CH 2

“Hehe~, I’m so glad that Sō-chan is going with me and taking a detour on the way home from school. Sō-chan seems to have changed recently.”

“Is that so?　I don’t think anything has changed.”

I have my body switched, but I haven’t changed.

Well, the body-swap incident has kept me in that group of jovial types for five months.

I may have become a little more sociable. Really maybe a little.

“Hey, Kanna. What are you doing? Don’t stay too close to me. I’m not gonna get the wrong idea about it, but you’ll get yourself in trouble someday if you do that to someone you don’t like and somehow he misunderstands you.”

She crosses her arms with me…

“Sighh~, Sō-chan’s is dull.” 

“Dull?  What are you talking about?”

By the way, stopping by on the way home from school was totally unthinkable back then, but now I remember going to most of the stores around here with Karen.

I’m sure i already know about these stores more than Kanna.

“And Sō-chan, It’s a bit weird. You seem to be too relaxed right now…suspicious…… “

“Is that so? I don’t think anything has changed though.”

“No, never mind. The Sō-chan before he became a truant is more interesting because he keeps his eyes swimming around at times like this!”

“No…you’re saying a funny joke. And your face is too close.”

Seriously. I can’t believe I’ve been like that with Kanna when I was in my second year of high school.

But, nowadays, we used to cross our arms everyday , I guess I’ve gotten used to it. I don’t know if it’s good or bad.

“Hehe, it’s okay if we’re close. We’ve known each other since childhood! “

“What’s with that mysterious logic?”

Well, she seems to be in a good mood for some reason, so I won’t say anything more.

“But, Todo and Otsuka… I’m surprised. They were talking about breaking up today. Sō-chan may not know this, but until just recently, they were super lovey-dovey! Really!”

“Heh, hehh….Is that so…”

I was pretty surprised by what she said, for sure.

Super lovey-dovey…

“Yeah, it’s true. I’ve been changing my mind about Todo a little bit. He may have a cool face, and he’s popular. But I felt he was too sloppy with girls before.”

“I see…..”

“Yeah. But then he fell for Mr. Otsuka, and before I knew it, it felt like they were a perfect couple. Otsuka looked really happy at that moment.”

“O-ohh. I see….”

She looks really happy….

I was so desperate at that time that I didn’t really understand it myself, but I see now at least we had a good relationship in the eyes of other people.

That’s what it is…..I guess.

“And then, before you know it, he’s back to his old Todo-kun self again, and here we are today. I was surprised, but I can understand why they broke up.”

“He, heeh…”

Well, she was not going to find out, didn’t she?

There’s no way she would know. It’s unthinkable to think that people can guess we’re switching our bodies. It’s impossible for anyone to deduce that.

“It’s as if he’s a different person these past few months. Is there something wrong with him?”

“What are you talking about? No, that can’t be true.”

No, no way…

“What’s wrong? Sō-chan?”

“No, nothing… “

No, it’s okay.

There’s no way she will know, and I was doing fine at that time… Probably…

“Hmm, where should we go anyway? Do Sō-chan know any good place?”

Uhh, if you ask me where I want to go…

I’d say that it’s a place that is a little further down the street…

The cafe that I used to go to with Karen when I was in Todo’s body『Santa Monica』

That place was nice. The atmosphere was relaxing, and the food and drinks were good.

Surprisingly, Karen seemed to like it too, and I think I’ve been going there so much that it’s not wrong to say that it was my favorite place before I realized it.

I told Todo to make it consistent with the original condition.

[Ahh? Did you use to go to such a shabby cafe? Are you an idiot?]

I’m a little worried about his situation, but I shouldn’t care now.

Because on the other hand, I don’t remember him taking care of my situation.

According to Kanna, he never came out of the house, no matter how much she called out to him.

I’m glad he didn’t die, but I can’t imagine how much he hated me.

Really, I’m glad you’re alive. My body.

“How’s this place? It’s more stylish inside than you’d think.”

“Wow, Santa Monica. It’s kind of fancy. Yeah, it’s good. Let’s go here! What is this? How did you know about this place?  You always went straight to the station on your way home, didn’t you?”

Ah, my bad.

“It’s that thing. It’s information from the Internet, I guess I don’t remember much. It’s old memory.”

“Well, I want to go in. I think I’m gonna like it here. Come on, let’s go in Sō-chan!”

For the time being, everything seems fine...

You don’t seem to think anything of it.

I told you it’s from the Net, but actually, there’s no way to actually check whether it’s the truth or not.

Anyway, Kanna grabs my hand, and we enter the store.

“Welcome. Are there only the two of you here?”

It’s been about a month since I’ve been back to my body.

I guess nothing has changed.

“Yes. Is the terrace in the back open? And one of your usual seasonal vegetable tarts and one of your seasonal berry smoothies.”

“Understood. Guest, please go in carefully.”

Both of them are on the back menu of this restaurant, and they’re really good.

When I was here with Karen, this was my first choice.

But it’s been a while. I’ll order some more later.

“Huh? Well, Sō-chan, how did you order so smoothly?  And what’s is the usual …..?”

“Eh? “

Oh, no, no. What am I doing?

“No, I’m, uh, reciting things from the Net. Y-yes, It’s from the Internet, too. Because from what I know, it looks very good… “

“Oh, really?”

Aww, man. Kanna’s eyes are piercing me.

She’s staring at me.

“I knew it… something’s wrong with Sō-chan lately. Are you hiding something?”

“I’m not hiding anything. What are you talking about? Kanna?”

“I guess it’s a bit weird these days.”

Damn it… I totally screwed up.

What am I doing…

The order is already here

As expected, it’s fast.

“Well, don’t worry about that. Just try it. It’s really good.”

“Yeah?  This is your first time here, isn’t it? You sound like you’ve eaten here before…”

“Geez, uh, I-I told you I went online. It has a great reputation on the net. I hear it tastes good, and I saw it looks good.”

“Well, it’s true that these look really good. I’ll try it.”

“Yes”

All right, eat up. Just try it.

“Ohh, it’s so good! What’s this?! It’s really good, Sō-chan. It’s amazing!”

“T-that’s right. It’s great, isn’t it? It was all over the Internet.”

Good. I managed to fool her. Kanna’s attention was completely focused on this tart.

“All girls will surely love something like this!”

“I know, I had a feeling for it.”

But now that I think about it, it’s still weird that I ordered something so fancy if I came here for the ‘first time’.

It’s just too weird from her point of view.

I was too rash today, even though common sense says I shouldn’t do anything suspicious and be caught.

It’s not like me, I’ve become a little strange after the five months period.

“Welcome, guest. Thank you for visiting us.”

“Excuse me. Is the terrace table at the back of the restaurant free?”

“Yes, there is an empty spot. Please come in carefully.”

And then I hear a customer’s voice. It is a woman’s voice.

She sounds a little listless.

“I love this place so much! I want to come again tomorrow!”

“Oh, I see. I’m glad you like it.”

And Kanna is completely hooked on the food and drink. I’m not judging her, but it’s totally her weak point.

Thank God. I fooled her this time.

Whatever discomfort she felt toward me just now seems to have completely vanished.

I’m talking about the order that actually came from the back menu.

I have the menu list in my head, so she won’t find out that this is an off-the-menu item.

Phew, for a while, I thought I was in trouble, but..

I succeed.

“Eh?”

“Hmm? What?”

“Oh, it’s Otsuka. Hello! “

Karen!?

And…. Alone?

Could it be that the voice that i just heard…

“T-that is….. “

And before I knew it, she was pointing her finger at the tart we were eating and staring at me.

“Oh, are you a fan of this tart too, Otsuka? It’s delicious!  And the smoothies are great too!  Would you like to join us? “

Next to me is an innocent-looking Kanna.

“Hey, it’s okay, right, Sō-chan! Food tastes better when we all eat it together! Uh, what’s the matter, Sō-chan? Why are you quiet? Maybe you want me to eat your share… geez, Sō-chan is really troublesome. Here let me do it….mmm… “

This is troublesome…

This could be dangerous…Isn’t it?

It seems dangerous…