HCB Ch. 81.1 - Her Thoughts Pt1
Ch. 81.1 - Her Thoughts Pt1
When had Shihou and Nogami suddenly disappear?It was only a brief moment of carelessness. When Harutaki turned his head again, he realized that the two girls who had been huddled together whispering just moments ago were nowhere to be seen.
Just as he was wondering whether he should head deeper into the shop to look for them, someone suddenly patted his shoulder from behind.
“Yo, isn’t this Hoshikawa? What are you sneaking around doing here?”
He turned around. The moment he saw who that familiar voice belonged to, his heart skipped a beat—
An oversized white knit sweater hung loosely on her frame, giving off a precarious, almost fragile kind of cuteness. The layered round neckline looked like ruffled lace encircling a swan-like, slender, fair neck. Over it was a sky-blue canvas jacket, though she had only slipped her arms into the sleeves, leaving it half-worn, half-slipped-off, like the feathered robe of a celestial maiden, lightly supporting her delicate body.
Below that was a pleated gauze skirt that fell all the way to her ankles, revealing a pair of pale pink high-top canvas sneakers.
“Y–yo… yo?”
Isn’t this cheating?!
What was Nogami thinking, dressing up so girlishly, so pure?
Her smooth orange-red hair looked casually loose, but in reality, the left side had been carefully tucked behind her ear, while the right side cascaded down over her shoulder like a waterfall. Against the white knit sweater, it resembled a blazing river of fire across a snowy plain, burning through the withered winter grass and spreading straight into his heart.
“‘Yo’ my ass. Ha… haha, Hoshikawa, why don’t you take a look in the mirror and see what kind of expression you’re making right now?”
Noticing the stiff, nervous tension on his face, she seemed thoroughly amused. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand and let out a suppressed giggle.
Unfortunately, the moment Nogami smiled, the heart-stirring atmosphere from before completely collapsed, but Harutaki couldn’t help secretly sighing in relief.
“Idiot pervert. Well? You like it?”
Nogami wore a mischievous grin, pressing her advantage and refusing to let him off the hook, as if she wouldn’t be satisfied until she exposed him completely.
If you hadn’t said that… Harutaki thought. Thank goodness this was still Nogami Izumi. Otherwise, he really might have been thrown into an impossible dilemma, unsure how to choose between her and Shihou.
A softened, gentle version of Nogami carried a level of destructive power that even an old stiff like him couldn’t withstand, it would have shattered his defenses instantly.
“Very cute. As long as you’re a beautiful girl, I like it~”
“There you go again… Don’t talk to me in such a half-assed way!”
So she wasn’t letting him off easy, huh?
He wasn’t the type to just sit back and take it. Watching the girl slowly step closer, he knew that if he didn’t counterattack now, he’d soon become a “toy” she could push around however she liked.
“Hmm…”
After pretending to think seriously for a moment, he looked at Nogami with a solemn expression and met her gaze.
“W–what…?”
“A gentle Nogami-san is just like a dreamlike first love. That delicacy and cuteness instantly grab my heart in a death grip… Please, have mercy. If this keeps up, I’m really going to fall hopelessly in love with you. How much do I like you? The kind where I couldn’t live without proposing, and after marriage we’d have to have eight kids.”
…?
“Y–you you you you, what kind of stupid nonsense are you spouting?! You filthy pervert! Who would ever marry someone like you?!”
Her face instantly flushed bright red. Nogami stumbled back several steps, panicking like a bomb that had suddenly discovered its countdown was about to hit zero, desperate to escape, yet with nowhere to run.
And besides,
What did he mean by dreamlike first love?
She fumed internally. That was just some illusory, failed ex, wasn’t it?!
Someone you could never end up loving, right?!
Sure… sure, she hadn’t planned on dating anyone to begin with, but still, if your one and only dog suddenly slipped its leash and ran away, anyone would feel awful about it, wouldn’t they?!
Hoshikawa, that idiot… marriage? Eight kids? Did he think she was some kind of sow?!
And she herself, she’d wanted to surprise him, wanted to hear words of praise and admiration from his mouth. So why? Why had it turned out like this again?
A vague sense of loss drifted through the turbulent sea of her thoughts, rising and falling without direction.
Couldn’t Hoshikawa just lose once in a while? Couldn’t he take one step back, even just a little?!
Even if she was domineering, even if she was overbearing, even if she had a terrible personality, even if she was Nogami Izumi… in the end, no matter how special she was, she was still just a girl!
…
After a moment of silence, Harutaki took a deep breath and slowly let it out, breaking the tension between them with a joking tone.
“Yeah. That’s why I think it’s enough for me and Nogami-san to just be good friends. Maybe I’ll occasionally make a guest appearance as Miss Nogami’s loyal dog.”
To be honest, he didn’t want to say that.
But the cool, clever, witty Harutaki who flitted around beautiful girls had no choice but to say it.
He wasn’t an idiot, nor was he blind. There was no way he hadn’t noticed Nogami’s many obvious reactions. Still, a girl’s heart was like the sky in early summer, unpredictable and ever-changing. One moment it was clear and sunny, the next a sudden downpour, abrupt and unreal.
If it really came down to choosing just one, then his answer would probably be Shihou alone. And if he didn’t put some distance between himself and Nogami, he feared that one day he wouldn’t just be a scumbag who ate from his bowl while eyeing the pot, but one who ate from both.
A harem? Give me a break. This is the twenty-first century. That’s a joke at best.
Even if he were absurdly gifted in that department, there was no way Nogami or Shihou would be willing to share a boyfriend.
…Right?
He laughed bitterly at himself, yet still held onto a sliver of hope that things could continue like this forever.
“Hmph. Looks like you at least have some self-awareness, Hoshikawa. Be a good dog for me, and you won’t be lacking in rewards.”
Nogami crossed her arms smugly, occasionally glancing past him.
Was she waiting for Shihou?
Noticing her behavior, he couldn’t help but think so. Given that both she and Shihou loved pranks and teasing him, they’d probably planned together to give him a bit of “surprise.”
Uh-oh. Was he about to fall into the hands of his best bro Sae?
“Izumi’s not the kind of person who’d embarrass you in public…”
Even though the image of her standing on the school assembly stage to defend him had been incredibly cool, and heart-stirring,
He looked around, confirmed that there weren’t many customers in the shop at this hour, and began to wonder whether this even counted as being “in public.”
Maybe he should play it safe and retreat first?
Before Shihou finished changing and came over, he should hurry back to regroup with Sae. Being with his “bro” was way easier than facing off against two equally matched young ladies.
But the thought of seeing Shihou out of her school uniform made his heart itch with anticipation, he really didn’t want to miss such a rare chance.
“T–that is, Hoshikawa? Izumi? Are you two filming a spy movie or something?”
Just as Harutaki was debating whether to make an early escape, Shihou’s voice cut off his retreat like police tape sealing off an area.
Oh, crap. He thought despairingly. This is really bad.
The feeling was eerily familiar, like that time he’d gone shopping at the mall with his girlfriend during a vacation, only to run straight into his ex by pure coincidence.
…
A slightly snug white sleeveless knit top slipped over her head, immediately pushed up by her impressively full chest. The airy black off-shoulder chiffon blouse layered over it had been made from a special material, reflecting faintly under the ceiling lights. It hazily revealed her fair skin while carrying a moist, glossy sheen, as if lightly dampened.
This was the “sexy style” outfit Izumi had picked out for her, prepared so they could surprise Hoshikawa together.
After hesitating and fidgeting for a moment, she lifted her khaki skirt, fastened the wide belt they’d chosen together, and pulled it snug at her waist, clicking the buckle into place.
It felt a little chilly between her thighs…
It was only a bit shorter than her usual school uniform, but knowing that she’d soon be showing a part of her legs she’d never let anyone see before made her feel strangely restless.
She, Shihou Chouko, turned around and met her reflection in the fitting-room mirror.
Her pale golden eyes gleamed under the lights, and the small beauty mark above the left corner of her lips seemed to be greeting the outside world,
Ah… so I’m smiling, she realized. She touched her warm cheeks with both hands, the sensation flooding back into her heart. Soft, smooth, warm, everything good a girl could have, she had been generously gifted with.
Looking at the girl in the mirror, dressed in a style she’d never tried before, she suddenly thought of a face she hadn’t seen in four years.
Was her mother still young back then?
Or had she herself, dressed like this now, despite still being in the bloom of youth, somehow come to resemble her mother in maturity?
As she thought this, the smile she’d just rubbed away returned to her face.
Ever since her first year of middle school, when she’d fought bitterly with her mother over following the trail of her vanished Onii, she and her mother had clashed without mercy.
She’d cried until her eyes were swollen red, thrown tantrums, rolled on the floor in defiance, until finally, after collapsing from hunger during a hunger strike in her room, her mother had agreed to let her go to Tokyo alone.
The cold, mocking expressions on her mother’s and great-grandmother’s faces before she left still surfaced in her nightmares.
“You’ll regret this someday.”
Her mother hadn’t raised her voice at all, saying it with an eerie calm.
“Utterly foolish. A brat who can’t even step foot into the Shihou estate, or doesn’t dare to, and you go and fall for someone like that? You’re nothing but a disgrace to the Shihou family.”
Her great-grandmother’s harsh rebuke was as relentless as ever, no different from the scoldings of the past.
She couldn’t become such boring, hateful adults.
Staring at herself in the mirror, she still couldn’t help but miss her parents and great-grandmother…
Would she really regret it?
Now, even family members only exchanged brief phone calls during the New Year.
Still, she thought, if it weren’t for Hoshikawa… for Harutaki, then maybe she truly would regret coming to Tokyo alone against her family’s wishes.
At that moment, the corners of her lips lifted even higher, and with her hands pressed to her chest, she could feel her heart pounding fiercely beneath them.
Izumi, Sae, Minako… and Harutaki.
She had friends now, friends she could truly be herself around.
She had, aside from Onii, four good friends now, people who wouldn’t treat her as some kind of “special individual” or give her special treatment.
Compared to the loneliness and emptiness of living by herself these past few years, compared to the exhaustion and frustration of constantly dealing with people who hovered around her simply because she was “Shihou Chouko”… she honestly liked how things were now far more.
Then, naturally, her thoughts turned to the person who had brought all of this into her life,
The one who was gentler and more considerate than anyone she had ever met.
The one who was more handsome and outstanding than anyone she had ever met.
As long as he was around, this happy life would surely last forever, right?
When he saw her dressed like this, he would definitely crack some dumb dirty jokes, flatter her, tease her, make her laugh.
Because whether it was Izumi or herself, he probably treated everyone like that.
That was just the kind of gentle person he was.
Gentle to a degree that was almost scummier than an actual scumbag.
Still… she had rejected his feelings just last night. On the surface he seemed fine, but inside he was definitely hurting, definitely troubled. If seeing her in this outfit could make him even a little happier, then that would be enough.
Her slender, fair fingers, white like scallion stalks, combed carefully through her hair, tidying the slightly messy strands that mirrored her current thoughts.
“Phew…”
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Even if Shihou-san ends up distancing herself from me, the fact that I was this guy’s ‘first’ will never change.”
The words he’d said last night suddenly resurfaced in her mind.
Click.
Harutaki, this is your very own “first,” too. Thinking that, Chouko unlocked the fitting-room door and stepped outside.
Only—
Huh? What are those two doing?
Harutaki and Izumi were standing face-to-face. Both of their cheeks were flushed, their gazes drifting uncertainly…
Harutaki looked like a guilty thief, nervously surveying their surroundings, while Izumi had her arms crossed smugly, like a female prosecutor who’d just caught an undercover agent red-handed…
The atmosphere is weird!
…
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