Volume 1 - CH 19

What’s under Kamiyama-san’s paper bag?

Kamiyama-san is sticking stickers.

Somehow, the three of us succeeded in buying clothes and accomplished our goal, and we were at the station. Before we knew it, the day was coming to an end, and it was becoming evening.

In the crowded plaza in front of the station, Arai, who had transformed into a cute modern girl outfit, waved her hand and said, “Well then, I’m taking the train on that line, so it’s goodbye here. See you at school.”

Upon hearing that, Harusame hurriedly spoke up.

“Is Arai-san also taking that line? I’m going the same way too… um, would you like to go home together?”

“Harusame-chan is going the same direction too. Sure, let’s go home together. See you at school, Komino-kun, Kamiyama-san.”

With her usual cheerful smile, Arai said these words and disappeared into the crowd along with Harusame and the life-size cutout of a magical girl she was carrying… or so I thought.

The crowd seemed to part as if by the Ten Commandments of Moses, making it quite easy for the two of them and the cutout to walk through.

Left behind, I asked Kamiyama-san about the direction to go back.

“Kamiyama-san, which direction is your train? If it’s the same as mine, would you like to go home together?”

“W-W-Well, I actually… came here by bus…” Kamiyama-san said that and turned her face, or rather, her paper bag, towards the direction of the bus stop. It was a brand new paper bag she had just bought at the stationery store.

“I see. In that case, let’s end it here. See you at school.”

“Yeah… see you at school… Oh, um, Komino-kun…” Kamiyama-san said that and bowed slightly. Then, from inside the paper bag, a happy voice emerged.

“…Thank you for accompanying me and practicing shopping together today…” Thank you, huh? This was part of our club activity.

I didn’t really do anything to deserve thanks. Moreover, being formally thanked like this made me feel a bit embarrassed. Kamiyama-san continued with a joyful expression.

“If it weren’t for you, Komino-kun, I don’t think I would have been able to shop properly today… And it’s also my first time going shopping with friends on a day off. So, today was really enjoyable… Thank you.”

As Kamiyama-san said that, she smiled sweetly. Well, I couldn’t see her expression through the paper bag, but I had a feeling that was the case.

“W-Well then, I’ll take the bus home… See you at school…” As Kamiyama-san said that and turned her back, I called out to her.

“Oh, wait a moment.” Kamiyama-san turned around and faced me, tilting her head while holding the paper bag. I took out a small sheet-like item from the package I had bought at the stationery store earlier and handed it to Kamiyama-san.

“If you want, you can have this.” With a question mark above her head, Kamiyama-san accepted it. And as she looked at the item she received, a happy voice could be heard from inside the paper bag.

“This… Is it really… really okay?”

I nodded and reassured her.Kamiyama-san looked at the item I gave her with great joy. The thing I handed to Kamiyama-san was a set of bear character stickers. It was the same bear character stickers that were printed on the paper bag she had worn as a hat during her stylish transformation the other day.

Several of those stickers were lined up on a small sheet of paper. When Kamiyama-san was looking at the paper bags in the stationery store, I happened to come across this sticker set in a corner of the store. I instinctively picked it up, and before I knew it, I was standing in line at the cash register.

Perhaps it was because when I saw these stickers, an image of Kamiyama-san’s smile, which I had never seen before, came to mind. Kamiyama-san held the stickers with delight. Through the hole opened in the paper bag, I could see her eyes sparkling like those of a little child. Seeing her so happy, I couldn’t help but feel happy myself.

But Iwondered what kind of expression she had on her face. I had a slight desire to see Kamiyama-san’s smile.

“Komino-kun, thank you…! I-I… I really like this character! I’ll treasure it…!”

“It’s okay, it was just a coincidence that I found it. You don’t have to thank me so much.” I waved my right hand in front of my face. Seeing that, Kamiyama-san also hurriedly shook the paper bag.

“No! I… um… I’ll return the favor someday…!”

“Oh, sometime is fine. But please spare me something like the juice incident.”

“Ah, I’m sorry about that! Oh… right. Can I stick one of them right away… maybe…?”

“Sure, but… what are you going to stick it on in a place like this?”

When I asked the question, Kamiyama-san peeled off one sticker and held it up towards the top of her head. Then, she stuck it on the paper bag she was wearing and looked at me.

“D-Does it… suit me… maybe?” Was it a matter of whether it suited her or not? In the crowded plaza in front of the station, I pondered what fashion really was, but I couldn’t find an answer. However, seeing Kamiyama-san so happy, I decided to affirm it.

“Oh, it looks really good on you.”

“Hehe… thank you… Well then, see you at school… Today, thank you so much.”

Saying that, Kamiyama-san bowed her head and hurriedly ran towards the bus stop.

Whether sticking the sticker there was a good choice or not is highly questionable, but since she seemed happy about it, well, it’s fine. Wearing what you want and sticking the stickers you like is what true fashion is all about, probably. And so, our Golden Week activity in the Conversation Club came to an end.