Chapter 274: Choosing Autumn Clothes (6)

When we first bumped into each other, the atmosphere turned tense for a while, but afterwards, things were proceeding as usual (at least on the surface).

“Alright, I need to go with my parents now. I’d love to go with you guys, but I don’t want to disturb Maki-kun and Umi’s date~”

“I know, right~? Well, it’s about time for me to meet up with my sister. I’d rather leave her by herself, but it isn’t like I can just do that.”

“Okay, see you guys later then. Let’s go, Maki.”

“Ah, okay... See you, Amami-san, Nitta-san.”

““See you~””

I thought the four of us would go around the place together for a while, but to my surprise, Amami-san and Nitta-san just left us as soon as they finished eating.

Amami-san said something about not wanting to disturb our date, but in truth it was probably because of the thing that happened between Nitta-san and herself.

Still, I never expected that Nitta-san, someone who usually acted as the balance keeper for our group, would get involved in something like this. Their relationship would probably grow a little awkward because of this, just like what happened back when Amami-san and Umi fought.

“Ah, that’s a cute one~ Maki, what do you think about the hat? Isn’t it cute? Do you think it’ll suit me?”

“Huh? A-Ah, yeah, it’s cute, yeah. It’ll suit you... I think...”

“...Hmph.”

“W-What’s wrong?”

“That praise just now wasn’t sincere. It lacks soul.”

“Ugh...”

That was my honest opinion, but it was obvious to Umi that I was incredibly distracted by something else. Thanks to this, she didn’t accept my praise and puffed her cheeks in displeasure.

Seriously, I was in the middle of a date. I really should focus on my girlfriend instead of thinking about something completely unrelated.

Still, it wasn’t like I could just stop thinking about those two. I had a feeling that if I didn’t do something about it, their problem would never get resolved.

“...Sorry, Umi. I just can’t stop thinking about those two.”

“I knew it. Well, me too, actually. Let’s look for a place to sit, shall we?”

“Okay. Thank you, Umi.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m already used to this by now.”

I assumed that they were probably in disagreements about something. Most likely, Amami-san was doing something that Nitta-san couldn’t ignore.

“...Ah, jeez, I don’t know anymore.”

If I were to put more thoughts into this matter, I had a feeling that I’d go crazy. In the end I decided to forget about those two and think about something else.

Something like, tomorrow’s date, I guess. Now that I think about it, we planned on a date tomorrow, but we haven’t worked on the details yet. Like, I didn’t even know where we would go.

Since we’ve done our shopping today... I guess we could go karaoke or to the arcade? If she didn’t want us to spend too much money, we could also just go to the park or something.

As I started to think about my possible date with Umi, my previously spent energy gradually returned.

This was probably what I should’ve been doing. Just thinking about Umi. Indulging myself with her, chatting with her, having fun with her and... doing all sorts of things with her...

...Come to think of it, it has been a whole month since we last did ‘it.’ Now that the sports festival was over, it should probably be okay if I were to ask her for it, right?

“Why are you grinning to yourself like that, Rep? Gross.”

“Huh? A-Ah, uh...”

Just when my imagination moved to a weird direction, a certain someone’s voice dragged me back to reality. It was Nitta-san, looking at me with her arms folded while wearing a disappointed look.

“Nitta-san?”

“Heya, we met again~ Well, I tried to ignore you, you know? I really did. But you were acting so suspiciously, so I couldn’t help myself. So, why are you here by yourself? You didn’t get into a fight with your lovely girlfriend, did you?”

“Of course not, she’s just going to the toilet... What about you? Why are you alone? You haven’t found Yuna-san yet?”

She said that she was going to meet up with her sister, that was why she left the group quickly. But, she wasn’t with anyone at the moment.

Well, if she couldn’t find her sister, guess it wouldn’t hurt if I were to help her.

After hearing my question, Nitta-san answered my question nonchalantly.

“My sister? Ah, that was a lie.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, it was a lie. I came here by myself.”

“...What?”

I could feel my brain die the moment I heard those words come out of her mouth.