CH 82

The End-of-Summer Ramune Flavor

Translated by Green Cake

Edited by

The day after Iris-san came to our house, she came again.

She came to pick us up.

“Arisu-chan is at home preparing to entertain you.”

Standing in the doorway, smiling and laughing, Iris-san looked happy.

I’m sorry Iris-san, but I’m a little nervous.

I have a bad feeling that Yurizono-san is preparing to entertain us

Anyway, starting today, I’ll be staying at Yurizono-san’s house and commuting to school from her house.

The duration is yet to be decided. It will be until I learn how to make panels to some extent.

Yurizono-san said that it would be quite easy because all I had to do was cut and paste.

Yurizono-san seems to be rather handy. It would be better not to take her word for it.

“I get to ride in a cute car! Yay!”

Alice, with a drum bag on her shoulder, came down from the second floor, her eyes shining and her voice booming.

“We’ll take a little detour since Arisu-chan seems to want to prepare a lot of things. Let’s buy some soft-serve ice cream on the way.

“Yay!”

Alice smiled a big smile at Iris-san’s words.

I looked at Alice and suddenly thought.

When I think about it, I feel like Arisu doesn’t smile much except in front of me.

She’s usually with me or Yurizono-san at school, but when she’s around Yurizono-san, she gets all pouty.

I think the relationship between Alice and Yurizono-san has become much better than before.

But Alice still gets a little tense.

She wants to be honest with Yurizono-san, but they’ve been dog and cat friends for a long time, so it’s hard for her to be honest.

This is why Alice is currently giving Iris-san a big smile.

.

Unlike Yurizono, Iris-san has a passive personality.

Alice can’t be honest with Yurien-san, so maybe the reaction is showing in Iris-san.

“Alice, please don’t be rude.”

My mother came out of the living room and told Alice that.

“I know, I know. I’m not a child.”

Whether she was angry at being treated like a child or embarrassed, Alice raised her voice and puffed out her cheeks, blushing.

“Amane, take care of Alice, okay?”

Mom asked, looking at me.

When Alice saw this, she was annoyed.

“Yes, I’ll take care of her.”

I nodded as I answered my mother.

Then she gave Iris-san something and asked her to take care of us.

Mom was happy to see the pressed flowers Iris-san had given her.

She said she had to give something in return, and I guess the gift she gave Iris-san was her way of saying thank you.

Also, since we’re going to be taken care of, I guess we can thank you for that.

◆

Iris-san’s cute car drove through the city.

Despite its small size, it seemed to have a lot of horsepowers, and even with three people in the car, it drove lightly.

And although it looks retro on the outside, the inside is clean and seems to be equipped with the latest equipment.

The gap between the outside and the inside is amazing.

The yellow color of the car made it stand out, and I could see people walking on the sidewalk looking at us.

And maybe it’s because the driver, Iris-san, is so beautiful, but when she stops for a traffic light, the people in the car next to her look at her and give her a shocked look.

When a pretty car pulled up next to them and wondered what kind of person was driving it, most people would be surprised to see an incredibly beautiful silver-haired beauty.

By the way, Alice and I are sitting in the back seat.

It seems that the back seat isn’t very wide, but I’m about average, and Alice is a little on the small side, so it’s plenty wide enough for us.

◆

The car driven by Iris-san left the city and arrived at a nature park.

It’s a park, but it’s just a walking path, a place where you can enjoy looking at nature.

It was a long way from my house, but I knew it because I came here on a field trip when I was in elementary school.

There was nothing special about the park, but there was a store in the parking lot.

“Soft ice cream!”

Seeing a banner with the word “Soft Serve Ice Cream” written in white letters on a red background, Alice shouted out with shining eyes.

I’ve always wanted to eat soft serve ice cream.

“Fufu.”

Iris-san smiles happily at the excited Alice.

She wanted to go for a drive in Iris-san’s cute car, and Iris-san had been looking for a place where she could drive and eat soft serve ice cream.

“It’s beautiful.”

I muttered as I got out of the car and looked at the lake from the parking lot.

There was a walking path around the perimeter of the lake, which brought back memories of walking the path on field trips.

As soon as we started walking, Alice said, “I can’t walk anymore,” and I carried her on my back.

“Hmm?”

A white object swiftly crossed the surface of the water, which was glistening in the sunlight.

No way.

I ran up to the fence between the parking lot and the lake.

Among the group of ducks swimming on the surface of the water, I saw a white one mixed in.

“Ah! It’s a duck!”

I shouted out.

I had no idea there was a duck.

I wondered if they had escaped from somewhere.

Or was it a crossbreed with a duck?

I’ve researched this before, and it seems that ducks can breed with ducks.

(TN: Say what? Please someone explain…)

“Quack!”

Perhaps in response to my voice, a duck looked at me while swimming swiftly and quacked as if to say “Hello.”

It’s a duck like Kanau-un.

“Ahaha! Hello!”

I waved my hand while calling out to the duck, and the duck responded with a quack.

It’s so cute.

“Onee-chan is cute, isn’t she?”

“Yes, very much.”

I turned around, surprised to hear a voice from behind me, and saw Alice and Iris-san with soft-serve ice cream in their hands, looking at me with dyed cheeks.

Ah, I like ducks, so it’s okay to call out to them.

Also, no matter what you think, you two are cuter and more beautiful than me.

◆

I sat down on a bench by the store and decided to have some soft-serve ice cream.

The sun was warm, but it was much cooler than in the middle of summer.

Summer is over, and autumn is approaching.

I thought to myself.

This summer had been fun. We went to the beach together, camping, summer festivals, and fireworks displays.

From now on, autumn will come, winter will come, spring will come, and summer will come again.

I wonder if I’ll still be a woman next summer.

I’m having a lot of trouble being a woman, and I feel like I want to be a man again.

But if I go back to being a man, will I be a loner again?

I have mixed feelings when I think about it.

That’s right, vanilla for Alice. Iris-san got a mix of vanilla and chocolate. And mine is――.

“Light blue.”

What is this soft ice cream? It’s light blue. I’ve never seen a light blue soft ice cream before.

“It’s ramune flavored. Onee-chan likes shaved ice with blue Hawaii, right? So I made it blue.”

I listened to Alice’s explanation and thought, “I see.”

I was surprised by the light blue color, but it tastes like ramune. If so, it’s probably just plain delicious.

I licked it, and the refreshing taste of ramune spread in my mouth.

“It tasted better than I expected.”

It’s not soft ice cream, it’s more like sorbet and gelato.

“Ah! There’s a duck walking!”

“Eh? Where?”

Alice shouted and hurriedly looked around. But there was no sign of the duck.

“Hmm?”

I felt something move quickly and lowered my gaze.

I had only licked a little bit of the ramune flavored soft ice cream. The part that I had licked had been gouged wide open.

I looked next to me and saw Alice with a pouty face licking the soft-serve ice cream.

There was a blue spot on the edge of her lips.

You distracted me with a duck and then ate my soft serve ice cream.

I would have given you as much as you wanted if you asked for it.

Thinking this, I licked the soft ice cream.

It was refreshing, cold, and delicious.

“T-T-T-T-There’s a duck walking!”

Iris-san raised her voice with a bright red face.

The second time was a bit…

I thought so, but Iris-san was glancing at me with a bright red face.

I got soft ice cream, and since you’re going to be taking care of us, I think I’ll just play along.

“Eh? Where?”

I pretended to look for the duck with a glazed look in my eyes.

Then I looked at Iris-san, trying not to be noticed.

She smiled and leaned forward and put her face to the soft ice cream I was holding. Then she stuck out her tongue and licked the part I had licked.

“A-Amane-san, you taste so refreshing.”

Murmuring with an enraptured face, Iris-san covered her mouth with her hand and backed away.

It’s better to pretend not to notice, right?

Despite my thoughts, Alice and Iris-san are giving each other thumbs up.

You two are so close.

“There’s a duck walking!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs, and they scowled.

“I said there’s a duck walking!”

I shouted again, and they looked puzzled.

Ahh, geez, can’t help it.

With that in mind, I leaned forward and took a bite of Alice’s soft ice cream.

Yes, vanilla is delicious after all.

The next time, I leaned over to Iris-san and took a bite of her soft ice cream.

The sweetness of the vanilla with the bittersweetness of the chocolate made it delicious as well.

“It’s payback.”

When I told them that, their eyes waved.

“Ah, ducks! Where’s the duck?”

“Where is the duck?”

They turned red and started looking for the duck.

It’s late.

So after I finished my soft ice cream, I got into Iris-san’s car and headed for Yurizono-san’s house.