kscans

Chapter 87 - The More I Reach Out, the Further You Drift Away

The first day of Obon holiday. I had planned to sleep in like a log, but I suddenly sensed someone else's presence in my room and woke up. Even with my groggy mind, I could tell there was no hostility... and there was something familiar about it.

"..."

"Whoa!?"

I was instantly wide awake. Well, of course I was.

"Oh, you're up. Good morning, Hiro-kun."

Chika-san was standing right beside my bed. I stared at her with a dumbfounded expression, unable to process the sudden situation, while she greeted me with a smile.

"G-good morning... uh, what's going on?"

It probably wasn't an emergency. If it were, she wouldn't have time to be staring at my sleeping face.

"Well, um, you see..."

Seeing Chika-san acting all shy and fidgety, I could feel my own excitement building.

"I wanted to hang out with you, Hiro-kun."

"...An invitation for a date? That makes me happy."

What happened to my plan to sleep all day? Who cares about that. Every cell in my body activated instantly. My ulterior motives were accelerating uncontrollably. That's right. Since it's a special occasion, I should wear those clothes Chika-san gave me as a present the other day.

"Ah, sorry. It's not like that."

Huh, what's that supposed to mean? You usually take the initiative, but now when I'm getting interested, you're deliberately pulling back? Is Chika-san a femme fatale? Well, this is cute in its own way, so whatever!

"Then what do you mean?"

"Um... well... you reunited with Takahashi-kun and Suzuki-kun, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, I guess that's why... I started remembering old times... and I felt envious."

"Envious?"

"Yes. Back then, I secretly admired watching you three having fun together."

???

"We used to hang out together too, didn't we?"

"Y-yes, but that's not what I mean! How should I put it... um, I thought it was nice how your intelligence seemed to drop to practically zero."

"Huh? Did I just get randomly insulted?"

"No, that's not what I meant!!"

"Sorry, sorry. I was just teasing you a bit. So basically, you mean like guys acting stupidly?"

"Yes, that's it! That's what... I think."

She probably couldn't articulate it well. I'm not confident I interpreted it accurately either.

"It's Obon holiday, but Rika went out too, so I got bored."

"So you suddenly thought of coming to see me."

"Y-yeah. Is that okay?"

"No, it's totally fine, but have you already called Takahashi and Suzuki?"

"No. I thought it might be inconsiderate to call them suddenly on the same day."

But it's okay for me, huh. Not bad. It feels good when a responsible woman only acts spoiled around me. That said, such consideration is unnecessary for Takahashi and Suzuki. They're on Obon holiday too. I immediately sent a telepathic message to both of them.

"Yeah, it's me. Are you free right now? You're free? Okay. Then come to my place. Get ready in 40 seconds. I'll call you by teleportation."

As declared, I summoned them both after 40 seconds.

"Stop screwing around!!"

"Ughhh!?"

A double hit to my solar plexus...!

"Y-you're free, aren't you...?"

"We're free, but women need time to get ready!!"

"Baldy! You baldy!!"

"I-I'm not bald!"

That said, they weren't really angry, and one hit each to the solar plexus seemed to satisfy them.

"So what are we doing?"

"Hey, Saionji's here. Yo there."

"Good morning, you two."

"Well, Chika-san says she wants to hang out with us."

"Huh?"

I explained our earlier conversation to the two tilting their heads.

"...Now that you mention it, what did we actually do?"

"...Sorry. We did hang out, but when you ask for specifics, what was it exactly?"

That's how it goes.

"Hey, Saionji. What did we do?"

Takahashi put his hand on Chika-san's shoulder and asked. Completely like a delinquent, making me laugh.

"Um, you were always fooling around somehow."

"That's vague... but accurate."

The three of us squatted down and wracked our brains...

"...We had no money."

"Huh? We have money, idiot. We're all responsible adults now."

When I retorted like that, Suzuki shook his head, saying that wasn't it.

"During summer vacation, when we gathered at Satou-kun's house from morning and lounged around, you were usually complaining about that."

"Oh right! You were like a dictionary with the word 'savings' missing from its pages!"

"Ah... now that you mention it, maybe?"

I used to lie on the tatami mats, scratching my butt while complaining about having no money. And then... right, I'm starting to remember our routine back then.

"First, let's secure some money to play with."

"You said that!!"

"Then we'd go to the Mutual Aid Society to earn that day's funds."

"Then first, the Mutual Aid Society? Let's go!"

Chika-san was excited, but wait a minute.

"If we're gonna play like the old days, let's make our bodies younger too."

Making our bodies younger would make our hearts younger too, as proven by the incident with Takahashi.

"You gonna use those pills like before?"

"Nah, those have a time limit. I'll do it."

"Satou-kun, can you do something like that?"

"I've seen Chika-san's rejuvenation. I just need to recreate that."

I asked the three of them not to resist and performed the technique that recreated the rejuvenation. In an instant, everyone returned to their teenage appearance. Well, the two who had undergone gender transformation stayed that way, so strictly speaking, it wasn't exactly like the past.

"Blonde hair! How nostalgic... that's right, Hiro-kun had blonde hair! Blonde Hiro-kun... so good."

"Hehe, thanks. But this isn't enough, right?"

I took out earrings and put them on.

"Perfect Hiro-kun!!"

Chika-san was overjoyed.

"...It's nostalgic, but looking at the old Satou-kun now, your flashiness was really... intense."

"Yeah. It's amazing you became a proper businessman."

Shut up.

"But it's still not perfect. Clothes. If we're younger, let's dress like teenagers."

Takahashi in shorts and a shirt was fine, but Chika-san and Suzuki... Their mature, chic, and elegant outfits made them look like they were trying too hard with their teenage bodies.

"That shop I used to frequent is still open. Let's get everything there."

"I-I feel embarrassed... even though I'm actually middle-aged..."

"It's fine. Come on, let's go."

We teleported nearby and browsed for clothes. Unlike in the old days, Chika-san now chose outfits that suited her without hesitation. Back then, Chika-san had no interest in clothes at all...

"Alright! Everyone looks perfect, so let's go to the Mutual Aid Society!"

"This might be irrelevant, but spending money to earn money for fun feels weird."

...Well, that's part of recreating the old days, so don't nitpick.