not like it is really a date, anyways.

I'm sure he'd be there a few minutes earlier than me, and I'm sure he knows it's impolite to make a girl wait, so I guess I'll go there exactly on time.

Then, I left at around 10:45, which will surely make me get there exactly on time, if not, it would be a few minutes earlier, or a few minutes later. But right now, I got there exactly on time, so I looked around at the station, trying to find a single person.

Eh?! Is this… him? That Akira Ryouko?! This is bad… doesn't he look… a bit cooler than how he usually is…?! I mean, I admit that he's attractive, not like he puts that into good use of popularity, but this……

Even on his side… he looks too cool!!! I mean… does a simple, pale white, slightly loose turtleneck and a simple, slightly black jeans look that good on someone?

I said I'd surprise him but….

Unnnn…..

No!

I won't give up, he got me, I'd admit. But I won't admit defeat that easily! I went ahead and looked the best I could, then, I will make sure he gets captivated by my sight!

(Shouldn't this be a truce?!)

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Is this even fine? I mean for her though. I know how I look, and I keep my appearance in check. Although my fashion sense is probably only decent, I'd say this doesn't look that bad. Then again, I'm meeting with Furushira-san, so I'm sure this won't be as great of an impact as I'd want it to be….

And again, I'm meeting with Furushira-san, so I have prepared myself. I know that she thought that this would sound like a date, so she's probably wearing something that makes her stand out, or… just simply… even more beautiful….

But why is she planning to surprise me? That's just how she is. Even if she called in a truce, it's like a habit of her already to tease or toy with people.

But… she exceeds every expectation, don't she….

“Hey, look at that… beautiful….” a girl from the side said.

“How beautiful, wonder if she's single….” a guy said. Well, this won't end well.

Wait… if they're suddenly saying those things, then surely….

“Did you wait too long, Ryou-kun?”

“No, I just got he—” 

She stood beside me as I averted my gaze to the side, to her and looked slightly downwards and witnessed… an angel before my eyes….

“Beautiful….” Crap!

“Really cool…”

I immediately covered my mouth as I accidentally blurted out my thoughts.

Well, she is in fact incredibly beautiful now, even more beautiful than I expected. I did expect a dress, and even if it's just a white, one-piece, off shoulder, frill dress… it contemplates so well with how light she is… she just looks like… an angel that just descended….

But wait… what did she just say?

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Ah, there he is…

“Did you wait too long, Ryou-kun?”

I approached him, tapped on his shoulder, and on a closer look… he's…

“Beautiful…”

“Really cool….” wait—

No! That wasn't supposed to be blurted out loud!

Wait, did he just call me beautiful?! Then— I did it! He got captivated by the sight!

All right! I made a gut pose as I grinned.

◆

Wh-Whatever… If my appearance made her say that, I don't mind. Because, unlike her, I keep my word. Under this truce, I won't be doing anything the whole time. Besides, I already have my counter attacks planned.

Anyway… she's literally showing that she just accomplished something, huh? Well, not like she didn't…

“You know that it's written all over you… accomplishing a goal, or something like that.”

“Wha— really?”

But other than that kind of show… isn't she… showing too much skin…?

“Just how much attention do you even want…”

This time, I know I said it out loud, but I just want her to know the probable consequences of her actions.

Again, I'm not breaking my word, I already know that she'll deny it, so this move will be just to show the probable consequences.

“Huh? What do you mean? It's fine.”

See? Just like her.

“Haa—” I sighed, “No, it isn't, after all…”

“Eh…?!?!”

I pulled her up close to me, practically embracing her by her waist, lifting her arm to me, with our faces so close.

With the current surroundings here at the station, this will surely look like something like a dude hitting on a girl. But I myself know what could be the consequences of what I'm doing now, but I didn't care for 2 reasons.

Right now, we probably look like a couple, and I could literally just die imagining that…

And of course… to teach her a lesson…

“... what would you do if someone did this to you?” I said straight to her face.

The crowd doesn't concern me, but she herself might find this offensive, but… I just couldn't help but ignore that fact…

“....” her eyes widened, as if realizing the consequences, so I let go of her.

“Got it?”

“Yeah… I don't really go outside other than the supermarket, so I didn't think of something like this…”

”So Furushira-san is a shut-in, huh…”

“Wha—?!”

“Oh, or better, someone with no friends!”

This might seem to be teasing her, but… from her realization, she looked glum, so I wanted to change the mood a bit.

“You….”

“Whatever, if you get it, then let's go. We don't have all the time in the world for ourselves.”

And then, to the mall we went. And as revealing as her outfit was, she was sure to take all the attention to herself, may it be a man or a woman. 

But… I've grown under quite a strong, strict, protective father, so he taught me that…

“I realized the consequences but… aren't you walking too closely?!” she flipped at me, as I walked next to her, really really closely.

“Yeah.” I didn't give her any more answers, nor did she say anything else.

… protecting a girl is a man's job.

Other than that, I just have one last question…

“Ah—! Let's check here!” I followed her into another shop, with already 3 bags in my hands.

…. isn't this shopping trip supposed to be for the Cultural Festival?!

We have already gone to 5 different shops, bought stuff at 2 shops, specifically some accessories and stuff that she picks out. Currently we're at a clothing shop….

“Wahhh— this look beautiful, where can I try them out?” she enthusiastically asked a clerk.

“Yes. Here~” the clerk then enthusiastically and politely replied and showed her the way to the fitting room.

“Ah, Ryou-kun, can you hold these?” she gave me a basket, with clothes… and a ton… does she plan to try them all on?!

But still, this is pretty out of character for her…. We've already spent an hour walking around, shopping for her, but I can't stop her… after all, she's so cute…. But that's not the main reason… she seems… happy.

And just how cute she acts when she's like this… it's like… another Fuyuko Furushira emerged!

Although, she did say she doesn't pretty much go outside, so this may well be her first time. I guess the last time she went shopping was with her parents. And speaking of her parents, just how stacked are they?! I mean, she's just going all-out shopping here, just how much does she even have?!

Whatever, I'll let her have her fun for a few more minutes.

“Hmm… how is this?”

“Eh?!” she opened the door and asked me, as she's now wearing another one piece dress, with a pinkish color, but this time, it seems she took my advice, and chose an outfit not too revealing.

But, how do I say this…

“Okay, next!” and then she took the basket in my hand and closed the door once again.

Eh? I haven't even given my answer?!

“What about this?”

Now, she has fully changed into a frilly white skirt with a white shirt and a peach cardigan.

“Hmm…” then, she closed the door on me again, without even having the chance to say how she really looks…

“This is the final one!”

Hey, hey… isn't this too… much in every single way?!

I mean, the peach beret, the white, tight turtleneck that reveals her shape so much, and light, pink-ish jeans….

Isn't this too… beautiful?!

Seriously?! Just how much expectations can this girl exceed?!

I seriously expected that her white, one-piece off shoulder dress would be the most beautiful already, but she can still go way even higher?!

“Hey? You haven't said anything yet, and your face is red, you know?”

Eh? It is?

Crap… if it wasn't for the truce… I most probably would've lost against her now… but… 

“N-No… it's just that… you're beautiful in all of them, I guess…” I said as I averted my gaze downwards

Of course, they're my honest thoughts.

The normal Furushira-san was already beautiful, so it's a given that she'll be even more beautiful when she dresses up, right?

“...”

I noticed that she didn't reply, so I returned my gaze to her and… she was bright red….

“Wh-Whatever! I'm buying these!”

“Eh? All of them?!” 

Seriously, just how much does she have?

“Yeah, is there a problem?! Hey, can I wear this now?”

“Of course.” a clerk from the side answered her question.

“Well, I'll pay now, oh, of course come. I need you to carry it after all.”

Is she… getting flustered so much that she's naturally ordering me?

This girl… she can't even keep her word… whatever….

“Then, let's go. We haven't bought anything for the Cultural Festival.”

“And whose problem do you think that is?!” I lightly knocked on her head.

“W-Well… I'd have to say that I did lose focus and went ahead and buy a few things…”

“So this is a few to you, huh…” I raised the 4 bags in my hands as we walked.

And if this is a few for her… I'm scared to know what's too much for her…

And so, a few hours later, with a little stopover to some shops, we finally finished the shopping, ending the day with… a whopping 9 bags in my hands….

It's a good thing I keep myself fit, that this much isn't that heavy, but this is still a lot…. And to think on 2 of the 9 bags are what we really need….

Then, we obviously went home together, with her walking in front of me now. I mean, how am I even gonna walk next to her with 9 bags in my hands?!

“Oh, and please keep them in your house~” she said, as she closed the door to her house as I left the bags that she bought on her doorsteps.

….

If there's one thing that I learned from this day… it's that…

I won't ever go shopping with her, ever again. This is even more hellish than how she treats me. She never changes huh?

So much for a truce, I guess….

“Oh, Akiryou, what's wrong?” on Monday, Leo asked me as I sluggishly entered the room (with the 2 bags, and earlier than Furushira-san) and sluggishly melted on my desk.

“No… I'm never shopping with her ever again….”

“Haha— must've been so much for you, huh?”

“Yeah, that was annoying… what truce, she say… she can't even follow her own word… but I guess that's just how she is, doing it so much that it became a habit.”

“Well, you can get back at her if you want but…”

“You know me more than that, right?”

“Yeah, you have never once get back on your own words.”

After all, I respect my word, I follow it with all my heart. And I will never ever get back on my own words, especially not with a girl. Just as a true man should, or so my father taught me.