37. There Shouldn’t be any Punishment, Probably
The month is May.
All the snow in the city has melted and the number of people wearing short sleeves is increasing. The clothes I selected for a warm day like this are… a grey hoodie and black jeans, a simple outfit.
It’s the consequence of not having any interest in fashion. I chose grey and black without a moment’s hesitation.
Setting that aside— — —
“We’re here—! The Sapporo Factory1!”
— — —The one crying out isn’t me, it’s Takigawa.
Right now, I’ve come here with everyone in my group to do some shopping for next week’s [recreation accommodation]. The members of my group include 5 people, Ishida, Takigwa, the class representative, Aihara-san, and myself.
“Still, the Sapporo Factory… it’s as huge as ever.”
“You never really know where anything is.”
The class representative responds to my remark.
The Sapporo Factory is gigantic establishment where it’s hard to tell if it is a shopping center or an amusement facility. At any rate, there’s a large, spacious, atrium that even has a garden inside of it. The city, it’s incredible…
“Sorry about this, we ended up tagging along cause of Souji’s willfulness. Such a large number of people might make it harder to move around.”
“That’s totally alright! Or rather, I’m ultra happy Akari-san came! I’m extremely moved!”
While I was having such thoughts, I hear a fun conversation from behind me. The speakers are Akari-san and Takigawa. That’s a rare combination.
“Che.”
“Hiii!”
Souji, possibly bothered by the friendly conversation they are having, intimidates Takigawa.
“Yuuki-kun, should we really be staying out of that?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Takigawa is tough.”
The conversation is making Shizuka-san anxious, but it should probably be fine. Even though I haven’t known him long, Souji isn’t a violent person.
As for why Akari-san, Souji, and Shizuka-san are also here, it’s because my group isn’t the only one here shopping. They came along with us, too. Therefore, the number of people shopping today is a large group of 8.
“Ah! Yuuki-san, shall I hold your bags?”
“Souji, it’s seriously alright. You don’t need to mind it so much.”
The spiky haired… no, that’s not it. Souji, after intimidating Takigawa, comes up to me.
Ever since Kuro revealed who I was to the spiky haired delinquent, Souji, he started following me around trying to fulfill my requests.
“If there’s anything, please say it without hesitation.”
“No, no, it’s seriously alright.”
Because of that, Souji said he also wanted to come shopping with us. Shizuka-san and Akari-san then joined as well.
“In private, it’s alright to an extent, but don’t follow me around in school.”
“I’ll be careful.”
It isn’t I want you to be careful, but that you’d stop altogether….
Incidentally, he said that if I don’t call him Souji, he’d go out to greet me every morning. As such, I have no choice but to call him Souji now.
“Leave the comedy skit there and let’s get going. This place is crowded even on Saturdays.”
“That’s right. Let’s hurry, come on, come on.”
Except that wasn’t a comedy routine… With Ishida and Aihara-san urging us on, we make our way inside. We all enter the Sapporo Factory upon going through the large, automated doors and then— — —
— — —Now I am sitting alone on a bench in front of a woman’s clothing store.
“How did it come to this…?”
Well, the reason is simple. Everyone disappeared one after the other as we passed by the various stores. Souji vanished when we were in front of a jacket shop, Ishida when we were in front of a book store, and then Takigawa and Aihara-san hit it off discussing the outdoors and went off to an outdoors shop. That lead to me moving around with the class representative, Shizuka-san, and Akari-san. With 3 young women gathered together, fashion becoming the subject of conversation was inevitable.
“Yuuki-kun, sorry, but is it alright if we look at clothes for a bit?”
With Akari-san’s words, my situation came about.
“Nothing to do…”
I was told, “for a bit,” but it’s already been about 20 minutes. The clothing shop they entered has risqué underwear on display, so going in myself is a bit difficult.
Nothing to do…
“Ah, that’s right.”
While this might be mean to the class representative and the others, I reinforce my sense of hearing that kami-sama strengthened for me with [Reinforcement] and try listening on their conversation for a bit. Since I’m being kept waiting like this, there shouldn’t be any punishment, probably.
“onee-chan, that’s embarrassing…”
“What are you saying? This outfit is great and… wait! Shizuka, did your chest grow again!?”
“It’s true! Shizuka-san’s chest is huge.”
“Uuugh…”
I hear Shizuka-san, Akari-san, and the class representative having a fun conversation. This seems to be the first time the class representative and the Tsukino sisters are interacting with each other, but they appear to be getting along well. Also, that’s an incredibly interesting topic… This is wrong, but I’ll just listen for a bit more.
“Shizuka, what’s your bust size? You were an E cup before, right?”
“Ye- yes. But I’m still wearing the same bra, so my size hasn’t changed.”
“That’s a lie! The bulge of your chest is unnatural! Your breasts are getting crushed by that bra!”
“Uuugh…”
“Th- then, Shizuka-san is an F cup!? Incredible. No matter how much I massage myself every night, I’m just a C cup…”
“Uruka-chan, C is plenty. I diligently massage, eat right, and sleep well, yet even then… I’m an A. Shizuka, aren’t you stealing my nutrition!?”
“O- onee-chan, you’re grabbing too hard.”
…I’ve overheard an outrageous conversation. Akari-san is an A cup, the class representative is a C cup, and— — —
“— — —Shizuka-san is, and an F cup…!?”
I thought they were big back when I princess carried her, but I never thought they were that…
She doesn’t like that they are massive and is bothered that they reached such a size. I’ve heard that women are sensitive to other’s gazes, so I’ll need to be careful.
But for now— — —
“Kami-sama, you have my gratitude.”
— — —at having been able to learn the cup sizes of the 3 girls in my school I most wanted to know, I give my gratitude.
I then cancel [Reinforcement]. Listening anymore than this would be wrong.
“Well then, I’ll just wait a bit longer…”
“Do you believe… that god exists?”
“!!?”
All of a sudden, I am spoken to by a man appearing in the seat right beside mine.
“Do I believe… god exists?”
“Yes, does god… exist?”
How scary! Or rather, when did he get here!? I didn’t notice him at all.
He’s wearing a black parka and grey jeans. His top and bottom are the exact opposite of mine. The brim on his knitted hat is so thick, I can’t make out his face.
“Do you believe… god exists?”
Wh- who is this person? A solicitor? He’s extremely scary.
“Do you believe… god exists?”
“No… that’s… I believe in him, but…”
He’s so insistent, I end up answering without meaning to.
Well, he really does exist. I actually met him.
“Really? This is the promised item.”
The man, while murmuring, places a paper bag with something inside of it beside me. He then leaves without a word.
“Wait a-!”
I chase after him in a fluster, but he’s already gone.
“The heck was that… just now…”
He appeared out of nowhere and left without warning. That was way too mysterious. Considering that, it might have been a phenomenon caused by an [Onmyou technique] or a [special ability]. Either way, it happened too fast for me to learn it. A wasted opportunity.
“Still, what is this?”
I peer into the paper bag he left behind. Inside is something like a flask.
“If it’s something like a bomb… that’d be terrifying.”
At any rate, leaving it here without doing anything could be a problem.
“Yuuki-kun, sorry for the wait—. As an apology, I’ll tell you Shizuka’s bust size-”
“O- onee-chan!”
“Akari-chan, it’s no good if you don’t apologize properly. Yuuki-kun, for making you wait, I truly am sorry.”
While I was thinking about the bag, Akari-san, Shizuka-san, and the class representative come out of the shop. I shove the flask like thing into the paper bag in a hurry and go meet the 3 of them.
“Ahre? Did Yuuki-kun also do some shopping?”
“Eh, yeah. A bit.”
I instantly lie to the class representative’s question. It can’t be helped, I’ll take this home with me. Since it might be dangerous, I have no intention of alerting anyone of it.
“[Triple Barrier].”
I place a small [barrier] around the paper bag and seal the flask like thing. On the off chance this is dangerous, that should somehow or another be enough to handle it.
“……”
“Uruna-chan, what’s wrong?”
“…No, it’s nothing. Just my imagination.”
The class representative, while walking ahead of me, looks back with an expression clouded in doubt. Since she replied to Akari-san with, “Just my imagination,” she doesn’t seem to have noticed my [barrier]. Or that’s what I want to believe.
I’m going to have to be careful the next time I use [Onmyou techniques].
“Oh, Kousuke, so this is where you were… Wait! How the heck did you make a harem!?”
“Yuuki-san, is this where you were!?”
During the middle of all that, the scattered members of our group gather again with Takigawa and Souji taking the lead. I am still curious about that man from earlier and the flask like object, but right now I’m going to enjoy myself shopping with everyone.
The day comes to a joyful end with us eating the famous soft serve ice cream from behind the Sapporo Factory.
T/N: Souji isn’t a violent person. Did Yuuki already forget how Souji had him called to the back of the school?? Or does he mean he isn’t violent to non-combatants??
Thanks for the chapter.