Volume 9.5, Me and Himeji-san and A Certain Afternoon Time

Himeji-san’s parents can’t return back from overseas, so she has to stay at my house for the time being. The next day, after finishing the cleaning and the laundry, we started making breakfast.

“Akihisa-kun, what are you making?”

“I’m thinking of making some simple fried rice. Is there anything you dislike, Himeji-san?”

“None. Don’t look at me this way, you know? I’m not picky.”

“Really? That’s great.”

“I’ll take the vegetables out from the fridge then.”

“Un, thanks.”

“I’ll wash the vegetables then.”

“Un, thanks.”

“I’ll make salad as well then.”

“No, I’ll do that.”

“..”

Now, what should I put inside the fried rice?

“Akihisa-kun, is the plate big enough?”

“Un, I guess that’s alright.”

“I’ll shred the vegetables, okay?”

“Un, thanks.”

“I’ll make soup in the meantime too.”

“No, I’ll do that.”

“..”

Eh, the ingredients are onions, eggs and green pepper..

“Akihisa-kun, can I use this frying pan?”

“Un, that’s the one I use the most.”

“Can I use this low-calories oil?”

“Okay. That’s good for the body too.”

“I’ll make dessert then.”

“No, I’ll do that.”

“..”

“..”

“Why won’t you allow me to do anything!”

“Even if it’s you, I can’t allow that, Himeji-san!”

An intense battle is happening at the preparatory stage as we get ready for the lunch anniversary of Himeji-san staying at my house.

☆

“Hot blooded, Ping-Pong!”

The shrill title sound effect rang, and the television screen showed the option menu.

“Akihisa-kun, if I win this time, you must let me make lunch!”

“Un, I’m fine with that if you don’t mind, Himeji-san..”

Himeji-san and I stood in front of the television, each holding onto the remote control in our hands.

We’re playing a motion game, which means that we have to actually move our bodies to play. The game is table tennis, and to be honest, I don’t think I will lose.

“Fufufu..Akihisa-kun, I will work hard when it’s time for me to do so.”

Himeji-san gave off an inexplicable pressure. Speaking of which, she was the one who said to have a showdown. I guess she’s confident in such a game as well.

“Ready—start!”

I serve the ball. I move the controller to the ball on the screen, and the ball let out a light crisp sound as it flies into Himeji-san’s court.

“Ehh!”

Himeji-san moved the controller in response to the ball. The ball I served out is hit hard at a tight angle just above the next. Nice shot!

“Ku..”

I barely managed to use bring the bat to the ball and hit it across. However, I hit the ball too high accidentally, and now it’s a perfect chance for Himeji-san to smash the ball.

“Actually, I bought this game before.”

Himeji-san forcefully swings the bat,

“Because I heard that it can help in slimming..nee!”

Swoosh! The ball quickly flies into my court. Himeji-san’s smash has power, direction and angle, so it’ll be very difficult to hit it back.

That,

“Tya!”

I redirected Himeji-san’s sharp smash back into the other court.

“..Yes?”

Himeji-san didn’t respond to my counter, perhaps because she was confident that the smash just now could get the point, and just stood there.

The ball on the screen appears on the court ‘ko, ko..’ as it bounces, and I got 1 point.

“A, Akihisa-kun..aren’t you too good at it?”

Himeji-san stared at me in a shocked manner. It’s a little too late for me to say it, but actually..

“Actually, I often play this game against Yuuji.”

“How, how is that..”

Actually, Yuuji and I used smashes to win, but as we were trying our best to win, we started to determine the trajectory of the ball by reading the opposing controllers to hit it back. Therefore, normal smash attacks aren’t much of a threat to us now.

“Eh, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“I know I was the one who requested for a showdown, but..can you please hold back?”

Himeji-san said sheepishly.

“Ahaha. You don’t have to worry, Himeji-san. Since you asked for it, I’ll do so.”

“Okay!”

Player 1 (Me), 11 points

Vs

Player 2 (Himeji-san), 0 points.

“Erm, Akihisa-kun, didn’t you say that you will hold back?”

Of course I didn’t. Since the right to cook is at stake, I have to take this seriously. Besides, this is a bet on my life.

“Uuu— again, one more time!”

Himeji-san grabbed onto the controller tightly as she said so. Her response is a little shocking to me. Since she has always been so kind, I thought that she wouldn’t fuss too much about this. Maybe she really doesn’t like to lose.

“I must get a point next!”

It looks like she has already forgotten the bet. Speaking of which, it seems like those who get good grades are those who normally won’t give up, whether it’s sports or studying. In other words, Himeji-san and Kirishima-san may look very calm, but they don’t like to lose either.

“Ara..? Aki-kun, Mizuki-san. What are you doing?”

As we pressed the replay button to play the game again, nee-san arrived in the living room. She was working in her bedroom just now, so maybe she came out to take a breather.

“We’re playing games.”

“Game, huh? Looks fun.”

“How about you play too, Akira-san?”

“Well..then, I’ll play if I won’t be disturbing you.”

It’s rare for nee-san to agree to such an invitation. In that case, perfect!

“Then, nee-san, please take over from me. I need to make lunch.”

“Okay, I got it.”

“Akihisa-kun, call me if you need my help.”

“Un. Thanks.”

I handed over the controller to nee-san and proceeded to the kitchen. As I heat the frying pan and chop the onions, Himeji-san and nee-san can be heard from the living room.

“Akira-san, you can do this to hit the ball hard.”

“I see, so it’s like this.”

“Feeh!?”

“Un? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, that’s not it..you’re amazing, Akira-san. It doesn’t look like you played this for the first time..”

Nee-san hasn’t played any other game before, including this. But in contrast, her sporting sense is really good. Maybe she might even be an even match for Himeji-san who played this game before.

“Just like this?”

“I won’t lose!”

Cheery voices can be heard from the living room while I’m cooking. For some reason..it feels fine. Living alone has its own perks, but such a feeling now is rather nice too. Also, I won’t be motivated to cook if no one is eating.

I continue to prepare lunch while nee-san and Himeji-san’s voices act as BGM. 3 people’s worth of fried rice and consommé soup to go with seafood salad. Un. My food does taste good even if I say do so myself.

“Nee-san, Himeji-san, lunch is ready.”

I took off the apron and called them over. However, both of them are focusing on the screen and didn’t notice me.

Player 1 (Sister), 9 points

Vs

Player 2 (Himeji-san), 9 points.

Leaving aside what round it is now, it will be really troubling to interrupt them when they’re tied. The match will end once it reaches 11 points. Better wait for the outcome then.

“Ehh!”

“Hai!”

Himeji-san hit a sharp shot out, and nee-san received it and hit the ball back at an angle. Himeji-san then turned around to hit it. There’s an intense match happening on the screen now.

“Yahh!”

“Hai!”

Both of them got more and more focused as they played, and their actions became more intense. Leaving aside nee-san, Himeji-san’s body isn’t very fit. Is this really alright to be that tired?

Just when I was worrying as I watched the battle, both of them use their hands to hold their chests. Un? This is..

“Okay, stop it now, both of you. Stop stop!”

I walked forward and stretch my arm out to block the screen. No matter how intense they’re playing, they can’t continue if they can’t see the screen, so both of them can only stop their game.

“Is there something wrong, Akihisa-kun?”

“What’s the matter?”

Both of them give blaming looks at me, and I start to explain to them in a warning manner,

“You two are really too into it. if you’re not feeling well, you should rest a bit.”

““Eh?””

Both of them looked like they didn’t know what I was saying.

“No, aren’t you two having difficulties in breathing? It’s best to rest for now.”

““???””

Both of them tilted their heads in a puzzled manner. Un? Why are they showing such expressions?

“We’re into it, but it’s not to the extent that we’re having difficulties breathing.”

“You really love to worry too much, Aki-kun.”

On hearing their response, I realize that both of them aren’t breathing too hard. Huh?

“But didn’t both of you try to hold onto your chests awkwardly?”

I asked. Himeji-san was stunned for a while, and then frantically shook her head to deny it,

“Ah..no, it’s not like this! Thats, erm..it’s not because I have difficulty breathing, but..how to put it..”

“It will hurt when our breasts keep swinging like that, so we used our hands to hold them in, Aki-kun.”

“..Yes?”

For an instant, I really couldn’t comprehend what nee-san was saying.

Breasts swinging..hurt?

“Th, that, well..sometimes..such things happen..”

Himeji-san looks really embarrassed as she lowers her flushed face. Gaa..there’s such a thing too?

“So, sorry! I didn’t intend for any sexual harassment!”

“Tha, that’s not it. Why..you’re just worried about us, Akihisa-kun. There’s no need to apologize! I should even say that I’m too careless.”

“Really, Aki-kun. You’re so unaware of the woman’s body and so slow in personality. I really worry about you being sued because of such a thing when you come out to society.”

It was really unexpected for nee-san to say such a thing, but I really can’t argue with that.

“You already have so many photo books of big breasted girls. What in the world were you reading all this while?”

“NO~~~~~~~~~~~~~~oooo!!!”

Nee-san took out the numerous bibles (Ero-books) that were confiscated during the baseball tournament. What about sexual harassment now! Isn’t that one example already!”

“Listen up, Aki-kun. For girls, it’s not exactly a good thing to have huge breasts. It’s troublesome when playing sports, and the waist will ache when we shake. If we shake too much, the bra strap and hook may even break.”

“Even if you’re saying about what’s bad about having huge breasts, I don’t know what to say about that at all..”

I’m starting to feel that nee-san is already breaking away from the topic of not sexually harassing someone accidentally.

“Well..Akira-san, I think you should stop here..”

Even Himeji-san is starting to feel awkward.

“Also, it will get even worse for Mizuki-san when she gets to F.”

“Akira-san—!”

That might be the case. It will be really heartbreaking for Himeji-san to endure her school life with the damned stinky guys from F class.

“A, Akira-san, aren’t you like this too?”

“Nope. I’m only at E.”

“That’s because you didn’t measure properly!”

“I did measure it well when I was studying at university in America.”

“That should have grown as well!”

For some reason, it feels like this conversation is getting more dangerous. Looks like E and F aren’t referring to the classes in school. Looks like it will be trouble if I continue to think too hard into this. I better forget about this.

“An, anyway, you two don’t have to endure your pain and play game! Forget about that and come have lunch!”

“That’s right. It’ll be troublesome if Aki-kun faints from over-excitement. Maybe we should stop here?”

“Okay, I understand—ah!”

Himeji-san was about to put down the controller as she jerked up all of a sudden. Un, what’s with her?

“Is there something wrong, Himeji-san?”

“Eh? It, it’s nothing, nothing at all!”

“????”

“It, erm..well, I need to buy something later..”

“Buy something?”

“To put..I have to buy something all of a sudden..”

Himeji-san was rather calm up till up, so the situation is really sudden. Did she think of something when she was playing?

Well, let’s leave that aside for now.

“In that case, I need to buy something in the afternoon too. I need to prepare ingredients for dinner too.”

“Eh? You’re going too, Akihisa-kun?”

“Un. Can I come along with you too, Himeji-san?”

Actually, there’s something I want to buy. If I go and buy it myself, nee-san may find out, but if I go along with Himeji-san, the chances of it being seen through will decrease by a lot. Also, I’ll be in big trouble if I let Himeji-san go shopping only for her to say something like ‘I’ll buy the ingredients for dinner, so leave dinner to me’.

“Mizuki-san, if the stuff you’re going to carry is going to be very heavy, you just need to get Aki-kun to help. Don’t see him this way, you know. He is a man after all.”

“The ‘after all’ is unnecessary.”

“Ah, that’s not it. Of course I know that Akihisa-kun’s a boy.”

Perhaps Himeji-san feels awkward about me helping her to carry stuff as she doesn’t know how to respond. But this little hassle itself isn’t hard.

“Let’s go together then, Himeji-san.”

“..Then, I guess it’s okay if Akihisa-kun says so..”

Looking somewhat troubled, Himeji-san nodded in agreement. Of course, I have no reason to object. I really have to go out, and most importantly, I’m very delighted that I’m going out with a girl during a holiday. Of course, it’s better because Himeji-san is going out with me.

“Let’s have lunch then. I have some work to deal with in the afternoon.”

Nee-san said as she kept the controller. She then walks over to the kitchen, and whispers to me,

“I suppose you should know about this, Aki-kun.”

“Un? What is it, nee-san?”

For some reason, I feel that I know what nee-san is going to say. She’s probably going to say something like no illicit relationships like usual.

“Don’t do something stupid that removes the eligibility to be a bride.”

I really can’t tell whether this bride is Himeji-san or me here..

☆

After lunch, we got ready to leave. About 30 minutes later, Himeji-san and I are in the shopping center in town.

“What do you want to buy, Himeji-san?”

I asked Himeji-san while we’re at the entrance.

“Eh, I want to buy some clothes..what about you, Akihisa-kun?”

“Me? Ah, it’s nothing big. I can just buy it little when I have the time.”

I said a painlessly vague thing.

Actually, the reason why I came here is to buy a game that was recently released.

Recently, nee-san has been keeping a close eye on me, so I’ve been enduring up till now, but I can’t hold on now. That’s a rather hotly discussed new work, and I have to buy it no matter what.

“Speaking of which, I heard that there’s a cute part-timer working in this shopping center’s gaming shop..”

“??? Himeji-san, what are you talking about?”

“No, it’s nothing. Oh yes, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn?”

“If it’s alright, can I come along?”

I’ll be very troubled if this happens.

“No no no, you don’t have to follow me to such an extent! It’s really something ordinary!”

I tried to sneak through with a smile.

Let alone nee-san, if possible, I really don’t want to let Himeji-san know what I’m going to buy. Himeji-san herself can’t lie very well, so even if I tell her not to tell nee-san, it’s still possible for nee-san to see through it.

“..It seems suspicious for some reason..”

“Wha, what’s suspicious about it?”

Himeji-san narrows her eyes as she stares at me. She normally looks rather dull, but will occasionally sharpen up. This is bad.

“Can I come along with you to go buy it too?”

“No no no! You have something else you want to do right, Himeji-san? You don’t have to worry about me at all!”

“You don’t have to worry about me, Akihisa-kun. I can accompany you no matter how long it is.”

“You really don’t have to worry about it!”

“Akihisa-kun, it’s suspicious that you’ve been trying to shake me off!”

“Not at all! That’s how I normally am!”

Himeji-san’s interrogation is really becoming harder for me to take on. This is really bad..

“You really want to go to the gaming shop, right, Akihisa-kun!?”

“No, I’m going to buy an ero-book.”

“EHHH!?”

This is the so-called desperately clinging onto survival at this point. I can only let my reputation be ruined. Nee-san has already exposed me already, so it’s too late to cover it up anyway.

This unexpected answer from me seems to cause Himeji-san to widen her eyes and show a shocked expression. Looks like this battle is mine.

“Then, do you still want to come along with me, Himeji-san?”

I gave a proud look of a victor as I asked. Even though I feel that this victory is based on something a human definitely can’t lose over, I decided not to think too much or I will feel very sad in lots of ways.

“Uu..I, I understand! If that’s really the case, I’ll come along and choose with you, Akihisa-kun!”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?”

This is really an unexpected development! What should I do? If this keeps up, I’ll end up having a scary experience of shopping Ero-books with my female classmate!

But right now, I can’t back off. Since she’s already shocked by my unexpected answer, I’ll feel pain as she feels pain as well. This is a duel!

“Is this really alright, Himeji-san? I intend to buy a really erotic ero-book!”

Come on! Be terrified! Give up then!

“Uu..tha, that’s definitely a lie! Akihisa-kun only collects albums of naked women!”

Why is she not backing away? This isn’t a situation to mess around!

“I, I have a new fetish recently!”

“The, then, please explain the contents!”

“Explain? Ku..! Ehh, who’s scared here! I’ll show it to you! Don’t think that I’m the type who’ll just talk!”

“(Pi) is (Dogonk) into (Sugiuun) to (Zapan~)!”

“(Pi) is (Dogonk) into (Sugiuun) to (Zapan~)? No, you can’t! Even I’ll feel troubled if that’s true!”

This is really effective. Alright, now for the finishing blow!

“That’s not all. I also like (broadcast error) and (inspection deletion) and (automatic censors) as well!”

“Ha, haa..! Erm, Akihisa-kun..”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“I just want it to be normal. If possible, I hope that you don’t have such interests..”

Eh, why are we talking about Himeji-san’s interests?

Leaving this aside, the winner’s decided now. I probably can go buy my games now.

As I thought this way, a voice suddenly came from behind.

“You’re high school students, right? Come over and tell me your guardians’ contact.”

“Let’s go buy what we need to buy then! What’s over there?”

“Eh! Akihisa-kun?”

“Hold it right there!”

I pulled Himeji-san’s hand and started to run. It seemed that the security guard uncle lost us on the way. As I turned around, he disappeared.

“Really..things got so complicated again..”

“Leaving aside that, Akihisa-kun. If you don’t admit that those were lies..”

“Un?”

“—I’ll feel uneasy about the future..”

Is she worried about my future? Looks like I did go overboard there.

“We, well, those things were all lies. What I wanted to buy isn’t something big.”

“Really?”

Himeji-san stared at my with teary eyes. Uu..why is there such a strong guilt..can’t be helped then. I better tell her the truth.

“Sorry. I was actually planning to go out and buy a game.”

“Eh? Game?”

“Un. A new game’s released today.”

“Wha, what..so that’s it?”

Himeji-san sighed as if a burden was lifted from her. Eh? Didn’t she guess that I was going to buy games?

“I thought you would be interested in that onee-san at the game shop..”

“Eh? What do you mean by that?”

“No, it’s alright if you don’t know. Please don’t mind.”

I don’t actually understand why, but Himeji-san just placed her hand at her chest to heave a sigh of relief.

Speaking of which, I remember that when I went over to that game shop to buy a game, I did not have enough money, so I worked there for a short while. It would be bad if nee-san found out that I went to buy games, so I put on a wig and glasses to disguise myself. If the shop keeper let slip of some unnecessary things, I will be rather troubled. Thus it’s better not to let Himeji-san come along to buy games with me.

I’ll go over to the game shop later then. Right now, I’ll accompany Himeji-san to shop.

“Erm, how about we go to the second level first? You want to shop for clothes, don’t you, Himeji-san?”

“Ah. You’re fine with accompanying me?”

“Un. I can buy the thing I want whenever I want to.”

The first level of this shopping center has a food court, a sports equipment stall, a food market and other stuff. On the second level, there are shops selling CDs, books and games, and there’s also a shop for clothing and little accessories. It will be better for Himeji-san to go to the second level if she wants to shop for clothes.

We take the upgoing escalator to the second level, but while we’re on the way, Himeji-san tugged at my sleeve lightly.

“Akihisa-kun, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Can we go play for a while before we start shopping?”

Himeji-san was staring at the amusement area in front of her.

“Do you normally play such things, Himeji-san?”

“No, I don’t often go to such places. But it’s special today, and this is revenge for the ping pong game just now.”

“Is that so? I accept your challenge then.”

Himeji-san really doesn’t like to lose. I know that she works hard, but I didn’t know that she had such a side to her.

“It’s decided then.”

“Okay then. But you don’t have to be so anxious, do you, Himeji-san?”

“Nope. There’s a limit to a day’s worth of time.”

Himeji-san pulls my arm and walks into the amusement area. There are all sorts of games, including the crane games at the entrance, gun shooting games, medal games, racing games, fighting games, and all sorts of them.

“Ah..this doll is so cute..”

“Nn? Lemme see.”

Himeji-san stopped in front of a crane game. There’s a white rabbit portable strap. It is designed in a 2-headed size deformed figure, and it looks just like a kid born between a kitty and a rabbit. Un, it looks good.

“Let me try and get it!”

“Ah, Himeji-san.”

Before I could even stop her, Himeji-san threw a 100 yen coin. She cautiously presses the button and moves the crane.

“Ah..”

But the crane arm got a panda strap that’s 2 dolls away.

GOTO, GOTONK, the strap let out a sound as it falls to the exit. Leaving aside what she wanted to get, she did get a prize.

“You’re amazing to succeed once, Himeji-san.”

“Uu..are you saying that on purpose, Akihisa-kun?”

“Ahaha. It’s one thing if it’s just beside it, so in a certain sense, getting it 2 dolls away is rather amazing.”

“You’re too much, Akihisa-kun. You’re thinking that I’m rather slow, right?”

“No—un, that, about that..”

“You should be denying it here!”

“What do you want to play next, Himeji-san?”

“You definitely feel that I’m slow, Akihisa-kun..changing the topic like that so casually..I understand. In that case, I’ll play some other game to make you change your impression on me!”

“Alright. Let’s have a showdown then, Himeji-san.”

“I’ll definitely win this time. It’s not my intention to let that Akihisa-kun call me slow!”

“Ahaha. I don’t know whether you’ll be saying that once the winner’s decided, Himeji-san.”

As we talked, I suddenly realized something. Unknowingly, the relationship between Himeji-san and me may have developed to the point where we can joke with each other. In other words—

“Maybe the distance between us has shrunk somewhat..”

“Un?”

“What is it?”

I inadvertently exchange looks with Himeji-san. Did Himeji-san..

“What did you just say?”

“Is, is that something? Aha, ahaha!”

Did I mistake a game sound or something for Himeji-san’s voice? Or is it the voice of somebody else nearby? Un..

“Forget about that. What should we play next?”

“Ah, that’s right. As for a game where we can decide the winner..”

I see an air hockey game in front of me. That should be easy for us to settle things. However..

“You just mentioned that shaking will hurt..”

“It’ll be troublesome if it breaks too..”

“Un?”

“What is it?”

Himeji-san and I exchange looks again. She did say something this time, right?

“Eh, erm, Akihisa-kun. How about we use that to decide the winner?”

Himeji-san’s finger pointed at a quiz game. I see. If it’s that kind of game, we can use the speed of pressing buttons to tell whether we’re slow or not, and there’s no need to move our bodies too much. That’s perfect for the two of us.

“Okay. I’ll show you that I know lots of trivia too.”

“Fufu. If it’s a quiz on knowledge, I won’t lose.”

We sit down on a chair each and put in 100 yen coin. We press the start button, enter our names, and arrive at the quiz genre choice screen.

“I choose ‘social’.”

“Nn..I’ll choose ‘sports’ then.”

We choose our genres and press the button. The machine starts to ask a question, and first, it’ll be Himeji-san with her social question.

“First question, social.”

The m-->>

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