Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330652677973473/episodes/16817330653396068930
“Whoa, the cafeteria is especially crowded today…….”
After the morning lecture was over, it was time for lunch break. When he went to the cafeteria as usual, there was a crowd of people there.
The time to enter the student cafeteria was delayed, and the new students are starting to get used to the new environment, which is probably the reason for this situation.
(……Hm. I think I’ll just go to a convenience store today.)
Yuuto is alone now because his friend has a lecture in the afternoon.
The price for the amount of food is more reasonable at the cafeteria, but that can’t be helped.
He decides to go to Family mart–a convenience store located in the university.
(All right ! There it is. Today is a good day.)
He safely put the yakisoba bread, croquette bread, and fried rice balls, which are always sold out, into his shopping basket.
(Maybe it’s the fact that I showed the new students around this morning that’s having an effect…….)
They say if you do good things, good things will come back to you.
That’s exactly what happened, and he felt warm and fuzzy.
(By the way, that new girl was so soft-spoken and cute……. I mistook her for an elementary school student…….)
He could tell she was a current student because she was on campus, but it would be difficult to tell if she was a college student anywhere else.
One thing he can say is that the impact of her mature behavior and the atmosphere she created from her young appearance was very strong.
(But why was she so easy to talk to……)
Because of her young appearance, he was able to treat her as if he was dealing with a child. That’s because Yuuto has a different feeling.
(Strange things happen, huh……)
With these thoughts in mind, he moved to the sweets corner and reached for another popular item that was the only one left–Yuuto’s favorite strawberry milk candy.
“Ah.”
“Ah……”
It was a touch of a hand like a white fish–which suddenly reached out from next to him.
When he looked next to him, there was a girl whose shadow somehow overlapped with the little girl from this morning.
Beautiful jewel-like blue eyes and long brown hair. Pale pink lips.
She had a doll-like face with no distortions and seemed mature.
“……”
“……”
He makes eye contact with her for three seconds.
Yuuto was the first to finish the processing in his brain and withdraw.
“Ah, sorry. You were here first.”
“Y-you first…..please.”
“No, I was after you, so don’t worry about it.”
“I’m the one who’s…after you.”
Maybe she is shy, or maybe she doesn’t like men, she is standing around holding her hand that has touched him in front of her chest and trying not to make eye contact.
Furthermore, her voice was so low that it was easy to miss it.
“U-um……I still have some left, so I’m really fine.”
“I have some left……too.”
“I have about 10 of them myself.”
“Well then……I have 15….”
(She said “then”, I bet you don’t have 15 pieces……)
And the strawberry milk candy comes in a pack of 15 pieces.
That means she is going to buy another bag even though there is a whole bag left.
Of course, there are people who stock a lot of their favorite products, but this is not the case with the girl who said, [Well, then].
(……But the reason she stuck up for me like this was because she was trying to give it to me.)
She tries to give it to him even though she would have liked to eat it herself. She is truly a kind-hearted girl.
It’s precisely because her personality and character are fully conveyed that even Yuuto feels like giving up.
This is where the trump card comes in.
“Um, I hope you can answer this, but……are you a new student?”
“…….”
“Yes?”
She was silent as if she was thinking about the question. As soon as he subconsciously tilted his head, she said.
“I’m a…..fourth year student.”
“Eh !?”
“I’m in the fourth year, so I’m the most senior.”
(Seriously…..)
She was hesitant and timid.
He was wrong if he thought that she was a new student just because she was showing such a state.
After all, the trump card that Yuuto had in mind is used as it is.
“Like I said……as your senior, I’ll give it up to you.”
“Eh, ah, you’re a senior…..?”
“I am……okay?”
No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t seem that way because of her lack of confidence, but if she says so, then it must be so.
“So, you go ahead.”
“I-Is that so..?”
“Yeah.”
“…….”
“…….”
It is Yuuto who is defeated by the silence that comes again.
“…..T-then, thank you……for your kindness.”
“It’s all right. I’m a senior…….after all.”
Even Yuuto tried to give it up by using the strongest trump card called [Senior].
On the contrary, if that trump card is used, this is what happens.
She seems to convince herself that she is a senior, but this is probably just her imagination.
“……Then, I’m still going to do some shopping.”
“I-I understand. Well then….”
“Yeah……. Bye-bye.”
After fluttering her hands, the senior walked quickly away to another corner as if to run away.
The first time our eyes met was probably when our hands first touched.
She was like a certain metal slime who chose to run away the moment he met her, when he first touched her hand.
It’s time to say goodbye to her, who has such a small animal-like personality.
After putting everything he wanted in his shopping cart, Yuuto went to the cash register and asked the clerk.
“Your bill will be 617 yen. Bags are charged, but would you like to use them?”
“Oh…….”
After being asked this by the store clerk, he came up with a clever idea.
“Excuse me, could you separate the candy into two bags? I would appreciate it if you could put a sticker on it as well.”
“Understood.”
After paying the bill, he went out of the convenience store.
He carefully opened the bag of candies, picked up about five candies from the bag, and put them in his pocket.
“Let’s see……..”
Next, he takes the notepad he uses both at the university and at his part-time job out of his pocket and writes the words.
Then he carefully folds it up and puts it back in the bag.
This is what he thought of just a moment ago.
Entering the convenience store again, Yuuto finds his senior looking at the salad.
“Um, excuse me, Senpai.”
“!? W-what?
[Why are you still here !?] A certain metal slime senior turns around at high speed.
“Here you go.”
“Eh ……? This is……?”
After confirming that she picked up the bag he handed over, Yuuto immediately bowed his head.
“Then, please excuse me.”
“Oh…….”
Because the opponent is older, he
(I’m involved with a lot of nice people today……)
Thinking about that, he chuckled and put the strawberry milk candy in his mouth.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
That senior— who is actually a “new student” Kokono–fearfully opens the bag she received.
“Tsu.”
What was in the bag was the strawberry milk candy that she had given him earlier.
If she counted with her thin fingertips, she could see that there were 10 pieces in the bag.
“……”
It also came with a sticker to prove whether they had been purchased or not.
This would prevent her from being attacked by non-payment or other problems.
He must have thought of this risk and had the sticker attached.
“I got so much for free……”
The package indicates the number of pieces on the bag, and Kokono knows that there are 15 pieces of candy in the bag.
That means he didn’t even pick up half of them and give them away.
He may have said there were still some left, but he paid for all of these candies. There is no reason to do such a thing.
(What a very kind man……. I wish I had returned the money. I wish I knew your name. ……)
Kokono muttered in her mind and squinted her eyes,
[Thank you so much for your kindness.]
It was after she read this note inside the bag.
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This MC seems like a decent guy. His denseness comes from kindness and lack of info.
I don’t think it’s fair to call him dense if you’re referring to his inability to recognize his former sisters. He hasn’t seen them in over a decade, so he has no way to know what they look like, and the last time he saw them was when he was like 5 or 6, which is an age it is almost impossible to retain memories from. Not to mention the second girl said she was older, but his sisters are younger than him.
These two are quite cute together.