Translator: Haruto.

The day of our outing has come.  

I’ve arrived at a fountain in the middle of a large plaza where we’re supposed to meet. The idea was for the two of us to meet at ten, but I didn’t want to make Hibari wait so I got here fifteen minutes early.

As to why we decided to meet up outside even though we live together, well… we just thought it’d be nicer that way.

Also, Hibari said she had some business to attend to, so she left home before I did. She told me she’d come here after she was done with that.   

“Man, my hair feels so light. Maybe they cut it a bit too short?”

I touch my hair here and there, trying not to mess it up.

It was already long enough to cover my ears, so I thought this would be the perfect occasion to go to a barbershop and get an undercut.

While I like how it feels, I’m also kind of restless because I haven’t gotten used to this new haircut. Although, that’s not the only reason why I’m restless right now…  

Would you go out with me?

I know I had promised I would take her somewhere nice again, but… I’m still impressed with myself for having invited her out. Hibari didn’t appreciate the way I did it, though… and she even squeezed my hand pretty hard, so I probably shouldn’t phrase my invitations that way ever again.

But anyway, just thinking about going on an outing with Hibari is making me feel nervous.

“…Hmm…”

I peek at my phone, glance at the clock in front of the fountain, and do various other small things as I wait for Hibari’s arrival, but…

“Huh, she sure is taking her time…”

Hibari’s always been a very punctual girl, so I actually expected her to arrive at the same time as me.

It’s fine, though. I don’t mind waiting for her.

“Mister!”  

“Hm?”

I hear a girl calling out to me from behind. She has a nice, refreshing voice.

When I turn around, my eyes immediately fall on her short hair. Then, I glance at her small, beautiful face, especially her adorably straight nose. She’s wearing a light sleeveless shirt, wide-leg pants that suit her long beautiful legs, and a pair of comfortable-looking sandals. In short, a girl who seems to have stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine is now standing in front of me.

But wait, isn’t she…  

“Hello, Mister!”

“H-Hello.”

“I couldn’t help noticing that your hair is a bit messy, and I thought I should let you know.”

“Ahh, I see… Is it really messy? Where?”

I spent plenty of time combing my hair in front of the mirror early this morning, though…

“To the right… Ahh, not there. Would you mind if I fix it for you?”

“Please do.”

Hibari is… Ah, shoot, I called her by her name. Oh well, it’s not like that’s wrong. This girl in front of me is indeed the person I’ve been waiting for.

“Can you lean down a little?” she asks.

“Sure. Is that enough?”

“Yes.”

As I lean down, Hibari begins to touch my hair with her hands.

“…And there. It’s perfect.”

“T-Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. Now, what kind of food do you like, Mister?”

So we’ll keep role-playing…

“Ermm… Ginger-grilled pork, fried chicken… and well, most traditional dishes, really.”

“I see. I also like traditional food. And I’m pretty good at making it, too, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. Thank you for everything you do for me.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

Hibari’s food is insanely delicious.

“What did you think, Yuuji-sama? I tried acting like I was flirting with you,” Hibari says with her usual deadpan expression.

It seems she’s done role-playing. It’s a bit of a shame. I was starting to enjoy it. And like, “flirting with me”? She really just fixed my hair and talked to me about food. I mean, it was fun, but…

“Why would you do that?”

“I wanted to get a little payback since you’re always doing it to me.”

“I’m always flirting with you?!”

I don’t remember ever flirting with her, though?!

With that said, I’m glad I’m the one she tried flirting with and not some other guy. After all, any other dude would have just jumped at the opportunity.

“…Well, I enjoyed it. No one’s ever flirted with me before.”

And due to my intimidating looks, I doubt it’ll ever happen again. Cops are more likely to call out to me in the street than girls.

“…Did it make you want to go spend some time with me?” Hibari asks.

“Uh…”

She’s as expressionless as ever, and yet… seeing her look up at me like that made my heart skip a beat.

I still need to answer her question, though.

“Hibari, put your hand out.”

“Okay?”

She stretches her hand out in a swift motion. Her skin is beautiful, showing no damage from the sun whatsoever.

I lay my hand on top of hers, and…

“It’ll be my pleasure to spend the day with you,” I say with a small bow and a smile. “Your flirting was a total success! Haha, I’m just kidding.”

“…”

“Hibari?”

“Um, It seems… It seems I couldn’t beat you in the end.”

“Huh?”

“No, it’s nothing. More importantly, I apologize for making you wait.”  

“Aah, don’t worry about it! You still got here five minutes early. By the way, Hibari… did you cut your hair?”

That’s the first thing that caught my attention when I saw her. Hibari’s hair was long enough for her to style it into a ponytail if she so wished, but now it’s rather short. And since her haircut is different, she’s giving off a different impression as well. In fact, I didn’t even recognize her at first.

“When I heard you were going to get a haircut, I thought I should do the same.”  

“Oh, I get it. I also get the urge to cut my hair when I see someone with a new haircut.”

That’s exactly what happened when I saw all those classmates with their new hairstyles.

“So you just got here after me because you were at the hairdresser’s?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“I see. Then, since we’ve both got fresh haircuts, I guess you could say we’re a match.”

“A match…” Hibari whispers before falling silent.

“Umm… You can tell me if you didn’t like what I said, you know?”

It feels kind of awkward when she just stays silent like that. I like it more when she throws a joke back at me.

Huh… I hadn’t noticed it before, but I guess I actually like the outrageous turns of phrase Hibari comes up with from time to time.

“Can we stop holding hands for a moment?”

“Ah, my bad.”

I didn’t realize I was still holding her hand.

I let go, and…

“…”

Hibari is staring at her hand for some reason.

I’m certain I didn’t squeeze her hand too hard or anything like that, though! I held it as gently as I could!

“Yuuji-sama, what do you think of my new haircut? Does it look okay?”

“Hm? Ahh, yeah, you look great. It suits your outfit perfectly!”

I know my compliment wasn’t anything poetic, but at the same time, I get the feeling it was more than enough.  

Also, I don’t know if it’s because of her new shorter haircut, but she looks more mature than usual right now. And I think she’s wearing a bit of makeup, too?

“Thank you, Yuuji-sama. Your haircut and clothes look wonderful on you as well.”

“Ohh! Thanks!”

I suppose she’s just trying to be nice, but it still makes me happy to her say that. It took me a fair amount of time to select today’s clothes.

“Well, let’s go, shall we? I heard it’s going to be pretty hot today, so we need to be careful not to get heatstroke.”

“Yes, you are right. We should be careful not to ‘get in heat.’”

“That’s totally not what I meant!”

And so, that’s how our little outing began.

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